Knowing God: a prerequisite to teaching

It's good to see each one this morning. And in case anyone doesn't know who I am, I'm Bruce Rogers from Sudbury, Ontario. And Lord willing, I'll be with you for this week.

Now, I'm not sure how many of you have the outlines that are at the back. If you don't have one, what I have this morning will be, in one sense, devotional. And I hope it will be appropriate for preparation for the remembrance of the Lord Jesus.

But I will just make a few comments about the outline. It's not meant to overwhelm you. There's quite a bit of material on here that is more reference material than material that I'm going to be actually covering as we go through it.

Lord willing, I hope to cover basically the material that's on the first page today and probably tomorrow night start on Part 2, Purpose of the Message, and may get into Part 3. Part 3 is the Preparation of the Message and Part 4, Presentation of the Message. Now, in dividing it into four parts, I'm trying to make it manageable to sort out different aspects of the subject. And the subject overall is how to teach the Word of God.

And that might seem like a bit of a presumptuous subject for any preacher to try to take up because I'm very conscious of my limitations, and I certainly don't believe that the way I preach or teach is the only way that it should be done. Part of it is spiritual gift. Part of it is personality.

There are differences in people, and each one of us will convey the Word of God in our own way, but it is the Word of God that we are to be conveying. So, in the introduction, I've put the messenger and his message, and that's really the two things that are going to be blending together as we look at this subject. And there's an interesting verse in the book of Haggai, chapter 1 and verse 13, and I'm just going to give you the expression, Then spake Haggai, the Lord's messenger, in the Lord's message.

Now, that's an amazing expression, isn't it? The Lord's messenger. That's something that each one of us are going to have to come to terms with, that we are, individually, the Lord's messenger. And I'm not now speaking particularly to preachers or overseers in the assembly.

I am speaking to everyone. If you are a Christian, you belong to the Lord. You are his messenger to someone, to someone's.

And so, we need to understand ourselves in this capacity as being a messenger from the Lord. But then it also says, in the Lord's message. It's not enough just to say, well, okay, I'm someone speaking for God today.

There's a challenge to be speaking the message that God wants me to speak. And if you are speaking to someone about the gospel, to convey the message that the Lord wants you to convey. So there's some significant things for us to think about as we go through this subject.

And so, basically, I'm going to be looking at part one, the preparation of the messenger. And the first obvious essential thing is that we be in touch with God. So I want to look now in Isaiah chapter 6. And we're going to look at the vision that Isaiah received of the Lord in glory.

Let's read together in Isaiah chapter 6, beginning at verse 1. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings.

With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.

And the posts of the door, or the thresholds, moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, 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 mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me. And he said, Go and tell this people. Hear ye indeed, but understand not.

See ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert and be healed.

Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitants, and the houses without men, and the land be utterly desolate. And the Lord hath removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten as a teal tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves.

So the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. One thing to ask yourself when you see a passage like this is was this just a personal revelation of God to Isaiah for his benefit alone? Or is this meant for us as well? I think if you think about it for a while, you will come to the conclusion that if it's in the Bible, it's given for us. We are to derive some benefit from this revelation of God to this man.

And it's actually picked up in John 12 and applied to the Lord Jesus as being the one seen in the vision. And if we have time, we'll maybe look at that at the end of the meeting. But I want to first of all just give you sort of the setting as it is given to us here because it's obviously a vision of God in a particular character.

And I think I jotted down that this is a foundational revelation. A foundational revelation for us to get to know God. What God is.

He is Lord. He is sovereign, king. He is also holy.

And the New Testament expression is God is light. God is light. He is unsearchably holy.

God is also love. And we get a glimpse of that in this passage as well. And so when we see that he is Lord, he is sovereign, he is light, he is holy, he is love, he's my savior.

We are seeing a very foundational revelation of God that is being given to us in this passage. But it's given in a context. And that context is given in verse 1. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord.

