Text: Isaiah 62:6-7
Subject: God’s Plan for Jerusalem, Part V
Introduction:
Hopefully it has become clear in the previous messages we have preached that Jerusalem is the most unique and significant city on this planet, and in the universe! “Heaven is God’s throne; earth is His footstool; and Jerusalem is the city of the Great King—even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself!”
With this truth as our beginning point, it is easy to see that Jerusalem is unique and significant because the eternal God has chosen it as His own. As I have recently said, God did not choose Jerusalem because it is special, but Jerusalem is special because God chose it!
And it is what God has chosen it for that makes it so special.
1. Jerusalem is where Father-God secured our eternal salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of His only-begotten Son.
2. Jerusalem is the city where the Lord poured out the Holy Spirit giving birth to His Church and empowering her to be His witnesses to a lost and dying world.
3. Jerusalem will be the city where Jesus returns with His raptured Church to do the following:
a. Defeat the Beast kingdom and save the remnant of Israel from the Antichrist.
b. Kill the Antichrist and cast him and the False Prophet into the lake of fire.
c. Be welcomed back by the Jewish leadership and crowned king.
d. Set up His capital and reign over the earth for a thousand years.
e. Rule the earth in righteousness and bring peace and prosperity to the entire world.
f. Ultimately bring heaven and earth together when He brings down the New Jerusalem to the earthly Jerusalem. The natural realm and the spiritual realm will become one forever.
By understanding the uniqueness and significance of Jerusalem to the heart and plan of God, hopefully we can now more readily grasp why that Father God chooses and calls people and churches to be “watchmen” on “the walls of Jerusalem” who will never be silent day or night!
As you heard or read in our last message, I believe that God has uniquely prepared and called Warrior Assembly of God, and others, to be “watchmen” for Jerusalem in this amazing prophetic generation in which we are living.
Yes, I also believe that the Lord has chosen and called His people in every generation to pray for Jerusalem. And the “incense” of those collective prayers has been filling up the bowls which are in heaven.
However, I believe that we are now in a unique prophetic generation, a generation that has witnessed the rebirth of the Jewish nation in 1948, and a generation that also witnessed the Jewish people retaking their city of Jerusalem in 1967. It is my conviction that the incense of prayer now ascending from the end time Church will see those heavenly bowls completely filled and then poured out on the earth in answered prayer!
Beloved, I believe that we are the generation that will see God’s heart and God’s plan for Jerusalem fulfilled! This should fill our hearts with anticipation and excitement!
With this understanding as our scriptural foundation and consequently our motivation, let’s probe a little deeper into the revelation given to the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 62:6-7.
I. First, let’s look at the call to prayer for Jerusalem: “give yourselves no rest and give Him no rest until . . .
From the words of this text, it is clear that this is a call to persistent prayer, or as the Apostle Paul said in the New Testament, “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Actually, this is more than a call to prayer as many would think of it. Rather, this is a call to a way of life, a call to a continuing partnership with God for what is on His heart.
Unfortunately, this kind of call to prayer and partnership with God is alien to much of the narcissistic preaching and teaching in the church today. Many believers are only interested in what God can give them to live a happy and carefree life of temporal pleasure.
Many Christians only see God as their security from hell and as the one who can get them out of trouble when they call on Him. Yes, God has provided both of those things to all who have been born again.
But for those who see and think of God only in that way, the call to prayer from our text in Isaiah cannot be understood and is not considered relevant to their lives.
However, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ called us as true born again Christians into the same spirit and truth of what the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophet in Isaiah 62:6-7 when He said,
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things (the necessities of life) will be given to you as well.
Beloved, the Great Shepherd of the Church, even the God-man Himself, tells us that our first priority in life is not to go after the things of this world. Rather, He calls us to go after what is on Father God’s heart.
Jesus said that if we would make what is on God’s heart our top priority, then we would be given everything that we need.
The call to prayer in Isaiah 62:6-7, supported and confirmed by Jesus in Matthew 6:33, is a call to partner with the eternal God until what is on is heart becomes a tangible reality.
And as I said recently, this partnership with God is the most important and satisfying thing that believers can do with the gift of life that we have been given to live on this earth. It is a partnership that will continue into eternity!
But to be clear, this partnership is not a one and done kind of thing! Rather, as we have tried to say, this is a call to discipleship—a call to a way of life.
Sadly, not many will answer this call to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness because they are unwilling to let go of “the things” that they deem to be more important to them.
Yet, for those who will let go of the temporal to lay hold of the eternal, they will be truly blessed. How about you friend, are you willing to partner with God by “praying without ceasing” for the city that is on God’ heart?
As missionary Jim Elliot once said, “he is no fool who gives away what he cannot keep that he might gain what he cannot lose.”
Church, what I want you to see is that this call to prayer for Jerusalem is a call into the very heart of the eternal God Himself! It is a call into Who He is and into His eternal plan for Israel, for His Church, for the earth, and the universe!
It is a call into all Father God has planned forever, and Jerusalem just happens to be at the epicenter of that plan!
This is, I believe, what the Holy Spirit is saying in His Word when he said, “you who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest and give Him no rest . . .” “pray without ceasing,” “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. . .”
Beloved, this is more than a typical call to prayer as many perceive prayer to be. Instead, it is a call to a way of life and a call to a continuing partnership with God in a life of prayer until what is on His heart becomes a reality.
II. The second point in this message is a call to prayer for the cause that is on God’s heart.
“Give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.”
Our partnership with God is to live a life of prayer until His eternal plan is realized, a plan that has Jerusalem at the epicenter.
Beloved, when we are praying for God to establish Jerusalem and to make her the praise (the song) of the earth, we are living out our highest purpose for being on this earth.
Jesus Christ died on a cross, rose from the dead, ascended back to heaven, and will return to the earth for this central purpose that is on the Father’s heart.
There is absolutely nothing in your life that is more important than this! This is the meaning of life; it is the ultimate goal of all scripture!
If you can receive it, this very prayer in Isaiah 62:6-7 is echoed in Matthew 6:10 in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, in earth as it is done in heaven.”
So whenever you pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done in earth as it is done in heaven,” you are praying for God to “establish Jerusalem and to make her the praise of the earth!”
And when you pray the Word of God in Revelation 22:17 which says, “The Spirit and the Bride say come. . .” you are coming into agreement with all of God’s saints from every generation, and with the Holy Spirit, in asking God to establish Jerusalem and to make her the praise of the earth!
This is a Holy Spirit inspired prayer for Jesus Christ the Messiah to return to the city of the Great King— to Jerusalem, Israel!
It is a prayer for Him to come and complete the Father’s eternal plan of salvation which began with His first coming.
This is the plan that was in the heart of God before He created the worlds. It is the culmination of the plan that was first announced in the book of Genesis.
And when we pray with the Apostle John in the next to the last verse in the written Word of God to man, “Amen, come Lord Jesus,” we are doing our part to help fill up the bowl of incense which is in God’s presence and which will one day be poured out on the earth in answered prayer.
Beloved, when that bowl is poured out on the earth Jerusalem will be established and made the praise (the Song) of the entire earth!
CONCLUSION/ALTAR
So the call of the Holy Spirit to you is this:
Will you give yourself no rest and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise or the song of the entire earth?
Will you partner with your Creator and Savior by living a life of prayer until what is on His heart for Jerusalem becomes a reality?
This journey begins with a simple step of faith that says Yes to God.
You don’t have to understand it all or even feel anything, even though that feeling will eventually come.
All that you really need to do is mix childlike faith with the revealed Word of God that you have heard or read. The Holy Spirit will then lead you from there.
Beloved, all roads lead to Jerusalem, Israel because this is the city where God’s eternal purpose of salvation and restoration will become reality.
That’s why that in our sixth and final message we will do our best to connect all the dots for you as we go into detail as to why there will be such a ferocious battle for Jerusalem at the end of the age!
Prayer: Father God, open our understanding to your heart for Jerusalem so that we can more readily enter into a life of prayer and partnership with you for what has always been on your divine heart. In the strong Name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, we pray.
