A Life Changing Vision

Hello and welcome and let's just pray before we begin.

God and Father we thank you for your word, that we have it in our language, that we can openly read it.

And we pray that you will speak to each one tonight as we open it up.

We pray these things in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.

So to get us going, I want you to go with me.

So we're in a spaceship, we're on our way to the International Space Station.

And we get there, we look down on the earth for the very first time from space.

We see its fullness. We see the light, the colours of it.

We see the vastness of the space.

We also see the stillness.

You know, nothing could prepare you for that sight of seeing that for the first time.

No matter how many pictures you'd seen or videos you'd watched, I don't think anything could prepare you for that sight.

You know, this is actually called the overview effect.

There is a term for this phenomena.

And it really changes astronauts' lives.

There's many reported instances where astronauts return completely changed.

Whether it's their priorities or their perspective on life.

They come back, change people.

They see the fragility of life on this small planet.

They see themselves as being so small.

They also see themselves as global citizens rather than individual nations.

You know, seeing the earth in this full way, it shatters what the astronauts previously thought about life.

It causes a change of their priorities and their perspective.

Why are we talking about this?

Well, tonight, Isaiah sees a vision which is far greater and more life-changing than seeing the earth.

To have a bit of a catch-up, so we are in Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

Isaiah is written around 700 BC.

The nation of Israel is split into the kingdom of Israel in the north, whose capital is Samaria.

And the kingdom of Judah in the south, whose capital is Jerusalem.

Isaiah is speaking in this book predominantly to God's people.

God's covenant people, the line of Abraham, the people of Israel.

And we've had five chapters before this, which we've gone through in the last few weeks.

And these are really like summary of the prophecies in this book.

You can imagine them like a sky full of heavy, dark clouds.

And yet, you know, when you get those little rays of light shining through these dark clouds,

this is what the first five chapters are like.

Because we see the judgment, this dark judgment on this faithless nation of Judah.

Some words quoting from the first five chapters, we see that they have rebelled.

They are sinful.

They have stumbled.

They have fallen.

That the Lord will strike.

But we also see these glimmering bits of light.

There is hope in this judgment.

We see that the house of the Lord shall be established.

That they will be lifted up.

That they will be the people of Zion.

So where does that leave us?

Well, in chapter six, we see Isaiah's commissioning.

It marks a new section of this book.

We're going to split it into three different sections.

First of all, we're going to look at the glory of the Lord in verses one to four.

Secondly, we're going to look at the redemption of Isaiah in five to eight.

We're also then thirdly going to look at the judgment and hope of God's people in verses nine to 13.

So first of all, the glory of the Lord.

Verses one to four.

Please have it open in front of you and go with it through me.

Through it with me.

So we see that King Uzziah dies.

Now we can date this as 740 BC.

This is recorded elsewhere.

He was called the last godly king of Judah.

And yet many years before his death, he had gone against God.

He had lost his way.

And this is typical of the nation of Judah.

They had started on this moral and cultural decline, which never recovered.

They were on a downward spiral.

That's the situation we're in.

Now we're going to look at the glory of the Lord.

So what does glory mean?

Well, I love a dictionary definition.

First of all, the dictionary says that glory means exaltation, praise and honour.

Second meaning is something that brings or is worthy of praise.

The third definition is thanksgiving, adoration or worship.

And the example is glory be to God.

It can also mean splendor.

So that's what glory means according to the dictionary.

But how do we see God's glory here?

Well, Isaiah sees the Lord, a glorious image.

In verse one here, we see the Lord in a place of excellence.

Follow with me through the words and the phrases that is used here.

High and exalted speaks of his power.

Seated on a throne.

The Lord is the king of kings.

He has a throne.

And unlike Judah's ruling kings, the king of kings is permanent.

He is king forever.

We also see that the train of his robe filled the temple.

You know, clothes show power.

They show status.

Royalty across the world have different garments that they wear for special occasions to show who they are.

Even us, we wear designer goods to show our status or our wealth.

And you know, the Lord's robe filled the temple.

It shows his fullness and who he is.

We have this in two to four, we see the seraphim.

And these are heavenly beings.

And we see that they have six wings.

Two of which covered their faces.

It speaks of reverence for the Lord.

Complete reverence to him.

Two of which covered their feet.

It shows their humility.

Their humbleness.

And the other two they used for flying.

They were ready and willing to do God's work.

As we see.

You know, we see that they are calling to one another.

Holy, holy, holy.

You know, this repetition is used for emphasis to show the Lord's purity.

To emphasize his holiness.

He is the Lord Almighty.

This is his authority that he has.

He is the glory of creation.

The whole earth is full of his glory.

He is glorious through creation.

We see that the temple, the post shook.

And that it filled with smoke.

This is God's presence.

God's presence fills the temple.

Think of all that imagery.

What a marvelous image that is created in our minds.

What a marvelous image that Isaiah saw.

Try to grasp the glory of the Lord here.

The respect.

The honor.

The majesty.

A modern word may be the awesomeness of God.

But you know, words are not enough.

And put yourself in Isaiah's shoes here.

You know, this is in the days before CGI.

This is in the days before blockbuster movies and the Marvel Empire.

Even before virtual reality.

You can see why Isaiah responded the way he did.

Why he was so shocked.

You know, we can never fully see God.

But we would do well to ponder on his greatness and his majesty.

Is this the God here described that we hold in our minds?

These four verses are to fill us with awe and wonder at our great big God.

Our God is a great big God.

Our God is a great big God.

Do we sometimes make God little in our minds and do we doubt God?

Our God is a big God.

We see how the seraphim acted here.

They were in complete reverence to him.

And they were ready to serve.

Look at how the posts acted.

If the posts were moved, then we should be as well.

You know, like the astronauts seeing the earth in this new full vastness,

in this new way, God is shown in this way.

And it is to have a life changing effect on us.

And you know what happened to Isaiah who's seeing this firsthand?

Well, he responds in the appropriate way.

That takes us to our second section, verses 5 to 8,

the redemption of Isaiah.

The redemption of Isaiah.

God's glory, his worthiness,

it throws Isaiah into personal confession of his own unworthiness.

We see this in verse 5.

Isaiah says,

Woe to me.

This reminds us of what Luca was going through last week

with all the woes of chapter 5.

Now this woe is a legal term for being ruined or for being dead.

He follows it up by saying,

I am ruined.

I am a man of unclean lips.

Isaiah is saying here that he is not worthy,

that he has sinned.

It's a personal confession of his own position.

You know,

Moses actually uses this same phrase.

He uses,

he says that he is a man of unclean lips

when he is arguing with God

why he should not go to Pharaoh.

He's saying,

Moses was saying that I am not good enough

to do this for you.

We see that Isaiah says,

he lives among a people of unclean lips.

And his eyes have seen the King,

the Lord Almighty.

You know,

seeing God is associated with death in the Old Testament.

Moses,

again,

he asked to see the Lord's glory.

And yet what God does

is that God

puts him in a cleft of a rock

and God passes by.

And Moses was only allowed

to glimpse the Lord's back

to see his glory.

Exodus 33,

in this episode,

it says,

you cannot see my face

for no one shall see me and live.

So you can see Isaiah's fear

and his worry here,

his unworthiness.

You think of the New Testament,

Saul or Paul was blinded

in Acts chapter nine

because the Lord's presence

came upon him.

He was blinded

until made well again.

Grasping the glory

of the Lord

should cause personal confession

of our own unworthiness,

our own sinfulness,

our own hopelessness.

How often,

myself included,

do we think we're okay,

that we're not that bad?

It's only with comparison

to the holy,

holy,

holy Lord Almighty,

do we see

how we really are.

A colleague the other day

was describing

how during homeschooling,

as many people are doing

at the moment,

that his son keeps

finishing his maths work

in the record time

that it's so quick

and he's chuffed,

he's chuffed

that he's done it so quickly.

But you know,

it's only when the answers

are compared to

and he's actually got them

all wrong

because he's rushed them,

do we see

how he really got on.

For us,

it's only in comparison

to the holy,

almighty Lord

that we realise

that we are ruined.

This personal confession

leads to Isaiah's sin

being atoned for

by grace

in verses 6 and 7.

we see that

a live coal

is taken

from the altar

and that his guilt

is taken away

and his sin

is atoned for.

This altar

that this coal

was taken from

would have been

where the blood sacrifices

were burnt

in the temple.

The blood sacrifices

atoned for the sin.

You know,

Jesus' blood

was shed

2,000 years ago

and this act

can reconcile us

to God.

Jesus has paid

the price

through his

sacrificial death

so that our guilt

can be taken away

so that our sin

can be atoned for.

We need to

have this personal

confession

as Isaiah did

of our own

sinfulness,

our own

unworthiness

before God.

You'll notice here

that Isaiah

didn't do the work.

He didn't do anything.

It was done

for him.

The coal

was brought to him

and put upon

his own lips.

That is like us.

The Lord Jesus

has done the work

we need to

accept

and confess.

And you know,

Isaiah's name,

it means salvation

is from the Lord.

Salvation is not

from within.

It is from the Lord.

In verse 8,

we see

that Isaiah

responds to

God's call

of service.

The Lord says,

whom shall I send

and who will go

for us?

God calls

Isaiah here.

He was chosen

to see this vision.

He was chosen

here.

What does Isaiah

do?

Well,

he says,

here am I.

Send me.

The willing

servant

responds in love

to the call.

You know,

Isaiah can only

respond in this way

because of what

has happened to him,

because his guilt

has been taken away.

because his sin

is atoned for.

His newfound

position in God's

eyes

means that he can

respond in love

to go and speak

to the nation

of Judah,

to God's people.

We are called

to serve God

also,

and not out of

a sense of

repayment

or some sense

of duty,

but in response

and love

to what the Lord

has done for us

already.

And you see

that Isaiah

responded.

He didn't negotiate.

He didn't know

what was coming.

It wasn't

conditional.

Like Moses,

who argued,

who negotiated,

they said he

wasn't good

enough.

Isaiah

just answers

the call

faithfully.

You know,

back in primary

school,

we used to have

a particular

teacher who

quite often

used to ask,

right,

who wants to

do something

for me?

You know,

most people,

including myself,

would volunteer,

me, me, me, me, me,

me, I want to do it.

Most of the time

because it involved

getting out of the

class so you could

muck about in the

corridors for a while

en route.

You know,

the teacher would

always say,

you don't even know

what it is yet

that I'm asking you

to do.

And she was right.

And you know,

as years went on,

the response became

less enthusiastic

with age and it

turned into a few

mumbles going,

well,

depends,

depends what it is.

You know,

this is not the case

for Isaiah.

He says,

here I am,

send me.

We are called

to do God's work.

Whether or not

it suits us

or whether it

piques our interest.

We are to do so

out of love

and thankfulness

to our Lord

and Saviour.

We have been

chosen.

So finally,

we see the

judgment and hope

of God's people

in verses 9 to 13.

We see the

judgment for Judah,

the disbelieving

people.

In verses 9 to 13a,

13 and a half.

Judgment for Judah,

the disbelieving

people.

Isaiah is called

to be God's voice

to Judah.

You know,

the people of Judah

were God's covenant

chosen people.

people.

And yet,

this is a really

bleak picture.

When reading this

for the first time,

I wrote beside it

bleak.

Isaiah is told

that his ministry

here will not be

successful.

The people are

completely opposite

to Isaiah's

new position.

The people are

deaf.

They are blind.

They do not

understand.

Whereas Isaiah,

he has seen,

he has heard,

and he understands.

Isaiah has seen

the Lord.

The people do

not see.

The people are in

the dark.

He is in the

light.

Judah were a

nation of

hardened hearts.

You know,

there was

continual

disbelief from

Judah.

This wasn't

their first

chance.

It was

continual

rejection of

God.

This shows

the hardening

effect here

of the

gospel.

And it is

the same

for us

nowadays.

But this

is actually

should be an

encouragement

to us.

Stay with me.

We aren't to

be downhearted

or we aren't

to be,

see ourselves

as failures

when the

gospel doesn't

reach people,

when they do

not respond to

what we are

trying to say

or when we

invite them

along to

various events.

It is God

who saves.

We are to

faithfully do

his work,

to witness,

to speak his

word,

but it is

God who

saves.

in verse

11,

in pain,

Isaiah

says,

for how

long,

Lord?

You know,

these were

his people,

this was

his nation.

He would

want them

to see

and believe

like him.

We should

want those

around us,

those whom

we love,

to see

and believe

like we

do.

we see

that Judah

will be

ruined,

this word

ruined again.

You know,

after this

in chapter

seven onwards,

we see

that the

nation of

Judah is

in war.

They go

into captivity

in Babylon

and there

is destruction

for Judah

ahead.

But there

is this

glimmer of

hope in

verse 13b,

13,

the second

half of

that verse.

There's

this glimmer

of hope

like those

light beams

shining through

the dark

clouds.

There's this

strange image

of stumps

being left

after trees

are chopped

down.

If you've

ever been

up on

Forestry

Commission land,

you'll have

seen vast

areas where

the whole

trees have

been felled

and yet

they leave

the stumps.

And you

know,

these two

types of

trees that

are mentioned,

these grow

again from

that stage.

Branches and

roots come

out again.

There is

regeneration.

There is

new birth.

Judgment

will take

place on

this unbelieving

nation and

yet there is

hope.

Grace will

abound.

This nation

does not

deserve God's

grace and

yet they get

it anyway.

And you

know,

there will

be a

remnant,

this holy

seed.

A remnant

will return

from Babylonian

captivity.

They will

not all be

destroyed.

You know,

Jesus comes

from this

holy seed.

He is the

holy seed who

is our

hope.

In Isaiah

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11,

which we will

come on to in

a few weeks

time, it

says a

shoot will

come up

from the

stump of

Jesse.

From his

roots, a

branch will

bear fruit.

The Lord

Jesus is our

hope.

You know,

to finish,

like the

astronauts who

were changed

by what they

saw in

space when

they looked

down, we

are to be

transformed by

beholding the

Lord and

his majesty,

his greatness,

his awesomeness.

We are to

have this big

view of God.

We should

keep in our

minds, we

should ponder

on his

greatness, on

the glory of

the Lord.

This is to

cause us to

respond in

confession of

our unworthiness

and cause us

to respond in

willing service

to him.

Jesus'

sacrifice allows

us to do

so.

Allows our

sin to be

atoned for

by grace.

It allows

us to serve

him.

And we are

to go and

we are to

do as God

wants us to.

And not just

on our own

terms, not

what suits

us, not

what piques

our interest.

You know, our

ministry will

not always be

fruitful, but

we have our

hope and are

to remain

faithful and

do his work

even in

bleak, bleak

times.

When we

truly see the

Lord, we

can't help but

speak of him.

I'm aware

that I feel

like I've

just touched

the surface

of these

verses and

also of the

glory of the

Lord, but I

really hope that

this has piqued

your interest

and you want

to go away

and ponder

on his

greatness, on

his glory.

Let's pray

for us as

we finish.

God and

Father, we

just thank you

for your

glory, your

majesty, your

awesomeness.

Words just

don't do it

justice, but

we just pray

that as we

think on these

things as we

go through

this week,

that we will

respond in

love to who

you are and

what you have

done for us.

Personal

confession of

our own

unworthiness,

our own

position before

you, and

yet thankfulness

in what the

Lord Jesus

has done, and

that we will

respond in

love and do

your work.

Not that

suits us,

but what

you would

have us

to do.

We pray

that we

will be

encouraged

that it

is you

who save,

that we

are to

faithfully

witness and

to speak

your word,

and yet

you are

the one

who saves.

Salvation

is from

the Lord.

So we

ask your

blessing as

we think

on these

things further.

We pray

that you

will speak

to us as

we think

on these

things

throughout

this week

and beyond.

So we

just pray

all these

things in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.