Grace Preferred to Gifts
(No. 2694)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, SEPTEMBER 3O, 1900.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
SEPTEMBER 1, 1881.
"But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet I show you a more
excellent way." 1 Corinthians 12:31.
THERE are among us many who have recently joined the visible Church of
Christ. We have heartily welcomed them and we desire to always
entertain, concerning them, a joyous feeling of thankfulness that they
have united with us. May they never have to regret it and may the
Church of God never have to regret it, either! Dear Friend, now that
you have become a member of a Christian Church, you should say to
yourself, "What can I do for it? I have not come here merely to confess
that I am saved and there to let the matter stop, but I have enlisted
in an army that I may be a comrade with other soldiers, and be drilled,
and trained, and equipped so that I may know how to march and to go
forth to the battle. I have come into the church to be a member of a
body. What is my office? Every member has its own special office in the
body–it is not there merely for its own comfort, but to be a help to
the whole system of which it forms a part. What, then, can I do?" The
question which we should each one ask of the Lord is that which Saul
asked on the way to Damascus, "Lord, what will You have me to do?"
When that question is once answered and you, dear Friend, know your
proper place in the body of Christ, and have taken that place, whatever
it may be, I think that your next desire will be that you may be in the
best spiritualhealth– that you may be as vigorous as you can be–that,
little though you ever may have to place at your Lord's disposal, yet
that the best use may be made of that little! Even when we have done
all those things that are commanded us, we shall still have to confess
that we are unprofitable servants to our great Lord and Master. Yet
everyone of us should pray that he may have as much to use for Christ
as he can use, and that he may be as well fitted by the Holy Spirit for
the Master's service as it is possible that he can be. I would like to
give to God the best that I have and, as that must be my whole spirit,
soul and body, ought I not to wish that my spirit, soul and body should
be at their very best? I believe that many of you, dear Friends, feel
just as I do about this matter. And, therefore, I shall not do wrong if
I stir up the pure minds of those who have, through Infinite Mercy,
given themselves to Christ, and say to them, "Make the most of
yourselves. Make the best of yourselves. 'Covet earnestly the best
gifts.'" But when I have said that, I shall have to add a caveat and,
possibly, that caveat will rise into a word of encouragement and
exhortation–"Yet I show you a more excellent way."
There are two things in the text. There is, first, an excellent way.
And, secondly, there is "a more excellent way "
I. First, there is AN EXCELLENT WAY. That is, for each individual
Christian to "covet earnestly the best gifts."
Paul is not speaking here concerning ordinary gifts as we see them in
men of the world who are gifted in various ways. He is referring to
spiritual'gifts–gifts which we dare to ask of God, gifts which we may
expect the Spirit of God to bestow upon us, gifts which can be used in
the Church of Christ and which we desire to possess in order that we
may use them to the Glory of God. We have not all the spiritual gifts
which were entrusted to the first Christian Church. I do not suppose it
would have been wise that we should have had them!
The gift of miracles, for instance, if it had continued in the Church,
would have attracted the notice of men rather to the supernatural power
of God than to the moral and spiritual power of Christ Jesus our Savior
as manifested through the Divine Spirit. This great spiritual battle
between right and wrong, which is being fought out in the arena of the
world, God never intended to be fought out by mere might and power
through the dazzling display of signs and won-
ders. He resolved to win the victory by the effectual working of the
Holy Spirit, according to that word unto Zerubbabel, "Not by might, nor
by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts." He intended to
work in a spiritual manner upon the hearts of men and, therefore, He
dispensed with the aid of miracles which had been necessary in the
first stage of the Church's growth. You have, no doubt, often seen, in
the case of a young tree when it is newly planted, that a stout stake
is driven in by the side of it and the sapling is tied to that stake.
But when the tree grows bigger and stronger, it needs no such support.
So has it been with the Church of Christ on earth. At first it was
feeble and needed to be upheld and sustained by the aid of miracles,
wonders and signs–but it no longer needs that aid. Or, as you have
seen a ship in the Thames being towed out to sea and then, when it is
fairly out upon the ocean, it is trusted to its own steam, or to the
winds of Heaven, so has it been with the Christian Church. She was
towed out of the narrow river of Judaism onto the broad sea of later
times and now the Blessed Spirit speeds her on her way without the tug
of miracles!
How far the gifts of healing may still remain in the Church, I should
not like to be forced to say–either to say that they remain, lest any
should be led into fanaticism–or to say that they are utterly gone,
lest I should be denying some things which, at any rate, look like
facts. God does, I doubt not, still hear the believing prayers of His
servants concerning the sick. At least, in certain cases, and still
should it be, as I judge, an ordinance to be observed, "Is any sick
among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the
prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up."
Be that matter how it may, that is not the subject of this evening's
discourse. The spiritual gifts, of which I am to speak, are those about
which there can be no question that they doremain and are to be had by
those who earnestly covet them and diligently seek them.
One of the first of these gifts is knowledge. Dear Friends, you who are
beginners in the School of Christ, seek after more knowledge of the
Word of God, and seek it very earnestly. You were brought to Christ
knowing very little except yourself a sinner and Christ a Savior. But
now that you are saved, you should try to "comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the
love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with
all the fullness of God." "Search the Scriptures." Be familiar with the
Doctrines of Grace. Seek to be established in the faith and, as the
Apostle Peter says, "Be always ready to give an answer to every man
that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and
fear."
I wish that all religious professors sought to be more deeply
instructed by the Word read and by the Word heard, and by experience
and meditation in the things of God. Covet earnestly this spiritual
gift of knowledge and give yourselves diligently to the search after
it, that you may become fully established in the principles of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. What a blessing you will be to others if you
have much knowledge of the things of God! How often you will be able to
help those who are in spiritual difficulties! How frequently you will
be enabled to flash light upon the darkness of the ignorant and to
bring comfort to those who are in distress of soul! Solomon said,
"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all your
getting get understanding," which I would interpret here as an
understanding of the Word of the Lord.
Next to that, dear Friend, covet earnestly the power to impart
knowledge. I t is not everybody who possesses knowledge who can convey
it to others. There is a habit, there is a fitness, there is a spirit,
there is a mode which men must obtain if they are to be "apt to teach."
I have known some who have attempted to pour the Truth of God into very
narrow-necked vessels such as children are, but they have spilled far
more than they have poured in! Some are so confused in their
proclamation of the Truth that they are misunderstood. Some put the
wrong Truth foremost and seem as if they would explain the mysteries of
the Revelation before they have taught the simplicities of Matthew and
the other Evangelists! They are perpetually putting the cart before the
horse. Do not so, Beloved, but ask the Holy Spirit to bestow upon you
the gifts of teaching, that you may become to those whom God puts in
your way, ready to communicate the Truth of God, breaking the Bread of
Life upon which you have yourself first fed.
With that gift of teaching, get, if you can, that other blessed gift of
personal address, s o as to be able to "button-hole"people and to speak
to them individually about their danger, and the way of escape from it.
If you possibly can, do acquire the holy art of soul-winning! It is the
finest piece of Christian education that I know of–the power to hunt
for men as hunters seek their game–to track them to their hiding
places–to stop up the holes in which they seek to get shelter, and to
take them in Gospel nets and bring them as willing captives to your
Lord and Master! This spiritual hunting is grand work–may you be well
skilled in it! It is a very special gift. Covet it earnestly. I am sure
that I greatly covet
it. There are some here who have it in a very marked degree. I would
that all God's people had this precious spiritual
gift!
Then there is what we call "gift in prayer"–the gift of public
prayer–covet that also, dear Brothers and Sisters. Some excellent
members of the church never pray in public and I do not blame them. God
forbid that we should do so! Still, I am inclined to think that a very
large number of our dumb people would have been able to speak and pray
in public if they had only begun earlier in their Christian life. And I
also believe that they would be able to do so now if they were not
quite so proud. "Oh," you say, "that is rather a hard word." Well,
Brother, you are afraid that you would break down, are you not? Now, if
you would not mind doing so, and would break down two or three times,
you would do well enough afterwards. Some of you, possibly, are afraid
to pray even in your own family circle because you think that you would
not find suitable words. Now, suppose that you were to tell the Lord
that you are afraid you cannot use appropriate language, and ask Him to
help you? And then suppose you can only utter half a dozen sentences?
If your children come and complain that the family prayer was too
short, it will be a novel sort of complaint! I have sometimes heard
about its being too long–and if ever you hear me complain of anybody
breaking down in the Prayer Meeting, I beg you to mark that word, for
it will be a remarkable thing for me to say!
On the contrary, I am glad to hear a Brother break down. I wish some of
you would do so. Some of our young friends, when they break down, give
new life to the meeting. They put real feeling into it, for we are all
alive with sympathy towards them. Their breaking down does us far more
good than the long, prosy prayers that rather weary us than help us.
When some trembling Brother stands up in the meeting–when he pours out
the requests of his heart with simplicity and earnestness, and in a way
that suits us all–we thank God for him and we feel that we have been
as much refreshed by the few minutes of his prayer as we should have
been by the best possible discourse. So, dear Friend, covet earnestly
the gift of public prayer, for it tends greatly to the edification of
your fellow Believers. If you have the gift in any measure, cultivate
it and seek to possess more and more of it.
And what a precious gift is that of preaching the Word! Thank God that
this gift is still preserved in the midst of the Church, for the
pulpit, rightly filled, is the tower of the flock. It is the very
bastion of the walls of Zion. As long as her watchmen shall stand there
and cry aloud in God's name, the foe shall not be able to enter, or to
break her peace. There are many men who have this gift who do not
cultivate it, and do not use it as much as they ought. I say not that
all preachers should become regular pastors of the flocks, but we have
among us many men of business who could speak for Christ here and
there, in the streets, or in a cottage, or in large assemblies, when
they might be called upon, and who ought to endeavor, as much as in
them lies, to get the power of speech that they may speak well for
Jesus Christ. In this sense, dear Brothers, "covet earnestly the best
gifts."
Another very desirable spiritual gift is that of wisdom to direct tried
souls. I have known and you have known, some who have been wise in this
sense quite early in life. And others we have known–the gift usually
comes in this way–who have become wise through experience. They are
not easily deceived. They are men of steadfastness. They know what they
believe and they know why they believe it. And when a difficult case,
which has puzzled many, is brought before them, you are astonished to
see what a discerning spirit God has given them, so that they at once
indicate the right course to be taken. They can discover the clue of
the maze, and those who follow it come to the desired point very
speedily. Now, these persons are invaluable in the Church–matronly
women, and venerable men–who can speak a word in season to him that is
weary, or a word of warning to him that is ready to slip. And who can
do it so kindly that no offense is taken at what they say–and who can
do it at the right time, and in the right tone and spirit–so that the
message is regarded and is not forgotten. I pray God to raise up many
in our midst who shall have this very precious gift.
I have sometimes heard people say, in disparagement of certain
churches, that "they take in a lot of young people– mere boys and
girls!" Yes, and we would like to take in a lot more of that sort. We
are always open to receive any quantity of Christ's lambs, for, in due
season they will grow into sheep and so the flock will be perpetuated.
I came to London just about the time when good Mr. Joseph Irons, of
Camberwell, had finished his ministry. I had read how some people
complained that in his early days, he had received a great many young
people into his church. And when I came to New Park Street, I had the
high privilege of finding these young people turned into old,
experienced Believers! And among the first who came to join with us,
when the standard was lifted up, was a goodly number of these gracious
men and women–nearly all of whom are now with God–they became pillars
in the midst of our church and they contributed
greatly to its stability and its usefulness. They were some of the boys
and girls whom young Joseph irons received into the Church, only,
having been boys and girls perhaps 40 or 50 years previously, they were
not very boyish and girlish when I knew them!
What a comfort those who have been long in Christ are to the minister!
What a help those who have much of the spirit of their Master are to
their fellow members! What a terror they are to the ungodly! The devil
himself cannot move these people from their steadfastness, for God is
with them and, therefore, they are so strong that they overcome even
the Evil One. Alas, it is always true that we have not many fathers!
But when we do get some fathers and mothers in Israel, they are a great
strength and a great treasure to us, and God is to be thanked for them.
I want you young people to mind that, as you grow older, you grew
wiser, and to see to it that you endeavor to live near to God, and to
walk before Him, as to get deeper and deeper into the very heart of the
Truth of God, so that, in later years, you may have the blessed
spiritual gift of wisdom which will enable you to guide others.
Meanwhile, there is a gift which comes to us without our using any
direct means to obtain it–a sort of outgrowth from a godly character,
namely, influence. I will not attempt to define what it is, but you
know well enough when you feel it. A man stands up to pray in the
Prayer Meeting and a stranger who may be present thinks, "What a
delightful prayer that is, yet nobody seems to be affected by it!" Then
another person stands up to pray. He is not very fluent and the
stranger does not think that his prayer is at all remarkable, but he
notices that the people appear to feel the force of it. Why is that?
The difference is in the man who presents the prayer–there is an
influence exerted by him which the other man does not possess. I
believe that there are some men who, if they were very ill and could
only be borne from their beds to say half a dozen sentences, would work
more good in the hearts of those who heard them than some others would
do by half a score of sermons!
To quote a living instance–I may venture to do so, for I do not
suppose that the Brother whose name I am about to mention will ever
know that I did it. When I listened to dear Mr. George Mueller, I
thought, "Well now, that is very simple talk. A child from the Sunday
school might almost say all that he has said." Yet I was edified to the
highest degree because there was George Mueller's influence at the back
of all that he said. That was the secret of its power. I knew something
of his holy life, his power with God in prayer, his faith and the great
work which it had enabled him to accomplish. So the simplest sentence
seemed to drop into my soul with weight, power and unction, for there
was the influence of the good man behind it all! And glad enough was I
to sit at his feet and listen to his gracious talk. I do not remember
anything he said that was at all striking, or fresh, or new, or
original–it was because the man had been with God and had his Lord's
Presence continually with him, that his words came with unction and
power!
Now, Brothers and Sisters, this is a spiritual gift which we ought
earnestly to covet. Oh, that we might be spiritually like Asher! You
know that part of Asher's blessing was, "Let him dip his foot in oil!"
What was the consequence of the fulfillment of that blessing? Why,
that, wherever he went, he left an oily mark behind him. "What sort of
a minister have you now?" I once asked a person who came from a place
where the new minister had been for, perhaps, a year or two, and I had
known the previous one–"What sort of a minister have you now?" The
answer I received was, "Well, Sir, we have a man of this kind. If he
comes into your house for only ten minutes, you know that he has been
there." That is the sort of man I should like to be, and the sort of
woman I wish you to be, dear Sister–so that when you go even for a
little time into the company of others, they may know that you have
been there! Yes, and when you do not go anywhere, when you are lying
upstairs sick in bed, may you have such an influence about you that
your power shall be felt far away! And those who have been serving God
shall serve Him better and more earnestly, and more joyfully because
they remember you– and your influence–by God's blessing upon it,
shall be quickening and strengthening to them. This was the kind of
influence which Paul wielded even from his prison at Rome, for many of
the Brothers and Sisters, waxing confident by his bonds, were moved to
serve God all the better because their fellow soldier was compelled to
be absent from the fight.
All these that I have mentioned are spiritualgifts, therefore, seek
them. Covet them earnestly for they will be a blessing to you, they
will be a blessing to others and they will bring glory to God! That is
an excellent way for you to walk in.
II. But, in the second place, I have to speak to you, as the Apostle
writes to these Corinthians, concerning "A MORE EXCELLENT WAY." Silver
is good, but gold is better. A certain way may be excellent, but
another way may be still more excellent. Gifts are good, but Grace is
better. Get gifts, spiritual gifts, but also get Grace and, above all,
get the
best Grace, the noblest Grace, the greatest Grace–that is, LOVE, for
love to God and love to your fellow men, and love to the Church of
God–this is "a more excellent way."
Get much Grace, then, first, because you need it. I do not know that
you need gifts. Perhaps, dear Friends, you are not lacking in gifts.
You require some for the service of your Lord, but perhaps you have
enough, and it may be that if you had more, they would be an
encumbrance to you. But I am sure that you need Grace. A man may be
really better off with one talent than with five, but he cannot be
better off with one measure of Grace than with five. The more Grace we
have, the better, for thus we shall be "rich toward God," and this kind
of riches brings no sorrow with it. You need a great deal more Grace
than you think you do. Something is going to happen in which you will
need great Grace. Perhaps there is to be more trial for you. Possibly
there is to be more prosperity–and then you will certainly need more
Grace! But, whatever is to come, get more Grace because you will need
it.
I must warn you young converts and also all other Believers, that one
reason why you will need Grace is because the devil will be certain,
sooner or later, to assail you with fierce temptations. If ever there
is a railway made to a place where there are no temptations, I suspect
that they will have to run a great many trains there–but will there
ever be discovered such a country? Never, beneath the cope of Heaven!
As long as we are here, we will be tried, and I am always slow to
advise people to try to change their trials for any others. I remember
the world's poet speaks of a something that–
"Makes us rather bear these ills we have, Than fly to others that we
know not of." The burden which I have to carry, I have carried so long
that it begins to fit my shoulders–and I would not like to change it
for yours, even though yours may be lighter than mine, for there is an
awkward corner about yours that perhaps fits the shape of your back,
but it would not so well fit mine! It would be more burdensome to me
than it is to you, and my lead would be more weighty to you than it is
to me. We had better let the temptations that we now have be bravely
conquered than suppose that by changing our adversaries, we could
secure a victory. If you were to get quite alone, as our Savior was in
the wilderness, with nothing but the wild beasts round about you, you
could not shut out the devil even then! Forty days He had for
meditation, prayer and fasting, yet there was the devil waiting to
assail Him again and again! So I repeat that not even solitude, if the
lonely hours were spent in prayer, fasting and watching, could secure
us immunity from temptation–it must and will attack us.
We ought to be very grateful when, for a time, we are free from it, but
we still ought to be on our watchtower, for, at any moment, that
adversary, whose noiseless flight no ear has ever heard, that
relentless foe–who is not to be perceived by the eye, for he is an
invisible spirit who may descend from the air of which he is the
prince, and alight at our side– may begin to tempt us though we are
fresh from our knees, and covered with the dew of communion with God!
The mercy is that active and vigilant as Satan is, the Grace of God is
more than a match for him! So again I urge you to get more Grace
because you need it in resisting temptation.
Next, get more Grace, because you can have it. There is no limit!
Perhaps, even though you covet earnestly the best gifts, there may be
some gifts which you will never receive. A Brother may wish to preach
and yet he may never be able to do so. Another may desire to pray in
public and yet, perhaps, he may never be bold enough to open his mouth
in the assembly. One may long for wisdom that he may guide others, yet
it may never be granted to him. But all can have Grace! That is a
fountain which is always flowing, a river from which all who will, may
drink. There are, in certain places, little ponds by the roadside, and
as you pass by you may see notices giving warning that no dogs may be
washed there. Go down to the River Thames and see whether you can find
any notice of that kind there! There stands a bullock, knee-deep in the
stream, and drinks all he wants–and all kinds of creatures come and
wash or swim in the water. There is such a plenty of it that nobody is
refused. So is it with the Grace of God–it is a vast river which
cannot be exhausted and, therefore, the Divine invitation is, "Let him
who thirsts come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life
freely." So get more Grace, dear Friend, because you can have it!
Get more Grace, also, because you will then be sure to be useful. I am
not sure that you would be more useful if you had more talent. There
are some men who have too many talents to ever be of much use to the
church or the world. You may think that this is a strange thing for me
to say, but I really mean it. They seem to have such big sails that
their boat cannot sail–it capsizes. They need to have bigger boats and
more of the ballast or burden of trouble to carry, and then, perhaps,
they might bear their huge sails in safety. It is not every gift that
makes a man useful, but I am sure that all
Grace makes us useful. Gift is often barren, but Grace is always
fruitful. You can bury a gift in a napkin, but who can put Grace in a
cloth and hide it? Grace is one of the things that cannot be buried–it
is a living thing, a burning thing, and it will make you useful if you
have it–therefore, seek to have more and more of it.
Get more Grace, dear Brother, because so you will assuredly glorify
God. I am not sure that you would always glorify God if you had more
gifts. How little glory God gets often out of great gifts! I remember
how, when I began to preach the Gospel, I used to wish that Milton had
been a preacher. I often thought what a grand thing it would have been
if Shakespeare had been a minister. With his wonderful versatility of
talent and poetry of expression, I thought he would have been a very
powerful preacher. But, afterwards, I almost thanked God that we had
not any Miltons or Shakespeares preaching. It is far better to have men
of quite another stamp, so that the hearers may not be carried away
either with poetical expressions or with an excess of worldly knowledge
and ability. Those fishermen, over by the Sea of Galilee, who did not
know much except about fish, were more fit to preach the Gospel than
were those fine gentlemen at Athens who thought they knew everything
that was to be known in all the world! They were too full of worldly
wisdom to learn the wisdom that comes down from above. But those
fishermen were just simple souls who could believe what they were told,
and who could repeat to others what Christ had said to them–and that
is the kind of instrument that Christ generally uses in the effecting
of His gracious purposes of mercy.
