Thank you. Well, there goes my
eternal reward. It should go without saying that One of the highlights of my life
is to be here on this occasion. I'm actually thrilled to say
that at this age I have any highlights. But just stretching out through
my whole life, this is as wonderful an occasion as I can remember.
And that stems from the fact that R.C. made a place in his
life for me and enriched me by that. I have been telling our
people at Grace Church that worship is rehearsing divine providence. Let me say it another way. Worship
is meditating on divine providence. The older you get, the more history
of divine providence you have. The working of God in the Old
Testament, the New Testament, through church history, and then
the working of God through the many decades of my life, providentially,
day after day after day after day, fills my heart with worship. People ask me sometimes, if you
could look back, what would you change about your life? Well,
I'd sin less and love more. But apart from that, I wouldn't
change anything, because it's really been His story. And of
the providences that God brought to pass in my life, few match
the friendship with R.C. I was asked today by Lee Webb
what I miss most about him, and I said, everything. And I'm thrilled to be here.
If He could hear me from heaven, I know He'd be checking with
me to see if I get Isaiah 6 right, since He is the master of Isaiah
6. I want to put Isaiah 6 in a context. I want to frame it in such a
way that will help us to understand not only that chapter, but what
that chapter communicates of the holiness of God, the nature
of God, and the history of redemption and judgment. So, I want you
to have your Bible with you nearby, and I want to move you through
some Scripture, and I want you to turn initially to Acts 14. I know that's many miles from
Isaiah 6, but it's very important for us to start there. Acts 14. Barnabas and Paul cry out to
the crowd that is treating them as if they are gods. And in verse
15 we read that they said this, "'Men, why are you doing these
things? We are also men of the same nature
as you. and preach the gospel to you
that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who
made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in
them." And then this most important statement, in the generations
gone by, He permitted all the nations to go their own ways,
and yet He did not leave Himself without witness in that He did
good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons,
satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. History is linear. History is
linear because God began it and God will end it. It flows from
the first creation to the second and last creation, from the creation
of the original heaven and earth to the creation of the new heaven
and the new earth. It moves inexorably along the
line of God's divine, ordained, sovereign will and purpose. The story of redemption is a
story of the beginning to the very end, from the time of the
creation of the physical universe to the time of the creation of
the final new heaven and new earth. But within that linear
history, moving from the beginning to
the very end, There are cycles. There are cycles that are happening
constantly, incessantly, and they are basically defined in
one way by verse 16. In the generations gone by, He
permitted all the nations to go their own way. The word permitted is eōō in
the Greek and it means to leave alone. All the nations before ours came
to a point where God let them alone, like Ephraim is given
to idols, let him alone. There comes a point in the history
of every nation. where God abandons that nation. This is not particular to us
or any other single nation. This is the cycle, the endless
series of cycles of history. When God abandons a nation, you
might say, what does it look like? Turn to Romans 1 and I'll
show you exactly what it looks like. As it says in the book of Acts,
God had put Himself on display by rain and the production of
fruitful crops and what John Calvin called common grace. He
displayed Himself in the creation. He displayed Himself in the law
written in the heart. He displayed Himself in human
reason, which leads back to a first cause. But inevitably nations
cycle through from the knowledge of God to being abandoned by
God. This is how it works, Romans
118. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Let me just stop there and say
there are multiple forms of God's wrath. There is eternal wrath.
There is eschatological wrath that comes at the return of Christ
and previous to His return. There is cataclysmic wrath that
could come from some natural disaster. There is sowing and
reaping wrath built into every transgression and iniquity are
some inevitable bad consequences. There are multiple forms of God's
wrath. This speaks of something other
than those. This is the wrath that I would
call the wrath of abandonment. This is what it looks like when
God lets a nation go, when He permits them to go their own
way, when no longer is there restraint on their corruption. They suppress the truth in unrighteousness. That which is known about God
is evident within them, God made it evident to them. Again, by
the law written in the heart, by human reason, so that since
the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal
power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood
through what has been made so that they are without what? It
is inexcusable not to believe in God, both in His creative
power and His moral character. Verse 21 further indicts humanity, even though they knew
God, not that they knew Him savingly, but they knew of His existence
and something of His nature and power and moral character. They did not honor Him as God
or give thanks. They became empty in their speculations. Their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory
of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible
man and birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Everything from animism all the way up to the sophisticated kind
of agnosticism that makes man the king of the universe in our
culture today. They have recreated God in their
own image. When a nation has the knowledge
of God, has the knowledge of God that is available from creation
and from the law written in the heart with an active conscience,
they are inexcusable when God unleashes His wrath on them. If you add to those components
which all human beings possess, the fact that they have been
exposed to His written law. The guilt is even greater. Now, it says the wrath of God
is revealed against such a society, such a nation. What does it look
like? Here it comes in verse 24. God
gave them over. This is God letting them go.
This is judicial language that is used to speak of a prisoner
being turned over to those who inflict punishment on him. God
in His wrath gave them over, let them go to the things that
they desired without restraint, gave them over in the lusts of
their hearts to impurity so that their bodies would be dishonored
among them." What happens in a nation that God abandons is
a sexual revolution. It becomes sexually perverted,
becomes sexually preoccupied. This is because, verse 25 says,
they exchange the truth of God for a lie and worship and serve
the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever.
Amen. So when you have a nation that
has been abandoned by God, there will be a sexual revolution. Verse 26 adds the second stage. For this reason, God gave them
over to degrading passions, for their women exchanged the natural
function for that which is unnatural. And in the same way also the
men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their
desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent
acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their
error." That last one may well speak of AIDS or any other venereal
disease that inflicts homosexuals. The first step Evidencing the
abandonment of God is a sexual revolution. The second is a homosexual
revolution. And the women who hold on to
normal sexual conduct because they have a built-in mothering
instinct are the first to lead that parade. In Romans 1, it's
the women who exchange the natural function and then the men. There's
a third step, verse 28, just as they did not see fit to acknowledge
God. Again, he keeps going back that
they didn't acknowledge God, that they did not hold on to
the truth but exchanged it for a lie. Again, rehearsing the
cause of this. But the third step, verse 28,
because they didn't see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God
gave them over to a depraved mind. A mind that doesn't function. There's a kind of insanity. A
nation abandoned by God has a sexual revolution followed by a homosexual
revolution followed by insanity. And insanity is when you think
you're a woman and you're a man. Insanity is when you think there
are a hundred genders. Insanity is when you make laws
to protect those who are out of their minds. Thinking you're
a man when you're a woman puts you in a category of someone
who thinks he's a potato chip. This is judgment. This is the
wrath being described in Revelation chapter 1. This is the cycle,
a sexual revolution, a homosexual revolution, and then a mind that
cannot function. It can never find its way back
because it is not rational. That irrationality is embedded
in behavior, cultural expectations, and even laws. Does that sound familiar? People sometimes ask me, do you
think judgment's coming to America? No, it's here, and it's been
here for a long time. And now it's entrenched not only
in the culture, but in the leadership. They're as insane as the most
wretched people in the culture. and that insanity dominates everything, how do you find your way back?
You don't. You don't. And out of that insanity,
Romans 1 ends with A horrible list of all unrighteousness,
wickedness, greed, evil, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice,
gossip, slander, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful,
inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding,
untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, and then that terrible indictment
in verse 32 that even though they know because of the law
written in their hearts and their conscience, that those who practice
such things are worthy of death. They not only do the same, but
they give hearty approval to those who practice them, which
means they make laws to legalize wickedness. You say, what does this have
to do with Isaiah? Let's go back to Isaiah 1. Let's go back to Israel. Isaiah's message was to tell
Israel that they were under judgment. They were under judgment. And he starts his message in
verse 2. Listen, O heavens, and hear,
O earth, for the Lord speaks. sons I have reared and brought
up, but they have revolted against me." Sound familiar again? This
is the cycle. An ox knows its owner, a donkey
its master's manger. But Israel does not know, my
people do not understand, Alas, sinful nation, people weighed
down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly. They have abandoned the Lord. They have despised the Holy One
of Israel. They have turned away from Him. Where will you be stricken again
as you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick, the whole
heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even
to the head, there is nothing sound in it, only bruises, welts,
raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, not softened with oil.
Your land is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire.
Your fields, strangers are devouring them in your presence. It is
desolation as overthrown by strangers. The daughter of Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack remaining after
the vineyard has been destroyed, like a watchman's hut in a cucumber
field, like a besieged city. Unless the Lord of hosts had
left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom and we would be
like Gomorrah. Even Israel doesn't escape the
inevitable judgment of God when they turn from Him. In Psalm 81, we read in verse
10. I the Lord am your God, who brought
you up from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will
fill it. But My people did not listen
to My voice, and Israel did not obey Me. Listen to this, so I
gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart to walk in their
own devices. Romans 1, He gave them over to the stubbornness
of their heart to walk in their own wicked devices. That was Asaph who lived in David's
day. Because of the rejection of God, Israel went through the
same cycle that all the nations in the past have gone. God let them go. He removed his
restraint, he removed his protection, and the judgment began to fall. He unleashed that judgment with
the Babylonian massacre and captivity. The most powerful account of
that judgment is found in Isaiah 5 and 6. We've been circling
the runway. Let's land on Isaiah 5 and 6. Sometimes I can't preach on a
whole verse, but I'm going to cover two chapters quickly. This is very powerful, and to
understand Isaiah 6, you need to understand the context. begins with the parable of the
Lord. This is an exquisite parable at the beginning of chapter 5.
It is a dirge. It is an elegy. It is a funeral
song. It is a plaintive, wailing, weeping
song. Let me sing now for my well-beloved
a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard. My beloved had
a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug it all around, removed
its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. And he built
a tower in the middle of it and hewed out a wine vat in it. And
he then expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced
only bu'ushim, Hebrew for sour berries. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more
was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done? Why when
I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless
ones? So now let me tell you what I'm
going to do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, it will
be consumed. I will break down its wall, and
it will become trampled ground. I will lay it waste, it will
not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns will come up. I will
also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it." In ancient Israel, as even today.
The valleys were filled with grain and the hillsides with
grapes. The rabbis used to say that when
God was distributing rocks, He accidentally dropped too many
of them in Israel. Those rocks all over the hills of Israel
were used to create the terraces that basically laid the ground
for the wine growing. This is a sad story. We're going to pick up on this
and make much of it in the parable of Mark 12, and
we'll get to that. You say, what does this have
to do with Jesus? It is the Father referring to Jesus as the well-beloved. It is the Father who said, My
beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. This is a song. The Father is singing a funeral
song. about a vineyard that belonged
to the Beloved One. How do we know that? Verse 7,
the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. And the man of Judah, his delightful
plant, Thus he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed for righteousness,
but behold, a cry of distress." Now let's look back at the beginning
of the parable and see if we can't sort out what's going on
in this language. This is a sad story even on the
agricultural level. But on the level of which it
is to be interpreted, it is infinitely more sad. What does it mean that
God had a vineyard on a fertile hill, that God chose a people
and put them in a land full of milk and what? Honey. A veritable
garden of potential productivity. He dug it all around, removed
its stones. Some commentators think that
refers to God removing the Canaanites who were a threat to Israel. Planted it with the choicest
vine. Jews are one-tenth of one percent of the world population
and 27 of them have won Nobel Prizes. Fifty percent of the
chess champions in the last century or so have been Jewish, and twenty-five
percent of all those accepted into Ivy League schools. They're
a noble vine. They're a noble vine. And they
were planted in a fertile hill. And he built a tower in the middle
of it, probably referring to Jerusalem. In any vineyard, you'd
have a tower to look for animals or enemies who would come and
do harm. And Jerusalem was the tower,
and those who occupied the tower were kings and priests and prophets.
And there's a wine vat, and that may well have reference to the
sacrificial system. With all of that effort, he expected
good grapes and he got sour berries. Then come the rhetorical questions.
