This is a continuation of my study of the book Studies In The Sermon On The Mount by Oswald Chambers. Read my synopsis of previous chapters here:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2

     Chapter 3: Incarnate Wisdom and Individual Reason.

     This chapter covers Matthew 5:43-6:34. Again, I highly recommend reading the Scripture passages before reading the chapter. The main theme of this chapter is the wisdom of God vs. common sense.

Divine Rule of Life
     The Lord here gives us a divine rule that we are to follow: to love both good and bad people as God does.”Beware of walking in the spiritual life according to your natural affinities . . . Never let those likes and dislikes be the rule of your Christian life.” Oswald Chambers is here repeating what he believes is one of the central tenets of the Christian life: that the Christian must give up his right to himself to Jesus Christ. A Christian does not have the right to have his own likes and dislikes, to choose to like some people and not others.

     The command to love our enemies is like “a ripping and tearing torpedo that splits to atoms every preconceived notion a person ever had.” Again, this teaching brings us to despair unless we have allowed Christ to remake us within. This command is impossible to obey without being regenerated. Note that Jesus commands us to do the exact thing that our flesh cannot do.

Divine Region of Religion
     Philanthropy: We are to give with no other motive than to please God.
     Prayer: We are to pray with no other motive than to know God. “What is my motive? Is it because I have a personal secret relationship to God known to no one but me?” “Prayer is not getting things from God, that is a most initial stage; prayer is getting into perfect communion with God; I tell Him what I know He knows in order that I may get to know it as He does.”
     Penance: Fasting and spiritual disciplines are for God’s eyes alone.

Get the point?

Divine Reasonings of Mind
     Human thinking must be put to death, especially in the area of money. The world says we can compromise and serve both God and mammon, because that is quite respectable. “Never compromise with the spirit of mammon. When you are right with God, you become contemptible in the eyes of the world.”

Divine Reasonings of Faith
     We must believe that God is Who He says He is regardless of our circumstances. “Most of us are pagans in a crisis; we think and act like pagans. Only one out of a hundred is daring enough to bank his or her faith in the character of God.” We can only get insight into what Jesus Christ teaches by obedience.

      I will finish with this quote from the end of the chapter:

     “Notice what Jesus said would choke the word He puts in – the Devil? No, the cares of this world. That is how infidelity begins. It is the little foxes that spoil the vines, the little worries always. The great cure for infidelity is obedience to the Spirit of God. Refuse to be swamped by the cares of this world, cut out nonessentials and continually revise your relationship to God and see that you are concentrated absolutely on Him. The one who trusts Jesus Christ in a definite practical way is freer than anyone else to work in the world. Free from fret and worry, we can go with absolute certainty into daily life because the responsibility of our lives is not on ourselves, but on God. If we accept the revelation of Jesus Christ that God is our Father and that we can never think of anything He will forget, worry becomes impossible.

     These are thoughts worth pondering on this week.

At evening time there shall be light!
Yes, when the night draws nigh,
When shadows lengthen, and the sun
Is parting from the sky;
When the warm air grows chill, and earth
Lies in obscurity;

There shall be light! A light unseen
Amid the glare of day,
It shall illume the lonely path
Through which thy footsteps stray,
To guide thee, lure thee, cheer thee on
Amid the darkest way.

There shall be light! As tender hands
Light children to their bed,
So shall thou just as lovingly,
As tenderly be led,
And shown upon what pillow, thou
Mayst lay thy weary head.

There shall be light! Yet faith’s bright eye
Alone that light can see;
Can take from death its chill, its gloom,
And lend it ecstasy;
Look up! And see the risen Christ
Shine, like the sun, for Thee!

-From Golden hours: Heart-hymns of the Christian life
by Elizabeth Prentiss

Picture from AllPosters.com

     The story of Lydia Vins begins in the last days of old Russia, when the Tsars still ruled. Born into a Christian family in Siberia, she grew up attending church during a brief time of freedom for Russian Christians. At the age of twelve, she made her family’s faith her own by trusting Christ as her own Savior. As she grew older and persecution of Russian Christians gained momentum, she knew that her loyalty to Christ could cost her everything. However, this was a price she was willing to pay.

      In 1927, Lydia married Peter Vins, an American citizen who had returned to his homeland of Russia to preach the Gospel and suffer with his own people. His marriage proposal was no ordinary one:

 I do not want to hide anything from you: I know, that according to the will of God I am here, in the Far East, but I foresee that my work here will be extremely difficult. If you can agree to share this work for the Lord with me, to wander together, and even possibly die in the cold Siberian forests, then please marry me.

      After only three years of marriage, Lydia’s husband was arrested and imprisoned. They had one son, Georgi. Prison was followed by exile in a remote Siberian town, which was a time of tremendous suffering and poverty for the whole family. They were permitted to live together, but their identity as Christians made it difficult to find work. During this time, Peter became severely ill for six months. They had no income, hardly any food, and few friends. One day Lydia felt that she could not handle life any more and cried to her husband that God had truly forgotten them and would not answer their prayers. Just two hours later, still in a state of hopelessness, she received a notice in the mail that she was to go to the bank to receive a money transfer from Canada. It was enough money to buy food for a whole month! This assurance of God’s faithfulness was exactly what Lydia needed for the suffering of the years ahead.

      Peter Vins was arrested multiple times, the final arrest being in 1937. For several months Lydia and her son Georgi regularly went to the prison where Peter was being held. They sat on a bench in a location where they knew Peter could see them and stayed there for hours. Finally, one day, the cell windows were covered and they saw their beloved father and husband no more. For years they received no news of him at all, until finally Lydia was simply informed that he had died. No further details were given. It was not until 1995 that the family learned that he had been executed in August of 1937.

      Lydia was now a widow, even though she did not know it at the time. Many years of difficulties awaited her. Most importantly, however, she raised her only son in the ways of the Lord. Georgi grew up to follow in his father’s footsteps, fully prepared to face prison and death for Christ’s sake. He preached the Gospel throughout Russia until he, too, was imprisoned, leaving behind a wife and several small children.

      Despite advancing age and ill health, Lydia was never an idle woman. Besides helping to raise her grandchildren during her son’s imprisonment, she also became the president of the Council of Prisoner’s Relatives, a group of wives and mothers of imprisoned Christians dedicated to helping other families of imprisoned Christians. Many Russian Christians had very large families, so when the father of the family was imprisoned this created tremendous hardship. Lydia visited these families to gather information about persecution and to assist them with their financial, spiritual, and legal needs. Like a modern-day Esther, she openly petitioned the Soviet government for the release of imprisoned Christians. She was fully aware of the danger of her work, but her love for Christ and His people would not allow her to stop.

      In 1970, at the age of sixty-four, Lydia was arrested and charged with slander of the Soviet state. Her efforts to expose the persecution of Christians had not gone unnoticed. Observers at her trial commented that she conducted herself with much wisdom and tact. No witnesses were allowed to speak in her defense. She was sentenced to three years in a prison camp with no regard for her age and poor health. After two years in prison, a parole board offered to release her early if she would sign a statement stating that she didn’t believe in God anymore. She refused. God protected her throughout her prison term and returned her safely to her family. The persecution of her family continued, however, with her son being arrested again just a few months later. Lydia continued to serve her family and other believers. In 1979 she was “exiled” – along with her son and his family – to America. The years of persecution were over. Lydia Vins is now in eternity, but her testimony lives on.

      There is much more to the story of Lydia Vins, more trials and tribulations, joys and sorrows. I have been familiar with her story for some time, yet only recently have I thought about her life in the context of history. To the casual observer, much of her life seems hidden and insignificant – simply performing the duties of a wife, mother, and grandmother. However, when I think about her fearless obedience to Christ, her diligent instruction of her son and grandchildren, and her willingness to face suffering rather than to deny Christ, I realize that she was one of many faithful Christians who cracked the foundation of the Soviet empire. Her family is one of the most amazing examples of multigenerational faithfulness I have ever heard of. She said “Yes” to Christ and “No” to the world over and over again – a powerful witness to the reality of God in a society that steadfastly denied His existence.

