THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST.
(Acts xvi. 8-31.)
We ventured to offer a word to the evangelist, which we now follow up with a paper on the evangelist"s work; and we cannot do better than select, as the basis of our remarks, a page from the missionary record of one of the greatest evangelists that ever lived. The pa.s.sage of Scripture that stands at the head of this article furnishes specimens of three distinct cla.s.ses of hearers, and also the method in which they were met by the great apostle of the Gentiles, guided, most surely, by the Holy Ghost. We have, first, _the earnest seeker_; secondly, _the false professor_; and thirdly, _the hardened sinner_. These three cla.s.ses are to be met everywhere, and at all times, by the Lord"s workman; and hence we may be thankful for an inspired account of the right mode of dealing with such. It is most desirable that those who go forth with the gospel should have skill in dealing with the various conditions of soul that come before them, from day to day; and there can be no more effectual way of attaining this skill than the careful study of the models given us by G.o.d the Holy Ghost.
Let us then, in the first place, look at the narrative of
THE EARNEST SEEKER.
The laborious apostle, in the course of his missionary journeyings, came to Troas, and there a vision appeared to him in the night, "There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, a.s.suredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis; and from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped G.o.d, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things that were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us" (Acts xvi.
8-15).
Here, then, we have a touching picture--something well worth gazing at and pondering. It is a picture of one who, having through grace gotten a measure of light, was living up to it, and was earnestly seeking for more. Lydia, the seller of purple, belonged to the same interesting generation as the eunuch of Ethiopia, and the centurion of Caesarea. All three appear on the page of inspiration as quickened souls not emanc.i.p.ated--not at rest--not satisfied. The eunuch had gone from Ethiopia to Jerusalem in search of something on which to rest his anxious soul. He had left that city still unsatisfied, and was devoutly and earnestly hanging over the precious page of inspiration. The eye of G.o.d was upon him, and He sent His servant Philip with the very message that was needed to solve his difficulties, answer his questions, and set his soul at rest. G.o.d knows how to bring the Philips and the eunuchs together. He knows how to prepare the heart for the message and the message for the heart. The eunuch was a worshiper of G.o.d; but Philip is sent to teach him how to see G.o.d in the face of Jesus Christ. This was precisely what he wanted. It was a flood of fresh light breaking in upon his earnest spirit, setting his heart and conscience at rest, and sending him on his way rejoicing. He had honestly followed the light as it broke in upon his soul, and G.o.d sent him more.
Thus it is ever. "To him that hath shall more be given." There never was a soul who sincerely acted up to his light that did not get more light.
This is most consolatory and encouraging to all anxious enquirers. If the reader belongs to this cla.s.s, let him take courage. If he is one of those with whom G.o.d has begun to work, then let him rest a.s.sured of this, that He who hath begun a good work will perform the same until the day of Jesus Christ. He will, most surely, perfect that which concerneth His people.
But let no one fold his arms, settle upon his oars, and coolly say, "I must wait G.o.d"s time for more light. I can do nothing--my efforts are useless. When G.o.d"s time comes I shall be all right; till then, I must remain as I am." These were not the thoughts or feelings of the Ethiopian eunuch. He was one of the earnest seekers; and all earnest seekers are sure to be happy finders. It must be so, for "G.o.d is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Heb. xi. 6).
So also with the centurion of Caesarea. He was a man of the same stamp.
He lived up to his light. He fasted, he prayed, and gave alms. We are not told whether he had read the sermon on the mount: but it is remarkable that he exercised himself in the three grand branches of practical righteousness set forth by our Lord in the sixth chapter of Matthew.[XXV.] He was moulding his conduct and shaping his way according to the standard which G.o.d had set before him. His righteousness exceeded the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, and therefore he entered the kingdom. He was, through grace, a real man, earnestly following the light as it streamed in upon his soul, and he was led into the full blaze of the gospel of the grace of G.o.d. G.o.d sent a Peter to Cornelius, as he had sent a Philip to the eunuch. The prayers and alms had gone up as a memorial before G.o.d, and Peter was sent with a message of full salvation through a crucified and risen Saviour.
Now it is quite possible that there are persons who, having been rocked in the cradle of easy-going evangelical profession, and trained up in the flippant formalism of a self-indulgent, heaven-made-easy religion, are ready to condemn the pious conduct of Cornelius, and p.r.o.nounce it the fruit of ignorance and legality. Such persons have never known what it was to deny themselves a single meal, or to spend an hour in real, earnest prayer, or to open their hand, in true benevolence, to meet the wants of the poor. They have heard and learnt, perchance, that salvation is not to be gained by such means--that we are justified by faith without works--that it is to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the unG.o.dly.
All this is most true; but what right have we to imagine that Cornelius was praying, fasting, and giving alms in order to earn salvation? None whatever--at least if we are to be governed by the inspired narrative, and we have no other means of knowing aught about this truly excellent and interesting character. He was informed by the angel that his prayers and his alms had gone up as a memorial before G.o.d. Is not this a clear proof that these prayers and alms were not the trappings of self-righteousness, but the fruits of a righteousness based on the knowledge which he had of G.o.d? Surely the fruits of self-righteousness and legality could never have ascended as a memorial to the throne of G.o.d; nor could Peter ever have said concerning a mere legalist that he was one who feared G.o.d and worked righteousness.
Ah, no, reader; Cornelius was a man thoroughly in earnest. He lived up to what he knew, and he would have been quite wrong to go further. To him the salvation of his immortal soul, the service of G.o.d, and eternity, were grand and all-absorbing realities. He was none of your easy-going professors, full of flippant, vapid, worthless talk, but _doing_ nothing. He belonged to another generation altogether. He belonged to the _working_, not the _talking_ cla.s.s. He was one on whom the eye of G.o.d rested with complacency, and in whom the mind of heaven was profoundly interested.
And so was our friend of Thyatira, Lydia, the seller of purple. She belonged to the same school--she occupied the same platform as the centurion and the eunuch. It is truly delightful to contemplate these three precious souls--to think of one in Ethiopia; another at Caesarea; and a third at Thyatira or Philippi. It is particularly refreshing to contrast such downright thorough-going, earnest souls, with many in this our day of boasted light and knowledge, who have got the plan of salvation, as it is termed, in their heads, the doctrines of grace on the tongue, but the world in the heart; whose absorbing object is self, self, self,--miserable object!
We shall have occasion to refer more fully to these latter under our second head; but, for the present, we shall think of the earnest Lydia; and we must confess it is a far more grateful exercise. It is very plain that Lydia, like Cornelius and the eunuch, was a quickened soul; she was a worshiper of G.o.d; she was one who was right glad to lay aside her purple-selling, and betake herself to a prayer-meeting, or to any such like place where spiritual profit was to be had, and where there were good things going. "Birds of a feather flock together," and so Lydia soon found out where a few pious souls, a few kindred spirits, were in the habit of meeting to wait on G.o.d in prayer.
All this is lovely. It does the heart good to be brought in contact with this deep-toned earnestness. Surely the Holy Ghost has penned this narrative, like all Holy Scripture, for our learning. It is a specimen case, and we do well to ponder it. Lydia was found diligently availing herself of any and every opportunity; indeed she exhibited the real fruits of divine life, the genuine instincts of the new nature. She found out where saints met for prayer, and took her place among them.
She did not fold her arms and settle down on her lees, to wait, in antinomian indolence and culpable idleness, for some extraordinary undefinable thing to come upon her, or some mysterious change to come over her. No; she went to a prayer-meeting--the place of expressed need--the place of expected blessing: and there G.o.d met her, as He is sure to meet all who frequent such scenes in Lydia"s spirit. G.o.d never fails an expectant heart. He has said, "They shall not be ashamed that wait for Me;" and, like a bright and blessed sunbeam on the page of inspiration, shines that pregnant, weighty, soul-stirring sentence, "G.o.d is a rewarder of them that DILIGENTLY seek Him." He sent a Philip to the eunuch in the desert of Gaza. He sent a Peter to the centurion, in the town of Caesarea. He sent a Paul to a seller of purple, in the suburbs of Philippi; and He will send a message to the reader of these lines, if he be a really earnest seeker after G.o.d"s salvation.
It is ever a moment of deepest interest when a prepared soul is brought in contact with the full gospel of the grace of G.o.d. It may be that that soul has been under deep and painful exercise for many a long day, seeking rest but finding none. The Lord has been working by His Spirit, and preparing the ground for the good seed. He has been making deep the furrows so that the precious seed of His Word may take permanent root, and bring forth fruit to His praise. The Holy Ghost is never in haste.
His work is deep, sure and solid. His plants are not like Jonah"s gourd, springing up in a night and perishing in a night. All that He does will stand, blessed be His name. "I know that whatsoever G.o.d doeth, it shall be forever." When He convicts, converts, and liberates a soul, the stamp of His own eternal hand is upon the work, in all its stages.
Now, it must have been a moment of intense interest when one in Lydia"s state of soul was brought in contact with that most glorious gospel which Paul carried (Acts xvi. 14). She was thoroughly prepared for his message; and surely his message was thoroughly prepared for her. He carried with him truth which she had never heard and never thought of.
As we have already remarked, she had been living up to her light; she was a worshiper of G.o.d; but we are bold to a.s.sert that she had no idea of the glorious truth which was lodged in the heart of that stranger who sat beside her at the prayer-meeting. She had come thither--devout and earnest woman that she was--to pray and to worship, to get some little refreshment for her spirit, after the toils of the week. How little did she imagine that at that meeting she should hear the greatest preacher that ever lived, save One, and that she should hear the very highest order of truth that had ever fallen upon mortal ears.
Yet thus it was. And, oh, how important it was for Lydia to have been at that memorable prayer meeting! How well it was she had not acted as so many, now-a-days, act, who after a week of toil in the shop, the warehouse, the factory, or the field, take the opportunity of lying in bed on Sunday!
How many there are whom you will see at their post from Monday morning till Sat.u.r.day night, working away with all diligence at their calling, but for whom you will look in vain at the meeting on the Lord"s day. How is this? They will tell you, perhaps, that they are so worn out on Sat.u.r.day night that they have no energy to rise on Sunday, and therefore they spend this day in sloth, lounging, and self-indulgence. They have no care for their souls, no care for eternity, no care for Christ. They care for themselves, for their families, for the world, for money-making; and hence you will find them up with the dawn of Monday and off to their work.
Lydia did not belong to this cla.s.s at all. No doubt she attended to her business, as every right-minded person will. We dare say--indeed, we are sure--she kept very excellent purple, and was a fair, honest trader, in every sense of the word. But she did not spend her Sabbath in bed, or lounging about her house, or nursing herself up, and making a great fuss about all she had to do during the week. Neither do we believe that Lydia was one of those self-occupied folk whom a shower of rain is sufficient to keep away from a meeting. No; Lydia was of a different stamp altogether. She was an earnest woman, who felt she had a soul to save, and an eternity before her, and a living G.o.d to serve and worship.
Would to G.o.d we had more Lydias in this our day! It would give a charm, and an interest, and a freshness to the work of an evangelist, for which many of the Lord"s workmen have to sigh in vain. We seem to live in a day of terrible unreality as to divine and eternal things. Men, women, and children are real enough at their money-making, their pursuits, and their pleasures; but oh, when the things of G.o.d, the things of the soul, the things of eternity, are in question, the aspect of people is that of a yawning indifference. But the moment is rapidly approaching--every beat of the pulse, every tick of the watch, brings us nearer to it--when the yawning indifference shall be exchanged for "weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth." If this were more deeply felt, we should have many more Lydias, prepared to lend an attentive ear to Paul"s gospel.
What force and beauty in those words, "Whose heart the Lord opened, that _she attended_ unto the things that were spoken of Paul." Lydia was not one of those who go to meetings to think of anything and everything but the things that are spoken by the Lord"s messengers. She was not thinking of her purple, or of the prices, or the probable gains or losses. How many of those who fill our preaching rooms and lecture halls follow the example of Lydia? Alas! we fear but very few indeed. The business, the state of the markets, the state of the funds, money, pleasure, dress, folly--a thousand and one things are thought of, and dwelt upon, and attended to, so that the poor vagrant, volatile heart is at the ends of the earth instead of "_attending_" to the things that are spoken.
