Isaiah 6:1-8 | Send Me | Matthew Dodd

gonna take a break from the Book of Leviticus we just got into it but we're taking a break and we're gonna be in the Book of Isaiah studying one of my favorite passages this evening you have your Bible with you turn with me to Isaiah chapter 6 because we're gonna look at the first eight verses of Isaiah six titled my message tonight is send me send me let's pray father we thank you for this privilege to be in your word and father god I pray that as we study your word tonight you and open our eyes to see and understand as best as our finite minds can who you are that is calling us father God we thank you for the privilege to be called your children but also father for the privilege to be called your ambassadors and so father I pray that you would move mightily tonight as we study this passage and father God even within our own hearts bring to remembrance perhaps a calling that was in the past and maybe we've even wandered away from that father God we would be on course and then our lives would be spent all for your glory we pray this in Jesus name and all of God's people said amen and amen you know a couple of years ago my daughter Melina she was 4 and she was in preschool it was a great great experience for her at the preschool she made this one friend in particular they each became best buds so to speak you know they just did everything together and one day Heidi found out that this little girl was in ballet and so she asked Melina would you like to be in ballet and so Molina thought dress too - yeah I'm all over that you know and so she got signed up but it was kind of grueling going through the practices and then one day the little girl's mom called Heidi up and said hey Swan Lake is in town and I've got two extra tickets and I was wondering if you and Molina would like to come with me and my daughter we can carpool together and go watch Swan Lake and so Heidi thought this is a great idea this is a perfect idea because then Molina can see the big idea you know why are we doing these practices here is the grand finale and so she went to Swan Lake Heidi sitting next to her and they are just enjoying themselves Heidi's explaining the entire ballet and they just had a wonderful time on the way home they're in the car together and they're talking and and the roles are in the backseat in their car seats and they're going back and forth a little bit and then Molina's friend says to Molina when I grow up I'm going to be the queen of Swan Lake and Melina's thinking that's okay because the main characters Odette so she said that's okay because when I grow up I'm going to be Odette well then her friend realized she got bested right there so she said no when I grow up I'm going to be Odette Malina didn't miss a beat she said oh that's okay you can be the fake Odette and I will be the real one now keep in mind she was only four years old so pray for us because you can only imagine what's gonna be like when she hits sixteen what are you going to do when you grow up what are you gonna do these high school seniors soon after you graduate it's the question everyone is asked yet I think there's a better question what does God want you to do with your life God has a plan for all of our lives and he is still calling and he's still asking who will go and the question for us tonight and I think this is so important on the heels of welcome weekend because God has a plan for us and God wants to use us and he doesn't want us on the sidelines and so there's an opportunity for us to respond and step out will you answer God's call let's begin in verse one of Isaiah six in the year of king uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne lofty and exalted with the Train of his robe filling the temple Seraphim stood above him each having six wings with two he covered his face with two he covered his feet and with two he flew and one called out to another and said holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory and the foundations of the thresholds trembled that the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke then I said what was me for I am ruined because I'm a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the king the Lord of hosts then one of the Seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with tongs he touched my mouth with it and said Behold this has touched your lips and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven then I heard the voice of the Lord saying whom shall I send and who will go for us then I said here am I send me the first thing we need to realize before we can say send me is this we need a biblical vision of God we need a biblical vision of the God we serve now why would I say that because I believe we have a tendency as humans to make God small to take it another step I think we often think that God's just like us oh maybe a little bit greater in some attributes but overall there's not much difference and nothing could be further from the truth for our God is an infinite God our God is immaterial we are material right he's immutable he never changes we are always changing for instance I was voted best hair in high school get the picture and he's eternal I mean our God is amazing and I believe we need to have a biblical vision of who God is and God's given us his word so as best as we can with our finite minds we can get a sense of what it means for God to be God in a limited sense but nevertheless accurate but limited we can't get an understanding of who he is this is so important the first thing we see in this passage and verse 1 is this God is king not Elvis Presley God Hosea became Judas King when he was 16 years old and he reigned 52 years over Judah according to 2nd chronicles chapter 26 now think about this a 16 year old my daughter will be turning 16 here in September I love her I think she's a good driver but I don't want her reigning over the United States okay I'm just gonna be really honest with you Judah was so blessed though under it was Aya's leadership because there was a season for most of it where he walked up rightly before God and as a result of his leadership they were blessed financially as a result of his godly leadership they were secured with fortified cities they even had military success they possessed an elite army of over three hundred and seven thousand soldiers but when Isaiah died Judah felt insecure and vulnerable now to put it in perspective the United States has had ten presidents over the last 52 years do you know who that first president was 52 years ago Lyndon Baines Johnson way before my time okay hey be nice there come on okay it was 1967 going back 52 years so I'd have been one years old I was a wee little lad okay but think about that 10 presents we know change every four years they had known no change for 52 years many of these people they were born and they died only knowing Isaiah as their king so Isaiah felt insecure he felt overwhelmed more than likely whose ayah was one of his relatives and so what does God do he doesn't leave Isaiah in that state of insecurity he gave Isaiah of vision and what did Isaiah see he saw the Lord now the word Lord there in the Hebrew is Adonai which means sovereign or master here is really the sovereign here is the sovereign over all of creation Isaiah is not Isaiah it's God the Lord sitting on a throne what does this speak of that God is the king of kings that he alone is worthy to be on the throne of heaven lofty what does that speak of that God is transcendent that he's set apart from his creation yet he's also very intimate and imminent with his creation as well it also speaks of him being exalted and scholars believe this speaks of him being eternal and this is one of those attributes of God that just blows my mind literally because when we think of time we think of past present and future but for God there's no such thing as past present and future because he's outside of time it's all now at the same time for God which means even though the dinosaurs are extinct ting in our past for God it's now now is now and when working with God in all eternity in the future that's now to get your head around that one now I find great comfort in that because that means God is with us in our tomorrows nothing catches him off-guard there's nothing that he bites his nails about and begins to worry about he is on the throne the majestic infinite eternal all-knowing all-powerful God what comfort that should bring to our hearts here we see next that the Train of his robe was filling the temple Majesty Majesty Judas throne was vacant but the throne of heaven was occupied it was it is and it will always be that way now what's interesting is that the Apostle John declared that Isaiah saw Jesus Christ seated on the throne it appears to have been a pre incarnate appearance of God the Son notice what John says through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in John 12 verse 41 these things Isaiah said because he saw his Jesus glory and spoke of him now that one is a wonderful insight and then the Apostle Paul adds more to it in Colossians 1 verses 16 and 17 for by him speaking of Jesus Christ all things were created both in the heavens and on earth visible and invisible whether Thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things have been created by him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things hold together here we see that God is worthy of our complete Allegiance he's the creator of all things and he's the sustainer of all things and he does so without any effort what so ever now some people feel like God is so far away but when you look at Colossians 1 16 and 17 you begin to realize how close how very close God is the fact that I have the next heartbeat is because God sustains me the fact that I have my next breath is because God sustains me and the same is true for you for any living being God is the one who sustains all of it so how close is he oh he's more near than we would ever ever realize for he literally sustains our being every second of every day that's the God we serve and that's what Paul is talking about and that's who Isaiah has a vision of in Isaiah 6 now when I look at this and I look at what's going on in our world it becomes easy when you begin to wait in the balance who should I trust don't put your trust in man don't put your trust in the politicians let's put our hope in God amen and that's what we see in Psalm 146 verses 3 & 5 and also verse 10 do not trust in Princes in mortal man in whom there is no salvation his spirit departs he returns to the earth in that very day his thoughts perish how blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob whose hope is in the Lord his God the Lord will reign forever your God o Zion to all generations praise the Lord God is king next we see in verses 2 through 4 God is holy the Seraphim here that term means to burn when their only mention here and I they'e in the Bible Seraphim burn in their zeal for God now looking at them and their Anatomy they have six wings with two they cover their eyes now this is amazing because they are holy creatures they have not sinned okay but in the presence of a holy God they