To be merciful as the Father in heaven, to forgive just as He does, to love enemies and to do good to them that hate
V. THE ENTRANCE TO THE LIFE OF FULL
OBEDIENCE
'Obedient unto death.' —Phil. 2:8.
After all that has been said on the life of obedience, I purpose speaking in this address of the entrance on that life. You might think it a mistake to take this text, in which you have obedience in its very highest perfection, as our subject in speaking of the entrance on the course. But it is no mistake. The secret of success in a race is to have the goal clearly defined, and aimed at from the very outset. 'He became obedient unto death.' There is no other Christ for any of us, no other obedience that pleases God, no other example for us to copy, no other Teacher from whom to learn to obey. Christians suffer inconceivably because they do not at once and heartily accept this as the only obedience they are to aim at. The youngest Christian will find it a strength in the school of Christ to make nothing less from the commencement his prayer and his vow: OBEDIENT
UNTO DEATH. It is at once the beauty and the glory of Christ. A share in it is the highest blessing He has to give. The
If you want to be reminded of what it means, think of the story in ancient history. A proud king, with a great army following him, demands the submission of the king of a small but brave nation. When the ambassadors have delivered their message, he calls one of his soldiers to stab himself. At once he does it. A second is called; he too obeys at once. A third is summoned; he too is obedient to death. 'Go and tell your master that I have three thousand such men; let him come.' The king dared count upon men who held their life not dear to them when the king's word called for it. It is such obedience God wants. It is such obedience Christ gave. It is such obedience He teaches. Be it such obedience and nothing less we seek to learn. From the very outset of the Christian life let this be our aim, that we may avoid the fatal mistake of calling Christ Master and yet not doing what He says. Let all who by these addresses have in any degree been convicted of the sin of disobedience, listen as we study from God's Word the way to escape from that and gain access to the life Christ can give—the entrance to the life of full obedience.
It is easy to see that this must be the first step. In Jeremiah, the prophet who more than any other speaks of the disobedience of God's people, God says, 'Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; for I am merciful. Only acknowledge thine iniquity that you have not obeyed My voice, saith the Lord God. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord.' As little as there can be pardon at conversion without confession can there be, after conversion, deliverance from the overcoming power of sin and the disobedience it brings, without a new and deeper conviction and confession. The thought of our disobedience must not be a vague generality. The special things in which we actually disobey must be definitely found out, and in confession given up and placed in the hands of Christ, and by Him cleansed away. Then only can there be the hope of entering into the way of true obedience. Let us search our life by the light of the teaching of our Lord. 1. Christ appealed to the law. He was not come to destroy the law, but to secure its fulfillment. To the young ruler, He said, 'Thou knowest the commandments.' Let the law be our first test. Let us take a single sin—such as that of lying. I had a note from a young lady once saying that she wished to obey fully, and that she felt urged to confess an untruth she had told me. It was not a matter of importance, and yet she rightly judged that the confession would help her to cast it from her. How much there is in ordinary society, how much in school life, too, that will not stand the test of strict truthfulness! And so, there are other commandments, up to the very last, with its condemnation of all coveting and lusting after what is not ours, in which too frequently the Christian gives way to disobedience. All this must come to a complete end. We must confess it, and in God's strength put it away forever, if there is to be any thought of our entering a life of full obedience. 2. Christ revealed the new law of love. To be merciful as the Father in heaven, to forgive just as He does, to love enemies and to do good to them that hate