THE
CONTRAST.
BY ABBIE MILLS.
“Walk as children
of the light,” saith the apostle who those whom he declares were once darkness,
but now are light in the Lord. He sets before these who were once dead in
trespasses and sins, the wonderful change that has been wrought through the
riches of the grace of Christ, and the exceeding greatness of His power toward
us who believe. Now, the darkness of being past, we are to put off the old man
and put on the new man, even the Lord Jesus Christ, and then walk conformable
to our new relations, adorning His doctrine in all things; having no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness; no longer walking as fools, but as wise.
And to those who walk in the light of God, what a vast field for work opens up,
both for the enriching of our own souls and for helping others out of the toils
of sin into the liberty of the Children of God. So that we need to redeem the
time, that God may receive the glory due from us as a part of His inheritance.
And as in times past we were alienated from the life of God through our
ignorance, so now we are not to be unwise, but are to understand what the will
of the Lord is. The light of the Spirit shining on the World and in our hearts
fills them with a knowledge of Him, so that we are enabled to give thanks
always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, because we find God in everything, bringing the light out of darkness,
making a way whereby sin might be washed away, that the life of God might again
dwell in the souls of men, and that this life might be so abundant in those who
are continually trusting all to Jesus, as to cause soul and body to bear His glorious image, that, being
strong, having healthy minds in healthful bodies, according to the riches of
His glory, we might be able to comprehend, most lovingly and believingly, the
exceeding greatness of His love, and be filled with His fullness.
In our thought we
have limited Him in His working in us as it regards both body and soul. Our
faith being weak has grasped only a Heaven that we wait for after death, not
realizing that if the temple of the Holy Ghost is kept as it should be for its wondrous
Guest, and He truly abides there according to His intent, there will be a
Heaven begun at once, and continuing until this mortal shall put on immorality,
and we enter into the eternal inheritance prepared for us from the first, but
utterly lost to us when we were dead in sin.
In the epistle to
the Ephesian saints the apostle shows us what a glorious church the Lord would
have, even without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. But how difficult is it
for us to believe that He means that we shall be thus beauteous in His sight
now, while our bodies are all out of order, full of aches and pains, with
nerves that are bearing somber and distorted impressions to the mind. And so,
many have come to think that we must lay these bodies in the grave before the
Spirit can be victorious. In our blindness we do not ask the Lord to prepare
the temple for His Spirit, and to so fill us with a knowledge of His will that
we shall see our privilege in this direction, to come to Him with our sickness
as well as our sins, that, being rid of these, we may indeed be ready to put on
the whole armor of God, and wear it to the praise and glory of Him Who
is so rich in mercy, love and power towards us; Who is our life, and health and
peace; and Who waits to possess us wholly, that the world may see Him
manifesting Himself in our bodies as well as in the souls He has washed with
His blood.
Rockford, Ill.
***
“Break forth into joy, sting together, ye waste places of Jerusalem:
for the Lord hath comforted His people.”
