|
by Rose Weiner
By the light of burning heretics
Christ's bleeding feet I track,
Toiling up new Calvaries ever
with the cross that turns not back.
And these mounts of anguish number
how each generation learned
One new word of that grand Credo
which in prophet hearts hath burned;
Since the first man stood God-conquered
with his face to heaven upturned.
from
The Present Crisis
-by James Russell Lowell
It was an idyllic spring morning. The branches of the
fanlike palms swayed gently in the breeze, refreshing
those who were scurrying to their businesses. Shopkeeper
and shopper alike were soaking in the warming rays
of the sun, and lingering an extra moment to drink
in the sweet freshness of the spring air. Today the
land seemed like Eden, like the Garden of the Lord.
It was hard to imagine that anything could disturb
the beauty and peace which the day promised to bring.
The king was standing on the upper porch of the palace
looking out on the beautiful gardens below. Beyond
the palace wall he beheld children engaged in play.
Their laughter was intoxicating; he sensed a thrill
within his heart as he thought of his own newborn child
who now filled the palace with merth and singing. Yes,
he had great plans for his son when he grew up.
In another part of the city a lone figure walked up
the highway to the palace. Lost in thought, the pastoral
scenes of the surrounding countryside escaped his notice.
His eyes brimmed with tears as thoughts of the previous
day engulfed his mind.
He had been stunned and pained in heart when he first
heard the news. When the Lord spoke to him, he was
taken by such surprise that he did not know if he could
fulfill God's request. It was such a difficult thing.
And who was he to attempt to approach the king on such
a matter or to speak to him so frankly? What if he
wouldn't receive the message? What would be his fate
if the king became angry and desired to silence him?
This assignment could cost him his life. Would he speak
up and deliver the word of the Lord, or would he withhold
the sword?
Over and over again he weighed the message and its consequences.
Fear tried to fasten its grip upon him, but he had
pushed it back; as a very young man he had made up
his mind to obey the Lord no matter what the cost.
Now that the stakes were high and the hour of crisis
had come, that commitment would not allow him to do
otherwise. If he must perish, then he was resigned
to do so.
All night he had wrestled with just exactly how he would
deliver this message to the king. Somewhere in the
wee hours of the morning the plan had come to him from
the mind of God, and now it was settled. All that remained
to be done was to clothe himself, put his sandals on
his feet, and walk the long road that led to Jerusalem.
During the journey he prayed, "Lord, grant me the
anointing. May Your words in my mouth be like fire
and like a hammer that shatters the rock. I pray that
the king will have a receptive spirit and a repentant
heart. I pray that You will open his ears to hear the
Holy Spirit."
By the time he reached Jerusalem the word of God had
become like a burning fire that he could scarcely contain.
In the fear of God, he slowly climbed the steps that
lead to the palace until he came face to face with
the guard.
"Halt! State your name and your business!"
cried the guard.
"I am a prophet of the Lord and I have come with
a message for the king."
Another guard quickly stepped forward. "It is Nathan,
the prophet," he whispered to the doorkeeper.
"Step aside and let him enter. By the king's order
the palace has always been opened to the prophets.
The king has forbidden anyone to touch the Lord's anointed."
"I beg your forgiveness for not recognizing you,
Sir," entreated the guardsman. "Come ...
I will show you to the king's chambers."
The king, lost in thought, was suddenly interrupted
by his servant. "Your majesty, Nathan the prophet
is here to see you. "
"Nathan! Send him in! It's been such a long time
since I've seen him. Bring us some refreshments."
Upon greeting Nathan, King David realized that something
was deeply troubling him. "Nathan is there something
wrong?" he asked. "Is there something I can
help you with?"
"King David, I've come to you with a problem of
great injustice."
"What is it?" entreated the king.
The prophet began to relate a story to David: "There
were two men in one city, the one rich and the other
poor. The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe
lamb which he bought and nourished; and it grew up
together with him and his children. It would eat of
his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
and was like a daughter to him.
"Now a traveler came to the rich man, and he was
unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him. So
he took the poor man's ewe lamb and prepared it for
the man who had come to him."
King David's anger burned greatly against the man, and
he said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, surely
the man who has done this deserves to die. And he must
make restitution for the lamb fourfold because he did
this thing and had no compassion."
Looking intently at the king, Nathan spoke in piercing
words: "King David, you are the man!"
