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untrimmed, and useless shoots are drawing away its life. Worms are at the root, or concealed in the bark. Let the tree be put into good condition, and how its branches bend under the burden of luscious fruit. Not only does it bear more fruit, but the quality is better. So with the Christian; he is useful with a little light, a little grace, a little power, but we well know that if the grace were all transforming and sanctifying, his usefulness would be vastly increased.

The Lord has need of us. There is no more spiritual and mysterious truth than that Christ our Head is actually and entirely dependent upon the members of His body for the accomplishment of His purposes of mercy towards a perishing world. Partnership in His saving work is the crown and highest glory to which any Christian can aspire. Would we be prepared for the maximum of possible service and blessing? Surely this is the ambition of every child of God. The answer is, If a man purge himself he shall be a vessel unto honour." If we have failed in the past, it is not because of lack of talent or human ability. Is it not rather because our hearts have not been cleansed from sin?

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3. PREPARED UNTO EVERY GOOD WORK.-This last characteristic means readiness for all sorts of service. The teaching is that holiness is the source of every kind of human excellence. It sets to work all cur powers and in the best possible directions. It means the sanctification of hands, feet, brain, temper, pocket, the whole man inwardly and outwardly. The desire and aim then is to make a "good work" of whatever is given us to do, and to do it in the best

and most perfect way, according to our light and knowledge; let it be the painting of a picture, the sweeping of a room, the managing of a business, or the preaching of a sermon. The meanest service is ennobled by its lofty motive when we work under the inspiration of the Cross. In estimating the value of Christian work, we often think too much of our efforts and too little of our spirit and life, but character is really of more importance than our activities. "Words have a weight," says Thomas Carlyle, "when there is a man behind them," and when behind our efforts there is the fragrance of a holy and consistent life our labour cannot be vain. "Holy living is the rhetoric that tells best in this age of facts." The measure of our holiness is the measure of our power. By this means and this only are we "prepared unto every good work."

Let us note the word "every" because we shall be many-sided when our hearts are cleansed from all sin. We are in danger of limiting our conceptions of duty to some particular sphere, repeating one note instead of a full chord; but the world is wide, and human need is great, and the best servants are the servants of all work. They are always on the alert for opportunities to do good, and ready, even if the call comes suddenly, as it often does. It is not with them as with many who are not living with their loins girt, and who often let their opportunity pass before they have pulled themselves together. It is a grand thing to be “prepared unto every good work "-always ready. Chrysostom interprets the words to mean "ready for every emergency which would add to the glory of God,

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ready even for death, if needs be, or any other painful witness."

After the Seraphim had laid the live coal upon the lips of Isaiah, and had said, "Lo! this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged," he heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah's glad and immediate response was, "Here am I, send me." In the same spirit we shall leap forward to fill positions of duty, honour, and danger, when our hearts are purified from self and sin.

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CHAPTER XX

Consecration

OME writers of advanced Christian experience magnify the will and emphasise the importance

of absolute submission, while others urge faith

as the condition of blessing. Both are right. Perfect trust cannot exist without complete surrender. Nor can we surrender our will to One whom we cannot trust. Lady Maxwell could pray, "Put a thorn in every enjoyment, a worm in every gourd, that would prevent, or in any measure retard my progress in Divine life." And when we can say, from our inmost heart, "I am willing to receive what Thou givest, and to want what Thou withholdest, and to relinquish what Thou takest, and to suffer what Thou inflictest, and to be what Thou requirest, and to do what Thou commandest. Have Thine own way with me and mine in all particulars," we are not far from the Canaan of God's perfect love.

This full surrender is consecration. It means an entire willingness on our part to be, to do, and to suffer, all that God wills. We use the word "conse

cration," not because it is the best word, but because it is the word in most common use and the word most likely to be understood. What repentance is to justification, consecration is to entire sanctification. Just as repentance towards God must precede faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in the case of those who seek Divine forgiveness, so unconditional surrender is the indispensable condition of trusting Christ as a Saviour from indwelling sin. Some think they must struggle and make great effort, but faith does not come as the result of effort. It rises up spontaneously in the soul when the hindrances are removed. Unbelief has always a moral cause-unwillingness to do the will of God in some point. The difficulty is not with our faculties, nor with evidences, but with our moral state, our disposition to follow unhesitatingly where the truth leads. Faith becomes as natural as breathing when we dethrone our idols. Nearly all the difficulty in reference to the faith which leads the Christian into full salvation is because of a reluctance to sell all to obtain this "pearl of great price."

Purity of heart can never be given or retained apart from a total, complete, and absolute abandonment of all sinful and doubtful practices and the acceptance and approval of the will of God. We must make ourselves over to God, and all that we have, to be used only for His glory, and in accordance with His will. As faithful stewards, we must be content to live only to carry out the wishes of Him to whom we belong. Under the old feudal system of personal homage, the vassal declared his submission and devotedness to his lord with uncovered head, ungirt belt, sword and

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