Education In holy habit - Chambers, Oswald

Psalms 86:11; 143:10

Educative evangelism

Versus emotional evangelism after a great crisis, such as an experience of salvation or sanctification, the danger is that we fix ourselves there and become spiritual prigs. A spiritual prig is one who has had an experience from god and has closed down on it, there is no further progress, no manifestation of the graces of the spirit. The world pours contempt on that kind of christian; they seem to have very little conscience, no judgement, and little will. We have to remember that unless we are ener- gised by the spirit of god, the margins of our spirits retain the damage done by the fall.

By the fall man not only died from god but fell into disunion with himself; that means it became possible for man to live in one of the three parts of his nature. What happens at new birth is that a man is not only introduced into a relationship to god, but into union with himself. The one thing that is essential to the new life is obedience to the spirit of god who energises our spirits, and that obedience must be complete in body, soul and spirit. It is not done suddenly. Salvation is sudden, but the working of it out in our lives is never sudden. It is moment by moment, here a little and there a little. God educates us down to the scruple. The area of our conscious life gradually gets broader and broader, and we begin to bring into line with the new life things we never thought of before. We have to remember that we have a bodily machine which we must regulate, god does not regulate it for us. Until we learn to bring the bodily machine into harmony with gods will, there will be friction, and the friction is a warning that part of the machine is not in working order. As we bring our bodily life into line bit by bit we shall find that we have gods marvellous grace on the inside enabling us to work out what he has worked in.

The habit of a refined conscience (psalm 86:11)

Teach me thy way, o lord .

Conscience is that power in a mans soul that fixes on what he regards as the highest. Never call con- science the voice of god. If it were, it would be the most contradictory voice man ever listened to. For instance, saul of tarsus obeyed his conscience when he hounded men and women to death for worship- ping jesus christ, and he also obeyed his conscience when later on in his life he acted in exactly the opposite way (see john 16:2; acts 26:9).

(a) regulated after sin (1 timothy 1:1215)

After the disposition of sin is removed there is the need for conscience to be regulated. The spirit of god always begins by repairing the damage after sin. The apostle paul argues in romans 6, you did use your members as servants of the wrong disposition, now use them as servants of the right disposition. It is a long way to go and many of us faint in the way. After a great spiritual crisis a mans conscience looks out towards god in a new light, the light which jesus christ throws upon god, and he has to walk in that light and bring his bodily life into harmony with what his conscience records. Sin is the disposition of my right to myself, and it is also independence of god. These two aspects of sin are strikingly brought out in the bible. Sin has to be dealt with from the ethical and intellectual aspect as well as from the spiritual aspect. The way sin works in connection with the life of the soul is in independence of god. Many people are never guilty of gross sins, they are not brought up in that way, they are too refined, have too much good taste; but that does not mean that the disposition to sin is not there. The essence of sin is my claim to my right to myself. I may prefer to live morally because it is better for me: i am responsible to no one, my conscience is my god. That is the very essence of sin. The true characteristic of sin is seen when we compare ourselves with jesus christ. We may feel quite happy and contented as long as we compare ourselves with other people, because we are all pretty much the same; but when we stand before jesus christ we realise what he meant when he said, if i had not come, . . . They had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. There is a difference between a refined conscience towards god and the fussy conscience of a hypercon- scientious person without the spirit of god. Hyper- conscientious people are an absolute plague to live with, they are morally and spiritually nervous, always in terror expecting something to happen, always expect- ing trials, and they always come. Jesus christ was never morally or spiritually nervous any more than he was physically nervous. The refinement of conscience in a christian means learning to walk in accordance with the life of the lord jesus, drawing from god as he did. It is a life of absolute largeness and freedom.

