Transcript

Tony Evans tells the following: “The old belief, centuries ago, was that the sun revolved around the earth. As we now know, this belief was wrong and mistaken.

“The earth revolves around the sun. Many of us have got it wrong in our spiritual lives. God doesn’t revolve around us. We revolve around Him.”

Many have the idea that the world and even God revolves around them, and that God is only there for our beck and call.

Our culture promotes humanism with its self-centeredness. We won’t find the purpose for our lives, however, if we think like this. To live for only yourself is to live for something very, very small and in the end it’s very disappointing.

But when we think bigger and outside of ourselves and put our eyes on the Lord God Almighty and live for Him we find the purpose for which we were created. Serving Him we live for the eternal and for what truly matters.

Instead of thinking God revolves around us, when we make God the centerpiece for our lives, the reference point for all that we do, and we revolve our lives around Him, then we are properly oriented for life and we find wisdom, meaning, and direction.

Isaiah 6:1: “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.”

In 1952 the sad word went out from London: “THE KING IS DEAD.” King George VI had died in his sleep at the age of 56. He was somewhat of a private man, in comparison with others who’ve held the throne, but he was greatly respected and admired.

His reign had carried him thru the rigours of WWII. But his tired heart gave way. All across Britain, people flocked to churches to worship, to pray, and to seek comfort and hope.

In 1963, the shocking word was sent out across the world: “The President is dead”. John F. Kennedy, was cut down by an assassin’s bullet in Dallas, Texas, and the United States was plunged into grief.

And people flocked into churches in the greatest numbers since the announcement of the end of World War 2. Ministers changed their sermon texts and preached messages of healing and hope to the people of America.

Here in our text, we find a time in Israel’s history where a similar sad announcement was made to all: “The King is dead.”

King Uzziah, the eleventh King of Judah, had died. Crowned at the age of 16, he had reigned 52 years. He was a beloved king by the people. Under his reign, God blessed Judah in battle, as they won victories over the Philistines and other nations.

Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem and fortified the city walls, he dug many wells and helped the nation’s agriculture to expand and prosper.

And he built up a mighty army, restoring it almost to the standard as it was under King David, and he made Jerusalem to be heavily defended and safe.

Uzziah had led Judah to political, military, and economic greatness. But pride was his downfall. Having accumulated great prosperity and wealth he felt himself worthy of the office of priest. And he went boldly into the temple to burn incense unto the Lord, claiming for himself the rights God had only given to the priests.

And as he argued with the priests and intruded into their priestly service, leprosy broke out on his body and Scripture says he “was a leper unto the day of his death.”

But despite his failings, Uzziah was a good king, one of the greatest kings since David. And at his death, the heart of Isaiah, the prophet, along with the nation, was broken.

It was during this time that Isaiah made his way to the Temple to worship and to have his faith strengthened. And what follows is an experience and encounter with the Lord that radically changed his life, and greatly strengthened his faith.

When Isaiah went up to the House of the Lord, he was shown that though a king may have left his throne on earth, God was still on His throne in heaven.

Though the throne of Judah was empty, the King of glory is always on His throne, enthroned in eternal, sovereign authority. And in contrast to a weak and leprous king Uzziah, Isaiah saw the true and almighty King.

It’s been said, “When the outlook is bleak, try the uplook.” For Isaiah and the nation of Judah, the outlook was bleak with the death of their beloved king, but the uplook was glorious: God was still on the throne and reigning as Sovereign of the universe.

And it’s the same for us. If we keep our focus here on earth, and we focus on earthly leaders and their failures and shortcomings, we’ll be discouraged, frustrated and depressed. But Paul tells us to set our affection on things above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, and in this we find strength and hope.

One day during the year following King Uzziah’s death, Isaiah decided to go to the Temple. There was nothing out of the ordinary with this, but this would be no ordinary visit.

And as Isaiah was in the temple that day he was struck down by a vision that overwhelmed him. He suddenly sees “the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.”

John 12:37-41 tells us who Isaiah saw: “But though He [or Christ] had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him…because that Esaias said…He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw His [or Christ’s] glory, and spake of Him.”

The Lord Jesus Christ is the One on this throne in Isaiah’s vision in Isaiah 6. Isaiah saw Christ in all “His glory” John says. Isaiah saw the pre-incarnate Christ on His throne in heaven. His transcendent greatness and glory as God is shown to us in Isaiah’s vision.

This reminds us of the glory He left and willingly laid aside when He humbled Himself to come to this world, become a man, and be the sinners’ Savior.

His throne is described as “high and lifted up.” It is exalted above all others. None come close to His throne in height or power or glory or authority.

It is the high throne of the “Most High.” Psalm 47:8 says, “God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.”

And the Lord’s “train filled the temple.” Isaiah in his vision also sees a glorious robe with a large train. And this train covered the ground and literally filled the temple from top to bottom. And there was no room for anyone to stand.

Solomon’s Temple was a large structure. When they built the second temple, the people who remembered the first one, bemoaned how much smaller the second one was compared to the first. As this train filled the temple, Isaiah noted it and it amazed him.

The all-filling train of the Lord’s robe speaks to the Lord’s all-consuming majesty and glory, and it is seen here as blanketing everything.

And it’s a picture of what the angels proclaim in verse 3 about the Lord that, like the temple was filled, “the whole earth is FULL of His glory.”

Isaiah 6:2: “Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”

Next, Isaiah notes celestial beings who attend the One on the throne, called “seraphims.” Isaiah says “above IT.” “It” is not the throne. “It” is the “train” of the Lord’s robe. The seraphim were not above the throne; they were above the train, because there was no room to stand in the temple. They wouldn’t dare to be above the Lord or His throne.

The word “seraphim” means “burning ones.” Here it refers to a special order of angelic beings. They have human-like features: having faces and feet, and verse 6 mentions their hands. But they are unlike humans in having wings.

And the seraphims have six wings, 3 pairs of them. The focus isn’t on the angels here, the focus is on the One on the throne. And these wings teach that. With two wings they cover their face, which shows how they dare not gaze directly at the Lord or His glory.

God’s glory, majesty and holiness is so great, His separation from His creation so infinite, that the seraphim must use two of their wings to cover their faces because they cannot look directly on the face of God and they show by this that they are not worthy to do so.

With these two wings the seraphim manifest their deepest reverence for God. Heaven is a place where reverence for God is total.

As amazing and glorious as these angels are, he sees that they are in awe before the One on the throne. They are created beings and Christ is so great, it is necessary for them to shield their face from beholding the face of the Lord and their Creator.

With the second pair of wings the seraphims cover their feet and express their deep humility before Him. The first pair of wings they show that they are not worthy to look UPON Him or His glory. The second pair of wings testify that they are not worthy to be seen BY the Lord or to be in His presence or in His service.

They acknowledge their position before God and by hiding their feet with these wings they show that they humbly understand that they are a created being in the exalted presence of God and therefore they express their humility and unworthiness by this act.

This all reminds me of Moses at the burning bush. The Lord told him to “put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground…and Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God” (Ex. 3:5,6).

And the Seraphim likewise who are by the throne of God hide their face from God in His presence. And being on holy ground near God’s throne, they cover their feet.

The third pair of wings were used for flying. These are the wings of obedience and readiness to serve the One on the throne. At the command of the Lord they immediately carried out His holy will. They are quick to execute the commands of God.

All this was to teach Isaiah (and us) to do the same within our lives and ministries: (1) to have a deep reverence for God, (2) to humble ourselves before Him, and (3) to have a quick, unlimited obedience to the Lord’s will.

Isaiah 6:3,4: “Isa 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.”

In John’s description of God’s throne room in Revelation 4, he wrote, “And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him…and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (4:8).

John refers to these same seraphim angels. Continuously, uninterrupted, never resting, these angels stand near the throne and extol the holiness of God.

But note that God is not called, “Holy,” not “Holy, holy.” He’s called, “Holy, holy, holy.” To say that God is holy once is truth. To say that God is holy twice is emphatic.

But to say that God is holy three times raises the bar and shows He is unmatched and without equal in holiness.

God is so holy that the angels can never, ever stop saying it. They’ll be saying this forever. They’ll never forget their lines!

Holiness is the only attribute of God that Scripture elevates to the third degree and is mentioned in triplicate, 3 times in succession like this. He is the Thrice Holy God.

The Bible never calls God is “love, love, love,” or “powerful, powerful, powerful,” or “wise, wise, wise.” But it does say He’s “holy, holy, holy.”

When we say that God is holy, what does that mean to you? Purity and perfection immediately comes to mind. And it does entail that. Holiness is used in Scripture to speak of God’s moral perfection, His absolute righteousness, His infinite purity.

But the idea of holiness is not exhausted by purity. When the angels cry out “Holy, Holy, Holy” they aren’t just saying “Purity, Purity, Purity” but more than that.

The word “holy” means to be “set apart.” The seraphims extoll the fact that God is “Set apart, set apart, set apart.” Saying God is holy means He is not like any other thing. There is no one like Him, never has been and never will be.

He is matchless and incomparable. No one is His equal. He is unique in Himself and His Person, unsurpassed in beauty, worth, and perfection. He is set apart unto Himself.

God in His holiness is set apart from unrighteousness in His purity; but His holiness also tells that He is set apart from anything and everything, from all creation. He is transcendent and greater than all and far above all. He is set apart in all He is and does.

God’s holiness tells us that, “God is always, always the greatest thing in existence.”

This attribute of God touches all His other attributes. Everything associated with God is holy. His justice is holy justice, His power is holy power, His wisdom is holy wisdom, His mercy is holy mercy, His love is holy love. His wisdom, love, justice, power, mercy, all His attributes are all set apart, above all, matchless, perfect, and infinite in Himself.

God’s holiness tells us that He does not conform to a standard; it tells us He IS the standard. He is the standard for righteousness and purity and perfection. He is the standard for what genuine love, grace, mercy, and justice really is and really means.

The angels that Isaiah heard crying out “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory” said it with such tremendous force and power that the doorposts and thresholds of the temple shook beneath Isaiah’s feet.

And the air filled with smoke. The seraphim extol God’s holiness not just as a soft song or lullaby, on a cloud strumming a harp.

The holiness of God is such that it demands to be praised with the force and strength and with the might it takes to cause the earth to move and shake.

And I think the reason for the three-fold “Holy” is also for each member of the Trinity: God the Father, “Holy;” God the Son, “Holy;” God the Holy Spirit, “Holy.” God, 3-in-1, HOLY.

And it is interesting within Isaiah’s book, that this scene so transformed his life and it so struck him at being confronted with God and His holiness, that within His writings when He referred to the Lord he called Him “the Holy One” 30 times. And the Lord is only referred to that way 21 times outside of Isaiah’s book in the entire Bible.

Isaiah 6:5-8: “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

“Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”

Isaiah was awestruck at the sight of a Holy God and the sound of the holy praise to Him and it all brought great conviction to Isaiah’s heart. Isaiah “saw the Lord” and then he saw himself as he had never quite seen himself before.

Isaiah saw himself in a whole new light. And he did not see himself as a good person. Instead it all caused him to cry out “Woe is me! For I am undone!”

The consuming and awesome holiness and majesty of the Lord literally overwhelmed the prophet and without God saying a thing, it caused Isaiah to pronounce woe, doom and judgment upon HIMSELF!

“I am undone” also has been translated “I am ruined” and it has the idea that Isaiah had come apart at the seams with the realization that he was an unholy, unrighteous man, a sinner, standing before the immaculately Holy King and God.

Isaiah was closer to the Lord than any man at this moment, yet he realized he was never farther away. The closer we get to God, the more clearly we see our sins.

The contrast between God’s complete holiness and our absence of holiness is stark. We see here a vivid awareness by Isaiah of just how very far short of God’s glory we truly fall.

The story is told about a dad who took his kids up to a cabin in the mountains without their mom. The cabin was a rustic place with no running water, no electricity, but plenty of space for the kids to run and play.

On the day that they were to come back home, he got them dressed in the morning, packed up the van, and loaded them in. He took a look at them as he was getting them in the van, and thought they look pretty good—a little grubby, but clean enough.

They all slept as he drove home. But when they pulled onto the road of their home and the dad looked back at them to wake them up, they looked filthy dirty!

