His Reflection in Me — E.A. Johnston

Reflecting Jesus Through Christian Character

Have you ever known someone who reminded you of Jesus, that when you spent time with them, they made you thirsty for Jesus? I've known Christians like that. Every time I was with Stephen Olford, I desired more of a spirit-filled life and I had a deeper sense of eternity.

A Story of Christlike Generosity

I'd like to share a story with you, friends, which illustrates this point very well. The great Methodist Bible teacher, Samuel Chadwick, liked to tell the following incident about the time he was waiting for a train in England.

One day in Leeds station, he went to the waiting room and there was a man in the room who was leaning against the mantelpiece and he seemed to be in great distress. Samuel Chadwick went up to him and observed he was weeping.

Then he said, my friend, are you in trouble? Not exactly, was the reply. What is the matter then, asked Samuel Chadwick. Well, he said, my brother and I had saved a bit of money and we thought we'd start a business so we went to Crossleys and bought a gas engine and put it into our little workshop to run it.

After working for about two years, we found that we were losing money. The engine was not powerful enough for the task, so we decided to go back to the firm and explain the situation. We told the person we saw what had happened, that we were losing money, that the engine was not powerful enough, and asked what could be done.

The clerk working there said, you got the engine you ordered, didn't you? Yes, I told him. Then he said, I'm afraid we cannot do anything more. They then left the office and on the way out, they met Frank Crossley, the owner.

They addressed him and told him the story. He took them back into his office, got all the particulars from them, and said, now, I will put an engine into your workshop, adequate for the purpose, and if you will let me know what you have lost on that inadequate engine for the last two years, I will refund it to you.

The man, speaking to Samuel Chadwick, wept again and said, sir, I have seen the like as person today to Jesus Christ, and it has been too much for me. Well, I love that story, friends, because there are Christians in this world just like that man, Frank Crossley.

Christ Magnified Through Self-Denial

When you meet them, they remind you of Jesus. Are we willing to die to self so that Jesus Christ can be more visible in us? The apostle Paul declared in Philippians 1 .20, according to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always.

So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. And John the Baptist said, I must decrease so he may increase. I believe that should be true of a minister of the gospel.

To me, the success of a preacher is not in the size of his congregation or the number of buildings on his campus, but that self is minimized and Christ is magnified. That when you hear a man preach, you're confronted with Jesus Christ in eternity.

I believe much preaching today is hindered by a projection of human personality rather than men preaching Christ and him crucified. Jesus said, I speak not of myself, but the father that dwelleth in me.

Seeing Jesus in Christlike Servants

He doeth the works. I remember a story that Manly Beasley related. He was in the hospital and that man pretty much lived in the hospital. And some big name preacher friends of his had flown into Texas to try to cheer him up because he was pretty depressed, but they weren't having much success.

Then into his hospital room entered a lady in a plain dress and she sat by his bed and held his hand. It was Corrie Ten Boom. And she began to pray for Manly Beasley. And Manly Beasley said that she accomplished what those big shot preachers could not do.

He said, I don't know if the room went up to heaven or if heaven came down to that room, but when she prayed, Jesus was there. I like that story and I felt that way, friends, every time I was around Adrian Rogers.

Adrian Rogers made me think of Jesus, whether I was sitting with him in his study or with him socially. I recall an incident which stands out in my memory more than any other of him. It was a rainy night in Memphis and I just dropped my family off at a local restaurant while I went to park the car.

Out into the rain, I ran underneath an umbrella. It was so dark I could hardly see. And when I stepped into the well-lit lobby of the restaurant, there stood the figure of a man with his arms outstretched.

He threw his arms around me and said in that familiar, deep, booming voice, Ernesto. It was Adrian Rogers. And while he was hugging me, I had the sensation that I had left this earth and entered heaven and Jesus was greeting me.

Christ in You, the Hope of Glory

Adrian made me think of Jesus because I saw Jesus in Adrian. Do you know people like that? They make you think of Jesus? My message tonight, friends, is entitled, His Reflection in Me, and my text can be found in Paul's epistle to the Colossians in chapter 1.

You can turn in your Bibles there now. We'll be in verses 27 through 29. Let me read this passage to us at this time. To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, wherein too I also labor, striving according to his work and which worketh in me mightily.

Did you hear that, friends? Christ in you, the hope of glory. Let me ask you a question. Do you desire others to see more of Christ in you? Let me ask you another question. Can your family members say of you that they see Jesus in you?

When I was writing my biography on J. Sidlo Baxter, I kept running into the same description of him by those who knew him. Everybody I interviewed for that book that knew Dr. Baxter each said that Sidlo Baxter always seemed to have just left the presence of God, for God's presence was still with him.

The Cost of Becoming Christlike

He had a heavenly fragrance about him. Do you know people like that? It's been the desire of my own heart to be more Christ-like, but there's a cost involved, friends. What cost counts and what counts costs.

There must be a self-emptying process, a pruning process. It's painful to die to self. I like what Sidlo Baxter used to say about preachers. How can a man full of himself preach to Christ who emptied himself?

And it's true, brother preacher. I was preaching to a group of pastors one evening, and my text was John chapter 15, which I called a pruning chapter. And during my message, I stressed to these men the point that if we ever want to be used to God in the way in which he desires to use us, then we must be willing to surrender to the divine pruning knife in our self-life.

And after my message, an elderly black pastor approached me, and he hugged me, and then he said this to me, I want you to know I've been a pastor for 50 years, but tonight I'm going to go home and get down beside my bed, and I'm going to ask the Lord to get out his pruning knife on me and my ministry.

Refined as Pure Gold

Well, that man was serious with God, friends, but we must ask ourselves, how serious are we? How Christlike do we wish to become, even if it hurts? Do you want to be pure gold in the hands of God? Listen, friends, all the impurities and dross must be separated from the gold through the process of burning in a refiner's fire.

Amy Carmichael asked her village goldsmith as he sat on the floor by his crucible, how do you know how long to sit and wait? How do you know when the gold is purified? He replied, when I can see my face in it.

A Prayer for Christ's Reflection

Well, when I read that story, I fell to my knees in desperation, friends, oh, how I long to be like that reflective gold where others see Jesus in me. I wrote the following poem out of a desperate heart, and I want to share it with you now as I close this message before we go to our time of prayer, and after I read this to us, I hope each of us will too long to be more like Jesus so others can see his reflection in us.

Here now is my burden desire, it's called pure gold. Lord, show me what dross remains in my life, which mars your reflection through me. Hold me in the flames, great God, and burn away all that is impure in me.

Reduce me down to nothing in the hottest degree. Remove all the dross of my life that stands in your way. Burn out the hindering sins that are hidden from me, but that others can see. Purge away the remnants of self that fight to remain, and drive me deeper into the flames to be reduced to nothing but pure gold for thee.

Let nothing remain that hinders your work. Burn, burn, burn all my impurities away, and as I emerge when your work is done, let others see not me, but Jesus through this victory won. Let us go now to a time of prayer, friends.