THE MOTIVE AND PURPOSE OF GOOD WORKS
[p. 234] THE MOTIVE AND PURPOSE OF GOOD WORKS
The first desire of Saul of Tarsus when brought to God was, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” There is an immediate sense, on being a new man in Christ, that there is a new line of action. New powers and abilities necessarily demand new activities. The nature of the new man being of God, he is dependent on God; and as he is so, he will manifest the grace and kindness of God in this evil world. “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him”. According as there is dependence, there is ability from God to do as occasion requires, whatever would please Him and declare Him. Without works faith is dead, being alone; but the faith comes before the works, so that with the new man it is faith that worketh by love. Love then is the motive of good works, and faith the sustainer of them. To understand the nature and purpose of the love of God, I require to be in communion with His mind, and this I acquire only by dependence. His love has been manifested in the Son, and as we abide in Him, we bring forth much fruit; we walk here even as He walked. As I am in communion, I learn and understand His will concerning every one that I am placed in contact with. The first point is abiding in Him. “Without me ye can do nothing”. The loss of or departure from this opens the door to every kind of mistake or officiousness. I dwell in love in Him in whom it was fully manifested. I know how I can count on Him in every instance, for His glory. My motive for the work is the love of God, and counting on Him I shrink not from the work because of the sense of incompetence, or the insufficiency of means. Where there is faith there is always means, and therefore faith never goes beyond means. If it be simply maintained that every good work must flow from abiding in Christ, then it is [p. 235] evident that no good work so directed could overlook or be independent of what is nearest and dearest to the heart of Christ. It is not the work in itself that commends it, but the fact of its being suggested by Christ, and having its motive and spring in Him. The Lord tells the waiting soul what he must do. As one is walking with Him, the occasions of good works are presented, and as there is faith, they are entered on and done. If Christ the central point be overlooked, there may be a great appearance of good works, which do not, however, glorify the Father. If I am abiding in Christ, I am His friend; and as I am so, I am occupied with the circle of His interest — where His love is occupied and acting. I must begin there at all events. That must be the circle of my interest. He “loved his own”, John 13: 1. He prays not for the world, but for those who have been given Him out of the world; chapter 17: 9. Everything depends on the point from which our circle of action is formed. If it be from Christ, then the motive is evident enough, and Christ must characterise us in every act. We travel outward from Him as the central point, and we revolve round Him in our whole course. He cannot be lost sight of, because He is the pivot and centre on which one turns; and as He is so, man as man is not the object, but to display the mercy of God to one so wretched and in a world of evil like this.
The objects specially claiming our attention, and the sphere of good works, are the saints. The one near Christ will surely think of Christ’s own, those so near His heart, first. I do not say that he will never help the wretched in this world, I believe he will, but never ostensibly or publicly; while openly and plainly, as he is Christ’s friend, he will avow and show that he will die for “His own”. If I admit the circle of interest which will occupy me as abiding in Christ, I cannot take the place of benefactor to the world, or to man as man in it. In connection with the circle of Christ’s [p. 236] interest, which paramountly engages and commands my attention, I relieve and help every one as I am able; but this is supplementary and secret. I have a public line, even to love the saints as He did, to give my life for the brethren. I cannot give it for the world and for the brethren. I devote it to the latter; but as I do, I hide not myself from the suffering ones who come in contact with me, and this is rather the gleanings of the field than the crop. It is evident that our Lord, the greatest benefactor ever among men, has been rejected by the men of the world, and that now no one true to Him, or in communion with Him, could ever attempt to be avowedly a benefactor to them in the state in which they crucified Him. My duty now, as empowered by God, is to offer to man Him whom they rejected as their Saviour, and while doing so to evince to them that I am not unmindful of their needs; but then my good works to them are not independent of my service to Christ, but in the course and discharge of my mission from Him. Everything depends on where I begin and the circle which defines my interest. If it be Christ’s the motive and purpose of all my works must tend to the circle to which I am in heart attached; and from it I can, as led of Him, extend as His grace directs me. But if I begin with man and his need, and make that my circle, I can never reach Christ’s circle; and though I may do a great many useful works, I never can have the motive or the purpose of Christ in them, because I am not in Christ’s circle. No assiduity or zeal can raise me from the human circle to Christ, because the former is morally below the other, and we can never rise in any action from the issue to the source. The nearer the sun, the greater the power of light, and from it the light descends to the lowest cave on earth; it never ascends.
The snare of the enemy is to engage one with the circle which meets the eye and mind of man, and when one is taken in it, there is no rising up to Christ’s;
[p. 237] whereas when His circle truly and fully occupies the heart, there is nothing hid from the heat of His goodness and mercy.
To be ready for every good work is distinctly enjoined on us. The question is not so much about the good works in themselves, but as to the motive and purpose in undertaking them. Let us examine Scripture as to the manner in which they are to be done.
In Matthew 6: 3 we read, “Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth; that thine alms may be in secret”. This is plainly against being publicly known as a philanthropist or benefactor. It may be alleged that the Lord says to the young man, “Sell whatever thou hast and give to the poor”. This meant evidently that he was to dispose of the riches which hindered him from following Christ, and in giving them to the poor they were forever out of his reach; it was not a question of good works, since if he did as he was directed, he would deprive himself of ability to do any more. To the Pharisees the Lord says, “Give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you”; which simply means to dispose of all you build on, and the rest is pure; and this is never done by donors to the world.
Dorcas, in Acts 9, is often quoted, as her good works extended to the widows; but I think we may conclude that the widows for whom she worked were, at least chiefly, saints. We know that the widows in chapter 6: 1 were converted, and we can hardly suppose that unbelieving Jews would have been recipients of favour from a christian, or would have been present when Peter came; moreover she is definitely connected with the saints.
In Acts 11: 28, Agabus “signified by the spirit that there should be a great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea”. There is no allusion to the suffering world.
Paul in Romans 15: 26 speaks of a “certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem”. The “host” (Luke 10: 35) takes care of Christ’s own until He returns. They are the objects of His care and interest. Also we have in 1 Corinthians 16: 1 the collection for the saints, making it evident that they, even in distant places, were the objects of interest; and in 2 Corinthians 9: 1 the apostle writes, “For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you”.
In Hebrews 6: 10, “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister”. Not a word of, or allusion to, the world.
Now in James, when the works which testify of faith are insisted on, there is no suggestion as to the men of this world. The word is, “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food”, etc. The objects which claim the attention of those who have faith are distinctly pointed out. In 1 Peter 4: 10, where temporal means are styled “gift”, it is expressly enjoined, “as every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God”. Here it is specially “one to another”. I do not say that none of it is to be applied to the need of the unconverted, but the saints are particularly mentioned. “Let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith”. The household of faith expressly claims and should receive our attention; the rest come in indirectly, the former is our known circle.
Now in 1 John 3: 16, His love is presented as our example; “because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”. It is added, “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth [p. 239] his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” The brethren are definitely set before us as the first and distinct objects of our care. The motive is the love of God, and the purpose, to please Him who hath chosen us.
The sum appears plain, that the friend of Christ devotes himself to the circle of Christ’s interest, His own, even unto death; and that he is publicly and openly known in that line; that he is not known, and does not wish to be known, in any philanthropy but God’s; see Titus 3: 4, But indirectly and privately, in the course of his service to the saints in searching for the lambs of Christ, he does not overlook the suffering he may come in contact with. He feels he cannot avowedly and openly be the benefactor of man in his own circle, because man has rejected the greatest Benefactor ever among men. “They have both seen and hated both me and my Father”, and if I were to make the circle of man in his need my circle, I should be ministering to the very being who rejected Christ. On the contrary, I am serving Christ here; devoted to His own; making it very manifest that it is Christ’s own and not man’s which is my interest; and as it is so, the world will hate me, but my comfort is that I am the friend of Christ, and He says to me, “I know thy works”. When my works are in man’s circle, and recognisable by man, I am in the line which culminates in Laodicea, where man is the object and not Christ. Christ is outside, and though there is an abundance of good works within, the motive and purpose cannot be of or from Christ.