A WORD TO WORKERS

Some time ago I read this expression in an old author:–“The first duty of a clergyman is humbly to ask of God that all that he wants done in his hearers should first be truly and fully done in himself.” These words have stuck to me ever since. What a solemn application this is to the subject that occupied our attention in previous chapters–the living and working under the fulness of the Holy Spirit! And yet, if we understand our calling aright, every one of us will have to say, That is the one thing on which everything depends. What profit is it to tell men that they may be filled with the Spirit of God, if, when they ask us, “Has God done it for you?” we have to answer, “No, He has not done it”? What profit is it for me to tell men that Jesus Christ can dwell within us every moment, and keep us from sin and actual transgression, and that the abiding presence of God can be our portion all the day, if I wait not upon God first to do it truly and full day by day?

Look at the Lord Jesus Christ; it was of the Christ Himself, when He had received the Holy Ghost from heaven, that John the Baptist said that “He would baptize with the Holy Ghost.” I can only communicate to others what God has imparted to me. If my life as a minister be a life in which the flesh still greatly prevails–if my life be a life in which I grieve the Spirit of God, I cannot expect but that my people will receive through me a very mingled kind of life. But if the life of God dwell in me, and I am filled with His power, then I can hope that the life that goes out from me may be infused into my hearers too.

We have referred to the need of every believer being filled with the Spirit; and what is there of deeper interest to us now, or that can better occupy our attention, than prayerfully to consider how we can bring our congregations to believe that this is possible; and how we can lead on every believer to seek it for himself, to expect it, and to accept of it, so as to live it out? But, brethren, the message must come from us as a witness of our personal experience, by the grace of God. The same writer to whom I alluded, says elsewhere:–“The first business of a clergyman, when he sees men awakened and brought to Christ, is to lead them on to know the Holy Spirit.” How true! Do not we find this throughout the word of God? John the Baptist preached Christ as the “Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world;” we read in Matthew that he also said that Christ would “baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” In the gospel by John, we read that the Baptist was told that upon Whom he would see the Spirit descending and abiding, He it was who would baptize with the Spirit. Thus John the Baptist led the people on from Christ to the expectation of the Holy Ghost for themselves. And what did Jesus do? For three years, He was with His disciples, teaching and instructing them; but when He was about to go away, in His farewell discourse on the last night, what was His great promise to the disciples? “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth.” He had previously promised to those who believed on Him, that “rivers of living water” should flow from them; which the Evangelist explains as meaning the Holy Ghost:–“Thus spake He of the Spirit.” But this promise was only to be fulfilled after Christ “was glorified.” Christ points to the Holy Spirit as the one fruit of being glorified. The glorified Christ leads to the Holy Ghost. So in the farewell discourse, Christ leads the disciples to expect the Spirit as the Father’s great blessing. Then again, when Christ came and stood at the footstool of His heavenly throne, on the Mount of Olives, ready to ascend, what were His words? “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me.” Christ’s constant work was to teach His disciples to expect the Holy Spirit. Look through the Book of Acts, you see the same thing. Peter on the day of Pentecost preached that Christ was exalted, and had received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost; and so he told the people; “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” So, when I believe in Jesus risen, ascended, and glorified, I shall receive the Holy Ghost.

Look again, after Philip had preached the gospel in Samaria, men and women had been converted, and there was great joy in the city. The Holy Spirit had been working, but something was still wanting; Peter and John came down from Jerusalem, prayed for the converted ones, laid their hands upon them, “and they received the Holy Ghost.” Then they had the conscious possession and enjoyment of the Spirit; but till that came they were incomplete. Paul was converted by the mighty power of Jesus who appeared to Him on the way to Damascus; and yet he had to go to Ananias to receive the Holy Ghost.

Then again, we read that when Peter went to preach to Cornelius, as he preached Christ, “the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word;” which Peter took as the sign that these Gentiles were one with the Jews in the favor of God, having the same baptism.

And so we might go through many of the Epistles, where we find the same truth taught. Look at that wonderful epistle to the Romans. The doctrine of justification by faith is established in the first five chapters. Then in the sixth and seventh, though the believer is represented as dead to sin and the law, and married to Christ, yet a dreadful struggle goes on in the heart of the regenerate man as long as he has not god the full power of the Holy Spirit. But in the eighth chapter, it is the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” that maketh us free from “the law of sin and death.” Then we are “not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,” with the Spirit of God dwelling in us. All the teaching leads up to the Holy Spirit.

Look again at the epistle to the Galatians. We always talk of this epistle as the great source of instruction on the doctrine of justification by faith: but have you ever noticed how the doctrine of the Holy Spirit holds a most prominent place there? Paul asks the Galatian church:–“Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” It was the hearing of faith that led them to the full enjoyment of the Spirit’s power. If they sought to be justified by the works of the law, they had “fallen from grace.” “For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” And then at the end of the fifth chapter, we are told:–“If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit.”

Again, if we go to the epistles to the Corinthians, we find Paul asking the Christians in Corinth:–“Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?” If we look into the epistle to the Ephesians, we find the doctrine of the Holy Spirit mentioned twelve times. It is the Spirit that seals God’s people; “Ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” He illumines them; “That God may give the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” Through Christ, both Jew and Gentile “have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” They “are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” They are “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.” With “all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love,” they “endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” By not “grieving the Holy Spirit of God,” we preserve our sealing to the “day of redemption.” Being “filled with the Spirit,” we “sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord,” and thus glorify Him. Just study these epistles carefully, and you will find that what I say is true–that the apostle Paul takes great pains to lead Christians to the Holy Ghost as the consummation of the Christian life.

It was the Holy Ghost Who was given to the church at Pentecost; and it is the Holy Ghost Who gives Pentecostal blessings now. It is this power, given to bless men, that wrought such wonderful life, and love, and self-sacrifice in the early church; and it is this that makes us look back to those days as the most beautiful part of the Church’s history. And it is the same Spirit of power that must dwell in the hearts of all believers in our day to give the Church its true position. Let us ask God then, that every minister and Christian worker may be endued with the power of the Holy Ghost; that He may search us and try us, and enable us sincerely to answer the question, “Have I known the indwelling and the filling of the Holy Spirit that God wants me to have? Let each one of us ask himself: “Is it my great study to know the Holy Ghost dwelling in me, so that I may help others to yield to the same indwelling of the Holy Spirit; and that He may reveal Christ fully in His divine saving and keeping power?” Will not every one have to confess: “Lord, I have all too little understood this; I have all too little manifested this in my work and preaching”? Beloved brethren, “The first duty of every clergyman is to humbly ask God that all that he wants done in his hearers may be first fully and truly done in himself.” And the second thing is his duty towards those who are awakened and brought to Christ, to lead them on to the full knowledge of the presence and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Now, if we are indeed to come into full harmony with these two great principles, then there come to us some further questions of the very deepest importance. And the first questions is:–“Why is it that there is in the church of Christ so little practical acknowledgment of the power of the Holy Ghost?” I am not speaking to you, brethren, as if I thought you were not sound in doctrine on this point. I speak to you as believing in the Holy Ghost as the third person in the ever-blessed Trinity. But I speak to you confidently as to those who will readily admit that the truth or the presence and of the power of the Holy Ghost is not acknowledged in the church as it ought to be. Then the question is, Why is it not so acknowledged? I answer because of its spirituality. It is one of the most difficult truths in the Bible for the human mind to comprehend. God has revealed Himself in creation throughout the whole universe. He has revealed Himself in Christ incarnate–and what a subject of study the person, and word, and works of Christ form! But the mysterious indwelling of the Holy Spirit, hidden in the depths of the life of the believer, how much less easy to comprehend!

In the early pentecostal days of the church, this knowledge was intuitive; they possessed the Spirit in power. But soon after the spirit of the world began to creep into the church and mastered it. This was followed by the deeper darkness of formality and superstition in the Roman Catholic Church, when the spirit of the world completely triumphed in what was improperly styled the Church of Christ. The Reformation in the days of Luther restored the truth of justification by faith in Christ; but the doctrine of the Holy Ghost did not then obtain its proper place, for God does not reveal all truth at one time. A great deal of the spirit of the world was still left in the reformed churches; but now God is awakening the church to strive after a fuller scriptural idea of the Holy Spirit’s place and power. Through the medium of books, and discussions, and conventions many hearts are being stirred.

Brethren, it is our privilege to take part in this great movement; and let us engage in the work more earnestly than ever. Let each of us say my great work is, in preaching Christ, to lead men to the acknowledging of the Holy Spirit, who alone can glorify Christ. I may try to glorify Christ in my preaching, but it will avail nothing without the Spirit of God. I may urge men to the practice of holiness and every Christian virtue, but all my persuasion will avail very little unless I help them to believe that they must have the Holy Ghost dwelling in them every moment enabling to live the life of Christ. The great reason why the Holy Spirit was given from heaven was to make Christ Jesus’ presence manifest to us. While Jesus was incarnate, His disciples were too much under the power of the flesh to allow Christ to get a lodgement in their hearts. It was needful, He said, that He should go away, in order that the Spirit might come; and He promised to those who loved Him and kept His commandments, that with the Spirit, He would come, and the Father would also come, and make Their abode with them. It is thus the Holy Spirit’s great work to reveal the Father and the Son in the hearts of God’s people. If we believe and teach men that the Holy Spirit can make Christ a reality to them every moment, men will learn to believe and accept Christ’s presence and power, of which they now know far too little.

Then another question presents itself, viz., What are we to expect when the Holy Spirit is duly acknowledged and received? I ask this question, because I have frequently noticed something with considerable interest–and, I may say, with some anxiety. I sometimes hear men praying earnestly for a baptism of the Holy Spirit that He may give them power for their work. Beloved brethren, we need this power, not only for work, but for our daily life. Remember, we must have it all the time. In Old Testament times, the Spirit came with power upon the prophets and other inspired men; but He did not dwell permanently in them. In the same way, in the church of the Corinthians, the Holy Spirit came with power to work miraculous gifts, and yet they had but a small measure of His sanctifying grace. You will remember the carnal strife, envying, and divisions there were. They had gifts of knowledge and wisdom, etc.; but alas! pride, unlovingness, and other sins sadly marred the character of many of them. And what does this teach us? That a man may have a great gift of power for work, but very little of the indwelling Spirit. In 1 Cor. xiii., we are reminded that though we may have faith that would remove mountains, if we have not love, we are nothing. We must have the love that brings the humility and self-sacrifice of Jesus. Don’t let us put in the first place the gifts we may possess; if we do, we shall have very little blessing. But we should seek, in the first place, that the Spirit of God should come as a light and power of holiness from the indwelling Jesus. Let the first work of the Holy Spirit be to humble you deep down in the very dust, so that your whole life shall be a tender, broken-hearted waiting on God, in the consciousness of mercy coming from above.

Do not seek large gifts; there is something deeper you need. It is not enough that a tree shoots its branches to the sky, and be covered thickly with leaves; but we want its roots to strike deeply into the soil. Let the thought of the Holy Spirit’s being in us, and our hope of being filled with the Spirit, be always accompanied in us with a broken and contrite heart. Let us bow very low before God, in waiting for His grace to fill and to sanctify us. We do not want a power which God might allow us to use, while our inner part is unsanctified. We want God to give us full possession of Himself. In due time, the special gift may come; but we want first and now, the power of the Holy Ghost working something far mightier and more effectual in us than any such gift. We should seek, therefore, not only a baptism of power, but a baptism of holiness; we should seek that the inner nature be sanctified by the indwelling of Jesus, and then other power will come as needed.

There is a third question:–Suppose some one says to me:–“I have given myself up to be filled with the Spirit, and I do not feel that there is any difference in my condition; there is no change of experience that I can speak of. What must I then think? Must not I think that my surrender was not honest?” No, do not think that. “But how then? Does God give no response?” Beloved, God gives a response, but that is not always within certain months or years. “What, then, would you have me do?” Retain the position you have taken before God, and maintain it every day. Say, “Oh God, I have given myself to be filled, here I am an empty vessel, trusting and expecting to be filled by Thee.” Take that position every day and every hour. Ask God to write it across your heart. Give up to God an empty, consecrated vessel that He may fill it with the Holy Spirit. Take that position constantly. It may be that you are not fully prepared. Ask God to cleanse you; to give you grace to separate from everything sinful–from unbelief or whatever hindrance there may be. Then take your position before God and say, “My God, Thou art faithful; I have entered into covenant with Thee for Thy Holy Spirit to fill me, and I believe Thou wilt fulfill it.” Brethren, I say for myself, and for every minister of the gospel, and for every fellow worker, man or woman, that if we thus come before God with a full surrender, in a bold, believing attitude, God’s promise must be fulfilled.

If you were to ask me of my own experience, I would say this:–That there have been times when I hardly knew myself what to think of God’s answer to my prayer in this matter; but I have found it my joy and my strength to take and maintain my position, and say: “My God, I have given myself up to Thee. It was Thine own grace that led me to Christ; and I stand before Thee in confidence that Thou wilt keep Thy covenant with me to the end. I am the empty vessel; Thou art the God that fillest all.” God is faithful, and He gives the promised blessing in His own time and method. Beloved, for God’s sake, be content with nothing less than full health and full spiritual life. “Be filled with the Spirit.”

Let me return now to the two expressions with which I began: “the first duty of every clergyman is humbly to ask of God that all that he wants done in those who hear his preaching may be first truly and fully done in himself.” Brethren, I ask you, is it not the longing of your hearts to have a congregation of believers filled with the Holy Ghost? Is it not your unceasing prayer for the Church of Christ, in which you minister, that the Spirit of holiness, the very Spirit of God’s Son, the spirit of unworldliness and of heavenly-mindedness, may possess it; and that the Spirit of victory and of power over sin may fill its children? If you are willing for that to come, your first duty is to have it yourself.

And then the second sentence:–“the first duty of every clergyman is to lead those who have been brought to Christ to be entirely filled with the Holy Ghost.” How can I do my work with success? I can conceive what a privilege it is to be led by the Spirit of God in all that I am doing. In studying my Bible, praying, visiting, organizing, or whatever I am doing, God is willing to guide me by His Holy Spirit. It sometimes becomes a humiliating experience to me that I am unwatchful, and do not wait for the blessing; when that is the case, God can bring me back again. But there is also the blessed experience of God’s guiding hand, often through deep darkness, by His Holy Spirit. Let us walk about among the people as men of God, that we may not only preach about a book, and what we believe with our hearts to be true, but may preach what we are and what we have in our own experience. Jesus calls us witnesses for Him; what does that mean? The Holy Ghost brought down to heaven from men a participation in the glory and the joy of the exalted Christ. Peter and the others who spoke with Him were filled with this heavenly Spirit; and thus Christ spoke in them, and accomplished the work for them. O brethren, if you and I be Christ’s we should take our places and claim our privilege. We are witnesses to the truth which we believe–witnesses to the reality of what Jesus does and what He is, by His presence in our own souls. If we are willing to be such witnesses for Christ, let us go to our God; let us make confession and surrender, and by faith claim what God has for us as ministers of the gospel and workers in His service. God will prove faithful. Even at this very moment, He will touch our hearts with a deep consciousness of His faithfulness and of His presence; and He will give to every hungering, trustful one that which we continually need.

THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST

“But straightway Jesus spake unto them saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid.”–Matt. 14:27.

All we have had about the work of the blessed Spirit is dependent upon what we think of Jesus, for it is from Christ Jesus that the Spirit comes to us; it is to Christ Jesus that the Spirit ever brings us; and the one need of the Christian life day by day and hour by hour is this,–the presence of the Son of God. God is our salvation. If I have Christ with me and Christ in me, I have full salvation. We have spoken about the life of failure and of the flesh, about the life of unbelief and disobedience, about the life of ups and downs, the wilderness life of sadness and of sorrow; but we have heard, and we have believed, there is deliverance. Bless God, He brought us out of Egypt, that He might bring us into Canaan, into the very rest of God and Jesus Christ. He is our peace, He is our rest. Oh, if I may only have the presence of Jesus as the victory over every sin: the presence of Jesus as the strength for every duty, then my life shall be in the full sunshine of God’s unbroken fellowship, and the word will be fulfilled to me in most blessed experience, “Son, thou art ever with me, and all I have is thine,” and my heart shall answer, “Father, I never knew it, but it is true,–I am ever with thee and all Thou hast is mine.” God has given all He has to Christ, and God longs that Christ should have you and me entirely. I come to every hungry heart and say, “If you want to live to the glory of God, seek one thing, to claim, to believe that the presence of Jesus can be with you every moment of your life.

