Now comes the question which I really wanted to put,--What are the
conditions under which our blessed Lord reveals Himself? Or, put it this
way,--To whom is it that Jesus will reveal Himself? We have only to see
how he dealt with these disciples, and we get the answer. What is the
answer? First of all I think I find here that Christ revealed Himself to
those disciples
_Who had given up everything for Him._
He had said to them: "Forsake all and follow Me," and they had done it.
With all their feebleness and all their unfaithfulness they followed
Christ to the end. He said to them: "Ye have continued with Me in My
temptations, and I appoint you a kingdom, as I have received a kingdom
from My Father." They were not perfect men, but they would have died for
Him. They loved Him, they obeyed Him, they followed Him. They had left
all, and for three years they had been following hard after Christ. You
say "Tell me what Christ wants of me, if I am to have his wonderful
presence. Tell me what is the character of the man to whom Christ will
reveal Himself in this highest and fullest way?" I answer: "It is the
one who is ready to forsake all and to follow Him." If Christ is to give
Himself wholly to me, He must know that He has me wholly for Himself;
and I trust God will give grace that these words spoken about the
consecration and the surrender, not only of all evil, but of many lawful
things, and even, if necessary, of life itself, may lead us to
understand what the demand is that Jesus makes upon us.
The motto of the Cape General Mission is,
"_God first._"
In one sense that is a beautiful motto, and yet I am not always
satisfied with it, because it is a motto that is often misunderstood.
God first may mean "I" second, something else third, and something else
fourth. God is thus first in order, but still God becomes one of a
series of powers, and that is not the place God wants. The meaning of
the words, "God first" is really "God all; God everything;" and that is
what Christ wants. To be willing to give up everything, to submit to
Christ to teach him what to say and what to do, is the first mark of the
man to whom Christ will come. Are you not ready to take this step and
say: "Jesus! I do give up everything; I have given up everything; reveal
Thyself."
Oh, brother! oh, sister! do not hesitate. Speak it out in your heart,
and let this be the time in which a new sacrifice shall be laid at the
feet of the blessed Lamb of God.
There is a second thought. There is first the idea of having forsaken
all to follow Him; of having given up everything in obedience to Him,
and living just a life of simple love and obedience. But there is a
second thing needed in the man who is to have this full revelation of
Christ. He must be
_Convicted of his unbelief._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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