A Miraculous Sign
A Miraculous Sign
"We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be." (Psalm 74.9)
"When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red', and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times." (Matthew 16.2-3)
A miraculous sign of the times, of the utmost importance, has appeared! It is the 169-minute documentary called "Into Great Silence" by Philip Groning. It reveals with extraordinary beauty and simplicity (no upbeat, jargon-y commentary...no mood music!) the usually cloistered (hidden) life of a community of Christian hermits called Carthusians in Chartreuse, France.
This house of prayer was founded at 4,268 feet in the Alps (near Grenoble) in 1084. The community's life of devotion to God and prayer for the human race, has gone on uninterrupted since that time. An early member of the community once wrote, "We unworthy and poor men of Christ...dwell in the desert of Chartreuse for the love of the name of Jesus."
But why make a song-and-dance about this film?
Ordinarily Carthusian communities eschew all publicity and self-promotion. Their deceased lie in un-named graves. Their books are written by "A Carthusian". They have no guesthouses. Such PR advances their cause and aids their unique way of life, not at all. They do not seek or require fame or fortune. Their motto is "God Alone", and they look to and trust God alone for all that they need...most especially vocations (new recruits). It took this community at Chartreuse 16 years to reach their decision to permit Philip Groning to live in their midst for 6 months and document their peculiar calling and lifestyle. (But then what's a mere 16-year-wait, in the context of nigh on a thousand years of history and experience?)
In some respects the publicity which this genuinely amazing film is undoubtedly generating, might create more adverse that positive consequences for the worldwide Carthusian Order. So why has such a digital document been permitted to be brought into existence?
In an interview in 2004 (See "Interview - Anatomy of the Prophetic") I expressed this expectation,
"Let me also say, that I know in every nation right now, there are true Ascension Gift (Ephesians 4.7-13) prophets living as hermits. No one knows who they are or where they are. But they're out there, utterly devoted to and crying out to God and listening to His voice and then prophesying His word through intercessory prayer.
"One day soon a handful of these men and women are going to be allowed to come down out of the hills and into the Church, and their silent, loving gaze over us will bring more reformation and revival in a few seconds than all our conferences could achieve in a decade."
("Into Great Silence" was released in 2005!)
Thus, this sign was anticipated. But what is its significance? What is God saying?
The Carthusians are Christian hermits ("eremites"...desert dwellers) for whom prayer is the sum of their existence. They live to pray, and they pray to live. For far too many of us (most especially those who belong to a Protestant tradition) prayer is a means to a "greater" end. It is something important that we do, to prepare to do more important things.
The prophets of the Old Testament had different ways of describing history as it approached its climax...the return of the Lord Jesus, to be this world's King of kings and Lord of lords. Isaiah spoke of "the last days", Jeremiah of "that day...none will be like it", and Malachi of "that great and dreadful day of the Lord". They are to be extraordinary times, composed of extraordinary events interwoven. Not the least of these will be "the time of Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30.7), so graphically portrayed by the English, Jewish Believer and scholar, David Baron (1855-1926),
"It is clear that there is a time of purging by fiery judgement awaiting Israel after the return to their land, which will immediately precede their national conversion and the revelation to them of the Messiah, whom, as a nation, they have so long rejected."
In the context of End Time' events, this alone will put huge pressure and strain upon the Body of Christ...in ways both glorious and terrible. How shall we serve the Lord and His beloved Jewish People during such times? And what will be the consequences for the Christian Community of the foretold "apostasy"...rebellion and falling away from the faith? What social, political and economic forces will be unleashed upon us and history with the revelation of "the man of lawlessness...the son of destruction"? (2 Thessalonians 2.3-4)
I am convinced that right now, through our Carthusian brethren of Chartreuse, God is warning and exhorting us to prepare, by completely recalibrating ourselves concerning our notions and practice of prayer. We shall only be able to stand for God in the Last Days, upon our knees. We will only be able as disciples to follow Jesus through history's final firestorms of revival and judgement, walking upon our knees. Our praying has to cease being the means to some end; it must become the beginning and the end and the content of our Christian lives and ministries.
You will reasonably ask, How are we to do this? Perhaps we might begin by considering approaching God with childlike simplicity and humility with a view to asking, "Lord, teach us to pray..." (Luke 11.1)
In an essay entitled "Impiety of Attributing a Visible Form to God", the Genevan Reformer, John Calvin (1509-1564) wrote, "God is opposed to idols, that all may know He is the only fit witness to Himself." Might it not follow that the only "fit" framer of prayer to Almighty God, is God Himself? And is it thus that we are to understand the intercession of the Son and the Holy Spirit?
"Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them." (Hebrews 7.23-25)
"Christ Jesus...is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." (Romans 8.34)
"The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." (Romans 8.26-27)
"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance (ability to speak)." (Acts 2.4)
