[0:00] We pray that you might speak to us throughout the reading of your word this morning and through every aspect of this service. And this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
[0:18] Let me introduce myself. I'm Neville Mellor. We used to attend this church very regularly many years ago and then went off to do ministry in other places.
[0:33] And in more recent years have come back and then go off and do other services. But it's good to be here having fellowship with you today. And thank you Andrew for inviting me to be the speaker both at 8 and at 10 today and to be here with you having fellowship.
[0:54] And as I received the invitation would I speak at both services, I thought well now what will I speak on?
[1:04] And that's sometimes when there's a series of readings or lectionary, you know exactly what you've got to speak on and you've got to get down and do it. But in this case it was up to me.
[1:16] And just a few weeks before, Andrew had presented this document, this annual address at the AGM on walls and witness.
[1:31] And I was challenged by that as he presented that. And a particular part there, and if you haven't read it as yet, well please take it away or get a copy and read it.
[1:45] And a particular part there towards the end, Andrew says in this way. Friends, this is what I plan to do over the coming years. I want us together to think and plan carefully about the best way to reach our communities, our countries and the world for Christ.
[2:06] And so there's that real effort again. And many times you've reached out from Holy Trinity. But the invitation is again, like we had volunteers there to pick up the different things.
[2:24] Well, there's a need for volunteers from this church to go out into the community and share the word of God with people.
[2:35] Your neighbours, your friends, the people around you, people you work with. And then I thought, well now, where does this take me? And it then took me to this particular reading that you've had.
[2:49] The first reading, Isaiah chapter 6. And where the statement comes there, down a little lower in verse 8, where Isaiah says, Here am I, send me.
[3:05] Now you've got a little handout there. And there is one mistake further down in point 3. Nothing to do with the church making the mistake. It's entirely mine when I set it up.
[3:17] Instead of Samuel, it's Isaiah. But you can find that when you come to it. Well, let's just look now at these scriptures that have been read to us today.
[3:31] In the scripture reading, we have an account of how God called Isaiah to become a prophet. To exercise an experience that God gave to Isaiah to the inner compulsion of to speak of God's word to the people around him.
[3:55] This later led to his death because he was a volunteer to do this. But he knew that he was the messenger of the Lord.
[4:06] And each one of us who know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are a messenger of the Lord. Not only Isaiah, but each one of us.
[4:16] Isaiah was a prophet of Judah. And he was the son of Amoz. Not Amoz that Andrew is lecturing on on Wednesdays and Sunday nights.
[4:29] But Amoz. And he served God during the reign of four kings. Uzziah, Jonathan, Ahaz and Hezekiah.
[4:42] And those four kings, Isaiah, had the privilege of serving the Lord at that time. The vision of God came in the year that King Uzziah died of leprosy in Jerusalem.
[4:59] The king had defied the plan of God and had gone into the temple, into the parts of the temple. He was not to go as a lay person and he was struck down with leprosy and had it for the rest of his life.
[5:14] And by the year of about 739, Isaiah is coming on the scene at the death of this king.
[5:26] Let's just pause for a moment and see that the size of the temple. The size of the temple would be about 90 feet wide or long, 30 metres that might be.
[5:42] It would be approximately 30 feet wide, about 10 metres. It would be about 50 feet high, about 16 metres.
[5:55] Just to give you a comparison of the temple that Isaiah came into. Into this magnificent building with planks of cedar, cupboard with gold, gold plating over the top of it.
[6:14] And precious gems, this wonderful cathedral or this temple that they had built in that time. Well on your sheet there you've got four points following the different verses of scripture.
[6:29] And the first one that you have there is Isaiah saw God as a self-revealer. And you know we can think of God being far off.
[6:42] But God wants to be alongside. Revealing himself to each one of us. From his word and in different matters. And following the death of King Isaiah.
[6:55] And distinguished between Isaiah and Isaiah. Isaiah had gone to the temple disturbed about the future. His king had died.
[7:06] The other nations around about them would be very happy to move in and take over Judea and Jerusalem. And so he went to the place of prayer.
[7:17] To the temple. But not only was it the king that had died. But the king was his uncle. And so he had the grief of the passing of his uncle.
[7:29] But the need for prayer for the future of the nation. And Isaiah felt the need for personal experience with God. And my dear friends each one of us needs to have that personal experience with the Lord.
[7:45] Allowing the Lord to be our saviour and Lord. Coming into our lives as our saviour. And Isaiah worshipped. As Isaiah worshipped his soul was open to God.
[7:58] And I pray that our souls might be open to God today as we worship in this church. He had a real spiritual need and we have that spiritual need.
[8:12] God reveals himself through nature. Often through birth. Often through life. Often through death. God comes alongside and becomes a real person to us.
[8:27] A real God. God reveals himself through the scriptures. And I think of the Emmaus Road. Many years after this of course.
[8:38] When Isaiah was alive. When Jesus had been taken. And crucified. And placed upon the cross and crucified. Dead. Buried in the tomb.
[8:50] And then as the disciples came to the tomb. His body was not there. And they didn't know what to do. Where Jesus was. Where their master was. And so two of the disciples said.
[9:02] Let's go home. It's all over. It's finished. No use doing it anymore now. And as they walked along the road. It tells us in the word of God. That a person came alongside.
[9:15] It tells us that this was Jesus. Drawing alongside. But it says that the disciples eyes. Could not recognise that it was Jesus. And as Jesus drew alongside.
[9:27] He began alongside of these two men. As they walked along the road to Emmaus. Dejected. Heads drawn. And wondering why it was all happening.
[9:38] He came alongside. And opened up to them the scriptures. And revealed himself in the scriptures. And then they came to the house in Emmaus. And they invited him in.
[9:49] And he went in. And he supped with them. And opened up to them. That he was alive. And not dead. And so he revealed himself. Through the scriptures.
[10:01] And as you and I. Study the word of God. He reveals himself to us. Through the scriptures. He reveals himself. Through prayer.
[10:11] What a wonderful thing to come. And to have prayer. In the house of the Lord. Where. Isaiah in the temple. Of the Lord. And. But to come into the church.
[10:23] Or at home. Or. One of the experiences. I experienced. For many years. As I'd be driving in the. Western New South Wales. And also. Western Australia.
[10:34] I was able to. Be in the car by myself. For many. Hundreds of miles. And to just have. Loud prayer. Between myself. And the Lord. As I drove along. And so the opportunities are.
[10:46] As Isaiah took it. To come for prayer. For you. To come before the Lord. In prayer. God reveals himself. Through experiences. God reveals himself.
[10:58] Through the coming. Of the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost. And the church. Became alive. And went out. With the gospel. Our God. Has not hidden himself.
[11:10] To the extent. That we are unable. To see him. It says. That. In. In Matthew 5.8. It says. Blessed are the pure in heart. For they will see God.
[11:22] Maybe not in a real. Visible way. But the ones. That have a love. For the Lord. Will see him. Personally. And then. We think of the next.
[11:33] Particular point there. On your sheet. If you have the sheet. In front of you. Isaiah saw God. Sovereign. And supreme. On the throne. In verse.
[11:44] 5. 5. 5. Of this particular reading. And I said. Woe is me. I am lost. For I am a man. Of unclean lips.
[11:55] And live among a people. Of unclean lips. Yet my eyes. Have seen. The king. The lord of hosts. And here we see. Isaiah.
[12:05] Coming. Into the temple. His uncle. Dead. And Isaiah's thoughts. Ascented around. The vacant throne. Who will be put upon the throne.
[12:16] And as he thought of this. Isaiah was given a vision of God. On the throne. In the temple. On the throne. Of the universe. Of the throne.
[12:27] Of his life. And here the prophet needed. This vision to. Stabilize him. In the time of uncertainty. To give him boldness.
[12:37] In the time of danger. And Isaiah saw the whole world. In this fear. Of God's power. Isaiah saw the sovereignty. Of the eternal.
[12:48] Monarch. Living in his life. And the lives of other people. God sits. On the throne of glory. Before which. We must worship.
[13:00] God sits on the throne of government. Under which we are. Subject. God sits on the throne of grace. To which we must come boldly.
[13:11] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Dying on the cross of Calvary. Is for you. And for me. Personally. And then.
[13:22] This holiness. Isaiah is confronted. With the holiness. Of God. And he says. Holy. Holy. Holy. There.
[13:33] Bright and clear. Separated. Is. His God. Lifted up in that. Completely filling the temple. It says. The train. Of God. Fills.
[13:44] Completely. The temple. At that stage. And. Lofty. The train. Filling the whole temple. Filling the whole world. You see. Isaiah's.
[13:55] Vision. Was not only for Judah. But for the whole world. And he knew. That God. Could do this. In due course. The whole church. Does this happen to us?
[14:05] Have we got the vision. Not only. For here. But throughout Australia. Throughout the world. For the people. In other places. Isaiah stood convicted.
[14:16] And utterly condemned. Before the holiness of God. And what did he say? And I said. Isaiah said. Woe is me. I am lost.
[14:27] For I am a man of unclean lips. And I live among a people. Of unclean lips. Yet my eyes have seen the king. The Lord of hosts. What a wonderful experience he had.
[14:40] And Isaiah. Felt unworthy. To stand. Before. The Lord. And then. Here we come. To our third point there. Isaiah saw God.
[14:51] As a cleanser. And we see this. In verses 6 and 7. And we read. Then one of the seraphs. Flew to me.
[15:02] Holding a live coal. That had been taken. From the altar. With a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth. With it. And said. Now that this has touched your lips.
[15:15] Your guilt is depart. And your sin. Is blotted out. A live coal. We wouldn't like to have that experience. On our tongue. But of course. The Lord was in control here.
[15:26] And the live tongue. The live coal. There. Cleansed. The sins. Of Isaiah. And. At a later time.
[15:37] Isaiah. Was to proclaim. That God would cleanse. The whole of the people. In 1.18. Which is. Prior to that. Isaiah said. Come now.
[15:48] Or God said. Come now. Let us. Argue it out. Says the Lord. Though your sins. Are like scarlet. They shall be like snow. Though they are red.
[15:58] Like crimson. They shall become. Like wool. And what a wonderful time. When Jesus came. And shed his blood. Upon the cross of Calvary. Cleansing.
[16:09] Our sins. Isaiah challenged the people. Of his day. And the same challenge. Comes to us today. What did he say? He said in.
[16:20] Isaiah 55. 6 and 7. Seek the Lord. While he may be found. Call upon him. While he is near. Let the wicked.
[16:30] Forsake their ways. And the unrighteous. Their thoughts. Let them return. To the Lord. That they may have. Mercy. On them. He may have. Mercy on them.
[16:41] And to our God. For he will. Abundantly. Pardon. Maybe just go. To. A slide. That I think. Is up there. By now. It's a slide.
[16:52] Of South America. Where. My wife. Nancy. And myself. Had the privilege. Of visiting. The missionaries. Of the South American. Missionary Society. Several years ago.
[17:04] And. It's a slide. Of an open air meeting. And as we stood there. With the missionary. Bruce. Who'd come out. From. Gone out from Melbourne. Many years before.
[17:15] He pointed out. That. That man. In the. In the brown coat. There. That young man. And he said. See that young man. The change. That's come upon his life.
[17:26] Is tremendous. He said he was. A gangster. A thug. He was a pimp. One who. Employed. Employed. Prostitutes. To.
[17:36] Get money. And. He. Came. Just. A few months. Before. He came down. To their. Open air meeting. And he came down.
[17:47] To. Destroy. The open air meeting. Where this group. From the church. Were gathering. Singing praises. And giving witness. And reading. God's word. In the open street.
[17:58] And he came down. That he might. Break it up. And. As he stood there. He heard the gospel. For the very. First time. He'd heard of Christ. He'd heard of Jesus. But he'd never.
[18:10] Done anything about it. And he got really. Convicted. As he stood there. That young man. That. That. That rogue. That gangster. And. As he stood there.
[18:21] He then. Wanted to know more. About it. He went and spoke. To the missionary. And he gave his life. To the Lord. That night. And from there on. Alberto. Has.
[18:32] Been a part. Of that group. A few years ago. And by now. But I believe. He's still. Witnessing. For the Lord. Over there. And not only. Did he witness. To the Lord.
[18:43] In the open air. He went back. To the people. That he'd. Worked amongst. And he told them. Of Jesus. And Jesus. Been a saviour. And this is. What.
[18:54] Isaiah. Was to do. Was to go. Out and tell. Of God. To the people. Around him. And then we. Come to our.
[19:05] Closing. Thought. On this. Today. And we see. That Isaiah. Saw. God. In need. Of. Helpers. And you know.
[19:16] God. God's. An almighty. God. But he is. In need. Of helpers. Our friend. Down here. Needed helpers. To go. And pick up. Those shoes. And ties. And whatever.
[19:26] It might be. God. Is needing. Helpers. To reach out. To the people. Of Doncaster. In the world. And in. Isaiah. 6. 8. Then I heard.
[19:37] The voice. Of the Lord. Saying. Who shall I send. And who will go. For us. And I said. Here am I. Send me. And Isaiah. Was prepared.
[19:47] To go. This. Is the renewing. Of the prophet's. Mission. As he communicated. With God. God. Will call. He will cleanse. And he will equip.
[19:59] And in that. First. Or the second reading. We had. From Romans 10. 15. And how are they. To proclaim him. Unless they are sent. As it is written.
[20:10] How beautiful. Are the feet. Of those. Who bring good news. And if the Lord. Calls. He is going to equip you. He is going to give you. The words to speak.
[20:22] You know. Until the. Until I was. In my 20s. Every. Every second word. I said. I started over. And. The only time. I didn't start over.
[20:32] When I used to run. A SEBS group. And I give them. The devotion. But otherwise. I started. And then. The Lord. Equipped me. For ministry. Before me. And that stuttering. Was taken.
[20:44] Away. Well. Here we think. Of. Timothy says. Or Paul says. To Timothy. I am grateful. To Christ Jesus. Our Lord.
[20:55] Who has strengthened me. Because he judged me. Faithful. And appointed me. To his service. And we're. Challenged with this. Who will go.
[21:06] For us. The Lord says. To. Isaiah. And he said. Here am I. Send me. I'd like to just. Give a. Small illustration.
[21:17] Of. Something that happened. A few years back. Not to me personally. But. The story was. Revealed to me. It was about. A person called.
[21:27] Mr. Q. He lived in Malaysia. He was of Chinese. Extraction. And. He enjoyed living. Where he lived. He enjoyed. His.
[21:37] His. Football. Watching on the television. He enjoyed. A bit of golf. He enjoyed. Various things. Happening. Over there. But one thing. Annoyed him. Every. Sunday morning.
[21:49] He knew. It was coming. There would come. A knock at the door. And. He knew what it was. He'd go and open the door. And there was his neighbour. And his neighbour. Was saying.
[21:59] He would say to him. Mr. Q. Will you come to church. With me today. And Mr. Q. Would say. No look. I'm sorry. I've got to go and buy the groceries today. And the next week. I've got to go and play golf. And the next week.
[22:10] I want to watch the cricket. Or the football. He always had excuses. And he thought. Mr. Q. Thought. How am I going to get rid of my neighbour. And so this day. As he saw his neighbour. Coming up the park.
[22:22] He. Before he knocked on the door. He flung the door open. And he said. I'll go to church with you today. And Mr. Q. Nearly keeled over. And. I'm sorry.
[22:32] The. The neighbour nearly. Killed. Over. And. As they. Went off the church. Mr. Q. Sat in the service. And.
[22:43] When they. Sang the hymns. He wondered what they were all about. Fancy standing for those. And. When the scriptures was read. What was that saying? What were those words about?
[22:54] They were. Funny things. He just about. Snored his way through the sermon. And. The service meant nothing to him at all. But as they went out. The neighbour introduced Mr. Q.
[23:07] To the pastor. And the pastor said. Will you take this. New testament. Will you take it home. And read it. And see what the Lord is saying to you.
[23:18] And Mr. Q. Went home. And he. He. He threw that. That. New testament on the table. And he said. That's not for me. I'm not going to read that. And. Then.
[23:28] He thought. Oh. Wait a minute. That's. Rice paper. Oh. I wonder what I. Yes. I know what I can do with that. And so. Starting at the back of the book.
[23:39] As they. Do in the old Chinese ones. He ripped out a page. And. He took some of his tobacco down. And. He. Rolled his own cigarette.
[23:49] With his own tobacco. From the pages. Jesus. And more. As he started to smoke his way. Through. The new testament. As. It was handed to him. He spoke his way through. Matt.
[24:00] Or started to smoke his way. Through Matthew. The temptations of Jesus. The beatitudes. And various things like that. He went through. Mark. And Luke. And. Read a few words.
[24:11] But not many a thing. And you know. As then he. Ripped out. And smoked another one. In. John. And. That didn't mean very much. But he came to.
[24:21] The chapter 3 of John. John. Chapter 3. Verse 16. And that said to him. For God so loved the world. That he gave his only begotten son. That whoever believes in him.
[24:33] Should not perish. But have eternal life. And Mr. Q said. What's this all about? Having eternal life. And so Mr. Q. Picked up that.
[24:45] Half. Destroyed. New Testament. And. Went down to the pastor. Knocked on the door. And said. Look. Don't ask me how. But this book's been. Half destroyed.
[24:56] But. But what's this all about? What's this verse? And the pastor sat down. With him. And explained. The Lord Jesus Christ. To him. And a personal faith.
[25:08] Which each one of us. Needs to have. A personal faith in Jesus. And as he explained. That personal faith. Mr. Q. Came to know Jesus. As Saviour and Lord.
[25:19] And you know what he did? He went home. And in the months. And the years that followed. He'd go. And obtain Bibles. And Gospels. And New Testaments. And he'd go to his neighbours.
[25:30] And sell them. To the same price. As he paid for them. To his neighbours. And to the people in the market. He was about his father's business. He didn't actually hear the call.
[25:41] Who will go for us. But he. As. As did Isaiah. Here am I. Send me. He went out. I believe. That we're going to be really challenged.
[25:53] In the years that lie ahead. That there are many more people. In Doncaster. That needs the word of God. And that you and I. Are the only ones. Who are going to meet those people.
[26:04] Our neighbours. Our friends. The people in the street. That we might share. The Lord. With them. Well. Isaiah heard the call. For volunteers.
[26:14] And yielded. His life. To God's purpose. As we think of this. We admire Isaiah. Because God's. Call came. He responded.
[26:25] Here am I. Send me. The God of Isaiah. Is also the God and Father. Of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know. When he says.
[26:36] When the Lord says. Who will go for me. We need to. Say. I will go. I'll leave the success. To the Lord. Here am I.
[26:48] Send me. Individual person. You and I. We can share. The Lord. Here am I. I'm a volunteer. I'm not pressed into service.
[26:59] Here am I. Ready to encounter. What God has in store for me. And for my neighbour. And for my friend. We cannot keep this message to ourselves.
[27:12] We must share it. With other people. In our area. Let's just bow in prayer. Our Father.
[27:23] In the days of old. Those many years. Before the coming of Christ. We thank you for Isaiah.
[27:34] When God said to him. Who will go for us. And Isaiah said. Here am I. Send me. When God said to us.
[27:46] Today. Here in this church. In our homes. Who will go for us. May we respond.
[27:58] Here am I. Send me. In Jesus name. Amen.