He In You

The following article by Robert D. Kilgour was published in the August 26, 1933 issue of The Alliance Weekly:

"Jesus Christ is come in the flesh" (1 John 4: 2).

"Channing, who worshiped 'the meagre god of Unitarianism,' denied the Godhood of Jesus Christ. He argued that if Jesus Christ were a creature, even the highest in the universe, next to the throne of God, it would be a sin to trust Him rather than solely in the Creator. To this proposition we must give assent. If Jesus Christ is but a creature, and if He is not God, He should not be worshiped; but since He is both God and creature, all true Christians worship Him.

A Unique Bond

"The mystery of the Incarnation declares a union of the divine and the human. That unique bond with our mortal flesh is Jesus. The principle of the Incarnation is continuous and abiding in the experience of those who are incorporated into Christ. God has not committed the work of the Gospel just to the human, but to men who are 'in Christ' and who have Christ in them. The responsibility is not given to poor, weak men, but to the Church composed of human beings who are united to the living Head.

"Christ in our mortal flesh is a very different thing from the mere human. It is not the poor, weak missionary going alone. 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore.' Until we see that, the world will not be convicted of sin, for Jesus said: 'It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you, and when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin . . . .'

An Exchanged Life

"The secret is the union of Jesus Christ with our mortal flesh. This mortal flesh was the armor of Saul, 'the old man,' which had never been proved, in conflict with Goliath the Strong. The old nature of Adam is the very covering under which Satan takes and keeps us in slavery to the old life and habits. But our David stripped off from Himself the covering of the old life for us. 'Having unclothed himself in his death, he at the same time spoiled the hostile principalities and powers of darkness, and making an open display of them, he triumphed over them in it." (See Col. 2: 15.) Through that spoiling and through the stripping off of that old life, He arose with a new kind of human life. Jesus was as human as you are, but without sin and guilt.

"But it is more than this perfect and sinless life that is given to us and made part of us by the Holy Spirit. It is that perfect life, tried and tested and triumphant, which He imparts to us. 'He that believeth on me.' 'Because I,' as your representative, 'go to the Father' . . . 'whatsoever ye shall ask in my name.' 'Nothing shall by any means hurt you.'

An exchanged life!

"'Everything in Jesus,
And Jesus everything!'

"Not your old human 'I' sanctified and made perfect, but His risen life and power made over to you. 'If ye abide in me': abiding life, life laid down and taken again. All that He was, He was for you, and in that life you and I can rest and conquer.

"'Sweet, quiet, yielded life,
Blessed rest from all storm and strife;
God's own peace now fills my soul
As on Him my way I roll.'

An Indissoluble Bond

"That peace has been made for us by the blood of His cross. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory--an indissoluble bond. God has made that union, a union which may be entered by you and me; a bond between God and the creature by Jesus Christ. Christ in you, the hope of glory. I believe that, I rest in the power and strength and joy and victory of it--strong, immortal God in weak, mortal life. It is a continuous and abiding union.

"I want you to see that this is for you today. It began, of course, at Bethlehem. But it is the risen life which is ours. It was in the power of that risen life that Jesus came to His disciples. 'Jesus stood in the midst.' In sanctification, or the full surrender of our hearts to Him, He is there; He stands and says, 'Peace!' and all the burden and worry and care of the sin question is settled. At Calvary, purification from sins was achieved, and no grim spectre of the past can arise to torment and trouble you. It is all victory.

The Indwelling Spirit

"'He breathed on them.' Out from His innermost being came an impartation of Himself. 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost.' Much of what He did was prophetic. Then He was glorified; He ascended and was enthroned; ten days later He poured forth the Holy Ghost actually upon the Church. It is the Holy Spirit that makes all of this real in our individual experience.

"First, it is by apprehension, illumination. We do not understand it all; we could not write it out in words, but, thank God, the reality of it is witnessed in our souls. Sometimes I apprehend it clearly, and the witness is bright. Then, again, it grows dim and vague, but oftentimes it is so real that I know it is God's will that it should be continuous and abiding.

"What has hindered? Usually I am able to discover something in word or action; I did not abide there; I failed to pray, to trust; I grieved the Holy Spirit. Then I make confession, which sometimes is very hard; but when I take cleansing through the Blood, I can go on. His risen, living, glorified life is made over to us by the Holy Ghost. Not our arguments, but His Spirit within us will convince the world of sin. We are nothing. The world is hungry for Jesus, for a vision of the indwelling Christ, living out His life within us.

"The Apostle Paul knew it. 'I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me' he said. It is He, Himself, at your center, this intimate union, this deep strengthening of the inner man, that Paul prays for in the Ephesian letter. Paul is praying there. He cannot tell it; he can declare it but not explain it, but God through the Holy Spirit can make it real in the hearts of His children.

'Everything in Jesus,
And Jesus everything.'

A Program or a Person

"If we become impatient and irritable, we need to see Calvary, to see how patiently He bore our pride and impatience, and know that it is our self-hood that makes us irritable and easily annoyed. There is no strain in the Christ life, no religious burden. If you are having a very hard time to keep sweet, perhaps it is because you do not see Him.

"A young woman, who went as a missionary to western China, had the habit of rising at four o'clock in the morning and praying audibly while other missionaries and their children were trying to sleep. She felt that she must not quench the Spirit by not rising and praying as had been her private custom. But at a conference she saw the 'normalcy' of the Christ life.

"The Pharisees found fault with Christ and called Him a winebibber because John's disciples fasted. The world always looks for something spiritual; the spiritual man looks to Some One. The world will applaud you for your fasting. We must have the anointing so that our prayer and fast days do not become a program.

"Jesus came, clothed, eating, and drinking, and in His right mind. When this young woman saw the normalcy of that life which is Christ's, she discontinued praying out loud at four o'clock in the morning. She saw that God was not confined to her methods through an incident which had occurred at the mission. One of the men had to go to a certain place to preach. He was warned that brigands had vowed to waylay him and take his life. He often journeyed to this place, sometimes on mule, sometimes by cart, and sometimes on foot. The brigands knew the days he went. He was urged by the mayor of his own town to take an escort of soldiers, but he refused.

"'Then arm yourself,' his native evangelist said. But still he refused. 'Don't go,' they pleaded. He went down over the road on the appointed day, and there were men actually behind some bushes on the hill directly above the road over which he passed, awaiting his coming. As he walked along, before reaching the spot, God gave him a song in Chinese. He broke out into song, and the bandits reported to their leaders that they could do nothing to him; the man was invincible.

"It was the demonstration of this mighty power of Christ in us that made this sister see that it is Christ in her and not her own religious self.

'There is a life, 'twas given me,
A life divine and strong,
That carries me through every sea
Of sorrow, storm, and wrong.'

"Christ in you, the hope of glory. He has chosen your heart, in this dispensation, as His abiding place. He wants to work mighty works through you and me. 'Christ in me!' Abide in that life!

"'Christ liveth in me,
Christ liveth in me;
Oh, what a salvation this,
That Christ liveth in me!'"