Our lord’s view of himself and his work—II - Chambers, Oswald
The Force of the Fact of Christ on Thinking and Living
It is a tremendous thing to know that there are higher heights than we can scale, deeper depths than we can fathom. The reason why average christian workers remain average christian workers is that they are grossly ignorant about things for which they see no immediate use. The majority of us are brought up on spooned meat8 for when by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of god; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food (Hebrews 5:12 RV).
1. Method of christian thinking
Have this in mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5 rv )
The method of thinking for a christian is first of all to become rightly related to Jesus christ and then to begin to think in accordance with his mind. There is nothing simple under heaven saving the personal relationship to Jesus christ, and Paul is concerned lest any philosophy should come in to corrupt that simplicity, the simplicity of an understanding relationship between god and our own soul. But i fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward christ (2 Corinthians 11:3 RV). To-day any number of religious books set out to expound Jesus christ from a philosophical point of view; they are entrancing and apparently helpful, but in reality they do a great deal of harm because instead of helping us to form the mind of Christ and understand his point of view, they serve to confuse our mind. When people use the phrase preach us the simple gospel, they generally mean, preach us the thing we have always listened to, the thing that keeps us sound asleep; don’t present us with anything new. That means the mind is not open to accept facts, not open to entering into relationship with god.
The cross is the symbol of christian living and it is also the symbol of christian thinking. Until a man is born again his thinking goes round and round in a circle and he becomes intoxicated with his own importance. When he is born again there is a violent readjustment in his actual life, and when he begins to think along Jesus christs line there is just as tremendous a revolution in his thinking processes. To ignore the cross in either living or thinking is to become a traitor to Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul tells us how our thinking as saints is to be conducted, viz. , by casting down imaginations [reasonings], and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of god, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (RV). To bring every thought into captivity is the last thing we do, and it is not done easily; in the beginning we have to do violence to our old ways of thinking just as at sanctification we had to do violence to our old ways of living. Intellect in a saint is the last thing to become identified with Jesus christ. Paul urges, have this mind in you, which was also in Christ jesus (RV). Many a christian who loves Jesus christ in his heart denies him in his head.
The method of thinking for the saint is not to think along the line of christian principles, but after he has become rightly related to Jesus christ to see that he allows nothing to corrupt the profound simplicity of that relationship. That will mean we shall only have those experiences which Jesus christ sanctions. If you go on the line of accepting whatever can be experienced, you will find you have to accept the wildest, vaguest, most indeterminate things. For example, a man may come and tell you that he has had communication with departed friends; well, he is no more likely to be untruthful than you are how are you going to judge whether his experience is right or not? The only guide is your personal relationship to Jesus christ. Jesus Christ prohibits it, and that shuts the door straight off for you from tampering with spiritualism, therefore you refuse to have anything to do with what he will not allow. It is imperative to estimate the danger abroad to-day in books which deal with christian thinking, particularly those which have the word psychology tacked on; be sure what kind of psychology it is unless it is the psychology of the bible it may be the psychology of agnosticism pure and simple; it may sound all right but in the final result it dethrones Jesus Christ. The christian method of thinking has its source in a personal relationship to Jesus christ, and this means we have to take into account our lords view of himself. In reading the new testament the first thing that strikes you with overwhelming clarity is that our lords fundamental view of himself was his oneness with the father. The first and foremost consciousness of Jesus was not the needs of manhood, not the pitiable condition of men, but his relation- ship to his father whose name he had to hallow before all else. Our lords holy living was produced by submitting himself to his father: verily, verily, i say unto you, the son can do nothing of him- self, but what he seeth the father doing ( john 5:19 rv ); his holy speaking was produced by submitting his intellect to his father: for i spake not from myself; but the father which sent me, he hath given me a commandment, what i should say, and what i should speak ( john 12:49 RV ); and his holy miracle working was produced by submitting his will to his father: the father abiding in me doeth his works ( john 14:10 RV ).
That is our lords view of himself, and when we become identified with him he relates us to himself as he was related to his father. . . . That they may be one, even as we are one. As saints, are we submitting our intellect to the revealed will of god and refusing to be corrupted from the simplic- ity of that relationship? The insistence all through the epistles is on being transformed by the renewing of our mind; on having our minds stirred by being put in remembrance, and on building ourselves up on our most holy faith. We are called upon not only to be right in heart, but to be right in thinking. When we have become personally related to Jesus Christ we have to do the thing that is in our power to do, viz. , think aright. In Philippians 4:89 Paul gives the rule for the thinking life of the christian. Have we ever given our brains the task of concentrated thinking along that line? Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatso- ever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. It is because we will not bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of christ that all the perplexities are produced regarding methods of thinking which look like christianitystrands are taken out of Jesus christs teaching, the bible is exploited to agree with certain principles, but the truth, our lord Jesus christ, is ignored. If we base our thinking on principles instead of on a person we shall go wrong, no matter how devout or honest we are. The one great truth to keep stedfastly before us is the lord Jesus christ; he is the truth. Only the whole truth is the truth, any part of the truth may become an error. If you have a ray of light on the truth never call it the whole truth; follow it up and it will lead you to the central truth, the lord Jesus christ.
2. Method of christian living
For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps. . . . (1 peter 2:21 RV )
The life of a christian is stamped by a strong family likeness to Jesus. When we become rightly related to god on the ground of the redemption our brains have to begin to think along the lines Jesus christ thought on, and in our bodily life there will be produced a likeness to him, so that people take knowledge of us, that we have been with Jesus. The piety which is not built on a personal relationship to Jesus christ is simply religious egotism, and the scunner that most of us have against pi people is wholesomely right. A pi person is simply overweeningly conceited religiously; he substitutes prayer and consecration for devotion to Jesus i am going to give so much time to prayer, so much time to bible study, and by doing these things i shall produce the type of life which will please god. Where does Jesus christ come in? He does not come in anywhere. The first thing the holy spirit does is to take away all sense of our own importance and produce in us a state of true humility. The test of all doctrine is, does it produce a likeness to Jesus christ? The final test is how a mans thinking works out in his life. The apostle paul warns about the thinking which says that by sheer will power a man can do what he likes: . . . Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, . . . But are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh (colossians 2:23 RV). The test of this will to power method of thinking is, has it any element of power over the wrong thing, over the disposition of sin? Jesus christ alone can deal with that.
Take another method of thinking, the aesthetic and here i am on the ground that i know better than any other, saving my souls salvation. An aesthete bases all his thinking on the principle that anything that produces joy is justifiable for him. Aestheticism may be all very well for the kingdom of heaven, but it is the doctrine of the devil himself for the kingdom of earth. If once you base your thinking on the principles of aestheticism, you can justify any kind of vile corruption. The test of every system of thinking is not how it works in the best case, but how it works in the worst case. If the test were the best cases, that is, if every- one were well brought up, if men and women had not a moral twist, then any of these philosophies would work out quite well. The miracle of the redemption of jesus christ is that he can take the worst and the vilest of men and women and make saints out of them.
Another method of thinking is egoistical. The egoist is one who makes all his thinking center around human personality. The number of books written from this standpoint is legion. Our greatest work, they say, is to get straight down to the one important thing, viz. , man, his dignity and nobility, and to look after his needs. What is the practical outworking of this? That god and man are one and the same. All we have to do is to let our inmost personality have expressionand what are we doing? We are express- ing god. Is that line of thinking unfamiliar to-day? It is becoming more and more familiar.
The christian method of thinking puts the intellect second, not first; the modern view puts intellect on the throne. God does not sum up a mans worth by his thinking, but by the way he expresses his thinking in actual life, that is, by his character. It is possible for there to be a tremendous divorce between a mans thinking and his practical life; the only thing that tells in the sight of god is a mans character. Beware of putting principles first instead of a person. Jesus Christ puts personal relationship firstbe rightly related to me, then work out your thinking.
In these methods of thinking which contrast with the christian method, certain aspects of Christianity are stressed whilst other aspects are ignored, and in this way mens minds are corrupted from the simplicity which is in Christ jesus. The presentation given of Jesus christ in these methods of thinking is of one who has a little more breath than the rest of us; he is in the same swim, but able to turn round and give us a helping hand. Is that the view the new testament gives of Jesus christ? Jesus said, upon this rock i will build my church the rock of personal revelation of who Jesus christ is the son of the living god. This is the invincible fact against which nothing can prevail. Along this line we see the profundity of the apostle pauls words, for i determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus christ, and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). According to the new testament the historic Jesus and the eternal Christ are one and the same. The glorified lord who appeared to the apostle in all his ascended majesty is this same Jesus who trod this earth with naked feet, and wove with human hands the creed of creeds. The Jesus who saves our souls and identifies us with himself is this same Jesus who went to sleep as a babe on his mothers bosom; and it is this same Jesus, the almighty, powerful Christ, with all power in heaven and on earth, who is at work in the world to-day by his spirit.