Passionately Nathan continued, "Thus says the Lord
God of Israel, 'It is I who anointed you king over
Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand
of Saul. I also gave you your master's house and your
master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house
of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little,
I would have added to you many more things like these!
"'Why have you despised the word of the Lord by
doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah
the Hittite with the sword, taken his wife to be your
wife, and killed him with the sword of the sons of
Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart
from your house, because you have despised me and have
taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.
"'Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil
against you from your own household; I will even take
your wives before your eyes, and give them to your
companion and he shall lie with your wives in broad
daylight. Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do
this thing before all Israel and under the sun.'"
Then David cried out from the depths of his soul, "Nathan,
I have sinned against the Lord."
Nathan then replied, "The Lord has taken away your
sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed
you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord
to blaspheme; the child also that Bathsheba, Uriah's
wife, bore to you shall surely die."
Nathan then went back to his house in safety while a
king who was pierced to the very depths of his soul
knelt down to fast, to weep, and to pray.
We Need Men and Women Like Nathan
The prophets of Christianity - of both the Old and
New Testaments and of Christian history down through
the ages - have been those who were willing to deliver
the word of the Lord in great boldness and courage
despite the possibility of persecution. They have refused
to withhold the word of the Lord even if imprisonment,
affliction, or martyrdom awaited them. They were men
and women who loved the truth more than they loved
their own life, their own husband or wife, or even
their own children. They were men and women of whom
the world was not worthy.
At crucial times in history God always raises up his
prophets. They are the heroes of a generation. Long
after they pass away, the truth of their message lives
on; their example lingers in the hearts of men and
their deeds persist in the land forever.
This is what the world needs today. This is what America
and the church in America needs in this hour. We need
men, women, and children who are cast in the prophet
mold. What we need today are those who will not prophesy
merely from their own inspiration, or declare things
from their own initiative in hopes that God will confirm
their words. We must have men and women who will speak
by the same Spirit who directed the pen of Moses, the
fingers of David, and the tongue of Paul - men and
women whose words are the very oracles of God.
What we need today are those who will clear the way
for the Lord in the wilderness and make smooth in the
desert a highway for our God - until every valley be
lifted up and every mountain be made low, until the
glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh will
see it together.
What we need today are men and women who are placed
by the Almighty on the watchtowers of the walls -
who will not keep silent, who will refuse to keep quiet
- until righteousness goes forth like brightness and
salvation as a torch that is burning. What we need
today are men and women who will take no rest for themselves,
nor give God rest until He establishes His church as
a praise in the earth.
God is looking for such people today. His eyes are searching
to and fro across the earth to find those who will
live a committed life. He is looking for those whom
He can trust to deliver His words to this generation.
God is not looking for just a few lone prophets, either;
He is seeking a prophetic people.
But prophetic people are dangerous to the sloppy ways
of the world. And sometimes neither the world nor the
church take kindly to them, for they make things uncomfortable,
they upset tradition, and they tend to disturb the
status quo.
John the Baptist was such a man. Not very contemporary
or in fashion with the times, John spent his days in
the wilderness until his first public appearance in
Israel. Dressed in a garment of camel's hair, unkempt,
and eating wild locust and honey, this man was anything
but one to whom the world could relate. He did not
keep abreast of the latest movies or television shows
to see what the people of Israel were watching. He
did not try to keep current with the latest fashions
in order to meet the nation on an acceptable basis
of style. Neither did he bind the scriptures on his
forehead and forearm, or wear long gowns to appease
the religious leaders of the day. John did not have
a music group accompanying him on his journeys, playing
the most contemporary beat in order to attract the
attention of crowds.
No ... John was a very simple prophet with a message
burning in his heart from God. He began his ministry
preaching in the wilderness of Judea. His message was
simply, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand."
Perhaps a few travelers on the way to Jerusalem encountered
John in the wilderness and heard his piercing message.
Upon arrival at the city, they may have told others
that they had encountered a man who surely must be
a prophet. Whatever the case, as John took his stand
in the wilderness and began to herald the message God
had given him, the Spirit of God drew people from the
surrounding villages and countryside.
