Lord, Open Our Eyes!

The scripture today comes from Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

Please follow along on your bulletin or on the screen.

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.

Above him stood the seraphim.

Each had six wings.

With two he covered his face.

And with two he covered his feet.

And with two he flew.

And one called to another and said,

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory.

And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called.

And the house was filled with smoke.

And I said,

Woe is me, for I am lost.

For I am a man of unclean lips.

And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.

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

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

And he touched my mouth and said,

Behold, this has touched your lips.

Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

Whom shall I send?

And who will go for us?

Then I said,

Here I am.

Send me.

And he said,

Go and say to this people,

Keep on hearing, but do not understand.

Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.

Make the heart of this people dull,

And their eyes heavy,

And blind their eyes,

Lest they see with their eyes,

And hear with their ears,

And understand with their hearts,

And turn and be healed.

Then I said,

How long, O Lord?

And he said,

Until cities lie waste without inhabitant,

And houses without people,

And the land is a desolate waste,

And the Lord removes people far away,

And the forsaken places are many

In the midst of the land.

And though a tenth remained in it,

It will be burned again,

Like a tarbenth or an oak,

Whose thumb remains when it is felt.

The holy seed is its thumb.

This is the word of God.

Great, thank you Anastasia.

And good morning everybody.

Great to see you all.

And Joe, thanks so much for sharing.

That was so wonderful.

If you don't know me,

My name is Kevin.

And great to have you with us this morning.

Now, this morning we're looking at this passage,

Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

Or Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

And it's a stand-alone kind of passage,

And part of the reason why we're doing this is,

This year we've been looking at the book of 1 Corinthians,

Then we did a series on the body.

Next week we're going to go back to 1 Corinthians.

But I've just felt that the last couple of months

Have been quite horizontal.

Corinthians is often about the divisions in the church,

And conflict.

The body series was quite about,

It's a little bit individualistic in me and my body.

And one of the temptations that,

I guess all humans we feel,

Is the constant temptation to be inward looking.

To think about me and my life,

And my body and my world.

And I've just been feeling like,

We need to constantly lift our eyes,

And remember who is God?

Who is it that we,

Who's at the center of the world?

And how do we center our lives around Him,

Rather than asking Him to center His world around us.

And so today we're going to,

Last week we looked at John 15,

Dan reminded us to remain in Christ.

Only by remaining in Him,

Can we bear any real fruit in our lives.

And apart from Him we can do nothing.

And today we're going to look at Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

So let me pray for us,

And then we're going to dive in.

Father,

You've been speaking to us already this morning.

Just your holiness,

Your majesty,

Those songs are so wonderful.

Ed's encouragement to us.

Joanne's testimony,

God, won't you continue to speak to us through your words?

Spirit of God,

We want to hear you,

The living God.

And we know that you speak to us in diverse ways,

But one of the main ways,

Through your words.

So God, come and speak to us.

Lord,

God, I pray,

That what Isaiah says in this passage in some ways,

Won't be true of us.

That our eyes won't be dull.

Our ears won't be blocked.

But we will hear you and see you.

And we will respond.

Help us, I pray in your great and glorious name.

Amen.

Amen.

Okay,

The book of Isaiah,

Is one of the most wonderful,

And beautiful books in the whole Bible.

If I had a son,

The name Isaiah definitely would have been in his name,

Somewhere along the line.

It's just such an amazing book.

And it's this glorious and magnificent book.

And sometimes,

People call Isaiah the fifth gospel.

Because it's so full of Jesus,

And the cross,

And his death on the cross,

Even though it was written 700 years before Jesus was born,

That everyone says,

It deserves a place,

Along with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

And it's a book in which Isaiah reveals the enormity of God's holiness,

And his majesty,

And his sovereignty,

But also the enormity of his mercy,

And his grace,

And his love.

And so today we're looking at chapter 6.

And it's a pivotal part in the book.

In chapters 1 to 5,

It's kind of like the prologue.

It's setting the scene.

It's telling us what's going on in the nation of Israel.

And what we find is that the nation of Israel,

God's people,

Are in a deep and dark spiritual place.

In chapter 2, Isaiah says,

O house of Jacob, come,

Let us walk in the light of the Lord.

But they refuse.

And so chapter 5 ends like this.

In verse 30,

If one looks to the land,

Behold darkness and distress.

The light is darkened by its cloud.

God's people are refusing his word,

And they're walking in darkness,

Rather than the light.

But God is not done with his people.

And so he sends Isaiah to be his spokesman.

His mouthpiece.

To call his people back to him.

But,

Before Isaiah can proclaim God's message,

He needs to encounter it himself.

Before he can speak God's word,

He needs to feel it.

And before he can proclaim God's majesty,

He needs to experience it.

And so in this chapter,

Isaiah's life is turned upside down,

As he encounters the majesty,

But also the mercy of God.

And what we're going to discover in this,

Is two things.

How God reveals and calls,

Reveals himself,

And then calls Isaiah.

That's going to be most of this morning.

And at the end,

We're going to see how God reveals himself,

And calls us.

Okay,

How God reveals and calls Isaiah.

How God reveals himself,

And then calls us.

And so,

Let's look at the first one.

How God reveals himself,

And calls Isaiah.

And,

In this part,

There are four kind of stages in this drama.

And so let's work through them.

The first stage is this.

God reveals himself.

God reveals himself.

Most of us have a mental picture in our minds,

Of what God is like.

A.W. Tozer said,

The most important thing about any person,

Is what comes to mind when you hear the word God.

What is the mental image that you have of God?

Maybe the mental image you have is of a doddery old man,

Who's kind,

And gentle,

But doesn't really have,

You know,

Is kind of largely out of touch with reality.

A kindly old grandfather.

Or maybe you think of a strict authoritarian,

An upholder of the law,

A defender of the principles and morality.

One who is ready to throw lightning bolts,

And strike anyone who stands out of line.

And yet someone who is short on compassion,

On lesser mortals like us.

Well,

I don't know what Isaiah's mental image of God is like,

But on this day,

Isaiah sees God,

In all his majesty,

In all his glory,

And all his brilliance.

And Isaiah sees not a caricature,

Or a mental picture,

He sees God.

And so look at verse 1 with me,

Look at what he sees.

It says,

In the year that King Uzziah died,

I saw the Lord,

Sitting upon a throne.

The throne obviously resembles the fact that,

God is the king,

He is Lord of all,

He's the one who holds supreme authority,

Over all the cosmos,

Over all creation.

God is seated on the throne.

And he sees,

I see him sitting on the throne,

High and lifted up.

In other words,

God is not just one of us,

He's not one of the myriads of gods,

Of the ancient world,

The God of the Babylonians,

And the God of the Midnight,

And all these other gods.

He's high and lifted up.

He's above all other gods,

All other creation.

He's on the throne.

He is set apart,

Elevated and exalted,

Above all gods and religions,

And customs,

And superstitions and cultures,

Apart from all creation,

And all cultures.

And then it says,

I saw him on the throne,

High and lifted up,

And the train of his robe filled the temple.

In other words,

God's presence is all encompassing.

It's all pervasive.

The idea,

The picture that God sees,

That Isaiah sees of God,

Is not a small God,

Just occupying his corner of the universe.

It's like,

You've got God over there,

And you've got this God over there.

No,

No,

This God,

His presence fills all of creation,

All the cosmos,

And the universe.

It fills all the,

The temple,

All the cosmos is his temple.

His dwelling,

There's no place of it,

Upon,

Which is outside of God's bounds.

We sang earlier,

All heights and all depths,

Furthest east to furthest west,

You distant burning stars,

All creatures near and far,

Part of God's creation.

He's Lord over all,

Over everything.

And this is what Isaiah sees,

This magnificent picture of the,

The splendor,

And the majesty of God.

And A.W. Tozer says this,

We must not think of God,

As the highest,

In an ascending order,

Of beings.

Starting with the single cell,

And then moving on to the fish,

And then the bird,

And then the animal,

And then man,

And then the angel,

Then archangel,

And finally you get God.

No,

He says,

God is as high,

Above the archangel,

As above the caterpillar,

Or the amoeba.

For the gulf,

That separates the archangel,

From the caterpillar,

Is finite.

But the gulf,

That separates God,

From all other creation,

Is infinite.

So God's not just the end of a spectrum,

Of ever increasing,

Higher,

Stronger,

Better things.

God is in a different category,

Completely separate,

From all other creation.

And that's what Isaiah is showing us here.

His categories have been blown away,

As he sees the majesty,

And the breathtaking,

Awesomeness of God.

That God is not simply one deity,

Who is slightly bigger,

And stronger,

And better than all the other deities.

He's in a completely separate category,

A different category altogether.

Which is what we see in verse 2.

Look at verse 2.

It says,

Above him,

Stood the seraphim.

Seraphim,

In Hebrew means,

The burning ones.

It's like these,

Angelic beings,

That are a nuclear ball of energy.

Right?

They're alive with fire.

It says,

Above him,

Stood the seraphim.

Each had six wings,

With two he covered his face,

With two he covered his feet,

With two he flew,

And one called to another,

Saying,

Holy,

Holy,

Holy,

Holy,

Is the Lord of hosts.

The word holy,

Doesn't mean,

Morally perfect,

Or morally,

Or religiously good.

It means to be set apart,

To be distinctive.

It's like you've got,

All of creation here,

Burning stars,

And galaxies,

And universes,

And nebulae,

And then you've got,

A separate category,

Called God.

God is in a separate category,

It's distinct from all the rest of creation.

And day and night,

These angelic beings declare,

The complete distinctiveness,

Or otherness,

Of the God that we've been singing to today.

Holy,

Holy,

Holy,

Distinct,

Separate,

Is this God.

And they cry,

The whole earth is full of his glory.

And what that means is,

God is not just glorious,

And majestic,

And wonderful up in heaven,

And he's up there,

And we kind of down here.

God's glory wants to spill over,

Into our creation.

God is glorious and majestic there,

But he's pouring out his glory into us.

Into our creation.

The whole earth,

Is full of his glory.

God's will is for us,

And Hong Kong,

And Watermark,

And the whole earth,

To come to recognize,

And know,

And join in,

Worshipping his distinctiveness,

His majesty,

His otherness.

Now,

Immediately,

This should strike us,

As being something,

At odds,

Or at least challenging,

The kind of culture,

Of benign tolerance,

Which is the supreme value of our age.

Benign tolerance means,

Benign means like,

Kindly,

Gentle,

Just tolerance.

In other words,

One of the values of our age,

Is that,

You can believe whatever you want.

You can worship whatever you want.

As long as you keep it to yourself,

And you don't impose it on anybody else.

So you can worship,

Or think whatever you want about God,

Your truth is your truth,

Just don't impose it on anybody else.

Now,

There's two problems to that.

Firstly,

That's just not logically possible.

Right?

It just doesn't make any logical sense.

Even those that believe that,

Don't live by that themselves.

Right?

Which is why this,

This worldview is so militaristically imposed upon us.

You must keep to yourself.

Don't,

Don't you dare impose your view on anyone else.

Right?

It doesn't make logical sense.

But also,

Here we see,

Isaiah discovers,

And he reminds us,

This is just simply not who God is.

It's not reality.

The God of the Bible,

Is the self existing,

Uncreated one,

The uncreated truth,

Who is making this earth,

An extension of his throne room in heaven,

And he is pouring his glory into this world,

And he is invading this world,

And he does want to invade our lives.

God does not say,

Listen,

You just honor your truth,

And I'll do my truth.

God is saying,

My truth,

Which is that I am utter,

And distinctive,

And glorious,

And majestic,

Is coming into your world,

And I want it to invade your world.

Particularly,

I want it to invade,

The throne room of our hearts,

And our lives.

So this is the picture that Isaiah sees.

