04 -- THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS IS THE BEAUTY OF CHRISTLIKENESS
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me. Christ within me, Christ
beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ in
the fort, Christ in the chariot seat. Christ in the heart of every man who
thinks of me. Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in
every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. -- Ancient Prayer
Much of the Christianity of our day is disappointing because it seems to
fall short of real Christlikeness. People naturally expect that we who profess
Christ should become like Christ. Paul in Phil. 2:5, says: "Let this mind
be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. " In other words, be Christlike.
Christlikeness cannot be attained by the mere effort of morality or moral
culture.
The Christlike life can only be achieved by holy men and women. There must
be the inward work, first of the Spirit of the Lord in the heart; there must be
the inward cleansing of the blood; there must be the stamping of the Divine
image upon the heart purified by sanctifying grace. Wesley sings:
"Rest for my soul I long to find; Saviour of all, if mine thou art,
Give me thy meek and lowly mind, And stamp thine image on my heart. "
To be Christlike means a holy combination of the qualities of Righteousness
and Compassion and Love. When the Spirit descended on Jesus it was in the form
of a dove.
The dove hath neither claw nor sting, Nor weapon for the fight, She owes her
safety to her wings, Her victory to flight.
Christlikeness in the believer makes him suffer long for righteousness'
sake.
When on a certain occasion Archbishop Fenelon, that holy man of France,
after having experienced much trouble and persecution from his opposers, was
advised by some one to take greater precautions against the artifices and evil
designs of men, he made answer in the true spirit of a Christian,
"moriamur in simplicitate nostra, " 'let us die in our simplicity. '
He that is wholly in Christ, has a oneness and purity of purpose, altogether
inconsistent with those tricks and subterfuges, which are so common among men.
He walks in the broad day. He goes forth in the light of conscious honesty. He
is willing that men and angels should read the very bottom of his heart. He has
but one rule. His language is, in the ordinary affairs of life as well as in
the duties of religion, 'My Father, what wilt thou have me to do?' -- this is
Christian simplicity; and happy, thrice happy is he who possesses it. , ,
Christlikeness will produce in us a sweet reasonableness and correct those
tendencies toward self-will and arbitrariness so common to human nature. It
will arrest leanings toward fanaticism. It will make us teachable, docile and
considerate for others and their opinions. Dr. Steele, writing of the fanatic
which is the creature of loveless light, says:
"He abjures and pours contempt upon that scintillation of the eternal
Logos - Human reason. This lighted torch, placed in man's hand for his guidance
in certain matters, he extinguishes in order ostensibly to exalt the candle of
the Lord, the Holy Ghost, but really to lift up the lamp of his own flickering
fancy. He who spurns the spirit will be left to darkness outside the narrow
sphere of reason; and he who scorns reason will be left to follow the
hallucinations of his heated imagination, instead of the dictates of his common
sense. The fanatic degrades the word of God by claiming for himself an
inspiration equal to its the opneustic utterances. The fanatic imagines he has
a manifestation of God so immediate that he no longer needs the ordained means
of grace. He is characterized by acts professedly prompted by the Spirit, but
which are contrary to both reason and the Word of God. "
Likeness to Jesus produces his patience and his attitude of soul when
suffering and trials come. Madame Guyon has well said:
"Holy souls are without impatience, but not without trouble; are above
murmuring, but not above affliction. The souls of those who are thus wholly in
Christ may be regarded in two points of view, or, rather, in two parts, namely,
the natural appetite, propensities and affections, on the one hand, which may
be called the inferior part; and the judgment, the moral sense and the will, on
the other, which may be described as the superior part. As things are in the
present life, those who are wholly devoted to God may suffer in the inferior
part, and may be at rest in the superior. Their wills may be in harmony with
the Divine will, they may be approved in their judgment and conscience, and at
the same time may suffer greatly in their physical relations and in their
natural sensibilities. In this manner, Christ upon the cross, while His will
remained firm in its union with the will of His heavenly Father, suffered much
through His physical system; He felt the painful longing of thirst, the
presence of the thorns and the agony of the spear. He was deeply afflicted also
for the friends He left behind Him, and for a dying world. But in His inner and
higher nature, where He felt Himself sustained by the secret voice uttered in
His sanctified conscience and in His unchangeable faith, He was peaceful and
happy. "
One who had entered into spiritual rest and was experiencing a great passion
for being like Christ thus describes some soul sensations passed through:
"It is by looking to Jesus, " or "looking at Jesus, that we
are changed into his image. " It struck my mind with peculiar force, and
produced such a thrill of holy joy as I cannot describe. I was then looking at
Jesus. He seemed standing before me, arrayed in glory and beauty that surpassed
all I had ever before conceived of, and looking upon me with a look of tender
regard, benignant love and divine complacence, seemed to claim me for His own.
My soul was so captivated with the charms of the adorable Redeemer, that when
my leader spoke of being changed into his image, I felt such a transport of
bliss, as nearly overpowered me. Oh! thought I, to be assimilated to His
glorious likeness -- to be a partaker of His nature -- to be "one with
Him!" What ineffable felicity - what overwhelming glory -- what amazing
exaltation! for an abject worm of earth, to be changed into the image of Jesus!
And this is my privilege! I, who am "less than the least of all saints.
" I, who am the most unworthy of so distinguished a favor, thus honored,
thus blessed of God! Heretofore my heart has borne but the mere outlines of
that glorious image; but now, I am to receive the full impress! Yes, now, while
I am looking at Jesus! now, He is molding me and fashioning me after His own
lovely likeness! My soul is in His hands, passive as clay in the hands of the potter.
Jesus is making me all glorious within! I shall be like Him! I have fixed my
eyes upon Him, never more to remove them thence, and it is by looking at Him
that I am to be conformed to His likeness! O! such a fullness of love and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost. I seemed, indeed, "filled unutterably full of
glory and of God. " As I came home, Jesus seemed walking with me, and
communing with my heart by the way. When I retired to my chamber, His presence
accompanied me, and His glory appeared to fill the room! For several hours, I
could not sleep. My heart was in such raptures of joy, that I could not become
sufficiently composed to sleep. At length exhausted nature sank into repose;
but still my mind was occupied with the same glorious object. Often I would
awake in ecstasies, exclaiming "Jesus! O, thou art my Saviour, 'my
Redeemer from all sin' -- my happiness -- my heaven!" I have since,
enjoyed the same delightful consciousness of His presence, who is the life of
all my joys, and am still enabled to keep my eyes unwaveringly fixed upon Him.
I see clearly that this is the way, and the only way to abide in His love, and
to have the continued victory over the world, the flesh, and Satan, to keep
looking at Jesus.
A certain seeker said, "While entreating God for a clean heart my mind
was led to contemplate 'the image of Christ' as the single object of desire. To
be Christlike, to possess 'all the mind that was in' the blessed Saviour; and
this became the burden of my earnest prayer. "
And the thought occurred to him. why not take that image, and take it now?
He said:
"Give Him your sin and take His purity. Give Him your shame and take
His honor. Give Him your helplessness and take His strength. Give Him your
misery and take His bliss. Give Him your death and take His life everlasting.
Nothing remains but that you take His in exchange. Make haste! Now, just now,
He freely offers you all, and urges all upon your instant acceptance. " He
adds: "Suddenly I felt as though a hand omnipotent, not of wrath but of
love, were laid upon my brow. That hand, as it pressed upon me, moved downward.
It wrought within and without, and wherever it moved it seemed to leave the
glorious impress of the Saviour's image. For a few minutes the depth of God's
love swallowed me up; all its billows rolled over me. "
Cecil has said, 'The union of saints results from union with Christ, as the
lodestone not only attracts the particles of iron to itself by the magnetic
virtue, but by this virtue it unites them to one another. " This attachment
to Christ furnishes the soul a great incentive to be true and steadfast in all
circumstances. The Christian devoted to Christ can sing:
"Though I am now on hostile ground, Christ for me! Christ for me! And
sin beset me all around, Christ for me! Christ for me!
Let earth her fiercest battles wage, And foes against my soul engage, Strong
in His strength I scorn their rage, Christ for me! Christ for me!
"And when my life draws to its close, Christ for me! Christ for me!
Safe in His arms I shall repose, Christ for me! Christ for me!
When sharpest pains my frame pervade, And all the powers of nature fade,
Still will I sing through death's cold shade, Christ for me! Christ for
me!"
Consecration
"The body with all its members; the mind with all its faculties; the
soul with all its affections, tastes and appetites; the substance with all its
gains and uses, including business pursuits and social relations, recreations,
education, thought and reading, embracing all our advantages natural and
acquired; indeed, our whole life, together with our death, grave and memory,
must be given to Christ and placed under contribution for His glory.
"Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die
unto the Lord; whether we live therefore or die we are the Lord's.
"Living, dying, suffering, rejoicing, resting, toiling, we are the
Lord's, entirely His for time and eternity. "
