Isaiah Chapter 6 — Stephen Kaung

Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord in the Temple

Will you please turn to the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah chapter 6. In the year of the death of King Uzziah, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.

Seraphim were standing above Him, each had six wings. With twain He covered His face, and with twain He covered His feet, and with twain He flew. And one called to the other and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts.

The whole earth is full of His glory. And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of Him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. And I say, Woe unto me, for I am undone, for 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, Jehovah of hosts.

And one of the seraphim flew unto me, and he had in his hand a glowing coal, which he had taken from the thorns from of the altar. And he made it touch my mouth, and said, Behold, this has touched thy lips, and thy iniquity is taken away, and thy sin expiated.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said, Here am I, send me. And He said, Go, and thou shalt say unto these people, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand.

Seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. Make the heart of these people fat, and make their ears heavy, and blind their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and healed.

And I said, Lord, how long? And He said, Until the cities be wasted, without inhabitants, and the houses without men, and the land become an utter desolation, and Jehovah hath removed men afar away, and the solitude be great in the midst of the land.

But a tenth part shall still be therein, and it shall return and be eaten, as the terebine and as the oak, whose trunk remaineth after the felling. The holy seed shall be the trunk thereof. The very name of the prophet Isaiah is very meaningful, because as we find in Isaiah chapter eight, he mentioned that he and his children are given as signs to the people.

Isaiah means Jehovah is salvation, or the salvation of the Lord. No book in the Old Testament is more quoted by our Lord and His disciples in the New Testament than the book of Isaiah. Of course, we cannot enter into this book this morning, but we would like to consider together before the Lord this vision of Isaiah.

In chapter six, it says, In the year of the death of King Uzziah. Some people think that Isaiah and Uzziah, because of the affinity of their names, probably they are brothers or cousins. Now if that's the case, you'll find that Isaiah must be very close to King Uzziah.

If Isaiah was not his brother or his cousin, at least we know Isaiah was very close to Uzziah. Why? Why? Because he wrote all the deeds of King Uzziah in his book. He was his friend, his chronicler, very close.

But in the year when King Uzziah died, evidently it constituted a kind of crisis in the life of Isaiah. Now, whether Isaiah prophesied before chapter six, we find there are chapter one to chapter five prophecies in these five chapters.

But we do not know whether these five chapters were actually words that he prophesied before he saw the Lord in chapter six. Now, if he did, then he had prophesied even before the year of the death of King Uzziah.

But when King Uzziah died, it became a crisis to him as a prophet. Now if he had never prophesied before, then this year of the death of King Uzziah formed such a crisis in his life that from then on he was called to be a prophet.

But anyway, you'll find that the death of King Uzziah became a crisis to... You know, oftentimes life is made up of crises. From time to time you'll find a crisis will come to you. Now, we are not only speaking of generally, well, life is such that you just cannot go on without any crisis.

Maybe some people died, your friend, your close relative died, or maybe something happened to you in your life. But anyway, you'll find that life is full of crises, and they are spiritual crises too. These are very important times, because if we can meet the crisis in the right way, we will come out on a higher ground.

But if we meet the crisis in a wrong way, then probably we will turn somewhere else. Crisis is very important. Now brothers and sisters, when a crisis comes to your life, whatever kind it may be, how are you going to face your crisis?

Meeting Crisis by Seeking the Lord

A crisis has come to the life of Isaiah. It must be a critical crisis. Now how did he meet that crisis? You'll find he did one thing, the only thing that is right. He entered into the temple to inquire of the Lord.

You know, brothers and sisters, if a crisis comes to your life, and you begin to look at the crisis, and you begin to look at yourself, or even you begin to look around at other people, you won't be able to solve your crisis in the right way.

The only way to face a crisis of any kind is to enter into the temple and inquire of the Lord. Do not think that you can solve the problem. Do not even try to solve it. But go to the Lord and seek His face.

