Let me here remind you of the only other alternative set before
you,--it is the awful one of being a "labourer together" with Satan.
Our Lord rejects neutrality; for such is really impossible. He
recognises the _no_ real friend as a positive enemy. "He that is not
with me is against me;" "He who gathereth not scattereth;" "Ye cannot
serve God and mammon," but must serve either. Now, Satan has a work
on earth. It is this spirit which "worketh in the children of
disobedience." Will we, then, work with him in his desire to destroy
our own souls? Will we have "fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness," and take part with that wicked one in his dread work of
opposing the kingdom of light, and advancing the kingdom of darkness
in the world? Will we assist him in tempting others to evil,--in
entangling souls more and more in the meshes of sin,--in propagating
error and opposing truth? And will we, by our words and example,
by our coldness or open opposition, help to keep any man back from
Christ, or to drag down to hell a neighbour or friend, a brother,
sister, or child? A labourer together with Satan! Oh, consider the
possibility of this being the record at judgment of our history, that
we may start, as from a nightmare, from so hideous an imputation!
Instead of anything so inconceivably dreadful being true of us, may we
know and love the Father, through the Son, and by His Spirit, and thus
realise more and more in all our labours the strength and blessedness
of being "labourers together with God!"
The more we reflect upon this principle which I have been
illustrating, the more we shall see that it is the life of all true
work, and can be applied to any work in which a Christian can engage.
The true artist, for example, ought to occupy the elevated position
of being a labourer with God in faithfully, industriously, and
conscientiously working in harmony with Nature, which is "the Art of
God." He ought to study, therefore, the sculpture, the paintings, the
music, of the Great Artist, and understand the principles on which He
produces the beautiful in form, in colour, or in sound. The humblest
mason who plies his chisel on the highest pinnacle of a great
building, or who fashions the lowliest hut, should have an eye to Him
who makes all things very good, and for conscience' sake, ay, for
God's sake, he should, to the very best of his ability, work in the
spirit of the Great Architect, who bestows the same care in building
up the mountains, moulding the valleys, fashioning the crystal, making
a home to shelter the tiny insect, or a nest where the bird may rear
her young. Without loving our work, and doing it to the best of our
ability, as in the sight of God, we cannot be fellow-workers with Him
who hath made our bodies so wonderfully, and cultivated our souls so
carefully; for "ye are God's building"--"ye are God's husbandry."
REVIVALS.
I.
THEIR NEED.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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