Alright, Isaiah chapter 6 and look at verse number 9 and he said go and tell this people.
The title for the sermon tonight is go and tell, go and tell.
And we have, it's amazing because this chapter begins with Isaiah being in heaven.
Right, he receives this vision and if we can take the book of Revelation as an example
of how this works, we saw that in the, if you understand the book of Revelation you've
got John on the Isle of Patmos bodily, but he says that he was caught up in the spirit
in heaven and then he was able to see a vision of future events and so, you know, I believe
this is the same concept is that Isaiah's body is on the earth and is given this vision
but spiritually he's there before God in heaven and he sees a great, you know, a great, he
has a great experience, an overwhelming experience when he sees God.
Let's start with verse number 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.
And so one thing that you see immediately here is that as he gets caught up into heaven,
he sees God filling the temple, you know, we learn a couple of things that in heaven
there is a temple.
In heaven there is a, there is a heavenly temple and if you read the book of Hebrews
then Christ between his, oh sorry, after his resurrection, Christ took his own blood
upon the altar in heaven and sprinkled his blood there in that temple.
And so even though God had given Moses the description of the tabernacle, eventually
they would build a temple, these earthly, these earthly buildings were only a picture
or an image of that which is in heaven.
And so we see that the Lord God is in heaven.
It says at the end of that verse, high and lifted up and his train filled the temple.
The idea of a train there is similar to a, say a bride on her wedding day where she might
have a nice dress and many times the bride has a long train.
That follows her if you know what I'm talking about.
Sometimes other people have to come, other maybe bridesmaids might have to help that
train not getting caught because it's long and you know, and that's the idea.
As God walks through, you know, he's, you know, you could say it's his glory, maybe
it is his outfit, but the idea is that he fuels the whole temple.
Like he's so glorious, he's so majestic, you know, it could be even his hosts.
You know the idea, you know, again the idea of a train, you know, we're not far from a
train station, you know, a train would have many carriages, right?
And so as the train comes and the train goes, you know, it takes a while for all those carriages
to pass by and it might very well be as the Lord walks, all the heavenly hosts are following
him, you know, in the presence of the Lord, worship him, praising him, glorifying him
and this is the picture that he sees in heaven.
Something else that we, and before I actually show you this, I want you to think about this.
If Isaiah says, I also saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, I want you to think about who
did he see?
Say, well, he saw God, of course he saw God, but does he see the Father or does he see
the Son upon the throne here?
I want you to just think about that and I'll give you the answer shortly, but just start
thinking about like the scriptures you know you're aware of, who could Isaiah be seeing
sitting upon this throne?
But before we answer that question, the beginning of it says, in the year that King Uzziah died,
okay?
So we have a timeframe as to when he received this vision.
So I want to just bring you back to chapter one quickly, Isaiah chapter one, verse number
one, Isaiah chapter one, verse number one, so this is during the time obviously when
King Uzziah died.
In Isaiah 1-1 it says, the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah
and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah.
So that's the Uzziah who died.
Jotham, who's his son, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
So we can see that the ministry of Isaiah lasted during these four kings as they ruled
over Jerusalem.
And so being the first king, you can see that he's now, you know, a period now, he's been
preaching for a while, he's gone through that first period there with Uzziah.
Now I want you to know who Uzziah was.
I think there's a great lesson that we can take out of this when we see the story of
Uzziah.
So come with me to 2 Chronicles, come with me to 2 Chronicles chapter 26, Uzziah, 2 Chronicles
chapter 26 please, Uzziah, sorry Uzziah, 2 Chronicles chapter 26.
Now so far, you know, if you've been with me so far for the first five chapters, you
know, we have Isaiah preaching to Judah and Jerusalem, would you say it's been very positive
preaching?
You know, blessings of the Lord coming upon Jerusalem, or has it been very hard preaching?
You know, isn't God passing his judgment upon, you know, what you would term to be a wicked
land?
Wicked people.
They have tired.
They're in 2 Chronicles 26, look at verse number 3, look how old he was when he became
king.
15 years old was Uzziah when he began to reign.
So that's pretty young, but then it says here, and he reigned 50 and 2 years in Jerusalem,
so we have an idea of how long Isaiah might have been preaching.
You know, I'm not sure exactly at what point in Uzziah's life, but you could easily say
that Isaiah, before his vision, could have easily been preaching for 20, 30 years potentially.
But we see here that he reigned for 50 and 2 years in Jerusalem.
His mother's name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem, and look at verse number 4, and he did that
which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah did.
And so what do we see here?
When he began to reign, he did what was right in the sight of the Lord.
So you go and hold on.
The king of Judah is doing right, he's doing what God wants, but now Isaiah's preaching
judgment and wrath and the fear that the Chaldeans, Babylonians, taking over the nation.
How can that be when this guy's doing the right things?
We continue in verse number 5, it says,
And he, that's Uzziah, 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.
So look, he's so excited to know about the things of God, he goes to Zechariah.
You know, another prophet who receives visions from God, and he wants to learn from him,
but notice that it says that God made him prosper, but look, as long as he sought the
Lord, as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.
Why do you think that's there?
As long as he did.
Because he didn't continue that way, is what I'm trying to say.
He did not continue, I mean he starts so well at a tender age of 16.
And you know, when I look at this church, the majority of you guys are relatively young,
I would say.
Compared to, what I'm saying, in comparison to many churches.
You can walk into other IFB churches and there's a lot of grey hairs.
Nothing wrong with grey hairs, but it's hard to see younger people many times in these
churches.
And so what I want you to think about is, you know, yes, you know, potentially, you
know, relatively speaking, I'm of a younger age, I'm in church this Thursday night, you
know, I'm seeking the visions of Zechariah or Isaiah, I want to know the word of God.
And notice that as you do that, as you do that, which is right in the sight of God,
he will make you to prosper.
But as long, as long as you seek the Lord.
Okay, and this is the warning that I want you to have, is as you get older, you can
lose that excitement.
As you get older, you can become a little hardened.
As you get older, you might even become more prideful, okay, instead of acknowledging God
for your success and your prosperity, you might start to think of yourself.
And I've already preached about the sin of pride, but it is one like, it's the major
issue in man.
Like many times you see great faithful men of God, just humbly serving God, seeking his
face and all of a sudden you're like, what happened at the end of their life?
And the issue is, they became prideful, okay.
And we know that he's obviously, his reign is on a downward spiral, you know, I believe
this man was saved.
You know, you can be saved and go on a downward spiral and end your life in a bad position.
Hey, but thank God that salvation is a one-time thing once you place your faith on Jesus Christ,
it's a done deal.
But let's understand why God is so angry at Judah.
Why did he send Isaiah to preach such judgment and wrath upon this nation?
If you continue there, you're in 2 Chronicles chapter 26, drop down to verse number 16.
And let me get you to speed up in verse number 16, you can read it on your own time.
But when it says that he made him to prosper, it's because Israel had many enemies, obviously
many times they had other nations who were their enemies, and Uzziah had great victory,
you know, had great victory in warfare against these foreign nations.
And the Bible makes it very clear that he had victory by the hand of God, okay.
God made him very strong, very powerful.
Now when you start having victory over all your enemies, you know, and you have a name
and everybody knows, you know, that you're a mighty king and you have a great name, that's
when the pride can start to kick in, okay.
And look at verse number 16.
But when he was strong, that means he was being victorious, winning all these battles,
his heart was lifted up to his destruction.
His heart was lifted up, meaning that, oh man, I'm such a great king.
I'm such a great warrior, right?
I'm so powerful.
And this is what lifted him up to his destruction.
Look what happened.
For he transgressed against the Lord his God, what did he do?
And went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
You say, what's the big deal about that?
Because only the Levites could serve in the house of God.
Only the priests could light this incense.
You say, well, he's doing, I mean, he's going to the house of the Lord, he's serving God.
And this is something I really want to be careful about, brethren.
You know, there are rules around being a pastor in the Bible.
There are qualifications, you know, there are standards that God puts in his word as
far as how he wants us to serve him.
And it can be possible where even a pastor, you know, has great success in his ministry,
but he's lifted up with pride and then starts to do it his way.
Oh, but I'm serving God, aren't I?
Yeah, but you're doing it against God's ways.
So you're not serving God, you're serving yourself.
And this is an example where he's transgressed against God.
Well, look at me, I'm a religious man, I can just walk in the temple and do whatever I want.
Please be careful of pride.
You know, I never, look, and I keep saying this.
I pray and I hope that one day, you know, whether it's already a man in our midst or
a man that we yet not know, that God will, you know, put a full-time pastor here, bless
it up at this church.
I believe this church has great potential, okay, and, but it has to be the right man.
It has to be a man that meets the qualifications.
It has to be a man that fears the Lord.
It has to be a man who is humble, not lifted up in pride, okay?
Because we've got this warning sign.
He started so well.
Transgressions against God.
Look at verse number 17.
And as arrived, the priest went in after him.
So he chases the king and with him four score eighty priests of the Lord that were valiant
men.
These were brave men.
You know, look, because the king's powerful, right?
He's definitely demonstrated that he is victorious.
And the fact that these are valiant priests, okay, look, they've got the courage to go
to the king and say, King, you're doing wrong.
That's not your role.
That's not your responsibility.
Look at verse 18.
Verse 18.
And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto Uzziah
to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated
to burn incense.
Go out of the sanctuary, for thou has trespassed, neither shall it be for thine honor from the
Lord God.
So they've warned him.
Look, I believe right now, if Uzziah goes, you know what, guys, forgive me, I'm sorry,
Lord, I messed up, please forgive me, I have no doubt that God be merciful to him, that
God will show him grace, and he continues to be, like, because we all do stupid things.
We all make stupid mistakes.
But when you make a stupid mistake, that's not the time to dig in your hills.
Uzziah digs in his hills.
Look at verse number 19.
Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense.
And while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead, before
the priests in the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar.
So just a miracle.
Just all of a sudden becomes, you know, he has leprosy, you know, on his forehead.
Verse number 20, and Uzziah the chief priest, and by the way, let me stop there for a moment.
Because if you had leprosy in this day, you know, you were not to be amongst the populace,
number one, let alone in the house of God, okay?
So if the priest, if he's not going to listen to the priests, God puts, as it were, a curse
upon him, where he has no choice but to get out of the populace, okay?
And then verse number 20, and Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests looked upon
him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead.
And they frosted him out from thence, yea, he himself hasten also to go out, because
the Lord had smitten him.
And Uzziah the king was a leper, look at this, unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a
several 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.
Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son
of Amos, write.
That's why we're reading through Isaiah.
And so Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field
of the burial which belonged to the kings, for they said he is a leper, and Jotham his
son reigned in his stead.
What a reputation to have, he was a leper.
That's how he's remembered, the leper, because he went against the Lord.
And so what we can see here is, yes, he started well, but then he transgressed against the
Lord, and at some point God required Isaiah to start preaching against them.
But you know what's quite interesting there in verse number 22, again, now the rest of
the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, write.
Now when you read through the book of Isaiah, say, well, where are those acts, where are
those things that he did?
Well, it's not written in the book of Isaiah, but what this tells us is that Isaiah was
not just a prophet, he was also a historian, you know, that he kept records of kings and
things like that.
So there are other books that Isaiah wrote, but obviously the book of Isaiah, as we know
it, is the one that was, you know, where he was moved by the Holy Ghost under the inspiration
of God, and that's what we have left for us as recorded canon of scripture.
Alright, so come back with me to Isaiah chapter 6, I hope I've just given you a bit of introduction
there.
You know, it might sound like, well, then why is God so angry?
Well, we can sort of understand why, okay.
King Uzziah started to mess things up in the nation.
Now again, the question is, who did Isaiah see sitting on the throne?
Does anyone just want to give me an answer on what they think?
Yes, Ramzan?
Jesus.
You reckon Jesus?
Anyone else have any other answer to that, different answer potentially?
Okay, let's keep going.
Verse number 2, above it, that's above the throne, above it stood the seraphims.
Each one had six wings, with twain, that's with two, he covered his face, and with twain
he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly, and so we have this introduction to these
creatures in heaven, these seraphim, these angels if you want to call them that, they've
got six wings, two, you know, they're flying with two, they're in the air, two is covering
their face, I suppose it's kind of the humility of seeing, being there before God's throne,
and two, covering their feet, and verse number 3, and one cried unto another and said, holy,
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.
What I love about this verse is holy, holy, holy, you know, this might be a reference
to the triune nature of God, you know, holy, holy, holy, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost.
You can see that he's here called the Lord of hosts, just keep that in mind, and what's
also interesting is he's in heaven, Isaiah is, but what they say is the whole earth is
full of his glory.
I find this really interesting, you know, because we know that this earth has a curse,
it's corrupt, we know that there's a God of the world, the devil, but you know, God's
glory is still here on this earth, like just the beauty of his creation, the handiwork
of God.
It's not just found in heaven, it's found here on the earth.
And you know, I don't mean to boast anything, I find Sydney to be quite a beautiful city,
you know, especially the harbour and all that, but the Sunshine Coast is so nice, honestly,
it's so beautiful.
But I just remember, I just like to think, well, you know what, if this just captures
a little bit of the glory of God, you know, how much greater is it going to be when I
see God in heaven?
How much greater is it going to be in the new heavens and new earth, you know, when
we don't have this sort of separation with our sinful flesh before an almighty God.
And verse number four, it says,
And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled
with smoke.
And so as they're saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, as they're praising
and worshipping God, even the doorposts are just shaking, right?
Just like, it's just vibrating, boom, boom, boom.
The praise is so loud in heaven, and everything is just shaking.
And then all of a sudden, there's this smoke that just fills, you know, the whole place.
Now that smoke, you know, you could argue that it might be God's wrath, you know, because
God has been very wrathful toward Jerusalem in the previous chapters.
You know, this smoke could very well, it doesn't tell us, the Bible tells us, but it could
be smoke coming from the altar.
And if you read the book of Revelation, the smoke that is coming from there are the prayers
of the saints.
So it might very well be the smoke of the prayers of the saints.
It just could be that there's so many, so much praise and worship, and it's just such
a glorious sight.
And almost like a protection to the eyes of Isaiah, there's a bit of a covering, almost
similar to the time when Jesus Christ was transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration,
and a cloud covered the disciples because they were being overwhelmed by the presence
of God.
It could be any of those things, but one thing that is made very clear is that Isaiah becomes
overwhelmed.
Because in verse number five, he says, Then said I, Woe is me, 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.
Once again, very clear, he's seen the lord of hosts.
Now he says, I've seen the king, the lord of hosts, and he says, woe is me.
Like he says, look, I do not deserve to be in the presence of God right now.
And he blows me away because Isaiah is like, when you think about the prophets, like probably
you say, who are some of the greatest prophets that we read about in the Bible?
Isaiah was probably one of the first names that we think about, you know, as a great
man of God, you know, a great book that he wrote and used by God in such a mighty way.
You'd think, man, surely, you know, he's the standard of a believer, of a saint, of a Christian.
And even he, in the presence of God, says, man, I've got unclean lips.
And yet his lips have been used to prophesy and to teach people God's word and to warn
them about coming judgment.
And I just got thinking about this.
How is it that a great man of God like Isaiah would say, I'm a man of unclean lips?
If he can say that, what if I stood before God?
Like, what if you stood before God?
Like, I'd be like, like just being overwhelmed by his glory, you know?
And again, the seraphim, they're saying, holy, holy, holy, like their lips have been
used in a pure, praiseworthy manner.
And he feels like, man, I can't even speak.
You know, I've committed sin with my lips.
Like, well, you know, like think about how overwhelming it would be to be in the presence
of God knowing full well you still have a sinful nature.
I mean, I would be saying more than I've got unclean lips.
I've got unclean hands.
I've got unclean feet, Lord.
I've got unclean heart.
I've got an unclean mind.
Like, just think about that for a moment.
And if you can keep your finger there, come with me to James chapter three.
James chapter three.
I know Brother Ramsden preached with the Book of James recently.
But wouldn't you say, wouldn't you think, Isaiah, hold on, Isaiah, your lips have been
used to serve God, to preach his word.
And even in light of that, he says, man, my lips are still unclean.
He says, man, I've still sinned with my lips.
I've still spoken foolishness.
I've still said stupid things.
You know, I've still said curses with my mouth.
And so before God, he's just overwhelmed to see the king, the Lord of hosts.
And, you know, this should remind us just a little bit.
Just how much in the presence of God, we need to be mindful of our mouth.
Like, if Isaiah was concerned about what his mouth had said, what about us?
Like, we've got to fix the words that come out of our mouth.
How much foolishness?
How much stupidity?
How much awful words, cursing words, criticism, you know, unrighteous judgment, you know?
And, you know, it's so easy just, oh, who cares?
Okay, well, what if you stood before God?
I mean, you know, Isaiah's unclean lips would be like unclean lips, unclean tongue, unclean
teeth, you know?
How much more have we said besides what Isaiah had said?
And so we have this teaching here in James 3, verse number 9.
The Bible says, look, as human beings, we bless God.
We come to church, we're saying praises, praise God, that's what we should do.
But with the same mouth, we've cursed man, which is made after the similitude of God.
Man's going to be made in the image of God.
Verse number 10.
My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
So we might think the words that come out of our mouth are just insignificant, and we
just blow it away.
We probably said so many stupid things even today, we don't even realize that.
But I want you to remember just how serious it is in the presence of God.
And we've come to church tonight to be in the presence of God.
So, you know, what have you been saying throughout the day?
You say, pastor, I've said a lot of stupid things today.
Well, we'll fix that up in a moment.
We'll continue in this chapter, and we'll talk about how we can fix that up.
But come with me now to Isaiah 44.
Come with me to Isaiah 44.
Isaiah 44.
And Brother Robert, if you don't mind, could you just bring me a cup of water, if you have
a chance?
Isaiah 44, please, verse number 6.
Isaiah 44.
Let's identify who he's looking at here.
He said he's the king, remember that?
The king, the Lord of hosts.
Well, in Isaiah 44, verse number 6, it says,
Thus saith the Lord, the king of Israel, and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts.
And we're talking about the same person here.
The Lord of hosts, the king.
Now, I'll just read that against you.
Thus saith the Lord, the king of Israel.
Just in case you think it says, and his redeemer is a separate person, you might say, well,
maybe the king, the king of Israel there is the father and his redeemer is Jesus.
But when it says that the king of Israel and his redeemer, that's been the redeemer of
Israel, okay?
And his redeemer, the Lord of hosts, what else does it say?
I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there is no God.
Brethren, even though there is father, son, and holy ghost, it's one God.
It's one God.
There is no God beside the God of the Bible.
And the fact that these words have said I am the first and I am the last, that should
tell you if you know the book of Revelation who's speaking, okay?
These are the words of Jesus Christ.
He says them multiple times in the book of Revelation.
You know, just for your references in your own time, Revelation 1.17, Revelation 2.8,
and Revelation 22.13, three times Jesus Christ says, I am the first and the last, okay?
The king, the Lord of hosts.
And so who did Isaiah see on the throne?
I think just by looking at these few verses, three references, you can definitely see what
he saw Jesus Christ on the throne, okay?
Now, come with me to John chapter 1.
Come with me to John chapter 1.
So that's one way you can prove that he saw Jesus Christ on the throne.
There's actually several ways, okay?
Several ways we can prove that it's Jesus Christ on the throne.
John chapter 1, please.
John chapter 1 and verse number 18.
John chapter 1, verse number 18.
And look, if Isaiah did see Jesus on the throne, which he did, doesn't that answer
the question that a lot of people have?
How did the Old Testament saints get saved if they knew nothing about Jesus?
Are you sure they knew nothing about Jesus?
Isaiah saw Jesus long before the New Testament days, okay?
John chapter 1, verse number 18.
Look what it says here.
Now, these are the words of, well, let's read it.
It says, no man have seen God at any time.
So that would include Isaiah.
Wouldn't that include Isaiah?
Say, well, he's not seeing God at any time.
So Jesus is God.
Of course he's God.
But who is he speaking about there?
The Father, right?
But it says the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
he hath declared him.
So the one that has declared the Father is the only begotten Son.
But no man have seen God at any time, okay?
Only the Son has declared the Father.
That's the only way we can know the Father is through the Son.
Now you might say, well, in fact, you know, you might say,
if you can count, you're in John, so come with me to John 14.
Come with me to John 14.
Look, I'm not on this trigger to just debunk one theology all the time.
Really, all I want to do is just teach, show you what the Bible says, what is true.
That's my goal.
If you debunk some stupid doctrine out there, so be it.
But look at John 14, and I want you to just keep a finger on John 14
if you have a moment.
But it says here, Philip saith unto him, that's unto Jesus,
Lord, show us the Father, and it suffices us.
Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you,
and yet has thou not known me, Philip?
He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father,
and how sayest thou then, show us the Father.
And so he says, look, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.
So those that reject the Trinity, those that believe in one theology,
will say, see, what Jesus is the Father, because they saw Jesus,
therefore they saw the Father, therefore Jesus is the Father.
That's their conclusion, okay?
Now, you say, well, what about John 1.18 that said,
no man hath seen God, except the only begotten Son of God?
I say, well, maybe that was at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus,
because that was John chapter one, no man had seen the Father,
but now that Jesus Christ has come into the world,
everyone has seen the Father, potentially.
Like, that would be the conclusion.
Keep your finger there in John 14, we're going to come back to that,
but come with me now to 1 John chapter four,
come with me to 1 John, so the same author, the same writer,
1 John chapter four, please, 1 John chapter four.
So we saw a statement before the ministry of Christ began,
that no man has seen the Father, no man has seen God.
Now let's look at a statement long after the ministry of Christ,
in 1 John chapter four, 1 John chapter four, verse number 12,
1 John chapter four, verse number 12,
no man hath seen God at any time, if we love one another,
God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
So long after the ministry of Christ,
after he's been resurrected from the dead and he ascended up to heaven,
it's still being said that no man has seen God at any time.
So sandwiched between John chapter one and 1 John chapter four,
we have this statement of Jesus saying,
that if you've seen me, you've seen the Father,
but does that mean that Jesus Christ is the Father?
If even afterwards we have the statement that no man has seen the Father,
no man has seen God at any time.
Well, how do we answer that?
Come back with me to John 14, verse number eight,
John 14, verse number eight.
John 14, verse number eight, let's read it one more time.
Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father,
and it suffices us.
Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you,
and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?
He that have seen me have seen the Father,
and how saith thou then, show us the Father.
Now, Jesus Christ hasn't finished speaking, okay?
He now explains in what way they've seen the Father through him, okay?
In verse number 10, sorry, verse number nine, sorry,
10, believe us not, sorry, believe us thou not that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me.
So is he the Father or is he in the Father?
He's clarifying, he's in the Father, and the Father is in him, okay?
But he's not the Father.
Now, let's keep going, just in case you think,
oh, that still doesn't clarify for me.
This is what he's trying to teach them.
The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself,
but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
So in what way have you seen the Father because you've seen Jesus?
Because they heard the words and they saw the works.
The words are the words the Father gave the Son,
the Son gave to his disciples.
The words of the Father gave the Son to do,
they saw him do that, those are the works of the Father.
So in what way did they see the Father?
They saw the Father by words and by works, okay?
That Jesus Christ the Son did, in obedience to his Father.
So it's not that they saw him with their eyes,
but they experienced what the Father is like by the mission,
by the work of Jesus Christ.
Now, let's keep going there, verse number 11, drop down.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me,
or else believe me for the very works' sake, okay?
Because he saw the works and those are the works of the Father.
Those are the works the Father asked me to do.
Now, in what way...
So let's pretend we're oneness right now, okay?
So this is one of our proofs that Jesus Christ is the Father.
Let's pretend for a minute that's what we believe.
So Jesus is the Father because he's in the Father, right?
And the Father is Jesus because the Father is in Jesus also.
Well, in the same chapter, drop down to verse number 20,
Jesus is speaking to his disciples.
At that day, ye shall know that I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you.
So if Jesus is the Father because he's in the Father,
well, he says here that we're now in Jesus or by that same logic, then we're Jesus.
I'm Jesus.
And if I'm Jesus' son, I'm in the Father, I guess I'm the Father also.
Can you see that...
Some of you don't edit that because that's going to look horrible.
But can you see where bad doctrine leads?
Now you've got evidence to say that human beings, anyone that's saved in Jesus Christ is God.
Just because they messed up something so seemingly insignificant, but it's important.
It's important to understand who Isaiah saw on the throne.
No man has seen the Father at any time, okay?
There's another way to prove this.
Come with me to 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse number 13.
I know we're going to a lot of passages here, but I think it's very relevant to what we're
reading about in Isaiah chapter 6.
1 Timothy chapter 6, verse number 13.
I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus
who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession.
So we're talking about Jesus Christ here.
If thou keep his commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which in his time he will show, what's going to be shown, who is the blessed
be shown, who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Okay?
So here we have the King of Kings, Lord of Lords.
That's Jesus Christ.
That's why in heaven he's known as the King, right?
The King in heaven.
But look at verse number 16.
Who only have immortality, dwelling in the light.
So Jesus dwells in a light.
Let's understand what that is.
Which no man can approach unto.
This is a light that you and I can't approach.
And then it says, whom no man have seen.
Well, what does that remind you of?
Nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting.
Amen.
So Jesus is in a light that we can't, what is it?
We can't approach a light that no man has seen.
And we saw in the other passages that no man has seen the Father.
No man has seen God.
But Jesus Christ can dwell in that light.
That's what he said earlier.
I am in my Father and my Father is in me.
Okay?
Jesus Christ is the only access to the Father.
But no man has seen the Father.
Like there's just another way for you to see that this is a light that Jesus Christ can be in.
But again, no man can see that light.
Okay?
No man can approach unto that light.
We have to be in Christ Jesus.
Okay?
And one day when we receive our new resurrected bodies in the new heaven and the new earth,
then we'll see God the Father.
But that's a sermon for another day.
Okay?
Come back with me to Isaiah chapter 6, please.
Isaiah chapter 6 and verse number 6.
I hope I've just shown you just a few passages that to me is just crystal clear.
No man has seen the Father.
Okay?
And if no man has seen the Father,
Isaiah saw someone on the throne,
the King, the Lord of hosts,
the first and the last.
It's the Son.
It's Jesus Christ.
Okay?
Jesus Christ in the fullness of his glory before he was made and manifested into a man.
Verse number 6.
Then flew one of the seraphims unto me,
having a live coal in his hand,
which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.
So even on the altar, okay,
there's an altar, a burning altar.
And as I said to you before in the book of Hebrews,
you can listen to it on time,
Jesus Christ went to that altar, okay?
And he sprinkled his blood upon the mercy seat.
And it says,
he took that coal and he laid it upon my mouth and said,
lo, this have touched thy lips.
Remember his unclean lips?
And thy iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged.
So there is something right before Isaiah was caught up into heaven,
he would have said,
there's some sin that came out of his mouth.
He did not have time to confess it before God and he made right with him.
But now it's been taken away.
Now it's been cleansed.
Now you can speak, okay?
The sin has been purged.
And I like that, you know?
And that's the remedy, brethren.
If you can look back and just say,
God, I've said stupid things in my mouth today.
I've lied.
I've cursed.
I've just said foolishness.
You know, I've, I don't know,
you know, I've deceived, all right?
Lord, I did not bless you with my mouth and I've cursed man.
And you know what?
You need to go to God and say God in prayer.
Just Lord, can you,
just like Isaiah, can you place that live coal upon my mouth
and purge my lips, purge that sin away from me
so I can speak to you, okay?
So I can speak to you so you can hear my prayers.
So there'll be no hindrance when I go before your throne of grace
and bring my supplications.
So now the sin's been purged,
she's able to talk to God.
And in verse number eight, it says,
also 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.
Now he's got the confidence.
Now we can speak to God.
You know, here am I, send me.
And brethren, it's such a beautiful thing
when you go door to door soul winning.
Because you're saying, yeah, Lord, I'm here.
Look, I'm never going to force anybody to go soul winning.
God doesn't force anybody to preach.
He asks the question, who will go for us?
Who's going to go?
And it's interesting that he says, who will go for us?
Again, I'm not speaking of the trying nature of God, right?
And it's open, it's your decision.
