0308. Let Him Go!

Let Him Go!

"Loose him, and let him go" (Joh_11:44, l. c.).

No one dare reverse the order of these words. It is not "Let him go," and then, "loose him," and then, "let him come forth from the grave." God’s order is imperative. First life,–"come forth;" then the loosing–"loose him;" and then, service–"let him go."

1. The method of some is to place those in service, in the work of God, who have never been raised from the dead. They are placed in charge of choirs; they are the leading soprano, or the soul-stirring tenor, or thrilling basso. They are sometimes placed in Sunday School work. They are more particularly put into some phase of the social life, of the house of God. For very shame! God never called the unregenerate into the service of the Lord.

2. Then, there is the method of placing those who are saved but who know nothing of having been loosed, into prominent places in church life.

The idea seems to be that the way to hold people, is to give them something to do. Miss A_______, or Mr. B_______ are both very worldly; they dance, or they play cards, or they attend the movies; but they must be given something to do for God, or else we may lose them.

But, what right have we to place in service, anyone, anywhere, unless the Lord has placed them there?

The Bible positively prohibits those from serving God who are not both saved and sanctified. "We mean saved and sanctified, in the Bible use of those terms.

Lazarus was raised from the dead, then he was loosed from his grave clothes, then he was told to go. This is a type of a solemn truth.

The plainer statements, of the same truth, are many. Take 2Ti_2:19-22.

(1) In 2Ti_2:19 we read, "The Lord knoweth them that are His." Here is our sonship, our new life in Christ, our "Lazarus come forth."

(2) In 2Ti_2:19, we have this: "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity." Here is our separation from sin, our cleansing, our "Loose him."

(3) In the rest of the passage we have the call to service, and we read: "If a man will purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and made meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work." We take it, therefore, that no one is meet for the Master’s use, or prepared unto good work, until he is cleansed, loosed, then we have our "let him go."

Let no one dare to place the unclean in the service of God, when God says: "Be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels of the Lord."

When the worldly church-member is placed in any service in the church he will certainly seek to dominate that service, according to worldly ideals. A worldly trustee, elected because he has money and not because he has piety, will prove a curse and not a blessing to his church. This is true in any line.

Once more, God’s order is clearly given in Isaiah, chapter 6.

(1) Isaiah first sees the Lord high and lifted up, and he at once cried: "I am an unclean man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." Here is Lazarus "bound hand and foot with grave clothes."

(2) Following his confession, an angel flies with a coal, taken with the tongs from off the altar, and he says: "Lo, this hath touched thy lips and thy iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged." Here is our "Loose him."

(3) Then Isaiah hears the call, "Who will go, and whom shall I send, and he cries, Here am I, send me." Here again is our "Let him go."

When we have been loosed from our grave clothes, then, and only then, we will get God’s call, "Let them go;" then we will be able to serve Christ at home or abroad, fulfilling the command: "Go ye into all the world."

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR