Reality of the Divine in Christian Experience — Duncan Campbell

And I will return with me to Paul's letter to the Colossians, and we shall read part of chapter 2, reading the first seven verses. For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you and for them, I will reveal, and for as many have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ.

In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joining and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

Walking in Christ as the Foundation of Christian Experience

As we have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith as he has been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. I would direct your attention especially to the words of verse 6.

We have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. What is on my heart this evening is that of a message on the reality of the divine in Christian experience. The reality of the divine in Christian experience.

God's real or human personality. So our thought will center around the word in him. We shall consider what it really means to be in Christ. These are days when we move in the midst of much that is shallow and unreal.

We shall endeavor to show this evening to God what it really means to be a Christian. Just a man who makes a decision and endeavors the best he can to live up to it, or a supernatural being who has had a supernatural experience and is so supernaturally altered that godliness will characterize every part of his being, body, soul, and spirit the moment he is born again.

The New Testament Experience Amid Spiritual Shallowness

Christian experience that many of us believe in. A New Testament experience. Now those of you who are familiar with this part of New Testament stories will remember that the apostle had a great and a holy concern for the young converts of the church at Colossae.

You will also remember that the believers there had their lot cast in a city that was wholly given over to idolatry. Indeed, all but its depression as to a life lived where the stream for vital Christianity runs low, was involved in their being there.

But we discover that in the midst of such trying circumstances, particular times that could be found within this city, was the secret of their being regarded as a revival under the auspices of being continued to have a certain harmony.

There is one morning I saw God be gone. Making a plan in my mind for the closing. Out of my bondage, I went to the rector of Talotie. And there in Tarasco, I saw him. But did you notice this? Did he know the church?

This young lad that I am referring to is now lying on the isle of the church. He graduated from Tarasco University and is now a parish minister in the city. For the night he sat here, among others, on the isle of the church.

Not on their knees, but on their head. On their head! World War, part of the British Army. The Rio, a Rio charge. I was wounded and I'm lying on the ground. I'm bleeding profusely and I believe I'm dying.

Though I was conscious, conscious of a need. Whilst I was born again, I knew I was saved. But I also knew that nothing unclean could ever be. And I knew, I thought and heard my father pray. Without holiness, no man shall see God.

Sanctification, Holiness, and Cleansing from Sin

And I felt, at that moment, I was holy. I prayed for deliverance and cleansing. In a miraculous way, a trooper of the Canadian force dismounted. After the charge was over, he lifted me on the horse's back.

And galloped to the nearest casualty clearing station. On that horse's back, believing that I was dying, I prayed. God, make me as holy as a slave. Again, father's prayer. Make me as holy as a slave. Listen, dear people.

Oh, you may not believe in a second death and the work of grace in the soul. You needn't argue or endeavour to argue the earth of that. I believe it. And I believe that it's taught in the word of God.

And I believe what Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones who said recently, the man who proclaims that you get everything at conduction is teaching error. You will regard him as probably one of the greatest theologians in Britain today.

On that horse's back. Into my life. Down through the avenues of my personality. Into the chamber of hell. Hold hell's empire in my life. That was more than a match known before. Do you know the vast evening in the casualty clearing station?

A single word that I said because I was praising God in Gaelic. Oh, my dear people, this is God. The minister of the Presbyterian ministers in Canada today. Objective aspect of the whole. In this connection we discover what it means to move into the ultimate reality of God-insanctifying operation.

Completeness in Christ and the New Heart

What is it? Well, you have it in verse 10. To be complete in Him. You see, Paul is there teaching the young believer that there is a completeness in which God now sees nothing but tension. Oh, you say, but is that possible?

My dear friend, do you read the New Testament? Do you read the Old Testament? A new heart or soul, I guess. And I knew, and I was in a maze. The stony hamster had the flesh. And it will give you a new.

But it says the word, a cloud can't not cleanse from every stain. I say, but thank God He can cleanse. Oh, He can cleanse. I'm so glad that my Bible doesn't say the blood of Jesus Christ comes dry. Nor does it say the blood of Jesus Christ suppressed.

Suppressed, keep it down. Starved. No. These are words that have been coined by man and frequently used at our conventions today. But I make bold to say they have no place whatsoever in the vocabulary of heaven.

Oh, let's keep to the scripture. Let's keep to the word of God. The blood of Jesus Christ. God's son cleanses from all. We're in a month in hospital to talk about Jesus in the villages of Argyll. And I'm not preaching.

Five young drunkards woke in the morning. There were only four. They moved him to say to the other four, we'll forget about the bar and we'll go to the church. And they went to the church. Three of the minutes.

Regeneration and the Lordship of Christ

The secret and mystery of regeneration that mortal man should be kept. The condition on which this life is made possible. Christ Jesus, the Lord. You will notice that the new element that has entered was the Lord.

I cry loudly now. That's the truth that you preach at your banquet convention. And at your conferences for the deepening of spiritual life. The Lordship of Christ. That's the truth that they proclaim at Chessie.

Yes. But do you believe that any soul can be born again that is not prepared to recognize the Lordship of Christ? I don't believe. And I say this on the basis of the word of God. I don't believe one single thought.

Until he's prepared to recognize the Lordship of Christ over his life. That means self-denial. It means following Christ. It means obeying Christ. It means separating from the world. It means that Jesus was pulled out of the past.

Do you mean to tell me that a person can be saved who is not prepared to do that? No more than the devil. Oh, he can make a decision. He can have his emotions stirred. He can sing choruses. He can join this group and that other group.

But he's a giant of the devil. Unless he's born again of the Spirit of God. If the devil gets him there, he'll make a Sunday school teacher of him. Of course he will. Oh, he's a master of it. He'll even make a minister of it.

The Lordship of Christ and Christian Service

So long as he can keep him from having a supernatural experience of the new birth. Oh, my dear people. Paul said, Ask ye of the devil. Receive Christ Jesus, the Lord. Paul saw him recognizing his Lordship over his life.

His Lordship over his life. To an outstanding missionary. The man who escaped death in Congo. He was shot. Hell or so dead. His companion standing beside him. Got the bullet through his heart. Dead. We were listening to this man.

A man in Edinburgh. A missionary. He was stirred and moved to the depths of my soul. When he told us that since that awful massacre in Congo, we have only had two missionaries offering for service. And two of them were women.

And I believe that the reason for the slowness and the unwillingness of young men to offer themselves for Christian service today is just because they refused to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ over their life.

They didn't recognize it when they made their decision. Consequently, Jesus is not the center of their life. Oh, young people. I'll appeal to you. Young people. Are you prepared to recognize the Lordship of Jesus tonight?

Are you prepared to say, God, if I haven't been real, make me real tonight. If I haven't been fully surrendered, enable me to surrender everything tonight. Because of the observance of the Lord.