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Our Bibles please to Isaiah chapter 6. Well we have the privilege of hearing Jason this morning and his subject is on the holiness of God. You don't have notes this morning however let's ask God to help us as we give attention to his word and that the Lord would help Jason as he serves us.
God's Word. Let's pray. Thank you our Father for Jason and his service to you and to your people among us and we pray our Father that you would even now fill him with the blessed Holy Spirit. And we pray that your word that is delivered to him would impact us Lord our minds instructing us our hearts to stir us and our wills to conform us to your most glorious will your glorious word and so bless us now we pray in.
Jesus name amen. Morning everybody sorry about the notes but I have to say you're probably better off without them. I'm not as as eloquent and I'm not as good a writer as Lars is so there's lots of grammatical errors and things like that.
But God is gracious. Well we are glad to be back. We had a good week. Last week we were visiting my family in Ohio and last week we got to visit a church. Can you hear me. Okay. Maybe you can turn that up.
We got to visit a church that was started by a friend of mine from college. It was a church plant so we had a nice time being with them and fellowshipping. But it's always good to be back home in our home church.
So let's let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father we do thank you for this morning. We thank you for this church and just for the wonderful work that you've done in the lives of the people here.
And we pray Lord that as we continue our worship service that we would be mindful to what the word has to say. We pray that you would help us understand it. I pray that you would help me to relay the truth that I'm about to share in a way that's easily understandable.
I pray Lord that your spirit would teach us these truths so that we might apply them to our lives so that we might live for your praise glory and honor. Thank you Lord in Jesus name. Amen. A .W. Tozer in his classic book on the attributes of God wrote the following.
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. A right concept of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God now.
Tozer is absolutely correct. No one will ever rise above their concept of God because your view of God directly affects how you live your life. It affects how you view your circumstances. It affects how you respond to those circumstances beloved.
The manner in which you behold God or your view of God will affect every area of your life. But the most significant and the most important area that is affected by your view of God is your relationship with God.
You see at its very core an improper view of God is an idolatrous view of God. An improper view of God is synonymous with an idolatrous view of God. The idolatrous heart assumes that God is something other than what he truly is.
It is other than what he has revealed to us about himself. In the scriptures the idolatrous heart assumes that God is something other than what he truly is. So idolatry is really thinking incorrectly about God's person about God's nature his character his attributes.
It is to think something about God that is not true of him. Simply put idolatry makes the God who is into something that he is not. In the church today there are many who claim to accept the biblical view of God but in reality they have twisted God into something else entirely.
The Lord God Almighty as he has been revealed in the scriptures has been twisted into something else. It has been shrunken down and reduced to a more manageable size a more compliant God. In other words God is refashioned to fit our own sinful expectations.
God is refashioned to fit our own selfish desires. The one true God is revealed in the scriptures has been substituted for a lesser God. A God that makes us feel more comfortable a God that makes us feel better about ourselves.
Romans 124 says. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity to the to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchange the truth of God for a lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever.
The truth of God is revealed in the scriptures is often exchanged for a lie. God Almighty is exchanged for a lesser God a God of convenience. A God who is viewed only in terms of what he can do for us and not for who he truly is.
This exchange in this perspective is referred to having a low view of God. A low view of God views God as less than what he truly is. It views God is less than who he truly is. Those who hold to a low view of God say things like God really isn't that concerned about your sin.
He's concerned about your happiness. As long as you love God it doesn't really matter how you live. God is far too loving to send anyone to hell. Those who hold to a low view of God are often heard saying well that's not the God that I serve.
And quite right they are. The God whom they serve is not the God of the scriptures but it is a lesser God a God that has been twisted and conformed to their own image and their own desires. And you know what kind of thinking this fails to take into consideration.
It doesn't consider the true nature of God as he has been revealed in the scriptures. God is a spirit who is infinite eternal and unchangeable in his being wisdom power holiness justice goodness and truth beloved.
You realize that your view of God will affect how others view God. A workman is known by his work and God is known by his work. And whether we like it or not. When people look at us they get an idea of who God is.
They associate God with what they see in our lives in our words in our actions. You remember when David sinned against the Lord with Bathsheba and was confronted by the prophet Nathan. 2nd Samuel 12 13 through 14 Nathan said to David the Lord also has taken away your sin.
You shall not die. However because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the child also that is born to you shall surely die. The Lord God Almighty was blasphemed because of David's deeds.
And likewise the Lord God Almighty is blasphemed by our deeds. And it is our failure to know God. It is our failure to know his character. It is our failure to know his attributes that results in our sinful deeds which ultimately results in God's dishonor.
So what are we to do. How are we to restore a high view of God in our lives. How are we to ensure that our concept of God is right. How are we to ensure that we are in fact worshipping the true God and not a God of our own making crafted after our own desires.
Well a high view of God comes from the study of his word. It comes from the study of his revelation to us. It comes from the study of his person his nature his characteristics his attributes his works.
It comes from intimately knowing the one true God as he has been revealed in the scriptures. Please join me to the book of Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1 through 7. This is Isaiah's vision of the glory and the majesty of God.
Let's read the text together. In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings.
With two he covered his face and with two he covered his feet and with two he flew. And one call to another and said holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called.
And the house was filled with smoke. And I said woe is me. For I am lost. For I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the king the Lord of hosts.
Then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand a burning coal that had been taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said behold this is touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned.
For Isaiah was one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament. He prophesied during the reign of four of the kings of Judah Uzziah Jotham Ahaz and Hezekiah. For over a period of 60 years Isaiah faithfully proclaimed the Word of the Lord.
During times of prosperity times of national crisis times of national chaos and in times of moral and spiritual decline we're given a glimpse of the spiritual temperature in the southern kingdom of Judah during this time.
In Isaiah 22 verse 12 he writes. In that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and mourning for baldness and wearing sackcloth and behold joy and gladness killing oxen and slaughtering sheep eating flesh and drinking wine.
Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. It's quite a contrast isn't it. Instead of weeping and mourning over their sins instead of confession and repentance instead of their surrender and their submission to the Lord God the people of Judah were living life to their own advantage.
Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Isaiah was commissioned to confront these people of their corruption and to warn them of the consequences that would soon follow. Isaiah 1 verse 4 he writes. Sinful nation of people laden with iniquity offspring of evildoers.
Children who deal corruptly. Verse 15. They have forsaken the Lord. They have despised the holy one of Israel. They are utterly estranged. When you spread out your hands I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood. It was also during this time that the northern kingdom Israel had been taken captive by Assyria and the southern kingdom Judah was in danger of the same fate. So it was a time of war it was a time of panic it was a time of great instability and immorality.
And it was during this time that King Uzziah died. Now this would have been extremely difficult to accept because King Uzziah had been a great king. He was the 10th king of Judah and his reign lasted for 52 years.
2nd Chronicles 26 4 says. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done he set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah who instructed him in the fear of God and as long as he sought the Lord God made him prosper.
In his later days King Uzziah failed to seek the Lord. He was unfaithful to the Lord. He attempted to burn incense at the altar of incense which was a task that only the priests were to perform and he was rebuked and confronted by 81 priests.
But in his pride and arrogance he disregarded their rebuke and he became enraged at them and God rewarded this action with leprosy. 2nd Chronicles 26 21. And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death and being a leper lived in a separate house for he was excluded from the house of the Lord and Jotham his son was over the king's household governing the people of the land.
Now this was a very sad ending to the reign of an otherwise great king. During his life King Uzziah had provided peace and prosperity and security to the southern kingdom of Judah. But now the king was dead.
And this is the backdrop to our passage this morning. Isaiah 6 verses 1 and 2. In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Above him stood the seraphim each having six wings. With two he covered his face with two he covered his feet and with two he flew. Now who was it that Isaiah saw sitting upon a throne. Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne.
Now notice the spelling of the term Lord. In verse 1 it's an uppercase L with a lowercase or D. Now anytime you see the term Lord spelled in this way it's a reference to the Hebrew word Adonai. In Isaiah 6 3 we again read the word Lord but here it's in all caps which is a reference to the Hebrew word Yahweh or Jehovah.
Yahweh refers to God's essential nature while Adonai refers to the Lord's sovereignty and his dominion. So sitting on the throne Isaiah saw Adonai the sovereign and supreme ruler of all the heavens and all the earth.
What's interesting. The Lord who Isaiah saw sitting on the throne was the Lord Jesus Christ. In John chapter 12 verses 39 through 41 therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said he has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them.
Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him according to the gospel of John that his glory and the speaking of him was referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. So in the year that the earthly king died Isaiah saw the true king the real king the heavenly king Jesus Christ.
Adonai sitting on the throne and his throne was lofty and exalted literally meaning it was raised to a superior position above all other thrones. And the train of his robe filled the temple which speaks of God's incomparable splendor.
God is the most glorious God is the most magnificent God is the most high. In no vision of heaven you ever catch the Lord God in a plain or ordinary setting. You never catch the Lord God asleep or unprepared the Lord God reigns.
The Lord God is sitting on his throne. All is at peace and all is under control. So in the year that the earthly king died when everything in the kingdom of Judah seemed to be falling apart when tragedy was on the horizon when captivity was inevitable Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on the throne lofty and exalted with the train of his robe filling the temple.
Beloved. This is a vision that many of us need today because we are surrounded by an exceedingly wicked world. We are surrounded with gross immorality lawlessness godlessness pain suffering instability.
It's inescapable. It's everywhere around us. And the state of the church isn't much better. We see false doctrine false teachers selfishness worldliness marital unfaithfulness financial impropriety disobedient children depression fear anxiety addiction and abuse.
What is going on in the world. What is going on in the church. How much worse is it going to get. Isn't it encouraging to know that when everything seems to be turned upside down when the future looks dark and bleak when we don't understand what's going on in the world the church or even our lives.
When we don't understand why certain things are happening to us or to our loved ones. Isn't it encouraging to know that the Lord God is on his throne and that the Lord God is in control of all things.
Isaiah 46 9 and 10. Reform. Remember the former things of old for I am God and there is no other I am God. And there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done.
Saying my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose. What a marvelous comfort it is to know that the Lord God is sovereign. What a marvelous comfort it is to know that God exercises his supremacy as he sees fit and that nothing that happens is outside of his immediate and direct control.
There is no sickness there is no accident there is no death there's no uncomfortable situation. Absolutely nothing happens apart from the will and purpose of God. Charles Spurgeon writes that there is no attribute more comforting to his children than that of God's sovereignty under the most adverse circumstances in his most severe trials.
They believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions that sovereignty overrules them and that sovereignty will sanctify them all. There's nothing for which the children are more earnestly to contend than the doctrine of their master over all creation the kingship of God over all the works of his own hands the throne of God and his right to sit upon that throne like Isaiah.
Some of us desperately need to be reminded of this truth and beloved. As God was then so is God now. God is immutable. God does not change. God is always on the throne with all power with all authority lofty and exalted.
And God will always accomplish his purpose. His plans will never be thwarted. So in your confusion and in your turmoil in your questions don't get frustrated. Don't doubt in the Lord God rather trust in him.
Take comfort in him. View your circumstances through the lens of God's character. God is sovereign. God is good. God is faithful. God is just. God will always do what is right. And God is working in your life for your good and his glory.
The Lord God uses our present circumstances no matter how difficult to conform us to the image of his son the Lord Jesus Christ for his glory. And while you may not understand all the ins and outs of your present circumstances the Lord God most assuredly does.
And it is the Lord God who is sitting on the throne. Well in Isaiah 6 God on the throne isn't the only thing that Isaiah saw. What else did he see. Verse 2. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings.
With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet and with two he flew surrounding the throne of God. Isaiah sees angels identified as seraphim. Now this is the only place in the scriptures that these angels show up.
And the word seraphim is plural for seraph which literally means to burn. Isaiah describes the seraphim as having six wings. Two of the wings were used for flying and the other four wings were used for covering themselves.
Two of the wings cover their faces and two of the wings covered their feet. Now why did the angels need to cover themselves. It's important to remember that these angels were flying around the throne of God.
These angels were exposed to the full brilliance of the glory of God. You remember back in Exodus 33 when the presence of the Lord passed by Moses and the Lord God hit him in the cleft of the rock. You remember why the Lord God hit him.
Exodus 33 18. Moses said please show me your glory. And he said I will make all my goodness pass before you and you will proclaim and will proclaim before you my name the Lord and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
But he said you cannot see my face for man shall not see me and live. I think this principle applies not only to men but to any created being angels included. There is no creature that can withstand the sight of the full brilliance of the glory of God which is why the seraphim covered their faces with their wings.
What about the feet. Why did they cover their feet. Some commentators suggest that covering their feet was a sign of humility and modesty or that it demonstrated an attitude of lowliness. I think it's similar to when Moses appeared when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush.
The ground that Moses stood upon became sanctified and he was required to remove his feet his sandals from his feet. In a similar manner to seraphim who surround the throne of God need to cover themselves from the splendor and the glorious brilliance of the Lord God.
Charles Spurgeon describes the seraphim thus. They have four wings for adoration and two for active energy for to conceal themselves and two with which to occupy themselves in service. And we may learn from them that we shall serve God best when we are most deeply reverend and humbled in his presence.
Veneration must be in larger portion than vigor. Adoration must exceed activity. As Mary at Jesus feet was preferred to Martha and her much-serving. So must sacred reverence take the first place and energetic service follow in due course.
Now the most important description of the seraphim is not in their physical appearance but in the words that they called out to one another. Verses three and four. And one called to another and said holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts.
The whole earth is full of his glory and the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called and the house was filled with smoke. That's a dramatic scene isn't it reminds me a lot of the living beings of revelation.
Chapter four. Although they're not called seraphim there's certainly many similarities between these two passages. Revelations for eight says in the four living creatures each of them with six wings are full of eyes all around and within and day and night they never cease to say holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come.
So the four living creatures of revelation for call out holy holy holy and the seraphim of chapter 6 call out holy holy holy. What's going on in these two passages. What's going on is unceasing praise never-ending adoration the perpetual worship of the Lord God Almighty holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts for day and night without ceasing without stopping without end.
I don't think that you or I or anyone else will ever fully understand this kind of adoration. We will never fully understand this kind of praise this kind of worship. Because we don't fully understand the holiness of God.
What is the holiness of God mean. And what does it mean that our God is holy holy holy. Well the Hebrew word translated holy refers to something that is sacred or something that is set apart. It also implies purity that is set apart from impurity.
The Greek word for holy also draws from this concept and is often translated as mortal purity or sanctity or consecration. Let me give you three passages that give a really solid insight into our understanding of the holiness of God.
First Samuel 2 to there is none holy like the Lord for there is none beside you. There is no rock like our God. Isaiah 40 verse 25. To whom then will you compare me that I should be like him says the Holy One.
Hosea 11 9. I will not execute my burning anger. I will not again destroy Ephraim for I am God and not a man the Holy One in your midst. And I will not come in wrath. Now did you catch what idea. Each one of these verses in parts.
Each one of these verses conveys the idea that God is completely set apart from everything else. There is none like the Lord God. There is none besides the Lord. There is no rock like our God. Nothing can be compared or likened to God.
God has no equals. God is God and not man. God is the Holy One in your midst. Jay Packer defines the holiness of God is everything about God that sets him apart from us and makes him an object of all adoration and dread.
Thomas Watson remarks that holiness is the most sparkling jewel of his crown. It is the name by which God is known. His power makes him mighty. His holiness makes him glorious. The Lord God is entirely unique and his holiness is incomparable.
The Lord God stands alone and it is his holiness that marks his unique divine nature. Exodus 1511 says. Who is like you a Lord among the gods. Who is like you majestic and holiness. Awesome in glorious deeds doing wonders.
Someone 119. He sent redemption to his people. He is commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name. A W Tozer remarked that the only way to fully grasp the holiness of God was to experience the holiness of God.
He writes. When you talk about the holiness of God you have not only the problem of an intellectual grasp but also a sense of personal violence which is almost too much to bear. God cannot tell us by language so he uses association and suggestion and shows us how holiness affects the unholy.
In other words the best way to understand the holiness of God is through observing those who have experienced it firsthand. It's learning from those who have been confronted by it face-to-face like Isaiah.
And how did Isaiah experience. How did Isaiah respond to his encounter with a God who is holy holy holy. Isaiah 6 verse 5. And I said woe is me for I am lost. For I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
For my eyes have seen the king the Lord of hosts in the presence of a holy holy holy God. Isaiah pronounces a curse upon his own head. What was me. I am lost. Isaiah was utterly devastated and laid low by the holiness of God.
Now why do you think he responded in this way. Why do you think he responded in such a dramatic manner. I mean Isaiah knew God. Isaiah knew that God was holy. He was familiar with the book of Leviticus and all the laws that were associated with the holiness of God.
He was familiar with Mount Sinai the priesthood the sacrifices the sins of Nadab and Abihu who were killed because they did not treat the Lord God as holy. Isaiah knew that he was utterly set apart from all creation.
He knew that God was unique. So why did he respond in such a severe manner. Why the woe is me. For I am lost. Well listen to how a few other men responded in similar situations. Moses at the burning bush.
Exodus chapter 3. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bush. He looked and behold the bush was burning yet it was not consumed. Moses said I will turn aside to see this great sight.
Why the bush is not burned. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see God called to him out of the bush. Moses. Moses and he said here I am. Then he said do not come near take your sandals off your feet to the place on which you are standing is holy ground.
And he said I am the God of your father the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face. For he was afraid to look at God. How about the prophet Habakkuk. Do you remember how Habakkuk responded in the presence of the Lord.
In the book of Habakkuk he was second-guessing God. He was questioning God. He was complaining to God about the current state of the wicked world. And in chapter 2 Habakkuk says. I'm gonna stand here and wait for you to answer.
I'll keep watch waiting for your word. Will God gave him a word. And in Habakkuk 316 Habakkuk says. I hear and my body trembles. My lips quiver at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones. My legs tremble before me.
Simon Peter had a similar response in Luke chapter 5. And when he finished speaking he said to Simon put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered master we toiled all night and took nothing but at your word I will let down the nets.
And when they had done this they enclosed a large number of fish and their nets were breaking. They signal to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and they filled their boats so that they began to sink.
But when Simon Peter saw he fell down at Jesus knees saying depart from me for I am a sinful man Lord in the presence of a whole in the holiness of God. Isaiah cried out woe is me I am lost. Moses hit his face and was greatly afraid.
Habakkuk was a nervous wreck. His insides trembled his lips quivered. Decay entered into his bones. Simon Peter recognized his complete unworthiness even to lie at the feet of Christ to come into the presence of the Lord God.
To know and understand the holiness of God is to be utterly devastated because of our sinfulness. The holiness of God exposes our sinfulness. The holiness of God is like a giant spotlight that shines on our lives and reveals every one of our imperfections our wicked thoughts our flaws.
So if we don't recognize the holiness of God if we don't understand the holiness of God we will never fully understand our sinfulness. R .C. Sproul writes that without the holiness of God sin has no meaning.
Grace has no point and faith has no content without the holiness of God sin is merely human failure and not rebellion against God. I'm gonna repeat that because it's so important. Without the holiness of God sin is merely human failure and not rebellion against God.
You know as believers there's often a tendency to view our sin as personal failure. There's a tendency to view our sin is as disappointment. I'm trying to be more patient. I'm trying to be kind. I'm trying to obey.
But it's really hard. Sin is not a personal failure beloved. But what we need to remember is that the Lord God is holy holy holy. And what we need to remind ourselves is that our sin is rebellion against him.
It is rebellion against a God who is holy holy holy. Sin is failure to conform to the law of God. Sin is perversion. It twists into sort something that is good into something that is not. Sin is unfaithfulness.
Sin is adultery. Sin is doing something that the devil desires. Sin is missing the mark of perfection. Sin is straying from the path. Sin is destruction. And as Isaiah's eyes gazed upon the king the Lord of hosts he saw his sinfulness and the sinfulness of his people and it nearly destroyed him.
In the presence of a holy God our sinfulness is manifest. Our sinfulness is made completely obvious. In the presence of a holy God our sinfulness stands out like a shining light in a darkened room. And beloved God hates sin.
And let me get personal for just a moment. The Lord God hates your sin. The Lord God hates my sin. Habakkuk 113 says. Thine eyes are too pure to approve evil and now cannot look upon wickedness with favor.
Sin is the barrier that separates us from God. Sin is the obstacle that completely hinders and disrupts our relationship with him. Isaiah 59 2 says. Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God and your sins have hidden his face so that he does not hear.
This is something that we often forget. We forget that sin separates and hinders our walk with God. We get so preoccupied with other things with the temporary things of this world that we forget about God's holiness and we forget about his hatred for sin.
You know it's easy to remember that God loves us. It's easy to remember that God has forgiven us that God is patient and long suffering toward us that God that God has prepared a place for us. These thoughts are a great comfort and a great encouragement to us.
But when we forget that the Lord God is holy holy holy it inevitably begins to happen. We start to stray from God. And as we stray from God our view of him diminishes. And the high view of God that every believer should possess is exchanged for a low view of God.
The thrice holy God who is overall is replaced with a God of our own making fashioned after our own desires. But the more we strive to know God and the more we reflect upon his holiness the more we will hate our own sin and the more we will strive to please him.
Early in his ministry the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church and Corinthians 1st Corinthians 59 he writes for I am the least of the Apostles unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God.
Later in his ministry he wrote to the Ephesian church in Ephesians 38. And he says to me though I am the very least of all the Saints this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
And finally towards the end of his ministry towards the end of his life he wrote to his true child in the faith his beloved Timothy. 1st Timothy 115 the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost.
Did you catch the progression in those verses. Paul went from being the least of the Apostles to the least of the Saints to the chief of sinners. What was happening in Paul's life. Well as Paul grew in his knowledge of God as he grew in his relationship to God the more exposed to sin became.
And the closer that Paul got to the light of God's holiness the more sin and wickedness was exposed in his life. Beloved. What about you. Is your knowledge of God. Following the progression of the Apostle.
Does your knowledge of God and the guilt of your sin seem more magnified today than yesterday or last month or last year. Is your God holy. Holy. Holy as you approach him. Do you cover your face. You cover your feet.
God is holy and in his holiness he has called each one of us to be holy first Peter 115 and 16. But he who called you as holy you also be holy in all your behavior. Since it is written you shall be holy for I am holy for those of you who don't know God.
For those of you who have never confessed with your mouth and believed in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord the holiness of God demands payment for your sin. And that payment is blood. That payment is death.
That payment is eternal suffering. And there is nothing that you can do to gain favor with God. Even the good things that you do are as filthy rags in light of God's holiness. But there is hope. As Isaiah saw the Lord God and as his sinfulness was exposed in his great fear gripped him the Lord God took away his guilt.
Look at verse 6. Then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken out with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth and said behold this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned.
For Isaiah's confession and contrition was met with God's gracious provision of mercy. A burning coal was taken from the altar it touched the mouth of Isaiah and his guilt was taken away. His sinned atoned for.
And just as Isaiah's guilt was taken away and his sinned atoned so is our guilt and our sin taken away and atoned through the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jerry Bridges writes. As Isaiah anguished over his newly discovered sinfulness God sent one of the seraphim with a burning coal from the altar and touched his lips.
In this good news Isaiah heard the gospel and experienced both the deep conviction of his sin and the assurance of God's gracious forgiveness. Isaiah's response when he heard the voice of the Lord saying whom shall I send and who will go for us.
He responded here I am send me. Isaiah gave his life in service to God. He essentially offered himself as a blank check to be filled. As God saw fit with Isaiah we see a three-step process. First acute realization of one's own sinfulness in the light of God's holiness.
Second hearing the gospel that one sins are forgiven. And finally the response of gratitude love and surrender leading to action. And as we behold the Lord God as we experience the saving power of the gospel as we surrender our will to the will of God our lives will also be progressively transformed from glory to glory justice from the Lord the Spirit.
In closing I think there's an important lesson that can be learned from Isaiah's description of the seraphim. They used their wings. They used four wings for adoration and two wings for service. What about you.
Does your adoration of God exceed your activity for God. Does your existence revolve around the praise adoration and worship of God. As you come into the presence of the Lord. Is your face covered. As you come into the presence of the Lord are your feet covered.
You come before him in lowliness and humility. Or are you prideful. Are you self-absorbed. Is your view of God a high view of God or is it a low view of God. Beloved our God is holy holy holy. And his presence is awesome.
Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on the throne lofty and exalted in the train of his robe filled the temple. Isaiah saw the seraphim. He saw their worship. He saw their service. And after this vision I suspect Isaiah was never the same again and beloved.
As we behold the Lord God in the scriptures we should never be the same either. So I encourage you go to the Word of God and learn about him intimately know him. Not just an academic knowledge but a true intimate knowledge of who the Lord God is.
And God's character. His attributes will change you as his spirit works through you. Let's pray our Lord. We've just read an amazing passage. Isaiah's vision of your glory of your splendor Lord. We are so grateful to know you.
And we're grateful to have such a clear picture of who you are that sitting on the throne right now is King Jesus Adonai who is over all things. Lord I pray that you would give each one of us a very clear understanding of who you are.
A clear understanding of your majesty. A clear understanding of your holiness. A clear understanding of your presence. Because Lord when we see you clearly we will see our sin clearly. And Lord God our sin is great.
We confess our sin to you. We confess our pride our selfishness. We confess our self-reliance. Lord we pray that we would have a right view of you. We pray that we would be changed because of who you are and what you've done.
So Lord help us in this increase our faith increase our knowledge of you. Help us to see you as you truly are. And Lord we praise you. We thank you that you are holy holy holy. And Lord we look forward to the day where like the angels every moment of our lives will be to sing holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts.
Thank you Lord in Jesus name. Amen.