C j t C M C I
by Don W. Hillis
D oes G od ever attend beauty contests ? He did! And as a result, Hadassah was chosen to be the queen of a great empire that stretched from India to Ethiopia. Does God ever become involved in assassination plots ? He was, and the king of that same great em pire was saved from a premature death. A whis pered conversation between Bigthan and Teresh was “ accidentally” overheard. The king’s life was spared and the two would-be assassins were strung up. Does God ever get mixed up in politics ? He did, at a banquet table with a king, a queen, and a prime minister. Dramatic results followed. You who are knowledgable about the Book know that I have taken these three incidents from Esther. Although the name of God is not mentioned in Esther, His hand is clearly seen, reaching deep into the machinery o f human affairs and directing the course of history. Though God is neither a capitalist nor a Com munist, a Democrat nor a Republican, He is deliber ately involved in the movements o f nations. Those who look at the stage of history and fail to see God standing in the wings, miss the most meaningful aspect o f it all. The Bible clearly presents God as the Sovereign of sovereigns. He rules in the kingdom o f men. The nations of the world are as the small dust in the bal ance. In His sight, the heart o f the king is in His hands and He tumeth it whithersoever He wills. He raises up one and sets down another. The Caesars and the Napoleons, the Hitlers and the Stalins, rise and fall like the great waves o f the ocean unto whom God has said, “ So far and no farther.” The Old Testament scene is one in which Israel is at the center of the stage. She is, at times, “ di vinely” victorious over the nations that surround her. At other times she is “ divinely” defeated, and scattered abroad. In all of this the sovereign arm of the Lord o f Hosts is plainly evident. The repeated warnings of God’s prophets are finally fulfilled in
the bloody destruction of Jerusalenrand the temple o f the Lord. In spite o f all God’s promises and the pleading o f His prophets; in spite of His interven tions and revelations, Israel failed to accomplish the commission the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had given her. The New Testament pictures for us a “ holy nation” being gathered out from among the Gen tiles. That nation is referred to as “ the church.” As with Israel, so with the church, God has given a task to be performed and directives to be obeyed. This is commonly referred to as “ The Great Com mission.” And, indeed, it is great—great in its pur pose, great in its power, and great in its propor tions. As God did everything possible to enable His people in the Old Testament to fulfill their respon sibility, we have every right to expect Him to do the same for the church. In fact, He has promised to empower the church to accomplish the task He has assigned her. It appears to me that there have been increas ing evidences in the last 25 years of the sovereign hand of God opening and closing doors for His church. On some occasions, that Almighty Hand i has seemed gently to grasp the knob and open the door silently and slowly. On other occasions, the door has been violently torn from its hinges. And in a few cases, the door has been closed. Let me illustrate: It was not until the close of World War II that the church in America began to look seriously at Europe as a mission field. In the past two decades, a number of fine mission organizations have begun and are carrying on fruitful ministries on the European continent. Child evangelism and youth ministries are prospering in several of the coun- tries. Bible training schools have been opened and churches are being planted. Door-to-door book- sales and correspondence courses are having an in creasing outreach. Even the doors of those Euro pean countries for which missions held little hope
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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