46
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
February, 1934
brought bread and flesh, and the brook Cherith provided water. Then, when the brook dried up, God sent him to a widow o f Zarephath. There God sustained him during the remainder o f the three and a half years o f famine. Apart from this provision, he, too, would doubtless have perished. God had called Elijah to a supernatural min istry, and He sustained him in a supernatural way. And as in this incident, there is a second sense in which we, as Christians, must seek hiding. W e must hide our selves for the provision o f our deepest needs. Our inner life must be sustained and developed. The priests had to eat certain o f the offerings in the holy place o f the house o f worship to sustain their bodies. We must visit the holy place of His presence if our souls are to be. fed. It is
saved are unresponsive to the gospel. Many people are being taken into the church, but how many are actually accepting the Lord Jesus Christ? Modernism and error o f every kind are replacing the true message in a large part o f the so-called Christian church. A growing world liness among the professed followers o f Christ is bringing reproach upon Him. No amount o f theological training in the schools will enable a man to rise to the challenge o f this day, if he has not had also the secret preparation with which God equipped Elijah. W e may be able to do a great deal of “ church work” without this hidden life, but we can do little work that will stand the test o f the judg ment seat o f Christ. For us, as for Elijah, real power comes from the presence of God, and in no other way.
easy to live the whole o f life in public and to neglect the place of prayer and the quiet reading of the Word o f God. Yet there is no other means of spiritual sustenance. For instance, to Joshua God said: “ This book o f the law shall not de part out o f thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Josh. 1 : 8 ). P r e p a r a t io n f o r M in is t r y God had a third purpose in ask ing His prophet to hide h im self^ preparation for Elijah’s fu tu r e ministry. Elijah manifested cour age when he told Ahab that it would not rain except at the pro phet’s word. Ahab may have dis missed the message from his mind as the babblings o f a fanatic and a madman. Why should he be dis turbed about the threats o f a man who was comparatively unknown, and without any standing and in fluence at the court? We do not know that Ahab treated the mat ter so casually, but we do know that when the prophet’s prediction came true, the king became Elijah’s bit ter enemy. As the drought contin ued, he became more and more infuriated. How could Elijah have appeared before this enraged mon arch after three and a half years o f famine unless God had prepared His servant in secret for the en
A fter his extensive and intensive course in the school o f God’s ap pointment, Elijah received a sec ond command. “ Go, S h o w T h y s e l f ” W e must never forget that the hiding was not an end itself, but a means to an end. Peter longed to linger with Christ on the mount o f transfiguration, where he had ex perienced the revealed glory o f the Lord. But the Lord knew about the demon-possessed boy and the unbelieving and unsuccessful dis ciples at the foot o f the mountain, and led His three disciples down to a world o f need. God would have us tarry in the secret place for His empowering, in order that we might go forth to minister more effect ively in public. A M in is t r y o f R e l ie f Just as there were three pur poses in the hiding o f Elijah, so there were three great aims to be achieved as he obeyed the com mand, “ Go, show thyself.” First, he was to show himself in order to bring relief. Many o f God’s peo ple were suffering with the apos tates in the nation, for rain was withheld not only from the wicked but also from the righteous. God remembers the need o f His own, and though He may require them to suffer with the world for a time, He always comes to their relief in the end. Elijah thought there were no true people o f God left among his people when he fled to Mount
A NOBLE DEFENSE OMING from the Evan gelical Theological C ollege of D allas, T exas, which has had the prayerful supp ort of many readers of TH E K ING 'S BUSINESS, the accom panying article by Dr. Henry C. Thiessen is of especial inter est at this time. A significant and important event in the p ro gress of the college, where Dr. Thiessen serves a s P rofessor of New T e sta ment L iterature and E xegesis, w as the recent acquisition of the Bibliotheca Sacra, the well- known theological review form erly owned by the P ittsburgh-X enia Th eological Sem inary. Special gifts to the college m ade possible this tran sfer of ow nership^ ( i O ^ f F o r 103 years, the Bibliotneca S a c ra has sustained an unbroken defense of the ortho dox faith. Now, a s the organ of the Evan gelical Th eological College, the sam e high stan dards will be maintained, but the field of the m agazine will be greatly enlarged. In a sentence, the m anagin g editor summ arizes the policy of the review ; In its scholarly treatm ent of the larg e r field of prem illenial theology, the review will so comprehensively cover the current evangel ical situation that pastors and well-instructed laym en can not w isely afford to be w ithout this im portant journal. Members of the faculty of the Evangelical Th eological C ollege will constitute the E d itorial Board, w orking under a departm ental ized plan. O ther contributors will be the visit ing Bible lecture staff and members of the Board of R egents of the college. A rticles of special merit p repared by gradu ate students and gradu ates of the college will also ap pear. Th e subscription price has been reduced to $2.00 p er year. It is the purpose of the new owners to m aintain the dignity of this time- honored quarterly, and m ake it the organ of a positive testimony re lated to all ph ases of the truth re vealed in the Word— the whole counsel of our God.
counter ? For spiritual equipment for this emergency, God took him away from public life for a time of discipline and instruction. God did not supply Elijah with the lux uries o f life, but day by day He supplied his actual needs. Good allowed it to seem that the present amount o f food would run out; but He continually replenished the supply with new provisions. God was not forgetting His ser vant, but He was teaching him further lessons in patience and faith. Elijah would, need both patience and faith to an extraordinary degree when he met Ahab and Israel face to face, and these requisites were being supplied in the secret place. W e need to learn similar lessons o f endurance and trust. W e face conditions o f unbelief and apostasy too depressing for us to bear in our own strength. The un
Horeb, but God told him that He had reserved seven thousand in Israel that had not bowed the knee to Baal. The first purpose o f the commissioning o f Elijah was, there fore, to give relief to these steadfast sons o f Israel by ending the famine. Elijah was used to pray for rain and to bring God’s blessing to His faithful ones. We, too, have a duty toward fellow believers. Paul told the Ephesian elders to “ feed the church o f the Lord which he purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). W e must declare the whole counsel o f G od ; we must build up one another in the faith (which is very different from merely building up a church roll) ; we must train be lievers for the work o f the ministry. Peter received a com mand to feed Christ’s lambs, and Pentecost provided divine enduement for the stupendous task. We, too, must be
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker