THE SUCCESSFUL CHRISTIAN by Bill Jackson


   Hebrews 2:1--"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to
the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them
slip."

   A study of the context, together with a basic understanding of
the eternal nature of salvation and the reality of rewards, must bring
us to the conclusion that, while as redeemed people, our position in
Christ cannot be altered, there are goals in the Christian life that
can be forfeited.

   If the desire to realize these goals were purely selfish it would
be understandable but unforgivable.  Working for Christ for the
satisfaction of the rewards He has promised cannot fit into a
Christian ethic of love.  The fact of rewards is plain; the striving
toward them for selfish reasons cannot be condoned.

   What is our reward?  Basically, we can relate to them in
conjunction with our Lord's statement to the rewarded servant, "Well
done, thou good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy of thy
Lord."

   This should be a prime motivation of our Christian lives.  We have
been once and for all delivered from a life where the only moral
restraint was fear.  We are now living a morality based on love, and
our love for Him - if it is real - can only cause us to obey and
desire to please Him.  Having already responded to the gracious Gospel
invitation, "Come unto Me", and rejoicing in the words of finality,
"It is finished", we now look forward with eager anticipation to those
last glorious words, "Well done."

   However, those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ know He will
not tell even a little white lie.  If we have not been good and
faithful servants He will not pretend that we were.  He must tell the
truth about us (Titus 1:5) and He wants to make it a pleasant truth.
That is why He had so much written in the Word to chastise, encourage
and help us to be what He wants us to be.

   Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed - to what?  To the
things which we have heard.

   What things had they heard?  It is clear from the context that they
were things about our Blessed Saviour.  These things were from the
lips of those who were obedient to the Great Commission of our Lord.

   The Apostolic message was clothed in power, and was responsive to
all that Jesus had said.  We can safely conclude that, included in
"the things we have heard" was not only the Gospel message of
salvation, but the truths about Baptism, discipleship and obeying all
the commands that Jesus Himself had given.

   One of the saddest commentaries on teaching ministries today is
that so little time is spent expounding the blessed commands of our
Lord.  Ultra-dispensationalists have relegated these commands either
to a past age or a future age, so that many of today's Christians have
no reality of being taught all things He commanded.

   Yet, we must ask, who is the prime teacher of Christian truth if
not the Lord Jesus Christ Himself?  It is true that some of His
teachings are hard to follow; some are given in parable form and speak
clearly of a future age.  But the basic commands are still valid and
must be taught and obeyed.  If not, how can we give earnest heed to
the things we should be being taught?

   Some assume the epistles somehow supersede the commands of Jesus as
the curriculum of Christians.  It is true that as local churches are
being established, concrete rules had to be laid down, rules which
could not have been detailed by Jesus.  Also, situations arose that
had to be dealt with at the time, and a salvation now complete could
be presented in a more analytical formula than would have been
possible before the Cross. (Of course, Jesus did make general
references to the scope and plan of this salvation, e.g., Mathew 20:28
and John 3:14, to name two instances.)

   Careful study shows us that the truths governing the moral behavior
patterns and ministry thrusts of local churches found in the epistles
are based solidly on the commands of Jesus.  How could we seek a
different foundation?

   In this brief study I will bring to your attention two of Christ's
commands; the first two that are recorded as being given to believers.
They are "Follow Me" in Mathew 4:19 and "Rejoice" in Mathew 5:12.

   Jesus said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."  When
we view present day fundamentalism in relation to this command, we
find three unfortunate groupings into which Christians can be placed.

   First, we find those that want to follow Christ, abut whose
theology is so hyper-Calvinistic that they cannot bring themselves to
actively fish for men.  They don't mind (in fact they are usually
happy) if some fishes get caught, but they are afraid to use any bait
in case the fish, swallowing the bait, should do a work to contribute
to his being caught.  If our Lord said He would make us fishers of
men, there must be some fishing techniques that He would teach us.
However, we really cannot blame the friends who eschew all techniques,
as they are often repulsed by the second group of Christians.

   These are the expert fishers.  They have mastered techniques.  The
statistics they give for their catches seem to make them very
successful.  Some of the gimmicks they employ leave much to be
desired, but to them the bottom line is all important--GET RESULTS.
Such are those who want to be fishers of men, but their motive is not
to follow Christ but to go forth with one aim - get folks to make
decisions.  Often they have no conscious thought of real devotion to
Christ; indeed, they are often willing to deliberately keep the
message shallow so more will respond.  However, we can even understand
this position, as it is often adopted as a natural turning away from
the third group of Christians.

   They are saved, satisfied and asleep.  They can respond very well
to popcorn testimonies and even have some scriptures stored in their
heads to bring forth as a foundation for their claims of being ready
to have a happy eternity.  They are regulars Sunday morning, sparse
Sunday evening and missing on Wednesday.  They are the strange type of
Christian who never leads a soul to Christ.  They "love Jesus", but
often didn't really know that He called His followers to follow Him.
If they are well-to-do, they are generally fairly generous (but seldom
sacrificial) in their missionary giving.  They seem to imagine that if
they help a missionary to be a "fisher of men" nothing else will be
required of them.  It never occurs to them that Jesus" commands were
directed at them.  The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of
riches have indeed choked their Christian influence and made them
unfruitful.

   We must hope there is a fourth group--those that seriously consider
that their Lord was talking to them.  We come to His basic command,
"Follow Me."  Other men have been inspired by the Spirit to write
commands for consecration.  In Romans 12:1, Paul penned the immortal
words, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
ye present your bodies a living sacrifice..." In Colossians 3:1 we are
admonished to "seek those things which are above."  But none of these
commands can approach the simplicity and majesty of the beautiful
words of Jesus, "Follow Me."

   In following anyone, going in the right direction is fundamental.
If you are following a friend to his home and he turns right, you turn
right.  He may be going slowly, but you do not pass him.  You do one
of the simplest acts - you follow him.

   You may have had the experience of trying to follow a car that was
going so fast you had to struggle to keep up.  You were not always
sure the way he was going to turn, and you tried to glue your
attention upon something distinctive about the rear of his car so that
you could follow.  What a hazardous experience this can be, and how
empty you feel when he loses you and you are lost.  Or perhaps you
have almost lost the friend you are following and have seen a car that
looks like his - but it is dark so you aren't sure.  So you follow,
hoping you are following the right car!

   What a blessedness to know the faithfulness of our Lord.  When He
says, "Follow Me", He determines to make the path so clear that the
only reason not to follow is because we want to go in a different
direction, or we want to pass Him.  He will never lead where we cannot
follow, although He may lead where we do not wish to follow.  We must
realize that the success of our Christian lives will be determined not
by how many results we get or how large our Sunday School is or how
many people we preach to.  Our success, as He counts success, is
determined by how faithfully we follow Him.

   It is always helpful, when following someone, to know the general
direction they will be taking.  Therefore we will study two passages
of scripture to see the clear direction the Lord is taking so that we
cannot fail to follow if we want to.  We will then know the
realization of His second command, "Rejoice".  A life of following
Jesus must lead to a place of rejoicing.  It will not be experienced
necessarily on every bend of the road, but it is the only divinely
appointed end.

   The passages we will look at are Matthew 4:19 to 5:12 and
Philippians 2:5-11.

   In the Philippians passage, we have the co-relative of "Follow Me"
in the words of verse 5, "Let this mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus."  Then we have very clearly spelled out the direction He
is going.

NOTE:

   (1) He knew His equality with God.

   (2) He made Himself of no reputation.  This is a difficult step to
understand, and harder to emulate.  He was the world's Creator, Who
fashioned things that are out of that which was not.  By any standard
of what is right, His entrance into the world should have been
heralded by Divine proclamation to all His subjects.  It is only right
that all should know Who He is, when we really realize Who He is.  But
He made Himself of no reputation-unheralded, unsung, unannounced,
unknown - so was His mind.

   The admonition is clearly, "Let this mind be in you", and it is so
easy for us to mouth platitudes that indicate we are willing to be
unknown.  But it is not quite that simple, for as soon as we go
unrecognized our human nature stands on its hind legs and demands
recognition.  It is so contrary to all that we are for us to be of no
reputation that, when we allow this thought to search our hearts we
must conclude that we are scarcely following Him. Yet this is only the
beginning.

   (3) He took upon Him the form of a servant.  To put any human being
in the caste of servanthood is to do that which befits our fallen
nature. He is sovereign Majesty, yet He took upon Him the form of a
servant.  It would do well to ask ourselves with as much honesty as
our deceitful hearts will allow - do we ever willingly take the
servant's part?  Yet this is what He became.

   (4) He was made in the likeness of men - a step far down for Him
Who made man in His image and then watched while that man fell to
disgusting depravity.  Yet this is the direction He has set His face,
like a flint, on.

   (5) He humbled Himself.  "Lord", you might cry, "not another step
down.  When I said I would follow You I was willing to go as you
directed, but is it not time to take some upward steps?  Must I
continue to go down?"  the fact is that if we would follow Him, we
must take the same direction He took-down, down, down - even if there
is no human expectation of ever reversing the downward trend and being
exalted in this life.

   (6) Just when we think He must have reached bottom, He goes
down - and the King of Life becomes obedient to death.  "Lord, how can
this be?  You promised abundant life to those who followed You, and
now the shadow of Calvary darkens my pathway.  Certainly You mean us
to go to the foot of the Cross and then to call upon God's legions for
instant deliverance.  No, Lord, You can't be nailed there - You can't
die - I don't want to die."

   (7) ...even the death of the cross.  "Lord, I guess I can put up
with dying, but can't you make it instant and honorable, like a firing
squad.  As Kevin Barry said, "Shoot me like a soldier, don't hang me
like a dog."  A brave soldier goes into the enemy's camp, is captured,
sentenced to death and amid the drum - roll of the military band,
falls before his captor's bullets.  That's bad enough, but not the
Cross with all its shame and ignominy.  Lord, do you really want me to
be willing for all this?"

   That is what He said - FOLLOW ME.  Then He showed which direction
He was going.

   We see the "Rejoice" part of this passage in verses 9-11.  For as
the Head is exalted, the whole Body will rejoice, and this is the end
He has determined for us.  Our problem is that we want to get to
"Rejoice" by going up instead of going down, and we will never get our
destination if we go in the wrong direction.

                         E. (Successful)
                        /i
                       / i
                      /  i
A___________________B/___C
                         i
                         i
                         i
                         D. (Christ-like)

   I want to get from point A to point D.  I am given plain
directions.  I travel to point B, then on to point C.  Then comes the
crucial decision.  I must turn right to get to point D, but that is
going down, and I don't want to go down.  I want to go up.  So I turn
left and go up to point E.

   Realizing that I have lost my way, and remembering that point B was
on my route, I travel down to point B.  I don't particularly like
this, as it is a down - ward move, but it is not too bad, and I do
feel good when I tell myself I am going in the right direction.
Arriving at point B, I turn left and proceed to point C.  Again I am
faced with a problem.  Now, I have just finished taking a long trip
down from point E to point B-certainly I am not required to go any
lower.  It is time to start going up.  So I turn left and arrive back
at point E, at which time I repent and go back to point B again, etc.,
etc., etc. -- I end up going around in circles, which is what most of
you are experiencing in your Christian lives.  You never really get
where God wants you to be, because you never seriously follow, and
continue to follow, Christ.

   We have to face the fact that there is a basic problem in
fundamental Christianity.  We recognize talent, ability and success.
We often hear, "He is a great evangelist", "He is a great singer", "He
is a great administrator."  How seldom we hear of anyone, "He is so
Christ-like."  Which attribute would we rather be known for?  All of
us, instantly, would say we would rather be Christ-like than to be
talented and famous, but how many of us are willing to take the only
road - the road He took - the road down?

   Note carefully the steps we are admonished to take.  First, Jesus
knew Who He was.  A great deal of emphasis is given today to realizing
your "self-worth."  I am glad I can say two things about my
self-worth -- first of all, in myself dwelleth no good thing.  There
is nothing in my life that could either commend itself to God or be a
blessing to my fellow man.  But, second, I know that all the
accumulated wealth of the world would not be sufficient to pay for the
redeemed soul of Bill Jackson.  I have been bought with an infinite
price, I have been redeemed by His precious blood.  I have been made a
partaker of the divine nature, and there is not one of you who would
have enough money to pay for me.  I am a child of God.  I know that,
and Jesus knew exactly Who He was - the lily of the valley, the Bright
and Morning Star, the Fairest among ten thousand.

   He made Himself of no reputation.  Here I must pause and say that I
am glad I don't have to be a perfect follower before I write these
words.  I know that the insidious self that always wants recognition
and that would, if recognition were not given, be proud of its
humility and seek recognition for that.  The words, "He made Himself
of no reputation" are words that must remain a challenge to any
sincere follower of Christ who is aware of the reality of his sin
nature and the deceitfulness of his heart.

   HE - MADE HIMSELF - OF NO REPUTATION.  Reputation is one of the
last things to be let go.  A man may lose his wealth, but if he still
has "his good name" he is not considered a pauper.  This strikes deep
and deadly into the core of our being, and it might be considered
inappropriate for the Lord to even suggest that this could be our
mind, yet we are clearly instructed to let this mind be in us as it
was in Him.  We can only ask God to make us very conscious of the many
times when we seek to be otherwise, and be willing to make ourselves
of no reputation.

   Can we really continue to allow someone else to get the credit for
that which we did?  While others are being acclaimed as being
successful and talented can we be willing to be Christ-like even if no
one recognizes us as such.  And even if they did recognize, this is an
attribute that would scarcely get us on the front page of a
fundamentalist magazine.  Can we hear of the fame of another without
harboring a jealous spirit and allowing it to consume us so that we
have to resort to some slander of that brother?  Are we looking for
the applause of men or are we really content to wait until He says
"Well done"?  If in this first step of having the mind of Christ the
fundamentalist world has so dismally failed, can we ever complete the
journey from "Follow Me" to "Rejoice"?

   The next step downward that our Lord took was to take upon Himself
the form of a servant.  This is another step that is direct opposition
to all that is human.  While it is true that there are those who are
under an obligation to perform as a servant, it is never a state
wherein the human spirit is content.  Those in a position of servitude
are always seeking for liberation and, if that is not possible, for
whatever "rights" they can claim for themselves.

   The true servant completes his appointed tasks and expects no
compensation, not even any thanks. (See Luke 17:7-10)  Are there any
left in the Church of Christ who would do the most menial task
willingly and not be miffed if the pastor failed to make public
recognition?  Yet, said Jesus, the greatest among you must be servant
of all.  Is this mark of servanthood the general situation in which we
find men of today?  I was talking to a member of the church finance
committee recently who remarked how disappointed he was that all the
well - known evangelists that were invited to the church required all
sorts of special treatment, or else they wouldn't come.  Perhaps the
reason we find it so hard to take the second step is that so few have
undertaken to take the first step in following Him.  It is no wonder
we look for the superficial joys of success in this life, for we will
never get to the true rejoicing that is the end for all who truly
follow.

   The remainder of our Lord's steps - all down - leave us speechless
and without excuse.  He - God Himself - was made in the likeness of
men, humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of
the Cross.  How shallow any following we have done appears when
related to the steps He took.  This is a following we can never fully
know, so our cry must always be "that I might know Him, and the power
of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made
conformable to His death."  The glorious finale to that series of
journeyings down is the resurrection, just as the humiliations of
Philippians 2 end with God giving unsurpassed glory to Christ and the
command to follow in Matthew 4 is crowned with the rejoicing of
Matthew 5:12.  There is always a promised reward, but it comes at the
end of the road.

   One problem is that we are impatient for our reward, and
continually try to steal bits of glory.  We really do believe in
rewards in Heaven, but we don't act very much like it.  The praises of
men might seen like fit rewards for a job well done, but if we strive
for these as our reward, even going out of our way to be sure we get
them, we will have already had the only reward we shall ever get.  May
we jealousy guard our hearts from seeking lesser rewards and thereby
canceling out any rewards He wants to give us.

   Will we, when looking at the tabulation of Heavenly rewards, see
written boldly across the page, PAID IN FULL?  Are we to be counted
among those who love the praise of man more than the praise of God.
It is impossible to seek for both - they are mutually exclusive as
goals of our service.  Can we trust Him to keep the books honestly and
give all due rewards in that day?

   When we go back to the text in Matthew, we see that His first
command, Follow Me, is succeeded by His next command, Rejoice.  In
between is a list generally called the Beatitudes, for they are
proclamations of blessedness.  However, when we look at them we
realize that they are all steps down - steps that rely on a just Judge
to render the fruits and compensations from pursuing these qualities
of life.

   These are the steps that await us if we follow Him; He starts with
being poor in spirit.  "Theirs is the kingdom of heaven" is not the
motive - the motive is to follow Him.  We can certainly see the
obvious link between this and being of no reputation in Philippians 2.
"Poor in spirit" doesn't sound like a step to success - and it isn't,
if we equate success with that of which we normally think.  For
success has one at the top of the ladder; being poor in spirit is the
first step toward the bottom of the totem pole.  Yet it is a step of
following, for He went in one direction - down.

   Are the other "beatitudes" any more pleasant?  Even the most
innocent ones, being merciful and pure in heart, are steps not normal
for we humans.  Being merciful entails not requiting that which we
feel we have a right to; others wrong us and we forgive.  What thrill
is there in that?  Only to know that He did the same, but on a far
grander scale, when we came as poor bankrupt sinners to His bestowal
of Grace.

   Being pure in heart sounds good, but it does mean a lot of
willingness to sacrifice, for even our motives must be pure, and we
have a hard time with that .  We say we don't seek reward, but lurking
behind every good deed of man is a wish to be commended for it.  Such
was not the emptiness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

   Then we get to the others-mourning, being meek, being persecuted -
how can the sum total ever be REJOICE.  Just because God does not
measure as we measure.  For us, the path to success goes up; for God,
the path goes down.

   We do not naturally desire, or attain, any of the attributes spoken
of in Matthew 5.  They come as He enables us, by His power, to truly
follow Him.

