Isaiah 6:1–9 Isaiah's Call
According to the Talmud, Isaiah's father, Amoz, was a brother of King Amaziah, which would make Isaiah and King Uzziah cousins.
I. Isaiah was a Man Who Sought God
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord
He Sought Him in Death, (king Uzziah died), in Difficulty, in Defeat.
Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
He Sought Him:- Personally, Passionately, Positively. Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
II. Isaiah was a Man Who Saw God
1 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.
1) The Glory of His Person“… I saw also the Lord …”
2) The Glory of His Power“… sitting upon a throne …”
3) The Glory of His Purpose“…
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” (3)
Jonathan Edwards in his father’s library. found a Bible. His eye caught this verse: I Tim. 1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
A. He Saw The Position Of A Sovereign God... sitting upon a throne …”
B. He Heard The Praise Of A Sinless God... Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts
C. He Learned The Purpose Of A Supreme God - The whole earth is full of His glory
III. Isaiah was a Man Who Sensed God
5 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.
1) The Searching of the Spirit. Isaiah cried, “… ‘Woe is me, for I am undone!
(a) Reveals the Nature of our Sinfulness
Moses, who “… hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God” (Exod. 3:6);
Job, who abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes (see Job 42:6). Peter who “… fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’ ” (Luke 5:8);
Paul who, when he saw himself in the light of the heavenly vision, exclaimed: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
(b) Reveals the Nature of our Helplessness.
Isaiah exclaimed, “… I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (6:5).
2) The Sanctifying of the Spirit
(1) God Convicts Us - 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone;
(2) God Cleanses Us - 6 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:
7 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.
(3) God Commissions Us - 8 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.
3) The Strengthening of the Spirit 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me
The Targum paraphrases, ``and there flew to me one of the ministers, and in his mouth a word which he received from his Shechinah, upon the throne of glory, in the highest heavens, above the altar,'' Gill
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
IV. Isaiah was a Man Who Served God “…
8 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. 9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
1) Isaiah Served God Responsively, “… Here am I! Send me” (6:8).
A. He Was Committed to The Will Of God
B. He Was Committed To The Word Of God "Go, and tell this people." (v.9)
C. He Was Committed To The Work Of God - 11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
2) Isaiah Served God Redemptively “… ‘Go, and tell’ …” (6:9).
Isaiah had a threefold vision:
• It was a vision of deity - He saw the Lord.
• It was a vision depravity - He saw himself.
• It was a vision of duty - He saw a lost world.