Could God have done any more than He did? And the answer is
no. That's plenty to have expected
good grapes. Why did they produce worthless
ones? Well, according to Romans 3,
they were given the oracles of God. According to Romans 9, they
were given the adoption, they were given the covenants, the
law, they were given the temple, they were given the fathers,
they were given the promises, and they were even given Christ. Why the failure? Why, when God
looked for justice, was there bloodshed? Why, when He looked
for righteousness, was there a cry of distress? In Hebrew,
He looked for mishpach and found mispach. He looked for tzedakah
and found tze'akah. Play on words. So Yahweh has lavished love on
Israel, and they have rebelled, and God reacts. Verse 5, I'm
going to leave you unprotected, completely exposed, and you're
going to be wiped out. The hedge of protection, the
wall of protection trampled down. You're going to be laid waste,
never cared for, no rain. This is the wrath of abandonment. I'm done with you. I'm done with you. This is the way all the nations
have gone through human history, even Israel. The Lord doesn't just make a
general indictment. He probes. That's the parable.
Here's the probing. It starts in verse 8. Let's look
at specific sins. And you will see here the word
woe running down through verse 23 used six times. Woe is in
Hebrew an onomatopoeic expression. Expressing horror at the judgment,
woe to those who add house to house and join field to field
until there is no room. They were characterized by materialism, grasping materialism. And He
said, your houses are going to be desolate, even the big houses,
the great and fine ones. The second woe in verse 11. 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. Their
banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute,
and by wine. But they do not pay attention
to the deeds of the Lord, nor consider the work of His hands,
meaning the creation of the body. They take no thought for their
own bodies. This is drunken pleasure-seeking,"
characterized by wild, drunken, parties. Because of these two sins, verse
13 says, therefore my people go into exile for their lack
of knowledge. Verse 14, he says, Sheol has
enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure. In
Jerusalem's splendor, her multitude, her den of revelry, and the jubilant
within her, meaning the wild Drunkenness and all that goes
with it descend into the mouth of Sheol. The humble are destroyed and
so are the proud. Verse 16, But the Lord of hosts
will be exalted in judgment, and the holy God will show Himself
holy in righteousness. Now we're getting a hint at what
Isaiah 6 is about. It's about holiness related to
judgment. It's about holiness related to
judgment. The woes continue. The third
one is in verse 18. Woe to those who drag iniquity
with the cords of falsehood and sin as if with cart ropes. In
other words, they have such a load of sin they can't carry it on
their own back. They have to get a wagon, fill it with their
sin, and parade it by the pulling of animals. This is defiant sinfulness. This is aggressive sinfulness. And this is also mocking sinfulness. Verse 19, they say to God, let
Him make speed. Let Him hasten His work that
we may see it. And let the purpose of the Holy
One of Israel draw near and come to pass that we may know it.
This is them saying, if God doesn't like it, let Him do something
about it. defiant, scornful mockery where
they even refer to Him as the Holy One and dare Him to stop what they're doing. The
fourth sin is in verse 20. What are 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? I know you probably thought of Isaiah 520 as you look at
what's happening in our country where everything is turned upside
down. They criminalize righteousness and legalize sin. This is moral perversion. Grasping
materialism, drunken pleasure seeking, defiant sinfulness,
moral perversion. And down in verse 21 is the fifth
one. Woe to those who are wise in
their own eyes and clever in their own sight. That's arrogant
conceit. Arrogant conceit. They think they can do anything
they want and they're proud about it. And then number six in verse
22, woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant
men in mixing drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe and take
away the rights of the ones who are in the right. The word heroes
and valiant men refer to leaders, corrupt leadership. The sins that dominated their
culture, materialism. The pleasure madness, defiant
sinfulness, moral perversion, arrogant conceit, and corrupt
leaders. They escalated because God let
them go. They escalated to a point where
judgment had to fall. So you see the parable and you
see the probing into the sin, and then in verse 24 you see
the punishment. As God promises them there is
judgment coming, and I'll just look at it briefly. He defines
it in terms of fire, flame, rot, dust. And again at the end of
verse 24, for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts
and despised the word of the...what?...holy one of Israel. Verse 25, ìOn this account the
anger of the Lord has burned against His people. He has stretched out His hand
against them and struck them down and the mountains quaked
and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.
