#50 And his bishopric let another take!

From The Fascination of the Race and Other Essays, by Benjamin L. Sommer

Even the ten commandments of old tell us that our God is a jealous God. And in the old New Testament we learn that He is not only jealous of our affection toward Him but that He is also jealous of the gifts and talents He entrusts to His children and servants.

Of the servant who had buried his talent in the earth and wrought no increase, He said, first, “Take the talent from him” and then, “Cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 25:28-30)

To the unthinking, it might seem unreasonable and unjust that the Lord should say, “Take therefore the talent from him and give it to him which hath ten talents.”

The human mind, which in striving for justice always leans toward equality, is inclined to rebel at this. Here again the word applies, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts, than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8, 9)

It is a part of God's infinite wisdom and love that He places His goods and talents most abundantly there where they are most faithfully employed and withdraws them where they are buried and lie useless.

Thus it is not hard to see why He gave the talent, taken from the unfruitful servant, to him who had been the most fruitful. In this light, it is also easy to understand why the Lord spoke as He did when He said, “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given and he shall have more abundance, but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.” (Matt. 13:12)

Among the many precious and beautiful gifts which God in His great love has given to His children and His church, undoubtedly the greatest and finest is that He entrusts them with the “ministry of reconciliation.” (II Cor. 5:18) He calls His children to be His witnesses to all people, and He gives them the Spirit of Prophecy; namely, the Holy Spirit which shall strengthen and inspire them in this ministry. To His first disciples, the Saviour said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:15, 16) And “Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” (Luke 14:23) It is in order that we take stock and examine ourselves as to whether, and in what measure, we are faithfully discharging our duty and obligation in this respect. I am convinced that every one of us, as we squarely face the facts in this matter, will have to admit with great humiliation and even with shame that we have fallen far, far short of what we could have done and should have done in this regard.

We would be deceiving ourselves in a most serious matter if we take our deficiency in this regard lightly. It is not a minor defect but a major one—a defect of the first order which must seriously concern everyone who loves Zion—who loves Christ's Kingdom.

Let us consider what will be the consequences if we fail in this ministry of reconciliation—if we fail to bear God's message of reconciliation through Jesus Christ, to the world.

The apostle Paul writes to Timothy, “If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” (I Tim. 3:1) Such a good work, such a precious jewel, such a high office in extremely large measure was entrusted to the twelve disciples whom the Lord called Apostles; among them was Judas Iscariot. But the latter was faithless. He became a traitor. Because of his faithlessness, he was cut off. The apostle Peter referring to Judas, quotes the

words of the Psalm, “Let his habitation be desolate and let no man dwell therein,” (Psalm 69:25) and adds “and his bishopric let another take.” (Acts 1:20) Let these words sink deeply into our hearts! Let them tingle in both our ears!” (I Sam. 3:11)

For it is just and right before God, it is a part of His heavenly wisdom and goodness that He withdraws His charge from those who are not diligent and faithful to fulfill it and withdraws His gifts and talents from those who do not employ them, and gives them to others.

We are few in number, we are feeble in strength, yet we have “a little strength.” (Rev. 8:3)

We have a jewel—a precious jewel indeed. It is the doctrine of true conversion, regeneration, and atonement through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Greater love God could not have shown us than to give us the knowledge of His Son. Greater gifts He could not give than to give us salvation in His name. Greater responsibility He could not place upon us than to charge us with the preaching of the gospel, with the ministry of reconciliation.

This doctrine and gift of God was brought to us by men of God, faithful servants and witnesses. Have we been faithful and diligent to spread abroad the message which has been brought to us? Or have we suppressed it, buried it, covered it? Have we been like a city built upon a hill that can not be hid?” (Matt. 5:14) I am convinced that only in very small measure have we done what we could have and should have done in these matters. My complaint is not particularly against the recent years, but for forty, fifty, or sixty years there has not been that missionary zeal, that first love among us, as there was in the earlier days of our church when it grew, spread out and prospered under the ministration of Brother Froehlich and his co-laborers.

And with what result! Not only was the growth of the Church stunted but its spiritual beauty and fruitfulness was impaired. Earthly mindedness, with love of gain, and creature comforts and enjoyments were often only thinly covered with a veil of piety. Into what depths of folly can not men, even saved men, descend when the glorious light of the Truth (which maketh free) does not shine brightly about them! So stupid a question as the manner of wearing the beard could lead to strife and even separation.

This could not have happened, the grace of God would have prevented it, had His people been zealous and diligent in doing His will, had they been watchful and stood in the light as they should have.

Thanks to God, some of the extreme follies, above referred to, we have well rid ourselves of. But the greater question is, have we recognized the fundamental reasons which made such follies possible and which will make other follies possible in the future if such fundamental conditions remain unchanged? There is great reason for the conviction that much remains for us yet to learn and to understand, so that the fundamentals may be corrected. Then many other questions and fears that now trouble our hearts will settle themselves and right themselves automatically.

The solution is really very, very simple, even if not easy. Let the Church and its members be busy, diligent, and zealous to do the will of God on earth; then there will be a sanctifying of the hearts, a joy, a satisfaction, a spiritual growth and health which will do for us what an endless amount of preaching and the strictest of discipline could not do. “Thy will be done on earth as in heaven”—so our Saviour taught us to pray. But what is His will on earth? That we love and serve our fellow men. This love and service to our fellow men consists of being helpful to them, (a) in their natural needs, and (b) in their spiritual needs. The former calls for deeds of kindness and mercy and all kinds of helpfulness to those who are in temporal need and distress. But in this article we are dealing mainly with our duty to serve the spiritual needs of our fellowmen, in bringing to them the message of the true Gospel, so we shall herein confine ourselves to that phase.

God grant that we may admonish one another to greater diligence in the spreading of the Gospel, that we may fervently pray the Lord of the harvest that He may send more laborers into His harvest fields; that the churches, here and there, may send out their evangelists to preach the true gospel wherever an opening is found. It is the first love that prompts us to do this. For never has there been a new convert to Christ who was not filled with a love toward all men and a burning desire to tell others, to tell everybody, about the Saviour and about the new joy, grace, and peace he has found in Him.

Since this love and zeal to confess Christ is always present in new converts, I believe we are justified in calling it “the first love.” And insofar as this zeal to confess Christ has died down in us, insofar have we fallen from the first love. In the Book of Revelations, we read what the Lord said to the Church of Ephesus, after He had shown them that they had fallen from the first love: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” (Rev. 2:6)

Oh let us repent before God that we have been so slack, that we have not been more aglow with the first love, that we have not been more zealous to confess His name and to spread the news of reconciliation through Him and of true conversion and regeneration. Let us repent; let us mend our ways. Let us make a new resolve that through the grace of God (which He freely gives to those who ask) we may be more faithful and diligent. May God fill us with a new zeal to “do His will on earth” lest the dire threat, held before the Church at Ephesus, be fulfilled against us, and He remove the candlestick from among us.

We need Him. Without Him, we can do nothing. His grace alone can keep us from evil and strengthen us for the good. If He takes His candlestick from us, we are in utter darkness and will lose our own salvation as well as be unfit to help others to their salvation.

Therefore again we say, let us be doers of the Word and not hearers only. Let us be diligent to do God's will on earth, so that we may please Him, and light, grace, peace, joy, and strength be showered upon us from on high. Then we will stand in no danger of being rejected, and the terrible words shall not be spoken over us: “and his bishopric let another take.”