The complete christian - Chambers, Oswald
Conformed to the masters standard (Luke 6:40)
Jesus Christs standard for the worker is himself. Am i allowing his standard to obsess me? Am i measuring my life by his all the time? The one standard put before us is our lord himself; we have to be saturated in this ideal in thinking and in praying, and allow nothing to blur the standard. We must lift up Jesus Christ not only in the preaching of the gospel but to our own souls. If my mind and heart and spirit are getting fixed with one figure only, the lord Jesus Christ, and other people and other ideas are fading, then i am growing in grace. The one dominant char- acteristic in the life of the worker is that Jesus Christ is coming more into the ascendant. The motive is not a sentiment but a passion, the blazing passion of the holy ghost in the soul of the worker; not because Jesus has done so much for me, that is a sickening, unscriptural statement. The one attitude of the life is Jesus Christ first, second, and third, and nothing apart from him. The thing that hinders gods work is not sin, but other claims which are right, but which at a certain point of their rightness conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ. If the conflict should come, remember it is to be Jesus first (see Luke 14:26).
Consecrated to the masters sovereignty (2 timothy 2:21)
The vessels in a household have their honour from the use made of them by the head of the house. As a worker i have to separate myself for one purposefor Jesus Christ to use me for what he likes. Imitation, doing what other people do, is an unmitigated curse. Am i allowing anyone to mould my ideas of christian service? Am i taking my ideas from some servant of god or from god himself ? We are here for one thing only to be vessels meet for the masters use. We are not here to work for god because we have chosen to do so, but because god has apprehended us. Natural ability has nothing to do with service; consequently there is never any thought of, oh, well, i am not fitted for this. One student a year who hears gods call would be sufficient for god to have called this college into existence. This college as an organisation is not worth anything, it is not academic; it is for nothing else but for god to help himself to lives. Is he going To help himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon him.
Complete for the masters service (2 timothy 3:14, 17)
Am i learning how to use my bible? The way to become complete for the masters service is to be well soaked in the bible, some of us only exploit certain passages. Our lord wants to give us continuous instruction out of his word; continuous instruction turns hearers into disciples. Beware of spooned meat8 spirituality, of using the bible for the sake of getting messages; use it to nourish your own soul. Be a continuous learner, dont stop short, and the truth will open to you on the right hand and on the left until you find there is no problem in human life with which the bible does not deal. But remember that there are certain points of truth our lord cannot reveal to us until our character is in a fit state to bear it. The discernment of gods truth and the development of character go together.
The life god places in the christian worker is the life of Jesus Christ, which is continually changing spiritual innocence into glorious practical character.