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Thirdly, the Christian public must share the blame. So low is the
spiritual life among God's people that we're thrilled at any sign of a
movement from heaven among our "dry bones!" Consequently, we've sinned
in making so much of the instruments God has raised up. We like to
gloat to the unbelieving world that the gospel isn't "played out" after
all and have run into the danger of hero-worship. Many believers
worship evangelists as much as the unsaved worship their film stars.
The mighty revivalist, Charles Finney, has warned us in trumpet-blast words that when the Christian public begins to be proud of their revival and their leaders, the Shekinah glory will depart. Great respect is certainly due to the blessed men and women who have been mightily used of God, but we must be careful not to glorify them.
When a prophet is accepted and deified, his message is lost. The prophet is only useful so long as he is stoned as a public nuisance - as he calls us to repent and disturbs our comfortable routine, breaking our respectable idols and shattering our conventions. There has always been a temptation to worship our leaders. Peter cried out on the mount, "Let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias." While he was speaking these idolatrous words, a bright cloud obliterated the two great leaders and a voice from the most excellent glory announced sternly, "This is my beloved Son."
How we need to pray, like the late Ruth Paxson, "Oh, God, do not let me touch Thy glory."
The Lord Jesus only
When Bartimaeus asked what the commotion meant, the disciples didn't answer, "We're passing by." Yet, it was their movements that arrested the blind man; he heard them. But when he asked what the multitudes meant, he was told, "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." It's a blessed thing when we can say of all our conventions and campaigns, "The Lord Jesus is passing by!" This is the test of all our work for God. There is always a danger that a crowd will gather "not for Jesus' sake only" (John 12:2).
I've been pleased to discover that the famous Russian masters, when painting the figures of Christ on their Greek Catholic icons, would never sign their names to their work. When asked why, they replied, "How could we place our names beside the figure of the Christ?" What a lesson for us!
I love the story that Andrew Bonar used to tell of the auctioneer who was commending in glorious words a picture of one of the old masters, while he himself stood behind the painting that he might not be seen.
This is copyrighted material from James Stewart's book Come O Breath!, available from Revival Literature, PO Box 6068, Asheville, NC 28816.
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