non sibi sed toti	Parsons Family and Friends

The Call to Holiness Return to book index Chapter 7 The Means of Grace In his book on John Wesley's doctrine of holiness, The Path to Perfection, page 7, W. E. Sangster wrote : 'There is an experience of God the Holy Spirit, available for all who will seek it with importunity, which imparts spiritual power far above the level enjoyed by the average Christian : which inspires a caring God-like love different in kind from the affections of normal nature : which communicates to the eager soul the penetrating power of holiness. No book can give this experience. It belongs to the secret intercourse of the soul with God. It lies at the very heart of personal religion. Its wide reception would transform the Church and shake the world. . . . Faith and prayer are the ordained means, and progress may be measured by one's progress in humility.' Whatever facet of the doctrine of sanctification makes its special appeal to us, all Christians agree that the Holy Spirit is the author of holiness; that while holiness is spiritual power and deep love it is also characterized by humility; and that the means whereby it is obtained is faith and prayer. I take the word prayer in its widest possible connotation, to include every kind of devotional activity, both private and public, individual and corporate. Holiness is the gift of God's grace, and we are now to consider the means of grace. It is certain we shall not grow in grace unless we use the means. Dr Sangster is right when he says that no book can give the experience of holiness. Neither can a book teach us to pray. It is however interesting to note that the many books that have been written on the subject seem to transcend the differences which divide Christians in other ways. John Wesley greatly valued a book of devotions by John Austin, a Roman Catholic, and issued his own edition of it in his Christian Library of Practical Divinity. Christians of many different traditions have learned to pray with the Anglican Lancelot Andrewes, as they do today with the Roman Catholic Michel Quoist. We cannot afford to miss any possible source of help. But it is perfectly true that the experience of prayer can only be won by praying. We, no less than the disciples, need to make the request: 'Lord, teach us to pray' (Luke 11.1). It was when they had seen Jesus at prayer that they realized their own need for help and guidance. Perhaps the first step in the art of learning to pray is to admit our ignorance and ask to be taught. The immediate answer to the disciples' petition was to be given the form of words which we call the Lord's Prayer. But this is far more than a set form to be used verbatim '. it is also a model for all our praying. In our ignorance we may over-emphasize one particular aspect of prayer. A popular idea, for instance, is that prayer consists mainly in asking things for oneself or others, and when these are not granted in the way people hope they too easily give up praying altogether. The Lord's Prayer shows us that the most important part of our devotional life is concerned with the worship of God, the coming of his Kingdom, the doing of his will. Before ever we begin to ask God for our daily bread — and the inclusion of this petition as the first request for ourselves teaches that God is interested in every aspect of our earthly life — we are first to become adjusted to our heavenly Father, to acknowledge him as the Holy One, to see the world, and ourselves within it, from his viewpoint, and to align our wills with Ills. For most of us tills will mean giving ourselves time to be quiet, and to concentrate. Many find it helpful to begin with a few verses of the Bible, some passage which lifts our minds to God himself, such as Isaiah 6.1-5; or to picture some scene from one of the Gospels in which Jesus reveals the character of the Father. When it comes to putting our worship into words, some parts of the Psalms, or of hymns of adoration, may be useful. But we may find words are not necessary at all. Perhaps no command is less frequently obeyed than that in Psalm 46.10 R.S.V. : 'Be still, and know that I am God'. There is a sense in which, in thus worshipping the Lord, we forget ourselves. This does not come easily to selfconscious adults. I like the story of the mother who rebuked her small son for some misdemeanour, saying, 'Come, come, you forget yourself. The boy replied : 'Don't you wish you could?' We need to become so absorbed with God that we cease to be at the centre of our thoughts. Indeed, if we truly worship, we shall begin to see ourselves in all our unworthiness and sinfulness, as Isaiah did, and cry out for God's forgiveness. Penitence is a part of true prayer, and the holiest people have always been most conscious of their sins. But penitence is not morbid introspection. It is to lead to the glad acceptance of forgiveness from God and a for- giving spirit to others, and surrender to the guidance of God, away from the things which cause us to sin, and towards the path of deliverance. These gifts of God must inevitably cause us to thank and praise him. Somehow thanksgiving to God — just saying thank you to him for specific things that he has given - is a neglected part of prayer. As with worship, thanksgiving can be helped by psalms and hymns. As Paul advised : 'Sing the words and tunes of the psalms and hymns when you are together, and go on singing and chanting to the Lord in your hearts, so that always and everywhere you are giving thanks to God who is our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ' (Eph. 5.19, 20). Neither need thanksgiving be limited to those circumstances which are obviously helpful. There is profound wisdom in the words seen on a motto-card : 'Hallelujah anyway !' In stressing the importance of these aspects of prayer, I have no desire to belittle the need and the value of petition and intercession. There are great difficulties in understanding how the doing of God's will can be dependent on our praying. Certainly God does not need to be reminded, or persuaded, to do what he most wants to do. But God has chosen to work through human co-operation. Just as he uses the proclamation of the gospel by a human evangelist to draw someone to himself, so he has chosen to use the praying of his people to accomplish his purpose. It is sometimes said that when we pray it is not the circumstances or people we are praying for that change, but we ourselves. This I believe to be only a part of the truth. Undoubtedly, as we pray, we change in relation to the object of our prayer. But Scripture makes it clear, and experience bears out, that prayer changes things as well. Peter was imprisoned by Herod. 