LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Man God Uses
"Neither can the eye say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor the head to the feet, I have no need of you" (1 Cor. 12:21).
It seems a paradox, but the sovereign and almighty God; the Lord and Christ, head of the Body of the church cannot say that He does not need us, His members. When the Lord looks at our need, he looks at the whole Body. His thought now is no longer individual as in salvation, but collective. The Lord longs for us to come to the full knowledge of him, with all the saints (Eph. 3:18), "until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13).
But, in order for God to complete the work He began in Christ, the firstborn of all creation, He needs to provide Himself with some men to be His co-workers (1 Cor. 3:9), to enter into His labors (John 4:38). For this, He first gives men as gifts. It is not we who choose, but it is He Himself who does it, having in view the perfecting of the saints, that these saints may do the work of the ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ.
"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Eph. 4:11-12). This may not be news to some, but what is the type of man God chooses for this service? What is his standard of quality? Judges 7 gives us a testimony to this.
First 32,000 men went up to fight for Israel against the Midianites, but 22,000 of them returned home, because they were timid and fearful. God, who tests the hearts, knew them. He will not provide Himself with timid and fearful men for this work.
There were still 10,000 left, and God brought them down to the waters to test them. Of these, 9,700 were reprobate, and three hundred were set apart to go for the Lord and deliver Israel. Why were those 9,700 reprobate? Because they were men skilled in war; valiant men who, if they were used, would surely say that by their own hand they had gained the victory.
The three hundred who remained were not timid or fearful men, but neither were they strong, able, and courageous. They were common men, but broken, trusting not in themselves, but in their God alone; submissive to their Lord, and trusting their victory in the Almighty God alone.
It is such men that God provides for His work. Men who take up their cross and follow him. Those are the ones who are given to the church for the service of edification. But, as on that occasion, and also now, the victory is for all the people. Men like these are set apart by the Lord to do the work, but they are raised up on behalf of all the people, so that all may come. All, even the timid and fearful, and also the strong and able, that in all things God may be glorified.