The Church would soon be healed of her sorrows, and delivered of her divisions,
if she would for a while be silent; but the voice of a favourite teacher is heard by some,
and the voice of another master in Israel is listened to by others, and so God's voice
is lost amid the clamour of sects and the uproar of parties.
Oh, that the Church would sit at Jesus' feet, lay aside her prejudices, and take the Word
in its simplicity and integrity, and accept what God the Lord only declares to be the
truth. I invite the members of this church, and urge the members of all the churches to see
this, that we cry unto the Lord for a blessed silence in His presence, till we sit like
servants waiting for the Master's word, and stand like watchmen waiting for the Master's
coming. Lord send that solemn silence over all your people now.
"When sheep stop their bleating and listen - maybe then - they'll hear
their Shepherd's voice and do what He says!"- Anon |
Words, words, words: we have so many words, and they are chaff, but where is THE WORD that
in the beginning was God and was with God? That Word is the living and incorruptible seed.
We want less of the words of man, and more off Him who is the very Word of God. BE QUIET
and let Jesus speak. Be silent, that you may hear the voice of Jesus, for when He speaks
your strength will be renewed. The eternal Spirit is with His people, but we often miss
His power because we give more ear to other voices than His, and quite often our own
voice is an injury to us, for it is heard when we have received no message from the
Lord, and therefore gives an uncertain sound. If we wait upon the blessed Spirit, His
mysterious influence will sway us most devinely, and we shall be filled with all the
fullness of God.
Our strength will be renewed, if in silence we yield up to God all our own wisdom and
strength. Brethren, I never am so full as when I am empty; I have never been so strong
as in the extremity of weakness. The source of our worst weakness is our homeborn
strength, and the source of our worst folly is our personal wisdom.
Lord help us to be still till we have abandoned ourselves, till we have said, Lord, our
ways of working cannot be compared with Your ways of working; teach us how to work;
Lord, our judgements are weak compared with Your perfect judgement; we are fools, be
our teacher and guide in all things. Crush out of us our fancied strength. Break our
folly like Jacob, for after this sort shall you renew your strength.
Keep silent, you saints, till you have recognized your folly and your weakness, and
sit in blessed silence as servants waiting for the Master's Word. For when he speaks
your strength will be renewed most gloriously. More than ever before let your inmost
souls be filled with trust in the one that never changes.
God is speaking. Not God spoke, but God is speaking. He is by His nature continuously
articulate. He fills the world with His speaking Voice.
A.W. Tozer