'All the time Peter was under guard the Church prayed to God for him unremittingly' (Acts 12.5). The result was not simply that Peter was comforted, or that the Church was strengthened to endure the time of testing. The result was that the prison doors were opened, the chains fell from his hands, and Peter was a free man. Modern miracles in answer to prayer are far too numerous to be mere coincidence. It is natural to think of some of the outstanding examples like Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission (now the Overseas Missionary Fellowship), and George Muller and his Orphanage. In both cases the money and personnel for the work were never sought by appeal to men, but only by prayer to God, and the history of both enterprises abounds in stories of thrilling answers. But these well-known cases can be matched by the experience of thousands of more ordinary Christians who have known beyond doubt that God answers prayer, not just in a subjective way, but by changing things. Moreover those who have prayed most have been those who are least concerned over the supposed difficulties about intercession. It follows that a mature prayer life will grow, not only in depth, but in breadth. Most people begin praying with a very limited horizon, and some alas, advance very little. Lancelot Andrewes' Preces Privatae reveal a man whose devotion was deep and his intercession wide. In our age we have no excuse for not making our prayers world-wide in scope. Literature about the work of the Church in all the world is available, and daily papers and news bulletins keep us up-to- date with world events. We should be able to pray with real understanding. To cover a wide field requires some kind of system, as is provided by various cycles of prayer on a monthly or weekly basis, but particular interests will have their special appeal to an individual for daily and more detailed intercession. Prayer for others, like the worship of God, takes us out of ourselves, and he who intercedes most is likely to grow most in holiness. In what I have written so far I have been thinking about private prayer, but this is only one way of using this means of grace. There is prayer in the worship of the Church, whether of a liturgical or of a freer pattern. Perhaps some who find a liturgy unhelpful need to be reminded that such prayers provide a standard of devotion independent of the ability or spirituality of a particular minister. Many of the ancient prayers have stood the test of centuries and seem to stretch our spirits as we try to make them our own. Of course they can become formal, as no doubt the liturgical prayers of the synagogue sometimes were when our Lord attended the services. Perhaps those most wedded to liturgical forms need to learn more of the spontaneous freedom of extempore prayer. There is much to be said for small groups of committed Christians meeting together informally for intercession. At times of spiritual awakening this has generally happened, and the multiplication of such prayer meetings is one of the hopeful signs today. Even more than the larger gatherings of the church on a weekday for intercession - which is very desirable - the smaller meetings, where members get to know each other very well, seem to provide an opportunity to grow in the prayer life, helped on by mutual encouragement. And there is one group which is small enough, and ought to be united enough, to pray together every day - the family. The once prevalent Family Worship, after a period of near extinction, is now happily reviving. Closely associated with prayer is the reading and study of the Bible. I have already mentioned the use of passages of Scripture in our devotions. Prayer is two-way traffic, like the angels on Jacob's ladder going up and coming down. We need to listen to God's voice from heaven, and the way to be sure that what we hear is not just our own fancy is to check everything by the written Word of God. Indeed God normally speaks to us through his Word. That is not to say that we can treat the Bible unintelligently, as if it were a book of magic or a collection of isolated texts. We need to be able to relate a passage of Scripture to its context, and to interpret it in the Sight of the whole. Spiritual growth is fostered by a thorough knowledge of the Bible. It goes with- out saying that preaching in the Church should be based on robust exposition of Scripture. Topical talks or moral essays are a poor substitute for the ministry of the Word. A Bible-based message is always up-to-date, and speaks to the heart and conscience of the hearer. It is my belief that the Sunday ministry should be supplemented by Bible teaching of some kind during the week. 'Every man a Bible student' may be a remote ideal, though the slogan was first used, not for a sophisticated congregation of university men, but for those East African Christians who had been influenced by the revival. At any rate it has normally been assumed that a Christian should be a Bible reader, even if not a student. For many years there have been available schemes of reading, with notes adapted to the needs of various age-groups, almost always based on the assumption of daily reading. The Scripture Union and the Bible Reading Fellowship are the two best known organizations. No doubt the ideal for most people is to conform to this habit. I believe, however, that there is danger in too legalistic an attitude to Bible-reading. Not only do people vary enormously in their mental ability to grasp the meaning of words, but their whole way of life may make it, either comparatively easy, or else virtually impossible, to read the Scriptures meaningfully every day. For some the best way may be to meet together with others for a longer period once a week in order to master the Scriptures. I would plead that we should not cling to one method as if it were the only one. Nevertheless for very many Christians the daily reading and pondering of the Scriptures is the best way. Traditionally the devotional period of Bible reading, meditation and prayer has been the first activity of the day. Variously called the Quiet Time or the Morning Watch, it has been associated with the virtue of early rising. I have before me as I write a manual for young communicants written in 1903 by Robert Charles Joynt, one of the great pastors of his day. In it he writes : 'The best time for your Bible is the early hours of the morning. The house is still, and you are secure, as a rule, against interruption. It honours God when he is given the first place in our day's programme. . . . No one who is in good health ought to be in bed after six o'clock till they pass the prime of their life'. The biographies of saintly people usually tell a similar story : Charles Simeon, for instance, rose at four for his devotions. Times have changed, the pace of life is much faster, but one sometimes wonders if the present generation has lost something of the discipline of our fathers. It may not be possible to spend several hours — or even a single hour — each day, as once seems to have been fairly common, but can there be any real growth in holiness when all that is offered for this purpose is ten minutes? Time must be found, sufficient time to enable us to be unhurried. It cannot be in the early morning for everybody, and we must avoid making a fetish out of what may be an ideal for some. Different hours of the day will suit the housewife, the office worker, the farmer, the student. Some are more able to concentrate at night than in the morning, others can take time at midday. Concentration on the importance of a Quiet Time is not an end in itself. Paul's command to the Thessalonians is to pray constantly, which suggests that throughout our conscious hours we should be aware of God's nearness, and able at any moment to speak to him. Such ejaculatory prayers may consist of only a word or two : 'Lord, help me !' 