The “Still Small Voice”
By L. A. S.
In the experience through which Elijah passed on Mount Horeb, where he met and talked with God, a lesson was given for all succeeding ages concerning the nature of that work which is from above. It is a lesson which all people would do well to heed at this time. Many spirits are abroad in the world, and many movements and messages are claiming the attention of mankind, each professing to be the true work of God. We are admonished to try the spirits before accepting the claims which they put forth. Elijah witnessed a mighty display of power on Mount Horeb, calculated to impress any mortal in his position with the thought that he was beholding a manifestation of the working of the Almighty. But God was not in the whirlwind, or the earthquake, or the fire. The presence of God was manifested after all these, in the “still small voice.” We must look to-day for the still small voice. There is plenty of show, plenty of power, in movements claiming to be from God, but with which God has nothing to do. Many are led away by that which comes with outward show, making an appeal to the senses rather than to faith. “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.” “Satan himself,” the word of God declares, “is transformed into an angel of light.” Satan is not only a being of power, but also, when he chooses, a being of light. How many are ready to indorse a religious movement as of God when they see that it has power and light in it, when in reality it is a movement directed by the devil! How greatly the people need to be warned and instructed on this point! The work of God is inseparable from the still small voice. That voice is the voice of conscience. The message of God makes its appeal to the conscience. Therefore it moves quietly, unmarked by noisy demonstration or display. The work of Christ to-day, as when he walked in human form through Judea, is not to “cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street,” but to teach the people the Word of God. This is a work which is “not by might nor by power,” but by the Holy Spirit of God. The work of the Spirit is to guide the seeker after divine truth. He opens to the humble, prayerful mind the meaning of that which has been written by inspiration. That movement which calls the attention of the people to the Word of God, and through it appeals to the conscience, having as its chief aim the quickening and guiding of conscience by that Word in order that the individual life may be conformed to the will of God, has the characteristics of the true work of God, though it may be lacking in all that by which popularity and the approval of the world is usually sought. But if this be not its chief aim, it is surely from another source than that from which it claims to proceed, though it may be able to show signs and wonders calculated to deceive the very elect.