1894 



GLEANING8 IN BEE CULTURE. 



957 



them to do the same. The words of this text, "Arm 

 ye yourselves with the mind of Chi'ist," should be 

 proclaimed with emphasis from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific, and from the T.akes to the Gulf. This is a 

 test of our personal loyalty and attachment to 

 Christ. The loyalty of many disciples is put to 

 shame by the attacliment of soldiers to their earthly 

 commander. At Austerlitz, we are told, the sol- 

 diers of Napoleon extracted from him a promise 

 that he would not expose himself to the bullets of 

 the enemy before they would g-o into battle. Are 

 we willing to suflfer hardness for Christ that his 

 name may be honored among men ? 



And now follows a remarkable (and in some ways 

 a surprising) statement: " For he that hath suffered 

 in the flesh hath ceased from sin." Manifestly this 

 statement can not refer to Christ, so far as active 

 participation in sin is concerned, for he "knew no 

 sin;" but it can refer to him so far as the annoy- 

 ance and reproach of sin are concerned, and also in 

 relation to the atonement for sin, and by analogy 

 to us so far as the power of sin is concerned. This 

 phrase may be paraphrased as follows: "The suf- 

 fering one has ceased (or is ceasing) from sin," re- 

 ferring to the effect of suffering in the flesh, in 

 purging our mortal bodies from the craving for and 

 the love of sin. Christ by his death saves us from 

 the penalty of sin: suffering witli Christ, and sacri- 

 ficing for him. delivers us from the reiarn and power 

 of sin. Herein is the reason why we are enjoined 

 to arm ourselves with the mind of Cbrist, that, 

 through suffering and sacrifice, we may purge away 

 the desire for sin, and break its power over our 

 lives. This shows the benefit of suffering, sorrow, 

 and the discipline of loss in the moral government 

 of God. They were not instituted in an arbitrary 

 manner to gratify a caprice or feed a spirit of re- 

 venge on God's part, but they are permitted as a 

 part of our discipline for the "inheritance incor- 

 ruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." We 

 find by experience that enduring hardness for Christ 

 is better for us than reclining on flowery beds of 

 ea.se, or luxuriating in pleasure. A life that is full 

 of self-indulgence never helps one to cease from 

 sin, but leads one farther and farther away in the 

 path of sin and disobedience; but pain, suffering, 

 loss, disappointment, and trial, borne in a meek and 

 quiet spirit, do help us to gain the victory over sin 

 and the flesh. In my experience as pastor, which, 

 though not extended, I think is representative, I 

 have known many people to be brought to Christ 

 through loss of friends, loss of property, and 

 through adversity, meekly borne, but never a one 

 through indulgence or self-gratification, or worldly 

 pleasure or prosperity. Tliose who have learned to 

 love Christ and serve him are rendered grateful by 

 success and prosperity; but these things in them- 

 selves do not bring men to acknowledge God and 

 hate their sins. A recent ^isit to the factory where 

 hollow-ware is manufactured gave me an illustra- 

 tion of this truth. The pots, kettles, and gridirons 

 come from the molds rough, uneven, and unfit for 

 use. Before they are fit for service they must be 

 put on the wheel and tried as by fire. Tlie wheel is 

 rough and liard; and as the rough edges are smooth- 

 ■ed down, and the rough places made smootli, the 

 fire flies but the work is done; .so if we would be 

 meet for the Master's use we must be put on the 

 wheel, and tried as by fire. It is the cross that de- 

 stroys sin and saves men— not the soft strains of 

 music nor the gliding of dancers, nor the shuffling 



of cards nor the sound of revelry and mirth. But 

 here I need utter a word of caution; some are ready 

 to say, " If suffering and loss are good as a means 

 of purging away sin, and fitting one for the service 

 of God, then let us seek them as an end." Not so. 

 Remember, we are enjoined to arm ourselves with 

 the mind of Christ. Christ never adopted the meth- 

 od of the ascetic or tlie anchorite, and infiicted pain 

 and suffering upon himself. He did not wear a 

 coat of camel's hair, nor stand on one foot, nor cut 

 himself with the lancet, nor hold his hands for hours 

 above his head as a means of pleasing God. These 

 are the methods of the religious fanatic. Christ 

 went straight ahead in the performance of his 

 duties and in doing the will of God; he met the suf- 

 fering and loss and sorrow that came to him. He 

 never went out of his way to seek them, nor should 

 we suffer them as an end to be sought in itself ; but 

 they are to be endured in the way of the perform- 

 ance of duty, when God permits them to come upon 

 us. The brighter experiences of life have also their 

 mission. Let us not despise them ; but they can not 

 do for us all that needs to be done. 



But the second verse in our text calls our atten- 

 tion to the reason of this purifying discipline; viz., 

 that we should no longer live the rest of our time 

 in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of 

 God. In reading these words I like to remember 

 that Peter wrote them. I imagine he was thinking 

 of the wayward, impulsive years which preceded 

 his full consecration to Christ. No one was better 

 fitted than Peter to give utterance to these senti- 

 ments. He knew, all too well, how he had been 

 brought to do the will of God. The first great vic- 

 tory over sin is to be won right here in this world. 

 The process is severe; viz., suffering in the flesh; 

 but the result is glorious; viz., crucifying the lusts 

 and enthroning Christ in the heart. 



In time past you have been content to live to the 

 natural desires of the heart; but henceforth ye are 

 to live to the will of God, if ye would be his disciples. 

 The difference between living to the lusts of men 

 and to the will of God is as wide as eternity. We 

 are not to understand the word " lust " as referring 

 necessarily to things that are immoral, but to the 

 uncontrolled desires of the natural heart. The 

 Christian is not to live to the gratification of his 

 own desires, but to do the will of his Father which 

 is in heaven. My brother, if you are to be a child of 

 God you must break with sin— with every known 

 sin, at any cost, even at the cost of suffering in the 

 flesh. I desire to make this point very clear and 

 emphatic in my ministry, God helping me. I see 

 those every day who are making a failure of their 

 Christian life, and others who have no joy in their 

 Christian living, because they are living their time 

 here in the fiesh to the lusts of men and not to the 

 will of God. The only successful Christian life is 

 that which is not devoted to pleasing ourselves, but 

 to doing the will of Him who hath redeemed us with 

 his own blood. Any other is such in name only. If 

 this distinction between living to the lusts of men 

 and to the will of God be not a real distinction, then 

 there is no Christian life, and our faith is vain, and 

 our hope is vain; but it is a real distinction, and the 

 end set forth is, through Christ, possible to every 

 man. May you all attain to and be heirs of that 

 "inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that 

 fadeth not away." 



There are two things in the above that took 

 a strong hold of me. The flrst is as our pastor 



