The Deeper Christian Life
By Andrew Murray
Chapter 2
PRIVILEGE AND EXPERIENCE
"And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." --Luke 15:31.
 he
words of the text are familiar to us all. The elder son had complained
and said, that though his father had made a feast, and had killed the
fatted calf for the prodigal son, he had never given him even a kid that
he might make merry with his friends. The answer of the father was:
"Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." One cannot
have a more wonderful revelation of the heart of our Father in heaven
than this points out to us. We often speak of the wonderful revelation
of the father's heart in his welcome to the prodigal son, and in what he
did for him. But here we have a revelation of the father's love far more
wonderful, in what he says to the elder son.
If we are to experience a
deepening of spiritual life, we want to discover clearly what is the
spiritual life that God would have us live, on the one hand; and, on the
other, to ask whether we are living that life; or, if not, what hinders
us living it out fully.
This subject naturally divides
itself into these three heads:--I. The high privilege of every child of
God. 2. The low experience of too many of us believers. 3. The cause of
the discrepancy; and, lastly, The way to the restoration of the
privilege.
1. THE HIGH PRIVILEGE OF THE
CHILDREN OF GOD.
We have here two things describing the
privilege:--First, "Son, thou art ever with me"--unbroken fellowship
with thy Father is thy portion; Second, "All that I have is thine"--all
that God can bestow upon His children is theirs.
"Thou are ever with me;" I am
always near thee; thou canst dwell every hour of thy life in My
presence, and all I have is for thee. I am a father, with a loving
father's heart. I will withhold no good thing from thee. In these
promises, we have the rich privilege of God's heritage. We have, in the
first place, unbroken fellowship with Him. A father never sends his
child away with the thought that he does not care about his child
knowing that he loves him. The father longs to have his child believe
that he has the light of his father's countenance upon him all the
day--that, if he sends the child away to school, or anywhere that
necessity compels, it is with a sense of sacrifice of parental feelings.
If it be so with an earthly father, what think you of God? Does He not
want every child of His to know that he is constantly living in the
light of His countenance? This is the meaning of that word, "Son, thou
art ever with me."
That was the privilege of God's
people in Old Testament times. We are told that "Enoch walked with God."
God's promise to Jacob was: "Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee
in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this
land; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have
spoken to thee of." And God's promise to Israel through Moses, was: "My
presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." And in Moses'
response to the promise, he says, "For wherein shall it be known that I
and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight? Is it not that Thou goest
with us; so shall we be separated, I and Thy people, from all the people
that are upon the face of the earth." The presence of God with Israel
was the mark of their separation from other people. This is the truth
taught in all the Old Testament; and if so, how much more may we look
for it in the New Testament? Thus we find our Saviour promising to those
who love Him and who keep His word, that the Father also will love them,
and Father and Son will come and make Their abode with them.
Let that thought into your
hearts--that the child of God is called to this blessed privilege, to
live every moment of his life in fellowship with God. He is called to
enjoy the full light of His countenance. There are many Christians--I
suppose the majority of Christians--who seem to regard the whole of the
Spirit's work as confined to conviction and conversion:--not so much
that He came to dwell in our hearts, and there reveal God to us. He came
not to dwell near us, but in us, that we might be filled with His
indwelling. We are commanded to be "filled with the Spirit;" then the
Holy Spirit would make God's presence manifest to us. That is the whole
teaching of the epistle to the Hebrews:--the veil is rent in twain; we
have access into the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus; we come into
the very presence of God, so that we can live all the day with that
presence resting upon us. That presence is with us wheresoever we go;
and in all kinds of trouble, we have undisturbed repose and peace. "Son,
thou art ever with me."
There are some people who seem
to think that God, by some unintelligible sovereignty, withdraws His
face. But I know that God loves His people too much to withhold His
fellowship from them for any such reason. The true reason of the absence
of God from us is rather to be found in our sin and unbelief, than in
any supposed sovereignty of His. If the child of God is walking in faith
and obedience, the Divine presence will be enjoyed in unbroken
continuity.
Then there is the next blessed
privilege: "All that I have is thine." Thank God, He has given us His
own Son; and in giving Him, He has given us all things that are in Him,
He has given us Christ's life, His love, His Spirit, His glory. "All
things are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's." All the
riches of His Son, the everlasting King, God bestows upon every one of
His children. "Son, thou art ever with me; and all that I have is
thine." Is not that the meaning of all those wonderful promises given in
connection with prayer: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, ye shall
receive."? Yes, there it is. That is the life of the children of God, as
He Himself has pictured it to us.
2. In contrast with this high
privilege of believers, look at
2. THE LOW EXPERIENCE OF TOO
MANY OF US.
The elder son was living with
his father and serving him "these many years," and he complains that his
father never gave him a kid, while he gave his prodigal brother the
fatted calf. Why was this? Simply because he did not ask it. He did not
believe that he would get it, and therefore never asked it, and never
enjoyed it. He continued thus to live in constant murmuring and
dissatisfaction; and the key note of all this wretched life is furnished
in what he said. His father gave him everything, yet he never enjoyed
it; and he throws the whole blame on his loving and kind father. O
beloved, is not that the life of many a believer? Do not many speak and
act in this way? Every believer has the promise of unbroken fellowship
with God, but he says, "I have not enjoyed it; I have tried hard and
done my best, and I have prayed for the blessing, but I suppose God does
not see fit to grant it." But why not? One says, it is the sovereignty
of God withholding the blessing. The father withheld not his gifts from
the elder brother in sovereignty; neither does our Heavenly Father
withhold any good thing from them that love Him. He does not make any
such differences between His children. "He is able to make all grace
abound towards you" was the promise equally made to all in the
Corinthian church.
Some think these rich blessings
are not for them, but for those who have more time to devote to religion
and prayer; or their circumstances are so difficult, so peculiar, that
we can have no conception of their various hindrances. But do not such
think that God, if He places them in these circumstances, cannot make
His grace abound accordingly? They admit He could if He would, work a
miracle for them, which they can hardly expect. In some way, they, like
the elder son, throw the blame on God. Thus many are saying, when asked
if they are enjoying unbroken fellowship with God:--"Alas, no! I have
not been able to attain to such a height; it is too high for me. I know
of some who have it, and I read of it; but God has not given it to me,
for some reason." But why not? You think, perhaps, that you have not the
same capacity for spiritual blessing that others have. The Bible speaks
of a joy that is "unspeakable and full of glory" as the fruit of
believing; of a "love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
given unto us." Do we desire it, do we? Why not get it? Have we asked
for it? We think we are not worthy of the blessing--we are not good
enough; and therefore God has not given it. There are more among us than
we know of, or are willing to admit, who throw the blame of our
darkness, and of our wanderings on God! Take care! Take care! Take care!
And again, what about that
other promise? The Father says, "All I have is thine." Are you rejoicing
in the treasures of Christ? Are you conscious of having an abundant
supply for all your spiritual needs every day? God has all these for you
in abundance. "Thou never gavest me a kid!" The answer is, "All that I
have is thine. I gave it thee in Christ."
Dear reader, we have such wrong
thoughts of God. What is God like? I know no image more beautiful and
instructive than that of the sun. The sun is never weary of shining;--of
pouring out his beneficent rays upon both the good and the evil. You
might close up the windows with blinds or bricks, the sun would shine
upon them all the same; though we might sit in darkness, in utter
darkness, the shining would be just the same. God's sun shines on every
leaf; on every flower; on every blade of grass; on everything that
springs out of the ground. All receive this wealth of sunshine until
they grow to perfection and bear fruit. Would He who made that sun be
less willing to poor out His love and life into me? The sun--what beauty
it creates! And my God,--would He not delight more in creating a beauty
and a fruitfulness in me?--such, too, as He has promised to give? And
yet some say, when asked why they do not live in unbroken communion with
God, "God does not give it to me, I do not know why; but that is the
only reason I can give you--He has not given it to me." You remember the
parable of the one who said, "I know thou art an hard master, reaping
where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strawed,"
asking and demanding what thou hast not given. Oh! let us come and ask
why it is that the believer lives such a low experience.
3. THE CAUSE OF THIS
DISCREPANCY BETWEEN GOD'S GIFTS, AND OUR LOW EXPERIENCE.
The believer is complaining
that God has never given him a kid. Or, God has given him some blessing,
but has never given the full blessing. He has never filled him with His
Spirit. "I never," he says, "had my heart, as a fountain, giving forth
the rivers of living water promised in John vii. 38." What is the cause?
The elder son thought he was serving his father faithfully "these many
years" in his father's house, but it was in the spirit of bondage and
not in the spirit of a child, so that his unbelief blinded him to the
conception of a father's love and kindness, and he was unable all the
time to see that his father was ready, not only to give him a kid, but a
hundred, or a thousand kids, if he would have them. He was simply living
in unbelief, in ignorance, in blindness, robbing himself of the
privileges that the father had for him. So, if there be a discrepancy
between our life and the fulfillment and enjoyment of all God's
promises, the fault is ours. It our experience be not what God wants it
to be, it is because of our unbelief in the love of God, in the power of
God, and in the reality of God's promises.
God's word teaches us, in the
story of the Israelites, that it was unbelief on their part that was the
cause of their troubles, and not any limitation or restriction on God's
part. As Psalm 78th says:--"He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and
gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out
of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers." Yet they sinned
by doubting His power to provide meat for them--"They spake against God;
they said, can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" (vs. 15-19).
