Let us turn again to God's Word. And I want to direct you to Isaiah
chapter 6. A familiar chapter. The call, the
commission of the Prophet Isaiah to his ministry. We read the
whole chapter. Though I'll concentrate for a
text really on the opening verse of the chapter, but we'll read
the chapter through. Isaiah 6, 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. Above Him 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.
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 post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. 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 tongues 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. 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. And he said, go and tell these
people, hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive
not. Make the heart of these people
fat, make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see
with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with
their hearts, and convert and be healed. Then said I, Lord,
how long? And he answered, Until the cities
be wasted without inhabitants, and the houses without man, and
the land be utterly desolate. And the Lord hath removed men
far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the
land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return,
and shall be eaten as a toiletret, and there's an oak whose substance
is in them when they cast their leaves. So the holy seed shall
be the substance thereof." Well, like the Old Testament, all of
the Old Testament really, the key to what we have here is to
be found in the New Testament. Hence that portion of Scripture
that we read in the twelfth chapter of John's Gospel. and especially
that final paragraph that we were reading at verse 37 through
41 where we're told concerning the ministry of Christ that though
he had done so many miracles before them yet they believed
not on him that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled
which he spoke, and the words, remember, of Isaiah 53, who have
believed our reports, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed. And then it says at verse 39,
Therefore they could not believe, because that Isaiah, the same
prophet Isaiah, said again, 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. Quoting now from this passage
in chapter 6 of Isaiah. And then we have this remarkable
statement in verse 41. These things said Esaias when
he saw His glory and spake of Him. And who is it that is being
referred to? Whose glory was it that Isaiah
saw and spoke of? It is the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so, that really is the theme
that I want to address this morning, Isaiah's vision of Christ, as
we have it recorded back in the Old Testament in this sixth chapter
of his prophecy. Isaiah's vision of the glory
of Christ. And in taking up that theme,
to divide the matter into some three parts. First of all, to
see how here, of course, we have set before us that great mystery
of God. We see so clearly in this chapter
the doctrine of God, the doctrine of the Trinity, and we see him
as that one who is indeed thrice holy, the son of the angels,
the seraphim, these burning ones, these bright ones, these sinless
creatures who are about the throne of God, and they're sung. They cry one unto another saying,
holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is
full of His glory. They rejoice in the Holy One,
Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit. And it's interesting,
isn't it? You may have observed as we were
reading through the chapter just now what we have in verse 8. when the Prophet says he heard
the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send, singular,
and who shall go for us, plural. Here we have one God, but that
one God who subsists in three persons. He is I and He is us. And of course it's a truth that
is fully revealed when we come to the New Testament, but it's
there also in the Old Testament. Why we have it in that blessing
that the priests of Aaron were to pronounce upon the children
of Israel, the Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make
his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord
lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Three
times it's the Lord, the Lord, the Lord and it's there in the
Old Testament scriptures and it's a great mystery and it's
above and beyond any man's comprehension that there can be a God who is
one and yet that God is also three And so the language of Job, all
this in the Old Testament, the language of Job 11, Canst thou
by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? If he is high as heaven, what
canst thou do deeper than how? What canst thou know? The measure
thereof is longer than the earth and broader than the seas. How
can we begin to understand this great truth, the doctrine of
God, the doctrine of the Trinity, and we have it in what the Prophet
is beholding. 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. But here, as I said,
from what we're told later there in the New Testament, in John
chapter 12, where we were reading, here we have the vision of Christ,
and here then we have the doctrine of Christ. And there John continually
brings out that great truth. Even when we come to those short
epistles, you remember, There are three epistles written
by John the longest of course the first but then the second
and the third so short and yet what profound truth in all these
writings. And there in 2nd John verse 9,
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ
hath not God. If you don't abide in the doctrine
of Christ you can't have God. Either abideth in the doctrine
of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son. Oh, there is a Father,
an eternal Father, because there is also an eternal Son. And as I would say here in this
chapter, we have the Lord Jesus then being revealed to the prophet
Isaiah. It is the Lord Jesus whom he
beholds. and those words that we read
in verse 41 of John make it so evident whom he saw in his glory
when he spake of him he is speaking there is John of what Isaiah
actually saw what was revealed to him the glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ And it's interesting, it says, doesn't it here at the
end of verse 1, is train filled the temple. Is train filled the
temple. And I like the remark, the comment
that's made by the great purif and divine Dr. John Irwin. He
says with regards to this statement that Christ would fill or God
would fill the temple of his human nature with divine glory. Think of the human nature of
the Lord Jesus Christ, of which really the temple is a type,
isn't it? In the Old Testament, Bunyan
in that great little book of his, where he speaks of Solomon's
temple being spiritualized. It's a type of the Lord Jesus.
It's a type of the Lord Jesus in the incarnation. And the Puritan,
Dr. Rowan says, the Father would
fill the temple of his human nature with divine glory. Oh, this is something then of
what John was able to behold. He pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Oh, the Lord says in the course
of His ministry, doesn't He? There in that second chapter
of John speaking to the Jews, destroy this body. or destroyed
his temple and in three days I will build it again. They didn't
understand he was speaking of the temple of his body. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who
is being revealed here to the prophet, to Isaiah. He sees
something of his glory and we have it of course in all its
glorious fulfillment when we come to the New Testament. and
there we see the mystery of godliness in the incarnation, God manifests
in the flesh. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ is
another than God himself. When Philip says to him there
in John 14, show us the Father and it suffices. What does the
Lord say? Have I been so long time with
you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen
me hath seen the Father. He is ever always the image of
the invisible God. No man hath seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
He hath revealed Him. It's not just the mystery then
of the Trinity, the mystery of God in this chapter, there's
that great mystery of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who's trying,
fills the temple. And there's not just Christ who
is God, there is Christ who is man. He is the man. He is the
man. Remember our in Hebrews chapter
2 the Apostle refers to the 8th Psalm what is man that thou art
mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him and
so forth and as we read through what Paul is saying there in
that chapter Hebrews 2 at verse 6 and the following verses when
we come to verse 9 he simply makes a statement but we see
Jesus or what is man But we see Jesus. Jesus is the man. And this is the one who is revealing
himself and revealing something of his glory to the prophet. Christ is that man. And we see
him, of course, as a man in three ways. We see it in the incarnation,
we see it in the great work of redemption and we also see it
in his work of intercession in all these things he is the man
he is the God-man Isaiah 9 and verse 6 unto us a child is born
unto us a son is given oh there is a child born there's a child
born to the Virgin Mary but that child that is born is the son
that is given, he is the son of God and that holy thing conceived
in her womb by the Holy Ghost is to be called the son of God
he is the man the guy in Paul tells us writing there in 1st
Corinthians 15 the first man is of the earth, earth the second
man is the Lord from heaven the first man Adam was made a living
soul the last Adam is made a quickening spirit the first man is but the
type of that great man that was to come the last Adam the second
man the Lord from heaven and so when the fullness of the time
is come God sends forth his son made of a woman and made under
the law He is that man then that we see in the Incarnation. He is also the same man that
we see at the end in His great work, His obedience unto death,
even the death of the cross, when it comes to that great work
of redemption. Remember the language of Pontius
Pilate when he says, Behold the man. all behold the man even
the Lord Jesus Christ and what a man is he says I am a worm
and no man a reproach of men and despised of the people now
that man who is the only man that was holy in every part of
his life Adam was holy of course when he came pristine from the
hand of his Creator God. But Adam and his wife, Eve, how
they sin, they fall. But here is a man, you see, holy,
harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. And yet this man
makes the great sin-atoning sacrifice. And do we not see it even in
this particular chapter? when the Prophet beholds this
glorified Christ, what does he say? Woe is me! 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. And here is the Gospel, Then
flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his
hand, which he had taken with the tongue from off the altar.
