Untitled Sermon (2)

THE ATTITUDE OF A TRUE SERVANT

Text: Isaiah 6:1-13

Introduction

If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, chapter number 6. We will be reading verses 1 through 13.Church, we live in a world that is obsessed with finding security in things that are actively passing away. We look to our bank accounts. We look to our jobs. We look to our government leaders to give us a sense of peace and safety. But history proves, and the Word of God confirms, that every earthly anchor will eventually snap. When the visible structures of our culture begin to crumble, where do we look?[Preaching Prompt: Pause for 3 seconds. Let the question sink in.]In Isaiah chapter 6, we find a man of God standing at a massive historical crossroads. The nation is shaking. The future looks dark. The culture is dying. It is exactly in this moment of deep national crisis that God calls a preacher. Today, using the historic truths of our Baptist faith, we are going to look at three things: The Condition of the World, The Personal Invitation to Ministry, and The Shocking Result of True Obedience.But as we walk through this text, I want you to look at Isaiah himself. The absolute heart of this message is a challenge for you and me. The point of this text is that we, as Bible-believing Christians, must have the exact same attitude that Isaiah had.Let us look together at verse number 1.

I. The Condition of the World: A Broken Culture and a God in Control (Time: 4:00 – 12:00)

A. The Loss of Earthly Security

The Bible opens this magnificent chapter with a heavy, somber historical marker. Verse 1 says: "In the year that king Uzziah died..."To the casual reader, that is just a calendar date. But to an Israelite living in Jerusalem, those words brought absolute terror. King Uzziah had reigned for fifty-two long years. He was an incredibly successful king. He built up the military, secured the borders, expanded business, and brought a golden age of wealth and prosperity to Judah. For the vast majority of people alive, Uzziah was the only king they had ever known. He was their symbol of strength, safety, and stability.But suddenly, the great king is dead. The throne in Jerusalem is empty. When Uzziah died, political panic swept through the streets. The terrifying shadow of the enemy Assyrian Empire was looming on the horizon, and Judah’s human shield was gone.[Preaching Prompt: Lean forward over the pulpit. Raise your voice slightly for emphasis.]This reminds us of a fundamental Baptist truth: Human leadership is failing, flawed, and entirely temporary. Whenever the church hitches her wagon to political powers or earthly rulers, she is building on sinking sand. Presidents change. Prime ministers fall. Kings die. If your peace depends on who is sitting in Washington D.C., or any other earthly capital, you will live in constant anxiety.

B. The Absolute Control of God

Look at the next words of verse 1. Isaiah says: "...I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple."What an incredible contrast! The throne in Jerusalem was empty, but Isaiah looked up and saw that the throne in Heaven was completely occupied! God was not pacing the streets of gold, wringing His hands, wondering what Judah was going to do next. He was calmly sitting down. He was completely in control.Notice that His throne is "high and lifted up." It is vastly superior to any human office. And the "train"—the hem of His royal robe—was so massive that it completely filled the entire temple. There was no room left for anyone else's glory.[Preaching Prompt: Pause. Speak softly but firmly.]Beloved, the local church rests on this eternal fact: While earthly thrones empty, God is still on His throne. The world is not spinning out of control; it is spinning directly into the sovereign hands of Almighty God. Isaiah had an attitude of absolute confidence in God's authority, even when his earthly world was falling apart.

C. The Complete Brokenness of Man

But when a sinful man comes into contact with a holy, perfect God, something explosive happens. Look at verse 5. Isaiah does not shout for joy. He does not claim his "best life now." He falls on his face and delivers a cry of execution:

"Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips..."

