Tarrying by the Stuff
By A. B. Simpson
"As his part is that goeth down to the
battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff; they
shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward that
he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this
day."[I Samuel 30:24-26]
DAVID had just achieved a glorious victory over the Amalekites,
and defeated the invaders of Ziklag, and recovered his beloved
family and the spoils which the enemy had taken. It had been
necessary, in the pursuit of the enemy, to leave some of his
force behind, in order to protect their rear and guard the
feeble ones.. When the spoils were to be divided, the soldiers,
flushed with victory, were unwilling that any part of the
booty should be shared by the rear guard. But David nobly
refused to yield to their unjust demands, and ordered that
an equal share of all the booty should be given to those who
had tarried behind; and he made it a rule in his army that
henceforth those who remained behind should share alike in
the day of victory.
This rule applies as well to the army of the Lord. The home
guard is as necessary as the advance guard. The men that stand
by the stuff are serving as truly as those who go to the front
and directly face the foe, and God has also made it a rule
that they shall share alike, in the day of recompense, with
the soldiers who fight on the high places of the field.
As we have listened during these recent days to the story
of the need of heathen lands, many of us have been prompted
to go. God has been pleased with the response, and doubtless
has said of us, as He did of David of old, "It is well that
it was in thy heart." [IIChronicles 6:8] But at the same time,
He may call some of us to remain at home, and serve the same
great cause by our influence here.
David longed to build the temple, but God accepted his will,
and gave the work to another man, allowing David, however,
to contribute the means and cooperate in the work, and David
gave as liberally and worked as loyally as though he alone
were to have the whole honor of the undertaking.
So God has not called some of us to go to the field, but
has given us a work to do at home by which we have been able
to advance the cause of missions much more than if we had
gone.
It is one thing to be a home missionary; it is quite another
thing to be a missionary at home. God wants many of us for
the latter calling; to stay in this land for the express purpose
of getting others to go abroad; to "stay by the stuff" for
the purpose of being a soldier just as truly as those who
go to the front.
There are two ways of staying by the stuff. One is, to remain
at home and eat up the stuff, -- to be a mere camp follower;
the other is to remain by the stuff as a fellow-worker with
those who fight the battle.
The greatest need of missionary work today is not the foreign,
but the home end. If the people of America were one-quarter
as true to the great work of evangelizing the world as the
workers on the field, the work would be accomplished in a
single generation. It is one thing to stay at home because
we do not go; it is another thing to stay because we are called
to remain as workers for the foreign field. No minister of
the gospel can do the highest work at home until he has become
consecrated to the evangelization of the whole world. No Christian
can do his best in this land until he has in spirit obeyed
the commission: "go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature." [Mark 16:15]
How can we, in the highest sense, "stand by the stuff" and
work for the world's evangelization, at home?
I. We can be baptized with the missionary idea.
Every great movement comes through an idea. The Crusades
crystallized around the stirring thought of rescuing the Holy
Cross from the hands of the infidel. The Reformation was the
expression of the idea of salvation by faith. The great movement
of the Wesleys started in the idea of experimental religion
and the work of the Holy Ghost. And so today, every organization
which is accomplishing anything, started with a conception
of truth or duty which possessed the mind of some man, and
then became the joint inheritance of his followers. Now, the
idea of this missionary work, and especially of the form in
which we are most interested, is a very definite and important
one, and if we do nothing more than intelligently grasp and
diligently diffuse it, we shall be starting a fire which will
reach thousands of hearts, and inspire potential movements.
What is the specific idea of this work? It is not merely
the conversion of many souls, or even of whole nations; but
it is the publication of the gospel equally, fairly and speedily,
to all the people and nations on the face of the earth during
the present generation of living men: so that every one may
have the opportunity of salvation, and the Bride of Christ
may be gathered in from all nations, tribes and tongues, the
fullness of the Gentiles brought in, and the way fully prepared
for the Lord's return. We believe literally in the prophecy
contained in the last words of Jesus: "This gospel of the
kingdom must first be preached in all the world as a witness
unto all nations, and then shall the end come." [Matthew 24:14]
This is the idea of the missionary movement. It is not a
movement for the universal salvation of the race, but for
the quick evangelization of all the nations, with a special
view to removing the last condition that hinders our Master's
return.
Its success is not gauged, therefore, by the number of converts,
but by the complete evangelization of all people and nations.
We believe Christ has a remnant in every land that must be
gathered in before He can return, and we go to find them.
They are His sheep which are not of this fold, whom He must
bring. There may be but a very few, compared with the millions
in the field to which we go; we shall know by the number who
accept His offer and enter the fold.
No, the central idea of any great movement must have certain
characteristics if it is to be influential and widely accepted.
- It must be clear, definite and specific, so that the most
ordinary minds can grasp it. Surely, nothing can be clearer
or more definite than this.
- It must be Scriptural, so that there can be no doubt of
its source.
Surely this needs no further confirmation than the single
passage which we have quoted, and such as the following,
in which God's plan of evangelization is so explicitly
laid down:
"God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to
take out of them a people for His name. And to this agree
the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this
I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of
David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the
ruins thereof, and I will set it up; That the residue
of men might seek after the Lord and all the gentiles,
upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth
all these things." [Acts 15:14-17]
- The idea must be novel enough to awaken attention, and
surely there is nothing more novel than this conception
of missionary work. It is fitted to revolutionize all our
ideas of foreign evangelization.
- And last, the idea, to have the utmost power, must be
stirring, inspiring, and fitted to awaken enthusiasm. What
can be more sublime than this conception of missionary work?
What can be more stimulating than to be the heralds of His
advent, and the plenipotentiaries of His kingdom, carrying
the last manifesto of the coming King to all the provinces
of this revolted empire? What can be more majestic than
the thought that we have it in our power to hasten the close
of this tragedy of sin and sorrow, the consummation of this
dispensation and the advent of an era of peace and glory,
perhaps even in our own lifetime? What crusade can compare
with the sublimity of this grand enterprise, to win for
the King of Kings the crown of all the world, and lay it
at His blessed feet, and then share with Him, as David's
faithful followers, the Kingdom which He will bring?
If we heartily embrace and loyally follow out this great
idea, it will lead to very practical results. It will separate
us from a great many things. We will not be able to compromise
with doubtful things, or propagate ideas which are out of
harmony with this, or directly opposed to it.
There are such ideas abroad, even in Christian work and teaching.
There are excellent Christian people who believe and teach
that this is not a missionary age; but that after our Lord's
return, a great missionary movement is to be carried on by
another people, and under entirely different circumstances.
There are conservative methods of missionary work which, while
they accomplish much good, are not in keeping with this great
conception; and while we rejoice in all the good they do,
we cannot do our best work on divided lines. There are millions
of Christians who are spending most of their strength on charitable,
educational, and religious movements which assume that the
world is to last for centuries, and that the best we can do
is to try to reform, convert, and elevate the race, by the
present agencies. We shall be utterly discouraged, if we work
on these lines; but if we understand the Master's plan, and
work intelligently with Him, and with each other, this movement
will gather a momentum which will be as widespread and as
irresistible as the glorious truth which lies back of it,
and will hasten His glorious coming; and then He Himself will
end the sin and sorrow with which we are now struggling so
ineffectually.
II. We can propagate the missionary idea.
Living truths are living forces. A divine thought is divine
dynamite, and wherever it goes it must produce results. It
will produce the best results when carried along upon systematic
lines. Let us, therefore, spread these glorious thoughts;
let us systematically work them out among our friends; let
us circulate the truth; let us talk it into people; let us
spread it abroad by tracts, leaflets, and missionary literature;
let us provide ourselves with cards presenting these principles,
and put them in every hand, and keep them in the minds of
people until they are saturated with the truth, Let us organize
more thoroughly the forces that are already accumulated. There
are thousands of people all over the country who thoroughly
believe in these great truths, but they are scattered. Get
them together and organize them for work. Get your friends
together and hold prayer meetings; pray for missions and missionaries,
and, better still, give for the support of some dear worker
in this direction. Let us muster living hearts around this
great central truth, and this crusade will spread until its
means are measured by millions; its missionaries numbered
by many thousands; and its glorious results will be the evangelization
of all nations, and the speedy coming of our blessed Lord.
III. We can labor, sacrifice, and give to sustain
others who are called to go.
It is just as much missionary work for you to toil in the
laundry, the kitchen, the shop, the factory, the office, or
on the farm, to support a living voice in China, India, or
Africa, as it would be for you to go. Some of you are better
farmers than missionaries; some of you can make money at home
more quickly than you could learn the Marathi language abroad;
some of you are strong in your own profession or line, but
would be baffled with the perplexities and difficulties of
the heathen field, and God wants you here.
There are others who are particularly fitted for the missionary
field; they have the faculty of acquiring foreign languages;
they have a tact for dealing with people; they have the vigorous
health, and the confidence in God for their body, which will
carry them safely through the perils of pestilence and climate,
and they have the peculiar unction which will help them in
the winning of souls. You can send them abroad, to represent
you, and they will be your other self, your partner in this
business, and you will have an equal share in their work,
and when the end comes, and the recompenses are awarded, you
will share with them the glorious results of their life of
labor and sacrifice.
Is not this inspiring to the humble toiler? Does it not give
a beauty and sublimity to your ordinary employments which
takes you out of the commonplace, and lifts you to the heights
of heroism?
I have told you of the lepers who are often found without
feet or hands. They tell us of one who had no hands, who used
to carry about his neighbor, who had no feet; and the two
went into partnership, and were able to cultivate their two
farms by mutual help. The one who had no hands carried his
neighbor who had no feet, and sitting on his shoulders he
scattered the seed, and both together shared the harvest as
they had shared the toil.
Who will volunteer to give the Lord a pair of feet, or a
pair of hands? God is calling for volunteers in the home guard;
He is calling for men and women who will support missionaries
abroad. We have been looking for churches or societies to
do this; but the time has come when God wants to assign this
work to individuals. He has given us 200 men and women in
the Alliance work who are standing as supporters for substitutes
abroad; but what are 200? It would be just as easy for 200,000
Christians in America to do this, if their hearts were only
stirred, and kindled, and baptized with this great thought.
Who will volunteer?
I am sure some of you are needed at home, although you are
willing to go, and God counts your willingness as if you went.
We have already said that David was willing to build a temple,
but God gave the work to Solomon, and David furnished the
means. In a single day we read that David contributed -- how
much do you suppose it was? -- $8,000,000? No, it was $80,000,000,
and his nobles followed it with a munificent offering of $120,000,000
more. This was in the days that we call semi-barbarous, and
in a little nation with one-eighth of the population of the
United States, and in a time when money was worth much more
than it is today.
Oh, how our paltry gifts pale before it, and how God must
feel ashamed of our boasting! We wonder as much when men give
a million dollars for missionary work as we do when God heals
some poor sufferer who has trusted Him. Our sacrifice is about
as much as our faith. The day will come when people will give
hundreds of millions. God is putting money into the hands
of the Jews, and we will be put aside because we have been
unfaithful to our trust. If we would do anything truly noble
for this work, we must hurry up.
But God is not going to get much of this money from the rich.
He loves sacrifice, and He has chosen the poor to be His most
precious stewards. Oh! how often their deep poverty abounds
unto the riches of their liberality. God doubly blesses the
gift that costs something. When a noble woman was asked how
she could afford to give so much, she answered, "I cannot
afford to give it; I sacrifice it."
The support of our missionary work during the past year has
been full of sacrifices. This very week, the splendid sum
of $300 has just been contributed by a laundress in this church
to support a missionary. Many of the missionary gifts of last
year came from struggling men and women who had to go out
and pick berries and sell them to earn their missionary offerings,
or sacrifice part of their lunch every day, and live on simpler
fare, that they might give the savings to spread the gospel.
One has sold his horses and carriage, and given the proceeds
to missionaries; another has given up part of her luxurious
rugs, and some of the needless decorations of her handsome
parlors, that it might be turned into immortal souls. Another
remained away from the first week of this Convention, that
he might give what it would have cost, to the work of missions,
and he has come this second week, to take part in the same
unselfish work. God can show us a hundred ways where we can
change our earthly investments and "lay up in store for the
time to come, that we may grasp the prize of eternal life."
[I Timothy 6:19]
The best of it is, these are all investments, and God is
going to put it out at interest, and give us back a hundredfold.
The other day, Mr. Cameron told us that a bank cashier said
that a hundredfold would be 10,000 per cent.
Beloved, where is your life invested? Where are you putting
your money, your toil, your strength, your hope, your interest?
God has a perfect system of bookkeeping, and when the hour
of recompense arrives, everything will be apportioned, and
one will be called from Africa, and another from Kansas, and
the two will stand together amid the dusky souls that form
their crown of rejoicing, and God will place a crown on both
their heads, and say, "As ye did it unto these my brethren,
ye did it unto me;" [Matthew 25:40] and share and share alike;
"he that sowed and he that reaped shall rejoice together."
