Isaiah-The Prince of Vision (Part A)

Seven centuries 700 years before Jesus Christ was born. Isaiah was giving us detail surrounding not only his coming.

The forerunner announcing his coming his life. His death his resurrection is return in his millennial reign. All these things captured by this one man, unlike anyone else. This is cross-referenced with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville.

Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Genesis.

Please stay with us after today's message more information about cross-referenced specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching, but for now let's join Pastor Rick in the Gospel of John chapter 12 as he begins his message. Isaiah the prince of vision there in John chapter 12 verse 41. Read these things. Isaiah said when he saw his glory and spoke of him and then looks Gospel chapter 4 verse 17 and he was handed the book. The prophet Isaiah when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written goes on to say the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor you sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Well, I've chosen those two verses because the character whom we are considering in the presence of Christ is Isaiah the prophet, and in John 12 verse 41 the verse, which is our text is a comment added to the events taking place by John it is an admission that Jesus Christ is Jehovah of the Old Testament and let's look into the life a little bit but this endorsement from John chapter 1241 is the highest endorsement of prophet could ever receive it.

That Isaiah what he saw was right, coming from Jesus Christ, who would not want the Lord to say everything that my servant insert your name.

There has said to you concerning me is correct. There is no greater approval for profit blessed with this vision and the title of the message is Isaiah the prince of vision of all the prophets before Jeremiah before Ezekiel before Daniel came along there was Isaiah preceded by or at least contemporary with Amos, Micah and Hosea, Joel, God is constantly at war with evil and it comes out in his prophecies comes up throughout the Scriptures, but is very unique how Isaiah brings out this message of judgment of comfort, of justice, of intolerance of peace. He brings it out again.

As I said in a very unique way and this realization is incomplete, and anyone who does not know Jesus Christ as Lord. Now that's important to consider the prophet Isaiah is the New Testament Christian. If you are born again you sort of latch on to the things that are being said about him in the New Testament or his quote the quotations from him in the New Testament, even if you don't know who he is, because you know Jesus you're attracted to what is being said and vision is more than just something that the individual sees it, is what they are shown. Of course, who showing a false vision of vision from the devil is very important to know that it's from him and it is of course to be rejected. But when God gives vision when he gives insight when he lets us see things. It is more than simply we see it.

Not that curiosity needs to be satisfied, but that the Lord is chosen to show it to me as it comes with the responsibility to improve government is given much is required. Comes with great honor challenging it, and of course it is a glorious moment whenever God shows us anything.

According to the Scripture.

So vision creates passion. Passion becomes the fuel for the mission. Hello if you are serving God and you have not this passion then you are missing out. The passion has to come.

He is the source of comes from God.

Isaiah had vision. Therefore, he had passion and that passion defines the mission eventually it engulfed the man. Isaiah himself a text tells us that not only did Isaiah see the Jehovah of the Old Testament in Christ, but Christ saw that Isaiah saw Jesus Christ in the Old Testament that is through mutual understanding between the creature and the creator which, if were going to serve God and we lack this mutual understanding, we are not going to be as effective as we should've been. So the hope this whole vision thing has something to do with communion. I don't mean the communion table to take away from that. But this communion between God and me, this co-union's fellowship with God.

This friendship with God, seven centuries 700 years before Jesus Christ was born. Isaiah was giving us detail surrounding not only his coming.

The forerunner announcing his coming, his life, his death, his resurrection is return and his millennial reign.

All these things captured by this one man, unlike anyone else. The amount of writing the purity, the attractiveness of everything that he said you study the book of Isaiah going to work hard, but it's going to be a lot of fun. A lot of questions will go unanswered, but there will be a fire stirred up into you or in you was raised up to speak to a nation who had witnessed half the nation. The northern kingdom be defeated because of their idolatry and they too were sinking into idolatry. Judea, much of it will be lost. But Jerusalem will not be lost, and is largely because of this man and his prophecies but the worst thing about all of this in the midst of the People's idolatry is that they enjoyed it. They enjoyed distancing themselves from Jehovah, the one who was giving vision to Isaiah, who had already given vision and power to the prophets that preceded him and I can say in almost 30 years of Bible study that this name. Isaiah still stirs within my mind pictures of the Messiah. Pictures of prophetic vision. You read Isaiah and you to suggest this is right. Why doesn't everyone else see this for them at the verses in Isaiah and there are many that would easily understand. You don't have to go very far in the New Testament to come across his name.

I'll get to some of the things the statistics surrounding the man because it is pertinent when you compare these statistics versus everything else in the Old Testament in this relationship not only to the New Testament, but to us as New Testament believers in Matthew chapter 3 verse three, Isaiah shows nothing.

Only time just early on Mark chapter 1 verse two Isaiah shows up Luke chapter 3 verse four. There is Isaiah John chapter 1 verse 23. There is Isaiah yet again, 47 chapters of Isaiah are directly quoted or alluded to by Jesus Christ or the apostles. He is referred to 419 times in 23 of 27 New Testament books Psalms.

By contrast, is referred to 414×23 books out of depending on how you count the prophecies in the references. Some may put Psalms slightly ahead, I'm going with Isaiah being slightly at ahead because that is my impression that is incredible. Psalms is 150 Psalms and in verses Isaiah 66 books this man was the prophet of the gospel before the gospel came along. He is the fifth evangelist is the first truly found in the Old Testament as far as the scope of the gospel that he presents all of the Old Testament woven throughout his gospel is the evangelical message but none compare to this man and he shows up roughly between the time of of or halfway between Moses and Christ right in the middle there about is the prophet Isaiah preaching this good message and he draws a sin not by heroism, as we Jeremiah or sensational visions of Ezekiel, the holiness of Daniel Lisa's all special all in their own right, but with what Isaiah has that is most remarkable are not deeds of heroism, but words of vision remarkable words he could've sat in a chair. His whole ministry and he would've moved us all start us all to close to walking a hungrier, more hungry, appetite towards his God. 60 years almost.

He was a prophet in Israel in Isaiah chapter 1 in the first verse we read the vision of Isaiah the son of a Mars, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of the Hickam the Kings desire whose king for almost 60 years roll over 60 years. Although Isaiah did not come early on in your seismicity at the end of his ministry is I was was a king that overstepped his boundary and the enemy died a leper, smitten by God, got too big for his britches entered into the role of a priest when he was forbidden to do so. Not satisfied with being a good king and a good king. He was when he died a bit of the nation died with him.

The severity of God as illustrated in the life of desire God will love and use his servants, but that if we are not careful to finish the race and obedience suffer consequences and those consequences can be severe. Fortunately, in Isaiah's case, it was not the consequences of condemnation to his soul, but he still smitten a leper.

There was King Jotham a good king Ahaz not a good king and Hezekiah who we talked about in the series of the life and times of the people of the Bible. He was the king that clean house is a minister.

During this time, and in these days as to his life.

The personal information about him is rather sparse. We know that he was a writer of considerable literary skill. We enjoy that poetry of his book is magnificent.

It sweeps across the pages and leaves us with a sense of awe, is a person of strong emotion and deep feelings and you have to read as prophecies to have this come out at you and I'll just get we don't have time. I wish we had more time to to make references, especially in this case we make the statements while he was a man of great feeling, though, how do we know that wealthy he cries out in certain places. Hello everyone who thirsts, come to the waters and you have no money come by and eat yes, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Then there is Isaiah 40 verse one comfort yes comfort my people.

These are the words of God to the man. However God chooses men whom the message can flow more easily through he needed a man like Elijah to do what he did with allies and that flamboyant ending of Eliza going out a chariot of fire. How fitting you could not expect that from some of the other men in the by Jolie just don't see Joel going up in a chariot which is Seattle Eliza doing so when we read about what God told this man of God is humanness Isaiah's humanity comes off the pages and allows us to more readily receive what he has to say. Strong emotions deep feelings. That's called passion was that passion come from what feels that passion is said earlier it's vision. It's a look at God is to see God. That is the fuel and when you've lost that local when the distance is gained between between you and Christ.

When there's a greater distance than the passion begins to die soon and I pray to get it back. Will that is a part of it that is a critical part indispensable. You need more than prayer is good preaching for sure needs appetite needs.

All of these things working together. You don't have to ask God you visit that you don't want me closer to you. Don't ever have to ask that question's already been answered. I died. My son died for you to bring you closer to me.

Of course I want you closer the things that create this distance of things that distract so that they can attack and be mindful that work towards is worth it, not drawing close to Christ is work. It just has no payoff is worth having. He also was a man of steadfast devotion to the Lord in them coming to a section of my notes that I'm quite excited about and I hope you share this vision of God and his holiness in the temple influenced his messages during his long ministry that's captured for us in Isaiah chapter 6, I saw the Lord. That's what Isaiah says that's what John is referring to when he said in our text.

John 1241 these things. Isaiah said when he saw his glory and spoke of him to see it and that was that he had a pulpit, and he used it yet, a microphone, he turned it on it in the form of his prophecies in writing. It says in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.

You can insert there. I saw the Lord Jesus Christ before the manger sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Then he goes and talks about the fiery ones. The burning ones. The seraphim, but not only did Isaiah realized that God is God, he realized the holiness of God that God is a God of infinite holiness. He saw God as holy and pure but one other thing went with that. In this vision he saw him as God enthroned God's sovereign God ruling to have a crown is to have something to destroy attention to yourself.

It has authority with you got that crown from somewhere from something, it causes that holder of the crown to be outstanding. This is what Jesus does for all of us lights pictured in the book of Revelation that the cost to crowns at his feet. I think the Lord is going to say no is crown. I'm giving this to you sees grace. He wants to give.

He loves to bless. He cannot bless where sin is dominant where sin rejects him. There are places that Jesus left because they would not receive him. He did no great miracles there. We will receive a crown for a servicing Christ, we will be significant because he has made us so yet he holds the crown upon his head and Isaiah got to see this at a time when the crown of Jerusalem. Uzziah was dying when his days were numbered. God allow this profit vision to see far enough to know that God was still going to be on the throne.

Earthly kings come and go, friends, love once they come, they go God's not going anywhere. David said my mother, my father, they may forsake me, him, and they may die.

They will die. They did die. God will never forsake when it's my time to forsake my children. In that sense, God will be there for me. God will not forsake me this. This requires vision it requires seeing this, the eyes of faith.

Spurgeon said seeing is not believing what believing is seeing is true is very true when he sees God on the throne. He sees that nothing happens that God is not sovereign over nothing.

Nothing on earth. No matter how good it is to you, no matter how bad it is to you.

Nothing happens against the sovereignty of God. Nothing happens to his children that he will not make right after this life. Not one thing you can enter into that without vision, where there is no vision the people perish where there is no vision in the sense that you've not seen Jesus Christ as Savior.

You perish fundamental vision is the source of passion in the lives of the righteous. See the unrighteous they can have vision also for something that is wrong, maybe something that is right but still it is outside of righteousness of the righteousness that is from God. Maybe it is for evil Hitler had his visions, his passion for them, but the differences of that the Christian has a conscience that is not hindered by corruption not supposed to do.

We do because the guilt comes back to try to undo everything Christ is done on the cross.

Satan tries to exploit that you call yourself servant call yourself a leader in the church you call yourself a Christian parent, how long you said you been walking with Christ, doing the stuff we still doing this stuff. That's why Paul wrote certain things when he said, where sin abounded, grace did much more. As Paul was dealing with people like you and me will going to the same things. People who who burned incense at the pagan altars, many of them could not escape the guilt or the lust in his all of its various forms and they wanted to be free from the corruption in the guilt and they knew they were free and yet Satan was dragging them back and it was the power of preaching like men like Paul from men like Paul that has caused the church to survive in spite of the seduction of Satan in the pool towards defeat. Vision is the fuel of service everywhere. Christ everywhere. If you're serving Christ without vision you serving on the strength of what a merit system sense of responsibility. Well, there is doesn't agree there's an element of merit in what we do we know God will reward us, but that's not our motivation outside of we know that we will be in paradise with him. We know that there's a decent see this responsibility entrusted to us the servants and so yes we do serve those secondary there in second third fourth position like servants in the house. Secunda's courts but do not no. The first thing is, this passion. Passion is this love that is flaming is not died. There doesn't come naturally to us. Look for a self does love the people we choose to love or attracted to that comes very easily with this agape love is not natural for their natural arrow's natural stroke.

A natural agape that is spiritual can only come from seeing Christ can only come from seeing him high and lifted up on the throne, no matter what you're going through. If you can only see him on the throne and days of sunshine. What good is that to you but to see him high and lifted up in the dark clouds were rolling in through the entire process. Though he slay me, I will trust in him. That's what Joe said we know he said that not because of any other reason that you remember. He said that because it's outstanding to you when Isaiah saw the Lord on the throne and the Seraphim was dispatched.

He writes this in verse six of Isaiah 60 since then one of the seraphim flew to me, love. He flew to me what would've happened if he flew by me to someone else as they arise.

Then one of the Seraphim flew to me move. You've been listening to cross reference the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia.

Pastor Rick is teaching from God's Word each time you tune as we mentioned at the beginning of today's broadcast is teaching is available free of charge at our website. Just visit cross reference for.com. That's cross reference.com would also like to encourage you to subscribe to the cross reference podcast subscribing ensures that you stay current with all the latest teachings from Pastor Rick you can do so@crossreference.com or search for cross reference in your favorite podcast app store.

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