TESTIMONY AT HOME
‘Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee.’
The work of man’s testimony should begin at home (cf. the order in Acts 1:8).
I. Testimony at home.—There (a) they have the greater claim; (b) they can better judge of the reality of changes in character and life; (c) they are more likely to be influenced than strangers who know nothing of the man’s past.
II. The influence of home.—There (a) his faith may be more surely tried; (b) he will have more reminders of God’s mercy towards him; (c) he will be less tempted to spiritual pride. Further,
III. The claims of home.—Beware of (a) neglecting the work lying close at hand for more distant and alluring fields; (b) of testifying in public with growing indifference to the private life; and so (c) of living two lives—one, that seen by the world; the other, that known only to God, and in a measure to one’s household.
Illustration
‘We need to realise more than we do that Christianity is not simply a personal relation to Christ, that it involves a Christian society, and that, as Churchmen, our creed must be, and indeed is, Christ for the world and the world for Christ. We want, therefore, to abolish the false faith that, when a soul is brought to the Saviour, his salvation is complete, or that, when incorporated into the Church, his service is ended. Such a creed is, I recognise, nowhere theoretically held; but if works are the evidence of faith—and they are—few will be prepared to deny that, if judged practically, this is the belief of many amongst us.’