By E. Stanley Jones

      Everything which is transferred from the kingdom of self to the kingdom of God has life in it -- eternal life. It has security in eternal security. Everything transferred from the kingdom of God to the kingdom of self has death in it -- eternal death.

      Yesterday we saw a pastor dramatically step from life to death, but here is a pastor's wife who, though less dramatically, just as certainly stepped from life to death by stepping out of Christ into herself. She pulled me aside into the pastor's study and said: "Most of my life I've tried to charm people to myself. I've been the center of all I've done. Now everyone has found me out. Everything has tumbled around me. Even my little boy has found me out, and I've lost my influence with him." Her self taken out of Christ and made the center became insecure -- automatically.

      This losing of God and self amid religious surroundings is depicted:

      Cry aloud, spare not... declare to my people their transgression... Yet they see me daily, and delight to know my ways... they delight to draw near to God. "Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?" Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and fight (Isaiah 58:1-4).

      Here a very religious people had inwardly stepped out of God into themselves -- "You seek your own pleasure." Therefore the heavens were brass, and religion turned into a vast futility. The futility turned to fight. Out of sorts with God, they became out of sorts with themselves and others -- "You fast only to quarrel and fight." The center was self and the circumference disorder.