Don’t Hold Back (Part 1)

That was an awkward video to watch. The first time I saw it was right before the 9:00 gathering. I am so thankful for the support of our elders in my own life in so many different ways, and this is just one of them. I do hope this book will be a blessing to you, especially because it is, in so many ways, the overflow of God’s grace in  you. 

Every other book I’ve written is born out of conviction in my own heart and the church family I’m a part of. This book contains so much of what God has done in my heart through you and alongside you over the last few years. I hope in a way it will be a blessing to the broader church, and I ask you to join me in praying that God would use this as an instrument in His hand to build up, encourage and strengthen His church and ultimately glorify His name. 

This book actually comes out on Tuesday, but the publisher graciously made some copies available at some of our locations today. I appreciate our leaders encouraging me to take this week and next week to hit on some themes in the book, obviously to the extent that they reflect what’s in God’s Word. I’m going to try to work in some of those themes. But there’s something a lot bigger on my heart today than this book. 

Let me set the stage for where we’re going in the rest of our time together. A few minutes from now, I’m going to invite you—all across this room and at our different locations—to seek God, calling out in desperation for Him. There’s not a person in this gathering who doesn’t need to seek God today. Some of you need to seek God for salvation in your life. Some of you need to seek God through honest confession of sin. Some of you need to seek God for specific help in your life. Some of you need guidance right now. Some of you need to seek God for healing—physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. I am confident that every single person within the sound of my voice desperately needs to seek God today. But not all of you will choose to do so.

A few minutes from now, all of you will divide into two groups: participants and observers. Some of you will choose to participate, to seek God, to call out to Him in worship and praise, in confession and repentance, in intercession—crying out for His help in your life. Some of you are going to seek God seriously, passionately, humbly, joyfully and desperately. 

Others of you will choose to observe. You’ll watch others seek God, but you will not seek God yourself, for any number of reasons. Some of you will be afraid of what others might think of you if you start crying out to God, if you do what His Spirit is leading you to do in that moment. Some of you will be afraid of what might happen in your life if you truly seek God. Some of you will say to your safe self, “Maybe I’ll seek God later. I’m just not ready right now.” I could go on and on, but for a variety of reasons, some of you will choose to observe rather than participate. I share all of this from the start because I really want to invite you to participate in however the Spirit of God leads you to participate. 

I’m not sure if you have seen what has been taking place in Wilmore, Kentucky, over the last few weeks in a small school called Asbury University, a small Christian university from the Methodist tradition. They had a chapel service three Wednesdays ago. When it ended, most students scattered to go to class, but a small number stayed in the room as God’s Spirit led them to seek God through prayer, worship and confession of sin. Before long, others were coming back to join them, then spontaneous, student-led prayer, worship and confession of sin began to spread—and it didn’t stop. For hours, into the night, into the next day, and the next, and the next; it didn’t stop. People started hearing about it all over the country and beyond our country.

So this small town had tens of thousands of people coming to see and be a part of what God’s Spirit was doing there. Do you know why? Because we want to be a part of something that’s bigger than us. We want to be part of something that can’t be explained or manufactured by us. It can only be explained and manufactured by God. We want to be part of something supernatural. People were driving hours to Asbury to taste and see a movement of God. 

Now I have good news for us today in this gathering. We don’t have to drive to Asbury; God is here. The Holy Spirit of God is right here, right now, in this gathering, so we can seek Him here. We can experience Him today. I think we forget this. We can get used to going through the motions on a Sunday: come here, sing a few songs, listen to a sermon, another song—that was church. But we’re not here to go through motions; we are here to meet with God, to encounter God. We’re here to experience the supernatural.

Or are we? Are we afraid of what might happen in our lives if we go beyond the motions? That’s the question that I want to pose right from the start. Are we here just to do church motions and keep our lives the same? Or are we here to meet with God, to seek God, to experience His supernatural Holy Spirit among us, to let Him turn our lives upside down, however He wants? 

I found myself praying a lot over the last few weeks for a fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit in our church, in our city, in our country. We need God. I want to see more of God. I want to know more of God, in all of His glory. I want to experience more of God, and I want that for you. I want that for us together, to see, know, feel and experience more of the power of God, the love of God, the mercy of God, the glory of God in all of His attributes.

So that’s why I want to call us to seek Him today and let Him lead us as we do. As I was praying about how God’s Word leads us to seek Him, my mind immediately went to a passage that actually contains the title of this book. So look at it with me. If you have a Bible, or if somebody around you does that you can look on with, go to Isaiah 54. Let’s let God’s Word lead us by the power of His Spirit. We’ll start in verse one.

Just to make sure you have the context, Isaiah 53, the previous chapter, is a prophecy specifically about how Jesus will come and die for our sins. The Holy Spirit—the same Holy Spirit Who is among us right now—700 years before Jesus even came, inspired these words to talk about how He would come and die on a cross for our sins. He would be pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities and by His stripes we can be healed. That chapter then sets the stage for a triumphant declaration in Isaiah 54:1, when God says to His people: 

1 “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
    break forth into singing and cry aloud,
    you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
    than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.

This is a picture—a prophecy—of how God is going to bring blessing from barrenness. God’s people were dry at this point in their history. It was a barren time. God says, “I am going to make you fruitful, you’re going to sing, you’re going to cry aloud with joy.” Then listen to the next verse: 

2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,
    and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
    and strengthen your stakes.

Did you hear that? Don’t hold back. So I didn’t come up with this sermon title—God did. God told His people, “I’m going to bless you. I’m going to expand your tents, your territory, in ways you can’t fathom. So don’t hold back. I want you to experience all that I have for you. Don’t hold back.” Then keep reading and see how they were tempted to hold back. God said in the next verse:

3 For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,
    and your offspring will possess the nations
    and will people the desolate cities.

4 “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;
    be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
    and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

Do you see it? They were tempted to hold back because they were afraid. They thought they might be ashamed. God says, “Do not let fear or shame hold you back from Me and all that I have for you.” 

Then verse five says:

5 For your Maker is your husband,
    the Lord of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
    the God of the whole earth he is called.
6 For the Lord has called you.

Do you see all the names of God here? Your Maker, Creator, husband. You’re His bride. You’re married to the Lord of heavenly armies, the Holy One, the One with Whom no one or nothing in this world can compare. He is your Redeemer. He’s the One Who takes the broken pieces, making you new and whole.

The God over the whole earth—that’s what He’s called—the Lord, Yahweh, has called you. Yes! So don’t hold back. Don’t be afraid or ashamed. Give your all to Him, experience all of Him and all He has for you. There’s so much in this passage that we could talk about, but here’s how I’ll summarize it today. What God was saying to His people then, and what God is saying to us right now, in this gathering, are two things.

Don’t hold back from becoming the bride you are made to be

All this language here in Isaiah of a bride, a woman, blessed with children, is just a foretaste of what would become the church, the bride of Christ. Church, this is who we are. 

Let’s picture what this means to make sure we’re clear on this imagery because it may feel odd for men to think, “Yeah, I’m a bride.” To be a bride is to be wed— to be united together in the deepest way possible—with someone who loves you, treasures you and is committed to providing everything you need. This is how the Bible describes toward those who trust in Him.

Sign me up to be a bride…of God? Of course! For all who’ve trusted in Jesus to save us from our sins, we’re in an eternal covenant relationship with God. God is committed to us. God is committed to our good, to loving us, providing for us and caring for us. So let’s be the bride we’re made to be. 

One of the primary reasons I wrote this book id because over recent years in our country, the church has not shown the beauty of what it means to be the bride of Christ. There’s been so much division, disillusionment and damage in the church over secondary and tertiary issues, particularly worldly politics. We are not the bride of a political party or a politician. We’re the bride of the King of kings, Jesus Christ which means we are to be united around Him alone, to love and care for each other as His family. We don’t cancel each other; we care for each other, even when some of our convictions differ. 

Along these lines, throughout the history of our country, we have divided—and are still dividing today—into different churches over the color of our skin. This should not be so. It is way past time for us to turn the tide on that history and do the hard work of showing the multiethnic beauty of the bride of Christ. As we do, it’s time to stop debating justice and start doing it, showing mercy, walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8). In a world full of injustice, it’s time to stop wielding God’s Word like it’s a weapon against our enemies in a culture war. This Word is water for our friends in a spiritual desert. It’s time to stop living ultimately to make our nation great and start living ultimately to make Jesus’ name great among all the nations.

In the end, it’s time to stop prostituting Jesus for the sake of comfort, power, politics and prosperity in our country and start exalting Jesus above everything in this world. It’s time to be known as the church, as a people who above all are passionately in love with Jesus, filled with compassion for each other and a lost world around us. Let’s be the bride we are created to be.

Let me re-emphasize something I mentioned earlier: this book is the overflow of what God has done among you, among us, over recent years. I praise God for how you have not held back as a church and how you have spoken this encouragement into my life in so many different ways—sometime verbally, sometimes sending me an email, sometimes just with the way you’re living. Even when it’s been hard, you’ve held fast and have worked to cultivate unity in Christ when it hasn’t been easy. You’ve made sacrifices to foster the multiethnic beauty of this church family. You’re doing justice. You’re praying, giving and living for the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth. This book is the overflow of God’s grace in you amidst some hard years. I’m not under any presumption that it’s going to get easier, but let’s not hold back from becoming the bride we were made to be.

Isaiah is so good. When you keep reading through Isaiah 54 into Isaiah 55, you see this invitation—not from me, let’s be clear, —from God to you. Look at Isaiah 55, verse one:

1 “Come, everyone who thirsts,
    come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.”

How can you buy it if you don’t have money? Well, it’s free.

2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
    hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
    my steadfast, sure love for David.

Yes, don’t hold back. Come. Anybody who’s thirsty, come and drink from the waters. Anybody who’s hungry, come and eat. Get all the wine and milk you want and need. It’s free. Delight yourselves in rich food. Which all begs the question: what’s the water and the food, the wine and the milk? Where’s the rich food? Verse three, “Incline your ear, and come to me…” To Me. God is the water. God is the wine. God is the milk. God is the rich food. God is the One we need.

“So come to Me,” God says to anybody who’s thirsty, to anybody today who feels dry in any way. Spiritually dry, emotionally dry, mentally dry, physically famished. Maybe your hopes feel dried up. Maybe your dreams have faded. To anybody who has emptiness or unfulfillment, anybody who longs for more, come to the One Who can truly and eternally satisfy your soul.  

Is anybody hungry for more than this world offers? You’ve tasted that job in the city, this relationship with that person, this house with this spouse, this car with this new look. You’ve eaten at the table of this world, yet you’re still hungry. Why? Because you were made for more than this world. Come to the God over the whole earth. Delight in His food. Drink in His wine. How? Verse six says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” 

Don’t hold back from seeking the God you are made to seek

There it is; the second word for today: Seek the Lord. That’s not passive; that’s active. That’s run, look, go, pursue. Seek the Lord, right where you’re sitting today. Don’t passively sit by and watch others. Rise up and seek Him. Call upon Him. Cry out to Him while He may be found, while He is near. This is the time, right now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not next month. Not next year. Today, right now, is the time to seek the Lord. 

Is it any coincidence that our Bible reading as a church today is in Luke 12, telling us, “Be ready at any moment. He’s coming back”? How would we seek Him in the next few minutes if we knew an hour from now He’s coming back? What kind of confession would we do? How would we get things right? What needs to happen in our lives to seek Him today? God is personally inviting you and me, in this moment, while He’s found and near, to come to Him, humbly, honestly, with all your sin, with all your struggles that He sees and knows. Be honest. 

Verse seven: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord.” Who today needs to return to the Lord? Some of you have grown distant from God, yet God in His grace has brought you to this moment, saying, “Come back to Me.” 

Who today needs to confess unrighteous thoughts? I do. Who today needs to confess wicked ways, wicked words, motives and desires? I do. Let’s confess our sin, according to verse seven, so that He may have compassion on us. Our God will abundantly pardon us. 

Good news for sinners all across this room: there is compassion in God. He will pardon your sins. Today is amnesty day in the church. Today you can be forgiven of everything you’ve done. To be clear, every day is amnesty day in the church, but today, the time is now to confess your sin before God and receive His compassionate mercy and pardon in your life. This is what Isaiah 53 is all about. Jesus came to die for our sins. If you have never put your faith in Jesus, let today be the day when you ask God—through faith in Jesus and what He did on the cross—to forgive you of all your sins and bring you into relationship with Him. 

And for all who are in relationship with Him, why are you continuing to hide and hold on to sin that’s hindering you from feasting on God? Why are you continuing to feast at the table of this world, when you’ve been offered free and full wine and drink and the richest of foods? Don’t hold back from confessing sin before God today and submitting your life to Him and His ways. 

