05 - Chapter 05
Chapter 5 - Thursday Evening, July 8th ------------------------------
Consistent Lives.
Mr. Hudson Taylor (read Acts 16:1-40):―When Paul alleged that Christ must needs have suffered and risen, and that this Jesus is the Christ, we find that his message was received and believed. His stay in some places was short, in others long. Three years were spent in Ephesus, and he stayed long in Corinth. But, whether his time was short or long, we do not find him fruitless. He never left a place till his work was done; and blessing always followed. There was so very much in the character of the Apostle in harmony with his message, that it was not hard to receive that message from that man. When the Apostle preached Jesus Christ, and told of One Who thought He was rich yet for our sakes became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9), there was in his own poverty, and in the horny hand he held forth, the evidence of one who did not think it a hard path to become poor in order to seek man’s salvation. When he preached of One Who was despised and rejected (Php 3:8), his own position, despised alike by Jews and Gentiles, emphasized the message. When he told of One Who had shed his blood on behalf of His people—of One Who gave himself for his people—there was in the life of the Apostle that which authenticated his word. He writes: (2 Corinthians 4:1) “Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not.” Yet surely there was enough to make a man faint. If we sometimes get discouraged, what about Paul’s experience? But Paul, conscious that he had received a ministry of life and salvation, says, “We faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:2)
FAITH NEEDFUL.
Now we are here among the heathen. There is great power in majorities, and the character of those that we are continually associated with will not be without its effect on us. We are among a crafty people. To meet craft with craft is natural; not to do so requires Divine grace. To be guileless among the guileful requires faith in God. If God is the great Worker, and the work of God is the great thing in our hearts, we shall never seek to please Him by guileful and crafty ways. We can afford to renounce all the hidden things of dishonesty, and all the craftiness of the crafty. In preaching God’s truth we can afford not to handle the word of God deceitfully. We do not want to take the Cross, and so envelop it in flourishes and ornamentation that no one can see there is a cross there, as did the Jesuits. We do not need to hide any of the truths of the Gospel, or to keep anything back of the whole counsel of God lest it should stumble this people. Of course we need Divine wisdom to rightly divided the word of truth. It would be as prejudicial to feed a babe with beefsteak as it would to give it poison. But let us see that it is milk that we are giving the babes, and not some decoction of our own. Let us see that we can say, “I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27) And be watchful: I have been tempted to try to further the work of God by plans that God’s blessing did not rest on ―not indeed to meet falsehood by falsehood, but certainly craftiness by craftiness. We may drift (See Hebrews 2:1 R.V.) without being aware of it. If we are not filled with the Spirit of God, we may be certain that spiritual declension will be attended with drifting; and when once we begin to drift we do not know where we may drift to.
TELLING LIVES. But there is another side—we are not only to renounce evil, but to manifest (2 Corinthians 4:2) the truth. Bring it to the front; speak the truth; live the truth.
We tell this people the world is vain; let our lives manifest that it is so. We tell them that our Home is above ―that all these things are transitory ―does our dwelling look like it? Oh, to live consistent lives! The life of the Apostle was thoroughly consistent. Every one saw that he was a stranger and a sojourner; no one could feel that his home was here: all saw that it was up there.
Again, “By manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” It was not only that man’s conscience might be satisfied ―some men’s consciences might be satisfied with very little ―but, “in the sight of God.” The Apostle was walking with God, and commending himself to God as well as to men.
LIVES NOT OUT OF SIGHT.
Such words from this inspired Apostle mean more than they might from others. See, for instance, Colossians 1:1-29. Surely it means a great deal when he prays that they might be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Now do not you and I also want to live lives that will emphasize our teaching? But it is no use living such lives as would emphasize it, if our lives are out of sight, and our teaching only is in sight. Must we not seek to make our lives as public as our teaching. This is a grave difficulty. The man who lives two or three miles away from chapel, and merely goes and preaches to the people, is often disappointed.
I have known of more than one who did not live among the people, who preached thousand of sermons, and yet left China having seen little result. I believe that if such men could have worked among the people all day, and have come into touch with them, their life might have told, and half the sermons have produced greater results. What wisdom we need to live lives that will emphasize our teaching, and to see that our lives are so ordered, that those who receive the teaching can catch the emphasis too!
