SERIES: War is Over, The
MESSAGE: Rend the Heavens
SPEAKER: Skip Heitzig
SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 64

MESSAGE SUMMARY
The song "Rend the Heavens," written by our worship team, echoes words first uttered and written by the prophet Isaiah. His heartfelt cry for his people was that they would experience the presence of God in the most profound way. It is our prayer that we would all do the same. As we examine Isaiah's plea, we'll see how it has been answered and yet awaits a further and fuller answer. His prayer shows us three incentives in our relationship to God.

STUDY GUIDE

Connect Recap: July 20, 2015

Teaching: Rend the Heavens
Text: Isaiah 64:1-5, Matthew 1:21-23, Revelation 19:11-16
Tune: Rend the Heavens: http://www.battledrumsmusic.com/#about

Path

Using the song, Rend the Heavens, Pastor Skip walked us through Isaiah 64:1-5, with stops in Matthew and Revelation. His path through the text is as follows:

Points

Three exhortations are expounded in this teaching:

Long for God's presence

Look at God's provision

Lean toward God's power

Practice

DETAILED NOTES

  1. Introduction
    1. Do you ever wish God would show up and make things right?
      1. One day He will, but until then, we wait
      2. This is what Isaiah was asking the Lord to do in Isaiah 64
    2. Jonathan Edwards
      1. "The town seems to be full of the presence of God: it was never so full of love, nor of joy, and yet so full of distress, as it was then. There were remarkable tokens of God's presence in almost every house"
      2. "The assembly were in general, from time to time, in tears while the word was preached; some weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others with pity and concern for the souls of their neighbors"
    3. 700 years before Christ, Isaiah lived in desperate times
      1. His nation was divided in two
      2. Sennacherib of Assyria was making his way down south
      3. On behalf of his people, Isaiah cried out
    4. Theme Isaiah wrote about: God's presence (see vv. 1-3)
      1. He wasn't thinking of the presence of God academically, philosophically, or theologically
      2. He actually wanted to experience the presence of God
    5. "We want to see miracles, the impossible; we want to see signs and wonders; we want to see You, we want to see You. We want to see the lost come home, the sick made whole; we want to see demons tremble; we want to see You, we want to see You" —Battledrums, "Rend the Heavens"
      1. Matthew 12:39; 16:4; Luke 11:29
      2. Jesus was speaking of unbelievers who display their wicked hearts because they need to see proof that Jesus is the Messiah
      3. We're followers of His; Mark 16:17-18
    6. Three incentives or exhortations to us
  2. Long for God's Presence (Isaiah 64:1-5)
    1. Oh (v. 1) is a word of exclamation
      1. It's a plea, a priority of this prophet
      2. Supplication = a strong prayer, a pleading, a crying out
      3. Isaiah was pleading with God to intervene miraculously
    2. Are you longing for God's presence?
      1. "American Christianity is drifting into historic inconsequentiality, and yet we seem to be satisfied with our condition. We feel little urgency, little longing. We're hardly aware of our own mediocrity. We've lost the vision of the prophets and the apostles. We have forgotten that to whom much is given, much shall be required" —R. Kent Hughes
      2. Maybe the Holy Spirit wants to ask you what your passion is
      3. James 4:8
      4. Hebrews 11:6
    3. What's your longing like?
      1. Moses: Exodus 33:18
      2. David: Psalm 42:2
      3. Paul the apostle: Philippians 3:10
    4. Isaiah showed us a priority but also revealed a problem
      1. God is not always apparent, though He's always at work
      2. "People were fascinated and depressed and frustrated by what they regarded as the infinite distance and the utter unknowability of God" —William Barclay
      3. Reason for the proliferation of idols throughout the Old Testament
      4. H.G. Wells, The Invisible Man
      5. Isaiah 45:15
      6. This is why we look forward to the blessed hope of the church; Titus 2:13
    5. Isaiah also gave us a pattern: how to pray
      1. He based his prayer on what he had read in the law of God: the giving of the law at Mount Sinai
      2. If you want to pray better, read your Bible more
      3. Isaiah prayed for a cause greater than himself: "Do Your will, Your way, for Your glory, without restraint, in our generation"
        1. The Lord's Prayer: Matthew 6:9-13
        2. When your comfort and well-being become your only pursuit, you're out of balance
  3. Look at God's Provision (Matthew 1:21-23)
    1. Was Isaiah 64 ever answered?
      1. Yes; God came from heaven to earth in the person of Jesus Christ
      2. John 1:14
      3. 1 Timothy 3:16
    2. Ancient peoples believed that the gods were unknowable
      1. Xenophanes: knowing God is guesswork
      2. Plato: never can God and man meet
      3. What they said was true, unless God stepped out of heaven and came to earth
      4. John 1:18
      5. Without Jesus, God would still be unknowable
    3. Jesus is the solution to Isaiah's problem of an invisible God
      1. Isaiah 9:6
      2. God's solution to the problem of invisibility is that He was made manifest in the person of Jesus Christ
    4. Imagine what it would be like to be an apostle of Jesus
      1. Eventually figured out this was God in human form
      2. The four Gospels record no less than thirty-four miraculous signs and wonders
      3. John 14:8-9
      4. John 1:14
        1. Beheld = theaomai
        2. Our word theater, where you gaze in one direction for a period of time
        3. Scientifically investigated
  4. Lean towards God's Power (Revelation 19:11-16)
    1. Will Isaiah's prayer be answered more fully? Yes
    2. Verse 15: reference to Isaiah 63
    3. The second coming of Jesus Christ
      1. The prophets ultimately looked forward to this event
        1. Isaiah: Isaiah 9:7
        2. David: 2 Samuel 7:12-13
        3. Daniel: Daniel 2:44
        4. Anticipated a future, worldwide, literal kingdom on earth
      2. Jesus anticipated it
        1. John 18:36: "My kingdom is not of this world—yet"
        2. Revelation 11:15
        3. Matthew 24:29-30
      3. Every single Christian has been looking forward to the event
        1. Hymns about the second coming
        2. Charles Wesley: out of 7,000 hymns, he wrote 5,000 about the second coming
        3. "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world" —C.S. Lewis
        4. Are you looking for the Lord to return, or are you just looking at it?
        5. With all the mud in this world, we ought to be on tiptoe, leaning toward and anticipating the return of Jesus

Figures referenced: Jonathan Edwards, Sennacherib, R. Kent Hughes, William Barclay, H.G. Wells, Xenophanes, Plato, Charles Wesley, C.S. Lewis

Greek words: theaomai

Cross references: Exodus 33:18; 2 Samuel 7:12-13; Psalm 42:2; Isaiah 9:6-7; 45:15; 63-64; Daniel 2:44; Matthew 1:21-23; 6:9-13; 12:39; 16:4; 24:29-30; Mark 16:17-18; Luke 11:29; John 1:14, 18; 14:8-9; 18:36; Philippians 3:10; 1 Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 11:6; James 4:8; Revelation 11:15; 19:11-16


Topic: Presence of God

Keywords: presence of God, rend, prayer, miracles, signs, wonders, longing, passion, invisible, manifestation, Jesus Christ, second coming, kingdom


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