Intro: I remember my brother in law Curtis coming up with the best app of all time. There was a bug on the wall and he grabbed his phone and said “I got an app for that,” and proceeded to smash the bug with his phone. With the introduction of the I Phone, I Pad and all the smart phones and other technology those words have become part of our vocabulary. The amazing thing about it is that God had apps long before Steve Jobs and Apple. God’s truth His principles for living, His promises for his children, His commands for His children have to be applied.
You can be a child of God and not have His favor in your life. You can have grace to forgive your sin and miss the favor of God or His best for you in this life.
William Booth founder of the Salvation army saw this time of people hungering for apps on smart phones but missing the greatest apps of all, said, “The chief danger of the twentieth century will be; religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration heaven without hell.”
What we will find in this series is that God has resources for us to deal with daily life. First we must realize there are no quick fixes. Even when we are introduced to Jesus for the first time we still have to make Godly decisions, have Godly attitudes and surrender our daily life to Jesus Christ.
Where does this all begin? Proverbs 29:18 “Without prophetic vision people run wild, but blessed are those who follow God’s teachings.”
It can literally mean without divine communication people run around wild. We need to be headed in a direction together Immanuel.
I) We need to get a clear vision of Jesus
John 12:41 “1 Isaiah said this because he had seen Jesus’ glory and had spoken about him.”
What is the importance of seeing Jesus? What you believe about Jesus affects everything else you do. .
A) The High and exalted master (Adonai)
He is above the temporary things of our life. The natural disasters, the natural desires, the natural mistakes, Adonai, Lord Master, God is above it all. However, he is interested in you. He will invade your circumstances and become master of it all if you only invite Him.
B) The Holy master
Job 42:5, 6 “I had heard about you with my own ears, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.
6 That is why I take back what I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show that I am sorry.”
Isaiah saw how different God is. Job saw how different God is.
Everyone has a story but that story is merely a sentence in the History of God’s glory.
C.S. Lewis said, “How little people know who think holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing, it is irresistible.”
II) We need complete confession of sin
Isaiah said woe is me! Isaiah 6.5 is an expression of deep sorrow and grief. Do you really want a vision? A true vision of Jesus will result in an overwhelming understanding of your sinfulness.
Why is God light? To shine on the darkness of our rebellious hearts and allow us to confess what He already knows.
Isaiah finally realizes His religion just like his generations. It is shallow and filled with self pleasing excuses. So we see that the result of really seeing Jesus as He is, is confession of the sins that separate us.
Psalm 1:17 “The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.”
Brokenness leads to confession. Confession leads to cleansing.
So many want seekers and people that come to Sunday worship to be comfortable. God wants us to be amazed at His holiness and overwhelmed with our sinfulness.
Confession of our inability is the permission for God to begin to work in and through us and receive the recognition for what is happening in our life.
What does Isaiah’s confession reveal?
a) Unless we have been cleansed by Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection our worship is worthless.
b) Unless we have been cleansed by Adonai, the Lord, Jesus we will not hear His call.
III. We need complete cleansing of sin
After Isaiah came clean and confessed His sin before God Jesus took the initiative just like He did when you accepted the gospel. When God could have totally destroyed Isaiah with the Holy blast of His breath instead He cleansed Him.
It is clear Isaiah’s encounter with God changed Him. What has your encounter with God done in your life? God invites and even commands us to be like Him. 1 Peter 1:13-16 “Therefore, with your minds ready for action,[i] be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. 15 But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.”
In the New Testament belief or doctrine, the true things about God, are never separated from behavior. It is the revealing of the Holiness of God that and the relationship with Jesus that gives us power over the sin we so often struggle with.
How do we get cleansed?
A) First it is the initiated by God. If we confess our sins He is faithful to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. So judicially or positionally we are clean before God. But God leaves us here to live a life of practical holiness.
B) Second it is the cultivated by man.
Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word (Eph. 5:25-26).
It is ongoing ingestion and meditation of God’s word that changes our way of thinking.
IV. We accept our compelling mission for the kingdom
Isaiah 6.4 “The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.”
This statement should shake us. The blocks of stone are moved by God’s glory but if you read on in Isaiah the people were not. The glory of God is the whole point of history. We play such a small part but a part none the less.
“Who will go for us and who shall we send?”
God cleans us so that He can send us. We face struggles, failures and mistakes for the purpose of experiencing God’s grace in them. Then God chooses to share that grace through us.
A) First mission worship
The first priority is to encounter God. Until you really see Him as Isaiah did you will not confess your sins and receive His cleansing.
B) Second mission discipleship
A disciple is a lifelong follower and learner of Jesus. We learn to hear and speak to God. We learn to respond in obedience, live in humility, look forward to His return with hope, and deal with people in love.
C) Third mission representation
God was not speaking directly to Isaiah. God’s call for missions, Godly living, transformed Christian living isn’t just for pastors and deacons. It is for all believers.
D) Fourth mission intercession
When we see God’s majesty, we understand a desperate need for His mercy, and then we understand why he gives us mission. There are others that need to know that God will be merciful on those that hear and respond to His truth.
