The Man Is God’s Method

[Old Paths]

THE MAN IS GOD’S METHOD
by E.M. Bounds
(August 15, 1835-August 24, 1913)

Today, one might observe, movements are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, and new programs to advance the Church and achieve efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or the folds of an organization. However, it has always been in God’s plan to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God's method.

The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. “There was a man sent from God whose name was John.” The dispensation that heralded and prepared the way for Christ was bound up in that man John. When Paul appeals to the personal character of the men who rooted the gospel in the world, he solves the mystery of their success. The glory and efficiency of the gospel is staked on the men who proclaim it.

When God declares that “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him,” He declares the necessity of men and His need of them as a channel through which to manifest His power to the world. This vital, urgent truth is one that this age of machinery is apt to forget. The forgetting of it is as detrimental to the work of God as would be the removal of the sun from its sphere. Darkness, confusion, and death would ensue.

What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better machinery, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer.

The propagation of the gospel is committed to the preacher. He makes or mars the message from God to man. The preacher is the golden pipe through which the divine oil flows. The pipe must not only be golden, but open and flawless, that the oil may have a full, unhindered, un-wasted flow.

Under the Jewish dispensation the high priest had inscribed in jeweled letters on a golden frontlet: "Holiness to the Lord." So every preacher in Christ's ministry must be molded into and mastered by this same holy motto. The man makes the preacher. God must make the man. The messenger is, if possible, more than the message. Preaching is not the performance of an hour. It is the outflow of a life.

The preacher must impersonate the gospel. Its divine, most distinctive features must be embodied in him. The constraining power of love must be in the preacher as a projecting, eccentric, an all-commanding, self-oblivious force. The energy of self-denial must be his being, his heart and blood and bones. He must go forth as a man among men, clothed with humility, abiding in meekness, wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove; the bonds of a servant with the spirit of a king and the simplicity of a child.

[crakjak]

Originally Posted by Old Paths

THE MAN IS GOD’S METHOD
by E.M. Bounds
(August 15, 1835-August 24, 1913)

Today, one might observe, movements are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, and new programs to advance the Church and achieve efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or the folds of an organization. However, it has always been in God’s plan to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God's method.

The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. “There was a man sent from God whose name was John.” The dispensation that heralded and prepared the way for Christ was bound up in that man John. When Paul appeals to the personal character of the men who rooted the gospel in the world, he solves the mystery of their success. The glory and efficiency of the gospel is staked on the men who proclaim it.

When God declares that “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him,” He declares the necessity of men and His need of them as a channel through which to manifest His power to the world. This vital, urgent truth is one that this age of machinery is apt to forget. The forgetting of it is as detrimental to the work of God as would be the removal of the sun from its sphere. Darkness, confusion, and death would ensue.

What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better machinery, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer.

The propagation of the gospel is committed to the preacher. He makes or mars the message from God to man. The preacher is the golden pipe through which the divine oil flows. The pipe must not only be golden, but open and flawless, that the oil may have a full, unhindered, un-wasted flow.

Under the Jewish dispensation the high priest had inscribed in jeweled letters on a golden frontlet: "Holiness to the Lord." So every preacher in Christ's ministry must be molded into and mastered by this same holy motto. The man makes the preacher. God must make the man. The messenger is, if possible, more than the message. Preaching is not the performance of an hour. It is the outflow of a life.

The preacher must impersonate the gospel. Its divine, most distinctive features must be embodied in him. The constraining power of love must be in the preacher as a projecting, eccentric, an all-commanding, self-oblivious force. The energy of self-denial must be his being, his heart and blood and bones. He must go forth as a man among men, clothed with humility, abiding in meekness, wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove; the bonds of a servant with the spirit of a king and the simplicity of a child.

If the men (preachers) of the UPC are men as Bounds describes, don't you think they can use the machinery (TV) in an effective and holy manner? Apparently it is not the machinery but the men. We shall see, shall we not?

[BoredOutOfMyMind]

Originally Posted by crakjak

If the men (preachers) of the UPC are men as Bounds describes, don't you think they can use the machinery (TV) in an effective and holy manner? Apparently it is not the machinery but the men. We shall see, shall we not?

It has been said before but bears repeating.

Much prayer, much power.
Little prayer, much power.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by Old Paths

THE MAN IS GOD’S METHOD
by E.M. Bounds
(August 15, 1835-August 24, 1913)

Today, one might observe, movements are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, and new programs to advance the Church and achieve efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or the folds of an organization. However, it has always been in God’s plan to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God's method.

The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. “There was a man sent from God whose name was John.” The dispensation that heralded and prepared the way for Christ was bound up in that man John. When Paul appeals to the personal character of the men who rooted the gospel in the world, he solves the mystery of their success. The glory and efficiency of the gospel is staked on the men who proclaim it.

When God declares that “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him,” He declares the necessity of men and His need of them as a channel through which to manifest His power to the world. This vital, urgent truth is one that this age of machinery is apt to forget. The forgetting of it is as detrimental to the work of God as would be the removal of the sun from its sphere. Darkness, confusion, and death would ensue.

What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better machinery, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer.

The propagation of the gospel is committed to the preacher. He makes or mars the message from God to man. The preacher is the golden pipe through which the divine oil flows. The pipe must not only be golden, but open and flawless, that the oil may have a full, unhindered, un-wasted flow.

Under the Jewish dispensation the high priest had inscribed in jeweled letters on a golden frontlet: "Holiness to the Lord." So every preacher in Christ's ministry must be molded into and mastered by this same holy motto. The man makes the preacher. God must make the man. The messenger is, if possible, more than the message. Preaching is not the performance of an hour. It is the outflow of a life.

The preacher must impersonate the gospel. Its divine, most distinctive features must be embodied in him. The constraining power of love must be in the preacher as a projecting, eccentric, an all-commanding, self-oblivious force. The energy of self-denial must be his being, his heart and blood and bones. He must go forth as a man among men, clothed with humility, abiding in meekness, wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove; the bonds of a servant with the spirit of a king and the simplicity of a child.

Good post OP!

I wonder if any are listening?

[Old Paths]

Originally Posted by Ron

Good post OP!

I wonder if any are listening?

Evidently not.