When Isaiah saw the angels crying "Holy, holy, holy," the light of God’s absolute moral perfection shone into his heart. In an instant, he realized his true condition. He says, "I am undone." In the original language, that means "I am ruined. I am entirely unraveled. I am fit for destruction."This is where we see Isaiah's first major attitude: an attitude of total humility. Apart from the grace of God, human beings are not basically good people who just make mistakes. We are completely ruined by sin from birth. The world's attitude today is proud, loud, and full of self-righteousness. But a true Christian must look at God's holiness and have an attitude of deep humility, recognizing our own personal sin.Notice where Isaiah spots his sin first: his lips. Why? Because Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Our speech reveals our corrupt hearts. Exposed to God's holiness, the preacher realized he was a sinner bound for hell apart from divine mercy. [1]

D. The Corruption of Society

Isaiah then looks out at his culture and adds: "...and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."True Baptist conviction recognizes that the surrounding world is spiritually lost and structurally ungodly. Isaiah did not look at the world through rose-colored glasses. He saw Judah for what it really was: a backslidden, God-hating society. The condition of the world around us today is no different. It is loud, proud, unclean, and entirely undone.

II. Isaiah Answering the Call: The Personal Invitation to Ministry (Time: 12:00 – 22:00)

A. The Necessity of the Cross (Substitutionary Atonement)

[Preaching Prompt: Change tone to one of gratitude and awe. Lower your volume to draw the listeners in.]How can an undone preacher help an unclean world? He can't—not until he is changed by the power of God. Look at verses 6 and 7:

"Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged."

Notice where the coal came from: the altar. The altar was the place of blood sacrifice. It was the place where an innocent victim died in the place of the guilty. [2] This is a beautiful picture of what Jesus did for us on the cross. That burning coal represents the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. Before Isaiah could ever preach a sermon, his lips had to be burned by the fire of the altar. His sin had to be completely washed away. Church, blood sacrifice and divine cleansing must come before any Christian service! You cannot rescue a drowning world if you are still drowning in your own sins. You must be born again, washed in the blood, and cleansed by the Holy Spirit.

B. The Free Will Choice of the Believer

Once the preacher is cleansed, he finally hears the voice of God. Verse 8 says: "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"Notice the Trinity right here in the text: "Whom shall I send (One God), and who will go for us" (Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost). God is looking for a missionary. He is asking a global missions question.And how does Isaiah respond? "Then said I, Here am I; send me."[Preaching Prompt: Pound the pulpit firmly. Speak with deep conviction.]Look closely at Isaiah's second major attitude: an attitude of unconditional surrender. Isaiah did not demand to see the salary package. He did not ask where he would be living. He did not ask if the people would love him. He freely used his own will in immediate, total surrender. He signed a blank check with his life and handed it to Almighty God before he even knew what the job description was.As modern Christians, our attitude is often: "Lord, tell me what you want me to do, tell me how much it costs, tell me if it is comfortable, and then I will decide if I want to obey." That is not the attitude of Isaiah. That is the attitude of Jonah.

1. Jonah and the Cost of Rebellion

[Preaching Prompt: Walk out from behind the pulpit if possible. Speak with strong, warning urgency.]To understand just how remarkable Isaiah’s attitude was, we must contrast him with another Old Testament preacher: Jonah.

When God called Jonah to preach to the lost city of Nineveh, Jonah did not say, He packed his bags and ran exactly the opposite direction toward Tarshish, trying to escape the presence of the Lord. His attitude was one of self-protection and stubborn rebellion.The Fleeing Prophet:"Here am I."

Jonah’s rebellion instantly invited a catastrophic storm. The waves crashed, the ship threatened to break, and innocent sailors almost lost their lives. This reminds us that Your secret disobedience never affects just you; it brings storms into your family, your marriage, and your local church.The Storm of Judgment:backsliding always causes collateral damage.

Jonah ended up in the suffocating darkness of the great fish's belly, crying out from the "belly of hell." That is the painful, miserable discipline that awaits every believer who refuses the call of God with a bad attitude. Isaiah avoided the whale's belly because he had an attitude of immediate surrender at the altar.The Belly of Hell:

2. The Dangers of This Call

But make no mistake: having the attitude of Isaiah and saying "Send me" is a dangerous prayer.

