Sermon Tone Analysis

To INVEST—what are we spending our energy and time to INVEST in?

Sometimes we get sidetracked on what we think is the most important and forget our main objective.

Where are we investing?

Could it be that God is looking at us as He looked at Jerusalem?

Would He send us the same message?

The first chapter of Isaiah serves as a prologue to the entire book.

It stresses four concepts which permeate the message of Isaiah: (1) accusation of sin; (2) invitation to repentance; (3) lamentation over disaster; and (4) purgation through judgment.

Smith, J. E. (1992).

The Major Prophets ().

Joplin, MO: College Press.

6:1–5 In preparation for calling Isaiah to be the prophet who would proclaim the coming judgment, God gave him a vision of His majestic holiness so overwhelming that it devastated him and made him realize his own sinfulness.

The people to whom Isaiah was sent were the heirs of great promises but appear to have forfeited them.

God has called us, the Church, to worship Him, serve Him, share Him, love Him, glorify Him, to be His hands and feet, salt of the earth and the light of the world—and what are we doing?

Many are playing church today!

Do we long to know Him? Do we long to know His Word? Do we long to know His will for our lives?

Do we spend time praying, meditating, asking God to reveal Himself in us?

Could our conflict today be that we don’t know who we are serving?

Oh, we profess to know Him, but we really don’t know Him.

We really don’t know anything about Him, just principles about what and how He wants us to live.

The Prophets Vision of God

King Uzziah’s death.

After 52 years of reigning, leprosy caused the death of Uzziah in 739 b.c.

I saw the Lord- The prophet became unconscious of the outside world and with his inner eye saw what God revealed to him.

This experience recalls the experience of John’s prophetic vision in .

God exhibited himself to the view of the Fathers, in a capacity that men could receive.

There was exhibited to Isaiah such a form that enabled him to perceive the inconceivable majesty of God—a throne, robe and bodily appearance.

We would do well to note that whenever God grants any token of His presence, He is undoubtedly present with us.

God is NOT a deceiver!

When John saw the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove (), the name of the Holy Spirit is applied to the outward sign—there was no deception!

This was a limited manifestation that God adapted to mental comprehension and human observation—a vision.

Interestingly, Isaiah says nothing about specifics of God’s face, instead he describes where God was, what was happening around Him and what was being said.

“Sitting on a throne”- posture of a judge, ready to hear causes and give sentence

“high and lifted up”-lofty and exalted.

The throne was greatly elevated, at the top of a series of steps, emphasizing the Most High God.

“train filled the temple”- This refers to the hem or fringe of the Lord’s glorious robe that filled the temple-reaching down to the bottom of the temple and spread abroad in the temple, giving evidence of a more than ordinary majesty.

“filled the temple”- Though Isaiah may have been at the earthly temple, this describes a vision which transcends the earthly.

The throne of God is in the heavenly temple (; ; ; ).

The picture Isaiah gives strikes awe and terror in one’s heart—this gives us the idea that the observer is very close to the majesty of the glory and has seen something beyond the human sphere of experience and understanding.

This the is the throne room of the palace-temple of the King, the inner sanctum dedicated to the dwelling of God.

Seraphim- fiery serpent, burning— The seraphim are an order of angelic creatures who bear a similarity to the 4 living creatures of , which in turn resemble the cherubim of .

six wings.

They burned with the love of God, or either they were swift as fire, or maybe they were just bright as the blaze.

Each of the seraphim had 6 wings:

-Two wings covered the faces of the seraphim because they dared not gaze directly at God’s glory.

They covered their face in “reverence”—They could not endure God’s brightness.

If they are overwhelmed by the majesty of God, how great it would be for men.

-Two covered their feet, acknowledging their lowliness even though engaged in divine service.

They acknowledged their lowliness, not worthy of acceptance or suitable for the dignity of such glorious majesty.

They bowed before Him in worship.

The 4 wings related to worship, signifying the priority of praise.

-Two covered their feet, acknowledging their lowliness even though engaged in divine service.

They acknowledged their lowliness, not worthy of acceptance or suitable for the dignity of such glorious majesty.

They bowed before Him in worship.

The 4 wings related to worship, signifying the priority of praise.

-With two they flew in serving the One on the throne.

called out to another.

The seraphs were speaking to each other in antiphonal praise.

-Holy, Holy, Holy.

Imagine, Isaiah viewing this—this was done so that he might share with the whole nation.

The primary thrust of the 3-fold repetition of God’s holiness (called the trihagion) is to emphasize God’s separateness from and independence of His fallen creation, though it implies secondarily that God is 3 Persons.

,

the 4 living creatures utter the trihagion.

where the 4 living creatures utter the trihagion.

God’s absolute holiness reveals how separate, different or totally other he is in comparison to all others of the world.

His holiness is revealed in His actions and will—revealed in all of His activity.

Their example is set before us for us to imitate—the most holy service that we can render to God is to be employed in praising His name.

-the whole earth is full of His glory.

The earth is the worldwide display of His immeasurable glory, perfections, and attributes as seen in creation (see ). Fallen man has nevertheless refused to glorify Him as God ().

“glory”—the outer manifestation of the brightness of his majesty and holiness.

The Jews thought the glory of God was nowhere to be seen but among themselves—and they wished to have it shut up within their own temple.

But, Isaiah shows that is so far from being confined to so narrow limits—it fills the whole earth.

e to be seen but among themselves—and they wished to have it shut up within their own temple.

But, Isaiah shows that is so far from being confined to so narrow limits—it fills the whole earth.

“the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried-

Imagine what the voice sounded like—like no other!

It was not a human voice!

Could it be that God was intending for the voice to establish authority in the presence of the prophet and for ALL mankind—that it might never be forgotten?

The sound of the seraphs was not a weak voice, but more like jet fighters breaking the sound bearer.

“the house was filled with smoke” The trembling and smoke symbolize God’s holiness as it relates to His wrath and judgment (cf.

; ).

Whenever Moses entered into the Tabernacle, smoke didn’t allow the people to see Moses or the tabernacle.

As smoke is able to overcome and to get into places where nothing else is able, this is a demonstration of how God will display His power in executing judgment on the people.

Isaiah “saw the Lord”—

How do you see Him?

judge?

Police chief?

Genie in a bottle?

Loving?

Cruel?

Distant?Available?Smiling?

Irrelevant?

Powerless?

The way you “see” Him will directly affect the way that you “see” YOU!

II.

The Prophets View of Himself

“Woe is me, I am undone”- “I am ruined”; “destroyed”-in the presence of God, Isaiah was struck with his mortality.

“unclean lips”- If the lips are unclean, so is the heart.

This vision of God’s holiness vividly reminded the prophet of his own unworthiness which deserved judgment.

Job ()

”Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” and Peter ()”Depart from me; for I am a sinful man” came to the same realization about themselves when confronted with the presence of the Lord.

(emphasize)-Isaiah confesses that he has not been entirely devoted to God—his profession of faith has been orthodox but empty!

He was unaware of the grandeur of God—he said my speeches, prayer, praising—all have been mixed and defiled with irreverence, dulness, distraction of thoughts and affection—I dread the thoughts of appearing before thy judgment seat.