It is a heartening thought that both elevated character and outstanding ability are possible to every one who has been moved by God's Spirit to enter the holy work of the gospel ministry. Every such man, called of God to preach, may become successful and efficient in his calling, and may do a really great work for God. Not one should be complacent, but rather, all should be deeply aroused over a mediocre experience and poor results.
As we think back over the way we have come, the unsatisfactory experiences we have had, and the feebleness of our ministry, there is not one of us who is not plagued by dark remembrances of hours misspent and lost, of energies misdirected, of privileges dissipated and squandered, of sunlit heights which have towered far above us which we might have been treading happily today. We are not unaware of the opportunities we have tossed lightly away in order to travel a path with fewer obstacles and of an easier grade.
It would be well if the interest we felt in such considerations were not allowed to stop with vain regrets. Standing wherever he may be, amid whatever wreck and loss he may already have sustained, the man of God's best hope is to turn his eyes forward and upward; and summoning whatever strength he may, to spread forth his pinions for loftier flights. Forget the things that lie behind, reach out to those things that are before, and press toward the mark.
I do not mean to convey the thought that precisely the same degree of excellence may he reached by all the servants of God. He has given us different talents, different abilities, different capacities. What I do mean is that all may do nobly, all may fulfill their mission, all may perform excellently, all may successfully labor in God's service, and all may be qualified to receive, at last, the heavenly greeting, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
The truly great man is not necessarily the one who, by superior native ability and every privilege for his cultivation and improvement. has ascended high in the scale of intellectual might and influence. Rather is that man great—at least, in God's clear sight—who, starting from any point along life's progress, lives henceforth singly for God, dedicating in deep earnest every power, every activity, every talent, and every acquirement to Him.
The great question is, Will a minister of the gospel—no matter what his past experience has been, no matter what his age—draw near to God, and make the everlasting, entire consecration of himself to Him? Renouncing this world and all that it holds, separating himself from its spirit and pursuits, giving up every mortal thing that has held him back from the fullest success,—will he pledge every power to this great ministry of reconciliation? Will he, till he dies or greets his Lord at His coming, know nothing save Jesus Christ and Him crucified?
That is the sole and solemn issue. Any worker in the cause of Christ who may now be just an average worker, whose standing is what might be called respectable, who is not possessed of any extraordinary qualities, yet who serves year after year in the usual routine of ministerial duties, may become from the moment of such consecration a vastly improved servant of God, doing a far more successful work than anything that has marked his labors in the past. And any minister who may have fallen short of even the standard of mediocrity, whose ministrations have failed to be ordinarily acceptable, and who seems destined by circumstances to move in an obscure and lowly path—he, too, may from that moment enter upon a far more fruitful path and field of service.
Any man called of God to service in His vineyard, who will, from this hour to death or translation, throw his whole being and action without reserve into the sacred work to which he has been called, is bound to emerge from his present sphere of movement and influence. He will ascend, by a progress which may indeed be slow at first, yet sure and strong and steady, to an eminence which will meet the mind of God, and will at last stand among that select company whose mark of distinction and greatness will be that they have turned many to righteousness.
The whole question is just this: Will you, a minister of Christ, be wholly His—not merely for a day, or an occasion, or during an evangelistic effort, or on the Sabbath day, but for every moment of every day during the entire period of your life? Will you, like Payson, permit no good to be unaccomplished which you may perform in your life? Will you, like Jonathan Edwards, on the supposition that there will be but one complete Christian in your generation, strive to be that one? Will you, like Moody, listen to the words spoken to him by Henry Varley: "The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him"? And will you allow the thought to move you, as it did Moody, to that attitude of life which he summed up in the words: "My human best, filled with the Holy Spirit"? To us have come the words, like a summons to a high destiny:
"He who loves Christ most, will do the greatest amount of good. There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, by putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart, and lives a life wholly consecrated to God. If men will endure the necessary discipline, without complaining, or fainting by the way, God will teach them hour by hour, and day by day."----The Desire of Ages," p. 250.
You may be a one-talent man, not capable of going far. That is not the point. Will you give yourself wholly and forever to God, to do God's will instead of your own? Will you, in solemn faith, run a race that will commence today and close only at your death or at the coaling of our Lord? Will you, while life is in you, never take away your eye, your heart, your hand from this supreme work to which you have been called,—the salvation of men?
If you will, then the result is certain. As a man sows, so shall he reap—that is as certain as destiny. Your success and triumph are already written in heaven. Do not doubt that for a moment.
