I was reading this morning a magazine that we receive from Christ for the Nations and an article by Lance Lambert stood out to me to be along many of the lines of discussion we've enjoyed on this list lately. I wanted to share it with you as I feel they will minister to us as well as encourage us AND convict us. God is, in my opinion, very busy in His Church today, preparing her for the days ahead, preparing her as a spotless Bride for His Son. ------------------------------------- HERE I AM LORD, SEND ME by Lance Lambert (CFNI Magazine, June 2000) When Isaiah said, "Here am I! Send me" (Isaiah 6:8), I doubt that he had any idea what the Lord would do through him. It was the birth of one of the greatest ministries the people of God have ever known--a ministry that would shake the world. Isaiah was of royal stock, of the house of David. He was a young man in his teens when God met him in the year that King Uzziah died. His ministry spanned a whole lifetime, and he died a martyr's death during the reign of evil King Manasseh. He ran to hide in the hollow trunk of an ancient olive tree, but was discovered and they sawed the tree in two -- with him inside it. I don't think that any child of God really knows what is entailed in responding to the Lord's call. Tremendous things come out of what sometimes seem very small decisions. When Isaiah said, "Here am I! Send me," he doubtless had no idea of the depth, the scope, or the glory of his ministry. I am sorry for anyone who has never responded to the Lord's challenge. I am further saddened by the Christian hedonism that has seized the Church -- this interest in our own satisfaction, our own fulfillment, our own joy. We seem obsessed with finding something that will mollify and titillate us. In many ways this is a reaction to the accent on service, duty and taking responsibility that has governed the Church for the last century. I'm not saying that Christians should be miserable, or that there should be no laughter, joy, peace or fulfillment, but I question the kind of Christianity that is totally self-centered. There is no sacrifice in it, no suffering in it, no place for laying down the life, no place for being crucified with Christ. To listen to some, you would think the Christian life should be a bed of roses, with God dancing around you, and you as the center of everything. But when God met with Isaiah, He challenged him. Out of Isaiah's response came a ministry the scope of which has never been fully plumbed. After all, one of the greatest expositions of the work of our Messiah, the Lord Jesus, is found not in the New Testament, but in the prophecy of Isaiah, the 53rd chapter. There is no genuine service without seeing and hearing the Lord. All other service is counterfeit; it is religion. It may be Christianized religion, but it is still religion and belongs to this world. It is very interesting that Isaiah's whole ministry began with the words, "I saw the Lord" (Isaiah 6:1), then, "I heard the voice of the Lord" (Isaiah 6:8). A genuine ministry begins with seeing the Lord, not with the physical eye, but in the Spirit. In Ephesians 1:17-19, Paul was dictating a letter to the Church of Ephesus. He said, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us." He wasn't talking about just knowing about the Lord, that is theology, but knowing the Lord directly and intimately for yourself. Most theologians and Bible scholars will say the Ephesian letter is the high-tide mark of revelation. It is almost as if Paul was saying, "God save them from making this into nothing but a theology. God save them from making this sermon material. I want them to see with the eyes of their heart. I want them to know for themselves that they might serve the Lord." Every child of God should have good spiritual eyesight, not double sight, not long sight, not short sight. We should see clearly to the end of our days, for out of such sight comes service. We are changed as we behold the glory of the Lord. (II Cor. 3:18). Then think of hearing. Ears are not very beautiful, but they are for hearing, not for ornamentation. Jesus said more than once, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Again, when speaking to the seven churches representing the whole Church of God, He says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev. 2:7). In other words, there can be no living relationship to the Lord Jesus, no obedience to Him, no true genuine service without hearing what He is saying. We have to hear the Lord. Some people believe the Lord will never speak to them. Therefore, they become spiritually deaf. The Lord Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice" (John 10:27). Some people say the Lord speaks to them and yet they do the most ridiculous things in the world. God preserve us from them. But you and I need to hear what the Lord is saying and we need to respond. There are many people who are in self-motivated, self-appointed service. They did not begin with seeing and hearing the Lord. They began with a desire to have a platform ministry, to be in leadership, or to have a place of prominence. We have whole empires built on such self-promotion, self-aggrandizement, and self-fulfillment. I do not believe that anyone with a God-given, God-birthed ministry will ever survive unless they see the Lord in His greatness. Isaiah, "saw the Lord...high and lifted up, the train of His robe filled the temple" (Isaiah 6:1). He was not some god trapped within a temple. he was so great that the very train of His robe filled the whole temple, and the seraphim cried, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah 6:3). There is no better antidote for our littleness than to see the greatness of the Lord. When you and I see how great the Lord is, then we will respond to His call, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (Isaiah 6:8). It is a tremendous thing when we see His greatness, sovereignty and authority both in heaven and on earth. --- continued on part 2 --- Ron Ross rerross@... http://focusontheword.com "O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever." (Psalm 107:1)