Number Our Days

Introduction

Isaiah chapter 6 is one of the most preached messages at mission’s conferences, next to maybe Matthew 28. This message is going to be an overview of the whole chapter of Isaiah 6, looking at the board principles to measure success in ministry. We will take a different tack with this and look at the whole chapter, not focus on any one verse, where many focus solely on verse 8. Let us start by asking a few questions.

Question: What are some of the things that often define success?

Numbers – how many people you have in the church

Money

Popularity or the size of one’s platform

Results

Question: What is the definition of ministry?

Ministry – is any service that someone is called to, by God and for God

Platform Building - is any service that someone is called to, by self and for self, even if they call it ministry

Question: Who should be involved in ministry?

Every Christian, not just the pastor or deacons

Question: What defines successful ministry?

Are we here at this church successful

John Macarthur of Grace Community Church – with their 9,000 members

Bill Hybel of Willow Creek or Rick Warren of Saddleback Church – their large mega churches and programs that millions are mimicking

Jehovah Witnesses’ or Latter Day Saints – because when it comes to numbers, money and results they got loads of it

John Paton or William Carey – who did not see a single convert on the foreign mission field for 10 and 14 years respectively and both of them lost their wives and children on the mission field.

Isaiah, Jeremiah and the other Old Testament prophets – who were often never accepted by their own people; Jeremiah was thrown into a pit and left for dead because he preached the truth. Was that success?

Transition: Let us look at Isaiah and see if we can define successful Mi. So, what was Isaiah’s ministry? Was he successful? Let us look at his calling by God to the ministry in Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6:1–3 ESV

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 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. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

This is the setting. We could spend several messages just on the events of the first three verses; the true worship of God by the angels. For the purpose of this message we will move on to the rest of the chapter. However, there is one point we want to see and that is that the angels had a true view of God.

A True View of God (v. 3)

Isaiah 6:3 ESV

And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Question: What is a true view of God?

God is perfectly holy.

The angels, who live in the throne room of God, and know Him best, being always in His presence, see God as “Holy, Holy, Holy”.

Holy means sacred or set apart.

There is none like God. God is set apart from sin and God is set apart from sinners; God is nothing like us. He is so apart from us that we cannot see Him completely this side of heaven or we would die. That is why Isaiah thought he was going to die, he will say in verse 5, “I am undone”. Undone means destroyed. Isaiah thought that seeing the presence of the Lord, he would die.

God is the Lord of Hosts – Jehovah host (of organized army), host (of angels), host of whole creation

Transition: So, Isaiah got a true view of God. How did it affect him? Why did he think he was going to die? Because in the presence of the holiest One, Isaiah had a true view of man’s sinfulness.

A True View of Man’s Sinfulness (v. 5)

Isaiah 6:5 ESV

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!”

Question: What is a true view of man’s sinfulness?

It is the understanding that every person, except Jesus Christ, from Adam to us has been born with a sin nature (Romans 5:12-19). The theological term for this is depravity. Man is totally depraved. This does not mean that people are as evil as they could be, but that means that every part of man, his min, his emotions and including his will, is influenced by sin. If you do not believe the Scriptures on this then watch any two-year old.

Isaiah recognizes his true sinfulness in the presence of a holy God.

Isaiah states that he is “lost” or destroyed because his lips are “unclean” or polluted. In other words, he is sinful and he has seen “the King, the Lord of hosts”. Isaiah knows his sinfulness in the presence of a truly holy God. He knows that he deserves destruction.

This is different from the many preachers on TV and radio or in books, that make claims that they saw God in their mirror while shaving (and the person kept shaving) or were taking up to Heaven to go swimming with Jesus and had a splashing fight. Someone in the presence of God’s perfection can only sees their own sinfulness not looks to play and have a nice talk.

Isaiah not only sees his own sinfulness but that of the whole of Israel or even more broadly of all of mankind.

Most people compare themselves against other people that they think as worse sinners then themselves, like Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden, etc. They do this so that they can make themselves feel better about their own sinfulness. People set themselves up as the judge or master of the standard of morality and that standard is almost always equal to their level or below. Therefore, most people do not think that they are “really” bad sinners, for there is always someone worse. However, for Isaiah, he is in the presences of a perfectly holy God. The standard is now corrected to the perfect sinlessness and holiness of God. A standard that we can never meant. All that Isaiah can see in the presence of God’s holiness is his own sinfulness.

Transition: Isaiah in the presence of a holy God can see nothing but his sinfulness. He saw his sin as so bad and God so holy that he thought he would die. So, what did Isaiah need? Isaiah needed a true salvation.

A True Salvation (vs. 6-7)

Isaiah 6:6–7 ESV

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Question: What is true salvation?

Well, we are not saved by having angels taking live coals from the alter of the throne of God, putting it to our lips and making the proclamation that we are pure. This is not the normal method of salvation and for all we know this is not the point in time that Isaiah came to salvation. However, it is clearly a demonstration by God to Isaiah that he has been made clean or pure before God. In order for Isaiah to fulfill his ministry, he had to know that he was saved and pure before God. This demonstration is special because of his calling to ministry was special. This is not necessarily salvation, but it is to confirm to Isaiah that he is saved; that he is pure; that he is clean. The theological term for this is the assurance of salvation.

If you want to be successful in ministry, then you must have a true view of God, a true view of your own sinfulness and you must know that you are saved.

So how do we receive purification from God? How do we get saved? How do we have our sin or iniquity taken away? There are five points to an understanding of salvation:

You must see yourself as a sinner (Romans 3:10; 23) before a holy God (Isaiah 6:3).

That the penalty of your sin is death:

spiritual death (Ephesians 2:15) – separation from the physical birth from spiritual birth

physical death (Genesis 5:5) – separation of the spirit from the body

eternal death (Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8) – separation from God for all eternity

You cannot save yourself (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5)

Therefore, there is only one that can save you and that is Jesus Christ, who died for your sins (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3), resurrected from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:4) and is Lord over all (Romans 14:11-12)

So what can you do? Receive Christ as Lord and Saviour (Luke 24:47; Acts 17:30; 2 Peter 3:9) and repent of your sin (John 1:12; Romans 10:9-10, 13). “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)

Transition:Isaiah now having his true salvation confirmed by God and is ready to receive his true calling.

A True Calling (v. 8)

Isaiah 6:8 ESV

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Question: What is a true calling?

A true calling is a calling by God. It is knowing the Lord’s will and submitting to the it.

For example, every Christian is called by God to make disciples of the nations (Matthew 28:19-20). That is our calling. We do not need to search hard. God makes His calling clear in the Scriptures.

Every Christian is called to have a ministry of reconcilation (2 Corinthians 5:18).

The Lord’s will is clear on a whole host of areas, such as evangelism, love, unity in the body of Christ, and more

Submit to the clear will of God and study the gray areas to learn the will of God on the not so clear areas/issues and then submit.

God has gifted every Christian for service in the body of Christ. Each is different. However, each person, if serving, functions for the whole body (Romans 12:4-6; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27). God has not called all men to be pastors or missionaries on the foreign field. Maybe God has called you to pastor a local church, or evangelize in your local community, or maybe teach a Bible study, or teach the children in church, or talk to your neighbors about Christ, or clean up after a church function, or maybe God has called you to clean the toilets in church. It does not matter how visible the task or how unseen, if God has called you to serve in an area then that is the greatest work you can do, for it is divinely called. Therefore, submit. Whatever the task, be willing to say, “here I am send me”.

Transition: Up until this point, most of Christianity would agree. However, most of those that preach this text stop at this point. The more controversial issues are what follow and many churches need to learn the following lessons from Isaiah to properly understand true success in m. Isaiah knows his true calling by God, but he is still lacking something, the true message.

A True Message (v. 9)

Isaiah 6:9 ESV

And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

Question: What is a true message?

A true message is God’s message, no matter how hard or difficult that message may be to proclaim. A true message is message from God, regardless of the response by the audience.

God told Isaiah to go to the people of Israel and tell them that they will hear and see but not understand or perceive. Tell them that they are spiritually blind and will continue that way. Isaiah may have been hopeful when he told the Lord, “here I am, send me”, that he would have a fruitful ministry with much of the nation of Israel returning to God. However, God set the record straight by giving Isaiah a message that clearly states that the people will reject it and harden their hearts even more.

God tells Isaiah to tell the people that they are too hard-hearted to understand His message. However, He wants Isaiah to go and preach anyway. Clearly when God gives people a message to proclaim, it cannot be linked directly to the person’s spiritual ability to understand the message. The gospel is primary for the unsaved however, lost people have no spiritual understanding, they are spiritually dead.

We have too many Christians trying to water down the gospel with easy-believism, in order to get more people to accept the message. However, once the message is changed or watered down it is no longer God’s message but man’s.

You do not water down the gospel because you care about people’s souls, you do it because you want them to like you. Frankly, we need to get over ourselves.

A true message depends on God reception not the audience’s reception. Is God pleased with the message, does He accept it.

Even if people do not receive the message, it must not change.

It does not depend on how the receiver receives it but on how God gives it. It does not depend on the response of your audience but on God’s will for you to proclaim His gospel accurately, in other words, according to His Word.

You are not the Holy Spirit. It is not your job to convict, convince, or convert people. Let the Holy Spirit do His job. He does it better then you anyway.

Transition: Isaiah was not given kind of message that we would hope to be asked to preach, but it was a true message from God. What Isaiah needed now was a true method.

A True Method (v. 10)

Isaiah 6:10 ESV

Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Question: What is a true method?

A true method is one directed by God, a true method is one that compliments the message and a true method is one that pleases God, not necessarily others or yourself.

God’s purpose was to give Israel ample opportunity to hear the message of God and turn toward Him, knowing all along that they would harden their hearts. God’s method was to have these people reject the message, by hearing it so much, so that His judgment of them would be clear.

We do not want to be rejected. We must remember that it is not us that are being ultimately rejected, but God Himself since there is only one way to become justified or declared righteous in God’s sight. We also have to realize that when people do reject the gospel we present to them, God is not limited to merely using us in those peoples’ lives. God may call us to be faithful to plant seed that others may water and even other to reap.

We have a multifaceted God and our job is to do what He wants us to do, not to worry about the results. I am to obey. God works on many issues at once in many peoples lives.

However, the method must not change to make the message more acceptable or palatable. Many churches today want to replace preaching with other forms of communication, such as drama or music. While dramas and music are good and has its place, it should never replace the preaching and proclamation of the Word of God. For, preaching is the only method that God clearly lays out (1 Corinthians 1:18-21; 2:4; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:3).

Illustration: There are many Christian terrorists that attempt to knowingly or unknowing corrupt or destroy the true message of God. What do I mean by Christian terrorists? Terrorists live among us, live like us, act like us but want to undermine us. On September 11, 2001, there were two types of terrorists. There were those terrorists that knew that they were going to fly those airplanes into the twin towers and there were those terrorists that thought that were going to hijack the planes and live to see another day. We have in Christianity some “Christian leaders” that are really seeking to change the message of the gospel to destroy it. However, it is more the case that many do not realize that they are destroying the gospel. Some leaders may not be saved, so they do not like or know the true gospel. Others are just trying to reach out to the masses using worldly means not biblical ones to spread the gospel. They use marketing and depend on man’s ability and not God’s sovereignty. They think that their changes to the method of presenting the gospel will make it more acceptable. However, their method is undermining and destroying the message of God.

As an example, one of the most well known Christian preachers made the following statements:

I think everybody that loves Christ, or knows Christ, whether they're conscious of it or not, they're members of the Body of Christ … And that's what God is doing today, He's calling people out of the world for His name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ, because they've been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don't have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think they are saved, and that they're going to be with us in heaven

However, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)

Transition:Isaiah now has a true view of God, sin, salvation, his calling, the message and the method, so we can now ask, was he successful in his mission? God told Isaiah what He knew would be true success.

A True Success (vs. 11-13)

Isaiah 6:11–13 ESV

Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.

Question: What is true success?

True success is whatever God’s calls it to be, or however God’s defines it.

History tells us that Israel did so utterly reject Isaiah’s preaching and God’s message that in their disobedience God sent the Assyrians to take all but a remnant into captivity. Isaiah did his job successfully and God did as He said He would do.

Success is defined by God not men, therefore; numbers, money, popularity or results are not an accurate measure of success in missions. Obedience is!

God focuses on the internal things of the heart not external measures, as man so often does.

God’s success may not lead to people believing in Him. However, it will always lead to His glory.

How could Isaiah continue with this ministry? It started with his true view of how great and holy God is and how completely unworthy he was. With a true view of God and our own sinfulness we can realize the ministry we are given does not focus on the temporal results. It is only with a true view of God and our sinfulness that we can truly understand God’s grace and mercy in salvation and therefore, seek only to glorify Him in all that we do.

Illustration: I am a long distance runner. Running made me realize that true success is like a long distance run in thick woods. The runner must always look down at the path as not to stumble and up at the goal as to not make a wrong turn. Many start by looking up in ministry, with the intentions of seeing the Lord save people and focusing on the spiritual growth of people. However, after a long while, many get discouraged in ministry. Some because they are not seeing the results they want or expected from God. As they tire, like a runner, their head begins to drop and they have trouble holding their head up and only look down, looking for results in: number, money or popularity.

Transition: Was Isaiah successful? He obeyed God even in the face of adversity. The result was Isaiah preached God’s message using God’s method to the end that God’s will was done. Was Isaiah successful? I would say yes.

Conclusion

Successful missions is based on a 1) true view of God, 2) true view of man’s sinfulness, 3) true salvation, 4) true calling, 5) true message and 6) true method, but all this requires one thing: obedience to God. God judges success, not by numbers, money, popularity or results, but by obedience and faithfulness to His Word.

To the unsaved: you must recognize your need to be saved: 1) recognize the true God for who He is, 2) recognize your own sinfulness and 3) recognize and accept true salvation by God.

To the saved: you must realize that you are a missionary: 1) realize your true calling by God to ministry, 2) realize and teach God’s true message and 3) realize and be careful to follow God’s true method; then go out and know that whatever the results you have eternal success.