And then everything will be clear. You know, as a matter of fact, King Isaiah was not a bad king. The Bible says he was a good king. He did everything that was right in the eyes of the Lord. And because of that, God prospered him.

And when he was prospered, he did one thing. He went into the temple to offer incense. You know, from all outward appearance, this was not something bad. He was not go-sinning in any worldly sense. Because God so blessed him, so he wanted to go to the temple to offer incense to God.

He wanted to pray, he wanted to worship God. Now this, to our reasoning, will be a good thing. But offering incense was the job of the priest, not of the king. And because he was blessed, he became spiritually proud.

He thought he could do everything. And he entered into the temple to burn incense. And because of that, he was smitten with leprosy. That was his downfall. He had to live in a separate house, never again enter into the temple until he died.

And you know, Isaiah must know very well of what had happened to King Uzziah. The downfall of King Uzziah was entering into the temple to offer incense. You would think Isaiah would be afraid of getting into the temple then.

But on the contrary, after the death of King Uzziah, Isaiah entered into the temple to face the crisis of his life. Not being a priest. Knowing what had happened to King Uzziah, certainly he wouldn't dare to burn incense.

He wouldn't dare to enter into the holy place, even though he might be of royal seed. When he entered into the temple, he was just like other children of Israel, he will be in the court. In a sense, he was way far from the holiest.

He must be in the court. And there in the court, he prayed. He opened his heart to God. He cried unto the Lord. It was almost like the picture our Lord Jesus said of that publican. You know, the Pharisees will went, will go into the court, you know, into the temple, and there he boasted of himself.

But the publican stood afar off, beat his breast, and said, have mercy on me, O Lord. Isaiah was standing probably at the back of the court. And there he opened his heart to God. He cried unto God concerning that crisis.

And when he was praying, something happened. The veil was opened. In the Spirit, he was brought into the holiest of all. The place where no one could enter. Not even the priest. The high priest could enter in only once a year.

Behind the veil, for a short while, with the blood and the smoke of the incense. And he had to hurry it out, because no one could stand in the presence. And here you'll find, as he prayed, the physical began to disappear, fade away.

He was taken by the Spirit, as it were, into the holiest of all. He saw. He saw the Lord sitting on the throne. Ay, brothers and sisters, we know what was behind the veil. In the holiest of all. In the holiest of all, there was the ark.

And upon the ark, the mercy seat. With the cherubim as the cover of the seat. And the glory of God sat on the mercy seat. No one was allowed to see this scene. And yet here you'll find Isaiah. He saw what people could not see.

He saw the Lord sitting on the throne. High and lifted up. Dear brothers and sisters, the physical is just a type. The spiritual is the reality. The earthly is just a shadow. The heavenly is the real thing.

And here you'll find the earth and the physical fade away. The spiritual and the heavenly appear. He saw the reality. And what is the reality? The reality is the Lord is on high. King Isaiah died. The nation entered into a period of change.

Isaiah probably was wondering whether the change will be for the better or for the worse. Because of the death of King Isaiah, a change might come to Isaiah himself. He didn't know what kind of effect it will be upon him.

He wondered about himself. He wondered about the nation. Everything will be changing. And you know we are always afraid when things are changing. Because we are no longer sure. And what can really stabilize us?

The Lord on the Unshakable Throne

When everything around us are changing, and we ourselves are changing, now what can really stabilize us? Only one vision. The Lord on the throne. Everything changes. But He remains the same. Yesterday, today, and forever.

Everything is shaken. But there is a throne of God that never shakes. God is on the throne. He rules. And He overrules. Brothers and sisters, we are living in a very critical day. We find changes all around us.

And you are amazed at the swiftness of these changes. Things change very quickly today. And as we are surrounded by changes, as we ourselves are changing, where is our security? Where is our strength?

Where is our stability? It is not in us. It is not around us. It is only in the Lord. He who sits. We know one thing. The Lord sits on the throne. We know one thing. He rules and overrules over all things.

He is high and lifted up. That we know. I believe this is a vision that we need to catch today. Because only that will stabilize us. Will give us strength. Give us faith to go on. He said, I saw the Lord sitting upon the throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.

You know, just like in a royal court, you will find the king have that beautiful royal robe upon him, and then the train will spread out, you know, very long train will spread out, and here you will find Isaiah saw in the vision the Lord sitting on the throne, the king of kings sitting on the throne, and His robe, the train of His robe, filled the temple.

The glory of the Lord was in the holiest of all. But it was hidden by a heavy veil. Nobody could see anything in the holy place. That is to say, nobody could see the glory of the Lord in the holy place.

All they could see was the golden altar of incense. The golden table of showbread, the candlestick all of gold, and the brazen laver in the court, and also the brazen altar there at the entrance of the court.

Now, you see these things, but you do not see the glory of the Lord, because it was hidden behind the veil. But here you will find the train filled the temple. The glory of the Lord came out, and the train filled the temple.

Christ’s Work Filling the Temple

Now, what are these things that you see in the temple? The altar of incense, showbread, table, candlestick of gold, brazen laver, brazen altar. Now, what are these things? These speak to us of the works of God in Christ Jesus.

All these things in the temple speak of the works of our Lord Jesus. What the Lord has done? He is the brazen altar. He shed His blood for the remission of our sins. He is the brazen laver. He is our sanctification.

He sanctifies us by the washing of the water with the Word that He may present us to Himself a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any of such sort. He is the brazen laver. He is the candlestick of gold.

He is our light. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. He is the light of life. He is the showbread on the table. He is the bread of life. And if we eat of Him, we shall never die.

He is the golden table of incense. He is our great high priest making intercession for us. And He is able to save those who come by Him to God to the uttermost. So you'll find that all these things in the temple speak of the works of our Lord Jesus.

The train fills the temple. In other words, here you'll find the works of the Lord Jesus. He fills the house. What is God's temple? God's house. Here you'll find the Lord is on the throne. And His train fills the temple.

The Lord is on the throne. And His work fills the church. He is working. He is working towards His purpose until His glory shall fill all the earth. Brothers and sisters, sometimes when we find everything is shaken, when we find change is coming, we wonder if God will ever get what He wants.

We wonder if God is really able to have His purpose realized. We look at ourselves. We do not like that. It doesn't look like that we can be that vessel for the purpose of God. But you remember what the Lord said.

I will build My church upon this rock. And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. He is working in the church. He is working. His work is to fill the church until He has obtained what? It all begins from the throne.

He is on the throne. And He is working from the throne out until His glory not only shall fill the temple, but His glory shall fill the whole earth. Brothers and sisters, this is the vision that Isaiah saw.

God is still on the throne. He is still working out His purpose. He will work first through the church and then His glory shall fill the earth. And Isaiah saw the seraphim. Now this is the only mention in the Bible of seraphim.

We do not know if seraphim are charity or whether they are two different groups. But seraphim, the very word means burning ones. They are the burning ones. In a sense, you know, they stand for the holiness of God.

The Holiness and Uniqueness of God

The holiness of God in relation to God's people. And here these seraphim, they were crying, Holy, holy, holy. Jehovah of hosts, the whole earth is filled of His glory. Now look at these seraphim. They were very close to the throne of God.

And yet they used their two wings to cover their face. Even though they were burning ones, yet they dare not look at God. They cover their face as if they were ashamed of themselves. They use their other two wings to cover their feet.

They dare not show their feet. They were faceless and faithless as it were in the presence of God. With two other wings they fly. They fly. Now brothers and sisters, holy as these seraphim, they were burning ones.

And yet they dare not show their face before God. They cover their face. How about us? Dare we show our face before God? Should we not just cover our head before God? We are nothing. We don't want people to look at us.

We are covered as if faithless. We dare not show our feet. We dare not walk in our own ways. If we walk in our own ways, we have gone astray. And yet, like the two wings, we are swift to worship God and to do His will.

