Isaiah 6 - Responding to a Holy God

So let's read Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1 to 7.

Isaiah 6:1–7

And with two they were flying and they were calling to one another,

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.

The whole earth is full of his glory.

At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and the thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

Woe to me, I cried, I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips.

And my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

With it he touched my mouth and said, See, this has touched your lips.

Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.

Blake, you're very welcome this morning. Come on ahead.

Blake's wife, Devon, is teaching this morning in with the little ones, so it's great to have you.

Blake is a student at Southern Baptist Seminary in the US, and he's been part of the team this week helping us out.

So I'm going to pray for you and for us, and then preach.

Okay, very good.

Father God, we thank you for your people, your servants, and we thank you for Blake.

We pray for him and for us that we would know the work of your Spirit in our lives,

so that as we hear your words, it would be like a power at work within us,

changing us and helping us to grasp and see how great you are,

how holy you are, and all that you have done for us in Christ.

Father, help us.

May we not leave this building without an encounter with you, the risen Almighty God.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thanks, Blake.

Thank you so much, Johnny.

Let me get my stuff up here.

I want to dump things out on the floor.

It's an absolute honor to be with you all this morning.

We've had a great week.

It's just as we've read this text,

and I think if we're all honest,

this is a very odd piece of Scripture right here.

I feel like this is so unlike,

not I feel, I know,

this is so unlike anything we experience on a regular basis.

To the point, I think, where a lot of times when we read texts such as these,

it's almost as if, you know, did this really happen?

Is this real?

Is this myth?

Is this legend?

Or are these historical realities?

And obviously, we believe them to be,

and they are historical realities,

but the way this vision occurs with Isaiah is so lofty,

it is so high,

that I believe that we are supposed to,

through this text,

be brought to a point,

just as Johnny said,

where we would encounter God.

And so, I want to tell you today,

my main application for us

in preaching this sermon

is just that we would look at who our God is

and be absolutely blown away

with His power,

with His holiness,

and with His grace,

and with His holiness what He has given us.

And so that is what I hope that you were able to get today

from this text

in just seeing how exalted our God is.

And I really want to examine it

in really three sections.

We'll look at the vision,

what Isaiah sees,

we'll talk about that.

Then we'll talk about the creatures,

the seraphim and Isaiah as well,

their reaction to the Lord.

And then we'll talk about the grace of God.

And so, as we see right here,

as you've read,

it talks about King Uzziah.

And so Isaiah,

living around 700 years before the birth of Christ.

That's a long time,

long time ago.

It seems so far removed from us.

He's living so long ago,

and Isaiah,

this king who had been living for a while,

had died,

so it's probably a really anxious period

of what's going to happen next,

what's going to happen in our nation.

And Isaiah is in here,

not sure completely why,

probably to worship,

probably to minister,

as a prophet.

And Isaiah,

this righteous man,

as he comes in,

sees something like no one has ever seen.

He sees the Lord

sitting upon a throne.

And I want to pay close attention

to all these details in the vision

because I think they're very important.

One, that He is on a throne.

He's not on a chair.

That our God does not simply sit at a chair

like we do in a room.

He's not just sitting at the head of a dinner table.

He's not just the CEO

who is the board of directors

who has an important position.

That our God is the sovereign King

of the universe.

And He is upon His throne

ruling with complete control

over His entire creation.

And He is so high and lifted up.

I just love the way this pictures Him here

on this throne lifted up.

I mean, if you think about atheism,

materialism,

which we've encountered a lot this week in Ireland,

same in the United States,

a lot of secular thinking going on.

And the bottom line of atheism

and materialism and naturalism,

the bottom line is that this throne in heaven

doesn't exist.

That there is no God

that we are accountable to.

But this passage tells us

there is a God who is on His throne,

who is the judge,

who is the Lord,

and we are completely accountable to Him

because He has created us.

It says the train of His robe

filled the temple.

