God Wants to Come Down

Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence—as fire burns brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, the mountains shook at Your presence.” ISAIAH 64:1-3

 

PONDER THIS

Revival is when God comes down. Look in verse one, “Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence.” That’s what revival is; it is a meeting with Almighty God. Most of us are seeking for God to do something. We want it for our church’s sake. We want it for our family’s sake. We want it for the nation’s sake. But we’re seeking God’s hand and not seeking God’s face. Our hearts need to yearn for God. We need to say, “O God, will You come down?”

Now I want to tell you God loves to come down. God the Son stepped out of Heaven and came down to this world of woe that He might save us. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down and baptized that infant Church with wonderful power. As we study the Word of God, we find out that Jesus is coming down again one day. I want to tell you that if you study the Bible, you’ll find out that God has come down many times in the Bible, and every time, we find revival. And in modern history, if you’ll study the record of the Church, you will find that from time to time, in place to place, God has come down. There is no question—He is ready to come down and move. Will you desire and pray for it?

Do you desire to see revival? Why or why not?

What would it look like to be committed to asking God for revival?

PRACTICE THIS

Pray for revival in your in your heart and in your home.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How to Magnify God

I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. (Psalm 69:30)

There are two kinds of magnifying: microscope magnifying and telescope magnifying. The one makes a small thing look bigger than it is. The other makes a big thing begin to look as big as it really is.

When David says, “I will magnify God with thanksgiving,” he does not mean, “I will make a small God look bigger than he is.” He means, “I will make a big God begin to look as big as he really is.”

We are not called to be microscopes. We are called to be telescopes. Christians are not called to be con-men who magnify their product out of all proportion to reality, when they know the competitor’s product is far superior. There is nothing and nobody superior to God. And so the calling of those who love God is to make his greatness begin to look as great as it really is.

That’s why we exist, why we were saved, as Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

The whole duty of the Christian can be summed up in this: feel, think, and act in a way that will make God look as great as he really is. Be a telescope for the world of the infinite starry wealth of the glory of God.

This is what it means for a Christian to magnify God. But you can’t magnify what you haven’t seen or what you quickly forget.

Therefore, our first task is to see and to remember the greatness and goodness of God. So we pray to God, “Open the eyes of my heart!” (Ephesians 1:18), and we preach to our souls, “Soul, forget not all his benefits!” (Psalm 103:2).

John Piper 

Bible Study

Psalm 28:7-8

    [7] The LORD is my strength and my shield;

        in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

    my heart exults,

        and with my song I give thanks to him.

    [8] The LORD is the strength of his people;

        he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

Psalm 40:16

    [16] But may all who seek you

        rejoice and be glad in you;

    may those who love your salvation

        say continually, “Great is the LORD!”

Psalm 50:14-15

    [14] Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,

        and perform your vows to the Most High, 

    [15] and call upon me in the day of trouble;

        I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Psalm 50:23

    [23] The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;

        to one who orders his way rightly

        I will show the salvation of God!”

Is Jesus Alive in You?

“Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

ACTS 4:10-12

 

PONDER THIS

Solomon’s temple was built without the ring of hammers and the sound of chisels at the worksite. The stones were designed, and the specifications were sent to the quarry. The stones were cut in the quarry and brought to the worksite to be assembled by the workers. One strange-looking stone was in the middle. Nobody seemed to know what it was for, how it would fit, and they kept stumbling over it. It was a stumbling stone; it was in the way. Finally, the project manager said, “Men, move that stone out of the way.” They took that stone over to the edge of the temple mount, rolled it over, and it went down into the Kidron valley.

They were almost complete when it was time for the cornerstone. They said, “bring the cornerstone, we’re ready for it.” But the cornerstone was not there. Where do you think it was? Down in the valley. That’s what this verse is talking about. That stone that the builders viewed as nothing became the cornerstone, the foundation stone for the temple.

Peter’s saying, Listen, you want me to tell you how this is done? That stone that you rejected, Jesus Christ the living stone, is the cornerstone—He is the One who has made each man whole. He is the risen Lord; He is the residing Lord. I want you to know that if you’re a Christian, Jesus, who is alive, lives in you. If we could only get that in our hearts.! We’re not just talking about someday; Jesus is alive and well now in you.

Has Jesus had a cornerstone place in your life? Why or why not?

What happens when we do not build our life on the cornerstone of Christ?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk to a spiritual mentor and ask him or her how he or she has built his or her life on the cornerstone of Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Jesus Prays for Us

He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

It says that Christ is able to save to the uttermost — forever — since he always lives to make intercession for us. In other words, he would not be able to save us forever if he did not go on interceding for us forever.

This means our salvation is as secure as Christ’s priesthood is indestructible. This is why we needed a priest so much greater than any human priest. Christ’s deity and his resurrection from the dead secure his indestructible priesthood for us.

This means we should not talk about our salvation in static terms the way we often do — as if I did something once in an act of decision, and Christ did something once when he died and rose again, and that’s all there is to it. That’s not all there is to it.

This very day I am being saved by the eternal intercession of Jesus in heaven. Jesus is praying for us and that is essential to our salvation.

We are saved eternally by the eternal prayers (Romans 8:34) and advocacy (1 John 2:1) of Jesus in heaven as our High Priest. He prays for us and his prayers are answered because he prays perfectly on the basis of his perfect sacrifice.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Romans 8:33-35

[33] Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. [34] Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. [35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Hebrews 9:24

[24] For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

Hebrews 7:19-22

[19] (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

[20] And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, [21] but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: 

    “The Lord has sworn

        and will not change his mind,

    ‘You are a priest forever.’”

    [22] This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

John 14:6

[6] Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

What We Need Are Encouragers

“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” GALATIANS 6:1

 

PONDER THIS

One day when I was a kid, I shimmied up a coconut tree to get a coconut. It was a big tree. I had my arm around a palm frond, and suddenly, the palm frond came loose; the coconut came loose; and I came loose. I slipped down the tree and hit the ground. I fell on the grass, but my left arm fell on the sidewalk and splintered my elbow, the bone jutting out of the skin. It was awful. I was lying there on the ground, writhing.

My brother was there too. He didn’t run all over town, saying, “Hey, Adrian fell, Adrian fell!” He didn’t stand there and say, “Adrian, you’re the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. Couldn’t you see the palm leaf was yellow?” He didn’t give me a lecture, and He didn’t leave me, thinking I was no good anymore with a broken arm. No, my brother came alongside of me and gave me some tender, loving help. Thank God, I’ve got that arm again to use.

Some people fall, but they don’t need us going around gossiping about it. They don’t need lectures. They don’t need people leaving them behind when they are wounded. No, we need some Barnabas types. We need people with tender, loving care. The word “restore” in the Greek is the term for setting a bone. It’s tender, loving care.

When has someone encouraged you when you have fallen?

How can encouragement make a difference when you have failed?

PRACTICE THIS

Encourage someone who has struggled in the faith.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers