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6 August 2003
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In this issue:
i) Tremors of glory - D.DuRant
ii) Thoughts from First Samuel - Chapter three (3/3)- C.E. Wigg
iii) Remember your guides - S. Ridout
TREMORS OF GLORY
Danielle DuRant
Canadian songwriter Bruce Cockburn often wrestles with the tension we face as humans in a world that is not really ours. In his song "Rumours of Glory" he observes that behind the pain and fear sketched on our faces "something is shining, like gold but better: rumours of glory."
What are these rumors of glory? The knowledge that there is something beyond us, that we exist—indeed we were created—for something beyond this world ... and beyond our wildest dreams. We were created for glory.
For most of the twentieth century, the very idea of transcendence and metaphysics had been a subject of derision. The "realist" vision of the many prophets of natural philosophy—Freud, Marx, Darwin—has dominated the public imagination and conversation. Life is what we know it, right here and right now. In fact, Freud's colleague Erich Fromm once wrote, "Man's pride has been justified. By virtue of his reason he has built a material world the reality of which surpasses even the dreams and visions of fairy tales and utopias." (Footnote 1: Erich Fromm in Man for Himself, quoted in Paul Vitz, Psychology As Religion: The Cult of Self-worship (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. Eerdmans, 1985), 19.)
Our belief in God is just a dream or illusion, they contend; what we construct for ourselves is what is actually real. Freud, of course, argued that belief in God was a projection of our deep-seated feelings of helplessness and need for protection, and therefore constituted "the oldest, strongest and most urgent wishes of mankind." (Footnote 2: Sigmund Freud in The Future of an Illusion, quoted in Paul Vitz, Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism (Dallas: Spence Publishing, 1999),)
Years before Freud came upon the scene, similar competing visions of the world existed. The rationalism of the Enlightenment was quickly countered by the passion of the Romantics in search of an alternative, and these two views continue to do battle over the nature of reality, truth, and life. The Romantic poet William Wordsworth opposed this Enlightenment view, and wrote of the "intimations of immortality," speaking not only of the specter of death, but that one's immortality is actually a window to the soul.
And though some would rather not look too closely into that window, each of us still searches for transcendence. From extreme sports to films, we want to look our immortality in the eye and somehow, transcend it.
The question, it seems then, is does our world hint at "rumors of glory" or mere "visions of fairy tales"—delusions of what we wish we had or wish we were? However, if such signs are just dead-ends that lead to nowhere, why do they actually compel us to journey farther down the road?
"God may have designed us in such a way that these sorts of processes (such as reason and longing) enable us to come to know God personally," notes my colleague Paul Copan, "and we are at our cognitive best when our
faculties direct us toward true belief in God."
Is it not unreasonable then to believe that such rumors of glory are more than mere rumors? Perhaps, even tremors? Standing in front of her, brother's tomb, Martha was asked a similar question by Jesus Christ. "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (Footnote 3: John 11:40) In a loud voice Jesus called forth Lazarus. The witnesses watched as the dead man came out, and they trembled at the tremors of God's glory.
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[Copyright(c) 2003 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. A Slice of Infinity is a ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.]
THOUGHTS FROM FIRST SAMUEL - CHAPTER THREE (3/3)
Charles E. Wigg
Samuel's first meeting with God: When God came and stood by Samuel’s bed, He called his name twice, & Samuel said what Eli had told him to say, except that (possibly through fright or nervousness), he did not mention Jehovah’s name. However he did not yet know Jehovah, so this could have been why he did not mention His holy name. God revealed to Samuel what He was about to do. Things that He had already told Eli through the un-named prophet and it must have sounded terrible to Samuel. God had patiently borne so long with the terrible departure from His holy word, and the horrible abuses of their privileged position, the great wickedness of Eli’s sons. But now He was about to pour out His holy wrath, and over many years He would perform everything that He had said. Again He warned that no offering or sacrifice that they could offer would purge the iniquity of Eli’s house forever.
Hophni and Phinehas were to die on the same day and Eli too, and his daughter in law also died on that same day. This was to have a profound effect on Samuel’s life also, because he had grown to love the old man Eli, and it was a joy to him to be able to help and serve him. But now he was to lose the protection that the old man’s presence and counsel afforded him. His life would never be the same again, and (at least for a time), the burden of carrying on the priestly service would rest on his young shoulders.
It is said that “Samuel lay until the morning”, (verse 15). He lay awake probably unable to sleep, pondering in his mind the implications of the message that he had been given. He feared to tell Eli the vision, the message that God had given him. This was in part because he did not wish to hurt the old man whom he had come to love. It was also in part because he did not know how Eli would react to such awful news. So when the day dawned he arose from his bed, and went about his daily duties, as if nothing had happened. But God did not allow him to keep the message to himself, and though it was very hard for him to do, yet he must faithfully deliver the message that God had given. He was to learn through this bitter experience what it was to be a channel of God’s word to others.
Samuel becomes a prophet: Eli now called Samuel, and spoke to him in the tones of the greatest affection, “Samuel my son”, and he answered with his normal willingness, “Here am I”. But then he said “What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee?” Eli then pronounced a solemn curse, that if for whatever reason, Samuel was to hide from him anything of what God had revealed to him, then the judgement would fall on Samuel himself. Samuel did not want this to happen, and though perhaps he was afraid of what Eli might do to him, he may become angry and violent. Perhaps Samuel looked around, and surveyed the surroundings, so that he might escape if this was to happen; yet he stood like a man and delivered the message that God had given him, and thus delivered his soul also.
Then for the first time in his life, he witnessed the power of God’s word, (he was to see this often in the years that followed). He saw the old man bow his head, and he heard him say, “It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good”. Samuel had passed the first test, but if he had failed that test, if he had kept back anything of the message that God had given him, whether out of love for Eli, or out of the fear of the consequences that might come to him, we may never have read of him again.
Thus this little boy became an example to everyone that God would call to serve Him, even in our own day. We have a solemn responsibility. Let us never flinch from declaring what ever message God may give us to whoever God would have us give it! Let us never fail to deliver, either through fear or favour, the message that God has given us, and let us leave the results with him! The word is not ours, but His, and we must answer to him finally. Paul could say to the Ephesian elders, “I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God”. Acts 20:18-27.If we fear what men may do to us, then the fear of man brings a snare, let us not be taken in that snare!
The Lord was with him: Thus began for Samuel a life of sweet communion with God. The Eternal God was no stranger to him now, and as he grew he became a constant channel of the word of God to others. God let none of his words fall to the ground. He did not have to trumpet his successes, or to resort to advertising or publicity, because all Israel from its furthest bounds knew That Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.
Shiloh had once again become a place of blessing, because the Lord appeared there again, He revealed Himself, (not to every one), but to Samuel, by the word of the Lord. A spiritual revival had begun. It began first with Hannah, then with Samuel, and ultimately it spread to all Israel.
This is how true spiritual revival always begins. It always begins with an individual, but it is the work of the Living God, and it will then spread to others by His living word. May our prayer be “Lord let it begin with me!” [To be concluded] .
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REMEMBER YOUR GUIDES
Samuel Ridout
Remember them which have the rule over you (your leaders or your guides), who have spoken unto you the word of God; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation (the outcome of their well-spent lives). (Hebrews 13:7)
In the Epistle to the Hebrews we find a whole chapter devoted to human examples of faith . A great cloud of witnesses looks down upon us in the eleventh chapter, and in the closing chapter of the book, the writer speaks of their "guides," or "leaders." They were to remember those who had passed away, and imitate their faith; they were to obey those who remained, realizing that they were charged with weighty responsibilities, and were to salute them in all honor and affection.
Scripture not only warrants but commands the remembrance of those whom God has given as leaders of His people. To forget them means, too often, to forget the truth they brought, and paves the way for that "building the sepulchres of the prophets" by a godless posterity who are indifferent to every warning spoken by those prophets (Lk. 11:47). There is a sober, discriminating way of dwelling upon the ministry of faithful servants which encourages our own faith, quickens conscience, and stirs afresh to follow them as they followed Christ.
Most biographies are written from a human standpoint; the man is before us rather than his message. Such biographies are not helpful; but who has not been stimulated by the narratives of devotion, self-denial, unresting toil of faithful men at home or abroad? We realize on either hand that they were men "of like passions with ourselves" (Ja. 5:17), and that a Power wrought in and with them which is for us too.
The passage we have quoted at the beginning shows us how we can properly "remember our guides." First of all, what makes their remembrance profitable is that they spoke to us the word of God. It was not for special personal excellence of character, either natural or gracious; nor for great activities and results in the Lord’s work, considered in themselves. What gives value to the remembrance of the leader is the word of God with which he was identified, the message he brought.
We read of one of David’s mighty men, Eleazar the son of Dodo, that he stood alone against a great host of Philistines when "the men of Israel had gone away." He smote them "till his hand was weary and his hand clave unto the sword; and the Lord wrought a great victory" (2 Sam. 23:9,10). His very name, "God is help," turns from the man to God. What could he do single-handed against the host of the enemy? His arm grows weary, but the weary hand cleaves to the good sword, and we see no longer the feeble arm of man, but the power of God behind that weary arm, hewing out victory with that sword. The man has become identified with the sword, and God can use such an one.
So are all God’s mighty men; feeble, and with weary arms, they cling to that "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17). Their very weariness and feebleness makes them cling like Jacob who, his thigh out of joint, can no more wrestle, but cling (Gen. 32:24-26). Such men God can use, for they are identified with their sword, with the word of God. To remember such is to remember the sword, the Word which they brought. There can be no higher honor to a servant of Christ than to merge him, as it were, in the truth he ministered; in thinking of him, to think of the sword he held in his feebleness. The world may honor its soldiers, its men of wealth, its benefactors, and build them monuments. They are its departed great men. Believers recall the memory of those who have left their greatness in our hands, the Word of God. To do this is simply to have mind refreshed and heart stirred by that which abides forever.
We are also to consider the issue, or outcome, of their walk. What has their life ended in? It has now ceased. A rich man’s life ends, so far as what he leaves behind is concerned, in wealth; a statesman’s, in power and influence. In what shall we say the life of Christ’s servant has ended? What has he left as the sum of that life? Is it not suggestive that the very next clause gives what is really the answer, while closely connected, as we shall see, with the following clause? "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8). The issue of their life is the abiding Christ. They have passed off the scene, but Christ, the object of their ministry, abides. With Paul they could say, "To me, to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21). Christ is the end, the goal of their life. To depart and be with Him is far better. Happy indeed are those who are called to lay down their burden and enter into His rest. They loved and served Him here; they enjoy unclouded peace and rest as they wait with Him there. The outcome, the end, of all their life’s work, toil, testimony, is Christ. They enjoy Him to the full now; they have, as it were, left Him as a priceless legacy to us here.
And their life was a life of faith – the refusal at once both of creature righteousness and creature strength. They had learned to "rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:3). We are not called to do, in detail, their work. God calls and fits each of His servants for some special work, peculiarly suited to the special gift with which he is endowed. We are not to be imitators of one another, but ever to be imitators of the faith that casts the feeble upon the Mighty.
Lastly, we note the warning not to be "carried about with divers and strange doctrines" (Heb. 13:9). The servant of Christ ever stands for His truth against all opposition of error. His ministry, in so far as it was under the guidance and in the power of the Holy Spirit, brought home to heart and conscience the truth of God and the Person of the Lord.
Do we not need, as has already been said, to be specially on our guard in these days against the subtle inroads of error? The Person of the Son of God, His atoning work, His Church, the destiny of man - are all objects of the enemy’s attacks. Let us hold fast the truth, and Him who is the truth, and His Word of truth.
We have, then, four characteristics of a proper memorial of departed leaders - (1) The word of God ministered by them; (2) the outcome or issue of their life, Christ for them and for us ever the same; (3) the faith which occupied them with this blessed Person; and (4) the warning against error. If we ever have these features before us, there will be only profit in remembering those who have gone on before us.