The Brinkley argus., 1917-06-29
INTERNATIONAL SUNlAYSQ1O0L
 LESSON (By E. o. SELLERS. Acting Director or the Sunday School Course in the Moooy Bible Institute of Chicago) Copyright, 1917 Western Newspaper unlon.l
LESSON FOR JULY 1
ISAIAH'S CALL TO HEROIC
 SERVICE.


 Here am I; send me.-Isa. 6:S.
 The lesson committee now turn for a third quarters lesson to a series of studies in the Old Testament as found in II Kings, Ezra and Nehemiah. As an introduction, they have chosen this chapter in the book of Isaiah.
 Isaiah prophesied in the latter half of Uzziah's reign, B. c. 760 and down to the early years of the reign of Manasseh about B. c. 694 (ch. ID. This event took place probably E. C. l 755. The place was Jerusalem; the Kingdom of Israel was still in exist ence (for 33 years longer) being ut i terly destroyed in B. c. 721. The name Isaiah means 'the salvation<of Jehovah" his wife is called 'the prophecies ;" two of his sons are named and his social position was high, as shown by his intimacy with kings. l Isaiah lived in troublous times. He i was a reformer seeking to rescue his nation from the sins growing out of 1 their disobedience to God. He was 1 the leading statesman of his time, the greatest of the prophets, an author, a heroic, single-minded, patriotic, fear ] less. undaunted man of great personal i power and influence. He was prOph- ct of hope; he wrote out of his long life of faithfulness and fellowship with ] God. The book of Isaiah falls into two great divisions; chapters 1-39 be- i ing chiefly historical, interspersed with songs and poems; chapters 40-66 are collection of prophecies that have i to do chiefly with the return from the Babylonian exile and the days of future glory for the kingdom of God.
 l. Visions (vv. 1-4). As we have said, Isaiah prophesied in time of great need. The prophet was very much discouraged. In this passage he locates his vision at special time and place (ch. 1:D. Every mans great need today is real vision of God. We are not so much in need of theories about God, as vision of God himself. Uzziah's long reign of 52 years, in which the kingdom pros pered and the kings name was spread abroad, stopped as suddenly as an eart''~ nake. and his glory was eclipsed (see Chron- % :16-19). The place fin which Isaiah saw his vision was the house of God. Perhaps not in the tenn ple but seeing the vision from the temple the prophet looks to house not built with hands, Jehovahs own ThnroiY hQ 1tha Lord sitting on throne and his train filled the temple" Above it. or around it, were arranged lowering couriers and the seraphic choir. The majesty of this vision is indicated in verse two, its glory in verse three, and its power is indicated in verse four. The whole earth was filled with Gods wondrous wisdom, love and pow CT. Literally "the whole earth Is full of his glory" The Hebrew word for holiness comes from word meaning ito set apart-set a distance from" The holy Lord is not only sinfess but he is sublime and absolute also. It may seem difficult to harmonize Isalah's vision with John 1:1S, yet these manifestations were one and the same, for all that saw Jesus saw God 1 (John IA :9). King Uzziah was dead but the real king was living still, high and lifted up. The attempt to reason about him, what he must be and what he must not be, as if he were one of ourselves (Eph. l 20, 21) is absurd.
 II. Divisions (vv. 5-13). CD The vision of the prophet (vv. SD. This vision brought conviction because 1t showed how far separated from God the prophet was. It also brought | conversion in that he acknowledged himself to be unclean, himself and his 1 surroundings to be vile. It also led to i cleansing, for the king heard the voice of the prophet removed his guilt and purged his sin. @ The voice and ] proclamation from the king (vy. S-13). i The king called for messenger (v. 8 and at once the prophet is found. 1 Someone has said that "a task without 1 a vision is drudgery; a vision with out q task is a dream while a task 1 linked to a vision will move the world" Not only did the king ask for q messenger, but he gave the message
 which the messenger was to utter 1 (vy. 9-12). The message was to be
 to his own people; it was not to be pleasant one. Verse 13 shows us this message in prophecy. Isaiah ought
 to fully proclaim the truth, but the
 people would not understand it, and
 the whole effect of his proclamation
 would be to harden them.
 The Application.
 What is your application of this
 vision for Isaiah? We are a Chris,
 tian nation, but there are many de-
 grees and kinds of Christians; those
 who sincerely try to follow Jesus
 those who live under a Christian gov
 ernment, and are unaffected by Chris
 tian influences. There is only one
 way to save this nation from going the
 way of Nineveh and Tyre; that is, that
 justice and righteousness shall govern,
 and that justice and righteousness shall
 be the fruit of regenerated lives. The
 cry is for battpr cooiaI anviror,,,,,.A