Missions Paul

What’s coming out of your mouth?

John Ortberg in his book “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat” sites a medical study in which 122 men who had suffered their first heart attack were evaluated on their degree of hopefulness and pessimism: “Of the 25 most pessimistic men, 21 had died eight years later. Of the 25 most optimistic, only 6 had died!… Loss of hope increased the odds of death more than 300 percent; it predicted death more accurately than any medical risk factor, including blood pressure, amount of damage to the heart, or cholesterol level.”

ISAIAH 63

When all around you is bad news. What comes out of you?
Isaiah was witnessing destruction of 10 tribes of Israel and in time the final 2 would be destroyed. He saw how the people were drifting from God. So what does he do?
“I will tell of the kindness of the Lord”, v7.

He specifically spoke of the past, “all The Lord has done for us”.
No doubt he was thinking of the Exodus through the Red Sea, how God cared for them in the wilderness and then the Promised land.

If we have a past with God then we will get through the future with God.

He specifically spoke of a Saviour, v8. Let’s never forget the impact of the cross which was a day blood, v3; a day of vengeance, v4; a day of being alone, v5; a day of wrath, v6; but Jesus won for us what we could not win and the angel helped Him, v9.

He specifically spoke words of kindness. We need to encourage fellow-Christians reminding them they are redeemed. They are owned by God. They do not belong to that what is bringing them low. They are not owned by satan but by God! Or what about the word ‘carried’? He carries us through our troubles. He lifts us up into His arms when we can walk no more. Isaiah uses so many more positive and empowering words.

Be optimistic today despite circumstances around you. Speak well.

Have you been in the boiler room?

“For years Christians have known that every great spiritual awakening is born in a remnant committed to prayer. Countless books call people to prayer and emphasise the importance God places on His people’s praying. Yet we must answer one sobering question: If prayer is so important, why do most Christians and churches do so little of what God deems essential? We have more money, more buildings, more ministries, more media, and more people but less power than at any time in church history.
We measure the success of our churches in comparison to others, saying “we are making a difference,” but on our best Sunday our combined attendance is dwarfed by the number of unchurched people. Every great spiritual awakening, in our nation and around the world, has had as its foundation a people who were committed to prayer.
We stand at the door of a passing opportunity at a critical hour in our history. Our response to this call to prayer could determine if we as a people see the glory of God and experience an outpouring of His Spirit on us or if we continue with business as usual: great churches with great fellowship and great people but with little power.”
Watchman by L.Thompson.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) was a Baptist minister in England who saw thousands came to Christ through his preaching. Some of services drew as many as 10,000 people at a time! What was the key to his success? It was to be found in the basement of his church which he called his ‘boiler room’. During the services there would be 100 people on their faces in prayer.

Have you been in the boiler room today?

ISAIAH 62

In ancient cities, built into the walls were huge watchtowers and watchmen were posted there day and night, v6-7.

The ‘boiler room’ people:
Have heard the call from God to pray.
Are the protectors, they see dangers as God reveals to them in prayer.
Do not rest till they see God establish His kingdom.

MY RIGHTS!

On that special day in the temple Jesus took the scroll and found Isaiah 61 and then read from it, (Luke 4: 18-19).
This was Nazareth, a settler town in Galilee. Galilee had become known as ‘Galilee of the Gentiles’ (Matt 4:15).
The Jewish plan was to move Jewish settlers from Judea onto the land in Galilee and take Nazareth. Isaiah 61 was their motivating prophecy.
This prophecy of the coming Messiah promised great things.
v 2 there would be a day of vengeance of God
v4-11 = there would be rebuilding and restoring places, places like Nazareth.
v7 = there is the promise of a double portion.
v5-6 = the Gentiles around them will be their servants and they will be fed on their wealth.
But Jesus stops reading this popular and well known passage at the point at which judgment and submission is pronounced on the Gentiles whom the Nazareth settlers were there to displace, places like Zarephath and Damascus.
“Today this Scripture is fulfilled”, Jesus said.
Jesus took a text of judgment and turned it into a text of mercy. The text of judgment was from Isaiah of all people, passed down generationally, steeped in their culture, thought and word life. Yet the revelation of the Messiah turned it upside down into a text of mercy. Mercy offends when you are banking on judgment.
They thought the messianic age would be a golden age for them. In fact it would be all about them. Jesus shifts the text from ‘Here is what you will receive” into “Here is what you are expected to give”.
We need words: the preaching and proclaiming
We need the heart: the justice amongst the downtrodden and the outcasts
We need action: Showing compassion, opening life to those who are bound.
Above all, even though the Bible says we are important to God, this life is never about us. We need to train ourselves to view people through merciful eyes not judgmental ones and to know we laid our rights down at the cross sometime ago.

ARISE!
Isaiah 60
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

To those who once walked in the promises of their God but now wallow in self-pity, bitterness and hurt – YOU CAN RISE AGAIN.

To those who have long since given up the fight, their armour and weapons of war are stored up with dust, their youthful passion for souls and their energy to give up all for one soul to find Jesus is now a faint dream, hear the wake-up call – YOU CAN RISE AGAIN.

To those who couldn’t hold on any longer, something had to give, you gave away your destiny, you broke up your potential, you ruined your desires and were ruined by new ones. You can regain your footing, it’s time to walk – YOU CAN RISE AGAIN.

To those who came under a stronghold that so gripped their life it paralysed them. An area of your life is now not functioning like it used to, you feel a lesser man, as a woman you feel your beauty has been taken, you are tarnished, you are stained and impure. But listen – get up – YOU CAN RISE AGAIN.

It may be that for the shouting it’s all over, your faith is dead, your anointing is dead, that relationship is dead, you cannot pretend anymore, you have got to be realistic and say ‘It’s over’. It’s never over till the Master has touched you and called you to get up. YOU CAN RISE AGAIN.

ARISE!

You will have bad days
I’m not prophesying, I’m just saying what ISAIAH 59:19 says:
“When the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will put him to flight” (you will probably need to read the footnote in your Bible).

WHEN: This is a guarantee. Bad days are promised! Every successful person had their bad days.

IN: The enemy doesn’t come in to where he already is, but where he is not. He will come into something that is great, righteous, visionary and successful.

FLOOD: “Overwhelming”. What is the effect?
Sin, v2; hate speech, murder, lies, evil, v3; injustice, lack of integrity, v4; production is thwarted, v5; protection is damaged, v6; cascade of unrighteousness, v7; destructive thoughts, plans, desires, v7; no peace nor justice, v8; the light of yesterday is gone, v9; blind, v10; a desire for change but there is none, v11
Post-flood inspection:
v12-15: the enemy is not to blame, we are; we have committed the offence; rebellion, treachery, turning our backs, oppressing, revolted, lied, we have done these things; there is no justice, no truth.
This is a bad day!
Is there hope?

COMES IN: There is hope as he enters, as he gets a foothold in the door. At any minute of that bad day experience there is hope. Our hope is the Spirit.

SPIRIT OF THE LORD: v21 (amplified) “Who is upon you and who writes the law of God inwardly on the heart.” We already know from Isaiah 11:2 that the Spirit of the Lord:
(NIV): Brings wisdom – so we know what to say; Brings understanding – so we can see how the enemy came in.
(Message): Gives direction – so we know what to do; Builds strength – so we are able to do it.
(Amplified) – Instils knowledge – so we know God in and through it; Instills obedience – so we get back on track.

WILL: This is as much a guarantee as the WHEN.

FLIGHT: the enemy is a runner, the good days will be back. The bad day does not win!

“The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals”.
I will never forget the above notice in a flashy brochure advertising a certain conference. I decided not to attend!

A priest was coming back to his rectory one evening in the dark when he was accosted by a robber who pulled a gun on him and demanded, “Your money or your life!”
As the priest reached his hand into his coat pocket, the robber saw his Roman collar and said: “I see you’re a priest. Never mind, you can go.”
The priest, surprised at this unexpected show of piety, tried to reciprocate by offering the robber a chocolate bar that he remembered was in his pocket.
The robber replied, “No thank you, Father. I don’t eat chocolate during Lent.”

The robber’s double-standards were the heart of the problem in ISAIAH 58.

The Jew knew that the Day of Atonement was a day of afflicting their body (Lev 23). Their rabbis would needlessly add a further list of abstentions to aid this self-denial such as washing, wearing shoes etc. Fasting had become a ritual. This was God’s complaint. He is saying fasting has to be accompanied with an amendment of behaviour towards other people.
Fasting is the afflicting of the body so that you can share in the suffering of God for those who suffer.
Forget about yourself and focus on others through the eyes of a loving God.
The heart of God is focused on those who have been dealt unjustly, those enslaved by man’s burdens, the oppressed, those without food, without homes and without clothes.
1. True Fasting is necessary, v6.
2. True Fasting brings God near, v2.
3. True Fasting leads to answers, v9.
4. True fasting is empowering, v10.
5. True Fasting is revelatory, v11.
6. True Fasting is satisfying, v11.
7. True Fasting is strengthening, v11.
8. True Fasting is refreshing, v11.
9. True Fasting brings restoration, v12
10. True fasting is joy, v14.

Let’s fast!

Clear the path

U2’s song ‘Stuck in a moment’ is written with Bono’s friend in mind who had committed suicide:
And if the night runs over, and if the day won’t last
And if your way should falter along this stony pass
It’s just a moment – this time will pass

I have spent my whole life trying to help people.
The main focus of that help has been to help them get nearer to God by overcoming and removing obstacles in their life that block their path to Him.

In verse 14 of ISAIAH 57 God is calling for the removal of “the obstacles out of the way of my people.” He is soon to lead them out of exile in Babylon and He wants them ready.

We are called to stand alongside those who are faltering on the stony pass and help to remove those stumbling blocks so that God can lead them forward.

Repeatedly I have come across 4 recurring obstacles that have needed removing: Hurt, Anger, Regret and Lies. These have blocked many from the gracious hand of God and all He has for their lives.

When a mountain is in your way what do you do? Just ask Ramchandra Das, 53, who lives in Bihar, India. In order to access nearby fields for food and work, Das and his fellow villagers had to take a 4.3-mile trek around a mountain. Fed up with the obstacle, Das did something about it. With just a hammer and chisel, he cut a 33-foot-long, 13-foot-wide tunnel through a narrow area of the mountain. It took Das fourteen years to complete the task. And get this: Das isn’t the first person to do such a thing. He was inspired by another villager who cut a 393 feet-long, 33 feet-wide, 26 feet-high passage through another mountain so that villagers could reach a local hospital. That man was motivated to do so when his wife died because he was unable to get her to the hospital.

Today try and help someone who is ‘stuck in a moment’.

Upgrades in the kingdom!

Isaiah 56

God is calling His people as they begin their return from Babylonian exile to embrace the outcast.
Whereas the law in Exodus and Deuteronomy banned the foreigner and the eunuch from worshipping the Lord, here in the salvation God is offering from exile, all are welcomed. Can you imagine the distress of having been forced to become a eunuch because you served in the royal palace of Babylon knowing you would not be welcome home once you return to Jerusalem? Most probably Daniel and his three friends all felt this. Or the foreigner who converts to Judaism but is himself not embraced by the Jew?

Our God of salvation over-rules the Deuteronomic law by saying if they keep the Sabbath and honour Him as best they can then they will be accepted. It is not the outward, physical state that counts, but the spiritual state.

Our God of grace states that for the eunuchs whose name will literally be cut-off once they die will have an everlasting name, a memorial within the Temple. For the foreigner, this Temple is their place of prayer as much as for the Jew. It is for all nations.

Our God of missions states that there will be others who are still to come. He is referring to the gentiles, to us, who will also come to Him. We are all outcasts brought in by grace.

“When a Christian sees prostitutes, alcoholics, prisoners, drug addicts, unwed mothers, the homeless, refugees, he knows that he is looking in a mirror. Perhaps the Christian spent all of his life as a respectable middle-class person. No matter. He thinks, Spiritually I was just like these people, though physically and socially I never was where they are now. They are outcasts. (Spiritually speaking) I was an outcast”: Tim Keller, Ministries of Mercy.

An outcast saved by a gracious, missionary God will always welcome the next outcast into the Kingdom.
No one deserves an upgrade but everyone can have one.

His promises to believe

Isaiah 55

(v1) To those who are thirsty, longing for more but you have run out of human resources to be satisfied … Come to Me.

(v2) To those who are working so hard to be and to have but realise the tide is against them … Come to Me.

(v4-5) To those with a missionary heart for unreached people groups … Go and summon them.

(v4-5) To those faithful in missions … Expect success for the nations will respond.

(v6) To the disciple and those who are not … Call on Me.

(v8-9) To those troubled with thoughts and decisions … Leave them with Me.

(v10-11) To those waiting for a miracle … My Word will accomplish My purpose in your life.

(v12) To those who are sad now … You will go out in joy.

(v12) To those anxious now … You will be led in peace.

(v13) To those who struggle now … The landscape will be transformed.

Believe!

Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.

In 1792 the ‘father of modern missions’, William Carey, founded the Baptist missionary society. It didn’t come without a struggle. At first, no one seemed to respond. Many church leaders not only ignored his call but some of them denounced it. At one meeting of the ministers of the Northampton Baptist Association, Carey delivered a fiery message based on Isaiah 54:2, concluding with the now famous phrases, “Brothers, expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”

This great statement was based on a great verse.

Isaiah 54

v2 ‘Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes’.

Here are 5 keys that will help you in expecting and attempting great things for God.
1. Prepare for More: Isaiah has already told us in 26:15 that God is an Enlarger, an Increaser, a Giver of life. With God we should expect more.
2. Lose your Shape: The shape of the tent changed and so must we. When a mother conceives she knows she will change shape otherwise the gift cannot come. When David was called he had to lose his shape, he thought of himself as a ‘worm’; Mephibosheth thought of himself as a ‘dead dog’ and Jeremiah just a ‘youth’. They all had to lose their shape and become someone else.
3. No Limitations: “Do not hold back”. We need to spare not and we need to think big.
4. Decide how Big. “Lengthen your cords; Measure it up. Count the cost. Make decisions, goals/targets based on how big this great thing will be.
5. Develop your support base. “strengthen your stakes”. Know what the boundaries are. Be wise with finances. But let your security be in God. The anchors of your life will hold the great thing in place.