June, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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R E I G N I N G I N L I F E [Continued from page 213]
C hristians W ho R eign Every one will admit having often made distinctions be tween Christians. When in need o f some one’s prayers, burdened squls call upon those whose Christlike lives have inspired confidence. Some Christians merely exist; others live and enjoy their freedom in Christ; but still others are reigning in life. These last have life more abundantly. They rule by the power o f the indwelling Christ. They are exercising authority over the flesh, the world, sin, the devil -—even over such desires o f the cultured self as are not wrong in themselves, yet which may become a hindrance to spiritual progress. They know they are kings and priests unto God, and they are occupying the position God has given them in Christ. Christians who live on this plane are not only free in Christ, but they are victors in Him in daily life. They will not stoop to the low level o f living as the world lives, going where the world goes, doing what the world does, saying what the world says. They are princes o f royal blood. There is a holy dignity about their lives. There is a no bility o f character which distinguishes them from others. They are putting the enemies in their own lives under their feet. They are engaged in conquests o f faith that reach around the world. They are not selfishly enjoying their liberty in Christ; they are reigning in life. T o these conquerors, salvation is more than a matter o f escape from hell, more than mere peace o f mind and per sonal blessing. T o them, salvation means the daily appro priation o f Christ’s . victory, and the exercising o f their throne rights in Him, in relation to personal living, fruitful service, and the triumph o f Christ’s cause in the church which He bought with His own blood. T o such believers, the Christian life is a life o f holy conquest. They are sub duing every enemy within the heart and life. They wield the supernatural power bestowed upon them in Christ by the Spirit. They are thus glorifying their Lord and Saviour. They are not letting sin reign in their mortal bodies. Sin shall not lord it over them, for they are reigning with Christ over sin and all its emissaries. W hat M akes the D ifference ? What causes this very evident difference between Chris tians ? Certainly it is not that God is partial in the bestowal o f His grace. Surely it is not that God has given to one be liever a fuller inheritance in Christ than to another. N o! God is no respecter o f persons. He is rich in mercy toward all men. And to all who trust Him, He gives the gift of His Son, and in Christ He has blessed all believers with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. The difference as suredly does not arise in any arbitrary apportionment o f blessing to different Christians. May not the reason be discovered in one little word in Romans 5:17— the word “ receive” ? W ho are the ones who reign in life ? God’s answer i s : “ They which receive abun dance o f grace and of the gift o f righteousness.” It is. not because o f some special dispensations o f grace to favorite believers that those lives shine like brilliant stars in ,the sky o f Christendom. N o ! Such believers have exercised to the full their God-given powers o f receptiveness! It has been well said: “ Great saints are simply great receivers.” They have learned to actually take what God has given them. They “ receive [take] abundance o f grace and o f the gift o f righteousness.” Some good Christians are satisfied with small blessings. They are perfectly content to live in a small sphere. They
P ossessing the I nheritance Sad as it is, it is nevertheless a fact that a great host o f Christians are like the children o f Joseph, to whom Joshua had assigned their portion o f the land when they entered Canaan. They had obtained freedom from Egyp tian bondage. They had received a splendid inheritance in Canaan. But they did not obey the command to expel the Canaanite inhabitants, and we read that they did not ut terly drive them out o f the land (Josh. 17:13). It is said that “ the Canaanites would dwell in that land” (Josh. 17 :12). Here was a vanquished race clamoring for a place in the inheritance o f Joseph. The presence of the Canaanites was an unwelcome factor with which the children o f Joseph had to deal. But they were unwilling to face the enemy. They came to Joshua and complained about their cramped position: “ Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people?” (Josh. 17: 14). Joshua replied something like this: “ You are a great people. You have been given a great inheritance. You have been given great authority. Yours is not the hill country only, but all the mountain is yours. Now utilize your authority. Dispossess these enemies. Overthrow them. Possess your inheritance. Exercise your rights. There is plenty o f unoccupied territory within the limits o f your in heritance. Possess it.” The members o f the tribes o f Ephraim and Manasseh were content to live on the strength o f past experiences and rest complacently upon the fact o f their deliverance from the, bondage o f Pharaoh in Egypt. Likewise, many believers today rest upon Christ’s finished work, without entering into the reigning, victorious experience He offers. To His own, the Lord Jesus Christ declares: “ Behold, I have given you authority . . . over all the power of the enemy” (Lk . 10:19, R. V .) . Yet how many o f God’s children, saved by His grace through faith in Christ, are living in constant defeat, being repeatedly overthrown by the petty foes within or without, and bemoaning their low spiritual state, lack o f growth, and little fruitage in service. Our Joshua, Jesus Christ, comes to every such defeated, dis satisfied Christian with a message with such an import as th is: “ You are a great people, redeemed by blood, delivered by God, saved by divine grace, invested with a great au thority, having been given a great inheritance. Now use the authority I have given you. Dispossess your petty foes. Overcome the sins in your life. Possess your God-given possessions. Reign in life by My grace and power.” Christian friend, do you realize that every time you allow some sin to triumph in your life, every time you give place to some fleshly lust, every time you allow, self to strut about, vaunting itself, you are grossly dishonoring your Christ ? Do you realize that every time you allow the enemy o f ill temper, anger, impatience, worry, or any o f these common foes to triumph in your life, you are casting a terrible reflection upon the mighty provision o f God’s all- sufficient grace? Do you know that by so doing, you are saying to unsaved men and discouraged Christians, to howl ing demons o f hell, and to the Christ who died to effect a complete redemption, that His redeeming work is a failure,, an incomplete salvation? May the Lord God shake out of the inertia o f self-complacency and spiritual carelessness, every Christian who has been living in a state o f constant defeat— every believer who, while enjoying selfishly his liberty in Christ, has been bringing reproach upon Him by allowing the flesh and self to dominate his l if e !
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