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The Fundamentals instruments only, in His hands. The first quality of a true instrument is passivity. An active instrument would defeat its own purpose; all its activity must be dependent upon the man who uses it. Sometimes a machine becomes uncontroll able, and then it not only becomes useless, but it becomes dangerous, and works damage and disaster. What would a man do with a plane, a knife, an axe, a saw, a bow, that had any will of its own and moved of itself? Does it mean noth ing tffien, in the Word of God, we meet so frequently the symbols of passive service—the rod, the staff, the saw, the hammer, the sword, the spear, the threshing instrument, the flail; and, in the New Testament, the vessel? Does it mean that in proportion as a man is wilful God can not use him; that the first condition of service is that the human will is to be lost in God’s so that it presents no resistance to His, no persistence beyond or apart from His, and even ventures to offer no assistance to His? George Müller well taught that we are to wait to know whether a certain work is God’s; then whether it is ours, as being committed to u s ; but, even then, • we need to wait for God s way and God’s time to do His own work, otherwise we rush precipitately into that which He means us to do, but only at His signal; or else, perhaps, we go on doing when He calls a halt. Many a true servant of God has, like Moses, begun before his Master was ready, or kept on working when his Master’s time was past. INTERCESSION There is one aspect of prayer to which particular atten tion needs to be called, because it is strongly emphasized in the Word, and because it is least used in our daily life, namely, intercession. This word, with what underlies it, has a very unique use and meaning in Scripture. It differs from supplication, first in this, that supplication has mainly reference to the’ sup-
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