Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision the people perish." Where there is no revelation the people cast off restraints.

Isaiah is presenting to us the theme of judgment and grace. He reflects upon the threefold teachings of Scripture (Sin, Salvation, Service-or-guilt, grace and gratitude-HC Q2). The Gospel of John 12:41 tells us that Isaiah spoke of Messiah and judgment, "Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about Him."

In our Isaiah 6 text we see the inaugural call of Isaiah and the vision that helped Isaiah to be a willing servant. A vision is given him to strengthen him (and us) in the discharge of telling of God's judgment and of grace. The depravity of the nation and the coming of certain judgment is the message Isaiah is to proclaim. Yet, there is also promise of the "stump" or remnant. In the final end we have chapter 2:3-4 and 4:2-6.

Theme: Isaiah is given a vision of the Sovereign Lord dispensing judgment, grace and remnant.

The Vision (v 1-4)

The heart of the worldview and the goal of Reformed theology is the true worship of the Sovereign God. It is a theology that sees both the total depravity of man and the election of God. Calvin was intent on the changing of the whole person in intellect, emotion and will in order to see the glory of God. The Reformation gave light to the majesty of God. We are to look through eyeglasses that have corrected lenses when we read the condition of mankind. Those spectacles are the very Word of God. (2 Cor. 10:5, "...take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ;" Rev 4:8; 5:6; Heb 1:3.)

Isaiah 6:1 immediately shows us that this is a historical narrative. It is the time when the Assyrians are building up in great strength. It is a time when the Empire of Rome is beginning. It is it is a time when Uzziah ruled from 748-734 B.C. in Israel. He had extended the boundaries of Judah. The realm became a flower of national pride. Things were good in Israel. Yet, the moral climate was on the wane. In a few years the Lord would place a "ban" or curse upon His chosen people. The "ban" would result in the people being kicked out of the land-the Exile. "Righteousness exalts a nation" and evil morals brings a nation into decline and punishment. That is part of the message of Isaiah. He is also told that the people would not listen to him and they would suffer the consequences.

God gives Isaiah the vision of Seraphim (6:2)-"the burning ones." They are glorious beings. But they shielded themselves from the greater glory. They cover their faces with reverence, their feet poised for reverent activity of service, and they fly to do the bidding of God. They shows God's atonement for sin.

Before Isaiah, God is seated with royal authority. "Host"-armies-are at His beckoning for the carrying out of His judgment and wrath. It is also the "throne of grace" of Hebrews 4:16.

The "Foundations shake" at His very presence. There is such awe and majesty that the building itself records the Lord on His throne.

"Smoke" shrouds the Lord of glory with the concept of prayer and fragrance.

His "train" is long and fills the room as a symbol of richness and wealth. The train that a king wears refers to his greatness and worth. There are times at weddings when the bride wears a long train to show wealth and richness. But it is also a symbol of honor. God has wealth and honor.

There is a song of the "Holy" triad. God is in the center enthroned and praised. The Three in One-the Trinity of God is praised and exalted. Such is the grand vision of the Creator God-the great Elohim.

The Response (v 5)

"Woe" (vs 5) is a penitent spirit. One who is "poor in spirit." There is no self-righteousness in Isaiah-it is utterly destroyed. This is a shattering experience. He knows the depth of his own depravity. Now he is faced with the presence of a Perfect and Holy God. It was said that one would die to see God. (Here it is a vision and not an actual seeing). No man can see God at any time (John 1:18; 1 Tim 6:16). God is invisible and does not have a body like a man. At the same time Jesus says, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (Matt 5:18) They will not see the essence of God but will see a true manifestation of the glory in human form. This will be adapted to the capability of the finite creature. Isaiah sees Adonai, the God who carries out His purposes (Adonai in the Hebrew language means "Master-Owner"). The Apostle John fell as a dead man in the presence of God on the Island of Patmos in the presence of this God. The Publican said, "God be merciful to me a sinner." (Luke 18:3) Peter in his first letter (5:5-6) says, "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God."

"lo"-See! Isaiah has his lips cleansed with the coal of the altar. (Vs 6-7) Atonement-the price of sin is paid-guilt is removed. Here we have the instance where we find God because we are found by God. He is "seeking and saving those that are lost." The sacrifice of Jesus on the altar of the cross brings complete and utter salvation. Now He has entered the Holy of Holies of heaven with the salvation of the saints. The message of salvation by grace (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Who to send? "Here am I! Send me" says Isaiah (v. 8). He has no hesitation. There is no argumentation by the great young prophet of God. He is ready to go. Jesus said, "As you are going, baptize and teach all nations." (Matt 28:19) As we are going on our way we are to proceed with enthusiasm. We do not shuffle along. We are not to be grim- looking people who look like they have been soaked in embalming fluid. We are to do service with a fervent reverence. We go about with uplifted head looking for the Savior to come. We go with a message of doom and joy. A message that "Jesus saves."

"Go, and say to this people (vs. 9-10)." This is a message of judgment. There is a history of God bringing judgment upon His world and, at times, His people. Israel, according to several of the Old Testament prophets, would go into captivity. The Babylonians held Israel in captivity for 70 years because God's people had sinned. They were placed under the "ban." Daniel in exile realized the "ban" of God was upon him and his people. Daniel 1:2 says, "And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand (Nebuchadnezzar)..."

God also judged the whole world with a flood. Don't fool with Him. Jehovah is a God of wrath. (Romans 1:18-32)

Augustine, who wrote the "City of God", was provoked to examine the fact of the sacking of Rome by Aleric the Goth in 410 A.D. The pagan world was insisting that the fall of the "Eternal" city had been due to the abandonment of the pagan gods and the growing Christian church. The pagans said gods had made Rome great. To them the Christian Church brought division and chaos. Augustine in his book sees the reason for the downfall of the "Christian" nations. The church had become weak, lazy and corrupt. Christians were killing Christians. The gospel had been compromised with pagan practices both in theology and in morals. Augustine saw the Sovereign Lord punishing the nations as Isaiah would see Assyria destroy Israel. The judgment was so severe that the Old Testament Church would lose forever its ten northern tribes. The great Christian apologist expounded the seven deadly sins that were helping to overthrow the Roman Empire and corrupting the Christian Church. He saw an age of ignorance and sin.

In a Bethlehem cave, Jerome heard of the fall of Rome and said, "The world is rushing to ruin. Churches once hallowed have sunk to ashes." He was very upset and thought the world was coming to an end. Jerome did not see clearly, as Augustine, the sin of his present age as he lived as a monk with his books and Bible.

Do we see clearly the judgment of God on the horizon? Do we realize that the Church of Jesus Christ has lasted for over 2000 years through the falling and rising of nations, through plagues, through madmen who wanted to rule the earth, through heresy from without and from within? Daniel understood that God, "changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them." (Daniel 2:21) Will the mighty USA become a wasteland of nuclear contamination by several terrorists with suitcase bombs?

We are called by Jesus to minister to this generation. We minister to a country that Islam can overtake by immigration, propagation and evangelization. It is predicted that by the year 2020 Minneapolis, Minnesota, will have a very large and prominent Islamic population that will control the politics and social order of that city.

In the year 740 A.D, the historian Amenadan in Spain saw Islam fly like locusts from the burning desert of Arabia, trampling North Africa, the near East, even to the gates of Constantinople and parts of Spain. He saw God's judgment again upon the "Christian" nations and a weakened Christian Church. Remember that after Mohammed died, for the next one hundred years his followers with large hosts of fierce horsemen swept out of the hot deserts of Arabia and conquered India, Asia Minor, Constantinople, North Africa, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Palestine. The emblem of the crescent is still over many lands. Why? First, the church had lost its salt. (Matt 5:13) Second, formalized religion had taken away the lively spirit of evangelism. Third, internal controversy had weakened the church. Many false, cultic and spurious teachings and doctrines were causing confusion within and without the established church. Fourth, the church persecuted other Christians. Fifth, they did not see the threat of Islam. Fifth, some nations were glad to be free of the persecuting Christians. Sixth, the church had become an ignorant church that did not know the simplicity the gospel. All was "dumbed down" and no strong meat was being preached. Something like our modern Seeker Friendly and Seeker Sensitive churches that either generalize the gospel or skip it altogether for spectacular entertainment purposes. Being an older fellow, I have seen the old evangelical church community of several Reformed and Presbyterian denominations go from stalwart catechizing and textual teaching churches to ones that rely on pablum and window shopping preaching (with a bit of modern pagan psychology thrown into the mix.) How much do we as RCUS churches resemble the six factors mentioned above? Will God judge us?

MISSPELLING: Helmut Thielicke or Paul Tillich ?

Let me further elaborate with a story about Bonhoeffer and Tillicke, who were two prominent Lutheran ministers in Germany during WW II. Bonhoeffer, in a correspondence with Tillicke, asked "How could this happen in Luther's Germany." as he is in a concentration camp where he later died. Tillicke responded with these words, "This is not Luther's Germany. It is a Germany taken over by a Liberal theology and an uncaring and unbelieving society of Nazi locusts."

The people of our day are like those in our text in Isaiah 6:9 and are being taught, "There is no God and there is no soul. Hence there are no needs for the props of traditional religion with dogma and creed. We exclude immutable truths as being dead and buried. There is no room for fixed, natural law or moral absolutes." That is a quote from John Dewey, the founder of our modern pagan educational system. The quote of course is an absolute and fixed proposition that was held by Mr. Dewey. Abraham Lincoln said, "The philosophy of the classroom in one generation is the philosophy of government in the next." When we see activist judges, brought up on Dewey's worldview, allowing sex offenders to go scot free, when we see them allowing for gay marriages, when we see them denounce the use of the Ten Commandments in public and when we see them hindering the free speech of young people in the government schools, we should not be surprised.

Again we see the rise of Islam today. Mohammed's people are the fastest growing religion in our day. Is this another judgment upon the lazy, ignorant, dumbed-down, liberal and liturgical church of our day? Islam is the fastest growing religion in the U.S.-growing by 4 to 6% each year. There are 25,000 converted to Islam each year. There are more Muslims in the U.S. than Presbyterians and Reformed combined. There are more Muslims than Jews in the USA. There is a Mosque opening every week somewhere in our country. It is estimated that by the year 2020, most major urban centers in the US will be predominately Muslim including Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Denver and Los. Angeles. Here is an example of what I am getting at; Robert Lewis Stevenson Elementary School is now South Tulsa Muslim Cultural Center.

The Stump (v 13)

"The remnant" (The Hebrew word used here is "elah" which is the stump of an oak that grows again). Here is a message of grace. God's chosen people will always be around. Nations come and go. But the church will always be here until Jesus comes again.

Jeremiah predicted the return of the Babylonian captives after 70 years. And they did return. (In 586 B.C. the Babylonian captivity occurred and in 516 BC the Persians allowed Israel to return to Palestine. Only a remnant returned.

All this was also predicted by Isaiah. He named his son "Shear Jasheb"-"a remnant shall return to the land and to God. (10:21) Isaiah predicts judgment and show God's future mercy.

