“The Price of Power” | ARTICLE of the week

William Borden

There must be a definite determination to do God's will—a will to obey. Christ laid down the conditions of discipleship as denying self and following Him, and that is just what is required here. Each one must examine his life and put away all sin, not holding on to anything which the Spirit tells him he should let go.

One of the hardest things anyone can have to do is to confess he has wronged another. But we read, "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift" (Matthew 5:23-24). We touch upon this matter of confession to others because it has played such a prominent part in spiritual awakenings, and because of the conviction that lack of such confession is the cause of much powerlessness in Christian service.

Questions of life-work also need to be met squarely and the inquiry honestly made: "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" The answer may not come at once, but there should be a willingness and determination to do His will, whatever service it may involve, at home or abroad. These are but suggestions to indicate what is involved in absolute consecration to Christ, which is so necessary to real obedience. Do you lack power? Ask yourself, Have I ever fully surrendered? Have I definitely consecrated myself, put myself at God's disposal, to use as He deems best?

It must be admitted, however, that there are those who at some time of vision or conflict have won a victory and taken this great step, and yet have not subsequently had real power in their lives. What is the reason? Cases differ, but may we not say that it was probably through failure to make this principle of complete obedience permanent in their lives? Christ's rule for discipleship as given in Matthew 16:24 has been referred to above. Do you know how it reads in Luke, and what the additional feature is which has there been preserved for us? It is just one word: "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Daily—that is the thing to note. It is not enough to take up the cross once and then lay it down when the burden grows wearisome.

The need for daily application of this principle appears in two ways: first, old questions which have been faced and downed as we thought, will come up again; and secondly, there will arise new problems which were not covered by the original act of consecration. Many who have faced the question of life-work, and decided for the foreign field, illustrate this. It was at tremendous cost they made the decision, and possibly there was the thought that afterwards all would be plain sailing. But no: the same old problems had to be fought out, and there were new ones too to face. The principle of Christ's supremacy could not be lost sight of for a moment. Satan, when defeated, left Christ but for a little season. How much less, when he has been ousted from our lives at some conference or on some mountaintop, will he despair of finding a foothold when we are on the plain of everyday living again. Obedience, which is the price of power, must not only be absolute but daily. Are we paying this part of the price?

It may be there are others who have consecrated themselves to Christ and do seek to make this a daily attitude of life, and yet fail to receive real power. Where this is the case, may it not be due to imperfect application of the principle of obedience? It is comparatively easy to isolate the great issues, the big problems, and to deal with them by the grace of God. But there are many so-called "little things" which are apt to be overlooked. These grieve and quench the Spirit in no less a real way than the others. They are difficult to deal with, and many Christians do not seem to recognize what they are at all though ignorance does not save us from the consequences in this any more than in other spheres. We must study the Word of God, daily see ourselves in that glass, asking God to search us and know our hearts, try us and know our thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in us.

Mr. Speer in his Principles of Jesus has indicated four great guiding principles that our Lord laid down—namely purity, honesty, unselfishness, and love. These are simple and plain enough; yet how many of us are checking up our every thought and word and deed by these? How many of us are asking in everything, "Is this pleasing to Him?" Our personal habits, our amusements, all our intercourse with others, business or social, should be considered in this light. We must seek not merely to avoid quenching the Spirit; we must be careful lest we grieve Him.

Obedience, absolute and unqualified, which is made a daily principle of living, carried even into little things, this is the price of power.

Of course there must not be a selfish motive, and we must not fail to ask in definite believing prayer for the Holy Spirit. But if the conditions are met, God will make good His promise, "Ye shall receive power." How the power will manifest itself in our lives need not concern us here. The saying still holds good—"The world has yet to see what God can do with a fully consecrated man." Only as filled with His Spirit can we hope to win men from darkness to light and to faith in Christ.

Shall we not each one resolve, from henceforth, to obey Him absolutely in all things, small and great?

"we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit,

whom God has given to those who obey him."

Acts 5:32 ESV