Wednesday, 13th April 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-5 The Presence of God
V1-3 ‘In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!”’ When God calls His people, He does not look at how skilful or capable we are, instead, we must see how powerful our God is. When we are stuck in a ‘doing’ mode, then we can never see God. our hearts will be filled with confusion and calculation. We can no longer live a life with the presence of God, but we will gradually lose our joy and we will be frustrated in everything we feel like we must do.
V4-5 ‘And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: “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 my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”’ God has chosen us to be the light of the world, when we serve people, do we allow people to see God? Or do we only allow people to see ourselves? King Uzziah had a powerful kingdom, but at the end it would still be destroyed. We must see the unfallen kingdom, which is the Kingdome of God, because only by trusting in God, we will never fail. Stop focusing on ourselves, let our attitude be adjusted, because it shows who God really is in our lives. Isaiah’s attitude attracted God.
Section Two V6-7 Set Apart
V6 ‘Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.’ What is the coal? Ever night we must bring our thanksgiving as the fuel to burn the offering to the altar, to remember all the blessings God’s given to us in our lives, and let our praises reach to the Heaven.
V7 ‘And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.”’ What are the words coming out from our mouth? Do we bring life to the people we visit and care for? We always want to fix the problem and solve the issue, but we hardly speak the Word of Truth, to bring the teaching of the Bible to people’s lives. We must know that when we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, He will lead the way and He will do the work! Do we treasure the time we spend worshipping and giving thanks to God? This is the time God cleanse us and wash our sins away. We are born again, do not go back to our old ways of living, but let our lives be renewed and changed.
Section Three V8-10 Willingly Receive Calling
V8 ‘Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”’ Isaiah could see and hear God! When we receive God’s calling, do we respond right away? Or do we dodge the ball? We tend to drag the timeline, it’s easy for us to say to God, ask Him for more time, for more resources, for more support… but unknowingly we are still relying on ourselves and we have not yet responded to God’s calling.
V9 ‘And He said, “Go, and tell this people: Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ God will use us in our low points, during the times of desperation, because when we really humble ourselves, see ourselves as the blessed sinners, then we can really see how we cannot do anything without God. What is in our hearts? Do we really have God in our lives? God wants us to be saved but we don’t see God with our eyes, we don’t hear God with our ears, and we don’t have God in our hearts!
God wants to heal us and for us to understand His love for us. V10 ‘Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.’ God is going to do the clean-up, yet He is still searching for those, who are willing to respond.
Section Four V11-13 God’s Work
V11-12 ‘Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate, the Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.’ What do we really rely on? Simply rely on Him, and He will save us, He will heal us, and He will not let us fall before the judgement.
V13 ‘But yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.’
以赛亚书 6 – 末世 神的呼召
2022年4月13日 星期三
潘锡安牧师
神呼召我们后不是丢下我们不管。呼召 就是将我们分别出来承受一个使命、行动。我们听到呼召后常想着就要奋勇自强去做什么事，然而，神用今天的经文教导我们，在神的国度里，神的呼召究竟是怎样的。
一、v.1-5 神的同在
世界的呼召是要我们凭自己的力量去拼命完成任务，就好像当年我们从学校毕业出来，满怀热情想要成就一番事业，但神呼召我们出来是要看到神的同在和他的位分。
V1 乌西雅王曾是显赫一时、大有能力的君王，他的死结束了一个时代，民众人心惶惶，不知道前方的路如何。就在这时，以赛亚看到“主坐在高高的宝座上”。神要我们看见，当我们不靠人不靠物，而虚心倚靠神的时候，我们就会看见神的权能。当我们常为自己的一切谋算时，就看不见神。
V2-4 以赛亚也看到两个撒拉弗在呼喊说“圣哉，圣哉，圣哉，万军之耶和华！他的荣光充满全地！”神呼召我们的时候，他看的不是我们的能力有多强或是否能完成任务。我们被神呼召，要看的就是神的能力！当我们陷在doing的模式里时，我们就没有喜乐，心里只有混乱，呈现出没有神、只有烦躁的样子。我们以为要靠自己去做事，所以不开心，也不能口出恩言。若要得人如得鱼，首先就要看到神的同在、作为和呼召在我们身上是跟这世界不一样的。
V5 以赛亚听到这个呼召后谦卑回应：“祸哉！我灭亡了。因为我是嘴唇不洁的人，又住在嘴唇不洁的民中，又因我眼见大君王万军之耶和华。”他承认自己嘴唇不洁，也被所住的这个世界玷污。他不止没有看自己的能力，他也看到自己的生命 – 他还是会说属世界、情欲的话语。然而神仍然在这个人面前呈现自己的圣洁。当我们听到神的呼召时，我们是抱持什么态度呢？是否觉得“没问题，我都可以”，或是只看到要完成任务所需的资源？神要我们看到他的能力是高过诸天的，我们不需要在他面前膨胀自己，而是要谦卑自己。神拣选我们成为世界的光，我们的服事能否让人看到神，还是让人只看到我们能力很强？以赛亚愿意在神面前谦卑，因为真实看见自己生命的问题。我们的服事没有果效，因为我们看不到神的同在，只看到人力、资源、时间、个人能力，所以无法将人带到神那里，只把他们带到我们这里。我们不要成为别人的偶像。一个伟大的时代过去了，神来造访以赛亚，让他看到神的权能和圣洁。每一天的晨祷，神都向我们彰显他的权能、圣洁，我们是否能看见自己生命的问题？我们回应的态度就表现我们跟神的关系 – 我们与神的关系不在于我们在台上表现得多好，而是我们回应他的态度。
二、v.6-7 分别为圣
V6 当我们愿意谦卑在神面前时，神就出手了。“红炭”是从祭坛上取下来的。当我们每天向神献上感恩祷告为祭，祭坛的火就不熄灭。当我们去关怀牧养人、去探访他们的时候，不要聊是非，在医院时不要一直问病人的病情或质疑医生的诊断，而要带下平安和盼望的话语。当我们的嘴充满情欲的话语，神就用感恩祭坛上的炭来沾我们的口。不要被我们里面的负面欺骗，我们每天花时间去感恩，就成为祭坛，上面的炭就能洁净我们，让我们的罪孽被除掉、罪恶被赦免。我们现在的生命如何，是否还跟信主前一样，还是已经得重生？求神赦免我们，让我们不再活在情欲中。
三、v.8-10 回应呼召
V8 以赛亚不仅能看到神，还能听到神的声音。我们是否有听到神跟我们说“我可以差遣谁呢？谁肯为我们去呢？”我们听到后是否用自己没有预备好为借口来躲避，还是愿意祷告求神加添力量？如果我们只看到资源不足就不去回应呼召，我们就没有看到神。以赛亚回应神说：“我在这里，请差遣我！”
V9 对于一个嘴唇不洁的人，神反而使用他生命的低点，让他去对人说话。如果我们愿意谦卑，相信自己是蒙恩的罪人，我们每一天都能看到我们的低点。神让以赛亚对百姓说“你们听是要听见，却不明白；看是要看见，却不晓得。”当我们听不懂看不明的时候，是否把责任丢在别人身上却看不到自己的问题？
V10 我们“心蒙脂油，耳朵发沉，眼睛昏迷”，因为我们的心思意念都在这个世界上。在主日聚会的时候，有些人打瞌睡，有些人常常看手机、手表，因为他们心里没有神。当我们来到神面前的时候，要求神帮助我们将里面不属神的东西都拿走，让我们心思意念都在神身上，因为当我们“眼睛看见，耳朵听见，心里明白，回转过来，便得医治”。我们若在人前戴面具，就会累，就很容易放弃或发脾气。神爱我们，他要医治我们，我们是否能看见、听见、明白呢？
四、v.11-13 神的作为
当我们不愿意回应的时候，神要清理，但他不会一竿子打翻一船人，他会存留那些愿意谦卑回应、单单倚靠他的人，不让他们落入最终的审判。