And he laid it upon my lips, and said, Lo, this hath touched
thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged."
It's the gospel, isn't it? It's the gospel in type. It's
the brazen altar. It's the place where the sacrifices
were made under the law. And it is directing us to that
great one sacrifice at the end of the world. One sacrifice for
sins forever, but the application of it. And it is applied to the
lips of this man. He is going to speak pure words.
He is going to speak the words of God. He is going to be declared
in the gospel of the grace of God. Isaiah, as we know, is full
of gospel truths. But what a blessed application
there is here, it's the work of the Lord Jesus. Isaiah is
one who, having seen the glories of Christ, must therefore proclaim
those same glories. He is the man, not only in his
birth, he is the man also in dying. And he is still a man,
is he not? In a glorified body now, raised
from the dead, ascended on high. interceding for His people, there
is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the Man,
Christ Jesus. And here we have it. He is the
Lord, sitting upon a throne. This is what Isaiah witnesses. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord. sitting upon a throne what is
the significance of the statement that we have here the throne
remember in the Old Testament of course
God appears in the midst of Israel seated upon the mercy seat back
in Exodus 25 God makes it clear that he will appear there in
the holy of holies in the midst of Israel and all the furnishings
of the tabernacle just as all the furnishings of the temple
all these things point us quite clearly to the Lord Jesus Christ we have the mercy seat we come
to the New Testament we have the throne of grace and who is
that one who sits upon the throne of grace that glorious high throne
or Jeremiah says it a glorious high throne from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary that glorious throne it's all
fulfilled in Christ He is the antitype of everything that we
have there in the tabernacle the language of Romans 3.25 where
we are told there of him whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood and I don't know, it might have it
in your Bible, it does have it in some Bibles if you look at
the margin there instead of propitiation it might well have the word mercy
seat whom God hath set forth to be a mercy seat through faith
in his blood. The same word that we have as
propitiation in Romans 3.25, exactly the same word, is to
be found in Hebrews 9 at verse 5, where it is actually rendered
mercy seat. Because in the opening verses
of that chapter, of course, the apostle is describing the various
parts of the tabernacle. And he speaks of the mercy seat.
The mercy seat was the place of propitiation. it was where
the high priest on the great day of atonement going beyond
the second veil into the holy of holies would take the blood
and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat
making atonement for the sins of the people and so what is
it that Isaiah is witnessing who is the one sitting upon the
throne the mercy seat the throne of grace it's the Lord Jesus
Christ It's that one who does indeed intercede for his people. His very presence there in heaven
is a continual intercession for those whom he has come and lived
and died for. He ever lives, he's an ever-living
High Priest and his very life is a continual intercession on
behalf of his people. Well, what does Isaiah see then
here? He sees the glory of God. He
sees the great doctrine of God, the doctrine of the Trinity,
but he also sees here the doctrine of Christ. It is Christ whom
he beholds. We cannot deny that fact because
it is stated so clearly there in John 12.41. He saw the glory
of Christ and spake of Him. But he doesn't just see that
that we might say is a great mystery. That it is altogether
above and beyond our understanding and something that really words
fail us in trying to explain. He sees also the majesty Oh,
he sees the majesty of God. He sees the majesty of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's a throne. And a throne clearly
speaks of majesty, kingship. We have that description of God's
throne, don't we? In the book of the Revelation,
there in the fourth chapter, after we have the letters to
the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3 then in chapter 4 John
as a door opened before him in heaven and what does he witness? what does he witness there? verse 2 immediately I was in
the spirit and behold a throne was set in heaven and one sat
on the throne and then the description of this one who's sitting on
the throne and the throne clearly there speaks of majesty and power
and authority it is the throne of God thy throne O God is forever
and ever the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter we read in
the 45th Psalm And the amazing thing again is of course that
45th Psalm is a Messianic Psalm. And it is applied directly to
the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who
is being spoken of. Unto the Son, He says. Thy throne,
O God, is forever and ever. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 8.
The Apostle deliberately takes up the language of Isaiah 45,
6 and applies it to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Christ's
throne. And when we think of the throne,
it reminds us truly of the sovereignty. the sovereignty of the one who
is sitting upon the throne our God is in the heavens he hath
done whatsoever he pleased where is the Lord Jesus Christ? he's
in the heavens he came from heaven he has returned
to heaven why? the disciples they saw him go
up to heaven there in Acts chapter 1 and He is there as our God. He
is the head over all things to the church which is His body,
the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. Here is Isaiah and
it's a dreadful day in the kingdom of Judea. The king is dying. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne. That human throne,
it was vacated. Well, in a sense it was. I know
it's the king is dead, long live the king, because immediately
there's another king, but here is a king that never vacates
his throne. The Lord sitting upon a throne. And he exercises absolute sovereignty. all the inhabitants of the earth
all the armies of heaven are all subject to Him He does according
to His will both in heaven and in earth all the throne speaks
of His majesty, His sovereignty but it also speaks to us, doesn't
it, of His holiness Psalm 47 and verse 8, God sitteth
upon the throne of His holiness, it says. It's a holy throne, because He's
a holy God. Why? He is three times holy. He is Holy Father, Holy Son,
and Holy Spirit. And holiness becometh His house
forever. he is that one who is the holy
one how careful then we are to be whenever we come before him
or we must ever remember where he is he is in that high place, in
that holy place and so the wise language of King
Solomon there in Ecclesiastes chapter 5, keep thy foot when
thou goest to the house of God, he says, be more ready to hear
than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not
what they do. Be not rash with thy mouth, neither
be hasty to utter anything before the Lord. He is in heaven, thou
art upon the earth, let thy words be few. Those words are so much
ignored today. by so many when they come together
and pretend that they're worshipping God or that we might have such
a view of His holiness that we might be those who do truly stand
in awe. You know, when the Spirit is
abroad there will be that remarkable sense of reverence in the presence
of God when we think of times of great awakenings you remember
the tale that's told concerning the evangelist George Whitfield
and if ever there was a time of spiritual awakening and revival
it was then under that man's ministry both in England old England and also in New England
and I think I've told the tale before of the occasion when he
was preaching in Boston in one of the churches there and a great
multitude had gathered together to hear the preaching and there
were many children present and after the preaching someone turned
to a little boy and said, little boy what do you think of the
great Mr. Whitfield, the preacher who has
come from England? And the little boy said, oh,
he makes God to seem so big. He makes God to seem so big.
You see, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, a big God,
a great God, a holy God, a righteous God. These are the views we're
to have. And this is what the prophet
witnesses when he sees this God. And his eyes, we know what John
says concerning the vision that he is favored with in the opening
chapter of the revelation his eyes the flame of fire all his
eyes behold his eyelids try the children of men no wonder the
the prophet has to make this confession in verse 5 where we
smile I am undone because I am a sinful man I am a man of unclean
lips And he feels it, you see. What do we feel when we come
before God in our worship? Do we really feel that we're
so utterly unworthy? Who are we to appear and take
his name upon our lips? On clean lips we have. Can we honestly say that we've
not spoken foolish words and sinful words since last we gathered
together to worship God? ought to have a sense then of
His greatness, His glory, and not only His majesty but also
His holiness. There is here then not only the
mystery of this God but all His majesty and His holiness. And
then what is the consequence of all that we have in the chapter? well we come to the end and we
have the ministry that this managed to exercise the ministry of Isaiah
what a ministry it was the Lord says whom shall I send
who will go for us here am I says the prophet send me and verse
9 he said go and tell these people hear ye indeed but understand
not and see ye indeed but perceive not make the heart of these people
fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they
see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand
with their heart and convert and be healed oh what a sad ministry
in a sense it's such a discriminating ministry isn't it what is he
going to say as a consequence of all his preaching the solemn