                 *********************

   Several years ago, at a preachers' breakfast, the visiting speaker
(whose name I forgot but to whom I am indebted) gave a very simple
outline for having victory and success in the Christian life.  His
three points were total surrender, unconditional obedience and
implicit faith.

   In thinking about these qualities against the backdrop of following
Jesus, I realized that they are very basic to this concept.

   Even in the natural, when you are following someone, you must
surrender your will to him.  You do not tell him that you will gladly
follow him half of the time; even if you were to follow 90% of the
time, you wouldn't get to the destination.  Neither do you attach
conditions--I'll turn right if you are leading me down a pleasant,
shady street.  You unconditionally follow him; and it is utmost folly
to follow a person who either does not know the way or a person whom
you suspect might not know the way.

   I remember once when I was staying at a home after the Sunday
evening service, the young son volunteered to ride with me and show me
the way.  At night every street looked the same to him, and we drove
around in circles for some time before we found home.  You always
follow a person who knows how to get there, and you follow him
unconditionally and completely.

   "All to Jesus I surrender" - how many times have you sung it, and
how often you have meant it when you were in the glow of Christian
fellowship.  But how real is your surrender when it comes down to the
practical?  Can you say you have laid down all rights to yourself, to
your aims and ambitions, to your tastes and desires, to your
pleasures and cares?  Should not we, as Christians, begin to realize
that the word "all" is much bigger than the three letters that
comprise it?  It truly is one of the biggest words in our vocabulary.

   When you are asked by another Christian, "What are you doing these
days?", is your first response to list the areas in which you have
been successful, or is the primary joy of your life that you are
following Him?

   Have you surrendered your rights?  When our rights are surrendered,
do we have any?  Do we really yearn after and prize our recognition by
man, and feel deprived when he does not recognize us?  If your pastor
were to list all the Christian workers or prayer warriors in your
church and leave you out, would you be stung by the oversight?  Can
you stand to have others congratulated and yourself spurned?  If He
should lead others into bright avenues of public acclaim and lead you
down a dark alley of loneliness, do you follow?  Are you really
surrendered to Him?

   Because we all have an old nature that is constantly trying to
resurrect itself, we will always have temptations to react in the
wrong way to others' success and our seeming failure.  It is not sin
to be tempted, but it is a denial of our surrender to bathe in
self-pity and seek for acclaim.  Real surrender will be tested, and by
His Grace and Power we can prove the reality of our surrender.

   If others are promoted and you are not even mentioned, what is your
reaction?

   If your advice is not followed, what is your reaction?

   If the good things you did are not noted, and the bad things you
did are broadcast to all, what is your reaction?

   If you are severely wronged and God seems not to notice, what is
your reaction?

   We might sum up these questions and others by asking -- ARE YOU
TOTALLY SURRENDERED?  While others are "Superman" and "Captain
Marvel", are you willing to appear like "Ziggy" or "Charlie Brown"?
Will you be anything - if that is what He wants you to be?

   Total surrender can likewise be measured by unconditional
obedience.  There may be many who would gladly follow as long as the
road is going up to higher, more exciting ground, and that is their
only condition.  "Lord, I will gladly preach the Gospel, if you will
make me a great preacher."  "Lord, I will be a fisher of men, if you
will give me a lot of souls."  "Lord, I will do anything, just so long
as I'm a success."

   Probably the best Biblical example of conditional, rather than
unconditional, obedience is found in Genesis 28:20-22.  There Jacob
prefaces his faithfulness to God by four conditions, and displays he
incomplete consecration that God refined during the very difficult
process that finally ended when Jacob became Israel, a prince with
God.

   Unconditional surrender is a very rare commodity these days, and
perhaps the primary reason is that much of the public ministry on the
subject calls for what is called "unconditional surrender" by
promising some prize that this will merit.  But the fact that our
obedience is based on the hopes of a prize keeps it from being
unconditional.

   It has been said, "You don't catch fish with a frying pan", which
means that you don't show the fish the end of their being caught - you
rather use alluring bait to catch them, and then you put them in the
frying pan.  The usual way to try to get men to be truly committed
Christians is to lure them with the bait of reward, and then try to
get them to conform themselves to the "frying pan" of true
discipleship.  Yet this is the exact opposite of Jesus' methods - He
does catch fish with a frying pan!

   He said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take
up his cross and follow me."  You might say, "Lord that is not a very
good way to fish for men-they will never come under those conditions."
He does tell us that the glorious promise is that where He is, there
His servant will be - but we must be willing to follow Him, and the
direction He is taking is not that wonderful to our human nature.

