Isaiah 6:1-4 See It Again This vision is a record of Isaiahs calling to serve God. Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish. Every great work of God begins with a vision. Isaiah was a servant of God who stood faithfully as a preacher and a witness to an entire nation. His ministry was so far reaching that it is still on-going today. Thousands of years after the original calling was given and his first labors were begun, we are still reading of his work and reaping the rewards of his service; yet, it all began with a vision. Not only did Isaiahs work begin with a vision, it was kept faithful by that vision. Isaiah did not have an easy time in his service. He was persecuted, arrested, cruelly imprisoned, starved, and eventually martyred. Yet he stayed faithful because the vision he had received from God kept him faithful. Interestingly, everything that is true of Isaiahs encounter with God is true of the encounter that the Green Pond Baptist Church had from God more than seventy-one years ago. I say more than seventy-one years ago because the vision was first seen before any preacher ever had a burden to start a Baptist church in Green Pond. The good people of this community banded together to pray, seek, and even to collect money to start this church. So long before a preacher ever saw the vision to build the Green Pond Baptist Church, the people of Green Pond saw it. They invested much work, both physical and spiritual, that this church might be conceived. Once the church was birthed, that vision was passed down from generation to generation like a spiritual baton. It has motivated the work of twenty different pastors, numerous associates, dozens of deacons, and thousands of church members. Each hand that has received the baton and every heart that has caught the vision has been important to the churchs history. There would be no Green Pond Baptist Church without the godly men and women who sacrificed and served, but even more worthy of recognition than those who carried out the labor is the vision itself and the One who gave it. That vision, given so many years ago, was the seed from which the church sprang forth and has been the compass by which the church has been steered. Today, as we remember seventy-one years of history, we want to recalibrate ourselves to that vision and the One who gave it. We want to make certain that we have not deviated or gotten side-tracked. This morning, we want to See the Vision Again. I. \\#1-8\\ There was a worthy God. A. Notice where Isaiahs eyes fell. Isa 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord. 1. It upon the LORD. 2. Several thoughts show me that Isaiah recognized the Lords worthiness. B. We can see Gods worthiness by noticing what Isaiah looked beyond. 1. \\#2\\ Isaiah looked beyond the seraphims to see the One that sat upon the throne. a. Isaiah later noticed these angelic beings. They were a sight to see. b. Each one had six wings. c. Two wings hid their face and two wings hid their feet. d. But with two wings, they flew. e. Dont you know any human eyes would want to study them? f. But not Isaiah. g. Something more worthy had his attention. 2. \\#3\\ Isaiah looked beyond the Lords glory which bathed the whole earth. a. From Isaiahs perspective, he could see God glory running off of God like a river. b. It flowed out of Gods presence and ran down to the earth, enveloping it like a blanket. c. Isaiah will see that but he does not focus on that. d. Something more worthy had his attention first. 3. \\#1\\ Then there was the throne that the Lord sat upon. a. Isaiah noticed the throne at the first because he was looking at God and God was sitting on it, but that is not where his focus was. b. In fact, Isaiah does not even describe Gods throng. He only mentioned it. 4. But John also saw Gods throne and gave us a description of it in the book of the Revelation. a. I dont know that Isaiah saw everything that John saw; but if he did, he did not even mention some very noticeable things. b. Isaiah did not even mention the emerald rainbow which circles the throne of God. I do not believe he could have missed that, but Isaiah did not focus on it. Why? He was focused on the worthy One, the One sitting upon the throne. c. Neither did Isaiah mention the Sea of Glass before the throne. Again, the sea was so large and unusual, the human eye could not help but to see it; but Isaiahs attention was focused on the worthy One. d. And what about the four living creatures. Ezekiel and John will see those, but not Isaiah. Why not? They were likely there, but Isaiah was not concentrating on them. He was concentrating on the worthy One. C. \\#3\\ Then we see Gods worthiness by listening to what the seraphims proclaimed. Isa 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 1. These beautiful angelic beings proclaimed the Lords holiness! 2. These beings are themselves sinless, but it is not their goodness that they sang about! 3. They sang of the Creator, the Sustainer, the Masters goodness. 4. He alone is worthy! 5. If sinless creatures do not feel worthy in Gods presence, how much less should we? D. \\#5\\ We see Gods worthiness by noticing Isaiahs response to seeing God. Isa 6:5 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. 1. Isaiah saw himself as unworthy and unclean because he saw Gods worthiness and holiness. 2. Man will not see himself as he is until he sees God as He is! 3. \\#8\\ Isaiah surrendered himself to serve the Lord with all of his might the remainder of his life! 4. Why do so few surrender to serve God today? Because they have not seen Gods worthiness. 5. What an impact seeing this worthy God had on Isaiah?! And what an impact it has had on the Green Pond Baptist Church down through the ages. II. \\#8\\ There was a needful task. Isaiah 6:8 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. A. The vision of God that Isaiah saw was not just for his own benefit. 1. \\#1-7\\ Isaiah saw that God is worthy. 2. \\#8\\ Isaiah learned that God does not give of Himself so that a select few can enjoy Him. 3. In this vision, God called Isaiah to carry the knowledge of Him, the generosity and graciousness of God, to others. B. So has God called the Green Pond Baptist Church. 1. We have experienced God first hand! 2. Like John of the New Testament, we can say that "we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." 3. But we must also hear the Lords voice ask, "Now, who will go for us? Who will send the gospel message to those who have not heard?" 4. And we must answer that call, "Here I am. Send ME!" C. For seventy-one years, people have been answering the call to go. 1. Some have stayed in this community and in this church to tell those within arms reach. 2. Others have moved away from this church, to take what was planted within them while here to other churches or to other communities. 3. A few have been called beyond this church and beyond this community to take the message all around the world. 4. But have you gone? Have you seen the vision of God? Have you heard the question God asked? Have you responded the way Isaiah did? D. Now in these dark days, we must re-align ourselves to this needful task: 1. As long as there is room, the task is ours. Luke 14:22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. a. All that the Master had previously commanded was done, but the Master did not bid his servants to rest. b. As long as there was more room, they were to keep working. c. And we, as long as there is still power in the blood and an empty seat at the Banquet Table are commanded to keep going for our God. d. This church may have rendered 71 years of service, but neither the calling nor the need has abated. 2. As long as there is a need, the task is ours. Here are some figures I came across. These statistic only reflect those who lived to birth. a. 8 out of every 1000 people in the world will die this year. b. 1.78 will die every second c. 107 will die every minute d. 6390 will die every hour e. 153,360 will die every day f. 60.0 million will die this year g. Approximately 4 billion have died since the GPBC was founded 71 years ago. III. \\#11-12\\ There was a limited time. A. Perhaps it was because Isaiah understood the difficulty of the task he was being given that he asked, "Lord, how long?" Isa 6:11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. B. Gods answer was not a precise number of days or weeks but a description of judgment. 1. Until the cities are wasted. (WASTE) 2. Until the houses and land are without people. (EMPTY) 3. Until the Lord has removed them far away. (REMOVED) C. The description implies several things: 1. The time to win the masses is limited. a. Isaiah, whatever you are going to do, do it quickly for the time is limited. b. Members of the Green Pond Baptist Church, whatever you are going to do, do it now for the time is limited. c. Tell your friends of Jesus. d. Ordain your deacons and preachers and missionaries. e. Send your children as ambassadors of grace throughout the world. f. Build churches, schools, hospitals, and orphanages where the gospel can be proclaimed and compel the people to come in! 2. God has an ending planned. a. I do not mean to sound negative but the ending is always the same. b. In very dispensation and with every group God has called to serve Him, the command has always been the same. c. Keep on telling them until things get so bad that I have to judge them. (1) For Noahs day, it was the flood. (2) For the Jews, it was the captivity. (3) For the church, it is the rapture and the tribulation. d. I would like to tell you that we can stop the coming judgment but that has never been the option. e. God has always know how this age would end and He wrote it in His Book, the Bible, at the very beginning so that we would know He always knew. f. Why do we go then? The same reasons that every generation goes. (1) To obey God. (2) To win those we can win. We cannot win every one, but if we win someone, we have done well. Thomas Andrews was born into a wealthy Irish family with connections to the respected shipbuilding company Harland & Wolff. At age sixteen, he left school for an apprenticeship at his uncles shipbuilding firm. He worked his way up through many of the various departments within the company and eventually became the head of the design department. Andrews designed or helped design many ships including the Baltic, the Olympic, and his crown jewel: the Titanic. In his original plans for the Titanic, he included several features that were rejected in the final plans such as an extensive double hull, watertight bulkheads, and enough lifeboats for everyone on board. Within the business, Andrews was respected for his knowledge and hands-on methodology. He made a habit of always sailing on his ships for their maiden voyage in order to ensure the safety and quality of the journey. Because of this, Andrews was on board the Titanic on April 15, 1912. After the collision, Captain Smith summoned him to the bridge to consult him about the damage. Andrews immediately jumped into action. He began warning the skeptical passengers of the danger and convincing them to bundle up and enter the lifeboats. Andrews made the difference between life and death for many souls that night. Thomas Andrews spent the last hours of this life ensuring that as many passengers as possible got into the lifeboats and testimonies from several survivors confirm that they lived because of his sacrifice. One of his last actions was to begin throwing deck chairs off the ship to save those drowning in the icy water below. To the bitter end, Andrews demonstrated a sincere dedication to the well-being and safety of his passengers, never thinking of himself and touching many lives beyond his own. Question? Did Thomas Andrews think he could save them all? No. Did he know what was going to happen? Apparently so. What did he do? What he could to save those who would listen. Remember what Isaiah learned from his vision: 1. God is worthy. 2. Souls need to know. 3. The time is limited. May we see the vision again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Isaiah 6:1-4 See It Again This vision is a record of Isaiahs calling to serve God. Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish. Every great work of God begins with a vision. Isaiah was a servant of God who stood faithfully as a preacher and a witness to an entire nation. His … Continue reading “Isaiah 6:1-4 – See It Again – Bible study”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}