Sermon Notes By Pastor Arthur H. Coleman Sr. for Sunday November 3, 2013
Text; Isaiah 6:1-8 “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. (vs2) Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. (vs3) And one cried unto another, and said, Holy,holy,holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. (vs4) And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. (vs5) 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. (vs6) Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from off the altar: (vs7) And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sins purged. (vs8) 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.” Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” 1 Corinthians 9:16-17 “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is me, if I preach not the gospel! (vs17) For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.”
PREMISE
The Pulpit Commentary, Vol.10, Pages 114-115, a comment on Isaiah 6:8. “THE CALL TO SERVICE. Again the august and dominant voice of the Eternal is heard: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” A ready answer, full of devotion, full of self-abandonment, comes from that lately overwhelmed heart: “Here am I; send me.” Out of weakness Isaiah has been made strong, and there is no hesitation now. There is “triumph lingering in his eyes, wide as of some swimmer’s descries help from above in his extreme despair.” The foolish imprudence which cries, “Here am I; send me,” without having calculated the cost of the enterprise and the extent of the resources, is not that of Isaiah. Still less is the unfaithful trifling with one’s powers and opportunities under the excuse of modesty, or the delight in dreams of action rather than in action itself, seen in him. We see some men rashly staking their future on the cast of a die, impetuously crossing a course of action from which one cannot turn back; others lingering on the brink, or moving superstitiously in a fancied circle, beyond which seems to lie the frowning impossible. And we see a third class who have learned the Divine magic of the word “obey,” and who alone move safely and with high heart to ends greater than their dreams. The servants readiness, his quickness of eye and ear, is what we need. Can we allege that we have never seen our vision, heard our call from the unmistakable voice? If the plea be sound, then our mistakes and straying cannot be charged against us. But can we maintain such plea so long as there is any meaning in the words, “truth and duty”? Truth is ever beckoning to us, duty’s low clear voice is ever sounding, though the paths to which they guide lie but dimly before. The call to act is for us all; the call to act greatly but for God’s elected few. Let us not mistake our wishes for Divine commands, nor in vanity create a destiny which is only our own fiction. Still less let us treat impressions which have seized us and shaken us with awe, and against which reluctant flesh and blood have struggled, as dreams to be set aside and fancies to be overcome. If, after straining eye and ear, God seems to leave you through wide tracts of life’s way to struggle with your ignorance and to work out your problems unaided---be it so. This is your call. If otherwise you are the subject of strong and extraordinary impressions, reaching into the reality behind the shows of things, hearing with open ears where others know but confused sounds,--- be it so. Your call is more direct. If only we will not indulge the blindness of those who will not see, the deafness of those who stop their ears, the proud weakness of those who hate to obey, all may be well.”
The Duty Of Which I Will Feel The Pressure Of Is Based on God’s Foreordained Plan for His People.
Compel /Compelling : “To drive or urge with force; (2) that which attracts irresistibly; that holds by force one’s interest or attention.
Pressure : “The continued action of a weight or force; a compelling force or influence”.
Necessary / Necessity : (adj.) “That, that must be had or done, inevitable, required, indispensible”. Philosophically –“ the inevitable connection between a cause and its effect”. Logically : “that which cannot be denied because denial would entail contradiction of what has already been established”. (2) “that which cannot be avoided or escaped because of its basis on a premise that is known to be true”. 2 Tim.2:13 “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself”.
Duty : “A thing that a person ought to do or is right to do.(2) The compelling or binding force of what is right. Applies to what a person (ought) to do at all times because it is right according to the principles of right or wrong or by law”.
EXPOSITION
1. The Duty Of Which I Will Feel The Pressure Of Is Based on God’s Foreordained Plan for His People.--- Ephesians 1:4-6 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (vs5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (vs6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” Romans 8:29-31 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (vs30) Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (vs31) What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 1 Timothy 1:9 “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,”
2. The Duty Of Which I Will Feel The Pressure Of Comes From The Compelling Inward Ambition To Be Found Acceptable In His Sight.--- Romans 12:1-2 “I Beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.(vs2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Philippians 3:7-14 “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. (vs8) Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, (vs9) An d be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: (vs10) That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death; (vs11) If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. (vs12) Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. (vs13) Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, (vs14) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
3.The Duty Of Which I Will Feel The Pressure Of Comes From Who And What God Has Called And Ordained Us As The People Of God For.---1 Peter 2:9-10 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: (vs10) Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” St. Matthew 5:13-16 “Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing, but to be cast out, and trodden under the foot of men. (vs14) Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. (vs15) Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. (vs16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” St. Matthew 16:24-26 “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (vs25) For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (vs26) For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, (vs12) Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; (vs13) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (vs14) Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
4.The Duty Of Which I Will Feel The Pressure Of Comes Is Motivated By The Assurances Of God. ---Romans 8: 35,37-39 “Who shall separate us from the love Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (vs37) Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (vs38) for I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers , nor things present, nor things to come, (vs39) Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Hebrews 6:10 “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”