The Wonderful, Awful Motivation For Ministry - (part 3) - [Isaiah 6:1-13]

Bethlehem Bible Church

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Well, my name is Mike Avendroth and I'm the pastor of this church Thank you for praying for Kim and I and the family.

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We had a great time of rest back in, California It should be home in a couple weeks. We went to a conference last week and it was basically three worship services in a row morning noon and night and the kids are off at camp and Kim and I were there with grandma just a rich time of edification and encouragement and It made me think of a lot of things.

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But one was I love this church I love you. And as I preach to different churches in the last few months from Florida to California I thought

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I love Bethlehem Bible Church I love what the Lord is doing in your heart and how you want the word and how you want all the word

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And how you love one another and so it is a privilege to come back today and preach to you

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Well, as you know, I've been going through a small series on the book of Isaiah Isaiah 6 and it's such an attention -getting passage

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That the Lord has seen fit to give me personal attention -getters in the form of wasps as I have been riding bicycles and so I preached two times and got two wasp stings and both of those wasp things cause you to just on your bicycle to Address the situation you can't wait.

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You can't say well, maybe later Next year, I'll put it on my calendar Outlooks going to notify me.

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I mean it is Notification wasp sting address the situation and that's exactly what happens with Isaiah when he sees the holiness of God He must respond

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Well about a week and a half ago I was riding my bike in, California I've already been stung two times by wasps here once in New Hampshire and once in Sterling and My bike in Massachusetts.

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I mean in California is pretty cheap compared to my bike here It's kind of a vacation bike and it's set up such a way that if you're going downhill

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Past about 35 miles an hour. You can't take your hand off the steering wheel because you'll wipe out

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And it just shakes like mad and you take your knees and put it on the top tube and try to just get it to Slow down a little bit.

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And so I'm racing down this hill And all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye

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I see something I'm not kidding either. How could I make this up?

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But this time it's something big And before I know it the bee flies right underneath my glasses and I have to within a split second make this decision

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Do I? Take my hand off the steering wheel and wipe out but kill the bee or do

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I just let it sting me right there? on the eyelid I Just let it sting me and it hurts so bad

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Burning and I could just picture in my mind that muscle that's attached to the bee sting. You're just going Pumping in the the poison

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So I the closest store was a liquor store And so I pull in the liquor store and I walk in I say to the lady. Do you have any mirrors?

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She said mirrors. No, we don't sell mirrors I said I don't want to buy a mirror and so I went to this sunglass rack and trying to take care of my eye and everything and She gives you some medicine finally and I have to preach in Sacramento two days later

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I wake up the next morning my eyes all puffy just all swollen up and I thought well I'm gonna preach three sermons on Isaiah.

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So there's my third attention -getter kind of thing Well, I just want to let you know that we have one more sermon after today and Isaiah.

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I'm not kidding Riding my bike down this hill in California and this time it wasn't quite as bad, but it could have been deadly

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I watched this be come and it goes right down my throat and I thought

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I've got a hack that thing up because it stings me in the in the throat It's gonna swell up and I'm gonna die biking on vacation

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So I tried to cough it up I couldn't so finally I just grabbed the water bottle and I guzzled it as fast as I Could thinking if it stings my stomach then

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Okay, so we're gonna have this week Isaiah Divine attention -getter and next week as well

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And if you're tired of Isaiah 6 pray this week when I ride my bike that I don't get stung or eat a bee

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All right. I Didn't swim Alcatraz this year in California. So I thought I'd try to be safe Little did

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I know? Let's turn our Bibles to Isaiah 6 With that kind of attention -getting

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Device out of the way we want to get into Isaiah 6 and we want to see God's holiness through Scripture if you're visiting today, we teach the

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Bible just verse by verse We believe that every word is placed there by God. Yes.

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He used men He used men and all their background and their own vocabulary and life experiences

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But in a supernatural miraculous way God Superintended every word that was written.

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That's why we don't just study a concept That's why we don't just study the big idea We study the exact words and every word because they're from God and he wants us to know his word

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And when we come to the word, we have a desire and that desire is that the Spirit of God would help us to respond

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You can mark this down in your mind When there is revelation God reveals himself either on Mount Sinai in a physical way or through the scriptures that there should be a response

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There is revelation and there is response There is God disclosing himself and he does it not just to hear himself speak

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But so that we might be changed and God changes us into Christ's image when we hear the word

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So we come to this word and I come with anticipation I've been able to study this passage for a couple months now and my desire for myself and for you is this that when you

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See God as holy that you would be different That you would want to be more holy that you would cry out to the

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Spirit of God and say Lord There are these areas in my life. I've got little compartments. I may excel well at church, but Not that honest it at school or whatever it might be and here

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Isaiah is Confronted with the holiness of God and he cannot be the same

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So I hope you don't walk out of here today the same person that is my desire Secondly When you confront

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God and his holiness, you don't necessarily feel good There are those who want to come to church and feel good

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That's their number one desire is they want to walk out feeling good now, certainly when you obey

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God Think boy, I was glad I didn't really feel like going to church today But I overrode my feelings and I went anyway, and I feel good

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God rewards obedience with good feelings But if your desire is to just feel good, this isn't the passage.

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Maybe the passage might be where Jesus Yoke is light and his burden is easy and you think you know,

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I have a tender compassionate Savior or maybe the passages Isaiah 40 and you think he's not only sovereign.

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He he picks me up in his arms and Takes me into his breast as a gentle Shepherd But when it comes to Isaiah 6 the feeling is usually

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God. I don't like where I am God I don't like what I've been and God. I want to be more like you help me

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So let's look at Isaiah 6 and the holiness of God that should spur you on to respond with Lord in my life.

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I want to honor Christ Jesus with more fervency with more urgency all the days of my life in Isaiah chapter 6 1 to 13

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We're going to see five responses that the Christian should have if he or she would like to be

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William Carey like missionary and Amy Carmel like missionary Amy Carmichael like missionary that you say

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I want to serve like Isaiah did I want to serve like Paul the Apostle did here's Isaiah's five views of God that should make you respond number one

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We'll see in review when I review I try to add a few things if you would like to have a transforming view that it would

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Inspire you to serve like a Martin Luther Number one, you must see God's holiness

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Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1 to 14 Very familiar passage

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Isaiah 6 1 in the year of King Uzziah's death. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne

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Everything in this passage is to drive us to remember that he's the king and he's holy and he's different with the train of his robe filling the temple

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Prosperity in the land economically spiritually Impoverished the king dies.

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He's been there 52 years as I we need a real king a king that can somehow take the inside of a country the spiritual aspect of a country

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And make it shine. We need a view of God And that's exactly what Isaiah is getting here.

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He needed to be told early on in his ministry. Here's who you serve and look at what's

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Spiraling and spinning and swirling around the throne verse 2 seraphim stood above him each having six wings

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To he covered his face With two he covered his feet and with two he flew

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This word seraphim as you know comes from the word burning gazing at this throne room eventually

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Isaiah looks up and sees above and around and circling some kind of hot burning glowing angels and They're perfect yet they cover their eyes in reverence

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They've got wings to do God's bidding and they cover their face cover their feet with proper protocol, but not just prostration

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Isaiah responds with but he watches them praise him and One call out to another these are the seraphim crying out to one another

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Holy holy holy verse 3 is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory

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When you say something's holy three times it's for emphasis and they're chanting

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We don't know if they're singing or not. It doesn't say that it never says in the Bible The angels are singing during the cursed world, but they're chanting and it's like one says holy

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Then the next says holy then the next says holy and they all together say the whole earth is full of his glory

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In other words, there's nobody like God. God is holy.

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God is different a W Tozer said holy is the way God is to be holy.

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He does not conform to a standard. He is that standard? We cannot grasp the true meaning of the divine holiness

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By thinking of someone or something very pure and then raising the concept to the highest degree.

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We are capable of God's holiness is not simply the best. We know infinitely bettered.

