We hear a great deal to-day about being 'sanctified by faith.' I
believe that as much as any man, but the office of faith is to bring
us the power that cleanses, and the application of that power
requires our work, and it requires our fighting. So it is not enough
to say, 'Trust for your sanctifying as you have trusted for your
justifying and acceptance,' but you have to work out what you get by
your faith, and you will never work it out unless you fight against
your unworthy self, and the temptations of the world. The garb of the
candidate for the day is armour.
And there is another side to that same thought, and that is, the more
vivid our expectations of that blessed dawn the more complete should
be our bracing on of the armour. The anticipation of that future, in
very many instances, in the Christian Church, has led to precisely
the opposite state of mind. It has induced people to drop into mere
fantastic sentiment, or to ignore this contemptible present, and
think that they have nothing to do with it, and are only 'waiting for
the coming of the Lord,' and the like. Paul says, 'Just because, on
your eastern horizon, you can see the pink flush that tells that the
night is gone, and the day is coming, therefore do not be a
sentimentalist, do not be idle, do not be negligent or contemptuous
of the daily tasks; but because you see it, put on the armour of
light, and whether the time between the rising of the whole orb of
the sun on the horizon be long or short, fill the hours with
triumphant conflict. Put on the whole armour of light.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account