POSSESS
“In
your patience possess ye your souls.”
Luke 21:19
Writers
of old used some hefty language, but have a read and let’s think together about
the great truth Rev. Smyth wrote in his book, Why Do I Live?
“As
bound by the order of duty, the faithful Christian, next to his supreme
obligations to Christ, will regard the welfare of his own soul. That soul, remember, is not yours, but you;
and you are the Lord’s…Love this self, this soul, this person, this dying and
yet undying being that you are. Love yourself as you ought, as God requires, as
your salvation demands, as the infinite grace and goodness of Christ your
Saviour make possible. Let this love of
Christ to you, and of you towards Christ, fill your soul, animate and regulate
your love to all other beings, and lead you to live for, and to love them as
beings mutually related with yourself to God in Christ.”
The
welfare of your soul is your business on earth.
You are to guard it against evil influences. You are to see to its feeding upon the
Word. You are to maintain its fellowship
with the Father through prayer and diligent obedience. Your soul’s eternal destiny is settled in its
relation to Christ though the blood, but the manner in which it arrives in
Heaven is directly related to your care while on earth.
What
are you doing daily to tend to this supreme obligation - your soul? Do you regard it as vital and worthy? Do you regard the souls of others as of equal
value?
POSSESS
“In
your patience possess ye your souls.”
Luke 21:19
Luke instructs us to possess, gain control
over, our souls. Gain mastery over your
soul instead of giving way to adverse conditions. Let nothing stand in your way. Jesus had been telling of end times and sure
persecutions, yet, he admonished them to use patience in securing their souls,
not for salvation, but for reward. Such
patience is developed in trials. It
perfects the Christian traits of longsuffering, persistence, and
perseverance. To learn to love as God
loves and to be patient as Christ is patient we must have our souls under
control.
This control does not come automatically or
simply with age, but is a tempering that takes place throughout life. It is first begun as our parents taught us
simple obedience: the yielding of our will to theirs. We then enter into the world of others and
learn social skills and the discernment of acceptable social behaviour. All of this comes with much trial and
error. It takes time and patience to
reach every stage of self-control.
Besides that, it is a fruit of the
Spirit. That tells me that though I can
learn some of it by experience, there is another level of temperance that is
only accessed by the activity of the Spirit in my life. Here too there is much trial and error and
patience is a key ingredient to success. Guess we need not try to be “grown-up”
too quickly? All of us have more to
learn in the area of self-control.
How are you doing in the area of controlling
your Christian life? Are you learning to
apply God’s Word to areas where you need to grow? Or are you living as a “spiritual social
outcast” with no discretion or code of ethics?
POSSESS
“In
your patience possess ye your souls.”
Luke 21:19
Matthew Henry makes
comment on this verse, “It is therefore
your duty and interest to maintain a holy sincerity and serenity of mind, which
will keep you always easy. It is our
duty and interest at all times, especially in perilous times, to secure the
possession of our own souls, that they be not distempered now, nor our
possession of them disturbed and interrupted.
Be your own men. Keep under the
tumults of passion, that neither grief nor fear may tyrannise over you. It is by patience, Christian patience, that
we keep possession of our own souls. Set
patience upon the guard, and keep out all those impressions which would ruffle
you and put you out of temper.”
Wow! Another tall order! He says it is our duty to maintain calmness
and easiness. We are to be strong under
attack and not get ruffled or bad tempered.
My mind thinks of the captains of armies in the movies. They are strategizing and planning even while
the enemy is attacking. They maintain a
strong sense of calmness and direction even in the middle of war. They have trained for the day and do not lose
their focus in the heat of battle.
The Christian
warrior is given a similar instruction in Ephesians 6. “….take
unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore….” (vs 13, 14) It would take a lot of self-control to stand
and hold your position in the midst of war.
But that is exactly what God is instructing us to do, and we will not be
able to stand under fire unless we have learned how to possess our souls.
Do you have calm
resolve when you are under fire? Do you
easily ruffled and out of temper when things disturb or interrupt you?
POSSESS
“…as
having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”
II
Corinthians 6:10
This usage of
“possess” does not mean self-control. It
means to be bound or to hold fast and has the idea of holding or owning a
luxurious possession. This short piece
of a verse is the last in a list of paradoxes Paul is reciting to the
Corinthians to exhort them to be more consistent in their Christian lives. He
is saying that though they may be poor in this world’s goods yet, they are rich
in spiritual things. They may have had
nothing in this life, but in Christ they were wealthier than all those around
them. This is a Christian paradox.
The truth of the
matter is that before any possession can be counted as truly valuable or
luxurious, it must bring real benefit to the owner. The owner is the only one who can really put
a price on the object. Antiques and
family heirlooms are one example. An old
quilt may be just an old quilt to someone not related to the family, but to the
grandchildren who saw it on their grandmother’s bed each time they paid a
visit, it has a different value.
Similarly, an old
tatter Bible might be thought of by some as a used and finished old book, but
for those of us who have worn out our Bibles by usage, we know that every tear
and loose page, every underline or star indicates a truth that has gone deep
into our souls. The value is not so much
in the physical book, but in the truth it has imparted.
We have a
relationship with our Saviour that goes without value to this world, but to us
is real, precious and valuable. I Peter
1:8 says, “Whom having not seen, ye love;
in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory”.
Christ is God’s unspeakable gift to us, the pearl of great price, never
to be compared to any material thing we own on this earth, and, our eternal
reward purchased by His own blood is beyond valuation. Now that is of real benefit to the owner!
Can you count the
wealth of the blessings you possess? Do
you recognize the great wealth there is in Christ?
POSSESS
“That
every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and
honour…” I Thessalonians 4:4
This word,
“possess”, means literally to control.
One of the fruits of the spirit is temperance, which also basically
means self-control. We are admonished
here to know how to control ourselves.
The words “sanctification and honour” give us a description of the
manner in which we are to control ourselves especially related to the issues of
purity, holiness, value, respect and nobility.
Sounds pretty high
and mighty, huh? Well, we are
children of the King. We will someday
rule and reign with the Son of God. That
is a high and mighty thing. We can
consider this life a place of training; like finishing school for our future
calling. If we do so, we will know that
learning to use self-control with an air of nobility and true value is very
necessary. Not only is it for our
training, but also for the defence and glory of the name of our Father.
The King’s children
should be among the noble people. They
should be the kindest, most generous, most gracious and most respected people
on the earth. This stance or attitude is
not promoting of self, but rather a dignity of life with which we guide our
decisions and responses. We are not to
be given to emotional outbursts or underhanded dealings. We are to have a calmness and control in the
face of difficult or awkward situations.
We are to keep our lives pure and away from all appearance of evil. We are to be ready always to represent our
Father.
How are you doing at
“finishing school”?
