Life of Faith and The Reconciling Grace of God

Let's turn together to the prophecy of Isaiah to chapter number 6 and we can read at the beginning of the chapter.

! Isaiah chapter 6 and at verse 1.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

And so on down through the following verses.

I guess the best thing that we can spend our time studying in life is how to become a Christian and how to live as a Christian.

And I want us in the weeks that are to come and the times that we are together to look at something of what Isaiah has to say about becoming a Christian and being a Christian.

I think it's fair to say when we read our Bibles, there are three particular things that are repeated throughout the whole of the Bible.

And the first of these is that the Bible speaks about our personal condition.

Where are we? What are we like?

The Bible speaks about our personal condition.

That's what happens here.

The second thing the Bible does, it compares what we are like now to what we should be.

And God has made us for himself.

And when he tells us what we're like now, the Bible compares that to what we should be, what God has made us for.

And the third thing is that there is always a remedy.

So that if what I am does not correspond to what I should be, then there's a remedy.

And of course we know the remedy is the Lord Jesus.

These three things are crucial.

As you read our Bibles, what does God say about me where I am?

What does God say about where I should be?

And what does God say about getting me from where I am to where I should be?

And that's exactly what we have in this prophecy of Isaiah.

There's a story here about people.

God describes them in chapter 1 as his own children.

And he raised up children and they rebelled against him.

They are not what they should have been.

And down through these first chapters, there is the sense of God reminding them of that.

And there is also the sense of God drawing their attention to the remedy that he will provide.

That there is a new norm that he will create because of his love and because of his grace.

And in many ways, chapter 6 sets the scene for us as we look at what God has to say through Isaiah.

And when you read this chapter, we can see it as a sign of the times.

Uzziah is a sign of the times.

King Uzziah died.

He started off well as a king.

God blessed him as a king.

But later on, he grew proud and unfaithful.

And he died a leper.

He is a sign of the times.

He started well.

He finished badly.

And Isaiah is brought before us here as a person through whom God is going to show how he's going to change the condition of the people.

So as surely as Uzziah is a sign of the times, Isaiah is a sign of the grace of God in our lives.

And bearing that in mind, I want to think today of the life of faith and the reconciling grace of God.

I want to think first of all of the revelation.

And clearly, that's what we have here.

Something is made known that was not previously known and not being known by the people.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

I saw the Lord.

I saw the Lord.

In this case, not the Lord who is the covenant savior of the people of God.

In this case, it is Adonai, the Lord who has sovereignty over the whole of creation.

The vision that he sees, the revelation that is given to him, is the revelation of the sovereign God of the universe who sits upon his throne and who is there for the purpose of judging the peoples of the earth.

And whatever norm Isaiah had before all of this, suddenly his horizons change and suddenly there is a channel open and he is face to face with the Lord, the sovereign God who sits upon the throne.

And as the God sits upon the throne, there is that sense of his glorious presence because we see in version number four that the house was filled with smoke.

And when I read that in the Old Testament, I see God reconnecting with the world.

I see Mount Sinai where God came down to speak to Moses.

There is a reconnection.

The mountain was wrapped in smoke.

God is reconnecting.

I see it in the life of Solomon when he builds the temple in all of its glory and he prays and God comes down and fills the temple with his glory.

God is reconnecting with his people in the days of Solomon.

And then we come into the New Testament and we see the same thing happening in the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

John tells us that we have seen his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father.

God is reconnecting with our world through the passion of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that's where we're at today.

However marvelous it was that God reconnected with Israel in the days of Moses and with Israel in the days of Solomon,

God has reconnected with us, with our world, by sending his Son to be our Savior.

And there is that sense in this picture of reconnection in the midst of the chaos of the days of Isaiah.

That there is this reconnection in the midst of that chaos to reverse the decline and to bring about change.

We are here to worship God.

We are here to have a sense of where we are and what we are doing.

We are here to discover, perhaps for the first time,

that the God who is far above what we are and can even begin to think about

is also the God who is here with us.

He shall be called Emmanuel, God with us.

God is here.

And God wants us today to look through the furnishings and to look through the buildings

and to look through everything that is around us

and to recognize that we are in the presence of God.