All this is very solemn, and very awful. It really ought to be looked into and thought of. People seem to forget the responsibility involved in hearing the gospel preached. They do not seem to be in the smallest degree impressed with the weighty fact that the gospel never leaves any unconverted person where it finds him. He is either saved by receiving, or rendered more guilty by rejecting it. Hence it becomes a serious matter to hear the gospel. People may attend gospel meetings as a matter of custom, as a religious service, or because they have nothing else to do, and the time would hang heavy upon their hands; or they may go because they think that the mere act of going has a sort of merit attached to it. Thus thousands attend preachings at which Christ"s servants, though not Pauls in gift, power, or intelligence, unfold the precious grace of G.o.d in sending His only begotten Son into the world to save us from everlasting torment and misery. The virtue and efficacy of the atoning death of the divine Saviour--the Lamb of G.o.d--the dread realities of eternity--the awful horrors of h.e.l.l, and the unspeakable joys of heaven--all these weighty matters are handled, according to the measure of grace bestowed upon the Lord"s messengers, and yet how little impression is produced! They "reason of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come," and yet how few are made even to "tremble!"
And why? Will anyone presume to excuse himself for rejecting the gospel message on the ground of his inability to believe it? Will he appeal to the very case before us, and say, "The Lord opened her heart; and if He would only do the same for me, I, too, should attend; but until He does, I can do nothing"? We reply, and with deep seriousness, Such an argument will not avail thee in the day of judgment. Indeed we are most thoroughly convinced that thou wilt not dare to use it then. Thou art making a false use of Lydia"s charming history. True it is, blessedly true, the Lord opened her heart; and He is ready to open thine also, if there were in thee but the hundredth part of Lydia"s earnestness.
And dost thou not know full well, reader, that there are two sides to this great question, as there are to every question? It is all very well, and sounds very forcibly, for thee to say, "I can do nothing." But who told thee this? Where hast thou learnt it? We solemnly challenge thee, in the presence of G.o.d, Canst thou look up to Him and say, "I can do nothing--I am not responsible?" Say, is the salvation of thy never-dying soul just _the_ one thing in which thou canst do nothing?
Thou canst do a lot of things in the service of the world, of self, and of Satan; but when it becomes a question of G.o.d, the soul, and eternity, you coolly say, "I can do nothing--I am not responsible."
Ah! it will never do. All this style of argument is the fruit of a one-sided theology. It is the result of the most pernicious reasoning of the human mind upon certain truths in Scripture which are turned the wrong way and sadly misapplied. But it will not stand. This is what we urge upon the reader. It is of no possible use arguing in this way. The sinner is responsible; and all the theology, and all the reasoning, and all the fallacious though plausible objections that can be sc.r.a.ped together, can never do away with this weighty and most serious fact.
Hence, therefore, we call upon the reader to be, like Lydia, in earnest about his soul"s salvation--to let every other question, every other point, every other subject, sink into utter insignificance in comparison with this one momentous question--the salvation of his precious soul.
Then, he may depend upon it, the One who sent Philip to the eunuch, and sent Peter to the centurion, and sent Paul to Lydia, will send some messenger and some message to him, and will also open his heart to attend. Of this there cannot possibly be a doubt, inasmuch as Scripture declares that "G.o.d is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." All who perish, after having heard the message of salvation--the sweet story of G.o.d"s free love, of a Saviour"s death and resurrection--shall perish without a shadow of an excuse, shall descend into h.e.l.l with their blood upon their guilty heads. Their eyes shall then be open to see through all the flimsy arguments by which they have sought to prop themselves up in a false position, and lull themselves to sleep in sin and worldliness.
But let us dwell for a moment on "the things that were spoken of Paul."
The Spirit of G.o.d hath not thought proper to give us even a brief outline of Paul"s address at the prayer-meeting. We are therefore left to other pa.s.sages of Holy Scripture to form an idea of what Lydia heard from his lips on that interesting occasion. Let us take, for example, that famous pa.s.sage in which he reminds the Corinthians of the gospel which he had preached to them. "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (I Cor. xv.
I-4).
Now we may safely conclude that the foregoing pa.s.sage of Scripture contains a compendium of the things that were spoken of Paul at the prayer-meeting at Philippi. The grand theme of Paul"s preaching was Christ--Christ for the sinner--Christ for the saint--Christ for the conscience--Christ for the heart. He never allowed himself to wander from this great centre, but made all his preachings and all his teachings circulate round it with admirable consistency. If he called on men, both Jews and Gentiles, to repent, the lever with which he worked was Christ. If he urged them to believe, the object which he held up for faith was Christ, on the authority of Holy Scripture. If he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, the One that gave cogency and moral power to his reasoning was Christ. In short, Christ was the very gist and marrow, the sum and substance, the foundation and top stone of Paul"s preaching and teaching.
