“The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear tohear as the learned. The Lord Goo hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back … For the Lord GOD will help me … and I know that I shall not be ashamed” (Isaiah 50:4-7).
These verses relate directly to our Lord Jesus Christ. They show His marvelous adequacy as God’s representative among men, and they show the method by which He became so proficient as God’s servant. This revelation, however, has also a very practical lesson for you and me, for it sets a pattern for us as human servants of the Lord Jesus. We find here how He became a servant, and learn how to follow in His way and become something of what He was among men. These verses set before us the law of spiritual proficiency – proficiency in spiritual conquest-in the actual task of winning men to Christ.
We find first of all a remarkable statement, ” … that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary … ” (verse 4). How much we need that ability this very day! The statement reveals the meaning of spiritual proficiency, for it unveils wisdom on the highest plane, working as we meet men in the daily contest. It does not speak of knowledge alone. We need not only to know; we need to know how if we are going to become efficient servants for Jesus Christ. How few Christians today exhibit in any real degree the “know-how” set forth in our text!
SPIRITUAL “KNOW-HOW”
True spiritual adequacy is a combination of three factors: first of all, knowledge; second, discernment; and third, expression. The knowledge of the facts is first, that is, the knowledge of God and His Word. Then comes discernment – the ability to see which facts apply to a given case of need, to know God’s Word for the hour in dealing with a soul. Then lastly, the ability to express the facts applicable to the case in hand.
These three factors are all set forth in the text. “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue ... ” – these words were uttered primarily concerning the Lord Jesus. He had the authority to express the truth of God clearly and fully. Second, it is” … the tongue of the learned … ” that God has given. Some people possess a tongue, but what they say is absolutely empty. Here is the tongue of one able to express facts that are spiritual, that move hearts, being bound up in the Word of God. Lastly, He has ” … given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how … ” That requires spiritual intuition – the ability to say the thing that has to be said at the moment, the ” … word in season ... ” for the specific need.
Our verse states that the Lord wakens me daily, ” … morning by morning … ” He wakens mine ear ” ... as the learned.” In other words, God instructs me through prayer and communion with Himself. That which makes a man able to meet the needs of others is first of all a consistent and constant prayer life. You may not have thought that your failure to meet the need of a soul was because you had failed to have your own private devotions before the living God, but men who do not pray do not win souls.
Those whom God has greatly used to help and instruct others spiritually have been men and women of prayer. We acclaim them, we honour them, we speak of them often; yet we seldom follow their footsteps. Think of Moses, of whom the Bible record states, ” … he fell upon his face” (Numbers 16:4) in prayer before the Lord. Paul, in practically every epistle, writes something like this, ” ... making mention of you in my prayers” (Ephesians 1:16) ” … with many tears … ” (2 Corinthians 2:4). Unless we deliberately make room for prayer, our lives are going to be inadequate in influencing souls and reaching them for Christ.
It is said that George Muller spent from 4 A.M. to 6 A.M. everyday alone with God in prayer. The rising sun in China never found Hudson Taylor in bed. “Praying” Hyde while in England, went to hear Chapman who was a great preacher. Mr. Hyde rented a room and gave himself to prayer. God sent a mighty revival. If we would have the ” … word in season … ” for him that is weary, we must respond to the call of prayer.
You can be a winner of souls! If you will discipline yourself to wait upon God, He will give you intimacy with Himself that will be your sufficiency in the hour that you need it. You must wait on the Lord, not only to have fellowship with Him and to obtain wisdom in the hour of need, but also to obtain direction.
For effective Christian service, we must be in the will of God. God has a place for each of us, but how shall we know that place? On our faces before Him, that which is hidden becomes light. He instructs our ear, and then, on our part, comes the discipline of obedience. ” … I was not rebellious … “, says the writer, ” … neither turned away back.”
Do you follow the Lord’s direction? Have we learned obedience? God will never make the pathway so concrete that we shall not need to take a step of faith. We must launch out, trusting God. He will give the whisper in our ear, and we will have sufficient guidance.
Unless you are willing to take His way, you will have no capacity to respond to a soul in need. Jesus ” … must needs go … ” (John 4:4) by way of Samaria to meet and win the woman at the well. Philip must needs leave even a revival and move southward till He came into contact with the Ethiopian eunuch. God lead him directly to a soul in need.
UNEMBARRASSED FREEDOM OF SPEECH
There is a further indispensable law for proficiency in communicating spiritual life. ” … I hid not my face from shame and spitting … ! set my face like a flint…” God unveils Himself in spiritual power when we meet with unbendable courage the opposition that comes to us in the work of reaching the lost for Christ. We need unembarrassed freedom of speech. Men are going to oppose what we say. That very fact upsets us so that we cannot speak. We are bound by fear of being treated impolitely by others. God is able to strengthen us so that we can stand up to these things and to real persecution, if need be, for His name’s sake.
Do we know the discipline of courage? Some people carry their feelings so much on the surface that the slightest little thing off ends them. The Lord can produce in us an unbending, non-critical attitude, so that even if exposed to scorn and reproach, we will be able to take it. Can you take it?
Sometimes right at home, in the most intimate relationships of life, we need to be victorious and to receive from God a freedom from self so that we can witness.
Abounding, living confidence in God is a final qualifying factor for proficiency in spiritual conquest – abounding confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ and His ability to meet the needs of men through the preaching of the Word of God.