A wonderful song by the band Delirious, a song of praise and worship unto the Lord. I learned it during the Brownsville Revival years and I have played it many times over the years. We are told in Acts 3:19 that when we repent and turn to God, that he sends “times of refreshing from His presence”. And what can be better than that? In our gatherings where two or three are gathered (Matt 18:20), there He is in the midst of us, such a wonderful promise.
Posted in Worship, Praise and Music | Tagged delirious, Lord You Have My Heart | 4 Comments »
It is a great mystery that Jesus was delivered up for crucifixion by the “predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). Also, in Acts 4:27-28 it says, “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur”. It was God’s hand and purpose, to do whatever He pleased.
How do we respond when we hear or see God’s plans, when they militate against our idea of what God wants to do? In Matthew 24:21-23 Jesus told the disciples that He was going to be killed. We see the reaction of Peter’s natural mind. Peter was resistant to God’s plan! His resistance was so strong that Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s”. Are our ideas about God mixed with personal interests, with things that might be in conflict with the will of God? This is always a possibility.
We don’t always see the whole plan, so we must be careful about how we interpret events. It was a stern rebuke for Peter to accept, but as time passed, Peter understood it all. Must we not also allow the passage of time to get a better picture of what God is doing? Events in our lives sometimes don’t become clear until much time has passed. A good example is Joseph. Betrayed by his brothers, separated from his father, sold into slavery and wrongly imprisoned. Did he not also think “my God why has thou forsaken me?”. Yet he endured to the end, and in a final expression of tearful, emotional mercy he told his brothers, Gen 45:7 “… God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance”.
This is hard to fathom in the days that we live. I know that when I look back on some very difficult times in my own life, I have come to relate to Joseph. I felt forsaken of God for a long time, questioning why I had to go thru some terrible things. Now as I look back, I see God’s hand clearly, and here in my later years, I see much fruit and blessing. I see God’s faithfulness; He kept me as the “snares of death confronted me” (Psalm 18) and he “delivered me from strong enemy because he was to mighty for me” (Psalm 18). Thanks be to God! “He prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies. He anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23).
Psalm 115:3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
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By David Ravenhill
I graduated from Bible School in 1964 and have been in full-time ministry ever since. For the first 30 years of ministry I barely heard the name Jezebel mentioned; but all that changed about 20 years or so ago. Jezebel suddenly became the queen of spirits, spiraling to the top of the charts in record time. Ever since then she has taken on a life of her own surpassing all other spirits, and to this day remains by far the most popular and feared of all spirits.
What is so amazing about this unprecedented rise to fame is that nowhere in the Bible do we find such a spirit ever mentioned. Yes, there was a so-called prophetess and teacher in the Church of Thyatira who taught a false grace message that produced immorality, rather than sanctity in the lives of her followers; however, God gave her time to repent. There is no mention of her having to be delivered of some spirit. (Yes, I do believe there are spirits at work today, and that as believers, we have the authority to see people set free through the triumphant and glorious name of the Lord Jesus Christ.)
What really concerns me about this whole fascination with Jezebel is that we are falling right into the hands of the enemy by our obsession with her. Years ago, I vividly recall a message by the late Judson Cornwall in which he shared openly how God had dealt with him regarding his own congregation at the time. He explained that every Sunday, the worship leader would stop the service after the first or second song and announce to the congregation that there was a spiritual battle going on. He would then bind the spirit of heaviness or call for Judson to pray against it and then proceed with the worship. This became a regular part of the Sunday morning routine until one day Judson heard the Lord say to him, ‘Why do you give the devil the place of honor in your church?’ or words to that effect. Judson was stunned by what he heard and began to explain to the Lord how much they loved to worship. The Lord then said, ‘But you always give honor to the devil before you honor me.’ Suddenly Judson got the message. The following Sunday when he was asked to rebuke the spiritual oppression he explained to his congregation what the Lord had spoken to him. He told them that from that Sunday on they were never going to give top billing to the devil.
I believe there is an unhealthy obsession with Jezebel that is working to the enemy’s advantage. She loves all the attention she is getting. It’s time to move on and focus our attention on the one who alone is worthy of our praise. Magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together. So let God arise, and Jezzie will soon bite the dust.
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And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Thy strength to this generation,Thy power to all who are to come.
For Thy righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens,
Thou who hast done great things; O God, who is like Thee?
Thou, who hast shown me many troubles and distresses,
Wilt revive me again, And wilt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
Mayest Thou increase my greatness, And turn to comfort me.
I will also praise Thee with a stringed instrument, Even Thy truth, O my God;
To Thee I will sing praises with the stringed instrument, O Thou Holy One of Israel.
My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to Thee; And my soul, which Thou hast redeemed.
My tongue also will utter Thy righteousness all day long;
For they are ashamed, for they are humiliated, who seek my hurt.
– Psalm 71:18-24
When the Psalmist reached old age, and the Lord had shown him many troubles and distresses in his lifetime, he knew that the Lord would revive him again. He knew that the “God of all comfort” would comfort him again. It was out of these experiences during his lifetime, that the Psalmist gave us all the Psalms. And being a musician, he was able to put into song, songs of praise, songs of hope and songs of deliverance by the Spirit. What a blessed book, is the book of Psalms. In his old age, his heart was to be able to declare to the next generation, what God had done for him.
Yesterday I spoke with a dear friend whom I have known for many, many years. We are both musicians and worship leaders. I was sharing this Psalm with him, and how at our “old age” we are still leading worship and being used of the Lord to help a new generation of worship leaders and musicians. There is something about old age and our life experience in the Lord. It is by the Spirit that those things are now ingrained in our hearts. Psalm 71 :9 says, “Do not cast me off in the time of old age, do not forsake me when my strength fails”.
Thank you Lord, for the opportunity to still by used to “declare Thy strength to this generation,Thy power to all who are to come”.
Posted in Deeper Life, Worship, Praise and Music | Tagged Psalm 71, spiritual songs, Stringed Instruments | 3 Comments »
Psalm 18:17 says “He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me”. What a blessed thing, to realize that there are some enemies that are too mighty for me, but the Lord is on my side to help. That is what Psalm 124:1 says “Had it not been the LORD who was on our side!”. Verse 8 says “Our help is in the name of the Lord!”.
Posted in Deeper Life, Worship, Praise and Music | Tagged Had it not been the Lord, Psalm 124 | Leave a Comment »
There is a simplicity about what the Lord requires of us. It is spelled out in Micah 6:6-8. “He has told you oh man what is good, and what does the Lord require of you. But to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with our God”. If we could live by that alone, it would impact the world we live in.
Posted in Worship, Praise and Music | Tagged Micah 6, with what shall i come | 1 Comment »
“Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” Matthew 27:51
No mean miracle was wrought in the rending of so strong and thick a veil; but it was not intended merely as a display of power—many lessons were herein taught us. The old law of ordinances was put away, and like a worn-out vesture, rent and laid aside. When Jesus died, the sacrifices were all finished, because all fulfilled in him, and therefore the place of their presentation was marked with an evident token of decay. That rent also revealed all the hidden things of the old dispensation: the mercy-seat could now be seen, and the glory of God gleamed forth above it. By the death of our Lord Jesus we have a clear revelation of God, for he was “not as Moses, who put a veil over his face.” Life and immortality are now brought to light, and things which have been hidden since the foundation of the world are manifest in him. The annual ceremony of atonement was thus abolished. The atoning blood which was once every year sprinkled within the veil, was now offered once for all by the great High Priest, and therefore the place of the symbolical rite was broken up. No blood of bullocks or of lambs is needed now, for Jesus has entered within the veil with his own blood. Hence access to God is now permitted, and is the privilege of every believer in Christ Jesus. There is no small space laid open through which we may peer at the mercy-seat, but the rent reaches from the top to the bottom. We may come with boldness to the throne of the heavenly grace. Shall we err if we say that the opening of the Holy of Holies in this marvellous manner by our Lord’s expiring cry was the type of the opening of the gates of paradise to all the saints by virtue of the Passion? Our bleeding Lord hath the key of heaven; he openeth and no man shutteth; let us enter in with him into the heavenly places, and sit with him there till our common enemies shall be made his footstool.
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Acts 4:13 “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and “untrained” men, they were marveling and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus”. The Greek word for “untrained” is “ἰδιώτης” (idiōtēs), which originally referred to a private individual or layperson, contrasting with someone in a public or official role. Over time, it evolved to imply a lack of education or skill, leading to its modern connotation of “idiot” as a foolish person. In Jesus’ day, the ruling class was made up of the educated upper class, the priests, scribes, lawyers, Pharisees, Sadducees, etc. These were the learned and the educated, in contrast to Peter and John.
So, in Acts 4:5 we have Peter and John, unlearned men, being used by the Holy Spirit. They were brought before “the rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family”. This ruling class was amazed at Peter and John, some translations say they “marveled” at them. Can you imagine the indignation they had for Peter and John? These lower class men? But the Lord had just used them to heal the lame beggar, and their speech and knowledge had been “quickened” by the Holy Spirit. They realized that Peter and John had been with Jesus.
There is much to say about all of this, but I want to hit home that fact that there is a huge difference between these learned rulers and the unlearned disciples. The power of the Holy Spirit surpasses the highest education, it surpasses your status in life. A W Tozer has a chapter in one of his books entitled “Bible Taught or Spirit Taught” that speaks about this. Click this link to read it.
The Apostle Paul had been part of this ruling class of Jews. When the Lord appeared to him and he received the Holy Spirit, he was never the same. We are told in Philippians 3 that Paul counted “all things as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus”. He walked away from the ruling class; the Spirit had given him something better! So in God’s kingdom, if we come to Jesus, it doesn’t matter our education or status in society. The Spirit is given to all! People can know that we “have been with Jesus”.
On a side note- Over the years, we have helped create a “ruling “class of preachers, ministers and prophets that have captured the attention of the modern church. We have elevated the teachers that have PhD’s, the so called prophets that have written many books or have a huge internet following, ministers that are getting rich off the gospel, convincing us that God has blessed them because they supposedly have some anointing from the Lord. Their ministries are viewed as successful by worldly standards, we forget that unlearned men, like Peter and John, can have an anointing that surpasses the status and so called success of the Christian world. Some of them have fallen into sin and have been exposed. We have seen some of the most educated leaders and apologists be exposed in recent years. People that we have elevated to a high status because of their knowledge and training. They may have started in the Spirit, but now they have a hard time being honest or accountable, they resort to lies and covering up their sin. Their ministries have become so large, that protecting that ministry takes priority, to the point that these leaders cease to walk by the Spirit. It ought not to be so!
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A great chapter by A W Tozer in The Root of the Righteous.
It may shock some readers to suggest that there is a difference between being Bible taught and being Spirit taught. Nevertheless it is so.
It is altogether possible to be instructed in the rudiments of the faith and still have no real understanding of the whole thing. And it is possible to go on to become expert in Bible doctrine and not have spiritual illumination, with the result that a veil remains over the mind, preventing it from apprehending the truth in its spiritual essence.
Most of us are acquainted with churches that teach the Bible to their children from their tenderest years, give them long instruction in the catechism, drill them further in pastor’s classes and still never produce in them a living Christianity nor a virile godliness. Their members show no evidence of having passed from death unto life. None of the earmarks of salvation so plainly indicated in the Scriptures are found among them.
Their religious lives are correct and reasonably moral, but wholly mechanical and altogether lacking in radiance. They wear their faith as persons in mourning once wore black armbands to show their love and respect for the departed.
Such persons cannot be dismissed as hypocrites. Many of them are pathetically serious about it all. They are simply blind. From lack of the vital Spirit they are forced to get along with the outward shell of faith, while all the time their deep hearts are starving for spiritual reality and they do not know what is wrong with them.
This difference between the religion of creed and the religion of the Spirit is well set forth by the saintly Thomas in a tender little prayer to his Lord:
The children of Israel in time past said unto Moses, “Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” Not so, Lord, not so, I beseech Thee; but rather with the prophet Samuel I humbly and earnestly entreat, “Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth.” Let not Moses speak unto me, nor any of the prophets, but rather do Thou speak, O Lord GOD, the inspirer, enlightener of all the prophets; for Thou alone without them canst perfectly instruct me, but they without Thee can profit nothing. They indeed may utter words, but they cannot give the Spirit. Most beautifully do they speak, but if Thou be silent, they inflame not the heart. They teach the letter, but Thou openest the sense; they bring forth mysteries, but Thou unlockest the heart…. They cry aloud with words, but Thou impartest understanding to the hearing.
It would be hard to wrap it up better than that. The same thing has been said variously by others; however, the most familiar saying probably is, “The Scriptures, to be understood, must be read with the same Spirit that originally inspired them.” No one denies this, but even such a statement will go over the heads of those who hear it unless the Holy Spirit inflames the heart.
The charge often made against us by liberals, that we are “bibliolaters,” is probably not true in the same sense as meant by our detractors; but candor and self-analysis will force us to admit that there is often too much truth in their charge. Among religious persons of unquestioned orthodoxy there is sometimes found a dull dependence upon the letter of the text without the faintest understanding of its spirit. That truth is in its essence spiritual must constantly be kept before our minds if we would know the truth indeed. Jesus Christ is Himself the Truth, and He cannot be confined to mere words even though, as we ardently believe, He has Himself inspired the words. That which is spiritual cannot be shut in by ink or fenced in by type and paper. The best a book can do is give us the letter of truth. If we ever receive more than this, it must be by the Holy Spirit who gives it.
The great need of the hour among persons spiritually hungry is twofold: first, to know the Scriptures, apart from which no saving truth will be vouchsafed by our Lord; the second, to be enlightened by the Spirit, apart from whom the Scriptures will not be understood.
—The Root of the Righteous, A W Tozer
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