Revival Sermon: Wrestling for the Power
A Sermon on Isaiah 63:15-19
Scripture
15¶ Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained? 16Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of …
Sermon Description
Has God turned His back on the church? Why does it seem that the people of God are powerless today? In this sermon on Isaiah 63:15–19 titled “Revival Sermon: Wrestling for the Power,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones expounds upon a prayer of Isaiah in which the prophet recognizes the character of God and reviews the history of His people. In the prayer is found hope for the people of Israel, but more importantly, the Christian finds hope for themselves. Dr. Lloyd-Jones covers the characteristics of Isaiah’s prayer to show what prayers should contain. He notes the prayer’s urgency, importunity, emotion, and pleading. Isaiah is wrestling with God in his prayer—pleading for the nation of Israel, deeply aware of their sins and yet boldly petitioning God to have mercy. Isaiah begins by worshiping God, and then he notes his subsisting relationship with God. He asks where God’s strength and mercy are to be found. Finally, he pleads with God to look again upon His people and have mercy on them. Dr. Lloyd-Jones takes time to carefully explain some difficult words of the prayer in which Isaiah asks why God has hardened their hearts.
Sermon Breakdown
- The prophet Isaiah is praying for the nation of Israel that has been defeated and the people carried away into captivity.
- The supreme need is the presence and face of God. God seems to have turned away from them.
- The characteristics of the prayer are urgency, strong emotion, pleading, reasoning and wrestling with God.
- The first petition is "Look down from heaven and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory". They need God to look upon them again.
- He starts by worshipping and adoring God - recognizing God's holiness and glory. We must start with God.
- He reminds God of the relationship between them - where is God's zeal, strength and compassion towards them as in the past?
- His plea is for God to look down, return to them and soften their hearts. Though they deserve judgment, he asks for mercy.
- God had caused them to err and hardened their hearts as punishment. He asks God to stop dealing with them judicially.
- His arguments are: God is their Father, not Abraham or Jacob; they are God's inheritance; God has no relationship with their adversaries.
- Though they are sinful, they are still God's people. He asks God not to keep turning from them but to return, have mercy and arise to deliver them.
Sermon Q&A
What is Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Teaching About Prayer in Isaiah 63?
What is the main text Dr. Lloyd-Jones is preaching from in this sermon?
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is preaching from Isaiah 63:15-19, which begins with "Look down from heaven and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory." This text is part of a prayer by the prophet Isaiah on behalf of Israel during a time of national desolation and defeat.
What are the general characteristics of effective prayer according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, effective prayer has these characteristics: 1. Urgency and importunity - not half-hearted or vague prayer but prayer from the depths of one's soul 2. Strong emotion - where there is an alternation between confession and pleading, not overly concerned with form 3. Pleading and reasoning with God - an element of wrestling with God, presenting arguments 4. Holy boldness - a paradoxical combination of unworthiness with the confidence to approach God
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones mean when he says "the key to great praying is a deep knowledge and grasp of the doctrines of grace"?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that powerful prayer comes from a proper understanding of our relationship with God. Great prayer flows from great understanding of biblical truth. When trials come, superficial prayers fail, but those grounded in the fundamental truths of scripture can stand firm. He states: "The men who can stand in the furnace of affliction are the men who've got a rock beneath their feet, and the rock is the holy scripture and its blessed doctrine."
What is the first petition in Isaiah's prayer that Dr. Lloyd-Jones highlights?
The first petition is "Look down from heaven and behold." Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that the supreme need of both Israel then and the church today is for God's presence and attention. The prayer asks God to turn His face toward His people again, as He seems to have turned away. It's a plea for God to look upon His people with favor and smile upon them once more.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the phrase "where is the sounding of thy bowels"?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that in biblical language, especially the Old Testament, the "bowels" were considered the seat of emotions. The ancients believed this because strong emotions can cause physical sensations in the abdomen. When Isaiah asks about "the sounding of thy bowels," he is asking where God's deep emotional compassion for His people has gone - the kind of compassion that would cause internal stirring and movement.
What arguments does Isaiah use to appeal to God according to the sermon?
Isaiah appeals to God based on: 1. The covenant relationship - "Doubtless thou art our father" 2. God's eternal nature - "Thy name is from everlasting" (not depending on Abraham or Jacob) 3. Israel's status as God's inheritance - "We are thine" 4. The fact that their enemies have no relationship with God - "Thou never bearest rule over them" 5. God's reputation - the enemies have "trodden down thy sanctuary"
What warning does Dr. Lloyd-Jones give about disobedience to God?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones warns that persistent disobedience can lead to judicial hardening, where God not only turns His face away but actively hardens hearts as punishment. He states: "Be careful how you treat God... You may say to yourself, I can sin against God, and then, of course, I can repent and go back and find God whenever I want. You try it." The sermon warns that sometimes we may find ourselves unable to even want to return to God due to this hardening.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones contrast relying on human tradition versus relying on God?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones warns against relying on religious tradition or famous ancestors rather than on God Himself. The Jews would say "Abraham is our father" but Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that we must not go to God "merely in the name of tradition" or "merely in the name of the fathers." He states: "The reformers can't save us. The Puritans can't save us. The Methodist fathers can't save us." Only God can save us, and our plea must be directly to Him as our Father.
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the sign of a coming revival?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones quotes someone who said that "the best sign of a coming revival is that the word 'O' begins to enter into the prayers of the people." He suggests that this expression ("O Lord") indicates a depth of emotion and earnestness in prayer that characterizes those who truly recognize their dependence on God and the urgency of their spiritual condition.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones apply this ancient prayer to the modern church?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones directly applies Isaiah's situation to the modern church, saying: "This is the picture of the modern church. Let's be no mistake about that. The church of God is DOWN. She's in a sense of ruins. And there's the enemy, triumphant and laughing at us." He urges Christians to pray with the same urgency, emotion, and boldness as Isaiah, approaching God as Father while acknowledging unworthiness, and pleading for God to look upon His people again despite their failures.
Revival Sermons
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.