Christ in Us by G. B. THOMPSON

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jul 29, 1915

Christ in Us

By G. B. THOMPSON

CHRIST taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” There is much in this petition. Christ’s will is done in the hearts of men. I am to pray that the will of God be done not in some one else’s heart, but in my own heart. I pray, Lord, let thy will be done in my heart, as it is done by the holy, unfallen beings around the throne of God. On our part this requires complete and unconditional surrender to God in everything, in all the little acts. My own will is laid aside, and the will of the Lord made supreme. Self is hid, and Christ revealed. I am dead, but Christ lives in me. The darkness and defects of my life are covered, and the light and perfection of his life are seen. It means that we give all to God; and in thus giving all, we receive all from him. “All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” 1 Cor. 3:22, 23. Nothing of wisdom or life or power is held back.

As Christians our work is to reveal Christ, that he may be seen; that his life and perfection may be seen. We are to the front too much. Self obscures the light, and as a result the enemies of the Lord are led to blaspheme. They see our selfishness, and are led to think that that is religion. The life of Christ will win men. It will soften hard, unregenerated hearts, and convert sinners.

“Some of you have seen the great picture that was painted by Munkacsy of the Christ. That picture was being exhibited in Canada, at Toronto, I think; and there came a rude, rough, wicked sailor to see it. He entered the room at the time of day when there were no others there; and paying his money to the woman who sat inside the door, he came in and stood for a moment, looking at the canvas as if he would glance at it and go away. But as he looked, he could not turn. He stood there with his eyes fixed on that central figure of majesty and love. In a few moments, he took off his hat and let it fall upon the floor. After a few moments more he sat down upon a seat, and then he reached down and picked up a book that described the picture, and began to read; and every few seconds his eyes would turn toward the canvas and toward the figure of Christ. The lady who sat by the door saw him lift up his hand and wipe away some tears. Still he sat; five, ten, fifteen, sixty minutes went by, and still the man sat there as if he could not stir. At last he rose, and coming softly and reverently toward the door, he hesitated, to take one last look, and said to the woman who sat there: ‘Madam, I am a rough, wicked sailor; I have never believed in Christ; I have never used his name except in an oath; but I have a Christian mother, and my old mother begged me today before I went to sea, to go and look at the picture of the Christ. To oblige her I said I would come, and I have come. I did not believe that anybody believed in Christ; but as I have looked at that form and that face, I have thought that some man must have believed in him, and it has touched me, and I have come to believe in him, too. I am going out from this time to be a believer in Jesus Christ and a follower of his.’

“O beloved, as I heard that story, the tears came unbidden to my eyes, and my heart glowed with a mighty longing. I thought if a poor, weak man, living himself in a godless land, could take his brush and preach on canvas, and cause our Christ to glow upon it, until a rough, rude, wicked, licentious man should be won to believe in him, what might not my God do if he might paint Christ in me—nay, if he might reproduce Christ in a human life, that the life might be Christ’s, and then men might come to believe on him.”

When the will of God is done in us, we shall see our neighbors changed. Hearts as hard and cold as a stone will glow with warmth. Once the touch of light is kindled in our experience as it should be, we can kindle other torches in human experiences. Once the unholy ambition, the selfishness, the pride, and the lust of the world are dead in us, and Jesus lives in us, we shall see the world lightened with the message of God.

To have an indwelling Christ is far more than a mere profession. A Christian soul winner on a certain occasion

stopped at the home of a professed Christian and said, “Madam, does Jesus Christ live here?” The question startled her. When she related the experience to her husband in the evening, he said to her, “Why did you not tell him that we were members of the church?” She replied, “I did; but when he asked if Jesus lived here, that was different.” There is indeed a vast difference between a profession and Jesus living in us. Until we can answer the question of this earnest Christian worker in the affirmative, we have no hope that the will of God will be done in us; for it is only by an indwelling Christ that this experience can come to us. Reader, does Jesus live in you?

G. B. THOMPSON.