Prayer Meeting Jan 25 (2)
Notes
Transcript
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, 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 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 seraphim 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.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’
Isaiah is given a vision of the LORD seated on a throne — high and exalted. The temple shakes. Smoke fills the room. And the seraphim cry out:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
God’s holiness isn’t just moral purity - in the sense that he’s just much better than we are.
It’s his utter otherness, his blazing perfection,
his absolute right to judge and rule.
the whole earth is full of his glory.
. He is the God before whom every person will stand.
So when we think about evangelism, Passion for Life — it must begin here.
We are not offering lifestyle tips or spiritual encouragement.
We are speaking about the holy Lord of all the earth.
That’s why prayer must come first -
We don’t make this God known by cleverness or confidence, but by dependence.
However - A Holy God is not ‘obviously’ good news!
Isaiah’s response as he sees the His Holy God,
‘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.’
A faithful, godly man. And yet in the presence of God’s holiness, he doesn’t feel inspired or affirmed. He feels undone.
He doesn’t say, “I need a second chance,” or “I need help.”
He says, “I am ruined.”
That word means destroyed, undone, lost. Isaiah recognises that holiness exposes him for what we all are at heart.
none of us are safe before a holy God.
As we think and pray about our evenagelism and why the world needs Jesus,
this passage gives us the right diagnosis of the world.
The problem is not ignorance, or trauma, or lack of purpose.
The deepest problem is that we are unclean people before a holy God.
And if even Isaiah is ruined,
What does it say about our neighbours, our friends, our families?
This is why silence is not loving. This is why mission matters.
And what is the message of our mission?
Why is isaiah, not actually left ruined?
One of the seraphim flies to him with a burning coal from the altar and touches his lips:
With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’
Isaiah does not..
..clean himself up.
..argue his case.
..or make promises.
Atonement comes from God.
The burning coal tells us that forgiveness doesn’t come by God lowering his holiness,
but by God providing a sacrifice that can survive his fire.
The coal from the alter where the blood sacrifices has been made symbolises both the judgement of God and the cleansing fire that that blood bring about.
And in the light of the New Testament,
we can say clearly: this moment points forward to Jesus Christ.
The coal from the altar anticipates the cross.
The blood sacrifice of forgivenss that clenses us.
Here is the heart of the gospel:
The holy God who must judge sin has himself provided a way for sinners to be cleansed — fully, finally, freely — through Jesus.
This is the Jesus we want people to meet.
Not an idea.
Not moral improvement,
. But a Saviour who can stand us in the presence of a holy God and say, “Your guilt is taken away.”
Now atonement is given, the Lord speaks for the first time:
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’
Mission is not driven by guilt, fear, or pressure. It flows immediately from grace. From gratitude and joy and hope.
From the wonder that a holy God has made a way for ruined people.
So as we pray for Passion for Life, this is what we’re asking:
That we would see God as he is
That we would grasp again what the world truly needs
That we would treasure Jesus as the only sufficient Saviour
And that forgiven people would willingly speak of him
Pray
