WAITING AT WISDOM'S GATES

WAITING AT WISDOM'S GATES John Gadsby, 1843 "Blessed is the man who hears Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors" (Proverbs 8:34). In the Scriptures, no more than two classes of people are declared to be in the world. The one class is called "the blessed of the Lord," and the other "the cursed of the Lord," or "the people of God's curse." This latter class contains all the "vessels of wrath fitted to destruction"; all "the generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from their filthiness"; all the "generation of vipers that cannot escape the damnation of hell"; in short, all "whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life," who are not among those whom Jesus has "redeemed unto God out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." The former class, to which the characters spoken of in the text belong, contains all who are "chosen by God the Father in Christ before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and without blame before Him in love"; all whom He "predestinated to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He has made them accepted in the Beloved; in whom they have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:3-7); all whom the Lord the Spirit "quickens into spiritual and eternal life" (Eph. 2:1); and all to whom Jehovah says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you" (Jer. 31:3). Of both these classes, or of the characters which make up these two distinct families, the Holy Spirit has given in His Word plain and striking descriptions. He has drawn their likenesses with His Divine and unerring hand, and has clearly separated the sheep from the goats, "the chaff from the wheat," and "the precious from the vile." In the text we have exhibited to us the portrait of a blessed character, an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ. His features are drawn from the life by the Spirit of life with the pencil of Divine Truth, and happy are we if we can trace any of these features in the fleshy tables of our hearts, and discover any conformity to the image of Jesus in our souls. May it be our happiness to feel that we are of the "blessed of the Lord," while attending to the description of the blessed man of whom Wisdom speaks. May "the light of life" shine upon the Word, and shine into our hearts, that although we may only see through a glass darkly, we may be enabled to hear the still small voice of the Lord saying to our souls, "Unto you is the word (and power) of this salvation sent." "Blessed is the man who hears Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors." The first thing to be attended to in endeavoring to enter into these words, is to understand who is the speaker. By the context we find that it is one whose name is "Wisdom," one who is holy, omniscient, omnipotent, and eternal; one who was "before all things, and by whom all things consist"; who, from everlasting, "from the beginning, before the earth was, was with the Lord, as one brought up by Him; who was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the habitable parts of His earth, and having His delights with, or His affections set upon, the sons of men." In short, the speaker in my text is clearly the same with Him of whom it is written, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6): "Christ, the power of God and the Wisdom of God unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks" (1 Cor. 1:24). Now this Divine, almighty, and all-wise Person is the promised Prophet of whom Moses wrote—Jehovah the Redeemer, who teaches those whom He calls to profit, and leads them in the way wherein they should go. He is here exhibited to us as a wise and affectionate mother, in which character He was well known to His people (Isaiah 49:15; 66:13), giving instruction to her children, and encouraging them to be "patient continuance in well-doing." Immanuel Jesus, says to all the elect family, "Hearken unto Me, you children; for blessed are those who keep My ways, Hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that hears Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors." By none but those who esteem themselves to be "fools" and "simple ones" is the teaching of Wisdom really valued. The wise and prudent of this world, the self-sufficient Pharisees, the unhumbled professor of the Gospel, agree in despising and counting it as a thing of nothing. But Wisdom makes all her blessed children to know and feel their great need of her Divine instruction; she causes them to hear her voice, and to turn at her reproof; she pours out her Spirit unto them, and makes known to them her words (Proverbs 1:23); the entrance (or opening) of which gives light and understanding to the simple (Psalm 119:130). But does Wisdom speak with an audible voice? Can the ears of the body catch the sound, and the natural understanding comprehend her words? No! Wisdom's voice is audible only to the new creature, which hears it in the impressions that she makes upon the heart, and in the mysterious leadings of her providence. It is "with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." "When You said, Seek My face, my heart said unto You, Your face, Lord, will I seek." But when may a man be said to have heard the voice of Wisdom? When does he give evidence of having received her Divine impressions, her heavenly and powerful operations, through the Spirit, in his heart? When a man is made to feel that he is in the hand of the holy, just, and sin-avenging Jehovah, against whom he has sinned; when his transgressions and iniquities are set before him in the light of God's countenance; when he feels himself to be justly condemned (by the law which he has broken) to the second death, and to the endurance of the wrath of God forever and ever. When the depravity, deceitfulness, and desperate wickedness of his heart is discovered to him, and he is left to cry in the bitterness of his soul, "Woe is me, for I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty"; when, like the leper, he covers his lip, and goes forth crying, "Unclean, unclean," and puts his mouth in the dust, if so be, there may be hope; when like Hezekiah, he turns his face to the wall, and weeps sore in secret before the Lord; when a sense of his darkness, ignorance, impotency, and unprofitableness, makes him cry "O Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me"; when he finds all human cisterns to be broken, and that vain is the help of man; when he feels that he is shut up and cannot come forth; when a strong conviction of the ability of Jesus to save and heal him is in his heart, and he cries unto Him to deliver him from going down to the pit; when nothing short of the Lord the Spirit's application of the love, blood, and righteousness of Jesus to his heart and conscience will satisfy him; and the spirit of grace and supplication is poured out upon him, enabling him to pour out his soul before God, to acknowledge the iniquity of his transgression, to sue for mercy, to beg for pardon, teaching, wisdom, light, and power, and to crave for one smile, one look of love, one word from Christ's lips, more than for his necessary food. I say, when he has experienced these things, he has heard more than the voice of natural conscience; more than the word of man; more than the letter of the oracles of truth. He has heard the voice of the Lord, which is powerful and full of majesty, that breaks the cedars in Lebanon, and makes the hinds to calve. As one who was dead and in his grave, he has heard the voice of the Son of God, and has been quickened by Him (John 5:25). He has heard the words of Wisdom: her voice has sounded in his soul, and has produced this wonderful change; and to him these words now apply, "The ear that hears the reproof of Wisdom shall abide among the wise." Happy, says Wisdom, is the man that is in such a state; yes, "Blessed is the man that hears Me." Again. When he who has climbed in over the wall, that has taken up a profession of religion without feeling its power, whose religion has hitherto been "feeding upon ashes," and who has never known the strait gate and narrow way, is awakened by the solemn feeling that "that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, and that except a man be born from above, he cannot see or enter into the kingdom of God"; when the sluggard awakens from his slumber, and the man that was asleep upon the top of the mast has his eyes opened to see his danger, and his heart and mouth opened to implore assistance, when the Spirit Jehovah has blown upon the bosom, and all its glory withers away; when natural knowledge of Divine truth, formal prayer, mock spirituality, feigned love, and presumptuous confidence become "a heap and desperate sorrow"; when examining himself whether he be in the faith, and trying himself by the test of God's Word, his faith is found to stand not in the power of God, but in the wisdom of man, his hope to be a false one, his love only fleshly and excited feelings, his zeal a spark from the fire of his own kindling, his wisdom folly; when he sees Tekel written upon his forehead and he trembles lest he should be lost after all his profession; when he cannot find that God has begun a good work in him, and yet lifts up his voice and entreats the Lord to have mercy upon him, and lead him in the way everlasting; when his spirit is broken with grief and sorrow, his strength has failed him and is gone, his beauty is turned into corruption, his sweet smell becomes a stink, and his girdle a rent; when, under these feelings, he is constrained to sit alone and keep silence, to separate from those he once walked with, and to esteem those to be the excellent of the earth that he once despised; when he feels the vanity of all teaching but Divine teaching, the folly of all wisdom which comes not from "the Spirit of Wisdom," and the abomination of all religion that is not planted in the heart by God's own hand; when he besieges the throne of grace with fervent petitions that he may not go on deceiving and being deceived, but that he may know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent; that he may have godly sorrow bestowed upon him, to work in his soul repentance not to be repented of; and that he may have the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom, put into his heart, with faith, hope, and love, a tender conscience, godly sincerity, truth, uprightness, meekness, and humility. Then he may be said to have heard the still small voice of Wisdom, to have heard her rod, and who has appointed it. He has then the features of a "blessed" man; "Blessed is the man that hears Me." But there are other ways in which the blessed man hears the voice of Wisdom. "My people," says the Lord, "are bent to backsliding." And there is no blessed man who is not sensible of the truth of this declaration. Wisdom speaks to her backsliding children, and makes them know that they have committed two evils: in forsaking her, the fountain of living waters, and hewing out to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, which can hold no water. Thus, when he who has backslidden in heart from Wisdom's ways, who has got entangled in the snares of his sinful heart, the world that lies in wickedness and the father of lies; when he who has "mingled himself among the people," and has become as "a cake not turned," unsavory to the world, and burdensome to the church, lukewarm, carnal, and careless; when he to whom neither heavenly things nor earthly things afford satisfaction; when he who has not heart for the former, and is condemned and unhappy in the latter; when such a one begins to feel the error of his way, to bemoan himself, to look upwards, and confess his sin to the Lord; to loathe himself and to cry "Turn me, and I shall be turned"; to long for the snare in which he is held to be broken, to be enabled once more to feel the Lord to be near; to be permitted to draw near unto Him without alarm, weariness, or aversion; to walk in His ways, to rejoice in His smiles, and to tremble at His frowns; to delight himself in God, to seek His glory; when he "accepts the punishment of his iniquity," "smarts under his wounds," groans under his hardness, roars like a bear, and mourns sore like a dove; when he is brought to lie in the dust, covered with shame, and is sometimes a little cheered by a word of encouragement for a moment resting upon his drooping spirit, producing softness, contrition, self-abasement, and greater desire to be permitted to touch the hem of Wisdom's garment; when his conscience no longer lets him do violence to it without striking "a dart through his liver," and every backward step adds "grief to his sorrow"; when he is constrained to attend to and to obey the commands that are laid upon his heart, although it mortifies his pride and debases him in the sight of man so to do; when, though his prayer seems to be shut out from the Lord, and a cloud is upon the Throne of Grace, he yet calls, cries, and shouts, nor can give Wisdom any rest until she hears and answers; then he hears her voice, and Wisdom, sooner or later, makes him feel that "blessed is the man that hears" her. Thus, then, Wisdom's voice is heard in conviction of sin, in the breaking down and rooting up of false religion, and in the convincing of the backslider that his ways are crooked and bitter. But has she no voice to declare where are her footsteps in providence, and her ways in love, mercy, grace, and faithfulness? Has this gentle, affectionate, and wise mother no kind words for her children, no promises, no consolations for her burdened and mourning family? She has! She does not use the rod alone; she does not only wound, kill, and bring down; she has words of healing, words of restoring, words of deliverance, words of gracious instruction, of tender faithfulness. In providential trials she often causes her blessed children to feel and confess that there was a needs-be for the affliction. She calls them to her feet, to make known their wants, and puts words into their hearts that they may plead with her and prevail. The blessed Spirit enlightens their eyes to see her smiles in the parting of the clouds, and sometimes to discern her good will where, to reason, there is no trace of it. Many have found, and still find, that seasons of temporal calamity are made by Wisdom, the way of entrance to her chambers, and the way of approach to her bosom. Greater nearness to her, more dependence upon her almighty arm, more confidence in her mercy and goodness, a deeper sense of her power to deliver, and of the fullness of her blessed words, are more frequently found in adversity than were felt in prosperity. Something secret, but strong, keeps the blessed man looking to his gentle mother for help and protection, something causes him to take shelter under her outspread wings; and although unbelief would sink him with despondency, something is communicated to him which holds him up, and constrains him to say, "I will trust You, though You slay me." He believes that he will be extricated from his difficulty, but how, he cannot tell. He feels that he cannot fall, but he sees not how he can stand. He believes that assistance will be afforded but he cannot guess from what quarter it will come. Here he often hangs, like a balance blown upon by the winds; sometimes the scale of faith and hope is the more weighty, and sometimes that of fear and doubt. And thus he is kept, until Wisdom suddenly comes to her temple, and causes her voice to be heard in the deliverance which she brings. Wisdom can speak by an angel; by the ravens and brook; by a prophet; by fire from Heaven; by preserving her children unhurt in the flames; by shutting the mouths of the lions; by slaying Goliath by the hand of a stripling, armed with a sling and a stone; by multiplying the loves and fishes; by restoring the sick child to health; by opening the eyes of the blind, making the lame man to leap as a deer, and the tongue of the dumb to sing. Wisdom never lacks for means, nor can any deafness prevent her voice from being heard when she deigns to speak. Sweet is her voice to those who hear it; powerful is her arm unto those in whose behalf it is revealed; loving is her heart to those that lie near her bosom; and full of consolation are her breasts to those whom she causes to seek and be satisfied therewith.

Grace COMMENTARIES

Grace COMMENTARIES

(The following are considered among the best practical and devotional commentaries ever written.)

The Gospel in Genesis (Henry Law)

The Gospel in Exodus (Henry Law)

The Gospel in Leviticus (Henry Law)

The Gospel in Numbers (Henry Law)

The Gospel in Deuteronomy (Henry Law)

The Gospel in Psalms (Henry Law)

The Treasury of David
(Spurgeon)

Psalm 119 (Charles Bridges)

Proverbs (George Lawson)

Devotional and Practical Meditations
on the Book of Ecclesiastes
(George Mylne)

The Song of Solomon (Henry Law)

Matthew (J. C. Ryle)

Mark (J. C. Ryle)

Luke (J. C. Ryle)

John (J. C. Ryle)

The New Testament Parables (Stevens)

PAUL'S SONG OF SONGS (John MacDuff)
A devotional exposition of Romans 8

The Believer's Triumph (James Smith)
A devotional exposition of Romans 8

No Condemnation! (Octavius Winslow)
A devotional exposition of Romans 8

Ephesians (Henry Law)

Ephesians (J. C. Philpot)

1 Peter (Robert Leighton)

Revelation (John MacDuff)

Revelation (Horatius Bonar)

HEAVEN

HEAVEN by Archibald Alexander Heaven is a reality, not seen by eyes of flesh, but made known by revelation, and received by faith. Heaven is a rest from toil, trouble, temptation, and sin. Such a rest is very desirable, if it were only a sweet sleep; but heaven is more. It is a state of delightful activity. Every faculty and every affection will find appropriate exercise; and probably latent powers, not needed here, will there be waked into activity—powers suited to the new condition in which the soul exists. Heaven is full of light; all darkness and doubt are absent. Knowledge will there be clear, and will possess a transforming efficacy; still, knowledge in heaven will be progressive; the pleasure will partly consist in ever learning something unknown before. Heaven is a region of perfect love; all the heart and mind and strength will be exerted in love. And if the power of loving should, in the progress of the immortal soul, be increased a thousand-fold, all this increased ability will be kept constantly in full stretch by the loveliness and glory of the objects of affection. Christ is the center of attraction in heaven. From him radiate the rays of divine glory which enliven, attract, and beautify all the innumerable army of worshipers. Love in heaven is pure, perfect, and reciprocal. He who loves, cannot be satisfied without a return of affection. And the more exalted and excellent the character of the person beloved, the sweeter the sense of his favor. Heavenly joy consists in loving with all the heart, and in being beloved. As heaven is a society, the members are happy not only in loving their King, but in mutual love. There will exist no envy, nor jealousy, nor apathy. Every soul will be transparent to every other, and all will see that nothing but pure love exists in every heart. Heaven is a place of peace—sweet peace and uninterrupted harmony; all disturbing elements will be left behind. In the symbolical heavens of the Revelation, we read of wars; but in the heaven where saints and angels dwell and worship, war can have no place. The atmosphere of heaven is exempt from all evil; it is purity itself; all sin and impurity are denied admission into that holy place. Heaven is a place of song: high affections are expressed in celestial music. O how elevating, how delightful the melodies! Heaven is an unchanging state. All change is advancement in knowledge, in dignity, in happiness!

Remember that you are a king's son!

Remember that you are a king's son!

(George Lawson, "A Practical Exposition of the Book of Proverbs" 1821)

When a young prince asked a certain philosopher to give him a directory for his conduct, all his instructions were comprised in one sentence: "Remember that you are a king's son!"

All Christians are advanced to spiritual honors of the most exalted kind. They are the children of God, and heirs of the eternal kingdom--and ought to resemble their heavenly Father, who is the God of holiness. Their dignity obliges them to a behaviorworthy of it, and of Him whose grace has conferred it.

Let Christians remember who they are, and how they came to be what they are--and act in befitting character!

"As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy--so be holy in all you do; for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:14-16

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Functioning in the Body of Christ

Functioning in the Body of Christ
by T. Austin-Sparks


Reading: John 21:18-22; Acts 9:6; Rom. 12:4-11; Eph. 4:16; Col. 2:19.

You may have wondered what the passages read were pointing to, bearing upon. In the first place, you will recognise that they indicate that there is a distinctiveness of function in the Body of Christ.

Distinctiveness of Function

That seems to me to be at least implied and indicated, if not laid down, in the rebuke or correction which the Lord administered to Peter. There could be no flippancy about things. Perhaps it would be wrong to charge Peter with flippancy, but after what had just been said to him, that threefold challenge, "Lovest thou Me?", until it got in and it says that Peter was grieved, and then immediately after that, the Lord indicating the nature of the death by which he would glorify God, you would think that there would be no more breath left in the man. He ought to be in a state of collapse, but the fact is, in the presence of all that, he immediately turns round, sees another man in whom he is interested, and exhibits curiosity as to what his end might be and how he would fulfil his course. So the Lord has mildly, but quite definitely, to administer a correction, if not a rebuke: "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me". A more perfect translation is, "If I will that he tarry while I am coming, what is that to thee? Be thou all the time following me". By that means the Lord said to Peter in effect, "Each man represents something himself quite distinctly in the purpose of God and each man has got to make sure that he is fulfilling that distinctive function!" The Lord brought Peter back from his more or less general interest in things to the particular thing which was his concern. It was almost as though the Lord said, "Look here, Peter, you mind your own business, that is what you have to do!" He brought him right back there.

And that can lead on to these other passages. Paul on the way to Damascus is told to go into the city and it shall be told him what he shall do, what he must do. I may come to that as we go on, but we are led on to these passages in Ephesians and Colossians where, among other things, there is this point very clearly and strongly indicated: it is each several part working in due measure; it is the due measure of each several part, the joints and the bands by which the Body makes increase.

Now what I am putting my finger upon specifically is this distinctiveness of function in the Body of Christ - a most important thing if there is to be growth in Christ unto that fulness which we have seen, which the Lord has sought to bring into view so continually, that fulness of Christ which is the end toward which He is working; the measure of the fulness of Christ. How is it reached, how is it attained, how are we coming to that full end of God's purpose? Well, among other things, it is along this line, in this way: each several part working in due measure. While there is a right kind of consideration for, and interest in, and concern for all other members, that must not interfere with this. This is your business, this is your personal matter, this is something you have got to take up as a personal thing. Distinctiveness of function... that, in this Body of Christ as in the human body, there are the numerous, almost countless, functioning organs. And the whole body, for its increase, for its strength, for its health, for the fulfilment of its purpose, the attainment of its end, depends upon every one of those countless organs functioning fully, doing its own work, seeing to its own business. The Lord has very strongly set that as a governing principle in attainment, and there are some very, very strong lessons in the Word of God about that.

In the Old Testament an outstanding and very well-known illustration of this very thing is the case of Achan, when all Israel (that is what is said there) all Israel were held up, brought to a standstill, their progress arrested, their attaining of the Divine end checked, by one man. One little organism and the whole body is affected, and the New Testament statement about that in the spiritual realm is "whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it" (1 Cor. 12:26). We cannot understand that, we cannot see it, we cannot apprehend it. It is not manifest always, but there is the Divine judgment, the Divine knowledge about it, and there is the fact stated. The Holy Spirit is stating facts.

Now to bring this right home to us. We are so many, and there are as many functions as there are people, as many distinctive and definite functions in the Body of Christ, and if there is going to be real increase of the whole, if there is going to be a movement towards the greater fulness of Christ by the whole, each one has got to look to it that he or she functions according to their distinctive calling and appointment, and functions to the full measure therein. First of all, we state the fact. Are you alive to the fact? Do you accept the fact? You, as an individual, are a functioning part, or called to be a functioning part, of the Body of Christ, and the whole Body depends upon you for its fulness; upon you working in due measure. Do not try and reason it out, to understand it and see how it does. Do not forget that the Lord does not always explain how, when He lays down facts. Nicodemus is full of "how's". How this and that? The Lord does not seek at all to deal with his "how's". He states a fact or facts and says, in effect, "This is a matter which is not open to discussion, to reasoning, to argument. This is something which exists as a fact. You have got to take it first of all as a fact; you come into the understanding of it later." Well now, there we begin - the fact of distinctiveness of function in every part of the Body of Christ.

Diversity of Function in Distinctiveness

But then, following that, there is the diversity of function in distinctiveness. There are many members and every member represents something quite definite. All the members have not the same office; and the next thing that you and I have to face quite definitely, is this: that we have got to come into our particular function, as to what it is - we have got to know it. That sounds difficult, but again it is a fact. A very great deal of spiritual loss to ourselves and to the Lord's people, to the Body of Christ, results from people not knowing what their particular job is, not being in their job a hundred percent; that is, they are trying to do half a dozen things or two things, two things which are to a large degree mutually exclusive. There is an overlapping in their function, or they are not at all sure of what their function is. Perhaps they are revolting against their function and wanting someone else's. The teacher envies the evangelist and tries to be an evangelist, or the evangelist looks on the teacher and would like to be a teacher. I only use those by way of illustrating what I mean. It is like that if not as defined in our thought as that - there is dividedness within, uncertainty within, overlapping within, perhaps revolt within, and it creates the unrest of uncertainty, and there is loss to that life, loss to the Lord, and loss to the Body.

Our two steps then, are, first of all, that there is the fact that every member is to function distinctly and definitely. Secondly, that we are to come by the Spirit into the realisation and recognition of what our place or function is. And covering both of those things, of course, is the due measure of each several part. This is the way of growth, our growth, our increase, and the increase of the Body of which we are a part.

