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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
October 1924
head for service as leaders, but leaders cannot map the way. The mantle must be upon the shoulders of Him who blazed the way by His own example and sacrifice. It must come with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. There must be no hedging—no hesitating. What the service will be, when it will be, how it will be done, must all be left to Himself who said. “ Lo, I am with you, always, even to the end of the age. ’ ’ WANTED ! MANTLE MEN who will wear the Spirit-given mantle of the fathers without fear or favor, indifferent to the criticism of men, within or
WANTED! MANTLE MEN Leaders have come and leaders have gone, but Jeho vah is unchangeably the same. Elijah was off on a chariot of fire! A whirlwind carried him to Heaven. The “ Air Service” is as old as God. There is nothing new under the sun. There will be many more of God’s laws revealed, perhaps, before the ascension of the church. No doubt Elijah’s mantle fluttered down to Elisha’s feet and he accepted it as a token of his call to service as the successor of a great prophet. Elijah was done.
His mantle had been bes towed by Jehovah upon Eli sha, who took up the task like a man and proved that power was of God, and im mediately exercised it in be half of God. Elisha had been tested. He would not leave Elijah. “ Stiek-to-it-tive-ness” is as essential in service for God as in any other. Many men fail when God tests them. They are willing enough to be servants of God provided the path is easy, and the pas ture green and the waters quiet.—but they hesitate when the test comes. The history of service for God has been the same through all the ages. Trials, tribulations, tedious tests ,-^-7 but always triumph when the faith is fixed. In these
without the fold;!, with love in their hearts for God and for their fellow-men; with a grip upon the Sword of the Spirit; men ready to live or to die for their Lord; men who will put first things first; men whose hearts beat in fel lowship with the Captain of their salvation, and in sym pathy with the children of men; men who cannot be pushed off the royal road into the rut of the sordid system which would make of them wooden soldiers in place of loyal servants of Christ. HUNGER OF HEART, --in SINNER--in SAINT What is true of the sinner is true of the saint. The old nature is restless—out of harmony with God. Sin is
ADVENT HYMN Oih, quickly come, dread Judge of all; For, awful though Thine advent be, All shadows from the truth will fall, And falsehood die, in sight of thee; O, quickly come, for doubt and fear lake clouds dissolve when Thou art near. Oh, quickly come, true life of all; For death is mighty all around; On every home his shadows fall, On every heart his mark is found; Oh, quickly come; for grief and pain Can never cloud Thy glorious reign. Oh, quickly come, sure Eight of all, For gloomy night broods o’er our way; And fainting souls begin to fall W ith weary watching for the day: Come, quickly come; for round Thy throne No eye is blind, no night is known. — Lawrence Tuttiett (1854)
violation of law. Violation of law is always accom panied by fear. The degree of fear is determined by the punishment decreed by law’. Every man has a conscious fear of the future,—no matter how much he may boast to the contrary. He seeks to hide his fear in his heart, but there is “ no peace to the wicked.” There can be none. God hath spoken. Experience has said Amen. In dealing with men we know that they are out of harmony with their own conscience,-—-no matter what they say—and we know that only when they bow to the law of God and accept Christ can they have peace. Now this is also true of the Christian who is out of fellowship with God. He knows what God’s will is. He knows by the pleading and leading of the Holy Spirit within that he is not pleasing God. He tries to appear satisfied, and sometimes shows great indiffer ence to spiritual things, but we know that the new life craves food, the heart craves rest and there is no rest for the Christian out of harmony with the will of God. There can be none. This is perfectly logical
days—so different from the days which have preceded us—these so.ft days for the church and for our own land,—the church is being tested in a new way. Everything has changed. Elegant church buildings, easy cushioned pews, elaborate programs, euphonious responsive readings, entertaining essays (using the soft pedal freely), self-satisfied worshippers who feel that they have put the Lord God Almighty under obligation by reason of their sacrifice in being willing to attend service! Elijah would be a joke today, and Elisha would be imprisoned for calling upon the she-bears to correct the irreverence of the youths. The Spirit of God ruled in and through Elijah, and the mantle of power rested upon Elisha. Elijah left no cut-and-dried program for his successor. The Spirit of God led him in His own royal way and he worked twice as many miracles as did Elijah. The church has had many mighty men. Thank God for them. God ordained them. The Church needs some mighty men today. The need is great and the necessity is imminent. The call comes from the God
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