Whatever hindrance it is that is keeping back the fullness of the Lord's blessing hand hindering our entering into the deeper things of His grace, let Him come, with the kindly whip of His discipline and the expulsive power of His action, and turn everything out of the temple of our being which He has bought with His blood and consecrated to Himself, that in the days to come every whit may utter His glory.
Thoroughness: The Meaning of the Spiritual Life
Among the many saints who have been noted for their thoroughness in the service of God was Nehemiah. He was thorough in everything he undertook. There were half measures with him. He was all aglow, and always on the go. Difficulties did not daunt him, nor opposition haunt him. He seems to say without saying it:
"Let come what will, I mean to bear it out,
And either live with glorious victory
Or die with fame, renown'd in chivalry.
He is not worthy of the honeycomb
That shuns the hive because the bee has stings."
He would have no half-heartedness, nor would he allow any compromise for one moment. He was angry when he saw some of the Jews had taken usury from their brethren, and insisted upon them restoring what they had taken (Neh. 5:1-3). He would not tolerate the alliance of Elishhib the priest with Tobiah, and his making him comfortable in the house of the Lord. He therefore cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber (Neh. 13:4-9). He rebuked the people for their selfishness in not supporting the Levites in the work of the Lord (Neh. 13:10). He raised the ringing voice of his testimony against the Sabbath breakers, and with the strong hand of determination he shut the gates of Jerusalem in the faces of those who would sell their merchandise on the Sabbath, so that they found themselves outside of he city, and he also threatened that he would lay hands on any who would further desecrate the Lord's day (Neh. 13:15-21). He reviled those who had contaminated themselves and disobeyed the Lord by taking wives from the heathen,and reminded them how Solomon had been led astray by "outlandish women" (Neh. 13:6). He prayed against those who had defiled the holy garments of the priesthood; and with swift feet chased one of the relatives of Eliashib, who was son-in-law to San-Ballat the Horonite, and was not satisfied till he could ring out a clear note of testimony, saying: "Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the words of the priests and the Levites, everyone in his business" (Neh. 13:28-30). The same must hold in relation to the child of God. The hesitancy of half-heartedness, the vacillation of compromise, the unequal yoke of an unholy alliance, the nauseousness of lukewarmness, are things which God will not tolerate.
The "Thoroughly" of Cleansing
There are two "thoroughlys" in the New Testament which bring this out. They indicate the negative and the positive sides of sanctification. John the Baptist proclaimed that he would "thoroughly purge His floor" (Matthew 3:12). The Greek word rendered "thoroughly purge", signifies to "cleanse through." It is made up of two words, "Katharizo", which means to cleanse, and "dia," which means "through." The leper used the word "katharizo" when he said, "If Thou wilt Thou canst make me clean"; and Christ responded, "I will, be thou clean," and immediately his leprosy was "cleansed" (Matthew 8:2-3). "Dia" is used in Luke 17:11, where we are told that Christ passed "through" the midst of Samaria and Galilee on the way to Jerusalem. Thus we see that this compound word signifies to cleanse by the cleansing power of the water which flows through it. Rotherham renders the passage, "He will clear out His threshing floor." Christ always cleans out before He comes in. He fits before He furnishes. He empties before He fills. He cleanses before He conforms. He purifies before He possesses. This is always God's order, as may be seen in the following Scriptures, where the thought of cleansing precedes the subsequent blessing mentioned.
The guilty conscience is purged by the atoning blood of Christ from the penalty and pollution of sin, that we may serve the Lord as His priests to offer up the spiritual sacrifices of a humble heart, of a whole-hearted consecration and in doing good to others (Hebrews 9:14; 8:15, 16).
The grand purpose that Christ had in loving the Church and giving Himself up in His infinite grace to death, was that He might sanctify and cleanse, and then present it to Himself as a bride prepared for her nuptial day (Ephesians 5:26, 27).
The Lord hath stretched out the hand of His grace and saved us, in order to purify unto Himself a people, that He might then claim them as His own sacred possession in which the glory of His presence is to be enshrined (Titus 2:14).
~F. E. Marsh~
(continued with # 10)
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