The Purifying God

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o'r ladd pa siадydd Eithinu,

I'r cymwysd, a'r cymwysd, a'r cymwysd.

In the year that King I'r dyd, 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.

Eich 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.

At the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him,

and the voice was, and the house was filled with smoke.

And I said, wo'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 is touch your lips, your guilt is taken away,

and your sin atone for.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom should I send,

and who will go for us?

Then I said, hear am I, send me.

Let's pray in us, for God's help.

Foddor, as we come this evening to your word to a passage which may well be familiar to many of us,

Lord, we pray that your holy spirit be at work amongst us.

We pray that you would be giving us all eyes to see who you truly are,

and we ask in Jesus' name, ar men.

So at this point in the book of Isaiah,

Isaiah pauses, and he gives an account of how he was called to be a prophet of God.

And the first thing that he does is he grounds his vision

in the historical backdrop of the time.

He writes that God gave him the vision in the year that King Osaya died.

I'm going to try and pronounce Osaya an Isaiah quite differently,

because I could get confusing.

But King Osaya was a significant king for Israel.

He is reine, is documented in the book of two Chronicles.

Chapter 26 tells us that for the most part, he was a pretty great king, a model king, in fact.

We told that he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

The prophet Zechariah instructed him in the fear of the Lord,

as long as he was seeking to do what God wanted him to do,

God blessed him and gave him great success.

And for the longest time, this was the story of Osaya.

God, richly, blessing him, giving him success,

blessing the nation of Israel through him.

But this didn't last, over time, Osaya began to become proud and arrogant.

He started doing things his way instead of the Lord's.

He took it upon himself to go into the Lord's temple and to carry out sacred duties, which he had no right to do.

And as a result of this, we're told that for his sin, God struck him with leprosy,

which according to the Lord would make him unclean.

Therefore as a result, he was banned from God's temple altogether.

He was denied the right to take part in worship of God,

and King Osaya remained unclean until the day he died.

Now, in many ways, King Osaya, he's a perfect representative of what Israel was like at the time.

Israel were a nation who had been faithful to the Lord, who had sought the Lord's will for them.

But they weren't anymore, they weren't fearing him, they weren't seeking him.

They didn't trust in God for their strength.

Instead, they were starting to partner with the sinful nations around them,

trying to find strength in others, people other than God.

They had a completely insufficient view of who God is.

And as Isaiah's vision, what he records here for them and for us is a stark reminder of who God is.

And who is God? He is a king exalted.

A king exalted.

Isaiah sees God, or rather he sees a representation of who God is.

John chapter 1 verse 18 tells us that no one has ever seen God in the sense of seeing him face to face,

John 1:18

except the sun.

God himself says to Moses in Exodus 33,

no one can see my face and live.

But Isaiah sees God in that the Lord grants him a stark, a palpable revelation of his very nature of who he is.

And who does he see? He sees a king.

Isaiah sees God seated on a throne, high and exalted.

Where King Eusia, the disappointment had been disgraced and struck down the true king of Israel,

is exalted lifted up.

And Isaiah says the train of his robe filled the temple.

The royal robe, of course, is a symbol of power and majesty, the authority of a monarch,

for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

She wore something called the robe of state.

This was a robe that was 18 feet long.

And it was so heavy that it required seven ladies in waiting to carry it behind her.

Now, of course, more being completely impractical.

The robe made a point, didn't it?

It said, look at your queen, Britain.

Look at how far reaching her royal sovereignty and her power and her majesty is.

But of course, no human majesty could ever compare to the splendor and the sovereign power of the Lord.

The train of his robe filled the entire temple.

It surrounded Isaiah.

He was completely and utterly surrounded by the kingly presence of God.

It was overwhelmingly clear to see who the true king was, where the true power and majesty lies.

And of course, the king needs attendance.

So what sort of servant is fitting of a king this great?

We're introduced to the seraphim.

Heavenly creatures, angels, they're stood above the throne.

That is their stood waiting to serve the seated king to follow his commands.

We're not told how many of the seraphim there are.

It's funny, whenever I've read Isaiah 6, I've always imagined two.

I've always imagined one on either side.

Maybe it's something to do with the wording of one called to another.

I picked a one calling to one other, but we're not actually told how many there are.

Win John sees the angels gathered around the throne in Revelation chapter 5.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

He sees a thousand times a thousand and ten thousand times ten thousand.

Now you can get ecapulis for a year or two.

But it's a numeral isn't it?

It's a huge vast number of angels that John says he sees.

Is this what Isaiah is seeing in chapter 6?

It seems quite likely the term the name that the seraphim used for God is the Lord of hosts.

Literally meaning the Lord of armies.

It's speaking of God's incredible supreme power that he has legions of angels at his command ready to go out for them as king.

So it certainly seems likely that as Isaiah stands before the throne of God,

he sees thousands upon thousands of heavenly warriors staring back at him.

I can't imagine much scarier than that, but of all the people in that room with Isaiah.

The seraphim should be the least of his concerns.

Did you see the body language of the seraphim?

Did you see what they're doing?

The seraphim they have six wings with two wings.

They covered their face.

With two they covered their feet and they used just two to fly.

In other words, in the presence of God, these creatures completely covered themselves head to toe.

These angels, these creatures who are completely morally pure, who are deemed worthy by God to be in his presence,

serving him.

Even they can't bring themselves to look upon the radians of the holy, exalted king.

They cover themselves in fear and reverence.

Then this reverence and this fear, it swells up in them until they cry out in song,

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory.

Holy, holy, holy.

In Hebrew, a word will sometimes be repeated to emphasise it.

We see an example of that in two Kings 25.

The word is pure God, which in the Hebrew language is literally gold, gold.

It's not just gold, it is gold in its purest possible form.

The Lord Jesus continues this, doesn't he, in the New Testament.

Time and time again, we see him say, truly, truly, I say to you.

He's saying, what I'm saying to you right now, it's not just true.

It is the truest of truth.

There is no greater truth that you can hear.

And yet here in Isaiah chapter 26, we have the only quality, the only attribute in the whole of the Bible that is repeated like this three times.

Isaiah 26 · chapter mention

The Lord of hosts, he isn't just holy.

He isn't just the holiest of Holies.

He is holy, holy, holy.

He is incontrably, holy.

He is unfathomably, holy.

He is unspeakably, holy.

It's who he is.

He is holy through and through.

If you want to know who God is, he is holy, start there.

So what does it mean?

What does it mean that God is holy?

It's a pretty intimidating word to define really, but I think it incorporates a number of different ideas.

To speak of God's holiness is to speak of his beautiful radian majesty as king.

To speak of the radians which commands the fear and the awe of angels.

To speak of God's holiness is to speak of his worthiness to be praised.

His infinite worth and value for who he is, which commands our worship and our praise.

To speak of God's holiness is to speak of his complete total utter moral purity and his goodness.

And then all of these things, God's holiness is his uniqueness.

It is his uniqueness in all of these traits.

There is no king with his splendor and his glory.

There is no other being in all of creation who is worthy of our praise.

There is no other being who is good like him, his purity is so far beyond the goodness of anything and all of creation.

He is the source of goodness.

In all of these things, in everything that he is, God is totally and utterly unique.

He is holy.

God's holiness is something that we can be quick to forget, isn't it?

We often don't make enough of God's holiness.

You often can't see that it's true in how we live.

I make sure you wonder how, with the ways, in which I relate to God, be different if I had a bigger view of his holiness.

What might it change?

Would it change the way you sing?

Would it change the way you sing to God?

We can quite often particularly as British people.

We can be quite half-hearted in how we sing, Garmwy.

It's quite easy just to stand up to do our best to follow a tune and then to sit back down.

But how might that change if we had a bigger view of God's holiness?

If we thought that God is the one who even the angels can't help but cry out to in song as they see his holiness displayed before them,

he is worthy to be exalted with their earnest, joyful praise.

If we really believe that I wonder how that might change the way we sing to God.

Would a big of view of God's holiness change how we come to the Bible?

Would it change how you read God's words?

Would it change rather why you read God's word?

Would you read with more humility and a greater sense of reverence knowing that you're not just reading a book you are listening to the words of the exalted King?

Would it change how we pray?

Would your prayers be more centered around serving the King seeking his will, asking for his help as you seek to live a life of obedience?

Would your prayers maybe become a little bit less about him fulfilling your will and a little bit more about you fulfilling his will?

Now, of course, it's not wrong to ask God for things.

It's a privilege.

If we're Christians of we're in Christ, we can come to God in boldness.

But when you see the holiness of God displayed, it rearranges our priorities.

When we see God's glory, his holiness revealed to us, it demands an appropriate reverence and fear.

Now, as I received a really stark display of God's holiness.

However, the fear that he felt was a fear of destruction, which leads us to our second point, a ruined sinner, a ruined sinner.

First four, the foundations of the thresholds shook and the house, the temple that is, was filled with smoke.

This imagery is similar to Exodus chapter 19.

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

Do you remember when God's presence descends on Mount Sinai?

And the mountain was wrapped in smoke because God had descended on it in fire, and when Moses spoke to God, God spoke back in thunder.

The presence of God on earth is often accompanied by signs of danger, namely fire and smoke, and that's what Isaiah is seeing here in the temple.

And Isaiah specifies that the tremors are to the threshold, the entrance to the temple, the place where Isaiah would access God.

And he surrounded by smoke, he's unable to see God.

What we see here is that Isaiah is being separated from God.

He's being denied access to him.

And more than this, he knows that his death is imminent.

So, why is Isaiah so fearful of the presence of God?

Why is he so certain that his fate is death?

First five, Isaiah says, Woe is me for I am lost or ruined or silenced.

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.

The reason that Isaiah is being denied access to God, the reason that he is fearful for his very life,

is that he knows he is a man of unclean lips.

His internal moral corruption is seen in the unclean things that come from his mouth.

And he is an active participant in a corrupt unclean nation that doesn't fear the Lord.

And he is in the presence of a holy God.

And that is an incredibly dangerous place for a sinner to be.

Why do you think that God's presence is so often seen in fire?

Fire is a wonderful thing, it's a beautiful thing.

Its warmth can be life giving, but it is a deadly and consuming thing.

In Tusamiol chapter 6, we see a man struck dead for touching the ark of the covenant,

the symbol of God's holy presence with his people.

God's presence needs to be respected and sinful people can't just walk into the presence of a holy God.

Isaiah knows that.

That is Isaiah's biggest problem.

That is Israel's biggest problem.

Today, this is our biggest problem.

And it will be the only problem of an unrepentant sinner on the day of judgment.

No sinner will ever be granted access to the holy God.

I was speaking to an unbeliever recently, we're talking about morality.

We're talking about right and wrong and how we can know that we're living a good life.

And he told me that he thinks that if there is a God, God will let him into heaven.

Because God will see that he's lived a pretty good life based on his understanding of what is right and wrong.

And of course, this way of thinking, it makes sense if you have never understood the holiness of God.

If you have never seen what it means that God is holy, of course you're a good person.

If you've never seen what goodness really is.

But when you see the radians of God's purity, the darkness of our sin is undeniable.

Isaiah knew this all too well and he wasn't arrogant enough to think that he deserved anything other than God's wrath.

But while Isaiah had seen God's glory so clearly he hadn't yet seen the depths of God's grace.

And that leads us to our final thought for the evening, a gracious call, a gracious call.

Upon hearing Isaiah's cries of anguish, one of the seraphim flies to him, holding a burning coal from the altar.

The altar is, of course, the place where the sacrifice is take place, and a sacrifice has been burnt on Isaiah's behalf.

The seraphim approaches Isaiah with the burning coal and he touches it to his lips.

And rather than speaking words of condemnation to you in, he reassures him.

First seven, behold, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and your sin atone for.

First eight, 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.

Here we see the reason that God gave Isaiah this vision in the first place. He wants to commission Isaiah for his service.

But I hollie God must send a hollie prophet, and Isaiah is covered in guilt and shame, so to prepare him for service,

God makes a sacrifice on his behalf.

And you notice that Isaiah does absolutely nothing here. He just stands there completely passive, helpless.

God makes the sacrifice. His servant takes the coal to Isaiah.

It is completely God's grace. Isaiah brings nothing to the table except unclean lips.

Lips that are in no state to tell the nations about the goodness of God and to speak on his behalf.

And yet offering nothing to make him men's for his own sin.

Purely receiving the grace of God, Isaiah is completely atone for.

The death, the wrath that he deserves has been poured onto another, and he is clean.

And of course, Isaiah is a representative of Israel, and they have the exact same problem.

He's part of this adulterous nation, which doesn't have a right fear of God.

They don't have faith in God as the true king. They don't believe in the greatness and power of God.

That's why they're seeking help from other nations.

And Isaiah must tell them of the wrath that they are storing up for themselves, and of the incredible grace and restoration that is a veil of God.

That is available for them if they just turn back to the holy one of Israel.

And of course, nothing has changed, since then, hasn't.

Sin is still our greatest problem.

As individuals, as a nation, we're living unclean lives, and we're deserving of wrath.

But just as the human heart hasn't changed since Isaiah's time, neither has God's heart.

He is still the God of grace, who cleansed Isaiah, and he wants to cleanse us still.

Isaiah chapter 53 introduces us to the ultimate sacrifice who was to come.

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

Let me read you just a few verses starting at verse 4.

Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Yet we esteem dim stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.

But he was pissed for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our eniquities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.

And with his wounds, we are healed.

All we, like sheep, have gone astray.

We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the eniquity of us all.

I was always, of course, prophesying about the Lord Jesus, who was to come about 600 years later.

Jesus, the holy one of God, in his love for us, and in his obedience to the Father,

took on our eniquities and gave himself up as our sacrifice.

He carried our shame, and he was crushed by the Father on our behalf.

The only person to ever live a holy life died, because of us in, to bring us out of death and into his kingdom,

and to reconcile us to God in the way that we can't.

And ultimately to prepare us for God's good works.

When you've truly seen the holiness of God, when you have experienced his astounding grace, it changes your priorities, doesn't it?

All of a sudden, you don't belong to yourself. Your life is Christ.

You've been purchased by him.

Your life is no longer about pleasure or the idols of your heart or about wealth or success,

or the glory of your name. Your life is now all about the glory of God.

It is all about bringing glory to the name of Jesus.

It's about wanting more than anything for God's holiness to be seen, and where do we most see the holiness of God?

Where do we see his righteousness? His unwillingness to tolerate sin?

Where do we see his perfection and his goodness and his worthiness to be praised and exalted?

We see it at the cross of the Lord Jesus.

We see it in the gospel, in the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

In the gospel, we see the majesty and the splendor of King Jesus as he lays down his life to reconcile God's people.

And as we consider what Jesus went through on our behalf, as we will later this evening around the Lord's table,

the deaths and the severity of our sin becomes so much more clear, doesn't it?

When we consider what Jesus had to do to make at home.

And as our vision of our sin becomes so much clearer, the greatness and the goodness and the mercy of God becomes so much more radiant by comparison.

And so seeing the holiness of God revealed to us in the person of Christ, we long to proclaim him to a nation that so needs to be atownful.

That so needs to be made holy and set apart for the good works of God.

And of course, one of the most amazing things of all is that we don't do this alone.

That the Lord Jesus has washed us so perfectly clean.

He has made us so pure that the holy spirit of God himself is pleased to live within us.

The presence that Isaiah was so terrified of is alive within the believer.

Renewing us day by day, empowering us to turn from the road we were once on and to live for his good works,

walking with him in complete confidence as we seek his will and as we proclaim his kingdom.

If you want to know who God is, he is holy.

If you want to see his holiness displayed, look to the Lord Jesus, look to the cross of Christ.

And if you want to see who he is calling you to be, look to the Lord Jesus.

Let's pray.