Biola Broadcaster - 1962-05

APRIL RADIO MESSAGE

Dr. Theodore H. Epp founder - director "Back to the Bible Broadcast”

I t is a jo y for me to return to Biola during the “Forward By Faith” de­ velopment program which is being car­ ried on. Some of you may not know that I was a student at The Bible In­ stitute of Los Angeles some years ago; in fact back in 1930. It was during the heart of the depression period. We didn’t know; nobody told us anything about it. We were just enjoying our­ selves in school. In Exodus we read t\yo statements which are quite contradictory. The people of Israel couldn’t get out of the condition in which they found them­ selves. They were hemmed in on all four sides at the Red Sea. You remem­ ber, it was Hudson Taylor who said, “The devil can hem you in on all four sides, but he can’t put the lid on!” That was exactly the case with Israel. The Lord came to them despite their grumbling and wondering how they might be delivered. God spoke to them firmly and said, “Stand still.” Now, I don’t know what they were to stand still about. They couldn’t move any­ where. The words “stand still,” how­ ever, are a military term. Thinking of it from that standpoint, it has a mean­ ing to it. It does not mean stand idle.

For all of us there comes a time when we must stop and look back to review everything which has been going on. Israel had gone through some marvel­ ous history in God’s protective care. They had seen what God had done in Egypt through the ten plagues. But now, hemmed in on every side, God says, “Stand still!” If we were to use those words today, we would possibly say, “Stand at attention!” Yes, Fear not, ye shall not fight this battle, this battle is the Lord’s.” So they stood still and they waited on the Lord. He gave Moses these faithful orders, “Tell the people that they shall follow.” Those were quite some orders when you stop to think about it. The Egyptians were in the rear, the Red Sea was before them, there was a burning desert on one side and fortified cities on the oth­ er. Where could they go? Well, God gave them very explicit directions. They were to go forward: they were to go into the Red Sea. Yet God reminded them, “This is not your battle, it is Mine, go forward!” It takes faith to go forward. But, what is faith? First of all, faith has eyes; faith sees. Have you ever stopped to think how peculiar that is, for when 30

Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker