But more often it seems the Lord finds men preoccupied with other plans and ambitions, or encompa.s.sed with obstacles and difficulties, or oppressed with a deep sense of unworthiness or unfitness. Moses argued that he could not talk. "O Lord!" he said, "I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant; but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue."
And then the Lord condescended, as He always does, to reason with the backward man. "Who hath made man"s mouth?" He asks, "or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? Now, therefore, go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say" (Exodus iv. 10-12).
When the call of G.o.d came to Jeremiah, he shrank back, and said, "Ah, Lord G.o.d! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." But the Lord replied, "Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee" (Jeremiah i. 6-8).
And so the call of G.o.d comes to-day to those who shrink and feel that they are the most unfit, or most hedged in by insuperable difficulties.
I know a man, who, when converted, could not tell A from B. He knew nothing whatever about the Bible, and stammered so badly that, when asked his own name, it would usually take him a minute or so to tell it; added to this, he lisped badly, and was subject to a nervous affliction which seemed likely to unfit him for any kind of work whatever. But G.o.d poured light and love into his heart, called him to preach, and to-day he is one of the mightiest soul-winners in the whole round of my acquaintance.
When he speaks the house is always packed to the doors, and the people hang on his words with wonder and joy.
He was converted at a Camp meeting, and sanctified wholly in a cornfield. He learned to read; but, being too poor to afford a light in the evening, he studied a large-print Bible by the light of the full moon. To-day, he has the Bible almost committed to memory, and when he speaks he does not open the Book, but reads his lesson from memory, and quotes proof texts from Genesis to Revelation without mistake, and gives chapter and verse for every quotation. When he talks his face shines, and his speech is like honey for sweetness, and like bullets fired from a gun for power.
He is one of the weak and foolish ones G.o.d has chosen to confound the wise and mighty (1 Cor. i. 27).
If G.o.d calls a man, He will so corroborate the call in some way, that men may know that there is a prophet among them. It will be with him as it was with Samuel. "And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of His words fall to the ground.
And all Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord" (1 Samuel iii. 19, 20).
If the man himself is uncertain about the call, G.o.d will deal patiently with him, as He did with Gideon, to make him certain.
His fleece will be wet with dew when the earth is dry, or dry when the earth is wet; or he will hear of some tumbling barley cake smiting the tents of Midian, that will strengthen his faith, and make him to know that G.o.d is with him (Judges vi. 36-40; vii. 9-15).
If the door is shut and difficulties hedge the way, G.o.d will go before the man He calls, and open the door and sweep away the difficulties (Isaiah xlv. 2, 3).
If others think the man so ignorant and unfit that they doubt his call, G.o.d will give him such grace or such power to win souls that they shall have to acknowledge that G.o.d has chosen him. It was in this way that G.o.d made a whole National Headquarters, from the Commissioner downwards, to know that He had chosen the elevator boy for His work. The boy got scores of his pa.s.sengers on the elevator saved, and then he was commissioned and sent into the Field to devote all his time to saving men.
The Lord will surely let the man"s comrades and brethren know, as surely as He did the Church at Antioch, when "the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them" (Acts xiii. 2).
Sometimes the one who is called will try to hide it in his heart, and then G.o.d stirs up some Officer or minister, some Soldier or mother in Israel, to lay a hand on his shoulders, and ask, "Are you not called to the work?" and he finds he cannot hide himself nor escape from the call, any more than could Adam hide himself from G.o.d behind the trees of the garden, or Jonah escape G.o.d"s call by taking ship for Tarshish.
Happy is the man who does not try to escape, but, though trembling at the mighty responsibility, a.s.sumes it, and, with all humility and faithfulness, sets to work by prayer and patient, continuous study of G.o.d"s word, to fit himself for G.o.d"s work. He will need to prepare himself, for the call to the work is also a call to preparation, continuous preparation of the fullest possible kind.
