Isaiah 52 King James Version (KJV)
1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.
4 For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your reward.
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
Introduction:
I like this song by Lynda Randle – God on the mountain.
Verse 1
Life is easy, when you’re up on the mountain
And you’ve got peace of mind, like you’ve never known
But things change, when you’re down in the valley
Don’t lose faith, for your never alone
Chorus:
For the God on the mountain, is still God in the valley
When things go wrong, he’ll make them right
And the God of the good times, is still God in the bad times
The God of the day, is still God in the night
She is so right Life is easy when you are up on the mountain. I am telling you it is very sweet to be on the mountain. The top of the mountain is when life is at its best.
• Great jobs
• Less temptation
• Financially stable
• Great friends
• Peace all around
Most of us can testify of these moments in our life. However, I am not here for these people so if you are experiencing a mountain situation. To God be the glory. I am here today for someone who is facing a situation and they feel like God has gone on vacation, he is sleeping because you have been crying out to him for such a long time and every day you feel like things are getting worst. You even went on fasting and read the bible more than you have every read it but somehow things remain the same.
One day you got up and you realise that you have being reading digital bible all the time, so you decided to read the paper bible that was a souvenir but somehow things remain the same. These are the people I am here for today.
I am here for someone whose back is against the wall, your friends seem to be there for you but somehow you realise that they are around but only to an extent.
I am not here to talk about the friends that visited Job in the midst of his problem but offer like hope. That is for another time in another sermon title (Who are your true friends or what qualifies you to be my friend) Lord have mercy. I believe some people might stay home. Touch your neighbour and tell them you better be here for that sermon.
The problem is when you are alone and in the midst of the night or when flash back occurs. That’s when your mind started to wonder. Your faith is tested more than usual, you heard voices telling you:
• what a failure you are
• you need to give up
• Then you started to see thousands of ways how the problem can be solved, the greatest is to take your life.
I heard someone saying a Christin should not and never think that way. But I am telling you it is easy to say, but when you are in the situation it is another thing. It takes less than a second for someone to carry out the act and shift their focus.
When we read the book of Psalm David a man of Gods’ own heart in Psalm 13
How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
There are other Psalm where he started in this way. These are the people I am here for today. Someone that need a deliverance. It is strange how some people are willing to spend long hours enjoying various aspect of the service but when it comes to the word, they believe 30 minutes is too long. But I am telling you, if I am wrong please correct me but where is the bible it tells me that praise and worship is going to save me. Don’t quote be wrongly. I am not bashing praise and worship because God loves a worshiper. I am talking about not spending enough time in the word. We go to church and we spend time doing various things and even dig into the time allotted for the word. So many times, we shorten the time for the word and fail to shorten time for anything else.
That is why the people perish. They have no root. When you are building a house if the foundation is weak no matter how beautiful the structure is it will fall at the least disaster. So, we need the word so when troubles comes our way we can use the word.
Give God glory church. Give him glory, if you know what I am talking about, just give him glory
In Matthew 4:1-11 while Jesus was in the wilderness the devil tempted him with the word.
Satan Tempts Jesus
4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”[a]
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”[b]
7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”[c]
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you,[d] Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”[e]
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
Jesus quote the word but the devil was persistent and quote the word to Jesus as well it is written Verse 5. Lord have mercy on us. I wonder who is giving you a word. Church be careful who is giving you a word. Not because someone said I have a word from the Lord it is coming from God and is the word for the season.
I remember once in my life when all hell broke loose in my life someone telling me the word they got for me. I listen to it and went to my bed with a clear heart and ask God to reveal the truth. I felt my spirit shifted like I had taken a wrong path and the Lord is not with me anymore. I got up the next day and I rejected the word. Church if I had accepted that word I would have being a dead man today. Oh Glory be to God. That same person also, was one of the individual that came to church with a mandate that wasn’t of God. …….
I which I could go into more details but that is for another time. Church just be careful who you get the word from. You see the difference with Jesus and satan is that Jesus said it is written verse 7. This was a word on time and for the season, with authority. So you need to know the word. So you can use it.
But I am telling you Church one this about David although he start off complain he always know how to remember God goodness
Psalm 119:11-18
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
13With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
17GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.
18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
But like David, if you don’t have the word on your heart or you know you have it but somehow life’s trouble causes you to forget it. Let me know say you forget but let me say you need a now deliverance. I feel a move of God flowing through me church. Touch your neighbour and tell them I I need a now deliverance. I think you got hold of the wrong neighbour turn to the other side and tell someone else I need a now deliverance.
Praise and worship, musician get ready because God is going to do something new. Some chains are getting ready to break. Generational curses are going to be lifted, finances restored. Church are you ready. I don’t care if you want to stand, scream, run, dance but let no man steal this moment from you.
I hear the Lord saying to me in my hour of need. Go to Isaiah 52 for I say to you today church.
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Church call you name and said awake awake [your name] awake wake up. I shall live, God is my strength, no more, no more will my soul be cast down.
I am shaking off the dust, I lose myself from every shackle around my neck. I shall not die, whatever the shackle is today not tomorrow but today I command you in the name of Jesus to leave me alone. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the name that is above every other name. I am loose, my mind is loose, my mind is renewed, I claim back my family, I claim my finance, I claim my job. You know what problem you are going through or need a breakthrough. So, claim it. Don’t leave here until you get it. Give him a praise, praise him.
Song -I believe -by Jonathan Nelson
Jehovah, You
I trust
In You
Oh Lord
Jehovah, You
I trust
In You
I believe, I believe
You are the God of miracles
You are the God of wonders
You are the God all powerful
I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe