The Bartizan of Prayer for the Church to Enjoy (Isaiah 66:10-14)
Rev. Myung-sin Choi
10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, And be glad with her, all you who love her; Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; 11 That you may feed and be satisfied With the consolation of her bosom, That you may drink deeply and be delighted With the abundance of her glory.” 12 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; On her sides shall you be carried, And be dandled on her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” The Reign and Indignation of God 14 When you see this, your heart shall rejoice, And your bones shall flourish like grass; The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants, And His indignation to His enemies.
Introduction
After watching this video, I realized that God will bless Donald Trump and America. I thought a lot about Korea. I wondered when a Korean president would ever play a hymn during an inauguration. When a president of a nation plays a Christian hymnal during an inauguration it is tremendous. I believe that God’s great plan will be fulfilled through President Donald Trump. We are praying for our leaders and government leaders. I truly believe that there is God’s message during the inauguration. I believe that God will be glorified through president Donald Trump and through our nation. Today’s sermon is a message that God has given to us as a church, I truly believe in this. The title speaking about the church but we are also referring to everyone here. There is something that we must enjoy.
1. The Joy of the Church
1) The spiritual Jerusalem
Verse 10 - This is a message that God has given to our church. The Jerusalem that this scripture is speaking about is speaking about the temple in Jerusalem. This meaning of Jerusalem has a spiritual meaning of a spiritual church. Last week we spoke about how after the power of the Holy Spirit came upon Mark’s Upper Room on the Pentecost, there was a great growth within the church. This mourning is speaking about how many people were mourning after the destruction of the temple. But God wants us to be worshiped through those who are remaining. Through the church, we are able to give worship to God through the Holy Spirit and truth. God is saying don’t mourn that the temple is destroyed, greater joy will come through the construction of the church.
Psalm 122:6-7 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you. 7 Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces.’ ” - This is God’s plan for Jerusalem. God said to pray for peace. Please pray for the church. There will be peace and prosperity if you do. Do you pray for your church and your church members? Do you pray for those who are in difficulties? God will take your prayers and heart, and give you peace and prosperity. Take hold of this passage and make it your prayer topic.
2) The blessing of worship
Verse 11 - This is talking about an infant breastfeeding from their mother. We are children of God who are like nursing from your mothers. When you are in your mother’s bosom, you have solace and peace. David knew what this meant.
Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” - During a great crisis, David made this confession. He was able to see that he was within God’s bosom when he was in a crisis. When a child goes back to his mother’s arms, there is no trouble.
This is the same example of the prodigal son. Luke 15:17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!’ ” - This was what the son said after he ran out of food. The son thought that he would end up great after he left his father but he was starving to death instead. When he realized this, he returned back to his father. This was because he knew that all peace, comfort, glory, and honor was at his father’s house. We need to realize that within the arms of the Father, we are the safest.
God promises in Matthew 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” - When we are in God’s bosom, pray to the Father. The Triune God will give you all glory and abundance. Hold onto Jesus when you pray. Whatever it is, when you pray to God, God will answer it. Whatever you bind on earth, it will be bound in heaven. Whatever you lose on earth, you will lose in heaven. Remember this. Hold onto this.
2. The Promise of the Church
1) The gift of the Holy Spirit
Verse 12 - If you hold onto God’s covenant, then this is the promise that God will give us. There is a tremendous message here.
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” - God promised us peace. Who is saying this? Those who give worship to God and hold onto God’s word. God will grant peace to those who do this. God will reveal the Holy Spirit to these people.
Hold onto Isaiah 53:5 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” - This means that through the cross, God has taken and solved all of our iniquities, anxieties, and worries. All of the worries of this world, there are so many parents who are suffering trying to make their children study and go to school. All of their focus is on their children’s success and then waste all of their energy on this, and die of their illness in the end. Their main goal in life is to make their children succeed. But God is telling us that parents sacrifice everything for their children, God the Father also gives us everything. God bore all of our sins when He died on the cross. As a result of His sacrifice, God gave us life and peace. We possess these blessings as children of God. The glory of all nations will come upon us. Right now, the glory of all nations is tremendous. But God promised that all glory that great nations received, God promised to give us that glory to His children. To what extent? It will flow like a flowing stream with great overflowing abundance. This is God’s promise to us, who have success in worship. What should we do? Stop thinking in humanistic thoughts. Lay all of your worries to God. Have a childlike heart. Long time, children were held in the knees of their mothers. When we have babies, a mother’s heart is full of joy. Looking at the child, the mother is so happy. What about the joy of our God? We are God’s great joy. There is nothing more that God desires of us. God just wants to be with us. What does it mean that God wants to be with us? God wants to look at the word and pray with it. After studying the Bible for a long time at night time, I ended up sleeping without doing my scheduled prayer. I felt very bad for not doing that. I felt like God was saddened by that. I repented before God. God always wants us to have fellowship with Him. God waits for us to pray to Him. He wants us to talk to Him. He looks for us to read His word. This pleases God so much. May we enjoy these blessings.
2) The comfort of the Holy Spirit
Verse 13 - Just like a mother comforts her child, the same heart that God has for us. A newborn only looks at their mother. The mother gives her all to her children. This means that God does the same for us. We will receive comfort in Jerusalem. Jerusalem means the church. Through the church, we will be comforted. Don’t forget this. God wants to comfort you. God wants to help you. How? Through worship. Through worship, God wants to give you the word, comfort, answers, and the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Always remember John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” - We can’t do anything without God. Only God can help and protect you. That is why we must hold onto God’s word. How does God never leave us? We need to absolutely believe in God’s word. We must have assurance that God’s word will be fulfilled no matter what. Hold onto it as God’s word for you. When you do this, then God will give you comfort. I pray you will enjoy this comfort. When you receive God’s comfort, that is the end of all problems.
3. The Bartizan of Prayer
1) The promise for the Remnant
Verse 14 - Pray that our bones will flourish like the grass.
Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.” - The reason why our bones become dry is because of our worries and anxieties. When a person dies, their bones get dried up. God promises us we will be filled with joy when we hold onto God’s word. God promised us spiritual and physical health. When God’s hand is on us, there should be no worries. Who are God’s servants? Those who fear God’s word, honor God’s word, and are poor in spirit. God’s hand will appear before the remnants. Hold onto this message. This message will be fulfilled if you hold onto it.
Hold onto Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” - Hold onto God’s covenant. The one who makes the promises through the pulpit message is God who is faithful. That is why we should have hope without wavering. If you hold fast, it will be guaranteed.
Joshua 21:45 “Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.” - Everything that God spoke, it was fulfilled in the end. Enjoy this blessing.
2) Those who have received the saving light
Genesis 37:9 “Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. 'Listen,' he said, 'I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.' ” The bartizan of the light - Hold onto this word. This means that God’s light of heaven came upon Joseph. God will shine His light upon you so that you can shine the light of life.
Genesis 45:7 “And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” The temple of the light - This was the message that Joseph said to his brothers. Why did God send Joseph before his brothers to Egypt? To save Egypt and the next generation. God sent Joseph ahead of time and turned the Egypt palace into the temple of light.
Genesis 39:5 “So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field.” The economy of the light - For the remaining ones, God will give you the economy of light. God promised these blessings to us. Why did God give this to us? For your sake. Receive this blessing. Hold onto this covenant.
Conclusion
Hold onto the covenant of 1 John 5:14-15 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” - Have confident faith. Have confident faith that this message is for you. God has given this message for you. God hears us. This message is for you. During the Friday service, we received the message of Solomon’s wisdom. Solomon prayed to God what God promised his father. God answered Solomon’s prayer. If we know that God hears us, then God will answer us. Hold onto this covenant and be blessed. This message will be fulfilled in your life, hold onto this. Hold onto this message as God’s word and voice. We must have confident faith in the word. I bless you that you will have victory in your confident faith.
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