Living In The New

Last week we preached a sermon called “Get Into The New”

We preached from Isaiah 43

It was a prophetic declaration that God is doing a new thing.

God is up to something different in this season of the church and particularly here at Ambassador Church.

But, what does that look like?

What do I do…practically?

I’m with it…I believe that God is doing a new thing.

But, what is my part?

The text before us today will help answer that question

Isaiah 52:1–12 (ESV)

Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.

Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.”

For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.

Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised.

Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.

Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem.

The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord.

For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Isaiah 43 is announcement of the new thing that God is doing

Isaiah 52 is an exhortation to respond to the new thing that God is doing.

I want preach, from this prophecy of Isaiah, a sermon called “Living In The New: How To Operate Differently When God Is Doing Something Different”

31 minutes

PRAYER

Get A Fresh Vision of Yourself

If there is going to be revival in the world, it will have to begin at the household of faith.

And if there is going to be a revival in the church, it will have to begin in the hearts of individual believers.

Perhaps the greatest barrier to revival is the feeling in the hearts of Christians that it cannot and will not happen.

One of the great causes of spiritual paralysis is the inner sense of defeat and worthlessness and abandonment that we so carry.

What 52:1–6 does is challenge Zion to see herself, not as her enemies see her, or even as she sees herself, but as the Lord sees her.

Isaiah is prophesying to a people who have been

Enslaved

Oppressed

Mocked

Abandoned

These people have been treated like nothing for a generation

They were sold for nothing and

Taken away for nothing.

Egypt had treated them as nothing,

Assyria had done the same,

and so eventually did Babylon

And how many know that when you’re treated like nothing for too long, you begin to feel like nothing.

Isaiah is prophesying to that one who today feels a little dead and numb on the inside.

Lost one too many loved ones.

Lived through one too many financial crises.

Been in the hospital one too many times.

Filled out too many job applications only to be denied.

Started the business one too many times only to see it fail.

Tried and tried for that baby, that breakthrough, that blessing, that relationship.

God sent me to read the words of Isaiah in your hearing and remind you that

You are not lost.

You are not forgotten.

You are not defeated.

You are not a failure.

You are loved.

You are chosen.

You are beautiful.

You are precious.

You are strong.

You are regal.

You are the apple of your God’s eye.

So put on your strength.

Literally, the Lord is saying to many of us that it is time to change your presentation.

Change your posture

Change your language.

(How you talk, what you sign, the jokes you make, the jokes you laugh at)

The language of strength in God.

Not rigid religiosity, but some things are beneath the dignity of revival.

23 minutes

Tell A Revival Story in the World

As the revival takes hold in your own heart and in your own life, then the job is to tell somebody else.

There is a phrase that many of us know from Romans chapter 10 “how beautiful (upon the mountains) are the feet of him who brings good news”

It is creating the imagery of a military messenger.

In Ancient Near Eastern culture, they did not have

X, and Tik Tok, and Facebook.

CNN or Fox

They didn’t even have radio or newspapers

When the military was out on campaign,

if something happened at home that the army needed to know about, they had to dispatch a messenger.

If something happened on the field that officials back home needed to know about, they had to dispatch a messenger.

So let’s say you got a message a few days ago that three armies have arrayed themselves against our soldiers and they are surrounded on every side.

You would be very glad to receive the messenger who brings the update that the army has sent out the singers and God set an ambush against the enemy.

You would not be as happy to receive a message of general encouragement based the fact that God has showed up for armies so many times in the past.

ISAIAH’S EMPHASIS IS ON THE FACT THAT THESE MILITARY MESSENGERS NEVER CARRIED OLD STORIES.

We need a refresher of what the Gospel really is…

Some of us think that the Gospel is the story of what Jesus did on the cross 2000 years ago.

That is not what the early church believed.

That is not what the Bible teaches.

Listen to what Paul writes to the Corinthian church in Chapter 15 of 1st Corinthians:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

The gospel is not just what you heard and believed…it is that, but it is fundamentally more than that.

The gospel is what I’m standing on today…

The gospel is what is saving me out of my current situation…

The gospel is the think I’m holding onto right now…

AND IT IS WORKING IN MY LIFE…in my body…in my mind…in soul…in my marriage…

The gospel is not just a story about what God did 2000 years ago, the gospel is the story of what God started 2000 years ago at Calvary and how it is continuing to have impact RIGHT HERE…RIGHT NOW.

We have to know what God is doing…

In our own lives

In our church community

In the world around us.

AND WE HAVE TO BE WILLING TO TELL THAT STORY

15 minutes

Embrace A New Approach from God

This last part of the passage is easy to misunderstand if you haven’t read the whole prophetic movement that we call the Book of Consolation.

But throughout the prophecy, there are many echoes of the original Exodus narrative.

And essentially what Isaiah is saying here is that while there are these echoes of that move of God, it is the CONTRASTS that are most important in this current move of God, not the SIMILARITIES.

When the Israelites left Egypt they took whatever they could get from the Egyptians—silver and gold jewelry and clothing.

This time they will leave behind them everything tainted with paganism. All they will carry will be the vessels of the Lord (11), the holy vessels that Nebuchadnezzar removed from the temple when the exile began.

When they left Egypt, God told them to leave in haste.

This time, God says they will go out slowly, with dignity and decorum, like a royal procession.

GOD IS SAYING EMPHATICALLY, THIS WILL NOT LOOK LIKE THE LAST MOVE OF GOD OR YOUR FAVORITE MOVE OF GOD OR WHATEVER IT IS YOU MIGHT BE TRYING TO RECREATE AND RECAPTURE.

And here’s how you learn to move differently: He says, “I will go before you and I will be your rear guard.”

Now, “go before you” means pretty much what you think it means.

Don’t make any moves without consulting the Holy Spirit.

DO NOT ASSUME THAT YOU KNOW THE WAY…FOLLOW THE SPIRIT OF GOD.

But, this term “rear guard” is rather interesting.

It is the Hebrew word אֲסִפָּה (asipah)

It literally means “Gathering or collector"

It is the formal title of a special unit at the end of military procession when an army was on campaign.

As the army made its way through difficult terrain, some of the soldiers, some the animals, some of the equipment would break down and begin to lag behind.

The rear guard's job was to "gather" them and reorganize them in a way that ensured that these stragglers, and damaged goods did not get left behind or expose the army to attack.

There are some things in your past that are broken and damaged

And those old versions of you…those painful memories…that old trauma is slowing your march…and won’t allow you to embrace the new.

God says, I’m going to be your gatherer…your REAR GUARD

You can’t leave it all behind…it happened…its part of your story.

But, if you will allow me, I want to reorganize it and situate it in such a way that it is not a vulnerability to you…

Where you don’t have to carry it

You don’t even have to worry about it.

IN THIS NEXT SEASON, I ENCOURAGE YOU

SIT WITH THE LORD

COUNSEL WITH THE MATURE PROPHETS AND PASTORS IN THIS CHURCH

SEE A SPIRIT-FILLED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR

But, God wants to do some deep inner healing…

7 minutes

The upshot of the message is this: Give God your yesterday, so that He can give you your tomorrow.

It’s like one of those cell phone trade in programs.

Same basis functions…same company…but this is new device.

God is the same God. But, this is a different season.

You may have to learn some new things, but God is saying “Let me upgrade you”.

RESPOND

I’m ready to give God my yesterday so that He can give me my tomorrow.

Give your heart to the Lord.

Join this church

My yesterday was disconnected…

My tomorrow is here…planted in the house of the Lord

Do the things

Change your presentation, your conversation, and your posture.

Tell the story of what God is doing in your life and in the world TODAY.

Don’t make a move without seeking God first. And let Him tie up the loose end…let the Lord go before you and be your rear guard.