Presented by Peter Krol, President of DiscipleMakers
Title: What We Don’t Want To See
Text: Isaiah 6
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” 11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, 12 and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 13 And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible, Copyright © 2001 by Crossway
1. See the incomparable King. (v.1-4)
a. When he sees the vision: During a period of great insecurity.
b. Where he sees the vision: In the temple at Jerusalem, in the presence of the Lord.
c. What he sees in the vision: He sees the hem of His robe and the seraphim.
2. Know we are an unclean people. (v.5-7) Isaiah sees he has nothing worthy to offer the Lord.
a. The seraphim is a servant of God sent to cleanse us.
b. We cannot clean ourselves before coming to to God.
3. Hear an unwelcome message. (v.8-13)
a. Isaiah mocks the person who worships false gods. (Isaiah 44:9-20)
b. People will become like the wood idols they worship.
c. Isaiah is to expose the folly of false gods, so people will realize why they refuse to come to Jesus.
d. Don’t ignore this message because you don’t like it.
The hope in this message is it is not up to you to be good enough to pass judgement. Jesus is the only way to be cleansed before God.
Peter Krol has served as a campus missionary with DiscipleMakers since 1999. He is the author of Knowable Word, (Cruciform Press, 2014) and speaks regularly at churches and training conferences. His passion is to help people know Jesus Christ better by learning how to study the Bible.
