They
knew Him not, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath. Acts
13:27
We would remind our readers that these messages are constituted
by a principle which governs so much of the Bible. It is that, deeper than the words of
Scripture, there is a voice; that it was – and is – possible to hear
the words and miss the voice. The words are the statements; the voice is the
meaning. We have proved this to be the case by such a statement as that in
Isaiah 6:9: “Hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed (margin:
‘continually’) but perceive not.” This is the condition lying behind our basic
quotation in Acts 13:27.
It is sometimes positively amazing and staggering what even
Christians – and Christian leaders – can do and say because of this deaf ear to
the Spirit. They can take up and pass on most pernicious reports which are sheer
lies and do untold harm to others and the Lord's interests because they do not
so walk in the Spirit as to have Him say within: "That is not true."
It is one thing to include belief in the Holy Spirit as a tenet of Christian
doctrine, and it may be quite another thing to know when "the Spirit of
truth" witnesses within the heart to the truth or the falsehood. It is
significant that both the Remnant and the Overcomer are marked by this
"hearing the voice." Jesus placed the ultimate issue of
Life or death upon this "hearing the voice (not just the words)
of the Son of Man."
"Every sabbath" they heard the words,
but not the voice.... Let us pray for the ear of Samuel –
"Oh, give me Samuel's ear –
An open ear, O Lord!
Alive and quick to hear
Each whisper of Thy word!"
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