Sermon 1668. The Still Small Voice

(No. 1668)

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JULY 9, 1882,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. So it was whenElijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the ca ve. And, behold,there came a voice unto him, and said, What are you doing here, Elijah?" 1 Kings 19:12,13.

ELIJAH, no doubt, expected that after the wonderful display of God's power on Carmel the nation would give up its idols andwould turn unto the only living and true God. Had they not confessed as with a voice of thunder, "Jehovah, He is the God!Jehovah, He is the God!"? The Prophet trusted that the heart of Ahab might, perhaps, be touched and possibly, through him,the heart of Jezebel. If she did not become converted, at least the manifest interposition of Jehovah might check her handfrom future persecution. The Prophet hoped that by an influence thus established over the king and queen, the whole land wouldspeedily glide back to its allegiance to Jehovah. Then would his stern heart have been glad before the Lord.

When he found out that it was not so, his spirit fainted within him. The message from Jezebel, that he would be slain thenext morning, was probably not so terrible to him as the discovery that came with it that his great demonstration againstBaal was doomed to be a failure. The proud Sidonian queen would still rule over vacillating Ahab and, through Ahab, she wouldstill keep power over the people-and the idol gods would sit safely on their thrones. The thought was gall and wormwood tothe idol-hating Prophet. He became so despondent that he was ready to give up the conflict and to quit the battlefield. Hecould not bear to live in the land where the people were so blindly infatuated as to honor Baal and to dishonor Jehovah. Heresolved to leave right away.

But where shall he go? He traverses the land in hot haste. He flies into the wilderness. He will not lie down till he reachesa solitude where foot of man has not defiled the sward. But in which direction shall he hasten? He, the great Law-vindicatorthinks of the spot where once stood the great Law-Giver and so he hastens off to Horeb, to the mount of God. In a cave helodges, perhaps in the very cleft of the rock where before God had hidden His servant, Moses, while He made all His Gloryto pass before him.

But what a retreat before a beaten enemy! Where, now, is the dauntless courage which faced all Israel, one against thousands?How are the mighty fallen! Is this my lord, Elijah, crouching in a cave? Is this the man who seemed to leap into Israel'shistory like a lion roaring on his prey? Is this Elijah the Tishbite who brought fire and water from the skies? Yes, it iseven he! He has become faint-hearted and weary and, therefore, he has fled his Master's service! It is well for us, who arealways weak, that we can so clearly see that the strong are only strong because God makes them so. Their occasional weaknessproves that they are naturally as weak as we are-it is only by Divine strength that they are made mighty-and this strengthis ready to gird us, also, for the conflict!

We take comfort from this, though we do not, from it, excuse our own infirmity. The Lord God of Elijah is our God and as Hesustained a man of like passions with ourselves, He can and will sustain us if we cry unto Him! Observe very carefully andgladly how God dealt with His downcast servant. He knew that he was faithful at heart. He understood that Elijah was a trueman who loved his God and feared Him, and was very jealous for His honor-therefore He did not put His servant away in anger,but He determined to revive and restore him-and bring him back to His holy warfare. Now must Elijah learn the meaning of David'ssong, "He restores my soul: He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake."

The Lord began with him in much tenderness by refreshing his physical frame. He permitted him to fall into a sleep and whenhe was awakened there was a cake ready for him and a cruse of water. Then the Lord allowed him to sleep

again, for this he greatly needed. We do not lose the time we spend in sleep when we are worn out with fatigue. It is thebest economy of life to let the body have a sufficiency of kind Nature's sweet restorer-balmy sleep. God gave His servant,after a second sleep, a second meal and, thus refreshed, Elijah was able to look at things in a more cheery light. Time waswhen Christian people thought very little of the corporeal system-they called their physical frame a vile body, as, indeed,it is in some sense, but not in every sense.

