A Renewed Glimpse of our King
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Introduction
Introduction
Lord willing, we will pick up our Colossians series next week, but in doing some reading this week I was reminded of and convicted by the passage of Scripture in Isaiah 6. I thought this would be an important passage for us to look at on this last Sunday of 2023 and to enter into 2024 with a RENEWED GLIMPSE OF OUR KING!
In Isaiah 6 the prophet Isaiah received a privilege that only a couple of other people in Scripture and throughout history ever received. It seems that He was ushered into the shekinah glory of God and lived to tell about it.
His vision, not only gave Him a glimpse of his King, but it gives us a glimpse into Him as well. Notice the passage of Scripture with me in Isaiah 6:1-8
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because 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 live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
The first thing I notice about our King from this passage is that...
In contrast to King Uzziah, who reigned for a time and then died,
Our King is Forever Exalted
Our King is Forever Exalted
Notice again Isaiah 6:1
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.
Isaiah is confronted with a MAJESTIC scene in the same year of King Uzziah’s death. It’s difficult for our finite minds to comprehend what this scene must have been like, but Isaiah reveals that the Lord (Master) is seated on a high and lofty throne!
Andrew Davis said this high and lofty throne conveys God’s AUTHORITY and SUPERIORITY.
Isaiah recognizes this King as the Lord (Isaiah’s MASTER). Isaiah’s King is seated in His rightful position on the throne of the universe.
He further describes the majesty that He sees by referencing the “hem” of the King’s royal garment. Just the TRAIN (HEM) of His robe FILLED the temple!
Isaiah then introduces us to the creatures around the throne in Isaiah 6:2-3
Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
The word “seraphim” means BURNING ONES.
Notice what happens in Isaiah 6:4
And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
As these seraphim cry out about God’s glory and majesty, it’s as if an earthquake takes place and shakes the doorposts and the throne room or the temple is filled with smoke!
This is similar to an event recorded in Exodus 19:18-19
Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.
and
Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.
Elwell also notices this parallel. He says:
The temple is filled with the glorious presence of the Lord. He touches the earth in his power and glory, and yet the earth and the earthly temple cannot contain him. The appearance of the Lord...affects all things on earth: the doorposts and thresholds of the temple shake as in an earthquake. When the Lord appeared on Mount Sinai, his revelation was preceded by an earthquake, lightning, and darkness.
In contrast to King Uzziah, who was a sinful king,
Our King is Absolutely Holy
Our King is Absolutely Holy
Notice again what the message of the seraphim emphasizes in Isaiah 6:3
And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
This is very similar to what we see in Revelation 4:8
The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:
“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”
We need to be CONTINUALLY AWARE of the HOLINESS OF GOD!
The idea of holiness is the idea of SEPARATION. God was SEPARATE from the corruption of His people. God is SEPARATE from sin.
When Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden they were SEPARATED from God in a way they had never known before. They were SEPARATED from paradise.
That’s why God sent His Son to provide RECONCILIATION because of the SEPARATION caused by sin!
Elwell goes on to say:
The holiness of the Lord is a most important doctrine in the teaching of Isaiah. Yahweh’s holiness is an expression of his separateness from the corruption of his people. He is the Holy One of Israel and in this sense he is the “wholly other” One.
It’s also important to note the EMPHASIS the seraphim place on God’s holiness. They not only mention it once, but rather emphasize it THREE times and there is a reason! Repeating a word THREE times in the OT suggested EMPHASIS and suggested something was SUPREME or COMPLETE (BKC).
Andrew Davis said this announcement by the seraphim was to EMPHASIZE HOW OVERWHELMING THIS ATTRIBUTE IS.
But as overwhelming, and majestic, and glorious, and magnificent, and HOLY God is, He still offers to DWELL with those who are of a CONTRITE and HUMBLE Spirit. Notice what God would reveal to Isaiah in...
For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
How can we as UNHOLY human beings, enslaved to SIN, have a relationship with the ONE who is FOREVER EXALTED and ABSOLUTELY HOLY.
It begins by
Humbly Acknowledging our Sinfulness
Humbly Acknowledging our Sinfulness
Notice Isaiah’s response when He is confronted with His exalted and holy King...
So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because 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.”
There isn’t much response by believers like this today. When’s the last time God’s majesty and holiness “UNDID” you? Tony Evans says that the concept of being UNDONE is similar to “FALLING APART.” He knew, in the presence of His ELEVATED, HOLY KING that he was INADEQUATE!
As one commentary said:
"In the presence of such holiness, Isaiah felt the weight of his own sinfulness."
By the way this “UNDOING” wasn’t isolated to Isaiah.
Job was undone by God’s holiness and majesty. Keep in mind that Job was a BLAMELESS and UPRIGHT man who FEARED GOD and SHUNNED EVIL! But notice His response when He contemplated God...
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”
How did Peter respond? Notice
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
How did John, the beloved disciple respond? Notice
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.
Isaiah is absolutely UNDONE by what He has been confronted with. Elwell says:
The impact of the vision of God’s holiness, presence, and glory receives an appropriate response, as Isaiah calls out, “Woe to me!” The prophet fears for his life as he is particularly aware of his uncleanness...
Often we are shocked and disturbed by the SINS going on in our world.
We might be shocked and disturbed by the SINS of our children or family members.
BUT WHEN IS THE LAST TIME WE WERE SHOCKED AND DISTURBED BY OUR OWN SINFULNESS!
If we want to see our sin and exceedingly sinful, we need to learn to see God as exceedingly majestic and HOLY!
But there is something else we need to notice about OUR KING...
Our King is Forgiving
Our King is Forgiving
Notice what happens after Isaiah’s confession in Isaiah 6:6-7
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”
This may be a reference to the coals of fire that were in the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement. This was symbolic of God’s forgiveness of Isaiah’s guilt and sin, which is something the whole nation needed!
The word translated “purged” in the NKJV could also be “atoned for.” Isaiah’s sin had been atoned for.
The Faithlife Study Bible says:
The Hebrew word used here can mean covering over or wiping away. Atonement restores the relationship between God and sinners.
Although Isaiah was “UNDONE” as he contemplated his sinfulness before the EXALTED and incredibly HOLY God, God demonstrates GRACE by RESTORING Isaiah and CLEANSING him of his sins.
This reminds me of what I read this past week by Larry Crabb:
"The more you see your sin the more you'll be amazed by His grace."
Today we need to be reminded that we too can be forgiven and cleansed as a result of God’s grace demonstrated in the sacrifice of His Son—Jesus! Think about a few Scriptures that remind us of this:
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
Not only is God FORGIVING, but He...
is Willing
is Willing
Notice Isaiah 6:8
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
God is WILLING to not only forgive us,
but to RESTORE us
and to USE us in His service and for HIS GLORY!
The whole nation of Israel NEEDED the cleansing that Isaiah had received. God wanted someone to go and share His message, even though He knew the outcome wouldn’t be good.
Just as God was WILLING to use Isaiah as His vessel to carry His message, He is also WILLING to use YOU for His glory!
You may feel like you have nothing to offer, you may feel undone and unworthy in His presence, but do as Isaiah did and confess that to God, confess your sin to God and experience the CLEANSING that only He can provide!
SALVATION
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
REDEDICATION
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
DEDICATION TO GOD’S SERVICE
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
SANCTIFICATION from the WORLD and SIN
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
JOYCE’S MEMBERSHIP & Baptism
JOYCE’S MEMBERSHIP & Baptism