What looked clean at the cabin, now in the light of showing them to Mom they didn’t look as good. The closer they got to Mom, the dirtier they looked to Dad.

Isaiah had the same experience, he thought he looked pretty good, but in the gleaming, piercing light of the presence of a holy God, he looked filthy dirty.

It’s the same with people today that people think they look pretty good, but they compare themselves with other people.

But when we compare ourselves with the holiness of the Lord, we see how infinitely far short we fall. And it shows us the need of a Savior to take our sins away.

The only way anyone can stand before God and be accepted of Him is to be washed in the blood of the One on this throne, God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

By Christ paying for our sins at His Cross, and trusting Him as our personal Savior, we are “made the righteousness of God in Him.”

Isaiah was convinced that his unclean lips had ruined him. Unclean lips come from an unclean heart as the Lord taught in His earthly ministry.

A seraphim flew and took a red-hot coal from the brazen altar and touched Isaiah’s mouth with it. The brazen altar is where the sacrifices for sin were offered and burnt in the temple. That brazen altar is a picture of the Cross where THE Lamb of God would shed its blood as a sacrifice, cleansing us from our sins.

And the fire of the brazen altar speaks to the fire of God’s wrath that Christ faced when He was made sin and paid sin’s penalty for us.

The touch of his mouth with the hot coal was a sign or token that he was cleansed. We know it wasn’t this hot coal or the brazen altar that took his sin away, but that it was because of the Cross later, which the altar typified, is how Isaiah was cleansed of his sin.

The Prophet Jeremiah did not feel he could speak well enough for the Lord and Jeremiah 1:9 says “the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said…Behold I have put my words in thy mouth.”

Isaiah was being prepared here to speak for the Lord also, and the Lord cleansed him of his unclean lips, so that his guilt would not be a hindrance. The Lord removed the obstacle in his life that would keep him from communicating God’s message to Israel.

Isaiah 6:8: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”

For the first time Isaiah hears the voice of the One on the throne and the Lord says: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” The “us” here indicates the Trinity, the “Holy, Holy, Holy” God.

The nation needed the Lord and the Lord wanted a servant to minister to the nation. I find it funny that Isaiah actually wasn’t a part of this conversation. He overheard it and then butts in.

And Isaiah volunteered to be that servant: Here am I! Send me! Isaiah’s response reminds you of kids in school or Sunday School and you ask a question, and they know they answer, and their hands shoot up, stretch, they want you to call on them, “Me, me, me!” They want to be called on.

God spoke as one seeking out a volunteer. He didn’t command Isaiah’s response. Instead He allowed Isaiah to volunteer. And Isaiah didn’t discuss his call with the Lord like Moses and Jeremiah, and he did not run away from it like Jonah.

Instead he simply made himself available to the Lord. And he made himself available not even knowing what the mission was, or what was needed, or where he was going, or what he was going to do! But that didn’t matter. None of that mattered.

Because the opportunity to serve the matchless, all-glorious, holy God over all, that he was allowed to see on His throne motivated him to volunteer whole-heartedly and to serve Him, willingly and sacrificially.

Isaiah didn’t need his arm twisted once he got a view of the God he was to serve.

And Isaiah was mightily used of God: his ministry led him to speak to kings and leaders of Judah, his prophecies include those Israel’s future, and the Messianic predictions about His birth and ministry, His Deity, His death, burial, resurrection, and millennial kingdom.

We should never underestimate what the Lord can do through one willing worker, one volunteer to serve Him. God wants to use each of our lives, and is waiting for each of us to tell Him like Isaiah, “Here am I Lord! Send me,” use my life for you.

And God has things for each of us to do. As Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

And under grace, we each have been given the high honor to be ambassadors for Christ, His mouthpieces and representatives, to carry His message of reconciliation and hope to the world.

Each of us in the church are sent to do this, and God wants us by grace to do with the heart of a willing, grateful volunteer like Isaiah.

Our purpose is to live for and serve this God, this transcendent, almighty, glorious God. It is an honor to do so. We should have the same kind of anxiousness as Isaiah to serve Him and do anything for Him. And in serving Him, we find the purpose for our lives.