(b) restored after prejudice (acts 26:45)

Prejudice means a foreclosed judgement without sufficiently weighing the evidence. When first we get right with god we are all prejudiced, ugly and distorted

When we come up against a prejudice we are stub- born and obstinate, and god leaves us alone; then the prejudice comes up again, and god waits, until at last we say i see, and we learn how to be restored after our prejudices. Wherever there is a prejudice, the grace of god is hammering at it to break it down. The havoc in lives that are going on with god is accounted for because they are being restored after prejudice. Wherever you find a prejudice in yourself, take it to jesus christ. Our lord is the only standard for prejudice, as he is the only standard for sin. Our lord never worked from preju- dice, never foreclosed his judgement without weighing the evidence. Are we letting god restore us after prejudice, or are we tied up in compartments? I have always worshipped god in this way and i always intend to. Be careful! I have always believed this and that, and i always shall. Be careful! It is easier to be true to convictions formed in a vivid religious experience than to be true to jesus christ, because if we are going true to jesus christ our convictions have to be altered. Unless our experiences lead us on to a life, they will turn us into fossils; we will become mummified gramophones of convictions instead of witnesses unto me. Some of us are no good unless we are placed in the circumstances in which our convictions were formed; but god continually stirs up our circumstances and flings us out to make us know that the only simplicity is not the simplicity of a logical belief, but of a maintained relationship with jesus christ, and that is never altered in any circumstances. We must keep in unbroken touch with god by faith, and see that we give other souls the same freedom and liberty that god gives us. The duty of every christian, and it is the last lesson we learn, is to make room for god to deal with other people direct; we will try and limit others and make them into our mould.

(c) Roused after compromise (1 thessalonians 2:1012)

In the temptation of our lord the compromise for good ends is pictured, dont be so stern against sin; compromise judiciously with evil and you will easily win your kingship of men. When we become rightly related to god our intellect is apt to say exactly the same thing, don’t be narrow; dont be so pronounced against worldliness, you will upset your friends. Well, upset them, but never upset the main thing that god is after. There is always the tendency to compromise and we have to be roused up to recognise it. We have to walk in very narrow paths before god can trust us to walk in the wide ones. We have to be limited before we can be un-limited. The bible nowhere teaches us to be uncompromising in our opinions. Jesus did not say, leap for joy when men separate you from their company for the sake of your convictions; he said, leap for joy when men cast out your name as evil, for the son of mans sake. I may be such a pig-headed cross-patch, and have such determined notions of my own, that no one can live with me. That is not suffering for the son of mans sake, it is suffering for my own sake. Never compromise with any- thing that would detract from the honour of the lord. Remember that the honour of jesus is at stake in your bodily life and rouse yourself up to act accordingly.

The habit of reliable judgement (psalm 143:10)

Teach me to do thy will. Our conscience may be right towards god, and yet we may err in judgement. When the disposition has been perfectly adjusted towards god, it does not mean we have a perfectly adjusted body and brain; we have the same body and brain as before and we have to bring them into line until we form the judgement that is according to jesus christ. Many of us are impulsive spiritually and we live to be sorry for it. We have to form the habit of reliable judgement. God never gives us reli- able judgement; he gives us a disposition which leads to a perfect judgement if we will work out that disposition.

(a) The disciplined imagination (2 corinthians 10:5)

We have to practise the submitting of our intelligence to jesus christ in his word. The imagination of a saint too often is vague and intractable. We have to learn to bring every thought and imagination into captivity to the obedience of christ. An undisciplined imagination will destroy reliable judgement more quickly even than sin. Mental and spiritual insubordination is the mark of to-day. Jesus christ submitted his intelligence to his father. Do i submit my intelligence to Jesus christ and his word?

(b) the illuminated judgement (1 corinthians 4:5)

We have to learn to see things from jesus christs standpoint. Our judgement is warped in every particular in which we do not allow it to be illuminated by jesus christ. For instance, if we listen to what our lord says about money we shall see how we disbelieve him. We quietly ignore all he says, he is so unpractical, so utterly stupid from the modern standpoint. Seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Which one of us believes that? If we are the children of god he will bring us into circumstances where we will be tested on every line to see whether we will form the habit of reliable judgement. We have to learn to see things from jesus christs standpoint. He says, all power is given unto me. . . . The illumination of judgement comes personally when we recognise that the evil and wrong in our sphere of life is there not by accident, but

In order that the power of god may come in contact with it as his power has come into us. When we come into contact with objectionable people the first natural impulse of the heart is to ask god to save them because they are a trial to us; he will never do it for that reason. But when we come to see those lives from jesus christs standpoint and realise that he loves them as he loves us, we have a different relationship to them, and god can have his way in their lives in answer to our prayer.

