Come Down Lord

by Roger Ellsworth

Come Down, Lord! is a succinct, readable and biblically-based treatment of the vital theme of revival. Its seven short chapters go directly to the heart of the matter, as their headings
- We miss You;
- We need You;
- We wait for You;
- We will meet You;
- We have wronged You;
- We belong to You;
- We beseech You.
Taking as his starting place the widespread absence of the sense of God's holy presence and our need of his grace, Roger Ellsworth traces the profound analysis of the church's spiritual decay outlined in Isaiah 63:3-64:12, and applies its message to our times.

We have heard for years that if we do not repent of our sins, God will send judgment upon us. We may think we are getting by with sin because things do not appear to be so bad. What most of us do not realize is God's judgment has already set in. Our apathy about spiritual things is God's judgment upon us.

While calculated to expose our spiritual need, Come Down, Lord! will also stimulate repentance, prayer and fresh faith in the promised mercy of God.

This revised edition contains questions for discussion at the end of each chapter.

64 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1989

About the author

Roger Ellsworth is the pastor of Covenant of Grace Church, Salem, Illinois, USA. He has a number of books in print, including What the Bible teaches about Christian parenting; What the Bible teaches about angels; Hold your course — 22 daily readings from the book of Colossians; Moses, God’s man for challenging times; Be patient, God hasn’t finished with me yet; The Guide — the Bible book by book; Faithful under fire; A promise is a promise; and a number of books in the Welwyn Commentary Series, all published by Evangelical Press.

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this book while watching an old video clip of Leonard Ravenhill, who suggested that everyone should read this book. This is a powerful short book that anyone interested in seeing revival in America shoudl read.

We are using it now in our small groups and also the staff is reading and discussing this book each week.

A must read!

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in a church group. I appreciate this example of a close reading of a scriptural text.

Ch. 2 had some good comments about being afraid of God.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short book of 57 pages is based on the author's exposition of Isaiah's prayer in 63:3-64:12. He has chapter titles of We Miss You, We Need You, We Wait for You, We Will Meet You, We Have Wronged You, We Belong to You, and We Beseech You.

Just a couple of great quotes from the first chapter:
"As we follow Isaiah's arguments we shall certainly see, with a smidgen of perception, how fitting they are for us to employ. We, like Israel, are far from God and we are not realizing his blessings. We are in desperate need of his renewing and reviving presence. Let us even how begin to cry with Isaiah: 'Come down, Lord!' Let us arm ourselves with the same arguments he used, and hoist our voices to heaven in such numbers and with such frequency and intensity, that God will be moved to visit us in mighty power. Let us unite our voices to make this a swelling chorus that will constantly bombard the gates of heaven. Let us resolve even now to give ourselves no rest and to give God no rest until the people of God be 'a praise in the earth.'"

And another:
"The church, in order to maintain credibility in the world, has to have the power of God. She is involved in a great spiritual warfare, and only God's power will enable her to prevail. Human ingenuity and wisdom are simply not equal to the task. Trying to do this kind of work without the power of God is like trying to break huge granite boulders with our bare hands."

I recommend this book to all Christians interested in revival.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very short book but a very important one.

It consists of short but powerful discussions of passages from Isaiah 63 and 64. These chapters need to be read not one after the other but with a gap between them to allow the reader to meditate on the message they give.

The subject is the need of the Church and individual Christian to experience renewal of their spiritual life and relationship to God. It is call to repentance and prayer.