Wait and Listen

Transcript

Alright, thank you very much, and hello again radio friends, how in the world are you? You doing alright today? Well, of course, I wait for you to answer, you know that. [chuckle] I care how you are, bless your heart. Oh, I trust things are going alright in your life, and if perchance, you’ve struck a snag today, you struck a day that isn’t so good, you’ve got some heavy burden or a heartache, or whatever it may be, look up and commit it to your blessed Lord. Look up right now and say, “Lord Jesus, see me through this,” and He will for He hath said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” You’re working with a faithful Savior who will never fail you, so trust Him today.

You and I are looking at Colossians 2:19. The last time we got together, we were talking about working at the business of putting Jesus first, holding the head. Now, we go on in that 19th verse, he says, “From which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.” The head, the body, the nourishment, the ministry, the oneness and the increase. That’s a profile of what Paul is talking about in that 19th verse.

Let’s talk about then the body of Christ. What does he mean by that? What is the body to which he refers? Well, it’s simply the church. The church is the body of Christ. And we don’t mean now the church building, we mean born from above believers, don’t we? The church. “They that gladly received His word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls; and they were praising God, having favor with all the people; and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” Believers were more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women. The church has in it those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ through having been born again. His body, the church.

Now, “not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered.” Have you given any thought to the fact that you are part of the body of Christ, this group that we call the church? Have you thought about that? That you are part of the body of Christ?

Well, you are, and because that’s so, because that’s so, you have a special usefulness. You realize that? Because that is so you have a special usefulness that no one else can quite duplicate. Paul says because you are the eye, you can’t say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” or because you’re the hand, you can’t say to the foot, “I have no need of you,” and so on. Right? The body is not one member but many. We read in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, “If the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now they are many members and yet but one body.”

See, you belong to the body of Christ “that there should be no schism in the body but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular.” That’s what he says in Corinthians.

The body, you beloved are a special part of the body of Christ. So you’re saying to me, “Well, okay, brother Cook, what of it?” Well, just a couple of thoughts here. Number one, give some thought and prayer to what God has in mind for you with the gifts that you especially have. Years ago I read that every committee is made up of certain different kinds of people. There’s the initiator, the evaluator, the cost-conscious person and the implementer, and so on. The initiator who says, “Let’s do it.” The evaluator says, “Wait, just a minute. Let’s see if this is a good idea.” The cost-conscious person says, “How much will it cost?” The implementer says, “How soon can we get at it and when will it be done?” And the person with an analytical mind after it’s over says, “How well did we do it?” and so on. Committees are that way.

Well, the fact of the matter is that in every church group, local church that is, in the body of Christ, we are different kinds of people, and filled with the Holy Spirit of God we work together. He, the Spirit of God is called the bond of perfectness. He holds us together, He keeps us from flying apart by centrifugal force. And so give some thought and prayer to what God has given you as a special ability in the body of Christ. I must say that most people whom I meet go rushing on through life without giving too much thought as to what their speciality might be. But it would be very helpful if you would spend some time in prayer, waiting on God, thinking deeply about it, doing a personality inventory for yourself.

Get a sheet of paper and write down all the things you know about yourself, what you know about yourself as a personality. What kind of a personality are you? What are your strengths? What are your weak points? What are your talents and abilities? What are the areas where you don’t have very much expertise or ability? Write it all down. Do an inventory and pray over it and say, “God, what special work do you have for me in the body of Christ?” This is an exercise which you undertake by yourself with God. You’ll be surprised at what He will do for you. Small thought here. Make a habit of listening for the voice of God while you’re praying and doing this exercise of inventory, would you? Some of the most precious lessons I have learned have come while I’ve been praying at moments when I wasn’t talking, but listening.

I can recall how burdened I was, and this would be back in 1944, which is a long time ago, isn’t it? I had been brought up from a church, the pastoring of a church in LaSalle, Illinois to serve in Chicago along with my brother-in-law Torrey Johnson at Midwest Bible Church, and in the process we had gotten the vision of starting a youth work, which we called Youth for Christ. I had some little ability in writing and in advertising, although I never was formally trained in any of that, but I sort of had printer’s ink in my blood, I guess. And so, my brother Johnson said, “Now Bob, you do the advertising,” just like that. And he said, “I’ll put you in touch with a printer and some artists and you do the advertising.” Well, the printer was my good friend Cornelius Ulrich, Corny we called him, Corny Ulrich, and the artist was a very fine commercial artist, Scotty McKai, he’s now with the Lord, I believe, but the two of them were greatly helpful to me. But still, I had to come up with the ideas. And oh, how burdened I was.

And I remember one Wednesday night during prayer meeting, others were praying, “Lord bless the missionaries,” but I must confess that I was kneeling at the front pew of that church there on Cicero Avenue in Chicago, and I was praying, “Oh God, you know I’ve got this assignment and I don’t know what to do. And Lord, you gotta help me.” And when I paused, there came this beautiful idea of something that could be developed by way of an advertising brochure. We were going to hold the meetings in Orchestra Hall on Michigan Avenue. Now those of you who live anywhere near Chicago, you know that Orchestra Hall is located on Michigan Boulevard just across from the Art Institute, and the distinguishing visual feature of that whole horizon there happens to be the two huge lions that are mounted outside of the entrance to the Art Institute. You go down Michigan Boulevard you’ll see them as you come anywhere near there. And so I got the idea, because we were praying for a miracle, I got the idea of calling it Miracle on Michigan Avenue, and the idea of a profile of the Art Institute with the big lions out there just opposite Orchestra Hall.

And then while I prayed and listened, there came the idea of a tag phrase that was used for many years in connection with Youth for Christ, “Geared to the times, anchored to the Rock.” It’s a change in figure of speech and not really approved by most English teachers, but it said the thing that we were trying to do, “A program that was as modern as tomorrow and as solid as the Rock of ages, geared to the times anchored to the Rock.” And all of that grew out of that desperate time of prayer, waiting on God. What am I going to do? Learn to listen, will you, for the voice of God. As you pray, stop now and again and say, “Lord, speak Lord, for thy servant heareth.” Just wait on God. Be sure that you have a piece of paper and a pen or pencil handy so that you can write down what the Lord says to you. Many a time I’ve had a precious thought occur to me in the middle of the night and I would think to myself, “I gotta write that down in the morning,” but in the morning it was gone because I had forgotten it. So have by your bedside and have where you kneel to pray, paper and pen or pencil handy so that you can write down what the Lord says to you.

Well, that was a long detour, wasn’t it? But maybe someone was helped by it. Listen for the voice of your Lord while you’re doing this personal inventory of your own abilities. You, beloved, are a special part of the body of Christ. What is it that you can do well? Sing or play? Or preach or teach? Or promote and advertise? Or raise funds or make the money? Or disperse the money and be an accountant? What is it that you can do? Can you write? Are you good in interpersonal relationships? Can you go calling and with the God-given charm that is part of your nature, win people to yourself and then to your Savior? What is it that is your special gift? Beloved, pray about it, think about it, and realize that there’s no one else in all the world who can do exactly what you, as you’re filled with His Spirit, can do.

Now, one other thought before this next few seconds run out and I have to leave you. God speaks to you if you’ll obey Him. “We are his witnesses of these things,” said Peter, and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him.” Make a habit of obeying your Lord and you’ll hear from Him more regularly and clearly. Whatever God says to you, obey, and you’ll find Him working more clearly with you all the time. Obedience, beloved, is the key. Well, we go on with the rest of Colossians 2:19 the next time we get together.

Dear Father, today, as we work at the business of keeping the Lord Jesus Christ first in all of our lives, we pray that His blessing and the presence of the Holy Spirit may attend us. Amen.

Till I meet you once again by way of radio, walk with the King today and be a blessing!