I want to speak about the presence of Jesus as it is set before us in that blessed story of Christ’s walking on the sea. Come and look with me at some points that are suggested to us.

1. Think, first, of the presence of Christ lost. You know the disciples loved Christ, clung to Him, and with all their failings, they delighted in Him. But what happened? The Master went up into the mountain to pray, and sent them across the sea all alone without Him; there came a storm, and they toiled, rowed, and labored, but the wind was against them, they made no progress, they were in danger of perishing, and how their hearts said, “Oh, if the Master only were here!” But His presence was gone. They missed Him. Once before, they had been in a storm, and Christ had said, “Peace, be still,” and all was well; but here they are in darkness, danger, and terrible trouble, and no Christ to help them. Ah, isn’t that the life of many a believer at times? I get into darkness, I have committed sin, the cloud is on me, I miss the face of Jesus; and for days and days I work, worry, and labor; but it is all in vain, for I miss the presence of Christ. Oh, beloved, let us write that down,–the presence of Jesus lost is the cause of all our wretchedness and failure.

2. Look at the second step,–the presence of Jesus dreaded. They were longing for the presence of Christ, and Christ came after midnight: He came walking on the water amid the waves; but they didn’t recognize Him, and they cried out, for fear, “It is a spirit!” Their beloved Lord was coming nigh, and they knew Him not. They dreaded His approach. And, ah, how often have I seen a believer dreading the approach of Christ,–crying out for Him, longing for Him, and yet dreading His coming. And why? Because Christ came in a fashion that they expected not.

Perhaps some have been saying, “Alas, alas! I fear I never can have the abiding presence of Christ.” You have heard what we have said about a life in the Spirit: you have heard what we have said about abiding ever in the presence of God and in His fellowship, and you have been afraid of it, afraid of it; and you have said, “It is too high and too difficult.” You have dreaded the very teaching that was going to help you. Jesus came to you in the teaching, and you didn’t recognize His love.

Or, perhaps, He came in a way that you dreaded His presence. Perhaps God has been speaking to you about some sin. There is that sin of temper, or that sin of unlovingness, or that sin of unforgivingness, or that sin of worldliness, compromise, and fellowship with the world, that love of man and man’s honor, that fear of man and man’s opinion, or that pride and self confidence. God has been speaking to you about it, and yet you have been frightened. That was Jesus wanting to draw you nigh, but you were afraid. You don’t see how you can give up all that, you are not ready to say, “At any sacrifice I am going to have that taken out of me, and I will give it up,” and while God and Christ were coming nigh to bless you, you were afraid of Him.

Oh, believers, at other times Christ has come to you with affliction, and perhaps you have said, “If I want to be entirely holy, I know I shall have to be afflicted, and I am afraid of affliction,” and you have dreaded the thought, “Christ may come to me in affliction.” The presence of Christ dreaded!–oh, beloved, I want to tell you it is all misconception. The disciples had no reason to dread that “spirit” coming there, for it was Christ Himself; and, when God’s word comes close to you and touches your heart, remember that is Christ out of Whose mouth goes the two-edged sword. It is Christ in His love coming to cut away the sin, that He may fill your heart with the blessing of God’s love. Beware of dreading the presence of Christ.

3. Then comes the third thought,–the presence of Christ revealed. Bless God! When Christ heard how they cried, he spoke the words of the text, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” Ah, what gladness those words brought to those hearts! There is Jesus, that dark object appears, that dreaded form. It is our blessed Lord Himself. And, dear friends, the Master’s object, whether it be by affliction or otherwise, is to prepare for receiving the presence of Christ, and through it all Jesus speaks, “It is I; be not afraid.” The presence of Christ revealed! I want to tell you that the Son of God, oh believer, is longing to reveal Himself to you. Listen! Listen! LISTEN! Is there any longing heart? Jesus says, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”

Oh, beloved; God has given us Christ. And does God want me to have Christ every moment? Without doubt. God wants the presence of Christ to be the joy of every hour of my life, and, if there is one thing sure, Christ can reveal Himself to me every moment. Are you willing to come and claim this privilege? He can reveal Himself. I cannot reveal Him to you; you cannot grasp Him; but He can shine into your heart. How can I see the sunlight tomorrow morning, if I am spared? The sunlight will reveal itself. How can I know Christ? Christ can reveal Himself. And, ere I go further, I pray you to set your heart upon this, and to offer the humble prayer, “Lord, now reveal Thyself to me, so, that I may never lose the sight of Thee. Give me to understand that through the thick darkness Thou comest to make Thyself known.” Let not one heart doubt, however dark it may be,–at midnight,–whatever midnight there be in the soul,–at midnight, in the dark, Christ can reveal Himself. Ah, thank God, often after a life of ten and twenty years of dawn, after a life of ten and twenty years of struggling, now in the light, and now in the dark, there comes a time when Jesus is willing just to give Himself to us, nevermore to part. God grant us that presence of Jesus!

4. And now comes the fourth thought,–The presence of Jesus lost, was the first; the presence of Jesus dreaded, was the second; the presence of Jesus revealed, was the third; the presence of Jesus desired, is the fourth. What happened? Peter heard the Lord, and yonder was Jesus, some 30, 40, 50 yards distant, and He made as though He would have passed them; and Peter,–in a preceding chapter I spoke about Peter, shewing what terrible failure and carnality there was in him,–but, bless the Lord, Peter’s heart was right with Christ, and he wanted to claim His presence, and he said, “Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come upon the water to Thee.” Yes, Peter could not rest; he wanted to be as near to Christ as possible. He saw Christ walking on the water; he remembered Christ had said, “Follow Me;” he remembered how Christ, with the miraculous draught of fishes, had proved that He was Master of the sea, and of the waters, and he remembered how Christ had stilled the storm; and, without argument or reflection, all at once he said, “There is my Lord manifesting Himself in a new way; there is my Lord exercising a new and supernatural power, and I can go to my Lord, He is able to make me walk where He walks.” He wanted to walk like Christ, he wanted to walk near Christ. He didn’t say, “Lord, let me walk around the sea here,” but he said, “Lord, let me come to Thee.”

Friends, would you not like to have the presence of Christ in this way? Not that Christ should come down,–that is what many Christians want; they want to continue in their sinful walk, they want to continue in their worldly walk, they want to continue in their old life, and they want Christ to come down to them with His comfort, His presence, and His love; but that cannot be. If I am to have the presence of Christ, I must walk as He walked. His walk was a supernatural one. He walked in the love and in the power of God. Most people walk according to the circumstances in which they are, and most people say, “I am depending upon circumstances for my religion. A hundred times over you hear people say, “My circumstances prevent my enjoying unbroken fellowship with Jesus.” What were the circumstances that were found about Christ? The wind and the waves,–and Christ walked triumphant over circumstances; and Peter said, “Like my Lord I can triumph over all circumstances: anything around me is nothing, if I have Jesus.” He longed for the presence of Christ. Would God that, as we look at the life of Christ upon earth, as we look how Christ walked and conquered the waves, every one of us could say, “I want to walk like Jesus.” If that is your heart’s desire, you can expect the presence of Jesus; but as long as you want to walk on a lower level than Christ, as long as you want to have a little of the world, and a little of self-will, do not expect to have the presence of Christ. Near Christ, and like Christ,–the two things go together. Have you taken that in? Peter wanted to walk like Christ that he might get near Christ; and it is this I want to offer every one of you. I want to say to the weakest believer, “With God’s presence you can have the presence and fellowship of Christ all the day long, your whole life through.” I want to bring you that promise, but I must give God’s condition,–walk like Christ, and you shall always abide near Christ. The presence of Christ invites you to come and have unbroken fellowship with Him.

5. Then comes the next thought. We have just had the presence of Christ desired, and my next thought is,–the presence of Christ trusted. The Lord Jesus said, “Come,” and what did Peter do? He stepped out of the boat. How did he dare to do it against all the laws of nature?–how did he dare to do it? He sought Christ, he heard Christ’s voice, he trusted Christ’s presence and power, and in the faith of Christ he said, “I can walk on the water,” and he stepped out of the boat. Here is the turning point; here is the crisis. Peter saw Christ in the manifestation of a supernatural power, and Peter believed that supernatural power could work in him, and he could live a supernatural life. He believed this applied to walking on the sea; and herein lies the whole secret of the life of faith. Christ had supernatural power,–the power of heaven, the power of holiness, the power of fellowship with God, and Christ can give me grace to live as He lived. If I will but, like Peter, look at Christ and say to Christ, “Lord, speak the word, and I will come,” and if I will listen to Christ saying, “Come,” I, too, shall have power to walk upon the waves.

Have you ever seen a more beautiful and more instructive symbol of the Christian life? I once preached on it many years ago, and the thought that filled my heart then was this,–the Christian life compared to Peter walking on the waves, nothing so difficult and impossible without Christ, nothing so blessed and safe with Christ. That is the Christian life,–impossible without Christ’s nearness,–most safe and blessed, however difficult, if I only have the presence of Christ. Believers, we have tried in these pages to call you to a better life in the Spirit, to a life in the fellowship with God. There is only one thing can enable you to live it,–you must have the Lord Jesus hold your hand every minute of the day. “But can that be?” you ask. Yes, it can. “I have so much to think of. Sometimes for four or five hours of the day I have to go into the very thick of business and have some ten men standing around me, each claiming my attention. How can I, how can I always have the presence of Jesus?” Beloved, because Jesus is your God and loves you wonderfully, and is able to make His presence more clear to you than that of ten men who are standing around you. If you will in the morning take time and enter into your covenant every morning with Him, “My Lord Jesus, nothing can satisfy me but Thine abiding presence,” He will give it to you, He will surely give it to you. Oh, Peter trusted the presence of Christ, and He said, “If Christ calls me I can walk on the waves to Him.” Shall we trust the presence of Christ? To walk through all the circumstances and temptations of life is exactly like walking on the water,–you have no solid ground under your feet, you do not know how strong the temptations of Satan may come; but do believe God wants you to walk in a supernatural life above human power. God wants you to live a life in Christ Jesus. Are you wanting to live that life? Come then, and say, “Jesus, I have heard Thy promise that Thy presence will go with me. Thou hast said, “My presence shall go with thee,”–and, Lord, I claim it; I trust Thee.”

6. Now, the sixth step in this wonderful history. The presence of Christ forgotten. Peter got out of the boat and began to walk toward the Lord Jesus with his eyes fixed upon Him. The presence of Christ was trusted by him, and he walked boldly over the waves; but all at once he took his eyes off Jesus, and he began at once to sink, and there was Peter, his walk of faith at an end; all drenched and drowning and crying, “Lord, help me!” There are some of you saying in your hearts, I know, “Ah, that’s what will come of your higher-life Christians.” There are people who say, “You never can life that life; do not talk of it; you must always be failing.” Peter always failed before Pentecost. It was because the Holy Spirit had not yet come, and therefore his experience goes to teach us, that while Peter was still in the life of the flesh he must fail somehow or other. But, thank God, there was One to life him out of the failure; and our last point will be to prove that out of that failure he came into closer union with Jesus than ever before, and deeper dependence. But listen, first, while I speak to you about this failure.

