Project Description

2014/11

‘The Chariot of

Israel and the

Horsemen’

A Personal Acknowledgement of Dr Paisley

I do not know of a more appropriate statement in the entire Bible by which to describe my feelings about the death of Dr. Paisley than these words uttered by Elisha in tribute to Elijah: “My Father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof” (2 Kings 2:12). Here is evidence of three things.

Sadness
No more could Elisha fellowship with Elijah. No more would he hear his voice. And he is devastated. “He took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces” (v12) – a sign of deep distress and extreme sorrow. But Elisha was sad not on account of Elijah’s circumstances; he knew that Elijah was now in a most happy and glorious state. Dr Paisley, speaking at an Easter convention, once said, ‘One day the Belfast Telegraph will report that Ian Paisley is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it!! I will be more alive than ever in the glory’. And it is true!

No, Elisha was lamenting his own loss. Can you not feel the pain? Do you hear the agony as he cries, “My father, my father”, not his literal father, but his spiritual father, his father in the ministry, the one to whom he owed so much. Now he has lost that fellowship and guidance.  Elijah has gone to heaven. We feel the loss of Dr Paisley, and that loss is many times compounded for his family.
Witness
This expression, ‘the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof’, is Elisha’s witness to the influence Elijah had upon him and upon the whole nation.Normally, chariots were referred to in the plural. Here it is singular and is used to describe Elijah, Elisha’s witness to this one man.  He is saying that Elijah was worth more to the nation than all the chariots of Israel and all of its horsemen! Dr. Paisley was the Elijah of our day. What an influence he had upon the church – and upon my own life and that of my family!

I first attended the Ravenhill church in my mid teens. God blessed the ministry of Dr Paisley mightily. The church grew. The building became too small. The Ulster Hall was taken on Sunday nights, then later for both services. I am sorry that our younger members did not hear the Dr Paisley of those days. That building was used for all kinds of activities during the week but on Sundays the atmosphere was sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit upon His servant. Those were ‘red hot’ gospel meetings!

Then at school we were to write about the person who had most influenced our lives. I chose Dr Paisley. I received a dressing down:“Ron, you will ruin your life if you associate with that man and his church. He will just get you into trouble!” Well, such trouble has been an honour.

What a store of memories there are!  I think of the missions when scores were converted, the Sunday morning when 200 were received into membership – yes, 200! – the amazing love for souls Dr Paisley manifested. And, of course he had such an interest in missionary work.

When we were in Papua New Guinea it was mentioned in Martyrs that we needed a two way radio because we were located in such a remote area. It would cost hundreds. I am told Dr Paisley stood up and announced, ‘We have to raise this money. Let’s give!’ That’s the big heart he had! Only eternity will reveal his generosity.

Then, in 1980, he gave me opportunity to preach in Carrickfergus – he was my senior minister for over 4 years. I had the honour to be Presbytery Minute Secretary for 16 years. I sat with him and observed, first-hand, his retentive memory, quick mind and tremendous sense of humour.

Elijah was noted for his confrontation with the false prophets of Baal. Hundreds were against him yet he faced them with courage on Mt Carmel. In the 1950’s and 60’s Dr Paisley had many confrontations, motivated, as were Elijah’s, by a love for God’s honour. I remember crowding around a TV in the 1960s to watch the Oxford Union debate. He was so effective, so courageous. We were so proud of our minister!

He battled against English Methodists Donald Soper, who denied the deity of Christ, and Leslie Weatherhead, who said that Christ’s virgin birth was only a myth. Many will remember his brave stand against the Pope years later in the European Parliament.

Think of how the Bible, Old and New Testament, witnesses to Elijah as a man of prayer. What communion Dr Paisley had with his God! He would just talk to the Lord in such intimate terms — as friend with friend. With the sorrowing and hurting he drew the comfort of heaven as he prayed. What an experience to be in a prayer meeting and hear his soul-searching calls to the throne of grace! He had power in prayer.

Gladness
Elijah went to glory. Dr Paisley is absent from the body, present with the Lord. We are glad that he is at home with the Lord he loved. Yet just as we still read about Elijah and learn from him, so we are thankful for Dr Paisley’s legacy. Hundreds of sermons are available on Sermon Audio. There are video clips. I watched a 30-minute compilation of his preaching made by an Australian. And his books will be useful for generations to come. ‘He being dead yet speaketh’.

Note that Elisha continued the work and witness. Dr Paisley often said, ‘God buries his workmen but the work of God goes on’. The Free Presbyterian Churches marching on, here and overseas, are his legacy. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr Paisley for his sacrificial labours in the commencement and consolidation of the Free Presbyterian witness. As Moderator, I had the privilege of presenting a framed Presbytery resolution to Dr Paisley. It reads:

With thanksgiving to the Lord Jesus Christ, the great King and only Head of the Church, we, the ministers and elders of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, commend you in the Name of Christ for your years of faithful leadership as Moderator of the General Presbytery of the Church.
We give praise to God for the singular and numerous gifts with which He has blessed you and for the diligence with which you have sought to employ those gifts in the establishment and advancement of the work of our various congregations, not only in Ulster but also across the world. Your evangelistic zeal, your passion for souls, your vision to establish a Presbyterian Church that would stand for the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ against the attacks of ecumenical apostasy, and your dedication to the glory of God will ever be an inspiration to us all.

On completion of your years of faithful labours as Moderator we commend you to God and to the word of His grace and commit ourselves to be faithful in pursuing the vision that the Lord, through you, has set before us.

“Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” (v14) Well, Elijah’s God still lives today! But another question should follow, a question that every believer needs to answer: Where are God’s Elijahs? The memory and example of Dr Paisley is a challenge and inspiration to us all. May God enable us to be zealous for the Lord in our own generation!

This article is an adapted and much abbreviated version of a message preached by Dr Ron Johnstone in Newtownards on Sunday 21st September – Editor.