THE TEARS OF THE SAINTS

H. J Taylor

2 Corinthians 2: 4; Acts 20: 29–32; Philippians 3: 17–19

The tears of the saints are, and always have been, of great interest to God. So the apostle Paul is free to tell us about his tears, and what occasioned them; and he evidently valued them in others for, in writing to his child Timothy, he specifically refers to his tears—“remembering thy tears” he says, 2 Timothy 1: 4. David, too, evidently had some understanding of the value that God placed upon the tears of His people for he had liberty to ask God to put his tears into His bottle (see Psalm 56: 8).

In the present circumstances of the testimony there is much that causes our hearts sorrow, and we do not know what tears are being shed in secret. But God would graciously comfort our burdened hearts by having us realise that He is taking account of them, and the reasons for them, and would remind us that a day is coming when “he shall wipe away every tear”

(Revelation 21: 4)— every tear. How very blessed!

Whatever occasions our tears, God is assuring us that He is regarding them. He knows all that each one is passing through. Our Father—how tender are His compassions! Not a sparrow falls to the ground without Him, and Jesus adds “ye are better than many sparrows”, Matthew 10: 31. So every detail in our lives is taken account of by our Father. There are tears which arise in the sphere of natural relationships and these are acceptable in His sight. We have reached the last days when, as the scripture says, “men shall be ... without natural affection” (2 Timothy 3: 2, 3); but natural affection is of God, so the expression of grief following the death of a loved one is not without its value before Him.

But then there are the sorrows connected with the testimony of our Lord. We speak carefully, but each of us here has had, and is still having, some experience of these. So I think it would be for our strengthening to call attention to these references to the tears and weeping of the beloved apostle Paul. In this second letter to the Corinthians he discloses that he wrote the first epistle “out of much tribulation and distress of heart … with many tears”. You would not have gathered this from what he wrote but, now that it had become effective in bringing about recovery, he is free to tell them what it had cost him to write, as he did so faithfully.

But he told them this, “not that ye may be grieved, but that ye may know the love which I have very abundantly towards you”. What affection! After having “remained there a year and six months, teaching among them the word of God” (Acts 18: 11) how he must have felt the terrible disorder that had come into that assembly (see 1 Corinthians 5: 1; 11: 17–22), yet he still retained an abundant affection for them. This would help us to have right feelings towards brethren who are not going on rightly, who are still refusing to judge what is wicked.

So in the midst of our tears as to them, tears which, like the Psalmist, we are free to ask our God to put into His bottle, we would retain an attitude of affection with the longing that the day should come when it can be disclosed to some at least that we their brethren have maintained affection for them.

In speaking to the elders of the assembly at Ephesus, whom he called over to Miletus, Paul reminds them of the character of his service in that city. He says, “for three years, night and day, I ceased not admonishing each one of you with tears”. What a service! We do not wonder at the quality of the result reached. Of course the Lord was in it, and the Holy Spirit had operated in power, but the scripture records the devotion and fervent affection of this beloved servant, his tears entering into it, in the detailed service of admonishing each one of them.

And now he warns them of what will come, in grievous wolves—and that from among their own selves men should rise up speaking perverted things to draw away disciples after them.

Have we not witnessed this in recent years? It is no new thing in assembly history. But Paul is going on and he commits them to God and to the word of His grace. And the Spirit is strengthening us to go on, even if it involves tears. Each of us needs constant adjustment and the service of admonishing; we are exhorted to do this—in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, yes, (see Colossians 3: 16)—but the service may require tears; so let us, as strengthened by the Spirit, follow the example of the apostle. It is “night and day”, the day is before us; “at even weeping cometh for the night, and at morn there is rejoicing”, Psalm 30: 5. We know that the morning of rejoicing is very near. Indeed we shall anticipate it on the morrow as we assemble to celebrate the Lord’s supper and have part in the service of God in the assembly, for in the Spirit’s power we are released from the sorrows of the testimony to enjoy what is our eternal portion.

The saints in Philippi, in the way they continued in support of the gospel, were a cause of joy to the apostle but he tells them about some—he says, “and now tell you even weeping”—who are enemies of the cross of Christ and mind earthly things. I suppose they were persons who had a place in some assemblies but were merely professing christians. This is another thing that saddens our hearts at the present time, and the apostle helps us to have right feelings as to such. No true believer should be an enemy of the cross of Christ; so let us see to it that we are thoroughly in accord with the cross and what it means as separating us from the world and all that is in it. And let us not fall into the snare of minding earthly things for our minds are to be on what is heavenly—“have your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth”, Colossians 3: 2.

Paul here presents himself and others, as a model which we are to imitate. He does not hesitate to tell us about his tears and his weeping and it is in order that we might follow his example. So the shedding of tears in relation to our experiences in the pathway of the testimony is nothing to be ashamed of—it is recorded seven times of Joseph that he wept, and of Moses as a babe that he wept—and God would assure us that He takes perfect account of such tears and we can be free to ask Him to put them into His bottle. Then there are the compensating joys; within a few verses Paul is saying, “Rejoice in the Lord always—again I will say, Rejoice”, Philippians 4: 4. So, in the midst of the sorrows and the joys, may we be strengthened to go on in faithfulness to the Lord, for His name’s sake.

Substance of an address at Cape Town
11 January 1975