LIFE BY THE SPIRIT by William Covert

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 6, 1904

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 27.

LIFE BY THE SPIRIT.

By William Covert

BY WILLIAM COVERT.

MAN should be wholly under the control of God’s life. Physically, he is sustained by it. He should live morally and spiritually by the same life. It is not reasonable that the Creator should maintain forever that which is a dishonor to His name.

The Sustainer of the universe will not unalterably establish an irreconcilable condition of things. To enjoy the eternal benefits of life, every man must reach the condition where his spirit drinks in the moral nature which emanates from the great Source of life. The eternal witness of things calls for complete harmony. Without it there can be no eternal state.

Control over the Flesh.

Signing the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, Pa., July 4, 1776.

The apostle says, “To be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Rom. 8:6. In order to realize the true object of living, the flesh must eventually come under the control of the life which formed it. Through long-continued and oft-repeated transgression, it has become so defiled that the term “flesh” is used as a synonym for all that is evil: “If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” The Spirit of God must control the emotions of the flesh before righteousness can prevail. The two ways, the false and the true, are thus described: “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” Rom. 8:5.

Here is the condition of true sonship: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” Rom. 8:14–16.

Humanity, vitalized and mellowed by the Spirit of God, is free from the slavery of fear, and from the cowering condition which torments one under condemnation. It imparts to the Christian the same confidence and self-poise that is enjoyed by the child in the Christian home with his own parents.

In this is an ideal picture of true life. Love is bestowed, and love given in return. The child is free to ask, and the parent is glad to give. There is in this home a blending of spirits and a mingling of joys.

The home is, in a measure, made, arranged, and kept for the needs and comfort of the child; and the inborn nature of the child is to ask for favors. The first words it articulates are the equivalents for “father” and “mother.” Upon them it first learns to call. In them it naturally trusts.

But what is true regarding the proper relation between parents and children, is also true in a much greater degree in the relation which exists between the Lord and His people. Even the love of the fondest parents for their children, can but faintly represent the love which planned and executed the great work of redemption.

The heavenly Father desires to have the same Spirit in the hearts of His adopted children that is enjoyed by Jesus Himself. As Christ is in the freedom and enjoyment of love with the Father, so would the Father have His sons and daughters here in spirit before Him. “Thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Gal. 4:7.

An Illustration.

A motherless girl was taken into a home to live as if a daughter born in the family. In that home was a son who knew his proper relation, and fully enjoyed it. But the adopted child felt that she was a stranger in the place. What was designed to be a home, she regarded as a prison. She was suspicious of the kindest attentions, and by demonstrations of sadness made her life very unpleasant.

It required several days of wooing to impart to the child a spirit of confidence and trust. But finally the shade of sorrow departed like a cloud when it is rolled away, and in its stead was instantly born that spirit of kinship which makes a little one happy in the home of its parents.

As confidence came, her tears immediately dried, and with a beautiful smile she said, “Let us sing.” When asked what the song should be, she lovingly responded, “Sing, ‘There’s No Place Like Home.’”

This incident illustrates the scripture which says, “Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Gal. 4:6.

The Only Real Life.

It is this home-feeling, which the life of God brings into the soul, that inspires the heart with boldness to pray. It is this life that drives out all tormenting fear, this indwelling power which takes away the spirit of bondage, and gives that rich experience of liberty and freedom known only by the children of God.

It is not the will of God that His children should feel as strangers in His presence, or that they should cower as criminals before Him. He would have them as free and at home as a son or daughter in the father’s house.

Living in sin, and constantly enduring the torments of a violated conscience, is not true life. It is only a prolonged death. In such a state forebodings of the end embitter all the sweets of life, and keep death ever present. But man is not compelled to wait until he

reaches some other world to be happy. Joy comes now—yes, in this world, to the one who lets the Spirit of God rule in the life. The nature of true life is to give joy unalloyed.

How the Work Is Done.

That life which connects man with the eternal state “is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.” It is fully and only received from God through Jesus Christ. In Christ “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

In the flesh of man there is life, but it is perverted life. It dwells there through physical generation, but it is not there incarnate by faith. It is in the flesh that the battle must be fought and won. The Spirit of life of God must live and reign in the flesh of the Christian.

By choice the Son of God, leaving heaven, plunged into the dark waters of death to save perishing men. There in the cold waves He laid the life-saving cable. He also carried the strong cords of life through the grave and around the world, and, rising heavenward, connected all again with the eternal throne.

He left the regions of light To rescue perishing men, And came to darkness and night To set the wandering right, And raise to heaven again.

Anchored to Heaven.

The Lord, in strong figure, spoke of Christ “as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, whither the Forerunner is for us entered.” Heb. 6:19, 20. Here is drawn a very beautiful picture, illustrating to Christian voyagers the certainty of a safe landing in the promised haven. Those bound for the country where Christ is gone, have an engagement with Him, specifying that they are to go where He is. They have gone aboard the ship of salvation, and all their interests are entrusted to His care. In the illustration the voyage is represented as complete, and the vessel moored safe within the harbor. As a forerunner for passengers and crew He has gone ashore in heaven, and made fast the cable there. And soon all on board shall enter the heavenly port.

One end of this life-line encircles the redeemed, while the Redeemer entwines the other around the eternal throne. The vitality of His righteousness, like an electric current, passes to every soul on the vessel, for they are connected with the anchor line. Their union with Him joins them to His life. They are animated with His being, and are made strong through His strength. They are severally clothed with His nature. Their life is an emanation from Him, and in them His will is wrought.