He Satisfies The Longing Soul
By H. C. Morrison
You are a Christian. You have been born of the Spirit. There is within you a protest against every inward uprising contrary to Christ and His teaching. You long for a heart from sin free.
These inward longings are a very gracious proof that you are a child of God. It were unfortunate, indeed, if one should claim to be a child of God and yet be without a desire to be holy in thought, word and deed; to walk in righteousness, and have the blessed witness of the Holy Ghost of acceptance with the Father and the Son.
Desire is the pathway into full salvation. Desire for a clean heart, for pure thoughts, for words and actions that should characterize the child of God. Encourage such desires. Put the kindling wood of prayer and searching the Scriptures upon these desires until they flame into a very passion of longing after your Redeemer. Be able to say in truth, with the Psalmist, “As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”
Such desires as mentioned above lead one to what? The cross of crucifixion of the old man. You wanted great joy. You desired to be filled with a gracious overflow of happiness. You were not desiring the pangs of death; but wait, beloved, there is an old man, a very sinful, degraded, beastly old man that must be crucified. See that your desires so master all of your fears and hesitations in coming to the cross for crucifixion and death of the old man, that you will cease to hesitate; that you will bring him, gladly, to his end; that, however he may object and plead, you bring him to a hasty execution.
Our Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.” Remember that there must be an emptying before there can be a filling. The old man must be put off in order that the new man may be put on in all of his blessed fulness. The old man must be cast out in order that the Holy Ghost, the sanctifier and keeper of your personality, God’s temple, may indwell and preserve, guide, comfort, empower and use that which he has cleansed. The Holy Ghost cannot dwell with the old man. First of all, He empties before He fills. He cleanses before he indwells and abides. See that the Holy Ghost has all the keys to every department of your being.
By no means content yourself with looking forward to some future time for a heart cleansed from all sin with the precious blood of Christ. Do not allow yourself to rest in the thought that some time you are going to be a real Christian. You are going to consecrate and receive all that has been provided for you in the atonement. Delays are dangerous. Life is uncertain. “Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation.” The Hebrews who refused to enter into Canaan at Kadesh-Barnea wandered about and finally died in a desolate wilderness. Do not allow your desires to wane. The hungering and thirsting within you must be cultivated and intensified for the incoming of the Holy Ghost in his sanctifying power.
Do not take up the delusion that you can quiet your longings by reading good books, or talking to others about their souls; but press on for the application of the cleansing blood of the blessed Lord. Cry to Him NOW, deliver me from all sin! Cast out every idol! Come; make my heart the throne where thou shalt reign and rule. Let no one, man or devil, delude you with the idea of growth into holiness. It is a cleansing you need. The baptism with the Holy Ghost, purifying the heart by faith, is not a growth; it is a glorious act. The idea of growth always delays. It proposes to take time. The baptism with the Holy Ghost is a NOW blessing. When He comes, cleanses, takes over your personality, indwells and empowers you for service, He fits you for growth through all time and doubtless, through all eternity. Have the blessing NOW. Make the consecration, exercise the faith; take the plunge and be able to sing, “‘Tis done, the great transaction’s done.”
