19 14 The Most Needed Thing in the Church
14 The Most Needed Thing in the Church
14. The Most Needed Thing in the Church
It is interesting to study the story of the visit of our Lord to the home of Martha and Mary, as recorded in Luke 10:38-42. What did he mean when he said to Martha, "But one thing is needful: for Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her"? Martha was cumbered about much serving; "anxious," "troubled," or "distracted" are some of the other words that describe her mental attitude. She seemed astonished that Jesus would allow Mary to sit at his feet and hear the words that fell from his lips and not command Mary to help her with her much serving. Do you not think this is a picture —or, better said, a mirror—into which we can look and see ourselves as we are? Are we not today cumbered, anxious, troubled, and even distracted about almost everything except the one needful thing—viz., to sit at our Lord’s feet and learn his will to us? We are too busy with our housekeeping, our social functions, our keeping up with this friend of mine or that one, and no time to study the Bible; or, with the men, I am too busy with my real estate, my banking business, my insurance, my bookkeeping, the store, and other things to find time to study the Bible. Oh, how we need to learn to choose the good part that Mary chose that shall not be taken from us! Our housekeeping soon will go, so will all of our social affairs. Our real estate, banks, books, stores, farms, and everything else of like nature, will go. John says: "For all thatis in the world, the just of the flesh and the just of the eyes and the of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the just thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." (1 John 2:16-17). obedience to our Father’s will is the one thing needful, and this is just another expression for what the Bible calls love.
We are commanded to hear Christ in all things whatsoever he says to us. Mary took time to do this, but Martha really thought she did not have the time to spare.
It is also interesting to study the story of the rich young ruler who came to Christ and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life, as recorded in Mark 10:17-22. Our Lord’s answer to him was: Keep the commandments. All of these he declared he had done from his youth up. But Jesus, beholding him, loved him, and said: "one thing thou lackest. " What was this one thing lacking? It could not have been the mere act of selling all he had and giving it to the poor, for Paul says: "And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,... but have not love, it profiteth me nothing."
"One thing thou lackest." What was that one thing lacking? There is "but one thing needful." What is this one needful thing? I am taking the position that it is love.
WE ARE NOTHING WITHOUT LOVE
Paul says: "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing."
Certainly speaking with the tongues of men and angels is no small attainment, but how utterly lost we are if this is all we can do! Preachers so often are selected for their eloquence, without any thought of whether the love for God rules and reigns in their hearts. Here is where the leaders in our congregations are weighed and found wanting. They select preachers for the power of their speech, without any regard as to whether our Lord has absolute sway in their souls. To have all knowledge and to be able to explain mysteries certainly is great, but it is nothing without love. The dazzling intellect of men is a magnet that draws admirers. Why should this be of first consideration, and but little thought, if any, given to whether love is reigning in that man’s heart whom you select’? Giving all of my goods to feed the poor and being so zealous for my little sect or party that I would suffer my body to be burned to accomplish the end and aims of my crowd is some zeal! But how utterly lost we are, even if such sacrifices are made for the church of our Lord, if done in the partisan spirit and love is not in that heart of yours! In this great contrast loose stands out as a great mountain that is immovable and that lifts its head above the clouds into the golden sunlight of our Father in heaven.
WHAT LOVE DOES AND WILL NOT DO As we study love, see our Lord walking majestically up and down in it.
What Love Does. Suffers long, is kind, rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
What Love Will Not Do. It envieth not, it vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil, rejoiceth not in unrighteousness. It never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:1-8).
Well did Professor Drummond exclaim: "It is the greatest thing in the world!" And Peter chimes in here, saying: "Above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8). And John comes in with the statement: "God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him." He also says: "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. ” (1 John 4:7;1 John 4:16). THE SECRET OF KNOWING In Revelation 3:18 we are counseled by our Lord to buy of him eye salve to anoint our eyes that we may see. This eyesalve is love. The Spirit declares: "He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in the darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in the darkness, and walketh in the darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness [brotherly hatred] hath blinded his eyes." There can be no doubt that love enables us to see with undimmed vision. Our Lord says: "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." (John 13:34).
Love enables us to know that our conversion was genuine. John says: "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren." (1 John 3:14). What if we do not love the brethren, yet claim to have passed from death unto life? It simply means that we are mistaken; that we are self-deceived; that we think we are something when we are nothing. And most certainly the Bible teaches that we can deceive ourselves. This statement of John’s declares that the way we know we have passed out of death into life is the consciousness that love for the brethren reigns in our hearts. This suggests that in the new birth love is begotten in the human heart. And here the apostle Peter agrees in the following words: "Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently: having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth." (l Pet. 1:22, 23). Note here that the soul is, in the new birth, purified through our obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren. This is true love, not pretended love. The consciousness of such love reigning in our souls is the how we know we have passed out of death into life, that the old man has been put off and the new life begun. This is what the book says; hence, it is right. But we now go back to 1 John 3:14-15 and note the following words: "He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." Could language be stronger? But more: "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. ” (Verses 18, 19). Is there any other way of knowing and assuring our hearts before him?
Christ says: "If a man love me, he will keep my words." (John 14:23). Are you keeping his word? If not, how empty your claim of being a Christian, a true disciple of our Lord! Remember that John says. "Every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God." (1 John 4:7). Christ says: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3). But those who do not love, certainly do not know God. And if we love him, we will keep his commandments; hence we are in a bad way if we claim to know him and are not keeping his sayings. "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." ( 1 John 2:3-4). Brethren, here are the facts about this matter. It is so utterly foolish to claim to be Christians when love is not in our hearts. And it is the only way others can know we are God’s children. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another;" (John 13:35). others can know we are first-class hypocrites when we claim to be disciples of our Lord and carry around hatred in our hearts for anyone.
LOVE IS ETERNAL
Everything else is transitory and fleeting. Paul declares that tongues shall cease, that knowledge will vanish away, and the prophecies shall be done away, but love continues forever. Even the heavens and the earth will pass away, but love, the greatest thing in the world, goes on forever. It is well to ask right here that if all these miraculous things were transitory and fleeting, then what about your real estate, your banking business, your factories, your insurance companies? All of these will go, and even you will go before they go, perhaps, and be no more, and the place you have occupied forget you. Think again of the changing and the changeless things with which we have to do. That eternal kingdom of which we claim to be citizens, the church purchased with our Lord’s blood, in which we are taught we can glorify him throughout all ages, world without end, we should make first in our lives every day we live here on earth. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness," is the command of our Lord. (Matthew 6:33). This is the real meaning of love. It is well here that you turn to Luke 14:25-35 and study it wholeheartedly. There we are told by Jesus that no one can be a disciple of his unless he hates father, mother, brother, sister—yea, and his own life also—that he must forsake all that he hash, else he cannot be a disciple of Jesus. But hate is used here in the sense of second choice, and the idea is that we must make Christ first in our hearts and lives; that he must come before father, mother, brother, sister, and even our own lives, else we are not his true disciples. This is loving with the whole heart, and this we must do or be lost. How many of us have such love? Our Lord has just this number of true disciples on earth, and no more.
OUR LORD WANTS US TO TAKE HOLD OF THE ETERNAL THINGS Have we missed the point of 1 John 2:15-17? Here is the way it reads: "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. For all that is in the world, the just of the flesh and the just of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the just thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. " Think not, for one moment, that the Spirit has in mind here merely the sins of the world or what we sometimes call "worldliness." God is talking to us about the transient things with which we have to do, and with which things we have a perfect right to have to do, provided we make them not things of first importance and allow them not to hinder us in obeying our Father’s will. Paul teaches that "the time is short" and soon those who buy and hold the material things of this life will be as those who possess not; hence, we should use the good things of this life "sparingly, " for the world as we see it is passing away. ( 1 Corinthians 7:29-31). Read this from the Twentieth Century Translation. The Revised Version says: "And those that use the world, as not using it to the full: for the fashion of this world passeth away."
Most certainly, then, we should recognize ourselves as strangers and pilgrims here on earth, and realize that this old earth, with all that we may hold as our own of its possessions, soon will slip from our hands. The thing of all importance, taught from first to last in God’s book, is to make God first—to love him with the whole heart. This love is expressed in wholehearted and unstinted obedience to everything we know that he has said to us. Does not our Lord say, "If a man love me, he will keep my word"? Do you think our Lord knows what he is talking about? If he does—and most certainly he does—those of us who love him are keeping his commandments—every com mend that we know is his. Here let us read Moffatt’s translation of 1 Corinthians 7:19 : "Circumcision counts for nothing, uncircumcision counts for nothing; but obedience to God’s commands is everything. ” And connect with this: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." (1 John 5:3). This love casteth all fear from the human heart. "There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear." (1 John 4:18). There is a joy that cannot be expressed in words—it is unspeakable. This love gives this joy, and only those who have such love have this joy. (1 Peter 1:6-8). There is a peace that no human soul can understand. Those who have this love have this peace. (Php 4:4-7).
How true it is that "love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfilment of the law"! (Romans 13:10 : And that "the great commandment" is: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.... And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets." (Matthew 22:35-40). So far as I can see, we are taught to hate but two things—viz., sin and the devil. We must love our enemies and hate no one. And how woefully deceived we are if we think we love GOD and hate the brethren! "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen." (1 John 4:20 : How important, then, that we "let love of the brethren continue"! ( Hebrews 13:1).
And, in conclusion, let it be remembered that "we love, because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19). Note here it says that we love, and the reason for our loving is because he first loved us. This is loving in the fullest sense—viz., God, the brethren, and even our enemies— that is, we love like God loves every human soul on earth, saved or unsaved, or whether he loves us or hates us. We hate nothing except those things that have a tendency to harm a human soul; hence, we hate Satan and sin and every evil way. God’s love was commended to us in that, while we were yet sinners, he gave his Son to die for us. (Romans 5:8). May God help us to keep our hearts set on his love for us until his kind of love is begotten within us, is my prayer.
THE EDUCATED MAN George Matthew Adams well says:
"The most highly educated man is he who has learned the most ways of being useful and kind.
"We accumulate nothing until we begin to give away.
"The more experience -ye get, the more we think and the less we say. We learn that we have to know a great deal in order to express just a little.
"The educated man is a delight. He sees so many things and understands them without having them explained. He reasons his way along. He takes no man’s word as final. He gives no final word of his own.
"The educated man is a walking university, Everybody who comes in contact with him leaves with a lesson learned from him. He despises nothing except falsity.
"He who is best educated loves most. That kind of love that is life stuff—broadening and bettering every human it touches. The kind of love which nourishes and which doesn’t talk back. Which beareth all things and is still kind, strong, and rich."