Isaiah 4
Notes
Transcript
Isaiah 6:1-13
This morning we turn to one of the great Apocalypic passages of Scripture.
When we use the Greek word for revelation it is the word Phonetic Spelling:
(ap-ok-al'-oop-sis) where we get the word apocalypse in English this word is translated revelation.
When we think of apocalypse we think of the world coming to an end and the sky falling. An overtaking of the world by a mighty alien force or something on a mass destruction scale. Apocalypse has entered our vernacular one more time because of the events of on the international scene in the last weeks with Russia and the presence of nuclear options.
But the word Apocalypse means “uncovering”
Screen:
apokalupsis: an uncovering
Original Word: ἀποκάλυψις, εως, ἡ
Phonetic Spelling: (ap-ok-al'-oop-sis)
Definition: an uncovering
Usage: an unveiling, uncovering, revealing, revelation.
The point and purpose is about men stuck in the Mundane to catch a glimpse of God’s perspective. It is the wake up call to we who were made to walk in fellowship with God to once again prioritize our fellowship with Him.
This is the value of what is found in the words, “I saw the Lord”. Let that thought hit you for a moment.
Isaiah saw God,
Seated on his Throne. (Even his passive state is seen as active.)
His train filled the temple. (Sign of great glory abundant and full.)
Seraphim with six wings (a reminder the other worldliness of God.)
This would have been a terrible sight we can sometimes brush off what Isaiah was taking in. John described it these Serephs for us.
And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
The name Sereph literally means serpent.
Cheribum mean burning ones.
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY - God is other than. Higher than. In comparable to the creation physical and spiritual.
“For the seraph remembers that even though sinless he is yet a creature, and therefore he conceals himself in token of his nothingness and unworthiness in the presence of the thrice Holy One.” (Spurgeon)
Which was a powerful message for any age. It is vital that we get a proper view of God again. You and I are drawn by the beauty of God to walk in fellowship with him. But it was all the more important when Isaiah and any that wanted to be righteous were experiencing in chapter 6.
to validate his message of repentance.
to glorify God.
to highlight they were unavailable to serve.
to validate his message of repentance. He was sent by God.
In the year King Uzziah died…
Why did God wait for this particular event. God had been communing with Isaiah the whole while. But now he comes and reveals himself.
Sometimes you and I can fall in the same trap as Isaiah and any of the hopeful in Isaiah’s day. We can’t properly see God as our only place for hope as long as we have hope in anyone else.
King Uzziah…
had a long and distinguished reign, described in 2 Chronicles 26 and in 2 Kings 15:1–7 (Uzziah is called Azariah in 2 Kings 15).
Uzziah began his reign when he was only 16 years old, and he reigned 52 years. Overall, he was a good king, and 2 Kings 15:3 says,
And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;
And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;
2 Chronicles 28:5 says,
Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
Uzziah also led Israel in military victories over the Philistines and other neighboring nations, and he was a strong king. Uzziah was a energetic builder, planner, and general. 2 Chronicles 26:8 says,
And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.
But Uzziah’s life ended tragically.
2 Chronicles 26:16 says,
But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
So, to say in the year King Uzziah died is to say a lot. It is to say,
“In the year a great and wise king died.”
But it is also to say,
“In the year a great and wise king who had a tragic end died.”
Isaiah had great reason to be discouraged and disillusioned at the death of King Uzziah, because a great king had passed away, and because his life ended tragically. They had a hope and that hope was taken away. Where was the Lord in all this? I saw the Lord sitting on a throne: Where was the Lord in all this? The Lord was sitting on a throne! God was still enthroned in heaven, and was still in charge of all creation.
Compromise of the ”at least”.
We find ourselves doing it.
“At least we have them in a good school.”
“At least the dollar is strong”
“At least I have a job”
“At least we haven‘t fought about it yet.”
Fill in the blank with whatever your Putting your confidence in. Because we all play the game of a compromise of a thousand “at leasts”
When King Uzziah finally kicked the bucket Isaiah had no were else to put his “At least we have a good king”.
And all he could trust in from this moment forward was the fact that a Good God was big enough.
You and I have got to keep our eyes on our hope…
The work of the Holy Spirit will strip each of us from anything we trust in apart from Christ.
Culture…
Politics…
Economy…
Its not that we would ever say that we are trusting theses things. We settle to put our attention on these things.
We lose sight of raising kids and get comfortable
We mirror the values of our neighbors
then before we even realize our hope is in the value of our dollar. And miss the point. Our hope was never in these things.
this is what Jesus was teaching in Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are those whose eyes are wholly and purely focused on Christ.
Oh that we would have what the hymn writer said when he said the ”the thing of earth will grow strangely dim.”
Compromise is simply changing the question to fit the answer.
Merrit Malloy, Things I Meant to Say to You When We Were Old
Here are 3 verses that demonstrate the hope we can find in Jesus Christ.
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
What if I could see God in that throne room I would trust him…
1. You can you just read it. This is as certain as having spotted it with your own eyes.
2. If you have seen Christ you have seen the Father.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Don’t you think if we could show them the Glorified Father than that would trust in Him. When you saw Christ you saw the Father in full demonstration.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
The question is can people see the hope of Jesus in us. The Glory of God is seen in Christ and his gospel. Go shine that hope giving light to those who need him.
If they see you they see the Savior.