Prepared For Service

Introduction

Since you recall so very well our study of the book of Isaiah several quarters ago, and you remember what the entire book? 66 chapters. I can move hurriedly during the beginning of this lesson. Why don’t you turn to Isaiah, the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament? And we’re going to be focusing on chapter 6. Chapter 6 is perfectly placed. Of course, in what way should we question the arrangement of biblical material and the scripture that’s been given to us? But even as you observe what’s going on in the book of Isaiah 6 sits at a perfect place, though you might think it should be at the very beginning of the book. But first, we need to understand a little bit about the times that Isaiah lived in.

And so I want to take you through the first five chapters quickly to see what builds up to chapter 6. God has a strong case against his people. We’re talking maybe a little over a century until the Babylonians are going to overrun Judah. And both the Israel to the north and Judah to the south will be punished for their transgressions. And I particularly want to focus on verse 12 of chapter 1. We don’t have time to read all these chapters. When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts? That sort of feeds the idea that we were talking about this morning when worship is not worship. He called it not acceptable worship, but the trampling of his courts, because they are living inconsistent lives.

He compares them in verse 10 to Sodom and Gomorrah. And he says, to cease to do evil in verse 16. Come now and let us reason together in verse 18, and though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. And later on in verse 27, he speaks of Zion. Remember the sermon we had on Zion not very long ago, where we leaned heavily on the message of Isaiah. Zion, ultimately, Zion will be redeemed with justice. God has better things in mind for Zion in the future. And her repentant ones with righteousness. But transgressors and sinners will be crushed together. I think that’s something important to understand about our God and his designs, his desires for us to be righteous, and if we refuse that, what the result will be, as we talked this morning.

Sinners and transgressors will be crushed together, and those who forsake the Lord shall come to an end. And so then we come to chapter 2, and God has glorious things planned for Zion in the future. His word is going to go forth from the house of the Lord from Jerusalem, and everyone is going to be at peace, is the idea of verses 2 through 4, as they walk in his path, and this law goes forth from Zion. And yet presently he recounts there are more injustices and iniquities in verses 13 through 17 of chapter 3. The Lord arises to contend and stands to judge the people. And in that pithy little chapter, which I love, chapter 4. It’s only six verses, sort of a rarity in the Old Testament.

He says in verse 3, it will come about that he who is left in Zion, again, what is he planning for Zion, and remains in Jerusalem, will be called holy. Everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. And then he tells really a sad and pathetic story about how Israel is his beloved vineyard, and yet they have not appreciated all that God has done. He says, What more could I have done? As we’ve been studying in Deuteronomy, look at all that God did. To make them his people and to bring them out of Egyptian oppression and bring them to the land of promise. And there was unfaithfulness and murmuring and trouble all the way along. And yet he gives them ultimately this land that flows with milk and honey.

This land that he cares for and provides for and makes beautiful and productive and fruitful. And so what more is there could I have done? Judge between me and the vineyard when I expected it to produce good grapes. Did it produce worthless ones? In Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 4. And so he looked for justice in verse 7, but instead he found bloodshed. He looked for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress. So these are the times, these are God’s intentions and hopes for Zion, for Israel, but things aren’t panning out. And in this message of judgment, not just against Israel, but the nations that is going to unfold in just a few chapters, he is going to commission Isaiah for this task of preaching. This message of judgment, and this future hope that he has for Zion when people will walk the pathways of righteousness and weeping and sighing will flee away, Isaiah 35.

And all of the hopes that are pinned to the Messiah, Isaiah 53. You know that one, right? Isaiah 53. And so, who’s going to deliver this great message for the covenant people of God? Isaiah. Isaiah’s going to do that. But he needs to be prepared for this great work. And that’s where Isaiah 6 comes in. As I said, it is very put in a very solid place in the book of Isaiah, as the problems and God’s hopes and aims are spoken of in the first five chapters. Now we come to Isaiah addressing these woes and addressing these hopes as his spokesman. But first, he must be prepared for the job. As his workers today, perhaps we need the same preparation. Perhaps one of the reasons why we do not contribute our part in the local church.

If anybody feels that way, if that’s a true assessment of anyone.

Perhaps the reason why we get tired and get weary and do not render the service that we know we should. And I think of our raspberry show of hands as it ever been the case in your life as a Christian where you didn’t feel very energized, you didn’t feel like making sacrifices when you did not want to serve others but serve yourself. I think all of us would raise our hands. And as I said this morning, there’s an ebb and flow of the life of faith. If I didn’t say that, I planned to say that, and I’m saying it now. There is an ebb and flow to the life of faith. And some moments are more vibrant and strong than ever, but some are difficult. If we would look at the thoughts as we are going to tonight, very briefly, of Isaiah chapter 6, when Isaiah himself is being prepared for service, maybe we can learn some things that will help us to stay steadfast.

Wait a minute, that sounds like 1 Corinthians 15, 58. Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. As much as you know that work that you’re doing, that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. It may not seem like much. I got a text from a fellow gospel preacher of mine who was traveling to begin a gospel meeting this weekend, and of course, he is thinking about the things that I think about. You’re leaving home, and in his case, leaving his family and going to preach the gospel in a different place, and all that goes with that, and sure, he can tell you sometimes going up to a gospel meeting, there’s a little bit of dread because I know what it’s going to mean.

I’m going to know the expenditure of effort that’s going to be involved in that work. And talking to people that I don’t know, and a lot of them. And all of this interaction that takes place. It’s a really draining yet profitable thing that we do. But the question he raised to me by text was tell me again why we do this. And I when it came across, the text came to me, I said, I have felt that same way. And asked that, well, now why am I doing this again? And I said, Well, I don’t know how much good we’re doing, but I think we’re helping someone. And maybe helping them more significantly than we know. But 1 Corinthians 15 58 says, always abound in the work of the Lord as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

And so that person that you offer a word of cheer to and help along the way, that person you assist and try to bear their burdens, that contribution that you make in the local work when sometimes you’re not feeling 100%, that little bit that you do, that cup of cold water that you extend, is not in vain. And yet we sometimes get weary and tired in the doing of it. And perhaps something that Isaiah saw and something Isaiah learned will help us to say what he did. And you know what he said. All right? In Isaiah chapter 6. Without looking. He said that, Martha, didn’t he? He said, Here am I Lord Sidney. And the question was, who shall go for us? Who will do this work?

Isaiah, because of what he saw, because of the importance of the Lord’s work. Because of what he knew. He was prepared to serve. And will we be thus prepared? In the year of King Isaiah’s death. It was a time of transition and turbulence. A new regime was going to be taking place. He says, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne. And notice this, as men come and go, God still sits where he sits. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, bigger than the throne of the king. And the train of his robe filling the temple. And I don’t know what all that looked like for Isaiah, but that’s probably pretty majestic, I’m thinking. A pretty awesome sight. And Seraphim stood above him.

Winged angelic beings, perhaps. It was impressive. I know that. Each having six wings, with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. You’re supposed to be impressed by trying to see what Isaiah literally saw. And he called out to another, saying, Holy. Saying it three times, the intensity of God’s holiness. Holy. He is set apart from all else, pure and righteous and good, is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. After all, the firmament shows his handy work. We can peer into the heavens and see the glory of God. And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out. While the temple was filled with smoke.

Now, if we’re not catching how impressive this picture is, notice Isaiah’s response.

Woe is me, for I am ruined. I’m not holy as this God is holy, this awesome presence that he’s seeing a picture of. And again, it’s just representation. It’s not God in reality, because God has never been seen at any time in John chapter 1. God is spirit. God is invisible to human eyes. But he’s seeing merely this representation, and he’s overwhelmed, and he says, Woe is me, 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. Then one of the seraphim flew to me with the burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs, and he touched my mouth with it.

This is an interactive vision. 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? And then he said, Here am I. Send me. And he said, Go and tell this people. Keep on listening but do not perceive. Keep on looking but do not understand. Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and return and be healed, quoted in the New Testament. In Matthew 13 by Jesus himself. And then I said, How lost?

He said, Until cities are devastated without inhabitant houses or without people, and the land is utterly desolate, and the Lord is removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. Wow. I will do the job. I will serve. Understand how hard this is going to be.

1. A Vision of God's Glory and Power

From Isaiah chapter 6 that I want us to see tonight. What prepared Isaiah initially for service is what he saw. He saw God sitting on his throne. To be prepared for service. We need to have a vision of God’s glory and power. I was looking for slides for this, and I saw this, and I was like, wow, that’s a lot of color. But it’s true. Vision infuses passion. And if we’re going to have a passion for the Lord, it is going to begin with seeing him for who he is. And then seeing ourselves for who we are. Because it occurs to me that a lot of the problems that we experience is that we don’t see God very well. One of the reasons that worship becomes something that’s not worship is that we’re not seeing God very well.

One of the reasons why we find ourselves succumbing to temptation over and over in our lives is because we don’t see God very well.

And while we’re not going to have that personal vision of the Lord literally with our eyes, like Isaiah had, wouldn’t that be nice? We are to see this with the eye of faith. I didn’t see Jesus walk the streets of Jerusalem either and perform all those miracles and teach all of those magnificent sermons. But the fact is I believe that he did. And I can read what he said and know that it’s the message of life, and that in him was life. And his life was the light of men. Clear vision of God is the beginning and the fuel for effective service. And seeing him causes us to understand how awesome he is and how little we are. And we need to have a good sense of that.

And we need to have a good sense of that when it comes to our service. That if I’m going to be successful, I need to depend upon him as the source of power and strength that I need. Because I’ve got to tell you frankly, I get really tired. I guess this is something that happens to you as you get a little bit older. I didn’t feel this when I was 30. But I get a little tired now. But Isaiah is also saying to us in Isaiah 40 and verse 31 those who wait on the Lord will gain new strength. They will walk and not become weary. They will run and not get tired. God will strengthen us for his work. How small and powerless we are without him.

This is the important thing we learned. It’s all about him and not about us.

His role as king and being the most powerful man in Judah was over. And we’re very temporary too. I don’t know if you’ve noticed that.

2. Overwhelmed by Our Personal Sin and the Sin of Others

People come and go, preachers come and go, elders come and go. It’s all about him, not about us. And if we lose that focus in our service, then it will go awry. The first thing that’s important that we learn about being prepared for service in Isaiah chapter 6 is that we need to have a very real glimpse of God’s glory and power. And secondly, we need to be overwhelmed by our personal sin and the sin of others. That was Isaiah’s first response. Woe is me. I’m ruined. I’m in the presence of holiness, and I am a sinner. There is sin on my account. I am not holy as God is. And I live among a people of unclean lips. Four important perceptions are derived from this understanding.

Number one, I am very much dependent. And that doesn’t change no matter how much leadership I wield, no matter how much influence I have, no matter how much people might respect your wisdom and judgment about things. I am still dependent and will always be so. And I am unworthy.

3. We Need to Receive God's Forgiveness

Isaiah hasn’t merited the cleansing. As the angel comes and touches him with the burning coal. I’m unworthy. Oh, yes, I can be used. I can serve in his cause. I can be a vessel for honor. As we often look at that verse in disregard. But I am unworthy. And I am blessed that God can so employ the likes of me and you for his great cause. And I need to be compassionate because others like me are flawed as well. And that my mission is to serve and help them to appreciate God’s cause. So, secondly, be overwhelmed by personal sin and the sins of others. And third, we need to receive God’s forgiveness. For Isaiah was the touch of a burning coal. For us, it is the submission to the Lord’s will and being baptized in the likeness of his death and resurrection predicated upon our repentance and confession.

That’s how we receive our cleansing. But one thing that I see in this in regard to Isaiah is that every one of his messengers, every one of his servants are flawed. And this goes to the point that I was making this morning about the local church. Sin is not eradicated completely from our lives. There are missteps that happen along the way. Perhaps they’re only known by me. That doesn’t make them any less significant. And yes, sometimes in the local church, the splash is to the extent that everyone knows about it, and all things happen. All kinds of things happen when that’s the case. And bad loving has to be dealt with in the local church, 1 Corinthians chapter 5. But sometimes the sins that we commit are intellectual, they’re in our mind.

They are sins of omission. There are things that we know about that only we know.

And they are sin nonetheless. So respect the servant for the work that he or she does. And the word that is proclaimed. But understand his limitations. In the case of service, his or her limitations. Do not tie your faith to any man or person. But to the living God.

And it was entitled, I’m Fed Up with the Church of Christ. I love the title. So I had to see what Barry had to say about that. I knew it was going to be, you know, it was going to be Barry. And he said, you could just Google that, fed up with the church of Christ. You’ll find, and I’m not sure I’m recommending this, but he said, you’ll find all sorts of people who have angst about the church of Christ and say, I’m fed up with the church of Christ for this reason, for that reason. And he does some interesting things with that concept. He has four questions, and I want to share those with you. Barry queries. Are there churches run by harsh elders or a few men who act as bullies?

It’s not our guys, right? Are there churches that are inflexible, insisting on man-made rules and traditions? Are there churches who believe soundness should be defined exclusively by doctrinal correctness? Are there churches who ignore the need to save souls or are clueless to their responsibility to love outsiders? And his answer to all those was yes, there are. But he says some of the churches in the New Testament were flawed. What if you said, you know, things in Sardis aren’t going like they should? I’m fed up with the church in Sardis. Well, there were still some people there who had not soiled their garments. And one of the observations that he makes about the fed up people is that they tend to gross generalizations. What do you think about it?

I’m fed up with the church of Christ. That’s sort of a denominational kind of concept, isn’t it? All churches of Christ are not linked in some ecclesiastical way where we all have a say in each other’s business. In fact, there is no other church that has a say in our business at all. Not one that meets ten minutes from here or a hundred miles from here. And that’s the way it should be among the Lord’s people, if they are indeed his church, churches of Christ throughout the world. I think some of this mentality of I’m fed up with the church of Christ, they’re even thinking about something so geographical as the church of Christ in the United States, like that’s the true Lord’s people. There’s Christians all the way throughout the world.

There are churches sprinkled in every corner of the globe. It’s not just a United States thing because I guess Americans are the people of God. I don’t know what the thinking is on that. The church of Christ is a global thing. There are people who are loyal servants of the Lord across the globe. And there’s no, if we’re following the biblical pattern, there’s no organizational structure where we answer to one another. And I make that point to say, if someone says, I’m fed up with the church of Christ. Have you been in all of them? Boy, you’re pretty good. You must be omnipresent like God. You’ve been in the church in India? Are you fed up with them? You fed up with a church in China?

Or just Alabama? Or Texas. Think of how absurd that is. A lot of these people who write these blogs on the internet because they just want to be heard and have some anxiety about something, they’re fed up with the church of Christ. They may have only participated in a handful. And because they’ve participated in a handful, they know what’s going on everywhere. And I got to tell you, I’m just going to say this. I’ve visited more churches than they have. I go to at least five or six every year. More than that. Maybe not ten. I see more churches. And I’ll tell you what, I preach in churches. When I hold those gospel meetings I talked about earlier, they sure act like they care about the Lord.

They listen. Believe that, they listen to the sermons that are preached. I don’t know everything about them, and I’m sure they have problems, and sometimes I get a wind of a few of those. But they’re striving to serve the Lord. As long as there are people, as I said this morning, there’s going to be problems. We’re going to have problems here. The more people we have, the more problems are going to come up. And that’s just the way it goes. If there’s people, there’s problems. We’re recovery sinners, as I said this morning. And so if you want to look at for things in churches of Christ that aren’t ideal, not as good as they ought to be, people who have not grown as they should have grown, well, you’re going to find that.

That’s going to be there. But to say, you know, I’m really fed up with the Lord’s chosen people in the world. I’m going to go do my own thing. Or I really, we don’t like this formalism. This is where a lot of it goes. We don’t like the formalism. We don’t want to hear all this preaching. And so let’s all sit around, let’s get away from tradition. Let’s all sit around the room and everybody shares their passage or the problem in their life, and we’ll have this sharing group. And that’ll be a lot better way to do church. Let me just tell you something about that. You realize you just started a new tradition, right? And if you keep doing that for about 20 years, the younger generation is going to come along and say, I don’t like that tradition.

And they may come back to this tradition or some other kind of tradition. If it’s a tradition, they don’t like it. Perhaps things are what they are for a reason. Not that we can’t do it a different way, not sing a song before the sermon like somebody did this morning. It’s not that we can’t do it a different way. But sometimes people are just wanting to be different to be different. And so we get fed up with the way things are. But I like what Barry says here. Look, whatever you’re fed up about, there’s a solution. If there’s a problem in the local church, there’s a problem with the eldership. Matthew 18 tells you how to deal with that problem, whatever it is. There’s a way to approach that problem.

Nobody may listen. You may have to indeed go find another group of the Lord’s people, as some of you have done, because problems would not be handled correctly in the local church. They would not be fixed because of the attitudes of people. That’s understandable. But there is a solution onto how to deal with problems in the local church. Now, but what I really like was his ultimate conclusion. Let’s talk about what we ought to be fed up with. He goes, I’m not fed up with churches of Christ. I’m fed up with division. I’m fed up with churches five miles apart who’ll not have anything to do with one another because of some breakup 30 years ago that had to do with personalities or even a doctrinal difference that didn’t affect the practice of the church.

4. Respond to God's Call for Service

I’m fed up with brethren who will not love. And I’m especially fed up with myself when I do not love. I’ve had it, I’m done with it. That’s Barry. I like that. I’m fed up with myself when I don’t. I’ve had it. I’m done with it. I can see Barry preaching that. I will always stand for truth as best as I can understand it. But if I have not love, I am nothing. If you’re going to be fed up, be fed up with the right things. And I said all of that to say. We probably need to look at ourselves a lot more than we’re looking at others. And then we need to respond to God’s call for service. Who shall I send? Who will go awesome?

Well, what does that mean? What does that look like in your life? Let me give you four things that you can pray for. This is really simple. Number one, look, prayer isn’t that hard. We make it way too hard. Let’s just speak to God. And it can be this simple.

Prepared for service. Respond to his call. Lord, show me a way that I can be used. Use me to help someone. Secondly, employ me toward your ends and for your glory. Let this be about you, not about me. Let me be, let me learn to serve. Three, may I be a vessel of honor for you? You know, people are so worried about their salvation, so concerned. Am I going to be okay on the day of judgment? Would you just start praying? Lord, I want to be a vessel for honor for you. Trust him. I want to be a vessel for honor for you. Number four, drive me away from selfishness and worldliness. You pray those four things. Watch out. The Lord’s going to find a way to use you.

No wonder Paul said what he did in Galatians 6 and verse 9.

Let us not grow weary in doing good. For in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So many people lose heart. You think elders get discouraged and lose heart? You know all the junk they have to deal with. I think maybe our elders deal with less junk, but I’ve got to tell you, they deal with junk. And it’s hard. And yet they serve us. And that’s not an easy task. Everyone’s a critic. Everyone thinks they could do it better or say it better. And maybe they could. But they work hard for us.

5. Be Willing to Preach to Those Who Will Not Hear

And finally, be willing to preach to those who will not hear. Frankly, we preach a message that’s not popular to the masses. It wasn’t popular in Isaiah’s day either. Most in our culture want religion on their terms. I marked Ezekiel 4. Or Ezekiel 3 in this regard. This is another call to service, much like Isaiah. Actually, though it comes 150 years later, and he’s an exile. God has already had to judge his people, and Ezekiel is bringing messages to the remnant that are one day going to return after 70 years of captivity. And I want to tell you, even though they’ve come into captivity, they still aren’t getting it. They’re saying the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on it. We’re in this bad predicament because of our ancestors.

And Ezekiel says, no. You’re here because of who you are. He says, the soul that sins, it shall die in Ezekiel 18. But before he ever gets to that, he too, like Isaiah is commissioned to be a preacher to the exiles. And he says something really interesting to Ezekiel in chapter 3. He says, Ezekiel, I’ve got a work for you to do. I’ve got a message for you to deliver. And I’ll tell you what I’m going to do for you. I’m going to make your forehead as hard as flint. That’s what I need. I need a forehead like flint. You know why he tells them that? Because they’re not going to listen to you.

Let us not be a people who will not hear and who refuse to change. I think that’s one of the most frustrating things that happens is when you preach and you preach and you preach, and sometimes it seems so few.

Conclusion

And after hearing hundreds of sermons, the least little bit of upset occurs, and things just go nuts. It’s like they hadn’t heard a thing in 20 years. Don’t be discouraged or disheartened by the fact that many will reject. And I come back now to the very last verse in conclusion in Isaiah chapter 6. Interesting little verse. As he says in Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 13. Sure, a lot of people aren’t going to get it. There’s going to be judgment. Yet there will be a tenth portion in it. Well, we would like more than 10%. But he says, there will be a tenth portion in it. And it will again be subject to burning like a terabyth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled.

The holy seed is its stump. What is that? There’s a tenth portion subject to burning, further purification, and yet there’s a stump there. There’s a holy seed, and that’s going to be where future growth emanates from. The holy seed is its stump. I like what James and Fawcett and Brown observe here. He says, the seeds of vitality still exist in both the land and the scattered people of Judah, waiting for the returning spring of God’s favor. According to Isaiah, not all Israel, but the elect remnant alone is destined to salvation. God shows unchangeable severity towards sin, but covenant faithfulness in preserving a remnant. And to it, Isaiah bequeaths the prophetic legacy of the second part of his book, the 40th through the 66th chapters. There will be people who will respond to God’s call as Isaiah did.

Will you and I, will we be, as we’re about to sing, holy to the Lord. That’s what Isaiah 6 is all about. God is holy. All of how he is holy. Pure and good to his core. And he can make us holy too. Oh, there was a quote. I read it to you. Holy to the Lord. What are we going to sing? Cleansed and reconciled, washed from sin so vile, living undefiled. Does that describe you? Have you been washed and cleansed by the blood of Christ? Thoughts in truth. Refined. I love that part of the song. Works in him designed. Love in him defied. Reverent, sanctified, righteous, purified, blatant, justified. And so, like Isaiah, we are called. Let’s stand and say.