These are the seraphim. And because they are so close to God, they cry out incessantly, one to another, Holy, holy, holy, Jehovah. What is the meaning of holy? We know that righteous is the opposite of sin.

Holy is the opposite of common. Our God is holy. That is to say, He is uncommon. He is not like us. He is different, altogether different. He is unique. He is alone by Himself. He is special. There is no comparison with Him.

He is incomparable. He stands all by Himself. That is holy. Brothers and sisters, if we see God, if we see the Lord, one thing should impress upon us, and that is He is different from us. Oftentimes, we make God like one of us.

What we cannot do, He cannot do. What we do not like, He should not like. Oh, but brothers and sisters, if we see the Lord, one thing we know, He is different. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

He is just beyond us in all things. He is not common. He is unique. He knows what He is doing. Everything is in His hands. You know, this is the same vision that Job saw at the end. You remember after God spoke to Job, Job said, formerly I only heard of this, but now I have seen it.

Now, what did Job see? Job did not see any explanation because God did not explain to him of his crisis. What did Job see? Job saw the holiness of God. God is holy. You don't argue with Him. His way is higher than your way.

His thought is higher than your thought. All you do is bow down and repent. That's what you do. And that's the same vision that the three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration saw. They saw the Lord.

Moses disappeared. Elijah disappeared. And the voice said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am wealthy. Hear Him. He is unique. You cannot compare Him with Moses. You cannot compare Him with Elijah. He is different.

All together different. He is all alone by Himself. And all you can do is hear Him. Don't talk. Hear Him. That's the vision. Oh, brothers and sisters, we need that vision. We need to see the Lord on the throne.

We need to see His work fill the temple. We need to see that He is holy. He is unique. We have to cry out, holy, holy, holy. You are so different. You are so unique. You are so special. Jehovah. He has not only heavenly host.

The Church as God’s Earthly Host

He has also earthly host. His heavenly host are the angels that will listen and carry out His will. His earthly host today is the church. It is for us to hear, to obey, to believe, and to do the will of God.

And the result is, the whole earth is filled. Oh, brothers and sisters, we are living at a time of many discouraging, new and discouraging things. But thank God. There is one thing that will give us strength, spiritual strength, to stand against all changes, to stand against everything, and give us hope.

And that is the vision of the Lord. The vision of the Lord. Thank God He is on the throne. He is working out His purpose. And He is working out His purpose through His church. We may fail, but He will never fail.

One day His glory shall fill the earth as water fills the sea. He is doing that. And when Isaiah saw this vision, what was the effect of it? The effect was, because of the cry of desertity, holy, holy, holy, the foundations of the threshold of the temple shook.

The temple was filled with smoke. And Isaiah shook too. Isaiah was completely shaken. He was shattered. He said, Woe to me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips.

No one can see the Lord and stand. Even Daniel, the beloved of the Lord, when he saw the Lord, he said, My beauty has turned into corruption. When you see the Lord, your beauty will turn into corruption.

What was the strongest point in the life of Isaiah? His lips. He must have talked a lot. That was his strongest point. And that was the very point that he was shaken, shattered before God. I am woe to me.

I'm altogether woeful. Nothing good in me. Especially one thing, my lips. My lips was a prophet before that. Then a prophet had to use his lips. And if you look into the first five chapters of the book of Isaiah, you'll find how strongly he prophesied.

That was his strength. Even though his prophesying was nothing wrong. And yet when he saw the Lord, he said, My lips were unclean. When God's word came from my lips, it carried my uncleanness in it. It wasn't pure.

And he said, I never know the people of uncleanness. People all talking. And they might be talking about the Lord. But unclean. Unclean. Brothers and sisters, in the holiest things that we do, we find there is uncleanness.

