| Godly Success: Obedience (Part 4 of 'God's Call') |
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| Written by David Charlton |
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Scripture In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" 6 Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven." 8 And 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." 9 And he said, "Go, and say to this people: `Hear and hear, but do not understand; see and see, but do not perceive.' 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." 11 Then I said, "How long, O Lord?" And he said: "Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without men, and the land is utterly desolate, 12 and the LORD removes men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 13 And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains standing when it is felled." The holy seed is its stump.
Summary and Purpose Summary: God calls every repentant believer in Christ to go on mission. The specific mission God has in mind for each believer will always have something to do with following the great commandment in order to obey the great commission (Mat. 22:34-40; 25:31-46; 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16 & Acts 1:8).
The basic criterion for measuring how well we do on our God given mission is obedience. Success is dependant on God. It’s God who works through us to accomplish His purposes. All we have to do is trust and obey.
Isaiah’s call is ultimately about obedience. After accepting God’s mission, Isaiah learns that the people are not going to listen to him. The people will remain sinful after he delivers God’s message. Isaiah, however, still remained obedient to God. That is what’s important. Isaiah trusted God despite the reactions of other people. He was obedient.
That’s what we are called to do, trust and obey. Not everyone will react positively to the gospel. Despite how others may react, we must trust and obey. There’s no other way.
Purpose: To help the congregation to obey God’s call in their lives.
The Sermon I. Introduction: Having to do some idiotic job that makes no sense 1. Have you ever experienced the drudgery of working on an asinine assignment that made no sense to you? · If you ever served in the military, worked for the government or labored under corporate America, you probably have. · You know that what you are doing has nothing to do with your organization’s mission. It’s a waste of time. · Your immediate supervisor knows this. · The higher ups, however, wants you to do it. So, you do it. 2. I experienced this as a Lieutenant in the Army. · I was an Assistant Intelligence Officer. I served on the Intelligence section of the Battalion staff (S2). · The Intelligence Officer put me in charge of enforcing computer security regulations. · A few of the regulations had something to do with securing the information on the computers. Most of the regulations, however, had to do with enforcing software copyright laws. · According to copyright laws, software from one CD could not be downloaded on more than one computer. Each computer had to have it’s own copy of software. · So, as a highly trained Intelligence Officer, I spent several weeks looking at all the battalion computers to ensure each computer had its own software package. If a unit had 5 computers with Microsoft office, that unit had to produce 5 Microsoft office CDs. · Needless to say, this had nothing to do with real intelligence work or security but the Battalion Commander thought it was important. · I just had to be obedient and do it. The important thing was for me to be obedient. 3. When God gives us a mission, we must be obedient. · Sometimes, God calls us to do stuff that seems crazy, like ‘love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’ God, however, never calls us to do something that is crazy. · Unlike the Army, government or corporate America, God will never give us an idiotic mission that proves to be a waste of time. No matter how crazy it may seem. · God will always call us to do something that supports the overall mission of the church – Obeying the great commandment in order to fulfill the great commission. (Mat. 22:34-40; 25:31-46; 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16 & Acts 1:8). · When God gives us a mission, God is working through us to accomplish His will. So, all we have to worry about is being obedient. · Are we doing what God wants us to do? 4. This is what God’s call to Isaiah is all about: Obedience II. Isaiah 6:1-13 – God’s call to Isaiah 1. Isaiah 6:1-4 – Isaiah is given a majestic vision of heaven with God sitting on the throne. · Imagine being a poor, homeless person. You stink and your clothes are rags. · A Secret Service agent approaches and tells you to follow him. · The agent takes you past the White House Guards and straight into the Oval Office. · There you come face to face with the President of the United States. · Now multiply the awe you would feel by about 1,000,000,000. That’s probably not even close to the awe Isaiah felt when in God’s presence. 2. Isaiah 6:5 – Isaiah reacts to God’s vision with conviction and repentance · When we come face to face with God, we realize how good and perfect God is and how sinful we really are. · Our only correct response is conviction and repentance 3. Isaiah 6:6-7 – God forgives Isaiah – God forgives the broken and repentant sinner 4. Isaiah 6:8 – God sends out a call to go in His name. Isaiah answers, “Here am I, send me.” 5. Notice the order of events · First: Isaiah is awed by God · Second: Isaiah is convicted and repents · Third: God forgives Isaiah – Isaiah’s sins are blotted out · Fourth: God gives a call and Isaiah answers the call · The point: Isaiah was not qualified to answer God’s call until he repented and received God’s forgiveness. If you want to answer God’s call and experience ultimate meaning in your life, repent of your sins and receive God’s forgiveness through faith in Jesus. 6. Isaiah 6:9-10 – God explains Isaiah’s mission. · God is using sarcasm. ‘You might as well tell the people not to listen because there not going to listen anyways’ 7. Isaiah 6:11 – Isaiah asks how long must he deliver messages to people who are not going to listen 8. Isaiah 6:11-13 – The Lord answers that Isaiah must deliver God’s messages until judgment comes. 9. So, Isaiah is told to deliver Godly messages to people who are not going to listen to him. · To Isaiah, this may seem odd but he was obedient. That’s what is important. Isaiah was obedient · Although the ancient Israelites failed to listen to him, Isaiah obediently wrote down his prophecies. These prophecies became known as the Book of Isaiah. There are over 10 prophecies concerning the Messiah in the Book of Isaiah. · By being obedient when it seemed strange, Isaiah became a vital part of God’s over all plan to redeem the world. 10. Isaiah started out with faith/trust. Then he was able to obey. As he obeyed, he developed more faith. III. The cycle of faith and obedience 1. It begins with faith – We are saved by grace through faith (trust) 2. It’s not genuine faith, however, if it doesn’t lead to obedience. Faith is a trust that leads to obedience. 3. The more we obey, the more we trust. Thus the cycle begins, the more we trust, the more we obey, the more we obey, the more we trust and so on and so forth. 4. If you’re going through a tough time and having trouble with faith, you might have an obedience problem. · Ask yourself, “Is there something in my life that I have not yet surrendered to God? Is there some sinful attitude in my heart or some sinful action I keep repeating?” If you ask, God will reveal this to you. · Repent of whatever you need to repent of. · Your faith will be restored. 5. The opposite might be true. If you’re having a hard time obeying God, you might have a trust issue with God. · Do you really believe God will do what He says He’ll do? · Do you really believe God will take care of you if you take the necessary risks and make the necessary sacrifices to do His will? IV. Real life example of how obedience and trust feed off each other 1. In may 2007 my former wife, Jackie, was killed by a 19 year drunk driver. 2. I remember sitting in the emergency room of the hospital and thinking about how I would love to beat the drunk driver to death. 3. At the same time, however, I knew God would want me to love and pray for him. 4. So, out of obedience I prayed for him on the same day he killed my first wife. I continued to pray for him for several months. 5. As I prayed for him, God changed my heart. I got to the point where I could truly forgive and love him. I demonstrated this during his sentencing when I told him that I forgave him and that God loves him. 6. I now know what its like to have bitterness and hatred lifted from my heart. It sets you free and enables you to continue with your life. 7. This increased my faith/trust in God. I obeyed and received the benefits. 8. So, obedience led to more faith and this faith will lead to more obedience. V. Conclusion 1. How obedient are you? 2. Are there areas in your life in which you are not being obedient to God? |
