On Holy Mission at Home

Introduction:

Questions:

What are the two major aspects of holiness

What two comparisons do we see in that really make the holiness of God stand out more than we could imagine?

What is the most intimate and full way that God revealed himself to mankind?

How did Jesus reveal the glimpses of the glory of God?

What was Isaiah’s personal response when he realized how high and holy the LORD is?

After Isaiah humbled himself, what did God graciously do?

What two things happened according to ?

How long does this payment for Isaiah’s uncleanness last?

Who is the propitiation for Christians?

Having realized that God is holier than he could have ever imagined, Isaiah, had recognized his personally weak, destroyed, and silent position before the Lord. The Lord graciously removes all guilt from Isaiah. Subsequently, Isaiah here’s the call of God and answers the call.

App: The journey to holy mission is one where we see the Lord for who He is, rely fully upon his grace to purge us of our guilt, hear his call, and yield fully because He is worthy.

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Who Was The Most Worthy

During one of the Crusades, Philip Auguste, King of France, before he went into one of his battles, removed his royal crown from his head and, setting it on a table with the inscription, “To the most worthy,” he made his oration, as was the custom in those days.

He asked his nobles, knights, and men to forget that he was their king and commander, and to consider that the crown which he had laid aside for the battle would be the prize of the one who carried himself most worthily and bravely and contributed most to their victory.

They entered the battle and returned victorious. All gathered round the table on which the crown had been placed. One of the nobles, stepping forward, took the crown and, advancing toward the monarch, placed it on his head, saying “Thou, O king, art the most worthy.”

Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 1241). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

(1) What the Lord says is worthy of hearing -

This voice is worthy of hearing - And I heard the voice of the Lord

This voice is showing his authority - Whom shall I send?

This voice is in deliberation - who will go FOR US?

This voice of the LORD is worthy of response - Then said I

This voice is worthy of submission - Here am I; send me.

Why would Isaiah respond this way?

A LIFE-CHANGING PERSPECTIVE

The Cliffs of Moher (/ˈm oːhɚ/; Irish: Aillte an Mhothair)[1] are located at the southwestern edge of the Burren region in County Clare, Ireland.[2][3] They rise 120 metres (390 ft) above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag's Head, and, eight kilometres to the north, reach their maximum height of 214 metres (702 ft) just north of O'Brien's Tower,[4] which is a round stone tower near the midpoint of the cliffs that was built in 1835 by Sir Cornelius O'Brien.[2][5] From the cliffs, and from atop the tower, visitors can see the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, the Maumturks and Twelve Pins mountain ranges to the north in County Galway, and Loop Head to the south.[5] The cliffs rank amongst the most visited tourist sites in Ireland[6] and receive approximately one million visitors a year.[7] The closest settlements are Liscannor (6 km south) and Doolin (7 km north).

Isaiah has been as low as humanly is possible because he has seen the loftiest that is humanly possible. In spite of this, he has seen unmerited grace extended to him in the actions of . This journey can be the ONLY explanation for why he would know that the LORD is worthy of the response of verse 8 and why he too is fit for the call of verse 8.

Principle:

Your willingness to obey the Lord will prove if you’ve truly been changed by Him.

There are a lot of people who say that they have been changed by the Lord, but they are unwilling to yield their bodies to him. , “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

Application:

There are things and people we find more worthy of obedience than the Lord:

(1) Some haven’t seen the worthiness of he Lord but they have seen the worthiness of status. What is your greatest source of pride or confidence?

(2) Others don’t feel qualified for service to the Lord because they have not believed the depths of the payment and grace the Lord has extended to them.

See Jesus Christ! Humble yourselves before Christ! Give to Him the “No strings attached surrender that He deserves!”

(2) When God speaks, something always happens -

Illustration: In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ray is first becoming aware of the force. She has been captured by Kilo Ren and she is in holding. Kilo Ren attempts to get the location of Luke SkyWalker out of her, but he is not successful.

After Kylo Ren leaves, Ray is able to use the force to force a trooper to let her go free, and just before he leave the room she adds one final command, “And drop your weapon on the ground.” And he does.

There are no hiccups when God speaks. Something always happens in the hearts of the hearers. He doesn’t practice.

This is speaking of the judicial hardening of Israel.

Note passages like: ,

This judicial hardening points to God’s global plan:

Only the journey above can fuel what others would consider to be fruitless service. Really, it is a veiled sovereign plan of God.

Principle:

Principle:

God always has a purpose when His Word is preached. God’s purpose of the preached Word is to get the gospel to those who are unbelievers.

Application:

Are you the teen who thinks that you really have not decision to make when the Word of God is preached?

Have you fooled yourself into thinking, “Everything is fine with me?”

Or, are you the teen who

The train of God’s message/opportunity is not going to stay at your station for long.

Illustration: Polar Express Movie - the initial pick up finds a little boy who hesitates at first, finally the train begins to leave…he runs and one of the boys inside sees him running and is trying to stop the train so the boy can jump on…etc

As with the Jew, they became hardened to the message. This resulted in the gospel going to the Gentiles.

Unsaved Person: You see, you are not chasing a train. The longer you delay to be saved, the harder you become to God’s salvation.

Christian, the longer you refuse to be humbled because of what you have received in Christ, the easier it becomes to keep living an unyielded life.

(3) What God says causes some to be set apart to God (v. 11 - 13)

Isaiah was to preach through the judgment that would come upon his people/nation (v. 11)

The judgment that would come would be by the Lord (v. 12)

Isaiah was to preach with hope (v. 13)

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The Lord is so gracious that even those who reject him are not all there are...there are those who have been made holy. What a word, on consideration of how the passage begins.

Conclusion:

What then does this call us to? How do we get to be “on Holy Mission”?

#1 - If God has clearly spoken, then we are all making a choice at the sound of his voice -

What is your choice?

God has clearly spoken in His Word -

#2 - The choice to continue to reject what God has said in the Person of Jesus Christ is a choice to remain in destruction

#3 - The choice to say “Yes” means:

A surrender with no strings attached (financial strings, family requirements…etc) \

Illustration:

On the Polar Express, there’s a scene where the boy goes into the train box car where there are discarded toys from previous Christmas. He hears a doll talking to him. It says, something like, “Hey, kid! You’re just like me! A Scrooge!” The boy notices that there are strings and he looks up to see that it was a HOBO who was the puppeteer. Whose’ puppet are you? We cannot offer ourselves to the Lord and be enslaved to other pursuits.

A surrender to a plan that is far bigger than you.

A recognition that the people you already dwell among are the people you should be speaking to.

I wonder how many gospel conversations have you had with those in your circle of influence.

Would they think it strange to hear you speak this way?

The people that need what you have gotten are those you dwell among.

They are the people you play sports with

They are the people you game with online

They are the people you are in school with

They are the people you work with

What are their names?

Will you go to them?

If not, have you really seen the Lord high and lifted up? Have you really been humbled?

#4 - The choice to say “Yes” also means that you will speak & live hopefully in the midst of trials (v. 13)

2554 The Bat’s Indecision

“No man can serve two masters” (). Aesop speaks in one of his fables about a time when the beasts and fowls were engaged in war. The bat tried to belong to both parties.

When the birds were victorious, he would wing around telling that he was a bird; when the beasts won a fight, he would walk around them assuring them that he was a beast.

But soon his hypocrisy was discovered and he was rejected by both the beasts and the birds. He had to hide himself, and now only by night can he appear openly.

Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 621). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

On Holy Mission:

(1) Begins with a vision of a holy God - You have this in Jesus Christ.

(2) On holy mission - requires a servant who is humbled because of what they have seen in Christ

(3) Is fully committed to God’s purpose, without reservation, to take God’s Word to the people who are in unbelief.