Date: November 20, 1935, eveningPlace: Chuenchow
Both our Lord and Paul were accused of being insane when they were on earth (Mark 3:21; Acts 26:24). All those who follow the Lord faithfully are likely to receive a similar label. Let me ask one question: Even though you are sober-minded before men, are you beside yourself to God? If you have never been beside yourself to God, you are only a half Christian. A Christian should be like Paul, who was sober-minded before men, but beside himself to God (2 Cor. 5:13).
For a Christian to be beside himself does not mean that he is beside himself with insanity. Rather, he is beside himself in a proper way. This kind of being beside oneself does not make one silly in actions and words; it is being beside oneself to God. Such a one is clear in his actions and words. He is sober-minded before men, but beside himself to God. The Bible tells us that both the Lord and the believers were considered by others to be crazy. Others may have felt sorry for Paul. He was educated, capable, and could do many things. Yet he chose to follow a supposedly dead man from Nazareth, and he preached that this One had risen from the dead. However, God was pleased with Paul because Paul was a man who was beside himself to God. Only such people can genuinely work for the Lord. Today the Lord is seeking for a group of men who are beside themselves for God's work. If there is not such a group of men, the Lord's work will not see any result. The Lord is after a group of people who are sober-minded before men but who are beside themselves to God. He can only use such men, and only such men can accomplish God's will and glorify His name. How many people in the church today are beside themselves to God? The more people there are who are beside themselves in the church, the brighter the future of the church will be. The church surely needs a group of people who are beside themselves.
What kind of people were beside themselves to God in the Bible? What were they like? The kind of men who were beside themselves were those who preached the Lord's resurrection from the dead. They were determined to die if need be. Whatever circumstance they faced, whether death, imprisonment, or beating, they were determined to speak about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Other men may have thought, "If others will not listen, why should we bother to speak? Should we not do something more proper and ordinary?" At that time, the Roman Empire was the greatest empire on earth, and it persecuted the so-called Galileans everywhere. However, the gospel had spread throughout Judea by 30 to 40 A.D., and it spread throughout the whole Roman Empire by 80 A.D. The Romans could not do anything about this group of Galileans. They were not wise. They were country folks, yet the gospel spread throughout the whole of the Roman Empire through these "foolish" ones. Hallelujah! This group of "foolish" ones, who were beside themselves, who did not love themselves, who did not care for themselves, and who were not in themselves, produced the church. The Lord often chooses men who are crazy in the eyes of men. Yet the Lord greatly uses them. In men's eyes, all the great servants of the Lord are crazy. When Paul was led before the rulers and the kings, he was not afraid. He began to speak to them. He had spoken already to the crowd outside. Now he spoke to the men inside. Thank the Lord. It was through such men that the church was started, and through them the church continues until today. But are there such men today? God does not want men who are afraid of many things. He wants men who are beside themselves to Him. Today God is calling for men who will be beside themselves.
At one time the Roman government was doing all that it could to persecute the Christians. However, the result of this persecution was the multiplication of the church. James was killed, but Christians continued to speak. The church in Jerusalem was persecuted, and the disciples fled for their lives, but they preached the Lord Jesus wherever they went (Acts 8:1-4). How different the situation is today than in those days! Today we do not have any persecution from a Roman empire, yet neither do we have men who are beside themselves for the gospel. Today the church needs men who are beside themselves, like those in the book of Acts. It needs men who are not ashamed, who do not know what shame is, and who only know to risk their lives and their all to preach the Lord.
We see from the book of Acts that many disciples were beside themselves. Church history also shows us that many faithful followers of the Lord were beside themselves. They were used by the Lord to preach the gospel and save sinners. There has never been a shortage of such men throughout the ages. In North America there was a very brilliant preacher by the name of David Brainerd, who set out to preach the gospel to the Indians at an early age. He risked his life for the gospel. In five years, he traveled more than three thousand miles on horseback for the gospel. He died of exhaustion at the age of thirty, but he left behind countless fruit.
Henry Martyn wanted to go to India to preach the gospel. Before he left, a doctor examined him and said, "Your health is too poor. If you move to India, you may not adjust to the weather there, and you may not live long." He answered, "In your opinion, how many more years do I have?" The doctor said, "Seven years at the most." When Henry Martyn heard this, he was very happy, and he said, "I have seven more years to accomplish many good works!" In 1806 he set off for India. After preaching in Persia in 1811, he tried to return home via Asia Minor. He died instead in the city of Tokat, Turkey due to sickness in 1812.
One woman had six sons, five of whom had gone to India for the gospel and died there. When others asked what she would do with her sixth son, she answered that she would also consecrate him for the preaching of the gospel.
In China God has raised up some men who have risked their all to preach the gospel. We find such men in Foochow, in Chefoo, and in many other places.
The Bible also tells us about many people who were beside themselves in offering up their possessions and houses. Acts 4 mentions the disciples selling their all and laying the money they received at the apostles' feet (v. 34). Many people agree that we should be zealous, but they say that we should be careful, balanced, and not go to extremes. Yet throughout the past two thousand years, all those who have truly consecrated themselves to the Lord were men who risked everything to offer up themselves. The more a person loves the Lord, the more he consecrates. One brother asked me, "How can you love the Lord so much, and why can't I love Him as much?" I said, "If you give your money to the Lord, you will love Him. The Lord said that where your treasure is, there is your heart also." If you want your heart to follow the Lord, your money must first go to the Lord. When your money goes into the offering box, and you say, "Amen," your heart will go with it as well.
