Sermon #233 Series: Isaiah
Title: TAKING HOLD OF GOD
Text: Isaiah 64:7
Subject: Arousing Ourselves to Earnest Prayer
Date: Sunday Evening - March 3, 1996
Tape #S31
Introduction:
James tells us that "The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). The mouthing of words, the
vain repetitions, the emotional expressions of sentimental desires, and the
religious activities we call prayer avail nothing. When such excuses for prayer
are over, they are over, that is all there is to it. We expect nothing to
happen; and we get exactly what we expect. Nothing happens! But, it is still
written, "The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
The church of God today is in a very sad state. I do not want to ignore, or fail to observe, God's many great blessings upon us. I see many things for which to be thankful and greatly encouraged in the work of the gospel. The blessings of God upon this assembly evident. The Lord has graciously opened for us constantly increasing doors of utterance for the gospel for the past sixteen years. He has given us a rare and blessed harmony and peace in the fellowship of the gospel, uniting our hearts in Christ and in the cause of Christ. Words cannot describe my gratitude to him for his goodness to us.
Yet, we must not ignore the grim fact that there is in us, and in the church of God in general, far too much lethargy and indifference to the things of God. It appears to me that we expect very little from our great God. Therefore we do not stir ourselves up to lay hold of him as we ought. Is that true of you? I fear that it is far more true of me than I want to acknowledge. Tonight, I want to preach to you about TAKING HOLD OF GOD. You will find my text in Isaiah 64 verse seven.
The people of God were in a very sad, mournful condition. Isaih felt
that the state they were in could be remedied only by the gracious, violent
intervention of God himself. Therefore, he cried out to the Lord, "Oh that thou wouldest rend the
heavens, that thou wouldest come down!" He knew that the people of God
were so steeped in slumber, so utterly overcome by their sinful and shameful
indifference to God, that unless God himself would descend with all the power
and terror with which he appeared at Sinai, the nation would utterly perish
like dried leaves driven away with the wind. The prophet of God longed or the
melting fire to dissolve their hard hearts. He wanted God to send the consuming
flame of his presence to burn up the chaff that was in them. He prayed for the
burning heat of God's love in Christ, such as "causeth the waters to boil," to be poured out upon them
to remove the lukewarmness of those who professed to know, love, and worship
him. Then, in our text, in verse seven,
he lays the ax to the root of the tree, and exposes the root of all the evil
that had come upon the people of God. "And
there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold
of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of
our iniquities."
Proposition: With those words the Holy Spirit tells us that the cause of such a lamentable condition in the church and kingdom of God is the lack of effectual, fervent prayer among righteous men and women, the fact that we simply do not stir ourselves up to take hold of God.
Divisions: I want to apply this text directly to us and to our present condition. In doing so, I want us to look at three things clearly stated in this verse of Scripture.
1. "There is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up
himself to take hold of thee." With those words the prophet describes THE SAD STATE INTO WHICH WE HAVE FALLEN.
2. "For thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us." That describes GOD'S GRACIOUS CHASTISEMENT by which he corrects our indifference and causes us to stir up ourselves to take hold of him.
3. The last part of the verse
exposes THE REASON FOR GOD'S
CHASTISEMENT. - "Because of our
iniquities."
May God the Holy Spirit graciously and effectually apply his Word to our hearts and cause us to stir up ourselves to take hold of our God.
I. "There is none that
calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee."
With those words the prophet describes THE
SAD STATE INTO WHICH WE HAVE FALLEN.
Without question, this text of Scripture must be applied primarily to the people of God. These words were first uttered by one of God's prophets. When he spoke them, he spoke as the representative of God's people during one of their times of great spiritual barrenness. Therefore, we must apply the text primarily to the people of God in similar, low state and condition of barrenness. However, I will not violate the text by also applying it to you who do not know our God.
We live in a day when, it appears
that few are being saved, when God is calling out his elect one or two at a
time, here and there. I do not know of a gospel preacher anywhere in the world
who is over burdened with having to baptize new converts. Much of the blame for this state of barrenness is to be laid at our own
door. I know that God's elect will be saved, saved in his time, at the
appointed place, and by the appointed means. Every sinner chosen in electing
love and redeemed by the precious blood of Christ shall be called by God the
Holy Spirit in the appointed time of love. No one believes the doctrine of
God's sovereignty any more fully than I do. We take a back seat to no one in
the world in preaching it. Yet, we are responsible for that shameful, sinful
lethargy and unbelief which causes barrenness, both in spiritual fruit and in
conversions. The cause of this
barrenness is our unbelief and indifference.
· Isaiah 48:18
· Matthew 13:58
· John11:40
I acknowledge the shameful guilt of God's church and of my own empty soul. We ought to be better servants of our God than we are. But if you go to hell, it will be of no comfort to you to say, "If Don Fortner had been a better preacher and those people down at Grace Church had been more faithful believers, I would have been saved." The fact is, that is not your problem.
A. You who are lost are lost because you will not seek the Lord,
because you will not come to Christ that you might have life.
· John 3:19-20
· John 5:39-40
If you are lost tonight, it is because the words of our text apply specifically to you. You simply refuse to call upon the name of the Lord. You will not stir yourself up to take hold of God. If you are concerned for your soul, if you really want to be saved, let me tell you what you must do. You must stir yourself up to take hold of God.
Illustrations: The Woman with the Issue of Blood
The Canaanite
Woman
The Leper
Blind Bartimaeus
What a wonderful act of grace, mercy, and condescension, that God almighty would allow it, but he stoops down to sinners upon the earth and bids us to lay hold of him.
· Isaiah 43:25-26
If you would be saved, you must stir yourself up to take hold of God as he has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. Take hold of the gospel, believe its promises, and plead with the Lord God for mercy upon gospel grounds.
1. Plead your sinnerhood (Psa. 25:11).
2. Plead Christ's precious, sin-atoning blood (Heb. 9:22; Ex. 12:13).
3. Plead the promises of the gospel (Matt. 11:28-30; I John 1:9; Isa. 45:22).
I know this, if ever you find yourself in need of God's grace and salvation in Christ, you will stir yourself up and take hold of God.
"Come, humble
sinner, in whose breast
A thousand thoughts revolve,
Come with your guilt and fear oppressed,
And make this last resolve
'I'll go to Jesus,
though my sin
Hath like a mountain rose;
I know His courts I'll enter in,
Whatever may oppose.
Prostrate I'll lie
before His throne,
And there my guilt confess;
I'll tell Him I'm a wretch undone,
Without His sovereign grace.
I'll to the gracious
King approach,
Whose scepter pardon gives;
Perhaps He may command my touch,
And then the suppliant lives!
Perhaps He will admit
my plea,
Perhaps will hear my prayer;
But if I perish, I will pray,
And perish only there.
I can but perish if l
go,
I am resolved to try;
For if I stay away, I know,
I must forever die.
But, if I die with
mercy sought,
When I the King have tried,
This were to die (Delightful thought!)
As sinner never died.'"
Edmund Jones
I urge you, if you care for your soul, to stir yourself up and take hold of God. You are standing upon the edge of eternity. Hell is open to swallow you. Only Christ can save you. Take hold of him! I know that you must be stirred and awakened by God, or you will never stir and awaken yourself. Yet, I know that it is your responsibility to stir yourself up and your responsibility to take hold of God. If you do not do so, you will perish under his wrath. "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that steepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Eph. 5:14).
B. However, the
opening lines of our text primarily describe the low, low condition of God's
church.
What a sad state we are in when, upon the whole, it must be confessed that in the church and kingdom of God, "There is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee." What Isaiah is describing here is a wholesale lack of earnest prayer. The very essence of prayer is stirring one's self up and taking hold of God. If we do not take hold of God in prayer, we have not prayed.
C.H. Spurgeon once said,
"The very soul of devotion lies in realizing the divine presence, in
dealing with God as a real person, in firm confidence in his faithfulness, - in
a word, in 'taking hold of him. '
We are encompassed with many
troubles, problems, and cares in this world, from which no human hand can
deliver us. We have many constant needs, which no creature can supply. God
alone can meet our needs. God alone can deliver us from the troubles that most
concern us. But we are all, by nature, averse to prayer. It is our natural
disposition to look to friends or to ourselves. But we will not, of ourselves,
call upon God for help. It is a sad fact that this is, to a very great degree,
true even of genuine believers. This was the ground of God's controversy with
Israel; and this is the ground of God's controversy with us. It is ever the tendency of human flesh to
shut God out of our lives! It is ever our shameful, sinful tendency to neglect
prayer.
He bids us cast our cares upon
him (I Pet. 5:7); but we prefer to carry the load for ourselves! He bids us
come to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in
time of need (Heb. 4:16); but we prefer to look to Egypt for help and lean upon
the arm of the flesh. That is the reason we are in the shape we are in. It is
because "there is none that calleth
upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee."
1. Isaiah here shows
us the nature of true payer.
a. Prayer is here described as calling upon the name of the Lord.
Prayer is not a repetition of words, but an act of reverent worship. Prayer is not a reading of liturgy, but a longing of the soul. Prayer is not a work of our lips, but a work of our hearts.
b. Prayer is described as taking hold of God.
The Lord God has set himself before us in the promises of his Word that by believing them we may lay hold of him. We are to lay hold of him by faith. If we would obtain the blessings of his goodness, we must take hold of his strength.
· Isaiah 27:5
· Jacob did (Gen. 32:26).
· Elijah did (I Kings 18:36-38).
· The Canaanite woman did (Mark 7:24-30).
c. Prayer is also called the stirring up of one's self.
Prayer is not an easy thing for a man in flesh and blood to engage in. Every time I hear someone sing, Sweet Hour of Prayer, I want to ask, "When was the last time you spent an hour in prayer?" I do not know about you, but for me, any time I try to pray, I have to stir myself up to do it. Even then, it can hardly be called prayer. Usually, my mind is fairly alert and focused on the thing I am doing. But when I try to pray, my mind roams through the universe faster than the speed of light. Therefore, I have to constantly stir up my sluggish heart to try to pray.
2. But our text speaks of a general neglect of prayer. "There is none that calleth upon thy
name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee."
These words, I regret to say, must be applied to the church of God in general in our day. I would not say, "There is none;" but I must say, judging by what I see, that there are few who call upon the name of the Lord, few who stir themselves up to take hold of God. In this congregation, I dare say, such is the case.
a. Some of you live entirely
without prayer.
b. Many of you maintain the form of outward prayer.
· You say grace before your meals, at least when the preacher is present.
· You go through the outward form of public worship.
c. But there are a few who really do pray.
Some of you cry out to God day and night. There is a remnant even today who call upon the name of the Lord, who stir themselves up to take hold of God, crying continually for his presence, his power, and his grace upon the souls the souls of men.
II. "For thou hast hid thy face from us,
and hast consumed us." That
describes GOD'S GRACIOUS CHASTISEMENT by which he corrects our indifference and
causes us to stir up ourselves to take hold of him.
The Holy Spirit clearly intends
for us to realize that one great method of discipline God uses in his family
and among his children, to correct indifference toward him, is to manifestly
hide his face from us. To believing
hearts nothing is a greater token of God's displeasure than to know that he
hides himself from us.
· Song of Solomon 5:2-6
· Lamentations 3:1-26
· Psalm 13:1-4
· Psalm 79:4-5
When the Lord God hides his face from his people...
A. The ordinances of worship are dry, mechanical, and
fruitless. "Thou hast consumed
us!"
B. The joy of our salvation is dried up. "Thou
hast consumed us!"
C. The glory of God is not made known and manifest before us. "Thou hast consumed us!"
D. The womb of God's church is made dry, barren, and fruitless. "Thou hast consumed us!"
Does anyone ask, "What is the cause of this sad, sad state into which we have fallen?" We need only to read the last part of our text to find the answer.
III. The last part of the verse exposes THE REASON FOR GOD'S CHASTISEMENT. God hides his face from us "because of our iniquities."
· Isaiah 59:1-2
While we find comfort in God's sovereignty and the immutability of his purpose, we must never excuse our sin or to blame our indifference upon God. The cause of our trouble is our sin.
Application:
May the Lord God, whose we are, now enable us to do what we have so much neglected to do. God grant us grace to...
1. Call upon his name in earnest prayer.
2. Stir ourselves up to seek him.
3. Take hold of him...
· By Confessing Our Sin.
· By Pleading His Covenant
· By Believing Him.
· Psalm 85:4
· Song of Solomon 1:1-3
· Jeremiah 31:18
· Lamentations 5:21