In the year the king Uzziah died,

I saw the Lord seated,

High and exalted on the throne,

And I saw the whole earth,

Being filled with his glory,

And his majesty.

So what happens next?

Well,

Isaiah,

Sees himself,

Or confesses himself.

Having seen God,

Isaiah now sees himself.

And so look what happens in verse 5.

Isaiah says this,

Woe is me,

I am lost,

Literally,

I am ruined,

I am destroyed.

I am a man of unclean lips,

I dwell amidst the people of unclean lips,

And I have seen the king,

The lord of hosts.

Isaiah sees God,

And that causes him to see himself in a new light.

And what he sees about himself,

Is the fact that he is not perfect.

The fact that he is a sinner.

He sees who God is,

And that's contrasted with who he is,

And this contrast is bad news,

And he feels undone.

Now,

Again,

By and large,

As human beings,

If you are anything like me,

Maybe you are different,

But if you are anything like me,

What we tend to do,

Is to see the faults and the failings,

Of everybody else,

And we minimize our own faults and failings.

We see everybody else's problems,

And their hypocrisy,

And their,

You know,

The way they behave,

And their immaturity,

And yet,

We are kind of blind to our own sin,

And our own failing.

But God's revelation of himself,

Look what it has done to Isaiah.

It has caused him to see himself freshly,

In new light.

He has seen himself very clearly.

And one of the things that is remarkable here,

Barry Webb points this out,

Is he says,

Isaiah identifies himself completely,

With the sins of those people,

That in the previous five chapters,

He's been denouncing.

Previously,

He's been going to the people and saying,

Listen,

You're not following God.

You're sinning.

You're going your own way.

And now Isaiah,

Identifies himself with the very people,

He's been denouncing.

And he says,

Woe is me,

For I am ruined.

I'm a man of unclean lips,

And I'm just like all my other people.

I'm just like them.

Now the word for lost here,

Or ruined,

Comes from the Hebrew word,

To be silenced.

In other words,

To be cut off from the land of the living.

That's what Isaiah says.

He says,

I'm cut off.

I'm doomed.

I'm dead.

Martin Lloyd-Jones,

Who was the greatest preacher in the last century.

He says,

One way that you know,

That you've truly encountered the living God,

Not just the God of your imagination,

Is your mouth has been stopped.

You've been silenced.

All the excuses,

All the blaming,

All the playing the victim,

All the other person's fault,

All the excuses,

Why it's not really my fault,

That I am the way that I am,

Silenced.

Stopped.

And when you encounter God,

And you see him for who he is,

And you see yourself,

The only thing you can say is,

God, I'm ruined.

It's not their fault,

It's not Oscar's fault,

My parents' fault,

Or the government's fault,

Or big tech's fault,

Or,

Whoever,

God, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

And all Isaiah can say here is,

Woe is me,

I'm ruined.

I'm a sinner.

Here we learn an extremely important lesson,

That those who know God truly,

Are those who have banished,

Any sense of performing,

Or pretending,

Or positioning.

I've got a friend in India,

Akshay Rajkumar,

And he says this,

He says,

You will either,

Be a real repenter,

Or a real pretender,

But you can't be both.

You'll either come and pretend your way,

Like you got it all together,

Or you'll get real,

But you can't do both of those.

And here,

Those who know God,

Are those who have faced the reality,

Of their situation,

Without excusing,

Or minimizing,

Or blame shifting.

And that's what Isaiah does here,

He says,

Woe is me,

I'm ruined.

So how does God respond?

Well,

God liberates Isaiah.

Look at verse 6 with me.

It says,

Then one of the seraphim,

One of these burning balls of fire,

Flew to me,

Having in his hand a burning coal,

That he had taken with tongs,

From the altar.

And he touched my mouth,

And he said,

Behold,

This has touched your lips,

Your guilt is taken away,

Your sin is atoned for.

Friends,

Here we see,

One of the clearest pictures,

In the whole Bible,

The picture of the gospel.

In that,

The response,

To Isaiah's confession,

Which is Isaiah's response,

To seeing God,

God moves towards,

This imperfect,

Fallen man,

And he meets his failure,

And his shame,

With grace,

And mercy.

Isaiah says,

I'm ruined.

And God says,

No,

You're saved.

And Isaiah says,

I'm cut off.

And God says,

Let me include you,

In my people.

And Isaiah says,

I'm guilty.

And God says,

Your guilt has been taken away.

Isaiah says,

I'm unworthy.

And God says,

Your sin has been atoned for,

Dealt with,

Gone forever.

Amazing.

What has Isaiah done?

Has he gone on a,

A month long pilgrimage?

Has he burnt a thousand bulls,

Of sacrifices?

No,

All he's done,

He says,

God,

I need your mercy.

And God says,

Okay,

Here it is.

God meets his,

Fallenness,

His sin and his shame,

With unbelievable grace.

And in the storyline,

Of the Bible,

This is what Jesus did,

In the cross.

Jesus goes to the cross,

To bear our sin,

To bear our shame,

That those who trust in him,

May have their guilt,

Taken away.

Their sin atoned for,

Their shame removed.

Now,

There's lots more,

We could say about that,

But there's at least three,

Applications or implications,

I want us to see here.

Three lessons,

That we need to see.

The first one is this,

We've kind of spoken about it already,

But the first one is this,

What marks true Christianity,

Is not perfection,

But confession.

Not perfection,

But confession.

Barry Webb points out,

He says this,

Ironically,

It's not the fact that Isaiah,

Is a sinner,

Like his fellow Israelites,

But his confession,

Of being a sinner,

Like his fellow Israelites,

That sets him apart from them.

So Isaiah doesn't say,

Listen,

All those rascals are like that,

But God,

I am different.

He actually says,

God,

I'm just like them.

And God says,

Okay,

Now that you've confessed that,

Let me set you apart.

It's his confession,

That sets him apart from everybody else,

Not his perfection.

Secondly,

I want us to notice,

The difference between the gospel,

Christianity,

And many modern self-help,

Psychologies,

Or theories.

Many modern,

Psychologies,

Or secular,

Psychologies,

Or self-help theories,

Will say this,

The problem that you and I face,

Is found with outside of ourselves.

It's our parents,

It's our upbringing,

It's the school we went to,

It's the fact that we were single kids,

It's the fact that I had five siblings,

It's the government,

It's big tech,

It's the economy,

It's the Illuminati,

It's whatever it is,

Right?

That's the problem out there.

And that influence has made me who I am.

And the solution, therefore,

Is look within yourself,

Go back to your childhood,

Discover the real you,

Find your real identity,

And live out the most truest version of you.

Christianity flips that on its head,

And says,

Actually,

The biggest problem with most of us,

Is inside of us.

It's the idolatry of our hearts,

It's our pride,

And our fear,

It's the fact that we love creative things,

It's the fact that we love ourselves so much,

It's the fact that we don't love God and others,

But we love ourselves,

We are numero uno,

Number one.

Leo,

Don't need to translate that,

Numero uno,

I think you get that,

Right?

We are the center of our own world,

And the solution,

Is not look within yourself,

It's look outside,

To the one who came to us,

With a burning coal,

With scorching holiness,

Who came to us to free us,

And set us free.

Psychology says,

The problem's out there,

But look inside yourself,

Jesus says,

The problem's within ourselves,

Look outside of you,

To me,

I've come to save you.

And look at the third thing here,

The third thing to discover is this,

God's encountering grace,

Is often as painful,

As it is liberating,

The seraph here,

Touches Isaiah's lips,

With a burning coal,

Now obviously the burning coal,

Represents something of God's holiness,

Right?

But God doesn't change Isaiah,

By taking him to the spa,

And giving him a massage,

Right?

Isaiah's shame,

Let me just,

Let me just massage out your problems,

Right?

It's not how God deals with them,

He confronts him,

He wounds him,

He hurts him,

Just like God did with Jacob,

Remember he wrestles Jacob,

And he touches his hip,

And Jacob walks with a limp,

Just like God did with Saul,

Who becomes Paul,

He blinds him,

If you know the stories of Narnia,

This is in the voyage of the dawn trader,

Eustace is this real brat of a kid,

And he turns into a dragon,

And God,

Aslan wants to save him,

And how does he save him?

He digs his claws,

Into his dragon skin,

And he tears it off,

And it's painful,

And it's hurtful,

And Eustace is set free,

And he becomes a delightful boy again,

But it's hurtful,

It's painful,

Right?

And why,

And that's what God does to Isaiah,

He brings the scorching coal,

And he touches him,

And he says,

I want to set you free,

And why is it painful?

When God changes us,

Why does it hurt so much?

The reason is because,

A very core part of our identity,

Which is,

You are God,

You are the center of the world,

The whole universe revolves around you,

That part of our identity needs to die,

And that hurts,

That always hurts,

And so Isaiah confesses his sin,

And God comes and sets him free,

Isaiah says,

I'm ruined,

And God says,

You're saved,

And so finally,

The fourth part of this drama is,

Isaiah speaks for God,

God sends Isaiah out,

Now,

Just when you think,

The whole story is going to be wrapped up all nicely,

With a bow on top,

And you know,

Isaiah lives happily ever after,

The story takes a twist,

Look at verse 8 with me,

Isaiah encounters the holiness,

And the majesty of God,

And he confesses his sin,

God gives him amazingly,

Not what he deserves,

Verse 8,

I heard the Lord saying,

Whom shall I send?

Who will go for us?

Then I said,

Here am I,

Send me,

So,

That makes sense,

Right?

Having seen God's majesty,

God says,

Who's going to take,

Who's going to tell the world about me?

And Isaiah says,

Pick me,

Pick me,

God,

I'll tell the people about you,

You're amazing,

And,

Except there's a problem,

The problem is,

Isaiah's going to go,

And tell people about God,

But the people are not going to listen,

They couldn't care less about God,

Isaiah's message is going to fall flat,

On deaf ears,

In fact,

Worse than that,

Isaiah's message,

Is going to harden their hearts,

And alienate them even more,

It's going to push them even further away,

But God sends Isaiah anyway,

Look at verse 9,

God said,

Go and say to this people,

Keep on hearing,

But do not understand,

Keep on seeing,

But do not perceive,

Make the heart of this people dull,

Their ears heavy,

And blind their eyes,

Lest they see with their eyes,

And hear with their ears,

And understand with their hearts,

And turn and be healed,

So I said,

Lord,

How long,

How long should I take this message out?

And he said,

Until cities lie waste without inhabitants,

Houses without people,

And the land is a desolate waste,

And the Lord removes his people far away,

It's a devastating announcement,

Of what is to come,

Isaiah's going to go to his own people,

And he's going to call them back,

To turn to God,

To walk out of the darkness,

Into the joy of the light,

To forsake worthless dead idols,

And join in worship of the living God,

To be set free,

He will cleanse them,

And heal them,

And renew them,

And they're going to kick against his message,

They're going to reject his gospel,

And their story will end in ruin,

It's going to end in Assyria firstly,

And then Babylon,

And Israel is going to be decimated,

And what God tells Isaiah here,

Is that his mission is to bring a message,

That will humble some people,

But it will harden others,

You see,

God's word is never neutral,

It always works on us,

And it works one way or the other,

It demands a response,

God's message says,

God is supreme,

And holy,

And glorious,

And majestic,

And that he rules the universe,

Unrivaled,

And you and I belong to him,

And our lives belong to him,

And we should live for him,

We should be orientated around him,

And for some people,

That message falls like rain,

On dry ground,

And it brings life,

And it softens the ground,

And fresh shoots emerge,

And it brings healing,

And restoration,

And life,

But for some people,

Maybe even many people,

In Isaiah's day,

In Jesus' day,

And even in our day,

That message falls like rain water,

On the hard glass surface,

Of our office blocks,

And our buildings here in Hong Kong,

And it falls off,

And it goes into the gutter,

And into the sea,

And disappears,

The Puritans used to say,

The same sun,

That melts the ice,

Also hardens the clay,

And some people hear God's message,

That God is glorious and majestic,

And we belong to him,

And they say,

Oh God,

I want more of you,

And some people hear that message,

And say,

You've got to be kidding,

I'm done with this God,

I want a God,

That's going to make my life beautiful,

And make me the center of the world,

And when you hear of God's greatness and grace,

If your heart is soft and receptive,

It will warm your heart,

It will draw you in,

But if your heart is hard,

Or proud,

Or arrogant,

It will push you away,

And so here's one of the lessons,

We need to take from this,

Every time you encounter God's word,

And God speaks to you,

It will have an effect on you,

It's not neutral,

It will work on you,

You'll come away from that exposure,

Either humbled and closer to God,

Or harder and proud,

And more self-reliant,

Now maybe you think to yourself,

Well you know what I really need,

I need God to give me a miracle,

Like maybe I need an angel to appear,

At the bottom of my bed,

And tell me,

It's all true,

Jesus is real,

Right?

Like Joseph and Mary,

And then I'll believe,

Or maybe I need a miracle,

I need Colin here to turn water into wine,

If I could see that,

Then I would really believe,

Right?

But actually don't be so sure,

In the New Testament,

In John's gospel,

John chapter 12,

John 12 · chapter mention

The apostle John says this,

Verse 27 I think it is,

37,

It says,

Though Jesus had done so many signs and miracles before them,

Still they did not believe,

So think about that,

Jesus raises people from the dead,

He heals this person,

Sets this person free,

He does all these miracles,

And yet still,

Nah,

Not convince you the Messiah,

Don't think there's anything special about you,

And then,

John quotes Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

This very passage,

To explain why,

And he says this,

John says,

Isaiah said this,

Because he saw his glory,

And spoke of him,

Isaiah saw Jesus glory,

He saw God's glory,

And he was amazed by that,

And Isaiah understood,

Unless you see the glory of God,

And particularly,

Unless you see his grace,

And his mercy,

Towards undeserving rebels like us,

Nothing in the world,

Will convince you,

Of his wonder,

And the centrality of God,

Unless you see the glory of God,

And the way that he treats,

Undeserving sinners like this,

We will be tempted,

To stay on the throne of our lives,

And live for ourselves,

Not even a supernatural miracle,

Or sign and wonder will change you,

And you may be religious,

And you may come to church,

And you'll simply go through the motions,

And you'll check your watch,

And you'll daydream about your stocks,

And business,

And all sorts of stuff,

And it will have no effect on you,

And the only way for our hearts,

To be delivered from our hardness of heart,

Is to see the majesty of God,

To see his glory,

To see his grace,

But here's the question,

How do we do that?

How do we see God's glory?

Where do we see God's glory?

I mean,

Maybe you've got to go on a pilgrimage to the holy land,

You've got to retrace Isaiah's steps,

And do what Isaiah's did,

Where do we see God's glory?

How do we see God's glory?

Here we see the second thing,

How God reveals himself,

And calls us.

Do you know how God reveals himself to us,

And calls us?

We see Jesus,

And particularly,

You see Jesus on the cross.

When you look at the cross,

What are you meant to see?

