A Vision We Need

Introduction

Isaiah 6:1–9 ESV

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

Isaiah experienced a vision that completely transformed his life.

It was a bad day in the land of Judah.

King Uzziah had been known as good king Uzziah

As good a leader as the people of Judah could have asked for.

He was a spiritual man but a practical man.

He had built a strong military.

Equal balance in leadership with those in agriculture and industry.

He brought mining.

Served for many years.

Near the end of His reign Uzziah is presumptuous. He went into the inner temple and performed the duties of the priest. Which was denying instruction of God, defying God’s authority.

He is stricken leprosy. was a leper till the day he died.

In the year of his death, Is seeking to know something, what is the answer to our need. Enemies all around, dangers within, his weak son going to take over the throne. What was going to happen to the nation. What could he DO?

I believe Is got more than he bargained for when he walked into the temple this day.

When you and I go into the house of the lord to really worship Him the vision is more than we ever think we will receive.

The vision he experienced is the very one that you and I have need to have today.

I do not mean that that we will actually etc..

We need to have our eyes opened, we need to have our ears open. We need to be alive to hear what God may say to us. We need to have every part of our spiritual being awaken and aroused. We need to somehow to come alive, we get so callous and so cold. Its like we have spiritual catatrachs on our eyes. It seems like we do not see like we need to see.

Open my eyes Lord, I want to see Jesus.

I am saying this is the vision we need.

Proverbs, without vision the people perish.

So true, if we don’t have to proper vision of God, there will be persishing, there will be dying, there will be souls going to hell. If you and I have the vision of God we need to have.

I. We need a fresh vision of Lord as he really is.

a. I saw the Lord, sitting on a throne, high and lifted up.

Isaiah had been looking at good king Uzziah. Describe the situation. Devastated. How could Judah survive without this great King?

But now he has a new vision, he sees the real king. The one who is always on his throne. He will not abdicate, etc. Never deposed, never step down, never be overthrown. He see’s the Lord. Our God reigns!

We get our eyes distracted very easily and we get discouraged.

we look at our problems…we get discouraged

Other people…not doing or being the way we think they should be…we get discouraged.

Crimes

Drugs

Problems in our country

etc..where is the hope?

We need to have our eyes, not on circumstances and not on other people, we need to have our eyes on the Lord!

Need to look to Him!

Look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth.

b. We need see the Lord in His glory

People try to drag him down to their level, use his name in vain. Any mention of his name out of reverence speech is taking in vain.

Other ideas about God, not worshipping the God of Heaven.

He says he is seated above the circle of the earth

He is exalted above all, majestic and high and lifted up.

Glory—manifested presence of God.

25 Hebrew words for Glory, one Greek word. Doxa

Brightness, Honor, weight,

All together—manifested presence of God

God is spirit— to see him he must manifest himself

Through his angels

Through a burning bush

Through a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.

Angels

Through his word

Perfectly through his son Jesus Christ.

We have seen him perfectly

We need to see today to see the Lord in His glory!

c. We need to see the Lord in HIs holiness: Seraphim Holy holy.

Some may have been saying, why God did you do this to Uzziah

God is holy, there is no evil with God.

He is separated from evil and to what is right and good. Being other from the world. Set apart for what pelases God. Carries the idea of purity. Positive word.

God did not do wrong, Uzziah did wrong.

When things go wrong in your life, dont point your finger at God. God didn’t do it.

Beautiful weather—mother nature, storm- act of God

Uzziah knew better!! People know better. God is Holy. We need to have our eyes on the Lord.

Dont question God’s love or if he is even real because of what other people do. Do nt look at people and say look what he did, how can God be real? Look to the Lord! God is holy.

We look at the world and ask why? We may not always get the answer, but one thing we can be sure of is God is Holy. God does what is right.

One thing we need in our churches and our nation needs a revival of the holiness of God.

We need to have a fresh vision of the Lord in His power.

God is all powerful—the people needed to know this with all the troubles they had.

At the mention of the name of the Lord, The foundation of the thresholds shook, symbolizing the power of God.

Now what about you? What are you facing. If you are ever discouraged. How am I going to be able..etc?

Dont look at others! Look at the Lord!

He has all power. There is nothing impossible with God.

God specializes specializes in things that seem impossible, He knows a thousand way to make a way for you.

Judah had enemies all around.Assyria, Babylon, dont you worry, nothing impossible with God. 185000 asyrian wiped out in one night.

In a day like ours, crime, uncertainty of Govt, Diseases speading, Praise God he has all power.

We need to have a fresh vision of the lord in His love and his concern.

One of the most beautiful truths in the book of Is. God cares for people, we are never away from His care.

Straying or serving

He knows our name—everything about us.

Not only does Is. see a God who is majestic, glorious, holy, powerful but where is he, Right there in the temple with Isaiah. See His love and concern.

He cares for you, he gave himself for you.

Nobody has had an adequate understanding of God until he understands , for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

And he is right there in the temple with Is. He is there with Him, he is there with you. He cares for you!

He is holy, separate from all that is wrong, not separate from the people of the world.

How do we see him, through the face of jesus Christ.

There are more prophecies regarding Jesus than any other book.

It is quoted more in the NT, than any other prophet. Looking into the face of Jesus Christ

Do you want to see the purity and holiness of God, see how Jesus lived on the earth.

Do want to see a vision of God in His loving concern, see Jesus as he is dying on the cross.

Do you want to have an accurate vision of God in His power, see Jesus he is raised triumphantly from the dead.

Do you want to really see God in his majesty and glory, see Jesus as he ascends to his father in heaven.

OH Turn your eyes upon Jesus! Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

We need to have a fresh vision of the Lord in order that we can have an honest look at ourselves.

Isaiah may have thought about his own spiritual life many times. Maybe he said oh what a good boy am I.

Or maybe he was like the queen who looked into the magic mirror, mirror mirror on the wall, whos the fairest of them all.. Well you are queen.

We look into the spiritual mirror on the wall, mirror mirror on the wall, whos the greatest Christian of them all. Well you are better than that old boy over there. You are better than that neighbor of yours. You are better than that guy, better than that lady. You are alright, after all, you are not a murderer or a rapist or a drug dealer.

In the first five books of Is., there are WOES are pronounced on nine different kinds of people. Preach again sin preacher—there is a lot of sin going on around here!

Well a person doesn’t say, look all this sin going on out there when he or she has gotten an accurate vision of God and in light of that vision, has taken an honest look at himself or herself. They see themselves for the sinners they really are.

That’s what happened to Isaiah.

Is. Saw himself as a sinner. We need to see ourselves as the sinners we really are.

We play games, like magic mirror

People try this at church…mirror…whos the greatest Christian of them all.

You are better than that guy over there.

He sees himself as he really is

The sinner he really is

Woe is me, I am done for. These sinful eyes have dared look on God and I am going to be stricken. I am undone.

See yourself as the sinner you are!

Need a funny mirror illustration illustration. We have our trick mirrors.

He saw himself has a cleansed sinner.

There is a conviction of sin, a confession of sin, a cleansing of sin

We must see ourselves as one who has been cleansed by the Lord.

serephim with tongs…we understand that we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

You are of value to me, I am going to come cleanse you of your sin.

You ask me why I’m happy, I will tell you why, its because my sins are gone. And if i meet the scoffer that asks me where they are, Ill say my sins are gone. They are underneath the cross of calvary, far away as dusk is from dawn. In the sea of God’s forgetfulness, thats good enough for me. Praise God my sins are -G-O-N-E gone!

Have a look ! See our selves for the sinners we really and then see yourselves as one who is valuable to God who has died for you to cleanse you from your sin. OR that he wants to today.

Its important that we have a fresh vision of God as he really, so that we can see our selves as we really are so that then and only then we can have an accurate vision of service

You dont see the world right, until you see God right and see yourself right.

Too many people get excited and stirred into trying to serve God, but they havent gotten their own heart right.

See now Is. sees other people…I live among a people of unclean lips. So many just dont see other people.

Its so easy as Christians to get very self centered. We must look into the mirror , yes. But there comes a time when we need to move from the mirror, to the window and look out at then people in the world. Move from the mirror to the window! See the needs and hurts of the people around you and see them for who they really are. Valuable in the eyes of God, JUST LIKE YOU.

See people others as they really are. They too are valuable in the eyes of God.

We like to say that if I was the only sinner in the world, Christ would have died for me. Thats true. But if your neighbor was the only sinner in the world, Christ would have died for them. We must see them.

Not only did IS. sees them, He sees himself as the one to go to the people.

Whom shall I send? There they are! Who shall I send, Who will go for us?

Here I am lord, send my wife. Send my husband, Send the kids, we have done our share. send mom and dad, send the deacons, send pastor, There is only one right answer Here I am lord, send ME.

Ills: raising hands.

Hebrew: Behold me! Send Me! Ive beheld you Lord, now see me, send me!

That is the only way to respond. Are your eyes on the Lord this morning?

Invitation

How do we respond-

I am a sinner repenting

There are some Christians, I am a saint returning to do your will. I must recommit my life.

I am a servant ready to serve you Lord.

How can you come to God. How can you approach him. He is so great, he is so mighty, so holy, so powerful, so glorious. How can you possibly come to him? There is only one way. One way to come to God. And that is just as you are! You can’t fool God. You cant put on a show. You cant put on a mask. You cant deceive God. You come just as you are.

Just as I am.