"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.
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
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.
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.
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." (Isaiah 6:1-8)
It would do wonders for our world if every Christian had an Isaiah Experience each day. Far too many have lost the sense of the Holiness of God! You must never forget Who it is that you are relating to and serving. You serve a Holy God! His presence is Holy! Yes, He wants you in a deep, personal, intimate relationship with Him, but none of that changes Who He is. You must always approach Him in the understanding that He is the Almighty God! But, He desires you absolutely approach Him!
Beloved, somehow God gave this vision, or experience, to Isaiah. Isaiah “saw” these things! And because of what he saw, some things in him were changed forever! Allow me to point out a few things.
First in verse 1, God’s presence filled the Temple – His glory is everywhere!
This was a Holy place! The result is powerful worship! This worship was not based on the angels, nor on the gifts of singers, nor even the charisma of a preacher! This worship experience (as all should be) was based only on the Holiness of the full Presence of God!
My friend, for you to be effective for the Kingdom of God, you must place a high priority on worship of the King, both personally and corporately. And beloved, if you ever leave a worship experience feeling less than satisfied, because of the music, or the people, or the prayers, or the preaching, you were not worshiping the Holy Presence of God, you were worshiping yourself!
Now notice verse 5 “Woe is me!”
Believer, you can never be in the Holy Presence of God and not see and feel a contrast between His Holiness and your anything less! Worship in the Presence of the Holy God should cause you to examine yourself in the glow of His Light. Then be honest enough before God to repent, confess, and become cleansed. If you cannot experience God somehow in the course of your worship (in the Word spoken or sung), that may be the first thing you repent of!
Lastly in verse 8, Isaiah heard the Voice of God!
Here is what I believe is happening in these verses of Isaiah. Isaiah finds himself caught up in this tremendous worship experience where the Presence of the LORD is powerfully overwhelming. Beloved, you are the only reason you might not experience this each week!
Isaiah sees the Holiness of God, and by contrast, he sees his own sinfulness, and also the sins of his own nation. He confesses, repents, and God forgives and cleanses. Now, Isaiah is in right standing before God, and he is therefore privileged to hear God speak.
It is as if Isaiah is listening to a conversation in the Throne Room. God is either speaking to angelic beings, or possibly a dialog within the Godhead (Trinity) Itself. And instead of God directly speaking to Isaiah, He asks the question: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”
God allowed Isaiah to see the need, and then volunteer to meet the need! Isaiah then said, in response to what he heard: “Here am I; send me!”
Worshipper, sometimes God will direct you to go meet the need; sometimes He just reveals to you the need. In either case, He expects you will have made yourself available, both to Him and what He is doing! This should be you living a yielded, surrendered, life to your Holy God, daily!
I challenge you to make this your priority for the rest of your life; whether that is one more day, or 40 more years. God is not bound by time, but with God, timing is everything, and He has an expectation that you will show up on time! ---In other words, when He is ready to move or act, He expects you will have made yourself available, both to Him and what He is doing. Pray On!
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Comments
Jerry, thank you for this blog. It is very meaningful to me. At the beginning of this year (2019), God very clearly gave me this verse Isa 6:1. Problem is that I didn't understand what He was/is trying to tell me. I've been pondering this now all year, still wondering. The verse is very comforting to me (God is still in control when life is confusing and don't go well), but also this year, God has been showing me things in my life that were not pleasing to Him. I thought these issues were not connected, but now I understand better. I think there are still more layers to it that God will show me in His timing, but thank You for connecting the dots for me. I hope and pray to hear the Lord's voice and understand clearly.
God bless and let us pray on!