By Beverly Carradine
THE fact of service suggests the thought of remuneration. A certain
equivalent is given in the world for labor and called pay. When a man
undertakes toil for another the understanding is that he is to be
recompensed.
This universal observance is not dropped in the spiritual life, and is found
working there with greater results and richer satisfaction than anywhere
else. Christ is discovered to be the best of paymasters. He does not
propose that a man should serve Him for nothing, and he who hangs back
from the Christian life for fear of loss shows that he has not read the Bible
nor studied the lives of God's people. Christ not only pays, but
remunerates abundantly, and in many ways besides.
The pay day is not necessarily Monday, Wednesday, or Saturday; nor at
the end or first of the month. One of the peculiar features connected with
Heaven's way of rewarding is seen in its suddenness and unexpectedness.
The soul may be weary and discouraged, when, in another instant, it is
thrilled and delighted with a blessed enrichment from the skies, in heaven's
best coin, which goes rolling, clinking and sparkling all over the tables of
the heart.
Moreover, this pay of Christ does not consist of one kind of coin; for even
the nations of the earth have gold, silver, copper and paper, but heaven has
all this and more beside to make up the celestial currency. It is not,
however, the financial part of the reward that we speak of in this chapter,
although there is no question but that it pays to serve God in this world,
even for material reasons. It is the more spiritual side of the question we
would now dwell upon.
One pay is realized in sudden influences of peace and joy.
Not more certainly does a tide sweep into a partially emptied bay or
harbor, nor a delightful breeze pour itself through the gates of the west 26
with reviving, exhilarating power into a sultry evening, than that divine
influences are made to breathe upon and sweep over a fainting Christian
soul.
The change seen upon the face of Nature is not more remarkable than the
transformation in the man or woman. A sweet, new strength is in the
heart, a new light seems falling on the earth, while a new willingness to
endure burdens and perfect victory for the time being, over all thing, is in
the soul.
Now it is we say, if in the regenerated experience, we will go in the
strength of this meat forty days and nights; we will not worry any more
about our troubles; and we fully intended to do as we said. But the manna
melted by nine o'clock, the meat lasted but one day, the water gave out in
the wilderness, and the old time murmurings were resumed. So we went on
our way until we obtained the higher form of Christian remuneration an
abiding joy in the soul.
A second kind of pay is the gracious renewing of the spiritual life.
A tide or mighty wind sweeping in is one thing, while the dew falling
silently on the grass and a zephyr stealing from the skies is another.
In like manner there are gentle manifestations of divine power. There are
influences breathed upon us by the Holy Spirit, which for tenderness,
quietness, and yet completeness of heart renewal would defy all
description. David alludes to this when he says, 'He restoreth my soul.'
Sometimes we are exhausted by a day of toil or we may have talked too
much; anyhow the soul has been hurt in some manner. A weak, dispirited
feeling is upon us; the discouraging whisper is in the heart, 'You have
failed again!' Just then, while brooding upon the matter, we feel the divine
touch, a gentle, reviving influence comes upon the soul, and lo! we are
made whole again!
It might have been in the house of God; or in the closet of prayer; or with
Bible in hand; or while sitting thoughtfully by one's self without any
conscious act of worship or effort made to touch the Lord, when suddenly
we were made whole. It was done so gently, graciously and satisfyingly
that the eyes were filled with happy tears, and the soul lost in wonder,
love and praise.
A third pay is a habitually restful heart.
The Christian who possesses the secret of full salvation well knows this
peculiar reward of Christ. The world cannot give it. Money cannot
purchase it. Success cannot guarantee it. These conditions of life may bring
spasms of gladness, thrills of temporary pleasure, but Christ alone can
give the restful soul.
It is certainly a marvelous blessing to wake up in the morning, not only
without the old-time heavy load on the heart, but with a deep, sweet peace
in the soul. In spite of every changing circumstance of life it is our
privilege to awaken each morning with a song in the heart. This is the pay
that Christ gives every one of His followers who have followed Him not
only to the cross, but tarried in the upper room for the baptism with the
Holy Ghost.
A fourth payment is felt in the consciousness of being a blessing to others.
It is a great thing to help in any way an immortal being made in the image
of God. It must make a very soft death bed pillow to the philanthropist or
to any benevolent man who has made life easier and sweeter to his fellow
creatures by the gifts of his hands in material mercies.
And yet there is something beyond this in the character and duration of
benefits. The soul is far greater than the body, and he who brings that soul
to Christ, or if it be already saved, will do that for it which enlarges,
ennobles, strengthens, and in different ways blesses it, that man is doing
even more for his brother, a something that money and food cannot do,
and that will endure as a work when suns have burned out and stars have
dropped from their sockets.
It is impossible to be a true follower of Christ without being such a
blessing to others. And, moreover, we are permitted to see a part of our
labor; and this is in itself a wonderful pay. Who can look for a moment on
a man pardoned and sanctified, comforted and blessed under one's own
words and influence without the sweetest joy in the soul.