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We know nothing like the divine holiness in quote and here with intellect and with rational cognitive thinking they're saying to themselves

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God is holy and Isaiah is watching and you know what their voices even caused something to happen

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Look at verse 4 and the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him

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One of the angels called out while the temple was filling with smoke. I Mean everywhere

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I go I see these little angel pins I'm thinking of one of those pins could sing you wouldn't be upright anymore you would be grounded and everything would be shaking by the way,

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I think everybody loves those little angel pins because Somehow angels aren't very judgmental and they kind of just love you where you are and touched by an angel

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Isaiah has been touched by an angel but indirectly because everything's shaking Flying back and forth and the sound of their voices the doorways are shaking

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The first thing Isaiah needs for his ministry is God is different God is holy and this isn't kind of like my buddy.

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This isn't like a friend This isn't like some little votive God. I was in California and I bought a little goddess at the swap swap meet and I remember when

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I first went to India Kim said have a great time. God bless you. I'll miss you.

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Don't bring home an idol So it's the first thing I want to do Brought myself home a little goddess like that And every time

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I go I bring back an extra one and kind of lining up in our house And sometimes what she'll do she can't stand it. She'll just knock him down Kind of like, you know the

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Ark of the Covenant and Dagon the fish God is this fallen down before the Ark and she can't stand those false gods around The house and I think

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I need one every trip not to worship Not to be you know, well, I can't get to the main temple of Diana So I'll just keep her in my pocket and when

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I want to when I'm not sinning when I'm being really good I'll pull her out and go, you know, we bow down we you know

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Here's this God that can't be controlled He's different. He's a creator.

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We just can't pull him out of our pocket when it's convenient because he is the God with whom we have to do

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Hallowed is his name Certainly God is a God who loves he's righteous.

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He's kind. He's compassionate. He's everything that the scripture says But what this country needed what this church here needs is to see

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God's holiness verses 1 to 4 secondly Not just his holiness It should inspire you but number two, you should see that you're not worthy to serve such a king

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That's what happened to Isaiah verse 5 if he's so great and we're so sinful

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We're going to see what a privilege it is to serve. We're going to see we get to not we have to and then

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Isaiah said Holy holy holy. I'll join him with the angels

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He knew he wasn't quite ready to sing that song yet He sees God holy God's holiness and he says whoa is

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I'm a man of unclean lips. I'm ruined Thursday morning before my flight

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Kim and I and Luke and Haley got up and we went surfing in in Santa Cruz Luke's getting to be a great surfer

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Haley's getting better Kim is excellent and I Just paddle a lot.

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I used to be able to I can't anymore. And so the first wave I try to catch And I fall down and I start paddling.

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I thought something's different That kind of a weird feeling right now. I Looked down and my wedding ring was gone 18 years

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The good news is Kim was there. You know, how'd you lose your wedding ring? Oh, you know She's the one who wanted me to go surfing.

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And so I paddle over to Kim. I said I Paddle over to Kim and I said honey.

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I Lost my wedding ring, you know when you lose something you just feel weird feel icky What am

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I gonna do dive around in the surf or something and I can't find it. I Said I feel so sad and only

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Kim would respond with I didn't really like it that much. Anyway, I Want to get you something that's a little wider and a little more funky.

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It was exact quote I thought the grace of God to give me a wife like you to put up with me

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I still kind of go like this because it's not where it's supposed to be and For two days.

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I just felt weird because when you lose something, it's just weird Isaiah didn't lose something he himself

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Is lost he considers himself lost that weird? Feeling he's got

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I'm ruined. I'm damned. I've been treading on thin ice and I'm going to fall through Ezekiel exodus 33 it says but you cannot see my face

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God says for no man can see me and Live matter of fact the tradition says this isn't in the

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Bible, but the tradition says that Manasseh the king in Those days killed

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Isaiah By putting him in a tree and sawing him in half even though he didn't want to kill righteous

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Isaiah He did it anyway, because he knew exodus 33 said no one can see God and live and Isaiah You're telling me the king you've seen

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God and I believe you therefore you can't live And here we notice that sin is always gauged by the person that you sin against He notices he represents a family to a nation and I'm a people of unclean lips

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I mean, it's just sickening one commentator said it's groveling and when we understand

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God's holiness And we understand our sin Makes it so much easier to have the attitude.

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I get to serve. I don't have to serve I get to I get to serve this God And the only reason we get to is the third view that we see and that is found in verses 6 and 7

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Isaiah saw God as holy Isaiah saw God as so holy that he was sinful and Isaiah was the most holy man around and thirdly

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Isaiah saw that God's grace is Divinely Initiating you see that in verses 6 and 7.

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I don't notice in the text where Isaiah said God forgive me God take care of me. God.

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Please allow me to serve you I See verse 6 then one of the seraphim flew to me With a burning coal in his hand and if you saw a seraphim flying to you with the burning coal in your hand

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What would you think that seraphim was going to do? Touched by an angel slain in the spirit.

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That's a real slain in the spirit coming up, but no God's not just holy God's gracious.

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Look at that. It's so wonderful God sends this angel to forgive him. I say he's not doing anything except his mouth is epoxied shut and He gets his lips cauterized to symbolize his whole heart is cauterized as well for years

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I worked in the operating room and I sold cautery units and they were called bovies in the industry based on what they

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Had back in the 30s and 40s and basically it's radio frequency current You put a big grounding pad on the back or the bottom side of a person and then you take the small little instrument

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You step on a foot pedal or you touch a little button on the hand control pencil And then you cauterize and you can hear it and you can smell it and I would walk in the first few times

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I thought it smells kind of funny in here and I was smelling Human flesh being burned and here it's a gracious burning

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Isaiah's sinful wound was being spiritually cauterized fire cleansing

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He touched my mouth with it. You see it verse 7 behold This has touched your lips and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven literally atone for Based on the work of another based on John 12

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Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus's glory and spoke of him Mark it in your mind that no one ever approaches

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God except through a sacrifice And that sacrifice was a future sacrifice

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Christ Jesus so much. So why don't we turn to? Hebrews just for a moment. Let me show you the difference of approaching

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God Without a sacrifice and then approaching God with a sacrifice and I think you'll find it striking that sinners can only approach

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God through a holy sacrifice Hebrews chapter 12

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You say well, why do I need to know this? Well, the more we understand about the holiness of God the better it is for all of us

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This is a day and age true or false that holiness is downplayed. I Think love is magnified and rightfully.

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So God is a God who loves but what about his holiness? And when you'd like to do something more for the

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Lord in your community You'd like to be a better evangelist a better worker a better mother a better church server

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Interestingly Isaiah is not shown the love of God He's shown the holiness of God holiness is understood is misunderstood

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And if you don't understand holiness, then you don't really understand the grace that can satisfy that holiness

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Scholar well said Divorce from the holiness of God sin is merely self -defeating behavior are a breach in etiquette

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Divorce from the holiness of God grace is merely empty rhetoric pious window dressing for the modern technique by which sinners work out their own salvation

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Divorce from the holiness of God our gospel becomes indistinguishable from any of a host of alternative self -help doctrines

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Divorce from the holiness of God our public morality is reduced a little more than an accumulation of trade -offs between competing private interests

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Divorce from the holiness of God our worship becomes mere entertainment Well said the holiness of God is the very cornerstone of the

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Christian faith sin is a defiance of God's holiness the cross is the outworking and victory of God's holiness and faith is the

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Recognition of God's holiness and if we come to God without some sacrifice

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Look how we would have to approach him without Christ's death without access to God Hebrews chapter 12 verse 18.

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Here's the giving of the law at Sinai That's the background verse 18 of chapter 12 in Hebrews you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire to darkness and gloom and Storm and to make it more frightening and to a trumpet blast

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Can you imagine coming to a mountain with darkness and gloom and storm and fire and some trumpet sounding?

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Or to a voice speaking words that those who heard it what they do when they heard

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God from the mountain Begged that no further word be spoken to them

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When it comes to approaching God without a sacrifice the only response is fear

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Frightening it's scary Verse 20 For they could not bear the command they can't even they don't want to hear it.

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It's so full of awe If even a beast touches the mountain go over and slit its throat

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That what it says if a mountain is touched by the beast don't even go over there to kill the mountain

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You've got to use some kind of arrows or stones or darts to kill the thing because you can't go touch it yourself

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The holiness of God no approaching the holiness of God without a sacrifice You know

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Moses He's a friend of God communicates with God sees God up close face to face and So terrible verse 21 was the sight that Moses even said

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I am full of fear and trembling How do we approach

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God without a sacrifice We are undone if it's just holy God and sinful people.

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We need a holy sacrifice for us And that's why if you go back to chapter 10, you'll see why

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Christ is so wonderful This is why we praise Christ. He is a holy sacrifice

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Hebrews 10 19 He's trying to spur the readers on he says therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter the most holy

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Place how how do you have confidence to go in the holy of holies? The priests were only allowed to go once a year and they were afraid that I confess all my sins

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What will happen? Will God kill me? Well, I'd be nade ab in a bayou and I'm gonna get slain How can we have confidence to go into the holy of holies?

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Yet by the blood of Christ by his sacrificial death. We have access anytime we want Anytime any place what the priests could only do once a year.

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You can do every second of your life if you're a Christian entrance into the presence of God without cringing without falling on your face without being afraid like Moses because your sins have been dealt with by another

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That is absolutely amazing to me. You don't understand the cross of Christ until we get the holiness

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Widest extent of privileges now we have because of Christ Not holding anything back when

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God gives he gives everything And he gives his son's vicious death there in your passage by the blood of Jesus Verse 20.

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This is interesting By a new and living way open for us through the curtain that is his body

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It's like the curtains torn down and there's a new access and that's through the curtain of Christ's body

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The word news not used anywhere in the Bible except here and you know what it means. This may gross you out But I didn't write it

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This word new means recently killed it means freshly slain

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It means that when you Kill something and drain the blood out

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While it's still warm and while it has not yet coagulated it is new

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You've got to have a sacrifice and we're not some old blood all mingled and curdled and and commingled you had to offer that sacrifice right away and Here Christ's blood as it were is always warm.

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It's always fresh It's always new because it's applied to you once for all and it's always efficacious.

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That's as if it's new Yes, he only was slain one time for our forgiveness, but his effectiveness is forever for the

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Christian Sacrifice for sin approaching

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Holy God verse 21. And since we have a great high priest over the house of God Verse 22, let us run like Isaiah.

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Let us fall down on our faces and grovel Let us just run as far as ways we can and oppositely verse 22

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Let us draw near thrice. Holy God with the sincere heart and full assurance of faith

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Based on the work of another Christ having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscious Conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

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Do you know if it wasn't for Christ Jesus? We'd have no access to God We couldn't come to him. We couldn't call him

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Abba father We would just be like Moses, but worse cringing away and yet God initiates forgiveness.

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He initiates grace For Christians, he's forgiven us Number four, let's go back to Isaiah If you'd like to serve with increased fervor number four, you need to see

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God as holy yourself as sinful God is a gracious forgiving God in Christ based on a holy sacrifice and number four

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You must see that to be coerced to serve God Is to betray your view of God's holiness your sin and his forgiveness

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That is to say if you understand God's holiness your sin his grace

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And then you have to be begged to serve then you don't understand holiness sin or grace

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Everything so far was in anticipation and in preparation for Isaiah to respond

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Revelation response, here's Isaiah's response and for the first time

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God speaks Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying whom shall

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I send and whom will go for us And what was Isaiah gonna say? Kind of busy

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God Got to repair this temple, you know that seraphim kind of messed up I don't think

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I'm quite prepared to go See I'm not adequately trained I'm kind of like Moses, you know,

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I can't really speak very well Is that the response I Have to share with you a little bit in discipleship class today.

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I was sharing about our desire to serve and I said men Whenever you get asked to serve

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Just say I'd love to do it. If Jesus was here on earth and said could you help me go do that?

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What would you say? Yeah Red Sox, you know five games back and I'm kind of busy.

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I mean We wouldn't do that at all. So I was prepared. I was telling this to the men

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I told them about the shame in my life where I was asked to teach a Bible study 15 years ago and said no, so I didn't think

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I was prepared and how shameful I felt I was reminded of a friend who's a pastor who?

