We take your Bibles and turn
back with me to Isaiah chapter 6 Isaiah Chapter 6 A text is really gonna be in
verse 5, but I'm gonna read beginning in verse 1 again. It says in
the year of that King Uzziah died. I saw also the Lord sitting
upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the
temple. Above it stood the seraphims, each one six wings, with two
he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and
with two he did fly. And one cried to the other 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. What an awesome vision was given
here to Isaiah. In the previous chapter, he kept
saying this, Woe is them! Woe is them! Woe is them! But God gave him a vision of
Himself high and lifted up. And listen, when he saw this
vision, he didn't say, Woe is them. He said in verse 5, Then
said I, Woe is me. I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, dwelling
in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen
the King, the Lord of hosts. Woe is me. I entitled this message,
A Cry of the Downcast. A Cry of the Downcast. This cry
that Isaiah exhibits here. I want you to see this, this
morning, that this is the cry of every sinner who has by the
grace of God seen the Sovereign Lord. Everyone who has seen Christ. This is our first reaction. Always
woe is me. Woe is me. Isaiah saw the Lord
in this vision sitting on his throne high and lifted up. There was a. Now I want you to
see the occasion of this. It says in the year that King
Uzziah died it was a time of great sorrow. At a time of great
sorrow, Uzziah had died. He was a great king. Israel had
a Judah had a great king. He was a godly man ruling in
wisdom. He was a great king. He did that,
which was right in the sight of God. He was a beloved king,
and yet he died. And so then there was unrest. Well, who's going to rule now? Who shall lead us now? Uzziah
is dead. There was uncertainty, there
was confusion among the people. I know this, in the lives of
God's people, we live in much uncertainty. We live in much
unrest and confusion as regarding the providence of God. Is this
not true? When we scan the work of God's providence concerning
ourselves, concerning our families, concerning our friends, concerning
our nation, we are often confused, confounded. But consider that
it's in these times of confusion and unrest that God reveals Himself. It's in these times of trouble
that God manifests Himself more clearly to His people. In these
times, we see more of His might, more of His holiness, more of
His glory. In these times of unrest and
confusion, we see more of our sinfulness. We see more of our
own weakness. and inability to control anything. What do you really control? You've
got the illusion of control, but what do you really control?
Nothing. In these times we see that more
clearly than in prosperity. And we see this, the greatness
of the person and work of Jesus Christ. We see it more clearly
in times of distress than in times of prosperity. And so I ask God, may He reveal
Himself to us That this is who He is. He is
the King. Who's really in charge? Who's
running the show? The King is high and lifted up. Whose glory fills the temple. And God revealing Himself to
us, I want you to know He reveals Himself as He's always been.
As He is right now, He shall forever be the same. He is high
and lifted up. High and lifted up. Now earthly
kings, earthly kings die. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. What we are experiencing is the
decay of this one. This kingdom will fall. You think
this place was going to last forever? No. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. And this man, I consider this
man Uzziah. You think about this. This was
God's king. He was a godly king. He led them
in a godly way, and now he is dead. I think of the many godly men,
pillars of the church, who God has taken. And in those times
when God takes His men, the church is in uncertainty, unrest. We are by nature anxious. And we're anxious and uncertain
because we are mutable creatures. We are mutable creatures living
in a mutable world. How many times have we supposed
that all things would continue as they are? Everything's going well. Everything's
going right. Everything seems to be going
our way. And we think that it's just going to keep going like
that. And then soon, our plans, our
relationships, our thoughts are turned to dust and blown with the wind. All
of you, all you've dreamed of, all that you thought was right
and good and this is how it should be and God destroys it. He destroys it. He casts it to
the wind. How many times have God's people
been humbled to see this, that we are lighter than vanity? Vanity is empty. It is nothing.
We are lighter than nothing. How can you be lighter than nothing?
But you are. You are. And it's in these dark
times we see this clearly. We get caught up in this world
and the things of this life. So when we got the things going
our way, the way we want, and then they're
taken away. We become what? I've become disoriented. I think of that sailor in Psalm
107. He says, They that do business
in great waters, and God raises the waves to the heavens and
casts them down to the depths. And there you've got that experienced
sailor out there, and he's staggering to and fro, and he comes to his
wits end, and he just lays down on the ship and says, It's over. It's over. How many times have
we done that? Everything's sailing smooth and
all of a sudden God lifts us up to heaven and casts us down
to the depths. Like that sailor running over
here, tying a knot here, running over here, tying a knot here,
trying to keep this vessel going, trying to keep this vessel from
sinking. And what God's going to do is going to make you stop
tying knots. He gonna make you see that you
don't have control of anything. That's what God's doing in the
dark providence. I don't have control of anything
or anyone. Our hearts become full of fear
and unbelief. We stagger at the providences
of God. It's then that God reveals himself
as he truly is. The sovereign king who sits upon
the throne. Now this vision that Isaiah saw
was not a comforting vision. It was a very troubling one. He is sovereign. he rules and
overrules all things and all things are moving according to
his will to fulfill his purpose and are for his glory everything
everything but this is the comforting fact
that he is not only moving all things for his own glory he is
moving all things for the good of his people Always go to Isaiah 45 Isaiah
45 Look at what God says about his
sovereignty here Isaiah 45 and verse 5 He said
I am the Lord and there is none else there is no God beside me
I Girded thee though thou hast not known me that they may know
from the rising of the sun and from from the rising of the sun
and from the West that there is none beside me I am the Lord
and there is none else I form the light and create darkness
I make peace and create evil I the Lord do all these things
now what he's talking about is calling a man who doesn't know
him Cyrus calling him Called him hundreds of years before
his birth. Before his birth. Called him
by name. He said I'm going to take you
Cyrus and I'm going to do my will in you. What was that? To save my people. Not that you
may know but that they may know. See what I'm doing? I'm going
to use you for the good of Israel. That's what God does. He said,
I'm God, there ain't nobody else. It's as though God looked to
the left and looked to the right and said, Nope, nobody here but
me. I'm it. I'm God. I'm God. How many times have
we supposed that this things continue, but who's in charge
of this? God is. God is. David said, Our God sitteth
in the heavens and hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. What is God doing? Whatsoever
he hath pleased. That's what he's doing. What
shall we say when we find ourselves like our brother Job? Now Job,
he was persecuted. He was tried. And when you find
yourself like Job, listen to what Job said. Job 17 and 11,
he said this, My days are past. My life is over. He just knew
he was a goner. My days are past. My purposes
are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart. Let us cease, then, to look at
our broken purposes. You have a purpose and it's precious.
You say, oh, this is so precious. And God just destroys it. That's what Job said. He said,
all my purposes are gone. Everything I wanted to do. You
broke it. You broke it. Will stop looking
at the ashes of our purposes and look to God who broke them. Look to God who broke your purposes.
In order to fulfill his own. Our purposes are for our own
self, are they not? selfish therefore our own glory
that's because we're by nature sinners this old man only seeks
to think what's best for himself what's best for his flesh but praise be to God who rules
and overrules all things to accomplish his purpose You see, his purpose
is altogether glorious. Yours and my purpose are selfish. God's purposes are for his people. God's purpose is the salvation
of all his elect people. This is God's purpose who sits
upon the throne, high and lifted up, who does all things after
the counsel of His own will. The purpose of God, who created
all things and decreed all things, is to save, redeem, and call
His elect people. That's His pleasure. Flip over
to Isaiah chapter 43. Isaiah chapter 43. Verse 1, But now thus saith the
Lord that created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy
name, thou art mine. Isn't this a blessing? You that are saved, you know
you were created. I knew man was created of God.
He redeemed you, He called you, and you're in fear. Your providence
is dark, and you're in fear. And what does God say? What does
the sovereign God say? Fear not. Why? I've redeemed
you. I've called you. You belong to
me. You're mine. And he notices,
when thou passest through the waters, not if, when. See, the waters are purposed.
when you pass through the waters that I purpose for you. Not just
waters, rivers. Listen, they shall not overflow
thee, when thou walkest through the
fire, not if, when you go through the fire. Listen, you shall not
be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon you. Why? for I am the Lord thy God
the Holy One of Israel thy Savior listen what I've done I gave
Egypt for thy ransom and Ethiopia and Saba for thee since thou
was precious in my sight thou has been honorable and I have
loved thee because you were my elect because
I chose you because I redeemed you because I called you listen
you are precious You are precious and listen to
this honorable. And that's something honorable. I have loved the. I have loved
the. And notice what he does. Because
we are honorable, because we have been loved, therefore, will
I give men for the and people for their life? What is he doing
with all the rest of the people? He's just giving them for you.
He's using them for you. Men don't like to hear that.
But he is. He said, I give them for you.
I give men's life for you. That man over there, I kill him
for you. I let him live for you. I give him power for you. I take
away his power for you. Everything I do is for you. Fear
not. I am with thee. and notice this
I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the
west I will say to the north give up and south keep not back
bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the
earth even everyone who's going to be missing When God says to
the north, give up, south, keep not back, call my sons from the
east and the west, no matter how far they are, no matter what
kind of condition they are in, when God calls every one of his
people, they come. Every one. Every one that is
called by my name, for I have created him for my glory, yea,
I have formed him, yea, I have made him. You see what the pleasure
of God then is in all providence? It is to save his people. God,
who sits upon the throne, has decreed the waters, the rivers,
the fire. And this is the purpose of God
to save Israel. Therefore, all things that happen
are for this purpose, and he will bring his children. To see
him, to believe on Jesus Christ and know. That God is doing everything
to save his children. So let me ask you this in the
dark times. Why are you cast down? If God is sovereign high and
lifted up sitting upon his throne, why then are we cast down? Why do we feel discouraged or
think ill of God's providences? I know I do. Why? Even because we have taken our
eyes off of the Lord whose thoughts and ways are infinitely
higher than ours because of unbelief. That's why we fear. That's why
we tremble. And so this morning, I want to
I want you to see God as he is. As he is now seated upon the
throne of heaven doing all things after the counsel of his own
will, I want you to see his majesty His holiness back in our text,
he said. I saw the Lord sitting on the
throne high and lifted up and his train filled the temple.
What did he talk about there? His glory, his majesty. His majesty. He not only saw
his glory in the time of his trouble, but he saw his majesty,
his holiness. So holy is God that He sees these
seraphims and they've got six wings and they've got to cover
their face and their feet. They just can't, they can't bear
the sight of this holy God. And notice they cried to each
other. They couldn't even, couldn't even face Him. They
cried about Him. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. The earth is full of His glory. And so then the Lord that rules
over all things is a thrice holy God. Now, the holiness of God. Is the characteristic that permeates
all of his other attributes. Every attribute of God is permeated
with this holiness. And so that all that God does
and all that God is is holy. And what does that mean? Holy. really give you a definition
of it, but to grasp what it really is. Whatever I think it is, it's
infinitely higher than that. Whatever I think when he says
this, God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Consider that. God is holy. We despair so greatly
when our earthly plans, how much greater will be when men that
supposed to be accepted, how much greater will their despair
be when they meet this holy God? They take their feeble works,
their feeble religion, and try to present that to God to make
them holy. There will be a day when the
sovereign God will judge all men in strict holiness. And he
says they as cursed as everyone that continue with not in all
things written in the book of the law to do them. Cursed. David writes who shall stand.
Who shall stand. I think it's in Psalm 24. Read it so I don't mess it up.
Psalm 24. And verse. He said in verse 3, Who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy
place? Listen, here's who's going to
stand before God. He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. Anybody? Any one of us can confess that? Who's able to stand before God?
Have you seen the Lord as He has revealed Himself high and
lifted up? Have you seen God who is holy
and must judge all sin? Have you seen Him then? This
surely will put you in your place. If God will ever reveal Himself
to here, we'll be in the same place Isaiah is. We'll be saying
this, Woe is me. Woe is me. When God reveals Himself,
this is where the sinner always finds himself. put all events
of our sorrow and life in perspective. We'll say with Job, the Lord
giveth and the Lord taketh away. Our Lord Jesus said this in great
wisdom, he said, then what is a man profited if he gained the
whole world and lose his own soul? Or what will a man give
in exchange for his soul? This side of God put the prophet
Isaiah in the dust, not crying for use. I he was not crying
anymore for the king. He was not saying, Whoa, is you.
What was he saying? What was me? When God reveals
himself, this is what we will say. What was me? We won't be crying for our physical
circumstances. What we will be crying for is
mercy. Mercy. This is the result of every child
of God who has been quickened by the Spirit of God to see God
as he is. We see this. Woe is me. Woe is me. I am undone. I am a man full of leprosy. That's what he means by a man
of unclean lips. I heard somebody say, well, Isaiah
must have been a guy that cussed a lot. What an idiot. He's talking about leprosy. You
know, they had to cover their mouth and their face and cry,
unclean, unclean. That's what he's saying he is,
he's a leper. When a man sees God as he is, he says, woe is
me, I am a leper, unclean. Everything I touch is unclean
and I dwell in the midst of lepers. And everything they touch is
unclean. In other words, I can't save
myself and nobody else can save me. What is confessing? There's no hope for any of us. When a sinner is quickened by
the spirit, he will not cry concerning his needs of the flesh anymore,
but his need of mercy. Religious places are full of
people that want God to satisfy their needs of the flesh. They're
sick. They're poor. They, you know, homeless. There's
a bunch of needs of the flesh. And this is what men want religion
for. They want religion to satisfy their flesh. But a man who sees
God cares nothing for that. He cares for the mercy of God. He needs mercy. Do you need mercy? Our Lord revealed two men praying.
One was a Pharisee, one was a very religious man, one was a pious
man, one was a moral man. And the Lord Jesus said that
man, he prayed thus with himself. Lord, I thank you that I'm not
like other men. I'm very religious. I thank you
that I attend church every week. I'm so thankful, Father, that
I'm not like that pedophile. I'm so thankful I'm not like
that sinner over there. I'm so thankful that I'm better
than this person over here. What he didn't realize is he
was just talking to himself. I didn't pay that man no mind. You know why? Because he was
just as bad as a pedophile. He was just as bad as everybody
he looked down on. He just didn't know it. Why?
He ain't seen God. If he ever saw God, he wouldn't
be saying that. But you had that other man praying. And this man
was a real sinner. This was a lowlife scumbag. He was the black sheep of his
family. He was He probably used everybody and everything. And there he is in the corner.
And he sees God as he is. And he says this, Lord, be merciful
to me. Listen to this. Be sinner. Not a sinner. Be sinner. When God reveals Himself as He
is, you will be crying to God for
mercy. You will see that you are a sinner
in need of forgiveness. Do you need mercy? Do you need
forgiveness of sins? I know that I still need mercy.
I know this, I've obtained mercy, and yet I still need what? Mercy. I will never cease to
need mercy. Not as long as I live in this
body, I will not cease to need mercy. I still need mercy. I still need forgiveness. I still
need healing of my uncleanness. That's why John said it. He said
if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth
is not in us. But if we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins. So here's the hope for such a
sinner as Isaiah who finds himself in this condition before God.
Woe is me. Here's hope. Look at this. Go
back to your text. He said, Woe is me. I'm a leper.
I'm in the midst of a people of lepers. 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 is purged. Whenever there's a sinner that
cries to God for mercy, whosoever the sinner is, and no matter
how great a sinner he is, if God ever moves him to cry for
mercy, you know what he'll find? You that have mercy, you know
what he'll find. He'll find mercy. He'll find mercy. But how will
he find it? Notice this seraphim that flew
to his relief. What is this a picture of? We
know this is a vision and it has a spiritual meaning. What
is the meaning of this seraphim that flew? This one who cried,
holy, holy, holy. They cried to each other. He's
a picture of the preacher of the gospel. When a sinner needs mercy, what
does God send? He sends a preacher. He sends
someone with the message from God concerning mercy. He said, Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, but how shall they
call on him in whom they have not heard? How shall they hear
without a preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent? He sends preachers to preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this all this coal from off
the altar, what is an altar for? An altar is for a sacrifice.
He's talking about the sacrifice. This is the origins of mercy. from the altar. It is a message
of Jesus Christ's offering for sin that was made for the atonement. We preach a message of a live
coal taken from the altar. This has reference to the burnt
offering of the brazen altar. There was an offering that the
priest would make an offering and it's called a whole burnt
offering. And they'd take the whole animal They put it on the
fire. And that whole offering, the
priest couldn't eat it. It wasn't for them. It was a
whole burnt offering to God. It's a picture of Jesus Christ
and the offering of himself to God. He offered all himself to
God. All of himself. For the sins
of his people. Scripture says he loved me and
gave himself for me. His burnt offering only belonged
to God. The priest was not to take any
part of it for himself, but wholly dedicated to the Lord, as was
the offering of Jesus Christ for a sweet-smelling savor to
God. Behold, Jesus, our high priest,
offered the only acceptable sacrifice for sins when he offered himself. When a sinner's asking for mercy,
why does he need mercy? Because of his sin. Here's the
message of hope. That God hath made him to be
sin for us. Who knew no sin. Behold him,
he knew no sin. He was made sin, who knew no
sin. That we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. He was wholly offered to God. So that He should have the sins
of His people imputed to Him and that they should be consumed. Isn't that what happened to the
burnt offering? It was consumed. Right? What
happened to my sin? It was consumed. The wrath of
God was poured out on Christ for my sin. The scripture says
he suffered, he himself bare our sins in his own body on the
tree. And our sins were consumed in
his flesh upon the tree. And when it was finished, when
sin was forever put away and purged, he rose again from the
dead because there was no more sin. Where's your sin? You that believe on Jesus Christ,
where's your sin? I know you see it every day. I know you
feel it even now. But really, where is it? Jeremiah, Chapter 50. And verse
20. This is where our scene is in
those days, and at that time, say it, the Lord, the iniquity
of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none. When God searches for the iniquity
of Israel, where is it? How many? How many iniquities
do you have? God says none. And the sins of Judah, and they
shall not be found. Now this is why, for I will pardon
whom I reserve. I will pardon my elect. That's
why they're not there. That's why they're gone, because
Christ did pay for them and he is now ascended to the throne
of God. I like this, I was reading that
that account of the great the great day of atonement this week.
And I noticed this, that the high priest, obviously picturing
the Lord Jesus Christ, he had these linen garments he'd put
on. And you think about this. He had to kill the bullock. He
had to kill the ram. He had to kill the goat. He had
blood all over it when he was done. Those linen clothes were
covered in blood and dung and all kinds of vile stuff. What a picture of our Lord Jesus
Christ as he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. But
after he had finished the offering, after the atonement was made,
the scripture says he's got to take off those linen clothes
and he leaves them in the holy place. He said, you just leave
them in there. And you put on those golden robes. Is that what the Lord Jesus Christ
did? He put on his kingly robes, his priestly robes. And now behold
Him this morning, high and lifted up, sitting upon His throne,
ruling all things after the counsel of His own will, ever living
to make intercession for us, ever living to make intercession Our Lord Jesus Christ has made
that atonement and therefore he sends his man with this coal
from off the altar. The sacrifice has been made.
Atonement has been made. But here he is. Here's the leper.
Here's the man that is undone. The man that is unclean, crying
for mercy. And what does he do? He sends
one with a live, a living coal from off that altar, a burning
coal. And he takes it and he puts it on his lips. What is
this coal which is taken from the altar but the word of God?
The living word of God. I tell you what, for many years
I read this and it was as lifeless as the pages it was written on. But one day God made this real,
showed me that this word was living and powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword, dividing asunder bones and marrow, the
thoughts and intents of the heart." It was a living Word. And it
was through this living Word He preached the Gospel unto me.
It was by the power of the Spirit that this Gospel was applied
to my heart. And this is what it said. Back
in your text, this is what the Word of God says to everyone
it touches. Lo, this hath touched thy lips,
and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged. What does it tell me? Atonement
has been made. A covering has been provided. Jesus Christ has already obtained
it and now by grace we've experienced it. Don't you know this atonement
was made before Isaiah could say woe is me? It's already done
in the mind and purpose of God. Yet he must experience it, right?
This is us too. We must experience this grace.
And now then the sinner's woe is what? Turned to joy. Turn
to joy. His thoughts of earthly sorrow
and spiritual distress are turned to thoughts of God's grace. Thoughts
of how Christ put away my sin. Thoughts of peace with God. Thoughts
of His immutable love. Thoughts of His perpetual pardon
and forgiveness. Thoughts of His power to keep
and sustain me. You see, by the grace of God,
I'm consumed with these thoughts. And all who have called, and
cleansed, and purged, forgiven, pardoned, redeemed, reconciled
unto God, we say, Christ is all my salvation. Christ is all my
joy. Christ is all my peace with God.
That by his obedience in death he is all my righteousness and
all my atonement. And I believe that Jesus Christ
the Lord is risen and ascended and rules over all things. All things. What part of our life does not
not rule over. What has happened to you that
is not done by the hand of God? If there is anything that happens
to you outside of God's decree, God is not God anymore. But the God who rules all things,
I want you to listen to what he swears to do. He says this to you who have
cried for mercy and found mercy. I will not turn away from them
to do them good. I will not turn away from them. To do them good. I will put my fear in their hearts. And that what he does by trials
and troubles and difficulty, does he not put his fear in? So thankful he did. So thankfully
does. That they should not depart from
me, you see his purpose. You see his purpose in these
dark providences. to keep you near to himself. Believer in Christ, are you troubled? Are you weary? I get weary. I get weak. I am often consumed with unbelief
and fear. I still cry when I see him. Woe is me. I am undone. Every time he sends back the
same coal from all that altar saying thy sins are purged. Your pardon. Let us then behold the beauty
of our father, the son and the Holy Spirit, our triune God. May God cause us again to see
our need for mercy. And may God continually, as he
promised, purge us from all our sins. And let us say with David,
then, why aren't thou downcast, oh, my soul? What a good question,
isn't it? Seeing what Christ has done,
why art thou downcast, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? What did he say? Hope thou in God. Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise him who is the health of my countenance. David didn't
yet receive deliverance, but he said, Yeah, I will yet. It's
coming soon. In the meantime, I'm just going
to trust it. I'm going to trust it. The one who saved me. The one who called me. The one
who keeps me. Is the same one who is sitting
on the throne of heaven ruling all things. Who then shall separate us from
the love of God that's in Christ Jesus? Name him. Who is he? He said,
I'm persuaded that neither life nor death, whether I live or
whether I die, that's not going to separate me. Life nor death,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor power, nor things to come,
shall be able, or any other creature, just in case there's somebody
else, I don't know about. I am persuaded that they shall
never separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. You see him, you'll be persuaded
that. If you look to yourself, you won't be persuaded of anything.
Don't look to your faith. Your faith is lighter than vanity. Look to the object of your faith.
who's high and lifted up, whose glory fills his church. I pray
that God bless this day and stand and be dismissed in prayer. Glorious Father in heaven, be
merciful, be gracious. We come to you and bow before
your sovereignty and holiness and declare ourselves to be nothing
but sinners in need of mercy. And yet the grace. That we always
find mercy. Because of the perfect work in
person of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Thank you for him. Thank you
for his offering. Thank you for sending your spirit.
Thank you for sending your word. I pray that even now you'd apply
it to the hearts of sinners. yourself. I do beg you these
things in the name of Jesus our Savior.