January 1927
T h e K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
17
repeat that wherever God begins any great work it is simul taneously conterfeited or corrupted by evil agencies. In the present day it must not for a moment be imagined that if teachers are men of pure and righteous lives, and well instructed in the Bible, that it is of itself sufficient proof they • are of God. It is now the day of 2 Cor. 11. Satan is now an “angel of light,” and little else: his ministers are “ministers of righteous ness,” and stern denouncers of immorality. It is useless to hunt for Satan only in the, vicious pur lieus of the city, when he may occupy the fashionable pulpits and preach sound ethics. Never surrender consciousness, a sound mind, a good under standing, self-control, a reasonable g e n t l e disposition, and general sanity. God uses and sanctifies these gifts of His for His praise and glory; He does not abolish them. There must be sound common sense in full activity, com bined with humility, reverence, and submission to God’s will. To be emptied of self, including almost an annihilation of all reasoning and intellectual faculties, was much pressed in a recent heresy, as true of Christ in Phil. 2 :7, but is neither true of the Master, nor should it ever be true of the servant. I N this passage it would seem that the Master places the great Missionary enterprise of the world on a prayer basis. He does not suggest that because the need in the harvest field is great and urgent, that the Church should reorganize its forces, plan world surveys, form mission study circles. He calls His Church to a definite prayer programme. The programme is simple, but vital. They are not asked to pray for the arousing of interest, and sympathy, and the liberation of locked-up wealth, but that God will do something—that He will send forth lab orers. This is the only type of worker equal to the task— the man with the divine push behind him. The harvest fields of the world wait for God-sent workers! No sac rifice or suffering will turn aside a God-sent man. The hireling flees. One wonders what would happen if the Church obeyed this command and got on its knees and pled with God to send them out? Retrenchment schemes would be can celled, unoccupied fields would be unknown, the home Church would be clothed with new power. The decay ing missionary passion is a menace to the very life of the Church. We have revealed one o f God’s great principles of advance. It is a principle that is contrary to our human method. Our advance is too frequently guided by the money method. God’s is always based on the man method. Given a sent forth worker the money question is a sec ondary one. Whenever an individual or a society allows finance to be the deciding factor in its advance, that indi vidual or society has entered on a period of decay. T he L iberating T ouch The emphasis must always be on the “God sent.” Whom God sends He equips and supplies. Only a pray ing church is in a fit state to recognize and supply this type of worker. Think of the splendid young life around us, waiting for the liberating touch of a praying Church. A praying Church makes it possible for God to do things.
C autious I n P ronouncing J udgment I may close with a word or two of general advice.
Never rashly pronounce any unusual manifestation to be of God or the devil. Wait and see; most probably they are mere natural excitement. If convinced of a supernatural element, prove the spirit, carefully and thoroughly, as directed in 1 John 4:1, 2. Be very careful in your decision, and never act on it until some time has elapsed. Remember how many greater and wiser than ourselves have been deceived. At the same time do not denounce what you do not under stand, and speak evil of no man. Remember that to attribute the genuine works of the Spirit to Satanic agency is akin to the “unpardonable sin” of the Gospels. Great and prayerful study of the Word of God and close adherence to it is, I am convinced, the best safeguard when dealing with rare spiritual phenomena. Don’t follow even the best man into what you judge as doubtful doctrines or ways. Be fully persuaded of all you do in your own mind, and ever pray earnestly for Divine guidance. ^ 1 ^ It is only when the Church gets to prayer about the great need on the harvest field, that the Spirit of God can get to grips with the young life about us. One. of the trage dies of the mission field is the unsent worker. It is heart breaking to see the helplessness in the midst of appalling need. Oh for a generation of men and women with a divine propulsion in their lives ! There is a suggestion in our text also, that the worker with the qualities best suited to meet the need, is reluctant and conscious o f his insufficiency. He has to be pushed out. How frequently this is the case. Saul hid himself and had to be dragged out to occupy a throne. Moses got away to the backside of the desert and had to be pled with and persuaded to become the emancipator of a nation. Jeremiah showed a like hesitancy to become the prophet of tears to his people. This very sense of unequality for the task, seems to leave more room for God and gives Him a bigger sweep in the life. The word “laborer” is suggestive of the cost of har vesting. It speaks of toil unto weariness. Labor that is exhausting. Real work for pod is sacrifice. Never for get this when you obey the Master’s command and pray for the sending forth of laborers. It is going to mean for those sent ones, loneliness, toil, and ofttimes shattered health. The world’s harvest is gathered at a great cost, and yet the laborer is the only one who can do it. The gathered sheaves at home and abroad are the result of labor that has stood for the consecration of life. T h e P ersonal E lement Another point to note here is that this prayer min istry is to be definitely focused on personality — laborers. We are all persuaded of the value of the printed page, and of the great need of funds in our missionary enterprise, but in the mind of the Master, those do not appear to be of first importance. Thé “good news” is to find its fullest expression through the consecrated personality of a
$ £ £ The Man W ith the Divine Push B y P astor W . M allis Matt. 9 :37-38.
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker