Necessity is Laid Upon Me
W. Arnot, D. D. 1 Corinthians 9:15-16 But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done to me… We need not ministers that may or will, but that must preach, and members not that may or will, but that must live, the gospel. Consider — I. THE WORK: WHAT THEY DO. They preach the gospel. The terms point to the public ministry of the word; but it is as certainly applicable to every Christian. Responsibility is diversified not in kind, but only in degree. By two short links every believer is bound to minister for the Lord. "Let him that heareth say, Come." We have heard the word of life, and therefore we should speak it. "Freely ye have received, freely give." Without opening his lips to teach, every one who bears Christ's name may help the gospel — 1. By his spirit and his life. As we thread life's promiscuous throng we are touching right and left immortal beings, giving them a bias by the contact to the right or the left. 2. By word and work. The methods and opportunities are manifold. "She hath done what she could" is the standard of measurement. (1) The more obvious methods are — a Sabbath-school, a mission or tract district. (2) Private doors are also open. You might make yourself useful in a time of distress; and your word would then go deeper than in the public assembly. As to work for the Lord, the rule is the same as in getting from the Lord: "Seek, and ye shall find."(3) But a sphere lies open to those who shrink from even the most private walks. If you cannot make up to other people, you may have your hands filled with remunerative labour at home. If you are bashful in presence of others, you may surely be bold in dealing with yourself. Here is an opportunity of doing mission-work. The kingdom of God is within you: go work in that vineyard. If that field become ripe, seed from it will be carried away on the wings of the wind to make the desert fruitful. II. THE MOTIVE: WHAT COMPELS THEM TO DO IT. "Necessity is laid upon me," &c. The apostle confesses frankly he was kept at his work as a slave is by the sound of the whip. Is any one startled at this representation? See if it be not God's way of keeping His servants to their work, and if His way be not very good? The pain of a wound is our Maker's messenger to send us forth quickly in search of a cure; the pain of thirst, His messenger to send us forth quickly in search of water. So it is consonant with God's ways to keep His creature busy with useful work by pressing him with pain if he indolently or ignorantly cease. By the secret line fixed in the conscience, which God in heaven holds in His own hand, many a man is compelled to run errands of benevolence who otherwise would sit at home in indolent ease. I knew a boy once who was asked for an alms by a passing beggar. The boy refused; the beggar passed, piercing the youth by a look from a pale face and a drooping eye. The youth continued his work mechanically, scarcely knowing what he did. Woe, woe was upon his soul, because he had not given the beggar a penny. This woe increased and accumulated until it became unbearable. The boy threw his instrument on the ground, and ran after the wearied beggar, and silently placed the penny in the beggar's hand, and ran home again to his work. The woe lashed him to duty, and then left him light of heart as the birds that sang beside him on the tree. Look to some of the particular forces which press a human soul to diligence in the work of the Lord. 1. The constraining love of Christ. Paul could not help going forward through every difficulty and danger, any more than a ship can help going forward through the billows when its sails are full and its helm held aright. His affections rose from earth to heaven, because a pressure was upon his heart, as great as the pressure that compels the waters of the sea to rise and constitute the clouds. 2. The new appetite of the new creature. The Lord Himself was borne forward in this manner, and owned it. "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work." 3. The need of a sinning, suffering world. A brother ready to perish lies heavier than lead upon a loyal, loving heart, and produces that haste to the rescue at which the giddy world, ignorant of the moving power, gazes as an inexplicable phenomenon. Ah, if the secret machinery of the Christian life within us were well oiled and free of rust, we should move quickly in these days; for the appropriate kind of power is playing on us in a mighty volume all the day long. (W. Arnot, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void. WEB: But I have used none of these things, and I don't write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that anyone should make my boasting void.