What Are You Focused On?

I. Perilous Times

A. “In the year that King Uzziah died ...”

The death of a king usually brought about a time of uncertainty.

a. Government uncertainty (Who will be the next king?)

b. Kingdom uncertainty (Is another nation going to invade us?)

(1) At the time of King Uzziah’s death there was an international threat to the Kingdom of Judah.

(2) Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria had risen in power and become a threat to the Kingdom of Judah.

c. Economic uncertainty (Will the economy continue to grow?)

d. Social uncertainty (Civil unrest?)

All these things are very real to us for they are affecting our nation at this very moment.

However, the greatest threat to the Kingdom of Judah was the spiritual condition of the nation.

a. At the time of the King Uzziah’s death the Kingdom of Judah was very religious; but they were backsliding.

b. The root of the problem was PRIDE!

Uzziah had been a godly king and reigned for 52 prosperous and secure years until he gave into pride.

(2 Chronicles 26:16, ESV) But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

Uzziah never recovered.

King Uzziah died in an estranged and unclean state; suffering under the judgment of God. (b) (2 Chronicles 26:21, ESV) And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land.

c. Pride had not only corrupted King Uzziah; it had corrupted the entire nation!

God’s people were religious but had forsaken the LORD and begun to follow after corrupt practices.

(2 Chronicles 27:2, ESV) ... the people still followed corrupt practices.

Whenever a nation begins to turn away from the LORD the root of it is always pride!

d. The worst thing about pride is that it blinds you!

(Revelation 3:17, NIV) You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

B. Today, Our Greatest Threat Isn’t Government Corruption, Debt, Social Unrest; It Is Our Spiritual Condition!

Like the Kingdom of Judah many of our nation are still religious.

But what are people praying about? The Government ... the economy ... social unrest and rioting.

a. But very few are praying about our real problem: our spiritual condition and its cause ... PRIDE!

b. (Jeremiah 2:13, NIV) “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

The LORD came with a revelation of Himself when times looked their worst!

II. Powerful Revelation

A. Jesus Was Revealed

(Isaiah 6:1, 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.

Isaiah had a vision of Jesus! (John 12:41, NIV) Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

2. Jesus Reigns (Jesus is on His throne!)

We need to know that Jesus is on His throne ruling and reigning with absolute control and full authority!

In the midst of government corruption, economic debt, civil unrest and rioting: Jesus reigns!

(Hebrews 12:26–27, ESV) ... “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.

Although all things are being shaken, those who know that Jesus reigns will be left standing!

(Acts 2:25, ESV) ... ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;

3. Jesus Exalted (Jesus is “high and lifted up”)

God’s people must start seeing the LORD from a heavenly perspective instead of our corrupted earthly perspective!

(Revelation 5:13–14, ESV) And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

4. The Presence Of Jesus Filled The Temple (“the train of his robe filled the temple”)

Evidence of the LORD’s royal slender filled the Temple. (A church full of Jesus leaves room for nothing else!)

It’s interesting that the LORD’s robe filled the Temple: evidence of God’s splendor and reign was seen and felt!

B. Seraphim Were Revealed

1. This is the first and only time the seraphim are mentioned by name. (Isaiah 6:2, 6)

Isaiah spoke of the seraphim as though they were familiar spiritual beings, but they aren’t mentioned elsewhere.

Seraphim are similar to the cherubim who carried God’s throne (Ezekiel) but different in purpose.

2. Seraphim (plural for seraph) come from the word sarap (שָׂרָף, 8314), burning one; fiery being. (Seraph is to burn)

In Isaiah’s Hebrew the word ‘seraphim’ has no definite article: it is more of a description than a name or a title.

Similar to the description of angels in (Hebrews 1:7, ESV) Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”

Isaiah’s description of the seraphim match their manifest presence: with their down-folded and up-stretched wings they look like huge flames of fire before the throne of God!

The most that can be said from the available evidence is that the seraphim were exalted spiritual beings who were occupied constantly in the praise and worship of God and delegated by God to minister His grace and forgiveness.

C. True Ministry Was Revealed

1. The ministry of the seraphim gives us insight into what we should be doing in the LORD’s presence.

Worship

(Isaiah 6:3, ESV) ... “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Testimony

The ministry of the seraphim wasn’t just directed to the LORD; they were also testifying to one another!

(6:3) And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; ...”

(1 Thessalonians 5:11, ESV) Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, ...

2. The worship and testimony of the seraphim led to a great shaking! (The Temple & Isaiah were both shaken!)

Isaiah was a prophet and most likely of royal lineage; but it took a great shaking to bring him to repentance!

Isaiah experienced more than the LORD’s splendor; he experienced the LORD’s holiness, and it shook him to his core!

3. It wasn’t the perilous circumstances that Judah was going through that led to Isaiah’s repentance and transformation; it was the revelation of Jesus and the ministry of the seraphim!

We need a revelation of Jesus and those who can minister with the fire from the altar!

III. Profound Transformation

A. Profound (I wondered about the word “profound” to describe the type of transformation, until I looked at its definition.)

1. Very great / intense

2. Knowledge / Wisdom

3. Very deep

B. The Revelation That Isaiah Had Of Jesus Was So Great & Deep & Wise (Word Based) That It Thoroughly Transformed Him

1. Isaiah had his attention shaken off of his circumstances and made to focus on Jesus!

2. The glory and splendor of Jesus was awesome, but it was the holiness of Jesus that brought Isaiah to repentance!

The ministry of the seraphim didn’t just focus on God’s glory, they focused on God’s holiness!

(6:3) And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

3. Experiencing the holiness and glory of Jesus shook Isaiah to the very core of his being and brought him under conviction!

(Isaiah 6:5, ESV) 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!”

4. It was the ministry of fire that transformed Isaiah’s life!

(Isaiah 6:6–7, ESV) Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

The fire took away Isaiah’s guilt

The fire ministered atonement of Isaiah’s sin

In the OT fire is not a means of atonement; it takes the blood of the lamb to cleanse and atone.

However, this was fire from the altar where the sacrifice had been offered!

True fire from God is always associated with the cross of Jesus! That’s what gives it its ministry power!

5. This is what we need today: flaming ministers ministering with fire from God’s altar!

C. Jesus Prepared And Equipped Isaiah To Fulfill His Destiny

“Whom shall I send?” was the LORD’s cry.

“Send me!” was Isaiah’s response!