Christ in the soul; or, Illustraions of some of the principles and experiences which characterize Christ's spiritual or inward coming and indwelling

Front matter

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ILLUSTRATIONS OP SOME OP THE PRINCIPLES AND EXPERI-

RIENCES WHICH CHARACTERIZE CHRIST'S SPIRITUAL

Preface

" Christ in the Soul " is a form of expression which is often employed to indicate the fact of the existence, or at least of the possibility of the existence, in the human soul r of pure, holy, Christ-like dispositions. It indicates something more than forgiveness, which is a work done for us, rather than something done in us. It is not enough, as a portion of our personal Christian history, to know what it is to have our transgressions blotted out, — in other words, to experience the pardon of past delinquencies and sins. There is something more. It is necessary, beyond and above this, to become the subjects also, by inward personal experience, of what may properly be expected as the fruits of forgiveness, — such as meekness, purity, a disposition to forgive, long-suffering, love, and of any and all other graces which shone conspicuously in the life of Christ.

The existence of such Christ-like dispositions, to the extent of essentially reproducing Christ's life upon the earth, is the great problem, and, I trust I may say, is destined to be the great reality, of the future. If there is any foundation for the long cherished anticipations of the Christian world, that there is to be at last a truly millennial period, in which the sins and evils that now exist shall wholly or in a great degree disappear, it must be by the more general incarnation of those holy principles which

IV PREFACE.

dwelt in the divine "Son of Man." Believing, as manyinquiring persons fully do, that, amid much sin and no small degree of perplexity and tribulation, the world is entering upon a new and better spiritual era, in which righteousness shall ultimately be the rule, and the opposite of righteousness the exception, is it too much to say that it is the part of wisdom to place ourselves in all possible readiness for this great realization.

It is the object of the present volume, by a method somewhat novel, to encourage and aid in this great and essential work ; — in other words, to recognize and vindicate a positive heart religion, which shall add to the fact of outward forgiveness the not less important fact of spiritual indwelling and possession. The object is essentially the same with that which I have had in view in some other works already known in some degree to the public, such as The Interior Life, The Life of Faith, Divine Union, and The Biographical Sketches of Madame Guyon and Fenelon. It is to be hoped that the present attempt, in a different form, but which may possibly possess for some minds a degree of interest which they might not find in works of a different kind, may be the means of contributing something to this desirable result. No man ought to regard himself as having secured the great ends of his being until he can speak of those sanctifying results, which are the evidences, or i-ather the realizations, of Christ or the Christ-life dwelling within.

New Yoke, Jan. 1872 THOMAS 0, UPHAM.

Contents

PAGE

Christ Within 13

The Living Temple 14

II. The Living Temple

The Temple once, which brightly shone On proud Moriah's rocky brow ;

Not there cloth G-od erect His throne, And build His place of beauty now.

The sunbeam of the orient day

Saw nought on earth more bright and fair ; But desolation swept away,

And left no form of glory there.

But God, who rear'd that chisel'd stone, Now builds upon a higher plan ;

And rears the columns of His throne, His temple in the heart of man.

Oh man, Oh woman ! know it well, Nor seek elsewhere His place to find,

That G-od doth in the Temple dwell, The temple of the holy mind.

III. Consecration

"lis done. The " great transaction's past,"

And I, who call'd myself my own, Rejecting pride and self, at last

Belong to God, and God alone.

Dear, Infinite, Eternal Mind !

Father and Motherhood in one, May Thy great Life, with mine combin'd,

Make me a true, a living son.

May all of heart and life be brought

Within Thine Infinite control ; Be Thou the source of every thought ;

Be Thou the life-spring of the soul.

IV. Sought And Found

Oh Christ ! I used to say, Help me to come to Thee ;

But can I say it now,

When Christ hath come to me ?

Dear Presence in my soul,

Where thou dost find Thy rest !

Why seek Thee in the skies, When dwelling in my breast ?

The mother seeks her child, When wayward it doth roam ;

But seeking hath no place, When it is safe at home.

His voice is on my lips ;

His tear bedews mine eye ; His home is in my soul ;

He cannot be more nigh.

Oh no ! He is not now,

A Christ that dwells apart ;

But, near as life with life,, He dwells within my heart.

THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM.

The mystery of the kingdom lies

In this, that Christ "hath (Med for me ;"

But see, in that great sacrifice, The other truth, "I die for Thee"

The life, on bleeding Calvary given, Taught us the way our life to save.

All truth, all good, and God, and heaven, Are found in giving all we have.

We give up all, and all resume ;

We die the death, and life is born ; Without the shadows of the tomb,

There comes no resurrection morn.

Down to the grave then let us haste, By toiling, suffering, bleeding, giving ;

'Tis only thus our souls can taste The risen bliss of heavenly living.