There
is only one work that evidences Christianity and wholly satisfies any one -- a
work that defies the most ingenious criticism and the most skilful logic. It is
said to be scarce, if not indeed very scarce, but we have met with it here and
there. It is from five to six feet of
humanity living a Christ-like life. True, there are few such characters "of all we meet in Life's great stream,
except one here, one there," but it is of such that it may be said:
"Some men live near to God, as my right
arm
Is near to me; and then they walk about
Clothed in full proof of faith, and bear a charm
That mocks at fear, and bars the door on doubt."
All
along such characters have been the exhibits of the Word of Life working
effectively in true hearts and minds. These have borne the likeness of the
great original Copy. Eventually there will be a complete collection … of that
Copy, all of them identical with the Original. What a joy to have followed
footsteps leading to such a reproduction. What a favor it will be to be one of
that collection, when it is finally complete. This we
can be if we will but remember that for today, and for every day henceforth,
our motto must be, "Where He leads
me I will follow," because, "For
me to live is Christ." Let the objective and prayer of each one be that "the
Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead may dwell in me, that He who
raised up Christ from the dead may quicken my mortal body by His Spirit that
dwells in me." Where this attitude of heart prevails the assurance can
be steadfast, "Being confident of
this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you [to make you like
His Son] will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians
1:6).
That
day is drawing near. Sooner than we may think, perhaps the last edition of
reproductions of Christ's character will be off
the press, the press of trial and discipline specially designed to produce
such copies. The pressure has been graciously prolonged for some of us. So much so, that the words of the Apostle
Peter seem to come to us with a particular force and preciousness, "The Lord of the promise is not slow,
as some regard slowness, but is patient towards
us, not wishing that any one should perish, but that all should come to
reformation" (2 Peter 3:9, Diaglott). He
thus graciously and patiently waits until we have been wholly "reformed" or "transformed by the renewing of our
mind," and thereby
proved or experienced in its
outworking "that
good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2). To this
end, living near to Christ becomes more and more essential to our partaking of
His likeness, and thus being true exhibits of the Living Word. More and more
important it is that we aim
to follow our Leader more perfectly in all
things, that in all respects we may be made like Him.
With
what emphasis the Scriptures declare the finality of Jesus' own words! He
Himself set the gage for this clear-cut emphasis. In giving the promise of the
Spirit's subsequent coming to guide His disciples "into all truth," the word was, "He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that
shall He speak; and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for
He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it to you" (John
"O teach me, Lord, that I may teach
The precious things that You impart;
And wing my words that they may reach
The hidden depths of many a heart."
Are
we left in any doubt as to what Jesus would have us speak today? Can it be that
for a time of unparalleled suffering such as this, Jesus has set no example as
to what we should be telling forth? Or can it be that there are no footprints
of His, particularly clear to us now, for ministry when His people need
special guidance in the matter of how best to build one another up? Strange it
would be if such footsteps were not to be found definitely outlined. But here,
as always, "Looking unto Jesus"
will keep our feet in the right way.
Thus
looking unto Him we see how, when He went about with fan in hand in a Jewish
field "white and ready to
harvest," He, at the same time, uncovered the sham of the prevailing
empty profession, and also gathered the wheat
from the accumulation of chaff which
traditional teachings of men had produced.
By the same message, He accomplished both features of His mission. He accepted
and used the message foretold concerning His ministry, taking occasion to read
it out publicly to a gathering in His home town of
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me;
because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He has
sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that
mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of
the Lord, that He may be glorified" (Isa.
61:1-3).
Great
blessings are the portion of those who in these trying days take their example
from this, the Master's text, and so follow in His steps. In our previous review of this subject, we
saw how necessary it is to observe all aspects of our Lord's daily walk in
order that we miss none of the steps outlined in the perfect copy His life
provided. We saw that while giving all due consideration to His sufferings
associated with making atonement for sin, which was the great factor in His
sufferings, yet it is also necessary that we consider carefully His daily
ministry as He went about doing good. We all understand that walking in
His steps will bring the inevitable sufferings He Himself assured us would be
the experience of all His true followers. The conditions of faithful
discipleship remain unchanged. The order continues to be, "If we be dead with Him, we shall live with Him: if we suffer, we
shall also reign with Him" (2 Timothy
Suffering
for righteousness' sake, and for Christ's sake is so inseparably linked-up with our discipleship that none may have
a part in reigning with Christ unless this suffering is a very real part of
the present experience. All this is
very well summed up in another word of the Apostle Paul, "Unto
you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not
In
the matter of being lights in the
world, exhibiting the Word of life, particular attention must be given to what
is comprehended in this important feature of walking in His steps. All the
steps found in the perfect copy must be observed, and taken by such who desire
to attain to the character of Jesus. With this in mind let this part of our review
be definitely personal; each one seeking to determine the measure of
faithfulness in walking, speaking, and ministering as Jesus did, observing the
spirit and methods of Jesus, for all these are clearly defined in the
footprints He left for us to follow.
Let us remember again that Jesus had a message for His day, a message,
which in its scope fulfilled -- all that had been foretold concerning this
aspect of His mission. This was the message He found set forth in Isaiah chapter 61:1-3. So
complete and important was this foretold message, that its place in His
ministry was all Jesus offered to John the Baptist as a proof of His identity
as the One to come…The evidence, by which Jesus was proven true to the will of God,
will be the best of all evidence that we too are now His true followers, just
because we adhere strictly to the copy He left us. Then let us remember His word to John in
answer to his inquiry, "Are You He that should come, or look we for another?" The line of
evidence was, "Go and show John
again those things which you do, hear and see: The blind receive their sight
and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are
raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. And blessed is he
[John], whoever shall not be offended in Me" (Matt. 11:4-6). The
inference is that these credentials might not satisfy John. His preconceived
ideas might have been so strong that this answer might have left his doubts
untouched. Likewise, with us, our preconceived ideas could be a hindrance to
us, preventing us from seeing some very important steps we should not want to
miss… Surely, it is of unquestionable importance to us in all that is
comprehended in those few words: "He
went about doing good." Shall we not say, "Where He leads me I will follow;" and seek to note each
footprint with care?
(To be
continued)
J. J. Blackburn