The Secret of Power

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the 
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the 
world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Galatians 6:14

The cross is the secret of power. The cross is what
we can glory in. It sets us aside, breaks us to pieces,
writes upon us the sentence of death, in order that
the power of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, may
rest upon us. The one who has learned death, who
has the sentence of death in himself, is the one who
will have power...

You are to make a complete surrender of your will,
strength, time, talents--all that you are and have to
be put upon the altar. But who makes this surrender,
and what is the altar? If you make the surrender, it is
self surrendering to self, a most subtle form of self-
righteousness. but when we see it is the cross of our
Lord--that cross by which I am, I was crucified, in
His death; that "I am crucified with Christ"--when
we see this, we find that it is not a question of surren-
der for me, but of the cross which has set me aside,
that Christ may be all. Anything short of the cross
only fosters pride, and pride in its worst form.
Samuel Ridout 1855-1924

Reader, there is so much here that cannot be under-
stood in a quick read. His is a very interesting bio.
http://www.plymouthbrethren.org/category/author/samuel-ridout