Do I Have What It Takes?

Isaiah 6:6-8

January 15, 2006

Thus far in our missions month of study,

We have seen very important truths from the word of God.

1) Namely, that we are redeemed for a purpose.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

2) That we are under obligation to fulfill this purpose.

Romans 1:14-15 “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”

We are INTENDED to evangelize…

We are COMMANDED to evangelize…

We are OBLIGED to evangelize…

That forces us to shift our thinking,

From if I will get involved in missions

To How do I get involved in missions.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE AN EFFECTIVE MISSIONARY?

We see one of the most famous commissioning service in the Bible.

We will travel back to look at the day God called Isaiah.

5 Things Isaiah Needed.

#1 A COMMITMENT TO GOD’S MAJESTY

Isaiah 1:1-4

Before God called He allowed Isaiah to catch a glimpse of His glory.

Verse 1 shows us GOD’S PERMANENCE.

He very simple sees God on His throne.

How our lives change when we realize that God,

And not us, is on the throne.

Anyone who can justifiably dismiss the commands of God Has forgotten this truth.

HOW ELSE COULD IT BE EXPLAINED?

If God commanded us to go, and we do not,

What else is to be concluded

But that we do not believe God is the authority?

This truth had to be solidified in Isaiah’s mind.

When Paul was charging Timothy to preach, he put one visual in his mind first.

2 Timothy 4:1-2 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

How badly we need to remember just who God is.

We do not have the right to determine which commands are optional.

HE IS GOD - HE IS KING - HE IS LORD - HE IS THE AUTHORITY

Isaiah 40:21-26 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble. "To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?" says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.”

It is by no mistake that Isaiah first was reminded of God’s glory.

As was Ezekiel

And remember Paul’s conversion

Verses 2-3 shows us GOD’S PERFECTION

Seraphim won’t gaze at His glory

Seraphim hide their unsightly parts

His perfection is further revealed by their praise.

“And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”

Revelation 4:8 “And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY,WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."

God is so Holy that they will not dare look upon Him.

God is so Holy that they intentionally cover their filth.

God is so Holy that they never stop proclaiming it.

Verse 4 shows us GOD’S POWER

His voice shakes the very foundations of the world.

This is power!

How often we have seen this power throughout the Scripture.

THIS IS A SCENE OF GOD’S MAJESTY

THIS SCENE IS PART OF OUR MOTIVATION FOR MISSIONS

If you don’t believe His power and authority, you won’t obey.

But also it motivates us because we are committed

To seeing that He gets the glory that He deserves.

The main reason for evangelism is

A love for God and a commitment to His glory.

This above all else is the reason God offered salvation.

Isaiah 48:9 "For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off.”

Isaiah 48:11 "For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”

Isaiah 49:6 “He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

Isaiah 45:20-25 "Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no knowledge, Who carry about their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save. "Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. "I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. "They will say of Me, 'Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.' Men will come to Him, And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame. "In the LORD all the offspring of Israel Will be justified and will glory."

God’s plan of salvation has always been about glorifying God.

That is our motivation for evangelism and missions.

Do you realize that today,

Allah will be credited for doing something that only God did?

Someone will eat, and give the credit to Buddha?

Someone will recover from illness, and give praise to a Hindu god?

We go and tell of God’s greatness

Because He deserves to be worshiped by all of His creation.

Psalms 96:1-6 “Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.”

Isaiah 42:8 "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”

DO YOU REMEMBER WHY PAUL PREACHED AT ATHENS?

Acts 17:16-17 “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.”

Paul wasn’t motivated to preach because of the people in Athens.

Paul was motivated because false gods were getting God’s glory

It provoked him.

Missions isn’t just done out of a love for people.

Mission is done out of a love for God.

We must be committed to God’s majesty.

#2 A COMMITMENT TO GOD’S MERCY

Isaiah 6:5-8

Isaiah rightly responds to God’s glory.

It is impossible to be in God’s presence and not feel the need to repent.

And look at what Isaiah says.

“Woe is my, for I am ruined! Because I am 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.”

It was right for Isaiah to notice that his lips were unclean.

Matthew 12:34b “…For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.”

Then, due to Isaiah’s repentance,

God forgives and cleanses him of his sin.

Notice the sin isn’t just forgiven, the sin is removed.

God saves us from sin – COMPLETELY

He forgives us, and He removes it.

It is at this point that an amazing thing happened.

Verse 8, “Then I heard…”

The verse doesn’t say, “Then God said”

Until Isaiah repented, he could not hear the call of God to go.

It baffles me in churches all the time,

The sheer number of people

Who hear no calling of God to missions at all.