Later on, we read in v. 41, "They turned back and tempted God, and
limited the Holy One of Israel." They kept distrusting Him from time to
time. When they got to Kadesh-Barnea, and God told them to enter the
land flowing with milk and honey where there would be rest, abundance,
and victory, only two men said, "Yes;" we can take possession, for God
can make us conquer." But the ten spies, and the six hundred thousand
men answered, "No; we can never take the land; the enemies are too
strong for us." It was simply unbelief that kept them out of the land of
promise.
If there is to be any deepening
of the spiritual life in us, we must come to the discovery, and the
acknowledgment of the unbelief there is in our hearts. God grant that we
may get this spiritual quickening, and that we may come to see that it
is by our unbelief that we have prevented God from doing His work in us.
Unbelief is the mother of disobedience, and of all my sins and short
comings--my temper, my pride, my unlovingness, my worldliness, my sins
of every kind. Though these differ in nature and form, yet they all come
from the one root, viz, that we do not believe in the freedom and
fulness of the Divine gift of the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and
strengthen us, and fill us with the life and grace of God all the day
long. Look, I pray you, at that elder son, and ask what was the cause of
that terrible difference between the heart of the father and the
experience of the son. There can be no answer but that it was this
sinful unbelief that utterly blinded the son to a sense of his father's
love.
Dear fellow believer, I want to
say to you, that, if you are not living in the joy of God's salvation,
the entire cause is your unbelief. You do not believe in the mighty
power of God, and that He is willing by His Holy Spirit to work a
thorough change in your life, and enable you to live in fulness of
consecration to Him. God is willing that you should so live; but you do
not believe it. If men really believed in the infinite love of God, what
a change it would bring about! What is love? It is a desire to
communicate oneself for the good of the object loved--the opposite to
selfishness; as we read in 1 Cor. xiii. "Love seeketh not her own." Thus
the mother is willing to sacrifice herself for the good of her child. So
God in His love is ever willing to impart blessing; and He is omnipotent
in His love. This is true, my friends; God is omnipotent in love, and He
is doing His utmost to fill every heart in this house. "But if God is
really anxious to do that, and if He is Almighty, why does He not do it
now?" You must remember, that God has given you a will, and by the
exercise of that will, you can hinder God, and remain content, like the
elder son, with the low life of unbelief. Come, now, and let us see the
cause of the difference between God's high, blessed provision for His
children, and the low, sad experience of many of us in the unbelief that
distrusts and grieves Him. 4. THE WAY OF
RESTORATION--HOW IS THAT TO BE BROUGHT ABOUT? We all
know the parable of the prodigal son; and how many sermons have been
preached about repentance, from that parable. We are told that "he came
to himself and said, I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto
him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight." In
preaching, we speak of this as the first step in a changed life--as
conversion, as repentance, confession, returning to God. But, as this is
the first step for the prodigal, we must remember that this is also the
step to be taken by His erring children--by all the ninety-nine "who
need no repentance," or think they do not. Those Christians who do not
understand how wrong their low religious life is, must be taught that
this is sin--unbelief; and that it is as necessary that they should be
brought to repentance as the prodigal. You have heard a great deal of
preaching repentance to the unconverted; but I want to try to preach it
to God's children. We have a picture of so many of God's children in
that elder brother. What the father told him, to bring about a
consideration of the love that He bore him, just as he loved the
prodigal brother, thus does God tell to us in our contentedness with
such a low life:--"You must repent and believe that I love you, and all
that I have is thine." He says, "By your unbelief, you have dishonoured
me, living for ten, twenty, or thirty years, and never believing what it
was to live in the blessedness of My love. You must confess the wrong
you have done Me in this, and be broken down in contrition of heart just
as truly as the prodigal."
There are many children of God
who need to confess, that though they are His children, they have never
believed that God's promises are true, that He is willing to fill their
hearts all the day long with His blessed presence. Have you believed
this? If you have not, all our teaching will be of no profit to you.
Will you not say, "By the help of God, I will begin now a new life of
faith, and will not rest until I know what such a life means. I will
believe that I am every moment in the Father's presence, and all that He
has is mine?"
May the Lord God work this
conviction in the hearts of all cold believers. Have you ever heard the
expression, "a conviction for sanctification?" You know, the unconverted
man needs a conviction before conversion. So does the dark-minded
Christian need conviction before, and in order to sanctification, before
he comes to a real insight to spiritual blessedness. He must be
convicted a second time because of his sinful life of doubt, and temper,
and unlovingness. He must be broken down under that conviction; then
there is hope for him. May the Father of mercy grant all such that deep
contrition, so that they may be led into the blessedness of His
presence, and enjoy the fulness of His power and love!
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