'Father, thank you', 'Lord, I love you'. For long stretches of time our thoughts must be occupied with our daily work, our social conversations, our family affairs. It is not necessary consciously to 'say a prayer' about every detail in order to be doing all to the glory of God. Someone once asked Hudson Taylor if we could be aware that we were always abiding in Christ. He replied that it was more important that we should never be aware that we are not abiding in Christ. The presence of God and our relationship with him can be the background of our whole life. But undoubtedly this experience is made more possible by the faithful observance of periods of quiet, and frequent 'arrow' prayers throughout the day. Even when the Christian is most alone in his private devotions, he is still a member of Christ's Church, aware of his one-ness with all other Christians the world over, and indeed with those who have gone before. The model prayer begins, not My Father, but Our Father. The Holy Spirit who brings us to acknowledge Christ our Lord at the same time makes us members of his Body. When we pray, therefore, we pray not only for our fellow-believers, but with them, and are made aware of our dependence on the prayers of others. This is of enormous help when we go through periods of spiritual dryness, as we all do. We may think we are praying badly - though the apparent barrenness of our prayers may be God's way of teaching us to persevere irrespective of our feelings - and then we remember that the whole Church is praying with us. But this sense of togetherness needs to be fostered by actually meeting with our fellow-Christians in worship and genuinely open fellowship. We cannot be in love and charity with people we scarcely know. Hence the vital importance for holiness of meaningful membership of the Church, and of the sacrament of Holy Communion which expresses it. For at the Lord's Table we not only remember his death till he come, so strengthening our love and our hope; we not only feed on Christ in our hearts by faith, so increasing our trust and confidence in him; we not only give thanks for all that he has done for our salvation, and offer our souls and bodies to him for his service; but we also partake of the one bread and drink of the one cup, and so express our one-ness in Christ and our love for one another. Such fellowship is a means of grace without which there can be no true holiness. What is expressed in the Holy Communion needs to be worked out in the details of our lives. Return to book index Chapter 8 The Urge to Evangelise In a Mission to Oxford University William Temple once said : 'Christ's gift of himself, that is to say of perfect love, is not something you can have and keep. If you are keeping it, it proves you have not got it'. In other words, it is of the nature of the gospel that it is received to be passed on. Those who have bathed in the Dead Sea will know that, interesting as the experience may be, the water is most unpleasant. For the Dead Sea is constantly receiving water from the Jordan, but there is no outlet at the other end. The water just evaporates, leaving its deposit of salts. That is why it is 'dead' : there is no outlet. Very different is a swim in the Lake of Galilee where all the time water flows in at the north and out at the south. It is cool and refreshing. There is life. It is essential to holiness that the channel of intake and the channel of outflow be alike kept unblocked, otherwise there will be stagnation. Unless there is a willingness to bear witness to others there is little evidence of spiritual life at all. Profession of faith is the outward expression of the inward commitment of the heart. 'If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved' (Rom. 10. 9). We could indeed have included this subject in the last chapter as one of the means of grace, for it is certain we shall not grow in holiness, unless we are constantly giving out as well as taking in. Holiness entails obedience to the will of God. Christ's command to 'go and make disciples of all the nations' is as binding on the whole church for all time as is his command to 'do this in remembrance of me'. Clearly not every member of the Church is called to preach. 'There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit' (i Cor. 12.4). Every Christian is to use what gift he has been given for building up the body of Christ. Some are apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers (see Eph. 4.11). But there are also administrators, alms-givers, officials, and those who do works of mercy (Rom. 12.7, 8). Along one or more of these channels the life of the Spirit is to flow out to others. Whatever the form of service, unless it is accompanied by a consistent life it will not be truly effective. The emphasis throughout our discussion has been that 'being' is even more important than 'doing'. But we cannot escape the obligation to use the gifts God has given in the service of the gospel. This means being where the people are, going out to them in friendship and loving concern. Lay people need to be reminded that they have opportunities in their daily life which no clergyman or minister can share. Indeed it is a large part of the task of the clergy to equip the laity for the work of witnessing. Witness includes not only direct evangelistic approach and personal caring, but involvement in the social needs of our neighbourhood and of the whole world. Our Lord's parable of the good Samaritan leaves us in no doubt about who is our neighbour, or about the obligation of everyone to go and do the same. Part of our concern can be expressed by personal service, but this is inevitably limited. What we can do in our little sphere must be supplemented by encouraging others, giving that others may serve, influencing public opinion, and above all by prayer. The concept of the serving Church, the involvement of Christian people in the needs of the world, has come very much to the fore in recent years. One would almost be led at times to think it was a new discovery. But it is difficult to imagine how followers of our Lord Jesus Christ could ever lose sight of the role of the servant. 