For all this His anger is not spent but His hand is still stretched
out in judgment.î In particular, it's going to
be the Babylonians in verse 26. It's a distant nation. It's as
if He whistles for the nation. The nation comes to execute His
judgment. Verse 26 says they come speedily
or swiftly. Verse 27 says they are relentless,
they do not weary, they do not sleep. Verse 28 says their arrows
are sharp, their bows are bent. Their horses are like a whirlwind,
verse 29 says, they're like a lioness who is seizing its prey. And the end of verse 29, no one
is able to deliver it. End of verse 30, darkness and
distress. This is where you're introduced
to the holiness of God in this context. The holiness of God
is made manifest over and over and over and over through all
of human history in the judgment of nations and generations of
people. And that judgment is an abandonment. Now that gets us to chapter 6.
Isaiah is profoundly distressed. It's not supposed to be going
this way. He's a prophet. He wants the best for his people. He needs help. He needs what
R.C. always said we all need, a vision
of God, right? And God answers him. Verse 1,
in the year of King Uzziah's death, you say, is that important?
It is if your name is Uzziah or Mrs. Uzziah. But it's particularly
important because he had reigned for 52 years. This death occurs
in 740 B.C. But as long as Uzziah was in
power, it was sort of a symbolic evidence of God's blessing. Uzziah
died. How did he die? 2 Chronicles
26 says that he was lifted up in his heart, so he acted corruptly. What was the corrupt act? He
went in and offered a sacrifice. He invaded the priesthood, which
he was not allowed to do, and God hit him with leprosy, and
he lived in isolation until his death. By the way, 80 priests
had confronted him about doing what he did, but it was the confrontation
of the Lord that was most devastating. So now, the indictment is clear, the
judgment is clear, and the one hope, we still have a king. who is good, and they were strong
in the Cold War position because they had a powerful army. The
nation was being blessed, flourishing economically, agriculturally.
But all of a sudden, he is struck by God with leprosy, and Isaiah
wants to check in. We had this leader, and even
though he may not have been godly, it seemed that he ticked off
enough boxes to maintain blessing on our nation. And then God killed him. Isaiah needed to find God, and
he needed to check on one thing to start with. Is he still in
charge? Right? Verse 1, in the year of King
Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord. Here's the good news. Sitting
on what? What? The throne. Thank you, Lord. Ever since the election of Joe
Biden, we needed to check in and find if we could have a vision
and be sure God was still on the throne. He needed sovereignty
for comfort. The most comforting doctrine
of all is sovereignty of God. He's on the throne. Nothing has
changed. He is not only on the throne,
He's not slouching. He is lofty and exalted and His
glory completely fills the temple in the vision. In other words,
His glory extends throughout the fullness of everything that
Isaiah can see. He is all-glorious, lofty, exalted,
absolutely sovereign. He is undisturbed. He is unconquered. He is impassable,
which is to say He is unaffected. This is exactly what Isaiah needed
to see because everything seemed so out of control. In the fourteenth chapter of
Isaiah, Verse 24, the Lord of hosts, Isaiah writes, "'The Lord
of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely, just as I have intended, so it
has happened, and just as I have planned, so it will stand.'"
Is that comforting? Isaiah's comfort. is based on God's sovereignty. The greatest comfort we have
is that God is on the throne high, lifted up, and His glory
fills everything. The plan is on schedule. It just happens to be the plan
of judgment. Isaiah's comfort, however, is
short-lived. Verse 2 says, 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. Seraphim
appear to be angels that guard the holiness of God. Six wings,
two covering the face of the angel because even they are created
beings and can't look on the glory of God, according to Exodus
33, without being incinerated. With two, covered their feet
because they were in the presence of holiness, holy ground. And with two, literally in Hebrew,
they hovered like celestial helicopters, waiting to be dispatched, as
Hebrews 1.14 says, for the ministry of the saints. And then, verse 3, one called
out to another and said, Holy, holy, holy, trihagion, holy is
the Father, holy is the Son, holy is the Spirit, thrice holy
is God, the triune God. No other attribute is repeated
in this way three times. This is His uniqueness. This
sums up His complete otherness. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. His glory
is tied to His sovereignty in verse 1. His glory is tied to
His holiness in verse 3. And as comforting as His sovereignty
is, just so terrifying is His holiness. Because in verse 4 it says, the
foundations of the threshold trembled at the voice of Him
who called out while the temple was filling with smoke. To see the holiness of God is
a terrifying reality. This is why Peter, when he knew
the Lord was in the boat, said, ìDepart from me, for I am a sinful
man.î He didnít say, ìWow, Jesus, what a cool miracle. All those
fish came out of nowhere.î When he knew He was in the presence
of the Creator, all he could see about himself was his own
wretchedness. All creation responds to the
glory of God. Everything starts shaking, according
to verse 4. Everything in the vision trembles. In 66th chapter, Isaiah says
that God is looking for the one who trembles at His Word. The
clear view of God, friends, is this. It is both reassuring and
terrifying. It is both reassuring and terrifying. It is reassuring because of His
sovereignty. It is terrifying because of His
holiness. God is in control, but He is
God. And if you expected Him to do
anything other than judge the nations that go their own way,
you don't understand His holiness. And the prophet wasn't so much
moved by the transgressions of the people around him, although
he was aware of it, but rather by his own sinfulness. In verse
5 he responds, ìWoe is me.î Do you think he knows what the word
ìwoeî means? He just used it six times in chapter 5. Woe is me for I am ruined. I am literally falling apart. I am crumbling. I am going to
pieces. I am disintegrating. I am being
destroyed. The prophet is crushed by the
recognition of the holiness of God because he was a man a dirty
mouth. You might say, well look, you've
got a bad self-image, you're not going to make much of a profit. He was among people with dirty
mouths. Why does He choose the mouth? Because that's where you
most freely sin. You can do other sins, but there's
some planning involved. But there's not planning in the
sins that just come out of your mouth. out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaks, so he comes to realize his own sin. And you might say to him, Isaiah,
you're a little carried away. You're the best mouth we've got. You're the prophet. He says,
you don't understand. End of the verse, verse 5. My
eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. I'm not comparing
myself with you. I'm comparing myself with the
Holy One. I would say that it's pretty
obvious that this generation of so-called evangelicals have
neither a clear view of the sovereignty of God or His holiness. They
are neither comforted nor terrified. and he is a dirty-mouthed prophet,
surely can't continue to speak for God. That section is the presence
of the Lord. Then we come in verse 6 to the purification. Heaven acts. By the way, do I
need to say sovereignly? Isaiah's prayer is purely a prayer
of confession. Then one of the seraphim flew
to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken
from the altar with tongs. 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." Sovereignly, heaven
acts. It is powerful and it is painful. If you want to test the pain
of this, When you have the barbecue on July 4th that the president
says you can have, maybe take the coal off the fire
and put it on your tongue. The altar here is symbolic of
the altar of atonement, which we know is a picture of the cross.
That atonement is applied painfully to the lips of the prophet. There's
a behold in here. Behold, this has touched your
lips. This is the surprise of sovereign
grace. And I love this. Your iniquity is taken away and
your sins literally are atoned for. Your sins are atoned for. And finally, for the first time
in verse 8, God speaks. 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. I don't think He said, Here am
I, send me. He was the only one in the vision. It probably was like, you could
send me. Verse 9, He said, Go. What kind
of person is the Lord looking for? in a nation under divine
wrath and judgment, somebody perfect, he wouldn't have anybody,
would he? All he can do is pick up sinners who've been forgiven. Who will go and speak to these
people? Humbly, willingly, with a broken
heart, the prophet says, ìHere am I. Send me.î God says, ìGo
and tell this people.î Now we come to the important
point. What is the message? What is the message? Hereís the message. Tell them
this, keep on listening, but do not perceive. Keep on looking,
but do not understand. Render the hearts of this people
insensitive, their ears dull, their eyes dim, otherwise they
might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with
their heart, and return and be healed. What? What is that? Go and tell them they can't perceive,
they can't understand, they're too insensitive, too dull, too
dim. And I've made it that way so
that they don't see with their eyes, they don't hear with their
ears, they don't understand with their hearts, and they don't
return and be healed." This is bizarre ordination into evangelistic
ministry. You know what the message was?
Tell them this. It's too late. Too late. It's too late. You had your chance. You had your season. It's now too late. Judgment has
arrived. You wouldn't, and now you couldn't.
So tell them it's too late. So Isaiah says in verse 11 what
I would say, Lord, how long do I do that? How long do I just
go around and tell them it's too late? Judgment has come. It's inevitable. It can't be
remedied. It's too late. And he said, until
the cities are devastated and without inhabitant, houses are
without people, and the land is utterly desolate, you keep
telling them until there's no one left under the fury of that
judgment except the last living person, and then tell that person. And what are you telling them?