If we see the Lord. So some brothers said, even our repentance needs to be washed with the blood. It's not pure. Who can see the Lord and not be as dead? If someone say he has seen the Lord and he can stand up erect and say, I've seen the Lord.

You know, he hasn't seen the Lord. If he has seen the Lord, he will be as dead. Prostrate upon the floor. Repent. You're done. Cannot help it. And because of that, the Saracen king used a tongue, take the living coal out of the altar, cut his lips, and said, your lips are clean.

Your sins are expired. God did not show himself to Isaiah to destroy him. God showed himself to Isaiah to complete him. So here you'll find after Isaiah really repented in dust and ashes, God, and then he heard the voice, whom shall I send?

Isaiah’s Cleansing and Commission

Who will go for us? Brothers and sisters, we need to see the Lord. And if we see the Lord, we will hear the calling. The calling did not come, say, Isaiah, Isaiah, I want you. No. The calling said, just as if God is speaking to himself.

As if in the Godhead, there was a conversation in the Godhead. And in the Godhead, they were talking about, now whom shall we send? Who will go for us? There is something that needs to be done. Some message needs to be delivered to the children of Israel.

But whom can we send? Who will go for us? They were talking, you know, among, in the Godhead. And as it were, Isaiah overheard the talking. You know, that's the way it is. God did not speak to Isaiah directly.

God was speaking among, in the Godhead. And Isaiah overheard it. So Isaiah said, well, here am I, send me. We often say, God never wants volunteers. He always drafts people. Now oftentimes we volunteer.

We volunteer for God. God said, I don't want volunteers. I draft. If I need someone, I draft him. You know, you don't volunteer. God drafts. This is half the truth. The whole truth is, God drafts and we volunteer.

So here you'll find God is drafting. And Isaiah volunteers. You know, volunteers. That's the way it is. Brothers and sisters, do we overhear God's burden? If you overhear God's burden, then you cannot but volunteer.

Even though you know you are unfit. Often people think that they volunteer because they are qualified. No. You volunteer because you are not qualified. You know you are not qualified, and yet you volunteer.

Why? Because you have heard God's burden. You cannot escape. So Isaiah just volunteers. Take him on. Send him. And you know, the mission that God sent Isaiah to fulfill is an impossible mission. God said, all right.

You go and tell my people. They have ears, and yet they cannot hear. They have eyes that cannot see. They will not understand. There will be judgment upon them. And even those that remain, a remnant, they still will be judged.

No hope. No hope. Now who wants to bring that kind of message? That will be very unpopular. Unless a person that was really broken before God, that was really taken into the secret counsel of God, that was really in heart one with God, who will be willing to bring such a message and make himself so unpopular.

You will want to change it a little bit. To make it a little milder. You know? But no. That would be unclean. To be a prophet has to prophesy just as God has told him. There is no hope with the children of Israel.

Absolutely hopeless. But where is the hope? The hope is in God, in Messiah. So that's why in the book of Isaiah you'll find so far as the children of Israel were concerned, there was no hope. No hope.

But thank God, God said the hope is in Christ. So this is the same thing with us today. Oh brothers and sisters, if we know the burden of the Lord, we have to say so far as we are concerned, it's hopeless.

No hope. But thank God, there is hope. The hope is in Christ. It is only in Christ that you'll find there is salvation. There is restoration. And there is fulfillment. So this is the prophecy of Isaiah.

And this is the vision that he saw on that day. So I do hope that as we share a little bit of that vision, may the Lord really give us a vision of hope. And with that vision, there will be a mission. Our Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee that Thou art the same yesterday, today and forever.

We do praise and thank Thee that Thou dost sit on the throne and Thy throne is unshakable. Oh, we do praise and thank Thee Thou working out Thy purpose. Thy ways are higher than our ways. Thy thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

We can trust Thee. We can just bow ourselves at Thy feet. We can just give ourselves to Thee and let Thee claim us and use us as Thou please. So Lord, we do pray that these words may become life, strength to all of us in this changing world.

We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus.