The Climax of the Risen Life

" I LONG to know Christ and the power which is in His 
resurrection, and to share in His sufferings, and die even 
as He died B (Philippians 3: 10, Weymouth). So wrote the 
Apostle to the Gentiles in his letter to the Philippians. " The 
risen life culminates in ' becoming conformed unto His death ' ; 
we 'rise' that we may sink ourselves after His likeness; we are 
emancipated that we may surrender ourselves into the hands 
of our Emancipator. The climax of the risen life gravitates, 
strange to say, back to the Cross; and when we have learnt 
the power of His resurrection, we are only being thereby 
fitted to become conformed into His death" I* So wrote 
an apostle of the nineteenth century, the late revered Charles 
A. Fox. 
It is the lack of experimentally understanding what Paul meant
when he wrote Philippians 3 i 10, which causes departure from
the proportion of truth by many of the Lord’s children. In
the wisdom of God the Cross of Christ is the pivot, or central
truth, which keeps all other truth in Us due proportion both in doctrine
and practice, Mr. Fox painted this out when he wrote:
M The Crass of Calvary is the one central eminence in all Holy Writ;
thither all lines of truth, whether old or new, converge, mid theme all
light and life power radiate forth to the universal Church." If this
is so, it is easy to sec that the human mind cannot possibly

From a most suggestive boot, Tht Spiritual Grasp of the Epistlts, by
Rev. C + A. Fox.

grasp, to the fullest extent at one time, all the various aspects
and infinite depths of what the Cross of Calvary means.
When, in the grace of God, by the teaching of the Holy
Spirit, we have assimilated what we may have thought its
fullest truth, we find we are but on the edge of a vast ocean
of the unsearchable wisdom of God. Hence it is in relation
to the " message of the Cross " that the Apoatjc Paul says
God. has declared: " I will exhibit the nothingness of the
wisdom; of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent I
will bring to naught" (i Corinthians i: 19, Weymouth).
In all truth, then, connected with the <s message of the Cross “,
let us humbly recognize that even the " intelligence " of the
" intelligent " is of little avail, for " the message " (1 Corin-
thians 1 : 18 ; 2 : 4) contains deeps of the wisdom of God which
the Divine Spirit alone can reveal, and “mightily carry home”!
The message of the Cross is full of paradoxes on its
experimental side, and these paradoxes can only be understood
as we progress in experience. There is what is called the
" objective side “, which means the finished work of Christ in
His death upon the Cross as a work complete and full and
finished for all who believe; and there is the gradual appre-
hension of this by the believer, which brings about in him the
" subjective " or experimental side. Therefore, as we speak
about the Cross we need almost constantly to make plain
from which of these standpoints we are speaking, lest we be
misunderstood. But the Holy Spirit of God, we may reverently
say, must be watching over with tender care the sacred
message of the death of the Gad-Man, for the Cross is not
a favourite theme with the wise of this world, even in the
Christian Church. The very words—” the Cross " — seem to
be a stumbling-block to the intellect of the natural mao.) even
as was the case in the days of Paul. The Holy Spirit is also
watching over the “message” as it goes forth among the
people of God, for upon its reception and assimilation by the
believer, depends the fulfilment of the ascended Lord’s desires
for His Church, If it is true — and we know it is — that from
thence — the Cross of Calvary— all " life-power " radiates
forth to the Church of Christ, how much depends upon our
increasing knowledge of what the Holy Ghost has to teach us
about it !
On the objective side there is first revealed to us the
Crucified Lord as our Sin-bearer, and all who are truly born
from above can bear witness to the subjective result of their
apprehension of the finished work of the Lamb of God. But
later on comes again the revelation of the objective fact, that
in the Person of the Saviour the sinner was nailed to the tree.
" We are identified with Christ in the Cross; it is our Cross as
truly as His. It is our death as well as His; we have died, and
ajre dead with Him,” again writes Mr. Fox. Of Later years
thousands of the children of God have been apprehending
this, and gladly acquiescing in all that it means subjectively —
i.e. (t) in a death to sin; (2) a deep separation from the self,
or soul-ish. life — according to Hebrews 4:12; (3) a severance
from the world, to be separated unto the Redeemer as His
purchased possession; and {4) a victory over Satan as
conquered by the Emancipator at the very hour of His
outward shame !
Through this blessed work of the Spirit in the Body of Christ*
in a progressive unveiling of the meaning of the finished work
of the Saviour, the living members of the Lord’s Body have
been steadily advancing in the divine Life, and life-power
has been radiating forth to the whole Church of Christ. More
and more the having " drunk of one Spirit " has been seen
to be the characteristic of the children of God. The Church
has been advancing to the li heavenly " sphere, where she is
" crowned " with " every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
realms of Christ " (Ephesians 1:3); " enthroned " with the
Risen Lord " in the heavenly realms " (Ephesians 2:6), and
where it is God’s purpose that " the Church might now be
used to display to the powers and authorities in the heavenly
realms the innumerable aspects of God’s wisdom …"
(Ephesians 3: 7, Weymouth), All this has gloriously been
coming about in Increasing measure as apprehended by great
numbers of the children of God these last years.
But new. What M$t? is the question. The climax of the risen
life gravitates hack lo the Cross. " That I may know Him, and.
the power of His resurrection, and (.lie fellowship of His
sufferings, sharing the likeness of His death," is Conybeare’s
rendering of Philippians 3: 10.* And the same keynote is
struck in the Apostle’s second letter to the Corinthians, where
he says: " In ray body I bear about continually the dying of
Jesus, that in my body the life also of Jesus might be shown
forth. For I in the midst of life am daily given over la death for
the sake of Jesus, that in my dying flesh the life whereby Jesus
conquered death might show forth its power " (2 Corinthians
4: 10, 11).
What is the meaning of this ? Why the need for " always
bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus " ? Because in
the body we arc open to the assaults of the worJd, the flesh)
and the devil, whilst in spirit we are joined, to the Risen Lord)
and sit with Him " enthroned in the heavenly realm " ‘, and
so we need continually in ever-deeper measure to be made
conformable to His death, for it is only as we are thus willing
" to sink ourselves after His likeness " that the true life in
spirit in the heavenly sphere, can he maintained in purity,
and increased in power.
The importance of fully apprehending the aspect of continual
Conformity to the death of Christy as a balancing truth to the " life
in the heavenlies “j is very gTeat, for to go beyond the due
proportion of truth means danger at every stage of the spiritual
life; and “error” is simply truth pushed too far. " All
truth, all light, all life radiates from the Cross,” wrote Mr.
Fox, and if the Cross is kept in its central place by every
believer seeking the fulness of the Spirit, no aspect of truth
will be pressed too far; and no “line* 1 of truth radiating
from the Cross, followed beyond the radius of the Cross.
Moreover, the fullest victory in the believer’s life depends
upon this conformity to the death of Christ. It is the " con-

The chapter on " Conformity to the Death of the Christ “, in 7 he
Law of Liberty in the Spiritual Life, by Rev. Evan H. Hopkins, most clearly
unfolds tlii3 theme.

dition “, writes Mr. Hopkins, of the " manifestation of the
divine life”. " Our part,” he says, " consists in getting down
(note the same thought as with Mr. Fox, " sink ourselves “)
into the death of Christ; His part is to live out His otvn life
in us. , . . And this assimilation to the dying Christ is not
an isolated act, but a condition of mind ever to be maintained,
and to go on deepening " (i Peter 4:1). This simply means
that however much any of us may have apprehended our
death with Christ as a " terminus “, or " boundary line
between us and the world ‘”, and as " the divine laboratory
where the ’ flesh ’ is cauterised and put to death " (C. A.
Fox) , there must be a fresh and daily application of the power
of the death of Christ by the working of the Holy Spirit, for
the continued manifestation of the life of Jems in actual freshness ami
power. Whilst it is therefore true that we have died with
Christ to sin, so that we walk in newness of life in union with
Him, it is also true that for the " life of Jesus " to be
manifested, we cannot get away from the Cross, but must
" always bear about " the " dying " with Him.
It is not easy to make this important aspect of the Cross
clear to young believers, for it needs must be, in the limitation
of the human mind, difficult to apprehend two apparently
contradictory truths at one and the same time. And yet in
experience it becomes all so simple ! " Some think that they
are always to be hidden in Christ on the Cross,” writes a
worker ; but " Christ is risen, and in Him we are to walk in
newness of life “. Both are true, according to the texts we are
considering, a Corinthians 4.: 10-12 and Philippians 3: 10
are passages which fellow the experience of Romans 6, and
describe the absolutely necessary condition for the continued
maintenance of Romans 6 in power.
But the Holy Spirit has many ways of teaching these deeper
depths of the Cross, and often uses figures of speech which the
babes can apprehend when Romans 6 and 2 Corinthians
4: 10 are beyond their grasping. " I will put thee in a cleft
of the rock,” said the Lord to Moses; and " Rock of Ages,
cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee,” we often sing. It
is only the spiritual fact of the necessity of maintaining the
death attitude, or " conformity to His death “, rendered into
a figure of Speech. The being " planted into His death " of
Romans 6 is to be found over and over in the words of the
Saviour, e.g., a As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder-
ness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up r that whosoever
believeth into (Greek) Him, may have life " (John 3: 14, 15).
It is, in truth, as we sink down into His death — His death was
on the Cross — and abide in that death In daily, hourly con-
formity, that His life — the life of Jesus Himself in us — will
spring up into w newness of life >j l and even more, it is only
in proportion as we " get down " into His death, that in spirit
we ascend into that life within the veil " hid with Christ in
God “. " For ye died,” said the Apostle, " and your life is
hid. . . . 1J It is only the life which is " hid with Christ 1J ,
the " ye died” being a fact which is needed as the basis day
by day.
We might also use the figure once referred to by the Rev.
Andrew Murray, when he spoke of the acom striking its roots
into the ground, whilst the life sprang up into an oak. Christ
was a " seed-grain “, in the language of the divine Spirit,
whilst He hung upon the Cross, liberating His life for a dying
world. His death may be likened to " ground " therefore in
which we are planted (Romans 6: 5, A.V.), and it is as we
abide in the ground of His death by faith that we strike the
roots of faith deep down into Him, like a planted acorn, and
thus His life springs up in us into " newness of life “; “resur-
rection life “; the ascension life within the veil.
We might carry the picture further, and say that the lack
of " root " — -strong root-power which comes from this deep
abiding in the ground or the death of Jesus — is always Lhe
cause of pressing the truth of the " life in the heavenlies "
too far, and thus getting uncenired, and open to the subtle
wiles of the spiritual foes roaming at large in the spiritual
sphere. It is as if the young oak tree becomes all at once all
branch and leaveSj growing away into space, with no attention
to roots; or a in the other language, as if the believer soared
away in spirit into space, and realms unknown, without seeing
to the safe anchorage of deep daily abiding in the depths of
the death of Christ. But all language fails in attempting to
make clear the divine realities, yet behind all the poor limits
of human speech is the watching Holy Spirit, ready to reveal
the truth to needy hearts.
" By maintaining tlu death attitude we liberate the lift power,”
again wrote Mr. Fox; and " the death mark is the trade
mark of the Church “. What is this but the Apostle’s words:
1 ’ So then, death working in me works life in you " ? (2 Corin-
thians 4; 12). Here we have " death " said to be working !
The death of Christ was not an ordinary death, for He was the
God-Man, and so His death carries in it power, His death
works; it works deliverance, it works separation, it works in
the believer as he yields to it, until the activity of the flesh is
brought under its power in " conformity " to His death.
The " death attitude liberates life-power “. Yes ? the life-power of
Jesus which makes the " man in Christ " “more ‘himself,
in one sense, than he ever was before " ! For " this docs not
destroy our individuality, but it magnifies His “, wrote Mr.
Fax. *’ The ’ J * is not converted, but crucified , , . ’ I
live ‘; (the Greek has not the ’ I ‘, it should be in italics)
so the Christian’s ego should always be in italics. . . ,”
But the liberating of the life-power 1 That is the need of the
Church ! The seed-grain in the ground liberates life; the
acorn in the ground, as it abides and strikes its roots
downward, liberates life. Need we wonder now why the
“climax of the risen life gravitates to the Cross " ? It is
needed far (1) daily and hourly deliverance, and continual
separation from sin. (The blood of Jesus Christ . . . deanseth
from all sin. " When we speak of the f blood of Christ 1 we
mean the life poured out, sacrificed, he. His death” E.H.H.) ;
(a) for continual separation from the " soulish " life of the
first Adam ( 1 Corinthians 1 : 14) indicated in the words " deny
himself, and take up his cross daily” (Luke 9: 23, 24, R.V.m.),
and described in one aspect in James 3: 15 as “soulish
wisdom “j or as in men " governed by soul “, as in Jude 19;
(3) for rooting purposes, to keep the believer steadily founded
on the rock; and (4) for deeper and richer and fuller liberation
of life, springing upward into the heavenly sphere, and
outward to a dying world.
If all the members of the Body of Christ, joined to the
Living Head, will but thus " get down " into the death of
Jesus, they will find springing forth in glorious fulness the
life-streams the poor dead world: so sorely needs; they will
find as they hide in the death of Jesus, the safety from the
enemy’s workings, which they need, for as they abide within
the radius of the Cross he is a conquered foe.
And how can all this be ? By the power of the Holy Ghost.
The Spirit leads to the Cross, and the Crass to the Spirit !
The oil must be upon the Blood, and upon man’s flesh, it can-
not be poured. " Christians too often attempt in early life to
aim at being like the Crucified* and afterwards, later on, they
aim at the Risen Life. We must bear and wear the marks of
crucifixion whilst we, by the Spirit, walk in newness of life "
(C. A. Fox).
There is much else that might be said as to the practical
results in the daily life, of the " life of Jesus manifested " in
the fullest use of the faculties of reason, and the walking even
as He walked in His life of lowly service and ministry to all;
but L ’ let all . . . who are mature believers cherish these
thoughts, and if in any respect you think differently, that also
God will make clear to you. But, whatsoever be the point that
we have already reached, let us persevere in the same
course . . .” (Philippians 3: 15, 16, Weymouth).

THE CONTINUITY OF THE CROSS 
" ALWAYS bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus,
that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our
body. For we which live are always delivered unto death
for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested
in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in
you " (2 Corinthians 4: 10, 12, R.V.).
The Keswick Convention of 1897 was opened with an
address by Dr. — later Bishop — Handley Moule, who spoke on the tenth
verse of this passage. He said that the word used in the
original was precisely not " death “, but " dying “. It
meant the process of dying, the process leading up to death.
Their carrying about in the body the death-process of the
Lord Jesus was the giving themselves up, by the grace of God,
to a death which would assent and consent to a crucifixion,
in which the Lord would be glorified in His people. Later
in the week Mr. Hopkins spoke on the same theme. He
pointed out (1) that " the new life cannot be lived triumph-
antly unlit the old life is terminated”; (2) that " it is only by the
power of Christ’s death that the old life can be terminated “.
" There is only one holy life " — the life of the Lord Jesus; and
" only one holy death “—the death of the Lord Jesus. “The
death of Christ " is the termination of your old life. What
was laid upon the Lard Jesus Christ ? Your sins ? Yes, and
yourself . . . You were laid upon Christ when He died upon
the Cross. That is where death takes place. That is where
the great transaction was done, where this death-pardon was
obtained, where this death-deliverance was secured from that
old life of yours. It terminated the old natural life.
" But we take a step further in connection with the same
thought: that we need the death of Jesus every moment;, we
need the power of that death continually. You say: ’ Is it once
for all ? ’ Well, He died once for all in the eye of God. And
you died in the eye of God with Christ once for all. BuL the
power, the efficacy of that death needs to be perpetually
appropriated and applied, that you may be perpetually
delivered. … ! Always bearing about in the body the
putting to death,’ about which we have been speaking, ’ of
the Lord Jesus ‘—shall I call it the essence of the Cross ? Not
a dead Christ, but the putting to death, that which took place
in Him when He died, not only for sin but unto sin. There is
needed the perpetual application of that to the sou] — getting
down Into His death, being brought into conformity to His
death. It is not difficult now. You need not struggle or fight
against the old life now, or try to tame it or conquer it, or try
to ignore it; but you can claim your deliverance because it
has been purchased, obtained for you by that death and your
identification with it always.
" What follows ? The life springs up spontaneously. ’ That
the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. . . ,’

Bearing about in the body the putting to death/ receiving,
feeding upon the death, getting down into the death, con-
formed to the death. Drink, in His death, feed upon His
death. It is that which terminates the old life, which is the
source of ail our trouble. . . . Let everything which belongs
to the old course of life be cut off. . . . Many of us are trying
to yield the life to God before we are really Cut off from the
old, and nothing but the perpetual application of the Cross
can do that. . . . Rest upon the death of Christ on the
Cross. …”

I’b.‘LS -sj-iv|. the ve:-; aspect .1 Calvary which the people oi
God are needing, for many apprehend very clearly their death
With. Christ on Calvary, but it is the perpetual application of
the Cross which will keep in the place of death the " old "
life which Satan can effectively play upon with subtle attacks
as an angel of light. The “termination” of the old life by
the apprehension of our death with Christ on the Gross must
be followed, as Bishop MouJe pointed out, by the M carrying
about in the body the death-process of the Lord Jesus " ; or,
as Mr. Hopkins so strikingly says, by tile " getting down into
His death >J . The sinking down into the death of Jesus is Lhe
faith-action, of the believer, and then spontaneously and
unconsciously the Risen Life of Jesus springs up in gentle,
silent power.
How wondrously the Spirit teaches the children of God the
same thing is illustrated by some words written by Jacob
Boehme in 1622, words full of divine beauty and life + " I
never desired,” he wrote, " to know anything of the divine
mystery, much less understand the way to seek and find it.
I knew nothing of it, as irx the condition of poor laymen in
their simplicity. I sought only after the heart of Jesus Christ,
that I might hide myself therein from the . . . violent
assaults of the devil. And I besought the Lord earnestly for
His Holy Spirit, and His grace that He would please to bless
and guide me in Him; and I resigned myself wholly to Him,
that I might not live to my own will, but His, and that He
might lead and direct me, to the end that I might be His child
in Christ Jesus,
’ 1 1 can of my own ability do nothing before Thee ; I wholly
sink myself down into Thy wounds and death. … I have no
refuge in anything, but only in Thy holy wounds and death I
sink down, . . . Do with me what Thou wilt. . . . Bury me
in Thy death. Break Thy judgments in me in the blood of
Thy love. I wholly sink myself down in Thee; and though
body and soul should this hour faint and perish, yet I will not
let Thee go. Though my heart saith utterly No, no ! yet the
desires of my soul shall hold fast On Thy truth, and neither
death nor devil shall pull me out of my Saviour’s wounds.
Thou must at length be confounded in me, thou malicious
devil, and thy fort of prey must be forsaken, for I will drown
it in the love of Jesus — and then dwell in it if thou canst 1
" I beseech Thee, O Christ, Thou patient Lamb of God,
grant me patience in this my way of the Cross . . , and bring
me, as a patient lamb to Thee in Thy victory. Let me live
with Thee — in Thee.”
The cry to be wholly conformed, to the death of the Lord
Jesus, so that His own life may be manifested day by day, and
as the " death, works in us ‘% life go forth to others as rivers
of living water, is the true path of progress for the child of Cod.
In the life of Paul the Apostle as described in the Acts of the
Apostles, we need to read the second Epistle to the Corinthians
alongside of the life of power described by Luke the physician ;
for the one gives the story as it appeared to other eyes, and
his own letters tell of his inner life as known to himself alone.
In the Acts we see Paul baptized with the Holy Ghost (Acts
9: 17), and then, not long after, sent away by God for three
years to Arabia, where he was given by the Risen Lord
Himself the deep insight into the meaning of His Cross which
ever afterwards characterized his ministry. We read of mighty
things wrought by God through His servant but what his own
experience was we are shown in his letter to the Corinthians,
when he spoke of the " weakness and fear and much
trembling,” alongside of the " demonstration of the Spirit
and power “. We see him. " caught up into Paradise “, but
glorying not in the visions and revelations but in his weakness.
" Anguish of heart and many tears " over children of God
sinning against their Lord. Commending his message by his
life, in ‘” much patience . . . long-suffering, and kindness “.
Life, blessing, power for others; weakness, suffering, patience,
endurance, gentleness In himself — this is the true fruit of the
power of the Holy Ghost. " The Cross leads to the Spirit,
and the Spirit to the Cross " (Dr. A. Murray).
As a glimpse into the inner life of those whom Gad is thus
teaching, a letter from the daughter of a rector will lift the veil.
She writes: " Two years ago I had a new vision of Calvary,
and what Christ achieved there. This was followed by a
definite baptism of the Holy Spirit. My soul was filled with
such burning love to Christ and souls, as I had never known
before. For years previous to this I had been surrendered to
the Lord’s service, and He had allowed me to win souls for
His kingdom. But two years ago a new epoch began in my
life. I resolved to know nothing but * Clurist and Him
crucified ‘. The result has been a fiercer conflict with the
invisible powers of darkness, than I could have believed
possible. Misunderstanding, fake judgment, envy and strife
— and that amongst Christian workers— seemed to surround
one. The strain of what I have passed through would have
driven me from my senses had I not learned the secret of the


hiding place ‘. In olden days I was constantly running to
the doctor for a tonic to brace up my nerves, and lie would
shake his head, and say I was wearing myself out, recom-
mended rest, change, etc. This winter I have not needed a
tonic at all. In spite of being pressed upon ail sides, and
there has been keen suffering, too, at times — yet in the midst
of all, one knows the secret of victory, and the mind is at rest,
and there is His peace within the soul, too deep to express.
In consequence, the body is kept in health, there is restful
sleep at night, and one wakes in the morning refreshed and
with renewed strength. Perhaps these are trivial matters to
mention, but I find with the mind set free from harassing care
and worry, I am at liberty to minister to others as never before
in my life, I am learning to say with Paul; ’ I take pleasure
in infirmities; reproaches, etc., for Christ’s sake \ There is


grace to suffer long and be kind ‘, to pour out one’s life, and
expect nothing in return, only that He may be glorified !
Oh, the wondrous joy of it ! To Him be all the praise. . . .”


In this Story we have the order of spiritual progress and
growth very clearly outlined. The old life “terminated”
by the apprehension of the death deliverance at Calvary; the
incoming of the Holy Spirit in love and passion for souls ; then
the u death process " of ever deeper sinking down, by faith
into that death, for the manifestation of the IoiigsufJering love
and sacrifice of the Lamb of Calvary.

THE SACRIFICE OF THE CROSS 
“HE sawed others ! Himself He cannot save ! " (Matthew

27 : 42) were the mocking words addressed to the dying
Christ as He hung upon His Cross 011 that 1[ grew hill far
away “. Mocking words, but embodying the very essence of
the life and death of the Son of God ; the very essence of the
dealings of God with the world — the very essence of Calvary.
" God so luvcd the world that He gave His Only-Begotten
Son. . . .” To save others — sinners, rebels, enemies— the
Father cannot save Himself from sending forth out of His
bosom the Son of His love. To “save others’* the Son
cannot save Himself, but must pour out His sou] unto death,
and thus see His seed, and divide the spoil with the strong.
To " save others " the Holy Spirit cannot save Himself from
anguish, even like unto the anguish of the Son in Gethsemane,*
in His entry into the heart of those once sunk in sin, and
often willful and disobedient to His pleadings.

" He saved others. Himself He cannot . . .” embodies in
few words the whole history of the God-Man’s path on earth,
and thus He manifested to fallen man the " express image”
or * character ‘, as in the Greek " (Hebrews 1 : 3), of the
Father in heaven. [ * Herein was the love of God manifested.
God hath sent His Only-Begotten Son . . . that we might
live …” (1 John 4: 9). " Hereby know we love, because
He laid down His life for us " ( I John 3 I 16). The character
of God was revealed in His Son; the divine nature manifested
in Him Who was the " very image of Hb substance “. Briefly,
it is God-like to save others, refusing to save yourself.

See Ephesians 4:30, " Grieve not the Holy Spirit or God.” The
very word used of the Lord’s sufferings in Gethsemane.

" He saved others, Himself He cannot ! " This does not
mean that He had not the power and the resources for saving
Himself. On the contrary. He had the power — but would
not use it ! To M save others " when it means no cost to
yourself is within the scope even of fallen creatures ; but to
" save others " and refuse to save yourself when you have the
power to do it — this is divine. He " cannot " save Himself
because it is contrary to the divine nature to save self at the
cost of others’ loss.
" Himself He cannot ! " Wondrous words, spoken in
mockery, and by the lips of sinners crucifying their Saviour,
Even in the temptation in the wilderness this law of His life
was revealed. Later on He fed others, but in the wilderness
He could not, because He would not, feed Himself, He
could draw upon all the power of the Godhead to bless others,
to feed others, to save others, but as concerning Himself—
nothing ! No using of divine resources to save Himself one
moment’s pang of hunger; one word less of scorn; one stroke
less of the scourge^ and smiting with the hand. Even so must
the child of God be conformed to the image of the Son, to
show forth His divine character, as the Son revealed the
express image of the Father. " He saved others, Himself He
cannot . . .” is the law of the life of Jesus, and must be the
law of the life of every follower of the Lamb.
To have the power to save yourself, and refuse to use it,
because thus others cannot be saved, is the life of Jesus mani-
fested in those He has redeemed. To pour out your life for
others who reject and misjudge you, when you need not — this
is Calvary 1 To have the power to save yourself and not use
it, because it means loss to others — this is Calvary ! To be
used to deliver souls from the power of Satan, and then to lie
at the apparent mercy of the " hour and power of darkness "
yourself, as Christ did — this is Calvary in truth.
Oh, child of God, " He saved others “, but " Himself He
cannot save “, must be the way for you in every time of sore
stress and storm for the followers of the Lamb. God has used
you to deliver others^ and you are wondering, maybe, why
you arc not delivered from, the " fightings without " and
" fears within " which are besetting your own life. Others
come to you in their deep need, and, with your own heart
breaking, you yourself are called upon to give out of your
emptiness and loss what it seems you need for yourself. You
are asked to " claim victory " for others ill distress, when it
seems that you are in greater distress yourself. Thus it was
at Calvary ! He Who had loosed others from the power of
Satan was given up, as it appeared, lo the full rage of the
power of darkness. He Who had done the mighty works of
God for others, lay in impotence and weakness in the hands
of men. Yes, this is Calvary. Life, power, blessing, deliver-
ance for others — and — nothing for yourself, but to lie in the
will of God, and accept from the Father’s hand all that He
pleases to permit to come upon you.
" He saved others " — ail the resources in God and the
power of God for others 1 " Himself He cannot " — power-
lessness, emptiness, suffering, conflict, death for Himself.
Even so was the hall-mark of the highest manifestation of the
spirit of the Lamb seen upon the heroes of faith as recorded
in the eleventh of Hebrews, and among these heroes who
reached the highest place in this roll of honour were women,
who were “beaten to death” (R.V.m.), not “accepting
deliverance”, that " they might obtain a better resurrection “.
Yes, this is the very highest mark of the spirit of the Lamb.
To “subdue kingdoms”, “obtain promises,” “stop the
mouths of lions,” " quench " fire, escape the sword, wax
mighty in war — all as the result of faith in an omnipotent
God — is mighty: but to be “beaten to death”, and “not
accept deliverance " — this is Cabary. The voluntary choice to
suffer and to die, rather than save yourself, is higher than
even faith to conquer and subdue.
And, if we mistake not, this is the highest path put before
all those who press toward the upward calling of God in
Christ Jesus at the present time. " Fresh evidence has
reached me this morning that God is mightily at work to
raise up and establish a people really conformed to Christ’s
death — a much mare serious and potent matter than the
granting of ’ gifts ’ ! " writes a minister of wide experience,
and In a position to sec and know in a special way the trend
of the work of the Spirit Yes, God is " mightily at work in
my direction “, many deeply tried souls will say,, as they think
of their own case, and. the strange and special ways m which
they are individually being led that they may know the
pathway of the Cross, and enter into the spirit of the Lamb.
Two paths seem clearly opening before the Church of God,
with a choice for each member of the Body of Christ which
has eternal issues. There is the conformity to the Lamb
which we have already referred to, and which needs divine
vision to discern in its heavenly beauty and glory. On the
other hand, the path of saving ourselves from the full extent
of all that following the Lamb means an earth, with the loss
in the glory of the sharing of the Throne of the Lamb. For
it Is written, " If we suffer we shall also reign with Him . . .”
(2 Timothy 2:12). " If so be that we suffer with Him, that
we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8: 17). The
suffering of Christ was entirely voluntary, for He said, " I lay
down My life. . . . No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it
down of Myself " (John tor 17, 18). And in the path of con-
formity to His death many who have chosen to follow the
Lamb whithersoever He goeth, find themselves in a path of the
Cross, which they could escape if they would ! They could
accept deliverance, and thus save themselves, but — lose the
" better resurrection “. This in truth is the spirit of the Lamb
slain, supplied by the grace of God to redeemed sinners. All
that is of earth, in the voices of friends and of the world, and
of their " own life “, cries out, " Save thyself and us “. But
the Spirit of Christ within them leads on in the path of the
Lamb, for like Him they " cannot ** save themselves. To
see a " way of escape " from suffering, and of their own free
choice refuse to take it because it would be saving themselves
— this is thankworthy with Cod, for it is the nearest path of
likeness to Him of Whom it was mockingly said, " He saved
others, Himself He cannot save “.

SONS OF THE CROSS 
“FOR the chief musician; set to the Gittith. A Psalm
for the sons of Korah.” In a sermon the Rev + C. H,
Pridgeon, of Pittsburg, U.S.A-, gives some most helpful
renderings of these words in the title of Psalm 84. Speaking
on the sixth verse of the Psalm, " Who passing through the
Valley of Baca make it a well,” the preacher pointed out the
suggestiveness of the title, " Upon Gittith,” in its meaning of
" concerning the wine-presses “, this signifying that the psalm was
probably sung at the time the wine was being pressed out of
the grapes. The words, too, " A psalm for the sons of Korah”
are equally instructive, for " the word Korah is about
equivalent to our word Calvary — the place of a skull. Spiritu-
ally, therefore, these ’ sons of Korah ’ may be termed the
’ sons of the Cross ‘. Some of the ancients so read these
words. , . .” Summarizing these points the psalm may,
therefore, be said to be a psalm written for the use of the
" sons of the Gross “, who are passing through the winepress
in the Valley of Baca.
A psalm far the Valley of Baca ! A psalm to sing in the wine-
press ! Only " sons of the Cross " can sing in the winepress,
for they know the secret of the ways of God, that out of death
comes life; out of suffering, heavenly joy; out of nothingness,
the very fulness of God. Therefore, they see not the winepress,
and the cross, in their outward pain and loss, as men see them,
but from the viewpoint of the H tabernacles of the Lord of
Hosts " — from the sanctuary of the heart of God — and they
can sing in the winepress when they see the " wine " of the
life of heaven pressed out of them in life-blessing to the souls
of men, and know that He Who trod the winepress alone for
their sakes is satisfied.
A psalm to sing in the winepress 1 And what do they sing ?
! ’ How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts "
(R.V.m.), “My soul longeth — yea, even fainteth — for the
courts of the Lord.” When earth is darkest In the winepress,
then heaven is opened, and God becomes all in all. And
they sing — these sons of the Cross — of the blessedness of the
one whose strength is in God, and not in circumstances, or
earth-born helps and props. The Hebrew word means
“might” or “endurance”, “Blessed Is the man whose
’ might ’ — or power of endurance — is in Thee ! " " Behold,
we count them happy which endure,” writes the apostle.
" Ye have heard of the endurance of Job, and have seen the
issue of the Lord’s dealings with him” (James 5:11, Weymouth). Yes, happy
Job, that he had strength to endure until the hour came when
his captivity was turned, and he received of the Lord " twice
as much as. he had before “. For the " end of the Lord * is
double for all the pain of the winepress, and the length of the
time in the winepress valley is the measure of (1) the power of
endurance which the soul has in God, and. (2) the foreshadow-
ing of the ** double " which will come forth in winepress
blessing to others.
And they, sing; yes, they sing, these sons of the Cross, when
they find that in the winepress their hearts have been " melted
like wax in the midst " of them (Psalm 22: 14), like then-
Lord upon His Cross, and how in the melting the old
limitations have passed away, and their once closed hearts
have become " highways to Zion " for others seeking after
God; no longer closed to the sorrows of others, shut up in
narrow bounds of sympathy and love, but hearts enlarged and
open to the needs of a dying world, for " whoso seeth his
brother have need, and shutteth. up his heart of compassion
from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him ? " (l John
3:17, Alford).
Oh, the closed hearts among the people of God 1 Oh, the
high walls over which none can leap, surrounding their
sympathy and love ! It is worth the winepress to have the
exterior of the " grape " bruised and broken, if thereby the

a wine n of the love of God can be freed to pass out to a world
needing more sympathy than preaching, more love than law.
Blessed is he " in whose heart are the highways to Zion " for
a needy world — a heart open for all in need of God, to cuter,
and march through it to Zion — even unto God.
But mere than all, the " sons of the Gross " can sing in the
winepress valley, because there they find that they themselves
have become a " place of springs " for the water of life to
others. They have sought with earnest longings to be
channels for " rivers of living water " to flow out to others,
and they have " believed " and " believed “, according to
the letter of the word (John 7 ; 38), but still these “rivers”
did not flow. But at last the secret was revealed by the
Providence of God. They found themselves one day in the
winepress valley, and then the rivers flow T ed ! It was an hour
when all men seemed to trample with their feet these " grapes "
in the winepress of God, when lo, a spring of divine love, pure
as crystal and sweet with the sweetness of heaven, opened in
their hearts to the trampling souls, and they knew that they
were in the " place of springs " — the heart of God — the heart
of God revealed in the heart of Christ upon the Cross of
Calvary.
" If Thou art the Son of God, come down from the Gross,”
they cried, " come down from the Cross.” Come out of the
winepress ! But, how then shall others be saved ? How
then shall the life of God be given to the souls of men ? And
even thus must the M sons of the Cross " follow the Lamb into
the winepress of Calvary, if through them shall be given the
" wine " of the life of Christ to a dying world.
The Psalmist speaks of only a " passing through " the
winepress valley; and truth to tell it can be only a " passing
through " from time to time, as the " sons of the Cross "
press on in following the Lamb, but as the divine life is
increasingly imparted, and divine strength is given, those who
knowing the " place of springs " rejoice each time they are
counted worthy to be given winepress joy — yea, the joy of the
Lamb, Who on nearing His Gross could say to His little
company of sorrowing friends: " My joy I give unto you “.
The joy which was set before Him for which He could endure
the Cross and despise the shame, The joy which can only be
known in seeing Calvary from the heart of God; from the
viewpoint of heaven.
These souls who thus know the winepress valley as a place
of springy go from " strength to strength " or (Hebrew)
" force to force “, and " every one of them appeareth. before
God in Zion “. Yes, In New Testament language, every One
of them emerge into that hidden life with Christ in God, for
these are the overcomes ?” who are " lifted above all " by
the loss of all! From " force to force " they go, through the
winepress valleys; more arid more losing the earth-life as they
are driven on out of extremity into resources which are to be
found alone in God, more and more detached from all that
earth holds dear to dwell in the heavens with the reigning
Lord-
This conformity to the Son of God in His path of the Lamb,
is the purpose of the Pentecostal fulness of the Spirit, rather
than the " signs and wonders " which dazzle the eye of men.
" Ye shall receive power to be martyrs,” was the promise of
the Risen Lord to His disciples, and this surely means in one
aspect that just as a through the Eternal Spirit " He offered
Himself to God, so all His followers would need the power of
the Holy Ghost to follow Him and be conformed to His
image — the image of a Lamb.
There are two spheres of service which follow the knowledge
of the fulness of the Holy Spirit — the one of mighty " works “,
and the other of being a life-channel for the life of God to
quicken other souls. The one is the result of " doing “, and
the other of suffering. The one stage may be likened in the
life of Christ to His mighty works after the baptism in Jordan,
and the other as the result of His poured-out life at Calvary.
The Cross may be the M terminus " in the experience of the
believer, in the sense of death with Christ to sin and the
world; but as that " terminus " attitude of death with Christ
is maintained by faith and obedience, the believer is then led
on by the Spirit into a fellowship with Christ’s death for life
toothers; and these are the *’ Sons of the Gross " who joyfully
consent to enter into fellowship with their Lord, that His life
in them may be poured forth in springs of life to needy souls.
It is of the deepest importance that we co-opcratc with the
Spirit of Gcd in the stage of the divine life which He has
brought us into. It is possible to be turned back in our
spiritual progress by seeking an experience which may look
more advanced than the path indicated by the apostle Paul in
2 Corinthians 4: 10-12. The highest purpose of God in the
believer is not to make him so much a powerfully-used
instrument, as to bring forth in him the fullest manifestation
of Christ in every aspect of His character, and this can only
be done in the winepress valley of fellowship with His suffer-
ings. He was " crucified through weakness “, and there were
no mighty signs and wonders wrought by Him to thrill the
multitude at Calvary; but In His weakness and Lamb-silence
in suffering and His poured-out life, He did more for the world
than when He healed the sick and cast out demons in Galilee.
Oh that this pure and lovely pattern may be unveiled to the
eager children of God at this time who are seeking intensely
what they term " God’s best “–the pattern of the Christ in
His Lamb-likeness conquering the hosts of darkness, not by
fighting but by death. Arid this beautiful Lamb-likeness of
the Lord Christ will not be wrought in us by " visions " of
Calvary, nor by sudden and mystical experiences of entering
into the sufferings of His Cross, but by the daily and hourly
choosing of the will of God in the discipline of life. The
" answering not again " when accused of many things; the
hidden and silent path of sacrifice unknown to men; the doing
good and suffering for it as evil-doers worthy of death. . . .

THE MELTED HEART OF CALVARY 
“MY heart is like wax; it is melted,” was the language of
" the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross as foreshadowed by
the psalmist in the 22nd Psalm, fitly named " a psalm of
sobs " by Archbishop Alexander, for, he says, in the Hebrew
there is not a single complete sentence in the first part, but all
is in fragmentary sighs, like the words of a dying person, when
there is not strength to complete a sentence. In the pathway
of the soul brought into conformity to the death of the Son of
God, there comes a time when there opens to him, by the
deep in-working of the Spirit, the meaning of fellowship with
His heart In its meltedness under the touch of God.
" Put on, therefore, as God’s eject, holy and beloved, a heart
of compassion " (” bowels of mercies,” A.V., Colossians 3: 12,
R..V.) , writes the apostle to the Colossians ; and in all his letters
he so lays bare his own heart that he himself becomes an
example in his own person of that " heart of compassion "
which he enjoins upon his readers. " Though ye have ten
thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers,” he
exclaims to the Corinthians as he writes to them in their
babyhood of the spiritual life, to lovingly admonish them,
and bid them beware of the danger of being " puffed up "
and " glorying " in spiritual experiences greater than others.
They gloried in being “rich” and " reigning “, whilst he
and the other apostles were living as “men doomed to
death “. These " babes in Christ “, yet " carnal “, whom
he could not feed with strong spiritual meat, were glorying
in being " wise in Christ “, whilst he and Apollos were " fools
for Christ’s sake “. They were " strong “, whilst the chosen
vessel called to suffer great things for the name of Christ,
was *’ weak “. They had " glory lf , whilst he had only
" dishonour . . .”.
What a contrast between the rich, reigning, strong " babes
in Christ ;? and the apostle with the great heart who calls
himself their " father “—for “in Christ Jesus M he had
begotten them through, the Gospel ! " Ten thousand
tutors 11 ! " Not many fathers” ! How true it is to-day !
" Many hacks rs " (James 3:1), but not many willing to suffer,
and to bear others on their hearts, until they are borne
through their babyhood stage into maturity,
A " heart of compassion “—of yearning, tender pity born
only of the life of God in a believer, and which brings in power
to surfer and to endure for the growth and life of other souls.
There are those who think that fellowship with Christ in His
death means a lessening of sensitiveness and power to feel,
whilst others rebel against this thought, and say they do not
believe in the eliminating of the " emotional " in spiritual
experience. The life of the Lord Himself, and especially the
letters of Paul, show us clearly the true balance between these
two extremes. In the first case, the truth is that fellowship
with Christ in His death simply delivers us from undue
self-sensitiveness, and sets us free to be increasingly and
acutely sensitive for all that concerns Christ and others !
And in the second case, all that is needed is that the surface
emotionalism be taken away, so that the very deepest depths
of the whole inmost being may be opened for the life of God
to be poured out for souls.
The expression in the Authorised Version of Colossians 3:12
is very suggestive: " Put on bowels of mercies " ? This speaks
of depth and truth and power of sacrifice which does not
come from the moving only of the surface emotion in a
" powerful " meeting. Br, Woods Smyth points out in
connection with this word in Colossians 3: is, that Professor
Bain tells us that " feelings " and " emotions " are " dis-
tributed throughout the nerve centres of the internal organs
of the body “. " Hence their great power compared with mere
thought, which is confined to the limited range of the head.”
This means true “emotion’ 1 and " feeling " for others, and
speaks of the deepest work of God in our whole being.
" Thought " " confined to the limited range of the head "
describes the " ten thousand tutors " who can be teaching,
and giving light and knowledge without a trace of the " bowels
of mercies " — the " heart of compassion " referred to by Paul.
In brief, it is heart we want — the power to fed and to sacrifice
for others, for it is the lack of heart which makes " truth "
cold and repelling to needy souls.
" My bowels, my bowels ! I am pained at my very heart;
my heart is disquieted in me; I cannot hold my peace ,f (Jere-
miah 4: 19, R.V.), cries the prophet Jeremiah concerning
Israel; and this capacity for suffering over others made him
peculiarly a picture of Christ when He came as a ** Man of
Sorrows “, This inward " melting " of the heart, when the
“nerve centres of the internal organs of the body” are
moved, so that the whole man is broken up with pain for
others, is referred to as the experience of the Saviour when
He cried: " My heart is like wax ; it is melted in the midst . + .”
(Psalm 22: 14).
This same wonderful moving of the whole inner being in
strong compassion is said to be the cause of God the Father
sending the Son as the Dayspring from on high to visit us.
This came about through " the heart of mercy of our God "
(Luke 1 :78, A.V.m.), and Jeremiah, in fellowship with God,
also pictures Him moved and troubled over Ephraim as a
" dear son “, who had turned away from Him,
It is this wondrous unveiling of the heart of our Father-God
which we so deeply need to know, so that we may speak as
Jeremiah spoke of Him, to wandering souls, " I am a Father
to Israel, and Ephraim is My first-born,” said the Lord; and
" I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself " but " as
often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him.
still . . , " (Jeremiah 31: SO).
Dr. Woods Smyth points out that this same word " bowels
of mercies “,” bowels of compassion,” is translated “tender-
hearted " in various passages. " Be ye kind, tender-hearted,
forgiving one another " (Ephesians 4: 32), the apostle writes
to the Ephesians; M If there are any Under mercies and com-
passions, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be of " Onesimus … I have
sent back to thee in his own person, that is my very heart . . .”
(Philemon 12, R.V.) he writes to Philemon. These passages
show how God can communicate to His redeemed the very
" heart of mercy “, and " bowels of compassion “, which
moved Him to give His Son to die for sinners, and moved (hat
Holy One upon His Cross in strong love and pity for all who
crucified Him.
“Tender-hearted, forgiving . . . even as God forgave,” said
Paul. And who that has known how freely, and sweetly, and
compassionately, the whole inner being can be moved by the
love of God to pour out gracious, loving, melting M forgive-
ness " to another, even before the very first trace of sorrow or
regret for wrong doing is seen, will not better be able to tell
of Gad’s forgiveness to any repentant sinner or child of God ?
And how these “tender mercies” and " compassions”
rejoice in filling to the full the joy of others, and is poured out
also in gracious, exquisite, tactful words, as seen, in the
apostle’s letter to Philemon over Ins runaway slave. How
Paul’s " heart of mercy " — " heart of compassion “—comes
out in Ins language concerning him. " My child, whom I
have begotten in my bonds,” he writes (v. io, R.V.). And
this about a Phrygian stave ! The " very heart " of Paul had
yearned over this soul, in “bowels of mercies “, so that he
ceased to be to him a " slave “, and he saw only in him a
child “, begotten in his time of suffering and sorrow.
What a wealth of gracious, God-given compassion was
manifested in Paul ! His letters may be said to be " all
heart” — not “heart” in our narrow conception of “heart”
in the sense of earthly, personal affection, loving only those
who Jove us (Matthew 5: 46); but " heart " in the wider,
fuller, rich revelation opened to us in the words of our theme —
bowels of compassion,” yearning, pitying, suffering.
pouring out in wealth of divine fulness upon all, irrespective
of any thought of " return “. " I seek not yours, but you,”
the apostle writes to the Corinthians; " for the children ought
not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
And I will mo&t gladly spend, and be spent out for your
souls . . .” (s Corinthians 12: 14, 15, R.V.). " Though the
more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved " (A.V.).
And again to the Thessalonians he writes: " Life is for us life
indeed, since you are standing fast in the Lord " (1 Thessa-
lonians 3: 8, Weymouth), and “when I could no longer
endure the uncertainty “, 1 " sent tc know the condition of
your faith . . .” (1 Thessalonians 3 : 5, Weymouth) ; showing
how deeply Paul’s " heart of compassion " lived In the life of
those he had nurtured for Christ (1 Thessalonians 2: 7), as
" a father … his own children " (v. u, Weymouth).
Ten thousand tutors I Not many " fathers “, we can say in
the light of this glimpse into the heart of the apostle Paul.
" Tutors " to teach, correct, admonish, advise — but few to
suffer with others, with such burden of heart as to write in
need with “anguish of heart and many tears”. Few to
yearn over others with the whole inner being moved in
compassionate longing for their welfare in fellowship with
the very " heart of mercy of our God “-
Would we say to-day that the apostle’s language was
exaggerated ? Gould he really speak of a soul he had yearned
over as his ! * very heart " ? Yes, for Paul’s great heart was in
fellowship with God, and with His Son Jesus Christ, and
" desperate tides of the whole great world’s anguish " were
" forced through the channels of this single heart " (Meyer’s
" Saint Paul “), reaching out upon even a slave, brought to
him in his bonds.
Is this " heart of compassion " possible for each of us ?
Yes, for the apostle writes: " Put on” as " God’s elect, holy
and belovedf a heart of compassion . . .**. And why ? " See-
ing that ye have put off the * old man ’ with his doings …”
(Colossians 3: 9, R.V.). Calvary’s Cross is the place of blessing.
There let the old narrow, earth-born limitations be put away.
There let the old selfish, self-seeking, self-grasping life be left,
as we " put on " the " new man which is being renewed . . .”
after the image of Him that created him, where there cannot
be " earthly distinctions* divisions, separation “,but " Christ
all in all “, In the heavenly sphere—” In Christ Jesus " —
alone can the " heart cf compassion " be given, and the soul
be so taken into fellowship with Christ’s sufferings as to know
throughout its whole being that yearning love and pity which
is, in truth, of God, and not of man. It is written that the
" new man ** is " being renewed " — a gradual process which
follows the crisis of the definite “putting off” of all that is of
the old creation, and the decisive putting away of all " anger,
wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking . . .’*.
And in the “renewal” of the " new man " comes, in due
season, the stage of real fellowship with Christ in His travail
over others, when the whole inner being is moved by the
" tender mercies " of God to pain over a nation — as with
Jeremiah; or to yearning for Christ to be formed in others, as
with Paul; to the compassionate, gracious manifestation of
God’s forgiving love (Ephesians 4: 32), and the impossibility
of " shutting up " f! compassion " from any in need (1 John
3: 17); to the yearning, longing prayers for others " in the
tender mercies of Christ Jesus " (” tender heart “, AJford)
(Philippians 1:8); and the glad spending out of life and love
for all, though the more abundantly the love is given, the
" less the outpourer is loved " !
But how does this come about ? " He that believeth into
Me " (lit. Greek), the Lord Jesus said, and this means a faith
in Him which draws the soul into Him on His Gross— something
more than a mental assent to His finished work, or a faith
similar to faith in some other person. It means a faith which
unites the trusting 1 one with the Saviour. " I, if 1 be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself. But this He
said signifying by what manner of death He should die "
(John 12; 32, 33}, The Saviour on the Gross draws, and the
believing one is drawn into Him there, by the working of the
divine Spirit, so that the Saviour and the saved are united in
His death. Thus is the believer M planted together " (Romans
6 : 5) with Him in death, or ’ ’ grafted ’ ’ into Him on His
Cross, as a graft is placed on the stock with the view of vital
union, so that stock and graft become one, and share in one life.

These arc the stages of the work of the Spirit in bringing the 
believer into that place in Christ whence out of Him shall flow 
the rivers of living water: The uplifted Christ draws; the 
believer " believes into " — or is drawn into Him on His Cross. 
Then the Holy Spirit grafts the trusting one } with a view to 
vital union, and " plants " him ever deeper and deeper into 
the c< likeness of His death '% as by faith he abides in his place 
of " crucified with Christ ". As the "graft" is kept In place 
— bound with cords of surrender and faith to the Crucified 
One — the vital assimilation goes on, until the Saviour and the 
saved become so one that His death works in him in deeper 
power } and he is evermore becoming " conformable to His 
death" (Philippians 3: 10). In this ever-deepening con- 
formity the grafted soul, planted into Him, begins to know 
aspect after aspect of His death on the Cross, until there comes 
the knowledge of His broken and melted !ten?t t and out of the 
depths of the one who has thus " believed into " the Redeemer, 
comes the outflow of rivers of life, breaking forth from the 
Lamb slain in the midst of the Throne, and through the one 
brought into vital union and conformity to Him, Then he is 
" always delivered unto death for Jesus 1 sake, that the life also 
of Jesus may be manifested in (his) mortal flesh ". "So then 
death worketh in us, but life in you," adds the apostle, for the 
" death working " is the condition for the life-stream to flow 
to others. 

Out of the heart are the " issues of life ", wrote Solomon, 
and this is specially seen in the death of the Christ on the 
Cross ! His body was broken for us, and becomes, in a strange, 
deep, spiritual sense, the " true meat " for all who truly are 
united to Him, and live by Him, as He lived by the Father. 
His *' soul " was poured out unto death, that He might " divide 
the spoil with the strong" (Isaiah 53: 12), and bring all 
united to Him, out of the power of darkness, by the hating of 
their soulish life, and the laying of it down with the Repre- 
sentative Man on the Gross. Out of His broken heart came the 
" issues of life " for the dying world. " He that believeth on 
Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers 
of living water "; or, as the old Syriac gives it, " Out of the 
depths of his life shall pour torrents of living water ". The 
Lord said " rivers ", and rivers He must mean. Rivers of life 
broke out of His heart, opened on the Cross, and they are 
issuing now in limitless measure from the Lamb slain in the 
midst of the Throne. The children of God must learn that 
only through the inlet of Csbary can the life-streams In the 
heart of God break into the world ; and again, only through 
each believer as he is brought into deep conformity with the 
death of the Son of God.