The Response of the Called

Isaiah 6 CSB

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth. 4 The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies. 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for. 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who should I send? Who will go for us? I said: Here I am. Send me. 9 And he replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive. 10 Make the minds of these people dull; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed. 11 Then I said, “Until when, Lord?” And he replied: Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, houses are without people, the land is ruined and desolate, 12 and the Lord drives the people far away, leaving great emptiness in the land. 13 Though a tenth will remain in the land, it will be burned again. Like the terebinth or the oak that leaves a stump when felled, the holy seed is the stump.

Open up your Bibles or Bible apps to Isaiah. (385)

Psalms, Proverbs, Ecc, SoS, Isaiah

Isaiah was a prophet. This means he took relayed God’s message to God’s chosen people. And the history of these chosen people of God, the Israelites, is that they continually flip flopped. They followed God and then walked away from God… over and over again. Now is someone did this to you or me, we would get to a place where we were done with them…we just you wait...

Isaiah 6:1–8 CSB

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth. 4 The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies. 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for. 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who should I send? Who will go for us? I said: Here I am. Send me.

Isaiah 6:1–9 CSB

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth. 4 The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies. 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for. 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who should I send? Who will go for us? I said: Here I am. Send me. 9 And he replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive.

The Vision

read v1a.

Since King Uzziah is mentioned, we immediately have questions about him. First of all, Uzziah was a king of Judah for 52 years. He did a lot of good and was considered a Godly king. But, he made a poor decision towards the end and was cursed with a skin disease and quarantined for the rest of his life. This reference of the king is meant to give the time frame or when Isaiah’s vision was, about 740 BC.

Since King Uzziah is mentioned, we immediately have questions about him. First of all, Uzziah was a king of Judah for 52 years. He did a lot of good and was considered a Godly king. But, he made a poor decision towards the end and was cursed with a skin disease and quarantined for the rest of his life. This reference of the king is meant to give the time frame or when Isaiah’s vision was, about 740 BC.

this reference is meant to give the time frame or when Isaiah’s vision was.

read v1.

So from this verse we can deduce a few things. Isaiah saw a temple and a throne with God on it. Now look at this…God was so big that them hem of his rob filled this temple. (Explain hem…) Now, I don’t know exactly how big this temple was, but even it was a big as this room here, if just the hem of a rob filled it, we would be at the foot of a massive figure, a giant…

To go with this, the Lord’s throne was high and lofty. This visual is ties to God’s character, He is supreme-above all, and holy-set apart. He is the king on his royal throne.

To go with this, the Lord’s throne was high and lofty. This visual is ties to God’s character, He is supreme-above all, and holy-set apart.

And this would make us feel…very small. Maybe even insignificant.

I think this would make anyone feel…very small. Maybe even insignificant.

read v2.

Reading about the wings, it’s easy to miss that these Seraphim were flying above Isaiah…as if they were waiting in service to their master.

Now let’s get to the wings…so they had six of them. Let’s understand the significants of their actions.

2 wings covered their faces, because even they were not worthy to look upon God.

2 wings covered their feet. The thought here is that to have your feet out in the presence of guests was seen as unclean. So out of respect for God and submission to Him, they covered them.

Their last 2 wings where what they used to stay in the air, flying of hovering.

Notice they didn’t cover their ears. Their role was to wait for the divine word of God and obey it.

read v3.

What does it mean in the Hebrew language when something is repeated three or more times? It’s emphatic, it’s done to draw attention and make a strong point. So here, not only is God Holy…not only is He Holy Holy…but He is Holy Holy Holy!! And they said this over and over and over and over…it continued without ceasing.

God is separate and set apart from everything else in existence. He is totally, completely, and absolutely the holiest one ever…yet…His glory fills the whole Earth.

So what is holiness and glory? These are something we hear about, but it’s not often explained.

First, “Holiness is the essence of God’s nature and God himself is the supreme revelation of holiness.”

Holiness is the essence of God’s nature and God himself is the supreme revelation of holiness.

Smith, G. V. (2007). . (E. R. Clendenen, Ed.) (p. 190). Nashville: B & H Publishing Group.

In other words, God’s holiness is that He is separate and incomparable to anything else anywhere. God is so pure that He is the complete opposite of sin. He is perfect in goodness and righteousness. This is God’s holiness…and His holiness is revealed in His actions. It is part of who He is at His core.

Now...God’s glory in the manifestation of His holiness. If holiness is who God is, then His glory is what we see. Holiness is inward and glory in outward. Holy is who He is and His glory is how we see His holiness.

So when the Seraphim say, “Holy, Holy . Holy is the LORD of Armies, his glory fill the whole earth.” They are saying God is holy...perfect and righteousness... and this show as His glory filling the whole earth.

read v4.

So…we don’t know how many Seraphim there were, but we do know that their praise was so loud that the whole place shook to the foundation. That’s pretty loud. I bet if we our praise got anywhere near that loud here in our service we would get complaints. All I have to say about that is make sure you take ear plugs to heaven, because it seems like God like His praise LOUD!!!

So about the smoke…we know from verse 6 that there is an altar there and altars are places that you burn sacrifices. It’s assumed that this smoke is coming from this.

Application:

In what situations are we in awe of God? Have you experienced his holiness and his glory? Why or why not.

You can definitely see how everything happening so far would cause sensory overload to anyone. Visually there is the huge throne and the huge God’s huge robe. Then there are these strange creatures singing super loud…shaking the whole place. And lastly there is the smoke filling everywhere, causing Isaiah to feel closed in. All this plus the realization of how holy God is and how unworthy Isaiah is to be in His presence and in this place.

The New American Commentary: Isaiah 1–39 (2) The Prophet’s Purification (6:5–7)

The necessary first step before any true confession of sin is having an understanding of the glory and holiness of the Almighty God who rules the heavens and the earth.

To get to where God wants you to be, you have to recognize and understand who God is. Only then will you motivated to change. Why will this motivate you? Lets go back to Isaiah. In this next passage, Isaiah realized he is...

The Unworthy

You can definitely see how everything happening so far would cause sensory overload to anyone. Visually there is the huge throne and the huge God’s huge robe. Then there are these strange creatures singing super loud…shaking the whole place. And lastly there is the smoke filling everywhere, causing Isaiah to feel closed in. All this plus the realization of how holy God is leads Isaiah to realize how unworthy He is. Not just how unworthy he is to be in His presence and in this place, but more...

But you can see how all this is sensory

read v5.

Isaiah was instantly aware how unworthy he was because of his sin. He confesses his sin and the sins of his people. He knew that he does not deserve to be in God’s presence.

Here Isaiah does not only express concern for himself, but also for the people he has been ministering too. He has a deep care and love for them and knows they too need help. He also knew he shared in the sin of the nation of Israel.

And he knows that according to , there must be a cleaning of sin before he or his people can dwell with God and enter His presence to worship.

So what brought about this feeling of being unworthy and realization of sin? Yes, seeing the vision prompted it…but Isaiah could have said, “Wow, that was a great movie and cool special effects.” and then gone about his business right? But he didn’t…because he was convicted.

What is conviction? Conviction is when you realize that what you are doing is not right. Something tells you that you’re in the wrong. It could be a still small voice that only you hear, that’s the Holy Spirit convicting you. Or it could be your wife saying you shouldn’t have then 12th taco. Or it could be your past saying, “How many candies have you eaten at fall fest Johnny?”

Conviction comes in many shapes and sizes, but they all show is that our behavior is wrong and needs to change.

Isaiah was convicted and this is

Isaiah was convicted and this is led Him to confess.

Application:

The New American Commentary: Isaiah 1–39 (2) The Prophet’s Purification (6:5–7)

The necessary first step before any true confession of sin is having an understanding of the glory and holiness of the Almighty God who rules the heavens and the earth.

Do you get convicted of your sin? 

Do you get convicted of your sin? 

Some people come to church now and then but aren’t consistent because they don’t like the guilty feeling, conviction they have when they’re here. Do you know why? Check this out. If you live in darkness you don’t know what light is. For instance, take creatures that live in the deepest depths of the sea. They’ve never seen light. If that was us we probably wouldn’t even have the word light in our vocabulary because we would have no concept of light. Check this out, there’s really nothing that makes darkness, darkness is the absence of light. So when someone doesn’t have light in their life, they’re living in darkness. And if you’re never around light, you probably don’t have a concept of it. So then when you’re around it, it’s uncomfortable. That’s why a lot of people living in darkness, living in sin, Don’t want to come to church, because they know it will be uncomfortable. And that uncomfortableness, that is conviction. That’s God saying you’re not where you should be. So I’m gonna go out on a limb and say if you don’t feel convicted, there’s probably not enough light in your life. If you just come to church and then go back home, OK you’ve gotten an hour and a half two hours of light in a whole week. That’s not enough to draw you closer to God.

And why is conviction important? Because conviction leads to change.

The Cleansing

Read v6-7.

Once Isaiah confessed his sin, we see a picture of his sin being removed, forgiven. How is this done…simply by God willing it. Check this out, the seraphim getting the coal and touching Isaiah’s lips with it was just for his benefit. This was not necessary…God doesn’t do this to us every time we ask for forgiveness. He simple wills is. So this act were figurative.

For this forgivness, Isaiah didn’t do anything.

Note that Isaiah didn’t do anything for this forgiveness…he didn’t make any promises and commitments... it was all by the grace of God.

read v8-9.

Once Isaiah completely gets out of the way and his sin is removed, He is reconciled with God. Only then does God speak to Him.

And look what happens, God asks Who will go for us? (BTW, the us represents the trinity).

Does Isaiah know what the mission is before he accepts it, how long it will take…what toll it will take on him? No!! I just says, God need me and I’ll go. This is in contrast to others who have put up a fuss…Moses, Jeremiah, Jonah.

The clarity Isaiah had in God’s holiness related to the clarity and willingness he had in his calling to humbly serve.

Then God says, I have a special assignment for you.

(Isaiah loved his people, but God did not send him to save them…for now)

God says, your actions will not cause positive results, they will harden their hearts to God.

(read the rest if you have time)

(We don’t see it here but this is ultimately for Israel’s good)

Application:

What sin in our lives is Separating us from God and stopping God from using us?

(process of forgiveness: clear vision of sin against God’s holiness, confess it, God removes it.) This is different from people assume God will have mercy because they are good.

Only when we get out of the way can we hear God’s voice.

Now What?

Isaiah realized who God was and he was in awe of Him. This convicted him of his sin and lead him to confess. After he confessed, God asked him for his service. After Isaiah said yes, God used him.

This convicted him of his sin and lead him to confess. After he confessed, God asked him for his service. After Isaiah said yes, God used him.

This all started with the recognition of who God is. How can we recognize God’s glory and holiness: read, pray, and worship. But when we do this, we have to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s nature and will to us. And then we have to be open and let Him work.

When someone comes in here and is sitting like this during the worship time, is that being open to God working and revealing Himself. No it’s not. I have a newsflash, worship is not about, about what you want, about your preferences and likes. Worship is about giving God what’s due Him and receiving revelation back from Him. Neither of these can happen if you are not open to it.

How can we recognize God’s glory and holiness: read, pray, and worship.

The exact same thing goes for prayer and reading the Bible. Now church, I have to admit that if I don’t focus and settle my heart before praying or reading the Bible, I don’t get anything out of it. When we see prayer as a waste of time and not what it is, a time to converse with God Almighty, we will get nothing out of it. And when we look at the Bible as just another book to read instead of the Holy Scripture and Divine Message from God that it is, we will get nothing out of it.

And lastly

Response Time:

Well, I’ve given you a lot to think through today. So as we enter into a response time, let me give you a few ways you can respond.

First, if you haven’t started this journey with God yet and accepted His Son Jesus as your savior, you can start today. We saw how easy forgiveness is thought Isaiah’s journey: You need to Know who God is and realize and confess your sin. It that easy…so don’t wait, make this change today.

Now if you have already done this, but been convicted today of something in your life that is not right. Tell God, confess this sin and ask His to change you and use you.

Lastly, if you haven’t been convicted or your sin, you need to ask God why not. I guarantee you there is sin in your life. Has your heart become hardened like Israel’s and you can’t see it. Talk to God and ask Him to convict you to make you more like Him. I know that is what He wants. Ask Him to help you to want it too.

It you have a decision to make or need prayer, Brian and I will be right here during these next songs and after the service. Please, during these next moment, respond to God however He is leading you.

(process of forgiveness: clear vision of sin against God’s holiness, confess it, God removes it.) This is different from people assume God will have mercy because they are good.