When God Breaks Through

“WHEN GOD BREAKS THROUGH!"

ISAIAH 64:1-12

TEXT VERSE: ISAIAH 64:1-4

INTRO:Are you satisfied with the present situation you are in? To be satisfied means "to be free of doubt or anxiety; to be confident.” When we are satisfied about our situation and ourselves we see little reason to change. The greatest problem facing God’s people today is that we have become saved and satisfied! Satisfaction will determine our dependence on God, our decisions for God, and our determination for God. If we are satisfied with how we are we will do little or nothing for the cause of Christ! We have become like the Church of Laodicea, because we say, "I am rich, and increased with goods and have need of nothing...”. We have become satisfied in just getting by! God has many great and wonderful things He desires to work in our midst if only we will acknowledge Him and let Him work in our lives!

In Isaiah 64, we see the plea and prayer of the nation of Israel in captivity. They had become dissatisfied with their present situation and wanted it to change. Until we become dissatisfied with our present situation we will never change! I am not satisfied with our present condition and I want to see us change! We need to see God's power and blessing in our midst again! I want to title the message, "When God Breaks Through!" There are three things we must do if we desire to see “God Breaks Through!”

(1) WE MUST REALIZE WE HAVE BEEN MISSING SOMETHING

ISAIAH 64:1-4—“Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that

thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at

thy presence, As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the

waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.”

A. THE REALIZATION OF LOST POWER. The people asked God to tear the

sky as a piece of cloth is torn. They wanted to see God's power once again

as they had before they had sinned! They realized they were in a dire

situation and they had a strong desire to see God’s power working in them

and for them as He had in the past. David said in Psalm 63:1-2—“O God,

thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh

longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy

power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.” Each one

here tonight should have that same desire. But for us to have that desire

we must first see the dire situation we are in and then the desire for change

will come! How long has it been since we have seen a great outpouring of

the Holy Spirit in our services? How many professions of faith did we

witness this past year? How many baptisms, additions? Friend, let me

ask you this evening, do you see in the dire situation we are in? Do you

have a desire to see it change?

B. THE REASON FOR LOST POWER. We are not seeing the mighty working

of God in our midst? Why?

We are Asleep. In Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:5 we are told—“Whilethebridegroomtarried,theyallslumberedandslept.” We have become unconscious to the needs around us (PROVERBS 29:18)! We have lost our vision for God thus we are seeing no victory for God! We have let the cares of this world rock us to sleep! It's time to wake UP! We read in Romans 13:11—“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” Ephesians 5:14-16 tells us—“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” I want you to notice an interesting word in Ephesians 5:14. It is that small word “from”. It is translated from a Greek word which means “out of, or among.” Thus the Scripture here says to God’s people, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from (out of, among) the dead…”. “The children of God are sometimes asleep, and need awaking…living saints are sometimes among dead sinners, and it becomes them to arise from among them, and quit their company, which is oftentimes the occasion of their sleepiness” (John Gill’s Exposition of The Entire Bible. e-Sword. Version 7.6.1. Copyright 2000-2005. Rick Meyers. All Rights Reserved Worldwide).

ILLUS: Jesus, while in the Garden instructed His disciples, "Sit ye here, watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." Three times He came to them to find them asleep. Finally he asked, "Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation."

When we are asleep then wickedness can really work! In Jesus'

parable of the tares and the wheat, Jesus said, "While the men slept,

the enemy sowed tares among the wheat.” (Matthew 13:25). When

we are asleep Satan works the hardest!

We Are Not Alert To Satan's Devices! (1 Peter 5:8-9). Satan is deceitful. He will use anyone to suit His purposes! That is why we must be fully clad with the whole armor of God!Ephesians 6:1O-11—“...Be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

We Are Not As Committed To God's Work As We Are To Our Concerns! (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). We will expend all our energy to our pursuits but when it comes to God's Work we seem to lose interest! Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:24—“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”

ILLUS: In the athletic contest every runner enters the race for one

purpose only: to win. However, only one receives the prize;

there is only one winner. The believer enters the Christian

race for one purpose only: to win. Therefore, he strains in

running to obtain the prize. Nothing is acceptable except

running and running hard:

Walking fast is unacceptable.

Jogging is unacceptable.

Lagging behind is unacceptable.

Showing little concern for the finish line is unacceptable.

The point is this: the minister and layman alike must run as

diligently as the runner at the Olympic Games. The believer

must put out the same kind of vigorous effort in order to

reach the finish line. He must be vigorous and diligent; he

must persist in the Christian race. (Preacher’s Outline And

Sermon Bible. New Testament, Volume 8. 1 & 2 Corinthians

Commentary. WORDsearch. Version 5.X.2. WORDsearch

Commitment means that we give our selves to God without reservation

and then let Him do as He wills in our lives!

(2) WE MUST REALIZE WE HAVE SINNED AND MUST TURN BACK TO

God!

ISAIAH 64:5-7—“Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh

righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou

art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall

be saved. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our

righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and

our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 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.”

A. WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE OUR SIN. We don't seem to want to

acknowledge we Are sinners (vv. 5-6). I want you to note Isaiah’s words in

v5—“ behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned…”. All of us are sinners

(v6)! We all sin daily! All of us have failed God in not doing His good

pleasure for us! This BIBLE makes it abundantly clear that we are

SINNERS! (James 4:17; Psalm 51:3-4; 1 John 1:6-8). We all need to

bring to my the words of the Hymn written by James M. Gray from time to

time to keep us humble and let remember how much we owe the Lord:

Only A Sinner
Luke 18:13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!'
Words: James M. Gray, 1905.
Music: Daniel B. Towner.
Naught have I gotten but what I received;
Grace hath bestowed it since I have believed;
Boasting excluded, pride I abase;
I’m only a sinner, saved by grace!
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
This is my story, to God be the glory—
I’m only a sinner, saved by grace!
Once I was foolish, and sin ruled my heart,
Causing my footsteps from God to depart;
Jesus hath found me, happy my case;
I now am a sinner, saved by grace!
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
This is my story, to God be the glory—
I’m only a sinner, saved by grace!
Tears unavailing, no merit had I;
Mercy had saved me, or else I must die;
Sin had alarmed me fearing God’s face;
But now I’m a sinner saved by grace!
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
This is my story, to God be the glory—
I’m only a sinner, saved by grace!
Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows,
Loving his Savior to tell what he knows;
Once more to tell it would I embrace—
I’m only a sinner saved by grace!
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
Only a sinner, saved by grace!
This is my story, to God be the glory—
I’m only a sinner, saved by grace!

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B. WE MUST ASK FOR FORGIVENESS. Isaiah said in v7—“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.” Folks, let me share something with you: the reason we are in

dire situation we are in is because we don’t want to acknowledge our sin

and ask for forgiveness.(1 John 1:9). As long as we hold to our sins and

don't forsake them, God will not bless us (Psalm 66:18)! We must get right

with God before He will meet with us (v5a) (2 Chronicles 7:14).

(3) WE MUST REDEDICATE OURSELVES TO God AND HIS WILL

ISAIAH 64:8-12—“But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay,

and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity forever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?”

“Rededicate"—“to recommit and readily give one's self afresh and anew to the will of God!" To do this, we must:

A. REALIZE WE ARE GOD'S (v8). (1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20).

B. REQUEST GOD'S HELP (vv. 9, 12) (PSALM 86:6-7). We must:

Pray (vv. 9, 12)—“Beseech"-Hebrew—“To earnestly entreat and ask". (Psalm 34:17-18).

Prepare Ourselves To Serve God (v9b) (Romans 12:1-2).

C. REMEMBER WHY GOD SAVED US AND PUT US IN THIS PLACE (vv. 10-

11). God had two specific reasons why He saved us and put us here:

To Be God's Holy People (vlO) (1 Peter 1:15-16; 2:5).

To Be To God's Praise And Glory (vll) (Ephesians 1:12).

CLOSING:Are you satisfied with what you see? Or are you ready to

experience the fire of God once again in this place? To see it

happen we must be conscious that we need to change. Have the

courage to change. Have a new compassion for God and others.

Cooperate With each other so God can work. Each person must be

involved! And finally, actually consecrate ourselves to seeing God

work in our midst!

WE need Revival in our midst tonight! We need to Have courage to

be busy with the LORD'S Business! Will you be that person God

can use? When we realize what we have been missing. Realize

that we have sinned and are not pleasing God. And rededicate

ourselves to God, then “God Will Break Through!"

I don't know about you but I want to be part of a growing, exciting,

changing body who is serving the LORD where God is blessing our

faithfulness! Let us give ourselves to God so we can see God work

in a mighty way in this place!