Considering Christ » revival

God Glorified in My Revival

Eric Holter — Fri, 15 Oct 2004 18:39:27 +0000

“For the sake of Thy Name, O Lord, revive me”

Pslam 143:11

I am so glad that God’s glory and the revival of my soul can be connected together in one sentence. It is a wonder that, for the sake of the name of the Lord (that is, for His glory), I can appeal to God for revival. The connection of these two things is only by the grace and mercy of God. God could have chosen to be glorified in other ways. He could be glorified for instance (as it says in

9:1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”

30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” (ESV)

', 'Romans 9', 'http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Romans+9');" onmouseout="domTip_clearTip('false')" href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Romans+9" >Romans 9), by my destruction as an object of His just wrath; had He left me in my wickedness.

2 Enter not into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you. (ESV)

', 'Psalm 143:2', 'http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Psalm+143%3A2');" onmouseout="domTip_clearTip('false')" href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Psalm+143%3A2" >Psalm 143:2 highlights God’s mercy, “…and do not enter into judgment with Thy servant for in Thy sight no man is righteous.” It is only because God has graciously chosen me to be an object of His mercy that my revival and His glory can come together in such a beautiful way. But that is only half of the grace by which God’s glory and my revival come together. Removal of wrath alone is an astounding underserved mercy. Escaping the destruction ordained for the wicked is an unfathomable gift. Yet simply avoiding destruction is not the final result of God’s mercy.

There is a marvelous multiplier to mercy; that is, grace; God’s favor. His commitment to my good, my eternal blessing, and my undeserved right to cling to His promises to revive my soul! What a wonder that God has committed Himself to my good. Somehow God worked it out that my appealing to Him for a “quick answer,” or for a revelation of His face, or for a hearing of His lovingkindness, of for the leading of His Spirit to level ground, is not the greatest of presumption, but rather God’s explicit will. Such is the grace of God. That He would give me such blessings at all is joy. That He allows me, even teaches me to ask continually for such blessings is even more amazing. That such asking and appealing is for the sake of His name, for the sake of His glory, is a powerfully joyful perplexity.

Thank you, Lord, for your awesome, inscrutable mercy and grace. I want to honor you by seeking my revival in your presence. Grant me joy and gladness in seeing your glory in the face of Christ, and be glorified, be glorified. Amen.

Rock of Habitation

Eric Holter — Thu, 20 Nov 2003 20:33:36 +0000

“Be Thou to me a rock of habitation, to which I may continually come.” 3 Be to me a rock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress. (ESV)
', 'Psalm 71:3', 'http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Psalm+71%3A3');" onmouseout="domTip_clearTip('false')" href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Psalm+71%3A3" >Psalm 71:3

Jesus is my rock of habitation. He is my rock – a strong, firm, dependable fortress. This strong fortress is also a place of habitation. He is my dwelling place, a place of comfort, rest, and security. My rock of refuge is never changing, always present, and never moving. Yet I come to it continually. I inhabit my home of rock, yet I also leave it and must frequently return.

It is a testimony to my own weakness that I am so prone to wandering from my place of security and comfort. Yet in the flesh this will always be a limitation I must contend with. Right now as I meditate and ponder and pray, I am more keenly aware of what a treasure my rocky fortress is, yet I know that later, when my mind is occupied with other things, this awareness will lessen. And even now, with all my attention focused on Jesus as my rock, my capacity to grasp the glory of it is limited. I must continually come and constantly return to my rock of habitation. I need God to revive me again and again, day after day. The more I come to my Rock, the more fully I grasp His glory, the more I groan knowing that I cannot hold this glimpse for very long. Yet the more I return, the more I want to stay. John Owen, one of the great puritan thinkers and writers describes it this way in The Glory of Christ:

“Alas! We cannot here think of Christ, but we are quickly ashamed of, and troubled at, our own thoughts; so confused are they, so unsteady, so imperfect. Commonly they issue in a groan or a sigh; Oh! When shall we come unto Him? When shall we ever be with Him? When shall we see Him as He is? And if at any time He begins to give more than ordinary evidences and intimations of His glory and love unto our souls, we are not able to bear them, so as to give them any abiding residence in our minds. But ordinarily this trouble and groaning is amongst our best attainments in this world, – a trouble which I pray God, I may never be delivered from, until deliverance do come at once from this state of mortality; yea, the good Lord increase this trouble more and more in all that believe.”

C.S. Lewis put it more succinctly: “Our greatest havings are wantings.” It will do me no good to complain about my weakness, that I cannot hold steadily onto the glimpses of glory I find when I inhabit my rock of refuge. God has so ordained this limitation, while I am in this jar of clay. Yet, let me return continually to my rock. Let me contemplate often. Let me praise continually. Let me be revived again and again.

O Lord, I confess that I do not like to live with tension, yet longing for you is the ultimate tension. Please Lord, let me embrace the tension of being required to have to come continually to my rock, and accepting this fact that I must come and go often, that I might return frequently, stay longer, and yearn to dwell eternally in my rock of habitation.

Considering Christ » revival

God Glorified in My Revival

“For the sake of Thy Name, O Lord, revive me” Pslam 143:11

Rock of Habitation

“For the sake of Thy Name, O Lord, revive me”

Pslam 143:11