WEBVTT 00:00:00.300 --> 00:00:06.799 In the riches of divine grace, a wonderful provision 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:10.640 has been made for every one of God's precious 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:17.100 children. A provision has been made for constant, 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:23.100 unbroken victory on the part of every child of 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:29.149 God. A victory that's unaffected. absolutely 00:00:29.149 --> 00:00:33.990 unaffected by circumstances, however adverse, 00:00:34.649 --> 00:00:39.030 however depressing these circumstances may be, 00:00:39.170 --> 00:00:46.090 provision has been made by God for every one 00:00:46.090 --> 00:00:52.329 of His children for literally an unbroken victory, 00:00:52.729 --> 00:01:02.439 an unbroken fellowship. large measure is unaccepted, 00:01:02.460 --> 00:01:06.599 partly because of ignorance as to its nature 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:11.599 and value, and also on the ground of its terms. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:19.200 And its terms require a surrender which the average 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:28.719 Christian is unwilling to make. average Christian 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:38.760 is unwilling to yield. You see, things gotten 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:45.359 cheap are usually cheap, you know. The things 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:47.640 that you have to pay most for are usually the 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:51.799 things that are most valuable and that we appreciate 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:56.959 most. It's kind of like that. And the most extraordinary 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:00.239 thing about the victorious life is that although 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:04.239 it's so clearly taught in the scripture, yet 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:09.060 it is so frequently unrecognized by Bible students. 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:12.460 That's something that's been very difficult for 00:02:12.460 --> 00:02:17.520 me to understand. Why it is that so many men 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:21.219 in our pulpits today, so many of our seminary 00:02:21.219 --> 00:02:26.870 students, so many, many, of our spiritual leaders 00:02:26.870 --> 00:02:34.110 have not recognized this wonderful life of unbroken 00:02:34.110 --> 00:02:39.530 victory with the Lord Jesus Christ. Many who 00:02:39.530 --> 00:02:42.169 have a thorough knowledge of the Bibles know 00:02:42.169 --> 00:02:47.270 nothing of this truth experimentally. And you 00:02:47.270 --> 00:02:51.669 cannot give to someone else. No minister can 00:02:51.669 --> 00:02:55.620 give to members of his congregation. more than 00:02:55.620 --> 00:03:00.280 he has experienced himself. And I do hope that 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:04.099 there are many ministers of the gospel following 00:03:04.099 --> 00:03:07.900 me in these heart -to -heart talks, not because 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:11.780 of me, not because I'm giving them, but because 00:03:11.780 --> 00:03:16.900 they are based on the very Word of God. And if 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:21.620 you can catch the glory of the truth that I've 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:24.699 been trying to give to you, then you can go into 00:03:24.699 --> 00:03:27.979 your pulpits and give to your people something 00:03:27.979 --> 00:03:32.139 that will revolutionize, will change their entire 00:03:32.139 --> 00:03:38.099 spiritual life. It will change you as a minister. 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:44.840 I mean exactly that. It's been one of the greatest 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:50.240 truths that it has been my privilege to receive 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:55.439 from the Master. How is it that we're so slow 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:59.259 of heart to understand? Probably the best way 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:02.319 to put the case is to describe at some length 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:07.460 the inner experiences of two men who had long 00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:12.780 been devoted to the service of God. Born again? 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:18.660 I would not question the fact that they had never 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:23.519 been born again. If you have read regarding the 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:28.040 lives of these men, you would readily agree with 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:34.980 me. They were God's precious children. Oh, sure. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:40.339 They were devoted to the service of God. Take, 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:44.220 for instance, Hudson Taylor, a missionary to 00:04:44.220 --> 00:04:51.639 China, was one of these men. He's left a letter, 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:56.220 and the letter was written to his sister, a record 00:04:56.220 --> 00:05:02.180 of his search for holiness, his search for a 00:05:02.180 --> 00:05:06.519 deeper walk with God, a constant abiding in Christ 00:05:06.519 --> 00:05:11.680 Jesus. And in his letter, he tells of his total 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:17.100 inability to see how to get it, how to obtain 00:05:17.100 --> 00:05:22.629 it. although the way lies so clearly on the pages 00:05:22.629 --> 00:05:29.370 of the Scripture. You cannot help seeing this 00:05:29.370 --> 00:05:32.629 wonderful truth as you read the Word of God. 00:05:33.610 --> 00:05:36.970 And yet, I suppose, only the Holy Spirit can 00:05:36.970 --> 00:05:39.069 make it real to the hearts of men and women. 00:05:40.550 --> 00:05:45.370 And so, in this letter, written to his sister, 00:05:45.470 --> 00:05:50.259 Hudson Taylor. that great missionary to China, 00:05:50.420 --> 00:05:58.199 expressed the deep feeling, his great search 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:01.279 for this experience that I have been talking 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:04.079 about in his heart -to -heart talks. I quote 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:11.399 from the letter, I prayed, fasted, agonized, 00:06:11.500 --> 00:06:16.740 made resolutions, read the Bible more diligently. 00:06:17.899 --> 00:06:22.040 sought more time for retirement and meditation. 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:27.779 But all without effect. Every day, almost every 00:06:27.779 --> 00:06:32.100 hour, the consciousness of sin oppressed me. 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:40.680 Then came the question. Is there no rescue? Must 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:44.720 it be this to the end? Constant conflict instead 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:50.149 of victory? Too often defeat? I hated myself, 00:06:50.350 --> 00:06:53.649 I hated my sin, and yet I gained no strength 00:06:53.649 --> 00:07:00.449 against it. I felt I was a child of God. I knew 00:07:00.449 --> 00:07:05.069 I was a child of God, but how to rise to my privileges 00:07:05.069 --> 00:07:12.589 as a child? I was utterly powerless to see. I 00:07:12.589 --> 00:07:16.120 thought that holiness, practice, holiness was 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:19.819 to be gradually attained by a diligent use of 00:07:19.819 --> 00:07:22.860 the means of grace, I felt there was nothing 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:27.500 I so much desired in this world, nothing so much 00:07:27.500 --> 00:07:32.300 I needed. And when my agony of soul was at its 00:07:32.300 --> 00:07:35.660 very height, a sentence in a letter was used 00:07:35.660 --> 00:07:39.839 to remove the scales from my eyes, and the Spirit 00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:44.819 of God revealed the truth of our oneness. with 00:07:44.819 --> 00:07:52.620 Jesus. And do you want to know, do you desire, 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:58.459 even as I desired one day, to know what was in 00:07:58.459 --> 00:08:03.259 that letter? What was that sentence, just one 00:08:03.259 --> 00:08:12.060 sentence, that gave to him that which he had 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:18.540 sought so long? All right, I continue. Oh, this 00:08:18.540 --> 00:08:25.199 is thrilling. This is priceless. I read from 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:31.620 the letter. By faith a channel is formed by which 00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:37.879 Christ's fullness plenteously flows down. The 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:41.240 barren branch becomes a portion of the fruitful 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:47.919 vine. He is most holy who has most of Christ 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:55.340 within. Let me repeat that one sentence. It's 00:08:55.340 --> 00:08:59.639 profound. If you forget everything else that 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:03.659 this letter includes, if you do not hear another 00:09:03.659 --> 00:09:06.399 word that I may say in this heart -to -heart 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:12.740 talk, remember this one sentence. He is most 00:09:12.740 --> 00:09:20.139 holy who has most of Christ within. It is detective 00:09:20.139 --> 00:09:23.419 faith which clogs the feet and causes many a 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:32.019 fall. Abiding. Not struggling or striving. It's 00:09:32.019 --> 00:09:36.240 looking to him. It's trusting him for... present 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:40.379 power, trusting him to subdue all inward corruptions, 00:09:40.440 --> 00:09:44.860 trusting in the conscious joy of a complete salvation, 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:51.500 a salvation from all sin, willing that he should 00:09:51.500 --> 00:09:59.399 be truly supreme. That is not new, and yet, said 00:09:59.399 --> 00:10:05.840 Hudson Taylor, it is new to me. I seem to have 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:10.720 gotten to the edge only, but to the edge of a 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:17.460 sea that is bondless. Not a striving to have 00:10:17.460 --> 00:10:23.019 faith, not a striving to increase our faith, 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:31.980 not a struggle at all, but a looking to the faithful 00:10:31.980 --> 00:10:38.139 one. Looking to Jesus seems all we need. Resting 00:10:38.139 --> 00:10:42.960 in the Lord. Just resting completely entirely 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:53.539 on him for time and eternity. That is the secret. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:11:00.059 And that was the letter. That was the sentence 00:11:00.059 --> 00:11:03.279 which arrested us. Hudson Taylor's attention, 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:10.240 that one sentence. Not a striving to have faith, 00:11:10.539 --> 00:11:16.000 but a looking off to the faithful one seems all 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:24.559 that we need. And it's just that simple. I shall 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:29.419 never forget, years ago, after my conversion, 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:32.980 at the age of 14, in that little Methodist church 00:11:32.980 --> 00:11:37.159 in Concordia, Missouri. And then it was sometime 00:11:37.159 --> 00:11:42.840 after that that God so definitely gave me a call 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:46.659 to the ministry. And that call was as definite 00:11:46.659 --> 00:11:52.460 as my conversion. Oh, it seemed that every atom 00:11:52.460 --> 00:11:58.360 of my being cried out for more of him. I've known 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:02.940 physical hunger. But I have never known a physical 00:12:02.940 --> 00:12:06.980 hunger in my whole life that was as great as 00:12:06.980 --> 00:12:11.299 the spiritual hunger that I had for him. And 00:12:11.299 --> 00:12:14.299 I was so ignorant. I was so stupid when it came 00:12:14.299 --> 00:12:17.200 to spiritual things. I'd had no training, nothing 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:25.019 whatsoever. And then I shall never forget those 00:12:25.019 --> 00:12:30.629 holiness camp meetings in Oskalooso, Iowa. Oh, 00:12:30.669 --> 00:12:34.990 that's been years and years ago. They may still 00:12:34.990 --> 00:12:38.370 have those holiness camp meetings. I don't know. 00:12:39.330 --> 00:12:44.549 I only attended years ago, right after I became 00:12:44.549 --> 00:12:47.509 a Christian. And before I knew anything about 00:12:47.509 --> 00:12:50.090 the Holy Spirit, before I knew anything about 00:12:50.090 --> 00:12:53.769 the baptism with the Holy Spirit, all I knew 00:12:53.769 --> 00:12:57.509 was I'd been born again. Jesus had forgiven my 00:12:57.509 --> 00:13:05.669 sins. And I can remember that old -fashioned 00:13:05.669 --> 00:13:12.049 tabernacle. Saw this on the ground. Maybe I'm 00:13:12.049 --> 00:13:15.730 talking to someone who has attended one of those 00:13:15.730 --> 00:13:19.549 holiness camp meetings. Maybe you were there 00:13:19.549 --> 00:13:26.769 years ago when I was there. So hungry for more. 00:13:30.379 --> 00:13:34.480 And every time an altar call was given, whether 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:38.460 it was after the morning session, the afternoon 00:13:38.460 --> 00:13:45.039 session, or night, there was a red -headed, freckled 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:49.799 -faced teenage girl who was the first to walk 00:13:49.799 --> 00:14:00.580 down the aisle and kneel in that sawdust, seeking 00:14:00.580 --> 00:14:06.299 holiness, seeking some experience I knew not 00:14:06.299 --> 00:14:12.139 what. After every one of those morning services, 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:17.419 that red -headed, freckle -faced girl would rush 00:14:17.419 --> 00:14:23.460 to the altar, my head buried in my arms, weeping 00:14:23.460 --> 00:14:26.519 and crying. And when the noon hour would come 00:14:26.519 --> 00:14:30.029 for dinner, everyone else would leave. But she 00:14:30.029 --> 00:14:35.009 was still there. She would still be there when 00:14:35.009 --> 00:14:41.789 the afternoon service would begin. She was the 00:14:41.789 --> 00:14:44.730 first at the altar when the call was given again 00:14:44.730 --> 00:14:49.009 for those who wanted to be completely holy and 00:14:49.009 --> 00:14:54.529 seeking holiness. I never found what I was seeking 00:14:54.529 --> 00:15:01.940 there. I was that girl. I was seeking for some 00:15:01.940 --> 00:15:06.460 experience, some ecstasy. It was years later 00:15:06.460 --> 00:15:11.379 that I found out that Jesus is our holiness. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:18.399 And the one who has the most of his holiness 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:25.759 is the one who has the most of Jesus. You talk 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:30.220 about the experience. of holiness, of sanctification, 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:37.559 it is still a matter of seeking Jesus. You talk 00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:39.480 about the wonderful experience of being filled 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:44.759 with the Holy Spirit. It's still more of Jesus. 00:15:47.019 --> 00:15:51.879 And even after one has been filled with the Holy 00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:56.519 Spirit, remember, my friend, the Holy Spirit 00:15:56.519 --> 00:16:02.679 himself always magnifies and glorifies Jesus. 00:16:04.659 --> 00:16:12.779 He is most holy who has most of Jesus within. 00:16:13.799 --> 00:16:20.840 No. It's not striving to have faith. It's not 00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:25.220 striving for some experience. But it's looking 00:16:25.220 --> 00:16:33.480 to... Jesus. Receiving more of Him. And that 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:36.519 is your answer.