If they had any doubts, fears, or trembling, our good fathers laid them all on the back of the devil, or else ascribed themto their own unbelief, when, frequently, their depressions arose from lack of food, or of fresh air, or from a torpid liver,or a weak stomach. A thousand things can cast us down and we ought not to despise the body through which they act upon us.Rather should we attend to natural laws and so look to the God of those laws to help us. God, who made the body, and who gaveit such a close affinity to the mind, observes how dependent the soul is upon the body and often begins His restoring workby healing our diseases. We who dwell in houses of clay are often cribbed, cabined and confined from loftier things by reasonof the dust to which our soul cleaves.

The Lord who heals His people began, in Elijah's case, by refreshing his languid frame. He restored Elijah by sleep and byfood. If any of you here present are depressed and in mental trouble, I would invite you to look to your health and not toblame yourselves till first you have seen whether your sadness arises from sickness or from sin-from a feeble body or a rebelliousmind. Do not think it unspiritual to remember that you have a body, for you certainly have one and, therefore, ought not toignore its existence. If your heavenly Father thinks of your physical frame, He therein gives you a hint to do the same. Ifthe Lord, in His wisdom, began with the high-spirited Elijah by feeding and refreshing his mortal body, we ought to countit wisdom to look to our outward parts! It is of heretics that we read that they advocate the neglecting of the body-wisemen value it as the temple of the Holy Spirit!

With us it is often the case that, "the spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak." It is no small thing to get the fleshput in order-the physician is often as necessary as the minister. When the man of God had been refreshed by the great Physician,he was led of the Lord to Horeb, where he would be quite alone. The Lord knew that he needed quiet as well as sleep and foodand there, among the lone crags, where utter desolation reigns undisturbed, Elijah found himself somewhat at home. When thequiet had, in a measure, calmed his mind, the Lord began to speak with him. He bade him go forth and stand upon the mountbefore the Lord. No sooner had the Prophet come to the mouth of the cave than a tremendous hurricane swept down the riftsof the valleys with such force that it tore the mountains and brought down great masses of granite from their lofty summits!

The great and strong wind seemed to shake the mountains to their foundations and huge columns which long had breasted ordinarystorms began to rock and reel and fall about the lone observer with thundering crashes. The Prophet was not at all alarmed.He was the child of the storm, a reprover born to rule amid tempestuous scenes. It is very possible that his spirit felt exhilaratedby the terrors around him. The tumult in which he had lived among the people was now imaged before him in the strife of theelements. I should not wonder if he even felt at home, joyously excited as the terrific blast swept over the mountains' brows.As he stood at the mouth of the cave, the earth gave way beneath his feet-he leaned against the mountain and, lo, it shookand quivered, for now the earthquake was passing by and it seemed as if nothing was stable around him.

Scarcely had this convulsion ceased than the fire displayed its brightness. The lightning flamed over the whole Heaven, attendedby peals of thunder such as the man of God had never heard before. From crag to crag leaped the live lightning till the wholefirmament blazed with the fire of God! Yet we do not find that the Prophet was in the least cowed or dismayed. His was a bravespirit-calm amid the storm. As the eagle mounts in the center of the lightning and rises on the wings of the storm, so didit seem with Elijah's spirit-he was awakened by the fury of the elements, but he was not afraid. And now the thunder ceasedand the lightning was gone. The earth was still, the wind was hushed and there was a dead calm.

And out of the midst of the still air there came what the Hebrew calls, "a voice of gentle silence," as if silence had becomeaudible! There is nothing more amazing than an awful stillness after a dread uproar. Even the noise of the wind and of thestorm which could not cow Elijah were not so terrible as the still small voice by which Jehovah called His servant near. Thenthe Prophet covered his face and went to the mouth of the cave and stood to listen, for the still small voice had won thesolemn attention of his soul. It had done for him what all the rest could not do-for this reason that

the Lord was not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire-but the Lord was in the still small voice and Elijahknew it and was awed and prepared himself to hear what God, the Lord, would speak.

What is the lesson of this? May God the Holy Spirit help us this morning to learn it and to teach it.

I. First, I call your attention to THE CHOSEN AGENCY. Notice at the outset what it was not. It was not the terrible, it wasnot the tremendous, it was not the overwhelming, but something the reverse of all these. It was not a grand display of power,for God was in none of those great things which Elijah saw and heard. That which conquered Elijah's brave heart was not whirlwind,was not earthquake, was not fire-it was the still small voice! That which effectually wins human hearts to God and to HisChrist is not an extraordinary display of power. Men can be made to tremble when God sends pestilence, famine, fire and othersof His terrible judgments-but these things usually end in the hardening of men's hearts, not in the winning of them.

See what God did to Pharaoh and his land. Surely those plagues were thick and heavy-the like of which had never been seenbefore, yet what was the result? "And Pharaoh's heart was hardened." So it usually is. These things are well enough as preliminariesto the Divine Gospel which gently conquers the heart, but they do not, of themselves, affect the soul-

"Law and terrors do but harden

All the while they work alone.

'Tis a sense of blood-bought pardon

That dissolves a heart of stone." The still small voice succeeds where "terrible things in righteousness" are of no avail.I do not wonder that Elijah hoped that the terrible judgments would prevail with his countrymen-these terrible things appearto be a rough and ready way for overcoming evil and, indeed, they would prevail if men's hearts were not so "deceitful aboveall things and desperately wicked."

Have you not judged that if God would send a pestilence to our thoughtless city it might, perhaps, impress the thoughtlesscrowd and drive to our Houses of Prayer those who now habitually waste the Sabbath? Might not cholera, or war, or famine alarmthe consciences of the careless and drive the ungodly to their knees? Have you not thought that perhaps the screening whichGod has given us in saving us from the plagues of war and from innumerable evils may have tended to breed in men's heartspresumption, carelessness and indifference? One could almost say to Christ, when we think of the sin of our fellow men, "WillYou that we call fire from Heaven upon them as Elijah did?" We frequently imagine that the terrors of the Lord would persuademen and compel them to seek rest in the bosom of their God.

Thanks be to infinite mercy, the Lord does not, at this present time , choose the terrible way of action! He leaves the wind.He leaves the earthquake and the fire and He speaks to men in the silence of their souls by a voice which, though it is as,"silence audible," yet it is the power of God unto salvation! But we are hard to convince that it is so. We still cling tothe idea that outward pomp of tremendous power would advance the Kingdom of God. We are not so ready to dispense with the12 legions of angels as our Master was. So far as our own action is concerned, we are poor disciples of Him of whom we read,"He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets." In our religious exercises we are tooapt to rely upon carnal force and energy. We are hopeful if we can make a noise, create excitement, stir and agitation. Weare too apt to identify the power of God with the heaving of the masses under newly invented excitements!

This age of novelties would seem to have discovered spiritual power in brass bands and tambourines-and it is hoped that soulswhich could not be saved by a Church may be reached by an army-and minds that were insensible to Gospel arguments, it is supposed,can be charmed by banners! Simple Apostolic teaching is at a discount and we are treated to more sensational methods! Thetendency of the time is towards bigness, parade and show of power, as if these would surely accomplish what more regular agencieshave failed to achieve. But it is not so, or else both men and God have greatly changed! The same tendency appears in thetoo common saying, "At least we must have an eloquent preacher-let us have one who can plead with choice, picked words-a masterof the art of oratory! Surely this we may rely upon and fall back upon earnest pleading and intense, awakening speech."

But, perhaps, God will not choose this form of power, for still He will not have our faith to stand in the wisdom of words.He will have us learn this lesson, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord." Crash after crash the orator'spassages succeed each other! What a tremendous passage! The hearers must surely be impressed. Wind!

And the Lord is not in it! And now everything seems to shake, while, like a second John the Baptist, the minister proclaimswoe and terror and pronounces the curse of God upon a generation of vipers! Will not this break hard hearts? No! Nothing isaccomplished. It is an earthquake, but the Lord is not in the earthquake!

Another form of force remains. Here comes one who pleads with vehemence! All on fire, he flashes and flames! Look at the brightnessof his sensational metaphors and anecdotes! Yes, fire! Might we not say fireworks? And yet the Lord does not work by suchfire. The Lord is not in the fire! The furious energy of unbridled fanaticism, the Lord does not use. He may employ greatand terrible things as preliminaries to His soul-saving work, but they are only preliminaries-the work, itself, is done inthe secret silence of the heart. As they were in Elijah's case, so are these things in the cases of oth-ers-they startle andarouse, but they cannot convince and convert. That which is to quicken, enlighten, sanctify and really bless is the stillsmall voice of gentle silence! This sounds like a paradox, but the sense is clear to him who knows the Truth of God by experience.The voice which is not heard outside is Omnipotent within.

We have sufficiently shown the negative side of it-God's work stands not in the power of the creature. What, then, does Goduse to touch the heart? Our heavenly Father generally uses that which is soft, tender, gentle, quiet, calm, peaceful-a stillsmall voice. In the work of real conversion-of bringing the soul to decision and complete obedience to God-the calling voiceis often so gentle that it is quite unperceived by others except in its results. Yes, frequently so gentle that it is almostunperceived by the man who is the subject of it! He may not even be able to tell exactly when the voice came and when it went.The gentle zephyr refreshes the fevered brow, but the sufferer scarcely knows that it has passed through the sick chamberand is gone, so soft is its Heaven-given breath.

In reconciliation there are no blows, nor beats of drums, nor bolts of tempests-love is the captain of this bloodless war!There is little display of physical or mental force and yet there is more real power than if force had been used! We observethat where there was a display of power, as in wind, earthquake and fire, we read afterwards, "God was not in it," but here,in this still small voice in which there was no display of power, God was at work! Here, then, we see the weakness of power,but we learn also the power of weakness and how God often makes that which seems most resistible to be irresistible-and thatwhich we would suppose to be easily waved away, weaves about a man fetters from which he never can escape!

Softly and gently works the Holy Spirit, even as the breath of spring which dissolves the iceberg and melts the glacier. Whenfrost has taken every rivulet by its throat and held it fast, spring sets all free. No noise of hammer or of file is heardat the loosening of the fetters, but the soft south wind blows and all is life and liberty. So is it with the work of theSpirit of God in the soul when He actually comes to set the sinner free! He works effectually, but no voice is heard.

Now, whatever the soft and gentle instrumentality may be, it is, in every case, if it saves the soul, worked by the Holy Spirit'sPresence. And the Holy Spirit, though He can be "a rushing, mighty wind" when He wills-for He comes according to His own Sovereignpleasure. Yet, usually, when He comes to bring to man the peace of God, descends as the dove, or as the dew from Heaven-allpeace, gentleness and quiet. Satan can set the soul on fire with agony! Doubts and fears and terrors rend it like an awfulearthquake! The whole man is in trouble and confusion, as the whirlwind of the Law sweeps through his soul! But the Spiritcomes in tender love, revealing Christ, the Gentle One, setting up the Cross of the Savior before the sinner's tearful eyesand speaking peace, pardon and salvation.

Brothers and Sisters, this is what we need-the work of the Spirit of God in His own manner of living love! I have said thatHe works usually to the salvation of the soul by revealing the love of Christ and it is so, not only at our first conversion,but afterwards. All along, His operations are after the same quiet and effectual kind. As we grow in sanctifi-cation, it isby tender revelations of the Father's love. What has such influence over any of us as the infinite, overflowing Grace of Godin our Lord Jesus Christ? You know how Mr. Monod, in His sweet hymn sets forth not only our growth in sanctification, butthe gentle instrument of it-

"Yet He found me I beheld Him,

Bleeding on the accursed tree,

Heard Him pray 'Forgive them, Father'

And my wistful heart said fondly

'Some of self and some of Thee,'

Day by day His tender mercy,

Healing, helping, full, and free,

Sweet and strong, and oh, so patient, Brought me lower, while I whispered, 'Less of self and more of Thee.'" Still you perceiveit is the operation of love upon the soul which works it all-

"Higher than the highest heavens, Deeper than the deepest sea Lord, Your love at last has conquered, Grant me now my spirit'slonging, None of self, but all of Thee."

