REVIVAL! – part 2
Isaiah 63:7 – 64:12 (63:11-19)
December 1, 2024
It has been a long journey as we have walked with Isaiah
And his ministry to the blind, deaf, and stubborn.
God told him from the beginning that he was being sent to a people
Who would not listen and that his preaching would confirm that.
However, Isaiah was also promised a remnant.
And he was allowed to see with prophetic eyes that one day
These stubborn people would repent and return to God.
Isaiah saw that one day Israel would experience revival
That promise fueled him to continue for nearly 60 years.
His vision of that revival is what we see here in chapters 63 and 64.
When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus He said:
John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
And again:
John 3:5 “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
What Jesus spoke of was the miracle of regeneration.
It is the monergistic and supernatural work of God
To take those who are dead and awaken them to life
So that they can respond to the gospel.
• It is God breathing life into dead bones.
• It is God granting sight to blind eyes.
• It is God granting sound to deaf ears.
• It is God turning a heart of stone into a heart of flesh.
It is God’s work without which no one could ever be saved.
If God doesn’t awaken the dead,
• They can’t hear the gospel,
• They can’t see the glories of salvation,
• And they can’t choose to respond.
God must awaken the dead.
It is the type of thing we saw with the prodigal son.
Luke 15:14-19 “Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. “So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. “And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”
We see there that this young man “came to his senses”.
I’ve heard many say, “Well, eating with pigs will do that to a person.”
That’s interesting because we see a lot of people who “eat with pigs”
Their entire life and never come to their senses.
No, what is spoken of there by Jesus is again that miracle of regeneration
• God allowed that young man to rightly see his predicament.
• God allowed that young man to smell his own stench.
• God awakened that young man to the solution of salvation.
That was God’s work in his heart to prepare him for revival.
It all started with God allowing him to see where his sin had taken him.
God’s awakening of the sinner is the first step to revival!
And that is the step we will examine this morning for Israel.
We actually started our text last Sunday night.
#1 A REVIVAL LESSON
Isaiah 63:7-11a
Just by way of a quick recap, if you weren’t with us.
Isaiah opened the message by asking Israel
To take notice “of the lovingkindnesses of the LORD”
It is that word we love, the Hebrew word: CHECED
Which is God’s loyal covenantal love which He has for His own.
IT IS WHY throughout the Old Testament God is always on Israel’s side.
• Certainly Israel was NOT more righteous than the nations surrounding them.
• In some cases they were actually worse.
• But God was loyal to those whom He had chosen.
And Isaiah just wants them to stop for a moment and think about
God’s CHECED to them throughout their history.
• Think about “all that the LORD has granted us”
• Think about “the great goodness toward the house of Israel”
• Think about all “He has granted them according to His compassion”
• Think about “the abundance of His lovingkindness”
Isaiah just wants you to go down memory lane
And take notice of all of God’s grace, goodness, and compassion
Towards His people.
It started with GOD REDEEMING THEM.
(8-9) “For He said, “Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.” So He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.”
It is NOT as though God looked at Israel and was fooled by their phony sincerity.
• God didn’t really think they would be true to Him and only found out later that
they were liars.
No, God was well-aware of what they were when He chose them.
Rather, God took sinful, unfaithful, disloyal, immoral, stubborn people and chose to treat them like they were worthy.
He treated them as though they were righteous when they were not.
That is THE GOSPEL, that God treats men as though they are righteous
When in fact they are still sinners.
God bore their fallenness, “In all their affliction He was afflicted”
• God walked with them and saved them and redeemed them and lifted them
and carried them.
They were hardly worth it, but God saved them anyway!
But we also saw in their history that THE PEOPLE REBELLED.
(10) “But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.”
How many times we saw that in Israel’s history.
• Complaining about the manna
• Complaining about the water
• Complaining about the lack of meat
• Complaining about Moses
• Complaining about the Promised Land
• Wanting to return to Egypt
And that is to say nothing about their idolatry
• With things like the golden calf,
• The intermarriage with the Moabites,
• And all the Baal worship introduced into the land.
Israel was prone to stumble and they did stumble.
And they often times brought about
Terrible discipline from the LORD into their lives.
But we also saw, that
The PEOPLE would at times REMEMBER how far they had fallen and it would prompt revival.
(11a) “Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses.”
• We saw Josiah open that book of the Law and lead Israel back to God.
• We saw Hezekiah lead them to walk in faith when Assyria attacked.
• Many times during the period of the Judges we saw repentance and revival.
Israel’s history had been one of
Redemption, rebellion, remembering, and revival.
And as we said last Sunday night, that cycle is only possible because of God’s tremendous CHECED.
A God who was not loyal would have had every right
To wash His hands of them completely.
• He had kept His end of the bargain,
• It was them who had broken the covenant,
• God would have been justified to just abandon them forever.
But He is loyal to those whom He has chosen
And because He is loyal revival is always on the table.
God’s people, despite their rebellion,
Can always return to God with the expectation of revival,
Because God is loyal to those whom He has chosen.
We saw that through Israel’s history, and we understand that even today.
That was: A REVIVAL LESSON
#2 A REVIVAL NEED
Isaiah 63:11-19
This is the point of Israel’s future
Where they begin to come to their senses.
We often say that before you can get a person saved
You must convince them that they are lost.
Here is that process unfolding in Israel.
Let me walk you through the steps of their awakening here.
Here is the process:
1) WE’RE MISSING SOMETHING…GOD!” (11-15)
What happened so often with Israel in the past, was that
• They would remember how God had been with them previously,
• They would see that He was no longer with them in such a way
• And it would prompt them to repent and return.
That is what you see happening here.
These people begin to realize that something is missing from their lives.
THAT SOMETHING IS GOD!
It is as though Israel starts reading again the story of the Exodus.
Maybe they were actually sitting at a Passover
• And started reading the story of how their ancestors were slaves in Egypt.
• How they cried out to God and God sent Moses and a bombardment of plagues
and broke the strong arm of Egypt.
• How God led Israel out of Egypt, but they were stalled on the banks of the Red
Sea.
• But how God worked a tremendous miracle and parted the Red Sea and led
Israel through and out the other side.
• And ultimately how God led them to rest in the land of promise.
WOW! What miracles God worked for His people!
If God is in your midst anything is possible!
If God is for you there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome!
TURN TO: EXODUS 15:1-19
That is the song Moses sang after God delivered Israel through the Red Sea and then drowned the Egyptian army who followed.
• Who is God like our God?
• Who can do what our God does?
• When God is for you who can be against you?
And as they ponder what God had done,
It is as though it finally begins to sink in…
WAIT! WHERE IS THAT TODAY?
(11) “Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock?”
Israel had just been going through the motions of empty religion.
• Their history has been filled with oppression and ridicule and suffering.
• They haven’t seen anything like what God did in the Exocus in a really long time.
And they begin to ask:
Where is our God?
(11b-13a) “Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them, Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, Who divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name, Who led them through the depths?”
We remember that when God was among His people,
• He empowered Moses to split the sea.
• He divided the waters and let it be known that He alone was God.
• He led our forefathers through the sea with an inconceivable deliverance.
It was supernatural!
It was miraculous!
It was obvious that God was with us!
WHERE IS THAT TODAY?
(13b-14) “Like the horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble; As the cattle which go down into the valley, The Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So You led Your people, To make for Yourself a glorious name.”
They recount the strength and confidence that was among those people
When God was with them.
• Those people never stumbled.
• They walked right down into that sea and right out the other side.
• They survived in the wilderness for 40 years as a nomadic people.
Psalms 105:37-41 “Then He brought them out with silver and gold, And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled. Egypt was glad when they departed, For the dread of them had fallen upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to illumine by night. They asked, and He brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock and water flowed out; It ran in the dry places like a river.”
It was obvious that God was with our forefathers.
His miraculous hand was at work everywhere.
Where is He now?
And this moment of awareness leads the people to a question.
(15) “Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious habitation; Where are Your zeal and Your mighty deeds? The stirrings of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained toward me.”
They recognized something didn’t they?
Their ancestors had something that they did not have;
Namely God’s presence in their midst.
GOD HAS DEPARTED.
His “zeal” and His “mighty deeds” were gone.
Nothing had demonstrated God’s CHECED toward Israel
• Like the Exodus
• And the wilderness wandering
• And the conquest of the Holy Land.
Every intervention of God’s “zeal” and “mighty deeds”
Was just a testimony that He was loyal to them.
Psalms 136:10-15 “To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And brought Israel out from their midst, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And made Israel pass through the midst of it, For His lovingkindness is everlasting; But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
And here they are realizing that
They are not experiencing His presence and intervention
Like their forefathers did.
Something is wrong!
We’re missing something…GOD!
But that would certainly lead to another question.
• Why would God depart from us?
• Why would God not dwell among us like He did our ancestors?
Well that is because:
2) WE’RE MISSING SOMETHING…FAITH! (16a)
(16a) “For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us And Israel does not recognize us.”
Can you hear the debate occurring here?
It is people who are not walking in fellowship with God
Trying to convince God that He is their Father
And they are His children.
It is like today when we have people who do not know the Lord,
But they try to maintain that they are in fact a child of God.