Function Made Known in the Church

Well now, that creates a lot of difficulties, and you are not seeing your way through, but we are only going a step at a time. How is this to be? How can we come to this place? How can we know? How can we function in this way with a knowledge of what our function is? The Lord has given a very full answer to that, quite a strong, positive answer. It is a very big answer. The answer is the church, the Body. "Go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do" (Acts 9:6). "The Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them" (Acts 13:2). It is in relatedness, not in separateness, independence, isolation or detachment; I am not speaking merely about physical detachment. You can be at all the meetings and with the Lord's people all the time and be as detached as though never there at all. You can be mentally detached, a spectator, a passenger, a critic, an observer, a watcher, still be standing back to see how things are going, whether your ideas are going to be borne out, whether your fears are going to be confirmed, whether your judgments are going to be proved right.

Dear friends, let us say at once, anything in that nature will defeat God's end in you and defeat God's end in the Body of Christ where you are concerned. The answer to the question, "How am I to know, and knowing, how am I to be in the way of functioning?" is the church. You take the idea of the body very practically and very literally, and you see how utterly impossible it would be for a body to be in health, in strength and in growth, in maturity and in function, if in the body some member stood back from the rest with some reservations and questionings and fears. Anything like that would throw the whole body out, and the physician or the surgeon would have to say, "Somehow we have got to get that organ into line, into adjustment, so that as a part of the whole it works in perfect sympathy, in perfect harmony, is really a living part of the whole in a practical way."

Well, it is like that, that is the Lord's way: it is relatedness and devoutness to relatedness. That is the answer. There has to be a complete deliverance from the obsession with what is merely personal as such - my ministry, my place, my vindication - that is a false way of applying this principle of individual responsibility. The individual responsibility is a related and corporate thing, it is not a personal thing. It is an individual thing in a related way, not a personal thing in an unrelated way, not a detached thing. Oh, how the Lord's interests in individual lives and in His people as companies (and therefore in the whole Body of Christ), how His interests have been retarded and brought under arrest because the members of the Body have not really just been merged into the Body and got everything as in the Body. They have stood around and tried to draw out to themselves, use for themselves; the very opportunities presented by a company of the Lord's people have been appropriated personally for self-expression and self-realisation. They have not just been merged into and in a personal way (I am using that word 'personal' now in this wrong sense of personal) lost their identity in the whole, simply become swallowed up in the whole. They have not got there and therefore there has been loss.

Especially beautified

Especially beautified

(William Plumer, "Vital Godliness: A Treatise
on Experimental and Practical Piety" 1864)

"Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility." 1 Peter 5:5

Humility is lowliness of mind — the opposite of pride and
arrogance. It belongs to the essence of experimental
religion. A humble spirit is the opposite of a lofty one.
True humility is an inward grace based on a view of our
own guilt, weakness, vileness, and ignorance — as
compared with the infinite excellence and glory of God.

Humility is one of the most lovely of all the traits of a
child of God. It is opposed to all ostentation. It hides
the other graces of the Christian from the gaze of
self-admiration. Its aim is not to be thought humble,
but to be humble. The godly man loves to lie low — and
cares not to have it known.

Humility will not disfigure, but adorn you. As Rebecca
was not the less lovely, but the more so, when she took
a veil and covered her beauty and all her jewels; so the
child of God is especially beautified when arrayed in
humbleness of mind.

The unsaved man's motto

The unsaved man's motto

(Matthew Mead, "The Almost Christian" 1661)

There is a proud heart in every natural man. There
was much pride in Adam's sin—and there is much of
it in all Adam's sons. Pride is a radical sin, and from
hence arises this over-inflated opinion of a man's
spiritual state and condition. 

"The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself:
 God, I thank you that I am not like other men—
 robbers, evildoers, adulterers." Luke 18:11

This is the unsaved man's motto. A proud man has
an eye to see his beauty—but not his deformity. He sees
his abilities—but not his spots. He sees his seeming 
righteousness—but not his real wretchedness. 

It must be a work of grace—which must show a man
the lack of grace. The haughty eye looks upward—but
the humble eye looks downward, and therefore this is
the believer's motto, "I am the least of saints—and
the greatest of sinners!"
"But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared
 not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead,
 he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, 'O God, be merciful
 to me, for I am a sinner!' I tell you, this sinner, not the
 Pharisee, returned home justified before God!"
    Luke 18:13-14