The Heritage of God’s Servants

The Bible tells us something in regard to the prophet Samuel, that is an element of the faith all but totally unknown today, and little understood: “And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground” (I Sam. 3:19). So what does it actually mean that none of Samuel’s words fell to the ground? Well, quite simply that God upheld all of Samuel’s words and fulfilled them. And why did God do this? Because the words that Samuel spoke came to him from God, and he didn’t speak in God’s name unless he knew that the words DID come from God. We see the same thing said just a little bit differently in the book of Isaiah: “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD” (Isa. 54:17). “The heritage of the [true] servants of the Lord,” is that God is really and truly with them, and it is their words that will stand; and everyone who opposes them will be defeated, and that by God. They do not defend what they have to say because it is not theirs TO defend (Psm. 7:10; Psm. 59:9; Psm. 62:6). No friend, they in fact know that God will defend THEM, and fulfill their words that he has given them to speak. There is absolutely no confidence known to man like the confidence of knowing by long experience that God will put his words in your mouth when you speak in his name; and knowing that those words have no chance of falling to the ground. Also after your words have been resisted by someone, they will come back like an echo to those who resisted them, and pursue them from that point on. In that case there is just nothing whatsoever to be defensive about when your words are resisted. Only love, and sometimes contempt, and the hope that resistance will turn to repentance.

So why don’t we hear more about this kind of thing? Simply because there are so few who are willing to pay the price to apply themselves to God diligently in honesty, faith, humility, and perseverance in prayer (Prov. 2:3-6; Heb. 11:6). And because there are so few who fear God enough to be more inclined to “hear what the Spirit sayeth,” than what they want to say themselves (Job 28:28; Prov. 18:2; Rev. 2:7). And because there are so few who are willing to stand against the traditions and doctrines of men, and bear the reproach of truly hearing from and speaking for God (Jn. 5:44; Jn. 12:42). And because it is so much more convenient to refer to the Bible as the word of God, and assume that whatever you repeat out of it is the word of God as well. Funny how when you actually read what is IN the Bible, it says things like: “Then the word of the LORD CAME UNTO ME SAYING” (Jer. 13:8; etc.). In fact the word of God has ALWAYS come to those who have spoken it, and nothing has changed in that order of things. If we TRY to speak for God without his word actually coming to us, then ALL of our words will fall to the ground. Unfortunately that is the case today with many who are claiming to be speaking for God. The best that is heard today is a mix of God’s words along with man’s words, and that mix is heavily inclined toward the latter. But the good news is that if you have God’s Spirit, his Spirit will teach you what truly is the word of God, if that means more to you than anything else (Isa. 54:13; Jn. 14:26; Jn. 16:13; I Jn. 2:27). Though God’s word is available to all who have receive his Spirit, as it was available to the prophets who suffered reproach alone, so it is today that those who prefer God’s way over the prevalent religious way of the times are very few, and very far between (Lk. 13:24). Yet those who consider that privilege the greatest prize in this life, will have “the heritage of the servants of the Lord;” and it is certain that their words will not fall to the ground. It is equally as certain, that when all the dust settles, everyone who has opposed them will no choice but to acknowledge it (Ezek. 2:5; Rev. 3:9). Amen.