Zachariah predicted a return and the coming of the Messianic Age when Jesus would set up the New Testament Kingdom (12:10-13). We see a further fulfillment of that in the second coming of Christ (Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7)

When we study Church History from Pentecost to the present day, we see the nations come and go. We see the fall of Rome and the Goths, the Vandals, the Germanic tribes, the Celts, the European countries, and the formation of the New World on two large continents. We also see the church as a remnant in all those periods of time. We see the wave of false cults that try to destroy sound doctrine, a liberal theology that tries to destroy the Bible, and a weak evangelical church that teaches touchy-feely personal expressions that takes away the whole council of God from the people. What we have today is popular preachers peddling psychological pep pills for pale and puny people. Will God eventually throw us out of our Republic? Just last evening on one of the left broadcast stations a few evangelical preachers were called "crazy" and "deranged" because they said that 9/11 and Katrina were judgments of God upon our nation. Katrina came when one city was saying that they were going to have a gay parade that would show in full detail the sexual activity of loving gays. Now, I want us to be careful at this point. But we are to remember that God did judge and destroy Sodom. Will God judge us?

Conclusion

Do we stand and see the Sovereign Lord in 2008? Do we understand the message we are to proclaim to this generation of pagans and Christians? We need to preach the message of Isaiah-the message of judgment and grace. Then the question is, "Who will go?"

Who Will Go? Will You go?

Just a quick glance at a cable news program or a scan of a newspaper article is usually enough to make one think that the world is "going to hell in a hand basket." Wars rage throughout the globe, genocide goes unchecked in Africa, Communism is not dead and is finding new friends in South America, and our own economy is perilous and troubled. In addition to all of that, the technology of today's modern world brings temptation to your fingertips. A click here or a click there and some of our basest desires can be gained through the Internet. TV and movies can also be full of sin and temptations of all kinds. It is natural to wonder exactly how can a Christian live amidst all of that? Of course, God does not leave us to wonder without an answer, and Colossians 3:1-3 is a good place to start.

Colossians 3:1-2 tells us, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." Paul's remedy to living in this world is to make sure we think about heavenly things. We are to put our minds on spiritual matters and not on indulging the flesh. In other words, we as Christians have been given a new life in Christ; thus, we should have a new thought-life and a new set of priorities. If we do this, then we will be protected from the two errors that often arise as Christians live in this world.

Error number one is legalism. Paul describes that in previous verses in Colossians. Legalism is the attempt to make the things of the earth inherently evil, in and of themselves. "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," as Paul defines it in 2:21. Maybe some of you grew up with the old mantra that I did of "Do not smoke, drink, or chew or go with those who do." Paul says this attitude is a "show of wisdom in will worship" (Col. 2:23). It sounds like a great way to keep oneself pure, but it is not real wisdom, and won't help you avoid temptation. Temptation does not come from physical objects; it comes from within us. Simply avoiding worldly things is no real solution because it fails to deal with the root of sin within us. Paul says that rather than adopting a legalistic attitude, we should set our minds on things above and seek those things that are in heaven, where Christ the Lord now sits. How is this a help for living in a sinful world? When we think on things above, we understand the true root of sin within us, and we know the only real answer for sin is Christ Jesus. Setting our minds on things above will help us realize that God created all things and it was good. Our job is to use His good creation to His glory, not avoid it. In our new life in Christ, we should have a new understanding, one that conforms to Christ and His teachings. We may use the things of this earth, even smoke, drink, and chew, as long as we do so to God's glory, keeping in mind His other commands such as self-control and respect for others. Seeking those things that are above will help us understand this and elude the trap of legalism.

Error number two is self-indulgence. Paul speaks of this in the verses that follow in chapter 3. This is the attitude of one who thinks that because he is spiritual, he can do whatever he wants with his physical body, as if our lives on earth do not matter and our bodies are unimportant. So instead of trying to physically avoid all worldly things like a legalist, a self-indulgent attitude would lead one to wallow in whatever worldly things one desires, as if purity and obedience in the physical life weren't important. Seeking that which is above will also help us avoid this extreme. If our affections and our minds are set on Christ and His heavenly things, we will not revel in sinful indulgence here on earth. Paul tells believers to "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Col. 3:5). Paul is saying that if we are setting our minds on heavenly things, then the sinful things will not control us, and we will not fall into the trap of self-indulgence. We have died to sin, now our life is with Christ. Jesus teaches the same thing in Matthew 6:21 where he states, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." If our affections are upon fornication, uncleanness, and other lusts of the flesh, then our hearts will be forever dwelling in our sin. If our affections are on heavenly things, then our hearts will be with Christ.

All of that is well and good. If you are like me, you are probably asking, "Yes, but how do I set my mind on the things above?" After all, we are still plagued with sin. The answer is in living as a servant of King Jesus. Notice Paul reminds us in verse one that we are raised to a new life with Christ and that Christ is reigning over all things now at the right hand of the Father. Verse three then tells us that our lives are hidden with him now. We died and now have a new life in Christ, not in the flesh. Thus, the answer to how we set our minds on things above begins with acknowledging that we now live as servants of King Jesus and as citizens of the kingdom of heaven. If we do not understand that we have been born again to a new life and that we have been translated to His kingdom, we will not be able to seek those things that are above. Salvation is not just about being saved from sins, but it is also about being a citizen of the kingdom of heaven and living a life of thankfulness to our Lord, Savior, and King.

After understanding our place in God's kingdom, we must study to show ourselves approved (2 Tim. 2:15). To earn a driver's license, we read through a driver's manual to learn the rules and methods of driving. No one wants to share the road with someone who does not understand on what side of the road to drive or the significance of the colors red, yellow, and green on a traffic light. Similarly, in setting our minds on things above, we must study the manual. We need to read God's word. One cannot set his mind on things above if one has not read the words of the God above. And not just once, either. The Bible is a fount of wisdom that can never be exhausted. It will thoroughly equip us for every good work (II Tim. 3:17), including how to live in this world while being a citizen of the next. When it says every good work, it means every good work.

Another major component of setting our minds on things above is prayer. Our catechism calls prayer the chief means of thankfulness. If we have died to sin and our life is now hidden in Christ, should we not be thankful? Then we should pray. We should express our thanks in prayer. We should bring our cares and our concerns to Him in prayer. Prayer should become second nature. When we face trials or temptations, do we turn first to things of this world, or do we turn first to God? Do we look first to our savings accounts or do we first call our lawyers when difficult situations arise? Or do we turn first to God and ask for His help? Where we turn first is a good sign of where our minds are set. Thus, prayer is both an ally and an indicator in seeking the things above and Christ in heaven. Developing an attitude of prayer is vital. Prayer keeps our minds focused above and not here on earth. It keeps us thankful when blessings do come because we more readily recognize their real source, Jesus Christ. Prayer also keeps us humble. In asking God for help, whether it be in facing temptation or simply dealing with another day, we develop a proper perspective of how our strength flows from the Spirit, not from the flesh. This will keep our minds on heavenly things, specifically on our only comfort, Jesus Christ.

Lastly, we must have God's view of sin. That means we must hate sin with a perfect hatred. Our catechism (Q89, 90) speaks of hating sin and turning from it because of our heartfelt sorrow for it, and at the same time delighting to do God's will. Paul here in Colossians speaks of putting sin to death or of mortifying our sinful deeds. If we have a light view of sin, we will not think twice about dwelling on it, or thinking about it, or maybe even holding on to it in our hearts. If sin means little, then we will do little to avoid it. Rather we should be heartsick when we sin. It should drive us to ask forgiveness of others and of God. If we hate sin and we ever find ourselves dwelling on sin, we will react strongly and quickly to flee from temptation and flee to Christ. Hating sin, then, naturally leads us to Christ and thinking on heavenly things.

As we attempt to live in this sin-saturated world, we should remember that no one is perfect, and we will all fail. However, we should strive to develop a mindset that thinks on heavenly things, things that are above, or as Christ puts it "seek ye first the kingdom of God" (Matt. 6:33). As you study Scripture, you will find more things that will help develop this attitude. But one has to begin; thoughts do not change by themselves. We must seek Christ and His strength, and through that help we can make our new thoughts better reflect our new life in Christ.