Paul was a chosen vessel picked out by God, chosen before he ever had thought of bowing the knee to Christ. The question might arise, if the grace and sovereignty of God did that for Saul, would it not forever give him the idea it would do the same for other people, and that he need not worry about them? Would he not have had that biased opinion of election that would give him to be careless about preaching? He knew from experience all about God’s sovereignty—yet he is the man who says, “I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they also might obtain salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:1010Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. (2 Timothy 2:10)).
He was willing to be sacrificed, to be offered up as a drink offering, in order that the saints of God might learn more of Christ and be brought through the journey and landed safe in heaven. He did not say, “If they are going to be saved, they will be saved anyhow without my bothering about them.” He said just the opposite-“I am willing to endure anything that they might obtain salvation.”
If you and I are going to get the mind of God, we will have to get into His presence. We will never get the proper evaluation if we take the standards we see in the world about us. They are diametrically opposed to the judgment of God. You have to go to the Word of God, and in the secret of His presence let these things penetrate into your soul, before you can get His mind.
It is not done in a moment, either. Paul was three days in the darkness, as he fought this battle and learned what was worthwhile.
All the rest of his life, too, he taught along the lines of the preciousness of the members of Christ to the Head in heaven, which he had learned the hard way when Jesus had said to him, “Why persecutest thou Me?” It was thus he learned that Christ loved the church. As a result, in his ministry he was always referring the members to the Head. If we have right thoughts about the church, we will do the same. The members of Christ will be precious to us, because we know they are precious to the Head in heaven.
This truth does not make you a careless Christian. It tells you God has some precious material He is going to bring in, and nothing will prevent His bringing it in. But you and I still have the privilege of going out with the glad tidings.
Every child of God in this room was at one time just like Saul of Tarsus once a rebel, away from God, dead in trespasses and sins, but you were chosen too, weren’t you? The Spirit of God came along and brought you to the light, gave you to bow the knee to the name of Jesus, and He became precious to you.
What a wonderful thing to be associated in this world with the company that Christ loved “Christ... loved the church.” Do we realize how dear the church is to the heart of Christ? If we do, we are not going to be careless about church truth. We are not going to say, “Oh, well, as long as you get busy in the gospel, that is all that is necessary.”
Brethren, Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. If you are in communion with His mind, the church will be dear to you, and you will want to have His thoughts about it.
God wants you and me to be in communion with Christ, who loved the church and gave Himself for it. How much are you willing to give? How much are you willing to suffer in order that others may come into the good of these precious truths? Paul was given to share in Christ’s sufferings, and in a secondary way you and I are given, not only to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but also to suffer for His name’s sake. That is our privilege, and when we realize how dear the church is to Christ, we ought to throw all our energies into line with His will and seek to go through this world in communion with Him concerning His thoughts about the church.
C. H. Brown (adapted from an address, 1945)