“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18
It was Charles Wesley, who in one of his great hymns wrote the following: “All things are possible to God; To Christ, the power of God in me; Now shed Thy mighty Self abroad; Let me no longer live but Thee; Give me this hour in Thee to prove the sweet omnipotence of Thy love.” If ever there was a summary and explanation of true Christianity, Wesley captured and expressed it in those words. How? He begins with God, always with God, and not man, for God is the Creator, the Maker and Sustainer of us all. He is also the perfect, and sovereign Redeemer, that One how has bought mankind out of the slave market of sin and death, this with the giving of His life, and the shedding of His precious blood. This is why Wesley begins with the Almighty God, then comes immediately to Christ, for by Him and for Him were all things made, having their being in Him. He is also that eternal Slain Lamb of God, that conquering Lion of Judah who has won the victory over all the power of Satan, this world’s system, and sin.
After giving the believer a vision of who God is both in creation and redemption, Wesley comes to the moment when the truth of the vision is not only received, but becomes Life in the believer. As one has so clearly, and wonderfully put it, “Truth is not mine, until it becomes me.” So, Wesley, as does the Apostle Paul in still more eloquent and precise terms, brings the truth of Christ before the believer’s eyes, but this is in order for the truth to BECOME reality IN the believer. It is one thing to know that when one is born of the Spirit that Christ by the Spirit comes to dwell in the heart by faith. It is quite another to go another step, and pray Wesley’s prayer: “NOW shed Thy mighty Self abroad, Let me no longer live but Thee.” Wesley has seen the Christ in the sanctuary of his own heart, and this in worship by the Spirit, according to the truth. But he has also seen that the vision of the truth in Christ is given, so that the living Christ should “dwell in the heart” freely, with liberty, and in power. The eternal God in Christ has come to dwell in the heart, so that by that blessed reality, the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in Christ, and the believer being complete in Christ, that the believer can receive, LIVE BY and FOR Christ. He is to live “…by the faith of the Son of God,” and this, according to the revelation of the truth in Scripture. (Gal. 2:20) So, Wesley is trusting Christ to fill him with the Spirit of Christ, for this is the calling of all saints, every believer. Wesley would know this “power of the resurrection” about which the Apostle Paul spoke, Christ’s power that worketh in us mightily. Wesley in sum is taking the truth of his union with Christ, and making it his own, not that he is becoming Christ, but that Christ by the Spirit is revealing Himself in and through him.
When approaching God in the Scriptures, there is an order of study that is very helpful to use. The first part of that study is the definition of the terms. We need to know the meaning of the truth as it is in specific words. Then there is the exposition of the text, when the truths of Scripture are taken in their context, and balanced entirety, revealing their meaning. Then there is the application of the truth to the life, and most importantly the appropriation of the blessing. Wesley captures it all in the final stanza of his hymn: “Give me THIS HOUR in Thee to prove the sweet omnipotence of Thy love.”
Dear Father, Fill us with Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.