People Who Encountered God (2): Isaiah

서론

- Since last Sunday, we have been sharing stories of people who encountered God.

- The man we are gonna talk about today is Isaiah. Isaiah is a famous prophet in the Old Testament. And today’s text is also very famous text that describes the scene where Isaiah encountered God dramatically.

Isaiah’s Encounter with God

- The experience Isaiah had in this text was so special even to Isaiah himself. At that time, his situation was not good becasue the king Uzziah died. He was the one who Isaiah was respecting and considering as the one who would restore the nation. His death meant that Isaiah’s hope disappeared.

- In that situation, God appeared to Isaiah. Isaiah sees a very special vision.

<< Isaiah 6:1

- He saw God seated on a throne. It means that Isaiah saw a King.

- And the text says the throne was highly exalted. Seeing the Lord seated on a highly exalted throne, Isaiah would have realized that the God was really God of gods and the King of kings who is incomparable to other false gods and human kings. It is “God seated on a throne as the King” that Isaiah saw in today’s text.

<< Isaiah 6:5 “For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

!! Remember our God is the only real God who created all things. He is the only one worthy to be worshiped and worthy to be called God. He is our only King. Isaiah saw and experienced this.

- Isaiah also saw some angels called seraphim. Seraphim were the angels who serve God the King. Each of them had six wings. With two wings, they were covering their faces, with two other wings, they were covering their feet, and with the other two wings, they flew.

- According to verse 3, they were calling to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory.”

- That they said “holy” three times means that God is really holy.

- EX: If I say to my wife, “예쁘다,” just once, it is just a courtesy. But if I say to my wife, “예쁘다. 예쁘네. 오 예쁘다," three time like this, it means she is really pretty.

!! The angel’s three time shout “holy holy holy” shows that God is a Holy one. He is a pure God. He is ethically perfect.

- Because of this angel’s voice, the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.

- In the Old Testament, smoke means God’s presence. That the temple was filled with smoke means that God’s presense filled the place.

- Especially, the expression “being filled with something” occurs three times in today’s text.

<< Isa 6:1 “the temple was filled with God’s robe”

<< Isa 6:3 “the whole earth is full of His glory.”

<< Isa 6:4 “the house was filled with smoke.”

- What did I say? Repeating three times is that the author wanna emphasize something.

!! Now Isaiah is intending to stress that He vividly experienced God’s presence. He wanna say that He experienced that God’s glorious presence throughly filled the temple and the whole earth.

!! 하나님은 이런 분이시다!

- Through this vision, Isaiah saw and experienced this. Vividly! He saw this with his eyes.

- When he saw the robe of the Lord and smoke filling the temple, when he heard serephim shouting God’s holiness, how was it?

<권면>

>> I want you guys to experience this God as Isaiah did.

- In Christian life, experience is not everything. Experience can be stimulating and dangerous.

- Nevertheless, right experience is necessary for a close relationship with God. Through experience, we can have a sweet and close fellowship with God.

>> Long to have this sort of sweet and vivid experience of God. I hope this great grace may be upon you guys today.

Isaiah’s Problem

- 그런데 문제는?

- The thing is that this God is too holy, and that Isaiah was too unclean.

- EX: Most men think that they are handsome to some extent. So when they see window in restroom, they make that face.

- By the way, when they stand by a really handsome, tall, great-looking guy, they realize reality. In Korean, 현타! “Oh.. I’m not handsome.”

- Before God who is really holy, Isaiah realized his reality.

- Because God is really holy, Isaiah’s uncleanness was revealed fully.

- Isaiah dispairs.

<< Isaiah 6:5 / “Woe to me. I am ruined.”

- Even angels cover thier faces before the Holy God not to see God. But Isaiah whose lips are unclean saw the Holy King.

- Before the Holy God, Isaiah grieves and despairs because of his unclean sins.

Isaiah’s Experience of Grace <문제해결>

- Then, one of the seraphim flies to Isaiah with a burning coal from the alter. <PPT>

- And he touched Isaiah’s mouth with the coal and says.

<< Isaiah 6:7

- In Old Testament sacrifice and rites, a coal has the effect of purifying unclean things and atoning sins.

- Here, this coal points to Jesus Christ who removed our uncleanness and forgave our sins on the cross.

- In today’s text, did Isaiah ask some things like forgiveness to God first? No!

- He just admitted his own state and despaired. By the way, God first approached Isaiah through the seraphim and removed his uncleanness.

- Isaiah experienced God’s grace.

<권면> 이사야처럼 속죄의 은혜를 경험하라!

- If you experience God like Isaiah, one of the natural responses is to come to see your uncleanness before the holy God.

- You would see how you are disgusting. You would be ashamed of your unclean reality. So you will despair.

- However, It is not the end. When you despair because of our ugly state, God will approach you and remove your unclean stain with His son’s blood and make you holy like the holy God.

- I pray that you may experience this grace of atonement just as Isaiah did.

- For this, you need to realize your spiritual reality, and you need to despair before God. Despair!

정리: What Isaiah experienced

- Isaiah saw God’s throne, God who was seated on the King’s throne. So he realized God is the only true King.

- Isaiah vividly saw and experienced God’s glorious presence through the Lord’s robe, the smoke in the temple, and the shouting of seraphim.

- Before the holiness of God, Isaiah saw his uncleaness in detail and despaired.

- But He also experienced God’s grace that God approaches him first and cleanses all his uncleanness.

- I long for each of you to experience this.

~ What matters for this is to have the eyes of faith.

믿음의 눈 The Eyes of Faith

- In today’s text, Isaiah saw.

- But it is rare to literally see with eyes this kind of vision of the text like Isaiah. This kind of experience is a special event God allowed to special people in the Old Testament.

- Even in the New Testament time when we live, this kind of experience is still possible, but very rare.

- In the NT era, God gave us all the Holy Spirit in us, and the Holy Spirit makes us believe what we cannot see.

<< 2 Cor 5:7

<< Heb 11:1

- Therefore, we need the eyes of faith. With faith, we can see and experience what Isaish saw and experienced in today’s text. With faith! <PPT>

- If God opens our eyes of faith, if God opens our hearts, what Isaiah experienced will be vividly believed. There is nothing visible, but we can believe.

- Don’t you have this experience?

- EX: 가끔씩, 기도할 때, 예배할 때, 아니면 그냥 갑자기… 하나님이 진짜 옆에 있는 것이 믿어진다. 너무 믿어져서 그렇게 느껴진다. 하나님의 임재가 내 마음을 가득 채운다.

- 그 믿음이 내 마음을 가득 채운다. 하나님의 임재가 성전을 가득 채운 것처럼.

- When God gives us the eyes of faith,

- We become convinced that God is the real King who deserves our worship and obedience. We become filled with the faith that God is with me now.

- When God opens our eyes of faith, we come to see our disgusting reality, so we despair.

- But because of the humility, we can experience God’s grace of forgiving our sins.

- So we need the eyes of faith.

결론: 기도하면서 마치기

<첫번째 기도>

>> Let’s pray to God that we may have these eyes of faith to experience what Isaiah saw and experienced!

>> Let’s pray that with this faith we may see our King, and that we may accept God as our King of our hearts and our lives.

<두번째 기도>

- In today’s text, Isaiah saw God’s presence filled the temple.

- In the New Testament era when we live, there is no temple as building any more. Then what is the temple now? Our heart! Our heart is God’s temple. And believers’ community is God’s temple.

>> So let’s pray like this! God! fill my heart with your presence! Fill this community, HIBC Youth and YA with your glorious presence!

<세번째 기도>

>> Last prayer! Let me see my disgusting reality! my uncleanness! Let me see my uncleanness before holiness of God, and let me experience the grace that this dirtiness is cleansed by Jesus’ blood.

찬양

“예수 우리 왕이여”