hat just the point where the triumph of faith comes in? It
is there that we see the value of those exceeding great and precious
promises by which you are to become a partaker of the Divine nature,
and on which your faith is to build. 'As thy days, so shall thy
strength be'; 'My God shall supply all your need'; and that includes
your need in cleansing, your need in keeping, and your need in blessing
adapted to your circumstances. Remember, the Lord is the Master of
circumstances, and you must put yours into His hands, and trust Him not
only to sanctify you wholly, but to preserve you blameless unto the
end. You must trust God to make you equal to your circumstances.

2. But there is that second class of anxious persons to whom I
referred: those who are held back by _the fear of consequences_.

Oh, what crowds of enlightened souls might be walking triumphantly
along the King's highway, who are yet tramping on amidst doubts and
fears and frequent condemnation, all because they dread the pressure of
God's claims upon them, and fear the consequences of making a
whole-hearted surrender to Him.

There is another point of view about which I must speak a word in
passing. When looking at the consequences of fully yielding to God's
claims, and perhaps trembling and hesitating, do you ever think of the
results of holding back what you know God wants? Do not forget that
there are some consequences of saying 'No' to the Lord. When a child
knows his father's wish, but, in answer to a reasonable request, says,
'No', you call it disobedience. Is it not a still more serious thing to
be disobedient in the presence of more than a father's love? You must
count the cost of that, when resisting the light and influence of God's
Spirit.

Surely, you will not choose to be numbered among those who 'knew their
Lord's will, but did it not'. In the Gospel story such were 'beaten
with many stripes'; that means stripes of loss, stripes of pain,
stripes of sorrow, perhaps even stripes of death. If we are to suffer,
let it be the result of following Him, rather than the consequence of
denying our Lord.

Now, I do not want to mislead anybody, for, of course, there are
consequences of surrender and determination to live the holy life; but,
unfortunately, these fearful ones look at the wrong side of the list.
They think of the separateness from the world involved in a life of
Holiness; they think of the cold shoulder which some, even Christian
friend