This morning I had an unusual dream. In my dream I was sitting in a courtroom listening to a case being tried by a judge. I do not even know what the case was about but I remember two things distinctly from the dream.
The 1st thing I remember is that the Judge was very personable and very concerned with the person speaking before him to make sure that they received justice. The judge did not want there to be bias influence in the decision that was made for this person. I heard the Judge talk about how in a previous trial the jury was not a jury of his peers and therefore the ruling in his case was not just.
The 2nd thing I remember about this dream was as I was sitting in the courtroom I realized that I did not have on any shoes and a matter of fact I was wearing bright, white socks. I was sitting on the front row and knew the judge could clearly see my feet and that I was not wearing shoes. But I had a blanket on my lap. Why did I have a blanket on my lap? I do not know but I thought what I can do is let the blanket go down over my feet so the Judge will only see the blanket and not my bright white socks without shoes.
The last thing I remember from the dream is that when the Judge called for a recess he actually came down from the bench. He walked right over to me and shook my hand with a big smile, greeted me and then walked away. There was a family sitting beside me and they said to me isn’t this Judge great! He is the best.
It was then that I woke up and heard this scripture over and over again. The scripture is found in Isaiah 6:1. You may also recognize it from the many songs wrote from this passage of scripture
Isaiah 6:1 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.
I began to think about and image what it was like for Isaiah to see this vision. To be in the throne room of God, in the temple of God.
This morning I believe the Lord wants us to go through Isaiah 6 and see what he would like to teach us together.
To begin this morning I want to talk about King Uzziah because Isaiah marks this vision as taking place in the year that King Uzziah died. This death of a king, ruler or leader is significate on the lives of people that are under them. In the Old Testament time the holy spirit only came on a few select individuals. These were generally Prophets, Priest, Kings, and Judges. The holy spirit would also come upon some of the warriors in battle but this was not as common as on the previous group mentioned.
Turn with me to
2 Chronicles 26
King James Version
1 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.
2 He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.
3 Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
4 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah did.
5 And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.
6 And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.
7 And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims.
8 And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.
9 Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.
10 Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry.
11 Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains.
12 The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred.
13 And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.
14 And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.
15 And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.
***I want to pause here and recap some of the things we have learned about King Uzziah:
- He was 16 when he started to be king. That is young but he sought the Lord and as long and he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.
- He built up the army and built towers to protect Jerusalem.
- He invested in defense spending and funded the creation of new weapons for both his men and to go on the fortifications around Jerusalem
- He also loved the outdoors. He had cattle and vineyards and he loved husbandry
Look at verse 16- Something happened to Uzziah that forever changed his life.
16 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, that were valiant men:
18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God.
19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar.
20 And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the Lord had smitten him.
21 And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.
***The first point of the Message today: We must walk in the Blessing, Anointing and Calling that God has for our lives and not someone else’s.
Ephesians 4:1-6
1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
1 Corinthians 12:27-31
27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
***So what is the more excellent way Paul is speaking about? Keep reading
1 Corinthians 13
King James Version
13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
***The first point of the Message today: We must walk in the Blessing, Anointing and Calling that God has for our lives and not someone else’s.
***The 2nd point of the Message today: You must operate your spiritual gift and calling from an attitude and position of Love
**Look back at 2 Chronicles 26:19
19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar.
My friends there is no place in the kingdom of God for his people to be (wroth) enraged, be angry.
22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.
23 So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.
**Lets go back to Isaiah Chapter 6 verse 1
Isaiah 6
King James Version
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.
*** I want to talk about the train of the Lord that filled the Temple. This morning I looked up this word for train because the only image that I had in my mind was the long part of a wedding dress that goes behind as the bride walks. You see I have never been in a throne room before and seen a king with a train. So I looked up this Hebrew word used here for the train of the Lord:
shûwl, shool; from an unused root meaning to hang down; a skirt; by implication, a bottom edge:—hem, skirt, train.
Here is the word in context of its most common use at Hem speaking of the lowest part that hangs down from the priestly robe.
And beneath upon the hem H7757 of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem H7757 thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:
*** Listen I have got to stop and preach this thing for a minute because somebody is going to have a revelation this morning. Isaiah said this….. I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the hem of his garment. The bottom of his priestly robe, his train, it filled the temple.
Matthew 9:19-22
19 And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.
20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
***The 3rd point of the Message today. You can reach out and touch God’s healing and deliverance when you are in his presence.
Psalm 46:1
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Proverbs 18:10
10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
***But wait there is more!
1 Corinthians 6:18-20
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
King James Version
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
Romans 8:11
King James Version
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
****Isaiah saw the hem of the Lord’s robe fill the temple. There was no where you could be in the temple and not touch the hem of his garment. My friends God is in the House to heal you. God is in the house to deliver you! God is in the house to free you. But God is not just in the house. God is in you!
Colossians 1:25-29
25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
**Lets keep reading Isaiah Chapter 6:2
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
2 Chronicles 7:1-3
1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house.
2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house.
3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
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.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
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.
*** The 4th point of the message this morning: It does not matter who you are or what you have done, everything changes when you see God in his place and glory.
Isaiah a prophet of God, anointed by God to prophecy many things including the birth death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When he sees the Lord in his place and glory….. Isaiah says I am not worthy, I am not clean.
In closing lets continue with Isaiah chapter 6:9
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
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.
13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
Reading the end of Isaiah Chapter 6 brings to mind a parallel scripture from 2 Thessalonians chapter 2
2 Thessalonians 2
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
***The first point of the Message today: We must walk in the Blessing, Anointing and Calling that God has for our lives and not someone else’s.
***The 2nd point of the Message today: You must operate your spiritual gift and calling from an attitude and position of Love
***The 3rd point of the Message today. You can reach out and touch God’s healing and deliverance when you are in his presence.
*** The 4th point of the message this morning: It does not matter who you are or what you have done, everything changes when you see God in his place and glory.