p. 79 | Holding Our Ground by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 22, 1914

Holding Our Ground

By F. M. W.

THE last few weeks have brought great blessings to this people. A general spiritual revival appears to be in progress. From every quarter reports come of blessings received during the week of prayer just passed. What will be the effect of these blessings upon this year's experience? Will the ground gained be held, or shall we be driven from the field in defeat by the great adversary, as we have been many times in the past? In too many instances this has been the aftermath of revival efforts. The Lord has come near to his people. His tender, melting Spirit has been felt in their hearts. Peace and joy have come into their lives. But, content with this measure of blessing and reaching out for nothing beyond, the believers have settled down satisfied, and largely ceased their efforts for a deeper and growing experience. The result has been a reaction. Often the reaction has left them in worse condition than they were before.

Of all times in the world when the children of God need to be on their guard is the period immediately following some great victory in the Lord. It was in such a time that Elijah lost his courage and fled before the threat of Jezebel. But this reaction is not necessary. How may it be prevented? What safeguards may the Christian employ to prevent this relapse? The apostle Paul answers this inquiry. To the believers at Colosse he writes: "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him; rooted and built up in him, stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving."

As we obtained the heavenly blessing during the week of prayer, in the same manner we are to retain that blessing. It came to us as the result of earnest prayer, of confession of sin, of consecration of heart and life, of receiving as the personal messages of God to our souls the promises of his Word. In this manner we are to walk in him. In other words, we are to carry with us throughout the year the spirit of the week of prayer. Every day is to be a day of prayer, the whole year a year of prayer. This experience will result in rooting us and building us in him, and establishing us in the faith.

In his epistle to the church at Rome the apostle points out in other words the way this experience may be obtained:—

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

In the week of prayer services we made God a consecration for the forgiveness of sin and for the Spirit's infilling. The Spirit was not bestowed merely for the purpose of filling our hearts with joy. To rest in this measure of blessing is to rest in an experience based largely upon feeling and emotion. Work is the true complement of faith. The true complement of consecration for forgiveness and the Spirit's infilling is consecration for service. Indeed, this is the great purpose for which the Lord bestows his blessing upon his people. It is that they may carry to other hearts the joy and peace which they have found, and it is only as our brethren and sisters find in this consecrated service the exercise of their faith that they will be enabled to retain the blessing which has come to them.

What an opportunity for consecrated service does the world afford! On every hand are souls hungering for God. They may not know it. Unrest and disquietute fill their minds; they are dissatisfied with their environment, with their fellows, with themselves. They long for something, they know not what. To these needy ones we may become ministers of heavenly light and joy.

We may become during 1914 God's helping hand. We may become his messengers. We may become his voice in the world, speaking the words of life which he desires to impart. God today is looking for consecrated ears and tongues and feet and hands,—ears to hear his bidding; tongues to proclaim his messages of mercy; feet to run errands for him; hands to minister his grace. He gives to us the privilege of yielding our "members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

At least one soul for Christ during the year to come should be the burden of every heart. Form a praying list of those who need your help. Carry a burden of soul for particular individuals. Daily present their cases before God; and as you pray, work for their salvation, persistently but tactfully, seeking such approaches to their souls as opportunity affords.

Jacob's great victory at the brook Jabbok gave him power to prevail with God and with men. In consequence he was given the name Israel. This victory should be ours. Consecrating ourselves unreservedly to God for his Spirit's infilling for service, we may gain in prevailing prayer the victory over the power of the evil one in our own lives. And this prevailing power with God, this fresh daily touch with the Infinite, will give us power with our fellows as we labor to bring them to the Lord Jesus. It is this experience which will enable us to hold the ground we have already gained, and to follow up our advantage with even greater victories. Asking and believing, appropriating heaven's blessings to our own needs and then passing them on to others, will make this growing experience possible. F. M. W.