09 4 Helping God Find His Man
4 Helping God Find His Man
4. Helping God Find His Man
Quoting from the American Revised Version, we have these words, in Jeremiah 5:1 : "Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth justly, that seeketh truth; and I will pardon her." This certainly reads like men were scarce in Jerusalem at this time, and it tells us beyond a doubt exactly when we have found the man for whom God is looking—viz. (1) The man who doeth justly, and who would die before he would knowingly be unjust to any human soul, and (2) the man who seeketh the truth, and only the truth about every person or subject he considers. These are the marks or characteristics of God’s man. And let it here be noted that man here is not restricted to sex, but that it stands for character, without any regard to sex. God is looking for that soul, let it be man or woman, who loves to be just to all, and would rather die than be unjust to anyone. And then he is looking for the man or woman who wants the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about all subjects or persons about whom he thinks and speaks. It is sinful to. think an unjust thought or to think an untruthful thought about others. Our Lord perceived and condemned evil thoughts in the human heart, and he said that these were some of the things that defile man. Of course, when expressed, they do more harm, for they harm and hurt those about whom you speak. But they certainly curse your own heart when you entertain them. (See Psalms 66:18). How very, very important it is that we do exactly what we are commanded to do in 2 Corinthians 10; 2 Corinthians 5 : "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." This is the character for whom God is looking to preach the gospel, to function as an elder, as a deacon, as a husband, as a wife, or a son or daughter in the kingdom of his dear Son. The burning question that is put to you and to you and you who are now reading these lines is this: Are you such a character? So the first question, of a practical nature, in this study is:
HOW TO GO ABOUT HELPING GOD FIND HIS MAN The very first thing we must do in helping God to find his man is to see to it that he finds the character for whom he is seeking in us, that he finds in one’s own heart a passion to be just to all, and to think and speak only the truth of and about all of whom he thinks and speaks. Is this not true? Does not each heart that reads this know how everlastingly true this is? Then let us do this first. We should do this for our own soul’s sake. For never can we enter heaven until we shall have established such a character. For that one, of whom it is said that he is not man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent (Numbers 23:19), declares: "And there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie." (Revelation 21:27). All liars, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, murderers, and the abominable will have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is called the second death. (Revelation 21:8). So, for our own soul’s sake, we must let God find in us the one for whom he seeks.
Most certainly we could not join God in seeking to find those who do justly and seek only the truth, if we ourselves are not such to begin with. The world could be taken for Christ in our own day and generation if that number on earth now claiming to be disciples of our Lord were just such beings as the man for whom God is seeking in Jeremiah 5:1. You could not lead such a soul off with false doctrine. This man has to be shown that your teaching is the truth before he takes it. With him everything has to be proven before he will hold it fast. And this is what we are commanded to do. (1 Thessalonians 5:21). And certainly such a soul would not withhold the truth from others or be found trying to tear down and destroy others. Commit to memory:
Psalms 15 "Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, And speaketh truth in his heart;
He that slandereth not with his tongue, Nor doeth evil to his friend, Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honoreth them that fear Jehovah;
He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not;
He that putteth not out his money to interest, Nor taketh reward against the innocent.
He that doeth these things shall never be moved."
"He that sweareth to his own hurt," as you find it in the above words, is that man who so loves the truth that he tells it when he knows that the truth will be against him. And think how much it means to you to speak the truth when even it is against you. For if you have done or said something that is wrong, to lie about it multiplies your troubles and sends your soul that much further on the downward road to the place prepared for the devil and his angels. Not only should we think of what it means to be that character that "sweareth to his own hurt," but get every statement in this wonderful short psalm well fixed in our hearts. To "walk uprightly," "work righteousness," and "speak to truth in our hearts" should not be forgotten. Psalms 51:6 declares that God "desirest truth in the inward parts." In 2 Peter 2:14 we are taught that souls can so exercise in evil practices that they "cannot cease from sin.” If you can go in the wrong direction so persistently and so long that you cannot cease from sin, why is it that you cannot practice doing right and speaking only the truth about everything until you cannot knowingly lie or do one unrighteous thing? You can do this. There are souls on earth who have made it the rule of life to do only the right thing that you could not get them to knowingly do one wrong thing.
Think of what it means to "slander not with your tongue," to "do no evil to your friend" or "take up no reproach against your neighbor." Have you harmed anyone with that tongue of yours? You had better have it cut out and enter life without a tongue than to go to hell with one because of its wrong use. (See Mark 9:43-48). And think of doing evil to your friend! Have you ever seen it done? That one who had been helped and befriended all along by another, and then prove to be an ingrate and turn upon the very one that has helped him most. Some get so low down that they can do this. And as to taking up a reproach against your neighbor, you just will not do it. When the reproach gets to you, instead of taking it up, you cut its head off and throw it into the garbage can where it belongs.
"Putteth not out his money to interest" has no reference whatever to borrowing money in the business world. Such is legitimate. When a man borrows your money for the purpose of so using it as to make himself money, justice demands you share in his profits, and this is done by charging him interest that the law allows. But when you find a brother in need and help him as such, you have no right to make charges for such service. The very next statement: "Taketh reward against the innocent" throws light on the "interest" question. You find a brother in a tight place financially and take advantage of him and profit from his misfortune. All that we do for our brethren in distress must be done as freewill offerings and not done for profit. "But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother hath need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" (1 John 3:17). This is the thought when Jehovah condemns letting money out for interest. The question of our letting another have money in his business to be used to make money is not in the mind of God in this statement. When we let others have our money for the purpose of using it for gain, justice, as before stated, demands that we share in that gain, hence collect interest.
How wonderful is the teaching of our God! Fail not to commit Psalms 15 to memory. Along with this, commit to memory Psalms 1:1
3. Make it a part of your very life to keep these words in your heart daily, and your meat and drink to live them out in your daily life. They will keep you back from sin. David says: "Thy word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against thee." (Psalms 119:11). Live as Psalms 15 teaches you, and you will never be moved. Is this not reward enough for so living? Live as the first three verses of the first psalm teaches you, and all that you do will prosper. Here we have the simple and sublime law of right living. We stay here but a little while, then we step out into eternity. Is it not worth our while to commit such Scriptures to memory, to keep them laid up in our hearts, and by them daily live? To do this enables us to be happy that we have lived in this old world. To fail to do this will make us wish we had never been born.
Is he who knows his weaknesses and stands guard against them.
Is he who chooses the path of duty with the firmest determination.
Is he who resists his temptations from within as stoutly as those from without
Is he who is most fearless in the midst of threats.
Is he who lifts the heaviest burdens with the greatest cheerfulness.
Is he who is least deflected from his purpose by petty criticism.
Is he who places the greatest reliance in truth and God.
—Roy L. Smith