Subject: God’s Plan for Jerusalem, Part V
Introduction:
Hopefully it has become clear in the previous messages we have preached that Jerusalem is the most unique and significant city on this planet, and in the universe! “Heaven is God’s throne; earth is His footstool; and Jerusalem is the city of the Great King—even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself!”
With this truth as our beginning point, it is easy to see that Jerusalem is unique and significant because the eternal God has chosen it as His own. As I have recently said, God did not choose Jerusalem because it is special, but Jerusalem is special because God chose it!
And it is what God has chosen it for that makes it so special.
1. Jerusalem is where Father-God secured our eternal salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of His only-begotten Son.
2. Jerusalem is the city where the Lord poured out the Holy Spirit giving birth to His Church and empowering her to be His witnesses to a lost and dying world.
3. Jerusalem will be the city where Jesus returns with His raptured Church to do the following:
a. Defeat the Beast kingdom and save the remnant of Israel from the Antichrist.
b. Kill the Antichrist and cast him and the False Prophet into the lake of fire.
c. Be welcomed back by the Jewish leadership and crowned king.
d. Set up His capital and reign over the earth for a thousand years.
e. Rule the earth in righteousness and bring peace and prosperity to the entire world.
f. Ultimately bring heaven and earth together when He brings down the New Jerusalem to the earthly Jerusalem. The natural realm and the spiritual realm will become one forever.
By understanding the uniqueness and significance of Jerusalem to the heart and plan of God, hopefully we can now more readily grasp why that Father God chooses and calls people and churches to be “watchmen” on “the walls of Jerusalem” who will never be silent day or night!
As you heard or read in our last message, I believe that God has uniquely prepared and called Warrior Assembly of God, and others, to be “watchmen” for Jerusalem in this amazing prophetic generation in which we are living.
Yes, I also believe that the Lord has chosen and called His people in every generation to pray for Jerusalem. And the “incense” of those collective prayers has been filling up the bowls which are in heaven.
However, I believe that we are now in a unique prophetic generation, a generation that has witnessed the rebirth of the Jewish nation in 1948, and a generation that also witnessed the Jewish people retaking their city of Jerusalem in 1967. It is my conviction that the incense of prayer now ascending from the end time Church will see those heavenly bowls completely filled and then poured out on the earth in answered prayer!
Beloved, I believe that we are the generation that will see God’s heart and God’s plan for Jerusalem fulfilled! This should fill our hearts with anticipation and excitement!
With this understanding as our scriptural foundation and consequently our motivation, let’s probe a little deeper into the revelation given to the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 62:6-7.
I. First, let’s look at the call to prayer for Jerusalem: “give yourselves no rest and give Him no rest until . . .
From the words of this text, it is clear that this is a call to persistent prayer, or as the Apostle Paul said in the New Testament, “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Actually, this is more than a call to prayer as many would think of it. Rather, this is a call to a way of life, a call to a continuing partnership with God for what is on His heart.
Unfortunately, this kind of call to prayer and partnership with God is alien to much of the narcissistic preaching and teaching in the church today. Many believers are only interested in what God can give them to live a happy and carefree life of temporal pleasure.
Many Christians only see God as their security from hell and as the one who can get them out of trouble when they call on Him. Yes, God has provided both of those things to all who have been born again.
But for those who see and think of God only in that way, the call to prayer from our text in Isaiah cannot be understood and is not considered relevant to their lives.
However, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ called us as true born again Christians into the same spirit and truth of what the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophet in Isaiah 62:6-7 when He said,
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things (the necessities of life) will be given to you as well.
Beloved, the Great Shepherd of the Church, even the God-man Himself, tells us that our first priority in life is not to go after the things of this world. Rather, He calls us to go after what is on Father God’s heart.
Jesus said that if we would make what is on God’s heart our top priority, then we would be given everything that we need.
The call to prayer in Isaiah 62:6-7, supported and confirmed by Jesus in Matthew 6:33, is a call to partner with the eternal God until what is on is heart becomes a tangible reality.
