The Masters Indwelling | Page 7

apart to receive what it is to contain, say to Christ that you desire from this hour to be a
vessel set apart to be filled with His Spirit, given up to be a spiritual man. Bow down in
the deepest emptiness of soul, and say, "Oh, God, I have nothing!" and then surely as you
place yourself before Him you have a right to say, "My God will fulfill His promise! I

claim from Him the filling of the Holy Spirit to make me, instead of a carnal, a spiritual
Christian." If you place yourself at His feet, and tarry there; if you abide in that humble
surrender and that childlike trust, as sure as God lives the blessing will come.
Oh, have we not to bow in shame before God, as we think of His whole Church and see
so much of the carnal prevailing? Have we not to bow in shame before God, as we think
of so much of the carnal in our hearts and lives? Then let us bow in great faith in God's
mercy. Deliverance is nigh, deliverance is coming, deliverance is waiting, deliverance is
sure. Let us trust; God will give it.

THE SELF LIFE.
II.
Matt. 16: 24.--_If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me_.
In the 13th verse we read that Jesus at Caesarea Philippi asked His disciples, "Whom do
men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" When they had answered, He asked them, "But
whom say ye that I am?" And in verse 16 Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the Living God." Jesus answered and said unto him: "Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjonas, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in
Heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Then in verse 21 we read how
Jesus began to tell His disciples of His approaching death; and in verse 22 how Peter
began to rebuke Him, saying, "Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee."
But Jesus turned and said unto Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offense unto
me, for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." Then said
Jesus unto His disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross and follow me."
We often hear about the compromise life and the question comes up What lies at the root
of it? What is the reason that so many Christians are wasting their lives in the terrible
bondage of the world instead of living in the manifestation and the privilege and the glory
of the child of God? And another question perhaps comes to us: What can be the reason
that when we see a thing is wrong and strive against it we cannot conquer it? What can be
the reason that we have a hundred times prayed and vowed, yet here we are still living a
mingled, divided, half-hearted life? To those two questions there is one answer: it is self
that is the root of the whole trouble. And therefore, if any one asks me, "How can I get
rid of this compromise life?" the answer would not be, "You must do this, or that, or the
other thing," but the answer would be, "A new life from above, the life of Christ, must
take the place of the self-life; then alone can we be conquerors."
We always go from the outward to the inward; let us do so here; let us consider from
these words of the text the one word, "self." Jesus said to Peter: "If any man will come
after me let him deny himself, his own self, and take up the cross and follow me." That is

a mark of the disciple; that is the secret of the Christian life--deny self and all will come
right. Note that Peter was a believer, and a believer who had been taught by the Holy
Spirit. He had given an answer that pleased Christ wonderfully: "Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God." Do not think that that was nothing extraordinary. We learn it in
our catechisms; Peter did not; and Christ saw that the Holy Spirit of the Father had been
teaching him and He said: "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjonas." But note how strong the
carnal man still is in Peter. Christ speaks of His cross; He could understand about the
glory, "Thou art the Son of God;" but about