J. Armet
Zech. 4:10ZEC 4:10
The World's Great Things
In the world this is the day of great things. In matters of warfare men were once satisfied to number their armies in thousands, but now thousands are despised—nations must have their millions. In matters of finance, where once fortunes were rated in columns of five figures, now some have fortunes of ten figures or eleven figures, to single inheritances. The fabled Croesus would be only a small capitalist in today's rating. In rural life where once the patient husbandman tilled his dozen acres, now great machines upturn miles of earth that yield millions of bushels of grain from single farms. In matters of education, universities, colleges, seminaries and lesser institutes multiply without end, and multitudes pursue their eager search for knowledge and degrees. Metropolises thrive where cities once stood; great cities have replaced villages. Bands of steel rails and super highways encircle the continents, and pulsations of power throb in every industrial center. In short—the world has ceased to care for the small or the insignificant.
The Effect on Christendom
If this were all, the Christian need not be concerned, for why should he care for the poor world's boastings or accomplishments? He knows its end—that it is doomed to judgment. He realizes, too, that he is not of it-that he belongs to another world.
But this is not all. The world is not alone in its boasting. Professing Christians have become infected with this same vaunting spirit, with the sad result that they glory in their shame. (Phil. 3:19.) The resulting condition is that no Christian activity is recognized as possessing any merit unless it can be flourished before the world as worthy of comparison with the world's great achievements. So the lust for great memberships, "Five-year Programs," "Men and Millions" movements, and "Evangelization of the World in this Generation" are phrases mouthed with pride by professed Christians on every side. Evangelists who cannot number their converts by hundreds and thousands are not wanted. Evangelism has become capitalized, and numbers are made the measure of success in God's work.
God's Little Things
The Christian should not use the world's ways to do God's work. Will he then be dismayed that he can do so little? God forbid! Apply the sharp sword of God's Word to these inflated bubbles of man's pride and see how much abides the test. What do I read in God's Word of all these modern schemes in connection with the work of God? The Word speaks of a narrow way and the few there be that find it, and of a little flock to whom the Father gives the kingdom. It is those who have a little strength who meet the Lord's commendation (Rev. 3:8). "Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities." Luke 19:17. Wood, hay and stubble appear huge before the fire (1 Cor. 3:12), while gold, silver and precious stones seem small. God's reward is after, not before the fire. There is no reward for ashes.
God's Examples
If I take, for example, the prophets, the Lord and the apostles, what do I learn of their activity for God? I see Jonathan and his armor-bearer, with God, accomplishing more in one night than Israel with their hosts in forty days of human endeavor (1 Sam. 14:1-16), and David with God's help using his sling to defeat Goliath. The Lord Himself was content to linger at Sychar's well that He might quench the soul-thirst of one poor outcast woman, or to sacrifice His hours of sleep to enlighten one honest Pharisee. He was content to spend a day with a despised tax collector, or to be satisfied at the close of His life's ministry to have a mere one hundred and twenty waiting for His promise at Jerusalem (Acts 1:15).
Philip could leave his work in Samaria to minister Christ to a lone man in the desert. Peter could walk a matter of 25 miles to preach the gospel to one family (Acts 10). The great Apostle Paul could minister to a handful of women at the seaside, or declare the way of salvation to a solitary sinner at midnight. At the close of Paul's life, many of the little assemblies which were the result of his life's work could be comfortably housed in private homes, and yet he never apologized for his lack of numbers. (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philem. 1:2.)
Your Day of Small Things
Now as Christians, in the light of Scripture, shall you and I despise the day of small things? No! Let us obey the word of Jeremiah, when he said, "Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not." Jer. 45:5. God counts it no little thing to be faithful to His Word, and to do His will in a day when His Word is deliberately ignored and flatly disobeyed for the sake of great numbers and religious show.
Count it well worth your while to speak of Jesus to that fellow classmate or your co-worker. Give a little gospel tract to your grocery clerk, the salesman at the door, your seat-mate on the bus. Prize highly your little class in the Sunday school. It is better to lead one soul as a lost sinner to the feet of Jesus to receive salvation than to deceive a thousand into an empty profession. How much better it is to have our blessed Lord's "well done" for a little done right than His censure and the world's applause for great things which His Word unsparingly condemns. (Rev. 3:15-18.)