passage really, what we have at the end of the chapter but
he's seeing, isn't he, the Lord Jesus Christ and when we think
of the Lord's own ministry and how discriminating the Lord's
ministry was how he comes to his own, his own receive him
not There were but few who would accept his ministry in spite
of all the great miracles that he had performed. We have it,
don't we, there in the portion that we were reading. And the significance, as I said
at the beginning of that final paragraph, verse 37, though he
had done so many miracles before them, Yet they believe not on
him, that the saying of Isaias the prophet might be fulfilled
which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom
is the arm of the Lord revealed? So striking those words at the
beginning of that 53rd chapter of Isaiah. How can anyone believe
the report? How can anyone believe the gospel
except the Lord make bare his arm? That's what it says. Who
hath believed our report? To believe that report, the Lord
has to bear His arm. Salvation is of the Lord in every
sense, isn't it? Not just the purpose of the Father,
and not just the purchase of the Son, what He has procured
by His dying, but the application. God has to bear His arm to make
a Christian. It's a mighty work of grace to
apply that salvation. Who has believed our report,
and to whom is the harm of the Lord being revealed? Therefore
they could not believe, because, as Isaiah said again, He hath
blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts, that they should
not see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts,
and be converted, and I should heal them." All the very words
of Isaiah 6 and verse 10. These things, said Isaiah, when
He saw His glory and spake of Him. But the Lord's own ministry was
so discriminating, dividing. His fan is in His hand, we read
in Matthew 3, He will truly purge His floor. When He comes to minister There's
division because of him. There's division because of his
sayings. Three times we're told that in
John's Gospel, in 7 and verse 43, 9 at verse 16 and chapter
10 at verse 19. All the truth of God's sovereign
grace, how dividing it is. And we have it done with the
end of that sixth chapter in John. when the Lord himself declares
I said unto you that no man can come unto me except the Father
draw him and the consequence of that from that moment many
went back and walked no more with him read the end of John
6 verses 65 and 66 how sovereign graciously it's
so offensive to me It's so discriminating a truth. I was struck reading
a sermon recently by this statement, it is the devil who seeks to
confound all distinctions. It's the devil's work to confound
all distinctions. God makes distinctions. There's a separating the precious
from the vile. And the devil will confound all
distinctions. So this man's ministry, it's a hard ministry he's having
to exercise because they're not believing the reports. Their
ears are heavy, their eyes are shut, their hearts are hard. Then said I, Lord how long and
he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitants,
and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
and the Lord hath removed men far away, and there be a great
forsaking in the midst of the land." It's judgment, isn't it? We know what the context is historically. It's the overthrow of Jerusalem,
it's the destruction of the temple, it's the people being carried
away to Babylon, into exile. judgment but then the comfort
that we have at the end of the chapter but yet I like that it
doesn't just say but or yet it says but yet in it shall be a
tent a tithe and it shall return and shall be eaten There's a
tile tree and there's an oak whose substance is in them when
they cast their leaves, so the holy seed shall be the substance
thereof." Oh, there's a holy seed. There's a spiritual people. There's a godly remnant. Except
the Lord of Oaths had left unto us a very small remnant. We should
have been a sod and we should have been like unto Gomorrah,
but it wasn't. It wasn't to be, there was a remnant. Thank God
there's a remnant still. We feel it, I'm sure we feel
it. It seems to be nothing but reducing us. That we look to
the Lord or that we might be favoured with such a vision of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as this prophet was favoured
to behold. The Lord is still upon His throne,
He is still working out His own eternal purpose, even in our
day He's saving the people. As many as were ordained to eternal
life. That's not fatalism. We have
to look to the Lord, we have to trust in the Lord, we have
to cry to the Lord. Or shall not God avenge His own
elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long
with them? He bears long with us. and we provoke Him by our sins.
Oh, but thank God there is One who rules and reigns in His grace. It is yet that day of grace,
that acceptable time, that day of salvation. There is that throne
that is never empty. 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. May the Lord be pleased to bless
to us his word. Amen.