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an ts of God, not excepting H im who was em phatically th e Servant; all have been train ed in secret w ith God pre vious to th e ir acting in public w ith m an; and, moreover, those who have entered most deeply into th e meaning and value of the secret train ing will be found th e most effective and perm anent in th e ir public service and testimony. 1* Kings 17 gives us E lijah ’s first appearance in public; bu t th e Spirit, in James, has graciously furnished us w ith th e account of a yet earlier stage in his history, and one fu ll of instruc tion to us, be our sphere of service w hat it may. The sacred h isto rian in troduces o u r, prophet in a way which m ight seem abrupt. He presents him to us a t once boldly entering upon his sphere of labor, w ith th is grand and solemn announcement, “Thus saith th e Lord.” B u t he does not tell us, in th is place, anything of th e prophet’s previous exercise. B u t th e apostle lets us into th e secret of E lijah ’s prayer to God, before ever he came out in active service before man,, “E lias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly th a t it m ight not rain ; and it rained not on the earth by th e space of th ree years and six months” (Jam es 5 :1 7 ). James tells us of E lija h ’s secret moments of prayer and w restling, and shows him to us in th e retirem en t of th e mountains of Gilead, where he had, no doubt, mourned over th e lam entable sta te of things in Israel, and also fortified his sp irit for th e p art he was about to act. Thus E lijah came fo rth armed from th e sanctuary of God w ith divine power to deal w ith, and act upon, his fellowmen. There is much power in the words, “ as th e Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand.” H ardly had our prophet delivered his testimony when he was again called away from public observation into re tirem en t and solitude. “And th e word of th e Lord came unto him , saying,
The In tern ation al Committee heads th is lesson— “E lijah, th e G reat Re form er.” It is to he feared th a t many will fail to see w hat was hack of E lijah ’s public COMMENTS work, and th is SELECTED is beautifully By K eith L. B rooks brought ou t in th e n o t e s of Charles H. McIntosh, whom we quote. The reign of Ahab, th e son of Omri, was a dark and dreary tim e for the house of Israel; iniquity had risen to a fearfu l height; th e sins of Jeroboam were little when compared w ith the black catalogue of Ahab’s tran sg res sions; th e wicked Jezebel, th e d aughter of the uncircumeised king of th e Zidon- ians, was chosen to be the p artn e r of his h e a rt aijd his throne, and th is cir cum stance alone was enough to secure th e oppression of Israel, and th e entire subversion of th e ir ancient worship. In a word, th e Spirit sums up th e whole m a tte r w ith these words, “Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger th a n all th e kings of Israel th a t were before him .” (1 Kgs. 1 6 :33 ). Death seemed to spread itself over th e whole scene, and th e devil to carry everything w ith a high hand, when, at length, God in His mercy to His poor oppressed and misguided people, raised up a b righ t and powerful w itness for H imself in th e person of our prophet. But then it is ju st a t such a tim e th a t a real w itness for God is likely to pro- . duce th e most powerful effect, and ex e rt th e most extensive influence. It is afte r a long drought th a t a shower is likely to be felt in all its refreshing virtue. The sta te of th ing s a t th is tim e in Israel called for some m ighty man of valor to come fo rth and act in divine energy against th e tide of evil. E lijah is presented to us, in common w ith all his fellowservants, in circum stances of secret train in g and exercise ere he appears in public. This is a featu re in th e history of all the serv
LIFE, SERVICE, MEANS (Inside Front Cover)
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