581
September 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
Gospel will make more progress in the hands of plowmen and herdsmen who have less head knowledge and more heart experience of Christ. He feeds other hearts who speaks from his own heart. Let those who cannot do that, stay out of the ministry. —o— I saiah Of Israel’s celebrated prophets,1Isaiah towers above them all. There is nothing more profound in all literature than his writings. He has been called the St. Paul of the Old Testament. His one great theme seems to be, like that of Paul—sal vation by faith. Probably his inaugural vision is that recorded in chapter 6, though some be lieve it came to him after years of expe rience, as a means;of deepening his spir ituality. In either case, the lessons of it are vital to all who look toward doing Christian service, whether in the minis try or as lay workers;'“) : Isa. 6:1-9 records the prophet’s : (1) Conviction—v. 5; (2) Confession—v. 5; (3) Cleansing—v. 7 ;1§?(4) •Communions' v. 8; (5) Call—v. 8; (6) Consecration— v.,8; (7) Commission—v. 9. In verse 1 we have his Up-look; in verse 5, his In-look; in verse 8, his Out look. We see profound reverence in worship; profound humility in waiting upon God, and profound devotion to His bidding. Isaiah begins by telling us that he “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up” (v. 1). Correct theories about God are invaluable, but our first need is some, vision of God Himself. The light of God’s throne reveals to a man his' true condition. The New Testament makes it clear that in every such manifestation of God, it was the Son of God who thus revealed Himself (John 12:41). Our great need, then, is to come close to Jesus Christ, the “one Mediator between God and man," and the nearer we come to Him, the more we shall realize the imperfection and insufficiency of the flesh. Until we have felt this, we are unfit to undertake to represent Him before the world. Isaiah describes the appearance of the seraphim, each of whom had'six wings. The term evidently refers to God’s at tending angels. With two wings, each covered his face; with two his feet; with two he did fly. Here is suggested medi tation, humility and spiritual activity. If God’s will is to be done by us on earth as it is done in heaven, there must enter into our lives these elements. Our fly ing on earth will be an unhallowed flight, if we do not first secretly adore Him in our hearts. The seraphim cry one to another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory” (v. 3). This is one of many hints in the Old Testament of the Trinity. Another is seen in the question: “Who will go for ÜS?*’ (v. 8). The threefold cry meets man’s threefold sinfulness, for God’s holiness appeals to man’s faculties of conscience, affection and reason. “Woe is me,” cried Isaiah, “I am un done; I am a man of unclean lips . mine eyes have seen the King” (v. 5). In the previous chapter, Isaiah had ut tered six woes against others, but his seventh is against himself. It will be a great day of victory for every one of us when, in God’s presence, we see our own sinfulness, standing out above the infe-
When Ahab saw him, he said to him, “Hast thou found me, O my enemy?” Elijah answered, “I have found thee be cause thou hast given thyself up to sin against the Lord.” Elijah told Ahab of the awful punishment God was to give him. Ahab repented and tried to make amends. Boys and girls, there is great danger for us too if we are always want ing everything we see. We are not too young to learn the lesson of contentment. Our memory verse tells us to depart from evil and do good. Let us thank God for all our blessings. That is the way to be happy. (Prayer.)
BLACKBOARD OUTLINE
T \ E P R O O F V. 20 I V EPENTANCE V. 27. JL V e p r i e v e V. 29. Confession brings forgiveness. 1 Jno. 1:9.
This is a hard task, but Elijah obeys at once, and finds Ahab in the vineyard.
G ctobee 23, 1927 The Call of the Prophet Lesson Text—4 Kings 19:19-20; Amos 7:14-15; Isa. 6:1-
dent, that in God’s own time he might in telligently take up the prophetic office. -A-0—?"■' ■' A mos The call of Amos was somewhat sim ilar. The lesson text informs us h,ow Amaziah, high priest of calf.worship at Bethel, alarmed at the stern predictions of Amos, carried to the king a distorted ver sion of the words of Amos. The king apparently did not interfere, but Amaziah on his own authority ordered Amos to leave Bethel and go back to his herds at Tekoah. How ready wicked men are to get clear of God’s reprovers and to say to them—"Keep your mouth: shut about our sins and go on home.” These words brought out Amos’ de fense in which he tells us how he had been called into God’s service, "I was no prophet,” he replied, “neither a pro phet’s son; but I was a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit, and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto, me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel” (Amos 7:14-15). This was a calm refutation of Ama- ziah’s insinuations. He was not prophesy ing from any unworthy motives. He was not simply giving vent to something he had learned in the school .of the prophets. He spoke in simple obedience to the com mand. of God, who had spoken to his heart while he was engaged in a humble occupation. He had nothing to gain, either in profit or honor. He merely sought to do God’s bidding, whatever it might cost him. How much Amos reminds us of the New Testament messengers, all of whom came from humble walks of life, and, except for Paul, none of whom were theologi cally trained. Giving up all to follow Christ, sitting at His feet, then tarrying until endued with power from on high, they went forth to declare the whole counsel of God to all men, at the cost of terrible persecution and finally their lives. Far beiijt from us to depreciate the need of an educated ministry today. We believe the world has lost many a good carpenter and blacksmith by their having become half-way preachers. On the other hand, there is no pulpit so vacant as th® one that has in it a man with a stuffed head and no heart knowledge of Jesus Christ. As one has said: “Many a preacher is dying by ‘degrees’.” After all, the theology that takes hold of hearts, is the fruit of “kneeology.” The
T H E lesson for today records briefly tne calling of three prophets; namely, Elisha, Isaiah and Amos; It is of interest to notice that Elisha was called directly
from the fields where he was plowing and Amos responded to the call when serving as a herdsman. Isaiah seems to have be longed to a family of some rank, and is said to have been ' a
cousin of King Uzziah. E lisha
Leaving Mt. Horeb, Elijah (about whom we were last studying) again tra versed the great desert and finally went into theJordan valley. Going up the valley to the North, he came to a field where he saw Elisha plowing .with twelve yoke of oxen. For three and a half years, this was the first springtime that gave promise of a harvest. We may imagine the joy ous toil of Elisha as he realized the prospect of raising something. Suddenly Elijah appeared. Apparently without say ing. a word, Elijah threw his prophet’s mantle over the shoulders of this young farmer. It was a well understood symbolical act. God had evidently been dealing with this farmer’s heart, for he uttered no remonstrance and showed no unwill ingness to obey th e .call. He only asked permission to bid his family farewell. “Go and return,” said Elijah, “for thou knowest what I have done unto thee” ' Elisha went back for a farewell feast, killing the yoke of oxen which he had beèn driving, as well, perhaps, to in dicate his renunciation of his old call ing. He then followed Elijah ; called from home, friends and comfort, to en dure hardships, suffer persecution and bear scorn. He became, for several years, Elijah’s servant. We have but one statement de scribing their relationship, “He poured water on the hands of Elijah” (2 Kings 3 :li). The tie between the two became deep and strong, and Elisha’s whole after life shows that he had deeply imbibed the teachings and spirit of the older prophet. We could find no better example of one who had an ear for the call of God; who was ready to obey at all costs ; who was willing to become for years a humble stu-
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