Curiosities of Heat

by Lyman Beecher Tefft

“On one point we must pause and dwell with special clearness. Every anxious sinner must not only feel his guilty and lost condition, but he should also thoroughly understand what he means when he asks what he must do to be saved. He should see to it that he wants that salvation which Jesus gives.

“In the Scriptures the sinner who would be saved is called upon to return to God. He has gone astray. He must retrace his steps. What is meant by this? I mean that man’s sin consisted at first and consists to-day in saying, ‘I will,’ and ‘I will not,’ in opposition to the will and command of God. God said, ‘Thou shalt not;’ man said, ‘I will.’ God says, ‘Thou shalt;’ sinners say, ‘I will not.’ If a sinner is to be saved from sin, this opposition must cease. When God says, ‘Thou shalt not,’ the sinner must reply, ‘I will not,’ and when God says, ‘Thou shalt,’ the sinner must answer, ‘I will.’ The sinner’s ‘will’ and ‘will not’ must agree with God’s ‘shall’ and ‘shall not.’ In place of your self-will you must put God’s will; that is, repentance, a turning about, a returning to God. But remember, salvation, if it be real and thorough, is not submission for an hour, a day, or a year, but submission for ever and ever. It is submission without condition and without limits.

“The sinner says, ‘This is a hard saying,’ this utter and boundless denial of self-will and selfishness. But is it hard that the creature should yield to the Creator, that ignorance should yield to wisdom, that selfishness should yield to love, that sin should yield to holiness, that poor, lost, wretched, fallen man should yield to the eternal and ever-blessed God? It is only by yielding that his will is brought into sweet harmony with the will of God, and that he can be a sharer of the divine blessedness.

“Your views on this point should be clear and distinct. If you wish only to be saved from the penalty of your sins, you do not desire the salvation which Jesus gives. He saves his people, not in their sins, but from their sins. If, however, you really wish for his full and glorious salvation, you will desire that your will may be wholly subdued to the will of God. You will be found ready to unite in the memorable prayer of the Lord Jesus, ‘Not my will but thine be done.’ Salvation implies the giving up of self-will and a reverent submission to the will of God.

“Other sinful passions oppose the grace of God, but chiefly as helpers and supporters of self-will. Pride and vanity strengthen self-will. Turbulent fleshly lusts urge on and back up self-will. Fear of man, fear of danger, and unbelief are but props of self-will. When ‘my Lord Will-be-will’ submits, the town of Mansoul returns to her rightful allegiance.

“The question at issue between God and the sinner, the question of self-will or submission, is often contested around the performance of some single definite duty. The Holy Spirit often presents to the convicted sinner’s conscience some single duty and presses its performance. That duty is a test of the feelings and desires of the sinner’s heart. So the Spirit understands it, so the sinner often understands it. As, in the garden of Eden, God gave to Adam a test command, so does he now press upon the conscience of convicted sinners test duties to show them what they are. That which is required may be important, exceedingly important, in and of itself, or it may be in itself of very little consequence, but in every case the duty is all-important and its performance absolutely essential, because the Spirit has laid it upon the sinner’s conscience. It will show whether he wishes for salvation from sin or not.

“I used to hear a Christian relate an experience like this. While the Spirit of God was striving with him and conviction of sin was heavy upon him, he felt a clear impression that he ought to go to his barn, and there at one certain place upon the hay-mow kneel and pray. His self-will rose in rebellion, chiefly, it would seem, because it was laid upon his conscience as a duty. But his distress grew upon him. He went to his barn and stood at another place and tried to pray, but no light or peace came; his sense of his sins grew heavier. How could it be otherwise? He went to the spot where he thought that he ought to go, and stood and prayed. Still no peace came, but increasing sense of sin. At length he thought, ‘Why should I not? Why not give up my own will? Why not pray that God’s will may be done?’ He yielded, he kneeled at the place where he had thought he ought to kneel, and there he first felt peace before God. This was a singular experience. Perhaps a man more intelligent and better taught in the Sacred Scriptures would never have such a thing pressed upon his conscience. But the battle of self-will is commonly fought around some single definite duty. That duty may be a confession of wrong done to a neighbor, or conversation with an impenitent associate, or a public confession of sin before the great congregation. Whatever it may be, it shows the sinner his heart and leads him to decide to follow his own will just as he had always been accustomed to do, or it will lead him to pray earnestly that he may be enabled in everything to bow his will to the will of God. He will want the full salvation which Jesus in his grace brings men—salvation from the penalty of sin and deliverance from its power.

“I draw no bow at a venture and speak not doubtfully when I say some of you are standing face to face with duties pressed upon you by the Holy Spirit. Your self-will, supported by pride, and fear of man, and unbelief, and Satanic temptation, refuses to yield. The yoke of Christ seems to you like bondage. The cross is supremely heavy. You draw back from it, and refuse to bear it. I cannot take away the cross which the Spirit bids you bear. I dare not do it; I will not do it. As the messenger of Christ, I repeat the voice of the Spirit and lay the duty, whatsoever it may be, upon your consciences. Do you really and honestly wish to be saved from sin? Then you will yield to the Spirit’s kind and gracious movings; you will yield humbly but heartily. If, however, you want something else than the salvation which Jesus gives, what can you expect but perplexity, difficulty, darkness? I beseech of you, deal truly and faithfully with yourselves on this point.

“To those who wish really to be saved I have good news to proclaim. There is a Saviour such as you need. Trust in Jesus as your Saviour. Place the whole work of your salvation in his gracious hands. Christ saves sinners just such as you are. The faith which you are but to exercise is nothing else than your confidence, by which you entrust yourselves to him. Faith has no saving virtue in itself, but it is the hand by which the sinner takes hold of Christ. With this duty few of you will have any great difficulty. When once you wish to be saved from sin and are ready to submit to the will of Christ, you will have no reluctance to take him for your Saviour. You believe that Christ is a divine Saviour. If saved at all, you expect to be saved by him who died on Calvary. Hardly for the world would you resign your opportunity of coming to Christ and receiving his grace. You believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the great sacrifice for sin. It remains that you should gladly accept what he offers and follow him as loving, trusting disciples.

“Follow the Spirit, and you will be led to Jesus and will come speedily to the joy of salvation; resist the Spirit, and you grope in boundless darkness and fall upon the dark mountains.