That is what they say!
“For You are our Father…”
“Look, I know we’re saved. I know we’re Your children.”
BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM.
They are totally unrecognizable as His children.
What is it that makes a child of God recognizable?
The book of 1 John talks about this in great detail.
1 John 2:4 “The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;”
1 John 2:29 “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.”
1 John 3:10 “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”
1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
You just have John there basically identifying Christian DNA.
You know Abigail and Zech are my children
Because they bear my character traits.
It is the same for those who are children of God.
They begin to take on the character traits of their Father.
Well that is the problem these people are being made aware of here.
They are trying to claim that they are children of God,
But the problem is they don’t look anything like their Father.
They don’t even look anything like their father in the Flesh; Abraham.
“For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us And Israel does not recognize us.”
How often was this conversation had in the New Testament!
Matthew 3:7-9 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”
• Don’t come around here playing that “Abraham card” with me!
• If you want to prove you are children of Abraham you’re going to have to act like Abraham!
Listen to Jesus:
John 8:39-44 “They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. “You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
• Those people claimed they were children of God and of Abraham,
• But when the paternity test was taken
• It was proven that they were actually children of the devil.
That is the reality that Isaiah’s audience is now wrestling with.
• They want to claim that they are children of God,
• But they are beginning to realize that they are nothing like God’s children;
• Namely Abraham and Jacob.
So what is the defining characteristic of Abraham and Jacob that these people did not have?
FAITH!
It was never about some earthly lineage.
Romans 9:6-8 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.”
It is faith that makes you a true child of Abraham and thus a true child of God.
Galatians 3:6-9 “Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”
Galatians 3:26-29 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”
It is faith that makes you a child of Abraham and a child of God.
So these people are now starting to realize the problem.
1. God is not with us like He was with our fathers…
2. We thought we were His children but it is obvious we are missing something
that our fathers had…
We are missing the presence of God because we are missing faith.
Now look…If it becomes obvious to you
1. That God is not present in your life…
2. That the reason God is not present is because you do not have faith…
Then that should automatically lead you to this final conclusion.
3) WE’RE MISSING SOMETHING…SALVATION! (16b-19)
(16b-19) “You, O LORD, are our Father, Our Redeemer from of old is Your name. Why, O LORD, do You cause us to stray from Your ways And harden our heart from fearing You? Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage. Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while, Our adversaries have trodden it down. We have become like those over whom You have never ruled, Like those who were not called by Your name.”
Notice their dilemma as they begin to work through it.
• They notice that there has been a separation between them and God
• They even realized that there was a lack of faith on their part.
But look at what they say next.
“You, O LORD, are our Father, Our Redeemer from of old is Your name. Why, O LORD, do You cause us to stray from Your ways and harden our heart from fearing You?”
Do you see their thought process?
Maybe we aren’t like Abraham, but You are still our Redeemer.
It has always been Your job to redeem us and deliver us
Even when we mess up.
SO WHY HAVEN’T YOU?
Look at the question:
“Why, O LORD, do You cause us to stray from Your ways and harden our heart from fearing You?”
Now first of all, let’s just ask:
IS THAT TRUE?
Has God caused them to stray and hardened their heart from fearing Him?
Romans 11:7-8 “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written, “GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.”
YES!
• God has hardened their heart.
• God has caused them to stray.
God has given them over to the sin of their heart.
• They persisted in rebellion…
• They persistently sought to escape His sovereign rule…
• God finally said, “Have at it!”
The chief culmination of their rejection came
When God sent His Son and they crucified Him.
Matthew 21:33-41 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. “When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. “The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. “Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. “But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ “But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ “They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”
• God broke them off.
• God hardened them.
• God scattered them.
They have not been able to see that throughout all these years,
But on this day it has finally become clear to them.
• They are now seeing that there is no fellowship between them and God.
• They are now seeing that there is enmity between them and God.
Which is why you see the first cry for revival:
“Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.”
They recognize a separation
And they are pleading with God to come back.
(18-19) “Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while, Our adversaries have trodden it down. We have become like those over whom You have never ruled, Like those who were not called by Your name.”
I hope you spot the epiphany…
“We have become like those over whom You have never ruled, Like those who were not called by Your name.”
• We have become like pagans…
• We are separated from You…
• We are under your wrath…
• We are not like Abraham…
• We have been hardened and scattered…
What did they just realize?
WE ARE LOST
Luke 15:17-19 “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”
DO YOU SEE THAT?
This is the first step of revival.
• Before the lost will be saved…
• Before the backslidden will cry for revival…
• There must first be that painful and eye-opening recognition that there is something wrong in the relationship.