'Here am I among you as one who serves!' said Jesus, and even if he had never spoken the words, his life was all the evidence needed. In point of fact Christians have no need to be ashamed of the record of the Church in education and medicine, in the social crusade for the improvement of the lot of all mankind, in the struggle to get men to care for the hungry, the homeless and the destitute. Kathleen Heasman in her Evangelicals in Action (Geoffrey Bles, 1962.) has shown how this was true of the nineteenth century. In an exhaustive study of the social work done by the Evangelicals she paints the picture of desperate need, and of sacrificial service to meet it. From scores of names and causes we can pick out a few which speak for themselves : Wilberforce and the abolition of the slave trade, Shaftesbury and the Ragged School Union, Barnardo and destitute children, Josephine Butler and the reform of prostitutes, Elizabeth Fry and prison reform. Add to these the movements for the care of the blind and the deaf, the unsound in mind and body, the sick and aged, and many others in need. It is reckoned that a good three-quarters of the voluntary societies which exploded into being in the nineteenth century were Evangelical in character. In other words, all this work for the social and material welfare of mankind was undertaken by people whose caring was the overflowing of the love of God. It would be unfair to suggest that this wave of service to humanity had no weaknesses, or that all godly people automatically threw in their lot with it. Some words of Josephine Butler are a cautionary tale for any age : 'The godly people have numerous conferences for the deepening of the spiritual life, from which they come away gorged with spiritual foodstuff. What is the use of these conferences when they result in nothing and leave the hell around as bad as ever?' Nor is it fair to suggest that the spirit of service is lacking among Christians today. Much of what was pioneered by voluntary bodies is now the responsibility of the state or the local authority, and many committed Christians work within the statutory service. And there are still many areas which are not covered by official agencies. Within and without the state system, thousands of Christian people are caring for the aged and the little children, the delinquents and the drug-addicts, the deprived and the destitute. It often involves great sacrifice and is emphatically the outflowing of the love of Cod. It is holiness in action. And it is evangelism. For evangelism is proclaiming the evangel, the good news. The gospel declares that Christ came in order that men 'may have life and have it to the full' (John 10.10). Such a claim undoubtedly has social implications. As Jesus cared for men's bodies, so must his followers. The love of God must be shared irrespective of whether it evokes any response. When our Lord healed ten men of leprosy only one showed any gratitude. Yet we instinctively know that lie was right to heal them all. So also are we right to go on serving mankind, and thereby showing them God's love, whether they evidence any interest in the message of the gospel or not. What we try to do for others must be done out of love for them and not merely as a bait, to catch an unwary fish. But here we need to think very clearly. Love wants to share the highest and best things we have. Therefore a Christian, however much he is willing to serve others in any way they consciously seem to need, cannot stop short of wanting to share the greatest treasure lie possesses, whicli is the knowledge of Christ. It is not a case of loving people in order to break down their resistance so that we can speak to them of our Lord. It is rather a matter of loving them without limit so that we cannot be satisfied until we have presented Christ to them. Neither personal piety on the one hand, nor social concern on the other, nor for that matter both of them together, are an adequate expression of holiness. There must be a real desire to bring people to know Christ. Our forefathers used expressions like 'soul-winning', and talked about having a 'passion for souls'. We have seen that this did not mean that they neglected the social implications of the gospel but it did mean that they had things in perspective. We desperately need to recover the eternal dimension in our message and in our living. As Bishop Stephen Neill has written : 'A salvation which is conceived in purely three-dimensional terms ends by being no salvation at all'. (Article : 'Salvation Today?' The Churchman, Winter 1973. ) The New Testament sees people without Christ as lost and needing the eternal life which Christ came to bring. 'You shall give him the name Jesus (Saviour), for lie will save his people from their sins' (Matt. 1.21. N.E.B.). As the early Christians began to experience the power of this saving name, we find that they preached Christ as the only way of salvation. Peter declared : 'For of all the names in the world given to men, tills is the only one by which we can be saved' (Acts 4.12). The saving name is also the exclusive name. Such exclusiveness has been called intolerance and bigotry, over against the current fashion of syncretism. But whatever we call it, tills is the New Testament position. Christ's claim is no less : 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me'. It is this conviction which makes missionaries. The saving and exclusive name becomes also the motivating name : 'It was entirely for the sake of the name that they set out' (3 John 7). The obligation of the whole Church to carry the gospel to the whole world has often been discharged with lukewarmness, and has sometimes met with opposition. In so far as the opposition is due to ignorance it may be overcome by education. People need to be taught that the Church's mission to the world is not simply philanthropy but evangelism. The gospel is to be presented not just to the underprivileged of the developing countries, but to every sinner in the world. A high standard of living, with all that is best in education, medicine and technology, does not make bad men good. It does not even make men happy and secure, bring peace to families and neighbourhoods, remove anxiety and fear, let alone turn sinners into saints and give them the assurance of eternal life. Only the gospel can do that. And the gospel carries within itself the obligation of mission. If Jesus is Lord, he is Lord of all. 'The missionary motive of the Church', writes Jakob Jocz, 'cannot be her will for expansion or her desire to compete with other religions. No philanthropic sentiment, no cultural impulse, no political expediency such as the unification of the world, can validate Christian missions. The only justification for the missionary enterprise is faith in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. If the Church really believes that Jesus is Lord, then she can be nothing else than a missionary Church, otherwise she trifles with her profession.'(Christians and Jews, S.P.C.K. 1966,p. 8) Unfortunately opposition to the missionary obligation is not always due to ignorance of these things. There is a theological point of view, seriously put forward, which amounts to saying that Christ is not the only way. I do not think anyone would wish to dispute the fact that there is a degree of truth in non-Christian religions, but that all religions lead ultimately to the same knowledge of God is quite another matter, and is contradicted by the claims of Christ himself. The quotation just given from Dr Jocz is of special interest because he himself is a Hebrew Christian. If any religion could be regarded as outside the scope of Christian witness, surely it would be the Jews. Certainly any Christian of sensitivity can only think of a Jew with gratitude for all that has been received through the Old Testament revelation, and especial for Jesus whom the New Testament calls 'the glory of your people Israel' as well as 'a light to enlighten the pagans' (Luke 2.32). To that gratitude must be added a sense of shame for the way Christians have treated Jews at many times throughout history. But if we believe that Jesus is Lord we must believe that he is Lord of all. We cannot make exceptions of any, not even (or perhaps I should say, least of all) those to whom Jesus first came. 'Between Church and Synogogue', says Jocz, 'there is only one issue - the claim which the Church makes on behalf of Jesus Christ.' And again : 'Only in confrontation with the Synagogue does the centrality of Jesus Christ for the Christian faith become truly visible'.! This is not an unnecessary digression in a book about holiness. Holiness cannot be separated from the urge to evan- gelize, and evangelism is bringing Christ to all men who do not know him. It is significant that, pace the words of Josephine Butler quoted above, movements for the encouragement of holiness have also promoted the cause of evangelism. The Salvation Army is a case in point. From its foundation it had a strong message of holiness, with a doctrine akin to Wesley's emphasizing entire sanctification and the clean heart. Its Sunday morning gatherings, in- tended for the edification of members rather than reaching outsiders, were known as Holiness Meetings. But holiness was never allowed to remain an inward personal experience. It led men and women, sometimes with very little in the way of natural endowment, to go out into the world to testify to Christ and, in the words of their General, 'go for souls, and go for the worst'. The amazing achievements in social welfare, by which the Salvation Army is best known today, go hand in hand with the urge to evangelize; and both are the outcome of their emphasis on holiness. The same was true at an earlier date of the little band of men known as the Clapham Sect. Deep devotion to our Lord, evidenced in prayer and Bible study, witness and service, led not only to the terrific crusade which ended with the abolition of the slave trade, but also to the founding of the Church Missionary Society in 1799. In the earliest days of the Keswick Convention no place was found in the programme for a specific missionary meeting. But very soon the principle was clearly enunciated that 'consecration and the evangelization of the world ought to go together'. From then on, the missionary note has never been omitted. It would be quite impossible to calculate the impact of the Keswick movement on world evangelization. As a result of deepened spiritual life hundreds - indeed thousands - have been called to service, the prayer-life of multitudes has been quickened, and broadened to take in intercession for the whole world, and vast sums of money have been contributed for the spread of the gospel. The Church Missionary Society itself experienced a tremendous increase from 1887 onwards, trebling its number of missionaries within twelve years, and receiving all the money needed to send and support them. Eugene Stock, the historian of the Society, saw that this forward movement was intimately connected with a deep revival of the spiritual life, and the teaching of a higher standard of devotion to the Lord Jesus. 'Let the Holy Ghost himself stir the heart and enlighten the eyes, and the conversion of the unconverted becomes a matter of anxious concern. And so we have seen in these pages how much the modern development of missions owes to the spiritual movements of the day.'(The History of the Church Missionary Society. Vol. Ill, p. 804.) Not for one moment would I suggest that the missionary task has not changed almost beyond recognition since the time of which I have written. No longer can we think of 'sending' churches and 'receiving' churches. Every country is a mission field, and the Church in each needs the help of all. But the basic need for every Christian to think in terms of global strategy remains the same. We must live with our windows open to the wind of the Spirit from whatever direction. The metaphor does not suggest a life of ease and comfort, but such a life is not part of the Christian calling. It is quite certain that the Spirit will reveal the will of God for each life, and that many who respond to his promptings will find themselves in situations which call for pioneering, though usually in a different sense from our forefathers. The degree of dedication required is no less when the jungle is concrete. There are of course still areas where the people are primitive, and languages into which the Scriptures have not yet been translated. God calls some to such work. Many more are called to serve an already existing Church, offering such gifts and skills as may be asked for. The work is one the world over, and the need for workers exists everywhere. The chief qualification is holiness. I have already referred to the Jews as a test case in determining whether the gospel is of universal application. If there were to be any exception, it would be they. On the other hand we remember that the Apostles and all the first Christians were Jews, that they found in Jesus, not an alien figure, but one of themselves, the culmination of the revelation given by God, to whom the Old Testament Scriptures bear witness. Paul, who described himself as a Hebrew of the Hebrews, became the Apostle to the Gentiles. He was the first to understand and develop fully the truth that in Christ the old barriers between Jew and Gentile were done away. Nevertheless in his missionary journeys he seems always to have gone first to the synagogue. And in Romans 9.10 and n, where he works out in detail the relationship of Israel as the Chosen People to the Church of Christ, he uses language which suggests that the Jews are still a priority in Christian thinking. They are still God's chosen people, for 'God never takes back his gifts or revokes his choice' (11.29). He sees their rejection of Christ as the cutting off of branches of an olive tree, in order that shoots of wild olive (Gentiles) might be grafted in (11.17;. But he adds that 'God is perfectly able to graft them back again; after all, if you were cut from your natural wild olive to be grafted unnaturally on to a cultivated olive, it will be much easier for them, the natural brandies, to be grafted back on the tree they came from' (11.24). In other words lie foresees the time when the Jews will acknowledge Jesus. And tills will be a day of enrichment for the whole world. 'Think of the extent to which the world, the pagan world, has benefited from their fall and defection - then think how much more it will benefit from the conversion of them all' (11.12). In short, God's purpose in Christ will not be complete until his own Chosen People are brought in, and when that happens there will be blessing in all the world on a scale hitherto unknown. (For a full discussion of this view, widely taught in many parts of the Church, see The Puritan Hope by lain Murray, The Banner of Truth Trust.) This is typical of Paul's optimism. He knows that the ultimate issue is not in any doubt. However long delayed, the triumph of Christ must come. The saving name, which is the exclusive name and the motivating name, is also the victorious name. God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all other names so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, shall bend the knee at the name of Jesus and every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father. With such a prospect, who can fail to be optimistic? The hope of glory is not the selfish anticipation of individual joy in heaven. It is the certainty of the victory of Christ's kingdom. Such a hope gives urgency to our evangelistic task. Return to book index Chapter 9 The Way Forward We finished the last chapter on a note of hope. The triumph of Christ and his Kingdom is assured in the very nature of the case. The Church is the instrument of the coming of the Kingdom which cannot fail. In his great passage on the Resurrection, Paul says : For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet' (i Cor. 15.25). It is true, as the writer to the Hebrews says, 'At present we are not able to see that everything has been put under his command, but we do see in Jesus one who was for a short while made lower than the angels and is now crowned with glory and splendour (Heb. 2.8, 9). The victory was won through the suffering of the cross. As William Temple put it : (Readings in St John's Gospel, p. 375.) 'The date of the triumph of love is Good Friday, not Easter Day. Yet if the story had ended there, the victory would have been barren. What remains is not to win it, but to gather in its fruits'. With the loud cry, 'It is finished', the victory was complete. 'He was proclaimed Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead' (Rom. 1.4). In the arresting words of i John 3.8 : 'It was to undo all that the devil had done that the Son of God appeared'. The context of that last quotation shows that the reference is not just to the final triumph of Christ's Kingdom to be manifested at the last day, but to the personal holiness of each individual believer. Yet in a sense the two are one. Christ's Kingdom is the Kingdom of holiness and its coming can only he through holy people. Conversely, as we have seen when discussing motives for holiness, the certainty of the final victory of Christ is a spur to individual sanctity. The optimism, which Scripture encourages us to cling to with regard to the whole issue of the Kingdom, can apply to ourselves and our own growth in grace. 'I am quite certain', writes Paul to the Christians at Philippi, 'that the One who began this good work in you will see that it is finished when the Day of Christ Jesus comes' (Phil. 1.6). Charles Wesley has expressed the Christian hope thus : Finish then thy new creation, Pure and spotless let us be; Let us see thy great salvation, Perfectly restored in thee; Changed from glory into glory Till in heaven we take our place; Till we cast our crowns before thee, Lost in wonder, love, and praise. So in thinking of the way forward, we begin with the goal to which we are moving. The future of the Kingdom, of the Church, and of the individual believer, is not in doubt. The gates of hell shall not prevail. Alongside the truth of the future glory when at last Christ reigns must be placed the equally certain fact that the path to glory is the way of the cross. The history of the Church has been one of conflict with the forces of sin. Often there has been compromise, sometimes downright treachery, at best a half-hearted engagement in the struggle. The marvel is that the Church remains, in spite of itself, the instrument of God in the world. We are still, in Bishop Frank Houghton's words, Facing a task unfinished, That drives us to our knees, A need that, undiminished, Rebukes our slothful ease, though realism compels us to admit that, while the Church's unfinished task rebukes our slothful ease, it far too seldom drives us to our knees. There remains the unfinished task, not only of the evangelization of the world and the establishment of the crown rights of the Redeemer in every area of life, but also in the sanctification of very individual Christian. Paul could write with great assurance of his position in Christ and of the future glory that lay before him (2 Tim. 4.7, 8). But he was equally obliged to write : 'Not that I have become perfect yet: I have not yet won, but I am still running, trying to capture the prize for which Christ Jesus captured me. I can assure you my brethren, I am far from thinking that I have already won. All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come; I am racing for the finish, for the prize to which God calls us upwards to receive in Christ Jesus' (Phil. 3.12-14). Here speaks not one who thinks of himself as having 'arrived', but who is straining every nerve to win through. The future for him, right up to the gate of heaven, was to be one of conflict. Equally will it be for us. I do not believe that the way of holiness is either more or less difficult than it was in the earliest days of the Church. The problems were different in their outward manifestations, but they were basically the same. The world, the flesh and the devil only change very superficially, and the problem of living a life of loyalty to Christ's perfect standards is as great today as it was then. Certainly I do not think that, for all the changes we have seen within even the last fifty years, the basic things have altered very much from our fathers' times. Much of the tradition I have been outlining in the preceding chapters was hammered out within the past two hundred years. No doubt the life-style of Christians has changed in that period, as has the life-style of society in general. But I believe it will be found that changes have been in non-esentials. After all we, like our forefathers, should be slaves to the Word of God, and if we can get be- hind the traditions which have been handed down to us, stripping them of what is of merely transitory value, we shall come to see that holiness, like our Lord who inspires it, is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. This is emphatically not to deny that the holy life has to be lived in circumstances which our fathers never knew. The Christian has to decide his attitudes to new questions such as world poverty, abortion, euthanasia, the mass media, just as former generations dealt with slavery and vice, and as Paul had to sort out the problems of Christians living amid the moral degradation of Corinth. But basically the conflict is the same as it always has been, the struggle to maintain Christ's absolute standards of love, truth, unselfishness and purity. These are the 'four absolutes' which were the basis of the Oxford Group Movement, now known as Moral Re-Armament. I have always thought the Movement to be lacking in an adequate theology of salvation - though this is no criticism of particular people within it whom I have known to be sincere Christians — but I cannot see how any Christian could object to the 'absolutes'. They are, in fact, taken directly from our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. I am not sure that we ought not to add a fifth, absolute humility, but this may well be included in absolute love. I believe we all need the challenge of these absolutes, and my fear is that some of the changes in life-style which we notice among Christians today are not just adaptations to the needs and problems of contemporary society, but rather the lowering of standards under pressure from the world around us. We must not be bound by the taboos and traditions of the past, but let us be quite sure that what we put in their place are genuine improvements. We must learn to distinguish between changing patterns and unchanging principles. If we are searching for the way of holiness for the last quarter of the twentieth century, I think I find a clue in the various movements of the present time which we have discussed in previous chapters. Not only do they all have something to contribute, but they act as checks one to the other. Perhaps it may be, as Charles Simeon said of the Calvinist-Arminian controversy which was so divisive in the Church of his day, that the truth lies, not between the two extremes, but at both extremes. I think we must learn to take all the help we can, from whatever source. Paul's advice is very relevant: 'Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil' (i Thess. 5.19-22 R.S.V.). The injunction to test everything is translated in the Jerusalem Bible as 'think before you do anything — hold on to what is good'. In modifying the tradition in which I was nurtured I would want to do what the Prayer Book Preface boldly claims has been the wisdom of the Church of England, namely, 'to keep the mean between the two extremes, of too much stiffness in refusing, and too much easiness in admitting any variation from it'. What, then, is the Spirit saying to us in this generation? First, there is a growing emphasis on what may be called secular holiness, which simply means holiness lived out in the world. We are urged to become involved in the affairs of this world at every level, social, political, as well as religious. 'The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through' (Matt. 13.33). The yeast cannot do its work till it is mixed in with the flour. Christians have been too much inclined to live apart, to try to influence society from outside. In so far as this is true, it has been misguided. Our Lord's work of saving the world involved him in the Incarnation, and complete identification with man. Christians are meant to live life to the full. Such a re-emphasis is positive gain. But there is another side. There are other parables beside that of the yeast. The Christian is a sower of seed, a labourer in the harvest, a fisher of men. Jesus was identified with men, but also separate from them. He often withdrew from the world for fellowship with his Father. If there is danger in being remote from the world, there is danger too in becoming too much like the world. Much of the teaching of Jesus runs clean contrary to the world's ideas, as in the matter of great men making their authority felt. 'This is not to happen among you', he said (Mark 10.43). We are to be in the world, but not of it. Another way of expressing secular holiness is to say that we are to be world-affirming, not world-denying. This is God's world. He made it, and pronounced it very good (Gen. 1.31). We have to show that we agree with that verdict by accepting from God who, 'out of his riches, gives us all that we need for our happiness' (i Tim. 6.17). From the creation story we can infer the sanctity of marriage, the dignity of labour, and our stewardship of the material things of the world. But again there is another side. In Genesis the story of creation is followed by the story of the fall. God's good world has become tainted by the sin of man. There is a sense in which the world must be renounced. 'Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us' (i John 3.1). The world, society organized without reference to God, stands over against the Church. So John could say : 'You must not love this passing world or anything that is in the world . . . and the world, with all it craves for, is coming to an end; but anyone who does the will of God remains for ever' (i John 2.15, 17). Alongside the truth that God gives us all that we need for our happiness we have to place such a saying of our Lord's as : 'None of you can be my disciple unless he give up all his possessions' (Luke 14.33). Certainly holiness is concerned with this present world, but not at the expense of concern with the world to come. It is a truly other-worldly holiness which is must noted for effective service in this world. When Jesus appointed the Twelve, 'they were to be his companions and to be sent out to preach, with power to cast out devils' (Mark 3.14). Of course there must be the going out to preach and to cast out every kind of evil, but unless there is also conscious companionship with Jesus there will be little power. I recently read an article, urging Christians to become involved in a wide variety of social issues, which concluded : 'But we shan't get very far until we get up off our knees'. (Crusade editorial, February 1974.) This may be very good advice. But it recognizes the fact that Christians are already on their knees, and I would add that if they are to be effective they will return to the same position. The secular holiness for this age must keep its dimension of eternity if it is not to lose its holiness and become merely secular. When Christian came into the house of the Interpreter he was at the beginning of his journey, a pilgrimage which was to take him right into the world as a soldier of Jesus Christ. The first thing he was shown was 'a Picture of a very grave Person' : 'It had eyes lifted up to Heaven, the best of Books in his hand, the Law of Truth was written upon his lips, the World was behind his back. It stood as if it pleaded with men, and a Grown of Gold did hang over his head'. It is a picture of holiness we cannot ignore, and far removed from 'the escapism and empty echoes of the big meeting or the retreat from reality which often masquerades as personal piety'. (Crusade editorial, February 1974.) From both these things John Bunyan would have revolted in horror. A second characteristic of the contemporary scene is the charismatic movement. A great change has come about since Bishop Stephen Neill could write in 1040 : 'I suppose most of us in our work have encountered difficulties caused by some who claim the Pentecostal name, and have been dismayed to find that the work of those who profess to be actuated by the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of unity, results only in division and confusion in the Churches. We have here a good example of what has often happened before in the history of the Church : when a doctrine which is the rightful possession of the whole Church is forgotten or allowed to slip into the background or is not duly emphasized. God allows it for a time to become embodied in a sect, which acts as a gadfly to awaken the Church, until the missing doctrine is reabsorbed to the enrichment of the whole of the common life. The Pentecostal groups do bear brave and uncompromising witness to one of the fundamental truths of the revelation of God in Christ, that it is the will of God that every Christian should consciously receive and enjoy the witness and power of the Holy Ghost'. (Beliefs. The Christian Literature Society for India. 1940. p. I.) The change is not only that Pentecostal groups are no longer as divisive or exclusive as they once were, and accept, and are accepted by, Christians of other denominations as fellow- believers; but, more remarkably, that the distinctive teachings and experiences of Pentecostalism have come to be treasured by members of every branch of the Church. Not only are there those in all the historic churches who claim to have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, and exercise spiritual gifts, including tongues, but there is a new interest in the person and work of the Holy Spirit on the part of many who cannot go all the way with Pentecostal teaching. This surely is positive gain. I have already expressed some disagreement with the use of the phrase 'baptism in the Spirit' to indicate a special experience different from the original initiation into Christ and his Church. But this does not mean that I think we should deny the validity of such an experience, or the need of every Christian to seek at all times to be filled with the Spirit. Did not Paul remind young Timothy to 'fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid hands on you' (2 Tim. 1.6)? God's gift, the following verse tells us, was 'the Spirit of Power, and love, and self-control'. I have also expressed some doubt as to whether the gift of tongues is an essential mark of the blessing of the Holy Spirit. But I would certainly not wish to limit the sovereign power of the Spirit to distribute different gifts to different people just as he chooses (i Cor. 12.11). In other words, I believe the charismatic movement is a challenge to all Christians to take seriously the words : 'I believe in the Holy Ghost'. For one thing, we need to recover the sense of the supernatural in daily life, and to know in a vivid way the power and guidance of the Spirit. Yet at the same time it is possible to over-emphasize experience at the expense of doctrine. In the spiritual life there is room for emotion, but feelings alone are a false guide. It is not only in gatherings of a 'pentecostal' kind that emotions can be so stirred as to produce 'results' of a superficial kind, but since in those circles people are taught to anticipate the more exciting gifts, it is probable that the danger in such meetings is greater. It is well known, for instance, that speaking in tongues is a phenomenon not confined to Christianity, and may be induced by any kind of religious excitement. This is by no means to denigrate speaking in tongues, if and when it is a genuine gift of the Spirit, but it does point to the need for caution. The same is true of the liberty and joy so freely expressed by pentecostals. We need it, and it can be a genuine release of spiritual life. But it has its counterfeit in worked up emotion, induced by repetitive singing and gestures, which may lead to disillusionment. The answer is not to discourage the spontaneity and freedom of expression of those who rejoice in a new-found experience, but to balance it with solid doctrine from the Scriptures. Holiness must be based on the facts of the gospel, apprehended by faith, and not at all dependent on feelings. The liberty of those who know themselves emancipated from their old inhibitions is not in the least inconsistent with that stern self discipline and obedience to God's laws which the New Testament demands. If a new and vivid experience of the Holy Spirit's power is granted in a moment of revelation, this is all the more a call to continue in the life of the Spirit, growing in grace by ways which may appear quite unspectacular. The fervour of spirit which is often a mark of the Holy Spirit's presence needs to be matched by the tranquillity of a faith which simply trusts the promises of God. It was when J. G. Whittier, the American Quaker, was disturbed by the rowdyism of a revivalist meeting that he wrote the poem which contains the lines - Drop thy still dews of quietness, Till all our strivings cease; Take from our souls the strain and stress, And let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace. It might be argued that this was simply emotion of another kind, and certainly religious experience of whatever form needs to be tested by the standard of the Bible. A firm intellectual and spiritual grasp of revealed truth is the essential foundation of a holy life. None stressed this more than the Puritans, and renewed interest in their writings has helped to correct the dangers inherent in an excessively experiential religion. On that note I am content to end these thoughts on the way forward towards a spirituality for the days to come. The Bible portrays a truly secular holiness, the dimension of eternity brought into very human and earthy situations. If we base our religion firmly on the Bible it will always be relevant, always miraculously up-to-date. The Bible is the literature of religious experience, but of experience resulting, not from man's search for God, but from God's self-disclosure, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three Persons and one God. God is always beckoning us forward : his presence is ever moving. If at times we want to stand still we shall become enmeshed in tradition. If at other times we reach out for novelty we shall find that God is not coming our way, but waiting for us to return to his. The way forward is the way of faith, one step at a time. One of the best-loved hymns of the Keswick Convention sums it up — My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God; 'Tis His to lead me there - not mine, but His - At any cost, dear Lord, by any road. So faith bounds forward to its goal in God, And love can trust her Lord to lead her there; Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard Till God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer. No matter if the way be sometimes dark, Not matter though the cost be oft-times great, He knoweth how I best shall reach the mark, The way that leads to Him must needs be strait. One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay; One thing I do, I press towards my Lord; My God my glory here, from day to day, And in the glory there my great Reward. F. Brook Return to book index Books for Further Reading Stephen Neill, Christian Holiness (Lutterworth Press, 1960). J. C. Ryle, Holiness (Inter-Varsity Press, 1962). Donald Bridge and David Phypers, Spiritual gifts and the Church (Inter-Varsity Press, 1973). Kenneth Prior, The Way of Holiness (Inter-Varsity Press, 1967). Michael Green, New life. New lifestyle (Hodder & Stoughton, 1973). W. E. Sangster, The Path to Perfection (Hodder & Stoughton, 1943). The Keswick Week, Verbatim Reports of the Addresses at the Keswick Convention Published annually (Marshall, Morgan and Scott). J. Oswald Sanders, Problems of Christian Discipleship (Lutterworth Press). A. M. Stibbs and J. I. Packer, The Spirit Within You (Hodder & Stoughton, 1967). J. C. P. Cockerton, To Be Sure (Hodder & Stoughton, 1967). Return to book index