The Bible records, "Then Jerusalem was going out
to him, and all Judea, and all the district around
the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in
the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins"
(Matthew 3:5-6). The secret of John's success did not
lie in his manner, his fashion, or his contemporary
appeal. It did not lie in methods, gimmicks, or strategies
to win friends and influence people. It did not lie
in formulas for gathering the multitudes.
John's influence and success lay in a secret revealed
by God to the prophet Jeremiah centuries earlier: "Who
has stood in the council of the Lord, that he should
see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word
and listened?... I did not send these prophets, but
they ran. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied.
But if they had stood in My council, then they would
have announced My words to My people, and would have
turned them back from their evil way and from the evil
of their deeds" (Jeremiah 23:18, 21-22).
The same has been the secret of the prophets of God
throughout the ages. It was the case of the early church,
and because of it they were able to Christianize the
whole known world in a few generations. It has been
the case of all those who have been used by God to
establish and direct any spiritual work of eternal
significance.
Much of the failure of the church today lies in our
rejection of this truth; there are men and women in
the church today who persist in speaking from the stubbornness
of their own heart, saying that "the Lord declares,"
when He did not send them or command them. The Bible
tells us that people who attempt to speak on God's
behalf, without spending time with Him, will lead people
astray by their "falsehoods and reckless boasting."
Delivering a message in the name of the Lord that has
not proceeded from His throne room is like offering
the people straw instead of grain. The true word of
the Lord is "like fire and like a hammer which
shatters a rock." When God's people persist in
speaking from their own inspiration, it not only furnishes
the people no benefit, but causes God to be against
them.
God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel concerning this: "Woe
to the foolish prophets who are following their own
spirit and have seen nothing ... They see falsehood
and lying divination who are saying, 'The Lord declares,'
when the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope for
the fulfillment of their word ... Because you have
spoken falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold,
I am against you, declares the Lord" (portions
of Ezekiel 13).
Where are the Modern-day Prophets?
The prophets' success has always been found in their
faithfulness to stand by the word of the Lord and their
fearlessness in the face of danger. They were men and
women who had conquered the fear of death.
John the Baptist demonstrated this type of courage.
With unrelenting zeal, John continually proclaimed
the truth to King Herod ... telling him that he was
unlawfully married to his brother's wife. The boldness
and persistence with which he exhorted the king finally
cost John his head.
John Huss, a courageous 15th century Christian reformer,
had been teaching the people the truth of salvation
by faith in Christ alone. He was thrown into prison
and asked by the council of kings and bishops to renounce
what he had been preaching. Knowing that he would be
burned at the stake if he did not comply, he replied
fearlessly, "The bishops want me to retract;
but if I were to do so, I should be a liar before God."
As the officials led him away and tied him to the stake,
he cried out to the people, "Do not believe that
I have taught you anything but the truth." Asked
once again to renounce his error, he affirmed, "I
have taught no error. The truths I have taught I will
seal with my blood." 1
Martin Luther, the 16th century champion of the gospel,
was summoned to a council in Worms, Germany, in order
that he might defend his unorthodox teaching. Luther's
friends warned him: "The emperor will deliver
you over to be burned as he did John Huss. Don't go."
But Luther responded, "Though there be as many
devils in Worms as there are tiles on the roofs, I
will go." As he made his way to the Council Hall,
he had to take a path through gardens and byways because
the street was so filled with people; they all wanted
to see the man who by his writing and preaching had
set the world in an uproar. After much struggling and
pushing, the marshal brought Doctor Luther into the
Council Hall.
"I have two questions to ask you," said the
Archbishop of Treves, opening the examination and pointing
to some books on the table. "Did you write these
books?"
"I do not deny having written those books,"
Luther answered, after the titles were read.
"Will you take back what you have written?"
"As to taking back anything in accordance with
the Word of God, I must act deliberately. I will give
you my answer tomorrow."
The council broke up for the day and the crowd in the
streets admired the courage of a man who dared to stand
for the truth in such an assembly. The next day, upon
the reconvening of the council, the archbishop shouted,
"Will you, or will you not, retract?"
Doctor Luther looked around. He was in the council's
hands. His life was at stake. What shall he say? Shall
he take it all back? He had given his all in proclamation
of truth. God had walked by his side; could he now
distrust the Being who had protected him hitherto?
Boldly he proclaimed, "I cannot and I will not
retract anything. God help me! Amen." As he departed
from Worms, he was hunted as a common criminal. 2
Such has been the sentiment and courage of all those
who have dared to stand up for truth, right, and liberty.
President Abraham Lincoln, being warned by an advisor
of a possible assassination attempt, responded, "You
are not the first to warn me against the dangers of
assassination. My ambassadors in Italy, France, and
England have many times warned me against the plots
of murderers whom they have detected in those different
countries. But I see no other safeguard against these
murderers, but to be always ready to die, as Christ
advises it." A short time later an assassin's
bullet found its way to his heart.3
Civil rights leader and 20th century prophet Martin
Luther King, Jr., once declared, "Until you conquer
the fear of death, you don't know what freedom is!"
In the 1960s King lead a group of 8,000 civil rights
protestors in an historic march to Montgomery, Alabama,
in order to secure citizenship rights for America's
black citizens through peaceful demonstration. His
address given in Montgomery echoes the cry of the prophets
of all ages. He proclaimed:
"We are on the move now and no wave of racism can
stop us. The burning of our churches will not deter
us. The bombing of our homes will not divert us. The
release of their known murderers will not discourage
us. We are on the move now, like an idea whose time
has come. Not even the marching of mighty armies can
halt us. We are moving to the land of freedom.
"I know you are asking today, 'How long will it
take?' Someone is asking today, 'How long will prejudice
blind the eyes of men?' I come to say to you this afternoon,
however difficult the moment, however frustrating the
hour, it will not be long, because truth crushed to
earth will rise again!"
"How long? Not long! Because no lie can live forever!
How long? Not long! Because you shall reap what you
sow! How long? Not long! 'Truth forever on the scaffold,
wrong forever on the throne, yet that scaffold sways
the future, and behind the dim unknown, standeth God
within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.'
"How long? Not long! Because the arch of the moral
universe is long, but it bends toward justice. How
long? Not long! For mine eyes have seen the glory of
the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage
where the grapes of wrath are stored. He has loosed
the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword.
His truth is marching on!
"He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never
call retreat. He is sifting out the hearts of men before
his judgement seat. O, be swift my soul to answer Him,
be jubilant my feet! Our God is marching on! Glory!
Hallelujah! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory!
Hallelujah! His truth is marching on!"
Such sentiments live and burn in the hearts of God's
prophets .
Deeply broken because of the lack of true prophets,
Ezekiel lamented, "Your prophets find no vision
from the Lord. Your prophets have seen for you false
and foolish visions; and they have not exposed your
iniquity so as to restore you from captivity, but they
have seen for you false and misleading oracles"
(Lamentations 2: 9, 14).
The greatest need of this hour is for true prophets
of God to arise and take their stand in the congregation
of the Lord and in our nation. The eyes of the Lord
are searching across the earth seeking for those who
will make up the hedge and stand in the gap. He is
looking for those who will take time to stand in his
council, and who will announce His words to His people.
He is looking for those who will be courageous, who
will love truth and hate falsehood. He is looking for
those who will not fear what men may do to them, but
rather fear God.
According to Ezekiel, because God's people have not
gone up into the breaches, or up the wall around the
Church to stand in the battle on the day of the Lord,
the prophets see false visions and speak lying divinations
(Ezekiel 13:5-6).
The prophet Isaiah declared, "Then I heard the
voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and
who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I. Send
me!'"(Isaiah 6:8).
Then to side with Truth is noble
when we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit,
and 'tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses,
while the coward stands aside,
Doubting in his abject spirit,
till his Lord is crucified,
And the multitude make virtue
of the faith they had denied.
Count me o'er the earth's chosen heroes,
- they were souls that stood alone,
While the men they agonized for
hurled the contumelious stone,
Stood serene, and down the future
saw the golden beam incline
To the side of perfect justice,
mastered by their faith divine,
By one man's plain truth to manhood
and to God's supreme design.
from
The Present Crisis
- by James Russell Lowell
Copyright © Bob and Rose Weiner 2007 All Rights Reserved
1 Charles Coffin, The Story of Liberty, originally published
in 1879, (Reprinted by Maranatha Publications, P.O.
Box 1799, Gainesville, FL , © 1987), p. 65-67.)
2 Ibid. pp. 230-239.
3 William J. Johnson, Abraham Lincoln the Christian,
(Milford, MI: Mott Media, 1976), pp. 136-143.
|
