DEVOTED TO HIM
St. Paul could say, “To me to live is Christ,” for he could also say without hesitation that the one thought of his life was his Saviour’s glory. He lived for one object, and that one object is described as his life. Now we hear a great deal of consecration in these days, and we cannot hear too much, if only it is kept in its right place, for there is far too little consecration to God amongst us. Consecration is the surrender of the whole life to the Lord. It is the setting the Lord always before us in all that He calls us to do. We have been loved by Him, redeemed by Him, called by Him, and saved by Him; so now we are His. We belong to Him altogether. Our powers are no longer our own, but our Lord’s; our lives should be no longer occupied for ourselves, but for our Lord; so that in us may be carried out the purpose of redeeming love as described by St. Paul. “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.” [37]
Shall we live for ourselves or for His glory? For the gratification of self, or for the happy, holy, sacred service of Him to whom we owe all that we have, and all that we hope for, our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?
THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
“Ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”—St. John xiv. 17.
In this verse our Blessed Lord spoke of the knowledge enjoyed by His people. He spoke of the present, and the future; of that which they had then at the time that He was with them, and of that which they were about to enjoy after the Day of Pentecost, when He would be taken away from them. With reference to the present He says “He dwelleth” (or, is dwelling) with you, or amongst you; with reference to the future He says “He shall be in you.” There are clearly, therefore, two great subjects to be considered, the knowledge enjoyed by the disciples when the Lord Jesus was still upon earth, and the knowledge enjoyed by all His people ever since the Day of Pentecost.