Someone may say, “I have been trying, to say, `Lord, I will live it;’ but, tell me, suppose failure come, what then?” Learn from Peter what you ought to do. What did Peter do? The very opposite of what most do. What did he do when he began to sink? That very moment, without one word of self-reproach of self-condemnation, he cried, “Lord, help me!” I wish I could teach every Christian that. I remember the time in my spiritual life when that became clear to me; for up to that time, when I failed, my only thought was to reproach and condemn myself, and I thought that would do me good. I found it didn’t do me good; and I learn from Peter that my work is, the very moment I fail, to say, “Jesus, Master, help me!” and the very moment I say that, Jesus does help me. Remember, failure is not an impossibility. I can conceive more than one Christian who said, “Lord, I claim the fulness of the Holy Ghost. I want to live every hour of every day filled with the Holy Spirit;” and I can conceive that an honest soul who said that with a trembling faith, yet may have fallen; I want to say to that soul, Don’t be discouraged. If failure comes, at once, without any waiting, appeal to Jesus. He is always ready to hear, and the very moment you find there is the temper, the hasty word, or some other wrong, at once the living Jesus is near, so gracious, and so mighty. Appeal to Him and there will be help at once. If you learn to do this, Jesus will lift you up and lead you on to a walk where His strength shall secure you from failure.

7. And then comes my last thought. The presence of Jesus was forgotten while Peter looked at the waves; but now, lastly, we have the presence of Jesus restored. Yes, Christ stretched out His hand to save him. Possibly–for Peter was a very proud, self-confident man–possibly he had to sink there to teach him that his faith could not save him, but it was the power of Christ. God wants us to learn the lesson that when we fall then we can cry out to Jesus, and at once He reaches out His hand. Remember, Peter walked back to the boat without sinking again. Why? Because Christ was very near him. Remember it is quite possible, if you use your failure rightly, to be far nearer Christ after it than before. Use it rightly, I say. That is, come and acknowledge, “In me there is nothing, but I am going to trust my Lord unboundedly.” Let every failure teach you to cling afresh to Christ, and He will prove Himself a mighty and a loving Helper. The presence of Jesus restored! Yes, Christ took him by the hand and helped him, and I don’t know whether they walked hand in hand those forty or fifty yards back to the boat, or whether Christ allowed Peter to walk beside Him; but this I know, they were very near to each other, and it was the nearness of his Lord that strengthened him.

Remember what has taken place since that happened with Peter. The cross has been erected, the blood has been shed, the grave has been opened, the resurrection has been accomplished, heaven has been opened, and the Spirit of the Exalted One has come down. Do believe that it is possible for the presence of Jesus to be with us every day and all the way. Your God has given you Christ, and He wants to give you Christ into your heart in such a way that His presence shall be with you every moment of your life.

Who is willing to lift up his eyes and his heart and to exclaim, “I want to live according to God’s standard?” Who is willing? Who is willing to cast himself into the arms of Jesus and to live a life of faith victorious over the winds and the waves, over the circumstances and difficulties? Who is willing to say this,–“Lord, bid me come to Thee upon the water?” Are you willing? Listen! Jesus says, “Come.” Will you step out at this moment? Yonder is the boat, the old life that Peter had been leading; he had been familiar with the sea from his boyhood, and that boat was a very sacred place; Christ had sat beside him there; Christ had preached from that boat, from that boat of Peter’s, Christ had given the wonderful draught of fishes; it was a very sacred boat; but Peter left it to come to a place more sacred still,–walking with Jesus on the water,–a new and a Divine experience. Your Christian life may be a very sacred thing; you may say, “Christ saved me by His blood, He has given me many an experience of grace; God has proved His grace in my heart,” but you confess “I haven’t got the real life of abiding fellowship; the winds and the waves often terrify me, and I sink.” Oh, come out of the boat of past experiences at once; come out of the boat of external circumstances; come out of the boat, and step out on the word of Christ, and believe, “With Jesus I can walk upon the water.” When Peter was in the boat, what had he between him and the bottom of the sea? A couple of planks; but when he stepped out upon the water what had he between him and the sea? Not a plank, but the word of the Almighty Jesus. Will you come, and without any experience, will you rest upon the word of Jesus, “Lo I am with you alway”? Will you rest upon His word, “Be of good cheer; fear not; it is I”? Every moment Jesus lives in heaven; every moment by His Spirit Jesus whispers that word; and every moment He lives to make it true. Accept it now, accept it now! My Lord Jesus is equal to every emergency. My Lord Jesus can meet the wants of every soul. My whole heart says, “He can, He can do it; He will, He will do it!” Oh come, believers, and let us claim most deliberately, most quietly, most restfully,–let us claim, claim it, claim it, CLAIM it.