Recommended reading:
Testament From Prison by Georgi Vins
Children of the Storm: The Autobiography of Natasha Vins
Along the Path of Faithfulness by Georgi Vins

This mini-biography is part of an ongoing series of stories about Godly women of the past and present. Do you have a story about a Godly woman who has impacted your life? If so, post it on your blog and place a link to your post here in the comments! Click here to learn a little more about this meme.

     As for me, I kind of like the idea of a new hospital. It would open up new opportunities and breathe some modern, fresh air into the local medical community. I’ve been frustrated at some of the backwards, way-behind-the-times stuff that goes on around here. We’ll see what happens.

     Even though I can’t go to Haiti, I’ve been interested in some of the organization that are doing relief work right now. I’m actually interested in smaller organizations, because in my experience they use donations more efficiently and actually are involved in the lives of the people they are helping. Danita’s Children is one such organization. There’s also Water for Life, an organization some people in my local area are involved in. Feel free to leave a comment about any other organizations you know of.

     I’m house-sitting for someone in town for a couple of weeks. All I’m really doing is sleeping there during the day and bringing in the mail. It’s a quiet place, which is nice. I’ll go back there sometime this morning to sleep. I need to go to Wal-Mart first, though. I like going there early in the morning so I don’t have to compete with the crowds. Our local Wal-Mart is a zoo.

     I’d better get off the computer and get some real work done. Goodbye for now . . .

“Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be denied; but that they might eat the Passover.”–JOHN xviii. 28.

     There is no doubt that had Pilate been absent from Jerusalem at the time of our Lord’s trial before the Sanhedrim, they would have rushed Him to death, as afterward Stephen, and have risked the anger of the Governor.  But they dared not attempt such a thing beneath the eyes of the dreaded Roman eagles.  They must needs obtain Pilate’s countersign to their death sentence, and, indeed, consign their victim to him for execution.  The Lord was to die, not the Jewish death by stoning, but the terrible Roman death of crucifixion.

     The day then breaking was that before the Passover.  If the order for execution were not obtained that morning, the case could not come on for seven days, and it would have been highly impolitic, from their point of view, to keep Jesus so long in bonds.  The national sentiment might have awoke and refused to sanction their treachery.  For the same reason it was necessary to carry the sentence into effect with as little delay as possible, or the whole plot might miscarry.  Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas to the official residence of Pilate, which had been the palace of the magnificent Herod–and it was early.

     In the palace there was a hall where trials were usually conducted; but the Jewish dignitaries who had not scrupled shamelessly to condemn Jesus were too scrupulous to enter the house of a Gentile on the eve of the feast, for fear there might be a single grain of leaven there, and the mere suspicion of such a thing would have disqualified them from participating in the feast.  Remember that these men had just broken every principle of justice in their treatment of Jesus, and now they palter over minute points of Rabbinical casuistry.  So Philip of Spain abetted the massacres of Alva, but rigorously performed all the rites of the Church; and the Italian bandit will carefully honor priest, and host, and church.  How well our Lord’s sharp sword cut to the dividing of soul and spirit, in such cases as these: “Ye pay tithe of mint, and cummin, and anise, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law.” It is an evil day when religion and morality are divorced.

     Pilate knew too well the character of the men with whom he had to do, to attempt to force their scruples, and went out to them; so that for most of the time his intercourse with Jesus was apart from their interference and scrutiny.  Without much interchange of formalities, the Governor asked, “What accusation bring ye against this man?”

     It was not a little disappointing to their pride to be obliged to adduce and substantiate capital charges against Jesus, so they replied in general terms, and with the air of injured innocence, “If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him unto thee.”  It was as though they said, “There is no need for thee to enter into the details of this case; we have thoroughly investigated it, and are satisfied with the conclusive evidence of our prisoner’s guilt; you may be sure that men like ourselves would never come to thee at such an hour, on such an errand, unless there were ample grounds for it.”

     But Pilate was in no mood to be talked with thus.  He saw their eagerness to ward off inquiry, and this was quite enough to arouse his proud spirit to thwart and disappoint them.  He knew well enough that they wanted him to pronounce the death sentence; but he pretended not to, and said, in effect, “If your judgment, and yours only, is to settle the case, take ye Him and judge Him according to your law, inflicting such penalty as it directs.”

     The Jewish notables at once saw that they must adopt a more conciliatory tone, or they would lose their case; they therefore explained that they wanted a severer sentence than they had the right to inflict.  “It is not lawful,” they said, “for us to put any man to death.”

     Pilate again asked for a statement of the crime of which Jesus was accused.

     Now mark the baseness of their reply.  The only crime on which they had
condemned Jesus to death was His claim to Deity; but it would never have done to tell Pilate that.  He would simply have laughed at them. They must find some charge which would bring Him within the range of the common law, and be of such a nature that Pilate must take cognizance of it, and award death.  It was not easy to find ground for such a charge in the life of one who had so studiously threaded His way through the snares they had often laid for Him; who had bade them render Caesar’s things to Caesar; and protested that He was neither a ruler nor judge.  Their only hope was to rest their charge on His claim to be the Messiah, construing it as the Jews were wont to do, but as Jesus never did, into a claim to an outward and visible royalty.  They said, therefore, as Luke informs us, “We found this man perverting the
nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ a King.”

     This was quite enough to compel Pilate to institute further inquiry. There were thousands of Jews who questioned Caesar’s right to tax them, and were willing to revolt under the lead of any man who showed himself capable.  It was certainly suspicious that such a charge should be made by men who themselves abhorred the yoke of Rome.  However, Pilate saw that he had no alternative but to investigate the case further.  He therefore went within the palace to the inner judgment hall, summoned Jesus before him, and said, not without a touch of sarcasm in his tones, “Art Thou the King of the Jews?”  Thou poor, worn, tear-stained outcast, forsaken by every friend in this Thy hour of need, so great a contrast to him who built these halls and aspired to the same title–art thou a king?

     He probably expected that Jesus would at once disclaim any such title. But instead of doing so, instead of answering directly, our Lord answered his question by propounding another–”Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee concerning Me?”  The purport of this question seems to have been to probe Pilate’s conscience, and make him aware of his own growing consciousness that this prisoner was too royal in mien to be an ordinary Jewish visionary.  It was as though He said: “Dost thou use the term in the common sense, or as a soul confronted by a greater than thyself?  Do you speak by hearsay or by conviction?  Is it because the Jews have so taught thee, or because thou recognizest Me as able to bring order and peace into troubled hearts like thine?”

     Whatever thoughts had instinctively made themselves felt were instantly
beaten back by his strong Roman pride.  Never before had he been catechised thus.  And he answered haughtily, “Am I a Jew?  Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered Thee unto me: what hast Thou done?”

     Our Lord did not answer that question by enumerating deeds which had filled Palestine with wonder; but contented Himself by saying that He had committed no political offence, and had no idea of setting Himself up as king, in the sense in which Pilate and the Jews used the word: “My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from hence.”

     Never in the history of this world did the lips of man speak or his ears listen to a more pregnant or remarkable utterance.  But it has been shamefully misunderstood.  Men have misread the words, and said, See, the religion of Jesus is quite unworldly, has nothing to do with the institutions and arrangements of human life.  It deals with the spiritual, and not with the secular.  It treats of our spirits, not our hands or pockets.  So long as we recognize Christ’s authority in the Church, we may do as we like in the home, the counting-house, the factory, and the shop.

     It was in no such sense that Jesus uttered these words, and the mistake has largely arisen through the misunderstanding of the word of as used by our translators.  It has not the force of belonging to, or being the property of; but is the translation of a Greek preposition, meaning out of, springing from, originating in.  We might freely translate the Master’s words thus: “My kingdom does not originate from this world; it has come down from another, to bring the principles, methods, and inspirations of heaven to bear on all the provinces of human thought and activity.”  The Son of Man claims the whole of man and all that he does as a subject of His realm.  He cannot spare one relationship of human life, one art, one industry, one interest, one joy, one hope from the domain of His empire.  He has a word about the weight in the pedlar’s bag, the dealings of the merchant on ‘Change, the justice and injustice of wars that desolate continents.

     The one conspicuous proof of the absolutely foreign origin of this heavenly kingdom is its refusal to employ force.  Its servants do not fight.  In the garden the King had repudiated the use of force, bidding His servant sheathe His sword.  Whenever you encounter a system that cannot stand without the use of force, that appeals to the law court or bayonet, you are sure that, whatever else it is, it is not the Kingdom of Christ.  Christ’s kingdom distinctly and forever refuses to allow its subjects to fight.  They who would surround Christianity with prestige, endow it with wealth, and guard it with the sword, expel its Divine Spirit, and leave only its semblance dead upon the field.  But if the aid which might be deemed essential is withheld, whether of funds or force, it thrives and spreads until the hills are covered with its goodly shadow, and its products fill the earth with harvests of benediction.  All the Gospel asks for is freedom–freedom to do what Jesus did, in the way He did it; freedom because of its belief that the power of truth is greater than all the power of the Adversary.  Oh for a second Pentecost!  Oh for the holy days of Apostolic trust and simplicity!  Oh for one of the days of the Son of Man, who came to our world armed with no authority save that of truth, clothed with no power but that of love.

     In Pilate’s next question there seems a touch of awe and respect: “Art Thou a king then?”  That moral nature which is in all men, however debased, seemed for a moment to assert itself, and a strange spell lay on his spirit.

     With wondrous dignity our Lord immediately answered, “Thou sayest that
I am–a king.”  But He hastens to show that it was a kingship not based upon material force like that of the Caesars, nor confined to one race of men: “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice.”  There is no soul of man, in any clime or age, devoted to the truth, which does not recognize the royalty and supremacy of Jesus Christ.  There is an accent in His words which all the children of the truth instantly recognize.  The idea here given of Jesus gazing ever into the depths of eternal truth, and bearing witness of what He saw, not in His words alone, but in His life and death; and of the assent given to His witness by all who have looked upon the
sublime outlines of truth, is one of those majestic conceptions which cannot be accounted for on any hypothesis than that the speaker was Divine.

     When Pilate heard these words, he probably thought of the Epicureans, and Stoics, and other philosophers, who were perpetually wrangling about the truth, and demanding men’s allegiance.  “Oh,” said he to himself, “here is another enthusiast, touched with the same madness, though He does seem nobler than many of His craft.  One thing is clear, that my lord has nothing to fear from His pretensions.  He may sit as long as He likes on His ideal throne without detriment to the empire of the Caesars.” With mingled bitterness and cynicism, he answered, “What is truth?” and, without waiting for an answer, went out to the group of Jewish rabbis waiting in the opening daylight, and threw them into convulsions of excitement by saying, “I find in Him no fault at all.”

     They were the more urgent, saying, “He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judaea, and beginning from Galilee even unto this place.”

     The mention of Galilee came as a gleam of light to Pilate.  He was sincerely desirous not to be an accomplice in the death of Jesus, by falling into the plot which he had been astute enough to detect.  But not daring to take the only honorable and safe way of declaring His innocence, and summoning a cohort of soldiers to clear the court, he endeavored to exculpate himself by throwing the responsibility on Herod.  He congratulated himself on the ingenuity of a plan which should relieve him of the necessity of grieving his conscience on the one hand, or of irritating the Jews on the other, and which would conciliate Herod, with whom he was at this time on unfriendly terms.
When he knew therefore that He was of Herod’s jurisdiction he sent Him unto Herod, who himself was at Jerusalem in those days.

     Herod was glad to see the wonderful miracle-worker of whom he had heard so much, and hoped that He might do some wonder in his presence; and, in the hope of extorting it, set Him at nought, and mocked Him, with his mighty men.  But the Lord remained absolutely silent in his presence, as though the love of God could say nothing to the murderer of the Baptist, who had not repented of his deed.  Finally, therefore, disappointed and chagrined, Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate, admitting that he had found in Him no cause of death.

     If, indeed, we have identified ourselves with the cause of Christ, our hearts must move in sympathy with its successes and its failures. We shall tremble for the ark of God. But it is quite possible to allow our hearts to tremble for it too much. Never forget that it is God’s ark, and that He will take care of it.

     Now and then, at some British Association, or in Parliament, or in some other place where the famous or at least the notorious congregate, there is a word spoken in favour of Christ and Christianity; and immediately it is taken up in pulpits and on platforms; it is reiterated in religious newspapers and periodicals; and there is among a certain class of Christians a flutter of congratulation, as if the utterance of the great man had made all the foundations secure. Such snapping up of the crumbs of patronage is contemptible; and the weak people who go into these ecstasies are the very same who quake, as if all the foundations were destroyed, when an attack on religion is made by some clever man.

     Ours is an age of majorities. We grow up under the impression, which is borne in on us from every side, that, if the opinion of the majority has declared itself, that which it has declared for must prevail, and that which it has declared against must disappear. It may be a good enough doctrine in some things; but there are important limits to its application. There are things which do not submit themselves to the judgment of the many or the few. Rather they judge all critics. Do the judges approve of them? Then it is well for the judges; but, if not, they persist all the same. One man, with truth and the promise of God at his back, is stronger than an opposing world. Not unfrequently has this been the predicament in which the cause of Christ has found itself. It has come through crises, when persecution has tried to exterminate it with fire and sword. It has passed through periods of scepticism, when learning and cleverness have fancied that they had blown it away as an exploded superstition. Men have had to stand up for it single-handed against principalities and powers; but, with it at their back, they have been stronger than all that were against them; as one in such circumstances sang,

God’s Word, for all their craft and force,
One moment shall not linger,
But, spite of hell, shall have its course-
Tis written by His finger.

And, though they take our life,
Goods, honour, children, wife,
Yet is their profit small.
These things shall perish all,
The City of God remaineth.

-From The Four Men and Other Chapters by James Stalker

1. I finally figured out how to single-space poetry in Wordpress! Yay!

2. “The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil” - a quote from Hudson Taylor.

3. God’s Beauty Parlor.  An audio message by Sabrina Wurmbrand.

4. Danita’s Children is an organization that is currently taking in a large number of newly orphaned children in Haiti. This would be a good organization to donate to.

5. A Pakistani Christian has been sentenced to life in prison on false charges. We need to remember daily those who are in prison for their faith.

     Today I’m going to summarize chapter 2 of Studies In The Sermon On The Mount by Oswald Chambers. You can read my summary of chapter 1 here.

     Chapter 2 deals with Jesus’ exposition of the law in Matthew 5:21-42. Be sure to read the Scripture passages that correspond with each chapter, as the book doesn’t actually quote much Scripture verbatim, but rather lists the verse numbers at the beginning of each section. Keep your Bible handy while you are reading, as you will need to refer back to the Sermon on the Mount frequently to understand what the book is talking about.

     Oswald Chambers uses three words to describe and categorize this section of Scripture: purity, practice, and persecution.

Purity
     Jesus Christ demands purity, yet there are many misconceptions about what purity is. “No one is born pure: purity is the outcome of conflict.” Jesus gives us a pure heart through His redemptive work. If that is true for us it will work itself out in actual conduct. Purity comes from having Jesus Christ’s disposition in us. “Jesus Christ demands that the heart of a disciple be fathomlessly pure . . .”

     Jesus demands that we be pure in motive. “I may never be angry in deed, but Jesus Christ demands the impossibility of anger in disposition. The motive of my motives, the spring of my dreams, must be so right that right deeds will follow naturally.” We must have an entirely new nature. We cannot become pure by trying to submit a sinful disposition to rules and regulations, nor can purity be imitated. “By the marvelous atonement of Jesus Christ applied to me by the Holy Spirit, God can purify the springs of my unconscious life until the temper of my mind is unblameable in His sight.”

     Jesus teaches us to initiate reconciliation, no matter how humiliating it is. “If it is important enough for the Holy Spirit to have brought it to your mind, that is the thing He is detecting. . . . if my disposition has been altered, I will obey Jesus at all costs.”

     Jesus Christ goes to the root of the matter in dealing with all kinds of sordid sin. He insists on real purity, not just a sense of propriety. He demands a sterling purity, one that only He Himself can give. “If Jesus Christ can make us only prudish, we would be horrified if we had to go and work amongst the moral abominations of heathendom; but with the purity Jesus Christ puts in He can take us where He went Himself and make us capable of facing the vilest moral corruption, unspotted. He will keep us as pure as He is Himself.”

     “There is nothing more heroic or more grand than the Christian life. Spirituality is not a sweet tendency towards piety in people who have not enough life in them to be bad; spirituality is the possession of the life of God that is masculine in its strength, and He will make spiritual the most corrupt, twisted, sin-stained life in He be obeyed. Chastity is strong and fierce, and the man or woman who is going to be chaste for Jesus Christ’s sake has a gloriously sterling job ahead.”

     The basis of the spiritual life is the sacrifice of the natural life. This means cutting off things that we perceive to be necessary, as Jesus figuratively states. “The only right Christians have is the right to give up our rights.”

Practice
     Regeneration brings new habits. We must start new habits immediately. Discipline is necessary to change habits. Failure to practice what Christ teaches is a result of a lack of personal discipline. This will show itself in our words. “Jesus is saying that our conversation should spring from such a basis of His Spirit in us that everyone who listens is built up by it.”

Persecution
     The true Christian has a meekness that is contemptible in the eyes of the world, therefore he will be slapped and insulted. “The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on Jesus Christ’s errands, no time is to be taken in standing up for ourselves. Personal insult will be an occasion in the saint for revealing the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.”

     Jesus teaches us to go beyond what is expected, to do what is not our duty. This is only possible through the life of the Son of God. “Every time I insist upon my rights I hurt the Son of God.”

     Jesus also commands us to give to those who ask, not because they deserve it or because we feel sorry for them. “We can always find a hundred and one reasons for not obeying our Lord’s commands, because we will trust our reasoning rather than His reason, and our reason does not take God into calculation. How does civilization argue? ‘Do these people deserve what I am giving them?’ As soon as you talk like that, the Spirit of God says, Who are you? Do you deserve more than other people the blessings you have?”

       There was a tremendous amount to absorb in this chapter. After I compiled all my notes, I realized that this summary would not be as concise as I thought it would be. Come back next week for part 3!

Testimony

How gladly would Thy children, Lord,
In goodly company,
Unite to sound Thy praises out,
And testify of Thee.

If we oft times in silence sit,
Thou who our hearts dost know,
Seest a love that finds no words
And tears that do not flow.

There rests upon our mortal tongues,
Sometimes a secret spell,
It is not coldness that is mute,
But love that loves too well.

We thank, we bless Thee, that to Thee
This is no sinful mood,
That by the depths that dwell in Thine
Our hearts are understood.

Search us and try us, not alone
Our sinfulness to see,
But to detect the love that longs
To testify of Thee.

-From Golden hours: Heart-hymns of the Christian life
by Elizabeth Prentiss

     Many, many moons ago, my two youngest brothers shared these bunks. Aren’t they cute ?