While I do not doubt that many a child of God has received distinct and marked blessings at certain stages of life, I believe it is a great mistake to construct a theory out of it. Many a devout Christian has enjoyed the liberty of the Spirit under some such name as “the second blessing,” “higher life,” “a baptism of the Spirit,” “perfect love,” “entire sanctification” or “Spirit filled life.” But under whatever name, it is an experience, and it is made dependent upon the “surrender of self,” as it is called.
But notice: It occupies us with self instead of the Lord Jesus Christ. It may be a very lovely self, but self-occupation never helps the soul. It begets subtle pride (Gal 6:3—NC). There must be a fresh, daily feeding upon Him, in the Word. Again, it tends to divide God’s people into classes; some have experienced the “blessing,” and others have not.
Now, while it is perfectly true there are various stages of maturity in the Christian life, and while Scripture speaks of “fathers, young men, and children” (1Jn 2), yet it is not in this way of attainment. People do not set themselves to be fathers, etc. It is a matter of growth. Further, I am convinced that surrender is not what God calls for first, nor in this connection. You will find that where these systems call for surrender, God’s Word puts the Cross.
The sixth of Romans comes before the twelfth. In the latter we have the surrender, but it is not to get or to attain; it is because he has entered into what is his; he has accepted the wondrous fact of his death with Christ, and of the Spirit’s presence and power. A crucified man has no experience to speak of. To him the Lord Jesus Christ is all.
Keep the Cross in its scriptural perspective, dear brethren. Let us ever say with the Apostle, “God forbid that I should glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal 6:14). Not surrender, but death—an accomplished death—in the person of the Lord Jesus.
Thus we pass dry-shod, as the type has it, out of the Egypt-of-bondage to sin, into the Canaan of the liberty of the Spirit. Still with the sense of all the wondrous fullness of the blessing in Christ Jesus, we will say with the same dear servant of God we have just quoted, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect (mature), but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I was apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Phl 3:12).
—S Ridout (1826–1895)
MJS daily devotion for September 9, 2025
The object of the Christian life is that we may center in the Object of the Father—His Beloved Son. -MJS
"If we go on with the Father, sweet as is the assurance that we belong to Him, yet the uppermost thought will in the long run be Himself. We shall come back to His Person. We shall in our praises weave with them what the Lord Jesus has done, suffered, and won for us; but the primary thought in our hearts is, not what we have gained, however true, but what He has been for us and what He is for us, yes, what He is in Himself." -J.B.S.
"There is usually only occupation with the Lord Jesus for the relief of the conscience, and if so, where does it stop? It stops when the relief is gained. But if He is the object of the heart, you will never be satisfied but in fellowship with Him where He is."
"I know of no arguments, and I am acquainted with no power, that will move the heart to devotedness except the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Himself and His love. It is possible to read books by the score, and to listen to the most faithful and blessed ministry for years on end, and yet never know the Lord Jesus as a present loving Object in heavenly glory. It is nigh impossible to see and know Him there by faith without a resulting intense desire to be wholly devoted to Him here.
"We have a new Person before us as the Object of our faith and affections; and as we drop ourselves and have the Lord Jesus as our Object, He is formed in us. What has been judicially accomplished at the Cross has its fruition by the Spirit in our souls, and it is by that principle that we grow." -C.A.C.
But notice: It occupies us with self instead of the Lord Jesus Christ. It may be a very lovely self, but self-occupation never helps the soul. It begets subtle pride (Gal 6:3—NC). There must be a fresh, daily feeding upon Him, in the Word. Again, it tends to divide God’s people into classes; some have experienced the “blessing,” and others have not.
Now, while it is perfectly true there are various stages of maturity in the Christian life, and while Scripture speaks of “fathers, young men, and children” (1Jn 2), yet it is not in this way of attainment. People do not set themselves to be fathers, etc. It is a matter of growth. Further, I am convinced that surrender is not what God calls for first, nor in this connection. You will find that where these systems call for surrender, God’s Word puts the Cross.
The sixth of Romans comes before the twelfth. In the latter we have the surrender, but it is not to get or to attain; it is because he has entered into what is his; he has accepted the wondrous fact of his death with Christ, and of the Spirit’s presence and power. A crucified man has no experience to speak of. To him the Lord Jesus Christ is all.
Keep the Cross in its scriptural perspective, dear brethren. Let us ever say with the Apostle, “God forbid that I should glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal 6:14). Not surrender, but death—an accomplished death—in the person of the Lord Jesus.
Thus we pass dry-shod, as the type has it, out of the Egypt-of-bondage to sin, into the Canaan of the liberty of the Spirit. Still with the sense of all the wondrous fullness of the blessing in Christ Jesus, we will say with the same dear servant of God we have just quoted, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect (mature), but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I was apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Phl 3:12).
—S Ridout (1826–1895)
MJS daily devotion for September 9, 2025
The object of the Christian life is that we may center in the Object of the Father—His Beloved Son. -MJS
"If we go on with the Father, sweet as is the assurance that we belong to Him, yet the uppermost thought will in the long run be Himself. We shall come back to His Person. We shall in our praises weave with them what the Lord Jesus has done, suffered, and won for us; but the primary thought in our hearts is, not what we have gained, however true, but what He has been for us and what He is for us, yes, what He is in Himself." -J.B.S.
"There is usually only occupation with the Lord Jesus for the relief of the conscience, and if so, where does it stop? It stops when the relief is gained. But if He is the object of the heart, you will never be satisfied but in fellowship with Him where He is."
"I know of no arguments, and I am acquainted with no power, that will move the heart to devotedness except the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Himself and His love. It is possible to read books by the score, and to listen to the most faithful and blessed ministry for years on end, and yet never know the Lord Jesus as a present loving Object in heavenly glory. It is nigh impossible to see and know Him there by faith without a resulting intense desire to be wholly devoted to Him here.
"We have a new Person before us as the Object of our faith and affections; and as we drop ourselves and have the Lord Jesus as our Object, He is formed in us. What has been judicially accomplished at the Cross has its fruition by the Spirit in our souls, and it is by that principle that we grow." -C.A.C.