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was asked to go preach the gospel to a man who had AIDS and he didn't want to go and didn't do it and got a phone call that the man had died and so I said to the man be ready to serve wherever you

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Are and literally within a minute the phone rang Bethlehem Bible Church phone

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And I normally don't like to interrupt my class, but I said, you know what probably somebody for directions I picked up the phone

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Bethlehem Bible Church There's Joyce Makala. I Need a ride.

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There were three people my discipleship class. I Said myself surely I'm too important to go on that trip

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I knew I needed to be here and the guys were listening to me. I'm right there in the middle of class and I looked over the first guy to my right was

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John Makarovsky and I go I said to myself Initially John doesn't know that he's going but then

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I corrected myself and John knows he's gone because I just looked at him What is he gonna do and which is an eager heart and a tender heart

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John's like I'll go I know where it is and I'll go pick her up and everything else and I thought that's the response

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When you realize what God has done you just say I want to serve I'm frankly surprised sometimes when

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I see people who don't have a ministry and they're not knocking down Pastor Steve's door to say I need a ministry.

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I remember I first got saved and has nothing to do with me It was just the Spirit of God working in me. I thought I've got to do something. I Can't pay back my debt, but I can respond with gratitude to serve

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For the most part this church. I commend you for your service. I don't even have to do things

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I haven't even shown up for weeks and months and then I go to sabbat on sabbatical in September And I literally won't show up for months and you serve each other and you don't need me

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Well, if that's a good thing or a bad thing, by the way, if I come back in December and the church is falling apart I know

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I'll still have a job if everything's going well Maybe I'll get the call to Germany. I have no idea but if God's as holy as Isaiah says and if you're a sinful as the

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Bible says you are and God has given his son his only son the son.

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He loves to die in your place What's the response

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Revelation response. It's I want to serve. I'll do anything I'd rather serve over here, but I'll just do anything for the time being and that's exactly what happens here

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Isaiah 6 8 then I said Not I'll go

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Got to check with my wife, it's good to check with your wife man I'm not trying to say anything there

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Sometimes you have to be careful when you're preaching. My point is his was a reflex response

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Send me and it's with an imperative. He's not Commanding God, but he is so fixed on obeying

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God. He said I will go Now what I don't want you to do is look at verse 8 and say well

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This is gonna be my apologetics verse whom shall I send and who will go for us? This must be the

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Trinity. It has nothing to do with the Trinity. This has to do with the excellent Royal speech and plurality of Royalty that would speak and you say to a

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Jew this proves the Trinity that would just betray your knowledge of Scripture That's not the point

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The point is this he sees God and he says I'm gonna go I'll do it. Send me I Used to be on the swim team when

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I was growing up You can even see it in racing to with running

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I Can I can still remember the referee saying swimmers take your mark and we would bend down and touch the little podium we were on or if you're swimming the backstroke you would pull yourself up tightly and every sinew and every muscle and every

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Part of your body was just ready. So when you heard that whistle when you heard that gun go off, what would you do?

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You would explode off and I remember all the false starts and after the first false start if you got a second one you'd be disqualified but there were all kinds of false starts and swimming because you were ready and Here's like Isaiah so pent up and so ready that he just needs to say

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God. Thank you, and I'm off I'm eager. I'm ready

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What's the worst thing that can happen to me? I've been forgiven of all my sins The worst thing is I get promoted to glory

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Al Martin said there's nothing here of a missionary telling tear -jerking stories about human sin and human need in the attempt to rent wrench young people from their seat of complacency and Rebellion to the revealed will of God and to get them to crank out and here am

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I? This was just a reflex action of a man who had seen the Lord and heard his voice

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Nothing would thrill me more as a pastor is to see half of you people gone in the next five years

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Now there's a qualification for that. I don't want you to get You know some kind of church split or something like that Why is the

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Lord blessed us with a bunch of godly teachers and IBS and Faithful people behind the scenes and faithful mothers teaching their children

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I mean what a blessing sometimes, you know The best thing you can do when you're on vacation is go to another church

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And what do you do you come back and you think what? This church isn't as bad as I thought the people here are pretty nice as I go to other churches

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I don't hardly know another church like this Why are we getting trained

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One of the men in our discipleship today was telling me about his bunch of job opportunities that he had and I thought I didn't

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I didn't worry. Where are you Joey? Where's Joey? I didn't say this to you then but I'll tell you in front of everybody now.

