YOUR INNER LIFE

"Ye fools, did not be that made that which is without make that which is within also" (Luke 11:40).

Every spirit seeks to create for itself a form or shape in which its life is embodied. The outward is the visible expression of the hidden, inward life. The outward is generally known before the inward. Through it, the inward is developed and reaches its full perfection. The apostle Paul says,

"Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual" (1 Corinthians 15:46). To understand and maintain the right relationship between the inward and the outward is one of the greatest secrets of the Christian life.

If Adam in the garden had not listened to the serpent, his trial would have resulted in the perfecting of his inward life. The cause of all his misery and sin came when he gave himself to the power of the visible, outward world. Adam did not seek his happiness in the hidden, inward life of a heart in which God's command was honored. Instead, he fixed his desire on the world around him, on the pleasure that the knowledge of good and evil could give him.

The Life Within

All false religion, from the most degrading idol to the corruption of Judaism and Christianity, has its root in this desire. Deception takes place when the outward —that which pleases the eye, interests the mind, or gratifies the taste—takes the place of truth in the inward part, that hidden wisdom in the heart which God gives.

The New Testament reveals the importance of the inner life. The promise of the new covenant is:

"I will put My law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts" (Jeremiah 31:33). "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. and I will put My Spirit within you" (Ezekiel 36:26, 27). The promise of our Lord Jesus was: "The Spirit of truth... shall be in you.. At that day ye shall know that I am... in you" John 14:17,20).

Christianity is a matter of the heart—a heart into which God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son, a heart in which the love of God is shed abroad and true salvation is found. The inner chamber, with its secret communion with the Father, who sees in secret, is the symbol and the training school for the inner life. The faithful, daily use of the inner chamber will make the inner, hidden life strong.

In religion, the great danger is giving more time and interest to outward experiences than to inner reality. It is not the intensity of your Bible study, it is not the frequency or the fervency of your prayers or good works, that necessarily constitutes a true spiritual life. What we need to realize is that God is a Spirit. There is also a spirit within us who can know and receive Him and become conformed to His likeness. We can be a partaker of the very nature that characterizes Him as God in His goodness and love.

Your Hidden Treasure

Our salvation consists in the manifestation of the nature, life, and spirit of Christ Jesus in our outward and inward new man. This alone renews and regains the first life of God in the soul of man.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, at home or at work, do all with a desire for union with Christ, in imitation of His character. Desire only that which increases the spirit and life of Christ in your soul. The desire to have all within you changed into the spirit of the holy Jesus.

Consider the treasure you have within you —the Savior of the world, the eternal Word of God. It is hidden in your heart as a seed of the divine nature, which overcomes sin and death within you and generates the life of heaven in your soul.

Look in your heart and your heart will find its Savior, its God, within itself. You see and feel nothing of God, because you seek for Him in books, in the church, in outward religious exercises. But you will not find Him there until you have first found Him in your heart. Seek for Him in your heart, and you will never seek in vain, for He dwells there in His Holy Spirit!