What you meant to see,

Is majesty and mercy,

You see the holiness,

And the righteousness,

And the glory of God,

His set-apartness,

His distinctiveness,

The fact that,

God demonstrates his justice,

And his moral perfection,

By activating his divine justice,

Against all the wrong,

And the wickedness,

And the brokenness of this world,

And our response ought to be,

Woe is me,

God,

If that's what I deserve,

Jesus,

If that's what I deserve,

God woes me,

I am undone,

And then you see,

That God pulled that out,

Not on me,

But on himself,

On Jesus,

So that,

God can look at me,

And at you,

And say,

Your sin is atoned for,

Your guilt is taken away,

It is done,

God,

Jesus is not just touched,

On the lips,

With a burning coal,

He's utterly destroyed,

He goes through hell itself,

In our place,

So that all who trust in him,

Imperfect as we are,

Can be saved,

Can hear,

Behold,

Your guilt is taken away,

Your sin has been atoned for,

And in that same chapter,

In John's gospel,

John chapter 12,

John 12 · chapter mention

A few,

It's just a few days,

Before Jesus goes to cross,

Jesus is praying,

And this is what he says,

He says,

Now my soul is troubled,

And what shall I say,

Father deliver me from this hour,

But for this very purpose,

I have come to this hour,

Father glorify your name,

In other words,

Jesus says,

Father show,

These people your glory,

And then Jesus says,

When I am lifted up,

From the earth,

I will draw all men to myself,

And John adds,

Jesus said this,

To show by what kind of death,

He would die,

Isaiah saw God,

High and lifted up,

On the throne,

John and the disciples,

Saw Jesus high,

And lifted up,

On the cross,

And they saw his glory,

And do you remember,

At the end of Mark's gospel,

Everyone in the gospels,

They're not sure about Jesus,

Who is he really,

Is the son of God,

Who is this man,

And a soldier,

A centurion,

Sees Jesus on the cross,

High and lifted up,

And he says,

Behold,

This is the son of God,

Friends,

If you see Jesus on the cross,

And what he did for you,

And that he went there,

For your sin,

And your shame,

And your guilt,

Do you know what,

You'll see his glory,

You'll see his glory,

And on one hand,

You'll want to say,

God I can't believe it,

I'm so unworthy,

And so undeserving,

And the other hand,

You'll be so secure,

And filled with his love,

It'll change your life,

As we come to a close,

In Exodus 33,

Moses prays this prayer,

He says,

Father,

He says,

God,

Not Father,

He says,

God,

Please show me your glory,

For years and years and years,

I prayed that prayer,

I said,

God show me your glory,

I want to see you like Isaiah saw you,

I want to be blown away,

God show me your glory,

And then one day,

I was reading John's gospel,

John chapter 12,

John 12 · chapter mention

And I realized what Jesus was saying,

And Jesus was saying,

If you see me on the cross,

And what I did,

And what I went there for you,

You've seen my glory,

You've seen enough,

And so friends,

When you look at the cross,

What do you see?

Do you see a religious fanatic,

That said some outrageous things,

And ultimately brought about,

His own untimely death?

Do you see a moral teacher,

Who got on the wrong side,

Of the political and religious elite?

Do you see a social libertarian,

One who stood up for the poor,

And the marginalized,

Said some good things?

Or do you see what God wants you to see?

Do you see His glory,

The God of all creation,

Coming to you,

Coming for you,

To die the death,

That we deserved,

In order to reveal,

His majesty,

And His mercy,

His greatness,

And His grace,

So that we could be saved,

So that we can hear the words,

Your sin has been taken away,

Your guilt has been atoned for,

Enter into the joy of my presence,

Friends,

Why don't we come to Him,

And do that now,

Let's pray together,

Why don't you join me as we pray,

Lord Jesus,

This passage,

Is one of the most glorious passages,

In your whole Bible,

As Isaiah sees the glory,

And the greatness,

And the grace of you,

Isaiah saw you,

And saw your glory,

Lord Jesus,

We want to see your glory as well,

We want to see your majesty,

We want to see,

We want to see you for who you really are,

Oh God,

Open the eyes of our hearts,

By your spirit,

Help us to see Jesus on a cross,

Who went there for us,

And then God help us to get on our knees,

And to praise you God,

With everything that we have,

God for those of us that are not Christians,

God open the eyes of our hearts,

Show us Jesus I pray,

Show us why he died on the cross,

And God call us to yourself,

And God for those of us that are Christians,

Lord I pray may we follow you wholeheartedly,

Entirely devoted to you,

Because we've seen who you are,

And what you've done for us,

God as a church,

Corporately together,

Show us your glory,

Show us Jesus,

Show us your grace,

Pray this,

In your great and wonderful name,

Amen,

I pray this thing,

Amen,

Amen,

Amen,

Amen,

Amen,

Amen,