Isaiah 51, Part 1 - Look to the rock from which you were cut
Isaiah 51v1-3
28th September 2013
In the UK at the present time, some churches are enjoying great fruitfulness in the gospel. Victory Church in Cwmbran, for example, say they've seen over 1,100 people born again so far this year. But many other churches are decreasing in size and seeing few conversions. I'd like to be able to say that it's only the liberal churches - those who've turned away from God's word - that are diminishing. But many good, evangelical churches are struggling, too. And many good, evangelical Christians are disappointed at how seldom they bring anybody to faith in Jesus Christ. Some never have. Some think they never will.
Recently, a friend of mine had a vision of a number of lighthouses around the coast of Britain. Many were broken down, and their lights no longer shone. But others were still burning brightly. God was saying that my church and thousands of others must continue to preach the true gospel, even in difficult times.
Of course, our brothers and sisters in some other countries are suffering much worse than we are. We only suffer unfruitfulness and the occasional insult. Others are suffering full-blown persecution. Their homes and churches are being destroyed and they're being imprisoned and killed.
Difficulty is not a new thing for the church, of course. On the same day that my friend had that vision, I heard another friend preach on Isaiah 51, in which Isaiah prophesies about a time when God's Old Testament people were suffering terribly. Judea had been invaded, the people deported to Jerusalem and the temple destroyed. It starts with these words:
Isaiah 51v1-2
"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
and who seek the LORD:
Look to the rock from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
look to Abraham, your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was but one,
and I blessed him and made him many."
What's your self-image like? If you're a Christian, I hope you can say that you pursue righteousness and that you seek the LORD. But to all who can describe themselves that way, God says "Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn". He sets Abraham as our example, and He tells us that we are made of the same stuff that Abraham was made of. God chose Abraham to be the first of His new nation of redeemed people. He is the Father of all who believe - Gentiles as well and Jews (Romans 4v11b-12 and 14-17). And we all carry the family likeness. That's the self-image God wants you to have - you're a person like Abraham.
Abraham was only one man, but God blessed him and fulfilled his promise in Genesis 15v5 "Look up at the heavens and count the stars - if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be." Abraham's defining attribute was that He believed what God told him. The next verse of Genesis 15 says "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness".
Do you pursue righteousness and seek the LORD? Then remember that God can build a great nation out of one man, if that man believes what God says.
Abraham had to wait until he was 99 years old before he became the father of Isaac. But he kept on believing. He was faithful to God's promise. He never gave up. And we are hewn from the same rock.
Isaiah 51v3
The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like
Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the
sound of singing.
At that time. the Jews were powerless to escape from captivity, let alone return to Judea, rebuild Jerusalem and restore the temple. But it happened! God is never powerless! Nothing is impossible for Him! The day will come in the UK, and Egypt, and Syria, and North Korea, and in every nation in the world, when the spiritual desert blossoms like Eden, when the wastelands of unbelief become as beautiful as God's garden, and true joy, gladness, thanksgiving and the singing of praise to God will be the dominant experience of the people.
How long must we wait? I don't know, but God knows. And He's coming in revival power!