So, Beloved, covet earnestly much Grace, for Grace always glorifies
God. There is not a grain of Grace in the world which does not reflect
the light of His face from whom it came. Gifts may be prostituted to
the vilest purposes, but Grace–the Grace of God–always brings glory
to His holy name. Therefore, while you "covet earnestly the best
gifts," "yet I show you a more excellent way." That is, seek to obtain
continually more Grace.
Now, in closing my discourse, let me tell you, beloved Brothers and
Sisters, why this is "a more excellent way." First, you may have gifts
and yet you may still be only natural men and women. The highest gifts
of preaching that men have ever had, or of poetry by which they could
write choice hymns, did not prove that they had passed from death unto
life. They might still be in the gall of bitterness and be enemies to
God as Judas was. Though they had very remarkable and special gifts as
Judas had, for, no doubt, he worked miracles and, in the name of
Christ, did many wonderful works. Gifts are but natural things and they
are given to the children of the flesh. But Grace is supernatural and
whenever it is bestowed upon us, it proves that we are the children of
God after the Spirit.
Remember, also, that you may have gifts and yet you may still be under
the power of sin. Alas, how many who have the brightest natural gifts
are still using them in the cause of Satan! And even some who have
spiritual gifts of the kind I have described, yet since they are not
gracious as well as gifted, are doing mischief rather than good to the
cause of Christ. To my great grief I have known some who had a
considerable gift in prayer, and who seemed to have a good knowledge of
the Word, yet who, all the while, were living in some secret sin and,
by-and-by, it was found out and they went out from us because they were
never really of us. You may have the most brilliant gifts and appear to
be notable Christian workers, yet, for all that, you may still be under
the dominion of sin. And so it comes to pass that a man may have all
gifts, all knowledge and all faith so that he could remove mountains,
and he may even give his body to be burned, yet, if he has not love–if
he has not Grace, he is still under the wrath of God! It must be an
awful thing to preach like an Apostle and yet to be cast into Hell like
a devil–to be able to instruct others and yet never to enter into the
Kingdom of God–to be able to pray in public and yet never have any
part or lot in the things of Christ–no union to Him, no salvation by
Him.
O Brothers and Sisters, do you understand and realize this? You may
have great gifts and yet go to Hell! Therefore, while they are worth
the having under proper conditions, they are not one tenth so much
worth the having as Grace is, for he who has Grace is not under the
curse or condemnation of the Law, or under the power of sin! Grace
saves men, but all the gifts in the world, heaped together, cannot do
that!
Note, next, that gifts bring corresponding responsibility with them, so
they may even make it harder for a man to be saved–but Grace saves the
man. If I have 10 talents, then I have a tenfold necessity upon me to
be diligent in putting them out to interest. When men boast of their
talents, what fools they are! It is as though the packhorse should
glory in the load he has to carry! Do you think a cab-horse is proud
because he has to drag along a four-wheeler and, perhaps, five people?
Does he think himself more greatly privileged than an animal that only
has to carry his rider? No, yet that is the case of the gifted person,
for, the more gifts, the more load, the more weight, the more burden!
So a gift is not a thing to
be eager after–it is Grace that we need, for, the more Grace, the more
strength of wing to mount with, the more fleet-ness of foot to run in
the ways of God. A gift is but an addition to our load, but Grace is
strength with which to carry it. Covet the load if you may honor your
Master by carrying it for Him, but, far more, covet the Grace which
shall enable you to bear it to His Glory.
Further, gifts bring many men into danger, but Grace never does. Gifted
men are often in peril of being proud, but who, who is what he should
be, is ever proud of his Grace? If it is true Grace, it will humble
him. Gifted men, especially those who have great intellectual gifts,
are very apt to be sophisticated and unwilling to receive the simple
Gospel. Some people who have very big heads, and whose hearts are not
as large as they might be, are bothered half their lives with doubts
that never perplex those who, having more Grace, accept whatever they
find in the Word of God. It is a great gift, no doubt, to have a clear
brain, to have an insight into deep mysteries, and to be able to solve
difficult problems. Yet I do not know that I am particularly covetous
of it. I would prefer to cry, with Thomas, "My Lord and my God," though
I would rather come to Christ in a different spirit from that of
Thomas, for "blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have
believed." Childlike faith is a diamond, but the faith that comes by
reason is often, if it is a diamond at all, a very small one with a
great flaw in it and, therefore, not so good for reflecting the
brightness of the pure light of the Truth of
God!
