February, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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filled with the Spirit, if, having been first prepared in pri vate, we are to obey the Lord’s command to minister His relief to His children. A M in is t r y o f R e b u k e But there was more difficult work for Elijah to per form. He was sent to administer rebuke. The word of God to Elijah definitely demanded that he go and show himself to Ahab. That was a severe test for a poor, ob scure prophet. What would Ahab and Jezebel do to him, if he came into their presence? God’s preparation o f His servant enabled him to face even this prospect unflinch ingly and to obey His instructions. When Ahab met him and charged him with troubling Israel, Elijah boldly re plied, “ I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments o f Jehovah, and thou hast followed the Baalim” (1 Ki. 18:18). “ Reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching,” was the final charge o f Paul to Timothy, his son
mained true to God. Here indeed was need for a revival. God sent Elijah into this situation to present clearly the appeal for a decision. Before the king, the priests o f Baal, and the multitude o f Israel at Mount Carmel, Elijah gave the challenge: “ How long go ye limping between the two sides? I f Jehovah be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Ki. 18:21). Then followed the test, the miraculous descent o f fire, and the killing o f the priests who had led Israel astray. Though the revival was limited by the disobedience o f those who heard the prophet, God’s desire to give warning and blessing is clear. Today the longing o f all God’s people is for revival. God’s true evangelists have heard in the secret place the command, “ Go, show thyself.” They manifest their gifts and achieve their success in public because they have been thrust into that public ministry by the Lord Himself. In the secret place they have received from Him a growing comprehension o f the love o f Christ, a realization o f the sad condition of the lost, and a sense of responsibility for bringing a warning and presenting a plea to those who are in rebellion against God. And what is true o f the evan gelist is true also of the most obscure Christian. This is ever God’s order: first the hiding o f ourselves in the secret place o f the Most High, and then the showing o f ourselves in public life and service. Happy is the man who has adopted God’s order as his. sion o f his conversion, he also remembers that he yielded his life to Christ, so far as he knew what that meant. It is true he has had nothing to do but to believe, but believing that Christ died in his place to pay the penalty for his sins would not be possible without repentance and yieldedness o f the life. If a Christian now is consciously walking in defeat, and is not yielded to Christ, then he needs that crisis decision of yielding, which does not mean coming to a place as a super-Christian, but rather coming to the normal position of a Christian. But there are those who say they have surrendered again and again, and desire to hold nothing back from Christ, and yet they are in defeat. What is the trouble? In every case, without exception, the trouble is unbelief. W e are to walk by faith, as well as-to be justified by faith. And faith takes God at His word. As the miracle o f the new birth comes by God’s supernatural working at the time we believe, so the miracle o f walking in the Spirit is continued through the Holy Spirit as we believe (Eph. 1:19). No word o f God is void o f power, and out o f hundreds o f His words, let us consider these: “ The Lord is my shepherd.” Do you believe it ? Some years ago, a promi nent minister came to Dr. Charles G. Trumbull at a con ference and confessed that he was defeated; he did not have peace or joy in his life, nor victory over sin, nor the fruit that he longed to bear. A fter some moments o f con versation that revealed that the man was surrendered in the sense o f wanting only God’s will in his life, Dr. Trum bull asked: “ Do you believe the first verse o f the Twenty- third Psalm?” “ That is one o f my favorite texts. I have preached on it many a time. O f course I believe it.” “ What kind o f a Shepherd is He ? Does He take care of some o f the needs of the sheep, or o f all o f the needs'of the sheep?” The minister hesitated; he was keen, and knew where the question was leading, as he answered, “ O f course, He takes care o f all o f them.” [Continued on page 49] GOD’S W AY TO VICTORIOUS LIVING [Continued from page 44]
—Courtesy of Yosemite National Park. in the Lord. This command was given especially in view o f the fact that the time would come when men would not endure sound doctrine, but would heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts and turn to fables. Sim ilarly, the Lord said to Isaiah: “ Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgression, and to the house o f Jacob their sins” (Isa. 58 :1 ). It is easier to speak smooth and flattering words, to call everybody and everything good ; but we need to return to the ministry o f rebuke. W e need to deal faithfully with sin, whether it be in the life o f the believer or in that of the unbeliever. A M in is t r y o f R e v iv a l But the ministry of rebuke is not God’s final purpose in sending His servants to men. His chief aim is revival of His people through the agency o f His spokesmen. Thus Elijah was to show himself to stir Israel to turn to God. Israel was in a deplorable condition. The nation had for saken God’s covenant, thrown down His altars, and slain His prophets with the sword. Wicked Ahab and Jezebel had led the people farther and farther away from God. The majority o f the people seemed to have gone over completely to Baal worship; many, it appears, half-heartedly tried to serve both God and Baal, while a smaller number had re
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