CONTRIBUTORS

E. F. Woodford

2 Kings 4: 38–44; John 6: 5–12; Ephesians 3: 14–19

I have in mind to say something briefly about contributors. Every one of us is a contributor and my exercise is as to what we are contributing, whether it is for the good of the whole.

The first sentence read is, “Elisha came again to Gilgal”. What a safe place this is! I think Elisha resorted there as knowing what it meant. He would no doubt feel that if he did not go there the flesh would have some advantage over him, and

therefore his service, his work at that time, would be hindered, for the flesh deadens the service very effectively. So he came again to Gilgal and there was a famine in the land. Is there not a famine in the land today? not, maybe, applying to food, for God is faithful in making provision for mankind with seed-time and harvest, which will continue to the end, but there certainly is a growing scarcity generally of the fear of God, of loving thy neighbour as thyself, honouring father and mother, and of loving the truth. Have you not heard people say, Things are not what they used to be? What a change there has been even since the last world war. Yet the Holy Spirit is still here and is ready to stir up in us those conditions of which we sang in our hymn—

‘Lord, kindle within us a holy desire,

Like that which was found in Thy people of old,

Who tasted Thy love, and whose hearts were on fire,

While waiting, in patience, Thy face to behold’. (Hymn 194) You read some of the old ministry; it is very stirring. A lot of Mr. Taylor’s early ministry, you know, is very simple to read for he was then only a young man and he served simply, yet most effectively. Are we sufficiently appreciative of what the Spirit would do amongst us as we defer to Him? How thrilling to walk into a meeting room, where there is a real lively anticipation of what is going to come, everybody alert and listening. Well, that is to be increased, because all around there is famine.

So Elisha says, in effect, ‘Well, now what are we going to do? Is it going to be famine here too?’ No; there is a great pot and it is to be set on. “Set on the great pot”, he said to his servant. I think Elisha would be very thankful that there was one who was ready to put on the pot. Perhaps you think that that was a very menial task, but it was absolutely essential. I was very interested to note that Mr. Taylor likened this to Colossians and the hidden thoughts of Christ. Now I think that throws a fresh light—to me it does anyway—on this passage, that this was what Elisha had in mind having been to Gilgal. Now, he said, What have we got?—hidden thoughts of Christ. There is pottage, that means a variety of good things rightly brought together. What thoughts there are which we can have as to Christ, the hidden Man of the heart. Well, this all went in to what was there in the great pot.

Now there was a man there and he thought, Well, I want to be a contributor too, and he went off into the field and he found a wild wine and gathered from it his lap full of wild colocynths. Now you will see that one thing marked this, that what he was gathering was wild—and, you know, what is wild will not do for the pot. It will not further those treasured hidden thoughts of Christ; it has no place. If you try to bring in wild ideas, wild thoughts, it will only bring in death. It may not be seen, and this man did not seem to realize what he was doing. Often irresponsible actions come from a lack of thought. Maybe we ourselves get just a bit wild. It is not that we are that characteristically; I do not think this man was a wild man at all; he was not like the man that no one could bind, even with chains (see Mark 5: 3). No, this was just one occasion; he gathered what was wild, and it did great, harm. It is often wild thoughts about the truth that do the damage. The vine in its right setting is good. Much could be said about that, a vine with the grapes, speaking of what can be pressed for the satisfaction, the joy, of God’s heart. But this was a wild vine and it has no place in the pot.

Then these wild colocynths. Do you know what colocynths are? Well, there is one interesting thing about them and that is they are mentioned in relation to the building of the temple (see 1

Kings 6: 18; 7: 24). So you see they have a link with what was right. But these were not that, these were wild; again, dear brethren, I say that wild thoughts about the truth only bring in harm. So he brought these. Really, you know, he was a careless man, that is how we would have to describe him; not a bad man, he was not evil, but he was careless, and that is a very dangerous position to get into, to be careless as to the truth. I say this feelingly as I have been careless about the truth; almost careless, you know, about coming to the meetings, careless about my thoughts. Maybe this is exercising us afresh, for such carelessness is harmful both to me and to the brethren. And what did he gather these things in? It says he gathered his lap full of them. Maybe he was feeling in the back of his mind, ‘I am going to bring in a lot, perhaps even make my name’. But it was in his lap; that is very careless. Ruth did not gather things in her lap, they were gleaned, then beaten out, and brought to Naomi. But this was careless, just a heap in his lap and he shred them in, Let us shun carelessness, beloved. Let us be careful persons, marked by care about the truth.

Now what is going to happen? Is everything lost? Some harm comes in and we throw our hands up—‘The whole thing is lost!’ “Man of God, there is death in the pot!”—What are we going to do? He says, “Bring meal”; he does not even say that to his servant—it was for whosoever willed. Who can bring in thoughts of Christ, suggested in the meal, into such a situation? May we all be exercised to bring in thoughts of Christ. You dear older brothers and sisters, we value you when you bring in thoughts of Christ immediately; it is not only that death is removed from the pot but there is now no harm at all. No harm to the dear brethren; would that not be grand? no one harmed. Well, the bringing in of thoughts of Christ is going to result in this.

I go on to the next passage. Now here is a man anxious to help, but he is not bringing his lap full. This man, I would say, is a careful man in what he contributes. When you hear brothers speak of the need of care in what we say, what part we take, you may think. Well, the best thing for me is to sit back, I cannot make a mistake then. But if you sit back, beloved brother and sister, and young ones, and do nothing, that will be one of your greatest mistakes, and the joy of a true contributor will not be yours. The Lord longs that you might be like this man, a contributor of what is good. Well, he comes up from Baal-shalishah; I understand that means a place where authority is recognized, where authority is known; not law exactly, not a place of law, but where there is a good influence (see J.T. N.S. Vol.34 p.234). A good influence in our localities is needed; in every locality there should be a good steadying influence. Now that is where this man came from, and what did he bring? He brought things to the man of God—that was his thought, not exactly the sons of the prophets—“and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley. It is remarkable, is it not, that they should have been counted? “Twenty loaves of barley; and fresh ears of corn”—In his lap?

No, “in his sack”. That is, he had a vessel there and he carried these things; he was not going to drop one. I think the man who carried the wild colocynths in his lap would not mind if a few were left on the wayside, lost on the way.

But this man from Baal-shalishah would say, I am not going to lose any; I will make sure my sack has no holes in it. He brought twenty loaves. What are they? Barley loaves; those fresh thoughts of Christ. The Spirit would give us, I am sure, fresh thoughts of that Man today; barley, the first harvest. That is where Ruth was active, in the barley harvest. “And he (Elisha) said, Give to the people that they may eat”. That is, a true man of God who would share what he had and have the good of the people in mind. I think that could be widened with all of us, you know.

Have we the good of the people in mind, so that what comes is shared, shared amongst the people? But this other man, a practical man I suppose he was, said, Well, how is this going to work? “How shall I set this before a hundred men?” I should have thought myself that twenty loaves would have been sufficient for a hundred men, but let us just see the spiritual side of this. He did not see how the thing could work, and many of us are like that at times. How is this going to work? But the man of God repeats, “Give the people that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah—They shall eat, and shall have to spare”. Beloved brethren, not only is the feeding carefully to be looked after, but God has in mind that there is going to be enough and to spare. Everything that God does speaks of abundant results. God has great thoughts; they are not limited; often ours are so limited; God’s thoughts are great, and He would have that which is to spare. So they did that, “And he set it before them, and they ate and left thereof, according to the word of Jehovah”. There was enough and to spare. May we be encouraged to be contributors, and to experience for ourselves that there is still something to spare.

Now in John 6 Jesus Himself is concerned about giving to the people. But, so graciously, He does not give directly—He does in some places—but in this instance He asks, What shall we do? He exercises Philip; Now what are we going to do? I believe that that is just what the Lord would do now to exercise us all as to what we are going to do

about the food supply. We may all be able to discern when there is death in the pot; we may all think it is wonderful to have such a supply that we can bring all those loaves, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of corn, but the Lord says. Now wait; you have these people to feed. You have brethren in your local meeting who need the food supply. Now what are we going to do? Philip saw this and said, Well, I really do not know what we are going to do; if I go to the shop, if you give me money, what is that going to buy? Then Andrew says, “There is a little boy here”. He feels that it is not of much account. I hope none of the little boys here feel they are not wanted. A little boy; that is all that they thought of him and what he had, “five barley loaves and two small fishes; but this, what is it for so many?” Ah, but Andrew had not reckoned with what the Lord could do in that situation.

You know, there are some situations which we find extraordinarily difficult. I believe the ministry in London last week was very important, as to how virtually impossible situations were met. Well, this is a case where the Lord is going to use what there is there. I believe that is the important thing. You do not have to go elsewhere to get it. The virgins (Matthew 25) would have said, Go to the shop and buy; but it is what there is there, and I am sure there must be the equivalent of a carrier of barley loaves in Tunbridge Wells whom the Lord can use to satisfy His people. He loves His people; He will see to it, I believe, that they are kept fed; but the service of doing it is to be activated the more with us. So Jesus said, “Make the men sit down”; the state amongst them is to be one of restfulness to receive this food. If there is agitation with us that is no state to receive what is spiritual. We cannot grow in a state of agitation or of fear. The Lord

would say, Just sit down; be restful, and see what I can do. “And Jesus took the loaves, and having given thanks”—how important it is that we are thankful; as we read earlier, “be thankful”—“distributed them to those that were set down”. I have often wondered whether somebody was not prepared to sit down; was not prepared just to be submissive and see how Jesus was going to come into the situation. But it was only those who had sat down, it was only those who were restful and dependent on Him, who got this, and so it is with us. “And in like manner of the small fishes as much as they would”. It has often been said there is as much spiritual food as you want; the supply is inexhaustible. May none of us lack the reception of impressions of Christ.

Now just very briefly on Ephesians 3. I really had hardly anything to say, but the reading of these verses I felt would leave some impress upon us as to being filled even to all the fulness of God. As that was Paul’s desire for the Ephesians, it is the Lord’s desire for us here now, the fulness of God. May we be filled a little more ourselves on this line, and be exercised and energized in this matter of contributing. How the Lord loves to serve us and bring in enlargement for the prosperity of His own. Well, may we know the good of these verses at the end of this wonderful and outstanding prayer, the scripture even going into the detail of Paul bowing his knees, “I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named”. Go over these verses, beloved brethren, that we may get something more of the tremendous scope of what God has for us and would have us enter into; and if we feel some lack, may we be exercised that the state amongst us shall be greatly improved. There is not much time left ere the Lord comes. “His wife has made herself ready”—that has taken time, taken preparation,

but there comes a moment when she is ready, and I believe we are near that moment. May we all be ready, for His name’s sake.

Address at Tunbridge Wells
23 October 1982