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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
February, 1934
C H e i s r u u ) K t r s . " G O D ’S WAY to Victorious Jjving B y ROBERT C. M cQ U IL K IN ,* Columbia, South Carolina .
T h e g r e a t e s t miracle that is taking place in the world today is the miracle o f everyday living— living as God wants the Christian to live. For to do that requires the miracle power o f God— the power o f the Holy Spirit to impart new life, and to make the living o f the new life possible. One o f the most frequent figures used to describe Christian living is the figure o f “ walking,” the most natural and the easiest o f all physical exercises. The Christian is to walk in love, to walk after the Spirit, to walk in the truth, to walk in newness of life. When Paul prayed for Christians, he prayed that they might “ walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing” (Col. 1 :10 ). When Paul preached to Christians, he preached to the end that they “ would walk worthy o f God” (1 Thess. 2 :12 ). Paul prayed and preached in the Spirit, and so we have clearly set before us the great desire of God for His children, that they might walk in victory. R e s u r r e c t io n P o w e r It will be seen at once that this most natural o f activi ties requires supernatural power. The victorious walk is
V ic t o r y C o m m a n d e d “ Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5 :18) is a command as definite as the one, “ Thou shalt not kill.” If is addressed to Christians, but it is God’s will for every man. The human life at its fullest can only be lived in a power not its own, the power o f the Holy Spirit. T o many, this command is a burdensome one. “ I am having trouble enough trying to live the ordinary Chris tian life without striving after some higher life.” This expresses the view o f many. They feel that the Spirit-filled life is some high, special attainment for a few favored Christians, who perhaps do not have to battle with the stern realities o f life. I talked to a dear man once who believed the Bible and seemed open to the message o f salva tion, and yet he would not make the decision to take Christ as his Saviour. He finally told me the reason: “ I have a wife and nine children, and I am having a hard enough time get ting on now without taking on added responsibilities.” He did not mean paying money to the church— that aspect does not bother many people who attend church; but he be lieved he must somehow live up to new high standards if he “ tried” to be a Christian. V ic t o r y M a d e P o s s ib l e But this command, “ Be filled
the miracle o f resurrection life. Practically every time the resurrec tion o f our Lord is mentioned in the Epistles it is connected directly or indirectly with present Christian living. As He was raised, so we are to walk in newness o f life (Rom . 6 :4 ). The exceeding great ness o f His power toward us is ac cording to the working o f His mighty power when He raised Christ from the dead (Eph. 1 :19, 20 ). Thus we see that as the great est miracle recorded in the Bible is the resurrection o f our Lord, which became the measure o f God’s mighty power, so the greatest mir acle today is the miracle o f the new birth and living in newness o f life, resurrection life through the power o f the Holy Spirit. Christians, to day, as never before, are seeking the Bible teaching concerning a life o f victory, asking what it is and how it may be lived. A true testimony should pre sent the whole counsel of God. It is especially needful today that the Bible message o f victory in Christ should be presented in simple, clear, winning ways. Men and women are hungry for reality, and they need to test the various spirit ual movements by the Word of God. What is the Spirit-filled life? What must we do to enter into it ?
with the Spirit,” is not a disagree able one, but a glorious one. Let us suppose a case to illustrate two different kinds o f commands: I am working for a man whose orders must be carried out, and he tells me one day to take my car and carry six passengers to a city sev eral hundred miles distant across hills and through valleys and over bad roads. I rise early the next morning, and find that a heavy rainstorm has begun. My car is a five-passenger coach a b ou t five years old, running on three cylin ders, with windows broken and the top full o f holes. The command to take that trip is a disagreeable com mand. As I stand looking at my car and my passengers, my employer appears, and I tell him I hope the trip can be postponed. “ No, the trip must be made,” he says. But he gives me another command. “ You are to make the trip in my car.” And outside is a seven-passen ger limousine with all the equip ment for a long, hard trip. You see the application. Life must be lived. The mountains and the valleys, the muddy and stony roads, must be covered. W e have no choice. But we do have the choice between two ways to make
“Jesus .. . cried, saying , . . . H e that believeth on me, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he o f the Spirit."
*President, Columbia Bible College.
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