Isaiah s Message to America Who Will Go For Us?

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1 AM I Want to Know My Bible Page 1 TEXT: Isaiah 6-11 Isaiah s Message to America Who Will Go For Us? INTRODUCTION: Very few people have seen the throne room of heaven while they still lived: Moses (although the throne room came down to him on Mt. Sinai rather than him going up to the throne room like everybody else), the little known prophet Micaiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, John the Apostle, and Paul. I doubt that any of them ever fully recovered from what they experienced there. While we cannot duplicate or even simulate that experience, I do want us to picture as clearly as possible Isaiah s visit to the Throne Room of the King of the Universe. To do that I ask for your help. First, I want us all to stand. Secondly, I ask that we all remain both quiet and still for the next few minutes. You may choose that which will be most helpful to you in visualizing these brief but life transforming moments in the prophet s life. You can read silently on the screen or in your Bible or you can stand with eyes closed allowing your mind to see what Isaiah describes in this the sixth chapter of the book of his prophecy. Isaiah 6:1 9 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory! 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said: Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.

2 AM I Want to Know My Bible Page 2 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged. 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 I. A COMMON ELEMENT IN EACH OF THE HUMAN VISITS TO THE THRONE ROOM OF GOD IS THAT GOD IS SENDING THE PERSON OUT TO SPEAK HIS WORD. A. This was true of Moses Micaiah Ezekiel Daniel Zechariah John the Apostle Paul And it was most certainly true of Isaiah Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us? B. Notice that when God sent Isaiah, God said, You go for Us! 1. You go on behalf of the Father Who loves the people of His world and wants to redeem them to Himself. 2. You go on behalf of the Son Who Himself went, not merely to the earth but all the way to the cross and the grave, to accomplish that redemption. 3. You go on behalf of the Spirit Who will be your source of strength and power for the accomplishment of the task you are given by God.

3 AM I Want to Know My Bible Page 3 C. Isaiah was sent to tell the people. Go, and tell this people God told Isaiah that most the people would not believe until they saw the judgment of God falling all around them, but still he was to go and tell. D. Likewise the King has called all of us who have been saved to go and tell. 1. You may be saying, Wait, I have not been brought up to the throne room of heaven. 2. No, the King has not brought you up to Him. He has come down to you. 3. But the command of the King is as clear for each of us as it was for Isaiah. John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. Matthew 28: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. E. God s calling is not an option for a true follower of Jesus Christ. God does not call some to go and some to stay. There are not spiritual gifts of going and remaining. Now we don t all have to go far all the time. We don t all have to go to Asia and stay there. There is going and telling to be done in our Jerusalem called Panama City! There is going and telling to be done in our Judea called Florida! There is going and telling to be done in our Samaria called the United States! There is going and telling to be done everywhere in God s world! F. God s calling is not a hobby, to be done around everything else. G. God s calling is a life purpose. H. God s calling to go and tell is one of the reasons for which we are created. I. God s calling to go and tell is one of the reasons for which we have been saved. Listen daddies, your job in life is not just to earn money to keep food on the table, a roof over the heads, and clothes on the back of your wife and children. You are to do that. But you are to be making disciples of your wife and children, teaching them to do everything the Lord told us. Part of what He told us is that we are to disciples others everywhere in the world, so your job dad is to be training your family to be intentional disciple makers. Listen mommies, your job is to work alongside your husband to turn your family into disciple makers. If you are a single mom, for whatever reason, you are still to be doing this for your family.

4 AM I Want to Know My Bible Page 4 Teens and children, understand this is God s grand purpose for you. Even more critical in life than your choice to be a teacher, a nurse, an architect, a welder, whatever is your intentional choice to say Yes to the King who has commanded you to be His witness and to be a maker of disciples in His world. And what are we to tell? It is not difficult. You already know! II. WE ARE TO TELL THAT GOD S SON CAME INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE US. In the very next chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah we find Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Matthew quoted this verse concerning the entrance of Jesus into the world. Matthew 1: And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins. 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us. Just tell them what you know of Jesus, from His Word, and what He has done in your life. 1. Tell them how Jesus brought light into the darkness. Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. 2. How Jesus has become your burden bearer. Isaiah 9:4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 3. Tell them Jesus is your Wonderful Counselor. 4. Tell them how Jesus has answered your prayers as the Mighty God. 5. How you have been adopted into the family of the Everlasting Father. 6. Tell them how Jesus has taken you out of conflict and become your Prince of Peace. III. TELL THEM JESUS IS BRINGING A NEW WORLD UPON THIS EARTH. Isaiah 11:4 9 4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His

5 AM I Want to Know My Bible Page 5 lips He shall slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist. 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf And the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper s den. 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea. And because of this Isaiah said, and you can say, Isaiah 12:1 2 1 And in that day you will say: O LORD, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. 2 Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation. CONCLUSION: May I tell you again how blessed I am? I know I have told you before, but I don t tell you as often as I tell the Lord. Nearly every day I thank Him for allowing me to be a part of this church, St. Andrew Baptist Church, because as a part of this church it is easy to say Here am I, send me. This is an Acts 1:8 Church and the only thing you need to say yes to God is a willing heart. Now that s not true everywhere. There are many places you can go to church that for you to be a witness for Christ and a disciple maker, you almost have to be a pioneer. But not here. You want to minister in this Jerusalem of ours called Panama City? We have lots of Jerusalem ministries. You can help feed, clothe, and love on people in need in our Center of Hope. You can minister to sick and hurting people in our Medical Clinic, and you do not have to be a doctor or nurse. You can minister to young ladies in our Sheltering Tree ministry. You can minister to neighbors and people at work or school be bringing them to your Lifechange Group where they are going to be loved and taught the Word of God. You can help them bring their children where they are going to be taught the things of Christ by people who love them and help them learn in fun ways. And when you are ready to make your first journey to our Judea or Samaria, somewhere in the U.S., you will already find others that are going and will help you go. And here at SABC, it is amazingly easy to go to the ends of the earth. God has opened doors for us in Mexico, Brazil, Ghana, Togo, Benin, India, Dubai and soon to be in Peru and from time to time other places as well. And others have gone before you who will help you, and teach you what you need to know, and work alongside of you as you learn to do it, so you can teach and help others.

6 AM I Want to Know My Bible Page 6 Listen, lay people in our congregation, get to stand before a whole village of people in West Africa and tell them the gospel and see nearly 100 people come to Christ and then start a church. They are not doing anything that every one of you could not do if you would. Two of the quietest, most reserved, shy ladies I know have gone with our teams to Brazil and have become mighty soul winners, leading dozens of people to faith in Christ. Our last team that went to India saw hundreds get saved out of the slums of Mumbai, and next year one of the couples in our church is going to be leading in the planting of a church for Indian nationals in one of the bedroom communities around Atlanta where they live by the thousands. All you have to do is say Here am I send me. Would you say yes to Christ in being His witness, in going and telling? Would you say to the King, Here am I, send me. As Isaiah said? It may be your first step to say yes, it may be your hundredth, but if there is a new way that you are saying yes to the Lord in going and telling this good news of Jesus Christ, I m going to ask you to make that commitment to God.