Thus, like the silent morning light, Grace works upon the man. Its processes are carried on by love. There is not a touchof terror or bondage in the great reconciling deed within. The Gospel, with its glad tidings, leaps out of the heart of Godand enters into the heart of men-and rest and sacred gratitude follow. God may devour His enemies with lions, but His friendsHe wins with love! Those that are obdurate He will break as with a rod of iron, dashing them in pieces like potters' vessels-butfor His own-when He comes to save them, He touches them with the silver scepter of mercy! Grace works with the oiled feather.Love is the chariot of Omnipotence when it comes into the world of mind. This, my dear Friends (to close this first head),coming quietly home to us, to each one of us individually, without animal excite-ment-this it is which unites us to Jesusby faith!

Elijah was calm and quiet when he heard that still small voice of God! He neither fell down in horror, nor danced for joy,yet his whole nature was touched, his inmost heart was convulsed. The silence which God had caused to be heard within him,thawed his soul. This is how conversions are worked. When the Truth of God comes right home to the heart; when the man perceivesthat the message of Grace belongs to him-when he grips and grapples with that Truth and that Truth with him-then without helpfrom the outside, he seeks and finds eternal life! The still small voice within the conscience is God's chosen instrumentalityto effectually convert and comfort the souls of men! The Kingdom of God comes not with observation-but in the secret chamber,man is brought near to God.

II. Notice THE CHOICE EFFECTS of this chosen mode of working. The first effect of it upon Elijah was that the man was subdued.I have gone over this before. He who could confront the raging wind. He who was not terrified by the lightning, nor made totremble at the earthquake-the moment he was in that stillness and heard that gentle voice- wrapped his face in his sheepskinrobe and went outside the cave like a child obedient to the call of his heavenly Father. And when the Spirit of God comesin His gentle power upon any of you, then you will resist no longer-you will be subdued and conquered by His soft and tendertouch.

The first thing Elijah did, I said, was to wrap his face in his mantle, therein imitating the angels who cannot stand unveiledin that awful Presence. He did his best to hide his face, like one ashamed-ashamed of having doubted his God, of having playedthe coward-ashamed of being found away from the place of his service. When the Holy Spirit deals with men and women, thisis an early effect upon their minds-shamefacedness and humiliation cover their faces-

" Confounded, Lord, I wrap my face, And hang my guilty head; Ashamed of all my wicked ways, The hateful life I've led."

They cannot speak in the same bold tones as they were known to do! All boasting is excluded. For some time, at any rate, theyhave to learn how to behave themselves in the Divine Presence-for walking in the Light as God is in the Light is not easyfor newly-converted sinners-their eyes are weak and tender and, therefore, they have to cover them from the blaze of the eternallight. Love is the triumphant power! Where mere power and thunder fail, it leads the heart in glad captivity.

Now, as I have said, wind nor tempest could produce this in Elijah, but the still small voice of God did it at once-

"Lord, You have won, at length I yield! My heart, by mighty Grace compelled, Surrenders all to You! Against Your terrors longI strove, But who can stand against Your love? Love conquers even me!

If You had bid Your thunders roll, And lightning flash, to blast my soul, I still had stubborn been. But mercy has my heartsubdued, A bleeding Savior I have viewed, And now I hate my sin."

It appears, in reading the chapter, as if the Prophet did not come out of the cave until he heard that voice. He was calledupon by God to come out and stand in the open before the Most High, but as I read it, he had not done this until the stillsmall voice called him and drew him in the way of the command so that obedience is a second blessed effect. Shamefaced onaccount of his errors, he is now resolved to follow his Lord's word at once. And he stands at the opening of the cave to hearwhat God, the Lord, will speak. If the Spirit of God shall work effectually upon any of us, one of the first marks of it willbe that while we are humbled because of sin, we shall grow earnest to work righteousness. Grace makes us tender in the matterof obedience.

Those who hear the voice of the Lord are sure to cry, "Lord, show me what you would have me to do." When that voice wins thewilling ear, it creates a ready foot to go where God bids us. Our desire is to know the Lord's will and promptly to fulfillit, for the heavenly whisper has for its burden-"Follow Me." And now that Elijah has come out into the clear air, the nexteffect upon him is that he has personal dealings with God. The voice says to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" It isa home enquiry, made to himself, alone. He knows that God is speaking with him and, therefore, he feels the force of everyword which searches him. Then he pours out the bitterness of his grief and tells the Lord what ails him.

The Spirit is surely at work with you when your converse is with the Lord alone. When you want nobody to hear what you haveto say, but are glad to enter into your closet and shut the door and pray to your Father, who sees in secret, this is realwork, the work of God! When you feel every line of the Word of God as you read it as if it were written for you, and you,alone-when you think that nobody else in the world can enter so fully into it, in your judgment, as you now do, for the sentencesseem shaped for you and there are little words dropped into the threat and the promise exactly adapted for you-then it isthat the still small voice is executing its sacred office! This is a main point, this contact of the soul with God-this breakingdown of the barriers of things visible, this closing in with God, the Unseen.

Oh, it is a sight such as angels delight to behold when a man bows before the Most High and listens to his great Father'svoice and then tells out to Him all his heart without attempting to hide anything from Him! This is never produced by whirlwind,fire, or earthquake-it is the effect of the voice of gentle silence, for God is in it! Vain are eloquence, argument, musicand sensationalism-the Spirit works all holy things and He, alone-and this He works in the solemn silence of a soul subduedby love!

III. In the third place, let us say a little concerning THE LESSON WHICH ELIJAH LEARNED from this acted parable. He, himself,had taught the people by deeds rather than words and now he is, himself, similarly instructed. He was taught several thingswhich it was essential for him to know. And among them, first, that God does not always use the means which we suppose Hewill use. We sit down and think how a nation can be blessed and we form our own ideas of the most excellent way. But our thoughtsare not the Lord's thoughts, for as the heavens are high above the earth, so are His thoughts above our thoughts and His waysabove our ways.

I dare say you, my sanguine Brother, have a well-ordered scheme in your own mind which you would like to see worked out, bywhich the Gospel would be made known to heathen lands very rapidly. So many workers of one kind are to assist a certain numberof a higher grade and by a wise division of labor and allotment of districts, the work is to be systematically done. Be nottoo fond of favorite methods or you may suffer great disappointment, for God, as a rule, does not use our schemes! The greatsteps of the Infinite are not to be measured by our childish walk! It is not ours to propose to Him what He shall do, norhow or when He shall do it, but we must leave to His Sovereign will to choose and to com-mand-and we shall yet see how wondrousHe is in His workings!

Elijah's life had been one continued storm. From the first time when he appears as the Prophet of fire till he fled from Jezebel,he had always spoken out of the whirlwind and either threatened or executed the judgments of the Lord. And it may be he reliedtoo much upon this form of ministry. No doubt it was right in him to rebuke a sinful and obstinate people, but still, Godwould let him know that Carmel, with its complete victory over Baal's priests till its rivulets

ran red with their blood, was not the way by which God would vanquish His enemies. Men would not worship God aright merelybecause in an excited moment they had slain a band of impostors! The heart is not won to loving reverence by slaughter! Itis not by blood that men are baptized into spiritual worship.

This same lesson has to be learned over and over by us all-let us repeat it-"Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,says the Lord." It is to be lamented that the most of professors obstinately cling to the fatal error of looking for displaysof power of one kind or another. I hear that a certain Church is seeking for a very clever man-she thinks that God is in thewind. I hear the deacons say, "We must look out for the best man. No matter what we give, nor what Church we rob of its minister,we must get a first-class man and then we shall have a full house and see many converted." Nothing of the kind! It is notGod's way to work by clever men and men who aim at grandeur of speech! He may, if so He pleases, permit the house to be throngedwith attentive hearers-but converts will be few when people are relying upon cleverness!

"Oh, but we must have a first-rate organization! We must work the Church up by revival services." Yes, do it, and do it again,if you choose, and the result may be good if you can do the work humbly. But if you trust one iota upon the means employed,away will depart the Spirit and you will see nothing but your own folly! That still small voice will be hushed and silentwhile the boasts of your wisdom resounds like a howling wind or a thunder unaccompanied by rain! We must know this-that Godwill work by what means He pleases and, next, that all means are useless apart from Him! All wind, all fire, all earthquake,all power and grandeur fail unless the still small voice is there and God is in it. The Church has had this dinned into herears and doctrinally she believes it, but, alas, she practically goes forth and behaves as if the opposite theory were true!She looks for Divine results to human causes and is, therefore, full often deceived. Too much is her dependence fixed uponan arm of flesh and while this is so, we cannot expect to see the bare arm of the Eternal displayed in the midst of our camps.

God would have Elijah know another thing and He would have us know it, too-that our weakness may be our strength. Elijah didnot know anything about those 7,000 converts of his who had been won by the silent voice of his devoted life. Because thesuccess of Carmel melted like the morning mist, he thought that his career had been a failure all along and that he had broughtno one to reverence Jehovah. But he was reading with the eyes of unbelief and his imagination was leading him, rather thanthe facts of the case! Here are 7,000 people scattered up and down the country to whom God has blessed Elijah's testimony!If He had not blessed his big things as Elijah had desired, yet his little things had prospered greatly. It was Elijah's dailyconduct rather than his miracles which had impressed these 7,000 and led them to hold fast their integrity. The Lord wouldhave us know that He works rather by our weakness than by our strength-and often makes most use of us when, in our own judgment,we have displayed nothing but our feebleness.

Moreover, the Lord would have us note the strength of other people in their weakness. That lesson we do not always catch upso soon as we do the first. We are pleased to learn that when we are weak we are strong because being generally weak we areglad to learn that we are usually strong. But we speak not thus of others who may, in some respects, be our inferiors. Ifwe see a man a little more energetic than usual, we enquire petulantly, "Lord, and what shall this man do?" If some holy womanbursts out into pleading testimony, we say, "She had better be quiet. Nothing will come of her talking." A work is doing overyonder and we do not quite approve of its methods and, therefore, we cry, "Foolishness!" Ah, but Brother, you have to learnthe strength of other weak people as well as of yourself!

You know that there are others as weak as you. You are very glad to find that out and go and tell it-but there are also othersas strong as you whom God makes strong because they are weak, dealing with them in His tender loving kindness just as He doeswith you! Oh that you would learn this and then you will see that there are not only one or two faithful workers, but thousandswho are true to their Lord and valiant for the Truth of God upon the earth! The Lord still has a remnant who are as faithfullyserving Him as you are-they have not bowed the knee to Baal nor kissed the calves, but still stand erect in their testimonyto God. Believe this and be happy, for God wants you to believe it!

He is not always with our powerful preachers, our learned canons, our reverend bishops, our great generals and all that! ButHe may be with that poor young Brother who stands at the corner of the streets and speaks such broken sentences. And withthat dear Sister who takes a dozen or two girls and teaches them the Savior's love! You wonder what these can possibly haveto teach and yet the Lord is quietly and effectually speaking by their gentle voices. We are wonderful critics-handy and keenat pulling the Lord's servants to pieces! But the mercy is the Lord takes a sweet vengeance

on us, for them, by giving them all the greater blessing so that our judgment may be set on one side and that we may understandthat He still speaks by whom He wills and uses whom He chooses!

And so this Truth of God is always sure-"Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts." The stillsmall voice of the humble retired Christian may have more power in it, under God, than all the thunder and the lightning ofthe greatest orator that ever pleaded for Christ!

IV. Lastly, LET US LISTEN this morning-let the listening be practiced at once and most reverently. If we are too many to doit here, let us get home to our own rooms and listen there. Especially do I address myself to you who do not know the Lord-youcannot cause the still small voice to be heard-but often, by making silence and sitting still in it, you may hear that callof tender love. What does it say to you unconverted people? Does it not speak to your consciences and ask, "How is it thatyou have lived so long in the Light of God and yet have never seen it? How is it you have dwelt so long in the atmosphereof love and yet have never felt it? How is it that Jesus Christ has been preached to you and you know He is the only Savior,and yet you have rejected Him?"

Years are coming upon you. Your hair is turning gray. You have always hoped and half resolved that there should be a timeof change for you and yet you are just the same. I will not speak for your conscience, but I do ask your conscience to enquireof you, "Why do you use your best Friend so evilly? Why do you slight His bleeding love? Why do you postpone Him for any trifleand are always saying, 'Go Your way for this time. When I have a more convenient season I will send for You'"? When consciencehas done speaking, then let Jesus speak. And what will He say? "I have loved you and given Myself for you: why do you despiseMe? I have come to you and spoken in accents of love and I have bid you trust Me, and I have said I will not cast you outif you will come to Me. Why do you not come and trust?"

Let His soft voice be heard, the voice of the Babe of Bethlehem, the voice of the dying Lamb on Calvary! Let Him plead withyou, "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest." Hear His voice! Let other sounds be hushed that you may hear it. Get quietat home and bend your ear, hearkening diligently to the voice of Mercy from the bleeding Son of God! Then let the great Fatherspeak and say, "Come to Me, My child. You have wandered, but I am still ready to receive you. If you will come to Me in truth,confessing your transgression, I am faithful and just to forgive you your sin and to save you from all unrighteousness. Comeunto Me, and you shall live in My household and enjoy all the privileges of My children."

Equally listen diligently to the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Sit down and say, "Speak, blessed Spirit, speak to me." Youcannot do better, this afternoon, than set aside a silent time that you may incline your ears unto the Spirit of Grace. Giveyourself an hour of quite, alone, and sit still and say, "Now, Lord, You blessed Spirit, speak to the breaking of my heartwith shame for my transgressions. Speak, then, to the healing of my heart as I believe in Jesus. Speak to me while I waitfor You." Oh, how many would get a blessing if they did this!

Finally, let me, with most tender accents, ask each unconverted one the question Jehovah asked of Elijah. "What are you doinghere, Elijah?" What brought you here this morning? Did you come to worship God, or to gratify curiosity, or merely becauseit is a proper thing-to go to a place of worship on a Sunday? "What are you doing here, Elijah?" What have you been doingall morning? When the hymn was lifted up, did you praise or did you mock? And when prayer was offered did you join in it orhave you been sitting here insulting the Most High by offering Him the outside of devotion while your heart has been far fromHim? "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Oh, that you would reply, "I do repent of what I have done and of what I have not done! And I lay myself down at the Father'sfeet and beseech Him, for Jesus' sake, to have pity upon me and forgive me my transgressions!" You are forgiven already ifyou believe in Christ Jesus! If you trust your soul with Jesus, go your way-there is no sin in God's book against you, now-Hehas blotted out your transgressions and will no more remember your sins! It shall be a happy day, for the voice shall speakto you this morning and never leave off speaking till the King shall come in His Glory and take you to His right hand! TheLord bless you, dear Friends, by His own Spirit, for Jesus' sake. Amen.