NO TECHNIQUE WILL DELIVER YOU
By Ernest O'Neill
No Technique Will Deliver You
by Rev. Ernest O'Neill
Because many of us at that point say when I ask you, "Well, you're not looking very happy?" and you say, "Well no, I am not. Oh well, I am trying to die to self."
Now do you know what that's like? That's like you and Jesus: you're walking along together and he has his arm around you because you're his friend and you've received him into your life. And he has his arm around you and you trip an odd time and you pick yourself up. And you trip an odd time and then he looks at you and you have this miserable sour face on. And he says, "What's wrong?" And you say, "I am trying to die to self", and he says, "You're what?" And you say, "I am trying to die to self", and he says, "Really? I thought I did that." And you say, "Yes, yes but I am trying to do it." And he says, "Why do we both need to do it? I mean, I did it for you, didn't I?" And you say, "Yes, yes but for it to be real in me, I have to make it real myself."
And he puts his arm around you and says, "My son, my daughter, I died to self for you. Now come close to me, come close to me here on this Cross. Just stay close to me and I'll show you all that that involves and I'll reveal it to you bit by bit in a way that you're able to bear it. But stop trying to do it yourself. Stop trying to enter into some technique that will deliver you from the power of self, keep your arm around me, I have my arm around you, come on, up here, up here on the Cross. I'll show you; now it doesn't feel so bad, does it?" "Oh yeah, it feels a little bit sore" -- "Well, it was a wee bit sore for me too, but just now there, is that all right?" Then you have a tendency to say, "But what about this other bit?" He says, "Forget that other bit, I am just giving you the bits that you can take at this moment."
And that's the way it goes, loved ones. It's not something you do or I do. "The baptism" -- isn't that a terrible name? "The baptism" --that's what we call our dear Savior, our dear friend laying his hands upon us and giving us his own life and his feelings, we call that "the baptism". It's like "the marriage". Are you enjoying "the marriage"? If you're like me, you hate marriage but you love living with your loved one that you love, but the marriage itself is pretty impersonal. It's so with Jesus.