THE CRY OF THE CALL

Isaiah 6:8-10 “8 Also 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 tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

10 “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”

The cry of the call is in twofold:

The cry of the Convicted

The cry of Compassion

The Cry of the Convicted

when Isaiah saw himself in the light of God’s holiness, he felt unworthy. He discovered he was filty and pitiful. In the presence of God his sins appeared exceedingly sinful that he was overwhelmed by his own condition of sin. remember Isaiah was busy serving the Lord even before this call. He knew he was right with the Lord but when the glory of God shone in his life, he discovered he was exceedingly sinful and in dire need of cleasing. When seen next to the purity of God’s holiness, the impurity of human sin is all the more evident. feeling naked, He cried out,

“Woe is me, for I am 1undone!

Because I am a man of funclean lips (v.5)

in other words Isaiah gets convicted of His sinfulness. note it is until Isaiah was fully in the presence of God, he discovered the excellence of God’s Holiness and the extent of his own sinfulness that he exclaimed, “woe unto me.”

It is possible for one to be in God’s service, yet not converted. (Paul, Peter)

PETER

Peter was among the 12 disciples of Jesus and amon the very firstone to be called. Throughout the ministry of Jesus Peter was with Jesus. not Just as a follower but positioned himself as a leader of the team. but the unfortunate thing is that Peter was not converted.

Matthew 16: 21-23

1From that time on Jesusc began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!”

23But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Wrong Motivation

Jesus argument is that Peter did not have the things of God in his mind as he followed Him but things of men. in other words, Peter’s motivation in following Jesus was wrong. Peter was committed to Jesus in the establishment of an earthly kingdom. That was what he wanted, and he was willing to follow Jesus to achieve the end—even to the point of death.

Jn. 13: 37 37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” 38 Jesus answered him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.”

Jeus calls Peter Satan and a stumbling block. The Greek term σκάνδαλον translated offense or stumbling block, has the meaning of being the cause of both transgression and destruction.

Put differently, Jesus is telling Peter, get behind me Peter for you have an earthly mind, motivation, with this high commitment to achieving earthly kingdom, you are a stumbling block to achieving the heavently Kingdom.

when you have a wrong motivation you have a wrong direction. when you have a wrong direction you have a wrong destination. Peter’s direction is earthly,Jesus directionis heavenly. so if Peter parpot to follow Jesus, yet he has a wrong motivation, then he is a cause of transgression and destruction. in other words he is going to lead many a stray.

In Mathew 18:6

“If anyone leads even the little ones a stray, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Is it possiblefor one to serve yet not in harmony with God? Yes Peter was.

Luke 22:31-32

“31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.””

The Greek term epistrepho translated “returned to me, or converted” means to “turn, ot return, or return back, or turn around.”

so conviction is when we are esposed before the Lord, and a yarnig is birthed in our hearts to have a turn around in our spiritual walk. It is the turning back to Jesus. it is returning to the right direction.

let us not conceal our sins, but expose to the Lord.

Proverbs 28:13 “If you hide your sins, you will not succeed. If you confess and reject them, you will receive mercy.”

Psalm 139:3-7 “You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do. Lord, even before I say a word, you already know it. You are all around me—in front and in back— and have put your hand on me. Your knowledge is amazing to me; it is more than I can understand. Where can I go to get away from your Spirit? Where can I run from you?

Ephessians 5:10-12

10Test and prove what pleases the Lord. 11 Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

friends this is the time to Test and prove what pleases the Lord ans seek for a true turn around in our lives. no one is safe without re examining themselves.

Haggai 1:5-7

Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways! You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.” Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways!

“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. " (Ps. 51:12)

This cry of Isaiah is most urgent need of the church.

2. It is the holiness of God that convicts of our sinfulness.

Isaiah’s convertion was not possible until he was engulfed in the presence of God.

and true conversion will never be achieved unless we are engulfed in the presence of God. God indwells us through the holyspirit.

Ephesians 2:22 “in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Where the spirit is God is. The Holy spirit brings God’s presence in our lives.

John 16:7-8,

“And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment”

Acts of Apostles pg 52.5

Having brought conviction of sin, and presented before the mind the standard of righteousness, the Holy Spirit withdraws the affections from the things of this earth and fills the soul with a desire for holiness. ...The Spirit will take the things of God and stamp them on the soul. By His power the way of life will be made so plain that none need err therein.

2. The Cry for Compassion

It is compassion that brough Jesus from heaven to earth. He is called a compassionate savior.

Psalm 86:15

But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Psalm 116:5

The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.

This word has been repentedly used to express Jesus reaction upon those who were in dire need of mercy.

Matthew 14:13-14

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Mark 6:34

When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

Compassion

The greek term splanchnon from which the word compassion is derived, originally denotes the “inward parts” of a sacrifice, and specifically the nobler parts as distinct from the , the heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys, which are separated in the sacrifice and consumed by the participants at the beginning of the sacrificial meal. Can also mean the “sacrifice” itself

when Christ says i feel compassion on people is like leterally saying am feelin my inner parts. am feeling like offering my nobler parts of my being for them. in other words for their sake i will give my all! i will die for them. for their sake i offer myself as a sacrifice.

This call is cry to move in compassion. to have a sacrificial mind set. That God want us to be offered as sacrifice for our brethren. that our very best is what God requires in this service. Our very best of our finances, our very best of our talents, our very best of our time, our very best of all that consitute our being. we must be willing to offer as a sacrifice for the sake of the gospel.

when Isaiah saw God’s comassion on the people and His unwilling todestroy them, he was also filled withcompassion to go. He accepted to be spent of the Lord.

Will you heed the call?