Untitled Sermon (3)

Isaiah 6

If you have your copy of God’s word with you I would encourage you to join me in turning to .  A lot of times we find ourselves not fully understanding who God is and who we as humans are. I believe that demonstrates for us a wonderful example that answers both of those questions.  I believe that it is important to understand both of those concepts, because so many principles in our lives revolve around those two truths, Who is God and Who is Man.  As I read , hope that those questions will be answered and from those answers we can see how we are to live in response to that.

Read text.

Who is God?

From this text we can see 4 things that God is.  I will get to those in just a minute. First I want to take a minute to talk about the first 2 verses.  In these verses they paint a really neat picture of the throne room of God. We see this picture once more in , when John is showed the throne room of Heaven.  This is a very rare thing in scripture. Not everyone was just allowed to see into the throne room. We see this throne room, and it’s described as a glorious place.

But I want to draw your attention to verse 2 where it describes these seraphim.   I personally find this to be a very neat description. It says, “Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.”  I have always wanted to see a Seraphim because I think they would be really cool to see. But this concept of them covering their eyes is where I want to draw your attention to because it leads me to the first thing that we see God is.

God is Holy

That is the fact that God is Holy.  Not only is God Holy, verse 3 says that God is Holy Holy Holy.  God was so Holy that the marvelous creatures mentioned in verse 2 were unable to look upon him that they covered their eyes.  Not only did they have to cover their eyes they covered their feet so they didn’t walk on the same ground as him. Church this is a Holy God.  

It’s interesting because If I was to go around asking people who God was, whether it be Bible Believing Christians or lost people, the majority would probably say something along the lines of, God is love, or God is grace, or even God is Merciful.  The point is we love to qualify God as all these good things such as loving or gracious or merciful, and yes God is all of those but he is also Holy.  I point that out because the bible never says, God is gracious gracious, gracious, or God is Love, Love, Love, but what it does say is He is Holy Holy Holy.

Now there are discussions on why the word Holy is repeated here, some say that it is done to cover all three parts of the trinity.  I believe that is a good thought but I don’t believe it is actually why it is repeated here. If it was to describe each part of the trinity wouldn’t every attribute of God be wrote 3 times in a row?  The trinity is in perfect unity, so Holiness is not the only thing that they share in common.

I believe that the Seraphim say God is Holy, Holy, Holy is due to the fact that they have lived in his presence and they understand how Holy he truly is.  They repeat it 3 times because it add emphasis to the fact that God is really Holy. In the Hebrew language, when something was repeated over it was to add emphasis to the statement.

We see that demonstrated in the Psalms when we read them, how sometimes we feel as if a Psalm is saying the same thing over and over. That is a strategy in the Hebrew language so that the hearer or reader will draw their attention to that truth.

We even do that today in our language. We notice it a lot with children, who will repeat the same thing over and over to get our attention or because they find great fascination in what they are trying to tell us.

The Seraphim are emphasizing to us a reader and to God the hearer how holy he truly is.

God is Powerful

The next thing we see is that God is Powerful.  That can be seen in verse 4 where it says, “the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called.”  The voice of the Lord is displayed as powerful throughout all of scripture.  Literally from start to finish. we see that the Lord’s voice was so powerful that he literally spoke the world into existences. Then in revelation we see that he conquers and destroys with the words of his mouth.  We can see that the voice of the Lord is very powerful.

My favorite illustration of how powerful the voice of the Lord is, can be found in when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus for his crucifixion.  When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Jesus asked the question, who are you looking for and they responded by saying, Jesus of Nazareth.  When Jesus answered saying, “I AM HE.” they all fell back on the ground. I just love that story because all of the soldiers who probably thought they were pretty powerful all fell to the ground just because Jesus said, “I AM HE.”

It’s like when we hear our parents voice, it rings out differently than other voices because to us its filled with authority and power. Thats the voice of the one that brought us into this world, and the one that can take us out, as they so often loved to say.

Just imagine hearing God’s voice, not only is he truly the one that brought you into this world, he is also the one that brought this world into existence. The voice that causes the devil and all evil to flea. The voice that causes the lost to be saved. Imagine hearing that voice, I think we would tremble along with the thresholds.

That is a powerful voice.  God has the power to create and destroy all in his voice.  He also has the power to call us and save us, in his voice.  We serve a powerful God.

God is Glorious to look upon

We just looked at the truth that God is Holy and that he is powerful which leads to the third truth that God is to Glorious to look upon.  That truth can be seen in the fact that the Seraphim couldn’t look upon God. Also it can be found in verse 5 where Isaiah see this Glorious God and immediately pronounces himself accursed.  Isaiah knew by looking at him that he was not worthy enough to see him.

Isaiah more than likely knew that this was the same God that Moses was not allowed to look upon because his Glory would have consumed him.  This is a Glorious God. As Christians we serve a glorious God. That is why it is our chief end as man to Glorify God and Enjoy him forever.  We worship a Glorious God who is more than worthy of our praise and glory.

God is King

Now the fourth thing we see concerning God is also found in verse 5 and that is that God is King.  Verse 1 we see that Isaiah writes, in the year that King Uzziah died. Although Isaiah was well aware of who was king of Israel before he died, he also understood who the ultimate King was and that King is the Lord of Hosts.  He is the Lord that leads the armies and he is the God that speaks things into existence. Isaiah fully understood that there was ultimately no King but the Lord of Hosts.

Scripture makes it very clear that there is only one true King of God’s children and that King is Jesus. Many kings came before Uzziah, and many kings came after Uzziah, but there is not one king that came before Christ or one king that will stand after Christ. Christ is the eternal, all powerful, king of the universe and Isaiah was well aware of that fact.

Who is man

We just looked at how God is Holy, Powerful, Glorious, and King.  Now let’s look at 2 things we see that men are.

Men are Lost

The first thing we see is that men are lost.  That is very clear from verse 5 when Isaiah says I am Lost.  But not only does Isaiah say he is lost he continues on to say he dwells among men who are also unclean.  Scripture is very clear in the truth that man is lost and unclean before they are made new through their rebirth.  I’m sure that Isaiah was aware that he was unclean at the time but this encounter with God probably ultimately clarified all doubt he might have had.

Have you ever done something you thought you were really good at then you saw a pro do the same thing and realized how bad you actually were.  For example, when the olympics were on, I watched the olympic weightlifting competition. So all pride I might have had in my ability to deadlift 500lbs went away when I watched these 180lb men clean and jerk over 500lbs.  Not only do they have to deadlift that weight in the clean and jerk they have to throw it above their heads. So what I might have thought was a heavy weight no longer was a heavy weight because I had to compare it to someone who was stronger than me.

The point of that illustration is to demonstrate the fact that when we see the ultimate standard in God we often realize how short we fall.  And Paul makes it very clear in that we all fall short of that Standard and the Glory of God. So when Isaiah saw this perfection in God his imperfections probably gleamed very vividly.  He no longer could compare himself to anything in the world but was left to compare himself to the glory and splendor of God.

To often is it much easier to compare ourselves and our sins to the live and sins of the people around us. We often hear others or even ourselves saying things along the lines of, Well I don’t sin like that person, or at least I don’t cheat on my spouse like they did.

But we rarely hear people compare themselves to Christ. We could not say things like, well at least I don’t look like Jesus did. Because that is our goal. We should want to and strive to be like Jesus. But when we truly see the Holiness and pureness of Christ and compare ourselves to him we no long have the pride to thing we are better.

Men are unclean

The next thing we see is that men are unclean.  Isaiah mentioned the fact that he was a man of unclean lips.  As a prophet Isaiah’s job was to take the words of God and proclaim them to the people.  That differs from a priest because a priest’s job was to take the words of the people and proclaim them to God.  So as a prophet his lips were what he used most. He was ultimately concerned with the fact that his mouth was too unclean to proclaim any truths from the Glorious mouth of God.

That is a very reasonable concern.  I have personally felt very unworthy to be used by God or even proclaim his truths.  I just thank the Lord that he sent his son so that through his death burial and resurrection I am able to proclaim these truths of God’s word to you all right now.  Without that sacrifice I too would be very unworthy to preach to you all right now.

Mens Response

So Isaiah had a very reasonable concern with being unclean, which leads me to my next point which is how he responded to this encounter with God.  There could have been many ways for Isaiah to respond to this glorious encounter but I want to take a look at how he responded.

Humiliation

The first thing we see that Isaiah does in response is he responded with humiliation.  Verse 5 says, I am Lost. In the King James Version it translates the word Lost into Undone. I like that translation because it gives a better understanding of how Isaiah actually felt.

In the english language we use the word integrity.  The word is often used to describe someone who has it together morally.  They don’t usually make a habit of doing things wrong. But the word has this idea of having things together.  When it came to the Israel Nation Isaiah was pretty integrous. He had it all together or at least he thought. So literally what Isaiah is saying when he says, I am lost or undone, is that all integrity I thought I had is now gone.

This is a complete act of humiliation on Isaiah’s part.  Everything he thought he had of worth has now been compared to the Lord who is the only one worthy and truly integrous.  When we encounter God we must also chuck all pride at his feet and humble ourselves.

Confession

Along with Humiliation Isaiah responded with confession. Immediately after saying he was lost, Isaiah went on to say, I am unclean.  He was making it very clear that he knew he was not a clean person and didn’t want to try to trick God.  Isaiah could have said, God let me see him I must be so clean, but that’s not what he did. Isaiah immediately confessed to God that he was unclean and unworthy of looking upon God.

As humans we too are just like Isaiah very unclean, so we must never get the idea that we are worthy enough to see God, or that when we do see him that he owed it to us.  We have nothing about us that is worthy enough to see God. In all honesty we actually deserve to never see God or even hear from God. We must also do what Isaiah did and confess our righteousness before God so that we can stand before him complete in Christ.

Confessions is actually an awesome way of worship. Too often do I find churches and people who think worship is only through song.  I even saw someone who posted on Facebook saying. I went to a church this morning, the worship was great but the sermon wasn't good. Well sorry to break it to you but if the sermon wasn't good then the worship wasn't good either.

Worship can be done through prayer, obedience, confession, preaching of the word, reading of the word, through song and so many other ways.  I just want you to know although God knows everything you have done he still wants to hear what you have done through confession. Confession is your way of telling God you understand you are unworthy and need a savior.

Fear of God

The last response we see from Isaiah is this fear of God. Isaiah’s initial response was complete fear of God.  This wasn’t just what we like to refer to as a healthy respect. This was the fear of a murderer standing before a righteous Judge who watched all he was guilty of.  Isaiah was unrighteous and was standing in front of a perfectly holy God who is Judge. Isaiah had every right to be scared.

Isaiah was in complete fear at this moment.  He was in such complete fear that he pronounced a curse on himself.  When Isaiah says, Woe is me, he is literally saying cursed be me. Isaiah realized he was unworthy and looked upon a holy God. He knew that his response had to be a curse.  He was worthy of being cursed. But that's not how God responded.

God’s response.

So we saw that Isaiah responded with Humiliation, confession, and Fear of God. Now let's look at how God responded to Isaiah.  To fully understand how amazing and wonderful God’s response is I want to look first at how God could have responded.

Just Response

God could have responded by saying, yes Isaiah you are undone and very unclean.  I don't want to use you or any of your people. That would have been completely Just of God to do.  There is nothing in the scripture that says God couldn't do that. God could have even said, the curse you put on yourself is not worthy of what you deserve.  Let's just praise the Lord that he did not do that in response to Isaiah.

God Forgave

If you look at verses 6 and 7 you can see what exactly was God’s response was.  The first thing we see is at the end of verse 7 when it says, your guilt is taken away.  

God did not respond with judgment but he responded through forgiveness.

God did not point out all of his guilts but he took them away.

God did not call him a sinner but he took his sins away.

God did not curse him but blessed him through forgiveness.

says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Let the truth of God’s response of forgiveness give us hope, but also let it be our example. When someone does wrong to us let us not try to curse them or point out their flaws but let us forgive them as God forgave us.  The only one worthy of judging did not respond with judgment so let us not either.

God atoned.

Along with God forgiving he also atoned for Isaiah's sin.  The end of verse 7 says your sins have been atoned for. It's important for God to atone for our sins if he is going to forgive us for them.  As a just God, someone or something must be punished in order for him to forgive us. If God just forgave the sinner without atoning for the sins he would not be just.

For example, if I was to stand in front of a Judge who knew I was guilty of committing a crime and the Judge goes, Allen you are free to go, innocent as can be. That would not be just. But if someone came in and said, what is Allen’s sentence? Give it to me.  Then the Judge could be Just in saying, “you are free to go, innocent as can be.”

So let's take a minute to look at how God atoned for Isaiah’s sin.  This is always interesting to me. Verse 6 says, then one seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he taken with tongs from the alter. And he touched my mouth.

I find this interesting because this coal was so hot that the seraphim had to pick it up with tongs.  Which is crazy to me because Seraphim literally means, fiery one.  This coal was so hot that this fire angel literally had to use thongs to pick it up.  And then it flew to Isaiah and touched it to his lips. Can you imagine that feeling. The lips are a pretty sensitive body part especially to heat and that hot coal got placed on it.

Isaiah had confessed that his lips were unclean so God cleaned them or atoned for them through this hot coal.  Often times we heat things to purify them so God was purifying Isaiah through this burning of his lip.

Jesus's Atonement

I just thank God that we no longer have to have our sins atoned for that way but that we have a Jesus that did it for us.  When we were unworthy to stand before God clean, Christ stood there in ourplace. When I have to stand guilty before a Holy Judge needing my guilts removed, I have a Jesus who said whatever Allen deserves give it to me.

For all of Christ's church it is the same.  He said that for all of us. They deserve death father, give it to me.  Not because of who we are but because of who he is. This was solely an act of love.  Let us praise God for these truths. We no longer have to stand guilty before God but stand completely righteous through the righteousness of Christ.  It is not our hold on Christ that saves us but Christ's hold on us that saves us.

Our Response

This all leads me to my final point, what must we do with these truths?  Let’s look at the text for the answer. Look with me at verse 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.”

Our response to Christ's atonement for our sins must be the same.