[John 4:36]
IV. Some of you can give your time to this
work.
There is great need of strong executive business men in the
departments of this work at home. God wants many such men,
and we often find it hard to secure their services. They have
plenty of time for the bank and the Board of Trade, and many
of them have secured a competence and are independent; but
it is difficult to get strong business men to give even half
their time to a thorough oversight of the Lord's business,
and to advertise and advocate it as they would some great
financial scheme to write it up, to present it to thoughtful
minds with all the force of their logic and tact, and put
their whole heart in it as they would in some great worldly
schemes, banking enterprises and commercial corporations that
are the wonder of the age.
May God speak to some of you, beloved, and call you to "stand
by the stuff," to be the head of the commissariat department,
to give your time to the keeping of God's ledgers, to the
packing of goods, to the purchasing of supplies, and the advocating
of this great crusade among your fellows, until it shall become
the enthusiasm of your life and the mightiest movement of
the century.
V. You can encourage the workers abroad, by
correspondence.
You can write letters to the missionaries; you can send them
leaflets, Christmas cards, anniversary remembrances and words
of cheer, from time to time. The lone heart will often bless
you for even the cup of cold water that comes to them on their
lonely way.
Oh, you little know the density of the darkness, the long
pull of the years of isolation, and the apparent failure of
fruition that sometimes gives them such pain, and the privation
which is the keenest of all. Nor can you know the darkness
of the loss of these hallowed scenes of blessing which are
so refreshing to you, and whose inspiration they never directly
enjoy.
We shall be glad to assign a missionary to even the humblest
contributor, and consider him or her your especial trust for
communication and prayer.
VI. You can especially pray for the missionaries
abroad.
They have gone down, like the diver for pearls, into the
deep, dark waters of the ocean of sin; but we must sustain
their vital breath by prayer, as the diver is sustained through
the tubes that bring fresh air to him from the faithful hands
that move the tubes on the deck. If for a moment they cease
to move the pumps, he will perish. How do we know but some
of these faithful workers have perished because of our neglect?
How do we know but some precious lives might have been spared
to work on earth, if we had not ceased to remember them?
Often while I was abroad, I felt the breath of prayer at
home, and often I had an instinctive sense of your meetings,
and that your warm breath of affection was impelled and transmitted
to me. Oh, by brethren, let us transfer it to our dear workers
in those lonely fields. You cannot understand what their life
is in those dark lands. It is depressing to the lone heart;
it is exhausting to every spiritual energy. They must have
some living ceaseless intercession.
Prayer is the highest of all spiritual forces. It will send
the workers to the field; for the Master Himself has said,
"Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He will
send forth laborers into the harvest." [Matthew 9:38] It is
the only agency that will bring us the right workers. And
prayer will bring the souls upon the field and open the hearts
of men to the gospel.
While I was in India, I saw a beautiful girl, the wife of
a native preacher. A sweeter face I have never seen, and a
more useful life cannot be found among the native workers
in India.
Back of her life was a story so beautiful that I looked upon
her with great interest.
Many years ago,, there was in India a class of native girls
so utterly wayward and wicked, and so steeped in heathenism,
that their teacher, one of our own missionaries -- at last
lost almost all heart, and felt that there was no impression
made, and that her work was useless. She prayed over it, and
wrote to a friend in America, and he prayed as he had never
prayed before. The good man went into his closet one Saturday
night, after his day's work was over, and prayed for two hours,
and then he only stopped because he had received an assurance
that his petition was answered. On Sunday morning, this lady
met her class as usual, but to her astonishment the whole
spirit was changed. They were quiet, earnest, and obedient,
and at the close they came to her, asked forgiveness, and
promised to become Christians; and they did become such, and
are living useful lives. This dear woman of whom I have spoken
was one of them, the wife of a native preacher and an honored
worker for Christ.
We must not miss the precision and vivid reality of this
divine touch. By a familiar physical law, Saturday evening
in Ohio was Sunday morning in India, and the very time when
that good man was praying in America, was the hour when the
class was meeting in India. Had you been able to look on this
scene from heaven, you would have beheld a little stream of
prayer ascending from that little village in Ohio. Steadily
it is ascending to heaven, like an electric current. It passes
through the hands of Jesus, to the Father, and then, receives
an added flame, the very breath of the Holy Ghost. Lo! the
circuit is completed, and the flash falls upon the little
class in central India, and five young girls have started
forth on careers of usefulness, whose issues eternity alone
can tell -- all through one hour of prayer.
