Gospel Driven | Isaiah 6:1-13 (June 19) Myles Holmes

Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast.

We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment.

Thanks for joining us today.

Let's pray.

Father, we long for that day.

And yet, Lord, we're so thankful to be able to experience that in part this morning.

Lord, to lift high your praise, your glory, the honor that is due to your name.

And God, to be able to do that with the saints that you've called here this morning and you've called together at this church.

God, we give you all the praise.

And God, we pray this morning as we join with Isaiah, the prophet of old.

And God, we see what he saw in the throne room.

Lord, we get a taste of all that we'll see in heaven.

And God, would you stir our hearts with a worship that can only come from the moving of your Holy Spirit among us this morning?

God, work among us.

We pray we need you, God.

In this very moment, as your word is revealed to us, as we open up your scriptures and hear all that you have to say to us, God, we need you.

Lord, I need you to speak.

I'm so weak, I'm so feeble, I don't know what to say, Lord.

And so, Lord, I confess I need you, and I pray that each of us, as we listen to your word, would make the same confession that we need you, God, speak to us.

Lord, your word is so relevant to us, and so would you find listening ears this morning.

God, we pray this all in the name of your son.

Amen.

Amen.

So good to be together this morning.

So good to worship God together this morning and to get a taste of what we will experience in heaven singing together God's praise.

You guys can open up your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

We're gonna be in verses 1 to 13 this morning.

I trust these verses are somewhat familiar to you, some of the most, maybe our favorite verses in the book of Isaiah.

And as we begin our time together in Isaiah, I want to share two stories with you that share a common theme.

And the first has to do with a conversion, but really uh an experience that happened to a man a few years later after his conversion, and the man is named Chuck Colson.

He was saved in 1973, almost 50 years ago today, and Chuck Colson was a special counselor to President Nixon.

And so it was pretty special for God to save such a public figure.

He was saved at a time when the Watergate scandal was exploding in the press.

And he writes about his salvation.

He says, I cried out to God and found myself drawn irresistibly into his waiting arms.

That night I gave my life to Jesus Christ and began the greatest adventure of my life.

And yet, many years down the road, he found himself, like many of us do, on this great adventure of following Christ, that his affections for Christ had grown dull.

He found himself in a dry season of life, and in this season, as he shared kind of what he was going through with a friend, a friend suggested that he listened to a series of lectures by a theologian named R.

C.

Sprohl on the holiness of God.

And Chuck Colson thought, well, what is a theologian going to do for me in a time like this?

In a time where I'm feeling dry in my relationship with God, what is theology going to do for me?

He writes, by the end of the sixth lecture, I was on my knees, deep in prayer, in awe of God's absolute holiness.

It was a life-changing experience as I gained a completely new understanding of the holy God I believe in and worship.

A higher view of who God is.

It drove Coulson away from dullness, away from apathy to a life that was vibrant and on fire for Jesus Christ.

One more story for you, and it has to do with John Piper.

In his book, Preaching in the Supremacy of God, he shares a story about how he kind of did a little pastoral experiment.

And he did it with this very chapter that we're in this morning.

He decided this.

He decided to preach a series where he would preach no application at all.

He wouldn't say anything that you needed to do in light of the truth.

Instead, he would just put on display the glory of God.

Instead, he would just spend weeks preaching about who God was, trusting that as the church came to a higher view of who God is, as the church began to understand the holiness of God, they would be driven to a life of worship in God.

Little did he know as he was preaching that series, there was a family that had recently discovered that their child had been abused by a relative.

And in the weeks to come, Piper would hear the story as the father came to him in tears, sharing the hurt that his family had experienced in the most difficult time of his life.

And yet the man said this to Piper in a sermon with practically no application.

He said that the high view of God, the way that God's sovereignty had been on display, has been a rock by which we have been able to stand.

This is what I want you to see this morning as we're in Isaiah 6: that when we have a high view of God, when our vision of God's holiness expands, when we dig deeper into our understanding and knowledge of who God is, it drives us to a life lived for Christ.

It delivers us from dullness, it delivers us from apathy, and it delivers us through the greatest moments of suffering in our life.

Our greatest need, one of our greatest needs very practically, is a high view of God.

This is why A.W.

Tozer said, what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

Having a high view of God is essential to living because it acts like a magnetic force that draws you away from the things of the world, draws you away from sin, draws you away from earthly thoughts, and brings you to heaven to behold God.

Whatever else you have, without a proper view of God, you actually have nothing.

But when you have God in his proper place, when in your mind, as Dave Locke encouraged us to do this morning, God is on his throne.

Everything else will fall in place.

And so what we need this morning, what we need every Sunday morning, what we need every minute of our lives, is to be reminded of who our God is.

And in Isaiah chapter 6, the prophet has an encounter with God that drastically changes his life.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

And through a vision, he sees the Lord, and he sees the Lord in his throne room.

And this morning, Isaiah is, and really God is inviting us to experience what Isaiah experienced in the throne room.

And to see the life change that happens when we have a high view of God.

And so I want you to see this morning what happens in our lives when we have a high view of God.

And the first thing I want you to see is that when I have a high view of God, it fills me with an awestruck praise.

When I have a high view of God, it fills me with an awestruck praise.

And in Isaiah 6, the prophet experiences God.

Look what it says in verse 1.

It says, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.

I saw the Lord.

This is the context of this chapter.

Isaiah has an encounter with the living God.

And in Isaiah 6, he writes to tell us what he saw.

Not so that we might go and look for the similar kind of encounter with God, but that we might learn from the encounter that Isaiah had with God.

Well, what happens when Isaiah sees the Lord?

Well, he sees such a holy picture of who God is.

He sees such a grand picture of the majesty of God on display that he's driven both to an awe of who God is and a terror of who he is in light of who God is.

This is what happens when you have a high view of God.

It changes your life because it fills you with this awe and terror of who God is and who you are in light of who God is.

This is what we need this morning.

Like Isaiah to be filled with this awestruck praise of God.

Here's the problem, though.

The problem is that it's very possible for us to stand in front of the blazing glory of God.

It's very possible for us to stand in front of the majesty of God and to be blind to its beauty.

Many times as we live the Christian life, we're like the teenager that you bring to the Grand Canyon who spends the whole time on their phone.

And you're trying to shake them and you're saying, Look at what look at this.

This is amazing.

You'll never see anything like this in your life.

Look.

And the whole time they're playing Minecraft, they're on their phone, on social media, and you're trying to grab a hold of them and say, Look at this glory, you've got to see this.

And many of us need the Holy Spirit to do that to us this morning.

The problem is that we can be blind to the glory of God shining right in front of us.

And so it's right for us, even in this moment, as we enter into the throne room with Isaiah, just to stop again and to pray and ask God to help us to remove the spiritual blindness.

So let's just do that right now.

Let's pray together, you praying along with me.

God, help us.

Lord, too many times I can speak for each of us.

We've stood in front of your glory, we've opened up your word and read of magnificent things, and yet in the condition of our heart, we've been dull to them.

So, God, right now, by the power of your Holy Spirit, would you open up our eyes to behold wondrous things in your word?

God, we pray this.

In the name of your Son, amen.

What did Isaiah see that filled him with this awestruck praise?

Well, the first thing I want you to see that Isaiah saw in the throne room is that God is alive.

You see this in verse 1?

It says, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.

There's a contrast here.

The contrast is that the king, the highest authority on earth, the one who's ruling and reigning over the nation of Israel, is dead, but now Isaiah sees the Lord.

At the time that Isaiah sees the Lord, he's grappling with death.

He's doing something that the scriptures force us to do time and time again, coming to terms with the fact that we die.

Isaiah comes to terms with the statistic that one out of one people in this room will die.

This is something that Scripture does for us often.

It reminds us of our death.

I'm reminded of the genealogy in Genesis chapter 5.

Genesis 5 · chapter mention

This long genealogy, a list of names, and really the point of that genealogy is to remind you that every one of these persons that's named dies.

And so you read these genealogies, and there's all these names that you can't pronounce, but the writer makes sure after every verse he reminds you, and he died, and he died, and he died.

And in many ways, it's a chapter of death to remind you that the curse that had come on Adam and Eve in the garden was very real, that the consequences were real, and that death is coming.

I'm reminded of the whole book of Ecclesiastes, which is really the wisest man ever to live, wrestling with the fact that he one day will die, and everything he has been doing has been vanity in light of the fact that there is a coming day when he will die.

Scripture does this time and time again.

Not only does Scripture do this, by experience we're reminded of death.

As those who we love around us pass from this world, we're reminded that death is a very real thing.

And the death of King Uzziah was very real to Isaiah.

The king was power and protection and comfort to the people of Israel.

And the moment that he passes, Isaiah begins to grapple with what life will be like without the protection of this king.

And this king is gone, and in many ways, the symbolism of comfort, the symbolism of rule, the symbolism of justice is gone.

But God appears to Isaiah to remind Isaiah that he is here.

What a comfort this should be to us.

The things that give us comfort today may not be with us tomorrow.

The things that provide protection, the people that provide protection to us today are not promised to be with us tomorrow.

That God will be alive, that he's alive today, that he'll be alive tomorrow, that he will be alive for all of eternity to come, that he's been alive for all of eternity in the past.

This is who God is.

He is alive and he is here.

And just as he appeared to Isaiah, God is alive and in this room, and he's working in our hearts this morning.

This is who God is.

This is the picture of God that Isaiah saw, that God is alive.

And so he says, I saw the Lord, and where was the Lord?

It says that he was sitting upon a throne.

The throne is the place of authority, of kingly authority, and it's significant that where Isaiah sees the Lord is sitting on a throne.

It's significant that God isn't behind a customer service desk, so as to say that he's around to serve our needs whenever we need him.

It's significant that God isn't in work boots, so as to say that he's a laborer, ready to do whatever we want him to do.

Instead, God is on the throne, the place of utmost authority.

This authority, it's not something that you choose to give him.

This authority is something that is his because of where he sits.

He sits on the throne.

This is who God is, this is the place where he belongs, on the throne.

And so from the throne, God seeks no advisors, he seeks no counselors.

Whatever he wants to accomplish, he does.

His will is accomplished in the smallest of things, like where the dust settles in your house.

His will is accomplished in the farthest of things, like the meteor colliding into planets hundreds of thousands of light years away.

His very will is accomplished in your life because God is authoritative over all things.

He sits on the throne.

He's authoritative over demons and disease.

This is why when Jesus came, the people were shocked at him.

And you know what they were shocked by?

It says time and time in the Gospels, the people were shocked by his authority.

Who gave this man such authority to have power over the wind and the waves, to cast out demons and to heal disease?

To control even people.

And the answer is that it's God who gave him this authority, because God has all authority.

It's the authority that Jesus gave to his disciples when he said, All authority on heaven and his earth on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples.

From eternity past to eternity future.

God sits on the throne with all authority.

This is who he is.

God is authoritative.

The next thing that Isaiah sees is that God is sovereign, that he's powerful.

And so you see there in verse one, put your eyes on the scriptures, on God's word, it says, I saw the Lord sitting up on a throne, but where is this throne?

It was high and lifted up.

The throne that God sits on is the highest of all thrones, high and lifted up above any other throne.

This isn't like the power that a municipal politician has, where really it's in subjection to a provincial power, where really that power is in subjection to a federal power.

This isn't even like God's just the king of the world and He's has domain over this little globe that we're on.

The authority that God has is authority that over all of the universe.

This means that our resistance and our rebellion against God's authority is really futile.

It's similar to my two-year-old who loves doing this, coming up to me and wrestling me.

If I wanted, in my power, in my ability, I could pick her up and hurl her.

Sometimes I think about this, probably about 30 feet across the room.

Now, I haven't ever done that, so don't call C A S.

I don't need any of those visits this morning.

But the reality is, is in comparison, I am much more powerful than her.

And this is the sense that God wants us to get.

This is why Isaiah is filled with an awe.

He's in awe of how powerful God is, but he's also filled with a terror because he recognizes that in his sinfulness, God's power is directed to him.

In light of God's power, in light of his sovereignty, in light of his throne being high and lifted up, we come to realize that, in comparison, we're really nothing.

In comparison to who God is.

God is sovereign, he is powerful.

The next thing I want you to see is that God is beautiful.

He is beautiful, and so Isaiah sees the throne high and lifted up, and look what he says at the end of verse 1.

He says, The train of his robe, it filled the temple.

This is the train of God's robe that Isaiah sees.

We know what a train is if we've been to a wedding.

We've seen the brides wearing the beautiful wedding dresses.

In some people's mind, the bigger the better.

And the train flows behind them on the ground.

It's not a very functional dress if you want to run away from somebody.

In fact, it requires many hands to help to move the train, but it is functional in that it displays a certain beauty, doesn't it?

There's a reason why you're not allowed to wear a white dress to a wedding.

Because the point is you're supposed to admire the beauty of the bride.

That white dress comment was especially relevant for the fathers in the house.

Never wear a white dress to a wedding.

Take that application in this message.

The whole point of a wedding is to for the bride in all of her beauty to be presented to the husband.

And so she comes in a dress that in many ways screams, look at me, look at me.

And it's this beautiful ceremony as she slowly walks down the aisle and feels the eyes of everyone staring at her to declare that this beautiful gift is being given uniquely to her husband.

But let me ask you, what's the biggest train that you've ever seen?

Maybe it's a few feet, maybe it's a meter, maybe it required two people to hold it as the bride walked.

Well, look at how big the train of God is.

It says the train of his robe filled the temple.

I don't know exactly what this means.

I don't know if, like, you were in the temple, if that would be like when you're at the Leafs game and you know that big Canada flags going over everyone, and you just can't get out from underneath the train and you keep passing it over you, and there's just nowhere in this room where there's no train.

But I do know that what Isaiah wants us to understand is that God is more overwhelmingly beautiful than your mind could even imagine.

So much so that if there were a train to attract our attention to his beauty, it would fill the whole room.

And the real praiseworthy thing, real thing that should fill us with awe as we consider the beauty of God, is that the beauty of God is not something that is hidden from us.

Everywhere Isaiah looks, he can see the beauty of God.

The beauty of God is not like a picture that is put in a room in a museum that's VIP access only.

The beauty of God is on display everywhere.

And it's for us to behold, much like a husband who delights in the beauty of his wife, with a particular delight, knowing that that beauty is his and his alone.

This is the beauty of God on display for his people.

God is beautiful.

I want you to see also that Isaiah saw that God is worthy.

He saw that God is beautiful, but he also saw that he is worthy.

And so in verse 2, as Isaiah looks up and sees the train of his robe filling the room, look at what else he sees.

And in verse 2, it says, Above him stood the seraphim.

Each had six wings.

With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew, and they called to one another.

Around God are these creatures that Isaiah can only call seraphim.

On the spot, he makes up this word that's never used again in scripture.

It's only used here, and it really means burning ones.

And Isaiah looks at these creatures who are flying around the throne room, singing praise to God.

He's looking at them, and they kind of look like the flashes of flame flittering in a fire.

And so he calls them seraphim.

And he notices that they have six wings.

Two of their wings cover their eyes so as to say that there's no way that they could ever behold the glory of God staring directly at God.

As the scriptures say, no one can see God and live.

And you'll even notice that in this vision that Isaiah has of God, he doesn't really see God.

He sees the train of God's robe.

This is much like when Moses sees God and he can only see the back of God because God's glorious is too brilliant for any human being to behold.

These seraphim, they cover their eyes so as to say that they can't behold God's glory, but they listen to God's word to follow his will.

They cover their feet to declare that they don't go anywhere on their own accord, but they're in submission to God's bidding.

With the other two wings, they fly.

And they fly around God and they sing praise to God, declaring these words in verse 3 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory.

What does this tell us about God?

Well, it tells us that God is worthy.

I've only known most of you for a Few short weeks, but I've never seen any seraphim flying around you singing your praise.

In fact, if any of us did see that around someone, we'd probably say, dude, I think you're on fire.

You gotta go outside and stop, drop, and roll.

We learn that for a reason.

What this is telling us about God is that there is a praise that is fitting for God that is not fitting for us.

The praise that is fitting for God is eternal praise.

This is why the verse that Dave read during prayer tells us that there are angels 24-7 right now.

Do you understand that, church?

Right now in this moment, this is how worthy God is.

That even as our corporate worship ceased, the corporate worship of heaven did not, as angels fall before the throne, 24-7, declaring, worthy is the Lamb.

Worthy is God.

And they'll sing for all of eternity and never begin to scratch the surface of how worthy this God that we serve is.

See, seeing the worthiness of God fills us with awe as we consider how worthy this God is.

There is nothing as worthy as God, but it fills us with terror too, doesn't it?

As we consider that we haven't lived our life in complete abandonment to declaring the worthiness of God.

That in many ways we have declared other things at times in our life even more worthy than God.

At times we live our life as though these possessions we have are more worthy than God, or these kids that we have are more worthy than God, or this job that I have is more worthy of God.

And as we consider the worthiness of God that can't even be close to match by anything of this world, we realize that we've sinned before God by making other things worthy.

We're filled with this awe of who God is.

We're filled with this terror in light of who we are.

What are these creatures singing?

They're declaring the next thing that Isaiah sees is he beholds God and shows us what it means to have a high view of God.

The next thing that Isaiah sees is that God is holy.

What are these angels singing?

Or what are the seraphims singing?

They say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

They're declaring the holiness of God.

And they're not just saying God's kind of holy.

They're not just saying God's really holy.

They're saying God is the holiest of all holies that you could possibly imagine.

This is the super superlative of holies.

To say something in Hebrew three times is to say, this is the holiest of holies.

This is like the fight that you have with your young one.

You ever have this where you say, I love you, and then they say back, I love you more.

And then you know that in your back pocket you have the secret weapon that can put this argument to death forever.

You say, I love you to infinity and beyond.

And there's nothing they can do at that point to say that they love you more.

This is like when you're saying goodbye to someone.

You ever have this experience where you say, hey, have a good day, and they say, have a good weekend, and you're like, oh no, they just one-uped me.

And so you say, okay, well, have a good week.

They say have a good year, and you just keep going.

This is to say, have a good rest of your eternity.

This is the superlative of superlatives.

What the seraphim are saying is that this is the greatest holiness that you can have.

What is holiness?

Well, holiness is to be separate from sin, but more than being separate from sin, to be holy is to be devoted to something.

This is why in Leviticus it says that the things that are in the temples, the cups, they can be holy.

It's because they're devoted to God.

And what the seraphim are saying as they declare, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, is they're saying this there is no one more devoted to God than himself.

There's no one more separated from sin than God Himself.

He is infinitely pure.

He is infinitely morally upright because he is the standard of morality himself.

And as we stand in front of this, God, who is the holy of holies, reminded that we are infinitely the opposite.

That we're stained with sin.

And again, it fills us with awe and terror.

The awestruck praise that Isaiah experienced in the throne room as he discovered just how holy God is and just how wayward he is.

Seraphim revealed that God is holy.

They also reveal our last point in this first point, and I'll just have you know that this first point is about half of the message here, so don't get worried that we're going to be here for another two hours.

But it's good that we get a high view of God.

It's good that we see God as Isaiah saw him.

The next thing that they see is that God is glorious, and so the seraphims sing, the whole earth is full of his glory.

Do you see that in verse 3?

The whole earth is full of his glory.

For something to be glorious means it's right to make known its greatness.

And if God weren't glorious, then his holiness would be completely separated from us.

We could never know God in the fullness of his holiness because we're sinful and he is the opposite of sin.

He's totally separated from sin.

But the fact that God is glorious means that he chooses to constantly reveal himself so that the seraphim can say the whole earth is filled with his glory.

This is why the psalmist says in Psalm 19, the heavens declare the glory of God.

The sky above proclaims his handiwork.

It says one theologian says, all of creation is preaching God's glory.

God's glory is seen in the beauty of a tree.

It's heard in the song of a bird, in the rush of a waterfall.

It's seen in the grandeur of the stars when you look up and it just seems like the sky is painted with white little dots.

The glory of God is seen in the gift of language as you communicate and laugh with your loved ones, with your friend.

The glory of God seen in the way poetry and music can move us.

An ability of art to communicate a message and meaning.

All of this screams God's glory.

All of it screams God's desire to be known by mankind.

The whole earth is full of his glory.

Everything is proclaiming his greatness.

This is who God is.

This is who God, who Isaiah sees in his vision.

He gets a picture of this God.

And when you truly see this God, you can't have a dull heart anymore.

You truly see this God, you can't be filled with apathy anymore.

When you truly have a vision of this God, a life where you're only giving God your Sunday's best and you're keeping the rest for yourself, it just does not cut it.

This glory of God that Isaiah has beheld and invited us to see, this high view of God, it requires a response.

And so if you've seen God in all of his majesty, if you've seen God in all of his holiness, really I could just stop the message here because the reality is when we see God, when we have a high view of God, we respond like Isaiah did.

But in order to guide your response, I want you to see three ways that Isaiah responded to the holiness of God that he saw in Isaiah 6.

And the second point in our message is we consider what it looks like to have a high view of God, is that when we have a high view of God, we're exposed to an awful problem.

When we have a high view of God, we're exposed to an awful problem.

This is the problem.

God is holy, and as we've seen him in verses 1 to 4, we've come to recognize that he is the exact opposite of us.

He's holy, we are not.

We've stood in the throne room with Isaiah as Isaiah has invited us to see what he saw, and what we realize there is that the blazing glory of God's holiness separates us from him.

As we see who God is and look in the mirror of self-reflection to see who we are, we realize that we are infinitely unlike God because of our sinfulness.

God's the standard, and we fall indescribably short of the standard that God sets for how we are to live and who we are to be.

And so Isaiah cries out in verse 5, look what he says.

He said, Woe is me.

Which, if we were to put that into a modern translation, might read like this: I'm screwed.

This is who I am in light of who God is.

This feeling is required of each of us.

If we've really had a clear view of who God is in the full weight of his holiness, then our feeling should be this: woe is me.

Our problem should be clarified as we get a clearer view of God's holiness.

We're sinners standing in front of a holy God, which puts us in an awful problem.

See, because God is infinitely holy, if he were to accept any grain of sin in his presence, he would cease to be the infinitely holy God He is.

And now we stand here in front of God, not just having a little tiny grain of sin, bearing the full weight of sin on our shoulders.

Isaiah declares the problem.

He says, in verse 5, I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the Lord of hosts.

This is Isaiah's problem that he's exposed to.

He's a man of unclean lips.

He's lost.

I want you to notice that the sin that creates Isaiah's problem, it really isn't a big sin that we would something we would consider a big sin, is it?

Isaiah says, I'm a man of unclean lips, and if we were maybe to make a list of like the worst sins you could do up to like the least offensive sins you could do, I would imagine that the sins of the tongue maybe we'd put closer to the top.

These are sins that we've all committed, whether it's lying or saying something that was rude or being grumpy.

The sin that Isaiah sees in light of God is being a man of unclean lips from a nation of unclean lips.

At the sight in the sight of a holy God who is eternally and infinitely holy, even the smallest of all sins is eternally condemning to us.

Maybe you're here and you think, what's the big deal with sin?

You think, at the end of my life, I think God's gonna be fine with me.

I mean, I've I've been a pretty good person.

I'm not a serial killer.

And sure I've lied, sure I've said things that are rude, but as much as I can, I've tried to be a good person and I've tried to make up for the wrong that I've done.

I don't need a savior.

I'm good.

But I want you to understand that the smallest sin, the smallest offense to a God who is eternal and infinitely worthy, is worthy of eternal condemnation.

This is the nature of sin, isn't it?

This is the nature of offense.

The thing that you do, the punishment that you get for the offense that you do, depends on the person that you do it against.

And so when you were a child, you're playing on the playground and you hit somebody.

I mean, it was a big deal, but it wasn't that big of a deal, was it?

Like you might not have even been suspended, maybe even nobody noticed.

But what happens when you are on the street and you see a police officer and you go and hit that police officer in the same way?

Well, it's not such a good thing, is it?

Now you've offended someone who has more authority.

Well, if that comparison is so stark, the comparison of hitting someone on the school playground versus hitting a police officer, how much more stark is it to sin against the eternal God?

So much so that even the smallest of offenses against an eternal God is worth eternal punishment.

This is your problem.

This is the problem that the holiness of God exposes us to, that we have sinned against the holy God, and we need deliverance.

Second thing I want you to see is that Isaiah cries, Woe is me, because his unclean lips won't allow him to participate in the worship that the seraphim are experiencing.

He desires to sing along the praises of God, but he can't.

Why?

Well, look at verse 4.

It says the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him, so that at every moment Isaiah tried to enter into the throne room.

He could not because the ground was shaking, the pillars were shaking, there was a constant earthquake, and he could look into the throne room, but he could not participate in the activity of the throne room.

The ground was shaking.

Not only that, you see this in verse five, the house was filled with smoke, so that as this house was filling, you can picture it.

He's being able less and less to see what is happening in the throne room.

And he cries, Woe is me! What's gonna happen if I'm not delivered from this mess I'm in?

I can't make it into the throne room.

This is our problem, too, that by our sin we can't access God.

Our sin keeps us away from a God who is holy.

God is holy and he's separate from sin in every way because of our sinfulness.

We cannot draw near to God on our own power.

Something needs to happen to deliver us from our problem.

And deliverance comes for our Isaiah in verse 6.

And we see this about a high view of God, that a high view of God delivers me by an atoning power.

High view of God delivers me by an atoning power.

Look what happens in verse six, in the depth of his problem, as Isaiah begins to consider the fact that his sin, because of his sin, he can't approach a holy God, a solution is presented.

Look at verse six.

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

A seraphim flies out of the throne room and stands in front of Isaiah as the earth is shaking and the room is being filled with smoke.

And you can imagine the fear that's filling Isaiah's heart as this burning one stands in front of him, holding a burning coal.

Look where he got the coal from.

It says he used tongs to grab the coal from the altar.

And you need to understand the significance of the altar and the sacrificial system of Isaiah.

The altar was the place where fire burned day and night.

And fire in the Old Testament was symbolic of God's wrath.

This is why when Moses saw the burning bush that was on fire and the fire wasn't going out, God said to him, Stay back, because this is a consuming fire of my judgment.

Take off your feet, for take off your sandals, for this is holy ground.

And the same fire of God's judgment burns on this altar 24-7.

And the priests of the sacrificial system are commanded to make sacrifices on this altar for the sins of Israel, to be a payment for the way that Israel has turned away from the Lord, to be an atonement for their sins, so that Israel can be delivered from the problem of their sin.

And so God says, set up this altar and burn your uh greatest animals on it day and night.

And from this altar, a seraphim with tongs grabs a coal and flies over to Isaiah.

Isaiah has been exposed to the holiness of God.

He's been exposed to the fullness of his sin.

But here, the seraphim stands in front of him with a coal from the altar.

Say atonement has been made.

The payment for your sin has been paid.

That the penalty of your sin has been paid for.

There's been a sacrifice, Isaiah.

You have a great problem, but there's been a great provider.

And this coal has very functionally experienced God's burning wrath.

God's wrath has been poured out on this animal on your behalf.

And I'm holding this coal in front of you, Isaiah.

And look what happens in verse 7.

And he touched my mouth.

But this is coal from the altar.

And he said, Behold, this has touched your lips.

Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.

When the coal touches the lips of Isaiah, Isaiah is forgiven.

And it's not magical, but the forgiveness required a blood payment.

And the man who had unclean lips coming from a nation of unclean lips in that very moment is forgiven of all of his sins.

The payment is made for his sin.

The penalty is paid.

Church, you see how this passage is dripping with the gospel.

That we, like Isaiah, stood far away from God.

We couldn't access him.

And instead of a seraphim flying to us, the very Son of God came from heaven to earth in the womb of his mother.

Lived a perfect life.

He began his ministry among us when he was 30.

And Jesus has walked this earth and stood in front of us very much like that seraphim.

And instead of holding a coal to our lips, his hands were nailed to the cross.

Instead of offering us a coal, he offered us himself as the atonement for our sins, as the payment for our penalties, as the justification for us, that we might be righteous.

God has done so much more for us than send us a seraphim with a coal.

He has sent us his very own son that we might have salvation in him.

And Jesus stands here today and offers anybody who will place their faith in him salvation today.

He says today is the day of salvation.

If you'll just place your faith in the sacrifice that Jesus made, Jesus stands in front of you this morning to declare that your sins can be forgiven, not magically, but by the blood of the cross, by the payment of his atonement, that he shed his blood, his flesh was torn, the nails were driven through his hand, so that you might have life and life to the full, that you might be in his presence for all of eternity, simply by faith.

God's called you to be cleansed.

The question is, do you come to the altar?

Will you receive salvation?

I want you to notice that it doesn't end here.

Isaiah is purified, but he's also given a purpose.

And so the fourth thing I want you to see about a high view of God is that it sends us on an ambitious pursuit.

When I have a high view of God, it sends me on an ambitious pursuit.

And so look what happens in verse 8.

Isaiah says, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send?

And who will go for us?

Church, look what Isaiah says.

He says, Here I am.

Send me.

This is the response of every person who has seen the holiness of God and been delivered from their sinful situation.

They're not content just to stop it there.

They turn to God and they say, God, here I am, send me.

God, use me in any way that you will.

Your response must be to God.

God, here I am.

My life, it's a blank check for you.

Everything is yours.

God, what do you want me to do?

God, how do you want me to raise these children?

God, how do you want me to treat my wife?

God, how do you want me to treat my husband?

God, how do you want me to speak in the workplace for your glory?

God, how do you want me to serve your church?

God, my life is a blank check for you.

Here I am, send me, use me for your purposes.

I am a redeemed person.

When God purifies you, He gives your life purpose.

Ultimately, you wake up every day to say this with Isaiah: here I am, Lord, send me, use me today for your purposes, not for my glory, but for yours, God.

The calling, it won't be glamorous.

We often end a sermon in Isaiah chapter 6 at verse 8.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

And it seems like a really glamorous thing, but in verse 9, we're told, verses 9 through 13, that no one's going to listen.

Isaiah's going to go on a mission for God, and ultimately his ministry in our eyes will be completely unsuccessful.

No one will be saved.

He'll preach judgment to the nations.

God prophesies, he says, keep on hearing, but do not understand.

Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.

See, Isaiah's mission in very many ways will not be successful in our eyes, but it is successful in God's eyes, because Isaiah is submitted to the mission of God.

Church, can I ask you this question?

Have you given your life to the one who sends you?

Having been purified, have you purposed your life for him, saying, God, here I am, send me.

This morning we're gonna celebrate communion.

And in very many ways, this is a communion passage.

We're gonna have someone walk to the front with a plate.

If you missed grabbing the communion cup on your way in, they're gonna get it into your hands.

We celebrate communion to remember that the solution God has given to us and the problem of our sin is Jesus Christ Himself.

We could not access God, we could not dwell in God's presence having sinned before him.

But Jesus came to us, and he extended by his blood and his body.

An offer of forgiveness to us.

And so we take this cup of juice, we take this cracker as a symbolic representation that Jesus has come for our forgiveness.

That as we declared alongside Isaiah, Woe is me, for I am lost, Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

And we have accepted his forgiveness by faith.

Jesus fixed our problem by becoming our atonement.

But to take this cup is to do more than that.

It's with Isaiah to say that we are saved to be sent.

It's with Isaiah to say, here I am, Lord, send me.

I receive your forgiveness in order that I might be an instrument in your hands, God.

We're saved to be sent.

You're going to find here a cup with two layers on top.

If you peel off the top layer, you'll be able to get to the bread.

And if you peel off the bottom layer, you'll be able to get to the juice.

As we celebrate communion together, I want to remind you that this is a celebration that's reserved for believers.

As we participate in this communion, we're participating in our union with Christ.

And so if you're not a believer, if you haven't placed your faith in Jesus Christ, we would just ask that you let this pass.

And I'd like to even invite you again in this moment to place your faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus stands here today, invites you to this cup, say that forgiveness can be yours if you'll just believe.

Today's the day of salvation for you.

So we'd love for you to join us if you're able.

Another reason why you might not participate in the celebration this morning is because maybe you're harboring sin in your life that you're just not repentant of.

I don't mean sin in general.

We all sin, we all struggle with sin.

My question to you is, are you battling?

Do you recognize your lostness?

Do you recognize your need for deliverance?

And are you saying, God, in every area of my life, every room of my heart, Lord, it's yours.

I don't want the sin.

Deliver me from it, cleanse me from it.

If you ask forgiveness, Jesus is faithful to forgive you.

But if your heart is hardened to any sin this morning, if there's any way that you're unwilling to change, that God's pressing into you, you need to let go of the sin, but you're holding on to it.

And Paul actually says, you eat and drink judgment on yourself by taking of this communion cup.

And so we just ask that you please let it pass.

I want to invite you for a few moments right now just to reflect on the gospel.

Remind yourself of the problem of your sin.

And that Jesus has become very practically your atoning deliverer.

Let's take a moment just to reflect on all that Jesus has done for us.

Father, we thank you for Jesus.

God, we imagine for a moment what life would be like if we were stuck in that situation Isaiah was in where he had no access to you.

Lord, we imagine what it would be like if we had no deliverer.

We would have no hope.

We would be lost without salvation.

We would have have nothing to do but to mourn over our eternal damnation.

And yet, Lord, you through the fire have sent your own Son, Jesus Christ, to us to cleanse us, to complete our righteousness, and to call us into eternity with you.

God, we're amazed.

Lord, this truth never grows old.

It is so amazing to be saved.

And so we thank you for Jesus Christ.

Thank you for the blood that He shed for us.

God, we praise you that it washes over us and now we celebrate the freedom of forgiveness, the gospel applied to us, union with Christ, being forgiven of every sin.

Lord, we thank you for the cleansing of the cross.

We praise you for the celebration that we now get to partake in in the communion cup.

Lord, we pray this in the name of your Son.

Amen.

On that night with his disciples, Jesus took the bread and he broke it.

He said, This is my body broken for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

You can eat the bread.

After he took the cup and he reminded them that this cup symbolized his blood that was shed for the forgiveness of their sins, the establishing of a new covenant with them.

Let's celebrate his blood together.

Let's pray one more time.

Father, thank you.

Thank you for your cleansing blood, God.

Lord, we praise you for who you are.

God, that you have not hidden yourself.

You have revealed yourself to us.

That the worship that is happening right now in heaven, as the angels declare, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, as they declare, worthy is the lamb who was slain, who received glory and honor and power.

God, as they declare that you have revealed yourself to us to see you in the fullness of your holiness, to see you in the fullness of your glory and beauty, and to delight in you in the same way, lifting our voices and worship to you.

God, thankful for all that you have done in Jesus Christ.

We give you all the praise, God.

Thank you.

We worship you now in a response to who you are and all that you've done.

God, we pray this in the name of your Son.

Amen.

You stand and worship with me.