In Shanghai two sisters who were nurses each earned less than a hundred dollars a month. They saved their wages in the bank. After they heard the Lord's word, they were moved in their heart, and one after the other offered up all their savings.
Today many people are planning too much for themselves. They are not willing to offer up their all. They make reservations for themselves. The result is that the gospel has lost its impact. During every great revival in history, we find men who were beside themselves in loving the Lord, who risked all to offer up themselves. I am not exhorting you to give everything to the Lord, but you must be a person who is fully consecrated to the Lord.
One elderly sister once came to Mr. George Müller and said, "My seventieth birthday is approaching. By that time I will have saved enough money to buy a coat. This has been my wish for many years. I have been saving since I was forty-two years old, and I have been looking forward to the day when I would have such a coat. I have waited twenty-eight years. Today I can finally buy it. However, the Lord is touching me to offer up these fifteen pounds." When Mr. Müller heard this, he felt that this would cost the elderly sister too much, and he wondered whether she would later regret it. He dared not accept that money. Yet the sister was quite resolute and determined to offer it up. Later, Mr. Müller testified that he had thought that it was difficult for poor people to love the Lord. But the Lord had died for all, and when one was touched by the Lord, even a savings of twenty-eight years meant nothing to her anymore.
A few years ago I was working in Southeast Asia for a period of four months. At the end of my visit, we had a meeting. After the meeting, two children came to me while we were drinking tea. One was eight years old, and the other was twelve years old. They told me that they wanted to offer something. One handed me six dollars, and the other handed me eight dollars. This was the amount they had earned for their work during summer vacation. They intended to use that money to buy themselves a pair of shoes, but on that day they decided to offer it up for the Lord. I did not know if they were clear about what they were doing, and I asked their uncle if they were really offering this money. He told me that they were serious. It was hard for me to take that money. That money was the hard-earned money of the children. They had paid a great price to earn it. Since they were going to offer it to the Lord, I could not return it to them. I had to accept it, but I said to the Lord, "This is money from the children's sweat and blood. If I do not use it in the right way, I will be sinning before You."
Today we want all the young people to offer their time to the Lord. At the same time, we want them to offer themselves fully to the Lord. Some may have to give themselves to make money for the Lord. Such ones have to do their best to earn and offer. (Of course, we must earn our money through righteous means.) Some may have to offer themselves to serve the Lord full-time. We need both kinds of people. Does not the gospel need to be preached in many places? Is not the church taking the right path? If there were no need to preach the gospel, and if the church were on the wrong path, we could keep our money and save it for our own use. But if the gospel needs to be preached, and if the church is on the right path, we have to be beside ourselves for the Lord. We have to recalibrate the focus of our living. Formerly, we earned money for ourselves. Today everything has to be for the Lord. God's work in China should not be limited to the coastal regions or only to the Kwangtung and Kwangsi provinces. There are vast regions in the interior of China which have never heard the gospel. We have to rise up and be beside ourselves. We have to be beside ourselves in the preaching of the gospel and in offering up our all.
Not only do we have to be beside ourselves in preaching the gospel and in offering our all, we must also be beside ourselves in suffering. Stephen was stoned to death. Paul and Silas were imprisoned for the Lord. The book of Acts, however, shows us that the disciples were rejoicing, even though they were suffering. After their release, they were not ashamed but exuberant. They were truly beside themselves for the Lord. Nothing was too great, too difficult, or too hard for them when it was done for the Lord.
When Polycarp, the eighty-six-year-old bishop of Smyrna, was taken to prison, the executioners could not bear to see him be killed. They tried to be lenient with him and only asked him to say, "I do not know Jesus the Nazarene" so that they could release him. Yet he answered, "I cannot deny Him. I have served Him for eighty-six years. During these eighty-six years, He has never denied me. How can I love my body and deny Him now?" They took him to the stake. As the lower part of his body was being burned, he was still able to speak, and he said, "Thank God that I have the opportunity to be burned here today. Thank God that I can testify for Him with my life." He was truly beside himself in suffering.
One sister was persecuted for the Lord's sake. In the midst of her suffering, those who were persecuting her told her that if she would bow to the image of Artemis, they would let her go. Yet she said, "Should I choose Christ, or should I choose Artemis? From the first day I have chosen Christ. If you ask me to choose again, I will still choose Him." In the end she was killed. Two other sisters who were still alive said, "Many of God's children are taken away and martyred. Why are we still here?" Later, they were dragged into the prison. They saw many people being taken to the arena and fed to the beasts, but none of them had any regret. The two sisters said, "Many people have testified with their blood already. Why can we only testify with our mouth?" One of the two sisters was married, and the other one was engaged. Their parents, husband, and fiancé came and begged them to change. They even brought the little child of the married sister to plead with her to deny the Lord. But the sisters said, "What can you give to us in exchange for Christ?" In the end they were also taken away to the lions. While they were walking to their death, they were singing, and they did not stop singing until their bodies were torn into pieces by the lions.
In his book, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon spoke of an officer in the Roman army who sent word to Caesar that if they sent all the Christians in the Roman Empire to the lions, there would not be any citizens left. At that time the Christians in the Roman Empire did not testify with their mouth. They testified with their blood. As soon as one of them was martyred, more Christians would be produced. They were not afraid of death. Even though they were cruelly persecuted, they were still able to testify strongly for the Lord. When others saw them taking turns being killed, they thought these ones were crazy! However, this is the power of the gospel. Today the Lord is calling men to forsake themselves to be martyrs for the Lord. The Lord is now asking, "Where are the ones who are beside themselves?" Can you answer, "Here am I. I am absolutely for You"?
