THE SERVICE OF THE SERAPHIM Isaiah 6:1; Isaiah 6:5. _I saw also the Lord, &c._ In that perfect prayer which our Lord bequeathed to His disciples we are taught to ask that God’s will may be done in earth as it is done in heaven. Thus angelic service is set before us as a model and pattern. Not that... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TRINITY IN UNITY (_For Trinity Sunday_.) Isaiah 6:1. _In the year that King Uzziah died, &c._ Scene of this sublime vision, the Temple; _time_, “the year that King Uzziah died.” Why is this fact mentioned? Uzziah had profaned the Temple (2 Chronicles 26:16); his son and successor was Jotham, t... [ Continue Reading ]
REVELATIONS OF GOD Isaiah 6:1. _In the year that King Uzziah died I saw, &c._ [700] [700] The scene of the Vision is the Temple, and its features will have been the same whether we suppose them to have risen before Isaiah’s imagination while he was absent from the spot, in the solitude of his cham... [ Continue Reading ]
ISAIAH’S VISION Isaiah 6:1. _In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord, &c._ [712] [712] God is invisible; yet in that heavenly world in which He has His special and eternal residence He manifests Himself in ineffable glory, dwelling in what the Scriptures call “the light which no man... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PROPHET’S CALL Isaiah 6:1. _In the year that King Uzziah died, &c._ We have here the history of Isaiah’s call to his great life-work. Perhaps in a modern biography this chapter would have been placed first. But there was wisdom in placing it where it stands; it was well to give us some insight... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SERAPHIM Isaiah 6:2. _Above it stood the seraphim_ [721] _each had six wings, &c._ [721] As those that are nearest of a king’s attendants stand behind his throne or chair of state, at his elbow.—_Day_. This is the only passage of Scripture in which the seraphim are mentioned. According to the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SERAPHIM AND THEIR SONG Isaiah 6:2. _And above it stood the seraphim, &c._ I. THE SERAPHIM.—The Scriptures disclose to us the fact that there is a spiritual world, vast and variously populated, superior to this world, yet connected with it and exerting upon it powerful influences. Little beyon... [ Continue Reading ]
A SIGHT OF GOD AND A SENSE OF SIN Isaiah 6:5. _Then said I, &c._ Visions of the throne of God were given to Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel among the prophets, and to John among the Apostles [748]. [748] “We should naturally expect that a vision vouchsafed to an Apostle of Christ, at the end of the fi... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MORAL HISTORY OF A RISING SOUL Isaiah 6:5. _Then said I, Woe is me, &c._ Whilst holiness is the normal, depravity is the actual state of man. A restoration to that spiritual condition is his profoundest necessity, his want of wants. The recovery of holiness involves the recovery of all other g... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SERVICE OF THE SERAPHIM Isaiah 6:1; Isaiah 6:5. _I saw also the Lord, &c._ In that perfect prayer which our Lord bequeathed to His disciples we are taught to ask that God’s will may be done in earth as it is done in heaven. Thus angelic service is set before us as a model and pattern. Not that... [ Continue Reading ]
VOLUNTEER SERVICE Isaiah 6:8. _Then said I, Here am I, send me_. This is a chapter of autobiography. Here is disclosed the secret of the wonderful energy with which for more than half a century Isaiah prosecuted his ministry. He is the Paul of the Old Testament. Allowance being made for difference... [ Continue Reading ]
A STRANGE AND SAD ERRAND Isaiah 6:9. _And He said, Go, and tell this people, &c._ A sad and mysterious errand, the statement of which might well have quenched the enthusiasm inspired by his vision of the Divine glory. When he exclaimed, “Here am I, send me!” how little did he anticipate for what pu... [ Continue Reading ]