“Well God’s not calling me to go…”

YES HE IS – Read the Great Commission.

It is more accurately stated.

“I can’t hear God calling me to go…”

Neither could Isaiah until he repented.

And motivated by the mercy, Isaiah responds with a hearty, “Here am I. Send me!”

He wasn’t just going because God deserved it.

Now he was going because he was grateful to God.

This is certainly another reason we evangelize.

We long for others to share in this wonderful mercy that we have received.

This was one of Paul’s great motivations.

1 Timothy 1:12-16 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”

1 Corinthians 15:9-10 “For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”

Missions is about loving God.

And love for God comes from experiencing God’s mercy.

1 John 4:19 “We love, because He first loved us.”

Luke 7:44-47 “Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. "You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. "You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little."

THIS IS ANOTHER REASON WHY PEOPLE DON’T EVANGELIZE.

You can’t offer something you have not received

Majesty, Mercy

#3 A COMMITMENT TO GOD’S MESSAGE

Isaiah 6:9-10

CAN YOU BELIEVE THE MESSAGE HE WAS TOLD TO PREACH?

God told him to basically bind them up in unbelief.

Verse 10 records God telling Isaiah to “Render the hearts of this people insensitive”

The King James says, “Make the heart of this people fat”

He tells Isaiah to smear their eyes over so they cannot see.

He tells Isaiah to clog their ears so they cannot hear.

“otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.”

Now that doesn’t sound like a message of salvation.

It sounds like God is trying to purposely hide the truth from them.

HOW CAN THAT BE?

WHY WOULD THEY PURPOSELY BE HINDERED BY GOD?

Matthew 13:10-15 “And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. "For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, 'You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.'

Luke 8:18 "So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him."

Even Jesus purposely hid the truth in parables.

It was the most severe form of judgment

Cast upon those who suppressed the truth they had been given.

You say, “THAT’S NOT A GOOD MESSAGE TO PREACH.”

NO MESSAGE IS MORE QUOTED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

It is God’s message.

And this is the point.

God is sending us with His word, even if it doesn’t seem to make sense.

INSTEAD, WE WANT TO PREACH A MORE APPEALING MESSAGE.

You cannot be an effective missionary like that.

It takes a commitment to God’s message.

Romans 1:16-17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

Isaiah 55:11 “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

God’s word is all that works. And it does work every time.

It either convicts a sinner to repentance,

Or it hardens a sinner under judgment, but it works every time.

You cannot be an effective missionary without a commitment to God’s message.

Ezekiel 2:4-7 "I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD.' "As for them, whether they listen or not — for they are a rebellious house — they will know that a prophet has been among them. "And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house. "But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.”

Majesty, Mercy, Message

#4 A COMMITMENT TO GOD’S MISSION

Isaiah 6:11-12

After being told the message he was to preach,

I think we would all agree that Isaiah’s question is logical.

HOW LONG?

“Until cities are devastated, and without inhabitant, houses are without people and the land is utterly desolate.”

Until there are no more people to preach to.

Until judgment comes and takes them away.

Now, imagine the life of Isaiah.

He was specifically told to go and preach a condemning message Until condemnation was complete.

HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU THINK HE WAS TEMPTED TO STRAY FROM THAT COURSE?

Read the Bible, you won’t find any of the prophets who had it easy.

Jeremiah 1:17-19 "Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. "Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. "They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you," declares the LORD.”

Ezekiel 33:30-32 "But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ' Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD.' "They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. "Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.”

Acts 18:5-7 “But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue.”

The point is, IT TAKES COMMITMENT

1 Corinthians 9:16 “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.”

Majesty, Mercy, Message, Mission

#5 A COMMITMENT TO GOD’S METHODS

Isaiah 6:13

Isaiah’s commissioning is especially discouraging.

But even Jesus said only a few would be saved.

Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

BUT TAKE COURAGE, THERE ARE A FEW!

Isaiah was only promised 10%, but there were at least 10%!

It is hard to do it God’s way, but we must trust at all times

That He can and will bring His elect to salvation.

Jesus knew this.

John 6:37-39 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”

Jesus knew God’s elect would come,

His passion was just to do what God wanted.

And so, we must be committed to God.

His Majesty, His Mercy, His Message, His Mission and even His Methods

To know that while they may seem absurd, they will work.

Paul summed it all up like this.

2 Timothy 2:8-10 “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”

We must have that same commitment.

Are you committed to the fact that God is worthy of worship?

Are you committed to the spreading of the mercy you have received?

Are you committed to God’s message even when it seems foolish?

Are you committed to the mission even when it is difficult?

Are you committed to God’s methods knowing that His will, will be done?

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

Isaiah 6:8 “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!"