"Oh, my dear brother, flee fleshly lusts, and the enchanting amusements as well as the corrupt doctrines of the present day, and strive to live to God. Take this as the last line from your affectionate and dying brother."
About a year and six months before this faithful, self-sacrificing servant of God passed to his reward, he wrote in his diary something which most beautifully sets forth the thought we are trying to bring out in the illustration of the living sacrifice life of the missionary.
Under date of May 22, 1746, he wrote:
"If ever my soul presented itself to God for His service, without any reserve of any kind, it did so now. The language of my thoughts and disposition now was, 'Here I am, Lord, send me. Send me to the ends of the earth. Send me to the rough, savage pagans of the wilderness. Send me from all that is called comfort in earth, or earthly comfort. Send me even to death itself, if it be but in Thy service, and to promote Thy kingdom.' At the same time I had as quick and lively a sense of the value of worldly comforts as I ever had; but only saw them infinitely overmatched by the worth of Christ's kingdom, and the propagation of His blessed gospel. A quiet settlement, a certain place of abode, the tender friendships of life, appeared as valuable to me, considered absolutely and in themselves, as ever before; but considered comparatively, they appeared nothing. Compared with the value and preciousness of an enlargement of Christ's kingdom, they vanished as stars before a rising sun. Sure I am that though the comfortable accommodations of life appeared valuable and clear to me, yet I did surrender and resign myself, soul and body, to the service of God, and to the promotion of Christ's kingdom, though it should be in the loss of them all. I could not do any other, because I could not will or choose any other. I was constrained, and yet chose, to say, 'Farewell, friends and earthly comforts, the dearest of them all, the very dearest, if the Lord calls for it. Adieu, adieu; I will spend my life to my latest moments, in the caves and dens of the earth, if the kingdom of Christ may thereby be advanced.'
"I felt extraordinary freedom at this time in pouring out my soul to God for His cause, especially that His kingdom might be extended among the Indians, far remote; and I had a great and strong hope that God would do it. I continued wrestling with God in prayer for my dear little flock here, and more especially for the Indians elsewhere, as well as for dear friends in one place and another until it was bedtime, and I feared I should hinder the family. But oh, with what reluctancy did I feel myself obliged to consume time in sleep! I longed to be a flame of fire, continually glowing in the divine service, and building up Christ's kingdom, to my latest, my dying moment."
And God granted him his desire to his dying moment. David Brainerd was truly a living sacrifice as a missionary to the pagan Indians, and won many of them to Christ, where he is rejoicing with them in glory today.
IV. DIFFERENCE IN SIZE AND FORM
Here we find some very noted peculiarities. There are so many shapes and sizes in the various departments of the palm tree world that one is lost in wonder. Here is one gigantic tree two hundred feet high, while another is only a few feet in height and both real palms. Some leaves attain the enormous proportions of thirty-five feet in length by five or six feet in breadth, while on other varieties the leaves are only a few inches in length. Some palms have no flowers at all, while another known as the Talipot palm throws up a branching inflorescence to a height of thirty feet above the foliage, and it has been estimated that such an inflorescence has included as many as sixty millions of flowers.
When we see such differences in size and propensities, we are reminded of the vast differences in the Christian world. Some saints loom up indeed like the giants of the forest, while others are more like house plants. Some are so full of stupendous works for God's kingdom, and are accomplishing such herculean tasks, while others seem to be more adapted for the mantelpiece, or things to look at. We find the same differences obtaining on other lines. In the physical world is a Samson who can carry off the gates of Gaza, while here is another who can scarcely carry himself. In the intellectual world there are men who can walk through the heavens as we would stroll through a town; they weigh the planets in their scales, and tell the composition of stars and their distances; while others are still wondering if this world is not flat. In the financial realm we find a man who can lug whole railroad systems, or trans-Atlantic steamers on his shoulders, or thousands of tanks of Standard oil. On the other hand we see some who would starve to death if they were left to themselves. We know of one man who had been trying for years to save up enough money on which to get divorced. We would not be too hard on those, who, in the spiritual realm, are not able to walk off with mountains on their shoulders; they may not be endowed with any special gifts, and yet they may be the Lord's weak children.
We would not sit in judgment on any of God's children. Christ came to save all who will put their trust in Him, and if one is naturally endowed with great and peculiar talents, so much the more responsibility rests upon him; but if one does not possess the extraordinary, he may be a trustful follower of the Lamb after all. And yet we have known of some who certainly did not seem possessed with anything above the ordinary, yet because of their fidelity to Christ and their abandonment to the Holy Ghost, were really blessed in usefulness beyond the ordinary. There is no telling what the Lord will do with the weak ones if they will only let Him put over against them His strength. So, as in the palm tree realm, there is such a variety in size and form, so in the Christian world we have the babe and the man, the weak and the strong, the tiny, trusting heart who is scarcely known around the corner, and the giant of God who wields his influence throughout the nation. So, whether we are little or big, weak or strong, if we have the assurance that we belong to God's kingdom, let us look up and rejoice evermore. We may be tempted to discouragement when we see the stupendous accomplishments of some of the palm tree saints, but we must remember that God requires from us only that which we are able to perform. So while we may not do what some others do, yet we can all, without an exception, measure up in our individual sphere and prove that the Word of God is true, that "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree."