 |
| Rev. Brent Russett |
Pastor of
Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
http://www.sunnysidechurchottawa.com/ _______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, July 6th, 2014:
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‘The Vision’
Good
morning. And welcome to good news in the morning. My name is Brent Russett. I
am the Senior Pastor at Sunnyside Wesleyan Church. It is my pleasure to look at
some of life’s challenges, and then bring you some good news in the morning.
This
program is sponsored by Good News Christian Ministries. If you want to look us
up on the internet, or to re-listen to this program you can find us at
Goodnewsinthemorning.ca
Last
Sunday if you were able to listen to Good News in the Morning we started
talking about the book of Isaiah. This morning I want to look at one of the
great passages in Isaiah. It is the vision and call of Isaiah. It is one of
those incredible views of God. But it is also one of those passages of
Scripture that is challenging to understand.
Isaiah’s
day job was a chronicler for the King. One of his main professional
accomplishments was that he chronicled the life and exploits of King Uzziah. At
the same time Isaiah was a prophet. He had already had many words from the Lord
and he had already proclaimed the word of God. With that as a back ground come
with me to Isaiah 6
Isaiah
6:1–10 (NLT)
It was in the year
King Uzziah died* that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and
the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were
mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their
faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They
were calling out to each other,
“Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
The whole earth is
filled with his glory!”
4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building
was filled with smoke.
5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have
filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the
King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from
the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it
and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and
your sins are forgiven.”
8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this
people? Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here I am.
Send me.”
9 And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people,
‘Listen carefully, but
do not understand.
Watch closely, but
learn nothing.’
10 Harden the hearts of these people.
Plug their ears and
shut their eyes.
That way, they will
not see with their eyes,
nor hear with their
ears,
nor understand with
their hearts
and turn to me for
healing.”*
The
first part of this passage is spectacular. The second part of this passage is frustrating
to try and understand
I
could spend our whole time talking about Isaiah’s vision of God. But I am not
going to because I want you to get what is going on in this whole passage.
But I
do want to say this. God never gives spiritual experiences for their
entertainment value. God always has a purpose in what he does. He showed this
vision of himself to Isaiah for a reason, and he allowed Isaiah to record this
vision for us for a reason. The question is, “What was God up to?”
Isaiah
had already had many words from God. It seemed like he heard from God on a
regular basis. So why does God give him this vision, and why does God give him
this experience?
It
would seem to me that this experience of God is not a reward for what Isaiah
has done, it is preparation for what he will do. This experience with God,
prepares Isaiah for the future.
I
have known a lot of people who spend a lot of time just seeking after some
experience with God. They will run from this meeting to that program in order
that they might experience something from God.
I
believe that we should, from time to time experience God. It may come in the
form of answered prayer, or a sense of how God is leading, to a fresh filling
of the Holy Spirit. It may come in the form of visions, or dreams or miracles.
From time to time we should experience God in a way that is out of the
ordinary.
But
these experiences are not given for your entertainment. They are most often
given to move us from one stage in our spiritual life to another. They are
often given to deepen and confirm faith for the journey ahead. But seeking
after the experience is not the way to go. Seeking after God himself is always
the way to go. Saying to God, I am willing to move forward is always the way to
go. When you do that, you set the sails of your spiritual life so that when the
Spirit blows you are ready to catch it and move with Him.
Isaiah
has this experience with God. He sees the mighty angels of God. He sees the
grandeur of God. He sees the holiness of God. He hears the call of the angels –
Holy, Holy, Holy,
And
he says cool experience – what’s for lunch. Not – you see when he saw God, he
also saw himself in relation to God.
There
are some of you who attend church. And you know that from time to time God
shows ups. Then the service ends and it is really easy to say next.. And forget
everything that God has said to you. When you experience God make sure you stay
quiet long enough to hear all that God wants to say to you.
MUSIC - I saw the Lord – Dallas Holmes 4:37
Isaiah
sees the Lord. He sees the angels. He hears the booming voice of God. And this
is what he says.
Isaiah
6:5 (NLT)
5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have
filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the
King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
In the first 5 chapters he spent a lot of time talking
about how bad the people he lived amongst were. They were oppressive and
unjust. They did wrong and mocked God.
But his first response to seeing God was – I am doomed. I
am a sinful man. I have filthy lips.
Here you have a prophet of God who speaks for God and he
sees himself in relationship to God and he is undone.
Whenever I see someone who is really judgemental of other
people, I see someone who has never profoundly encountered the living God. As
you move through this book you are going to see a change. For the next little
while in this book, you are going to see Isaiah pronounce God’s judgement
against the enemies of Israel. You are also going to see him give God’s words
to a disobedient people – but unlike the first few chapters, you are going to
see less and less of him scolding Israel himself.
In this experience with God he recognizes that the
difference between the people he has been scolding and himself are minute when
compared to a Holy God.
I know that some of you are not going to like this. But
if you were to put your righteousness, your goodness, against the goodness of a
pimp or a prostitute or a drug dealer or child abuser – and then compare you
and them to God. The difference may be significant in this world, but it is
insignificant compared to God.
That is why the Bible says our righteousness is like
filthy rags. There are some of you who think so highly of yourself that you
think, why wouldn’t God love me. But if you think that, you have not glimpsed
the holiness of God.
For Isaiah who
was extremely good in comparison to the people around him said, Isaiah 6:5
(NLT)
5 “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips,
and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord
of Heaven’s Armies.”
This by the way is why we need Jesus. Jesus takes our sin
and gives us his righteousness. So when God looks at you, he sees you as
righteous. But it is a righteousness that is not your own it has been bought
with a price.
I still believe in right and wrong. And there are a lot
of people in our world that celebrate the fact that they do wrong. They boast
about their drunken benders, and their sexual exploits over the weekend. They
boast about their stealing from the government, insurance companies, and from
the person who was not bright enough to see what was going on.
While I believe what they are doing is wrong – I don’t
think that I am any better than them – because I have seen the Lord. The
difference between me and then is minute when I compare myself to God. They
need Jesus, I need Jesus. We all need Jesus. It is pretty hard to judge others when you recognize that we are
all in the same boat.
So Isaiah saw who he was and then
Isaiah
6:6–7 (NLT)
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from
the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it
and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and
your sins are forgiven.”
I don’t want to go into all that happened in that
exchange, other than to say – from that point on Isaiah ministered out of an understanding
that he was forgiven.
That is the great thing about the gospel of Jesus. You
just like Isaiah can be proclaimed forgiven.
Isaiah
6:8 (NLT)
8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this
people? Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here I am.
Send me.”
Now we remember that Isaiah was already a prophet. He had
already been speaking the word of God. But He was called again.
I know that there are a number of you who are trying to
figure out your calling. You would love to get a vision that say – go do this.
But these kind of visions for calling are rare. God will communicate to you, in
a manner that is designed for you. You can trust him.
What I also know is that there are a number of you here
who know what you are called to do right now. I think that is awesome and good.
What I want you to note though is , that
there may times when God comes along and confirms your call, deepens your call
or changes your call.
The reason that I want you to know this is that I fully
expect that it may happen to a number of you.
Remember Isaiah’s day job was a chronicler for the King.
But he was also a prophet who spoke for God. Now God is deepening the call of
the prophet in his life.
Not only is it God’s way to renew or deepen or change a
person’s call but this seems to be something that God is doing at this
particular time in history.
We have had people from the church I pastor retire and
used their skills they learned working in the government to help Christian
hospitals in India, or Christian camps in Ontario. We have had people called
from a high tech companies in Ottawa, to set up an organization that helps kids
in danger in Thailand or to work with University students in Ottawa.
I know that one of the fastest areas of growth in terms
of missionaries being sent is amongst baby boomers.
I
want you to know that God often changes, renews or deepens a call. Be aware of
what God is doing.
MUSIC
Hear I am Lord – Jill Henwood 2:26 (clear voice)
Isaiah
6:9–10 (NIV)
9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
“ ‘Be ever
hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but
never perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their
eyes.
Otherwise they might
see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their
hearts,
and turn and be
healed.”
I read this passage and I think God, you are proclaiming,
maybe even causing these people’s hearts to be hard and eyes to be closed –
What is up with that. How does this square with
2
Peter 3:9 (NIV)
9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.
Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to
come to repentance.
God I thought you wanted everybody to know you – then
what is up with making people’s hearts calloused.
I will tell you that I don’t pretend to understand all of this. I don’t understand how these
things go together.
There are two things I would have you note. The Lord is
talking about a people who had ignored him and rebelled against him for a
couple of centuries. I think that this plays into it.
I wish that this was an obscure passage buried in the Old
testament. But this is one of those passages in Isaiah that Jesus highlights.
Matthew
13:10–16 (NLT)
10 His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk
to the people?”
11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets* of the Kingdom
of Heaven, but others are not. 12 To those who listen to my
teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of
knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding
they have will be taken away from them. 13 That is why I use
these parables,
For they look, but
they don’t really see.
They hear, but they
don’t really listen or understand.
14 This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,
‘When you hear what I
say,
you will not
understand.
When you see what I
do,
you will not comprehend.
15 For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot
hear,
and they have closed
their eyes—
so their eyes cannot
see,
and their ears cannot
hear,
and their hearts
cannot understand,
and they cannot turn
to me
and let me heal them.’*
16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
Jesus is asked why he speaks in parable. And he quotes
our passage from Isaiah.
I think that Jesus key words here are
Matthew
13:12 (NLT)
12 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and
they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening,
even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.
The more you listen to Jesus the more you will see and
know and understand. The more you ignore Jesus, the less you will understand,
and you may even lose the understanding that you did have.
If I understand the spiritual principle right, both in
Isaiah’s time when people had been ignoring what God had been saying for a long
time, and in Jesus time, when people would not listen to Jesus, - it seems to
be saying that ignoring what God has to say over a long period of time produces
hardened hearts and blind eyes and dull hearing.
If they were to turn to God, God would heal them – but
they can’t turn to God because they are so spiritually dull.
You are blessed because you have spiritual insight. But I
know when I am praying for people – especially people who have known the truth
– but have not walked in it – I pray for God to have mercy. For God has to
bring a measure of healing before they can even have a chance to respond to the
truth – and even then it is not a given.
I don’t pretend to understand all of this. But what I do
know is that you shouldn’t take your spiritual insight for granted. If you know
who Jesus is, if you can see the truth that scripture brings us. If you
understand your need for the death and resurrection of Jesus then you are
blessed. What is obvious to you, is not obvious to many. Give thanks for what
you can see.
This morning we have looked on how God brings us
experiences of prepare us for what is to come. We have looked at how when we
see God, we can’t judge others because we are too close to them. We have looked
at how God sometimes deepens broadens or changes the call on our life. We have
looked at how we need to be sure not take the spiritual insight we have for
granted.
I suspect that somewhere in there is something that God
wanted to say to you. Take what he has said and grab a hold of it. Don’t lose
it. Pray into it.
For not only was God at work in Isaiah’s life, he is at
work in yours.
Let’s
pray
Lord, Jesus, I want to thank you for what you’re doing
in our lives. Lord, I pray that we would take what you’re saying to us and allow
it to sink deeply in our hearts. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen
Thank
you for your words of encouragement, and for keeping us in your prayers.,
Keeping this program on the air continues to be a work of faith. If you
can help with that, please make out a cheque payable to Good News Christian
Ministries, Box 184, Rideau Ferry, On. K0G
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May you know
Jesus Christ personally and profoundly.
May the Holy Spirit reside deep within your heart . And may the heavenly Father surround you with
His constant and abiding and accompanying love
MUSIC
– To Him who sits on the Throne – Acappela 2:13
- Rev. Brent Russett
Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:
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