Burst Forth and Come Down! Isaiah 64:1-4NLT
Over 100 years ago, Samuel Chadwick, a great methodist preacher and leader in England, summed it up concisely: “The Christian religion is hopeless without the Holy Ghost.”
"If you have the Word without the Spirit, you'll dry up.
If you have the Spirit without the Word, you'll blow up.
If you have both the Word and the Spirit, you'll grow up." --Derek Prince
Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence!
2 As fire causes wood to burn and water to boil, your coming would make the nations tremble. Then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame!
3 When you came down long ago, you did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations. And oh, how the mountains quaked!
4 For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him.
How easy it is to become parched and dry. What we need are fresh showers of blessing to soften our hearts and bring fruitfulness to our lives.
The Holy Spirit wants us to understand that we are helpless without Him. The Holy Spirit chose human vessels to live and abide through.
Listen to verse 1, again in the NKJ Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence—
Israel’s cry was for God to burst forth and execute vengeance on Israel’s foes. Isaiah’s prayer was for God to show His glory like He did with Moses on Mount Sinai.
Commandments were birthed, The law came forth; moreover, as Moses came down he brought a new glow, and freshness of the Holy Spirit with him.
Romans 8:9NLT But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)
The Holy Spirt is under appreciated and under preached by the 21 century church. The body of Christ is often divided into two sides. One side stresses the Word of God, and the other side emphasizes the work of the Hoy Spirit over everything.
However, I realize this, “As someone begins to devour God’s word, and then they believe God’s word, the manifestations will follow.”
Are you living with faint trickles and shallow pools of the Spirit, rather than the promised rivers of living water?
John 7:37-38NKJ On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Either we are His temples or we aren’t? If you don’t have the Spirit of Christ you’re not His.
Without the Spirit of God moving strongly among us, many of us have become faithless and cynical.
1 Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
The Holy Spirit that has been given to you is for me, and mine for you!
Isaiah 64:4NLT For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him.
In Acts chapter 2, we are told how the early church waited for him. Acts 2:1-4TM When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.
Three thoughts: If we desire or hunger for the Spirit, He will burst forth and come down.
Ask Him. (Become a faith seeker.)
Tell Him what you want. (Don’t act naive.)
Wait-- with anticipation.
(Verb)
The definition for wait without an object. “To postpone or delay something or to be postponed or delayed.”
(Verb)
To wait with an object. “to continue as one is in expectation of; to be in readiness for something.
Psalm 40:1-3NLT I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. 3 He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.
As Isaiah, as you wait tell and ask Him- He will burst forth and come down!
Benediction.
