prayers

  • Prayer & Revival in Ireland (R.A. Torrey) & Livingstone in Africa: Are we in our closets?

    The following is an excerpt from R.A. Torrey's book "How to Pray," Chapter XII - The Place of Prayer before and during Revivals, which was published in 1900 (boldface mine):

    In the early part of the seventeenth century there was a great religious awakening in Ulster, Ireland. The lands of the rebel chiefs which had been forfeited to the British crown, were settled up by a class of colonists who for the most part were governed by a spirit of wild adventure. Real piety was rare. Seven ministers, five from Scotland and two from England, settled in that country, the earliest arrivals being in 1613. Of one of these ministers named Blair it is recorded by a contemporary, “He spent many days and nights in prayer, alone and with others, and was vouchsafed great intimacy with God.” Mr. James Glendenning, a man of very meager natural gifts, was a man similarly minded as regards prayer. The work began under this man Glendenning. The historian of the time says, “He was a man who never would have been chosen by a wise assembly of ministers nor sent to begin a reformation in this land. Yet this was the Lord’s choice to begin with him the admirable work of God which I mention on purpose that all may see how the glory is only the Lord’s in making a holy nation in this profane land, and that it was ‘not by might, nor by power, nor by man’s wisdom, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.’” In his preaching at Oldstone multitudes of hearers felt in great anxiety and terror of conscience. They looked on themselves as altogether lost and damned, and cried out,

    “Men and brethren, what shall we do to be saved?” They were stricken into a swoon by the power of His Word. A dozen in one day were carried out of doors as dead. These were not women, but some of the boldest spirits of the neighborhood; “some who had formerly feared not with their swords to put a whole market town into a fray.” Concerning one of them, then a mighty strong man, now a mighty Christian, say that his end in coming into church was to consult with his companions how to work some mischief.”

    This work spread throughout the whole country. By the year 1626 a monthly concert of prayer was held in Antrim. The work spread beyond the bounds of Down and Antrim to the churches of the neighboring counties. So great became the religious interest that Christians would come thirty or forty miles to the communions, and continue from the time they came until they returned without wearying or making use of sleep. Many of them neither ate nor drank, and yet some of them professed that they “went away most fresh and vigorous, their souls so filled with the sense of God.”

    This revival changed the whole character of northern Ireland.

    Another great awakening in Ireland in 1859 had a somewhat similar origin. By many who did not know, it was thought that this marvelous work came without warning and preparation, but Rev. William Gibson, the moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland in 1860, in his very interesting and valuable history of the work tells how there had been preparation for two years. There had been constant discussion in the General Assembly of the low estate of religion, and of the need of a revival. There had been special sessions for prayer. Finally four young men, who became leaders in the origin of the great work, began to meet together in an old schoolhouse in the neighborhood of Kells. About the spring of 1858 a work of power began to manifest itself. It spread from town to town, and from county to county. The congregations became too large for the buildings, and the meetings were held in the open air, oftentimes attended by many thousands of people. Many hundreds of persons were frequently convicted of sin in a single meeting. In some places the criminal courts and jails were closed for lack of occupation. There were manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s power of a most remarkable character, clearly proving that the Holy Spirit is as ready to work to-day as in apostolic days, when ministers and Christians really believe in Him and begin to prepare the way by prayer.

    Mr. Moody’s wonderful work in England and Scotland and Ireland that afterwards spread to America had its origin on the manward side in prayer. Mr. Moody made little impression until men and women began to cry to God. Indeed his going to England at all was in answer to the importunate cries to God of a bed-ridden saint. While the spirit of prayer continued the revival abode in strength, but in the course of time less and less was made of prayer and the work fell off very perceptibly in power. Doubtless one of the great secrets of the unsatisfactoriness and superficiality and unreality of many of our modern so-called revivals, is that more dependence is put upon man’s machinery than upon God’s power, sought and obtained by earnest, persistent, believing prayer. We live in a day characterized by the multiplication of man’s machinery and the diminution of God’s power. The great cry of our day is work, work, work, new organizations, new methods, new machinery; the great need of our day is prayer. It was a master stroke of the devil when he got the church so generally to lay aside this mighty weapon of prayer. The devil is perfectly willing that the church should multiply its organizations, and deftly contrive machinery for the conquest of the world for Christ if it will only give up praying. He laughs as he looks at the church to-day and says to himself:

    “You can have your Sunday-schools and your Young People’s Societies, your Young Men’s Christian Associations and your Women’s Christian Temperance Unions, your Institutional Churches and your Industrial Schools, and your Boy’s Brigades, your grand choirs and your fine organs, your brilliant preachers and your revival efforts too, if you don’t bring the power of Almighty God into them by earnest, persistent, believing, mighty prayer.”

    Prayer could work as marvelous results today as it ever could, if the church would only betake itself to it.

    There seem to be increasing signs that the church is awakening to this fact. Here and there God is laying upon individual ministers and churches a burden of prayer that they have never known before. Less dependence is being put upon machinery and more dependence upon God. Ministers are crying to God day and night for power. Churches and portions of churches are meeting together in the early morning hours and the late night hours crying to God for the latter rain. There is every indication of the coming of a mighty and widespread revival. There is every reason why, if a revival should come in any country at this time, it should be more widespread in its extent than any revival of history. There is the closest and swiftest communication by travel, by letter, and by cable between all parts of the world. A true fire of God kindled in America would soon spread to the uttermost parts of the earth. The only thing needed to bring this fire is prayer.

    It is not necessary that the whole church get to praying to begin with. Great revivals always begin first in the hearts of a few men and women whom God arouses by His Spirit to believe in Him as a living God, as a God who answers prayer, and upon whose heart He lays a burden from which no rest can be found except in importunate crying unto God.

    May God use this book to arouse many others to pray that the greatly-needed revival may come, and come speedily.

    * * *

    Zechariah 4:1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, 2  And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: 3  And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4  So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5  Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. 7  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 8  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 9  The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. 10  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. (KJV)

    Let us not despise the day of small things!

    Let us rely wholly on the Spirit of Lord, rather than on the flesh of man.

    Please notice these portions I emphasized above:

    the small numbers...

    Seven ministers

    four young men

    and those who would be passed over as judged by the world's eyes...

    a man of very meager natural gifts

    He was a man who never would have been chosen by a wise assembly of ministers nor sent to begin a reformation in this land. Yet this was the Lord’s choice to begin with him the admirable work of God which I mention on purpose that all may see how the glory is only the Lord’s in making a holy nation in this profane land, and that it was ‘not by might, nor by power, nor by man’s wisdom, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.

    a bed-ridden saint

    God's ways are NOT our ways – but how often do we forget that? Very often when we see a problem, instead of seeking the Lord's mind and will about that, so we might see the situation through God's eyes and discern the solution that comes from Him, we approach the problem according to our own human, fleshly thoughts and ways, and we begin to look to the world's ways. As a result, our way is to campaign and to network and to shout, to try to be the loudest voice on the block, we do all we can to make the biggest splash and the greatest impact. We try to rally more and more people, we seek to raise more and more money, we strive to enlist the biggest and brightest and shiniest and flashiest and strongest and wisest in the world's eyes. We get enamored with and tangled up in that vain and vile machinery of man!

    But that's never God's way, as we read in I Corinthians 1:

    26  For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are...

    That makes no sense to our flesh. Why, then, is that God's way?

    ...  29  so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30  He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31  Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

    We see that story repeated time and again throughout the Bible and throughout Church history, such as we see in Torrey's account of God's workings in revival in Ireland throughout the years. God is always seeking that He gets all the glory. All! All means all!

    Isaiah 42:8  I am the LORD; that is my name;
    my glory I give to no other,
    nor my praise to carved idols.

     

    For example, consider the story of Gideon and Israel's battle against the Midianites in Judges 7 and 8. (See also my post here.) If you remember the story, God has Gideon continue to pare down his army time and again. Why did God do such a thing? To our human reasoning, the more the better!

    Judges 7:2  The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

    God is passionate for His own glory! That's the bottom line! God's glory! O, don't get me wrong, as we rely on our own fleshly ideas and plans, we may very well get a good result in the eyes of the world, we may be successful in many ways – but how does God see it? Have we robbed the LORD of the glory due His name in the process? Have we gained the whole world and lost our souls in the process?

    The LORD ends up bringing victory to Israel with 300 men! Consider who He is:

    I am the LORD; that is my name;
    my glory I give to no other,
    nor my praise to carved idols.

    Our God is the LORD! The LORD - Jehovah! If we would consider that, if we would consider our God's continuing, everlasting covenant love for the elect through the Lord Jesus Christ! If we would consider that our God is for us! If we would consider that He who did not spare His only begotten Son for us will freely give us all things! If we would consider that our God is the omniscient, omnipotent, only wise God, we would never consider turning to and relying on earthly means for help!

    In II Chronicles 14-16, we find the story of Asa, king of Judah, and how the Lord continued to give deliverance to Asa and Judah – so long as Asa relied on the Lord. Read the sad account of what happened when Asa chose to turn away from relying on the Lord to relying on man, in this case his making an alliance with Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria:

    II Chronicles 16:7  And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. 8  Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand. 9  For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. 10  Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time. (KJV)


    How can we expect God's blessing to pour down upon us, how can we expect God to revive the Church if we continue to rely on our own devices rather than pleading with God in prayer, pulling down His promises, and seeking His strength and His wisdom?     Whenever we continue to rely on ourselves, on our flesh and the machinery of man, God rebukes us and renders this judgment upon us: "Woe to you!" – just as God spoke to Israel thousands of years ago:

    Isaiah 30:1  Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: 2  That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! 3  Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. 4  For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. 5  They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. 6  The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. 7  For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still. (KJV)


    Isaiah 31:1  Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD! 2  Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. 3  Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together. (KJV)

    These things are written to us for our instruction! Let us take heed!

    Shouldn't the people of God seek their God? And yet how often do we walk in the ways of rebellious Israel and go down to "Egypt" for help? Isn't it an abomination that the children of God would do such a thing? And isn't it an abomination that we would even entertain the thought of doing such a thing? Jesus' words about adultery in the heart come to mind...

    Luke 5:28  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

    That's a sobering reminder to each and every one of us! As we look at the world and the world's devices and methods and think: "If we had more people, more money, more advertising, a bigger building, more followers, more readers..." At that point, each and every one of us have already committed adultery with the world in our hearts! Is our God not enough? Does He not long and yearn to show Himself strong on our behalf, to give strong support to us (ESV), to rain down in power upon us and provide all we need for the work He has given us to do? That which we need more of is more of the Holy Spirit, and, as Torrey said, more and more dependence on God and less and less dependence on man's machinery!

    People of God, let us consider our God! Let us consider our God is the Almighty God, the Lord of hosts! We sing Sunday after Sunday about the power of God – but do we really believe it? Do we see that apart from Him we have no power? Have we been brought to see our own insufficiency: that we are the branches and Jesus is the Vine and apart from Him we can do nothing?

    Let us consider who we are: we are the bride of Christ! Let us consider the treasure we have: our first Love, our Bridegroom! Let us consider that we are children of God, and let us consider the resurrection power which God makes available to us through His Holy Spirit – so long as we stop relying on our own power and we turn away from relying on the world's power and begin to ask, seek and knock at the throne of grace! Does our heavenly Father not want to give His children His Holy Spirit? (Luke 11) May we despise ourselves each and every time our hearts begin to wander from wholly relying on the LORD alone! Our seeking to work according to worldly ways, with worldly power and machinery is adultery against the one true God!

    The eyes of the LORD are still running to and fro throughout the earth today. And our God is looking for those whose hearts are perfect toward Him, or in the NKJV, whose hearts are loyal to Him, or the ESV, blameless toward Him. What does it mean to be perfect, loyal and blameless toward God? It means that God is looking for souls who are relying on Him. God did not find Asa to be such a man. Would God consider you to be such a man or a woman, one who relies on the Lord? Would He consider me to be such a woman? . . .

    Because Asa was not relying on God. God rebuked king Asa – and not only that, there were dire consequences for the entire nation of Israel! Let us not forget how our own neglect of prayer and our own lack of reliance on God as individuals does have an effect on the entire Body of Christ! Consider how Miriam's sin of dissension against Moses caused her to be stricken with leprosy, and while she was sent outside the camp for seven days, the rest of the nation could not journey until she was brought back in again (see Numbers 12).

    God says Asa had done foolishly. How foolish we are to rely on the power of man when our God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, He is our Savior and Redeemer, the God who conquered and defeated sin, death and Satan, the God whose Spirit blew and made us alive together with Christ – this is the God we have who is waiting to show Himself strong on our behalf! How foolish we are to despise our time in the closet in prayer, and in the meantime we find plenty of time and energy to run, run, run to all our activities, and we run, run, run to imitate the world's ways! And no, I'm not saying that we shouldn't be actively engaged in good works in the world, of course we should – but let's never do so without being engaged in that good work of prayer in the closet!

    Luke 18:1  And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2  He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3  And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4  For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5  yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6  And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7  And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? , Will he delay long over them? 8  I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

    We all ought to be running to our closets and falling down on our faces to our God there! Has God not promised that He will show Himself strong to us? Has He not promised He will avenge us speedily! Will He find faith on the earth? Will He find us in prayer? We can't expect God to show Himself strong on our behalf if we continue to rely on our own fleshly ideas and earthly schemes. How can we possibly expect God to bless us as we make our plans apart from consulting Him? How can we possibly expect God to bless us if we are not relying on Him?

    March 19, 2012 will be the 199th birthday of David Livingstone. The love of God had constrained and compelled Livingstone to spend and be spent for Jesus Chris. As a missionary and explorer in Africa, he laboring unceasingly to lift up Christ and Him crucified to the natives and to tear down the slave trade. Though his outer man had been more than worn out, both his flesh and his spirit continued more than willing... ¹:

    It must have been around 4 am when Susi heard Majwara's step once more. 'Come to Bwana, I am afraid; I don't know if he is alive.' Susi quickly called Chumah, Chowpere, Matthew and Muanyasere. The six men went immediately to the hut.

    Passing inside they looked towards the bed. Dr Livingstone was not lying on it, but appeared to be engaged in prayer, and they instinctively drew backwards for the instant. Pointing to him, Majwara said, 'When I lay down he was just as he is now, and it is because I find that he does not move that I fear he is dead.' They asked the lad how long he had slept. Majwara said he could not tell, but he was sure that it was some considerable time: the men drew nearer.

    A candle stuck by its own wax to the top of the box shed a light sufficient for them to see his form. Dr Livingstone was kneeling by the side of his bed, his body stretched forward, his head buried in his hands upon the pillow. For a minute they watched him:  he did not stir, there was no sign of breathing; then one of them, Matthew, advanced softly to him and placed his hands to his cheeks. It was sufficient; life had been extinct some time, and the body was almost cold: Livingstone was dead.


    "... And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks." – Hebrews 11:4
    May the Holy Spirit call us and draw us and keep us in the closet and faithful to the Lord in the same way He did Livingstone.

    "... Could you not watch one hour?" – Mark 14:37

    May God give us grace to be patient, steadfast, fervent and faithful in prayer, knowing our labor in prayer in the Lord is not in vain.
    James 5:7  Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8  You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9  Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10  As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11  Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful...

    16 ... The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18  Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

    May our God have mercy upon us and pour out upon His people the spirit of grace and supplications (Zech. 12:10), so we might watch in prayer and give the LORD no rest till He establish and make His Church a praise in the earth once again! (~ Isaiah 62)

    May God give us ears to hear His Spirit speaking to us...

    "Prayer could work as marvelous results today as it ever could, if the church would only betake itself to it."

    "It is not necessary that the whole church get to praying to begin with. Great revivals always begin first in the hearts of a few men and women whom God arouses by His Spirit to believe in Him as a living God, as a God who answers prayer, and upon whose heart He lays a burden from which no rest can be found except in importunate crying unto God."

     ~ May God be pleased to use this blog to arouse souls to pray that the greatly-needed revival may come, and come speedily. ~

    If God has been putting into your heart a similar burden to serve Him and to pray for the church, please visit tent_of_meeting, my blog dedicated to revival prayer, and deerlife, my blog to encourage believers to serve in their churches.

    Related posts on prayer and revival:

    Reference:  ¹Rob Mackenzie, "David Livingstone: The Truth Behind the Legend" (Ross-Shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 1993), 365-366. Mackenzie used the account of Livingstone's death as recorded in "The Last Journals of David Livingstone in Central Africa 1865-1873," by Horace Waller & John Murray (London: 1880), 308). For more on Livingstone, please see the Biography of David Livingstone at the Gospel Fellowship Association.

    Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

    Work found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:David_Livingstone.jpg  / CC BY-SA 3.0/ {{PD-Art|PD-old-100}}

  • "Happy are they who can say..." ~ J.C. Philpot | Letter 139 on assurance & fighting for joy

    In Ephesians 1, the apostle Paul writes:

    15  For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16  I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18  having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19  and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20  that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21  far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22  And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23  which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

    Paul has heard of the faith of the Ephesians, and he's thankful to God, and he's certainly rejoicing in their salvation. However, Paul isn't sitting content in knowing these saints at Ephesus are saved from eternal condemnation and have become children of God.

    Of course, because they're saved, the Ephesian Christians have already been enlightened through the work of the Holy Spirit; they've had their minds opened to the light of the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 4:1-6). However, above and beyond all that, Paul is now praying for these believers to be further enlightened. He has a great concern about the quality of their daily life since they've become Christians – and that ought to be the concern of all those who are entrusted with shepherding the flock of God. Paul has a holy and jealous zeal for their souls – he is passionate that they would come to know the blessings and riches and power which God has made available to all His children. Do you have such a desire for your own soul? Do you have such a desire for the souls of other believers? When was the last time you prayed such a prayer? Have you ever prayed such a prayer for yourself or for another? How does the content of your prayers compare with that of Paul's prayer here?

    And notice there in verse 19 how Paul phrases it: what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe... Toward us who believe! In other words, and contrary to what we may be tempted to think, this deeper knowledge of our inheritance isn't just for a few like Paul, but it's for all the saints – all who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit enjoys taking the deep things of God and revealing them to the children of God! Why? Because He loves to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ!

    John 16:13  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15  All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

    Paul is praying that the Ephesians would come to know the blessedness of the glorious inheritance God has given them, so they would truly know what is the hope they've been called to (v. 18). He doesn't want them stuck in an all-but-faithless monologue like this (and I don't want you stuck in this either):

    "I hope God loves me. I hope God is working all things for my good. I mean I'm pretty sure He is. I know the Bible tells me these things, and I know I ought to believe them, but honestly, I'm not really sure at this point. My hope is pretty faint, well – it's pretty much slim-to none right now. I know a lot of these truths in my head, but I don't have any real assurance of these Biblical truths in my heart."

    In other words, Paul's desire is that these believers enter into a greater knowledge of God in Christ, for it is through such experiential knowledge they will begin to enjoy strong encouragement/consolation (Heb. 6:18) and full assurance of faith (Col. 2:2; Heb. 6:11 & 10:22), and, as a result, be empowered to live above debilitating and paralyzing guilt, fear, doubt and despair.

    I'm more than convinced that Joseph Charles Philpot's experience described below is an answer to Paul's prayer:

    Although, as will have been seen, my father [J.C. Philpot] attached supreme importance to a knowledge of Christ 'in the light and by the power of His blessed manifestations', he was himself, unlike William Tiptaft [a fellow minister who was one of Philpot's best friends] extremely reticent in recording his own experience, and the following is the only explicit account I have been able to trace. One morning in November 1844, after he had been confined to bed for three weeks, he was thus blessed. 'I saw nothing', he writes, 'by the bodily eye, but it was as if I could see the blessed Lord by the eye of faith just over the foot of my bed; and I saw in the vision of faith three things in Him which filled me with admiration and adoration. 1, His eternal Godhead; 2, His pure and holy Manhood, and 3, His glorious Person as God-Man. What I felt at the sight I leave those to judge who have ever had a view by faith of the Lord of life and glory, and they will know best what holy desires and tender love flowed forth, and how I begged of Him to come and take full possession of my heart. It did not last very long, but it left a blessed influence upon my soul; and if ever I felt that sweet spirituality of mind which is life and peace, it was as the fruit of that view by faith of the glorious Person of Christ, and as the effect of that manifestation. Happy are they who can say by a sweet revelation of Him to their soul, "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true; and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life" (I John 5:20).' ¹

    I hope you noticed when God brought this wonderful blessing to Philpot – after he had been confined to bed for three weeks – a humbling reminder to us how God may use those very circumstances at which we balk and we often question – our afflictions, our sufferings and our broken hearts – all for the good of our souls ~ Romans 8:28!

    If you are Christ's, my prayer for you is that

    you would not rest satisfied with the knowledge of God you already have, but He might give you . . .

    a holy discontentment and a holy desire to know in increasing measure the infinite riches of the glorious inheritance God has given you,

    a fervent spirit to pray with importunity toward that end, and

    a greater hunger and passion to spend time with God in His Word,

    and God might be gracious to you, so you would come to experience and enjoy life and life more abundantly that Jesus came to give you.

    Along with J.C. Philpot, may God grant you entrance into a felt experience of the knowledge of God, so you might taste and see the Lord is good, come to know God as your perfect and all-satisfying portion, and begin to enjoy that supreme, blessed, celestial happiness that excels and surpasses any and all happinesses of an earthly sort.

    Such a spiritual sight of Jesus Christ will impart a song to your heart so you can rejoice in the Lord in times of plenty and want, sing in prison like Paul and Silas, stand in persecution with the face of an angel like Stephen, and quicken your footsteps like Habakkuk while you travel on pilgrimage as a stranger and exile in this fallen world...

    Habakkuk 3
    17  Though the fig tree should not blossom,
    nor fruit be on the vines,
    the produce of the olive fail
    and the fields yield no food,
    the flock be cut off from the fold
    and there be no herd in the stalls,
    18  yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
    I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
    19  GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the deer's;
    he makes me tread on my high places.
    To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

    Reference: ¹ Joseph Henry Philpot's "The Seceders:  The Story of J.C. Philpot and William Tiptaft" (London:  The Banner of Truth Trust, 1964), page 125.

    Photo credits:

    Work found at http://www.truegospel.net/Philpot/ - where you can also find sermons and meditations from J.C. Philpot, who was a gifted experiential/experimental Calvinistic preacher. Both Philpot & Tiptaft left the Church of England in the 1830's, hence the name of the book, "The Seceders."

    I edited the photo found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Deer_running.jpg / PD

    Related posts:

    my posts on dealing with past sins and guilt

    my other letters on assurance & fighting for joy including...

    Finding pleasure in Him
    "...it is a pleasing thing to walk with God." (George Whitefield)
    Moderation in pursuing God? An answer from Jonathan Edwards
    Moderation in pursuing God? An answer from George Whitefield
    How's your spiritual appetite? (Jonathan Edwards)
    Linger, linger, linger – so you might know God's love
    this earthly manna ~ the Christian hedonist's plea
    Phebe Bartlet – a child put in our midst ~ "Do you love Me?"
    Where do you go when the world is unlovely? (Psalm 84 & the theology of Biblical counseling)
    As a deer pants ... Is your soul panting for God? (Psalms 42 & 43)
    postcards from England: are we excited over a dead fish and a car wreck? (considering the glorious possibilities)
    The Christian should not just believe the truth, and know it..." | the Father's assurance
    In hope against hope believe, Blessed are all who believe
    Advent # 5 WHY HAS JESUS COME? So we might draw near to God | Even a Vapor
    Advent # 7 WHY HAS JESUS COME? So we might be satisfied with Him
    Why not pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit

    Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  • by my God I can leap over a wall (Psalm 18:29b)

       
    Many Christians think once they're saved, they don't need Christ!

    Some are primarily concerned about getting a ticket out of hell, and are looking forward to heaven – rather than being concerned about how they live here, and that's a very low view of Christianity and salvation (and if you persist in that, I'd seriously question you as to whether you are really saved or not – for faith without works is dead and we are warned time and again not to receive God's grace in vain).

    Others make the dreadful mistake of thinking they can live the Christian life and fight spiritual battles with their own resources. How foolish that is! The Christian life is a life of spiritual warfare (e.g. - Ephesians 6:10-20 & II Corinthians 10:1-6). Since God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14), and because the devil is the enemy of Christ, he is also the enemy of all those who have been united to Christ by grace through faith. We must keep in mind that the devil is continuing to prowl day and night, constantly scheming and lying, seeking ways to devour us and to entangle us, to keep us from fixing our eyes on Jesus and running the race set before us.

    We will not be able to live and thrive and bring glory to God in the Christian life unless we come to see that the God who delivered us from the domain of darkness in the first place is the one to whom we must continue to turn and to ask for fresh supplies so we might press in our race, to keep walking the kingdom of light – similar to how the Israelites had to go out and collect manna for each day. Christ is our whole life. He is not only our justification, He is also our sanctification (I Cor. 1:30).  How can we expect to live the Christian life apart from the life of Christ in us?!

    In Psalm 18, David brings a song of praise and thanksgiving to God commemorating and celebrating the great deliverances God granted him, exalting and exulting in God, his strength (see also II Samuel 22).

    To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.

    Here's David, who was soon to be made king over all Israel – and yet see how humble he is: notice how he refers to himself as a servant of the Lord. Though David will be king, he is ever mindful who is the King of kings. And David doesn't take one iota of credit for the victories – but he rightly ascribes it all to God's merciful and gracious provision. Throughout the whole Psalm, David readily and happily acknowledges that God alone is his strength and that God alone gave him the victory, thus rendering to God all the praise, honor and glory due His name.

    David starts off with these words:

    1  I love you, O LORD, my strength.
    2  The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
    3  I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

    And then David continues throughout the Psalm fervently declaring the many ways the LORD delivered him, boasting in God as his strength and professing his continued reliance on God. (I'd encourage you to read prayerfully through the whole psalm.)

    And because it is Leap Day, the second half of verse 29 got my attention:

    ... by my God I can leap over a wall.

    It seems to me that many, many Christians have walls that God is calling them to leap over, but they're failing, and they keep failing. Why? Many times it is because they have not come to know the LORD as their strength as David did. They keep trying to fight spiritual battles in their flesh. They keep turning to their own resources, wisdom, strength and ingenuity, and, as a result, they remain impotent – for they've not come to know the power of the Holy Spirit at work in them. They keep trying to pull themselves up by their bootstraps! They keep turning to secular books and counselors and twelve step programs, etc., rather than turning to the living God Himself. Should not God's people seek their God? Should not God's people seek their God as their strength?

    Jesus said that He is the vine and we are the branches, and without Him we can do nothing (see John 15:1-17).

    NOTHING!

    You may not be leaping over walls because you've not come to know the living supply of Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit. In fact, some of you who profess to be Christians may not be leaping because you've never been born again. If you have never been born again, God's Holy Spirit has not come to dwell in you, and you don't have that vital connection with the Lord Jesus Christ, as the branch abides in the vine; therefore, there's no way you can expect to know and experience Jesus Christ as your strength.

    Or, perhaps some of you have been able to leap over some walls – and in fact, compared to most people, you're looking pretty good – however, you're not really leaping by the power of God, instead you're relying on your own strength. You've never come to know God as your strength. You have fallen into the all-American, Pharisaical snare of self-reliance. You've never come to end of yourself and the end of your own strength, so you might begin to cry out to ask for and to know God's strength. As so you function as a Christian primarily in your own fleshly strength. However, that way of life is contrary to the life God intends for the Christian:  the Christian is to put no confidence at all in the flesh and to live by the Spirit. In Galatians, Paul warns us: having been born again and started the Christian life in the Spirit, we must not return to the flesh!

    Many of us hold up Biblical figures and other saints from Christian history, and we're tempted to think they had something we don't have. Well, what they had first of all was an understanding that they were NOTHING apart from Christ, they had NOTHING apart from Christ, and they could do NOTHING apart from Christ! They saw their total insufficiency and their need to rely on God alone, their need to know Him as their strength – and that experiential knowledge is what drove them to the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help in their time of need. And they saw every moment as a time of need! Consider this testimony of the apostle Paul:

    Who is sufficient for these things? ... Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God... (II Cor. 2:16b, 3:5).

    You may never have gotten so low and so desperate and so needy that you cried out to God so you might know Him as your strength: to really know Him – not just recite God is your strength as a Bible verse, not just sing God is your strength in a hymn on Sunday morning, not just listen to someone sing God is your strength in a YouTube video, but to know God as your strength the way David did. You may never have come to the place where you were faced with such a high and huge and thick and insurmountable wall, that you finally cried out to God in desperation, "Who is sufficient for these things? Be my Strength! I am not sufficient! Without You I can do nothing!"

    That was my position as a Christian for over twenty years. I was leaping over some walls, and I was engaged in some so-called "good works," but I regret to say that many, perhaps most of those, were done out of my own flesh. But then there came a time several years ago when a Christian had asked me to forgive an offense – and I couldn't do it – and I wouldn't do it. I was the unforgiving servant (Matt. 18:21-35) – and in a very dangerous position! But thanks be to God, in spite of myself, God's grace pursued me, and in God's command to me to forgive another as He had forgiven me, I began to see how much greater God's gift of salvation and forgiveness was toward me than I ever imagined, and how great a sinner I was, that I really was a wretch, though I'd sung it for years in "Amazing Grace" – after that time I could truly confess from the heart that I, Karen, was a wretch – and at that point, grace really did become amazing to me for the first time! The Holy Spirit convicted me and showed me how pitiably small the offense was that I was asked to forgive in comparison with all my sins that God forgave me for Christ's sake! And I found myself able to desire and then to do what I could not do in my own strength – for God gave me the desire and the ability to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-14): so I was able to forgive as the Lord had forgiven me. Impossible with Karen, but possible with God! Hallelujah! He was my strength! Without Him I could do nothing, but with Christ I could do all things!

    Since that time, God has continued to show me time and time again that without Him I can do nothing, absolutely nothing at all. And as soon as I become puffed up and begin to think I can do anything without Him, thanks be to God, He knocks me back down again to the dust to show my utter insufficiency and my total dependence on Him. Oh, yes, it's certainly painful – but it is profitable! Blessed is the man whom God chastens!

    When I was recently convicted to send a message explaining the Gospel to an unsaved family member, I knew that God had given me that desire, but I had nowhere else to turn but to God, for I knew in and of myself I was wholly insufficient. I was tempted to fear the repercussions, I was tempted to please man rather than God and shrink back from following through, and I knew I had no words to write at all except what God would supply – and so I prayed God would be my strength, that His Spirit would strengthen me to fulfill the desire He had placed in me. And all glory to God alone, He was my strength – and He strengthened me to leap over that wall – and God wants to do the same in all His children, so His name alone might be magnified.

    I love these two passages for they show us how by our God we can leap over walls, and not only that – they show that our coming to know God as our strength and having His strength work in us brings Him glory.

    Hebrews 13:20  Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21  equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

    II Thessalonians 1:11  To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12  so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    God is all about His glory, and God receives no glory when we rely upon our own strength – even though we may be leaping over some walls, and we may be looking good to ourselves, to other Christians, or to the world. But anything we do that isn't done by the power of Christ in us brings no glory to God. God alone is to be our strength and our boast and our glory:

    I Corinthians 1:26  For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29  so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30  He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31  Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”


    What wall stands before you that you have been unable to leap over? Have you come to know Christ as your strength, or are you continuing to walk the vain, dangerous, and God-dishonoring road of self-sufficiency?     Are you continuing to attempt to live the Christian life in your own flesh and robbing God of the glory due His name? Will you ask God to show you your insufficiency, so you might come to know God's sufficiency and come to know Him to be your strength, so like David, you might leap over a wall? Will you ask God to grow your knowledge of Him and your trust in Him so you might lay aside your own fleshly efforts and embrace Him as your strength, so you might sing with David: "I love you, O LORD, my strength... by my God I can leap over a wall!" ... and confess with the apostle Paul:  "I can do all things through him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

    Related:

    Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Messene_01.jpg  / CC BY-SA 3.0 / by Herbert Ortner.

naphtali_deer

About me...

Christian hedonist in training. Pressing on to know more and more of the joy of the LORD. Pleading with God to rend the heavens and revive and refresh my own soul, as well as His Church, to His praise, honor and glory.

Thank God. He can make men and women in middle life sing again with a joy that has been chastened by a memory of their past failures. ~ Alan Redpath

My other websites

tent of meeting: Prayer for reformation & revival

(See also Zechariah821. Zechariah821 is a mirror site of tent of meeting, found on WordPress)

deerlifetrumpet: Encouragement for those seeking reformation & revival in the Church

RSS feed

RSS feed