Beatitudes
19
in heart.” “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself” (
Matthew 11:29
; 16:24); let self be dethroned and no longer hold the
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supremacy of the soul.
He who beholds Christ in His self-denial, His lowliness of heart,
will be constrained to say, as did Daniel, when he beheld One like
the sons of men, “My comeliness was turned in me into corruption.”
Daniel 10:8
. The independence and self-supremacy in which we glory
are seen in their true vileness as tokens of servitude to Satan. Human
nature is ever struggling for expression, ready for contest; but he who
learns of Christ is emptied of self, of pride, of love of supremacy, and
there is silence in the soul. Self is yielded to the disposal of the Holy
Spirit. Then we are not anxious to have the highest place. We have no
ambition to crowd and elbow ourselves into notice; but we feel that our
highest place is at the feet of our Saviour. We look to Jesus, waiting for
His hand to lead, listening for His voice to guide. The apostle Paul had
this experience, and he said, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless
I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20
.
When we receive Christ as an abiding guest in the soul, the peace
of God, which passeth all understanding, will keep our hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus. The Saviour’s life on earth, though lived
in the midst of conflict, was a life of peace. While angry enemies were
constantly pursuing Him, He said, “He that sent Me is with Me: the
Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please
Him.”
John 8:29
. No storm of human or satanic wrath could disturb
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the calm of that perfect communion with God. And He says to us,
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.” “Take My yoke
upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye
shall find rest.”
John 14:27
;
Matthew 11:29
. Bear with Me the yoke
of service for the glory of God and the uplifting of humanity, and you
will find the yoke easy and the burden light.
It is the love of self that destroys our peace. While self is all alive,
we stand ready continually to guard it from mortification and insult; but
when we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God, we shall not
take neglects or slights to heart. We shall be deaf to reproach and blind
to scorn and insult. “Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth
not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself