Here I Am
Notes
Transcript
Here I Am
INTRODUCTION
Missing Ipad- found in freezer.
Watched security video from church.
I’m King of missing the obvious.
Tara- At my Going Away Party - leaving for college.
God answers Isaiah’s prayer of chapter 64.
Isaiah 65:1-7
1 I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name.
2 I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;
3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks;
4 who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
5 who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.
6 Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their lap
7 both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together, says the Lord; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds.”
3 Parts of God’s Response to Isaiah’s Prayer
First Part -God Offers His Glory (65:1-2a)
First Part -God Offers His Glory (65:1-2a)
Isaiah 65:1-2
1 I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name.
2 I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;
“It’s not my fault!”
ILL- Hide ‘n Seek with Avril
“Ready or not, here I come!”
She jumped out and said, “Here I am”
ILL- Prodigal Son
His father was still where he always was. The son was the one who moved.
He waited daily for his son to return.
Parallel God’s response with Isaiah’s call in Isaiah 6.
“Who will go?” “Here I am, send me.”
This time God cries out “Here I am”
“I spread out my hands all the day...”
Come here
Come home
Come to me
When we are not experiencing God’s glory, it is our fault.
Second Part of God’s Response to Isaiah - We Miss God’s Glory (2b-5)
Second Part of God’s Response to Isaiah - We Miss God’s Glory (2b-5)
It is always our fault when we do not experience God’s glory.
3 Reasons We Miss God’s Glory
We Walk Our Own Way (65:2)
We Walk Our Own Way (65:2)
Isaiah 65:2
2 I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;
Do what is right in our own eyes- make up our own rules.
Judges 17:6
6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Proverbs 30:12
12 There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth.
We Provoke God (65:3-4)
We Provoke God (65:3-4)
Isaiah 65:3-4
3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks;
4 who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
Worship other gods
First Command of 10 Commandments. “You shall have no other gods before me.”
We want God’s blessing but we include other gods in our life. God wants to be more than first. he wants to be our everything.
Does your wife want to be the woman you love the most r the only woman you love. God is all we need.
We Are hypocrites (65:5)
We Are hypocrites (65:5)
Isaiah 65:5
5 who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.
We think of ourselves as more holy than others.
We do not love the unlovable like God.
We do not invite the spiritually sick into the spiritual hospital.
ILL- The Good Samaritan
Levi and Priest- failed to show love because they thought they were too holy.
Jews thought of themselves as the only ones God loved. They failed to see they were in sin as much as their pagan neighbors.
We are Religious- trying to manipulate God.
Third Part of God’s Response to Isaiah - God holds us Accountable (6-7)
Third Part of God’s Response to Isaiah - God holds us Accountable (6-7)
Isaiah 65:6-7
6 Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their lap
7 both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together, says the Lord; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds.”
Repay - Pay with judgment.
“measure into their lap”= give them exactly what they deserve.
Sin debt.
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
HOWEVER- Jesus spread out his arms and yelled “Here I am”
CONCLUSION
Have you lost sight of God’s glory in your life?
Do you come to church or times of prayer and wonder where God is?
What are you holding on to in your life that s separating you from God?
Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 5:8
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus is holding out his arms to you, waiting for you, calling you.
Will you accept his embrace?
Will you accept his embrace?
