AN EXPANDING CHURCH
The Lord wants His Church to be a people who have great expectation despite negative circumstances. Jesus has provided all we need in this hour to be triumphant. This sermon looks at gives lessons needed to walk in victory.
Isaiah 54:1-3 “Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,” says the LORD. “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.
This verse exemplifies a faith living people who despite what might negatively appear in the natural see beyond that to the supernatural work of Christ.
The Context of this passage is the Cross – Isaiah 53 – the type is seen in Exodus 12 the Passover – where because of the blood – the redeemed – left Egypt with all the gold and silver – where delivered from slavery and bondage – and sustained by God on their journey to the wilderness – Psalm 105:37-42 He also brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among His tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night. The people asked, and He brought quail, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it ran in the dry places like a river. For He remembered His holy promise, And Abraham His servant.
Lessons needed to appropriate the finished work of Christ:
1. REPENT
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
2 Chronicles 7:14 “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Joshua 3:5 And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”
2. DECLARE THE PROMISE
Galatians 4:27 For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.”
Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Colossians 3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
SING AND SHOUT – when? - After Is 52:13-53:12 who? – The barren - how – shout and joy – why? Children are coming – Christ is our husband
Enlarge = rabah = to increase, to bring into abundance, excel, exceed, be full of, to be great, to heap, multiply, be plentiful
Sing, enlarge the tent, and fear no more, this is in response to the work of Christ. His people do not participate in the Servant’s work; He did His work for them without their help. But now they have benefits they did not deserve or produce, and they are called to sing for joy. Like a woman who never went through labor but has the baby nevertheless, the people of God enjoy the work of their Savior in their behalf. God wants to bring increase into every area of your life – every area
• Sing – a breakthrough is at hand - faith - The woman was called to sing while still barren, without a child. Isaiah calls the people to sing, because God’s plan will come true. It is not just a song of HOPE but a song of FAITH - trusting what God has prophesied will come true. We sing because we have hope. We sing because we have a great future. We can rejoice in the midst of difficult circumstances because what God has promised will come true. The journey may be tough, but the end point is SURE –
Colossians 2:19…..all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
3. OBEY BY FAITH
All the commands, such as enlarging the tent, rest on Who God is and what He has promised. They are not told to produce the children; God will do that. They are to enlarge the tent.
Barren women without husbands do not produce children. Christ brings many who will be His seed! (53:10). The Father promised the Son a family.His mission was to save many (53:11, 12). Now 54:1-5 speaks of the many He will have and the new problem of where to put them.
54:1 In some cultures, a barren woman is looked down on as a disappointment to her husband and one embarrassed in the eyes of other women. The Lord promises what cannot happen, for nothing is impossible with God, (Luke 1:37), so the woman who cannot have children will have many. This shows the supernatural working of God. God’s working did not cease with the resurrection of Christ (53:10,11); it continues in the children who are coming. The influx of the promised multitude is impossible for men; it is the powerful creation of God’s Spirit, (John 1:13; 3:5-8), the reason for a song of joy.
Anyone enlarging a tent would look very foolish if the children did not come. This is not possible. It is not a conditional promise but a declared fact that their seed will spread out so much that they will possess nations.
• Enlarge the Place of the Tent – prepare the place - God is asking is “Will you Grow?” There are some common misconceptions about how to grow spiritually God wants to expand your influence for his purpose. The measure of your life is not what you consume but what you allow God to birth through you. Here is a powerful principle in life: we live to give. Salmon spend the last days of their lives battling upstream to spawn. They have this intuitive sense that they exist for the purpose of birthing new life. It’s not your ability, it’s your expandability. God needs expandable tents. God uses elastic vessels that are able to change and grow with what God is doing.
Which one is bigger, a water bottle or a balloon? The water bottle is bigger. Which one will hold more? The balloon. Now what is the problem with the water bottle? It is restricted. It cannot expand. It is not elastic. This isn’t about your size; it’s about your ability to stretch with what God wants to do. If you take this same balloon it holds even more because of its ability to stretch and expand.
It’s why Jesus said you can’t put new wine into old wineskins. They used to keep wine in animal skins. Old wineskins dry up and lose their elasticity, their ability to stretch, grow, change and expand in God’s capacity. You have to expand your capacity to increase your influence for God. Faith is a concrete action. It is not holding to a belief in your head. It is a concrete action that requires us to enlarge our capacity for what God wants to do.
• Stretch Forth - action - stretching has the tendency to cause pain. When you stretch you are working muscles. So in order for us to stretch ourselves to what God asks us to become, it’s going to require some pain on our part both as a church and personally as well. Do you know how you make a muscle stronger? You have to tear down some of the cells by over-committing your muscle. It’s time to take a healthy look at the amount of spiritual commitment you are currently undertaking. We hope you walk away from Sunday morning being refreshed and encouraged but the main purpose that we come together on Sunday is to give. We come to praise God and to give honor and glory to him. Get involved in some kind of service, if you are not already doing so.
• Spare not – don’t limit God by unbelief or doubt – give and it shall be given unto you The truth is. We reap what we sow, your return will only be as great as your investment. When you enlarge your capacity for God by stretching your investment of faith, God will expand your influence.
• Lengthen thy Cords – receive the whole covenant
• Strengthen your Stakes – dig in for the long haul
• Promised Increase – wait
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD.