And as I said recently, this partnership with God is the most important and satisfying thing that believers can do with the gift of life that we have been given to live on this earth. It is a partnership that will continue into eternity!
But to be clear, this partnership is not a one and done kind of thing! Rather, as we have tried to say, this is a call to discipleship—a call to a way of life.
Sadly, not many will answer this call to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness because they are unwilling to let go of “the things” that they deem to be more important to them.
Yet, for those who will let go of the temporal to lay hold of the eternal, they will be truly blessed. How about you friend, are you willing to partner with God by “praying without ceasing” for the city that is on God’ heart?
As missionary Jim Elliot once said, “he is no fool who gives away what he cannot keep that he might gain what he cannot lose.”
Church, what I want you to see is that this call to prayer for Jerusalem is a call into the very heart of the eternal God Himself! It is a call into Who He is and into His eternal plan for Israel, for His Church, for the earth, and the universe!
It is a call into all Father God has planned forever, and Jerusalem just happens to be at the epicenter of that plan!
This is, I believe, what the Holy Spirit is saying in His Word when he said, “you who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest and give Him no rest . . .” “pray without ceasing,” “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. . .”
Beloved, this is more than a typical call to prayer as many perceive prayer to be. Instead, it is a call to a way of life and a call to a continuing partnership with God in a life of prayer until what is on His heart becomes a reality.
II. The second point in this message is a call to prayer for the cause that is on God’s heart.
“Give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.”
Our partnership with God is to live a life of prayer until His eternal plan is realized, a plan that has Jerusalem at the epicenter.
Beloved, when we are praying for God to establish Jerusalem and to make her the praise (the song) of the earth, we are living out our highest purpose for being on this earth.
Jesus Christ died on a cross, rose from the dead, ascended back to heaven, and will return to the earth for this central purpose that is on the Father’s heart.
There is absolutely nothing in your life that is more important than this! This is the meaning of life; it is the ultimate goal of all scripture!
If you can receive it, this very prayer in Isaiah 62:6-7 is echoed in Matthew 6:10 in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, in earth as it is done in heaven.”
So whenever you pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done in earth as it is done in heaven,” you are praying for God to “establish Jerusalem and to make her the praise of the earth!”
And when you pray the Word of God in Revelation 22:17 which says, “The Spirit and the Bride say come. . .” you are coming into agreement with all of God’s saints from every generation, and with the Holy Spirit, in asking God to establish Jerusalem and to make her the praise of the earth!
This is a Holy Spirit inspired prayer for Jesus Christ the Messiah to return to the city of the Great King— to Jerusalem, Israel!
It is a prayer for Him to come and complete the Father’s eternal plan of salvation which began with His first coming.
This is the plan that was in the heart of God before He created the worlds. It is the culmination of the plan that was first announced in the book of Genesis.
And when we pray with the Apostle John in the next to the last verse in the written Word of God to man, “Amen, come Lord Jesus,” we are doing our part to help fill up the bowl of incense which is in God’s presence and which will one day be poured out on the earth in answered prayer.
Beloved, when that bowl is poured out on the earth Jerusalem will be established and made the praise (the Song) of the entire earth!
CONCLUSION/ALTAR
So the call of the Holy Spirit to you is this:
Will you give yourself no rest and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise or the song of the entire earth?
Will you partner with your Creator and Savior by living a life of prayer until what is on His heart for Jerusalem becomes a reality?
This journey begins with a simple step of faith that says Yes to God.
You don’t have to understand it all or even feel anything, even though that feeling will eventually come.
All that you really need to do is mix childlike faith with the revealed Word of God that you have heard or read. The Holy Spirit will then lead you from there.
Beloved, all roads lead to Jerusalem, Israel because this is the city where God’s eternal purpose of salvation and restoration will become reality.
That’s why that in our sixth and final message we will do our best to connect all the dots for you as we go into detail as to why there will be such a ferocious battle for Jerusalem at the end of the age!
Prayer: Father God, open our understanding to your heart for Jerusalem so that we can more readily enter into a life of prayer and partnership with you for what has always been on your divine heart. In the strong Name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, we pray.
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