I remember Rachelle Morrow grabbing me one morning after Sunday School.
I still remember 20 years ago when Carrie and I came here to Spur.
• We started in September and for 8 months things were as you would expect.
• But then June hit and we had a mass exodus of people jumping in their motorhomes and leaving for the summer.
I remember sitting in my office sometime in August doing some soul searching and I just remember telling God in prayer,
“God, if You were here this wouldn’t be happening.”
It was on that day that God challenged me
To seek Him more and to value His presence more.
That is when we had the first Month of Stillness to focus simply on seeking God.
But it was a painful self-examination for me as a pastor
To realize that it was possible to preach sermons
And have church services and do all the stuff listed in the bulletin
And to do it all without the presence of God.
I’ll never forget that Chinese believer who was sent to America to study the American church. When he returned home they asked him, “So what was the most amazing thing you learned from the church in America?” He said, “All that they can accomplish without God.”
It is the tragedy of being a religious people
Who do not have God’s presence, who do not walk by faith,
And who quite possibly aren’t even saved.
Someday Israel will be awakened to that fact.
They will finally see that since they day they crucified Christ
They have been a people without the presence of God.
God will awaken them to that truth and it will prompt them to call on Him.
All you have to do is see the next verse:
Isaiah 64:1 “Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence”
Certainly we rejoice in this prophetic announcement of Israel’s return to Christ and all the glories that will follow their salvation.
But at the same time we would be foolish
If we did not learn from this and apply it in our own lives.
IS THERE A DESIRE FOR REVIVAL AMONG US?
Well the first step is the recognition that perhaps there is a problem.
• It comes with the recognition that it is a faith problem.
• It comes with the reality that perhaps there is lostness or backsliddenness.
Until a person reaches that painful awareness
There will be no repentance and cry for it to change.
I can’t help but think of those churches in the Revelation.
• Ephesus who had left her first love…
• Pergamum who was courting other lovers…Christ saying, “you have some there who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”
• Thyatira who was in a full-blown affair tolerating the lady Jezebel.
• Sardis who thought they were alive, but they were dead.
And the infamous Laodicea:
Revelation 3:15-20 “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”
• Going through the motions…
• Doing church as though they were a spiritual giant.
• And the whole time unaware of that they were wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
How can it be that we can fall so far as to go through the motions of Christianity and yet be so far away from Christ?
It can happen because are fallen and sinful people.
We must remember that apart from Christ, we can accomplish nothing.
Jesus taught us that in John 15 when He told us He was the vine and we are the branches.
• We need Christ.
• We need Him more than anything.
• Without Him we are just going through the motions.
This is why even in the church marriages fail, children rebel,
We don’t see the lost saved, we don’t see evangelistic zeal…
We can so easily fall into the rut of going through the motions.
And in such a condition we need revival!
We have to face the hard realities that perhaps we have backslidden.
We have to face that personally and corporately.
• It causes a little pain.
• It causes a little brokenness.
• It causes a little grief.
BUT HERE IS THE REALLY GOOD NEWS!
Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.”
When you want Christ to dwell among you.
When you want His presence to beam through our congregation.
Well, He dwells with contrite and lowly.
And if you want revival.
Well, He revives the heart of the contrite and lowly.
We say all the time that you have to get a person lost before you can get them saved.
WHY?
Because Christ doesn’t save righteous people, He saves sinners.
Matthew 9:12-13 “But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. “But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
That is His gospel:
Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
This morning we are going to take the Lord’s Supper to remember that.
We are going to partake and remember
That our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is in the revival business!
If you want revival in your life, then it starts here.
It starts with trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
• It starts with a return to Him.
• It starts with a desire for Him.
• It starts with a love for Him.
And when we return He revives.
Because His CHECED endures forever.
So this morning church, we’ll have our time of preparation.
I invite you just examine the current state of your relationship with Christ.
I invite you to humble yourself before Him.
• If you are lost, confess that…
• If you are backslidden, confess that…
• If you are walking with Him, but desire more, confess that…
And then cry out to Him to fix it.
• If you are lost, ask Him to forgive you and save you.
• If you are backslidden, ask Him to forgive you and revive you.
And then come to this table where that forgiveness was purchased
AND WORSHIP
That through His work salvation and revival are possible.
Let’s have our time of preparation
And then partake of the table of the Lord…
LORD’S SUPPER
• Deacons come forward
Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
• Give bread to deacons
• Deacon prayer
• Deacons pass out bread
Matthew 26:26 “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
• Take bread
Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.”
• Give juice to deacons
• Deacon prayer
• Deacons pass out juice
Matthew 26:27-28 “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”
• Take juice
• Deacon prayer
• Parting hymn