Sin pulls men down. The sinner is compelled to look at the ghastly
spectacle of human beings dragged down in different ways by himself.
This is some of the wages of the transgressors and a sad pay it is.
Christianity builds up and sets fallen men on their feet, and so a part of
the Christian pay is to see a procession of happy faced men and women
on their way to glory, whom, under God, he started for the better world
through his devoted labors.
Dr. C.K. Marshall, one of the most gifted preachers in the South, was
sitting in his garden one day with an unusually heavy heart. He found it
impossible to shake off the gloom. Glancing at a church paper in his hand
his eyes fell on the obituary column, and he began reading about the
triumphant death of a Christian lady in Arkansas. The notice ended by
saying, 'This godly woman was saved under the ministry of Dr. A. K.
Marshall.' At once the tears gushed to the eyes of the preacher, and a
delicious joy filled his soul. All sadness was gone in the thought that he
had led a soul to God and heaven. In other words, Christ dropped some of
His pay into the soul of His drooping servant, and, judging from the
happy tears, swelling heart and beaming face, that pay was eminently
satisfactory.
A fifth payment is the friendship and love of the people.
Some Christians are given to talking of their sacrifices for the gospel, what
they left and what they gave up. If they would begin to count up what
they have gained they would be amazed.
We have certainly added to our fathers and mothers; for while leaving one
we have had given us scores in the Gospel, whose tenderness and affection
we cannot doubt, and whose trembling hands have been laid on our heads
in blessing as fervently as if our natural parents.
We have also gained in brothers and sisters; for in leaving four or five we
now have them by the hundreds and thousands. Moreover, they prove
their love, and some of them have been kinder, gentler, more affectionate,
and even more liberal to us than our own flesh and blood.
We have gained in homes. We left one, perhaps none, and lo! hundreds of
houses over the land stand with hospitable doors wide open for our
coming. To be a true Christian is to have a knife, fork, something to eat, a
bed, and above all a cordial welcome at many a lovely and excellent home.
Sin cannot and does not pay this way, but Christ can. We have never in our
life heard of the doctor's room, or the lawyer's room, in any home in
the land. But the 'preacher's room' is a household word.
It began with a woman in Shunem, who as she observed the holy life of
Elisha said to her husband, 'Let us build a room for him, and put in it a
bed, stool, table and candlestick.' This is the first record of the prophet's
chamber or preacher's room, but who can count them today? There are
family circles that talk about the absent man of God. They write to him
and send him word: 'When are you coming? we all want to see you!' This
is part of the pay of Christ.
A gentleman was going down the Ohio River to Cincinnati and southern
parts beyond. He was a Christian, but a different and reserved one, and so
held himself aloof from the other passengers. On arrival at Cincinnati he
found that the boat would have to stay nearly two days before going on
her journey down the river. Every passenger but himself was leaving the
steamer. The prospect of the two days' lonely waiting was not enviable;
so, with a sudden rush of courage, he leaned over the guards, and, speaking
to the throng of passengers crowding the gangway in their departure, he
cried, 'I don't know one of you, but if any man out there loves the Lord
Jesus he is my brother!' Instantly several gentlemen returned and shaking
him by the hand cordially invited him to spend the two days with them
instead of remaining at the hot, noisy wharf on the river side. He received
three invitations in as many minutes to good Christian homes. The name
of Jesus was the power which rolled the coin of a loving regard and
welcome before him.
A sixth payment is the divine honor placed upon the follower of Christ.
We have all listened to lectures, addresses and discourses that were
everything in an intellectual way. They received the admiration and
applause of the audience, but it was evident that the favor of God was not
upon the speaker.
On the other hand, we have listened to personal testimonies and sermons
that fairly dripped with unction. Nothing brilliant or remarkable was said,
but something undoubtedly was being done. The Lord was putting His
hand upon His servant and setting His seal upon his every utterance. If
this great honor could be purchased with money how quickly some would
offer the price. But it is a coin in itself, and is given in exchange for a
certain commodity, and that commodity a completely surrendered human
life.
A minister once said of another who thus stood before an audience, full of
the holy strength, confidence and independence born of such a relation
with heaven: 'He speaks as if what he said was true, and could not be
denied. He towers up there in the pulpit like a giant. He acts as
independently as if he were a king.'
Yes, all these things are characteristic of rich people, and a man with the
blessed coin of heaven ringing in his soul, sparkling in his eyes, and rolling
all over the table of his heart, might be excused if he feels rich, acts
independently, thinks he is a giant, and looks like he is a king. Especially
should this be so when his feelings and convictions are corroborated by the
plain statement of the Bible which says that he is rich, that he is an heir of
God, that he is equal to a thousand, and that he is a king here, and is to be
a still greater one in the kingdom of glory.
This is part of Christ's pay. O, that the people of the world who have
been defrauded by the devil, cheated by his broken banks, and fooled with
his numerous counterfeits, would come to Christ and receive a reward
which is not only perfectly satisfactory in this life, but is to be an hundred
fold more in the world to come!
