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THE “NEW” NEW BAPTIST TABERNACLE!

by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.

A sermon preached at the Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles
Lord's Day Morning, July 2, 2017

“Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence” (Isaiah 64:1).


When God comes down “the mountains flow down at [His] presence.” Mountains of unbelief flow down at His presence. Mountains of doubt flow down at His presence. Mountains of fear flow down at His presence. Mountains of pride flow down at His presence. Mountains of despair flow down at His presence. Mountains of selfishness flow down at His presence. Mountains of Satanic oppression flow down at His presence. All mountains that stand against Christ flow down when God comes down in revival! “That the mountains might flow down [like molten lava from a volcano] at God's presence!”

Real revival prayer means taking hold of God and not letting go – as did Jacob when he wrestled all night with Christ in prayer – and said, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me” (Genesis 32:26). Dr. Lloyd-Jones said that revival prayer is “Taking hold of God, pleading with Him, reasoning with Him, even beseeching, and I say that it is only when a Christian arrives at that position that he truly begins to pray” revival prayers! (Lloyd-Jones, Revival, p. 305).

But revival praying must come from men like Isaiah, men who say with that prophet, “Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8) – men who are willing to sacrifice their lives in the service of our God and His Christ! Dr. A. W. Tozer said,

“If Christianity is to stay alive she must have men again; the right kind of men. She must repudiate the weaklings who dare not speak out...She must seek men of the stuff prophets and martyrs are made of.. They will be men of God and men of courage...Through their prayers and labors [God will] send the long delayed revival” (Dr. A. W. Tozer, We Need Men of God Again).

That is what our church needs at this hour – “men of God, and men of courage.” We need men who have seen the vanity of this world, men who want sacrifice rather than security. Men and women who are free from fear, men and women who will say with the prophet, “Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8), young men and women who pray from the depths of their souls,

“Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!” (Isaiah 64:1-2).

Young people, rise up and give your lips to pray that prayer with zeal and with power. Young people, rise up and sacrifice your peace, your prosperity, your very lives for Jesus Christ the Son of God! Young people, rise up and fight the Devil and his demons with all your strength in prayer for God’s glory to come down to our church in a mighty shower of revival! “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” It’s number one on the song sheet. Sing it! Stand and sing it!

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before:
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle, see His banners go.
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
   (“Onward, Christian Soldiers” by Sabine Baring-Gould, 1834-1924).

You may be seated.

Young people, I have been young too, but now I am old. So are our leaders. We led this church through the long, weary years of the church split. We sacrificed our time, our money, and the years of our youth to make this church as good as it is. And it is quite good. We paid the price. We paid for the world-wide ministry this church has on the Internet. But we no longer have the dew of youth upon our brows. We no longer have the strength or stamina to take this church to the next level. We no longer have the vigor, the vitality or the volition to lead this church upward to the next level. We spent the strength of our youth to save the church, but we no longer have the power to create the “new” new Baptist Tabernacle. You young people must do it, or it will not be done. Do it! Do it! Do it! 

I once was a fiery young pastor. I could preach three times on Sunday with electrifying potency. I could hold the attention of a congregation of 1,000 people, one-third of them first-time visitors. But I am now a seventy-six year old cancer survivor. But I am now too old for that. After long meditation and prayer, I know that we cannot wait any longer. I say I need to begin transferring leadership to our young people now – while there is still time for us to stay and help you and guide you. Next spring I will have been in the ministry for sixty years. Few preachers are still pastors after sixty years of service. I feel certain that it is time for me to step down and be a guide, rather than a leader. Therefore, I propose that our church should ordain John Samuel Cagan to the ministry, and that he should become at that time the pastor of our church! At that time I will step back and become his guide, with the title Pastor-Emeritus. I further propose that Noah Song be licensed to the ministry at that time, and that Aaron Yancy, Jack Ngann, Abel Prudhomme and Kyu Dong Lee be ordained as deacons of this church, and that Aaron Yancy be given the permanent title of “Chairman of the Deacons.” We will then adopt a new system, making several of these fine men “active deacons” on a rotation basis in our church. Now is the time to seize the moment and pass the torch of our church now to younger men. They must lead us to actually become the “new” new Baptist Tabernacle. Onward, Christian Soldiers! Stand and sing the second stanza and chorus.

At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee;
On then, Christian soldiers, On to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
Brothers, lift your voices, Loud your anthems raise!
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.

Yet I know by sixty years of experience that your youth alone cannot accomplish this. We must have a fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit or you can’t do it.

Dr. Timothy Lin was my pastor for 24 years in the Chinese Baptist church. Dr. Lin was a mighty man of prayer. Dr. Lin said, “The goal of prayer is to have God’s presence.” He said, “The church of the last days must have God’s presence if she wants to grow. Without God's presence all efforts will be futile” and unsuccessful. Satan knows we will not grow without the power of God’s presence. Dr. Lin said that the closer we are to the Second Coming of Christ, “The greater Satan’s pressure will be against prayer” (all quotations are from Dr. Lin’s book, The Secret of Church Growth). The Apostle Paul said, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood”...but against Satan and his demons (Ephesians 6:12). How can we wrestle against the powers of darkness? Paul gave the answer. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18). When someone else is praying, force your mind to listen to each request as the leader prays. At the end of each request, say “Amen.” That makes the leader’s prayers your own prayers! That makes our prayers a mighty force against Satan! Stand and sing the second stanza again!

At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee;
On then, Christian soldiers, On to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
Brothers, lift your voices, Loud your anthems raise!
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.

And our main prayers must be for God to come down in our work – for God’s presence to come down in a mighty revival!

“Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence” (Isaiah 64:1).

When God comes down among us “the mountains flow down at [His] presence.” Mountains of unbelief flow down at His presence! Mountains of doubt flow down at His presence! Mountains of jealousy flow down at His presence! Mountains that separate us from each other flow down at His presence! And deep love for one another flows down at His presence! Mountains that stand against our God and His Christ flow down like molten lava from a volcano, flow down to us like fire, flow down in revival! I charge you to pray hard every day for God’s presence to come down to us in a mighty revival! Revival prayer means taking hold of God and praying like Jacob, “I will not let thee go except thou bless me.” As Dr. Lloyd-Jones said, “Taking hold of God, pleading with Him, reasoning with Him, even beseeching...it is only when the Christian [prays like that, that he is praying revival prayers],” Revival, p. 305.

Some of you may not want us to pray for revival again! You may think that last year’s “touch of revival” didn’t do us much good! But you are wrong! Last year we only had a “touch” of revival, but look what happened as a result – John Cagan stopped resisting and surrendered to preach the Gospel! We have a new pastor – and he came out of that “touch” of revival! We got Aaron Yancy, Noah Song, and Jack Ngann from last year’s “touch” of revival! Next fall we will have more than three times as many people to baptize than we have ever had! Where did so many new converts come from? They came from the small “touch” of revival God sent us last summer, that’s where they came from! Sing the second stanza again! Stand and sing it!

At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee;
On then, Christian soldiers, On to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
Brothers, lift your voices, Loud your anthems raise!
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.

You may be seated.

When we closed the revival services last year I told you we only had a “touch” of revival, but we may well have a great outpouring of God’s presence this year. I know by sixty years of experience that it can happen.You can have a "touch" of revival befor you have a gullywasher!  In fact that's what happened at the Chinese church.  That's the way it came.  First - a touch.  Second - a gullywasher!  I have seen three mighty revivals in my life! I know God can do it again here in our church! And I know that putting these young men in leadership alone will not strengthen our church, nor will we see a “new” new Baptist Tabernacle unless we pray down the mighty power of God’s holy presence among us!

“Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence” (Isaiah 64:1).

Please stand and sing hymn number 3, “Old-Time Power” by Paul Rader, 1879-1938.

We are gathered for Thy blessing, We will wait upon our God;
We will trust in Him who loved us, And who bought us with His Blood.
Spirit, now melt and move All of our hearts with love,
Breathe on us from above With old time power.

We will glory in Thy power, We will sing of wondrous grace;
In our midst, as Thou has promised, Come, O come, and take Thy place.
Spirit, now melt and move All of our hearts with love,
Breathe on us from above With old time power.

Bring us low in prayer before Thee, And with faith our souls inspire,
Till we claim, by faith, the promise Of the Holy Ghost and fire.
Spirit, now melt and move All of our hearts with love,
Breathe on us from above With old time power.
   (“Old-Time Power” by Paul Rader, 1879-1938).

My dear friend, Jesus Christ died on the Cross to pay the penalty for your sin. Jesus Christ shed His precious Blood on that Cross to wash away your sin. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. He is up in Heaven, praying for you. Only trust Him. Only trust Him. Only trust Him now. He will save you. He will save you. He will save you now!

A sinful woman came to Jesus in the house of Simon the Pharisee. The Bible says,

“And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment” (Luke 7:37-38).

This woman was a known sinner in the city. People knew she was very sinful. She had a bad reputation. She crept up behind Jesus as He was eating and anointed His feet, and kissed His feet. She came to Jesus.

“And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace” (Luke7:48-50).

She was very sinful. But she came to Jesus anyway. She came to Him and kissed His feet. And He said to her, “Thy sins are forgiven.” All she did was come to Jesus. But that was enough! Her sins were forgiven and she was saved!

All you have to do to be saved is the same thing she did. She was saved simply by coming to Jesus. And Jesus says to you,

“Come unto me…and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

If you will come to Jesus right now, this morning, He will pardon your sins and save your soul, just as He saved people in Bible times. He will save you if you will come to Him. He will wash away all your sins with the Blood He shed on the Cross. He will clothe you in His righteousness. He will save you. All you have to do is come to Him. He is alive right now, at the right hand of God, in Heaven. Will you come to Him? An old song says,

Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,
   Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into Thy freedom, gladness and light,
   Jesus, I come to Thee –
Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,
   Out of despair into raptures above,
Upward for aye on wings like a dove,
   Jesus, I come to Thee.
(“Jesus, I Come” by William T. Sleeper, 1819-1904).


WHEN YOU WRITE TO DR. HYMERS YOU MUST TELL HIM WHAT COUNTRY YOU ARE WRITING FROM OR HE CANNOT ANSWER YOUR E-MAIL. If these sermons bless you send an e-mail to Dr. Hymers and tell him, but always include what country you are writing from. Dr. Hymers’ e-mail is at rlhymersjr@sbcglobal.net (click here). You can write to Dr. Hymers in any language, but write in English if you can. If you want to write to Dr. Hymers by postal mail, his address is P.O. Box 15308, Los Angeles, CA 90015. You may telephone him at (818)352-0452.

(END OF SERMON)
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Scripture Read Before the Sermon by Mr. Noah Song: Isaiah 64:1-4.
Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith:
“Revive Thy Work, O Lord” (by Albert Midlane, 1825-1909).