“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” -John 12:24

Sometimes God calls us to give our lives for Him; whether it is to literally lose our physical lives for His gospel, or simply to consecrate our lives and give all our efforts and time unto His service, we are called to give up our own lives.

“He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” -John 12:25

And the rewards for this surrender are great: not only do we have peace that we are in God’s will, and will someday inherit eternal life, but as the verse at the top of this page states, we shall “bring forth much fruit.”

As a seed that falls to the ground and dies, so too when we die to our own ambitions and hopes, and give ourselves into the rich soil of God’s will, in due time we will undoubtedly spring up into a fruitful plant.

“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” -Psalm 126:5-6

Yet the consequences of not following Christ’s commands are saddening. For, even if we are born again, if we negelect God’s call for our life, we shall suffer tremendous loss in eternity, and miss out on everlasting treasure. But not only that, but Scripture says that we will abide alone. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone…”

Some of God’s greatest manifestations of power and glory will only come on the path of His will. Some of God’s greatest healings, and outpourings of grace will only come while walking on His divine path. In His ways, there is protection and provision; yet in our own stubborn self-comfort, there is only the prospect of the seed obstinately refusing to be brought low, which will only continue to “abide alone.”

“If we refuse to be corns of wheat falling in­to the ground and dy­ing; if we will nei­ther sac­ri­fice prospects nor risk char­ac­ter and prop­er­ty and health, nor, when we are called, re­lin­quish home and break fam­ily ties, for Christ’s sake and His Gospel, then we shall abide alone.” -Thomas Gaje­tan (Ragland, India)

“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” -Acts 9:3-4

In a previous post, I mentioned what I believed to be the secret of greatness, which is faith. Now I would like to go into greater detail in a few specific areas and give examples of greatness, and the faith that God’s people have had in the past.

Paul’s example

The first example is Paul. While still unconverted—and staunchly opposing the church—he had a vision on the road to Damascus, and there encountered the Lord Jesus Christ as a light from heaven.

“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.” -Acts 9:3-9

This was a life-changing event for Saul. He would never quite be the same again; and though he regained his physical sight, perhaps in spirit he never fully recovered from his vision of the Lord.

As the hymn “All For Jesus” states:

Since mine eyes were fixed on Jesus,
I’ve lost sight of all beside—
So enchained my spirit’s vision,
Looking at the Crucified.

So too, I believe it was with Paul. He had forever lost sight of all that was of temporal worth in this world, and through faith, he continuously labored for that which was eternal. He no doubt treasured his heavenly vision that had been so graciously bestowed upon him, and pressed on in his work.

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, . . . I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 3:7-8, 14

We may call this sort of repentance—a turning away of all earthly ambitions, and a forsaking of all temporal endeavors—as living the “abandoned life.” Not utterly abandoned and hopeless, but abandoned to God, and having one’s hope and trust for future rewards in none other than Jesus Christ.

Amy Carmichael’s example

In a somewhat similar way to that of the apostle Paul, Amy Carmichael had a life-changing experience, one that seemed to stick with her for her entire life.

While walking home from church with her two brothers, they spotted an old woman carrying a heavy burden, and stumbling and struggling. She and her brothers stopped to help, meanwhile many others from church stopped and stared at the sight—for the old woman was quite rundown and messy in appearance. Filled both with compassion for the woman, and shame from her friends’ gazing, Amy felt uneasy about the situation.

It was then that she spotted a stone fountain, spouting water into the air, that she heard a voice—if not audibly, then surely in her heart—speaking the words of Scripture: “. . . gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; . . . the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward” (1 Corinthians 3:12b-14). It then dawned on her that it did not matter what others thought of her: if she did the work of God, she would receive a reward from God, and that reward would last.

From that day forward, she was a changed person. Already a Christian, true, but now an earnest Christian. Having seen and heard of God’s truth firsthand, she was determined not to waste any further time on temporal pursuits, or in worrying about what others thought of her. Instead, she made it her soul’s pursuit and intent to please God, and to follow His will, whatever the cost.

In effect, she had been built up in faith, and this faith strengthened her to live the abandoned life to God. Without this faith—the faith that eternity is the only thing that will matter in the end—life will be bland, selfish, ordinary, and will come to very little in the kingdom of God. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

If we do not truly believe this truth, then we will not be changed in our hearts, nor in our actions, nor in our everyday lives. This faith is the secret of greatness; no great man or woman of God has ever done anything of eternal impact without this essential faith. This faith gives us the strength to forsake this world and its deceitful riches and cares, and live a life abandoned to God.

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.” -Matthew 4:19-20

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” -John 15:12

Often in life, it seems that we search for perfection. We are looking for the perfect job—the one which has no unfavorable tasks or unpleasantness; the perfect church—one where everyone and everything is precisely catered to our needs and beliefs; and most common, the perfect spouse—one who is perfectly compatible with us, knows our every need and want, and who will never disagree or cause an argument.

It would seem that in every situation in life, we want comfortable perfection. We’re always looking for Mr./Mrs. Right, and we are appalled to realized that no one as of yet has met these demands; our life has yet to attain that perfect comfort and rest that we so eagerly desire.

And that’s exactly how God wants it—yea, even wills it and orchestrates it.

Since sin entered the world, and man was driven from the only perfect place—the garden of Eden—we have never been able to find an outwardly perfect place.

Even after we’ve been born again, God does not will for us to have a life of comfort and ease: at least, not until we reach heaven. But why is this? Why wouldn’t God want what is best for us, and give us a perfect, cozy, and comfortable life?

Because we are all as undisciplined children, which need correction in order to achieve our best. “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him” (Proverbs 22:15). God has to deal with us as children—and ones who are fallen, naturally selfish, and who have been strangers to God. True, if we are Christians, we are brought into fellowship with God, but we are restored to fellowship as infants: this is why the Bible says that we are born again. We are as spiritual children.

“If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” -Hebrews 12:7-8

God is teaching us to depend on Him. Just as the law, and the Ten Commandments was meant to show us our futility and inability to fulfill the righteousness of God, so too in our everyday lives, God is bringing circumstances into our life that will teach us to come to Him in prayer.

If our lives were all perfect, would we ever need to pray? Would we ever seek God? Would we ever give thanks for the blessings of His hand?

Look at the warning in the Old Testament, given to the children of Israel as a caution against too much comfort and ease from the blessings of God:

“When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;” -Deuteronomy 8:10-14

The very same warning ought to apply to us today: comfort and ease can take us off track and make us forget our need and dependency on God.

How Jesus’ commandment to His disciples relates to the search for the perfect spouse

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” -John 15:12

Two elements ought to be noticed in the above verse, the first is who we are to love: one another. The second is how we are to love: as Christ has loved the church.

When Jesus said to love one another, He was originally speaking to His eleven remaining disciples (minus Judas), though it is applicable to us today as well. But something to note about Jesus’ disciples was that many of them were from different backgrounds, and probably had different temperaments and personalities and opinions: some were simple fisherman, some, like Peter, were very outspoken, others were perhaps quieter, and still others, such as Matthew, were more of city-dwellers.

“Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.” -Matthew 10:2-4

Notice in the above verses, that one of Jesus’ disciples, Matthew, was a publican: that is to say, a tax collector. Back in those days, tax collectors were seen as being very low, dishonest, and despised by the general public. They are, in one place in scripture, put on the same moral level as prostitutes: “Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31b).

Yet despite all of the differences among Jesus’ disciples, Jesus commands them all to love one another. He did not say, “come to an agreement, and be all of the same personality, and of the same temperament, and of the same personal opinion and view as one another, and then in this perfection you’ll be able to get along and love one another.” Certainly none of the disciples were without their flaws, and yet Jesus told them all to love one another.

Just how does this relate to finding a “perfect spouse,” and searching after that elusive partner that has a perfect compatibility with you?

First of all, God sometimes wants to challenge us, and will bring a person that may be close to what we were hoping for, but not quite perfect. He purposely leaves flaws and shortcomings to teach us to love. Yet this should never mean that we violate Scripture and marry an unbeliever, for the Bible is clear: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14).

And we see an even clearer insight into this principle when we consider the second part of Christ’s command:

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” -John 15:12

We know that we are called to love one another, but it’s also helpful to understand the second part, as I have loved you.

And how has Christ loved us? In our perfection? Because we were sinless, and worthy?

Quite the opposite. Jesus Christ loved us despite all our faults. Not only that, but He even died for the very ones that hated Him. He loved those that killed Him.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” -Romans 5:8

In the verse above, coupled to Christ’s new command to love one another as He has loved us, it is clear that we are to love others unconditionally. We are to love others, despite their sin.

This is a very hard thing to do.

Actually, without the help of the Holy Ghost, it is impossible. Yet we see, for the believer, even in everyday life, we require God’s help to get us through our daily tasks. Even in a blissful state of marriage, we need God’s grace to bear with the shortcomings of our partner.

And if there is any worthy station of life for the Christian, whereever he may be called unto, God’s grace and love is always required. There is no “perfect” place for the Christian outside of God’s grace. Short of heaven, we will ever be resting upon God’s providence, His daily portion of love to sustain us. In our imperfect job, at our imperfect church, with our imperfect spouse, and imperfect children, in all things, we are commanded to submit to the will of God, and to love. We are called as a divine calling of God, each day of our lives, to love with the love of Jesus Christ.

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” -1 John 4:7-11

I thought it fitting to quote some excerpts from Martin Luther’s letter “Concerning Christian Liberty,” which has been translated from the original German into English. Luther has done such an amazing job of describing redemption, and the exchanged life with Christ in marvelous language, that it bears repeating some 500 years after the fact.

Concerning Christ as husband to His church:

In this is displayed the delightful sight, not only of communion, but of a prosperous warfare, of victory, salvation, and redemption. For, since Christ is God and man, and is such a Person as neither has sinned, nor dies, nor is condemned, nay, cannot sin, die, or be condemned, and since His righteousness, life, and salvation are invincible, eternal, and almighty,—when I say, such a Person, by the wedding-ring of faith, takes a share in the sins, death, and hell of His wife, nay, makes them His own, and deals with them no otherwise than as if they were His, and as if He Himself had sinned; and when He suffers, dies, and descends to hell, that He may overcome all things, and since sin, death, and hell cannot swallow Him up, they must needs be swallowed up by Him in stupendous conflict. For His righteousness rises above the sins of all men; His life is more powerful than all death; His salvation is more unconquerable than all hell.

Thus the believing soul, by the pledge of its faith in Christ, becomes free from all sin, fearless of death, safe from hell, and endowed with the eternal righteousness, life, and salvation of its Husband Christ. Thus He presents to Himself a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word; that is, by faith in the word of life, righteousness, and salvation. Thus He betrothes her unto Himself “in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies” (Hosea ii. 19, 20).

Who then can value highly enough these royal nuptials? Who can comprehend the riches of the glory of this grace? Christ, that rich and pious Husband, takes as a wife a needy and impious harlot, redeeming her from all her evils and supplying her with all His good things. It is impossible now that her sins should destroy her, since they have been laid upon Christ and swallowed up in Him, and since she has in her Husband Christ a righteousness which she may claim as her own, and which she can set up with confidence against all her sins, against death and hell, saying, “If I have sinned, my Christ, in whom I believe, has not sinned; all mine is His, and all His is mine,” as it is written, “My beloved is mine, and I am His” (Cant. ii. 16). This is what Paul says: “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,” victory over sin and death, as he says, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. xv. 56, 57).

And concerning the various religions of only “good works,” which has ensnared many in false religions, Luther compares it to a formidable beast, a leviathan:

Now this leviathan, this perverted notion about works, is invincible when sincere faith is wanting. For those sanctified doers of works cannot but hold it till faith, which destroys it, comes and reigns in the heart. Nature cannot expel it by her own power; nay, cannot even see it for what it is, but considers it as a most holy will. And when custom steps in besides, and strengthens this pravity of nature, as has happened by means of impious teachers, then the evil is incurable, and leads astray multitudes to irreparable ruin. Therefore, though it is good to preach and write about penitence, confession, and satisfaction, yet if we stop there, and do not go on to teach faith, such teaching is without doubt deceitful and devilish. For Christ, speaking by His servant John, not only said, “Repent ye,” but added, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. iii. 2).

For not one word of God only, but both, should be preached; new and old things should be brought out of the treasury, as well the voice of the law as the word of grace. The voice of the law should be brought forward, that men may be terrified and brought to a knowledge of their sins, and thence be converted to penitence and to a better manner of life. But we must not stop here; that would be to wound only and not to bind up, to strike and not to heal, to kill and not to make alive, to bring down to hell and not to bring back, to humble and not to exalt. Therefore the word of grace and of the promised remission of sin must also be preached, in order to teach and set up faith, since without that word contrition, penitence, and all other duties, are performed and taught in vain.

You can read the full text of this work here.

“And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.” -Genesis 49:1-2

In the verses above, we see Jacob (also called Israel) calling his sons together to give an assessment of them, and to pronounce blessings (and sometimes curses) on his twelve sons. And in the midst of the blessings, we see great and peculiar blessings put upon his fourth son, Judah:

“The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” -Genesis 49:10

Here, Shiloh is taken to mean the Messiah; and we know from the genealogies in the gospels of Matthew and Luke that Jesus did indeed rise from the tribe of Judah.

Yet in Judah’s own life, he perhaps showed by his behavior a mirror of Christ. In his dealing with Joseph, and attempting to spare Benjamin by taking his place, we see a parallel to the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, who took our place to satisfy God’s wrath.

For Jacob had sent his ten remaining sons into Egypt to get corn because of a famine in the land. He believed Joseph to be dead, and he left Benjamin behind out of fear of losing his second beloved son (Joseph and Benjamin being the only two sons he had from his beloved deceased wife, Rachel).

Yet on their return trip, Benjamin too was required to come along, and so Judah promised his father Jacob that he would bring him back safely, at the risk of his own life.

“And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:” -Genesis 43:8-9

And as things fell out, Benjamin was framed, and was sentenced to be a servant for his entire life. (And truly, he deserved to die for his transgressions.) Yet we see in the verses below the pleading that Judah made on Benjamin’s behalf, much as Christ’s blood makes a plea for our own life to God the father, to spare us from wrath, and to take our place:

“For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever. Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.” -Genesis 44:32-34

“And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:” -Exodus 4:2-4

It’s interesting that God asks Moses to do something somewhat dangerous in the verses above: he is told to reach out and grab a snake by the tail.

Now, since God had provided the means to have Moses’ rod miraculously turn into a snake, it should stand to reason that the One who has done this miracle would also afford some degree of protection in obeying Him.

Still, it must have seemed somewhat dangerous and unnatural to reach out and grab the tail of a snake—a snake that the Bible says Moses naturally fled from.

An important truth is seen in this passage, relating to the tempting of God. For the Lord did not say, grab the snake by the head—which would have been a much more dangerous move. With God’s divine protection, Moses may have been safe if he had even reached for the snake’s head, but doing so would’ve been tempting God, and forcing Him to provide unneeded protection.

There is a fine line between boldness, and stupidity; the will of God determines where this line lies.

Jesus dealt with a similar situation when He was tempted of the devil, and He overcame this other “snake” by using the word of God against him.

“Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” -Matthew 4:5-7

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” -2 Timothy 2:19-21

Reading over the verses above, one might think that Paul is describing the need for purity in a believer’s life, but upon a closer examination, what the apostle is really describing is the benefits of holiness.

There is a difference between purity and holiness. The pharisees of Jesus time claimed to be pure, yet in many ways, they were not holy. And even if they had been inwardly pure—for they were only pretending to be pure on the outside—but even with an inward purity that a person would keep himself from sin, they would still not be holy.

What is it to be holy? It is not simply a question of purity, but a question of usefulness. It is not the sins that you keep from committing, but it is the cause for which you are consecrated. Notice again the verses at the top of the page: that we are to be “meet [fitting] for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”

“Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” -John 4:34

Jesus was set aside to do God’s work—He was Holy with a capital C—and He was also perfectly pure. Yet, it’s possible for others to attempt to emulate only His purity, and to try very diligently to keep themselves from sin and evil, and appear to be quite pure, and at the same time be completely useless to God. In excluding everything from life, you may very well be excluding God’s will too.

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” -Matthew 7:21

Where purity fits in

Is it of no use, and no benefit to be pure? Certainly not. For Scripture says, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). But notice the end of the truly pure soul: they will see God!

Purity relates directly to God, and to enjoying Him, and doing His work, and following in His will. This is true holiness: to seek to set aside one’s entire being—one’s entire faculty of mind, will, emotions, conscience, and body—everything that we possess is to be set aside to do the Lord’s work.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” -Romans 12:1-2

When we are presented unto God for His service, we are in essence, holy. The after-effects of such a consecration will naturally be purity. If we are to live only for the Lord—a holy and pure Lord—where then does sin and vice fit into our life? Where and when would it be convenient to do the frivolous and vain things that we once did as a sinner? If we are set apart to do the work and will of God, how would our Good Master ever lead us into impurity?

So we see that to be holy is to be pure also, which is greatly preferred over simple purity alone. For who can be truly pure who is not consecrated to God? Who can keep himself/herself from sin who does not agree to walk in the will of God? Yet there is a great provision for purity found in simply obeying God, and following after His commands.

The great missionary to India said it thus:

“Mount your horse, and be out on God’s work.” -William Carey