Part 1 (1/2)
Standards of Life and Service.
by T. H. Howard.
PREFACE
The following pages contain reports of addresses delivered by Commissioner Howard, of our International Headquarters, during an important series of Holiness Meetings held in the Congress Hall, London, princ.i.p.ally in 1908. Those Meetings were widely used by G.o.d, and at my request the Commissioner has revised the shorthand reports of his words for this volume. We now send forth his messages in the hope of still further extending their usefulness.
Christianity is a present-day call to a good life. If it be anything less than that, it is really not worth troubling about. It is, of course, rich in holy memories, and venerable in its a.s.sociation with all that is true and best in the past. But it is not only ancient in its origin and triumphs--it is intensely modern in its touch with human need, and in its demand that the spirit of righteousness should be the controlling force in human life--in the common life of to-day. It is the aim of the following addresses to bring that truth home to us, and to help us to go direct to JESUS CHRIST Himself for power to respond to that claim.
Cast in popular form, as was necessary for meeting such occasions as those which called them forth, these addresses do not attempt any comprehensive statements of the philosophy of Holiness. Anything of that kind, no matter how successful, would have been the undoing of the whole effort. Nevertheless, the diligent reader will, I think, find underlying these practical counsels certain valuable principles. In particular, he will find implied, when not actually expressed, an important distinction between the work of G.o.d in the justifying and purifying of the soul, and the work of man in walking in obedience to the laws of G.o.d. It is that obedience I am thinking of when I say that Christianity is a demand for righteousness. It is that obedience we mean when we talk of Holiness--in its practical aspects.
One of the dangers to which all deeply spiritual teaching is open, is a kind of antinomianism--a species of religious bargaining between the soul and G.o.d; and that is a thing which is, of course, totally alien to His will, and completely ruinous to true progress. The process of such thought is something like this: 'Christ has performed for me a work of infinite love and merit. If I confess and deplore evil, I may claim pardon for it and purifying from its guilt by faith in the Divine Sacrifice made for me. That will ease my burdened soul and free me from apprehension as to future peril--peril which would otherwise have proved very real. As to temptation to further evil, I must watch against it; but if by chance or evil impulse, or even wilful choice, I fall into it, let me not be too deeply concerned. I can easily obtain again what I have obtained before.'
Now, that is not only a false position, but it involves an extremely dangerous error--an error which in practice is ultimately destructive of real faith. Salvation--indeed, all spiritual experience, is entered into by faith, of course; but it can only be maintained by hearty, determined obedience on our part. Christ has died for us, but He has not obeyed for us. The 'new heart' is by faith in Him--but the new life can only be lived by watchful and often painful obedience to the law of love. 'I counsel thee to buy of Me', saith He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, 'white raiment that thou mayest be clothed'; and 'Blessed', He says also, 'is he that watcheth, and _keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked_'. Paul prayed for the saints of his day 'that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith'; but he prayed also that they 'might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, _being fruitful in every good work_, strengthened _with all might_ unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness'.
It is towards standards for this life of rightly living that Commissioner Howard is working in the following chapters. May the blessing of the great Standard-Bearer rest upon his words, and give the light and grace which He alone can afford to every reader.
BRAMWELL BOOTH.
THE SALVATION ARMY, LONDON, _April, 1909_.
FOREWORD
I wish that these Addresses could, in their present form, be marked by those personal experiences which made the thoughts so alive to me when the words were uttered in public Meetings. If the flashes of light, the intensity of conviction, and the sense of Divine help which were mine when speaking, could be reproduced in cold type, the impression upon the readers would be much more effective. That may not be fully possible, but I pray that in His own way G.o.d may use the book to the helping of many souls in the things which make for Holiness and happy service.
T. H. H.
_Thou hidden love of G.o.d, whose height, Whose depth unfathomed no man knows; I see from far Thy beauteous light, Inly I sigh for Thy repose: My heart is pained, nor can it be At rest till it finds rest in Thee._
_Is there a thing beneath the sun That strives with Thee my heart to share?
Ah, tear it thence, and reign alone, The Lord of every motion there!
Then shall my heart from earth be free, When it hath found repose in Thee._
_Oh, hide this self from me, that I No more, but Christ in me, may live; My vile affections crucify, Nor let one darling l.u.s.t survive!
In all things nothing may I see, Nothing desire or seek, but Thee!_
_Each moment draw from earth away My heart, that lowly waits Thy call: Speak to my inmost soul, and say, 'I am thy Lord, thy G.o.d, thy All!'
To feel Thy power, to hear Thy voice, To share Thy cross be all my choice._
'WE believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be ”wholly sanctified”, and that their ”whole spirit and soul and body” may ”be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.