The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-09-26

# his life, like all
~ AE other life, begins
with 4 birth.
There is a natural birth. aud there is
a spiritual birth. That which Is born
of the flesh is flesh. thar which is born
of the Spirit is spirit
In this new Spirit born life. there
are degrees of growth and attainment,
as indicated in such phrases as: life.
and life more abundantly'; peace,
and peace that passeth all under
standing; faith, and the fulness of
faith; joy, and Joy unspeakable and
full of glory"
Every Christian believer is indwelled
by the Holy Spirit. This should be
regarded as a settled matter, based on
such scriptures as | Cor. GIG, II Cor.
5:5, Gal. 4:6. This indwelling of the
Spirit, which is common 20 all true
Christians, rests upon a fact, namely,
the fact of our union with Christ. But.
not all Christians are infilled with the
Spirit, although there is in our text a
plain word of counsel and command
to be so filled.
This milling of the Holy Spirit may
be regarded as the supreme qualifica-
tion, both for Christian life and sery-
ice. Out of this fulness there is an
overflow of spiritual blessing to the
world-our world-that circle which
we touch individually day by day. In
the home, or the school, OF the ac-
counting room, or the market place,
just as tout of His Chat Is, Christ's)
fulness all we receive" so out of
Spirit-filled lives, the world receives.
The world as such cannot receive the
Spirit, but the world can see the mani
festations of the Spirit in its opera.
ton in the lives of Gods people.
According to scripture Tie Spirit
filed believer is the divine ideal, both
for life and for service. True service
consists in making Christ known TO
the world, not only in preaching, bur
in patient ~forbearance, in loving kind,
ness, in self-denial, in sacrifcial serv,
ice. In order to accomplish this, the
Spirit-illed life is necessary. On this
depends the manifestation of those
gifts and graces that beautify charac-
ter and impart to the life Iha; which
is most desirable.
There is one necessary condition for
the obtaining of this supreme quallf-
cation which enables a Christian TO
represent Christ to the world, worthily
and well. That condition is found In
su/l scriptures as Rom. GLIB and
L L. These scriptures may be summed
up in the one word-"yield." This
word implies the subsection of self
will to the divine will, or the presenta-
ton of ourselves to God in an intelli-
gent act. This act of yieldedness
should be regarded as the beginning of
a life of ~yieldedness, a life in which
the attitude of heart, expressed in the
act is maintained as a regular habit.
Christ died that He might be Lord.
as well as to atone for our sins. Hay-
ing received the forgiveness Of sins at
the cost of His precious blood, it is
becoming in the Christian to make
Christ Lord of his life. This can be
done not on the basis of any feeling.
or because someone so advises. but
because of the Word which is writ
ten, "yield yourselves TO God as those
that are alive from the dead" As
Christian believers we are united to
Christ. We died with Him and we are
raised with Him. This is TO be be-
lieved and acted upon. Then as those
risen in Christ 1t becomes natural and
proper to present ourselves unto God.
and to dedicate our lives to Him in an
intelligent way. There is no substi
tute for this. The experience of Abra-
ham might well serve as an illustra-
ton in this matter of yieldedness. or
surrender. 10 the will of God.
In the words of Heb. II 81 he
offered up Isaac, his only son; at the
same time he believed that Cad was
able TO raise up Isaac, if necessary, so
in the power Of an intelligent faith he
decided over to God the best he had.
Turning now TO Gen. % :16 We find
this word-"Because thou hast lone
this thing, and hast not withheld thy
son, thine only son: that in blessing !
will bless thee. and in multiplying |
will multiply thy seed as the stars of
the heaven, and as the sand which is
upon the sea shore" So is It today.
Because thou hast done this thing. be-
cause thor hast acted in faith on the
basis of Gods requirement in His
Word, in blessing He blesses more
abundantly and iinparts unto US even
the fulness of His Holy Spirit.