"THE MAN GOD USES" by Oswald J. Smith — The Review
The Man God Uses was written by Oswald Jeffrey Smith. The book was edited and published at New York by Christian Alliance Pub. Co. (1932).
It has 12 chapters and 116pages.
AUTHOR’S BACKGROUND
Oswald Jeffrey Smith was born on November 8, 1889 and died on January 25, 1986. He was a Canadian pastor, author, and missions advocate. He founded
The Peoples Church in Toronto in 1928.
Smith attended the Toronto Bible Training School, the Manitoba Presbyterian College in Winnipeg, and the McCormick Seminary in Chicago. Smith was ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Canada in 1918. Over the course of eighty years he preached more than 12,000 sermons in 80 countries, wrote thirty-five books (with translations into 128 languages), as well as 1,200 poems, of which 100 have been set to music.
Early years
Smith was born on November 8, 1889 near Odessa, Ontario, as the eldest of the ten children of Benjamin and Alice Smith. His early years were troubled by ill health and a delicate constitution. He was once out of school for two whole years after a bout of pneumonia. He said: “It was generally accepted that I hadn’t many more days on this earth”. In spite of dire predictions, he did survive frightening illnesses and grew into young adulthood. On January 28, 1906, during a Torrey Crusade in Toronto, Smith committed his life to the Lord and from that time, his burning desire to preach the gospel became the focus of his life. Smith said: “I know as sure as I’m alive, I must preach the gospel. There’s nothing else in the world for me.”
From the little information about the author, the dedication of Smith to the work of God can be seen and in particular, his bringing people to the knowledge of Christ in the simplest way
The chapters of the book in review is summarized below.
Chapter 1: THE BIRTHDAY PRAYER
The author, on his 38th birthday prayed a significant prayer…He said; “Lord, make me a man after your heart”... this statement is so significant in that he opened his reader’s eyes to some reasons why we should be closer to God than we are now, He sighted examples of David, Enoch, Daniel, and Moses, people that had personal encounter with God, even in their errors(those that committed one sin or the other), they still had places in God’s heart and believe me, God never disappoints, as we have seen him manifest powerfully in those ones lives, he can do more in our lives if we prepare to become men after His heart
Chapter 2: THE MAN GOD USES
There are some qualities common with men God uses, praying to be used by God is a costly request, but it is not impossible. The author went ahead to list some of the qualities that makes a man fit for God’s use. They are;
A man God uses…
a. Is a man who has but one purpose in life.
b. Is a man who by God’s grace has removed every hindrances from his life.
c. Is a man who places himself absolutely at God’s disposal.
d. Is a man who had learnt how to prevail in prayer.
e. Is a man who is a student of the WORD(the sciptures).
f. Is a man who has a vital living message for the lost world… the message “Christ died for our sins”, “God so much love the world”and the message of “the cross”.
g. Is a man of faith who expects results.
h. Is the man who walks in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 3: THE SEPARATED LIFE
You don’t jump into a well to pick up someone who fell into the well. The world is so much churchy and the church so much worldly, There must be a significant difference between you (a Christian and the world). James 4:4; “friendship with the world is enmity with God”. That is what is called a separated life. It means separation from worldly pleasures, worldly alliances (in business, in relationship, and in association).
Therefore, the author advised that it is better to open one’s heart to the Holy Spirit and guard one’s heart from the world and it’s sinful pleasures.
Chapter 4: THE SUPREME TEST
This chapter simply talked about the test of love. He explained further that nothing satisfies a living heart but love. Every service and everything you think you are doing in life, for God or for man is and should be out of love, not duty.
Chapter 5: THE VICTORIOUS LIFE
A victorious life is the life that is free from sin no matter how hard or though the temptation is. There are outward and inward sin, as genuine Christians, we are free from the outward sins such as; murder, fornication, theft etc. but there are inward sins for which we need to so some soul searching to know if we are actually free from them. The author pinpointed some of them as anger, anxiety, discouragement, despondency, jealousy, pride, lust, impurity in thoughts. The author made it known that the secret to freedom from sin is Christ living in me/you/us! He also went further to state that the battle is not yours but Christ’s, so it can’t be defeated by self or will power!
Chapter 6: WHAT DOES GOD THINK OF ME?
What does God think of my work? (how I manage my time and handle my finances, how I treat my colleagues at work and even my boss, or have I even placed my work about God?), what does God think about my social relationship? (do I still believe in purity, hope I’m not selfish?), my devotional life, (do I still have intimacy with God, hope I’m not reading my bible for reading sake), my Christian progress, (do i still pursue holiness, righteousness, spiritual growth, manifestation in fruits and gifts of the spirit and all?) etc.
The author made tried to make the readers understand that God is so much interested in these things more than we can ever think. Make sure He’s involved!
Chapter 7: THE SURRENDERED LIFE.
This is the moment when our all is the cross, when there’s no point in one’s life when one will say no to God, (many illustrations were given by the author); the woman who can give all to God except her child, that’s not a surrendered life, but until when one has given oneSELF, LOVED ONES, TALENTS, TIME, MONEY to the most precious God willingly, like Abraham, the father of faith.
Chapter 8: THE SANCTIFIED LIFE:
In this chapter, the author opined that sanctification is not a freedom from temptation, nor a guarantee of safety from the possibility of sin (in fact no Christian is free from sin, so there’s nothing like eternal security), it is neither a gradual deliverance from sin, that’s not God’s way of victory from sin. The author said that sanctification is;
1. Instantaneous crisis Experience, that must have a start, a genuine experience with the divine.
2. it’s a life of victory over sin.
3. It’s a life-long transformation into Christ-likeness.
According to this chapter, there are 3 levels of sanctification, viz,
Separation from…
Dedication to… and
Filling with…
He mentioned that the above steps must be filled appropriately in order to live a sanctified life.
Chapter 9: THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS
This chapter went on to say that many had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior but not as their Lord, yes, they are saved but they are not his disciples, many run to Jesus to be saved but are not ready to pick up their cross and follow him, picking up ones cross and following Him is the definition of true discipleship, another meaning of discipleship is putting GOD FIRST in everything, renouncing all that we think we have acquired and forsaking all pleasures and families. Loving God more than all.
Chapter 10: JUST IN TIME
This chapter tells stories of people who at the point of death committed their life to Christ. Hmm, at the very point of death, when they saw no hope of living, they must not miss eternity. But wait, that’s those that know they aren’t right enough with God, they were on their sick beds and they had the chance, what if it was an accident or an incident where one have no room to think through their lives, what could have happened? Even though they were church goers, the author went on to say that it’s not about going to church, or about being a worker, No, it’s not that, it’s about being saved and converted. Before the kingdom if God is sure.
Chapter 11: PREACHING CHRIST
The two most essentials of the gospel is the messenger and the message.
Preaching Christ is not merely preaching about Jesus Christ, his story from birth to death, reading religious essays, reviewing books (just like this text), socialism, discussing day to day politics. The writer is not condemning these (they are all needful), but preaching Christ is more than all these. PREACHING CHRIST is proclaiming him as Crucified, resurrected, ascended and living Savior. The author emphasized: CRUCIFIED, RESURRECTED, ASCENDED & LIVING Savior.
And he gave the reasons for preaching Christ as
1. because it is our business
2. because He is the only remedy for sin
Chapter 12: WHICH IS YOUR GOAL?
Many people has started doubting the bible and questioning faith. Many bring unreasonable questions about faith and Christ, different religions and ideology that turns the bible upside down, the author succinctly wrote that our goal is not to argue with them or confuse ourselves, we have be called just do the work with all judiciousness and focus on the truth that we have received when we believed then we won’t be derailed by the false doctrines flying around. That is our goal!
Chapter 13: THE INVESTMENT OF LIFE
God has a plan for every life, your success is not based on the amount you have earned or the money in your account(Luke 12:15). It is not everyone that’ll go on mission field, but why not invest in making God known at your various life careers, in your jobs and business. That is God’s plan, that everyone becomes a minister of the gospel. This is a great work being put in our hands. Christ gave all for us, we should be able to give our all to him!
Chapter 14: OUR MOST IMPORTANT WORK
The summary of this chapter is that “our most important work for God is *winning the lost souls back to Christ*. That is our glorious occupation, the author gave many scriptural verses to back the assertion up. Win souls and don’t loose your own soul.
Chapter 15: GO AND TELL OTHERS
You have a good tiding already, tell others about your Savior and deliverer, the one who freed you from the power of darkness, from sin, don’t be selfish.
He gave reasons why we should tell them as:
1. because it is what we have, and it is what one have that one can share.
2. because it is what the world needs.
3. because it is dangerous if we fail, a selfish life can be punished.
He concluded this chapter by saying; “Tell of the Joy of Jesus and let lives be joyful through you!”.
Chapter 16: CHRIST’S THREEFOLD MINISTRY
The author in this chapter pinpointed the three-fold ministries as
1. Look: the field is ripe for harvest, many have all they need to succeed, but they lack direction, it is time for us to look far and wide and find them, look carefully and discover our purpose, the vision has been given to us. The life of the unsaved is gradually depending on how carefully we look. This may be the last opportunity for some people around us. Look now and take a step.
2. Pray: Having the talent to speak is not enough, being capable financially is not enough. Matt 9:37–38 says; “the harvest is truly plenty, and laborers are few, but pray therefore that the Lord of harvest send laborers to his vineyard. The author emphasized the word “pray”, making his readers understand that the praying part is important and strategic, he opined that it is not that we don’t have laborers many times, but they aren’t God-sent. We need those that are God sent in particular, and that’s why we should pray.
3. Go: this is the part where the a physical movement is done after there is a commissioning from God.
a. GO to the nation(Matt 28:19)
b. GO to the individual(Matt 16:15)
He concluded this chapter by calling our attention to this thought provoking question; “A thousand soul perish daily, how many have you/I been able to get the word to?”
Chapter 17: THE TWO-FOLD TASK
The main importance of this work is to do according to how the father(God) wants it, no difficulty, the instructions are clear (Acts 1:8), non mistakable (mark 16:15). this two fold ministry will make our hands full in this mission
i. Intercession.
ii. Witness bearing.
These can be achieved from the pulpit by the ministers, on a personal basis (one on one), by the distribution of tracts and written materials in our neighborhood, offices etc. By doing all these, we would have been able to do the work committed into our hands.
In conclusion, in order to gain access into the manifold wisdom of God, in order to be inducted into the ranks of those that will be important to God in the end-time agenda, we must be submitted to God in all we do and be surrendered enough to be used of God in our sphere of influence. In meeting God’s need in times as this, God will be committed to meeting our needs too.
I therefore beseech you all by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a holy and living sacrifice, which is your reasonable service (Rom12:1)
