The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1958-06-27

Oauy lew, LllCi q
are the Pope. and Or. Foreman
Mary Baker Eddy. and Joseph
Smith, and Billy Graham. and
Oral Roberts. and the Jchovah's
Witnesses, and the local preacher.
and maybe your mothcr-in-law.
all laying claim. one way or an
other to be telling you exactly
what God wants you TO do There
were. and there still are. true
prophets and false How do We
know which Is which? How can
we tell the genuine voices for God7
4 Strange Story
Back In TIE Old Testament there
Is I strange incident about an old
man and young boy. Eli and
Samuel. The old man was high
priest, the boy was only helper
around the shrine. Yet one morn
ing the boy came to the man and
gave him terrible message.
message which. he said. God had
told him to take TO the old man
Ell II was one Of the most horri-
tying predictions that could come
to a man Yet after Eli had heard
what the boy Samuel had 70 say.
the old priests only comment was.
1t is TIE Lord. lei him do what
seems good TO him Now. per
haps We can get Some light on our
problem. II We inquire. How did
Eli know that Samuel's voice was
genuinely voice for God7
God Is No Echo
like Samuel II was not the Kind
Of thing Samuel would have liked
10 say Eli was his oldest and best
friend, he was (1s We would say
his boss. A word from Eli and
20 home to his mother. Saying
what Samhel did tthe whole story
is in the Bible material for this
Week, was likely TO lose him an
old friend and 10 risk his position
and future Further, it was most
certainly not what Eli wanted to
hear. II was not by any means 1
comforting. encourag ing message.
There are people who claim that
't(.nGf' e r.r1tt ~ M fny- tho
lection q our wishes. great loud
echo in tho sky, echoing our dear
est desires Not at all The true
God is no echo. Even lazy in
competent man like Eli for priest
though he was. ne was mighty
poor one) knew better than that
In the Middle Of Conscience
IN the second place. Eli knew
that Samuels voice was voice
for God because it hurt him in a
sensitive spot, namely right in the
middle OF his conscience Now per-
sons without a conscience, or a
conscience scared by sin. or twist
ed and half-demented. have not
this way OF knowing. But Eli had
still, we may believe, some gen
uine spark OF conscience in him.
though he had poured the cold
water Of indifference on IL these
many years. This voice tina. came
to him in Samuers boyish treble
was still a true voice for God, be-
cause it told him what, deep down,
he knew was the truth. He had
been doing wrong. He who was ex-
pected to be spiritual leader OF his
people had been Qiterally) asleep
on his job. He knew he deserved
no good from God And when Sam
uel told him so, Eli knew that
Samuel was a voice for God.
Voice for God and Voice Of God
A third point is this: The voice
for God. any true voice for him,
does not contradict the voice Of
< God. Now Eli did not have our
Bible; but he did have some OF
the early part Of it. He had some
knowledge Of the Law Of God as
it had come to his forefathers In
the Ten Commandments. What
Samuel told him was exactly In
line with what Eli must have IN
derstood to be the genuine voice
OF God We today have much
fuller and clearer revelation than
Eli had, in our Holy Bible. AS :
New Testament writer puts it, God
in these days has spoken to US by
his Son. Any voice. claiming to Be
for God, that contradicts what we
know Of God in Jesus Christ We
can ignore; for we can be sure it
is the voice Of 4 faker.
tBaseA On outlines eoryfightsd ~ the
Division 81 Christian Edseatisn, NJ
uenal Council Of the Churches 81 Christ
In the O. 5. A. Released y Con d unity
PTeSs SeryiesD
SCHOOLDAYS, SCHOOLDAYS!
New Bedford, Mass. One d