You know, in old times

when kings would be sitting on their throne,

they would have these huge,

ridiculously long trains

on their robes as they sat.

And the thing is,

when you're sitting in one of these huge robes,

it's hard to move around

for the kings in the old times.

Because they didn't have to move around

because everyone was at their disposal.

Everyone was serving them.

And I think this is the picture we have of God here

of not that He can't move

because He can,

but that everyone is in submission to Him.

Everyone is in service to Him.

Because why?

Because He is the King.

And we are mere subjects.

And then we see these seraphim.

You may have read the seraphs

in your translation.

Same thing.

And I just find these angelic creatures

so fascinating.

Because, you know,

every time,

when we think about angels,

I think a lot of times

we're tempted to think very,

you know,

maybe they're pretty or they're cute

or they have a halo on their head.

But every time we see angels in Scripture,

it's terrifying.

People are scared.

They're scared for their lives.

And here we have these seraphim.

Literally,

their name means burning ones.

That these creatures are so powerful

that the way that Isaiah is describing them

is they're on fire.

And this is not even God.

These are God's servants.

And these seraphim,

these burning ones who are powerful,

who their sole purpose

is to worship God forever.

It says that they're covering themselves.

They have six wings,

but with four of them,

they're covering their bodies.

They're covering their face.

They're covering their feet.

Why are they doing this?

You know,

if we think to Exodus,

when Moses encounters that burning bush,

what does God command?

He commands,

take off your sandals,

for the place you are standing

is holy ground.

When Joshua,

in Joshua chapter 5,

Joshua 5 · chapter mention

encounters the commander

of the armies of the Lord,

who seems to be God Himself,

this commander of the armies of the Lord

says,

take off your sandals,

for the place you are standing

is holy.

So this is the presence of God,

and the feet

are a humble part of the body.

So these seraphim,

they're shielding themselves,

and they're shielding their faces,

because the sheer holiness

and glory of God,

they can't even behold to look at it.

And these are angels.

So we see their reaction.

We've not even got to the Lord's power.

This is just these angels.

And they say to each other

this beautiful statement,

which we're all so familiar with,

and we sing in songs,

holy, holy, holy

is the Lord of hosts,

the Lord of hosts,

the Lord of armies.

That's what this means.

He's the commander of armies.

This is a powerful God.

This is not a God you can tame.

This is not a God you can bring

under your control.

That He is over all,

and He is not simply holy.

He is not simply doubly holy.

He is holy, holy, holy.

And this repetition is just simply

lifting up God to a level

that is above everything else.

And so we talk about holiness,

but what does that even mean?

You know, what does that even mean?

What does it even mean to be holy?

And the way I think

it's really fit to describe it

is it comes really with two qualities.

One is a quality of morality.

In that God is morally perfect.

He is completely,

His existence is moral perfection.

There is no stain.

There is no dust.

There is no speck to His character.

But He is flawless in who He is.

And there's a relational quality.

Into where our God,

the King,

is separate from His entire creation.

That He is with us,

but at the same time,

He is not like us.

He is transcendent.

He is so far above us.

And this is what we see of our God

in His holiness.

And so just as we see this vision,

I know it's like,

wow, this is so abstract.

But I think we need to try to picture

these things in our minds.

Because every time God shows up in Scripture,

it seems the way He is described,

words cannot do it justice.

But here we have the Lord.

Holy, holy, holy.

Then we see the reaction here.

We've already seen the reaction

of the seraphim to Him.

They're speaking and saying His praises.

But it says that when this angel speaks,

it says in verse 4,

the foundations of the thresholds shook.

I mean, what if this room,

if an angel came in this room,

and the room just began to shake to a point

where you think the building is going to fall?

The doorposts are going to give way

that these angels are so powerful.

And so you think these angels are powerful.

What about the power

of the one sitting on this throne?

This is their reaction to Him.

These are their words.

But when we think about the Word of God,

it is to a level

that is so unimaginably above this.

I loved you read 2 Corinthians 4, 6.

God, who said,

let light shine out of darkness,

has shone in our hearts

to give the light of the knowledge

of the glory of Christ.

It literally takes the very Word of God

to save us.

His power.

That when God speaks,

even...

Oh, and I love this in the Bible.

Inanimate matter responds to Him.

That creatures that we would...

Things that we would not...

Not creatures.

Things that we call not living

respond to God.

One of my favorite passages

in the Scripture

is Psalm 97, 5.

It says that the mountains

melt like wax

before the Lord.

When you think about Mount Everest

and how many people try

to champion up to the top of that hill

and post their flag

and take a picture

and they pay so much money to go

and they go to this mountain

in this majestic piece of God's creation.

It's terrifying.

I don't know if there was a movie

a while back called Everest.

And I don't know if any of you have seen that,

but it's terrifying at points

how this mountain can just swallow you.

It's so great.

And so many people have died

simply at the hand of this mountain.

And this is a mere piece of God's creation.

A mere piece of His power.

And when God,

He approaches Mount Everest,

it's just like a candle melting in His way.

This is our God.

We think about Jesus

when He's coming into Jerusalem

and the disciples are proclaiming Him.

Hosanna, Hosanna!

And the Pharisees rebuke them

and try to quiet them.

Jesus says,

if you quiet them,

even the rocks will cry out.

And I just love this

about how the creation responds to God.

And so when thinking about this,

I mean, how in the world

is a mere human going to fare

in God's presence?

I would say it's going to be

quite startling.

That's what we see in Isaiah,

of Isaiah here.

I just want to read these words again.

That this fountain,

the temple is shaking.

It's filled with smoke.

I believe it's filled with the very glory of God.

And in verse 5,

Isaiah makes this statement.

And I said,

Woe is me,

for I am lost.

Your translation may say ruined.

Cut off.

For I am a man of unclean lips

and I dwell in the midst

of a people of unclean lips.

Why?

Why is this His response?

He says,

For my eyes have seen the King.

My eyes have seen the Lord of hosts.

You see, this is what happens

when we encounter God.

If you have truly encountered God,

this is your first response.

As you realize

exactly who you are.

And this is what Isaiah is realizing here.

You know,

I find in life that

about the time I get

of one sin under control

by the power of the Holy Spirit,

God reveals to me

something else about myself.

Well, now you've got this,

but look at this pride

you have over here.

Look at this,

a little bit of hatred in your heart

towards this person.

And as He reveals these things to us,

we experience this godly guilt

that sometimes it's really debilitating.

And the conviction is strong

and we're discouraged

because, oh,

we're so imperfect compared to God.

But can you imagine

not having a taste,

but all of your sin

revealed to you at once?

And I believe this is what Isaiah

is experiencing right here.

He is seeing the fullness

of his cursed nature before God

because he is standing

and seeing himself

in the reflection of God's glory

and he is,

what he would say,

worthless.

Woe is me!

He's saying,

I'm cursed!

He's saying,

I'm going to die!

Death is the condemnation

right here before this god.

I'm lost.

I'm cut off.

I'm ruined.

And I love what he says.

This is so telling

of who we are

born in our sin.

He says,

I'm a man of unclean lips.

Just as these seraphim

are crying out,

holy, holy, holy,

Isaiah is saying,

I'm not worthy

to say

what those angelic creatures

are saying.

I'm not worthy

to even speak.

I'm not worthy

to even look.

The only thing I deserve

is death

before this god

because he is so far

above me.

You know,

I remember when I was

seven years old,

before then,

the previous two years,

so I'm obviously

very young,

I was five and six years old,

my parents were continually

telling me about the gospel

and I knew that I needed it.

I knew that was right.

I knew there was a god

and I knew I needed

to be saved,

but I just didn't really

understand.

I just didn't really

understand sin

and my dad kind of

recognized that

and so he kind of

put it off.

He said,

you know,

let's wait,

let's see

until you truly

understand this.

I remember when I was

seven years old,

it was some night,

it was in February

and I was

walking down the hall

just a regular night.

Nothing special

had happened that night.

I walked in my

bathroom,

I shut the door

and I remember

when I walked in that room,

I don't know what happened,

but all of a sudden

everything that I had

ever heard about Scripture,

specifically about sin,

made sense to me

and I remember

being terrified

in that bathroom

because I finally

understood exactly

what my sin

is going to bring forth

and I realized

I was destined for hell.

I knew it

and I started weeping

and so my dad

and mom had heard me

in the bathroom

and I was crying

and I remember just

but I knew

my dad had taught me

if you call

on the name of the Lord,

if you call

on the name of Jesus

and what He has done,

you will be saved

and so I didn't

waste any time.

I'm going straight for it.

I'm crying,

Lord, would you save me?

And I remember

I was still crying

because I remember

it was just emotional.

I mean,

of me recognizing this

and remember

we went in the living room

and we celebrated

and it was great

but it didn't happen

apart from me

coming undone.

And that is the truth

for all of us.

to experience salvation,

God first

has to bring us

to a point

where we are undone,

where we recognize

who we are before Him.

This room is full

in all of us

of idolatry

that we probably

don't even know we have.

Of lies that we've told.

Of unfaithfulness

in our thoughts

to our spouses.

In coveting others.

And oh,

we could go on and on.

I don't have to speak

of these things

because we know,

you know personally

where you struggle.

You know the sin

that easily besets you.

And even in your mind

right now,

you go straight to it.

To the sin

that you struggle with.

And we know these things.

And an encounter

with this holy God

reveals them.

We can't hide.

We can't hide from Him.

And His omnipresence,

His omniscience,

and Him knowing all things.

And just I want to say

for a believer,

if you have recognized

your sin

and put your faith

and trust in Christ,

there is something

to holiness

and seeking holiness

that produces something

that nothing else can.

You know,

we always need to be reliant

on the grace of God.

If you've been to any

of the talks this week,

we talked about grace alone.

And as part of the Tim team,

as part of the Bible talks

that we're given.

But I'm convinced

that the only thing

that will draw you back

to the grace of God

is seeking to be holy.

Not because you can

earn your salvation.

Obviously, that's impossible.

But as we seek

to live a holy life

and we seek to tame

our tongues better,

as we seek to constrain

what we're watching

on television,

because we want to honor

God with what our eyes

are seeing.

And when we're doing

all these things,

the more we seek holiness,

the more we're going

to realize how much

in need of the grace

of God we are.

And I'm convinced

that seeking the holiness

of God is the only thing

that will continually

draw you to your knees

so that we will see

our need for grace.

And so as we're thinking

about all these things,

I'm going to make,

you know,

just a connection here

about Christ.

I want to give four examples

of Christ in the New Testament

and responses of things

to Him.

You know,

obviously we see that

Jesus says the rocks

will cry out

if the disciples don't.

We see that,

you know,

when He is out on the water

with His disciples

and there's a storm brewing

and they're crying out to Him

because they think

they're going to die

if the storm is so bad.

Jesus simply speaks

and the entire sea

is like probably

a sheet of glass.

No storm,

no wind,

it's just quiet.

We see creation

responding to Jesus

this way.

When Jesus encounters

demons in Mark,

there's at one point

where this demon

shrieks out

and he says,

what are you to do with us?

Oh,

Son of the Most High God,

have you come to torment us

before the day of judgment?

The demons

recognize who Jesus is.

The demons recognize

this Holy One of God

and are worried

that He is going to send them to hell.

We see Peter

when he calls Peter.

I find this one of the most

fascinating places in Scripture.

Jesus gets in the boat

with Peter

and says,

Peter,

cast your nets.

And what does Peter say?

He says,

Lord,

we've been fishing all day.

We ain't caught anything.

You know?

But,

you know,

if you tell me

to put the nets out,

I will.

And so Peter puts these nets out

and what does he do?

He brings in this huge

haul of fish.

And what's Peter's response?

Does he say,

oh,

wow,

that's great.

Or,

man,

this is exciting.

Oh,

we're going to eat for a month.

Oh,

I'm not going to have to fish for a month.

He doesn't say any of those things.

He sits there and he says,

depart from me,

for I am a sinful man.

Oh,

Lord.

Peter's interaction with Jesus

is seeing his sin.

And then I say,

one of the most intense

encounters with Christ

in Revelation 1

when John sees Christ,

the Lamb of God.

And John says,

when I saw him,

I fell at his feet

as though I was dead.

You know,

what is so beautiful about this,

and I just find it to be

one of the greatest conundrums,

is that Jesus

is this King.

He is this Lord of hosts.

Specifically in John,

John 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12,

we don't just know this

from the canon of Scripture.

I mean,

if you think of Scripture as a whole,

we know Jesus

is the Word became flesh.

He's the exact imprint,

the exact radiance of God

according to Hebrews 1.

He is Colossians 1.15,

the Creator of all things.

All things are created by Him,

for Him,

through Him.

But we,

not only know that

from the whole witness of Scripture,

but we know this

because John,

in his Gospel,

in chapter 12,

quotes Isaiah 6.

Specifically,

he quotes verses 8-13.

I won't read those,

but in this,

Jesus quotes this Scripture.

John records it.

And after the Scripture

of Isaiah 6 is recorded,

John says,

something very interesting.

He says,

Isaiah spoke of this

because he saw His glory.

John 12.41.

And contextually,

John is talking about Christ.

And what I want you to know today

is this same King,

this same Lord of hosts,

walked on this earth.

And we are accountable to Him.

And this is what I say

in about every single evangelistic conversation I have.

And I've said it this week several times.

When I've talked about who Jesus is,

basically it comes to this point.

I say,

what are you going to do with Jesus?

Because our lives demand a response.

No one encounters this God

and leaves without responding.

There's a response that has to be to Jesus.

And I ask you today,

what has been the response in your life?

Have you recognized this sin

that this passage is talking about?

Has it gripped you like this?

So that you need an atonement of some sort.

You need a Savior.

How are we going to respond to Jesus?

We see then this grace of God.

In verse 6, it says,

One of the seraphim flew to me,

having in his hand a burning coal.

He had taken with tongs from the altar.

He touched my mouth and said,

Behold, this has touched your lips.

Your guilt is taken away

and your sin atoned for.

I mean, can you imagine

Isaiah's rejoicing at this point,

realizing he's not going to die.

He's not cursed anymore.

The Lord is telling him,

You're forgiven.

But how in the world does this happen?

How is God justified in doing this?

And I think we know this answer.

But isn't it crazy

that 700 years

before Jesus was even born,

God's plan

in sending His Son

is so sure

that He can forgive Isaiah

on the spot

because of His faith.

He can forgive him

because the work of Christ

is coming.

And what is so crazy

about who Jesus is

is that God becomes a man.

And Christ,

being fully man,

fulfills these traits of holiness

that you and I never can.

We just never can.

But we see Jesus' entire life,

we see the moral perfection,

we see it in Him

honoring His parents.

In the way He treats others.

The way He responds to those

who cannot help themselves,

who cannot do anything,

who are poor,

who have leprosy.

We see the way

that He defeats Satan

in the wilderness.

Forty days fasting,

overcoming those three temptations.

We see Him overcoming

temptation in the garden.

As He poured out Himself

to God in prayer

that He might be able

to go to the cross.

And we see not a speck

in Christ's character

as a man.

And He does all this

and He dies.

And I want to say this

this morning.

Let me be honest with you

about something

so long in my life

up until I was about

probably 18, 19 years old.

My dad's a pastor.

I've heard the gospel

millions of times.

Right?

But there came a point

in my life

where I knew Christ.

I was following Him.

But there came a point

of recognition

when I was about

18 or 19 years old.

I'm so used to hearing

the gospel

that I forgot

how ridiculous it is.

Of how crazy

what we believe is.

We literally believe

God became a man.

He lived a sinless life.

He was crucified

on a cross

becoming a curse

for our sin

and bearing the wrath

of God.

And we believe

He was raised

from the dead.

We believe

He was raised

from the dead.

And that is ridiculous.

That is crazy.

And I think

it's fine to admit

that is really

hard to believe.

I would be lying

to you

if I said

I didn't have doubts

about these things.

But I'm trusting

in God

because I know

this is the reality.

I know He's real.

But I think

we never need

to let it be lost

on us.

How amazing

the resurrection

of Christ

is

in His life.

And that it was

His blood

that was shed

for us

that is the only

reason that Isaiah

can be forgiven

right here.

In simply

throwing himself

to the mercy

of God.

And abiding

in the righteousness

of Christ.

I don't know

where everyone is

in this room today.

But my prayer

is you understand

your sin.

That you're not

getting out of it.

There's no way

around it.

There's not enough

charity you can do.

I had a guy

tell me this week

I tried to do

a lot of charity

and I had to tell him

that's great

but it's not going

to save your soul.

It won't.

He's commanded us

to repent

and believe the Gospel.

Believe what Christ

has done.

Just to mention

something about

this coal.

Puts the coal

on his lips.

This hot

flaming coal

and I love

what Charles Spurgeon

some of you

may be familiar

with him

some of you

may have no idea

who that is

and that's

perfectly fine.

It doesn't matter.

But I want to read

this quote

by Spurgeon.

He says

the Lord

who is a

consuming fire

can only be

fitly served

by those

who are on

fire

whether they

be angels

or men.

These angels

are burning

but you know

what the truth

is for us?

We can only

serve God

when we have

truly been

had that moment

of salvation

that we read

in 2 Corinthians 4

where God

has shown

into our hearts

and He has

set us on fire

for His glory

that we would

be filled

with zeal

and love

for Him

and love

for others

to proclaim

the hope

that is in this.

Even as we've

been here

there have

been things

happened this

week

that are just

the epitome

of living

in a cursed

world.

And there's

hurt

and there's

pain

and there's

anxieties

and there's

stress

and there's

sin in our

lives

but God

has come

to heal

He's come

to restore

He has come

to atone

for us.

And so my

question today

is maybe you

have experienced

this but

maybe it's

time to

reflect again

on how

powerful our

God is

and ask

am I living

a life that

is set on

fire for the

glory of God

for this

holy God

and as I'll

close I'll

just mention

this

it doesn't

stop here

for Isaiah

the Lord

commissions him

to go

preach

to go

preach to a

people he

says who

won't listen

and the

same is

for us

when we

believe upon

the Lord

Jesus Christ

he commissions

us

commissions us

to love him

with all his

heart

to abide in

his grace

but he

commissions us

to proclaim

the gospel

and so I

pray today

that you

would be

amazed

by the

holiness

of our

God

the power

of our

God

and that

the rest

of this

week

the rest

of your

life

would be

constrained

by him

and that

with all

your heart

that because

of his

grace

that you

would live

a life

commissioned

and sent

just to

please him

and to

tell others

to tell

everyone

about this

because a

man being

raised from

the dead

is not

something to

keep to

ourselves

would you

pray with

me this

morning

Lord I

just thank

you so

much

you were

so good

to us

oh God

I thank

you that

we have

this recorded

for us

to read

just about

oh your

beauty

we love

you God

we thank

you that

you have

paid the

penalty for

our sin

Lord I

pray that

you would

save

save and

advance your

kingdom God

through these

churches I

pray for all

the churches

in this area

and in this

network God

that you would

use them to

honor yourself

that they would

be holy and

that at the

last day

because of

Christ they

would be

presented holy

and blameless

before you

Lord I

pray all

this in

the name

of Jesus

Amen