If you stand up and preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, you will experience fierce opposition. The world loves darkness rather than light, and it hates the truth.Cultural Rejection: [3, 4]

Answering the call means giving up your right to comfort, worldly popularity, and financial ease. Church history tells us that Isaiah eventually paid for this call with his very life. Traditional history states that during the reign of wicked King Manasseh, this great prophet was placed inside a hollow log and literally sawn in two. True commitment costs everything.Personal Sacrifice:

III. The Result of Isaiah Answering This Call: Faithfulness Over Success (Time: 22:00 – 27:00)

A. A Difficult Ministry of Preaching

Now, if this were a modern church growth seminar, this is the part where God would tell Isaiah that his church is going to explode with growth. But look at the shocking assignment God gives him in verses 9 and 10:

"And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes..."

What a staggering message! God told Isaiah: "Go preach, but understand this: your preaching is not going to convert the masses. It is going to harden them. The more you preach the truth, the blinder they will become, and the angrier they will get."Isaiah was called to preach a message of warning. His job was to lay down the law to a people who had already rejected God, sealing their judgment.

B. The Demand for Lifelong Endurance

[Preaching Prompt: Slow your pacing down significantly. Let every sentence hang in the air.] [5] Isaiah, understandably stunned, asks a very logical question in verse 11: "Then said I, Lord, how long?" "Lord, how long do I have to preach this hard, unpopular message?"Look at God's answer:

"...Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the Lord have removed men far away..."

God said, "You preach until the country is completely destroyed. You preach until the enemy carries them away in chains. You preach until your dying breath."This leads us to Isaiah's third major attitude: an attitude of unshakable faithfulness. By modern standards, Isaiah’s ministry was an absolute, miserable failure. He did not have massive crowds. He did not have a growing building fund. He did not get any awards from the community. But because Isaiah had the right attitude, he didn't quit. He didn't complain that it wasn't working. [6] In the eyes of God, Isaiah was a roaring success. Why? Because true success is measured by obedience, not by visible statistics or numbers. God does not call us to be popular; He calls us to be faithful. As Christians, our attitude cannot be driven by visible results or crowd sizes. We must serve simply because the King told us to go.

C. The Promise of a Righteous Remnant

Lest the preacher lose all hope, God closes the vision with a glorious promise in verse 13. He says that even when the nation is cut down like a massive oak tree, a substance—a life—will remain inside it:

"...as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof."

When you cut down an oak tree, it looks dead. It looks like a useless stump. But God says, "Isaiah, inside that stump is a holy seed. I am going to preserve a true, saved, small group of faithful believers."Through decades of dark, lonely, unpopular preaching, Isaiah’s messages sustained a tiny group of faithful believers. And out of that apparently dead "stump"—out of the rejected family line of David—a righteous branch would eventually grow. Seven hundred years later, a Holy Seed would be born in a manger in Bethlehem. His name is Jesus Christ! Because Isaiah was faithful to preach to the few who would listen, the way was paved for the Savior of the world.

Conclusion & Invitation (Time: 27:00 – 30:00)

[Preaching Prompt: Extend an open invitation. Speak directly to the hearts of the individuals in the pews. Softly invite them to respond.]Church, look around you today. The earthly kings are dying. The culture is rotting. The world is completely undone. The condition of our society is desperate.But God is still sitting on His throne, high and lifted up. And the Lord Jesus Christ is still looking out over this lost world, asking the very same question: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"The real question today is not about the condition of the world. The real question is about your attitude.Will you choose the path of Jonah? Will you have an attitude of self-protection, running from God’s assignment, and inviting the storm of His discipline into your life?Or will you walk down to this altar of repentance today? Will you allow your attitude to match Isaiah's? Will you let the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse your lips, wash your heart, and break your pride? Will you stand up, look at the King of Kings, and say, "Here am I, Lord; send me"? [7] The cost is high. The dangers are real. You may never be popular, and you may never be rich. But when you have the attitude of Isaiah, you stand true until the end. And when you stand before that white throne in eternity, you will hear the only words that matter: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."Let us pray. [1] https://plainbibleteaching.com[2] https://fpcjackson.org[3] https://churchleaders.com[4] https://www.christianitytoday.com[5] https://jeffgravens.com[6] https://www.newchurches.com[7] https://www.facebook.com