July 12, 2009

• Isaiah 1:7-19 by Pastor Don

  You never know where God is leading you until you get there, then you put the pieces together.

  Isaiah 1:7-9 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; strangers devour your land in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Unless the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah.

  In Israel there is a Feast of Booths/Feast of Tabernacles.  And in gardens there are huts and booths at the time of harvest where someone is assigned to protect the harvest.  The owner or a watchman would be present during the planting and the harvest to keep animals away.  The person protects what is entrusted to them.  The daughters of Zion were left, the rest of the nation was displaced. If God had not left a remnant, there would have been destruction like that of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Before the destruction they were mighty, had rights; but there was sexual perversion and idols. 

  Many have a wrong image of what the last days will look like.  The most abused word these days is “revival.”  To revive is to take what is dead and it is brought back to life.

  At harvest time there are plants and a watchman to keep an eye on things until the last days.  God is not looking for revival, but to preserve a remnant.  The dead churches are dead and will not be revived.  God is only looking for a harvest.  Harvest is different from revival.   Dead churches will not receive a breath of new life, why would God want to revive what was not working?  God will take the harvest from the field that has been planted and the seeds sown. Going inside and outside the church for a harvest. 

  Jesus spoke parables about the workers and the vineyards.  The remnant will not need to be revived, it is a remnant. Judah – praises – living in harvest.

  Restoration – not fully dead, but it will gain a new vision of God’s design, and bring things back to what it once was – before it became deadened.

  Revival – take the dead and bring it back to life.  We assume that what it was when it was alive was good, but that is not always true.

  Would you want the Baptist church to be revived to what it was in the 40′s or the 50′s? 

  Pastor Don was the son of a Baptist preacher and he told us the order of service – something that was inflexible.  He had us laughing as he imitated some of the various people, and gave us the following commentary.

  First there was come in and a call to worship.  Then morning prayer done by Deacon Jones Ray who wanted to show how prayerful he was – theatrical performances that fed the flesh of the people.  He had five minutes to exercise that flesh and tried to preach as good as the preacher.  The deacon who prayed could be replaced if the preacher felt threatened.  Then there was the welcome to the visitors – a rote exercise of politeness and false humility. Then there was the opening hymn – which was psalms and praises to God – the hymn had to be old – the older the better. A reading of a passage from the Old Testament.  A hymn, gospel or spiritual.  Then the New Testament scripture.  Then there was the meditation of the day – if the pastor was threatened he did it himself.  Then there was the offering – white gloves and all.  Then the offertory song – the most fleshly talented person would sing so that people were happy giving, it was upbeat.  Then there was the announcements usually done by a female secretary (never the pastor’s wife).  Then there was the church anthem which was a high brow music performance of the choir with lots of musical gymnastics to show off talent. Then the sermon.  Open the doors of the church and a call for salvation.  Salvation prayer, and then dismiss the congregation. 

  Every week the same order was in place and some of the members would sleep asking to be awakened for the sermon, but it was done by rote, not much of a move of the Holy Spirit.

  God does not want to bring something back to what it was, not back to the 1950′s and Old Time Religion.  HE WANTS TO RESTORE US TO WHAT HE WANTS US TO BE.  He will not bring us back to the way we were before – WE ARE NOT GOING BACK.  God wants to TAKE AWAY THE GARBAGE AND LEAVE US WITH THE TRUTH, TO ADD STUFF WE NEVER HAD.   Bring us to the model he has in mind for us, to our fullest potential, to be all we can be for Him.  This is not our vision, not the glory of the Baptist Church in the 1950′s, the Catholics in the 1600′s, or any other old tradition.

  It will be an ORIGINAL DESIGN, what HE WANTS IT TO BE, for it has never been the way God viewed it as perfect.  HE IS BRINGING US TO WHAT CHRIST DIED FOR.

  Hosea 6:1-2  Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.

  Revive and restore.  On the third day he will raise us up, by this restoration we will be able to stand in His presence, and that will be a place we have never been before.  Why?  So we can live in His sight.  He will strip away all until we come to the truth, to make us to what He originally said we were to be. 

  When steel is refined it is heated to a high temperature, and then beaten to a point so that as it’s molecules reform to the shape that the refiner wants it to be. 

  We need His help in this for we often try to go to the furnace and beat ourselves but we are so weighted down with unworthiness.  We think that if we suffer more then we will be worthy to be better.  Martin Luther cracked glass on the stairs and climbed up them on his hands and knees to atone for sins.

  God revives us and He does it for He knows what He had in mind when He started.

  This sense of unworthiness is negative pride – still not letting God do His thing, or believing that God has made it worthy.  We can’t restore ourselves to the image God has for us.  We have to let go of the hammer and say, I’m good, God has it. 

  Yes, we will have bad hair days, even Pastor Don has some.  What you see in the mirror is not a mirror image, but what you are feeling.  God restores you to better than what you had in mind.

  Hosea 6:3 Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.

  The latter and the former rain, at one point Israel had two growing seasons.   In AD 70 the Temple was destroyed.  Israel lost their latter rain, but still had rain in the spring.  God has reestablished two growing seasons since Israel has been back in the land in 1948.  The second growing season came back. 

  What God establishes in the physical he does to tell us what He is doing in the spiritual.  When it was “spring” time in Heaven, God sent His Holy Spirit and 3000 souls came to the kingdom.  Everyone thought that they were drunk, but they were just under the influence of the Holy Spirit. 

  To be most effective for God we have to be doing something that makes no sense to our conscious mind (seems impossible to our conscious mind, yet it is of God), and sometimes it seems that we have lost our dignity.  And speaking in tongues seems like that to our conscious mind, as it made those in Israel seem to be drunk.

  Signs and wonders and gifts of the spirit are being restored with the latter rain, and the harvest in these last days.  We don’t do anything. We do what He does.  There is no new formula for evangelism.  We must prepare to follow what God tells us to do.  We are not trying to do the work to bring in the harvest, we are just obeying God, being available.

  The first harvest was the barley harvest – it was a common grain and was available to common man.  Barley was quick, cheap, and it was the people’s grain.  The barley harvest is like the people outside of the church who have backslid.  In the later day, we will be reaching many people for the Lord.  We need to have a one minute testimony ready.  “Can I tell you what happened to me? …”

  Hosea 6:4 “O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away.

  Ephriam and Judah are Southern Israel.  Judah is the tribe that was in Jerusalem. Judah – Yadah means praise.  They were sons of Joseph, and their faithfulness went away as the early dew.

  Hosea 6:5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and your judgments are like light that goes forth.

  God is bringing them into restoration, to be like He designed them. He hewed them with the prophets and brought light.

  Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

  We don’t get what He has for us by working for it, it is through His kindness and mercy that God gives it to us.  How does this happen?  We get to know who He is, and it brings us to our knees, and what He has to offer becomes important to us.

  Pastor Don said, what if a husband brought home a gift for his wife. To give her a good gift, the husband needs to know her, and then the gift is more precious to her.

  Hosea 6:7-8  But like men^a]’> and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh,

  One heart, to Israel he will restore them, by giving them a NEW heart.  Not revival, but correction.

  Ezekiel 18:1-2 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,  “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?

  His Word will go forth, and no longer are the children cursed to the 3rd and 4th generation. The following passage of Ezekiel shows this.

  Ezekiel 18:3 As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.

  Not use it in Israel.

  Ezekiel 18:4-13 “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die. But if a man is just and does what is lawful and right; if he has not eaten on the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor defiled his neighbor’s wife, nor approached a woman during her impurity; if he has not oppressed anyone, but has restored to the debtor his pledge; has robbed no one by violence, but has given his bread to the hungry and covered the naked with clothing; if he has not exacted usury nor taken any increase, but has withdrawn his hand from iniquity and executed true judgment between man and man; if he has walked in My statutes and kept My judgments faithfully— he is just; he shall surely live!” says the Lord GOD. HE SHALL LIVE  If he begets a son who is a robber or a shedder of blood, who does any of these things and does none of those duties,but has eaten on the mountains or defiled his neighbor’s wife; if he has oppressed the poor and needy, robbed by violence, not restored the pledge, lifted his eyes to the idols, or committed abomination;  if he has exacted usury or taken increase— shall he then live?  He shall not live! If he has done any of these abominations, he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him. HE SHALL DIE

  Ezekiel 18:14-17 If, however, he begets a son who sees all the sins which his father has done, and considers but does not do likewise; who has not eaten on the mountains, nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor defiled his neighbor’s wife; has not oppressed anyone, nor withheld a pledge, nor robbed by violence, but has given his bread to the hungry and covered the naked with clothing; who has withdrawn his hand from the poor and not received usury or increase, but has executed My judgments and walked in My statutes— he shall not die for the iniquity of his father; he shall surely live!

  He will not die for the sins of his father.  The soul who sins is the soul responsible and will either die or live.  God’s plan will do something about salvation in life (Jesus). 

  Revival:

  Ezekiel 37:1-3 The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.”

  Ezekiel tells us that only the Lord God knows, so Ezekiel can’t answer if they can come to life.

  Ezekiel 37:4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!

  Ezekiel obeys, not knowing the answer yet, just obeying God.  There is much life by a praiser of God.  Speak to the dry bones, not if they deserve it, why they died, or became as they were, just speak to them.  Let God do the revival, you don’t know where their mind is.

  Ezekiel 37:5-7 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.

  Ezekiel did as God commanded, he obeyed.  If there is a twinge in your heart, talk about Jesus, say it and who knows which dry bones will be revived.

  Ezekiel 37:8-14 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’”

  Pray for them, and God will revive them.

  Pastor Don realized that we had yet again strayed from Isaiah, so we read some of Isaiah to close the study. 

  Isaiah 1:10-13 Hear the word of the LORD,  you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah: ”To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” says the LORD.  ”I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.

  No more futile sacrifices.

  Isaiah 1:14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.

  All the feasts and traditions that man made up, God is weary of.

  Isaiah 1:15-17 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

  Yes, we can do these things.

  Isaiah 1:18-19 “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;”

  We ended on this upbeat note with this fantastic statement by God.  We will go into some of these verses in more detail when Pastor Don teaches the next Isaiah Bible study.

  Heather

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