DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JULY 20, 1879,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"With goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men."
Ephesians 6:7.
THIS sentence was expressly addressed, in the first place, to
"servants," which term includes and, first of all intends, those who
unhappily were slaves. There were many slaves in the Roman Empire and
the form of bondage which then existed was of the bitterest kind. I can
imagine a slave becoming a Christian and so finding peace as to his
former guilt and obtaining renewal of heart–and then, although
rejoicing in the Lord, I can well conceive that he would often be
downcast in view of his sad condition as a slave. I see him sitting
down and moaning to himself, "I am a bondsman under a tyrant master. I
have already endured many cruelties and may expect many more. I would
be free, but there is no hope of escape, since there is no place to
which I can flee, for Caesar's arm is long and would reach me at the
very ends of the earth. I cannot purchase my liberty, nor earn it by
long years of faithful servitude.
"Neither can my fellow salves and I effect our deliverance by
rebellion, for this has been tried and has ended in terrible bloodshed.
I am hopelessly a slave. What shall I do? How shall I sustain my fate?
My life is well-near intolerable–would to God it were at an end." I
can imagine the poor slave going to his cramped bed under the stairs–
for in any hole or corner, the Roman slave might find such little rest
as was allowed him–and there he would almost wish to sleep himself
into another world. Being a Christian, as I have supposed, he pours out
his heart before God in prayer and, in answer to his cry, the Lord
Jesus sets before him the rich consolation which He has provided for
all that mourn–consolation strong enough to enable him to endure to
the end and glorify the name of Jesus even under such hard conditions!
While yet troubled in mind, this freeman of the Lord, who is yet in
bonds to man, is met by the Savior Himself. He appears to him–I will
not say in such form as could be perceived by the eyes, but in clear
enough vision to be exceedingly influential over his spirit. Jesus
stands before him. The five wounds adorning Him like precious rubies
are infallible tokens! The face lit up with an unearthly splendor is
still marked with the old lines of sorrow and the head bears the crown
of thorns still about its brow. The poor slave casts himself at his
Redeemer's feet with astonishment, with awe and with intense delight!
And then I think I hear those dear lips which are as lilies dropping
sweet-smelling myrrh saying to His poor servant, "Fulfill your service
bravely. Do it unto Me. Forget your tyrant master and remember only Me.
Bear on, work on, suffer on and do all as unto Me and not unto men."
Then I think I see the broken-hearted captive rising up refreshed with
inward strength and I hear him say, "I will even bear the yoke until my
Lord shall call me away! Unless His Providence shall open for me a door
of liberty, I will patiently abide where I am and suffer all His will,
hopefully and joyfully serving because He bids me do it for His sake."
A vision which would so greatly comfort the poor Roman slave in his
extremity may well stand before each one of us. Let us each hear our
Savior say, "Live unto Me and do all for My sake." Our service is so
much more pleasant and easy than that of slaves–let us perform it
"with good will doing service, as unto the Lord, and not to men." Our
princely motto is, "I serve"–be this sentence emblazoned on our banner
and used as the battle cry of life's campaign!
Notice well that the Holy Spirit does not bid us leave our stations in
order to serve the Lord. He does not bid us forego the domestic
relations which make us husbands or wives; parents or children; masters
or servants! He does not suggest to us to put on a peculiar garb and
seek the seclusion of a monastery, or the retirement of monastic or
conventual life. Nothing of the kind is hinted at! But rather He bids
the servant continue in his or her service–"with goodwill doing
service." Our great Captain would not have you hope to win the victory
by leaving your post! He would have you abide in your trade, calling,
profession and all the while serve the Lord in it, doing the will of
God from the heart in common things.
This is the practical beauty of our holy faith–that when it casts the
devil out of a man it sends him home to bless his friends by telling
them what great things the Lord has done for him. Grace does not
transplant the tree, but bids it overshadow the old house at home, as
before, and bring forth good fruit where it is! Grace does not make us
unearthly, though it makes us unworldly. True religion distinguishes us
from others, even as our Lord Jesus was separate from sinners, but it
does not shut us up or hedge us round about as if we were too good or
too tender for the rough usage of everyday life! It does not put us in
the salt box and shut the lid, but it casts us in among our fellow men
for their good!
Grace makes us the servants of God while we are the still servants of
men–it enables us to do the business of Heaven while we are attending
to the business of earth–it sanctifies the common duties of life by
showing us how to perform them in the light of Heaven. The love of
Christ makes the lowliest acts sublime. As the sunlight brightens a
landscape and sheds beauty over the most common scene, so does the
Presence of the Lord Jesus! The spirit of consecration renders the
offices of domestic servitude as sublime as the worship which is
presented upon the sea of glass before the Eternal Throne by spirits to
whom the courts of Heaven are their familiar name.
I suggest my text to all Believers as the motto of their lives! Whether
we are servants or masters, whether we are poor or rich, let us take
this as our watchword, "As to the Lord, and not to men." From now on
may this be the engraving of our seal and the motto of our coat of
arms! May it be the constant rule of our life and the sum of our
motives. In advocating this gracious aim of our being, let me say that
if we are enabled to adopt this motto it will, first of all, influence
our work itself. And, secondly, it will elevate our spirit concerning
that work. Yet let me add, thirdly, that if the Lord shall really be
the All in All of our lives, it is, after all, only what He has a right
to expect and what we are under a thousand obligations to give to Him!
I. Our subject opens with this reflection, that if from now on whether
we live, we live unto the Lord, or whether we die, we die unto the
Lord, THIS CONSECRATION WILL GREATLY INFLUENCE OUR ENTIRE WORK. Do you
say, my Brothers and Sisters, that from now on your whole life shall be
a service of the Lord? Then it will follow, first, that you will have
to live with a single eye to His Glory. See how in verse 5 we are told,
"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the
flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto
Christ"? If we do, indeed, live "as to the Lord," we must necessarily
live wholly to the Lord.
The Lord Jesus is a most engrossing Master. He has said, "No man can
serve two masters," and we shall find it so. He will have everything or
nothing! If, indeed, He is our Lord, He must be our only Sovereign, for
He will not tolerate a rival. It comes to pass then, O Christian, that
you are bound to live for Jesus and for Him alone. You must have no
coordinate or even secondary objective or divided aim–if you divide
your heart, your life will be a failure. As no dog can follow two hares
at one time, or he will lose both, certainly no man can follow two
contrary objectives and hope to secure either of them. No, it behooves
a servant of Christ to be a concentrated man–his affections should be
bound up into one affection–and that affection should not be set on
things on the earth, but on things above.
His heart must not be divided, or it will be said of him as of those in
Hosea, "Their heart is divided; now shall they be found wanting." The
chamber of the heart is far too narrow to accommodate the King of kings
and the world, or the flesh, or the devil at the same time. We have no
wish, desire, ambition, or exertion to spare for a rival lord–the
service of Jesus demands and deserves all. Such is the eminence of this
objective, that all a man has or can have by reason or strength must be
spent this way if he is to win. Nor is this too much for our great Lord
to expect from those for whom He has done so much.
To whom should I give a part of myself, my Master? You have redeemed me
wholly and I am altogether Yours–take full possession of me! Who else
can be worthy of my heart? Who else can have a right to set foot within
the province where You are King? No, rule alone, blessed and only
Potentate! As You, alone, have redeemed me, alone treading the
winepress of wrath for me, so shall You be sole Monarch of my soul! You
are all my salvation and all my desire and, therefore, You shall have
all my homage and service. With such a Lord to be served, the current
of our life must run in only one channel–that He may have it all and
none may run to waste.
Next, to do service to the Lord, we must live with holy carefulness,
for what says the context? We are to serve, "with fear and trembling."
In the service of God we should use great care to accomplish our very
best and we should feel a deep anxiety to please Him in all things.
There is a trade called paper staining, in which a man flings colors
upon paper to make common wall decorations. And by rapid processes
acres of paper can be speedily finished. Suppose that the paper
stainer should laugh at an eminent artist because he had covered such a
little space, having been stippling and shading a little tiny piece of
his picture by the hour together? Such ridicule would, itself, be
ridiculous! Now the world's way of religion is the paper stainer's way,
the daubing way–there is plenty of it and it is quickly done.
But God's way, the narrow way, is a careful matter. There is but little
of it and it costs thought, effort, watchfulness and care. Yet see how
precious is the work of art when it is done and how long it lasts–and
you will not wonder that a man spends his time upon it. Even so, true
godliness is acceptable with God and it endures forever and, therefore,
it well repays the earnest effort of the man of God. The miniature
painter has to be very careful of every touch and tint, for a very
little may spoil his work. Let our life be a miniature painting–"with
fear and trembling" let it be worked out. We are serving the thrice
Holy God who will be held in reverence of them that come near to Him.
Let us mind what we do.
Our blessed Master never made a faulty stroke when He was serving His
Father. He never lived a careless hour, nor let drop an idle word. Oh,
it was a careful life He lived–even the night watches were not without
the deep anxieties which poured themselves forth in prayer unto God!
And if you and I think that the first thing which comes to hand will do
with which to serve our God, we make a great mistake and grossly insult
His name! We must have a very low idea of His infinite majesty if we
think that we can honor Him by doing His service half-heartedly, or in
a slovenly style. No, if you will, indeed, live "as to the Lord, and
not unto man," you must watch each motion of your heart and life, or
you will fail in your design. Living as to the Lord means living with a
concentrated spirit and living with earnest care that our one service
may be the best of which we are capable when at our best estate. Alas,
how poor is that best when we reach it! Truly, when we have done all,
we are unprofitable servants, but even then, that all is seldom
reached.
Further, if from now on our desire is to live "as to the Lord, and not
unto men," then what we do must be done with all our heart. "In
singleness of your heart," says the context. And again, in the sixth
verse, "As the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the
heart." Our work for Jesus must be the outgrowth of the soil of the
heart. Our service must not be performed as a matter of routine–there
must be vigor, power, freshness, reality, eagerness and warmth about
it–or it will be good for nothing. No fish ever came upon God's altar
because it could not come there alive–the Lord needs none of your
dead, heartless worship! You know what is meant by putting all our
heart into all that we do– explain it by your lives! A work which is
to be accepted of the Lord must be heart-work throughout–not a few
thoughts of Christ, occasionally, and a few chill words and a few
chance gifts and a little done by way of by-play–but as the heart
beats so must we serve God! It must be our very life!
We are not to treat our religion as though it were a sort of weekend
farm which we were willing to keep going but not to make much of, our
chief thoughts being engrossed with the home farm of self and the world
with its gains and pleasures. Our Lord will be aut Caesar aut nullus,
either ruler or nothing! My Master is a jealous Husband–He will not
tolerate a stray thought of love elsewhere and He thinks it scorn that
they who call themselves His beloved should love others better than
Himself! Such unchastity of heart can never be permitted–let us not
dream of it! We may not claim to be His if we give Him only lip
service, brain service or hand service–He must have the heart!
Oh, our beloved Lord, You did not spare Your heart from agony for us!
The lance opened it with all its costly double flood for our unworthy
sakes! Therefore You cannot be content to receive, in return, lifeless
forms and cold pretences! You did live, indeed–there was no sham about
Your life. In all You did You were intense. The zeal of Your Father's
house had eaten You up. You were clad with zeal as with a cloak which
covered You from head to foot. Let us live somewhat after this glorious
fashion, for a servant only truly lives when he lives as his master.
"He that is perfect shall be as His Master." If we are to live to the
Lord, the fountains of our soul must flow with boiling floods and our
life must be like a great Icelandic geyser casting up its columns of
water which seethe and boil as they rise.
As great earthquakes shake the very center, so must there be movements
of life within us which stir our soul with vehement longings for Jesus
and with intense yearnings for His Glory. All our light and life must
turn to love and that love must be all on flame for Jesus. If we truly
live unto Christ it must be so! What else says the passage before us?
If we say–from now on I will do the will of God as to the Lord and not
unto men, then we must do it under subjection, for note well the words,
"doing the will of God." Some people's religion is only another way of
doing their own will. They pick and choose what precepts they will keep
and what they will neglect. They choose what doctrines they shall hold
and what they shall refuse–their spirit is not bowed into sacred
servitude, but takes license to act according to its own
pleasure. The freedom of a Christian lies in what I will venture to
call an absolute slavery to Christ! And we never become truly free till
every thought is brought into subjection to the will of the Most High.
Now, if from now on I live to God, I have no longer any right to say,
"I will do this or that," but I must inquire, "My Master, what would
You have me do?" As the eyes of the maidens are to their mistress, so
are our eyes up to You, O Lord. Believer, your Master is to will for
you from now on! It is idle to say, "I shall live as to the Lord and
not unto men," when all the while we intend to live in our own fashion!
Which is to be master, now, self or Christ? On every point this
question must be settled, for if on any point we assume the personal
mastery, the rule of Jesus is wholly refused! To go or to stand still,
to suffer or to be in pleasure, to be in honor or to be in disgrace is
no more to be our option, or if we have a momentary choice it is to be
cheerfully resigned before the Sovereignty of Him whom we have now
taken to be our All in All. There is no being a Christian if Christ
does not have the throne in the heart and life. It is but the mockery
of Christianity to call Jesus Master and Lord while we do not do the
things which He commands!
Again, we must do all this under a sense of the Divine oversight.
Notice in verse 6 it is said of servants, "Not with eye service, as
men-pleasers." What a mean and beggarly thing it is for a man only to
do his work well when he is watched! Such oversight is for boys at
school and mere hirelings. You never think of watching noble-spirited
men. Here is a young apprentice set to copy a picture–his master
stands over him and looks over each line, for the young rascal will
grow careless and spoil his work, or take to his games if he is not
well looked after. Did anybody thus dream of supervising Raphael and
Michelangelo to keep them to their work? No, the master artist requires
no eyes to urge him on.
Popes and emperors came to visit the great painters in their studios,
but did they paint better because these grandees gazed upon them?
Certainly not! Perhaps they did all the worse in the excitement or the
worry of the visit. They had regard to something better than the eyes
of pompous people. So the true Christian needs no eyes of man to watch
him. There may be pastors and preachers who are better off for being
looked after by bishops and presbyters, but fancy a bishop overseeing
the work of Martin Luther and trying to quicken his zeal! Or imagine a
presbyter looking after Calvin to keep him sound in the faith! Oh, no!
Gracious minds outgrow the governance and stimulus which comes of the
oversight of mortal man. God's own Spirit dwells within us and we serve
the Lord from an inward principle which is not fed from without.
There is about a real Christian a prevailing sense that God sees him
and he does not care who else may set his eyes upon him–it is enough
for him that God is there. He has little respect for the eyes of man.
He neither courts nor dreads them! Let the good deed remain in the
dark, for God sees it and that is enough! Or let it be blazoned in the
light of day to be pecked at by the censorious, for it little matters
who censures, since God approves! This is to be a true servant of
Christ–to escape from being an eye-servant to men by becoming, in the
most sublime sense, an eye-servant of God– always working beneath the
eyes of God. If we did but realize this, how well we should live! If
now I remember, as I try to do, that God hears each word I speak to you
from this pulpit–that He reads my soul as I address you in His
name–how ought I to preach?
And if you go to your Sunday school class this afternoon and picture
Jesus sitting among the boys and girls and hearing how you teach
them–how earnestly you will teach! At home when you are about to scold
a servant, or in the shop, when you think to do a rather sharp thing,
if you think your Master stands there and sees it all, what a power it
will have over you! Our lives should all be spent under the spell of,
"You see me, God," and we should each be able to declare, "I have set
the Lord always before me." One more thought, and it is this. If from
now on we are to serve the Lord, and not men, then we must look to the
Lord for our reward and not to men. "Knowing," says the eighth verse,
"that whatever good thing any man does, the same shall he receive of
the Lord, whether he is bond or free."
Wages! Is that the motive of a Christian? Yes, in the highest sense,
for the greatest of the saints, such as Moses, have "had respect unto
the recompense of the reward." And it were like despising the reward
which God promises to His people if we had no respect whatever unto it.
Respect unto the reward which comes of God kills the selfishness which
is always expecting a reward from men. We can postpone our reward and
we can be content, instead of receiving present praise, to be
misunderstood and misrepresented. We can postpone our reward and we can
endure, instead of it, to be disappointed in our work and to labor on
without success–for when the reward does come how glorious it will be!
An hour with Jesus will make up for a lifetime of persecution! One
smile from Him will repay us a thousand times over for all
disappointments and discouragements. Thus you see, Brothers and
Sisters, that if we do, in very deed, make
this our rule and maxim–"As to the Lord, and not to men"–our work
will be shaped and fashioned most wonderfully. May God grant that the
influence of this motive may manifestly sway our whole life from now on
until we close it for this world and commence it anew where we shall
not need to shift our course, but shall continue eternally to live to
the Lord alone!
II. May the Holy Spirit guide us while we reflect, secondly, that
should this text become the inspiration of our life IT WOULD GREATLY
ELEVATE OUR SPIRITS. What would it do for us? First, it would lift us
above all complaining about the hardness of our lot, or the difficulty
of our service. "Alas," says one, "I am worn out! I cannot keep on at
this rate. My position is so terribly trying that I cannot hold on much
longer–it strains not only muscle and sinew, but nerve and heart.
Nobody could bear my burden long! My husband is cruel, my friends are
unkind, my children are ungrateful." Ah, poor heart, there are many
others who wear the weeping-willow as well as yourself!
But be of good courage and look at your case in another light. If the
burden is to be borne for Jesus' sake, who loved you and gave Himself
for you–by whose precious blood you are redeemed from the pains of
Hell–can you not bear it? Can you not bear it? "That is quite another
thing," you say. "I could not bear it for a sneering master. I could
not bear it for a passionate, obstinate mistress. But I could do
anything and I could bear anything for Jesus." This makes all the
difference–
"For Him I count as gain each loss, Disgrace for Him, renown. Well may
I glory in His Cross, While He prepares my crown!"
We are satisfied to bear any cross so long as it is His Cross! What
wonders men can do when they are influenced by enthusiastic love for a
leader!
Alexander's troops marched thousands of miles on foot and they would
have been utterly wearied had it not been for their zeal for Alexander.
He led them forth conquering and to conquer. Alexander's presence was
the life of their valor, the glory of their strength. If there was a
very long day's march over burning sands, one thing they knew–that
Alexander marched with them! If they were thirsty, they knew that he
thirsted, too, for when one brought a cup of water to the king, he put
it aside, thirsty as he was, and said, "Give it to a sick soldier."
Once it so happened that they were loaded with the spoil which they had
taken and each man had become rich with goodly garments and wedges of
gold. Then they began to travel very slowly with so much to carry and
the king feared that he should not overtake his foe. Having a large
quantity of spoil which fell to his own share, he burned it all before
the eyes of his soldiers and bade them do the same that they might
pursue the enemy and win even more!
"Alexander's portion lies beyond," he cried! And seeing the king's own
spoils on fire, his warriors were content to give up their gains, also,
and share with their king. He did, himself, what he commanded others to
do–in self-denial and hardship he was a full partaker with his
followers. After this fashion our Lord and Master acts towards us. He
says, "Renounce pleasure for the good of others. Deny yourself and take
up your cross. Suffer, though you might avoid it. Labor, though you
might rest, when God's Glory demands suffering or labor of you. Have
not I set you an example?" "Who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes
He became poor, that we, through His poverty, might be rich." He
stripped Himself of all things that He might clothe us with His Glory!
O, Brothers and Sisters, when we heartily serve such a Leader as this,
and are fired by His Spirit, then murmuring, complaining, weariness and
fainting of heart are altogether gone! A Divine passion carries us
beyond ourselves–
"I can do all things, or can bear All suffering if my Lord is there."
Next, this lifts the Christian above the spirit of laziness. I believe
great numbers of working men–I am not going to judge them for
it–always consider how little they can possibly do to earn their
wages. The question with them is not, "How much can we give for the
wage?" That used to be. But now, it is, "How little can we give? How
little work can we do in the day without being discharged for
idleness?" Many men say, "We must not do all the work today, for we
shall need something to do tomorrow–our masters will not give us more
than they can help and, therefore, we will not give them more than we
are obliged to." This is the general spirit on both sides and as a
nation we are going to the dogs because that spirit is among us–and we
shall be more and more beaten by foreign competition if this spirit is
cultivated.
Among Christians such a notion cannot be tolerated in the service of
our Lord Jesus. It never does for a minister to say, "If I preach three
times a week it is quite as much as anybody will expect of me,
therefore I shall do no more." It will never be right for you to say,
"I am a Sunday school teacher. As long as I get to class on time–some
of you do not do that–and as long as I teach until the class time is
over, I need not look after the boys and girls through the week. I
cannot be bothered with them–I will do just as much as I am bound to
do, but no more." In a certain country town it was reported that the
grocer's wife cut a plum in two, for fear there should be a grain more
than weight in the parcel. The folks called her Mrs. Split-Plum. Ah,
there are many Split-Plums in religion! They do not want to do more for
Jesus than may be absolutely necessary. They would like to give good
weight, but they would be sorry to be convicted of doing too much.
Ah, when we get to feel we are doing service for our Lord Jesus Christ,
we adopt a far more liberal scale! Then we do not calculate how much
ointment will suffice for His feet, but we give Him all that our box
contains. Is this your talk, "Bring the scales, this ointment cost a
great deal of money and we must be economical. Watch every drachma,
yes, every scruple and grain, for the nard is costly"? If this is your
cool manner of calculation, your offering is not worth a fig! Not so
spoke that daughter of love of whom we read in the Gospels, for she
broke the box and poured out all the contents upon her Lord. "To what
purpose is this waste?" cried Judas. It was Judas who thus spoke and
you know, therefore, the worth of that observation! Christ's servants
delight to give so much as to be thought wasteful, for they feel that
when they have, in the judgment of others, done extravagantly for
Christ, they have but begun to show their hearts' love for His dear
name. Thus the elevating power of the spirit of consecration lifts us
up above the wretched stinginess of mere formality.
Again, this raises us up above all boasting of our work. "Is the work
good enough?" asked one of his servant. The man replied, "Sir, it is
good enough for the price and it is good enough for the man who is
going to have it." Just so, and when we "serve" men we may, perhaps,
rightly judge in that fashion. But when we come to serve Christ, is
anything good enough for Him? If our zeal knew no respite. If our
prayers knew no pause. If our efforts knew no relaxation. If we gave
all we have of time, wealth, talent and opportunity. If we should die a
martyr's death a thousand times, wouldn't He, the Best Beloved of our
souls, deserve far more? Ah, that He would! Therefore is
self-congratulation banished forever! When you have done all, you will
feel that it is not worthy of the matchless merit of Jesus and you will
be humbled at the thought! Thus, while doing all for Jesus stimulates
zeal, it fosters humility–a happy blending of useful effects.
The resolve to do all as unto the Lord will elevate you above that
craving for recognition which is a disease with many. It is a sad fault
in many Christians that they cannot do anything unless all the world is
told of it. The hen in the farmyard has laid an egg and feels so proud
of the achievement that she must cackle about it–everybody must know
of that one poor egg till all the country round resounds with the news!
It is so with some professors–their work must be published or they can
do no more! "Here have I," said one, "been teaching in the school for
years and nobody ever thanked me for it! I believe that some of us who
do the most are the least noticed and what a shame it is."
But if you have done your service unto the Lord you would not talk so,
or we shall suspect you of having other aims! The servant of Jesus will
say, "I do not need human notice. I did it for my Master. He noticed me
and I am content. I tried to please Him and, by His Grace, I did please
Him and, therefore, I ask no more, for I have gained my end. I seek no
praise of men, for I fear lest the breath of human praise should
tarnish the pure silver of my service." This would lift you above the
discouragement which sometimes comes of human censure. If you seek the
praise of men you will, in all probability, fail in the present and
certainly you will lose it in the future, sooner or later. Many men are
more ready to censure than to commend–and to hope for their praise is
to seek for sugar in a root of wormwood.
Man's way of judging is unjust and seems fashioned on purpose to blame
all of us, one way or another. Here is a Brother who sings bass and the
critics say, "Oh yes, a very fine bass voice, but he could not sing
treble." Here is another who excels in treble and they say, "Yes, yes,
but we prefer a tenor." When they find a tenor they blame him because
he cannot sing bass. No one can be candidly praised, but all must be
savagely censured! What will the great Master say about it? Will He not
judge thus–"I have given this man a bass voice and he sings bass and
that is what I meant him to do. I gave that man a tenor voice and he
sings tenor and that is what I meant him to do. I gave that man a
treble voice and he sings treble and so takes the part I meant him to
take. All the parts blended together make up sweet music for My
ears"?
Wisdom is justified of her children, but Folly blames them all round.
How little we ought to care about the opinions and criticisms of our
fellow men when we remember that He who made us what we are and helps
us, by His Grace, to act our part, will not judge us after the mode in
which men carp or flatter, but will accept us according to the
sincerity of our hearts. If we feel, "I was not working for you; I was
working for God," we shall not be much wounded by our neighbors'
remarks. The nightingale charms the ear of night. A fool passes by and
declares that he hates such distracting noises! The nightingale sings
on, for it never entered the little minstrel's head or heart that it
was singing for critics–it sings because He who created it gave it
this sweet faculty! So may we reply to those who condemn us–"We live
not unto you, O men! We live unto our Lord." Thus do we escape the
discouragements which come of ungenerous misapprehension and jealous
censure.
This, too, will elevate you above the disappointments of failures, yes,
even of the saddest kind. If those you seek to bless are not saved, yet
you have not altogether failed, for you did not teach or preach having
the winning of souls as the absolute ultimatum of your work–you did it
with the view of pleasing Jesus–and He is pleased with faithfulness
even where it is not accompanied with success. Sincere obedience is His
delight even if it leads to no apparent results. If the Lord should set
His servant to plow the sea or sow the sand, He would accept his
service. If we should have to witness for Christ's name in the stocks
and by stones–and if our hearers should be even worse than blocks of
marble and should turn and tear us apart–we may still be filled with
contentment, for we shall have done our Lord's will and what more do we
need? To plod on under apparent failure is one of the most acceptable
of all works of faith and he who can do it, year after year, is
assuredly well-pleasing unto God.
This lifts us above disappointment in the prospect of death. We shall
have to go away from our work soon, so men tell us, and we are apt to
fret about it. The truth is we shall go on with our work forever if our
service is pleasing to the Lord! We shall please Him up yonder even
better than we do here! And what if our enterprise here should seem to
end as far as man is concerned? We have done it unto the Lord and our
record is on high and, therefore, it is not lost. Nothing that is done
for Jesus will be destroyed–the flower may fade, but its essence
remains! The tree may fall, but its fruit is stored! The cluster may be
crushed, but the wine is preserved! The work and its place may pass
away, but the glory which it brought to Jesus shines as the stars
forever and ever!
Yes, and this lifts us above the deadening influence of age and the
infirmities which come with multiplied years. What little we can do, we
do it all the more thoroughly for Jesus as our experience ripens! If we
must contract the sphere, we condense and intensify the motive. If we
are living unto Christ, we love Him even when our heart grows cold to
other things. When the eyes grow dim earthwards, they brighten towards
Heaven! When the ears can hardly hear the voice of singing men and
singing women, it still knows the music of Jesus' name! And when the
hands can do little in human business, they begin feeling for the
strings of the celestial harp that it may make melody for the
Well-Beloved! I know of nothing which can possibly elevate our spirit,
as workers for Christ, like the sense of doing all unto the Lord and
not unto men! May the Spirit of God help us to rise into this perfect
consecration!
I have not time to say more than just this word. A due sense of serving
the Lord would ennoble all our service beyond conception. Think of
working for Him–for HIM, the best of masters–before whom angels count
it glory to bow! Work done for Him is, in itself, the best work that
can be, for all that pleases Him must be pure and lovely, honest and of
good report. Work for the eternal Father and work for Jesus are works
which are good and only good! To live for Jesus is to be swayed by the
noblest of motives. To live for the Incarnate God is to blend the love
of God and the love of men in one passion. To live for the ever-living
Christ is elevating to the soul, for its results will be most enduring.
When all other work is dissolved this shall abide.
Men spoke of painting for eternity, but we, in very deed, serve for
eternity. Soon shall all worlds behold the nobility of the service of
Christ, for it will bring with it the most blessed of all rewards. When
men look back on what they have done for their fellows, how small is
the recompense of a patriotic life! The world soon forgets its
benefactors. Many and many a man has been borne aloft in youth amidst
the applause of men and then, in his old age, he has been left to
starve into his grave. He who scattered gold at first, begs for pennies
at last –the world called him generous while he had something to give,
but when he had bestowed all, it blamed his imprudence! He who lives
for Jesus will never have ground of complaint concerning his Lord, for
He forsakes not His saints.
No man has ever regretted what he did for Jesus, except that he may
regret that he has not done 10 times more! The Lord will not leave His
old servants. "O God, You have taught me from my youth and up to now
have I declared Your wondrous works. Now, also, when I am old and
gray-headed, O God, forsake me not." Such was the prayer of David and
he was confident of being heard. Such may be the confidence of every
servant of Christ. He may go down to his grave untroubled! He may rise
and enter the dread solemnities of the eternal world without a fear,
for service for Christ creates heroes to whom fear is unknown!
III. I close by saying that if we enter into the very spirit of this
discourse, or even go beyond it–if from now on we live only for Jesus,
so as never to know pleasure apart from Him, nor to have treasure out
of Him, nor honor but in His honor, nor success but in the progress of
His Kingdom–WE SHALL EVEN THEN HAVE DONE NO MORE THAN HE DESERVES AT
OUR HANDS. For, first, we are God's creatures. For whom should a
creature live but for his Creator? Secondly, we are His new creatures,
we are the twice-born of Heaven–should we not live for Him by whom we
have been begotten for Glory? As many as have believed in Jesus are the
produce of that Divine power which raised the Son of God from the
dead–shall they not live in newness of life? God has taken this pains
with us, that He has made us twice over and He has made a new Heaven
and a new earth for us to dwell in–whom should we serve with all our
mind but Him by whom we have been made anew?
Then comes in redemption. We are not our own, for we are bought with a
price. We dare not be selfish! We may not put self in opposition to
God. But I must go further–we may not allow self to be at all
considered apart from God. Even when it seems that self and God might
both be served at the same time, it must not be–self in any degree
will spoil it all. We are never to be masters, but always servants–and
to serve ourselves is to make ourselves masters. Turn your eyes, O my
heart, to the Cross and see Him bleeding there whom Heaven adored! He
is the Light of Glory, the joy and bliss of perfect spirits–and yet He
dies there in pangs unutterable–dies for me! O bleeding heart, my name
was engraved upon You! O tortured brain, Your thoughts were all of me!
O Christ, you loved me and love me still! And that I should serve You
seems but natural! That I should pray to serve with intense white-hot
enthusiasm is an impulse of my life. Do you not confess it so, my
Brothers and Sisters? Besides, remember you are one with Christ. Whom
should the spouse serve but her Husband? Whom should the hand serve but
the Head? It scarcely is service. Christ is your alter ego, your other
self–no, your very self–should you not live for Him? You are bone of
His bone and flesh of His flesh and, therefore, you must love Him. Let
a Divine selfishness impel you to love your Lord.
No hand, I think, counts it hard to be serving his own head. Surely, it
can be no hardness to do service to Him with whom we are joined by
bonds and bands of vital union! He is our Head and we are His body and
His fullness. Let us fill up His Glory! Let us spread abroad the
praises of His name! God help us to never finish this sermon, but to
begin it now and go on preaching it in our lives, world without end!
For Heaven shall be in this–"Not unto us, not unto us, but to Your
name be praise!" And the beginnings of Heaven are with us now–the
youth, the dawn of Glory, in proportion while we say from our very
souls–"Whether we live, we live unto the Lord. And whether we die, we
die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the
Lord's."
And so shall it be from now on and forever! As to those that know
nothing of this, seeing they know not Christ, may the Lord bring them
to believe in Jesus Christ this day, that they may, through His Grace,
become His servants. Amen and amen.
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Luke 6. HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN
HYMN BOOK"–145, 660, 661.
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The Withered Hand