Sunday, January 29, 2006

To those who have not heard: Is 66:19-21

“‘I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Rosh, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,’ says the Lord, ‘just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.’” (Isaiah 66:19-20)
We who have escaped the dominion of this world have been called to take the Gospel to those who are still held captive by its power. When the disciples asked Jesus about the signs of His coming again, He told them, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) Jesus is waiting, waiting for all to have had an opportunity to hear and receive His Gospel before He comes to bring and end to all things. Jesus is waiting for all to hear and we are the ones who are to tell them. Much of the commission of God upon our lives can be summed up in one word, “Go!” After Jesus’ death and resurrection, as He was ascending back into heaven, He gave His disciples this command, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15) We are all called to go. For some, they are called to go into their neighborhoods and work places to share and demonstrate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For some, they are called to go into distant lands and give their life amongst a foreign people that they might know His name. What ever our mission field, we are all called to “Go!”

As we go, our message is not one of condemnation, but one of reconciliation. We do not preach ourselves or our own ways, but we are sent to declare God’s glory. The same glory that Moses saw when God declared it to Him, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:6-7) God’s glory is connected to His goodness and His forgiveness. We are messengers of His glory and ambassadors of His message of reconciliation.

Who is sufficient for such things? Who is worthy of the honor of declaring His glory among the nations? God is looking for clean vessels. In Isaiah’s vision of the Lord, he hears God ask this question, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” (Isaiah 6:8) Isaiah’s immediate response is “Here am I. Send me.” God has been asking this question for many thousands of years, yet we have been deaf of hearing and slow to respond. Why hadn’t Isaiah heard God’s call before? The answer is evident in the preceding verses. “Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.’” (Isaiah 6:5-7) Sin deafens us to the call of God. It was only after Isaiah saw his sin, repented of it, and received forgiveness and cleansing for his sin that he was able to hear God’s call. God has a tremendous mission for our lives. God has called us to labor with Him in spreading His gospel and hastening the return of His Son, but first we must be willing to expose our life to the light of His word and allow Him to cleanse us of all our impurities. If we are so willing, then we will be those “clean vessels” that will bring in the end time harvest of God.

David Robison

No comments:

Post a Comment