His Sent Ones
"As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." John 20:21
From the glory and the gladness From His secret place,
From the rapture of His presence, From the radiance of His face,
Christ, the Son of God, hath sent me Through the midnight lands;
Mine the mighty ordination Of the pierced hands.
(pp. 61-64, Footprints for Pilgrims)
You must be in present dependence in preaching. There is no power unless we are receiving while we speak. What you need is a living connection with the heart of God, and then what flows out of the heart of God into your heart will come with power to the hearts of those you speak to.
To hold ourselves at the Lord's disposal secures for us opened doors when He has work for us to do.
We are left here to display Christ; if we are not doing this we are no use to Him or to the world.
The qualification for service is a deeper acquaintance with the heart of Christ.
The more you honour God by keeping man in the background the more blessing you will have in the work.
The Holy Spirit is always ready to work when we exalt Christ, "He shall glorify me."
The great danger is the presentation of any truth apart from Christ.
What will become of those cut flowers tomorrow ? They will fade. So truth that is separated from Christ will fade away.
Nothing can justify a lack of tenderness in the presentation of the truth.
We have to labour in faith, and in proportion to our confidence in God will be our expectation of blessing.
I suppose we shall never know the full result of our service until we appear before the judgment seat of Christ. And it may be then that what we esteemed the least at the time will there be shown to have been richest in results.
If you feel "I can do this or that service," you are not the vessel God can use.
The Lord always sought to deepen exercises of soul, as He did in the case of the Syrophenician woman, refusing to grant her request till she was in the state to receive it. We seek to shorten them, as, for example, when we press souls to an immediate decision for Christ, without considering whether they have been brought to that point by the work of the Holy Ghost.
When there are few gathered together at a meeting, remember there may be really as much blessing as with larger numbers. God will bring together those whom He purposes to bless, and if we remember this it will keep our eyes up to Him, and that is one condition of blessing.
If any of us look for power or acceptance from anything that is of man, from manner, learning, fervour or eloquence ... we are at once off the ground of dependence upon the power of the Holy Ghost, because we are calling in to our aid that which has its source in man and natural abilities.
A preacher has never to be anxious about results; that is God's concern. He has only to be anxious about three things: (1) the state of his own soul; (2) being in communion with the mind of God as to those to whom he is speaking; and (3) fidelity in delivering the message.
--- E.D.
