The Recovery of the Lord's Name In His People # 5

The Honor and Glory of the Lord's Name (continued)

Young men, young women, not because you are young are you going to succeed to the responsibility of the Lord's testimony. Not because you got life before you are you going by the Lord to be pushed in and given recognition and place. No, it will be like this. Of course we have often heard people say when perhaps we have expected something more of the young than we should, we must not put old heads on young shoulders. But the Lord does, and requires it! You have got to take up that which has gone before and what the Lord has been doing in a spiritual way has been to bring about this state of things, this humility. And you have got to begin there and go on there. If there is any mark about any of us of pride of person, of achievement, of position, any spiritual superiority in looking down at others and criticizing and judging and condemning, the Lord will not do as He did with Gideon when it says "The Lord looked on him." No, the Lord will not look on us if it is like that. We will not come into His view. That can never bring glory to His Name. Oh, may I appeal to you to guard against Criticism, which comes from a spiritual superiority. Guard against it as you would guard against a Plague. It is not our business to let it be known that we disapprove of people. Our business to find a basis at which we can help them - help them. We may in our own heart of hearts feel bad about certain things where they are concerned, but that is to stay there and not to come out in our influence and our attitude and our looks and our words and our arguments and our attempts to tell them where they are wrong and wrong and wrong in their associations and connections and all the other things. That is not our business, Humility is. Find a point of spiritual helpfulness and work on that. If you will take that to heart you may be found within the view of that Divine Sovereign action to bring glory to the Lord's Name, to recover His testimony.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 6)