TEXT: Isaiah 6:1-13
READING: Revelation 4:1-11
SUBJ: The vision of Isaiah wherein the Sovereignty of God in His Holiness and His majesty is set forth in the worship of those participating and the effect that it had on Isaiah.
AIM: That we might be moved to the recognition of the things they saw and so be provoked to the true worship of God in all we do.
INTR: This passage has long been a source of both fascination and intimidation for me in that I have felt incapable of fully expressing what needed to be said. However, I would endeavor, if only in a devotional way, to observe some things that I see here. Much is owing to R. C. Sproul’s book, The Holiness of God.
1. Other such scenes appear in both the Old and New Testaments calling our attention to the need to worship and be affected by what we know and see of Him.
2. Ours is an age in which the very opposite is being encouraged and compromised versions of the Gospel, which is not the Gospel are being preached.
3. We do well to seek such a place as did Isaiah and see ourselves as he saw himself in the presence of God.
THESIS: This vision of our Lord needs to occupy our minds from time to time so that we are not either intimated by or influenced by the world with it false hopes or impotent threats.
I. Who Isaiah Saw (vv. 1-3)
1. The reference to the death of Uzziah is not without significance.
1) A good King who disobeyed grievously late in his reign and died a leper.
2) The manner of his death may have had an effect on the prophet.
2. It is to be noted that here the Lord is not referred to as Jehovah, but as Adonai or the glorious sovereign over all and so to be worshiped.
1) He is seen as the one ruling and reigning over all things and as the descriptions indicate,
2) He is transcendent in His appearance and glorious in every aspect of His being.
3. Such is that appearance that heavenly creatures who are far above our ability to describe are fully dedicated to worship Him.
1) Similar creatures are depicted in other of the prophets and in the The Revelation.
2) Their six wings are constantly employed – with two covering their faces in humility, two covering their feet to acknowledge their lowliness, and with two they flew to the service appointed them.
3) MacArthur points out that four of the wings express worship.
4. We will notice now that the Name is changed to Jehovah in verse three – The glorious One who is ever being revealed and who is the expression of all the Godhead (dwelt in Jesus bodily). And see: “The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Psalm 24:1.
1) The continuous cry is Holy, Holy, Holy. He is often referred to as the thrice Holy God and,
2) The implication understood by many is that He is the triune God.
II. The Effect on Isaiah (vv. 4-7)
1. Perhaps an earthquake attended the scene, some think it symbolic of the judgments of God.
2. But Isaiah was greatly affected: His pronouncing woe on himself is in keeping with how he saw himself by comparison.
3. He saw himself as undone – destroyed, disintegrated (Sproul), cut sown, undone utterly.
1) Two problems – he had a dirty mouth and he was living with a people of unclean speech.
2) He had seen the King, the LORD of Hosts and there was no way he could attain to acceptance with Him.
4. A miracle indeed – a live coal from off the altar, the place where the sacrifice was made and it was placed by a seraphim on his lips and the declaration was made:
1) Thine iniquity is taken away,
2) And, thy sin is purged.
III. The Result of the Vision in Isaiah (vv. 8-13)
1. The voice of the Lord (see on verse 1) was now clearly heard and a proper response was rendered.
1) The question – “whom shall I send?”
2) The answer—despite the knowledge of his own sinfulness, Isaiah’s confidence was now in the Lord – send me!
3) The emphasis must be on the thought of being sent by the Lord.
2. And he was sent with an impossible message:
1) He would preach the Gospel and they would hear, and see, but they would not understand in their rebellious state. (We are reminded of the words of Christ in Matthew Thirteen, and the warning of Paul in Acts 13).
2) And it was to be preached despite the effect that it would have on these people and that the Lord would bring them to desolation.
3. The hope remained that a tenth would return and be manifested as the holy seed.
