Tabor Baptist Church

Introduction

• Church attendance is on the decline
• The vast majority have no idea of the worship of God
• Of those that attend, how many are true believers or nominal Christians?
• Isa 58 - people that attend church/religious observance is a must for them
• Their hearts were far from God and they needed to repent
• God was not listening to their prayers
• There was a distinct lack of blessing in their life
• Overview:
• Absence of Blessing
• Promise of Blessing
• The Means of Blessing

Absence of Blessing

• They have a superficial observance
• They have no blessing
• They are in exile
• They accuse God of not seeing
• The Lord brings a charge against His people
• They are continuing in sin
• Denying yourself (e.g. Lent, coming to church) does not bear weight with God
• The problem is sin
• It is not due to a lack of God's ability or that God cannot hear (59:1)
• The problem is inquity and sin (59:2)
• God will not hear your prayers:
• If you cherish sin in your life - Psalm 66:18
• If you turn away from hearing the law - Prov 28:9
• If you pray selfish prayers - James
• It is no good bowing your head and putting on sackcloth unless your hearts change
• An absence of blessing due to cherished and unrepented sin

Promise of Blessing

• A new day dawns (after repentance) - v8
• No longer cut off but fellowship
• God turns His face towards His people
• You will see a time of restoration and blessing
• The Lord will hear and answer - v9
• 2 Cor 7:10-11 – The Church repented
• God gives a promise of blessing to His people
• v11 - Explanation
• v12 - Explanation
• This rebuilding might be within the Church
• This rebuilding might be personal
• v10

The Means of Blessing

• Righteous living - v6
• Explanation
• Live justly and in the fear of God
• Avoid the negative
• Do the positive - v7
• Then the blessing shall come - v8
• Remove false accusations and true accusations with a critical spirit - v9
• James
• 1:26
• Not saved by works, saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ
• We are saved for works
• 2:14-17
• 3:10
• 4:11
• 5:4-6
• The Sabbath – v13-14
• The original Sabbath is not the same as the Lord's day
• There are strong transferable principles
• Explanation
• These blessings flow from the Cross
• Jesus paid for all of our sins on the cross
• We trust this alone for our salvation
• Our blessings come from our relationship with God through Jesus Christ
• Challenge:
• Have you found this relationship with God?
• Are you a distance from God, repent of your sin?