Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
6/8/97 am
Enter To Worship Depart To Serve
Reading - Isaiah 6.1-8
I have always found it interesting to note the signs in and around church buildings. I believe they reflect the personality of that particular group of people. We have a sign out front....Do you know what it says?
Bella Vista Church of Christ
Where Jesus is Lord
The Bible is taught
And people are loved.
I believe that says what this congregation is about.
I remember a couple of pulpit signs where I have spoken over the years. One said, ‘Sir we would see Jesus.’ A preacher would feel uncomfortable standing in that pulpit preaching anything except Jesus. That sign said something about that church.
Another pulpit sign was.....’Please do not remove this Bible from the pulpit.’ That always bothered me. Now I know what it meant....They didn't want the pulpit Bible moved. However, It always struck me that this was what is wrong with many churches. The Bible is chained to the pulpit and is never taken to the pew....or out of the building. So the only one who is really into the word is the preacher...WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! Or perhaps it meant don't preach anything but the Bible while you’re up here.
I remember seeing a sign over a clock in the back of an auditorium....Most churches have a clock mounted on the back wall. I suppose that is for the preachers benefit. I told our elders it wouldn't work for me because I was near sighted. So they placed one right up here in the pulpit where I can't miss it. I know what you’re thinking...Why don't you ever look at it? Well, anyway over this clock that you had to turn around to see, was the sign...’Remember Lot's wife.’
The sign we want to focus on this morning is found in a lot of churches....It says, ENTER TO WORSHIP DEPART TO SERVE.
This describes very well what happens to Isaiah in our text this morning. Isaiah had the worship experience of all worship experiences...Didn't he? Isaiah comes into the presence of God...has a vision of God that literally changes his life.
I am convinced that our daily walk, our daily service is directly proportional to our vision of God. Church, it is true isn't it, that our concept of God determines how we love and serve Him? How we worship Him each Lord's day has a lot to do with how we live and serve Him through the rest of the week.
So, shallow worship translates into shallow service.
Meaningful worship translates into meaningful service.
If we don't see God for who He really is here on Sunday morning then we will not render Him much service Monday through Saturday. On the other hand, if we do see God properly here, it will change how we live tomorrow. Our worship together has everything to do with who and what we are Monday through Saturday.
It was a dark time for God's people in Isaiah six.
The Assyrians had invaded the Northern Kingdom...and conquered Israel. Now they were camped on the border of Judah...Ready to make their attack on Jerusalem. Captivity was inevitable. God's people had turned away from Him. God said: You are blinded to Me; you no longer see Me or hear My voice; you no longer recognize me as God.
On top of this, King Uzziah had died and Isaiah goes to the Temple to seek God's advice. Here he sees God or, if you've been a part of our Wednesday evening study on angels, Isaiah sees a Theophany, a visual and audible manifestation of God. At the end of this experience, God asked the question; Whom shall I send, who will go for us...Who will speak to the people so they can return to Me? And Isaiah says, “Here am I, send me.”
Question this morning! How many of us are like Isaiah...Ready to go....Ready to live for God daily? Too many of us say, “Here am I, but send somebody else.” And the reason we respond this way is because we do not have a proper vision, a proper concept of God.
Somebody has said that the church is like a football game. There are 22 men on the field in desperate need of rest. And 50,000 people in the stands in desperate need of exercise.
So, what I want us to do this morning is to catch a vision of God and see how that relates to our service in the Kingdom.
Let me read this statement which sets the stage for our thoughts this morning. This is the sermon in a sentence. “No man or woman is properly motivated to do the Lord's work until they have grasp: The Holiness of God, their own inadequacy and sinfulness and the amazing grace of God that cleanses them when they do not deserve it.” What did Isaiah actually see?
HE SAW GOD SEATED ON A THRONE.
We must know this morning, that in the darkest times: When things don't seem to be working out; when life tumbles in, God is still on His throne....God is still in control. For instance, if you are concerned with who is in the White House, relax -- God is still in control. Wednesday evening, Marlin did an excellent job of showing how God providently works in the lives of individuals and nations bringing about His will in human affairs.
THE TRAIN OF HIS ROBE FILLED THE TEMPLE.
His glory, His presence filled the whole room. We see this represented by three phrases in our text:
- His train fills the Temple.
- The whole earth is filled with His glory.
- And the house was filled with smoke.
I believe this speaks to us of two things:
One, there is not one moment, not one facet, not one nuance of our life that God does not fill. He is omnipresent and omniscient. He is everywhere any time all the time and knows all things.
Two, There is room for no other. Our total loyalty must be to Him and Him alone. When we see God for who He is, we will know that He must be first and foremost: No other God's before Me. Love God with all our heart, mind body and soul.
There is no room for anyone else's glory when we come into His presence.
This morning, there is no room in our worship for any another glory, only His. We're not here this morning to honor any man or set of men...Only God. His glory must fill this worship experience.
ISAIAH SEES THE HOLINESS OF GOD.
The seraphim, literally the burning ones, are flying about singing, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. Church, we will never properly respond to God until we see His holiness contrasted with our own sinfulness.....our own inadequacy.
ISAIAH WITNESSES AN EARTHQUAKE.
The foundations of the Temple shook. Isaiah is made aware of the omnipotent power of God.
We don't know how long this goes on, but I want you to take special note of Isaiah's response to it all. Verse 5, Woe is me! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the mist of a people of unclean lips. I am a sinner and I live among sinners.
Note now, how God responds....VS 7. God says: I will cleanse you; I will take away your sins, your guilt, and make you pure.
God responds with His Amazing Grace.
Then and only then does Isaiah say, here am I send me.
Do you catch the sequence of all this?
- Isaiah sees God for who He is.
- Isaiah sees himself for who he is.
- And he is touched by God's forgiving grace.
Now he is ready to properly respond to God....To go out and do the Lord's work....To depart and serve.
OK, in application, let’s see what should happen when we come to worship, when we come into the presence of God.
WE ARE HERE TO SEE THE LORD, TO BE IN HIS PRESENCE.
Scripture tells us, where two or three are gathered together He will be among us. So, God is here this morning, just as sure as He was in the Temple when Isaiah saw Him. The question is - Do we know why we are here this morning? We are here:
- To worship God.
- To see God.
- To give Him praise, honor and glory,
- To thank Him and adore Him,
- To recognize His holiness.
I noticed a sign in the little peoples classroom, this morning, which said, ‘Worship is telling God how special He is to me.’ That says it well, doesn't it? If in fact, we really do that...Then what happens with and to us?
First, It Leads Us To Self Examination.
Seeing God as He really is helps us see ourselves as we really are. To the Christians at Corinth, Paul writes about the Lord's Supper and he says a lot of worshippers are:
- Sick,
- Weak,
- Anemic,
- And asleep, because they do not properly see Jesus and themselves. They do not properly examine themselves in light of His death on the cross.
A part of our worship this morning should be a serious SELF-EXAMINATION. We ought to be asking the question, Where do I stand with God? How are things between the Lord and I?
To help us with this examination, allow me to give you four questions to ask yourself:
1. Are we following Jesus?
2. Are we working spiritually in the lives of other people?
3. Is there anything in our lives that we are unwilling to surrender to God?
4. Is our discipleship present tense or past tense?
Secondly, Seeing God Causes Us To Humble Ourselves Before Him In Complete Surrender To Him.
Have you ever noticed people's posture when they come into the presence of God, when they see God for who He really is? Generally, it is face down in the dirt....RIGHT?
- Abraham sees the three men on the plains of Mamre, one of which we believe to be the LORD and Abraham bows before Him....Calls Him Lord.
- Jacob wrestles with God in the dirt.
- Moses hid his face... Probably face down in the dirt before the burning bush.
- Jeremiah falls on his face before the Lord.
- Saul on the Damascus road fell to the ground in the presence of Jesus.
Seeing God for who He is and ourselves for who we are causes us to humble ourselves before Him....Realizing: Our weaknesses, Our sinfulness, which causes us to understand our dependence upon God.
Church, we cannot make it physically or spiritually without Him. Paul maintains in Acts 17 that, it is in Him that we live, move and have our being.
So, let’s talk a moment about surrender. You see, surrender is embracing God's purpose for my life. Complete surrender, means it is no longer
My life,
My purpose,
My plans,
My ideas,
My ego,
BUT HIS.
Paul said it so well in Galatians 2.20, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Paul says, it’s no longer MY LIFE....But Jesus living in me.
Why do you suppose Paul says this?.....Because He has seen the LORD! In Romans, he admonishes us all to become: Living sacrifices, Instruments of God, Slaves to righteousness.
My prayer for this worship service is, that each and everyone of us, will bow down before God and say, Lord have your way with me.
Church, do you want to live an exciting life? Then pray this prayer; Lord do what you must do to make me the person you want me to be. I must tell you this morning, if you sincerely pray that prayer, you had better be ready to accept some major changes in your life.
Will you excuse the personal illustration? Georgia and I prayed this prayer and as a result, we find that:
- We are not the same people we were,
- We don't live in the same town,
- We don't live in the same house,
- Both our careers have changed,
- Our daily priorities have changed,
- Our friendship circle has changed.
- Very little in our life remains as it previously was, and the past 11 years have been the most exciting 11 years in our lives. No, it has not been easy, but it has been exciting. You see, complete surrender means that we lose control, and that Now, God is in control.
After all, God knows better what we need than we do. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, It is not within man who walks to direct his own steps.
Humility and surrender mean that we turn over control to God. Folk, He is totally qualified and capable of the task. How do you think Dottie Adamson, Earl Herndon, Osa Branstetter and Betty Fritz are able to cope with their burdens. I'll tell you how; they, in humility, have turned control over to God in complete surrender.
Someone might be thinking WHY? Why would anyone let go and turn over that much control to God? To answer, we must know three things about God.
NUMBER ONE, WE MUST KNOW THAT GOD IS GOOD.
And that He always acts in our best interest. Romans 8.28 says, We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Scripture doesn't say that everything that happens to us is good. It does say that God can take whatever happens and work it out to our best interest.
NUMBER TWO GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL.
I don't know if you have ever thought of it like this or not, but whatever happens to us in this life, has first passed through the permissive will of our Father in heaven. And we have His promise that He will see us through. Listen to this poem I read last week in the Hillcrest church bulletin:
God has not promised:
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our life through;
God has not promised
Sun without sorrow,
Peace without pain.
But God has promised:
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way;
Grace for trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love
God has promised that He will never put on us more than we can bear. The Hebrews writer says, He will never leave us or forsake us.
NUMBER THREE, GOD KNOWS BETTER THAN WE DO AS TO WHAT WE NEED.
Isaiah 55 has God saying this, My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
God is good.
God is in control.
God knows what we need, better than we do.
So this bring us to application number three.
When we see God for who He is, and ourselves for who we are, then we can, with absolute faith, turn our life completely over to Him. And church, when we do...just like Isaiah, we will receive grace from God.
Isaiah received two things: The forgiveness of his sins....his inadequacies and strength to accomplish the task in front of him. We too will receive forgiveness and will be cleansed from all our sin and guilt.
In Acts 2, Peter told his audience that repentance and submission to New Testament baptism would result in forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Later, he would write to the church and say, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance.
Not only will we receive forgiveness, we will be given strength to accomplish our task of living for God. Remember what He told Paul?
- My power is perfected in your weakness.
- My grace is sufficient.
You see, God will give us just what we need to accomplish what he asks of us....just what we need to see us through life's trials.....That's what grace is.
This is why Isaiah can now say, Here am I send me.
- Isaiah didn't think he was smarter that all the others in Israel.
- He didn't think he was more talented or had more ability,
- Or had more resources than his Jewish brethren.
No, the reason Isaiah says that he will go is that he has seen God for who he really is.
Folk, this will change our lives....You can count on it.
If there is something that God is asking you to do in the Kingdom:
- Don't look at your IQ
- Don't look at your talents or abilities.
- Don't look at the resources at your disposal
See God and His promise to enable you to accomplish what He asks of you. James 4.6 says, God opposes the proud but.....WHAT?.....gives grace to the humble.
Well, we must stop, but I want to make an analogy about our COMING TO WORSHIP AND DEPARTING TO SERVE.
Have you ever noticed how that when you buy a rechargeable flashlight, a cellular phone or a lap-top computer that when it is new, the rechargeable batteries are strong and last several hours? Then, as you keep recharging them, they get weaker and weaker and will not stay recharged nearly as long?
When we come to worship, we get recharged.
Like Isaiah, when we see God....recharging is just a part of the benefit of this worship experience. However, if we don't go out of here and discharge our daily duties, the next recharge will not be as fulfilling as the previous times. Too many of us just come and are recharged, and recharged, and recharged and recharged. But never discharge Monday through Saturday. We never go out and serve.
You see, rechargeable batteries have a built in memory. It’s just inherit in the way they are made. If you recharge them without completely discharging them, they start to work from that point and will never be as strong as long...until they are completely discharged.
This is the reason many Christians today are finding it difficult to enjoy the worship services in our churches.
They complain about: The singing, the preaching, the friendliness of the people, and a thousand other things; but the real problem is that they are not discharged from: Laboring in the vineyard, Serving others, and sowing the seed of the Kingdom.
ENTER TO WORSHIP, DEPART TO SERVE.
Will you in humility surrender to Him?
