Post by Les Brewer on Feb 27, 2012 8:34:34 GMT
A cry for the returning of the King
(This is a crosspost from a facebook member!)
Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens. . .
Oh that You would tear the heavens and come down. . .
Oh for the heavens to rend, Oh for Thee to descend. . .
Prayer and intercession can not exceed the quality of a man’s heart. Prayer can not exceed the expressions of a man’s heart. Prayer and intercession can not exceed the quality of the redemptive relationship of a praying people.
Isaiah, the prophet, had seen the throne and the One who rules for ever, and he had immediately come to a proper realization regarding his own condition – the absolute need of a redeemer. His was a continuous crying out for heavens to be torn and for the coming of days under a righteous king and his rulers. He saw Israel complacent, Israel without interest in heavenly matters, nobody stirring himself up to take hold of the Lord.
He had seen the days of a foreign king, kindly reaching out to Israel in its captivity, to open for days of new beginnings and restoration. He saw history repeating itself over and over again in the years of the many generations to come. The only thing for him to do, the final thing for him to do was to cry out for heavens to be rent, for the King to come, for the Messiah to establish his rule, for the Redeemer to come to Zion. And he knew, the Redeemer was to come – and is to come, is to come to Zion.
The prophet knew the Lord, he knew that “Eye has not seen a God except You, who works for him who waits for Him.” His was an understanding of things to come – our seeing ought to be of the same kind – an apocalyptic realism, joyfully expecting the Lord to come. The prophetic seeing in the Church ought to be marked by apocalyptic realism – an awareness of the state of affairs which cannot be altered by any other means than the Redeemer coming to Zion. For this the prophet cried out. For this the relevant Church is crying out. The relevancy of the Church does never exceed the quality of its crying out for the redeemer to come, for the days of the Messiah to come, for the ruler to come to Zion. The relevancy of the Church never exceeds its servanthood expressed in the crying out for the redeemer to intervene according to redemptive purposes.
The Church which is heavenly relevant has identified the heart of the Lord, is ready to identify with what is revealed and given. The leadership which is to become heavenly relevant learns the heart of God, learns the mind of Christ and learns to carry the burden of the poor and needy in a crying out for a practical application of the redemption of the Lord. A Church and its leaders, who are to become heavenly relevant, learns to express a prophetic crying out like the one which Isaiah – and others – bore and lived.
Our service, servanthood properly expressed in these years, lies with an appropriation of the prophetic crying out for the Redeemer to come and for righteous rule to be established in Zion. Our corporate praying will not exceed the measure of the prophetic cry in our hearts for the coming of the Redeemer. Our prayer life, our hidden ministry in the prayer chamber as well as in the fellowship with the saints, will not exceed the quality of the crying out for redemption to come to its full measure among us, in our cities, in these years.
Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens. . .
Oh that You would tear the heavens and come down. . .
Oh for the heavens to rend, Oh for Thee to descend. . .
Lars Widerberg
Reading: Isa 64:1-4, Isa 6:1-6, Isa 32:1-5, Isa 64:7, Isa 59:20, Isa 64:4
(This is a crosspost from a facebook member!)
Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens. . .
Oh that You would tear the heavens and come down. . .
Oh for the heavens to rend, Oh for Thee to descend. . .
Prayer and intercession can not exceed the quality of a man’s heart. Prayer can not exceed the expressions of a man’s heart. Prayer and intercession can not exceed the quality of the redemptive relationship of a praying people.
Isaiah, the prophet, had seen the throne and the One who rules for ever, and he had immediately come to a proper realization regarding his own condition – the absolute need of a redeemer. His was a continuous crying out for heavens to be torn and for the coming of days under a righteous king and his rulers. He saw Israel complacent, Israel without interest in heavenly matters, nobody stirring himself up to take hold of the Lord.
He had seen the days of a foreign king, kindly reaching out to Israel in its captivity, to open for days of new beginnings and restoration. He saw history repeating itself over and over again in the years of the many generations to come. The only thing for him to do, the final thing for him to do was to cry out for heavens to be rent, for the King to come, for the Messiah to establish his rule, for the Redeemer to come to Zion. And he knew, the Redeemer was to come – and is to come, is to come to Zion.
The prophet knew the Lord, he knew that “Eye has not seen a God except You, who works for him who waits for Him.” His was an understanding of things to come – our seeing ought to be of the same kind – an apocalyptic realism, joyfully expecting the Lord to come. The prophetic seeing in the Church ought to be marked by apocalyptic realism – an awareness of the state of affairs which cannot be altered by any other means than the Redeemer coming to Zion. For this the prophet cried out. For this the relevant Church is crying out. The relevancy of the Church does never exceed the quality of its crying out for the redeemer to come, for the days of the Messiah to come, for the ruler to come to Zion. The relevancy of the Church never exceeds its servanthood expressed in the crying out for the redeemer to intervene according to redemptive purposes.
The Church which is heavenly relevant has identified the heart of the Lord, is ready to identify with what is revealed and given. The leadership which is to become heavenly relevant learns the heart of God, learns the mind of Christ and learns to carry the burden of the poor and needy in a crying out for a practical application of the redemption of the Lord. A Church and its leaders, who are to become heavenly relevant, learns to express a prophetic crying out like the one which Isaiah – and others – bore and lived.
Our service, servanthood properly expressed in these years, lies with an appropriation of the prophetic crying out for the Redeemer to come and for righteous rule to be established in Zion. Our corporate praying will not exceed the measure of the prophetic cry in our hearts for the coming of the Redeemer. Our prayer life, our hidden ministry in the prayer chamber as well as in the fellowship with the saints, will not exceed the quality of the crying out for redemption to come to its full measure among us, in our cities, in these years.
Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens. . .
Oh that You would tear the heavens and come down. . .
Oh for the heavens to rend, Oh for Thee to descend. . .
Lars Widerberg
Reading: Isa 64:1-4, Isa 6:1-6, Isa 32:1-5, Isa 64:7, Isa 59:20, Isa 64:4
