SERMON OUTLINE:
• Principle 1: God Uses Circumstances to Make Us Aware of His Presence (vs 1).
• Principle 2: God Reveals His Character to Make Us See Our Need.
• Principle 3: God Gives Us Hope to Make Us Know We Are Useful (vs 8).
• Principle 4: God Expands Our Vision to Make Us Evaluate Our Availability.
• Principle 5: God Tells Us the Truth to Make Us Focus On Reality.
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• Soren Kierkegaard was an 18th century Danish philosopher, theologian, poet,
• Social critic and religious author;
• Who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher.
• He was a very clever man; his books will baffle you and in every way strain your brain!
• But he had the gift of being able to use very simple stories/illustrations/parables;
• I like this one:
• He tells the story of a community of ducks;
• Each Sunday they waddled off to duck church to hear the duck preacher.
• The duck preacher spoke enthusiastically and eloquently of how;
• God had given the ducks wings with which to fly.
• With these wings there was nowhere the ducks could not go,
• There was no God-given task the ducks could not accomplish.
• With those wings they could soar into the presence of God himself.
• Shouts of "Amen" were quacked throughout by the duck congregation.
• At the conclusion of the service, the ducks left,
• All of them commenting on what a wonderful message they had heard;
• And each one waddled back to their homes!
• TRANSITION: So often I think we are a lot like the duck church.
• We come to church...we sing the songs........we hear the message.......
• But when the service is over........we leave the same way we came in.
• We leave unchanged! We leave unaffected !
• The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way.
• I believe that each time we come to church, each time we gather,
• Our concept (belief/information) that God has something for us,
• Can become a reality, an encounter, something real.
• It may not always be emotional or intense;
• But he still has something he wants to do in our lives;
• And if we don’t get it or experience it, then it’s our fault, and not his!
Question:
• “How would you describe God?”
• e.g. Almighty? Loving? Eternal, Merciful, Wise, Gracious, Faithful, Just?
• He has so many attributes we could probably all come up with a different one!
• But what if you could use just one word to describe Him?
• I wonder if you would be able to do it?
• I couldn’t!
• 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.
• And magnitude is made by the doubling up of a word.
• You don’t see that in the English translation;
• But it is there in the Hebrew text.
• The Hebrew Old Testament contains many double words,
• Which are used to highlight the size, the magnitude of something.
• i.e. Genesis chapter 14 verse 10:
• Your English translation might say’s; ‘full of tar pits’ or “very, very big pits”;
• But the Hebrew text actually says; “Pit, pit”
• i.e. In 2nd Kings chapter 25 verse 15:
• Your English translation might say; ‘the purest gold’;
• But the Hebrew text actually says; “Gold, gold”
• TRANSITION: So magnitude is made by the doubling up of a word.
• But nowhere in the Hebrew Bible except here is any quality ever trebled!
• But it is here, ‘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!
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.
Now in our reading: Isaiah chapter 6:
• We see those truths illustrated for us in the call of Isaiah into the service of God,
• We see God calling him into the ministry of a prophet.
• In this short narrative we find 5 principles – with present day applications.
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 Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem,
• The number one news story for Southern Israel (Judea) was;
• The sad announcement, “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 obeyed God for a time, but fell because of self-righteousness),
• But he was the greatest monarch since king David and King Solomon.
• Most of Uzziah's story can be found in 2 Chronicles 26.
Note:
• For Isaiah this was a time of deep loss,
• A time of intense grief because;
• Uzziah was not just a monarch but also a friend and relative.
• The Bible does not say they were related;
• But tradition and the Jewish Talmud states that Isaiah was a cousin of Uzziah.
• (Talmud Meg. 10b)
• But verse 1 clearly 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;
• The heart of Isaiah, the prophet, was broken by this news.
• Uzziah was not only his king, he was also a relative and friend.
• Remember 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.
Ill:
• When you experience the death of a close friend or relative;
• I say when rather than if because none of us can escape bereavement.
• Then like Isaiah it often causes us to turn our eyes upwards.
• To pray, to seek comfort and solace in God.
• Everything in Isaiah’s world was in confusion,
• He was heart-broken;
• 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: I love what it says;
• 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 hasn’t!
• The throne in Judah was vacant, but the throne in heaven was occupied.
• God was still on the throne.
• God revealed his Sovereignty in the temple!
Notice:
• Verse 1 goes on to tell us he was "lofty and exalted."
• This description given here is very symbolic - with height comes perspective.
• Isaiah is being told visually that God knows, God sees, and God will act.
• With height comes perspective.
• God’s exalted role speaks of his sovereignty and his authority.
• Isaiah saw no confused or anxious deity,
• But one who sat in sovereign, calm control;
• He has a full viewpoint and understanding over these circumstances.
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 Isaiah 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:
• I was a wedding reception at a nearby hotel;
• All the guests were waiting for the bride & groom to make their appearance.
• Then down the hotel drive way cam a beautiful white, classic Rolls Royce;
• And after it drew alongside the entrance and stopped,
• Out popped the bride and groom.
• All the women gathered there were saying;
• “Wow! Doesn’t she look stunning, fantastic, gorgeous?”
• All the men gathered there were saying;
• “Wow! Doesn’t that car look stunning, fantastic, gorgeous?”
• TRANSITION: I think someone missed the point!
• It should have been all about the bride and not a lump of metal on wheels!
• But you and I get so easily distracted.
• Isaiah and the heavenly creatures were not going to get distracted;
• They would not miss the point of the events before them.
• Isaiah was truly going to see “the Lord”
Note:
• The train of God’s robe is mentioned in Isaiah chapter 6:
• This tail piece or the robe (the train) filled the entire temple!
Ill:
• I think the longest train on a bridal dress that I have ever seen;
• Was worn by Lady Diana Spencer to Prince Charles on 29th July 1981
• The couple were married at St Paul's Cathedral, London.
• The wedding was watched by an estimated global TV audience of 750 million;
• Making it the most popular programme ever broadcast.
• TRANSITION: This was the biggest wedding in human history;
• And so Lady Diana Spencer wore a dress, a train appropriate for such an occasion.
• Diana's wedding dress had a 25-foot train of ivory taffeta and antique lace.
• Question: Why did Diana Spencer need such a long train on her dress?
Answer: Because it is a symbol of royalty, of majesty, of importance.
• Verse 1 says; it was just the train of His robe filled the temple.
• In other words only one part was needed to fill that place!
• Because his royalty far surpasses anything we have known or can imagine.
Remember that at the start of verse 1:
• Isaiah felt down.......discouraged, depressed, heart-broken;
• It would have been easy for him to drop his head,
• And become disillusioned with God in general.
• But rather than looking down, Isaiah looked upward!
• There is a great lesson in all of this for us:
• When we are down........God is up!
• God can use our tragedies like an involuntary surgery;
• In the short term we may experience sadness, fear and even greater pain,
• But on the other side we are stronger,
• And on the way to recovery from our disease of sadness, fear & pain.
• And even though it may be difficult for us to see how God can do that;
• We grab hold of his promises and we can grow more confident;
• That God is at work in our lives (i.e. Romans chapter 8 verse 28)
Principle 2: God Reveals His Character to Make Us See Our Need.
Ill:
• A man made an appointment to see his doctor.
• Doctor, he complained;
• "Everywhere I touch seems to hurt lately.
• Am I getting old or just senile?
• If I push on my knees here, I hurt.
• I push on my stomach and I hurt!
• I press on my head right here by my temple and that hurts too!
• What's going on?"
So the doctor gave him a full body X-ray in the hope of finding the source of the problem.
• An hour passed and after evaluating the X-rays carefully, the doctor returned.
• Stroking his chin, the doctor slowly began,
• "I think I've found the reason why everything you touch hurts."
• The man anxiously replied; "Well, tell me!"
• The doctor pointed to the X-ray and said: "Your body is fine, but your finger is broken."
• TRANSITION: Isaiah is about to learn that he has a problem;
• It is not just a broken heart but it is also a sinful heart!
God Reveals His Character to Make Us See Our Need.
• In verse 2 Isaiah 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 antiphonal 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 ever 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 this 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.
• NO-ONE need be disqualified from knowing and serving and loving God!
• NO-ONE!
• God has "atoned for your sin and can take your guilt away"
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 throughout 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).
This is an incredible verse:
• God could have reached the people of Judea, Samaria and the northern kingdoms;
• 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:
• Don’t take this the wrong way;
• But when I first used to go to missionary meetings and hear reports etc;
• I realised that so many of them were quite boring to listen to;
• They did not seem to have ‘the X factor’.
• They were rather average.
• 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”.
• TRANSITION: God wants his people in circulation;
• Remember it is no your ability but your availability.
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:
• I used to preach in a Church in the Midlands;
• And before the evening service one old boy used to pray a prayer like this.
• “Lord, if there are any unsaved in tonight;
• Then kick in the door of their hearts and enter in”
• TRANSITION: Now although I understood the sentiment behind his prayer;
• I never said, “Amen!” Because God does not work like that!
• God is not a bully or a dictator;
• He may knock on the door of our hearts very, very loud;
• But he will not kick it in, he always waits to be invited!
• 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 the great missionary to China 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 testing’s, 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,
• Politically, economically and spiritually it is all in decline,
• And by the way; I will be bringing destruction on the nations soon.”
Note:
• 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!
Note:
• God’s plan never guarantees his messengers earthly 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.
Ill:
• American business magnate, entrepreneur, philanthropist, investor,
• And computer programmer Bill Gates in one of his lectures says, “Vision is cheap”.
• On first hearing you might disagree strongly.
• But in one of his books he develops that idea and develops it by saying;
• “A vision without execution is called a ‘dream'”.
Quote: Lenard 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 Conclusion:
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.
Ill:
• One Church I know of has a sign over their Church exits;
• The sign simply says; “You are now entering the mission field”
• May God grant us vision of a lost world.
• A vision of our true self, that we may depend entirely on him.
• A vision of deity – may we see the Lord!
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=Qmgu0RAlXp3DlNl3LKj0zj1eZmqq5J9U
