THE CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP
Isaiah 6:1-8
THE VISION OF THE THRONE OF GOD
V: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. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
\”Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.\”
- King Uzziah reigned over Judah for 52 years. During most of his reign, Uzziah
Was prosperous because he followed after the Lord. In the latter part of his
Reign, his heart was lifted up, because he wanted to be a divine King
Taking over the office of priesthood.
- Uzziah went into the temple to offer incense at the golden altar.
- The king was opposed by 80 priests and struck with leprosy for the
Rest of his life.
- His disobedience ended his kingship.
- Judah religiously offered sacrifices to the Lord, but their hearts were from
Him.
- They turned from God and worship idols.
- In the preceding chapters, Isaiah was given a word from the Lord
Of the destruction of Israel.
- The death of King Uzziah was a turning point in the life of Isaiah and
A count down to the destruction of Israel because of their disobedience.
- Isaiah was commissioned as the prophet to warn Israel of the judgment
Of the Lord.
- To get Isaiah’s heart prepared for the divine commission, God gave Isaiah
a vision of His Holiness.
- To emphasize His divinity, God’s vision of Himself to Isaiah included
Four revelations.
- The Lord was seated on His throne
- The Lord was high and lifted up.
- The train of his robe filled the temple
- A group of angels called the seraphim circled the throne.
- We know that God is everywhere all the time.
- No particular site can contain Him.
- However, we must view the Lord as the supreme judge, with all
Power sitting on His throne.
- The Lord should be on the throne in our hearts.
- In our minds, hearts, and souls, the Lord must be high and lifted up.
- Everyone in our lives must take a back seat to the Lord.
- In our hearts, no one except the Lord should be lifted up.
- The train of His robe is His glory that fills the universe.
- All believers are the temple of the Lord.
- All of us experience God’s glory every day.
All that we see, all that we hear, and all that we smell is God’s glory.
The problem is being able to attribute all our experiences to the Lord.
- Since no man has seen God at any time, Isaiah saw the pre-incarnate Jesus.
- I can only imagine that what Isaiah saw was well above anything
He could have imagined.
- Men have painted pictures of the way they think Jesus looked.
- But no man can paint a true picture of Jesus in all His glory.
- Peter and John saw the glorified Jesus with Moses and Isaiah on
The mount of transfiguration. However, they did describe what they
Saw.
- God introduced another class of angels in Isaiah\’s vision called the Seraphims.
- He heard their voices and saw them in action.
- Isaiah described them with six wings.
With to they covered their faces.
With two they covered their feet.
With two they flew.
- Isaiah heard the Angels sing, Holy, Holy, Holy the whole earth is
Filled with His glory.
- I can only imagine that what Isaiah saw left a lasting impression
Of the divinity of the Lord in his mind.
- God leaves us the the example of the Seraphims Angels.
- It is our job to proclaim God as holy continuously.
By doing so we show reverence which transforms our lives.
- By recognizing God’s omnipresence we can take comfort that
He is in control.
A SOLID FOUNDATION
V:4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with
smoke.
- Isaiah may have seen what appeared to be the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.
- What he saw was the door post anchored in The Word of God.
- The door posts shook but were unmovable.
- The powerful voices of the angel shook the door post and fill the temple
With Smoke may represents the glory of God, the power of God
and the presence of God.
- In this life, circumstances in the world may shake us.
- If we are anchored in the Word of God we will be unmovable.
- We can be like a tree planted by the water.
- The waters of the Holy Spirit will nourish us with encouragement and
Confidence.
THE CONFESSION OF SIN
V.5. \”Woe to me!\” I cried. \”I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of
unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.\”
A. Isaiah went from being amazed at what he saw to being frightened by the presence of God.
1. He became conscious of being in the presence of God that he was on the judgment seat.
2. He knew his sins condemned him.
3. At the second coming of Jesus everyone, believers and non-believers will be judged
By Jesus.
- The wages of sin is death. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
- God’s justice demands death.
- Isaiah may have been reminded of what God said to Moses;
Exodus 33:20
But,\” he said, \”you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.\”
- God does not call us to be condemned but to be saved.
- Our sins condemn us, but His grace saves us.
- Isaiah confessed his sins.
- He counted himself with those around him as sinners.
- Let me suggest that Isaiah was not as sinful as his piers who focused on idols.
- To hear God you have to have a consciousness of God.
- To know your sins you have to know God.
- Being in the presence of God, he humbled himself with his confession.
THE ATONEMENT OF SIN
V:6. 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 word seraph comes from a Hebrew word that means “burning one.”
- It was by the command of God that priests burned the sacrifices at the altar
Symbolizing the atonement of sins by Jesus Christ.
- Isaiah’s vision recognized that the Hight Priest, Jesus Christ as the only one that
Could atone for sins.
- At the command of God, the Seraphim took a hot coal from the altar and touched
Isaiah lips forgiving his sins.
- The vision of Isaiah established a relationship with Jesus making him a new man
In Christ.
- It is the new man in Christ that God prepares for His service.
ACCEPTING THE CALL TO SERVE
V: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!\”
- Jesus gave us the great commission in Matthew 28:19
Matthew 28:18-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you
- As believers, we have a responsibility to tell someone about Jesus.
- We are ambassadors for Christ.
- God asked the question who will go for us?
- God wants us to volunteer for the mission.
- God wants believers to be devoted to the mission.
- God loves a cheerful giver.
- We should not be like Jonah who ran from the mission
- We should not be like Jonah thinking others are undeserving of salvation.
- It is not by our works that we have salvation but by the grace of God
- Since we have a gift of what we don’t deserve we should willingly and
Gladly proclaiming the Gospel.
THANK GOD FOR CHOOSING ME
Rev. M. Mitchell
NIV
