WITH the new year comes the challenge to preach the gospel of grace in one of the most confused periods of history. While millions are wondering, "How can there be a God when things are so out of hand?" it is our privilege and responsibility to proclaim Him so fully that men of all ranks and races will accept Him as Saviour and Lord.
These are indeed difficult days, but history reveals that God usually has done His greatest work in times of calamity and distress. That is why the Hebrew prophets constantly urged their people not to forget the "former days." But through the prophet Isaiah, God changes the emphasis, saying: "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth" (Isa. 43:18, 19).
The "former things" to which he referred were events linked with Israel's deliverance. It was then He made "a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters" (verse 16). That surely was a "new thing," in fact, the greatest since creation to that time. Through Moses God said, "Ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is" (Deut. 4:32).
Wonderful as it was when the Lord made "a way" in the sea, and opened a path through the mighty waters, yet greater things would be in the future.
God delights to do new things for and with His people. When He took them from the midst of another nation and made them the messengers of His grace, that was not only new, it was tremendous. But it was infinitely greater when God Himself became a man; when Deity took human flesh. In doing that He had to become what He had not been before. This was indeed a "new thing."
Then when Jesus called a group of laymen, trained them, and sent them forth to preach, that also was new. The Jewish leaders of that day regarded Jesus as only a layman, for He was not the product of the rabbinical schools. He therefore had no standing among the doctors of the law. But when this unlettered Man took a group of hard-working men, businessmen in the main, and made them His messengers, that, we repeat, was a "new thing."
New Things
How often God does new things! It was a "new thing" when the Spirit of God impressed Columbus, a young navigator, to sail into the sunset to discover the new world. A few decades later the same Spirit moved upon the heart of a young monk and led him to become a great Reformer who shook Europe. A couple of centuries later God opened the eyes of a group of young Oxford students—the Wesleys, John Fletcher, George Whitefield, and others, and through them launched the evangelical revival of the eighteenth century. Out of that revival grew the Advent awakening of the nineteenth century, as well as the great missionary movement that today belts the globe.
But in our own day God is about to do something even greater. Note these words: "I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert" (Isa. 43:19). A great river of spiritual power is beginning to flow through areas of the world that until recently were parched deserts of ignorance and unbelief. What miracles of grace are happening in places where God's name was never before known! This mighty river of grace is causing hundreds of thousands in primitive lands such as the highlands of New Guinea, equatorial Africa, and the cold regions of the high Andes to turn to the living God.
True, in some of the great cultural centers of the Western world confusion abounds, especially among young people. But while immorality and vice seem to know no bounds and the rising generation seems to disdain law and order, yet, even here God is moving mightily. Where the spirit of hatred and cruel crime is greatest, there we are witnessing some of the most spectacular conversions. Young men and young women led by the Spirit are taking the field for God. Drug addicts, thieves, and murderers are being reclaimed for God and becoming His witnesses.
The Spirit of Abandon
Recent demonstrations on the Berkeley campus of the University of California reveal that knowledge of itself does not change the human heart. In a spirit of abandon these young students talk glibly about "the new morality," which is really amorality. The only thing new is the name. The problem is as old as sin. We are witnessing a resurrection of the Greco-Roman world in which "man by his wisdom knew not God." The Scripture says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." But today men scorn the idea of God. The result is a society that is mobile, materialistic, organized, technological, but increasingly impersonal.
In Arthur Miller's book After the Fall, Quenten cries out, "I can't find myself." No wonder! He has no self to find. Only when one finds God does he really find himself. The biggest challenge in education today is how to transform life while informing it.
Watch the expression on the faces of the rising youth and one reads not only disdain but also fear. Recently a questionnaire was sent to thousands of youth, the major question being: "What is your basic attitude toward life?" With strange and sickening repetition nearly 70 per cent returned the questionnaire with expressions that could be summed up in one word—"fear." Rowdyism, hooliganism, vandalism—call it what we like, it is really a front to hide the fear in the hearts of the rising generation. They do not fear death; they fear life, for life seems to have nothing for them. Yet in this time of confusion God is about to do His greatest work. He says: "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh," especially mentioning the "young men," "handmaids," "sons," "daughters," and "servants."
Youth Start Revivals
Jesus Himself was only a young man when He called a group of other young men who, led by God's Spirit, "turned the world upside down." It was a group of young men that laid the foundation for the great Reformation of the sixteenth century. And another group of dedicated youth stirred the Christian church into the mighty evangelical revival of the eighteenth century. The Advent Movement began in the hearts of dedicated youth in the middle of the last century. And all these movements were new in their day. But in this our day, God's work will move into its final climax when the Spirit of God comes in His fullness and power; when our young men and women are baptized of the Spirit.
We speak of God's message for today as the Elijah message, and it is. But while Elijah came denouncing hypocrisy and sin he also called the nations back to real religion. While leading Israel back to God he was also training groups of young men. Elijah revived the schools of the prophets. Having trained the young man Elisha, who was to continue the work after he was taken away, Elijah spent the last day with his trusted companion. What emotions must have surged through the heart of Elisha that day! Together they visited three of the colleges where dedicated young men were in training.
A Double Portion Asked
When they came to Jericho, fifty of those students followed their leaders down to the rolling waters of the Jordan. There they watched as Elijah took his mantle and smote the waters, dividing them. They saw the two pass over on "dry ground."
"What shall I do for thee before I am taken from thee?" asked Elijah as they walked along together.
"Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me" was Elisha's request. This was a big request, but if he saw his master taken up, it would be granted.
The separation came suddenly, for Elijah was caught up. Elisha, witnessing this drama, cried out, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof." Remembering the promise he had made, Elijah threw back his mantle, which was caught by the young leader.
Now the responsibility was his. Slowly retracing his steps, deep emotions stirring his soul, he again reached the Jordon. On the far side stood the sons of the prophets. This river had been made dry ground at the command of Elijah. Dare he follow his master and cleave a path through the waters? Just then faith gripped his heart, and rolling up that same mantle, he smote the river, crying, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" And we are told that the waters "parted hither and thither."
Having witnessed this miracle, those young men now recognized Elisha as God's chosen leader, and they bowed themselves to the ground. It was a secondhand mantle, but it was a firsthand demonstration.
We do not need a new message today, but we do need a new demonstration of power. So God says to us: "I will do a new thing." He who parted the waters, who called a nation from the midst of another nation and made them His messengers, is today calling a people from every nation, kindred, and tongue under heaven. And through this people God is going to give the greatest spiritual demonstration of all time. The unbelieving world will see anew that He is indeed the living God.
Never did the world need God so much as it needs Him now. And true to His promise, God is about to do His greatest work. It will be performed amid the darkness and apostasy of this hour. And for that work He is looking for men and women who will shine as lights, bearing ever a clear, decided testimony.
The Advent Movement has been raised up of God to meet the greatest challenge of all time. But to give God's message with power we must experience the baptism of the Spirit and rejoice that the Bible is God's infallible Word from Genesis to Revelation. On this there can be no compromise either in our message or our responsibility. Like Esther of old, we have been called into the kingdom for such a time as this. God make us equal to our task. And our prayer is that the new year will bring a new experience to every preacher of the Advent hope.
R. A. A.
