Not Letting Up

If we are really willing to die, and if we in fact do die, we shall lose much praise and applause from men. Our natural beauty will be destroyed. Our intellect, which can conceive fresh teachings and dissertations, will also be dead. We dare not rely on our intelligence as guidance. But then, too, our affection, which can automatically stir up love for the Lord as well as for men, will be dead too. And as a consequence, we no longer allow natural love to induce or impel us; rather, we will let the Holy Spirit pour the love of Christ upon our hearts that we may love with His love. Our natural excitement—that is to say, our emotion—which can create in us a sense of communion with the Lord and give us a sensation of joy, will now be dead in that it will now let the Lord control our excitement so as to grieve or sorrow with the Lord. Although sometimes we may not feel the Lord’s presence, we remain faithful and normal, unaffected by outside stimuli. What we formerly considered to be profitable we now count as loss for the sake of Christ. As a consequence of our having died to sin with Christ, we henceforth forsake all illegitimate things. But as a consequence of our having been crucified with Christ, we also now forsake those legitimate things of self. Yes, this latter step is much harder: "narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it" (Matt. 7.14).

How is this death executed? It is the death of the cross. This is exactly what the Lord himself meant by these words which we read in the Scriptures: "But this he said, signifying by what manner of death he should die" (John 12.33). Hence, there is nothing left for us to do but to fall into the ground and die willingly, being glad to die with the Lord and to have fellowship in His cross. Daily maintain this attitude of hating our own life, so that we "shall keep it unto life eternal." We shall bear fruit to eternity, producing many grains. Yet this is not done in a day. If so, it would be relatively easy to accomplish. But recall from the passage quoted above from John 12 that our Lord also used other words most difficult to receive: "hateth his life in this world." As long as we are in this world we need to hate this self life without any let up, recognizing that the self will always try to revive itself.