Workmen Approved of God

Workmen Approved of God WORKMEN APPROVED OF GOD
By JOHN T. HINDS The passage of Scripture that will best serve as a sug-gestion for what I have in mind to say is Paul’s familiar exhortation to Timothy, '‘Give diligence to present thy-self approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.” Two things are here mentioned—the work to be done and the divine approval if rightly done.

Work is one of the universal requirements laid upon the human race. The first statement regarding it was made when man was placed in the garden of Eden and told "to dress it and keep it.” Because of sin man was cast out under God’s displeasure. At this time it was said of him: "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat all the days of thy life;” and again it was said: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the ground.” The production of thorns and thistles is nature’s way of enforcing this primitive decree and proving that Moses has correctly reported the facts. Nature willingly gives up her treasures only to the hands devoted to wise and persist-ent toil. This truth is everywhere apparent. The student finds that success is obtained at the price of unrelenting effort. The lawyer, the doctor, the mechanic or the financier goes onward and upward by the way of hard work. No substitute has been found that will take its place.

In the spiritual realm this truth is equally evident. Idlers succeed no better in the Lord’s vineyard than elsewhere. Besides this we have work directly commanded. To Christians Paul says: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” James agrees with Paul when he says we must be “doers of the word, and not hearers only,” else we will delude ourselves. He further tells us that a man who is a doer of the work shall be blessed “in his doing.” Some one has well said that success can generally be attributed to five per cent inspiration and ninety-five perspiration. There must be something more than the pleasure of the work itself. Some motive must stimulate us for the task. But whatever be the motive in view we want our work approved. If we do not receive approval, we are disappointed and consider our labor wasted.

We may have the satisfaction of our own approval. Like Paul we may have a conscience “void of offense toward God and man.” Such honesty should character-ize all workmen; but even then, like Paul, we may be him, he learned his mistakes, changed his work so that he might have a better and safer approval than his mis-guided conscience.7We may have the endorsement of men—the world in general—and yet not be doing the right work. On this point Jesus said, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for in the same manner did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26). James puts the matter in the form of a question, as follows: “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4). A kindred thought is expressed by John in these words: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15). The approval that will always be just, and the only one that will be satisfactory finally, is that which comes from God. Jesus settles the whole matter in one verse when he says: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.” This point is well illustrated by an incident said to have occurred at a railroad station. The crowd was pushing and surging as if each felt that he must be the first to pass the gateman. “Take your time, show your tickets,” said the gateman as he let them through one by one. The gateman would not yield, and the road’s orders must be obeyed. When all had passed out, an interested bystander came up and said: “Pretty hard job trying to please everybody, is it not?” “I am not trying to please everybody,” the gateman replied. “I am trying to please the general superin-tendent; my job depends on him.”

We should work to please God and get his approval. Our salvation depends on that. Everything else will be of little value if we fail in this. Life in its entirety may be appropriately viewed as a structure the building of which is left to us. A wise selection of materials and a happy way of forming them into a complete building is what brings both joy and approval for the workman. Only those who build upon the sayings of Christ can hope to receive divine appro-bation in the day of accounts. It is worthy of note that just as much labor and time may be given to our life work religiously without doing what Christ says as by doing it, but it will not meet his sanction at last. In every undertaking there are certain fundamental things that must be considered if we succeed. In the matter of buildings at least four things deserve special consideration: a safe foundation, a proper superstruc-ture, a wise plan and a right purpose. The further dis-cussion of this subject will follow more or less closely this outline.

I. A Safe Foundation.
Regarding the necessity of a foundation Jesus said that every one who heard and obeyed his words was like a man building a house, “who digged and went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock: and when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it; because it had been well builded.,, (Luke 6:48). A great building cannot rest upon a flimsy foundation. Men who have achieved great things or risen to places of trust and honor have usually come up through years of persistent and painstaking effort. Sueh hard experience is the best school from which to graduate for the really big things of life. The best thing in store for man is eternal life, and the best way tn obtain it, in fact, the only way to obtain it, is to build a life structure of which we will not be ashamed when.the Lord comes.

Two things are vital in making a safe foundation. Tested material must be used and time enough taken to lay it well. Taking chances on either one is too risky when the destiny of the soul is at stake. A failure here, will be disastrous and prove the workman to have been foolish instead of wise. Since this is just as true of the building as of the foundation, the languague of Jesus in John 14:6 is appropriate here. He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.” We are “laborers together with God,” and should understand with the Psalmist that, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it.” (Psalms 127:1).

Many failures in life can be traced directly to faulty material or too little preparation for the work. It is said that Edison made several thousand experiments before perfecting the storage battery. When some one remarked that it was too bad that so much labor was lost, the great inventor replied: “It was not lost; I know a lot of things which I must not do.”

Respecting the length of time that may be spent in properly preparing for a great task we have two out-standing examples in the Bible. One was Moses, the other our Lord. Moses was reared in the royal Egyp¬tian family where, no doubt, he passed the better part of the first forty years of his life. Stephen tells us that he was instructed “in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in his words and works.” This was fine schooling. Years later he must meet the Egyptian king face to face and make a demand so astounding that it would arouse the bitterest opposition of that powerful people. Forty years of experience with them was a piece of foundation work that would be invaluable when the time for deliverance came. At the close of this period he considered himself ready for the great task, and thought his brethren would so understand; but they did not, and God knew that he needed more fundamental experience before attempting to lead a people so long in bondage. Hence forty years Inore of schooling in the wilderness of Midian. Here as he led his father-in-law’s flocks he could commune with nature and learn the lesson of absolute dependence upon God, a lesson he afterwards often needed sorely. After eighty years of foundation work was done he was ready to do in the next forty the really big things God had in view all the time.

Christ grew to manhood in an earthly home, busied about the things of a carpenter's shop. For more than three years he was giving fundamental instruction, pre-paring a few followers for the work before them. All this before the inauguration of his own kingdom. If the ancient lawgiver needed eighty years to prepare for his work, and our Lord, with his divinity, more than thirty, we should not become impatient if most of our time m this world is needed to lay a foundation for some special work. Neither should it seem strange because it requires all our life to prepare for heaven.

II. A Proper Superstructure.
Careful consideration must be given the kind of build¬ing or we may find when we have finished our work that wTe have spent time and labor with the result that we have something of no value whatever. The kind needed depends upon the use to be made of it, and the person or thing that is to occupy it. If a residence is desired, a certain form of arrangement must be adhered to. If a school or store be the purpose in vieiv, a dif-ferent plan is necessary.

Adjustment to whatever the situation demands is one of the secrets of success. If one wishes to specialize in some particular work, a suitable course of instruction is the proper thing. Schools of law, medicine, agriculture and arts are established to meet any and all special needs that may arise. But all these temporal things may be provided for and yet one’s education be sadly deficient. Any education is incomplete that fails to take into account man’s whole nature. Specializing is all right in its place, but the problem of human life is a bigger and broader proposition than medicine, law or agriculture. The specialist who knows nothing outside his own little world in which he may be an expert is poorly prepared for the duties of life.

There are four essential parts in man’s complex nature and all of these must be cared for if we expect to have our work approved.

1. A body of flesh which requires food, exercise and rest. Physical culture has a vital place m the scheme of correct living. The laws of hygiene should be known and carefully observed. Proper clothing, protection from the elements and wholesome food contribute their part toward a healthy body. But one might be all this and still be just a street bully, prize fighter or a college athlete. One might be able to reach the goal with a touchdown, or knock a home run whose grades m math¬ematics, history or philosophy might be F. Physical culture alone cannot build a lasting structure. Champion prize fighters sooner or later get defeated, drop out of sight and are forgotten. They have too little in. their building and the material is worthless to the world. So of all others who care for the needs of the body only.

2. A mind. This part of man’s nature is looked after with the most painstaking care. Thousands of school houses and millions of dollars spent each year for education is proof that both parents and state are mak-ing heroic efforts to train the mind of the young. But when this is- done to the limit hoped for we may have only an educated criminal. It has now come to pass that law enforcement officials must match wits with criminals equally brilliant. The boy or girl with a body and a trained mind may be a menace to society still. The noted Franks murder case in Chicago, in which two brilliant moral perverts were tried for de­liberately killing an innocent child just for the thrill, is unmistakable proof that we must have more in life’s structure than just mind culture.

3. The moral nature. It is agreed on all hands be­cause social science and ethics so teach that there is a moral feature to our nature which must be sustained and safeguarded. The thief, liar and moral -renegrade are all detestable to good people. By rigid and careful training we may make our children live true to the principles of honor and morality; but in that event they are only meeting the requirements of this world. This all ends at death. "What preparation has been made for the future? Absolutely nothing. A strong body, a brilliant mind and a perfect honor toward humanity may all be possessed by the rank skeptic. What has the Christian more than others if this be all he claims ? What has man doiie to honor his maker if he has been true only to his fellowman?