God is holy. He cannot look upon iniquity.
He cannot tolerate sin. He is God. Keep doing it until the Lord has removed men
far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the
land. The message to a nation under
judgment, it's too late. They're going the way of every
other nation. That's the message today in our nation. It's too
late. You turned against God. The knowledge
of God was yours. Both that knowledge which is
built into humanity and the knowledge of His saving purpose through
holy Scripture has been a part of this culture. The message
is, too late. You say, well, is that the end? No, there's another verse. Listen to this, 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. When the judgment is over, there
will be a remnant, there will be a stump which He calls the
Holy Seed. So here's the point. Out there
in this nation under judgment is God's chosen remnant. You tell the nation it's too
late, but God will draw through the
gospel His elect. Tell the nation, too late. God's remnant will come. Go and
preach judgment. Tell them it's too late. Turn to John as we kind of wrap
up. John chapter 12. This passage,
by the way, is quoted in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in similar context, but I want
to show you. We don't have time to cover everything. Let's go
to Jesus. We just jumped from the 8th century
B.C. to the 1st century A.D. And verse 37 says, though He
had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing
in Him. This is the ministry of Jesus. And 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? That's Isaiah 53, 1. For this reason they...what?
could not believe. They would not, they could not,
for Isaiah said again, 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. These things
Isaiah said because he saw his glory and he spoke of him. Jesus said exactly the same thing
to the Israel of His day that Isaiah said to the Israel of
His day. It's too late. You wouldn't and you couldn't. And to show that as an illustration,
verse 42, many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because
of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him for fear they'd
be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the approval of
men rather than the approval of God. Even those who Superficially
believed? Couldn't believe savingly. It was Isaiah saying, it's too
late. It was Jesus saying, it's too
late. At the end of the book of Acts, the apostle Paul, chapter 28. Verse 23, he had been solemnly
testifying to Jews about the kingdom of God and trying to
persuade them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and
from the prophets from morning until evening. Some were being
persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. And when they didn't agree with
one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting
word. Here's his parting word. The
Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers,
saying, Go to this people and say, You will keep on hearing
but will not understand. You will keep on seeing but will
not perceive. For the heart of this people
has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and
they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with
their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart,
and return, and I would heal them. Paul is saying to those
Jews, it's too late. It's too late. Verse 28, let
it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles.
They will listen. And that's the church. It is too late, too late for this nation, but not too late for the elect.
Go back to Isaiah 1, verse 10. Hear the word of the
Lord, you rulers of Sodom. He calls Jerusalem Sodom. Give
ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah.
What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me, says the Lord? I've had
enough of burnt offering of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I
take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. When
you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling
of my courts? Bring your worthless offerings
no longer. Incense is an abomination to
me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies. I cannot
endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon
festivals and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden
to me and I'm weary of them." And by the way, God ordained
them, but it was too late. Verse 15, so when you spread
out your hands in prayer, I'll hide my eyes from you. Wow. Even though you multiply prayers,
I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. That's not the end. A final plea
to those who can believe. Wash yourselves. Make yourselves
clean. Remove the evil of your deeds
from my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice.
Reprove the worthless. Defend the orphan. Plead for
the widow. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though
your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though
they are red like crimson, they will be like wool." Too late for the nation. not
too late for the elect. Father, we thank You for Your
Word. So much more to say about this,
but help us to grasp this that we have to be faithful to proclaim
judgment. We can't be telling people that
God is in heaven, hoping they'll think kindly of Him and come
to Him. He is on the throne wreaking
havoc in this world through His holy judgment. We thank You that we are comforted
by Your sovereignty, and the fear of Your holiness was removed
when The coal from off the altar touched our lips, and we were
forgiven. But Lord, the rest of the people
around us, the nation, this generation, have to hear the message that
it's too late. It's too late. But it's never too late for those
whose names are written in your book. Use us to call them to
repentance and grant them both repentance and faith in the Savior. May He gather His elect and return
to take us all home. We pray in His glorious name.
Amen.