But Grace does not bring us into any dangers. It neither puffs up nor
yet unsettles. Therefore, while you covet the best gifts, covet Grace
yet more. Alas, alas, how many have had gifts and have been made
top-heavy by them! Their heads have been swimming through the height to
which they have attained, while Grace has kept the humble Believer
pursuing the even tenor of his way, doing good all his days, enjoying
peace with God and receiving an abundant entrance into the joy of his
Master whom he faithfully served according to his ability. Remember,
also, dear Friends, that some may receive gifts, yet those gifts will
not be tokens of God's love to them at all, for He may only have given
them with a view to other people. Possibly you hand a porter at your
door a, parcel of valuables to carry, but that is no proof of your love
to him–it is a very handsome present that you are sending to a friend
upon his birthday. The love token is to the person who gets it, not to
the porter who carries it! I may come here tonight and be nothing but
God's porter to bring precious treasures to your souls–and in the case
of many a minister, or many a Sunday school teacher–it may be no token
of love that God gives them His messages to carry. They are only the
go-betweens–the porters–the love token is to those who receive it.
How I dread the thought that I should ever be among you simply like a
butcher, as I have seen him stand at his great block of wood, chopping
up meat for all who come! Yet, all the while, he does not eat any of it
himself. Perhaps he is a serving man, whose wages are scanty, so that
he gets but little meat for himself. It is a poor portion if one has to
be a butcher and yet is not, himself, able to feed. He is like a cook
who scarcely tastes the dainties that she makes and, perhaps, has no
care to do so, but only makes them and serves them up for other people.
It is a dreadful thing, in spiritual matters, to be nothing but God's
go-between–a ship that carries a rich cargo, but the captain of the
vessel does not own a sliver of all that is on board. It all belongs to
somebody else–he is but the carrier. Oh, remember, you who have great
gifts, but no Grace, are only like big ships with high sails, you are
only God's carriers and have no part nor lot in the matter! But he who
gets Grace is an heir of God. He has the power, the privilege, the
right to become a son of God!
Remember, also, dear Friends, that though you covet gifts, and receive
them, you will lose them one day. All the wisdom that a man has
acquired he may lose in an instant by a crack from a stone on his
skull. It is a great thing to have a good education, clear thought and
abilities for usefulness. Yet a slight accident in a railway carriage
may make a man as helpless as an imbecile, but, blessed be God, all the
railway accidents in the world cannot take Grace from us! No, neither
on earth, nor in Heaven, nor in Hell is there anyone who can separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord! If you have
Grace, you will keep it, and it will keep you. But neither can you keep
your gifts, nor can your gifts keep you–therefore Grace is infinitely
to be preferred to the most excellent of gifts!
Remember, yet again, that gifts cannot comfort a man when he is in deep
depression of spirit, when he is sick and especially when he is near to
death. Many a man, lying on a sickbed, has found comfort in the Grace
which God has given him, but there never was one who found comfort in
his gifts. What a mighty preacher Paul was! Yet he wrote thus
concerning one thought that crossed his mind–"Lest that by any means,
when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." Ah, we
may live for 50 years or more and gather a great church, and do much
good, but there is not a speck
of the small dust of comfort in it all–for we remember that God may
have simply used us as builders use their scaffolds as long as they
need them. And when the house is built, they take the scaffold down and
put the material away. God may use us in the same way if we have gifts
without Grace! But if we have Grace, it will not be so with us. Grace
unites us to Christ. It makes us living stones in the building of which
He is the Foundation. When we come to be sick, Grace brings us the
promises. Grace looks to Christ, Grace gives us hope, Grace gives us
the foretaste and pledge of Glory, and especially is it so with that
sweet and blessed Grace of love. The man who is full of Grace, though
he has not a solitary talent, and is all unknown, yet is a happy and
blessed man! In poverty and in obscurity, in sickness and in death, he
is blessed because his soul is full of the majestic Grace of Divine
Love.
Thus have I set before you, dear Friends, the "more excellent way." God
help you to run in it and may you have much Grace, for our Lord Jesus
Christ's sake! Amen.