Holy Seed (Isaiah 6)

New Series

Today we start a New mini sermons series called “A Seed of Hope”. We will go through some key messianic prophesies In Isaiah as we go into the Christmas season here. Today we start in Isaiah 6 with the message “A Holy Seed”.

Opener

The core of the sun is roughly estimated to be 27 MM degrees Fahrenheit. James Jean, an English Physicist and Astronomer, says that is so hot that if you were to able to heat something the size of a pinhead, sustained at that temperature, it would kill anyone unprotected within a 1,000 miles.

As we are going to see Holiness is a major theme in Isaiah 6 and God’s plan to redeem mankind. The Sun is a fitting analogy for the Holiness of God because it both gives life and destroys. And much like the Sun and the unfathomable heat it exudes from its very core so deep and unfathomable is the holiness of God! But in Isaiah 6 we get a glimpse.

Point 1: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts”

Isaiah 6:1–4 NASB95

1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out 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 trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.

Background

The first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah are written to the people of Isaiah’s day with warnings of being sent into exile for their departure from “The Holy One of Israel.”

“The call narrative of Isa 6 is the beginning of God’s plan to bring Israel back to himself—step one is to call Isaiah as God’s spokesperson to warn Israel that he will discipline their sin and also bring a believing remnant out of Israel.”

Mangum, Douglas. (Ed.). (2020). Lexham Context Commentary: Old Testament (Is 1:1–6:13). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Holy, Holy, Holy

Empty Chair

Isaiah here in a vision is seeing the invisible God. If you remember in ancient near east their where many forms of temple of worship. Many of them had similar sized places but what was starcly differant when you walked in The Temple of God in Israel is it wasn’t full of gods. Other false religions would even have a more holy section where a chief deity or dieties would be, but in Israel’s you saw effectively an empty chair, the Ark of the Covenant, the mercy seat. What Isaiah sees here in a vision is the invisible God seated high and lifted up on His throne with train of His robe filling the temple. This would have been overwhelming. This is the God who dwells in unaproachable light.

“The whole system of Israel’s worship revolves around holiness. That’s why you have holy people (the priests), with holy clothes, in a holy land (Canaan), at a holy place (tabernacle/ temple), using holy utensils and holy objects, celebrating holy days, living by a holy law, so that they might be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” - Kevin DeYoung

Seraphim

The Hebrew word for Seraphim means “flames”. These are fiery, powerful angelic beings. While they fly in place they cover their face and feet an act of submission and cry out “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Host.” This title can be confusing but it means the God of the Heavenly Armies. Chris Tomlin popularized Eugene Petersons translation of this “The God of Angel Armies.” They unlike Israel and Judah at this time are in perfect worship of The Lord.

“Holy, Holy, Holy” is the seraphic cry.

The word Holy references God’s separation in both character and being from creation. He is heavenly. He is set apart. He is high and lifted up. He is in a word, Holy. It cannot be stressed how important this idea is.

We are called to “be Holy” as He is Holy. 3 times in the Leviticus

Without Holiness no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14)

Christ Himself became our holiness for us (1 Corinthians 1:30)

But so many people think they achieve this by deluting the standard to make it attainable. This is in fact an unfathomably high call. We who are in Christ are quite literally called, “Saints” or “Holy ones”. Some think they are a Saint because they are a “good person.” This completely misses how high and holy God is! The cross actually makes us Holy. It attributes God’s righteousness to us. We are then set apart for His good pleasure. All of it in accordance with this High, Holy Calling in Christ Jesus. Some one who thinks they can earn their way into heaven doesn’t understand how HOLY God is.

But Isaiah saw this now in the natural but in the spiritual and he was overwhelmed.

Respecting the Person vs Respecting the Office

There are people you respect because of who they are. And then there are people you respect because of the office they hold.

Think of having to go to court and appear before a Judge. If you were smart you would dress nice. I would put on a tie. You would say “yes sir or yes mam”. You would show respect for the office. But you don’t know the person at all.

On the other hand if you may have had an older mentor in your life that was loving and wise and incredibly sacrificial with their time. When they were taking time out their day to meet with you probably showed them respect. I remember Ron MacClain who is the leader of Salt and Light Central when he had Barny Coombs down here for one of our leadership conferences. Barney, who passed away a few years ago, was his mentor and remember the tremendous amount of respect Ron went out of his way to show. Barney was pretty slow to speak and Ron would just patiently wait on him. It wasn’t so much the position as much as the person.

Sometimes for us these two come together. If you had a godly mom or dad you know what this is like. Now you may not have realized how much respect you had for the person until you were like 30. My parents are here today and I know that as I get older the more I respect them and the sacrifices they made for me and my brother. But you respect both the office. You honor your father and mother because it is right. As a child God has placed them as the primary authority in your life. But as they follow the Lord you respect the person.

Here in Isaiah 6. He encounters the living God. That in and of itself is terrifying enough. Standing before the Judge of eternity. But He doesn’t just have a revelation of the throne, the position, he has a revelation of the character: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Host.”

Point 2: Woe is me

Isaiah 6:5 NASB95

5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

To help understand Isaiah’s response it probably helps if we understand the significance of this event happening in the year of King Uzziah’s death. Uzziah was a successful King who “as long as he sought the Lord, God prospered him” 2 Chronicles 26:5 says. He warred against the Philistines. He fortified cities and fields. Advanced technology was developed and elite armies were formed. Neighboring nations made tribute to him. It says in 2 Chronicles 26:11, “His fame spread afar, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.” Then in verse 16 this happened, “But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to The Lord his God, for he entered the temple of The Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.”

Azariah entered with eighty other priest and confronted him. This act of ministering was given to the priesthood and not to the king. It was tremendously prideful for the king to think he could disobey God in how he worshipped him. Isn’t that interesting. This same idea is true in the New Testament By The Way. Paul tells the Romans to not think more highly of themselves than they should in regards to spiritual gifts. Paul tells the Corinthian leaders anyone who thinks they are a prophet or spiritual that if they do not follow the proper order of worship when they gather together is not to be recognized.

So the priest say to him, “Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God.” (2 Chronicles 26:18)

And this happens:

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 26

But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense.

Remember under the Levitcal Law having leprosy would have made him cut off from the people. So in a moment he goes from King, to playing priest in worship, to cut off from worship entirely. Under the law he would no longer be aloud in the temple at all to worship. Not only that but he gets moved out the palace into his own home where he spends the the next 10 years and dies while his son rules. In his pride he tries to be something he isn’t and loses what even he thought he had.

Now step into Isaiah’s shoes. In the year Uzziah does He has a vision of the Lord in the temple, high and lifted up, the train of his robe filling the temple, worshipped by fiery angels. You might as well say,

“Woe is me, for I am ruined!”

This is the right response before a holy God! When you realize who God is you realize who you are in light of who He is:

John 3:19–20 NASB95

19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

Having a revelation of who God is… perfect, holy, true… we realize we are not those things. We apart from Jesus are unworthy sinners.

When Peter had a revelation of who Jesus was on that fishing boat when they caught that massive load of fish at the command of the Lord after having fished all night do you know what He said, “Depart from me for I am sinful man!”

Your life may be a mess right now. Full of problems, conflicts, sin, living for yourself. And you may say what would a Holy God want to do with me? Let me just say friends you are close to the Kingdom of God! You are in good company!

Jesus says

John 8:23–24 NASB95

23 And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

First you must recognize who God is then you must recognize who you are. He is from above and we are from below.

I knew a man who was dating a lady who prostituted herself out for drugs. He was homeless at different times in his life. Friends you have to have a pretty low view of your own value and worth to be dating someone who sleeps with other people for drugs. I took him out to eat and he asked me, “Where does one start with following the Lord?” I said it starts with saying, “God you are right and I am wrong!” You see you can have a low view of self and pride can still stand in your way and keep you from God. I am not suggesting today that a low view of self is the ticket. A high view of God must come first. If you do not have a high view of God you may have a low view of self but also a wrong view of self. The problem we have as human beings is we were made to glorify a holy God and guess what we have not. Yet if we keep on trying to fix things ourself. If we keep being the kings of our own destiny we will only ever be losers.

I just want to say this. You may see a man in that story that had hit rock bottom. But I see a man whom the grace of God was after. How many people have gone to the grave fat, happy, and wealthy only to realize they were unworthy sinners before a holy God and it was too late!

All that to say is humiliation isn’t the key as much as humility before a Holy God is the Key! One may be circumstances the other is REVELATION!

But we are not done with the story yet.

Point 3: Here I am. Send me!

Isaiah 6:6–8 NASB95

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.” 8 Then 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 Lord Purifies Him

Notice it says “Your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”

Two amazing ideas right there. Taken away refers to the idea of justification and expiation. The sin is removed from against our account and purged from us. And then “forgiven” the idea of propitiation and being put in right relationship with God.

But here is the main thing where does the atonement come from?

It comes from the Lord. You are unworthy. But He gives you value and worth. It comes from Him. He does what we cannot do. He makes unworthy sinners holy. He makes the lost found. He makes the blind see.

It comes from the Alter! The coal came from the Alter. What happens on the alter? Sacrifice happens on the alter. Do you see the picture that is happening now? Atonement is made and not on an earthly alter but a heavenly one. This is a picture of the cross friends.

Hebrews 9:12–14 NASB95

12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

God saves. He did this in time and space. He did this at the cross.

“His mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners after great lengths of time and then gives great favors and great privileges and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God!” ― Charles H. Spurgeon

But notice it doesn’t stop there.

The Lord Calls Him

He says, “who shall I send?” and Isaiah responds, “Here I am send me!” This is the response of the redeemed! We go from lost sinners, to useful saints. He never leaves us in limbo. He puts us to work!

This is the pattern for every believer! Peter goes from lost on that fishing boat, to a revelation of Jesus Christ, he says, “depart from me for I am a sinful man.” and what was Jesus’s response? Did He depart from him? When I Isaiah said “woe is me” did He strike him with judgment? Not at all. He sends Isaiah and Peter he says, from now on you will be catching men. In other words I have a new job for you.

You see Uzziah tried to serve the Lord on his own terms. He did it in pride. But Isaiah and Peter did it on the Lord’s! Those who get low before the Lord He will be gracious to and guess what? He will put them to work! And I want to be really clear on this. God is not satisfied with anything less! Can I be one of those Christian’s that is saved but not enlisted? No! There is no such thing!

The prodigal son gets welcome back with grace and forgiveness but you better believe he is going to have responsibility as a son. And that is what is best for you! Everyone’s calling is the same in that we are called to follow Christ. But everyone’s calling can look quite different from there. But you are called. I have counseled many Christians through the years in how to resist sin and one of the MOST important factors.... As in important as anything practical you do in resisting and cutting sin out of your life… is what you are doing to positively serve the Lord. How are you tangibly serving others to the glory of God!

Remember God is Holy! He isn’t just not bad. He is infinitely good. For the redeemed to follow Him means operating as DOER of the Word. Being a servant. You can’t just not sew to the flesh, you must sew to the Spirit. Christians are not just talk they are action!

This is the story of every believer. We go from lost, to revelation of who God is and who we are, to trusting in the grace of God, to being put to work in His service. Where are you on that journey?

Have you not recognized the Lord as Holy? Are you a practical atheist. Maybe you say yeah I believe God is real but live your life without an ounce of fear of Him! That is called being a practical aitheist! If this is you today I invite you to say the Lord right now in your heart, “Holy, Holy, Holy is The Lord of Host!”

Now if you have recognized number 1 it is hard not recognize number 2. If you know God is Holy it is pretty self explanatory I am not. Friends you will die in your sins unless you recognize what God says about you is true. You are lost, blind, poor, dead, wretched, the Bible says. Have you confessed your sins to a Holy God? Maybe you are believer and you have back slidden. Confess your sins to God right now, and say, “Woe is me.”

I have known many people who have made it through the above two but then sit on the bench. There not in the game. There not on a mission for the Lord. They are still just going through the motions of life. So I want you to say to God these terrifying and exciting words, “Here I am Lord, send me!” “Whatever the mission, whatever the cost… Here I am Lord, send me!”

CLOSING The Holy Seed and the Stump!

Isaiah 6:9–10 NASB95

9 He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ 10 “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”

Isaiah 6:13 NASB95

13 “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”

Two things you need to understand as we move forward with this mini sermon series.

1. John says the person Isaiah saw on the throne was Jesus Himself. He is identified explicitly as Yahweh in this passage. The object of Holy Worship in Israel. After quoting Isaiah 6:10 John comments,

John 12:41 NASB95

41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.

2. God is warning of impending judgement. The first 39 chapters of Isaiah are devoted to that. The remainder of the book is devoted to the exile and post exilic period. More importantly here God begins to lay out his plan that in judgement a remnant will remain and a Holy Seed is its stump.

A seed of hope for not only Israel but the whole world.