4. The spirit. This is the part of man by which he is directly related to God. Paul calls God the “Father of our spirits.” When our education leaves out the proper care and development of the spirit, the only promise left is eternal despair. The world will smile and say you are all right without spending time on the spiritual na­ture, if otherwise educated, but God’s approval cannot be thus received. The life of Solomon furnishes a fine example of the point just made. He tasted about all the temporal pleasures of life, yet his final conclusion was that all was “vanity and vexation of spirit.” His wisdom was the equal of any and superior to most, yet he did some very foolish and hurtful things. In the last days of life he allowed his heart to be turned from God to idols by his unholy allianee with foreign wives, and thus laid the foundation for the downfall of is kingdom. 'We can ac­cept his conclusion, though he failed to live up to it, that “to fear God and keep his commandments is the whole duty of man.”

III. A "Wise Plan.
A plan of some kind must be devised or no building work can be done. The workman is not allowed to change the plans prepared by an authorized architect. If one plans his oivn structure, he must do it according to the law and rules which are endorsed by those com­petent to judge. The only reliable source of information on how to build spiritually is found in the Bible. The “blue print” on the plan of salvation is a part of the story in this book. The penalty for making any change is that the one guilty shall be accursed. See Galatians 1:8-10. The pattern for the Jewish tabernacle was given to Moses while in the mount. He was warned several times to make all things according to the pattern shown him. The church is the temple of God, established by Christ through his inspired apostles, and a curse of destruction is pronounced against those who would destroy it. The pen picture of an ideal life is also found in the Bible. No one can succeed in pleasing God whose work is not guided by this record.

IV. A Finished Work.
A workman receives the coveted honor when he turns over the finished structure to the one for whom it was built and hears him say, “Your work is well done; I accept it in full.” In order to have God’s approval at the proper time we must finish the work he has given us to do. Illustrating this point, Jesus says we must count the cost lest, like the man who laid a foundation for his tower but was not able to complete it, we may be mocked with the words: ‘‘This man began to build but was not able to finish.” Jesus carried out his own teaching in this matter; for, his last words before he died were these: “It is finished.”

We can never know what the final results will be till the end is reached. Ancient history furnishes a splen­did illustration of this point. Croesus, the Lydian king, whose prodigious wealth perpetuated his name in the proverbial expression “Rich as Croesus,” was once en­tertaining the Greek philosopher Solon. After he had shown all the splendor of his kingdom, he asked Solon who was the happiest man he had ever seen. Solon re­plied that the happiest man he had ever seen was one Tellus, a Greek citizen, who had a virtuous wife, obe­dient children and a pleasant home. When a war was waged against the Greeks Tellus gave service to his country and lost his life in defense of his country’s honor.

Croesus was disappointed at Solon’s reply, but asked who was the next happiest man he had ever seen. Solon mentioned two brothers who possessed great bodily strength and received public praise for their respect for and obedience to their aged mother. Then Croesus wanted to know why Solon did not name him, since his wealth was enormous and his kingdom glorious. To this Solon replied that he could not name Croesus as among the happy men until he knew how his life would end. The philosopher’s reasoning was justified; for, a son who was heir to the throne was killed in an acci­dent, and later still Croesus lost his kingdom. A sad ending to years of worldly glory. He began to build hut -was not able to finish He had no doubt trusted in his riches and royal power, but did not have God in his plans. Building for time instead of eternity will not give us God’s approval.

Any failure is sad, but failing to finish the task and losing all we have done is inexpressibly so. Dr. W. M. Taylor of Liverpool, England, tells this touching incident: He was requested to break the news to a mother and children concerning their husband and father who was lost at sea that day. In the service of his country, the sailor had been around the world and was nearly home; so close, in fact, that he had sent a message say­ing he would be home for dinner that day. The meal was being prepared, the table set, the house was in order and the mother and children happy in an­ticipation when the preacher arrived. The mother met him at the door with the good news that her husband i\as to be home for dinner and asked him to stay for the meal and rejoice with them. With tenderness and tears the preacher told the story of the accident which for that homo had turned sunshine into shadow, and smiles into weeping. The brief, sad and expressive words of the mother were these: “So near home and yet lost.” To the same effect but with far greater sadness will be the word “depart,” whieh at the judgment will be spoken to those who have not “fought a good fight,” nor “kppt the faith,” nor “finished the course.” The finishing touches of any work are the most in­teresting and attractive. May God at last approve of our work sand say, “"Well done!”