But, for our present purpose, there are three grand subjects, found in Paul"s preaching, to which we desire to call the reader"s attention.
These are, first, the grace of G.o.d; secondly, the Person and work of Christ; and thirdly, the testimony of the Holy Ghost as given in the Holy Scriptures.
We do not attempt to go into these vast subjects here; we merely name them, and entreat the reader to ponder them, to muse over them, and seek to make them his own.
(I) The grace of G.o.d--His free, sovereign favor--is the source from whence salvation flows--salvation in all the length, breadth, height, and depth of that most precious word--salvation which stretches, like a golden chain, from the bosom of G.o.d, down to the very deepest depths of the sinner"s guilty and ruined condition, and back again to the throne of G.o.d--meets all the sinner"s necessities, overlaps the whole of the saint"s history, and glorifies G.o.d in the highest possible manner.
(2) Then, in the second place, the Person of Christ and His finished work are the _only_ channel through which salvation can possibly flow to the lost and guilty sinner. It is not the Church and her sacraments, religion and its rites and ceremonies--man or his doings in any shape or form. It is the death and resurrection of Christ. "He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day." This was the gospel which Paul preached, by which the Corinthians were saved, and the apostle declares, with solemn emphasis, "If any man preach any other gospel, let him be accursed." Tremendous words for this our day!
(3) But, thirdly, the authority on which we receive the salvation is the testimony of the Holy Ghost in Scripture. It is "according to the Scriptures." This is a most solid and comforting truth. It is not a question of feelings, or experiences, or evidences; it is a simple question of faith in G.o.d"s word wrought in the heart by G.o.d"s Spirit.
It is a serious reflection for the evangelist, that wherever G.o.d"s Spirit is at work, there Satan is sure to be busy. We must remember and ever be prepared for this. The enemy of Christ and the enemy of souls is always on the watch, always hovering about to see what he can do, either to hinder or corrupt the work of the gospel. This need not terrify or even discourage the workman; but it is well to bear it in mind and be watchful. Satan will leave no stone unturned to mar or hinder the blessed work of G.o.d"s Spirit. He has proved himself the ceaseless, vigilant enemy of that work, from the days of Eden down to the present moment.
Now, in tracing the history of Satan, we find him acting in two characters, namely, as a serpent, or as a lion--using craft or violence.
He will try to deceive; and, if he cannot succeed, then he will use violence. Thus it is in this sixteenth chapter of the Acts. The apostle"s heart had been cheered and refreshed by what we moderns should p.r.o.nounce, "a beautiful case of conversion." Lydia"s was a very real and decided case, in every respect. It was direct, positive, and unmistakable. She received Christ into her heart, and forthwith took Christian ground by submitting to the deeply significant ordinance of baptism. Nor was this all. She immediately opened her house to the Lord"s messengers. Hers was no mere lip profession. It was not merely _saying_ she believed. She proved her faith in Christ, not only by going down under the water of baptism, but also by identifying herself and her household with the name and cause of that blessed One whom she had received into her heart by faith.
All this was clear and satisfactory. But we must now look at something quite different. The serpent appears upon the scene in the person of
THE DECEIVER.
"It came to pa.s.s, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high G.o.d, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour" (vers. 16-18).
Here, then, was a case eminently calculated to test the spirituality and integrity of the evangelist. Most men would have hailed such words from the lips of this damsel as an encouraging testimony to the work. Why then was Paul grieved? Why did he not allow her to continue to bear witness to the object of his mission? Was she not saying the truth? Were they not the servants of the most high G.o.d? And were they not showing the way of salvation? Why be grieved with--why silence such a witness?
Because it was of Satan; and, most a.s.suredly, the apostle was not going to receive testimony from him. He could not allow Satan to help him in his work. True, he might have walked about the streets of Philippi owned and honored as a servant of G.o.d, if only he had consented to let the devil have a hand in the work. But Paul could never consent to this. He could never suffer the enemy to mix himself up with the work of the Lord. Had he done so, it would have given the deathblow to the testimony at Philippi. To have permitted Satan to put his hand to the work, would have involved the total shipwreck of the mission to Macedonia.
It is deeply important for the Lord"s workman to weigh this matter. We may rest a.s.sured that this narrative of the damsel has been written for our instruction.