First Evangelists
297
uttered His scathing rebukes. He wept over Jerusalem, the city He
loved, that refused to receive Him, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
They rejected Him, the Saviour, but He regarded them with pitying
tenderness, and sorrow so deep that it broke His heart. Every soul
was precious in His eyes. While He always bore Himself with divine
dignity, He bowed with tenderest regard to every member of the family
of God. In all men He saw fallen souls whom it was His mission to
save.
The servants of Christ are not to act out the dictates of the natural
heart. They need to have close communion with God, lest, under
provocation, self rise up, and they pour forth a torrent of words that
are unbefitting, that are not as dew or the still showers that refresh
the withering plants. This is what Satan wants them to do; for these
are his methods. It is the dragon that is wroth; it is the spirit of Satan
that is revealed in anger and accusing. But God’s servants are to be
representatives of Him. He desires them to deal only in the currency
of heaven, the truth that bears His own image and superscription. The
power by which they are to overcome evil is the power of Christ. The
glory of Christ is their strength. They are to fix their eyes upon His
loveliness. Then they can present the gospel with divine tact and
gentleness. And the spirit that is kept gentle under provocation will
speak more effectively in favor of the truth than will any argument,
however forcible.
Those who are brought in controversy with the enemies of truth
have to meet, not only men, but Satan and his agents. Let them
remember the Saviour’s words, “Behold, I send you forth as lambs
among wolves.”
Luke 10:3
. Let them rest in the love of God, and the
spirit will be kept calm, even under personal abuse. The Lord will
clothe them with a divine panoply. His Holy Spirit will influence the
mind and heart, so that their voices shall not catch the notes of the
baying of the wolves.
[354]
Continuing His instruction to His disciples, Jesus said, “Beware
of men.” They were not to put implicit confidence in those who knew
not God, and open to them their counsels; for this would give Satan’s
agents an advantage. Man’s inventions often counterwork God’s plans.
Those who build the temple of the Lord are to build according to the
pattern shown in the mount,—the divine similitude. God is dishonored
and the gospel is betrayed when His servants depend on the counsel