CAN WORLDLY MEANS BE USED IN CHRIST'S SERVICE?
CAN WORLDLY MEANS BE USED IN CHRIST’S SERVICE?
The chief point to ascertain is Christ’s present relation to this world; I suppose it would be admitted by all that He was rejected. The Jew used the law of God to condemn Him, and the Roman used the power which God gave man, to crucify the Son of God - to condemn the Holy One and the Just. Hence we read of the fulfilment of Psalm 110, “Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool”. As He said to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence”. (John 18: 36) Now it is evident to any honest mind that He was rejected by this world: “They have both seen and hated both me and my Father”. (John 15: 24) The scripture is fulfilled, “They hated me without a cause”. (John 15: 25) The world is in a different relation to God since the rejection of Christ from that in which it was before His rejection. Before, it was lawful for a servant of God to use what was available of the power of the world to carry out the service of God. But, as far as I see, God never used natural things in His own service, except in a miraculous way, such as the ravens feeding the prophet, or the ass speaking with man’s voice to rebuke the madness of the prophet.
The next thing for us to be scripturally assured of, is that Christ has power fully to carry out His own work. Nothing can be more definite than this: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth”; and,
“[p. 424] lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world”, Matthew 28: 18 - 20. Now if we see that Christ was rejected from this world, and that He can carry on His work by His own power, there is no plea for using worldly things in any way to contribute to His service. We might rest here; but we have to contend with the great attempt in christendom all around us, to show that Christ is not rejected, but fully owned. One fact, not to speak of others, establishes this statement. The ringing of bells for divine service is evidently an imitation of the trumpets of the Jewish ritual; but to any thoughtful mind what a jargon it represents! A bell of various denominations calling aloud, in the hearing of everyone, on souls to worship God, thus using worldly means for this avowedly good end. This practice has no doubt led many earnest men to make use of public notices, and even at times to resort to the town crier, avowedly with the good intention of gathering souls to hear the gospel. It is not easy to eradicate this impression from the minds of christians, because it assumes to be in accordance with God’s appointment for Israel.
Now it must be plain to every godly soul, that according to Scripture, Christ has been rejected by the world, and that He has power in the fullest degree to maintain what is His own, altogether independent of the world.
Bear in mind that if there is a divine work of God in any soul, that soul is, by the reception of the Spirit, a member of the body of Christ. To this end the Lord commissioned the twelve who were the foundation of everything, to go forth and teach all nations, “baptising them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. (Matthew 28: 19) It does not say that they were all gifted as preachers, but the preachers came from that company. An evangelist is one of the special gifts which by the Spirit is given to the church.
Now we have to see what is the work of an evangelist.
[p. 425] He is sent to preach good tidings - “By the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe”. (1 Corinthians 1: 21) The means bears no proportion to the result, simply because it is God’s work. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit”. (John 3: 8) God begins the work in every soul. The light of the gospel only divinely reaches the soul that is born again, the one whom God has turned to Himself. It begins with fear, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111: 10) - like the thief on the cross, who says to his comrade, “Dost not thou fear God?” (Luke 23: 40)
Once it is seen that the beginning of the work must be wholly with God, it must be evident that God will only use His own means to bring that soul into the light; therefore the simple duty of the evangelist is to be like Philip ready to be carried (Acts 8) or like Paul at Philippi to be in prison, to announce the glad tidings to one anxious soul. This is fully confirmed when we see that there is nothing owned of God on the earth that is not of Christ - a member of His body. It is not as in former times when there could be individual saints on the earth. Seeing this is the place of Christ’s rejection God could not now support anything here that is not of the rejected One - part of Him.
This is an immense point to keep clearly before the soul, and thus it is plain that nothing can be acquired from the earth for any of His own. Every additional blessing must come direct from Himself. The evangelist is sent from the Lord with a message from Him with good tidings, and he must look to Him to guide him where he is to announce and make known the tidings. He should be always ready for it, whether in travelling or in the company of others, and he may be led to go to a house or a town to deliver the message; but he has no power unless he is consciously directed by the Lord. When he is so directed it may be that [p. 426] he may see no immediate result, but he has the comfort of knowing that he has done the Lord’s will. I cannot see how in going to a town he is spiritually helped by announcing to the world - the public - his purpose in coming. It may be contended, how then could it be known? I reply, if the Lord has sent him, He will be sure to lead him to one and another, and when he has found acceptance with one like Cornelius, such an one will be glad to make it known to his neighbours and chief friends. It is happy for the evangelist to intimate his purpose in coming, as directed of the Lord, to his brethren, that they may have fellowship in his work by prayer; but as far as I see, the announcement of it to the public is in no way authorised by Scripture.
I quite believe that the gospel should come from the assembly, and therefore that where it meets, the gospel should be regularly preached; because we must bear in mind that we live among those who profess to be christians, and therefore the word to Timothy was, “Do the work of an evangelist”, (2 Timothy 4: 5) indicating that they did not know the gospel though they had the profession of it. This is very different from great public evangelistic efforts and demonstration; and, as far as my knowledge goes, I have never heard of a thoroughly devoted servant being the fruit of these demonstrations. We hear of converts from them, but I ask, Where are the souls devoted to Christ? I believe when you come to the history of souls it will be found that where the work was deep it has been effected in a very silent and unseen way. Many confess to a limited gospel who would fear to do so to a full one, but it is the duty of an evangelist to present a full gospel. There was no knowledge of God in my father’s house till I was nine years old, when a pious clergyman came to stay with him, and I remember his speaking from Acts 9 one evening. The point that arrested me was that God would send a light out of [p. 427] heaven to convert a soul! I only adduce this to show how little we know the particular word that may lay a living hold on the soul.
The work of an evangelist must be a deeply interesting one to us, when we remember that he comes from God to a dark soul, to present divine light to him, which is the beginning of divine knowledge in the soul which has already been the subject of the work of God. Very often converts bear a moral resemblance to the evangelist who has presented light to them according to his measure. As a rule, the work of an evangelist in any place is not accomplished in a day or two. Paul had to be admonished when he was inclined to leave Corinth, “I have much people in this city”. (Acts 18: 10) I do not advocate periodical visits; that is more the province of the teacher; nor do I see that the evangelist is qualified, unless by a special gift, to take the place of a teacher, nor does he really understand the work of the Spirit in the assembly. It can be remarked that when an evangelist becomes a permanent resident in a place he loses his special power in his attempt to be a pastor or teacher. I have noticed that when an assembly is gathered by an evangelist, however earnest he may be, it does not understand what it is to be “built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2: 5); and I have said to the evangelist, a very earnest, devoted man, that those whom he had gathered came together to be acted on, rather than to act - to be “the holy priesthood”.
To sum up, it is plain that as the evangelist is sent of the Lord to accomplish a special work, he cannot solicit help or countenance from anything or anyone around him, except from those who are led of the Lord in prayer or otherwise. I would add - it is incongruous to ask for a public subscription for the circulation of the Bible. Such an appeal is devoid of a sense of the relation in which Christ stands to the world. Anyway, as to printing or otherwise, it should be at the evangelist’s own expense and that of those who love the Lord.
I need not add more, but the evangelist should come as sent of the Lord to seek His own; and as His own must be of Christ Himself; he must be confined exclusively to Christ, to receive only from Him, that he may be of real service to souls.