Oh, beloved! Pray for these lone workers, and look, while
you pray, for the mighty answer.
Prayer will provide money for the work. If you will honestly
pray, you will soon find yourself giving, and even sacrificing,
to answer your own prayers.
Prayer will bring the money of others. A lady told me that
a few years ago, a little prayer meeting was held in a New
England city, and three women asked the Lord that He would
lead some one to give liberally for missions. It happened
that the wealthiest man in the city made his will that very
week, and in that will, to the surprise of his friends, left
a very large legacy to missions. And, some years later, when
he passed away, a sum of more than a million dollars passed
into the missionary funds. Then the people remembered how
he had changed, from being rather a skeptic on the subject
of foreign missions, and had left this immense legacy for
missionary work. But they did not know the secret of that
legacy. It was that little prayer meeting.
Another electric spark had started from earth to heaven,
and describing a perfect circle around the throne, had come
back to the point from which it started, and opened "the treasures
of darkness and the hidden riches of secret places" [Isaiah
45:3] for the Master's work.
Prayer will also open closed doors in the field. Our brother,
Peter Scott, has told us how often it has stopped the daggers
of the murderous Africans when they were trying to stab him
to the heart; and Dr. Paton, of New Hebrides, has told us
how the breath of prayer paralyzed the arms of the South Sea
Islanders, and rendered them powerless to hurl the stone or
to pull the trigger they were aiming at his heart.
Our missionaries in China tell us that, when there was a
long drought, the natives would become restless. The astrologers
would tell them that their gods were angry at the missionaries,
and there was a ferment brewing; and that if the drought continued
very long, there would be a riot and perhaps a massacre. Often,
at that time in answer to their prayers, God had sent the
rain, and aroused the wonder of the natives at the power of
the missionaries' God.
Prayer will open the gates of Tibet and Anam, and neutralize
the climate of Africa. Prayer will open the hard hearts of
the idolatrous nations, and prayer will bring the little flock
for whom Jesus is coming soon.
Yes, and prayer will bring Jesus Himself, in a little while,
to gather in His waiting ones, and bring His Kingdom in.
Let each of us give ourselves to this ministry of prayer
as we never have before.
Let us be definite and special; let us have our hour of missionary
prayer, and let nothing interrupt it.
Let us have special ones for whom we pray, and yet not forget
to pray for all.
Let us pray, believing that we receive the things we ask
for, and we shall then see the salvation of our God covering
the earth and bending the heavens to meet the earth in the
blessed coming of our Lord.
Down amid the depths of heathen darkness,
There are heroes true and brave,
Shrinking not from death, or toil, or danger.
They have gone to help and save.
But we hear them crying, "Do not leave us,
'Mid these dreadful depths to drown,
Let us feel your arms of prayer around us,
Hold the ropes as we go down!"
So beneath the dark and mighty ocean
Divers plunge for treasures rare
, But thro' hands that hold the ropes above them,
Still they breathe the upper air.
Seeking precious pearls of richer value,
Braver hearts have dared to go,
But our faithful hands must every moment
Hold the ropes that reach below.
Who can understand the dreadful darkness
Of these realms of sin and death?
E'en the very air is scorched and tainted,
With the Dragon's putrid breath.
But across the widest, wildest billows
Love can reach to distant lands;
And beneath the deepest, darkest surges,
Prayer can hold a brother's hands.
Think you was it only for your brother,
Jesus spake His last commands?
Is there naught for you to do or suffer,
For these lost and Christless lands?
If you cannot go yourself to save them,
There are those that you can send,
And with loving hearts stretched out to help them,
Hold the ropes while they descend.
Let us hold the ropes, with hands more loyal;
Let us pray, with faith more strong;
Let the love that never fails, uphold them,
Through their night so dark, so long.
Let us lay our treasures on the altar,
Let us give our children too;
There's a part for each, in this great conflict,
And the Lord hath need of you.
Hold the ropes, -- 'tis a brother crying, --
He has plunged beneath the wave;
He has gone, 'mid the lost and dying,
He has gone, to help and save.