And so there's actually a parallel and a contrast being given to us here. You see, one thing that I have learned to appreciate in the word of God is that most of the revelation given to us in the Bible is given to meet a need. So you should learn from that.

Don't read your Bible just as a duty. Don't read it just as a theoretical thing to gain information. The revelation of God is given to us according to our need.

And so you will learn the scriptures according to the need that you have. So what was the need that was present here? Well, I'm going to take you back to 2 Chronicles 26 and just do a very quick skim here. And we will discover the context that is given to us in this story.

Uzziah started out as king at the ripe old age of 16. Now, can you imagine being thrust into being the president of the United States at the age of 16? That would be quite something, wouldn't it? His father, Amaziah, was generally a good king until a certain point in his life. And then for some strange reason, he adopted the gods of a nation that he conquered.

Now, that's pretty weird, isn't it? To conquer a nation and then to drag home the idols that you conquered and to begin to worship them. So he departed from the Lord. And ultimately, he was assassinated.

And so Uzziah comes into the picture where there has been a departure from God. Now, Uzziah did not fail as his father failed. But ultimately, he also failed.

And this has a lesson for us. So at 16, he begins to reign. Verse 4 says he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

Verse 5, it says he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God. And as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. He talks about his warfare.

Verse 7, God helped him against the Philistines. You go down through the chapter, and you'll find that he strengthens himself. He becomes powerful.

He has an army of over 300,000 men. And you come down to the end of verse 15, and it says, And his name spread far abroad, for he was marvelously helped till he was strong. And then we get this sad little but.

But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense. Now, he didn't go and start worshiping an idol. He just intruded into the presence of God in a capacity that he was not authorized to do.

Now, today we might think, well, is that really a big deal? How I approach God? How I am in the presence of God? Well, it was a big deal to God. And thankfully, there were priests there who were faithful men who withstood him. But as he was standing there in a rage at being obstructed, God struck him with leprosy.

And at least he had the humility to realize, God has disciplined me. And he hastened out. And he ends his life cut off.

It says, verse 21, Uzziah the king was a leper under the day of his death and dwelt in a several house. That is a separated house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

So what lessons can we learn from that? As long as he sought the Lord, the Lord blessed him. As long as he honored God, God made him successful. But at a certain point, he became too big for his own good.

And tragically, that affects us when we are the most successful. And we begin to take to ourselves the success that God has graciously permitted us to experience. And it brings a tremendous sadness to the people of God to have someone who has been a hallmark of God, someone who has spoken for God, someone who has been for God, set aside because of personal failure.

It's in that context, an enfeebled earthly monarch who has finally failed and been disciplined by God. He passes away. Isaiah is a young man when this happens, and he receives a vision of the eternal king, of the king who will never fade away, of the king who will never fail.

He gets a glimpse of the living God. And that's what we need most of all in our own lives, and to be able to be a messenger of God. So let's try to look then at this vision of Isaiah and what is spoken of us.

In Isaiah chapter 6, he glimpses the Lord sitting upon a throne, sitting as king. And the majesty of his robes is so awesome. It fills the whole temple.

And the first thing that is given to us in description is the seraphim who surround this throne of God. I want to try to learn a few lessons from the seraphim. These seraphim, if you look up the word itself, it means the burning ones.

The burning ones. These are beings made for the presence of God. They are flames of fire.

They are holy. They are designed to function in the presence of God. And yet notice some things that are very unusual to imagine.

Here they are in the very presence of God. And they've always been there from their creation. They're hiding their faces in his presence.

Their faces are covered in the presence of the eternal sovereign. And the thing that impresses me in looking at this is that those who are nearest to God are the most in awe of him. Furthermore, they have never gotten used to being in the presence of God.

They have never gotten casual in the presence of God. And to have their faces hidden suggests possibly two things. One is that they are unworthy to gaze upon the eternal God.

So how awesome must he be? How holy he must be. Another way of appreciating it is that if they cover their faces, it's that no attention is to be directed towards them in contrast to him. You know, sometimes we are so caught up in ourselves that we become more important to ourselves than God is.

It isn't too hard for us to be over-exaggerating our own significance. But God can never be exaggerated. He is greater than anyone has ever been able to describe him or to understand him.

And these seraphim, these burning flames of fire, these angelic beings, they shield their face in his presence. They also cover their feet. And that may suggest that what they do, where they go, isn't the important thing.

With two wings they fly. And there seems to be zeal, instantaneous service to God that is emphasized by these details. But then what they are saying, that is the very center of this vision.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. What does that mean? Well, we have some idea of what holy means. Usually we hear it explained as being separate from.

Certainly separate from what is evil. Distinct from all corruption. And also separate from what is common and ordinary.

Something that is called holy is something that has been set apart for special purpose. So yes, we can say that God is holy in that he is separated from everything else that exists. He is distinct from everything else that exists.

He is unique. There is nothing else like him. And yet, I would suggest that especially as we have it here repeated.

And you get exactly the same formula in Revelation 4. In the four living creatures in his presence. Holy, holy, holy is expressing a perfection. An infinite perfection.

And personally, this is how it appeals to me. And I hope it can make sense to you. That in describing God, this is the summary.

This is summing up the perfection of everything that he is. In other words, those who are the closest to him. Who know the most about him.

They've come to a pinnacle of worship. That all they can say in his presence is holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. And it would seem to me that this is appreciating the reality that he is perfect.

And infinitely perfect in everything that he is. His love, his faithfulness, his purity, his righteousness, his majesty. Everything about him is infinitely perfect.

Now, I want you to think about the response that is expressed. The response that Isaiah gives to this is complete dread. Notice what he says.

Then said I, 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 mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.

Now, I don't want you here this morning to somehow distance yourself from this scene. This imagery. Because this is where you're going.

This is where I'm going. We are going to be in this presence. What are we going to be like when we're there? I like to link with this 2 Corinthians chapter 3 in the closing part of the chapter.

Where we're given this wonderful contrast to Moses. Who had the privilege of being in the presence of God 40 days and 40 nights up in the mountain. He had that privilege twice.

And the second time he came down from that mountain, it says his face shone. His face shone. It radiated glory.

So that the people were afraid to come near to him. When we come to 2 Corinthians chapter 3, it tells us this. We all, all of us, in contrast to just one man, Moses.

All of us have this privilege of gazing upon the glory of the Lord. Now today, we don't see him physically. But we are given the opportunity and privilege to see his glory.

And that glory is in Christ. It's in Christ that we see the glory of God. And the amazing thing is this.

As the spirit of God reveals to us what God is like. Brings us closer to his presence. Unveils to us the beauties of God.

The spirit of God is actually transforming us. So that we ultimately will correspond to the very glory of God. We are being changed into the same image from glory to glory.

In other words, you look around at each other today and. Well, it's easy for me to say you're a bunch of wonderful people. But someday I'm going to look at you and you are going to be filled with perfection and glory.

Above the seraphim. Closer to the presence of the eternal God. You are going to dwell in that presence.

You are going to have access to him unlimited, unhindered. And so today we are given glimpse of him. But first of all, we have to be changed.

And the first thing that the impression that is so strongly given. And Isaiah expresses it. Is of horror of seeing God.

Horror. Because when he saw the glory of the Lord. He became conscious of what he is.

That is something that is absolutely crucial to you and to me. Now in in some measure. This is what happened when we got saved.

When we actually connected with God. In Christ. We got to look at ourselves.

And we were bowed. In humility. In repentance.

And his first reaction is dread. I'm done for. If you were to take this expression literally.

It really means I'm done for. I'm going to be destroyed. And this is something that universally in the Old Testament.

When people had a revelation of God's presence. They were sure. They were sure they were going to die.

Do you understand why? It's not that they had a warped idea of God. And what he was about. It's because he is so holy.

So holy. He himself said no man can see me and live. In other words.

If a creature is given the privilege. Of seeing him. That creature must be destroyed.

Because it cannot ever be common again. Cannot live a common life. Cannot have an ordinary existence.

In a sense it must be sacrificed to his glory. That's the sense. The awareness.

That he is so great. So glorious. That to glimpse him.

Has to be the consummation of my existence. And its end. And yet we are going to dwell for eternity.

In the glory of his presence. So we need to appreciate. Beloved brethren and sisters.

What a work of redemption has been done for us. To fit us. To belong.

In this eternal presence. Now. Thankfully that isn't where it ends.

Instantaneously. You have the seraphim. Acting to meet the need.

And one of the seraphim come and they take a live coal from off the altar. Now the suggestion of that I think is fairly evident. There was a sacrifice.

That was being consumed on the altar. There was a lamb. Whose life had been given.

And these coals from off the altar. Would represent the value of that sacrifice. An atonement made.

To cleanse from iniquity. And that's very specifically what is said. Lo this has touched thy lips.

Thine iniquity is taken away. And thy sin purged. Or covered or atoned for.

So now what we have. Is not only this revelation of the sovereign. Holy one.

But his grace. His grace to us. Taking away from us.

What is offensive to him. Of our iniquity. You'll never be able to speak for God.

Until you've been made right with God. And have come to appreciate. That he has.

Saved you from your defilement. He has saved you from your corruption. He has provided.

Through the work of the son. An atonement for your sin. One of the things that I find just.

So thrilling in the book of Isaiah. Is that Isaiah. Here gets the glimpse.

Of this awesome holy one. And then Isaiah 53. He gets the revelation.

Of the one. Who comes as the servant of Jehovah. To be the sacrifice for sinners.

And Isaiah. Grasps that this is the same one. So here you have.

A mixing you might say. Of symbols or revelation of God. The one who sits enthroned.

Is the very one. Who's going to step down from that throne. And be the sacrifice.

That will fit us. For his holy presence. And this has such an effect upon him.

That in verse 8. Now he hears the voice. Of the Lord. Saying whom shall I send.

Who will go for us. And then he responds. He's got a totally different framework.

It's not. Now running in terror. From the presence of God.

Here I am. I'm here. Send me.

He has experienced. The grace. The mercy.

From the presence of God. And in response now to this. Sovereign God.

Again. These are these are foundational revelations. There's so much that is packed into this.

One vision of God. Do you do you acknowledge. In the presence of God this morning.

That he is your sovereign. That he has the absolute right. Of your life.

Whom shall I send. He has the right to send me. To use me.

However he chooses. But then he also is asking for volunteers. Who.

Will go for us. Who will go for us. And in the in the joy.

And the response of Isaiah. He says. Here am I. Send me.

One of the things that. Strikes me in in seeing this response. Is that Isaiah.

Makes this response without even knowing what the message is. That he has this has to give. He doesn't know where he's going to be sent.

He doesn't know what his responsibilities are. But he says here I am. Send me.

This is this is absolute surrender. This is total. Without reserve.

Surrender. To the living one. I'm here.

I'm your servant. I'll go wherever you want me. And then.

The enlightenment. Of the divine. Program.

And his purpose. It's a very sobering message that he gives. He says go tell this people.

This people. And the message isn't easy. It's a message of judgment.

It's a message of coming destruction. And without going into all the details of it. The lesson that we learn here about blindness.

About deafness. About hardness of heart. Is that people who harden their hearts.

Who deliberately reject the knowledge of God. Will find themselves. Under the discipline of God ultimately.

Now this is true individually. It is also true collectively. And I think I mentioned a little bit about this when I was here the last time.

And took up a little bit from the background of Romans chapter 12. We are today in a parallel set of circumstances. It's not popular today to preach the gospel.

People are not flocking to come to hear the word of the Lord. They hold God and the word of God and Christ in contempt today. They have turned from the knowledge of God.

And sadly I believe that we are witnessing. The judgment of God upon western culture. That has been so privileged to know God.

And the revelation of God in Christ. And there is a blindness. A judicial blindness.

That will not be lifted until judgment sweeps the earth. Now you might say well what's the use then? What is the use? Well it's because God's program doesn't end in judgment. God's program ends in blessing.

And even though he must judge the nation of Israel in that time. And I want to just point out that this was not immediate. There is between 154 to 170 years.

From this vision till the captivity. There is the ministry of Isaiah. And he had a long ministry to the nation.

Jeremiah follows him. A long ministry of Jeremiah. There is some overlap in Ezekiel's ministry.

Right into the time of captivity. Spanning as I say possibly 154 years to the first time of the captives were carried away. When Daniel and Ezekiel would have been among some of the first captives.

And finally when Jerusalem is finally destroyed. And the temple burned to the ground. About 170 years.

So here you have a glimpse of the patience of God. Though there is judgment that has become irrevocable. Yet it's not instantaneous.

He is still sending his word. And he still needs messengers to send his word. Now I know today it's discouraging to try to work with people.

But we need to grasp and appreciate this. Until God terminates, he still expects us to speak for him. He expects us to be living before him.

Among the people that we know. And to give them an opportunity to turn back to him. Now notice what it says as we come to the last part of this.

There is one more but. But. Yet.

Verse 13. In it shall be a tenth and it shall return. And then it says so the holy seed shall be the substance therein.

God gives him this little bit of encouragement. There is going to be a tenth. That are going to come back from judgment.

And God's name. And God's people. Are going to be perpetuated.

Into next generations to come. And so we have to ask ourselves the question. Is it worth it for the 10%? If only a few remain.

Only a few repent. Only a few respond. I want to point out.

And it's not in this chapter. It's in the next chapter. Where we get the evidence of Isaiah's faith.

In this revelation. And his faithfulness. The next chapter begins with the days of Ahaz.

The son of Jotham. The son of Uzziah. So now we've stepped over one king.

Into a second generation. Past the death of Uzziah. So it's at least 16 years.

Possibly 20 years. Or it could be even longer. Later that chapter 7 begins.

And there's again. There's a crisis. Where the enemies are approaching.

Verse 3. Then said the Lord unto Isaiah. Go forth now to meet Ahaz. Thou and Shir Jashub thy son.

Now how would you like a handle like that? Shir Jashub. There's a lot of unique and exotic names. Being given to little kids today.

But this one would be quite a handle. Shir Jashub. Well what does it mean? It means the remnant shall return.

The remnant shall return. Isaiah in faith. In what God has revealed to him.

He names his son. The remnant shall return. God will keep his word.

And even though we are in difficult days. Days where the fear of God seems to be lost. God's going to keep his word to us.

He's going to keep his word to the Lord Jesus. To have a people for him. Forever and ever.

And so I trust that as we think about who we are. Who we are in relation to the living God. That we will appreciate.

That getting to know him. As he is. Is the very first and greatest responsibility and privilege for us.

Shall we pray. Our father we draw near to thee. We give thanks for the Lord Jesus.

Who is this very one that was glimpsed by Isaiah. And even though it is hard for us to grasp. That the one who is eternally the sovereign.

That he stepped down from that majesty and glory. Of being worshipped day and night. To step into our humanity.

To take his place among us in such a humble guise. We marvel as we think of the Lord Jesus. Doing things among the people that showed the glimpses of his glory.

Doing miracles that no one else had ever done. And yet they still did not believe on him. They still remained blinded and hardened.

And our father we thank thee that. He did not take that rejection as being final. But he pursued his course to the cross.

And laid down his life. That we might come to know thee as thou art. We pray then that thou would help us as we.

Gather together in thy presence. To remember our savior. That we might grasp the enormity.

Of what thou hast given to us. We commit ourselves to thee and pray for thy gracious blessing. In our savior's worthy name.

Amen.