Midi format music: As I Gaze At The Stars from
Songs of Praise
Copyright ©1998 by Elton Smith, Larry Holder and Christa Ann Kaighn
I Saw "Also" the Lord!
Click here for full text - Isa. 6:1-8
1 ¶ In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne,
high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
In Isaiah 6:1-9 the prophet recalls an encounter with Almighty God that was to
forever change his life. He begins by identifying the date; it was the year that King Uzziah died. This would be the same as someone asking us, "Where were you when President Kennedy was assassinated?" We all remember where we were when we first heard the news.
Uzziah had been a very popular king. He expanded the boundaries of Judah.
He expanded trade and put down foreign enemies. He developed the infrastructure of the country. Nobody had anything bad to say about King Uzziah. Unfortunately, Uzziah was lifted up by pride, failed God, and died after being
smitten with leprosy.
Isaiah was from a priestly family and was familiar with the king's court and
political circles. He probably was already functioning as a priest when he had this
encounter. I can identify with being from priestly families. It doesn't
automatically make one pure and clean. The name Spooner is associated in
Pentecostal circles with preachers. Consequently if your name is Spooner and your daddy
and your brothers and sisters and their spouses are preachers,
certain things are expected of you. I can identify with Isaiah.
Yes, he was a priest and knew the right people. He had the right connections
and he had thr proper religious vocabulary. He probably also had mixed allegiance,
to the things of the world on one hand and to God on the other.
Something happened that changed this. Isaiah had an encounter with The Eternal God.
Note the use of the word also in Isa. 6:1. It is used as a comparative.
Yes, the king is dead, but I also have seen the King of Kings who conquered
death and who will never die.
What difference does foreign trade make when we have met the One Who
has promised to give us daily bread? What difference does a fine infrastructure
make when it's all going to melt with fervent heat anyway? Why do we worry about foreign
trade or foreign enemies when Jesus has promised to go with us,
even to the end of the world? Yes we like the comforts of this life,
but we also see another Life. Why should I worry about the nation's highways
when I am also walking on the King's highway?
When I look at these things and also look at the Lord,
there is really no comparison.
Isaiah saw the Lord, High and Lifted up and His train filled the temple.
He is saying here that when the train of the Lord fills the temple,
there is room for nothing else. When we see the glory of the Lord,
there is nothing that can stand in comparison. When we hear His voice and see the
instant response of the heavenly beings, we hasten to do the same.
However, like Isaiah, we realize that something is missing. We cry out, "Lord I need
a cleansing!" Isaiah was cleansed with the coals of fire from the altar of God.
We receive our cleansing by being washed in blood of Jesus and being filled
with the fire of the Holy Ghost. John said that the fire of the Holy Ghost would
thoroughly burn the chaff from our lives.
When we have been touched by the coals of the altar, the baptism of the Holy Ghost,
we, like Isaiah, are forever changed. We realize our heritage and cry out for power
to fulfill it. We look at every aspect of the earthly kingdom we live in
and also at His Kingdom. We look at the high and mighty of this world
and also at Him. We experience the frailty of this flesh and remember
that we will be changed. This corruptible flesh will put on incorruption,
we will be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye. Most of all we,
like Isaiah, shall see Him as He is.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him;
for we shall see him as he is.
I Corinthians 15:51 ¶ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory.
When things get difficult. When the cares of life are heavy. When and if governments
oppress.
When your health is gone, and as the song says, "Old age is coming on,"
you can't help but look at these things. But, also look up and see the Lord.
Don Spooner
The purpose of About-Him.Com is to glorify the Lord Jesus
Christ whom we preach as the Almighty God manifest in the flesh.
It is our desire that everything presented on these pages increases your
faith in our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Last modified: 02-01-2017
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