Paul’s life was a very public one. When he was thrust into the common prison, and when he went from place to place suffering trial, loss, and sorrow, his life was not hidden. He was able to appeal to the Ephesians elders, “You know what sort of man I was among you. I did not spend three-quarters of my time in the study, and come out once or twice on the Sunday to preach to you. I warned you as a father warns his children. My whole life is known to you from the time I came among you until I left you.” (Acts 20:18-35)
I wish I could look back on my missionary career, and feel that my whole life was well known for three years to any set of people, and that it all commended the Gospel. It has been my lot to live of necessity much out of sight, to be largely engaged in secular work (and not all that has been seen has commended my Master, as Paul’s life did). But this is a thing to be guarded against; and if we would have our lives invested to the utmost profit, we must be among the people. It is very self-denying work, but it pays well. The Apostle, commending the truth, was sure that his Gospel also was not hidden, save to those who were lost.
REPRODUCTIVE LIVES.
Now turn to 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10:―“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love, and patience of hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ.” The faith imparted was a working faith, the love a laborious love, the hope a patient hope. These believers learned to walk as the Apostle had done. He (2 Corinthians 4:2) had walked as in the sight of God and they had learned so to walk also. He had labored he had been patient, his faith had been an active faith; and the same was reproduced in his spiritual children. The spiritual likeness between the children and the father was very apparent: “Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God, for our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.” Paul lived among them for their sakes, not for his own; they knew very well what manner of man he was among them. There was nothing of his manner of life hidden. The result was: ―“Ye became followers of us, and of Lord, having received the word with much affliction and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Affliction did not damp the joy of the spiritual fathers—they could sing in the jail of Philippi; and receiving the Gospel of Christ from such ensamples, the converts became “ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.”
WAITING FOR CHRIST.
One other thought. Do not teachers and preachers often put a full stop at the end of 1 Thessalonians 1:9? You will often read in missionary reports that the people have turned from idols to serve the living and true God. It is not in one in ten that you will hear anything about their waiting for His Son from Heaven. I believe that the ignorance of the active Christians generally of the fact that Christ is coming again, and that the present state of things is to be utterly overthrown, is one reason of the selfishness and worldliness that are to be found in some branches at least of the Church of God in China.
I remember well when God was pleased to open my heart to this great truth that the Lord Jesus was coming again, and that he might come at any time. What was the effect? I had not a great many books, but it sent me to see if I could give a good account of all I had, and also of the contents of my little wardrobe. The result was that some of the books disappeared before very long, and some of the clothes too. It was an immense spiritual blessing to me. When I go home from China, and can make time to go through my house from attic to basement with my dear wife, to review our things in the light of His speedy return, I always find it a profitable spiritual exercise to see what we can do without. It is profitable to remember that we are stewards who have to give account of everything that we retain; and unless we can give a good reason for the retention shall we not be ashamed (1 John 2:28) when the Master comes? And since He may come any day, is it not well to be ready every day? I do not know of any truth that has been a greater blessing to me through life than this. I made, perhaps, some mistakes at first; but I believe they were mistakes on the right side; and the Lord knew my heart in the matter, and gave me blessing. While one is apt to swing from one extreme to the other, it is a great truth, and a steadying truth, that the Lord Jesus may come at any time. Should we not ask ourselves, “Are my affairs in such order that I shall not regret it?”
Sometimes we give to ourselves accounts of things, and make excuses, that we shall not dream of offering to Him. Hence if our teaching and living were more in harmony with these truths, that the coming of the Lord draws nigh, and that we have to give an account of all that we have and are, our Churches would not be so worldly as some of them are. Converts, like children, are wonderfully quick sighted. How the little ones see their parents’ live! How many things they hear that parents forget they have heard! We need that He Whose eyes are as a flame of fire should search us through and through; and if there is anything in us, or around us, or connected with us, that is not altogether what it should be, that He should put it right. THE CERTAINTY OF SPIRITUAL RESULTS. The Gospel of God is as mighty as it was in the Apostle’s days, and if circumstances only permitted us to live as the Apostle did, we ought to be as fruitful as he was. There was no partiality in God’s dealings with His servant. Cause and effect are no more uncertain in spiritual than in natural things. If I unite certain atomic weights of acetic acid and of carbonate of soda, I produce a definite amount of acetate of soda. Just as certain is it, that a life as fully consecrated as Paul’s was, will produce in similar circumstances as much spiritual fruit today as in those days. The world, the flesh, and the devil have not altered, God has not altered, the blood of Christ has not altered at all.
Again, it is not our losses that are to be depreciated, but it is the absence of them that is our real difficulty. It is the fact that we are so protected that we cannot get shoulder to shoulder with our native converts, who are liable to be imprisoned, and robbed, and to have their tails and ears cut off: * (*Some converts had recently so suffered.) that is our weakness. If we could live lives alongside of them would not the gospel have power! What the spiritual children will be, depends on what the spiritual father is. It is the arrangement of God that every fruit has its own seed within itself; an apple never contains raisin pips. The stream will never rise higher than its source, so it will not fall far short of it if the circumstances admit. The hardness of heart which is a hindrance to the Gospel is not that of the hearers, but it is the hardness of this heart of mine. It may be my misfortune ―my circumstances may be against me ―but the failure is still on my side. A pound of weight will always balance 16 ozs. in the scale; and if the 16 ozs. go down, the lb. is a light weight. We ought never to comfort ourselves with the idea that the sovereignty of God is arbitrary, and that we have only to bear testimony against the people, and are not responsible for the results of our work. This is a most unscriptural idea; it is most untrue, and will surely lead us astray. The fact is that spiritual husbandary, is very like natural husbandry; the man who sows most seed will, other things being equal, reap the largest harvest. Paul himself had suffered the loss of all things, he himself had turned from every idol to serve the living God, and his disciples did the same. Look at the next chapter. (Read 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8).
Hard missionaries are not of much use: they are not like the Master, He is never hard. It is better to be trusting, and gentle, and sympathizing, even if often taken in, rather than sharp and hard. The converts of Paul saw that the Apostle deemed it a small thing to die for them. In Php 2:17 he wrote: “Yea, and if I be offered―if my blood be poured out as a drink-offering—upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all.” There was no simulation in the life and teachings of Paul, and there was no mistaking them.
It is not mere preaching the Gospel that will do what needs to be done. Our life must so tell on the people that they cannot mistake what we are. We must show them that we are not weary of them. It is important that the fatherly spirit should characterize our lives. If they gather that we are hard and sharp, and set on silver like themselves, that will be a fatal mistake. If they conclude that we mean to have our pound of flesh out of them, rather than to give them a pound of our flesh, it will be fatal. Our life must be one of visible self-sacrifice. There is much sacrifice in our lives of which the Chinese cannot know. God knows all about it, and we can well afford to wait for His declaration of it and His answer. There is much that we have left for the Chinese which they have never seen. That will not suffice. They must see self-sacrifice in things which they cannot but understand. If political protection should ever be withdrawn, that will not hinder the spread of the Gospel. If it should lead any of us to return home, China will not lose much in those who go; while those who remain will have a time of good success. The opposition of pagan Rome, and of religious Jews, were essential elements (Php 1:12) of success; we lack these things, and our success can only be partial. We may reckon our life by loss instead of gain―we may safely account that what we lack and lose and suffer are our most prized facilities for bringing home to the hearts of this people the glorious Gospel of the grace of God.
GOD’S ORDERING.
“As for God, His way is Perfect.”
“Be tomorrow in Thy keeping; mine to follow, thine to lead;
“Thine the wisdom and the power; mine the weakness and the need.
“Glad shall be my full submission whatsoever Thy decree, “For my will with Thine is blended and Thou, Lord, art all to me!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * “Courage, one and all, my Brothers! No occasion for dismay;
“Let not ‘maybe’ come between you and the praise of today;
“Ne’er anticipate the morrow, for ye cannot know its form;
“Fretting never frightened thunder; sighing never stayed a storm.
“But when clouds come darkling o’er you, as ye face stern duty’s height, “Then remember He Who sends them can disperse them in a night.”
F. Ellis.