The man whom G.o.d calls cannot safely neglect or despise the call.
He will find his mission on earth, his happiness and peace, his power and prosperity, his reward in Heaven, and probably Heaven itself, bound up with that call and dependent upon it. He may run away from it, as did Jonah, and find a waiting ship to favour his flight; but he will also find fierce storms and bellowing seas overtaking him, and big-mouthed fishes of trouble and disaster ready to swallow him.
But if he heeds the call, and cheerfully goes where G.o.d appoints, G.o.d will go with him; he shall nevermore be left alone. The Holy Spirit will surely accompany him, and he may be one of the happiest men on earth, one of the gladdest creatures in G.o.d"s universe.
"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world," said Jesus, as He commissioned His disciples to go to all nations and preach the Gospel. "My presence shall go with thee," said Jehovah to Moses, when sending him to face Pharaoh and free Israel, and lead them to the Promised Land.
And to the boy Jeremiah, He said, "Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee.... And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee" (Jeremiah i. 8, 19).
I used to read these words with a great and rapturous joy, as I realised by faith that they were also meant for me, and for every man sent of G.o.d, and that His blessed presence was with me every time I spoke to the people or dealt with an individual soul, or knelt in prayer with a penitent seeker after G.o.d; and I still read them so.
Has He called you into the work, my brother? And are you conscious of His helpful, sympathising, loving presence with you?
If so, let no petty offence, no hardship, nor danger, nor dread of the future, cause you to turn aside or draw back. Stick to the work till He calls you out, and when He so calls you can go with open face and a heart abounding with love, joy, and peace, and He will still go with you.
"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?"
XIX.
THE SHEATHED SWORD: A LAW OF THE SPIRIT.
"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you."
JUST as the moss and the oak are higher in the order of creation than the clod of clay and the rock, the bird and beast than the moss and the oak, the man than the bird and the beast, so the spiritual man is a higher being than the natural man. The sons of G.o.d are a new order of being. The Christian is a "new creation."
Just as there are laws governing the life of the plant, and other and higher laws that of the bird and beast, so there are higher laws for man, and still higher for the Christian. It was with regard to one of these higher laws that govern the heavenly life of the Christian that Jesus said to Peter, "Put up thy sword."
Jesus said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight." The natural man is a fighter. It is the law of his carnal nature. He fights with fist and sword, tongue and wit. His kingdom is of this world, and he fights for it with such weapons as this world furnishes. The Christian is a citizen of Heaven, and is subject to its law, which is universal, wholehearted love. In his kingdom he conquers not by fighting, but by submitting. When an enemy takes his coat, he overcomes him, not by going to law, but by generously giving him his cloak also. When his enemy compels him to go a mile with him, he vanquishes the enemy by cheerfully going two miles with him. When he is smitten on one cheek, he wins his foe by meekly turning the other cheek. This is the law of the new life from Heaven, and only by recognising and obeying it can that new life be sustained and pa.s.sed on to others. This is the narrow way which leads to life eternal, "and few there be that find it," or, finding it, are willing to walk in it.
A Russian peasant, Sutajeff, could get no help from the religious teachers of his village, so he learned to read, and while studying the Bible he found this narrow way, and walked gladly in it. One night neighbours of his stole some of his grain, but in their haste or carelessness they left a bag. He found it, and ran after them to restore it, "for," said he, "fellows who have to steal must be hard up." And by this Christlike spirit he saved both himself and them, for he kept the spirit of love in his own heart, and they were converted and became his most ardent disciples.
A beggar woman, to whom he gave lodging, stole the bedding and ran away with it. She was pursued by the neighbours, and was just about to be put in prison when Sutajeff appeared, became her advocate, secured her acquittal, and gave her food and money for her journey.
He recognised the law of his new life and gladly obeyed it, and so was not overcome of evil, but persistently and triumphantly overcame evil with good (Romans xii. 21).
This is the spirit and method of Jesus; and by men filled with this spirit and following this method He will yet win the world.
He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many. His spirit is not one of self-seeking, but of self-sacrifice. Some mysterious majesty of His presence or voice so awed and overcame His foes that they went back and fell to the ground before Him in the Garden of His agony, but He meekly submitted Himself to them; and when Peter laid to with his sword, and cut off the ear of the high priest"s servant, Jesus said to him, "Put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?"
This was the spirit of Isaac. When he digged a well, the Philistines strove with his servants for it; so he digged another; and when they strove for that, he removed and digged yet another, "and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth" (margin, _room_): "and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.... And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the G.o.d of Abraham, thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed" (Genesis xxvi.
22, 24).
This was the spirit of David, when Saul was hunting for his life; twice David could have slain him, and when urged to do so, he said, "As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle and perish.
The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord"s anointed" (1 Samuel xxvi. 10, 11).
This was the spirit of Paul. He says, "Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we intreat" (1 Cor. iv. 12, 13). "The servant of the Lord must not strive,"
wrote Paul to Timothy, "but be gentle unto all men." This is the spirit of our King, this is the law of His Kingdom.
Is this your spirit? When you are reviled, bemeaned and slandered, and are tempted to retort, He says to you, "Put up thy sword into the sheath." When you are wronged and illtreated, and men ride rough-shod over you, and you feel it but just to smite back, He says, "Put up thy sword into the sheath." "Live peaceably with all men." Your weapons are not carnal, but spiritual, now that you belong to Him, and have your citizenship in Heaven. If you fight with the sword; if you retort and smite back when you are wronged, you quench the Spirit; you get out of the narrow way, and your new life from Heaven will perish.
An Officer went to a hard Corps, and after a while found that his predecessor was sending back to friends for money which his own Corps much needed. He felt it to be an injustice, and, losing sight of the Spirit of Jesus, he made a complaint about it, and the money was returned. But he got lean in his soul. He had quenched the Spirit. He had broken the law of the Kingdom. He had not only refused to give his cloak, but had fought for and secured the return of the coat. He had lost the smile of Jesus, and his poor heart was sad and heavy within him. He came to me with anxious inquiry as to what I thought of his action. I had to admit that the other man had transgressed, and that the money ought to be returned, but that he should have been more grieved over the unchristlike spirit of his brother than over the loss of the five dollars, and that like Sutajeff he should have said, "Poor fellow! he must be hard up; I will send him five dollars myself. He has taken my coat, he shall have my cloak too." When I told him that story, he came to himself very quickly, and was soon back in the narrow way and rejoicing in the smile of Jesus once again.
"But will not people walk over us, if we do not stand up for our rights?" you ask. I do not argue that you are not to stand up for your rights; but that you are to stand up for your higher rather than your lower rights, the rights of your heavenly life rather than your earthly life, and that you are to stand up for your rights in the way and spirit of Jesus rather than in the way and spirit of the world.
If men wrong you intentionally, they wrong themselves far worse than they wrong you; and if you have the spirit of Jesus in your heart you will pity them more than you pity yourself. They nailed Jesus to the cross and hung Him up to die; they gave Him gall and vinegar to drink; they cast votes for His seamless robe, and divided His garments between them, while the crowd wagged their heads at Him and mocked Him. Great was the injustice and wrong they were inflicting upon Him, but He was not filled with anger, only pity. He thought not of the wrong done Him, but of the wrong they did themselves, and their sin against His Heavenly Father, and He prayed not for judgment upon them, but that they might be forgiven, and He won them, and is winning and will win the world.
Bless G.o.d!
"By mercy and truth iniquity is purged," wrote Solomon. "Put up thy sword into the sheath, "and take mercy and truth for your weapons, and G.o.d will be with you and for you, and great shall be your victory and joy. Hallelujah!
"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?"
XX.
VICTORY THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT OVER SUFFERING.