HELPING THE LORD by H. A. St. John

Pacific Press Publishing Company · MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA · Jan 9, 1907

HELPING THE LORD.

By H. A. St. John

It sounds passing strange for poor, weak mortals to think and talk about helping the Omnipotent One. It is nevertheless true, and in such a general and universal sense is it true, that in eating or drinking, or whatsoever we do, or ought to do, we are workers together with God. The Lord is always helping us to help ourselves, and we are helping Him to help us. And as we know that the Lord knows best how and when we ought to do all things that pertain to our present life, we should be very anxious that He should have His own way with us. It should be our constant study and prayer to know how to do His will, and to do it. Our constant prayer and attitude should be, “Lord not my will, but Thine be done in all things.” If the Lord directs, and we do all things that please Him, our lives will be all sunshine in the sweetness of the Lord.

Eating and drinking are very common, constant, and simple things; yet how immensely important they are for our physical, moral and spiritual well-being. When to eat, what to eat, how to eat, and how much to eat, are all questions of great importance to our present life. The Lord gives us strength to do a certain part, and then there is a part that we can not do which He will do, in order to convert what we eat and drink into life and strength. If we work together with God in eating and drinking the result will be health and happiness to us, and God will get all the praise.

There is a mighty foe to man in this world, who is ever diligently working together with many assistants to lead souls in the way of transgression and death. This great foe ever seeks to have us work out of harmony with God, to work against God. If we persist in this course of disobedience, we will ruin ourselves both for time and eternity; for God can not make us vessels of honor and usefulness, to be accounted worthy of eternal glory at last, unless we help Him, unless we are workers together with Him. By so doing we help Him to finish the well-begun work in us, and we can also help Him in working for the salvation of others.

When Jesus furnished the wine in a miraculous manner for guests at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, He had men to assist Him by first filling the stone water-pots with water, and then bearing that water after it had blushed into wine at the sight of its Lord, to the guests at the feast. But who would think of giving the praise for that excellent wine at the last

of that feast to the men who filled the water-pots with water and then bore the wine to the guests? Yet they helped the Lord in the matter, but to the Lord belonged all the praise.

Jesus fed five thousand men besides women and children with five small loaves of bread and two small fishes. The disciples helped in the performance of this wonderful miracle. They distributed the bread among the hungry multitude, and gathered up the fragments; and this was no small task. Jesus had said to His disciples, "Give ye them to eat," and this they did. But does the reader suppose that the disciples would have been justifiable in taking any credit or praise to themselves for feeding that vast multitude with so small an amount of food? The Lord directed in what He did not do; His part was the all-important part, and to Him belonged all the praise; and I have no doubt but all the people saw it in that light on that occasion. But if a man raises enough grain in one year on his broad acres to feed fifteen thousand people, he is almost certain to take all the credit and praise to himself, whereas in the raising of the grain he was only a helper with the Lord; the Lord's part was the all-important part, and to Him should be given all the praise.

Thus we see that when we come up to the help of the Lord in working out our own salvation, or working for the salvation of others, the Lord should have all the praise for all good received or accomplished; for without Him we can do nothing. Hence if we always recognize this great truth, that we can do no good thing for ourselves or others without the Lord's all-important help, and then give Him the praise, we will be glorifying Him in whatsoever we say or do.

Just now the Lord has begun to do a great and glorious work of salvation on earth. By the power of His truth and Spirit He is loudly calling to His children to help Him. If we come not up to His help, the fearful curse of unmixed wrath will fall on us. Filled with praise for the blessed privilege of being workers together with God, let us hasten to put all our God-given powers at His disposal, that He may use us to His glory, and then give us the praise of "Well done," when the work is gloriously consummated.

"O, to be nothing, nothing, Only to lie at His feet, A broken and empty vessel, For the Master's use made meet."

H. A. ST. JOHN.