Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday July 21, 2010

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Isaiah 63 - Part 2

C61 presents the ideal: forgiveness/healing/deliverance/restoration.

C62 Isaiah prays, based upon the ideal of C61 – do it Lord!  Prayer is taking the Word of God and repeating it back – reminding the Lord.

C63a the Lord reveals intervention in Israel.  C63b Isaiah’s intercession   

What drives Isaiah to pray is that Israel is not experiencing the fullness of the life of God.  Isaiah looks at the promises of God and then he looks at the life of Israel and he sees a disconnect.  What God has promised is not a reality in the life of the nation – this sets him to praying.  When you see a disconnect between the life that is set b4un the Word and your life – this should set you to praying.

Are you operating in the power/gifts of the Spirit?  Pray.  Are you giving generously/joyfully?  Pray.  Are you a blessing to others/ adding value to their lives?  Pray.  Are you witnessing?  Pray.  What drives Isaiah to pray is that he/Israel are not experiencing the fullness of the life of God.   Are you experiencing abundance of life?

The Ground of Prayer - Character  7

Note the piling up of words – lovingkindness/granted/goodness/ compassion.  Who do you want for a best friend – a merciful one who forgives or one who remembers the tiniest fault?

People have spoken to me about their troubles and I have encouraged them to go to the person they are having difficulty w/ and smooth things out.  The response is often, “He/she won’t listen.  They are stubborn/arrogant and don’t care.”  Their character limits the possibilities of reconciliation/fellowship.  The character of God is huge when it comes to the act of prayer.  If God weren’t good/compassionate, prayer would be quenched.  The character of God is fuel for prayer.   

A little boy was standing on the banks of the Mississippi River waving/shouting at a steamboat that was going by to come to shore. A stranger came by and said, "That's foolish young man. That boat will never turn your way. The captain is too busy to notice your waving/shouting." Just then the boat turned/headed for shore. The little boy grinned and said to the stranger, "The captain is my daddy."

Your Daddy is the Captain of the Universe.  God is the same today – merciful.  Prayer banks on the mercy of God.  W/o this vision of God there is no prayer.  Our vision is not only one of OUR need/desire, but also a vision of God who is gracious.

Your prayer life will rise no higher than your vision.  What you say will rise no higher than what you see.  This is why God keeps the ideal in front of us – to stimulate our prayer life.  Those satisfied w/ their condition/who have made peace w/ spiritual mediocrity don’t really pray.  Complacency does not give place to prayer.  Only those who see what God has called them to in contrast to what they experience really pray. Isaiah is fired up!

The Hope of Prayer - Restoration   8

God’s hope for Israel was relationship (sons) and fellowship based on character (will not deal falsely).  God had a great vision for Israel - that they would walk in covenant faithfulness to Him.  God’s vision for Israel was for them 2b sons, not slaves – family, not hired hands or forced labor.  As they remained w/in the banks of the covenant, their lives would flow rich/true.  They would not deal falsely – they could be trusted.  Each time He rescued Israel and became their Savior, this was His vision.  This is His vision 4u2.

The Inspiration of Prayer – Equivalence   9

Affliction – 2b bound/tied up/stuck in a place and can’t get out.  Joseph was bound/tied up/stuck - pleaded w/ his brothers.  God would say to Joseph, “I was there w/ you.”  When Israel was afflicted in Egypt/Babylon – couldn’t get out/stuck – God was there.  He was afflicted – God was so close there was no separate identity – there was equivalence.  How does that work?  I don’t know.

Jesus to Saul: I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.   

There is a sympathy that God has 4u -  

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.  Heb. 2:14-18

Know this: God takes personally whatever happens 2u.  God knows what ur going through and it touches Him.

The Need for Prayer – Rebellion   10

When the Lord had given a clear word to go forward n2 the promised land, the people wanted to go back to Egypt.  Num. 14:3-4.

Consequences of rebellion – He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.  To fight is to oppose another’s purpose.  As the people attempted to enter Canaan, God caused them 2b defeated.

v8: became their Savior/v10: became their enemy

God went from their greatest defense to their greatest threat.  You have more to fear from God than anyone else.  Who kept Israel out of Canaan?  It wasn’t the Canaanites, it was God.  Who was going to shut down the different churches in Rev. 2-3?  The devil?  City Hall?  No, it was God.  God’s revelation/their rebellion made prayer necessary.   

The Mood of Prayer – Honesty   11-14

Where is God – His manifest power/presence?    Isaiah looked back at what Israel had enjoyed in the past of God’s presence/power and he looked around at their present experience and saw a disconnect - it wasn’t the same.  He refused to make Israel’s mediocre experience of God the norm.  He set himself to pray.  He rehearsed all the mighty things God had done when He showed up in the life of Israel and he has 2b honest and confess that God is not showing up like He used to.   

RU experiencing the power of God?  Is God showing up in your life?  Is the book of Acts happening in your life/life of your church?  The answer shouldn’t lead us to condemn/criticize, but to pray.   

The Awareness of Prayer – Emptiness   15-19

Isaiah wants God to show up, but b4 he makes the request he speaks even further on the disconnect between the ideal/reality.   

15 – Sin has cut us off from God’s work

Thy heart/compassion are restrained toward me… Restrained: Joseph controlling himself in front of his brothers = a damming up.  There was so much in Joseph 2b poured out, but he held it back.  Apply to God.  Why is God restrained toward His people?

16 – Sin has marred our identity

Why would Abraham not know them and Israel (the man) not recognize them?  Sin has disfigured them.  Sphinx used as target practice.  What would Paul say of the church today?   

17 – Sin has hardened our hearts

God only darkens those who are already blind through unbelief and only hardens those who harden themselves through rebellion.  In writing v17, Isaiah acknowledges the sin of Israel, not the hardness of God.  God is treating us like rebels because we are rebels.   

18 – Sin has corrupted our worship

The people of holiness possess the sanctuary, but the adversaries trample it – they don’t possess.  The sanctuary (presence of God) is possessed in holiness or not at all.   

19 – Sin has erased our uniqueness

There is no difference between us and the nations.  All distinctions have been blurred/erased.   

And yet – Isaiah knows that God longs to restore His people.  Why?  The ground of prayer in v7 is the character of God.