And as you read on in version number two, the sense of the glory of God

and this revelation is filled with movement, with a dynamic that speaks of an activity around the throne of God

that is engaged in the reconnection process.

And we see that the seraphim, in version number two,

above him stood the seraphim, each hath six wings, with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

They are the burning ones.

They are the ones who are protecting the throne of God.

There is reverence.

They cover their faces.

There is a sense of unworthiness.

They cover their feet.

There is a sense of submission to God in the same way they are covering their feet.

And there is that sense of readiness to go and do what God wants them to do.

With two, they were going to fly.

There is a movement that brings about an expectation here around the throne of God.

And they are a heavenly choir.

They are singing in the presence of God.

They are calling out to one another,

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is filled with his glory.

God is everywhere.

And that is the message that God is giving to Isaiah.

God is in the worship of God.

God is in our everyday lives.

God is in our homes, in our families, in our workplaces, in our school.

Wherever we go, God is everywhere.

And I may have mentioned it before, but there is a picture of what Isaiah's world was like and what our world is like.

And it's taken from a book called Rewind Sinners to Reclaim.

And there is a picture of life living in a house or a home where there are no skylights.

And all the light that I get into this home is from the windows in the side.

It's all horizontal.

So everything arriving in this house comes from what's out there.

And because there is no skylight, there's nothing comes from above.

And through this revelation given to Isaiah, that's how the people of God were in the days of Isaiah.

They were listening to what was out there in the world.

They were conforming to what was out there in the world.

And they weren't receiving anything from God, the God who was their God, who was their covenant Lord and covenant Savior.

Heaven was closed and their hearts were wide open to the world in which they lived.

And here now, God is reopening that channel.

He's recreating that channel of communication.

He's reconnecting with Isaiah and with the people in order to speak into their everyday experience.

And how like my life and how like your life is that picture?

Even when we come to worship God, how keenly are we aware that there is a channel from God's throne that speaks to us?

How much do we spend worship and life thinking horizontally and not connecting with God?

And God today wants to show us that he wants to break through this windowless roof of our lives

and to cause his light to shine down so that we will hear from him.

The revelation.

We are coming to worship God, to see what God is like, and so that God will show us what he is like.

Secondly, there is reconciliation.

And the revelation creates two responses.

And the first response is one of crisis.

And the crisis is on the side of Isaiah.

And we hear him crying out in verse number five,

Woe is me, for I am lost.

When I read the words, woe is me, it speaks of the judgment of God coming.

We read the previous chapter and the words I use time after time to show the way in which God was coming to judge the people.

And the first thing that Isaiah is conscious of.

And the first thing that Isaiah is conscious of in the revelation given to him is that God is coming to judge him.

And because of that, that he is actually lost.

As if he was saying, I am already as good as dead.

The revelation of the glory of God.

The revelation of the glory of God.

Floored Isaiah completely.

And more or less took away his whole sense of life and of living.

And that was the case simply because his eyes had seen the king, the Lord of hosts.

You and I can look at an object.

As I look at the clock right now, I'm just a glancing look.

And that's a done.

And we spend so much of life doing that.

We glance at the Bible.

We glance at things happening around us.

But the seeing here is one of being captivated.

It's one of being engrossed.

It's one of having our eyes fixed entirely.

Of being aware that this is the most important thing around me.

And that everything else is forgotten about.

That's where Isaiah found himself.

He was alone with his God.

And he sensed that he was alone with his God.

And he could see no one but God.

And in that moment of being captured by the glory of God,

he found himself lost.

Because of his sin.

I am a man of unclean lips.

For my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.

He was unfit to sing with the heavenly choir.

Later on in this prophecy,

and Jesus quotes these words in the Gospels,

that God was angry with his people

because they were drawing near to him with their lips.

But their hearts were far away.

And suddenly, in this moment,

Isaiah discovers his own personal sin

as well as the sin of the people of God.

He, in other words, comes to confess his sin.

It's the sense of having my conscience awakened in such a way

that I sense that what I've done wrong against God

deserves the wrath of God.

It's a light bulb moment because it's something that comes only when we see the glory of God.

And we can go through life with any troubled conscience in any way,

and we journey on day by day,

and life is plain sailing.

But when we are in the presence of God,

it's not so.

Because my sin deserves his judgment.

When I see his light,

my conscience tells me I'm guilty.

And the first thing I'm going to do is to

confess my sin to this God.

And today,

God wants you to have that response.

He wants you to let his light

shine not around you,

but in your conscience.

And in shining into your conscience,

to let you see

where you do go wrong.

And to let you see that that wrongdoing

is sin against God.

And to bring you to the place

where,

as a sinner against God,

you confess your sin.

Because you know God knows it.

And you take God's view of your sin.

What is your condition?

The condition is that we are sinners.

That God says so.

And when I come to confess my sin,

I'm taking God's view of me

and making it my own

and saying to God,

yes,

you say I'm a sinner.

I'm acknowledging before you

that that's exactly what I am.

And that's a huge first step

on the pathway

to becoming a Christian,

to becoming the child of God.

And reconnecting once more

with the picture of the house

without skylights.

In that same book,

there's the sense of

two things happening.

And that is

that sin is being redefined

by the world out there.

And the world out there

may speak about sin

without any reference to God.

And when I do wrong to my neighbor

or wrong to the person next to me,

then the world will say

that's sin.

I've wronged my neighbor

without any reference to God.

And of course,

that is a sin

to wrong my neighbor.

But if I am no other reference

but the person next to me,

then I've excluded God

from the picture.

And that's what you and I

must ensure that never happens.

We want to take this image here

and to let the light

of the holiness of God

shine into our hearts

and to shine upon our sin

and to understand that

what we have done wrong

is against the Holy God

who is our creator.

And that is alongside of that

the whole cultural movement

to eliminate sin

from our vocabulary altogether.

So that you and I

can go and live life

today and tomorrow

and why should we worry about sin?

It's removed from the vocabulary

of the society around us

and that society

wants to remove it

from our vocabulary as well.

And we need to retain

that sense of sin,

that sense of sinfulness

and that sense of sinnership

with reference to God.

It is the God who is holy

that shows me my sin.

And it is to him I must say,

yes, I'm a sinner.

I do confess my sin.

That was the response of Isaiah.

But thankfully,

that wasn't the only response.

There is the movement

at God's throne.

That imagery following

the confession of Isaiah,

the seraphim are flying around

in submission to God,

humble before God,

waiting to fly out

at God's command

and suddenly the command

comes from the throne of God

and there is a seraphim

that moves into action.

And that's what we have

in verse number six.

Then one of the seraphim

flew to me,

having in his hand

a burning coal

that he had taken

with tongues

from the altar.

The seraphim

with the burning coal

taken from the altar

and making his journey

towards Isaiah.

We don't know exactly

what the image was

or what the coal was,

but we do know this much

that in God's temple

there is an altar

where sacrifice

is made to take away sin

and there is an altar

where there is

prayer offered to God

on the basis

of sin being taken away.

So there is

death for sin,

the punishment of sin,

and then there is a place

where we have peace

with God.

And when I see this image

in the temple

before Isaiah

and the seraphim

comes to take

a coal of the altar,

he's not taking

the coal of the altar

where sacrifice

was made.

He's taking the coal

of the altar

where peace is declared

and where God

is reconciled

to the people.

And that's a crucial difference

when I see this

seraphim coming

towards Isaiah.

It's not to condemn him

for his sin,

it's to bring him

the good news

that sin has been removed

and that there is now

peace with God.

What a journey.

That in the invisible realm

of heaven

there is this moment

in the invisible world

of Isaiah himself

that then there is heaven

moving towards him

with the seraphim

to come

to where he is found.

And the journey

is one

for the purpose

of reconnection,

of reconciliation.

He touched my mouth

and said,

Behold,

this has touched

your lips.

Your guilt is taken away

and your sin

is

atoned for.

This

has touched

your lips.

I can touch

something

with a hard touch.

I can touch

something

with a gentle touch.

I can touch

my children

when I sleep

to comfort them

and to encourage

them to go to sleep.

It's the gentle touch.

And when I read

touch here,

it's not the hard touch.

It's the gentle touch

of a heavenly father.

And the gentle touch

of a heavenly father

is the touch

through which

there is

forgiveness

and there is

reconciliation.

We can remind ourselves

of the story

of the woman

who came to Jesus

in Luke chapter 8.

Luke 8 · chapter mention

She was in the crowd

and she came

believing firmly

that if she touched

with the garment

of Jesus,

she would be healed.

And she came

and touched him.

Nobody knew that.

And Jesus

stops the conversation,

someone has touched me.

Who has touched me?

And of course

the disciples

are saying,

how can you ask

that question?

With the crowds

around us,

how can you ask

who touched me?

Everyone is touching you.

But Jesus said,

I recognize

that power has gone

out from me.

That's the reconnection.

That's the reconciliation.

That's the peace

with God

through our Lord

Jesus Christ.

And in this moment

today,

as we reflect

upon this revelation

and where God's

word finds us

and where God

wants to take us,

here we see

Isaiah

taken from

the place

of condemnation

and taken

to a place

of reconciliation,

of peace

with God

through this

dynamic movement

from the throne

of God

that touches

his lips

and his sin

is taken away.

We can

perhaps begin

to imagine

something of

the transformation

in Isaiah's

experience

and we'll see

as we read on.

But in that

moment of

touching,

power has gone

out from God,

from Jesus,

through Jesus,

by the Spirit

of God

and our sin

is taken

away.

And today

we are thankful

that in the Lord

Jesus

our sin

is taken away.

Isaiah speaks

powerfully

in chapter 53

of the very way

in which the

Son of God,

the servant

of Jehovah

is coming

to suffer

in our place,

to bear our sins,

to be a sacrifice

for our sins

and to raise us

up into newness

of life.

And we come

today with

the guilt

of our sin

and with our

sense of being

condemned

because of our sin.

We come to put

our trust

in the Lord Jesus

where Paul

tells us

there is

therefore

now no

condemnation

to those

who are in

Christ Jesus.

The great

reconnecting

grace

of God.

And in the

invisible world

of your

heart and life,

perhaps in this

very moment,

heaven's

dynamic power

is moving

toward you

to place

the hand

of God

upon your

heart,

to wash

away your

sin and

to give you

peace with

him through

the Lord

Jesus Christ.

You cannot

invite that.

You cannot

demand that.

But the

Lord who sits

upon his

throne,

that's how he

works,

to save people

like you and

like me.

he comes

in this

invisible way

to change

us in our

hearts,

take away

our guilty

conscience

and give us

a sense of

his peace.

The

reconciliation,

fundamental,

basic to

being a

Christian and

from there

we go to

live life

as a

Christian.

So we

have

revelation,

we have

reconciliation

and thirdly

and finally

we have

responsibility

and Isaiah

did not

shy away

from the

responsibility

that God

called him

to.

And we

see the

responsibility

because God

has a

mission

and God's

mission is

for this

people,

his own

people.

He has a

ministry,

he has a

message for

them.

And we

hear this

message coming

out in

verse number

eight.

I heard

the voice

of the

Lord saying

whom shall

I send

and who

will go

for us?

One

becomes

three.

And the

God who is

speaking,

suddenly there

are three

people,

there is

God,

Father,

Son and

Holy Spirit

who will

go for

us?

We have

this mission

to save

the world.

We have

this mission

to save the

people in

the days

of Isaiah.

After all

that God

has done

for Isaiah,

who now

is going

to go

for us?

The sound

of the

voice of

God

because of

the mission

of God

and because

of those

who have

not yet

experienced

what Isaiah

experienced.

Who will

go for

us?

And for

every person

who becomes

a Christian,

for every person

who becomes

the child

of God,

it's the

moment of

beginning to

serve.

It's the

moment of

God calling

us to

himself to

be at

peace with

him and

from that

peace to

be ready

to go

and serve.

And of

course,

there is a

central element

to our

salvation,

to us

becoming

Christians,

that is

very

personal.

It changes

who we

are and

we have

the joy

of the

Spirit of

God because

of our

new

relationship

with God.

But that

moment,

as

personal as

it is,

it is

preparation,

it is

equipping,

it is

getting us

ready

to serve

God.

and to

be his

disciples.

And we

see the

immediate

response

from Isaiah

when the

voice goes

out,

who will

go for

us?

Then I

said,

look at

me,

here am

I,

don't look

any further,

send

me.

I will

go wherever

you want

me to

go.

Jesus

said to

the

disciples,

as the

Father has

sent me,

so I

send you.

God is

calling us

today to

the

revelation

of his

glory in

the

gospel and

the

passion of

Jesus

Christ.

He is

calling us

to embrace

the

reconciliation

that we

have in

the gospel,

and having

done so,

he is

calling us

to serve

him,

to be the

light of

the world,

to be the

salt of

the earth.

God

calls us

to serve.

It may

simply be

going back

to school

this week,

somebody who

has learned

about Jesus,

and who

goes to

school serving

the Lord

Jesus,

sharing what

you have

learned about

the Lord

Jesus.

That's what

God,

that's what

Jesus calls

you to do.

If you

have received

the blessing,

then you

are to

share it

with those

who are

in school

with you.

You go

back to

studying at

university or

college,

go back to

the workplace,

we are

here to

serve.

We are

called upon

to show

our appreciation

of what God

has done by

being just

like Isaiah,

here am I,

send me.

And so

that with

the spirit

of Isaiah,

with the

spirit of

the gospel,

with the

spirit of

the discipleship,

whatever there

is a need,

God is

calling you

and me to

fill that

gap and

to fill that

space and

to ensure

that we

are serving

God in

accordance with

God's call

upon us.

And the

call can be,

as I said,

something very

local and

something that

perhaps we

would dismiss.

But the

call may

also be to

a more

full-time

focused service

in the

church of

Christ.

And God

may call us

to serve in

school and

to serve in

university and

college and

to serve in

a workplace.

But God

may also

call you,

even today,

to serve

him in the

full-time

ministry of

the gospel

where there

is a need.

And wherever

God has a

claim upon

our lives,

then here is

the response

of discipleship.

Here am I.

Send me.

Are you

willing to

go for

Jesus,

to speak

for Jesus,

to serve

Jesus,

and to

show your

appreciation

of all that

God has

done for

you in

Jesus by

reconnecting

with you and

by giving

you that

peace of

God to

dwell in

your heart.

May God

bless his

word.

Let us

pray.

Most

gracious

God, we

rejoice in

you.

You are

the God

and Father

of our

Lord Jesus

Christ.

You have

given your

Son to

be our

Saviour.

You have

made yourself

known to

us,

especially

in him

and through

him.

And we

pray that

you will

bless our

hearts

today with

a sense

of the

revelation

that you

have given

to us

in the

Lord Jesus,

with a

sense of

having peace

with you

through your

saving grace

and with a

sense of

being ready

to follow

you and

to serve

you all

the days

of our

lives.

Help us

to have

that humble

obedience

in response

to your

saving grace.

Guide us

and bless

your word

as we

pray.

We pray

these things

for Jesus

sake.

Amen.

So

closing

psalm is

psalm number

24 of

the Scottish

Psalter.

It's on

page 230.

And we're

going to

sing from

verse 7

to the

end of

the psalm.

It's a

great psalm

about the

glory of

the king.

And we

want to

sing these

verses

together.

And the

tune is

St.

George's

Edinburgh.

And

verse number

7.

Ye gates

lift up

your heads

on high.

Ye doors

that last

foray

be lifted

up that

so the

king

of glory

enter

may.

We

stand to

sing from

verse 7

to the

end of

the psalm

to God's

praise.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Ye gates

lift up

your heads

on high.

Ye doors

that last

foray

be lifted

up that

so the

king of

glory

enter

me.

But

who

of

glory

is

the

king?

The

mighty

Lord

is

this.

In

!

He

in

that

same

Lord

that

great

in

might

and

strong

in

heart

in

live.

Ye gates

lift up

!

He

is

that

to

last

foray

be

up

that

saw

the

king

of

glory

enter

me.

me.

But

who

is he

that

is

the

king

of

glory?

Who

is

this?

The

Lord

of

hosts

and

none

but

he

the

king

of

glory

is

the

Lord

of

hosts

and

none

but

he

the

king

of

glory

is

hallelujah

hallelujah

hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Amen, Amen, Amen.

I'll go to the main door after the benediction.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore. Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.