cover their eyes out of reverence then with two wings they cover their feet and I believe this is a sign of submission much like you see in the book of Exodus when God speaks to Moses from the burning bush he says take off your sandals for the ground where you're standing it is holy ground and so there's this holy reverence this holy submission and there were two wings they fly which means they're forever serving God and they forever proclaim the excellencies of God how about that for a job description what do you do for a living proclaim the excellencies of God I'm in now when they do that they're not merely stating facts they're not just declaring truth holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty can't wait for break time Evan a nurse full of his glory know with all of their being they are proclaiming the excellencies of God in the presence of God all mighty now to give us a sense of what that scene looks like have you ever been to a high school football game you know on one set of bleachers you got the home team then across the field you have the away team right and typically what happens is the cheerleaders in order to get the home team going they'll begin to call out we got spirit yes we do we got spirit how about you and then the other side responds with the same chant and they go back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and that is the picture of the scene here you have the throne of God you have the Seraphim on either side calling out holy holy holy is the Lord then after they're done the other side calls out holy holy holy is the Lord and then the whole temple the foundation shake it fills with smoke because of the holy awesomeness of God that's the picture and day by day they're calling out moment by moment declaring the excellencies of God and Isaiah has a vision of this very occurrence now what does the word holy mean it means to be set apart to be unique or distinct so this means God's set apart from creation it also speaks of the fact that he's set apart from evil that there's no yin-yang in God like maybe there's a there's a hint of darkness oh I know there's a there's a shred of it somewhere right no there's not a hint of it in God what so ever he is completely holy and that's why Habakkuk 1 3:13 rather that says your eyes are too pure to approve evil now what's also amazing here it's repeated three times and this is significant in the Hebrew today if we want to make a point we'll write something in bold or we'll italicize it right or we will put it in all caps I'm screaming now what do they do in Hebrew they repeat the term and when you see a term repeated three times this speaks of this idea that when it comes to God he's without peer he is complete he is the author of holiness he is the source of holiness he is the state and 'red of holiness now what's also fascinating this is the only attribute that's ever repeated three times in the Bible you will never see love love love justice justice justice mercy mercy mercy go right on down the list holy holy holy so this communicates then that holiness is a defining attribute of God now I understand God's love because it's a holy love now I understand is mercy because it's a holy mercy even as wrath is a holy wrath it's a defining characteristic for God next we see he's called the Lord of hosts which means he's the lord of the armies and those armies are fighting for you what great comfort it must have been for Isaiah to realize that because whose eye is dead who's gonna be the commander in chief now oh yes but the lord of hosts his armies they are fighting for you next he says the whole earth is filled with his glory which begs the question where well in the Old Testament times it would have been the Temple it would have been Israel before all of that it would have been creation itself it shows the excellencies of God well what about today look around it's right here right now you born-again believers in Jesus Christ you are the glory of God now that's why the Apostle Paul wrote a second Corinthians 3 verse 18 but we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as from the Lord the spirit so now you can turn to the person next to you and say you look glorious and then you can respond I know I love you guys you actually took that seriously and did it that's great you're the best and after the seraphim say all this the foundations trembled and the temple filled with smoke but the doorposts and the thresholds weren't the only thing shaking look at Isaiah verses 5 through 7 before we can be sent out another thing that we need to see here is that we need God's forgiveness wait a second you're gonna work sin into this one Matt yep because here's the deal all of us have sinned and if you don't agree you're lying and you just sin okay you're guilty all of us have sinned all of us have missed the mark now compared to others Isaiah was a righteous man parents he's the kind of guy you want your daughter to bring home parents he's the kind of guy you want your son to grow up to be he was without peer he was a righteous man in Isaiah one through five he's the one who's pronouncing judgment on Israel because of their sin but now that Isaiah has seen the holy God of all creation notice what Isaiah did not say he did not say God needs me because I make heaven more heavenly and he didn't say God why did you make me like this and he didn't say so here's why I deserved to go to heaven like so many people claim they will do someday what did Isaiah say he said woe is me for I am ruined compared to others he was righteous in God's presence he is literally calling down a curse on his head right now he is literally saying in the Hebrew I am disintegrating I'm coming apart at the seams in the presence of a whole léa god why because he's I am he says a man of unclean lips Isaiah didn't cover up his sin or make excuses Isaiah confess his sin without reservation but why this confession Matthew 15 gives us the answer verses 18 through 20 but the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and those defile the man for out of the heart come evil thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false witness slanders these are the things which defile the man you know few years back I don't know why we came up with this idea but we thought let's go down to downtown Portland so the waterfront for the 4th of July to watch the fireworks again I don't know why I did that because once I got down there Portland is weird I'm talking freaky you know we're there's something really oh there are things going on there that I thought were illegal and no one was doing anything about it at all and I'm kind of shuffling my kids I'm ok don't look that way ok don't look that way I'm not looking either it was crazy well we kind of made our way through we got to a great location ready for the fireworks and all of a sudden as the fireworks are going off here comes this guy who is drunk as a skunk standing right in front of my kids and he is popping off obscenities like you would not believe he would make a sailor blush and my kids are like I mean they got saucers fries that's a bad one Oh yep that's a bad one too oh that's a bad one and then this guy starts corralling people around him trying to get them to cuss as well and giving them high-fives well after a while my kids are like dad what are you gonna do about this I'm feeling a little bit of pressure you know so I go up and I walk right behind the guy they kind of make my presence felt without getting too much in his space and suddenly he sensed that I'm there and he turns around and with alcohol flaming my face he starts cussing and puts his hand up in the air and I go no no I said hey we're here to celebrate the fourth of July with our kids and this is really not good for them to hear that language do you mind just cleaning that up would you do that and he apologized and he goes oh I'm so sorry I'm so sorry and he goes high-five I gave him a high-five well then he ends up leaving and all the people around like you are my hero dude and my kids are thinking dad's a rock star and I'm on my way back to the car I'm kind of feeling good about myself as well and then all of a sudden I feel the conviction of the holy spirit have you ever had that happen before there was a flashback to my senior year in high school and how I had for lack of a better way of putting it a potty mouth bad language and it was so bad that high school students confronted me in my English class mrs. Hills English class and said hey would you clean up your mouth and I was so convicted and eventually these friends who are Christians led me to faith in Jesus Christ along with my father but I realized oh if it weren't for the grace of God there goes I I get it in fact when I first got saved the very first thing I prayed for his Lord would you please clean up my mouth what was I asking clean up my heart clean up my heart if I don't want to talk like that anymore I don't want to be that person anymore Isaiah continues for my eyes have seen the king the Lord of hosts now it's interesting here is typically God when it comes to us that process called sanctification where were being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ it's a step by step type of thing but with Isaiah he got the full meal deal right all at once with extras okay supersize it he got it all right there he had a clear picture of who he was at that moment a rare revelation and he knew two things that God is holy and he is not and the truth is we're in the same boat as Isaiah 4 Romans chapter 3 verses 10 through 12 says there is none righteous not even one there is none who understands there is none who seeks for God all have turned aside together they have become useless there is none who does good there is not even one but I'm so comforted because we see in verses 6 through 7 that God is faithful to forgive how many of us could say thank you Lord for that one God didn't leave Isaiah to grovel and self-destruct God immediately dispatched one of the Seraphim with burning coal to cleanse Isaiah the throne of God had become a throne of grace which is exactly what we see in Hebrews 4:16 let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need through Jesus Christ God's throne is not a throne of judgment all who come to Jesus Christ that throne becomes a throne of grace and we can be there 24/7 he will never shoo us away and say you've been here way too much I've already given your allotment of grace for the day no just keep coming and there you will find grace to help in your time of need and when do we need not need help I think we're always in need of help now notice how quickly the cleansing came after the confession and that makes sense because first John 1:9 says if we confess our sins he's faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness what's confession mean I agree with you God that what you call sin is just that sin and I want to turn from that because it's not benefiting me it's dragging me down it's holding me back I want all that you have for me and there is freedom and there's Liberty when your light shines on my life and reveals those areas of darkness that I may be liberated and walk in the light that's what it is Lord let yours light shine so many people when the light sean's are like cockroaches they run for the darkness run for the corners know the safest place to be is in the light because the one whose light is shining loves us and is for us and wants to deliver us from the things that were ashamed of have you confessed your sins to God and asked Jesus to be your savior Romans 10 verses 9 and 10 and verse 13 say that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved for with your heart a person believes resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved praise God and this is the most important decision you'll ever make see you can't begin unless you begin with Jesus you can't go unless you start with that personal relationship with Jesus and God wants to cleanse you of all that sin all of that guilt he wants to give you as Andrew said over the weekend hope and purpose for your life and it begins with the personal relationship with Jesus and I'm so blessed that we saw so many people stand up and say that's what I want from my life and they were unashamed they my friends are gonna be on a journey that will change and transform them because they have decided to follow Jesus Christ and may I encourage all of us let's be in prayer for him because after they make that decision you know what the enemy wants to do he wants to snatch away those seeds he wants to choke out the life but my prayers no no no no no no casualties I want all who made professions of faith to go from faith to faith and be mature in their faith in Jesus Christ the next thing we see is found in verse 8 we must answer God's question what do I mean by that life short life short the other day I was talking to Andrew May he's our middle school director he's gonna be speaking me for me this Sunday night you won't want to miss it his message is phenomenal we were going through it together and I'll be teaching Saturday night and Sunday morning and I'm blessed to be able to do that and so we're talking about message preparation and the thoughts that each of us have and I just began to share with them this thought said Andrew I don't know if I'll ever get another chance to teach God's Word so this is a thought that I really have before I ever teach everything that I have I'm gonna give it all that I got should we approach every day like that we don't know what tomorrow holds so all that I have I want to be in the game as so many people have been watching others in the game and it's time to get in the game because God saved our souls so let us be used for his glory let's get in the game answer God's question what's interesting is Isiah heard God's voice for the first time once his sins were forgiven then he was ready to hear God's call and God was looking for someone to be his ambassador now Isaiah didn't hear a job description with benefits we like that in corporate America he didn't get any of that Isaiah just heard an invitation who will go and without reservation Isaiah said here am I send me No Reservations he wasn't saying hey I'm kind of busy can I get back to you can I pray about that one god no way he's in he saw who asked and he is in no conditions he didn't say god I will go anywhere but Africa or I will do anything but just don't have me clean the building before the midweek service at church or serve children's ministry the eight o'clock service or the six o'clock service it has to be convenient for me I've got conditions okay you don't see any of that with Isaiah he knew that God he was serving the King of Kings and the Lord of lords a holy God whose army is fighting for him and he also knew what God had done for him that he had been created by God and God had cleansed him for this very purpose so that he could glorify God with his life and that's why God sent His Son Jesus Christ for us to cleanse us that we may have life and life to the full and live with purpose that when this life is done we can be satisfied with our years because we live for God's glory look at what the Apostle Paul said in his response to God's grace you remember he was a persecutor of the church he was there when the first Christian was martyred Stephen giving his hearty approval as Stephen was stoned to death first Corinthians 15:10 but by the grace of God I am what I am and His grace toward me proved vain but I laboured even more than all of them yet not i but the grace of God with me Paul got up every morning and he was set on being used by God to help encourage other people in their relationship with God that through him he would be used of God in such a way to help others grow in their faith and he knew because it was God's will that God's Holy Spirit would empower him to do so that God would gift him and use him to touch people's lives and the same things true for all of us what does God want he wants you and me to follow Jesus with our whole hearts to love him with all that we are and to let other people know the good news but everything else is a dead end but in Jesus there is life and life to the fall and there's no regrets Jesus gave us a great Commission in Matthew 28 verses 18 through 20 all Authority has been given to me in heaven on earth go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I command you and lo I am always with you even to the end of the age lastly I want to say this once you have answered God's call and if you hadn't haven't done so I want to encourage you to do so tonight begin to seek God show me where you're calling me to be showing me what you want me to do but I also want to encourage you once God's revealed that to you then remain true to the calling remain true to the calling now Isaiah's calling wasn't easy look at verse 9 he said go and tell this people this is God speaking keep on listening but do not perceive keep on looking but do not understand wow that's a great one I want you to speak but no one's gonna listen I want you to speak but no one's gonna understand and sign me up here's the problem after we know where God has called us the challenge is to remain faithful and true to what he's called us to do because there will be distractions there will be discouragements there will be difficulties there will even be failures we must leave the results with God I remember when I started the church in Dallas a Calvary Chapel in Dallas Texas and what we're getting started there we're in the Bible Belt there are churches mega churches all over the place and many people didn't know anything about what Calvary Chapel is and I remember one day after service it was a little bit lighter of a service just feeling discouraged and I'll never forget someone said to me be thankful for those who were there well that's right it's not about the numbers anyway is it I mean if the angels in heaven rejoice when one sinner repents it's about transforming lives one person at a time so I'm gonna be thankful for those who are there I'm gonna leave the results to God and be thankful now the opposite is also true sometimes success can get in your way it's very very dangerous you got to be careful not to touch God's glory so to speak and that's what happened with whose ayah you see he was doing so well but notice what happens in second chronicles 26 verse 16 but when he became strong his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly and he was unfaithful to the Lord his God for he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense at the altar of incense well why is that a big deal well he's King well who's supposed to burn incense the priest so what was he doing by going in his King and burning incense he was combining two roles or offices together King and priest why is that a problem it's reserved from seiyya so what was he saying I'm your Messiah and what did God say no way and leprosy broke out on his forehead God said you're unclean the priest said hey we got to get you out of here before God strikes you dead and at that point whose eye is going you know what I want to get out of here too he started so well and he finished so poorly remain true to the call be faithful in the little things run the race that's set before you and finish strong be like the Apostle Paul who wrote to his son in the faith Timothy second Timothy 4 verses 7 and 8 I have fought the good fight I have finished the course I have kept the faith in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing finish Wow answer the call finish strong well you might be thinking there's a lot of water under the bridge it's never too late Moses was eighty years old when he stepped out it's never too early either David was a youth Josiah was eight years old Daniel was a teenager God's looking for men and women who will say here am I send me he's calling he's answering you do not have to have another morning where you wake up and feel that there's no purpose for your life as God has created you at the purpose you are fearfully and wonderfully made and he wants to use you so that when your life is done your life is full and you feel satisfied with the years that you have will you go well you answer the call let's pray father we thank you for this time and lord I want to pray first for those who are here tonight and maybe early in their lives they sensed your calling but somewhere along the way they got distracted they got discouraged they got off course father would you renew that sense of calling and purpose again and show them father where you want them to stand that they may dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness their father for others I pray that if they haven't received Jesus as their Savior that they would make that most important decision to confess you as their Savior to confess their sin to you and to enter into everlasting life and father for those who maybe feel confused father I pray that even now you'd begin to begin to burden their heart begin to show them as they walk with you your purpose your calling for their lives Church with eyes closed and heads bowed if you're here tonight and you're saying lord I want to be used by you send me send me I want to tell you that was me I was 25 years old what here am I send me God wants to use you he wants to answer that call on your life would you just raise you and say Lord send me I want to be used of you Lord send me use me Father I pray for those who are answering that call tonight that you would bless them that you would direct them that you would anoint them that you would empower them with your Holy Spirit and that they father God would live their moment every moment of every day for your glory knowing that they're doing your work as your ambassador we thank you for that privilege and honor in Jesus name and all of God's people said amen can we give thanks to our Lord amen [Applause]

Channel: Calvary Chapel Worship Center - Hillsboro, Oregon

Views: 1,975

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: The Bible, God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Holy, Pastor Rich Jones, Pastor Matthew Dodd, Calvary Chapel, Faith, Grace, Revival, Truth, Prayer, Salvation, Calvary Chapel Hillsboro, Exodus, Matthew

Id: 1USUxOpKPkE

Length: 46min 46sec (2806 seconds)

Published: Wed May 22 2019