(c) the resourcefulness of tact (1 corinthians 9:1923)

It is instructive to notice the way our lord dealt with different people. In every case where he did not find bigotry he won them straight away. When we first become rightly related to god we have the idea that we have to talk to everyone, until we get one or two well deserved snubs; then our lord takes us aside and teaches us his way of dealing with them. How impatient we are in dealing with others! Our attitude implies that we think god is asleep. When we begin to reason and work in gods way, he reminds us first of all how long it took him to get us where we are, and we realise his amazing patience and we learn to come on other lives from above. As we learn to rely on the spirit of god he gives us the resourcefulness of jesus.

The habit of a rectified will (psalm 86:11)

Unite my heart to fear thy name. Never look upon the will as something you possess as you do a watch. Will is the whole man active. Education in holy habit is along this line: at first we pray teach me thy way, o lord; then we pray, teach me to do thy will, and step by step god teaches us what is his will; then comes a great burst of joy, i delight to do thy will! There is nothing on earth i delight in more than in thy will. When we become rightly related to god we are the will of god in dis- position, and we have to work out gods will; it is the freest, most natural life imaginable. Worldly people imagine that the saints must find it difficult to live with so many restrictions, but the bondage is with the world, not with the saints. There is no such thing as freedom in the world, and the higher we go in the social life the more bondage there is. True liberty exists only where the soul has the holy scorn of the holy ghost i will bow my neck to no yoke but the yoke of the lord jesus christ; there is only one law, and that is the law of god.

(a) the joy of jesus ( john 15:11)

The joy of jesus lay in knowing that every power of his nature was in such harmony with his father that he did his fathers will with delight. Some of us are slow to do gods will; we do it as if our shoes were iron and lead; we do it with a great sigh and with the corners of our mouths down, as if his will were the most arduous thing on earth. But when our wills are rectified and brought into harmony with god, it is a delight, a super abounding joy, to do gods will. Talk to a saint about suffering and he looks at you in amazement suffering? Where does it come in? It comes in on gods side along the line of interpretation; on the side of the saint it is an overwhelming delight in god; not delight in suffering, but if gods will should lead through suffering, there is delight in his will.

(b) the bent of obedience ( john 15:14)

Each one of us has to rule, to exercise some author- ity. When we have learned the obedience to god which was manifested in our lord, we shall govern the world. Self-chosen authority is an impertinence. Jesus said that the great ones in this world exercise authority but that in his kingdom it is not so; no one exercises authority over another because in his kingdom the king is servant of all (see luke 22:2427). If a saint tries to exercise authority it is a proof that he is not rightly related to jesus christ. The characteristic of a saints life is this bent of obedience, no notion of authority anywhere about it. If we begin to say i have been put in this position and i have to exercise authority, god will soon remove us. When there is steadfast obedience to jesus, it is the authority of god that comes through and other souls obey at once.

(c) the stage of rare fruition ( john 15:5, 8)

These verses refer to the stage of fruitionbring- ing forth fruit and the fruit remaining, that is what glorifies god and blesses others. If we as preachers or teachers are rightly related to god in obedience, god is continually pouring through us. When we stop obeying him, everything becomes as hard and dry as a ditch in mid summer. When we are placed in a position by god and we keep rightly related to him, he will see to the supply. Personally, when- ever there is dryness i know that it is because i am forgetting some particular point in relation to my own life with god; when that is put right the flow is unhindered, and i believe this is true in every phase of work for god. If you are called to preach, preach; if you are called to teach, teach. Keep obedient to god on that line. The proof that you are on gods line is that other people never credit you with what comes through you. Jesus said, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven. Go on doing gods will, and you will be recreated while you do it.