Message
shared at the Faith Ministries 40th Anniversary 28 August 2016
A Fresh Awareness of God
Isaiah 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy,
holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. (Read 6:1-9)
No doubt
this 40th anniversary is a watershed moment for Faith Ministries. God is a God
of seasons and times. Jesus is the reason for divine seasons. New seasons need
a mark or moment that closes the previous and embrace a new.
What the
Fathers share to the next generation is of crucial importance because the end
is concealed in the foundation and revealed at the end. If it is not in the foundation, in some seed
or basic form, it will not appear in the end. We enjoy salvation because Jesus
was slain before the foundation of the world.
Foundations are not of consequence of only in a church book. God builds
on foundation laid in people's hearts. Foundations are not of consequence if
only in the hearts of an outgoing generation. They need to be transferred into
the hearts of the next generation. The church is as strong as the foundation
laid in the people of its generation.
Each generation has the responsibility to prepare for the next’
The passage
read in Isaiah 6 is an example of how God causes a stirring or divine
discontent in his people in order to
produce a hunger in them to seek him for a remedy and readiness for his work.
He does so by revealing himself to them. Such revelation increases awareness of
who he is and his presence. It comes with a fresh awareness and commitment to
his word, sharing of the gospel, worship and thanksgiving. The experience of
Isaiah brings out five results of such an increased awareness.
>>A
comfort 'I saw the Lord'
Awareness
of God - his goodness and power - is the deepest source of Comfort. Often the
presence of a person even when the person is unable to redeem a loss brings
much comfort. How much more should awareness of God to whom nothing is
impossible. God is the all comforter.
The Holy Spirit is the comforter. Prophecy comes to comfort, encourage and
exhort. Elsewhere in Isaiah he said ‘Comfort yee comfort yee my people (Isaiah
40)'.
Isaiah found comfort in seeing God on the throne.
The throne was not deserted and there was no panic. The same today God is in
control. He is able to turn a situation around in an instant. While many saw gloom and doom, the angels
marveled about God's holiness but also about his glory on earth. Of all places could
it be said that earth was filled with God’s glory. Isaiah could have found
sufficient reasons to disagree. Yet the angels saw glory on earth. When you see
God's glory in your gloomy situation you will find the solution for the
situation. God’s glory has come in creation and Christ. Christ the hope of
glory (Col. 1:27). The glory is in you and with you
despite your circumstances. Be they protests, structural evil, violence, human
trafficking, and other increase of evil. Join the Angels in worshiping God for
his holiness in order to see his glory in gloomy situations and find comfort.
>> Conviction. 'Woe Unto me'
Awareness
of God causes divine Discontent. Divine discontent is a God prompted burden
that relentlessly seeks relief in God. It causes a dissatisfaction with the
status quo. It intersects human waywardness with God’s will. That is where
conviction happens. The conviction that the best in God is yet to come. When seeing from God’s perspective you catch
a glimpse of God’s best in view of your current state. You become aware of God’s
plumb line that exposes what stands
between you and God’s best. There you
realize you are work in progress. Measuring where you are and where God wants
you to be. Divine discontent is God’s instrument to grow and spur his people to
bring the best out of them. When teaching children to walk you hold them and
let them walk on their own and you keep going further and further from them so
that they can also walk further and further on their own. Each time their fulfillment is derived
from shattering their previous record. Without
personal confession of woes there is no contraction of blessing. .
>>A confession. 'for I am a man of unclean lips'
Awareness
of God reveals a need for God. Unlike condemnation conviction draws one closer
to God. Isaiah agreed with God that he
was work in progress. Conviction takes away complacency without bringing
despondency. Confession is a mix of dissatisfaction and confidence in God’s grace
and mercy. As a result he found forgiveness. Divine discontent comes from God
and finds its remedy in God. It is not too late. Change is possible. The gap
between your situation and God’s ideal is the door of hope in the mess.
>> A calling. 'who shall I send'
An awareness
of God urges you to take action. It opens your eyes to see the need and your ears
to hear his call. God worked in Isaiah in order to prepare him for the work
outstanding in the harvest field. God is
on the throne and is at work in individuals first then communities. Jesus said ‘follow
me and I will make you fathers of man (Mathew 4:19)’. He is looking for people
who are available and obedient.
>>A Commissioning. 'Go and tell the people’
When Isaiah
said ‘here I am send me’. God had commissioned him to reach out to the nation
of Israel. An awareness of God makes you say yes to the call to the nations. It
makes you accept the responsibility to take action to be a change agent in your
time. When Isaiah asked God how long it would be, God said for as long as there
were inhabitants.
We also
have a commission from our Lord Jesus. 'Go yee therefore and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father the son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have taught you and behold I will be
with you always. For as far and as long as there are a still people. We have a
mission to accomplish in the next season. The task is still unfinished.
Exhortation
As Isaiah
may you see God on the throne. May you see his completed work and glory on earth
in spite of all that is going wrong. May you see his work in progress in you
and his outstanding work in your community
and your generation. And may you say yes to his call and be obedient to his
commission.
Message by Dr. Kurai Chitima.
- Faith Ministries – Johannesburg Faith Life Center.
- First Floor Dhando House,
- 66 Eloff Street Extension,
- Village Deep,
- Johannesburg,
- South Africa
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