What is Your Vision? (Isaiah 6)
*********************
"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."
The point of Isaiah's vision, in the year of the king's death, was to
underscore it in Isaiah's conception of God. There are four looks to be
remarked in the vision.
I. The Upward Look
-----------------------
Isaiah 6. 1-4 'I saw the Lord . . . high and lifted up'. The upward look,
in the first instance, is essential to right perspective. Moses' initial
mistake, in seeking to defend an oppressed Israelite was that 'he looked
this way and that way', instead of first looking up to God for guidance.
For his error, he was compelled to flee from Egypt and to spend forty years
in obscurity.
2. The Inward Look
------------------------
v. 5 'Then said I, woe is me for I am undone: because I am a man of unclean
lips . . .', v. 5. The inward look always follows the upward look, in
spiritual experience. One cannot take account of the holiness of God,
without a corresponding sense of personal sinnership. Many scriptures
testify to this fact.
The inward look is the necessary result of the upward look, but it were
wrong to stop there. Excessive introspection, undue preoccupation with
one's sinnership, to the exclusion of occupation with God's remedy for sin,
were not only undesirable but foolish.
3. The Altar Look
---------------------
w. 6, 7 The action of the seraphim was symbolic. Doubtless, the 'live coal'
typifies the cross, applied to our spiritual uncleanness and 'undone'
state. The cross meets our unfitness as sinners for the presence of the
thrice-holy God.He looked to the mercy seat, sprinkled with the blood of
sacrifice, Lev. 16. Christ is 'the propitiation for our sins', 1 John 2. 2;
4. 10 (cf. Rom. 3. 25) and 'faith in his blood' rids us of our spiritual
uncleanness and fits us for the holy presence of God.
4. The Outward Look
--------------------------
w. 8-9-'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?', vv. 8, 9, to which
Isaiah responded 'Here am I, send me'. The outward look must follow the
altar look. The meeting of our personal need as sinners must create in us
an exercise of heart toward those whose need is as yet unrealized and
unmet. Only those who have had this experience are qualified to intervene
with those who lack it. But all such service for God must have commission.
And God does not commandeer men to preach. They must freely acknowledge His
commission. When God asked 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?',
Isaiah willingly responded 'Here am I; send me'.
What is your response to the vision God has shown you? The Lord Jesus
commissioned His disciples to go and tell and to make disciples of all
nations (Matthew 28:18-20). What are you doing? Amen.
*********************
"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."
The point of Isaiah's vision, in the year of the king's death, was to
underscore it in Isaiah's conception of God. There are four looks to be
remarked in the vision.
I. The Upward Look
-----------------------
Isaiah 6. 1-4 'I saw the Lord . . . high and lifted up'. The upward look,
in the first instance, is essential to right perspective. Moses' initial
mistake, in seeking to defend an oppressed Israelite was that 'he looked
this way and that way', instead of first looking up to God for guidance.
For his error, he was compelled to flee from Egypt and to spend forty years
in obscurity.
2. The Inward Look
------------------------
v. 5 'Then said I, woe is me for I am undone: because I am a man of unclean
lips . . .', v. 5. The inward look always follows the upward look, in
spiritual experience. One cannot take account of the holiness of God,
without a corresponding sense of personal sinnership. Many scriptures
testify to this fact.
The inward look is the necessary result of the upward look, but it were
wrong to stop there. Excessive introspection, undue preoccupation with
one's sinnership, to the exclusion of occupation with God's remedy for sin,
were not only undesirable but foolish.
3. The Altar Look
---------------------
w. 6, 7 The action of the seraphim was symbolic. Doubtless, the 'live coal'
typifies the cross, applied to our spiritual uncleanness and 'undone'
state. The cross meets our unfitness as sinners for the presence of the
thrice-holy God.He looked to the mercy seat, sprinkled with the blood of
sacrifice, Lev. 16. Christ is 'the propitiation for our sins', 1 John 2. 2;
4. 10 (cf. Rom. 3. 25) and 'faith in his blood' rids us of our spiritual
uncleanness and fits us for the holy presence of God.
4. The Outward Look
--------------------------
w. 8-9-'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?', vv. 8, 9, to which
Isaiah responded 'Here am I, send me'. The outward look must follow the
altar look. The meeting of our personal need as sinners must create in us
an exercise of heart toward those whose need is as yet unrealized and
unmet. Only those who have had this experience are qualified to intervene
with those who lack it. But all such service for God must have commission.
And God does not commandeer men to preach. They must freely acknowledge His
commission. When God asked 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?',
Isaiah willingly responded 'Here am I; send me'.
What is your response to the vision God has shown you? The Lord Jesus
commissioned His disciples to go and tell and to make disciples of all
nations (Matthew 28:18-20). What are you doing? Amen.
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