Isaiah 44: Unbelief, Faithlessness & Revival — Richard Owen Roberts

Isaiah 44: God’s Promise to His Chosen People

Isaiah 44,. But now listen, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen. Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you. Do not fear, O Jacob, my servant, and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants, and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water.

This one will say, I am the Lord's, and that one will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, Belonging to the Lord, and will name Israel's name with honor. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts.

I am the first and the last, and there is no God besides me who is like me. Let him proclaim and declare it. Yes, let him recount it to me in order from the time that I established the ancient nation.

And let them declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place. Do not tremble and do not be afraid. Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are my witnesses.

Is there any God besides me, or is there any other rock? I know of none. Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit. Even their own witnesses fail to see or know so that they will be put to shame.

Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit? Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves. Let them stand up. Let them tremble.

Let them together be put to shame. The man shapes iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry, and his strength fails.

He drinks no water and becomes weary. Another shapes wood. He extends a measuring line. He outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of a man, so that it may sit in a house.

Surely he cuts cedars for himself and takes a cypress or an oak and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow. Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself.

He also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it. He makes a graven image and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied.

He also warms himself and says, aha, I am warm. I've seen the fire. But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships. He also prays to it and says, deliver me, for you are my god.

They do not know, nor do they understand, for he has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, I have burned half of it in the fire, and also I have baked bread over its coals.

I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination. I fall down before a block of wood. He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside, and he cannot deliver himself, nor say, is there not a lie in my right hand?

Redemption, Forgiveness, and God’s Sovereignty

Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant. I have formed you. You are my servant. O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. I have wiped away your transgressions like a thick cloud and your sins like a heavy mist.

Return to me, for I have redeemed you. Shout for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done it. Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth. Break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob.

And in Israel, he shows forth his glory. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by myself and spreading out the earth all alone, causing the omens of boasters to fail, making fools out of the diviners, causing wise men to draw back, and turning their knowledge into foolishness, confirming the word of his servant and performing the purpose of his messengers.

It is I who says of Jerusalem, she shall be inhabited. And of the cities of Judah, they shall be built, and I will rise up her ruins again. It is I who says to the depth of the sea, be dried up, and I will make your rivers dry.

It is I who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and he will perform all my desire. And he declares of Jerusalem, she will be built. And of the temple, your foundation will be laid.

Faith as the Foundation of Ministry

In my mind, in these days we've been together, I've had five biblical concepts at the forefront of my mind. Four of those I have expressed to you in various ways during these days. There's a fifth one of which I have said barely nothing until tonight.

But we have talked at some length of the nearness of Christ. And surely, that is our good. We have talked to the free flood of the word as moved by the Holy Spirit and made glorious and beautiful. We did give a considerable amount of time to the subject of the Holy Spirit in his remarkable place in our lives and in the whole world of revivals.

I have stressed repentance and taught to spell that out as carefully as possible. But I've said essentially nothing about faith until tonight. And that will be at the back of everything that I say to you tonight.

And I want to begin in a way that could hardly be described as a most excellent biblical beginning. But rather an experiential beginning that truly does underline the issue of faith. As some of you have gathered, both Maggie and myself came from upper New York State.

At one time, I was the minister at large of the Congregational Church that was conservative. And in that capacity, we lived in New York State. And we started two churches in the Albany Capital District area.

Now, I want to share with you some experiences there that are of incredible consequence in describing the impact of faith. I had been constantly seeking to keep alert as to areas of the Capital District of New York where there was relatively little knowledge of Christ and very little of vibrant Christian churches.

We had started a work in Delmar on the south side of Albany. And God was there in a wonderful way. And when that church was up and running and able to call a full-time pastor, then we moved to the north side of Albany and started a church in an area called Clifton Park.

Somebody, I've forgotten who, was here this week and mentioned that they knew something of that work in Clifton Park. But I want to share a perfectly magnificent story with you. I had learned of several families who were hungry for a church in their area.

And so we had determined to start with a weeknight Bible class. We met perhaps three or four times, and each time the attendance was greater and the interest stronger. But then a Jewish lady who had a deep love for Christ and was as committed a Christian as I have ever known, came to the evening Bible class with an elderly man in bib overalls.

I was introduced to him. And his name was simply Old Pete. And when we were ready to start the meeting, I said, Pete, did you bring a Bible? No, I brought no Bible. And now, listen to the sanctified speech of this preacher.

I bet he can't read. What a loving heart. What a wonderful way to reach someone. Another family had brought a young woman who was just loaded with immense problems, had been into all kinds of sin, and thoroughly messed herself up.

As soon as the meeting started, she said, may I ask a question? Well, yes. Well, we went for two hours doing nothing but answering her questions. And old Pete was forgotten, by me at least. To my astonishment, he came back the next class, and he stepped up to me, and he said, would you ever allow a drunkard like me to speak a word in this class?

Well, I said, yes. Do you wish to speak at the beginning, at the end, or somewhere in between? And he said, I would like to speak in the beginning. So when the class opened, I said, Pete has requested permission to speak.

And he said, you know that young woman you done tried to help last week? Well, you done me more good than you done her. I went back to my shack, and I got down on the floor, and I said, God, if you can do anything with an old reprobate like me, help yourself.

And he said, I'm 79, and I have been sober seven days in a row since last week. For the first time since I was seven years of age. At the Christmas party with my family, one of my uncles got me drinking, and I have been drunk nearly all the time since then.

I have never held a job in all my life. I live on the back of somebody's field in a little shack. They let me build there. I ain't got no electricity, but I got the little stove. And this week, I have been all week long a brand new man.

Well, then the next week he told me that this Jewish woman often offered him a ride as she saw him plodding along the road. And then, on the Monday, we met on Tuesday. On the Monday, she had invited him to the Bible class.

And he didn't make any reply. But she said, well, if you're willing to go, you meet me here. And she named the place. He said when he got back to his shack, he had only one family member who had anything to do with him, an elderly sister.

And she had brought him a new pair of bib overalls. And when he looked at those overalls, he thought, there must be a God who wants me to go to that Bible class. And so he got himself fixed up and all ready, and went right to the meeting place.

But the Jewish lady wasn't there, and he was crushed. And he thought, well, I guess she didn't really mean it. But then he thought, then, why did God give me this new bib overall? So he knew where she lived, and he said, now, tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to go to her house.

And then he said, no, I can't do that. I'll never get past the tavern. To get to her house, I've got to go by the tavern, I can't do that. But then he thought, why did I get this new bib overall? And he said, well, I don't think I can make it, but I'm going to try.

I'm going to try to stay on the other side of the road. And then he said, when I came near the tavern, it was as if a giant magnet got a hold of me and pulled me right past that tavern up the hill to this lady's house.

And she said, Pete, I didn't mean you'd have to come here. I was going to pick you up. Well, he said, I thought it was last night and that you'd forgotten me. No, she said, just time now. And he came, and he sat through that session, and he was gloriously changed.

The next week, he came back, and he said to me, I done throwed my pipe away. Your pipe? Why did you throw your pipe away, Pete? Well, he said, the Lord don't want me to smoke it no more. Then he got this grin on his face, and he said, but I did see where it landed in the woods, and I went and got it.

You went and got it, why? Well, he said, I took it into me shack, and I opened up my little stove, and I throwed it in, and I sat down on the box, and I watched it smoke itself. And it was a lot of fun.

You know what the result of that was? He was the only permanent squatter in that entire district. And virtually everybody heard about the transformation of his life. And incredible numbers of people came.

Now, I want to ask you, what do you think was the cause of the change? And who should get the credit, the Jewish lady or me? Well, nobody but the Lord. It was obviously the Lord's doing. It wasn't even my faith that had any part at all.

Faith, Prayer, and God’s Providential Answers

But then it was decided we would try to have a summer vacation Bible school. And the Grange Hall was available, and the ladies went to work. We had over 200 children in the summer Bible school. And then a special meeting at the end with all the parents.

And when Maggie and I started out for the Grange Hall, the clouds were absolutely black, and it looked as if it was going to pour rain. But the ladies had announced a watermelon feast for everybody that came to the Bible school program.

When we reached the Grange Hall, I went into the kitchen where the ladies were cutting up watermelon, and I said to them, you might just as well quit because it's going to pour rain and there's absolutely no way you're going to have this watermelon feast.

And they said to me, it's not going to rain. Well, I said, it certainly is. No, it is not going to rain. And I said, how do you dare say that? Just step outside and see for yourself. And they said, it's not going to rain because we prayed about it.

It will rain later, just as the last cars are leaving. And that's exactly what happened. As the taillights of the last car of the guest was leaving the Grange Hall, heavens opened up and the rain poured down.

Well, that sort of thing could be multiplied millions of times. But those are two events I was part of, not in any way significant part, just there and saw the exercise of faith. When that Jewish woman started picking up that squatter who had been drunk all his life and never held a job in his 79 years, she had faith to believe that if she could get him under the sound of the word, he would be transformed, and he was.

Now, he was already greatly harmed by the excesses of alcohol. And so after a couple years, he was committed to a nursing home. And when he was entering the nursing home, he said, I have one request. Well, what's that?

I want a wheelchair. Why do you want a wheelchair? He said, I want to visit the other people in the nursing home. And they said, all right, we'll give you a wheelchair. He went to every person in that large nursing home, and he told them his story.

And he said, if God could do that for old Pete, think of what he could do for you. And because the people knew it was not an idle testimony, they had seen him. He was a best-known figure in the region as a drunken tramp.

And God used that testimony miraculously. At the heart of all true ministry is faith, God-given faith. Somebody believes God, and God blesses that faith that he has given them, and they exercise with some wonderful, wonderful results.

Isaiah 44 and the Folly of Idolatry

Now, this evening, our dear brother, Anthony, read from that spectacular 44th chapter of Isaiah. And it's a knockout kind of a chapter. It would take at least three days to really begin to explore what's there.

And I don't think I'm up to three days, even if you were. So we're not going to try to deal with that wondrous chapter. I think we all caught on in the reading how absurd it is to take a chunk of wood, and to cut off part of it, and burn it, and heat your food, and warm your body, and then make a god out of the other part, and then bow down and worship.

And many of us know how this is beautifully laid out in the Book of Romans, and how absolutely grievous it is when somebody is as dumb as an American, and worships and serves the thing that they have made, and not the one that made them.

Revival and the Promise of Rain

But that's not the portion we're going to focus on. Will you look with me at the first part of this passage? So, Isaiah 44, if you will, and we are looking at the first five verses. Now listen. Oh, Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen.

Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you. Do not fear, oh, Jacob, my servant, and you, Jeron, whom I have chosen. For I will pour out water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground.

I will pour out my spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. And they will spring up among the grass, like poplars by streams of water. The one will say, I am the Lord's. And that one will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, Belonging to the Lord.

And will name Israel's name with honor. Now I want to ask a very real question to you. Do you believe revival will happen? I'm not asking you if you believe in revival. Do you believe revival will happen?

There's something awfully foolish about talking about a subject which is completely unrealistic. Most of the people that I know who pray for revival are in no way convinced it's going to happen. They hope it does.

They think it would be wonderful if revival came. But they have no confidence. I'm asking you now. Do you believe revival will happen? Well you say, I don't really think any of us is wise enough to know the will of God.

How could we possibly say yes or no? One of the most earnest and sweet-spirited and effective Christians I ever knew was an Irishman with the name James Edwin Orr. Some of you perhaps have read some of his books or perhaps even heard him speak.

For many years running, he had a conference at Oxford, England at the University, Regents Park College. And I participated in many of those. They were always very small, just an invitation only. I don't think we ever had more than 30 in attendance.

And almost every year somebody from a place where revival was burning gloriously. And we had these first-hand reports. But one year, some discontented men came. And they made it clear it's rather disgusting to be part of a revival conference where there's a lot of talk and no prayer.

Well it's not quite that there was no prayer, but you know, sort of the on-the-go kind of praying that we're so used to. And these men requested a night of prayer. And I thought it was a good idea. And I was glad to participate.

So we were in this upper room at Regents Park College. There were not many of us, possibly 16, 18, something like that. And it got nicer and nicer, better and better, more vibrant, more powerful, more exciting.

In fact, it got so lovely, it was as if the roof was lifted off and God came down. And I was enjoying it immensely. And then a scripture popped into my head. An evil and an adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and no sign shall be given it.

And in exasperation, I said, Lord, why did you bother me with that at a time like this? Well, it was quite obvious that's what we were doing. We were asking for a sign, some evidence, and we were feeling as if a sign was there with the way the glory of the prayer meeting was rising up.

But that verse just greatly disturbed me, and I couldn't get back into the focus again. And as I was kind of muttering to myself, why did the Lord do that? Another verse pressed in on me. Thou shalt say to that mountain, be removed.

And if you doubt not, it will be cast into the sea. And I thought, what mountain? My word, have you ever been in Oxford, England? It's not plentiful with mountains, you can be sure of that. So there I'm wondering again, why does the Lord disturb such lovely times with thoughts?

And I said, Lord, I just don't know what's going on. What mountain? And I thought, well, are there any mountains in England? Well, yes, there are. Not perhaps much by way of physical mountains in England, but there's a tremendous mountain of unbelief here.

Yeah. And a tremendous mountain of religious tradition that interferes dramatically with truth. Yes. And an incredible mountain of dead works. So now I've got three mountains in my face. And I'm pressed with this question.

Do you believe that these mountains will be moved into the sea? And I thought, it's no distance to the sea anywhere in the United Kingdom. I don't have any problem believing a God who moves mountains like these into the sea.

And so I said, yes, I believe. But then the pressing question in my mind and heart was, what about Chicago? And I said, Lord, it's a long ways to the sea in Chicago. And then I wondered, do I believe?

And after struggling for some time, I realized, yes, I do believe that these very mountains in America will be moved. I did and I do. Now, could you build your faith on my experience? You'd be awfully dumb if you did.

I can't even sustain my own faith on my own experiences. I surely can't sustain yours. I'm not asking you to adopt my conviction in the matter. I'm asking you, do you believe, not that revival is possible, but that it will occur?

I'm not expecting you to give a show of hands. I'm just asking you to begin with me tonight with that urgent question. Do we believe? Most of you know that a great deal of your own personal prayer life has been undone by a lack of faith.

And we've almost learned to pray in such a way that everything has an uncertainty hanging over you. Now, with that thought in mind, let us turn to this passage. I think you can readily see, when I narrowed it down to five verses, that I would be likely to narrow it down still further.

And so really, we are concerning ourselves with this matter. Will God himself pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground? Will he pour out his spirit on our offspring and his blessing on our descendants?

I have tried to freshly alert your concern to the children now alive and to the unborn children still by God's grace to come. And I'm asking you, do you believe that things will continue to get worse and worse?

Or do you believe that God will send a precious revival? I'm not going to try to convince you to believe. I'm only asking, do you? Now, obviously, when we take a passage out of Isaiah, some of our great Christian scholars want to help us to understand that doesn't apply to us.

But does it? Is there a promise here that a believer today can lay hold on? Will God pour water on the thirsty? Will he cause floods to occur on dry land? No, I don't think it takes a brilliant mind to put together the concept of water for the thirsty.

Floods on dry ground with the subject of revival. That's obvious that there is some relationship, but it's not obvious whether we can safely look at a passage like this and have our faith quickened and begin to pray with certainty that God himself will respond precisely.

Biblical Promises About Rain, Drought, and Blessing

Now you know, as well as I do, that the subject of water, of rain, of floods is a very prominent subject in our Bible. Some of you are acquainted with Leviticus 26, verses 3 to 5. If you walk in my statures and you keep my commandments so as to carry them out, then I will give you rains in their seasons so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the fields will bear their fruit.

Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until the sowing time. You will thus eat your food to the full and live securely in your land. But has Leviticus anything to do with us?

Some say, no. Who do you believe? And we've already had some reference this week to the book of Deuteronomy. Listen carefully to these words from chapter 11, starting at verse 10. For the land into which you are entering to possess it is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it with your foot like a vegetable garden.

Have you ever wondered what that meant? How do you water your garden with your foot? Well, obviously they had some kind of a foot pump, and the irrigation water was pumped into the field in some primitive fashion.

But that's not the heart of this passage. But the land in which you are about to cross, to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the Lord your God cares even to the end of the year.

And it shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments, which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul, then I will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and the late rain that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil, and I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you shall eat and be satisfied.

Does that pertain to us? Or is it just a lot more of that Old Testament stuff that's out of date and irrelevant? You see what I'm asking you? Is it nonsense to believe that revival will come? Or is the best we can do to hope?

Knowing that we need revival, can we just stand by saying, well, I sure hope God comes and meets our need. And obviously most people don't believe it's going to happen, because those who believe it's going to happen have done something to make preparation.

And most people who are praying for revival have made no preparation. Now this may seem perfectly stupid to you, but the first book that I wrote and was published was intended for the church in the midst of revival.

The book Revival was a series of lessons on how to respond when God begins to stir and to work. Some of you perhaps have seen the pamphlet of 24 questions on how to behave in seasons of true revival. But I'm not asking you about me.

I'm asking you about you. Do you believe or do you write these various passages off as not really pertinent to our situation? Listen to these words from 1 Kings 8, verses 35 and following. When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, and they pray toward this place and confess thy name and turn from their sin when thou dost afflict them, then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel.

Indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk and send rain on thy land, which thou hast given thy people for an inheritance. Is that relevant or should we toss that aside as belonging to another time?

Or these words from 2 Chronicles 7, verses 13 and 14. If I shut up the heavens so there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people, and my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked way, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.

What does he mean when he says heal their land? Do you remember that I urged you to consider Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, both of which have lists of blessings and both of which have lists of curses.

That reference in Chronicles to healing the land has to do with those huge lists of curses that God promised to bring for any people who were disobedient. But I still ask, do you believe revival will come?

Joel’s Prophecy and the Latter Rain

But then, now we come at last to a really disturbing passage. Indeed a passage we looked at this morning. Joel, chapter 2, verses 21 to 26. I hope I'm not wearing you down with all these readings. And if I am, shame on me for not being able to hold your attention with the word of God and shame on you for getting so lazy.

Well, I hope nobody is here like that. But listen now again to this Joel quotation. Do not fear, O land. Rejoice and be glad, for the Lord has done great things. Do not fear, beast of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness have turned green.

For the tree has borne its fruit, the fig tree and the vine have yielded in full. So rejoice, O sons of Zion, and be glad in the Lord your God, for he has given you the early rains for your vindication, and he's poured down for you the rain, the early and the latter rain as before.

And the threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. Then will I make up for you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust.

Locust, my great army which I sent among you, and you shall have plenty to eat, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God who has dealt wondrously with you. Then my people will never be put to shame.

Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other, and my people will never be put to shame. Is that one more passage like the others that we dismiss because they're irrelevant?

Well, if it is, poor Peter was dumb. For a penny cost, Peter said, this is that. This is the fulfillment of the prophecy made in Joel. Do you find any significant difference between the Joel quotation and the others?

I don't. It seems to me that the Lord is more aware of how dry we are than we are. He knows a good deal more about the thirsty land than we know. Can you imagine a God so cruel that he taunts his people by pretending to supply their need when he has no intention of doing so?

And in these several passages, what was meant by moving the early rain and the latter rain? I've heard some amazing theories about the early rain and the latter rain, but I'm not much interested in garbage.

Nonsense I don't find any pleasure in. But I do know when the early rain and the latter rain are moved closer together and the sun is beating down in that in-between time, the crop comes on a whole lot faster than ordinary.

And I believe that that's exactly what is being said here. Now a lot of our friends believe that the world will end with things getting worse and worse. And so that Christ, who intends to come and claim a virgin bride without spot and without blemish is bound to be disappointed because things have just gotten worse and worse.

But I don't happen to like that notion. I like to think of my dear Savior gaining the reward of his death, burial, and resurrection and coming and gathering a glorious bride to himself. I'm not asking you to build your confidence in God for revival on my faith, but I'm asking you if you believe God himself that revival, true revival, not nonsense, not absurdity, but true revival will come.

The Word of God Will Accomplish Its Purpose

Listen to these words from Isaiah 55 verses 10 and 11. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bare and sprout and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word, which goes forth from my mouth...

Are you listening? Have you ever heard that quotation? My word, I hear people say 2 Chronicles 7 .14 has nothing to do with today. And these other passages I have said, oh no, they're not relevant, and yet they've got the gall to quote this passage as if somehow it's a promise.

My word will not go forth in vain, but it shall return to me and not empty. It will accomplish what I desire, and it will succeed in the matter for which I send it. Now again, I'm not asking you to believe, because I do.

But are you happy praying for something you have no conviction is going to occur, something that's needed, something that's desirable? And listen, how do you suppose our honestly believing God's word would impact God himself?

Do you think he would take any pleasure if you came to him in a prayer of faith? Now listen, when that Jewish lady picking up that drunken squatter determined to bring him to the Bible class, she let me know later she brought him because she knew God was going to save him.

And when they were cutting up their watermelons and telling me it wasn't going to rain, they told me that because they knew absolutely it wasn't going to rain until the watermelon feast was over. They were right, I was wrong, and what a wonderful thing to be wrong.

Isn't it absolutely delightful when we are wrong and God's people are right? So again, the question, don't want to be a pest, but my word, you know this is likely the last time I'm ever here. And so it would be at least decent to listen and to pay attention and to wonder.