Three True Marks

Now let us notice the positive side and consider some certainties respecting spiritual-mindedness. We will mention three.

1. Fixedness of purpose to please God in all things.
2. Evenness of spirit under pressure and misunderstanding.
3. Magnanimity of soul.

1. Fixedness of purpose.

David said, “My heart is fixed.”* (Psalm 57:7; 108:1) Daniel “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.”* (Daniel 1:8) We understand from this that God is more pleased with deep inward fixedness of purpose to please Him than with a big spasmodic shout. The enduring Christian life—the “good ground”—is a covenant relationship with God, in which the principle of righteousness is planted in the soul. This is worth more than a great blessing, unless along with it there is a principle that loves to do the right because it is right, and not merely for reward.

If a little prosperity comes, most people get important and allow it to turn them aside. Or if it is adversity, they complain and give up with discouragement. Wesley testified, “I make no account of any profit or pleasure that does not bring me closer to God; nor do I shrink from any hardship or misunderstanding, if thereby it will more completely wean me from the things of time and sense and unite me to God.” Oh, how few can tell the truth and testify thus, but this is what it means to have fixedness of purpose.

2. Evenness of spirit under pressure and misunderstanding.

He who is possessed and controlled by the Spirit will be saved, not only from harsh, unkind words, but from loud, excited speech, heated words, and sweeping statements. There will be a softness and mellowness in the look of the eye and tone of the voice. Some people do not scold much, but they can look dark and frowning, especially when there is no company present. Some men have long ceased to swear at their horses, but the harsh tone of the voice and the jerk of the line indicate a lack of mellowness. Some women no longer fly into a fit of anger or pout for half a day, but the way they yell at the “young ones” and take on when a nice dish is broken is evidence that they lack heavenly poise and womanly dignity.

O brother, sister, if you have hung on the north side of the tree most of your life until you are hard and knotty, ask your Lord to either transfer you to the sunny side, or if need be, mellow you with the frosts of criticism and winds of adversity, until you are not only “pure” but “peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits.”* (James 3:17) When you become thus heavenly-minded, you will be easily pleased and of course easy to get along with; no contrariness about where you shall sit, how much air you shall have in the bedroom or chapel, or anything of the kind.

In short, if you have what I am telling about, you never allow yourself to get tried or sore, no difference what others do. You refuse to let it disturb your deep, settled peace; you feel that everything that comes is better than you deserve. Moreover it could not come except as it was sent or permitted by the loving hand of your heavenly Father. This well-saved soul is described by Andrew Murray as having genuine humility, and here is his definition of this wondrous and sadly-lacking grace:

“Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to have no trouble. It is never to be fretted, or vexed, or irritated, or sore, or disappointed. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel no resentment when anything is done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around is trouble.”

Friends, how do you compare with this? Don’t criticize the standard, but rather your lack of measuring up to it.

3. Magnanimity of soul.

Webster defines magnanimity as, “Greatness of mind; that elevation or dignity of soul, which encounters danger and trouble with tranquility and firmness; which raises the possessor above revenge, and makes him delight in the acts of benevolence; which makes him disdain injustice and meanness, and prompts him to sacrifice personal ease, interest and safety, for the accomplishment of useful and noble objects.”

When the grace of God subdues and permeates the entire man, it makes him incapable of doing little, mean, underhanded things. This good man is one out of a multitude who does not allow himself to be biased or prejudiced in the least by what he hears. He insists on waiting and hearing the other side. Here is one man out of ten thousand in whom you are safe in confiding and unbosoming your heart.

The one who is spiritually-minded has too much nobility to argue and contend over small or great matters. I have sat at the table or fireside of preachers and felt so ashamed I did not know where to look. Husband and wife would contradict each other and use a multitude of words over some trivial, insignificant affair, pertaining to such things as the pitching of a tent, the placing of furniture, or the correction of a child. Neither of them seemed to have grace or greatness enough to know how to desist. This bespeaks shallowness of mind, narrowness of vision, and littleness of soul. God help us!

A magnanimous mind has the ability to look ahead and see the outcome of a debate. If he foresees that it will produce friction or inward disunion on either side, he does not allow himself to be drawn into the argument. And if perchance he does express himself and see that the other side is becoming agitated, he knows how to quit, rather than hold out at the expense of grieving the Spirit or marring the sweetness of Christian fellowship. There is only about one in a thousand who will to do this. Lord, take us down! down!! down!!! A thousand miles deeper than we have ever gone!