59. Chapter 9: Following the Lamb: the Way of the Cross
Following the Lamb: the Way of the Cross
Chapter 9
There has been a message laid upon my heart which I think is expressive of the Lord’s desire in relation to each one of us, as it is a challenge to our profession as Christian men and women. You will find it in Revelation 14:4-5, starting in the middle of the verse, “These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.”
I desire to take these words away from their dispensational setting and apply them to this hour; for what is prophetically true of the future can always be, I think, spiritually true of the present. To follow the Lamb is the definition of discipleship. To follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes is the test of discipleship.
What the Church is needing and what the world is waiting for is a race of men and women who will follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes; men and women who will take all the risks and bear all the consequences of such following.
Following the Lamb is not exactly talking about Him. What we are needing today is not more talkers but more walkers. In a city in the north of Scotland where I spent my school and university days we had a minister, the principal of a theological college, who was a very great man of God. His name was Dr. Brown. There lived next door to him another man of exactly the same name, but a medical doctor. One night a man was ushered into the minister’s study, very hastily, and began describing the symptoms of the trouble at home. The minister, who loved a little bit of a joke, with a twinkle in his eye said to this man that he was afraid he had come to the wrong Dr. Brown. The man in his anxiety burst out, “The Dr. Brown I want is not the Dr. Brown that preaches but the Dr. Brown that practices.”
I want that story to sink into your hearts and memories. That is exactly what the world is saying today: “We are not much taken up with the Doctor Browns who preach, we want the Doctor Browns who practice what they preach.” That is the walker and not the talker. The most eloquent talker is the man who follows the Lamb whithersoever he goes. The most successful worker for God is the man who will give obedience to the Lamb up to the last glimmer of light that is given to him.