Isaiah 6:1-8

Isaiah 6:1-8 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Introduction:

A. Isaiah was just as human as you and I are. He had his moments of discouragement, as do all of us.

B. A vision is a dream, aspiration, hope, seeing through the eyes of faith that which cannot be seen through the eyes of the flesh.

C. Isaiah had lost his vision. Certain circumstances had come that caused it. But thank God in these verses we see he got it back.

I. His Vision of God Was Renewed (vs 1-4)

A. King Uzziah had died. This was a devastating blow to Isaiah. He had so much faith in the king. The fact is he had his eyes on the king more than he did God.
1. Perhaps he had too much faith in Uzziah. He was more concerned and more loyal to the king than he was to the Lord. Maybe his love for the man was greater than his love for his God.
2. God removed the king so that Isaiah could once more see Him.
a. I read a story once that touched me. The parents had gotten their little boy a puppy. The child grew so fond of the dog that he lost affection for his parents. The wise parents had to give the dog away. That, of course broke the child's heart, but it was the only course the parents could take to regain their child's love and time.
3. I still believe that God is in the "removing" business. He has to remove a lot of people, and a lot of things to get us to see Him again.
a. A member of a certain church was bemoaning the fact that God never made him rich. He went to his pastor, and asked him if he knew any reason why God had not made him rich. The wise pastor said, "Perhaps He loves you too much. He doesn't want you to get so in love with money that you forget and forsake Him."  The member said, "I never thought of it that way."

B. He saw Him as the Supreme God.

C. He saw Him as a Holy God.
1. The more one sees of God the blacker sin becomes to him.

D. He saw Him as a God of power. The posts of the temple moved. Things can be moved by the power of God that can be moved in no other way.

II. He Had A Renewed Vision of Himself (v5)

A. Could it have been that he had grown complacent? Satisfied? Indifferent?

B. How did he see himself?
1. Miserable. The word "woe" means grief-stricken, or unhappy. When God began to deal with him it brought grief to his soul.
2. Undone which means "ruined."  Except the Lord come to his rescue all hope would be gone.
3. He saw himself with "unclean lips."  That is , he had sins unconfessed and unforgiven in his life.
a. We cannot see our sins many times until God begins to deal with us as He did Isaiah.
b. I remember when we rented a house. The landlord told us that he had killed all the cock-roaches. We moved in. We had to go somewhere that first day, and it was night when we came home. We turned the light on and I never saw so many cock-roaches in all my life. It is when God turns the light on that we are made to cry, "Woe is me, I am undone, and full of sin."

III. He Had A Renewed Vision of A Lost And Hurting World (v 5)

A. While the king lived; while everything was going well, he had forgotten the people out there who were lost and hurting.

B. We are to minister to people. But we cannot do this if we fail to see their need.
1. There are those who are lost without a Saviour.
2. There are those who are hurting from the blows of a cruel world.
3. There are those who are suffering from loneliness, sickness, and a thousand things