Isaiah 6
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Who is God to you? How do you see Him? What do you think about whenever you think of Him?
A. W. Tozer said that whatever comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
Isaiah 6 helps us to think as we should about God.
[READING - ISAIAH 6]
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. 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.” 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!” 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.” 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, 12 “The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 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.”
[PRAYER]
[ILLUS] A woman raised her hand in praise in a very reformed Anglican church; she was thanking God for the pastor’s sermon on Isaiah 6.
She said, “I don’t often think about God in His greatness. I usually think of God as a friend, which is true, but it is so helpful to step back and see God in His greatness, as the Holy King.”
Isaiah 6 helps us to step back and see God in His greatness—to see God as the Holy King.
[TS] Tonight I want us to work through this chapter in three PARTS:
Isaiah’s Vision of God
Isaiah’s Response to God
And Isaiah’s Commission from God.
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
It is the year 739 B.C. and King Uzziah of Judah has taken or is about to take his final breath.
He has been a good king. Not perfect, in fact he is dying of leprosy because he made an unauthorized offering in the temple, but other kings have certainly been far worse. In any event, his time has past.
To the north, time has also passed for King Jeroboam of Israel who dies in this same year.
And even further north, King Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria isn’t about to die; no, he is increasing in power and spreading the Assyrian Kingdom rapidly.
He and his kingdom pose a serious threat to the people of God.
These were uncertain times for God’s people in Isaiah’s day. It’s likely that most of them worried about these earthly kings. We can imagine neighbors asking one another…
“How do you think the next king will do?”
“Do you think Israel’s next king will be better than Jeroboam?”
“Do you really think anyone with a name like Tiglath-Pileser could pose a real threat?”
These were legitimate concerns but God’s people should have been most concerned about another King.
And we see that King in Isaiah’s vision.
Isaiah’s Vision (vv. 1-4)
Isaiah’s Vision (vv. 1-4)
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.
[EXP] Who did Isaiah see here? Isaiah saw the King, the Lord of hosts. We know this because Isaiah said in v. 5, “For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
Isaiah saw Him sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, the Most High God ready to execute judgment.
Isaiah saw the train of His robe filling the temple, the enormity of God invading the reality of His sinful people.
Isaiah saw seraphim above Him calling out, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
The seraphim are fiery angelic serpents that declare the glory of God and guard the holiness of God.
Isaiah saw the smoke of God’s presence fill the temple.
This is not a comforting vision of God; this is not God as our friend; this vision of God is unsettling for the sinner because it communicates that…
…the King has come to execute judgment on His unclean people because, while He is supremely holy and glorious, His people have been supremely sinful.
Isaiah 1-5 has shown us the sinfulness of God’s people and it has promised God’s judgment on the sinful, but why does God care about sin?
Because he is holy, holy, holy, and the whole earth is full of His glory.
[ILLUS] “Who is this King of Glory?” That’s a line repeated in a Christian song by a group called Third Day. (Interesting side note: I once worked security at a Third Day concert in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I only had to rough up a few Christian teenagers whose worship got to rowdy.)
But the song, King of Glory, asks…
“Who is this King of Glory
With strength and majesty?
And wisdom beyond measure
The gracious King of kings.
“The Lord of Earth and Heaven
The Creator of all things
He is this King of Glory
He's everything to me”
And then the chorus answers the question, “Who is this King of Glory?”
“His name is Jesus
Precious Jesus
The Lord Almighty
The King of my heart
The King of Glory”
In John 12:41, the Apostle John said that Isaiah saw His glory—the glory of Jesus—and spoke of Him.
Who is this Almighty, Holy, King of Glory that Isaiah saw?
His name is Jesus.
He is the King come to execute judgment on His unclean people because, while He is supremely holy and glorious, His people have been supremely sinful.
[TS] Notice how Isaiah responds…
Isaiah’s Response (vv. 5-7)
Isaiah’s Response (vv. 5-7)
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.” 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.”
[EXP] The holiness of God creates a crisis for sinful humanity. Here it created a crises for Isaiah.
He immediately knew he was under judgment. He said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined!”
In Isaiah 5, God spoke words of woe (i.e., judgment) to His rebellious people.
8 Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field, Until there is no more room, So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them!
18 Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes;
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink, 23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!
But here Isaiah—after seeing the sinfulness of Israel in Isaiah 5 and the holiness of God in Isaiah 6—responds with the woe of sinful man, “Woe is me, for I am ruined!”
Before such a holy God, Isaiah knew that he knew he was unclean. He said, “I am a man of unclean lips… “
The seraphim cried out, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
Isaiah wanted to cry out with the same message, but how could lips so unclean declare the holiness of God?
Isaiah also knew that God’s people were unclean. He said, “…I live among a people of unclean lips…”
How could such sinful people every worship God in purity?
Isaiah knew that he was ruined, that he and his people were unclean, because he has seen the King, the LORD of hosts!
But in Isaiah’s crisis of conviction—I am ruined! I am unclean!— came the grace of God.
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.”
One commentator said, “It is the God of burning holiness Himself who provides this cleansing from the sacrificial altar.”
Now Isaiah is clean!
Now Isaiah is forgiven!
Now Isaiah can join in the worship of Jesus in all His glory!
Now Isaiah can proclaim the only hope for the world, the sovereign grace of God!
[ILLUS] Spotless is not a word I would use to describe my coffee cups in the office. I typically use the one that is lease disgusting, and when things get really hairy (sometimes literally) I will wash them, but even then I wouldn’t call them spotless.
But I use those coffee cups because I would call the coffee I make in them clean.
And I use those coffee cups because I’m not a very clean person.
But when it comes to worship and proclamation, the vessel must be clean.
[APP] A clear vision of the holiness of God causes us to understand our need for forgiveness, and God’s grace meets our need for forgiveness through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
As the holiness of Jesus is imputed to us, we are made clean to worship Him and clean to serve Him by telling others about Him.
[TS]…
Isaiah’s Commission (vv. 8-13)
Isaiah’s Commission (vv. 8-13)
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!” 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.” 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, 12 “The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 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.”
[EXP] The Lord is in heavenly council. Perhaps one Person in the Trinity asks the other two Persons, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”
Isaiah volunteers, “Here am I. Send me!”
Does he realize how difficult this will be?
He will tell of the Almighty King’s coming wrath to a people who are calloused and numb to the reality of God’s impending judgment, burning holiness, divine glory, and overwhelming presence.
They will listen but not perceive.
They will look but not understand.
Hearts insensitive.
Hears dull.
Eyes dim.
Jesus spoke to them in John 12.
36 “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. 37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.” 41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.
If they would feel, ear, and see Jesus as the glorious King that He really is, then they would repent and be forgiven, but that opportunity has passed; God will keep them in the darkness of His judgment until He pours out judgment upon them.
27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
Isaiah asks, “Lord, how long?”
Isaiah is wondering how long he will have to preach to an obstinate people.
The Lord says until His judgment has ruined this sinful people.
Cities will be devastated and abandoned.
Houses will be left empty and the land will be left desolate.
The Lord will exile His people, and the forsaken places in the land will be multiplied.
And yet there is a ‘yet’ in v. 13—a ray of hope—a tenth portion will pass through the fire of God’s judgment and be purified as a holy seed, a cleansed and forgiven people of God.
[APP] Ultimately only Jesus is holy, and we are ultimately only made holy because He passed through fire of God’s judgment in our place and imputed to us His holy righteousness.
If we have trusted Jesus in His death and resurrection, then the coal from the altar that has touched our lips was covered in the blood of Christ.
By His sacrifice our iniquity is taken away and our sins are forgiven.
By His sacrifice, we are made clean for worship and proclamation.
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
[PRAYER]