Scripture Alone: God’s Holy Word

Isaiah 6:1–8 ESV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” 8 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.”

Genuine worship flows from a humbled heart, redeemed, and compelled by the fame of the Name of Jesus.

During the reign of King Uzziah.

Isaiah 1:1 (ESV)

1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah…

King Uzziah was one of the four kings in Israel’s Southern Kingdom (Judah) around the year 740 BC.

He was a prosperous king for Israel.

He started out as a good king.

But eventually grew proud which led to his downfall (2 Chronicles 26:5, 16).

So when we read in Isaiah 6:1…

Isaiah 6:1 (ESV)

1 In the year that King Uzziah died…

Imagine the turmoil that exists around the death of a king.

It is similar to the death of a political leader in our own day but much more extreme.

In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

It created great uncertainty for the United States as a nation.

A nation’s leader had passed on.

A nation’s leader was gone.

So many questions surrounded the nation.

His funeral train was marked by grief, fear, and confusion as a nation.

Questions like,

“Will our enemies invade?”

“Will we be able to be sustained as a nation?”

“What will happen to us?”

Isaiah 6:1 ESV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Isaiah likely on his way to the temple that day.

He’s confronted with a grandiose picture of the Sovereign Lord.

Notice that even though Uzziah has died, Yahweh’s throne remains.

Yahweh’s throne is UNMOVED in the face of discouragement and disappointment.

Israel’s earthly king lay dead in the grave.

Yet Yahweh will show Isaiah that the Sovereign Lord still reigns.

The Sovereign Lord of Heaven has not left.

The Sovereign Lord of heaven is still reigning and ruling in Heaven.

Genuine worship flows from an awe-filled vision of God.

Isaiah 6:1 (ESV)

…I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Not only does He remain on His throne but His garments are so lofty that they fill the entire temple.

Isaiah 6:2 ESV

2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

There are angelic beings that stand in His presence.

These are not pudgy little babies that are flying around like we so often see depicted.

There is something far more amazing and terrifying.

Fear and Terror

I remember one occasion that I was

“Seraphim” literally means, “burning ones.”

We don’t know much about them other than that they are “flaming creatures.”

Isaiah 6:2 (ESV)

Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

Two for flying.

Covering the face, so as to NOT look directly upon Yahweh.

Covering the feet, regarded as the most “impure” part of the whole body.

These majestic creatures are amazingly awe-inspiring.

But what’s crazy is how they are almost as NOTHING in comparison to Yahweh Himself.

Notice also what they speak…

Isaiah 6:3–4 ESV

3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

These majestic beings can ONLY cry out to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy!”

When you want to emphasize a term in Hebrew, you stack it.

“Pure gold” (2 Kings 25:15) is just “gold gold”

Words are repeated and stacked upon one another for emphasis.

But the word “Holy” here is repeated unlike any other word in the whole Bible.

The word “Holy” here is repeated three consecutive times.

What does “holy” mean then?

Some have argued that to holiness is merely to be “separate” or to be “set apart.”

Its true that a result of holiness is being separated from wickedness.

It cannot merely mean to be separate from them because this vision would make no sense.

Holiness has also be interpreted before as essentially the same as “purity.”

But again this falls prey to the same logic as before.

It looks at the fruit of holiness and NOT holiness itself.

Holiness I would contend is to be utterly DEVOTED.

Self-Love & the Affront of Holiness

We are told in every setting of life,

“You need to love yourself more!”

“You need to do you and love yourself more!”

The next time you hear someone say that you need to realize that you’re being tempted with a false religion.

You’re being tempted with a false religion.

You’re being tempted with ultimate allegiance to the ‘god’ of self.

What is a person really saying when they say “you need to love yourself?”

I would contend that they are saying…

“You need to be committed to your needs first and foremost!”

“You need to be committed to yourself!”

“Be devoted to YOU!”

It’s at this point that we see how gross self-love is.

Self-love is an affront to the HOLINESS of God.

Because God’s Holiness is HIS utter devotion to Himself.

Holiness is God’s utter commitment to Himself.

“Holiness is not identical with moral purity, although there is a connection. Holiness should not be defined as moral purity, but rather purity is the result of being completely devoted to God as defined by the covenant.” —Peter Gentry, (The Meaning of ‘Holy’ in the Old Testament, 413)

This God is so unlike you and I.

He is so different than we are.

We are such half-hearted creatures.

Devoted to this.

Devoted to that.

But He is utterly committed to all that He IS.

He is utterly committed to every aspect of Himself.

We see here GOD’s GOD-NESS if you will.

What does this mean for Isaiah?

Overwhelmed by the Holiness of God

Isaiah is overwhelmed by the transcendence of Yahweh.

He is overwhelmed by the utter HOLINESS of Yahweh.

Yahweh is UTTERLY devoted to Himself.

He is utterly devoted and to His character.

He is utterly devoted to His being.

He is utterly devoted to His standard.

He is utterly devoted to His attributes.

His love is a HOLY love.

His justice is a HOLY justice.

His mercy is a HOLY mercy.

“We must not think of God as the highest in an ascending order of beings, starting with the single cell, and going on up from the fish to the bird to the animal to man to angel to cherub to God.

God is as high above an archangel as above a caterpillar, for the gulf that separates the archangel from the caterpillar is but finite, while the gulf between God and the archangel is infinite.” —A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, 70

At this point it’s important to make a connection to the New Testament.

The Apostles and New Testament writers saw Jesus in this vision of Yahweh to Isaiah.

John 12:40–41 ESV

40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.

Isaiah’s vision of the LORD sitting on the throne is the Lord Jesus as the preincarnate Word.

Isaiah saw Him, Jesus Christ, when He saw the glory in the temple.

For Christians, the awe-filled vision of God does NOT come from…

Strange visions.

It comes from seeing and beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:4–6 ESV

4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For 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 God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Christian Life

This means that your ability to hold on to the promises of God do not depend ultimately on you.

They depend on His Holy character to uphold the promises He has made.

What is the response to an half-hearted creature before a HOLY God?

Genuine worship fueled by the “undone” man.

Isaiah 6:5 (ESV)

5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost…

Isaiah’s only response is to call down a curse upon himself.

Isaiah 6:5 (KJV 1900)

Woe is me! for I am undone…

“Undone”

“Split apart”

“Silenced like a dead man!”

This is the experience of someone who is unholy before the HOLY ONE.

Pierced before the King of Heaven.

“I am coming undone!”

“I am being ripped apart at the seams!”

For many, the idea of being “ripped apart” at the seams doesn’t seem pleasing.

It doesn’t even seem like a good thing at all.

It actually sounds like a terrifying reality.

But I would observe that worship must consist of a person being “undone” by the King of Heaven.

It’s actually the same word for when the people are pierced from Peter’s preaching in Acts 2.

Acts 2:37 (ESV)

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart…

Genuine worship is fueled by the person who is “undone.”

It’s the same experience when the Word is preached and an unbeliever hears it and…

1 Corinthians 14:25 ESV

25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

Genuine worship propagates with the person pierced by the Holy One of Heaven.

How do you rank how well a worship service goes for us here at GLBC?

Albert Mohler once made the observation from an unbelieving British philosopher (Roger Scruton).

How do you know the object of a people’s worship?

How do you know what a people really believe about their worship?

“God is defined in the act of worship far more precisely than he is defined by any theology.”

A more appropriate way to say this would be,

“Show me what the church does in worship far more than their statement of faith.”

The philosopher essentially says,

“Don’t pay attention to the theologian, watch the people at worship.”

Don’t listen to what they say they believe.

Listen to what the people sing.

Listen to what they say.

Listen to how they pray.

Listen to what they pray.

The core of our worship is NOT found in dense statements of what we say.

Would an observer know the HOLINESS of the God we serve?

Would an observer know the MERCY of the God we serve?

Would an observer know the GOSPEL by our worship?

Notice the reason for Isaiah’ coming “undoneness”…

Isaiah 6:5 ESV

5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Unclean lips before the King of Heaven.

Remember, he is the prophet to Israel.

The prophet.

The person who speaks to the people on behalf of God.

This prophet confesses that even his lips are unclean before the Sovereign King of Heaven.

Isaiah is UNABLE to join the seraphim of heaven that cry out, “Holy, holy, holy!” because his lips are unclean.

Isaiah’s lips and the lips of the people that Isaiah dwells among are filled with challenging words to Yahweh.

They are filled with challenges to Yahweh and His authority and power.

They are filled with grumbling and complaining.

They are filled with “flippant repetitions and self-justifying excuses” (Ray Ortlund Jr.)

The Church and the Silencing of Worship

Isaiah is unable to worship with the Seraphim.

He is unable to worship with the one’s crying out, “Holy, holy, holy!”

He is unable to worship with them because of his own impure lips.

He realized his guilt but without the ability to atone for it.

He realized his desperate estate without the ability to fix it.

What will he be left to do?

Genuine worship motivated by the redemption of God.

Isaiah 6:6 ESV

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

Notice the place where the coal comes from for Isaiah’s cleansing.

The altar.

The altar is the place that represents the place of atonement.

The place that represents the sacrificial system in Israel is the altar.

It’s from the altar that the cleansing for sin comes to Isaiah’s lips.

Redemption in atonement before a Holy God.

The altar was the place of atonement.

It was the place where holiness was “accepted, and was satisfied by, the death of a substitutionary sacrifice” (Alec Motyer)

This imagery that is described here screams to us of the importance of Christ.

The person whom the altar pointed is the Lord Jesus.

The burning coal shows us the atonement offered in the Lord Jesus.

If there was any doubt before, it is quickly removed by what the Seraphim says to Isaiah.

Isaiah 6:7 ESV

7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Redemption in cleansing of guilt before a Holy God.

Remember that Isaiah is a prophet.

A prophet’s main function was to speak with their lips.

And this prophet shows us that even their best works.

Even his best gifting.

“Brokenness is repentance before God that says, ‘I will hurry to adjust to God's glory because His glory includes mercy for me.’”—Ray Ortlund

Isaiah—God Saves Sinners The Prophet is Sent

A guilty conscience, liberated by grace, unleashes us. The gospel says to us, “That sin most damning to your conscience, that sin haunting your memory—Christ carried it far away to his cross, where it died under God’s wrath. Justice has been satisfied. You are released!”

Genuine worship compels a messenger for God’s Mission.

Yahweh is commissioning His messenger as a prophet.

A prophet’s job was to represent God to the people.

He was going to speak on behalf of Yahweh and speak Yahweh’s Words after Him.

Isaiah 6:8 ESV

8 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.”

How amazing!

Isaiah stands in the presence of the Holy God of the Universe.

He stands in the courtroom of Heaven.

He hears the amazing sound of the Almighty calling for someone to go as a messenger!

Isaiah’s cry,

“Here I am! Send me!”

“I want to go! Send me as your representative!”

Notice what God says Isaiah’s reception will be…

Isaiah 6:9 ESV

9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

God’s mission regardless of reception.

Isaiah 6:10 ESV

10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Can you imagine how discouraging this would have been for Isaiah?

“You’re going to preach, but they won’t listen.”

“You’re going to proclaim, but nobody will hear.”

It’s hard for us to imagine, but this hardening that came upon Israel happened all the way up until Christ.

John 12:37–38 ESV

37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Jesus preached in parables.

Some think this is the best way to teach people…

But Jesus saw this as actually a judgment upon the people in His hearing.

The parables of Jesus were not to help people hear.

John 12:39–40 ESV

39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

Jesus’ preaching of parables was pronouncing judgment announced by Isaiah.

Jesus’ preaching of parables hardened those who were hard to the message of the gospel.

Jesus’ preaching also softened those who had ears to hear.

This matters for the way we think of hearing the Word of God preached today.

Every time you hear the Word of God preached, it is either hardening you or softening you.

It’s either moving you closer to Christ or further away.

James 1:21 (ESV)

“receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”

It’s either hardening you or softening you.

1 Peter 2:2–3 ESV

2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

“The same sun which melts wax hardens clay. And the same Gospel which melts some persons to repentance hardens others in their sins.” —Charles Spurgeon

Don’t listen to any lie that says…

“If only there was a miracle, then they would open up!”

“If only there was someone kind enough, they would listen!”

Jesus was literally the perfect Son of God, and He was still crucified as a criminal by hardened sinners.

Isaiah 6:11 (ESV)

11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”

Isaiah wants to know,

“How long will it be this way, Lord?”

Isaiah 6:11–12 (ESV)

And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste,

12 and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

The thing is we don’t know what the Lord is doing.

We rarely understand His purposes.

But we know His commission.

Preaching the Word in Hard Places

I know some of you work in hard places.

You have labored to speak of Christ to co-workers and friends.

You have worked hard in speaking the Word to others.

You may even feel extremely discouraged at times because nobody seems to care.

Our job is not to be successful in preaching.

Our job IS to be faithful in our preaching.

Our job IS to faithfully proclaim the truth.

Even if the Word of God is hardening those around us.

We labor on in preaching.

We don’t stew around in the results.

We don’t try and figure out what God is doing with them.

Our God may in fact be calling some of you to places that are even harder than Keyser.

Parents, faithfully speaking the gospel to children in rebellion.

Spouses, faithfully laboring the gospel to your unbelieving spouses.

Children, faithfully speaking the gospel to classmates that mock and ridicule the truth of the Bible.

Missionaries, faithfully going to a land unknown that will be hard to the truth.

God’s mission compelled to the nations.

Isaiah 6:13 (ESV)

13 And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.”

The people of Israel will be decimated.

Taken down by a tenth.

If there were 100, only 10 would remain.

Then the stump that remains will be burnt.

But don’t miss the promise snuck in at the end of Isaiah 6:13

Isaiah 6:13 (ESV)

The holy seed is its stump.

Isaiah 11:1 ESV

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

“One day in the barnyard, the hen and the pig were discussing the difference in meaning between the words “involvement” and “commitment.” The pig told the hen, “When the farmer comes for breakfast tomorrow, you’re only involved, but I’m committed.” The cross is a revelation of the divine holiness.” —Peter Gentry, (The Meaning of ‘Holy’ in the Old Testament, 417)

Genuine worship flows from a humbled heart, redeemed, and compelled by the fame of the Name of Jesus.