   Our expectation is that we should work for God, really sacrifice
(once in a while) and be ready for the pat on the back which we
expect.  He says that after we have done all these things, we should
still say, "We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was
our duty to do." (Luke 17:10.)  The truth is that if we have been this
kind of servant, He Himself will come and serve us, but as soon as
that marvelous reward becomes our motive for doing anything for Him,
we have lost out on the privilege of unconditional obedience.

   Unconditional obedience is not a fruit of the flesh, or of the old
nature.  So often we come to the Word of God, see what He wants us to
do, then read the promise and say that on the condition that He will
give us the promise, we will do His Will.  We should do His will even
if what we will receive falls short of what we expect.

   We might bear the burden and heat of the day in sacrificial service
to Him.  Then, on pay day, we will grumble if we are not rewarded more
than those who, we feel, have not merited nearly as much reward as we
(Matthew 20:1-16)  However, most of us who read that parable think
those earlier laborers were justified in their complaint.  They had
worked harder.  They had done more than the others.  It seems so
unfair - yet unfair is not a word that can be used when there is
unconditional obedience.

   Unconditional - what a hard word!  Certainly having done certain
things I now have certain rights, but that is denying the obedience
being unconditional.  If I obey Him, am I not entitled to the
headlines, the praise, the glory?  Am I not entitled to see some
success?  Many of us are hard workers as long as success is on the
horizon, but we faint in the way when we cannot see any reward for our
sacrificial labor.  It has been said that sacrifice for someone else
is relatively easy when there is reciprocated love and gratitude, but
God wants us to be willing to sacrifice for Him and others when there
is no promise of immediate payment.  We do what we are bidden to do.
If he blesses and rewards, so be it.  But if He does not bless, it is
still our duty to unconditionally obey.  All that is within us as human
beings rebel against this; that is why a true disciple must die to
himself to follow Christ.

   Implicit faith is not natural to our fallen nature, but it is an
absolute requisite for following Him.  How can we pretend to follow
if we do not completely trust the One we are following?  Implicit
faith has two antagonists: (1) our desire to see where we are going
and (2) our desire to have other options available just in case He
fails.

   It is relatively easy to follow Him when the way is through
well - lighted and pleasant scenes, when the wild beasts that would
assail us are obviously chained, and when we have sufficient resources
to feel we can make the goal.  It is just human nature to feel better
about a trip if the roads are well - marked and well - lighted, if the
rocks have all been cleared off the road and if we have a spare tire
and sufficient money to pay for gas enroute.  It is a tragedy that we
so often transfer these normal and justified human feelings to a walk
that is now supposed to be on entirely different premises.  We would
not think of driving our car blindfolded, yet we often try to walk by
faith with our eyes wide opened.  As long as we can see the goal, we
will follow - IF that goal is consistent with what others are doing.
There are circumstances in which we would not find it hard to have
faith and follow Him.

   We must learn to say, with the hymn-writer:
     "No matter if the way be sometimes dark
      No matter though the cost be offtimes great
      He knoweth best how I shall reach the mark."

   It is a fact of life that the extent of our arrival at the goal
will equal the extent of our following, and if we do not implicity
trust Him Whom we are following, how can we ever hope to arrive at the
right destination?

   "We walk by faith, not by sight", and while this should not entice
us to embark upon mad schemes that we could not possibly expect to
complete, or do foolish things and excuse them by saying we are
walking by faith.  Trusting Him should have more scriptural
foundations, and if we learn to truly trust Him in these, He will
guide us in any leading that is unusual.

   The problem is that we often do not trust Him in areas in which He
has clearly spoken, and in some of the affairs of life we have
provided secondary means of achieving our goals just in case He should
fail.

   He plainly said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth" and
yet it is normal for a Christian to have a savings account, sometimes
quite large, that he can call upon should his normal income fail.  We
do not "Consider the lilies of the field" and we often succumb to the
brains of business men and have our churches so solvent that we are
ridiculous even to think we are doing His work by faith.

   On the other hand, we often hear of needs, imagined or real,
accrued by those "in the Lord's service" and since, we are told, these
folks/projects are being carried on "by faith", we should respond to
the stated need.  One reads with wonder and nostalgia at the practices
of those who were first used by God to found faith missions .  One of
their primary stands as faith missions was to tell their needs only to
God and expect an answer from God.  Now we tell our needs to our
prayer partners and expect an answer from them.  Christians (prayer
partners) have told me they like to have it so, because they can then
evaluate the needs that they can be used to meet.  Therefore the
missionaries who refuse to walk by faith not only disobey the Lord,
they rob other Christians of the joy of being led by the Spirit in
their giving and make them lazy Christians.  The Christian giver
should learn to walk by faith in his giving, even as the "givee"
should learn to trust the Lord in his asking.

   I just received a very attractive "prayer folder" from a couple
going overseas with a reputable mission.  On the first page it said
this mission is a faith mission, and on page 9 the needs were listed
so that this couple's missionary project would be possible.  Without
reference to monthly support, the needs totalled over $7,000.  Can you
imagine the Apostle Paul, responding to the man of Macedonia and
teling him that he will be in Macedonia as soon as the churches in
Asia Minor provided him with a means of transportation, rent for a
meeting room, audio-visual equipment, 15,000 tracts and pledges for
his monthly support?  What is the difference?

   Modern missionaries are following a prescribed plan (which has
ALWAYS worked???) of how to be a missionary and what one needs to be
a missionary.  ("I couldn't possibly be a missionary without a car,
Lord.") Then they are trained to solicit funds for these things from
Christians who are too lazy to pray how their money should be used,
too stingy to really sacrifice, and too business - like to invest
"their money" in anything that does not guarantee results.

   We have sadly inherited a hundred years of degenerating
missionaries thinking and have produced a brand of missions that
neither exalts or follows Christ, and we have resigned to oblivion or
nostalgia that missionay that has a heart for faith missions that once
fired men of God of the past to venture on God alone.

   Hudson Taylor insisted on a pure "faith missions" concept for all
in the old C.I.M.  When speaking at a church, he would often refuse
gifts lest they had been given purely out of an emotional feeling.  He
would instruct the giver to go home and pray and then send the money
if the Lord told him to. (Was he crazy?  How would he ever hope to get
to the field like that?)  In areas where taylor had every right to
remind folks of financial obligations, he chose rather to let the Lord
remind them and receive from His hand.

   C.T. Studd gave many thousands of pounds away (a tremendous fortune
in those days) so that he would be able to live by faith - and he
endured "as seeing Him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27).  Rees
Howells, called by God to go overseas but without the train fare to
get to his port of embarkation, so implicity trusted God that he stood
in line at the ticket window in the railway station because that is
where he would have stood if he had the money, and he might as well
have had it in his hand, for God had promised to send him overseas.
And God did provide.

   Such wonderful, exciting stories are these.  How we read them and
ooze with a warmth that tells us God did such great exploits through
these men.  How we admire their faith!  Then we are somehow content to
slip back into the old paths of our present - day, highly mechanized,
faithless "exploits" for God, trusting everything but the raw Hand of
God to meet our need.

   There is nothing wrong with a missionary honestly answering
questions directed to him about his financial needs.  We don't want to
produce a super - spiritual cult that has its head so in the clouds
that our humanity is forfeited.  But we certainly want to come apart
from the face of modern faith missions and learn to trust Him.  We
also have to be careful that the needs we mention are not desires, but
needs.  Do we need a car to be a missionary, or do we desire a car.
Paul minded to go afoot from Troas to Assos, but it would be too much
to ask me to cover all those miles without a car.  Maybe covering all
those miles is not God's will - you might be in the center of His Will
if you were to walk a mile rather than drive one hundred.

   This comes close to home, too.  If a present - day pastor came out
of his home in the morning to find his car destroyed, would he spend
the day in prayer, study and witnessing to his neighbors; or would he
frantically run around trying to compensate for his loss of wheels and
imagine that he must keep to his busy schedule to be in the perfect
Will of God?

   But can we heap blame on missionaries who are only doing what they
have been told is the norm for missions.  The lack of trusting God is
not only present in full - time workers; it is in almost every
believer and church.

   Today is a great day to have insurance of every kind.  One could
not fault the concept of life insurance, for that is a provision for
dependents left behind, who would have otherwise been supported by our
labor.  It is not selfishly motivated, it is not the result of being
unable to trust God to meet our needs, nor does it profit the owner of
the insurance policy.  One could as well speak against having a job to
make an honest living.

   But what of other types of insurance?  Can we scripturally justify
these?  Can we make a decision between health insurance and trusting
God?  Must we put ourselves in the position that whatever happens to
ourselves or our property, we are covered?  Does not this rob God of
His position as being the One who safeguards His people and rob us of
learning to trust Him?  Is our life on this earth geared around the
protection of the few paltry possessions we have accumulated, or is
our life taken up with knowing, trusting and following Him?  Is "a
piece of the rock" better able to take care of me than the "Rock of
Ages"?  Do we maintain, for our cars, the minimum insurance required
by law, or do we make sure that if our car is destroyed, stolen or
wrecked we have an insurance company into whose good hands we place
ourselves - and thereby never knowing the security of the Everlasting
Arms?  What of our old age?  We may never have an old age and if we
do, I trust by then we will have learned the lessons of faith that
will keep us constantly in His care.

   As we apply these practical truths to every day living, should not
this concept of total surrender, unconditional obedience and implicit
faith govern all we do?  How about the speed limit?  "Well, Lord, I
know the law says 55 and I know I should obey the law, but I have a
lot I want to do for you today, so I will just go 60 - or 65 - or 70;
anyway, I'll just keep up to the stream of traffic."

   Are we not thus saying, "I know I should obey, because obeying the
law is obeying Jesus, but I probably won't get caught (Romans 13:5)
and my time is so important."  Is my time as important as I think?  Is
not obeying Him more important?

   Suppose some Bible characters had walked so little by faith?  Paul,
with the viper on his hand, would summon the doctor with whom he had
insurance rather than shake the viper into the fire to demonstrate
God's Power.  Epaphroditus would be thankful for his hospitalization
policy rather than God's mercy.  Believers would take the spoiling of
their goods joyfully because they had a good insurance policy.  Yet we
claim to be New Testament Christians!  What frauds we are.

                       **************************

   When the Christian who was later martyred in Ecuador by the savage
Auca Indians said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to
gain what he cannot lose" he captured much of the genius of true
Christian discipleship.

   Many Christian homes have this motto displayed prominently, but in
how many of us does our life - style just as plainly say, "I don't
believe it."  You do not become a spiritual follower of Christ by
displaying Jim Elliott's motto, or even by agreeing with it.  You can
only be a true follower by following Him, and living out that fact by
proving by your actions and motives that things which are eternal are
more important than anything temporal.  This includes your
possessions, your popularity, your family, your very life - and it is
only when we get all these in heavenly perspective that we can really
begin to understand what He meant when He said, "Follow Me."  He then
pointed the way we are to follow, which is down instead of up, and
gave us His Word that, in His good time, the result would be glorious.

   "Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in
Heaven."

   God does give earthly blessings, but these are never the goal of
the truly spiritual person.

   God gives us things to enjoy, but the loss of these things which
could not last anyway should not cause us any undue grief.  I have a
car that the Lord gave me, and which I appreciate.  One day that car
(if the Lord tarries) will end up in the junk yard and become scrap
metal to make new cars.  When that happens, if I need a car, it will
be God's responsibility to provide.  If it happens pre - maturely and
I come out one day to find my car destroyed by fire or stolen - and I
am convinced that it is absolutely essential for me to be 500 miles
away that night, it is God's responsibility to work out some way for
me to get there.  He got Philip from the Ethiopian desert to Azotus
without an automobile.  So many times we have alternate achemes ready
in case something terrible should happen, because we feel "successful"
people are never the victim of circumstances, but always figure out
some way to rise above circumstances.  Such a thought indicates a
"going up" syndrome and not being willing to follow Jesus because that
doesn't seem successful.

   It is nice to be popular, but how many of us preachers would be
quite willing to preach the message He gives us, leave the results
entirely with Him, and then have to face a hundred glum faces as the
folks who objected to our sermon left the church without even a
handshake.  We don't preach to be popular, but it sure helps
sometimes.  And it should - human encouragement is often used by God
for our benefit.  But we still must not feel defeated if only One
Person in the Universe approves of our message.

   Even our families, as essential as it is for us to have them on a
high scale of priority, must never stand between us and our walk with
God.  Gianovello, the great Waldensian leader, when faced with the
venomous wrath of the Duke of Savoy, once faced a difficult decision.
The Duke had captured his wife and children and threatened to burn
them alive unless Gianovello capitulated.  His reply was that, while
he dearly love his family, he must commit them to the Lord.  If the
Duke caused them to go through the fire, it would but destroy their
bodies, and their souls would be safe with God.  His faith was
rewarded, and they were released - but if not, said noble Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego, be it known to you we will not surrender our
faith to you.

   They loved not their lives.  Because of the God - given inbuilt
instinct of self-preservation, this is the ultimate.  We all look
forward to Heaven, but no one wants to go today.  It is extraordinary
faith that captures the reality of being with Christ as far better.
We should desire to live as long as He gives us breath, but we must
not be so in love with our life on earth that we go to any extreme to
safeguard it and leave little energy for the work of the Kingdom.

   However, we must be willing to use whatever safeguards to our lives
that God provides and not go to silly extremes like some cultists that
refuse some valid medical means of healing that was provided by God.

   What do we read as the bottom line?  We are human, human, HUMAN.
Such living is beyond my scope as a person, and the very walk of faith
is impossible.  My flesh will always seek to impose conditions on Him,
and total surrender is so final.  As frail people (and He knoweth our
frame) we always fall short.  Yet that persistent but still Voice of
our Beloved continually comes to our hearts.  "Follow Me."

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