A Deeper Look at Isaiah 6

Ever since I heard Jerry Bridges speak a few weeks ago, I have been trying to decide which tidbit I should share. The one golden nugget of many! He spoke on Isaiah 6 which has to be my most beloved passage in the Bible. In the two sessions I attended, Friday night and Saturday morning, I gained more depth from Isaiah than I thought possible! I should have remembered what I used to teach: You can't outlearn God's Word. We never learn it all, understand it completely, or get to its depth. God's Word is beyond measure.

Jerry Bridges taught us that the first thing Isaiah saw was the Holiness of God. It was evident in the Lord's majesty depicted by His train, the worship of the seraphim, and the calling out of His Holiness (this three-fold repetition is only seen two places in the Bible - here in Is 6 and in Rev 4).

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
Then 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!”

After Isaiah sees the Lord's supreme Holiness, he then immediately realizes his awful sinfulness. Isaiah calls himself 'unclean'. Bridges says that the word Isaiah uses for 'unclean' is the same word the lepers called out as they approached other people. Unclean, unclean meant "stay away, I am diseased. I am harmful to you. I am full of rotting flesh". Isaiah basically calls himself a leper.

It is when Isaiah sees himself a sinner that God sends the gospel. The gospel delivered in a live coal from the altar, touching him, declaring atonement from sin and removal of guilt.

However profound as these points are, this is not the point that bowled me over. Mr. Bridges went on to ask this question: What is the importance of WHEN Isaiah said "Here am I. Send me!"?
Think about it...

Here's the sequence. Isaiah first sees the Holiness of Almighty God. Isaiah then sees himself as full of the rotting flesh of sin. Isaiah is given the gospel. It is then Isaiah says to God, "Use me."

If Isaiah had responded as he took in the sight of Majestic God, what might his response have been? Remember Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration? Bless his heart (and ours) - he wanted to build three little huts and keep everybody right there in the middle of the experience.

And what if Isaiah had responded after he saw the true picture of his own sin? He might not have responded at all!

It is after he receives the gospel, that he responds! In his sin, Isaiah realizes he is completely unqualified for God's service. But after he is given the gospel, he is then qualified. The gospel qualifies him and motivates him! It is against the backdrop of our sin that the gospel shines so brightly (Bridges).

Jerry Bridges went on to say that Paul had pretty much the same experience. Ponder this... Paul said 'yes' to God after he saw the blinding holiness of God, his own awful sin, and was personally given the gospel by the Lord Jesus. See what I mean about a deeper look at Isaiah 6?

It is the gospel that motivates us love and serve God.

"God's story in my life"

When I met Ben, the first thing I said to him was, "I can't wait to hear your story!" He humbly replied, "I do not have a story. My story is God's story in my life".

Ben Mwangi was born in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya in abject poverty. They had nothing. Living in a 10x10 shack on a dollar or two per day, Ben said that in his earliest life he did not know that he lived in such poverty. But when school started it became apparent. He could not attend school, even though it was public school and free. Free still meant you had to buy school books and shoes and uniforms. Such luxuries were not even a slight possibility. He remembers the realization that there was an "us" and a "them". The "them" had shoes and shirts and went to school. The pervasive feeling was that there was no way out and no hope.

Ben said very quickly the devil, the one who "steals, kills and destroys", stepped in, tempting to relieve the helplessness by stealing. Stealing from "them" provided goods to sell and bought shirts and shoes. Gangs were formed. All he knew in the slums was trash.

One day Ben remembers his mother taking him by the hand to a church - a church that would later be called the Compassion Church. It was the first and only time his mother was in a church. She left him there. I don't know for how long, but he was a little boy standing against a wall with a group of children having his picture taken. Several months later Ben heard he had a sponsor from Austin, Texas and life began to change.

He was educated. He came to know Jesus personally. His family benefited. He graduated from primary school, high school and entered University studying physics. Compassion International invested in him. They saw leadership potential and he entered the Leadership Development Program. It is said that Compassion's LDP has the reputation of securing an automatic job and the job would be one rare, something unheard of, something that would make a difference.

Compassion International's byline is "releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name." They are in their 58th year and in 26 countries. Ben challenged us to hear the Lord call to be the voice of the voiceless. Quite fitting for our Bible study girls... all year long through The Truth Project, Amos, and Radical, we've been listening to the Lord calling to us. We have a summer to process and ponder the Lord's words. We begin in September a radical year: radical study, radical prayer, radical giving and radical going.

Ben used this verse to describe God's story in his life:
... and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61: 3

Glory in a can of paint

The clean up continues. Ben snapped this picture in a neighborhood nearby completely ravaged. Yet, in the midst of heartbreak and loss, many people have found their voice of gratitude to God in a can of spray paint. Houses have their house numbers spray painted on them for insurance identification, but many have messages written right on whatever shell has been left, giving glory to God. God was and is fully present. Please continue to pray. Please continue to serve.

Graduation Glory

Graduation: Summa cum Laude, Bachelor of Science in Art Education, Middle Tennessee State University
My precious niece. My brother. Graduation of a different kind. My cup runneth over. Thank you, Lord.

Jerry Bridges Weekend

I have been waiting for this weekend for months! This is the weekend Jerry Bridges will be in our town speaking at Christ Presbyterian Church in Hampton Cove.

The church meets at the Hampton Cove Middle School, 261B Old Highway 431, Hampton Cove, AL 35763, 256-533-4044.

Jerry's messages will be titled, The Foundation of Holiness from Isaiah 6:1-8. His speaking schedule is:
Friday, May 13, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Saturday, May 14, 9:00 - 11:00 AM
Sunday, May 15, at 9:15 AM and 10:30 AM

Please plan to attend and invite sometone to attend with you!

Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28: 19-20

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1: 8

The words Jesus left us with after his resurrection but before his ascension.

We know we are to go and take the gospel. In Acts he tells us 'how' to go... he gives us a game plan. A how-to. Actually, this design in reaching out to others constitutes a life plan. Jerusalem first, then spread out to Judea. Then a little further to Samaria, then to the ends of the earth.

In light of our last week, this helps me. Jesus' plan put legs to my desire to help others. My Jerusalem is my immediate and extended family. My Judea is my faith family, Bible Study girls, dear friends and friends of theirs, neighbors and neighborhoods nearby. My Samaria is Tuscaloosa and Phil Campbell and Birmingham and Mississippi and beyond. For such a time as this...

Sometimes taking the gospel means taking food and clothing and gas and generators and cash. Yesterday in Bible Study we made several lists of needs. And we made several game plans for the next few weeks. One list, shared here, helped me so much to hear God's call for immediate service. I hope it helps you.

Here are places to serve and what's needed right now:
Manna House needs volunteers.
First Baptist is still taking volunteers.
Monrovia Community Center is organizing volunteers.
There is a great need for blood. Blood drives are being organized all over and always at the Red Cross Headquarters.
Families need hot meals.
$25 gift cards are most welcome from Kroger, WalMart, Home Depot and Lowe's. $25 gas cards are a huge help. You can drop cash cards at any of the above places or to Commissioner Dale Strong on Highway 53.
Carpentry skills are highly sought.
Generators.
Clean clothes are desperately needed - some people are wearing generously donated clothes and have to discard them because they have no means of cleaning. Make a call requesting Tide's "Loads of Love" to come to our area.

Go, in His Name and serve.