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T H E K IN G ’ S B US IN E S S
October, 1989
.What a strange commission! Can it possibly mean that the Lord did not even want the people to whom Isaiah p r e a c h e d to be saved ? Indeed no, though Jeremiah and Ezekiel received commissions of similar purport (Jer. 1:4-10; Ezek. 2:3-8; 3:7-9). Our loving God that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all desires riot that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But He knew beforehand that at the preaching of Isaiah they would not hear, and that blind eyes as a result would get blinder and deaf ears would become more deaf, and that fat and sluggish hearts would get fatter and more sluggish. Rejection of God’s message has the terrible result of hardening thè hearer. The Lord kne# that in the case of Saul Of Tarsus on the verge of becom ing Paul the Apostle, the results would be different, since he would go forth in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and that there would be at least some who would believe his report. So it was that the glorified Christ said to him: “Rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared urito thée for this purpose, to make thee a minister arid a witness . . .; delivering thee . . . from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to O P E N THEIR EYES, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” Thus, in actuality, the commands were, “Isaiah, shut their eyes!” “Paul, open their eyes!” The same Lord commanded both, and His purposes and desires were identical in each case. God’s Purpose in His Ministers This fact brings us to the all-impor- tant question, “What was and what is the purpose of God in His commis sioning His servants to His testimony in any age?” This is a question which we have discovered to be obscured in the minds of God’s people everywhere, and relatively few know the real an swer. We have asked many audiences, really desiring from them an answer and demanding it thus: “What after all is, God’s purpose in sending forth His servants in His testimony ?” The answer nearly always comes back, “ For the salvation of souls!” If the salvation of souls were God’s purpose in the commissioning of His servants, then Noah and Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and many other were dismal failures, because practical ly no souls were saved through théì» ministries, and yet it cannot be denied that God commissioned them. ■ ■ • The Lord knew perfectly well before hand that none were going -to heed [Continued on page 405] •
will bring Complete and final victory. Brethren, let us see that We are- on the Lord’s side in every battle that is fought between sin and righteousness, darkness and light, heaven and hell. The Lord is with us While we be with Him. He let Jehoshaphat see a gloriqjis victory. We shall see one, too, if we are loyal to our great Leader, for the battle is God’s, not ours, and the day is coming when we shall say, “Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and SHUT THEIR EYES; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” Strange Commissions for Service “And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye Indeed, but under stand not; and see ye Indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shift their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and under stand with their heart, and con vert, and be healed” (Isa. 6:9, 10). “Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, 1 have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the king doms, to root but, and to pull down, and to ' destroy, and to throw dowH, to build, and to plant. . . . Thou therefore gird up . thy Joins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, -I have made thee this day a defensed city, and an iron1pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land” (Jer. 1:9, 10, 17, 18). “And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. . . . But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are Impudent and hard hearted . . . fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks though they be a rebellious house . . . and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear” (Ezek. 3:4, 7, 9, 11). THE VINDICATION OF GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS [Continued from page 375]
to think we are more interested in God’s work than God is! But He wants us to realize that it is His work before it is ours. We pray that God may be on our side, and God says He wants us on His side. He began the warfare against sin long ages ago, and He is just as interested and active in this warfare today as He ever was. We pray that we may possess the Spirit to do our work. But God wants us to be possessed by the Spirit that He may do His Work through us. When the Spirit is cofiae, He shall convince the world of sin, and of right eousness, and of judgment. He shall do it, not we. It shall be done through us, but He is the great Worker. So often we think of working for God, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God being our instruments; but we should rather think of God as working through us, and our being th e . instruments of the Spirit. How differently we should work if we realized that God is the great Director of all our efforts! How many self- chosen tasks would be laid aside, and how often we should come into the presence1of the Lord and say, “What wilt thou have me to do?” The Giver of .Victory Hie true understanding of those words, “The battle is God's,” would' calm much of our worry and turmoil, For if the battle is His, He will provide the equipment that is needed. No man goeth to warfare at his own charges. We cannot do God’s Work with a. few na tural gifts. The Word of God must be. filling our hearts. One winter’s day another stu dent and I visited an earnest Scotsman, ' and before we left to return to Glas gow, this earnest old Christian doffed his bonnet and took down the Book and prepared to read it to us, saying, “Young men, keep fu’ of the Word; if ye are no’ fu’ o’ the Word of God, ye maun be dry as a whissle.” The Spirit is needed to possess us, and God gives the Spirit to them that ask Him. We need tact, love, grace, and earnest zeal; all these the Lord will provide. The battle is God’s. He will give the directions. The plan of campaign is all prepared. All we need is to be brought into line with the great purposes and plans of God. One great -command is to preach the gospel to every creature. Are we obeying this ? “Go”—s^hat jS u iS command, not wait for men to come, but “Go” to them. He will give the victory. Kitchener was called “the organizer of victory.” He was the undefeated general. Our Captain has never been beaten yet. Our God will give us the victory. He would be far more disappointed, if defeated, than we would be. But He has set up His church, and the gates of hell shall n o t p r e v a i l against it. His coming •
“What the holiness o f God demanded the love o f God supplied.”
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