Look at verse eight:

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Let’s seek God today and say, “I want Your way to be my way. I want Your way in my life; not my way. I want Your thoughts about my life; not my thoughts about my life.” Start living up high according to God’s ways, not down low according to your ways and the ways of this world. 

Then look at verses 10 and 11: 

10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Don’t you want to see this? Don’t you want to see the rain of heaven fall in our midst? Don’t you want the snow of heaven to blanket our lives, our families, our church? Don’t you want to see success from God’s Word in your life? Don’t you want to see this in your children? Don’t you want to see this in your parents, your siblings, your friends? 

Don’t we want to see this success from God’s Word all over our city? Don’t we want Metro Washington, DC, to be blanketed with the fruit that comes from God bringing people from death to life through His Word? Don’t we want to see this around the world, among all the nations? If we want this, then seek God. Call on Him for all these things.

So here’s what we’re going to do. God is here with us now, near to us, near to you, right where you’re sitting right. Believe that. You and I, right now, together, by the love and sacrifice of Jesus for our sins, have an open window into heaven. We have an invitation from God to experience the supernatural fullness of His Holy Spirit. So let’s seek Him, every single person in this gathering, wherever you are right now, whoever desperately needs to seek Him. Call out to Him. Every single one of you is about to be either a participant or an observer. God Himself is inviting you to participate. God is saying to you—not the person next to you, in front of you or behind you—no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, God is saying to you right now, “Come. Come. Don’t hold back. Don’t be afraid. Do not be ashamed. Come. Drink, eat, delight, enjoy.”

We have a list on the screen showing some of the ways you might seek God during this time we’re about to enter into. I want to mention all these things, so you’ll really feel freedom during this time to seek God according to the leadership of His Spirit in different ways. 

You can seek God for salvation. Some of you need to call out today for God to save you from your sin. Some of you don’t have a relationship with God and today is the day to get things right with Him.

Many others need to seek God through confession of sin. Let’s examine our hearts and minds. Let’s not miss this opportunity to repent of any and every sin in us. Let’s come before God honestly, confessing sin and trusting in His compassion for us. 

Let’s seek God in submission to His ways. Let’s say to God, “I want to follow Your ways, not my ways. Help me to discern Your way and walk in it.” 

Let’s seek God for help for ourselves and others. How do you need God to help you right now? Seek Him for specific help. Do you need God to heal you? Do you need God’s guidance? Do you need God’s strength, God’s comfort, God’s peace, God’s wisdom? How do you need God to help you? Let’s call out to God for specific help. If you think you don’t need help, then I exhort you to be quick to confess your pride before God. 

Some of you don’t like the idea of being a bride of God, because you don’t like the idea of being led by God and provided for by someone else. You’re convinced you can do it on your own, but the reality is you can’t breathe on your own. Even if you hate God, the very breath you have at this moment comes from the very One you hate. You can do nothing without God, so confess your foolish and deluded sense of self-sufficiency before God today. Humble yourself before Him. Realize that the brokenness is the path that leads to blessedness, that weakness is actually the way that leads to strength, that confessing your need before God is the path to power and provision from God. 

So seek God for help in your life or for others. How do people around you in your sphere of influence need God’s help? Maybe God is calling you to intercede specifically for them, or maybe even to pray with them if they’re in this room. And beyond even your sphere of influence, h ow is God calling you to intercede for the city, for the nations? We could keep going on and on. Seek God for help for ourselves and others. 

Or maybe you just need to seek God in praise and thanksgiving, spending time praising God for Who He is during these moments, thanking God for specific things He has done and is doing in your life, beyond your life, around the world. 

You might do any or all of these things alone, with someone else or with a small group. The next few minutes are wide open for you to pray on your own, to get together with somebody else or a small group near you to pray with you or maybe for you. If you want somebody to pray for you, just ask them.

Let’s not just to pray. Maybe there’s a need for you to confess sin to someone else and ask them to pray for you. You can do any or all of this sitting, standing, kneeling, lying prostrate, lifting hands.  Basically, feel the freedom to use any of these biblical postures of worship during this time. 

Now this may lead some of you to feel uncomfortable, at least in your mind,. These are biblical postures for worship, for seeking God. Don’t be afraid or ashamed to seek God the way the Bible describes seeking God. You can do that at your seat, at the front, somewhere else in the room. If you need a little space to step out and kneel, or lie down face first before God, then do that. Maybe you need to come to the front of the room and just kneel here. We invite you to do that. 

You can pray silently or aloud. Even if you’re alone, feel free to speak aloud, or shout aloud for that matter. Just pray as the Spirit leads. You can pray or sing. We’re going to have music at different points, so feel free to join in singing when that’s appropriate, or just keep praying while others are singing.

You have freedom to follow the leadership of God’s Spirit in response to His invitation to seek Him right now. We’re made for this. Let’s be the bride we’re made to be. Let’s seek the God we are made to seek. So will you bow your heads with me? 

God, we praise You for the invitation to seek You. Who are we? We deserve to be separated from You forever. We should be in hell right now, yet here we are, with the windows of heaven opened to us, to seek You. So we want to step fully into this invitation. Spirit of God, lead, guide and direct our hearts, our minds, our prayers, our songs. We pray that You would help us not hold back from seeking You and all that You have for us, specifically in these moments. Lead us, Holy Spirit, we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen. May it be so.

Read Isaiah 54:1–5 and Isaiah 55:1–11 aloud as a group.

1) What does Isaiah 55:1–3 tell us that we should do when we want satisfaction for our souls? What are some ways that we can “come” to God? 

2) What do these passages tell us God has in store for those who come to God, obey His Word, live fully for Him, and don’t hold back (Isaiah 55: 3, Isaiah 55:11–12)?

3) What might it mean to seek God and call upon Him while He is near (Isaiah 55:6)?

How can we apply this passage to our lives?

During this sermon, we were invited to “seek God” together. Some of us chose to participate and some may have chosen to observe while others sought God. Yet, we know that there is not a person in our Church Groups who don’t need to seek God. Church Group Leaders, please offer your group an opportunity to process Sunday’s sermon together. Consider the following:

1) In what area(s) do you personally need to seek God this very day?

• For salvation.
• Through confession of sin.
• In submission to His ways.
• For help for ourselves and others.
• In praise and thanksgiving.

2) What might keep you from seeking God in some of the different forms or ways we see exampled in Scripture? 

• Alone or with someone else or with a small group.
• Sitting, standing, kneeling, lying prostrate, lifting hands, etc.
• Silently or aloud.
• Praying or singing.

3) Take some extended time for unrushed prayer as a Church Group. Seek Him corporately. You might work through the acronym PRAY as a Church Group.

• Praise. Don’t hold back from praising our King. Allow time for your group members to share Scriptures and one sentence prayers of Praise and Thanksgiving to God (Psalm 96:1, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 138:1).
• Repent. Don’t hold back from confessing sin today. Confess that we want God’s ways to be our ways, and God’s thoughts to be our thoughts. Allow time for your group share Scripture passages and one sentence prayers of confession (James 5:16, 1 John 1:9).
• Ask.  Don’t hold back from boldly coming before the Father to ask for what we need. Allow time for your group to share Scripture passages and one sentence prayers of intercession for others and prayers asking our good Father for His help (1 John 5:15). 
• Yield. Don’t hold back from boldly yielding our lives and actions to God. Allow time for your group share Scripture and one sentence prayers as we yield to God’s reign in our lives (John 14:15). 

Isaiah 54:1–6a ESV

“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
    break forth into singing and cry aloud,
    you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
    than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,
    and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
    and strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,
    and your offspring will possess the nations
    and will people the desolate cities.

4“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;
    be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
    and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5 For your Maker is your husband,
    the Lord of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
    the God of the whole earth he is called.
6 For the Lord has called you…

Isaiah 55:1–11 ESV

“Come, everyone who thirsts,
    come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
    hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
    my steadfast, sure love for David.
4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
    a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
    and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has glorified you.

6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way,
    and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Sermon Recap

1) Don’t hold back from becoming the bride you are made to be.

2) Don’t hold back from seeking the God you are made to seek.

Seek the Lord:

• For salvation.
• Through confession of sin.
• In submission to His ways.
• For help for ourselves and others.
• In praise and thanksgiving.
• Alone or with someone else or with a small group.
• Sitting, standing, kneeling, lying prostrate, lifting hands, etc.
• At your seat, at the front, or somewhere else.
• Silently or aloud.
• Praying or singing.