Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

great."" - -earth."religion."religion."quench."Surely God's ways are not as man's ways. Behold my servant that is suggestive of slavery.Jesus revolutionized the word service. "The son ofMan came not to be ministered unto but to minister.He that will be great, let him be servant of all. Inall those years of Jesus with His disciples, he couldnot inoculate them with that idea. They stroveamong themselves which should be greatest in thekingdom of heaven to the very last day. They wantedto be like the rulers of the Gentiles, lording it overtheir subjects, terrifying them with a loud voice.But it shall not be so among you. Not until that lastnight did they even begin to learn that lesson. WhenJesus knowing that He came out from God, andthat He was going back to God, knowing that theFather had given all things into His hands, this Sovereign God, girded Himself with a towel, and washedthe disciples' feet. And when Peter protested, Hesaid, "You don't understand what I am doing now,but you will gradually come to realize that service belongs to theHe shall not cry nor lift his voice nor cause itto be heard in the street. But he speaks to the man onthe street. It was a great day in Elijah's life when hemet Ahab in the parched pasture land after threeyears and a half of drought, and told him to gatherall the prophets of Baal and of the Grove, 850 in all,and they had a contest, in which the people proclaimGod the winner for He answered by fire that consumed his sacrifice, the altar and the water. Thenthey slew the prophets of Baal. Elijah prayed forrain, and when a very small cloud appeared, he racedAhab's chariot to Jezreel. But when Jezebel heardthe story of that day, she took over the reigns ofgovernment, and Elijah fled for his life. He restedunder the juniper tree, where God fed him, thenwent on to Horeb. Hid in a cave there, God called tohim, What doest thou here, Elijah? His answer,"L rd, they have slain thy prophets, thrown downt me altars, and I only am left and they seek my\.r. +~ +olr/> iJ- "", ,*-\qitwill be led by a hand of second-hand instruments,bruised reeds put back into harmonious melody."The smoking flax he will not When thebanquet has been served and eaten and the speakerof the evening is about to be introduced, the candlesare snuffed with an inverted spoon, but some of thewicks hold their spark and smoke and send out astench. But Jesus Christ takes ithe burned outcandles and breathes upon them, and they lightinto flame as they have never burned before. MelTrotter was a drunkard but he had a praying wife.But he went from bad to worse breaking promisesof reform and breaking her heart. When one ofhis children died, he came home to weep over thecoffin, but he stole the shoes from off the baby'sfeet and sold them for drink. But Jesus Christ tookthat burned out candle and relit it, and made it aburning and a shining light in the darkestdistricts of Grand Rapids and Detroit, and manyseeing it shall fear, and on the Lord rely.The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and theweakness of God is stronger than men .... Godchose the foolish things of the world that He mightput to shame them that are wise and God chose theweak things of the world to put to shame the thingsthat are strong ; and the base things of the world andthe things that are despised did God choose, yea andthe things that are not, that He might bring tonought the things that are; that no flesh shouldglory before God.Our Covenant God can take our little Church,if we are faithful and humble, and make it a mightyinstrument in bringing about that day when Heshall have set judgment in the earth and the islesshal wait for His Law.IV.What did Isaiah have in mind when he says,"Until he hath set judgment in the earth and theisles shall wait for his law?" Perhaps he meanswhat Paul means when he says (Rom. 8:19ff)"For the earnest expectation of the creation waitethfor the revealing of the sons of God. For thecreation was subjected to vanity, not of its own willbut by reason of him who subjected it, in hope,that the creation itself also shall be delivered fromthe bondage of corruption into the liberty of theglory of the children of God." Moffatt translates"judgment"here as "true(v. 3) "loyallyshall he set forth true(v. 1) I have endowed him to carrytrue religion to the nations.(4) "He shall not fail till he has settled true religionupon It will be a God-filled world, a spiritualage. And the whole creation will be transformed.Look at the vegetation: (35:1,2,6,7- "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and thedesert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shallblossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy andsinging : the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it,the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They shall seethe glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our God.(41:18ff) "I will open rivers on the bare heights,and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I willmake the wilderness a pool of water, and the dryland springs of water. I will put in the wilderness,the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle and the oiltree: I will set in the desert the fir tree, thepine and the box tree together: that they may seeand know, and consider and understand together:that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the39