THE GOSPEL MESSENGER—February 1891 

And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.—1 Sam. iii. 21.

There is something very remarkable in the expres­sion so often used in the Bible that “the Lord appeared” unto such and such a one, at different times and under different circumstances. 

1.   As we do not intend now to enlarge upon this point very extensively, we merely suggest to the reader for consideration that there is a Bible sense in which God cannot be seen otherwise by any man, woman or child, than as he is pleased to appear by a special reve­lation of himself to them. 

2.   Samuel was but a child in nature, as all other children are, but his religious training from the day ho was weaned from his mother’s breast was under Eli, an aged priest of the Lord. He was girded with a sacred girdle, to signify his consecration to the service of God, and so far as the letter and form of service was con­cerned, he “ministered unto the Lord before Eli, the priest,” and “the child grew on and was in favor both with God and with man.”—1 Sam. ii. 11, 26. 

3.   That Samuel was a good, moral, upright and faith­ful child, obeying his parents and Eli, the priest, we have no doubt, but yet he did not know the Lord by a personal and special revelation of the spirit, as the Lord afterwards appeared unto him. He was a child of promise. 

4. We may also learn from this record concerning the child Samuel, that men, women and children may know that there is a God of infinite wisdom and almighty power, from the light of nature or from instructions given them by others, but this knowledge is not supernatural, but natural, not a personal revela­tion by the Spirit, but a knowledge that God bath shown in the works of nature to all men, so that they are without excuse” when they “worship and serve the creature more than the Creator.”—(Rom. i. 24.) “Devils believe and tremble” because of the knowledge they have of the existence of God; yet they have had no revelation of his character in the work of salvation. He has not thus appeared unto them as he did to the child Samuel, or as he appeared in the smoking furnace to Abraham, or in the vision of a ladder to Jacob, and in the burning bush to Moses. 

5.   When the Lord appears to any one by a revela­tion in the sense of which we are speaking, he is then known in a sense which before was totally unknown. And not only is this, but man, in his natural state is entirely incapable of knowing that which is revealed by the Spirit. He receiveth not the things of the Spirit, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.—(l Cor. ii. 14.) Neither eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor bath it entered into the conceptions of man’s heart the things that God reveals by his Spirit. 

6.   When the Lord appears by a revelation, as he did to the child Samuel, he gives spiritual powers of per­ception to behold the character of God as a “Just God and a Saviour.” The sinner is passive and helpless, yet he sees and feels that he is a vile and polluted sin­ner before a just and holy God. He may have read the written word of God from childhood, and have been taught like Samuel and Saul of Tarsus, after the per­fect manner of legal forms of worship, but no such knowledge of the character of either God or man can be attained in this way, as is attained when the Lord appears by a revelation of his spirit. The spirit searcheth all things, and the whole work of a spiritual birth is his work from first to last. Not one of these spiritual things can be known or accomplished by the light of nature, by science, by philosophy, by the light of history, or by even reading and studying the letter of the Bible, itself, though it is right to read and search the scriptures. We may know, as we have seen, and as we have been taught, that the Sun is the great fountain of all created light; that there is a moon and millions of smaller lights in the natural heavens; we may know something of the natural laws concerning the clouds, the rain, snow and hail, the earth, air and seas, as well as of the natural instincts of various animals and insects. We may know and learn much that is useful to men about these natural things, because we have a natural capacity for attaining unto such knowledge, without any supernatural power or spiritual revelation. That which is said to be revealed by the spirit to any one personally, is far above all these natural attain­ments “as the heavens are higher than the earth.” So are the thoughts and ways of God higher than the thoughts and ways of man.—Isa. lv. 9. 

7.   The appearing of the Lord by a revelation at any time is a free, sovereign act of his own. It is a gift as freely bestowed as his everlasting love, or as a gift of his only begotten Son to die for their sins. “With him he freely giveth us all things.”—(Rom. viii. 32.) He giveth grace, even the grace of faith, repentance, humility and prayer. “Speak, Lord,” says the child Samuel, “for thy servant heareth.” The poor soul is then willing to wait for a “Thus saith the Lord” for all he doeth—“Speak, Lord,” is his motto; “I will wait to see what God, the Lord, will speak.” Beyond this he dare not go. He waits for the revealed word and for the spirit to search out and unfold that word to his understanding. Yea! the Lord gives and opens the understanding, that he may understand the Scriptures. 

8. Another and closing thought for consideration is that the Lord reveals himself sometimes to very young and small children. Samuel, it is true, as well as all others to whom the Lord thus appears, was a chosen vessel of mercy, conceived, brought forth and born into the world in answer to a fervent spirit of prayer which the Lord had put into his mother’s heart; and as she had received him as a special gift from the Lord, she felt an assurance of faith that he was the Lord’s, and not her own; and, therefore, she consecrated him to the Lord. 

The Lord is, no doubt, often dealing with children when they are very young. He quickens them by his life-giving spirit, even before they have ever known much about bad practical sins, and consequently they cannot tell, like some older persons, when it took place, when they began to feel concerned, or of great mourning, repenting and sorrowing over the bad conduct of their past life. They are but children, and they know nothing of the horrors of that guilt which others feel who have long been leading a sinful, profane and prof­ligate life. The Lord appears to them by a revelation, as he did to the child Samuel; but, like him, they do not know what it all means. They need to be instruct­ed and told by those who do know that it is the Lord’s work. The Apostle Peter knew that Jesus was the Son of God, while many other men with better natural opportunities could only say that he was Jeremias, or one of the prophets, but Peter needed to be told how and from whom he had obtained that superior and truthful knowledge. “Flesh and blood bath not re­vealed it unto thee,” says Jesus, “but my Father, which is in heaven.”—(Mat. xvi.) Peter had the faith and knowledge of Jesus as the Son of the living God, but he did not know, till Jesus told him, that it was a reve­lation from God, the Father; and had he been asked whether be ever had such a revelation he could not have referred to the very day and hour when it took place. So we doubt not that there are many who can­not tell the precise time of their first convictions for sin, or of their deliverance, or even when they first begin to love the Bible, or loved to hear the gospel preached, or hear Christians talk, but they know they love these things and these people, and hate sin and sinful ways. Surely, then, they have passed from death unto life, and these are some of the fruits of it, though they may never be able to tell when it took place.—M