4/17/02
IGNITING A PASSION FOR GOD VIII
HOLY FIRE WITHIN
Isaiah 6:1-10
BY PASTOR RUSS WITKOWSKI
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
9 He said, "Go and tell this people: "’Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."
Theme: If we humble ourselves and accept God’s chastening, we are enabled to hear His voice with greater clarity, positioning ourselves to mature in our relationship with Him!
I. THE YEAR THAT KING UZZIAH DIED:
A. Who is king Uzziah?
1. Descendent of David, crowned king at age 16, and at first sought God with earnestness.
a. Conditions indicated this sense of need of God’s help for to rule an entire nation at this young age would require a strong leader whose youth could not be despised.
2 Chronicles 26:5 - He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.
b. Because he sought the Lord, Uzziah was prospered in the Lord.
c. He made war with the Philistines as well as the Arabians, Meunites, and the Ammonites. The nation had become strong economically and in military strength.
d. The nation was prosperous under his leadership.
B. He became over confident in the accomplishments of the Lord in him. It was not in a weak moment, but after a season of strength that this heart was lifted up with pride.
2 Chronicles 26:16 - But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.
Summary: Was Uzziah any less religious? He became even more religious!
But with pride, especially religious pride, there is a moment of confrontation!
2 Chronicles 26:17-18 - Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. 18 They confronted him and said, "It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God."
Uzziah didn’t respond properly – 2 Chronicles 26:19 - Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead.
Pride keeps us from clearly seeing Jesus. It causes us to view the things of God from the perspective of experience rather than from an understanding that God can make “old things new again”!
II. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY: Note the repetition.
A. Isaiah saw the Lord’s glory, and His angels:
1. Note the volume of the angel as he shouted!
a. The posts of the door were shaken!
b. They had been in the company of the full glory of God throughout all historical eternity, yet they shout aloud as if this were a new revelation to them!
c. There is no pride among these angelic beings! They respond to God in a fresh new way every day because the more we know of God the more they learn how much greater He is today than He was to us yesterday!
B. Isaiah’s reaction to the glory of God:
1. “Woe is me! I am unclean, and I dwell with people whose lips are unclean!”
a. Woe – “The most severe judgment is about to befall you”.
2. I am undone – means to be coming apart at the seams!
a. In the presence of a holy God all self esteem is shattered. All confidence in oneself and humanity is annihilated.
b. If there any pride in Isaiah, it was gone now!
c. He saw ever more his desperate need for mercy and grace in order to survive.
III. CLEANSING, CALLING AND CLARITY:
Isaiah 6:6-8 - Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
1 Jn 1:8-10 - If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
A. God gives grace to the humble and cleanses the heart of the contrite.
1. Isaiah was IN the presence of God! How could it be possible for his to be in the presence of God, and feel so unworthy at the same time?
a. Many seek to be in the presence of the Lord, rejoicing – but often without repentance! This should not be!
b. Rejoicing and repentance always go hand in hand!
c. God does a complete work!
Jas 5:14-16 - Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
B. God calls those who walk humbly with Him!
1. The humble are willing to serve!
a. Here I am – Send me!
b. Calling is always connected to one’s spiritual condition!
C. The message –
Isa 6:9-10 - But tell my people this: ’Though you hear my words repeatedly, you won’t understand them. Though you watch and watch as I perform my miracles, still you won’t know what they mean.’ 10 Dull their understanding, close their ears, and shut their eyes. I don’t want them to see or to hear or to understand, or to turn to me to heal them." TLB
1. This is why preaching is called foolishness to them that believe not – it drives a wedge in the heart of the disobedient that will eventually be forced out if there is the least bit of desire after God!
a. Once Isaiah had SEEN God, he was able to convey the heart of God, not just the concepts that surround His kingdom!
CONCLUSION –
At any point in our lives, we will be faced with a decision as to how we will respond to the "chastening of the Lord". If we respond as Uzziah did, we will lose our passion for God. IF we respond as Isaiah did, we will be enabled to hear His voice with greater clarity and continue to grow in Christ wiht an ever increasing passion.
I am much in prayer that I might be like Isaiah – Seeking to see the Lord in all of His glory, to hear His angelic beings shout glory to God and then to convey the heart of God – not simply teach the principles about His kingdom.
