(Continued from p.63.)
In 1 Thessalonians the Second Coming of our Lord occupies the prominent place. It may be said to be the theme of the epistle. In some aspect it is referred to in every chapter. In chapter 1 we read of the Thessalonian believers that they had
Turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven."
Waiting for the Son-and serving while they wait! What blessed and holy occupation was theirs! May it be ours too.
In chapter 3 (for I pass over chapter 2 for the moment) they were exhorted to holiness of life in view of "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."
The "blessed hope" is a purifying hope, and an incentive to godly living. "Every man," we are told, "that hath this hope in Him (or, set on Him) purifieth himself even as He is pure."
The rapture-the order of events when the Lord descends to call away His saints-is unfolded most preciously in chapter 4, while in chapter 5 we have perfect sanctification reached at last at "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. 23).
But what of chapter 2? In that particular section the apostle is writing of his own service and the ministry of his fellow-laborers in view of this glorious event. He thinks of the Lord's return as the time of manifestation and reward-the time when the servant's works will all be examined and pronounced upon by the Lord Himself. It will be then that the results of his own years of toil and travail will be fully made known. Of this he is assured:the souls he has led to Christ will be a cause for thanksgiving then. So he writes-and to his own converts, be it noted-
"What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For ye are our glory and joy."
He speaks in a similar strain in Phil, 4:1:
"My brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown."
They too were the fruit of his ministry, and, like the Corinthians, the seal of his apostleship in the Lord.
How sweet and tender the relationship between the minister of the Word and those he has led to Christ! And when I write "minister of the Word," I do not mean one in a clerical office, or some official position, but any believer who ministers the truth of the gospel to another and so leads him to Christ.
Those thus saved through our testimony will be to us a crown of rejoicing in that day. To see them safe in the glory, singing the praises of the Lamb who redeemed them, and then to realize that in some sense they are there because of our testimony in weakness while on earth, what a wreath of joy that will be! We shall indeed be crowned with gladness!
Rutherford knew something of this when, on looking back from his dying bed to the scene of his former labors he gave utterance to the beautiful words which have been embalmed in poetry by Mrs. Cousins:
"Oh, Anwoth by the Solway,
To me thou still art dear;
E'en from the verge of heaven
I drop for thee a tear.
Oh, if one send from Anwoth
Meet me at God's right hand,
My heaven will be two heavens
In Immanuel's land."
Yes, one soul-saved from going down to the pit, plucked as a brand from hell, pulled out of the fire, as Jude puts it-will be for the one used to his deliverance a veritable doubling of the joys of heaven. What will it mean for one like Paul who won thousands to Christ? What for every God-raised-up evangelist who has been the means of the salvation of vast numbers of men and women through the preached Word?
But as intimated above it is not only those divinely ' called to preach who may win this crown. We are all called to witness for Christ, to seek to win others to know Him "whom to know is life eternal." And it is written in the Word, "He that is wise winneth souls" (R. V.). Oh, to have the wisdom that will enable us to turn many to righteousness!
Soul-winning is "not, in itself, an arbitrary gift. It is something that may be cultivated by exercise and communion with God. He fits us for such blessed and honorable service.
The first requisite is to realize the need of men, their lost condition. Have you ever asked God to give you to feel the appalling need of the unsaved all around you? And has He answered by burdening you for their souls? Then continue to look to Him for the message. He will give holy boldness, tender compassion, wisdom in presenting the truth, and grace to persist in spite of rebuffs. The joy of seeing one poor sinner changed into a saint will amply repay all the toil and exercise here on earth, and at the Lord's return the crown of rejoicing will be your eternal reward.
"Go on, go on, there's all
Eternity to rest in,
And far too few are on the
Active Service List;
No labor for the Lord is
Risky to invest in,
But nothing will make up
Should His 'Well Done' be missed."
And let us not forget the other side. It is written, "He that withholdeth corn the people shall curse him." The unsaved may not relish being spoken to now. But a day will come when they will blame us if we passed them by without a warning word or a kindly message of grace. We have the food for which they are dying. We knew they are doomed without the gospel. And shall we selfishly and coldly leave them to die without an honest endeavor to awaken them to a sense of their need and make them realize a Saviour's love?
Will not the remembrance of such unfaithfulness make us "ashamed before Him at His coming?"
"Must I go and empty-handed,
Thus my dear Redeemer meet?
Not one sheaf with which to greet Him,
Lay no trophy at His feet?"
It need not be. Each one may in his measure be a winner of souls, and thus gain a crown of rejoicing in that day of all days so soon to dawn. What is needed is willingness to be used. Someone has said, "God has wonderful things to display if He could only get the show-cases." Paul was such a "show-case;" "that in me," he says, "Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering." Oh, may we too-you and I, my reader- be used to display the grace of Christ to a lost world and to attract men to Himself. Such will be our joy and crown when He returns to reckon with His servants. H A. Ironside
(To be continued. D. V.)