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I Thought you know what just take the one that can give you lots of spare time and make lots of money So you can save up all that money so you can just go burn out for God in the backwoods of Madagascar someplace

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Aren't you glad I know God's will for your life Robert Frost said the world is full of willing people some willing to work and the rest willing to let them.

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I Mean, why are we here? Of course, we need to be faithful mothers and faithful fathers and faithful Evangelists in our own community, but I'm ready for some of you young men and women to say

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I've got the call I'm going I've got one life to live and I know so much here that I could go teach people what

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I've learned forever Well, I mean, why do you learn you learn so you can glorify God better with your mind and you learn for other people

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Sunday Express in London said most people wish to serve God but in an advisory advisory capacity only

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When God saves you he calls you to serve. Why are you on earth to serve?

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No spiritual unemployment. No spiritual retirement for the Christian Paul said I thank Christ Jesus our

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Lord who has strengthened me because he considered me Faithful putting me into service Paul had to tell one of the churches in the

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New Testament You know what? You're giving so much kind of got to cut that out a little bit They were so willing to serve in that way

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The same thing for us Did you know every one of you here has a spiritual gift if you're a Christian?

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Everyone designed by God sovereignly given by the Spirit for the sake of other people What a privilege to be able to serve

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You say well, you know what? I'm pretty weak The way I like to think about my spiritual gift is this if God can use me he can use anybody

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I am a walking illustration of everything in life That you shouldn't do and God overrides that anyway say well

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I haven't filled out a questionnaire yet to figure out what my spiritual gifts are. Can you imagine Isaiah there?

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You know God I finally can look up and say, you know I'm ready to go but I need to fill out that form yet and I need to take a psychological test

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So I know where I'm good at how about this? Especially you visitors who think you might want to come and join the church

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God's bringing you here because we can't do everything well and you come here and you say well You know what? I did this at my last church and it really went well, and I think

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I'd like to do it here. I Got one message for you full speed ahead

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I hope you come to me and say well, you know what? We'd really like to see that ministry here

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And we'd really like to do some, you know We'd really like to see some people step up in that area and I'm gonna say to you what?

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Glad you thought of it. You have the full authority Vested in the elders to do that work and don't we have a good example of service by Christ Jesus himself

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Jesus said in John 4 my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work

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We get to serve you get to serve and friends of you say well, you know, I got to finish college first What if you never finished college you say well, you know the people here at church

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Kind of don't like him so much. Well, he sure they're not that easy to love

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Amen, I I get it. I'm not so lovable. You're not so lovable But I remember the parable in Matthew 25 where the king replied

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I tell you the truth Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine. You did it for Me, I like Epaphroditus Paul said in Philippians 2

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He almost died for the work of Christ risking his life to make up for the help

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You could not give me in the time. We have left turn to Romans chapter 12 and let me just motivate you for service

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We're gonna have one more part at least next week So you have to come back for number five I guess

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I have to go into chapter 7 if I get stung again, but in the time we have left Let's go to Romans chapter 12

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Romans chapter 12 You've been taught God's holiness you've been taught about his greatness, you know about your own sin

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You know about Christ Jesus and our response should be Logical response should be service and I just want to encourage you to serve and if you've already got a plate that's full

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Then may I commend you and say excel in your service. Remember why you serve If you fix a door here, you're not fixing a door you're you're you're fixing a door for the

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Lord and Look at Romans 12 1 I urge you therefore brethren by the mercies of God To present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice

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Acceptable to God, which is your logical service of worship? Now just imagine back in the old days.

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You haven't you have a Sacrifice and you bring that sacrifice Into the temple and you leave that sacrifice and it was something that was important to you and leave it in the temple

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What's the sacrifice here by the way Your bodies, how are you gonna give your your bodies?

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What kind of sacrifice is it a dead sacrifice this is a living sacrifice You could die in a moment of time.

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This calls for more for all your life. You are the sacrifice Why are you on this earth?

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How can I ever do that? How could I say to myself I'm going to burn out for the Lord's sake and serve him

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I'll go wherever he sends me How could you do that pep -talk from the pastor?

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No Romans 12 1 by the mercies of God What's he talking about? They're the mercies of God Thinking about the mercies of God should cause us to respond with service

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If you had to describe to me what those mercies were, what would how would you describe them? How what do

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I think about in Romans 12 are from Romans 12 that would cause me to say here's my life

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Like Christ giving up his life. I now give my life up to serve the king

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How what are the mercies of God? I'll tell you what they are chapters 1 2 3 4 all the way to chapter 11 of Romans It's like Paul says

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I'm just thinking of Romans 1 to 11 and you see at the end of Romans 11 there where it says Oh the depth and the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God of his plan of salvation of how righteousness is given to us

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And I've just got to serve him and I've got to say amen and because of that Logically thinking through it.

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I I need to serve Mercies sum up all the first 11 chapters. It's logical.

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It's fitting. I could do it this way fill in the blank blank 1 3 5 7 9

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Sin salvation service guilt grace gratitude

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There's a harder test than I thought God says

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I've saved you then serve me with the life of consecration James Boyce said

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God does not want your money or your time without yourself. You are the one for whom Jesus died

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You are the one he loves Jim Elliot was right when he said he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose

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Yourself I love this illustration I've used it here before and I think it will drive the point home

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Woman said to a pastor. Tell me what your idea of consecration is Holding out a blank sheet of paper the pastor replied

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It is to sign your name at the bottom of this blank sheet and to let God fill it in as he will

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God's sovereign mercy should make us respond with service. What do you do for service?

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Maybe one of the things we need to do with the church Let's come up with some things for you to do

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Well, let's go back to Isaiah and wrap this message up Isaiah chapter 6. How do we respond?

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What would do we do? I will just give you a little inkling on what's happening in Isaiah chapter 6.

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Did you know that God gets? To choose your service God gets to choose your service for you.

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And what was Isaiah's service? Isaiah's service was a service of Hardening it was a service of hardening

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God I'll go anywhere you want and I'll do anything you ask me to do and Then for a sneak peek for next week.

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He said verse 9 Go and tell this people keep on listening But do not perceive keep on looking but do not understand render the hearts of this people insensitive their ears dull and their eyes dim Otherwise, they might see with their eyes here with their ears

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Understand with their hearts and return and be healed Then I said Lord, this is a short -term missions project

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How long and he answered until the cities are devastated and without inhabitant houses are without people and the land is utterly desolate

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Orders remove men far away and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land Yet in the graciousness of God, there will be a tenth portion in it

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It will again be subject to burning like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is filled the holy seed is its stump.

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I Leave you with this thought if you say to yourself, I will go do anything

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God calls me to do I will go anywhere any ministry any time no matter what the cost

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God has granted you the proper view of holiness sin and grace Pretty amazing

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Let's pray Father we look to you tonight the today Whatever time it is in time zones still in California time.

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We look to you as A God who would work through this church Father I am frail the people are frail.

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We are Able to do nothing without your son.

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And so I would pray that you would give us strength that you would give us Conviction that you would help us to be willing to go anywhere and maybe

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Lord you've decided to keep most of us right here in West Boylston and the area but Lord there would have to be some who are

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Getting trained to be sent off to teach and to be missionaries and evangelists and disciplars

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There have to be others who will move sometime soon and need to go help other local churches Some who are visitors here

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Will go to their home churches to serve I pray Lord that we would be Available to serve.

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I pray that you would give us an Opportunity to raise up many missionaries pastors pastors wives missionary wives and that we would

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Watch our kids even be sent out for your glory and we're thankful that you have given us a

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Savior Christ Jesus who was not just a holy sacrifice But was raised from the dead So have your bidding with us and do what you will and we look forward to what you might do in Jesus name.