Reading: Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1-8.
Ill:
• Have you ever had to look for the right word to describe something?
• Maybe it was a place (e.g. that’s beautiful, it’s breathtaking),
• Maybe it was a smell e.g. (ugh, that’s awful, it’s horrible),
• Or how about a taste? (e.g. uuumm, good, rich, yummy).
• Sometimes it’s hard to put into words when we want to accurately describe something.
• Let me ask you a tougher question,
• “How would you describe God?”
• e.g. Awesome? Loving? Merciful? Gracious? Just?
• What if you could use just one word to describe Him?
• I wonder if you could you do it?
• I couldn’t!
• And even the Seraphs in verse 3 of our reading could not!
• They got close in they found one word – but then they had to repeat it three times
Note:
• Repeating a word in Hebrew is to emphasize something.
• ill: it is kind of like you using a highlighter to mark something.
• The angels were NOT saying God is ‘Holy’,
• They were NOT saying He was ‘Holy’.
• But they WERE saying God is ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’.
There is no other characteristic of God that gets the emphasis that His holiness does.
• e.g. We are never told in scripture that God is wise, wise, wise,
• e.g. And we are never told that God is strong, strong, strong,
• e.g. And we are never told that God is powerful, powerful, powerful,
• e.g. We are not even told that God is love, love, love!
• Only one attribute of God is repeated again and again and again,
• That is his holiness!
Ill:
• If for example some described to you said a stone saying it was ‘big’,
• It would bring to your mind an image of a large stone.
• If they said to you the stone was ‘big, I mean really big’,
• You would enlarge that image in your mind to a huge stone.
• And if someone said to you it was a ‘big, big, big’ stone;
• You would surely think – they must mean that it was a ‘gigantic boulder’.
• As far as I am aware;
• Only one attribute of God is repeated again and again and again - that is his holiness!
Quote:
• If you want holiness defined;
• Then R.C. Sproul gives us a simple way to remember the definition of holiness,
• He says; “The first prayer I learned as a child was the simple table grace:
• "God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for this food."
• The two virtues assigned to God in this prayer, greatness and goodness,
• May be captured by the one biblical word, holy”.
SO, THERE ARE TWO IDEAS TO HOLINESS.
The first is the idea of greatness.
• One of the meanings of holiness is the idea of being "set apart".
• God is apart from us - He is in a class by Himself.
• e.g. He has no equal.
• In other words’
• There is a profound difference between Him and those He has created.
• Holiness means that God is transcendent (or unique and superior) in His greatness.
The second aspect of holiness (and the one we generally think of first) - It is the idea of purity:
• God is good;
• That means he does what is right and never does what is wrong.
• God is unstained by, and uncompromising with sin.
• God does not "bend a little" when it comes to wrong-doing.
• God always acts in a righteous manner because His nature is holiness.
• Therefore He is both great and good.
In our reading Isaiah chapter 6:
• We see those truths illustrated for us in call of Isaiah into the service of God,
• We see his divine call into life as a prophet.
Quote: Lenord Ravenhill:
“If you have a vision without a task, you’ll be a visionary,
if you have a task without a vision, it’s drudgery.
But if you get a task wedded to a vision, you’ll be a missionary”.
• Isaiah was a missionary;
• He was called of God!
• And he had a heart to reach out to people and bring them back in touch with God.
• In this short narrative we find 5 principles – with present day applications.
5 RELEVANT PRINCIPLES FROM AN ANCIENT PROPHET
Principle 1: God Uses Circumstances to Make Us Aware of His Presence (vs 1).
In the year that King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple
• In reading these verses it is easy to become so impressed with the vision;
• That we pass over the circumstance that brought it about.
• About 700 years before Christ was born in Bethlehem,
• The sad announcement was made, “THE KING IS DEAD”.
• King Uzziah, the eleventh King of Judah, had died.
• Crowned at the age of 16, he had reigned 52 years.
• Despite his failings, he was the greatest king since David.
• Most of Uzziah's story can be found in 2 Chronicles 26.
Note:
• If I understand this passage correctly, it was a time of deep loss for Isaiah,
• A time of intense grief because as his close friend had died.
• Notice in verse 1 – it links the vision Isaiah saw with his profound grief:
• "In the year King Uzziah died I saw the Lord!"
• This link is much more than a historical reference;
• Because between the two men there was a bond, a friendship, a link.
• The heart of Isaiah, the prophet, was broken by this news.
• Uzziah was not only his king, he was also his friend.
• Isaiah was born of royal blood;
• He was born in a palace and brought up in court.
• He was the grandson of king Joash;
• And therefore a cousin of king Uzziah.
• In his heartbreak of the death of Uzziah;
• Isaiah made his way to the Temple to worship and to seek comfort in his God.
Notice: That his earthly circumstances turned his eyes upwards.
• Everything in Isaiah’s world was in confusion,
• His king was dead, his nation was in peril, and he could do nothing to change them!
Notice: this is when he “saw the Lord”
• Question: What was the Lord doing? Was He frowning or pacing back and forth?
• Answer: No.
• Question: Was He anxious or puzzled or angry?
• Answer: No.
• Note: The Lord was sitting down! Calmly seated on His throne.
• When you read of ‘God seated’ it wants you think of majestic sovereignty.
• This description of God in verse 1 is just so good - God was on the throne.
• The point being - Uzziah may have died, but God was still on the throne.
Notice:
• Verse 1 goes on to tell us he was "lofty and exalted."
• The point of this description is - with height comes perspective.
• He knows, he sees, and he will act.
• His exalted role speaks of his authority.
• Isaiah saw no confused or anxious deity,
• But One who sat in sovereign, calm control with full perspective;
• And rules with absolute authority.
Note:
• When Isaiah entered the temple he was taken up fully with Uzziah & his circumstances:
• But from now on the death of Uzziah is not mentioned again.
• From now he would be taken up with the living God himself!
• Isaiah was no longer overwhelmed by grief;
• Now he was overwhelmed by what he saw:
• Notice at the end of verse 1:
• God’s presence was everywhere, it was "filling the temple."
Ill:
• Mark & Sarah’s wedding Kathy was fascinated by the train on Sarah’s wedding dress;
• At one time she managed to help carry it as they were about to leave the reception.
• I think the longest train on a bridal dress that I have ever seen;
• Belonged to Diana Spencer when she married Prince Charles.
• Diana's train was so long that there were many people needed to carry it!
• Question: Why did Diana Spencer need such a long train on her dress?
Answer: Because it is a symbol of royalty.
• Note: the train mentioned in Isaiah chapter 6:
• The train of God filled the entire temple!
• His royalty far surpasses anything we have known or can imagine.
• Notice it was just the train of His robe filled the temple.
• In other words only one part was needed to fill that place!
Principle 2: God Reveals His Character to Make Us See Our Need.
• In verse 2 Isaiah also saw a group of multiple-winged creatures called "seraphim"
• Question: What where ‘seraphs’?
• Answer: The word seraph means burning one
• Many scholars refer to them as "flaming angels".
• Notice: Even these sinless creatures could not look on the purity of God.
• With their six wings they had to cover their face and feet.
• ill: As you and I cannot look directly into the sun without harming ourselves;
• ill: So no creature may look on God without harming themselves!
Notice:
• These seraphs formed an an-ti-phonal choir,
• Chanting and repeating in alternating voice:
"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
the whole earth is full of His glory."
• Only once in the entire Bible do we see these creatures the Seraphim,
• And only ONE thing do we hear them say, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord Almighty’.
• It must have been an incredible sight!
• Quote: In Unger's Bible Dictionary we read,
"From their antiphonal chant....we may conceive them to have been ranged in opposite rows on each side of the throne."
• In other words; one group would cry out;
• And the other group would answer.
• And as Isaiah stared in silence, dumbfounded by the vision he saw,
• The cry would sound out again and again and again.
Quote:
“Small wonder the foundations of the temple trembled.
Those voices sounded like deafening thunderclaps roaring over the hillside.
It was awesome!”
Note: God Reveals His Character to Make Us See Our Need (notice: the contrast):
• Verse 3: God: "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts."
• Verse 5: Isaiah: "I am ruined! I am a man of unclean lips."
• Isaiah is no longer viewing this vision from a safe distance,
• The whole scene literally comes to life as one of those seraphs;
• Steps out of the vision and flies towards him.
• Without announcement, the winged creature sweeps into the prophet's presence;
• And does something most unusual
verses 6-7:
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
The flaming angel touches Isaiah with a hot coal.
• Question: I am sure you noticed where the angelic creature touched the prophet?
• Answer: On his lips - I suggest there is significance in that act.
• Isaiah had just admitted (verse 5) that he was "A man of unclean lips."
• Quote: Living Bible: "a foul-mouthed sinner".
• It shouldn't shock us, therefore, to take his confession literally.
• He no doubt struggled with profanity.
• Maybe he was using as an excuse to disqualify himself from God's service.
Ill:
• Many people have come up with similar excuses:
• "I'm not physically well. I'm not strong enough. "
• "I've got this temper problem."
• "I can't speak very well in public."
• "I don't have a lot of education."
• "My past is too raunchy”
• "I have a prison record."
• "I've been addicted to this and to that etc."
Quote:
“Whatever our excuses God is bigger than any of those reasons. He specializes in taking bruised, soiled, broken, guilty, and miserable vessels and making them whole, forgiven, and useful again”.
• Remember what the angel said to Isaiah when he touched his lips?
• "... your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for"
• The one thing Isaiah had been hiding behind,
• Too ashamed to admit it and totally unable to conquer it,
• But notice: God dealt with it – once and for all!
• God cleansed Isaiah and made him fit for service.
Note:
• From this moment on:
• Isaiah uses a name for God that was not used by anyone else.
• “The holy one of Israel”
• This name occurs nearly 50 times through out this book of Isaiah.
• Isaiah saw the holiness of God;
• And he never, ever forgot it!
Principle 3: God Gives Us Hope to Make Us Know We Are Useful (vs 8).
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Note: the singular and the plural in this verse:
• “Who will I (singular – one God) send”
• “Who will go for US” (plural – the trinity in action – Father, Son & Holy Spirit).
It is an incredible verse:
• God could have reached the people anyway he wanted to;
• He could have sent angels – or even flaming seraphs with the news.
• Yet God entrusts the news of the gospel to human beings;
• He chose to work through an ordinary person like Isaiah.
Ill:
• When I first used to go to missionary meetings and hear reports etc;
• I realised that so many of them were boring people.
• They did not seem to have ‘the X factor’.
• Then I realised why God had called and was using so many of them:
• Quote: “It was not their ability but it is their availability that counts!”
• Tough Question: Are we available for God to use?
• God has chosen to use ordinary people like Isaiah…….and you and me.
• To reach out and touch the lives of ordinary people.
• So this week – who are you going to reach out too!
Ill:
• Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector of England.
• During his battles with Charles 1st a problem occurred.
• They had run out of silver.
• Cromwell ordered a search throughout the land for silver.
• When his soldiers reported back; the news they gave him was bad;
• The only silver to be found is in the statues in the churches.
• Cromwell replied;
• “In that case we will melt down the saints and put them into circulation”.
Principle 4: God Expands Our Vision to Make Us Evaluate Our Availability.
• Did you notice God asked “Who will go?”
• God is sovereign but he is not a bully.
• ill: Like salvation – Allesley Park.
• God is sovereign but he is not a bully.
• He knocks hard at the door of our hearts and minds,
• But he will not kick it open.
• He always wants willing volunteers, not forced conscripts.
• He says “This is where I am going, will you come with me?”
Isaiah responds “Yes!”
• Not out of blind obligation or religious duty;
• But because he was now looking at life through God’s lens,
Quote:
• When Hudson Taylor was director of the China Inland Mission,
• He often interviewed candidates for the mission field.
• On one occasion,
• He met with a group of applicants to determine their motivations for service.
• "And why do you wish to go as a foreign missionary?" he asked one.
• He replied "I want to go because Christ has commanded us to go into all the world…”
• Another said, "I want to go because millions are perishing without Christ."
• Others gave different answers.
Then Hudson Taylor said,
"All of these motives, however good, will fail you in times of testings, trials, tribulations, and possible death. There is but one motive that will sustain you in trial and testing; namely, the love of Christ".
Isaiah responds “Yes I will go!”
• Not out of blind obligation or religious duty;
• But because he was now looking at life through God’s lens, feeling through God’s heart!
Principle 5: God Tells Us the Truth to Make Us Focus On Reality.
• Most of us would say;
• Who wouldn’t enlist after seeing a vision like that?”
• But consider Isaiah’s assignment.
• Verses 9-12:
He said, "Go and tell this people:
" 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes. [1]
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed."
11 Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?"
And he answered:
"Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.
What a job description:
• “Go to a people who will refuse to listen,
• And by the way; I’ll be bringing destruction on the nations soon.”
Notice:
• Isaiah’s “going”
• Isaiah’s ministry would actually make things worse than they already were;
• e.g. Those who could see would become more blind.
• e.g. Those who could hear would become deaf,
• e.g. And those with hard hearts would become even more calloused;
• And that is all the result of Isaiah’s obedient ministry!
Notice:
• God’s plan never guarantees his messengers success:
• He does not paint for Isaiah a rosy picture of instant, or even long term revival,
• He is honest and upfront and tells both Isaiah & us, us the real situation.
• God told Isaiah that his ministry might seem like failure;
• 40 years of failure would apparently summarise Isaiah’s ministry.
• With the land lying in ruins and the people taken off to exile.
• But God says a remnant would survive,
• And they would continue to hold onto the truth and demonstrate faith.
Summary:
Three simple words outline this chapter:
• Verse 5: “Woe”
• Verse 7 “Lo” (N.I.V. “see”)
• Verse 9: Go”
• The first is the word of a man.
• The second is the word of seraphim.
• The third is the word of God.
• The first word is a word of confession “Woe is me”
• The second word is a word of cleansing; “Lo, this has touched my lips”.
• The third word is a word of commission, “Go”.
Isaiah has a threefold vision:
• It was a vision of deity - He saw the Lord.
• It was a vision depravity - He saw himself.
• It was a vision of duty - He saw a lost world.
And finally..
Question: What or rather who did Isaiah see?
Answer: “I saw the Lord”
Ill:
• In the Gospel of John (chapter 12 verse 41),
• We are told that Isaiah actually saw Jesus.
• After quoting several prophesies concerning the unbelief of the people;
• They refused to believe in Jesus despite the evidence of his miracles, John writes
“Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him”
• Isaiah was given access to the throne room of heaven;
• And as he entered it,
• He experienced the presence of the second Person of the Trinity,
• Christ the Lord, the holy one of Israel!