Like I'm never going to force you
to get behind this pulpit and preach a sermon.
I'm never going to, I mean, sometimes I put a pressure,
but I'm not going to force you.
I'm not going to force you to go soul winning.
That's between you and God.
I mean, I hope you do.
Like I hope you do.
Okay.
But it's a volunteer, you know.
You have to be able to say, yes, Lord, use me.
I'm available.
I can be used by you, Lord.
You want to send me?
You want to use me?
You want to use my mouth
even though I have unclean lips?
Lord, then use me.
Oh, go, send me.
Now we're up to Isaiah chapter six,
six chapter of the Bible.
So what's the sixth book of the Bible?
Joshua.
Okay.
So come with me to Joshua chapter one, if you can.
Keep your finger there.
Come with me to Joshua chapter one.
Joshua chapter one.
Trying to find parallels.
And this is probably the harder ones to find
that I thought was, you know, more difficult.
But there are some, there are some parallels.
Joshua chapter one, verse number 12.
So, you know, the book of Joshua, of course,
is when the children of Israel
were led into the promised land,
not by the hand of Moses,
but by the hand of Joshua, the new leader.
Okay.
Now, as they would go into the land,
God had different, you know, had,
the land was the inheritance of the tribes,
and they would divide the land
for all the different tribes
and different areas and what have you.
But as they would go into the land,
there was, they had to fight for it, right?
There were the people of the land of Canaan
on that land, a wicked people,
it was time for their judgment.
And so it wasn't that, you know,
they just bought a house
and they can walk into the house.
They had to defeat the people
that were on the land.
Okay, it's warfare, it's bloodshed.
It required, you know,
a risk of life to do this.
And in Joshua chapter 1, verse number 12,
to three specific tribes here,
it says,
And to the Reubenites,
and to the Gadites,
and to half the tribe of Manasseh
spoke Joshua, saying,
Remember the word which Moses,
the servant of the Lord,
commanded you, saying,
The Lord your God have given you rest,
and have given you this land,
your wives, your little ones,
and your cattle,
shall remain in the land
which Moses gave you
on this side Jordan,
but ye shall pass
before your brethren armed,
armed, okay, they're going to war,
all the mighty men of valor,
and help them,
until the Lord have given
your brethren rest,
and he have given you,
and they have possessed the land
which the Lord your God giveth them,
and ye shall return
unto the land of your possession
and enjoy it,
which Moses the Lord's servant gave you
on this side Jordan,
toward the sun rising.
So there was a task to be done.
You've got to go to war, right?
God was saying to Isaiah,
There's a task to be done.
Who can I send?
And look how they answered
in verse number 16.
And they answered Joshua saying,
All that thou commandest us,
we will do,
and whithersoever thou sendest us,
we will go.
Joshua, wherever you send us,
we'll go and fight.
Isaiah is saying,
Lord, wherever you want me to go and preach,
send me.
Here am I, send me.
And what we see here
is just the submission of man
towards God's word.
You know, are you willing to be sent?
You know, the Lord sent me
to Sunshine Coast,
and then brought me back to Sydney,
and then back and forth,
back and forth,
you know,
and we're praying for a man.
I don't know who that is.
I don't know exactly who that is.
I have some thoughts,
I have some ideas,
but I don't know.
And the question is,
I can't force anybody.
I can't say,
All right, guys,
we're going to ordain
brother Ernesto right now.
Let's have Pasta Sepulveda.
Let's just keep the same name here.
Someone's got to say,
You know what?
Here am I.
Lord, send me.
You know,
are you equipped for the battle?
Are you able to do it?
Now,
the reason I wanted to go
for the life of Uzziah
very quickly at the same time
was remember that
Uzziah wanted to serve the Lord,
but he did not do it the right way.
Okay, so if you say,
Yes, Lord, send me,
you've got to do it the right way.
Okay, look,
even when your soul winning,
you need to do it the right way.
All right,
you need to go in the power
of the Holy Spirit.
You need to open God's word.
The Bible says,
Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.
If you just use your speech
and your words
and someone calls upon the name of the Lord,
I tell you now,
they're not saved.
Because faith cometh by
the word of God.
You have to use God's word.
Okay,
we've got to do things the right way,
is what I'm trying to say.
You know,
when we preach behind this pulpit,
we've got to do it the right way.
Not our thoughts
and our imaginations
and my logic
and my wisdom
and oh,
but surely Jesus Christ is the Father.
If there's one God
and Jesus is God
and the Father is God,
therefore Jesus is the Father.
That's man's logic.
It's faulty.
It's stupid.
It's wrong.
It leads to damnable heresy.
You know,
if you've got a heart,
I don't know,
there are men that want to be pastors
and I don't know what that timing is.
But the Lord is looking for men.
The Lord is looking for someone to be sent.
For someone to say,
yes, Lord, send me.
But you've got to do it the right way.
You've got to do it the right way.
You know,
there's a reason why it's hard
to start independent,
fundamental Baptist churches.
It's got to be the work of God.
It's got to be by His hand.
You just do it your own way.
It's going to collapse.
It'll just collapse.
If it's just your pride
and you know,
making a name for yourself
and want to be seen,
your ministry will collapse immediately.
You've got to do things the right way.
Now, come with me to verse number nine
in Isaiah chapter six, verse number nine.
Isaiah chapter six, verse number nine.
And he said, so, you know,
Isaiah said, I'll go.
And he said, go and tell these people,
hear ye indeed, but understand not.
See ye indeed, but perceive not.
Now, this kind of blows my mind.
I remember one of my,
my first IFB pastor
read this passage once
and he expressed like,
you know, one thing
that keeps me motivated as a pastor
is seeing people at church,
seeing people learn,
seeing people grow,
seeing souls saved, right?
I mean, that encourages people, right?
When you speak God's word
and there's a response.
But what about if there's no response?
God just told his eye,
look, I'm going to send you
and they're going to hear you,
but they're not going to
understand anything you're saying.
They're going to see you,
but they're not going to,
they're not going to,
they're not going to process
what you're all about.
Could you imagine?
God gives you a ministry.
Okay, Lord, send me.
Okay, this is your ministry.
You're going to go and preach my word,
but you're never going to see anybody
understand anything you're saying.
Like, it's going to be a failure.
There's never a failure
when you serve God, of course.
But no one's going to understand
anything you're talking about.
Could you do that?
Could you do that work?
What about when you got soul winning
and you're out there for two hours?
No one's home.
Get lost.
Don't want to hear it.
Not interested.
You know, keep going.
I mean, you're doing God's work.
Like, don't be discouraged.
What about if your ministry
lasted decades and nobody heard you?
Nobody changed.
No one improved.
But you know you're doing God's business.
You're doing God's work.
All right, God's going to reward you.
You know, I'm excited for the soul.
If you're able to go to a mission strip
in the Philippines next year,
look, you're going to get many people saved.
But look, if you go and work for 10 hours
and you see many people saved
and you work for 10 hours here in Sydney
and you see no one saved,
you've done the same work.
You've done what God expected you to do.
You're going to be rewarded by God equally
because you've put the same labor in.
So don't get discouraged
even though the hearts
or the people here in Sydney can be tough,
can be difficult
compared to other places in this world.
Let's keep going to verse number 10.
Make the heart of these people fat
and make their ears heavy
and shut their eyes.
He says, I want you to go and preach
to the point where they're just,
they're so sick of hearing you, Isaiah,
that they hear you speak
and they're like, ah, it's crazy Isaiah again.
What's he talking about now?
That's what God wants him to do.
And shut their eyes.
Why?
Why does God want this?
Lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and convert and be healed.
You've probably never heard this preaching
in some other church here in Australia.
He's saying, I want you to go
to the point where they're so sick of you.
They can't hear you.
They don't want to see you.
They don't want to understand
anything that you're saying
because I don't want them to open their eyes.
I don't want them to understand with their heart.
I don't want them to be converted.
I don't want them to be healed.
That's what God is saying.
What?
Now come with me to the book of John, please.
Come with me to the book of John 12.
Verses 9 and 10 in Isaiah 6.
John, come with me to John 12.
What we just read in Isaiah 9 and 10,
those verses are found in all four gospels.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
It's also found in the book of Acts.
And I think it's found in one of the epistles
that I just can't remember right now.
So it gets repeated multiple times.
What we just read is a major passage of scripture.
But I've never heard any of my pastors explain it to me.
God's saying, I don't want them to be healed.
I don't want them to be converted.
I want you to go out there to the point
where they get sick and tired of my word even.
Like, where have you heard that before?
Okay.
And then when Jesus Christ walks his surf
in John 12, verse 37, it says,
But though he had done so many miracles before them,
yet they believed not on him.
So you've got these unbelieving Jews.
Even though he's done so many works,
obviously supernatural things only God can do,
they still did not believe on Jesus Christ.
They say, why?
Drop down to verse 40.
He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts
that they should not see with their eyes,
nor understand with their heart,
and be converted, and I should heal them.
He says, he have blinded their eyes.
Jesus Christ says, God has blinded their eyes.
God has hardened their hearts
that they would not see, they would not understand,
they would not be converted, they would not be healed.
And look at verse number 41.
These things said, Isaiah's.
And I'll stop there for a moment
because that's going to leave me with something else.
This is what Isaiah talked about.
So this was true for Isaiah's day.
This was true for the day of Jesus.
And this is the reprobate doctrine.
Have you ever heard of it?
I'm sure you have.
This is where someone has crossed the line with God.
And God says, all right, I'm through with you.
I've given you my grace.
I've given you my mercy.
I've paid for your sins.
I've given you the prophets.
I've given you the word.
I've given you everything that you need.
I've given you all your provisions.
I've given you your land.
I've given you victory in battles.
And yet you do not praise me.
You do not worship me.
You do not acknowledge me.
You don't want to think about me.
You want to reject me.
And God says, fine, you want to reject me.
I reject you.
I'm not going to allow you to even understand
what's being preached that you'd be converted and healed.
This is not common teaching.
Everyone loves to think that people have
to the day they die to be saved.
Now that's true for most people
like the thief on the cross.
But there is a percentage of people
that God says, I'm done with you.
And they're never going to be saved.
Then the reason they're never going to be saved
is because they're never going to believe.
And why can't they believe?
Because they can't see.
They can't understand.
They can't believe with their heart.
God has hardened it.
And God says, I'm done.
You've crossed the line with me.
Done.
You rejected me.
I'm rejecting you.
This is why when the judgment of Babylon came
in the time of Jeremiah, once again,
that to Jeremiah, God said that reprobate silver
shall you call them.
That generation was reprobate.
I'm not saying every person was unsaved.
Of course, there were the Isaiah's.
There were the Jeremiah's.
There were other faithful men of God in the land.
But as a nation, as a whole, as the vast majority
that turned so hard against God, God says,
you're reprobate.
You're done.
I'm through with you.
You're going to be taken into captivity.
Then I'll deal with your children and grandchildren
when they've been humbled and they desire
to come back into the land.
But back to John 12, verse number 41.
Let's look at this.
These things save Isaiah's when he saw his glory.
Whose glory?
Jesus' glory.
See that?
And spake of him.
All right, look at verse number 37 again.
But though he had done so many miracles before them,
yet they believed not on him.
And that's why it says in verse number 41,
these things save Isaiah's when he saw his glory
and spake of him.
You have another confirmation of the New Testament
that Isaiah saw Jesus.
Isaiah spoke of Jesus.
Isaiah saw Jesus in his glory there in Isaiah chapter 6,
where we have that passage.
So come with me back to Isaiah chapter 6 and verse number 11.
Isaiah chapter 6.
That's why I told you there's many ways you can prove
that it's Jesus on the throne.
Isaiah chapter 6, verse number 11.
Now, if God says, all right,
I've got a ministry for you, brother Tim.
You're going to go out preach and no one's going to hear you.
No one's going to get saved.
No one's going to improve their life.
The next question is,
then said I, verse number 11,
Lord, how long?
I mean, maybe I can do this for two weeks.
Maybe I can do this for a month.
Maybe even a year, Lord.
How long?
And he answered, until the cities be wasted
without inhabitants and the houses without man.
Remember that all the men died in battle.
There were seven women wanted to marry one man.
Remember that story.
And it says, and the land be utterly desolate.
The land is destroyed.
You're going to preach, Isaiah,
to the destruction of Jerusalem.
In other words, you're not going to stop.
This is your ministry.
How long till you die, Isaiah?
This is your ministry.
They're not going to turn back to me.
God already knows the future.
Even though he gives him chances.
You know, so many times, so God is so merciful.
He's so slow to anger.
But he knows what's going to happen.
They're still going to reject him.
Judgement's still going to fall.
So how long?
Well, until the cities be wasted.
Verse number 12, and the men have removed,
the Lord have removed men far away.
That's the captivity.
And there be a great forsaken in the midst of the land.
Like the land, people have forsaken the land, as it were,
because they've been taken into captivity.
But brethren, how long do we preach in Sydney?
Oh, until the cities be wasted without inhabitants.
Until there's no one left.
You just keep serving God right here in Sydney.
You keep preaching the gospel.
If we get to a point, you're saying,
Pastor, no one's getting saved.
We've done it for two years now.
No one's getting saved.
Just keep going.
Keep going.
All right.
Maybe, you know, our job is, of course, winning soul.
And look, you're going to win souls.
No doubt about it.
Because even in the end times,
it says the gospel of the kingdom is going to get through all the nations.
But I'm just trying to encourage you.
Look, even if you hit a dry period,
you keep preaching the gospel until the city falls down.
Until nobody's left in the city.
Until it's all desolate.
It's all been destroyed because of some nuclear weapon.
You keep preaching.
You keep serving Jesus Christ with the life that he's given you.
Now come back with me to Joshua.
Joshua chapter 11.
Joshua chapter 11, verse number 10.
Because again, the sixth book of the Bible corresponds to the sixth chapter.
In Isaiah.
So of course, as Joshua and the people of Israel would go into the land of Canaan,
you know, I mentioned this last week.
It's almost like, you know, the tables have been flipped.
That, you know, in the time of Isaiah, Judah's going to be destroyed.
They're going to be wiped out by another nation.
But in the time of Joshua, they're the ones doing the wiping out on the land of Canaan.
You know, they're wiping out the inhabitants of that land.
And just to give an example here, it says in Joshua 11, verse 10,
And Joshua at that time turned back and took Hazor,
and smote the king thereof with the sword.
For Hazor before time was the head of all those kingdoms.
And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword,
this utterly destroying them.
There was not any left to breathe.
And he burnt Hazor with fire.
Because there's no one left there to breathe.
No one's left alive.
Verse number 12.
And all the cities of those kings and all the kings of them did Joshua take
and smote them with the edge of the sword, look at this,
and he utterly destroyed them as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.
So there's an utter destruction, you know, of the land of the Canaanites,
or this place, Hazor specifically.
And again, this was by the hand of God by the nation of Israel.
Well, now the nation of Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah,
they're the ones going to be driven out.
They're the ones that are going to be utterly destroyed, utterly made desolate.
They're going to be the nation, the kingdom,
where there's going to be no one left in the houses.
And so we see this parallel with Joshua.
But again, the sad thing is, they're the ones,
they're meant to be the conquerors, the Israelites,
you know, the people of the land of Judah.
They're meant to be the conquerors.
But now they're going to be conquered.
They're going to be conquered by Babylon.
And then we have verse number 13 back in Isaiah 6, almost done here, verse 13.
But yet, so this is the promise of God,
but yet in it shall be a tenth, 10%, and it shall return.
He goes, look, I believe it's speaking about the return from the captivity.
He says, look, when you guys return back,
the population that there is in the time of Isaiah,
10% is going to return, okay?
And it shall be eaten as a teal tree or as an oak whose substance is in them.
So this is talking about a tree where there's still life in this tree.
But then it says, when they cast, when they cast their leaves.
So it's kind of like autumn, right?
When the leaves fall off the tree.
That's the idea, like, you know, that Israel was this tree that was flourishing,
but now the leaves have all fallen off, okay?
It looks pretty empty, it looks pretty desolate,
it looks pretty lifeless as they were taken into Babylon captivity.
But it's saying, look, a tenth, 10% is going to return and there's still life.
There's still something left here.
And then it says, so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
So those that return back onto the land will be the substance or the life of that tree.
And of course, when they came back, they rebuilt the city,
they rebuilt the temple, the walls, and they started to worship the Lord God once again.
The people turned their hearts back to the Lord God and the nation was restored in that day.
And so even though it's all disaster for Judah,
God leaves them with this promise, with this hope,
that the next generations are going to come back
and they're going to return as a holy seed, worshiping the Lord God.
Total for the sermon was, go and tell.
Go and tell Jesus.
God told Isaiah, go and tell these people.
And, you know, God wants to use our mouths.
God wants to use our unclean lips, you know, for his service.
But you need to remember, before you serve the Lord Jesus Christ,
you know, before you open your mouth and speak of his words,
whatever ministry you find yourself in, that you ask God to forgive you,
you know, to give you clean lips, that you would be used for his purpose
and that you can be sent by God like Isaiah was sent.
Okay, let's pray.