Training the Workers

Training the Workers Training the Workers
James F. Cox
President, Abilene Christian College, Abilene, Texas My Brethren and Friends:
I am very thankful to Brother Burford for having selected that wonderful song, “Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me.” I have often wished that that might he the prayer* of every Christian. It should he. I deeply appreciate the honor of having an humhle part in this important Lectureship. The greatest mission of the church needs to he stressed very definitely :m every generation. I am grateful today to Brother II. L. Schug and to Brother R. B. Sweet for outlining and bringing to our attention this wonderful program. I am also very thankful for this wide-spread interest and enthusiasm in this effort of ours to arouse a greater seal for carrying out our Savior’s great command, “(Jo, ye, therefore, and make disciples of all of the nations, baptising them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. So far, in this series of lectures Brother C. A. Norred has brought to us a wonderful message on the great mission of the church, “The Perfected Church. For What Purpose? To Save Others.” Brother Ilailey told us so well on Sunday evening “How the C church Went in the Frist Century.” On yesterday at this hour Biother R. Cl Bell warmed our hearts with that wonderful message on “The Urgency to Go Today.” Last evemng Brother John Wolfe pictured to us some of the “Ripened Fields” in this world today that are calling for workers in rhe vineyard of the Master. This particular lecture is not in its logical place in the program, hut the things that have been said have certainly made us to realise that workers are needed. Everywhere in every land today the cry is going up from the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the good and the bad, for a hetter, a fuller, and a happier life. In a world that is torn with hatred and strife and war— in a world of disappointment and material disasters—the multitudes are stretching out their hands and pleading for a hetter life. Yes, my friends, workers are needed in the vineyard of the Lord in order that the teeming multitudes of earth might know God as a merciful, loving Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ whom he sent to redeem poor fallen man. It is written in the prophets, “And they shall be all taught of God.” “He that hath heard and learned from the Father cometh unto me,” and “without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to God;” and “He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek after him.” “How can they believe Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent?” The teaching, my friends, is necessary, and the teach' ing of the message, God’s gospel, is necessary. The subject today is “Preparing the Workers.” I know of no greater example to call your attention to than Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Christ has been acclaimed, not only by his followers and those who believe Him divine, but also by the great scholars and teachers of the world who deny his Sonship, to be the greatest teacher of all time. He is the greatest teacher because of the wonderful methods that he used. He is the greatest teacher because he had the hardest lesson that any individual has ever had to teach. And it seems that his students were the dullest. Was the Savior prepared1 God in his infinite wisdom knew that preparation was necessary, and so the Christ was both human and divine. That is part of the preparation of the Christ for His great work, that of teaching God to man. I said a moment ago that He had the hardest lesson to teach and that lesson was to make known to mortal man the great God of the universe, who is a spirit and not material; and it is difficult for us who are in the flesh to comprehend and understand the spiritual, and so Christ came to let us know of God—to reveal God to us as a merciful, loving Heavenly Father who is kind and good, who rewards and punishes. Yes, the Christ had a difficult lesson to teach, and He came as human as well as the Son of God, born of a woman. He grew up as a boy in a little town in Palestine. He had in the home the good influence of a mother. He worked, He played, He learned.

Someone may say, “Well, the Bible said He never learned: How knoweth this man letters, having never learned’?” Well, that is a true statement. I mean by that, that statement was made; but the Christ had learned much. The Christ “increased in wisdom,” or advanced in wisdom, “and stature, and favor with God and men.” And so we think of the Christ as growing up. A part of His preparation for the great work that He had to do was to get acquainted with this world in somewhat the same way that human beings with us to-day get acquainted with it. He worked; He suffered; He grew; He played; and certainly He obeyed. In the second chapter of Luke it is said, “The child grew and was filled with wisdom,” or as the marginal reading gives it, “became filled with wis-dom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” And the 51st verse ofthis chapter says that “He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and he was subject unto them.”

Learning obedience is a very necessary thing for one who is preparing to be a missionary. He needs to know how to obey. And the Savior remained in the little home and was subject to them, his parents. An important consideration in the growth and development and education and training of any child, any boy, any girl, anv man or woman, is to learn humility, and obedience to those in authority. Yes, the Christ grew, increased, and the 52nd verse of the second chapter of Luke gives that ideal education, to my way of thinking, that everyone could well follow: “And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.”

It is a fine thing, my brethren, if our children can grow mentally and grow and increase phvsically and at the same time grow and increase in favor with the God of the universe. That can’t be done without teaching, without training, without direction. And I am glad that the inspired writer has said that Jesus increased in favor with men. I think we ought to know how to get along with our fellow men. I think we ought to be taught how to live among people so that our influence will be for good and so that people will think well of us, especially good people. I have often thought that I should be sad indeed, if, when I should leave my home community and be gone for several weeks that the good people of the community would say, “Well, I am glad he is gone.” On the other hand, how happy it makes me when I am gone for a while and come back and the good people of the community say, “Brother Cox, we missed you while you were gone.” We ought to live in such a way that we will be missed by the good people when we go away and that they will be glad when we come back. Somehow the Christ has left to us the perfect example here. He increased in favor with people, humanity. When he came to be about thirty years of age, of course you know he appeared and asked John the Baptist to baptize him. And he was baptized, and the Holy Ghost came down from heaven in the form of a dove and God sneaking said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” He had lived in such a way up to this time, had so developed himself and had so grown, so acted, so lived that as he was coming forth from the watery grave the God of the universe speaks and says, “I am well pleased with Him.” He wasn’t ready yet to start this great work which he had come into the .world to do. It seems that he needed further preparation, and so he goes into the wilderness, led of the Spirit, and there for forty days he fasted and then He was tempted. He was being tried, my friends. He was having a trial such as he hadn’t had before, and he proved himself equal to the great task and came out a victorious conqueror over his arch enemy. And when he had come down he began his public work, and for three years and a half Jesus of Nazareth, who was now prepared to do the great work that the God of Heaven had set for him to do, went about over the hills and vales of Galilee and other parts of the world and preached and told of the coming kingdom It was a difficult task.

We see after he had been teaching for a while one. of the great scholars of the world who had observed his teaching and observed his miiacles, coming to him one time by night and saying, “Now, good Master, we know you are a teacher come from God, because, no man can do the miracles that you do unless God be with him.'” Nicodemus had learned that much by his observation and by the lessons rhat the Christ had taught, but the Master realised that Nicodemus was in the dark yet on the great truth that he had come to proclaim to the world, so he said to Nicodemus, “A man must be born again before he can see the kingdom of heaven. He must be born of the water and the Spirit or he can not enter the kingdom of heaven. ' But Nicodemus marveled. He did not understand the spiritual birth That great truth had not yet dawned upon his benighted mind. And then on another occasion in conversation with his disciples Thomas said, “Lord, we know not wither thou goest; how know wTe. the way?” But the. Lord said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man c.ometh unto the Father, but by me.” And then, you know, Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us.” And then the Christ said, “Philip, have I been so long time with vou and hast thou not known me? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” He was teaching His disciples of the great .spiritual being, God, revealing Him to them through Himself, and they had not yet realised it. There are thousands and multiplied thousands of people in the world to-day, my friends, who do not know God and who refuse to see him through Jesus Christ who is God manifest in the flesh. And then there are multiplied millions who have, no opportunity to know (rod through Jesus Christ because we have not carried the message to them. And so, my friends, for three years and a half the Christ went about performing miracles here and there, doing mighty works, until at last he made the supreme sacrifice that some few folks in the world are making today in a way, and that is to give one’s life for his pupils. The Christ gave his life finally to prove and to teach the great truth, that HP was from God. And as wre to-day look back through the centuries and review the startling, miraculous events of those brief years, that public life of the great master teacher, we are made to exclaim, “Surely he is the Son of God and the greatest teacher of all time.” My Friends; the Christ realised of course that he would not remain in this world for long and that he must leave somebody behind to carry on the work of the kingdom, of heaven, to do the great work that God had planned should be done for the human race, and so early in his public life he selected twelve men to be with him that they might see him do the wonderful miracles that he did, and that he might instruct them and help them so that they would be prepared to be his ambassadors when he should leave this world. When they were first called and knew the Christ, in a measure they were ready then to begin their public life and their public work. When Jesus talked to them in the coasts of Caesarea Philippi and Peter answered that question, “Whom do you say that I am?” by saying, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” some would say surely these are prepared workers, yet Jesus said, at the close of that conversation, “See that you tell no man that I am the Christ.” He was not yet ready for them to go. And then on other occasions, he said, “You are to be my ambassadors, but wait—tarry in the city of Jerusalem. Wait until you get the power before you go.” In other words they were to be made ready first. They needed to have all of the instructions from the Christ that he was able to give them during that busy life; and then furthermore, they were to wait and pray in the city of Jerusalem until the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, should come that should guide them into all truth, so that they would make no errors in their teaching. This was all necessary as a part of their preparation, and it shows the care that the God of the universe has in having things done in the right way. The workers had to be properly and carefully prepared, before they were permitted to go out to do the great work that he had for them to do.

There were many things, of course, that happened during the life of Christ, and his public work especially, that are significant here. One story that illustrates how he taught them the importance of humility and what real greatness is, is that of the two brethren, James and John, who came and said, “Grant that we mav sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy kingdom.” Jesus taught them that to be great means to be a servant, to deny one’s self of the material blessings of this world and to be a servant; that we are not to be like the people of the world who want to have high positions and to be looked up to and called “rabbi” and great. But, if you would be great, learn to be a servant and to deny yourself, to lose your life for the sake of Christ—that is true greatness. In many other ways and in many other wonderful lessons, the Christ instructed his disciples and prepared them to be efficient workers in His Kingdom.

I want to call your attention, too, just for a moment to the preparation of the great apostle Paul. This great leader was held up to you on yesterday as possibly the greatest man, aside from the Christ, that has ever lived,—the greatest missionary of all times. Was it necessary for the apostle Paul to be prepared for his work? Was he prepared? Just what preparation did he have? It is generally known that Gamaliel, Paul’s teacher, was one of the greatest teachers that the Jewish nation knew. And the Jewish people, I may say here, were a people that knew how to teach. They were great teachers. They had great schools at the time the Christ came into the world. Gamaliel was a doctor of the law and a great teacher. He was a learned man. He knew the Old Testament scriptures; he knew the prophecies concerning the Messiah. He was well acquainted with the customs and traditions of the people, and furthermore he was acquainted with the learning of the pagan philosophers and others of his time. Paul was a learned man in law. Paul was a serious man; he was a good man. Paul believed his religion. He was well trained. And such a man was called by the God of heaven to be a missionary. When he was called, as he was on his way to Damascus, and fell down and saw Jesus and heard Him calk, somebody might say, “Well, he is well prepared now to begin his woik;”—but not so. The Lord said, 1 You go up to Damascus and there it will be told you what you must do. There is further preparation necessaiy for you yet,” and there for three days and nights we have this great teacher, and scholar, humbling himself. That is a very necessary part of the preparation. Prayer—humility of heart— crying for help and for light.. And it came —a very simple matter: “Paul, you will have to be baptised.” And he arose and was baptised. Now the apostle. Paul was prepared— mentally, spiritually, physically and socially—to do a great work; and he did it well. A thorough knowledge of God’s eternal truth, and then the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the direction of the Christ, who said, “I will send you far hence unto the Gentiles. You shall be my witness.” He goes forth a prepared man, a prepared worker in the vineyard of the Lord.
So, my friends, these are. examples of preparation that God saw fit for people to make: preparation on the part of the Master; preparation on the part of the apostles; preparation on the part of the great missionary, Paul, the apostle. Now, we are to study for a few moments the. matter of the preparation necessary for those who are to go into foreign fields to preach God’s eternal truth.

What is it to teach? To teach is to lead people to know something, or to be able to do something, that they did not know how to do before. It is an art, and it is also a science—and a most difficult science. What is it that a teacher needs to know, anyway? A teacher who is to teach the B1'ble certainly ought to know it well and he should know God and Christ his Savior. He should ow and have an appreciation of these wonderful things.
In addition to knowing the message, he should know his pupils. And that is one purpose of this Lectureship—foi us to see the need, to see that there are people out there who need our help, need the Gospel; and you can t see that unless you know the people. You have to know their errors; you have to know their environment; you have to know something of their desires. You can’t teach people whom you do not know. A preacher who stands before his audience and knows little about the people to whom he is preaching can’t preach God’s eternal truth to them as well as he could if he knew their needs; and he can’t know then needs unless he knows the people. He must know something of their history, something of their background, something of their surroundings, training and learning. All these things are necessary, and so if one goes out to be a missionary, before he goes he needs to learn something about the folks that he is going to teach. In addition to knowing what to teach, the message, he needs to know the people that he is going to teach. A third thing he needs to know is how to teach—How to Teach! There is a way to teach—a right way to teach, a good way to teach; and then there are numbers of sorry ways to teach. When one knows what to teach and knows the people whom he is to teach and then knows how to teach, he is fairly well prepared to teach. But I want to say here that there ought to be in him also a desire and longing to teach, and he ought to love to teach and especially love to teach God’s eternal truth. That part of the preparation certainly ought to be made. I want to say this: that one who is to go out to teach or preach God’s eternal truth must be somebody. He must be what he claims to be—a Christian. The greatest characteristic (I say this reverently) that the Christ had as a teacher was that He lived what he taught. He was in earnest about his message. He believed that he had a religion that was superior to the religions of the world. He believed that He had a message that the world needed, and he lived it. If he said for people to be humble, he was humble. If he said people should be sinless, he was sinless. Yes, my friends, if you are going to be a teacher, then you must live what you teach; and if you don’t, at least half of your work will be lost, and I believe most of it will be lost, be-cause one teaches more by what he is than by what he says.

Yes, one who goes out to teach must be somebody; and I will say this: that the training that is necessary here starts in the home. It starts at the mother’s knee, and it goes on through the home into the schools, the public schools, and on into the college. That is the way character is made—by the teaching that is received, and that teaching may come by word of mouth from the mother, the father, the teacher, the professor; or it may come through literature that is provided in the home, in the school, in the college and in the university; and it may come by the influence of associates, those with whom the individual comes in contact. After a while and as a result of these many influences, the character is formed. If he is trained properly, he will be what he claims to be—a Christian.

One must be humble. Of course one can not be a real Christian and not be humble. He must be Christ-like. He must be kind and tender-hearted and loving. He must love humanity—not just the good and the pure; not just those who are like-minded with himself— but he must love humanity and have a burning desire to help those who are in need and those who suffer. Yes, it is necessary for one who wants to go out to be a missionary to get ready, to make preparation. I should say that in this day and age of the world when learning is prevalent, much more so than it used to be, that it is necessary for one to have at least a high school education and preferably a college education—I mean in the learning of this world—and then one 
ought to have training in how to teach. I believe that in our colleges and universities such a person should be trained under teachers 'who know how to teach, so that they, the missionaiies, will be prepared to teach. I believe that they ought to know something of psychology— book psychology, if you please—as well as that psy chology one learns from associating with people. One needs to know something of this world, this material world; and certainly above all things else he needs to know, God’s eternal truth.

Yes, one should be trained. Pie should be trained academically; he should be trained spiritually. One should be a scholar. Someone may say, “I have known good teachers and preachers who never did go to college.” I grant that, but I want to say that that same individual, if he bad had college training, might have been a much better preacher. Sometimes a little learning is a dangerous thing, but ordinarily m this world today we need people who are trained in the learning of this world as well as in spiritual matters. I believe this training can be got in the home, the church, public schools, and in the colleges, but I do believe that the Christian colleges offer better opportunities today for the training of those who would go out to be missionaries than any other kind of institution that we have 1-n the country. Can it be done in the local congregation? It is possible, and it is being done in some places, but usually it is not done there because it is too expensive for the local congregation to furnish the necessary” teachers and equipment. The Christian college offers a larger opportunity at less expense for the individual to receive the sort of training that he needs before going out as a missionary. In concluding mv remarks today I am going to read a passage of scripture that I believe most of you are familiar with, and I shall make some comments. It is from the 6th chapter of Isaiah: This was a wonderful vision, one being permitted to see the Lord on his throne. This was Isaiah’s privilege. I wish you might listen to what effect it had on him. I am sure that we will never be permitted in this world to see Jehovah on his throne except as we see Him there by faith, but we can see Hun there by faith. Let us now note the effect that this vision had on Isaiah: “Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell m the midst of a people of unclean lips.' "

If we could see God in all his glory and power and majesty and love and kindness and goodness, we, too, would be willing to exclaim with Isaiah, “Oh, woe is me, because I am a man of unclean lips.” Oh, we would see our need of something better. We would see how low and despicable we are. It is a wmnderful thing that happens here. It ought to happen to everyone of us I mean a similar thing: “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, ‘Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged."

Yes, we see our terrible state of sin and degradation, but there is the Christ that has arisen with healing in his wings; and when we come to him, our sins, though they be many, are taken away in the blood of the Lamb. Then, my friends, listen: when our sins have been taken away we are able to hear the call of duty and service. This was true of Isaiah, for he says, “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ ” My friends, if we have been properly prepared by sitting at the feet of the great master teacher and learning of Him, then we can hear and will hear that same voice that Isaiah heard: “Who will go for us? And whom can we send?” “Then I said, 'Here am I; send me.’ And he said, 'Go—go and tell this people.’” (Isaiah 6:8.) Today those who have been born from above, have been cleansed, can hear and should obey that command of our Savior: “Go, preach the Gospel to every creature.” May many hear and answer as did Isaiah of old, “Here am I; send me.”

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What is the difference between a trained worker and just a worker?
2. Show the nature and extent of the preparation of the Christ for His work.
3. Show the importance of the social training as a preparation to be a missionary.
4. Show how well prepared spiritually was the Christ for His work.
?. What was the great and difficult work of the Christ?
6. How did He teach us of the Father?
7. Briefly tell of the preparation of the apostles for their great work.
8. Show how carefully and thoroughly the apostle Paul was prepared for his work.
9. What three things should one know to do the best missionary work? Discuss fully.
10. Why is it necessary for one to be a real humble Christian to be a good missionary?
11. How much academic training should one have to be a missionary?
12. What lessons may we learn from Isaiah’s vision?