Let's take our Bibles, please,
and turn to Isaiah. As a good friend of ours says,
Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah chapter 6, and we'll read the whole chapter
and make a few comments as we're reading. Isaiah lived a pretty lengthy life. of somewhere around 125 years,
he lived some 700 or plus years before the coming of Christ. And yet this man has statements
about our Savior that are so clear and so detailed that you
just can't imagine that a person could conceive of such a thing. Most notable among these is Isaiah
53. There is not a description even
in the New Testament that can go further than this prophet
did in prophesying the words of Isaiah 53. But here is where
Isaiah got his start. If I remember right, Spurgeon
said he preached something like 75 or 85 years in this office
as a prophet. Let's look now in verse 1 of
Isaiah 6. We learn not only some things
about the prophet and about the Godhood and Godhead
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but this man lived through several
kings in Israel during this period of time, and this vision or calling
of Isaiah to be God's prophet took place in verse 1, in the
year that King Uzziah died. Now I know you've heard me tell
you this a lot of times, but I've got to tell it one more
time. In the year that King Uzziah died. What happened to him? What caused
him to die? He was not satisfied to be the
king of Israel. He also wanted to be a priest. So he went to the temple, took
one of those golden censers with incense in it and lighted it,
and began to officiate as a priest until something very strange
happened. And it happened in an instant.
God smoked that king with leprosy. He was cast out of any contact
with society, living in a place that was reserved for lepers.
Even if they passed you on a road, they were to call out, unclean,
unclean, and they'd step away from the road allowing you to
pass. That was this man's final existence. And now at his death, Isaiah was blinded and enamored
by this king, but now the king's gone. And now he discovers in
this revelation in Isaiah 6 who this God is that smoked that
king and can smite anybody else. or a whole world, for that matter,
if he wishes. I'm so sick of hearing people
talk about a God who ain't God. Let's see what we can learn this
morning about this one. 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 it stood the seraphims. These are not angels. They are
some angelic creature. The word, which is always in
the plural by the way, the word seraphim means burners. Now don't ask me to explain what
that is. Each one had six wings, with
two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet,
and with two he did fly. So if you or I, if we are engaged
in the work of the Lord Jesus, having to do with promoting or
preaching or teaching or spreading or whatever, what we call the
Christian religion, the true Christian religion, then we need
to understand that these seraphim are teaching us some lessons
about ourselves. We are to put our hands over
our face and over our feet. And only with our voice are we
then to cry. Above it stood the seraphim,
each one had six wings and so forth. And one cried unto another
in verse 3 and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. God is infinitely, infinitely,
infinitely holy. The whole earth is full of his
glory. I don't have time, don't even
know that I have any capacity to do so. I'm probably the world's
worst. Be riding on a pleasant day and
beautiful scenery, never think a word about God. Well, Lord, I could have been
in a high-rise apartment in New York City or some other place
like that, and I think I'd go nuts. Some of you said I already
have. And you might be right. I mean, the whole earth, where I live
and where you live, is full of His glory. And the post of the door moved. Now Spurgeon says that these
posts, Solomon had them made out of pure brass. And they were
mammoth. And it was holding up this entire
structure, this huge temple. And it says that the post of
the door moved. And he further goes on to say
that these gates that are fastened to these posts took twenty men
to open or close just one of them. You and I have no imagination
to understand such a magnificent building. But listen, it ain't
what the building is or what it looks like. It's God revealing
himself to a man. That's what we're after. Who
cares about the architecture? Let us admire it, but let us
not go too far. That we miss the God who is here
revealed. And that God is our Lord Jesus
Christ. Jehovah Jesus. The post of the
door moved at the voice of him that cried, And the house was
filled with smoke. Then said I," this is Isaiah
speaking about himself, "'Woe is me! I am undone!' Because I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips,
For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew
one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand,
which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar." Now, I will
venture to say this much about seraphims. Mr. Hawker says, that they were representations
of Jehovah in Christ. That they typified in this account
in Isaiah chapter 6 and elsewhere in our Bibles as being representations
of Jehovah Jesus. And that is indeed significant. Then flew, this is verse 6, one
of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which
he had taken with the tongs from off the altar." Now in order
to see this and understand it, we've got to know some things.
Number one, there ain't ever been but one true altar. Just
one. You know what it is? It is Jesus
Christ and him crucified. Christ is our altar. And this live coal that is taken
from off this altar is nothing less than Christ himself. He's not only the altar, he's
the sacrifice. And he's not only the altar and
the sacrifice, but he's the priest that offers it. Therefore, this
representation in verse 6 has everything to do with our Lord
Jesus Christ. And he laid it upon Isaiah's
mouth in verse 7, and he said, Lo, this has touched Your lips
and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is purged, is gone. Gone for good and gone forever. For if it ain't gone for good
and gone forever, it ain't gone. Just waiting for the opportunity
to condemn us. Verse 8, Also I heard the voice
of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? Now, our first consideration
of verse number 8 ought to be that this statement is speaking
about our Lord Jesus. Many of us have been down that
road in which preachers browbeat their congregations to come surrender
themselves to the Lord for some kind of full-time religious occupation. Missionary or preacher or whatever
it happens to be. I had enough of that when I was
coming up. If the Lord Jesus does not himself,
as our substitute, As our Redeemer, as our Savior, as our Righteousness,
if the Lord Jesus does not come to this earth, there is no salvation. So the first way I want you to
view this statement is as belonging to our Lord Jesus. Isaiah said,
I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send and
who will go for us? Now this question was settled
a whole long, long, long time ago before Isaiah ever found
out who this God is in Christ. Christ gave himself to this purpose
before the world began, before Adam was ever created, before
there was ever a sinner. Now let's view this statement
as belonging to Isaiah. And I might add as well, if God
is calling you to some kind of special work, he knows how to find you. Just remember one thing, he does
not ever try. Whatever he pleases, he does. He doesn't ask my permission
or yours. Doesn't ask my help or yours.
He simply speaks and it's done. So now we see it as it pertains
to Isaiah. Whom shall I send and who will
go for us? Then said Isaiah, here am I,
send me. Now all of that's wonderful to
there, but when you reach the very next verse, you wouldn't
want to be in Isaiah's shoes. For that matter, if I'd have
known about preacher's shoes, I might not have wanted to stand
in those either. And I did my dead level best
not to. But I could not escape it. Verse 9, I take that this revelation that
Isaiah has of God is revealed in Christ. Isaiah sees our Lord
Jesus Christ. And so our Lord said to this
prophet, Go and tell this people, this is in verse 9, hear you
indeed, but understand not, and see you indeed, but perceive
not. Make the heart of this 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. Then said I, then said Isaiah,
Lord, how long this fruitless ministry I am to take
up, how long is it to last? When nobody will hear what I
tell them, how long shall I preach? And he answered, until the cities
be wasted without inhabitants, and the houses without man, and
the land be utterly desolate. And the Lord has removed men
far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the
land, but yet in it shall be a tent. and it shall return and shall
be eaten as a teal tree and as an oak whose substance is in
them when they cast their leaves. So the holy seed shall be the
substance thereof." That holy seed is Christ. Now, this prophet
has had a life-changing event. Completely unexpected by himself. There's more in those statements
than you and I can fathom the remainder of our days and all
the days in glory. Alright, let me point out before
I leave Isaiah 6, because I want to take you to another portion
of Scripture here that continues what we've looked at in this
chapter. Here are several things that took place in what we've
just read. Isaiah saw God as he really is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw himself as he really is,
lost, undone, helpless, sin from head to toe. Thirdly, he saw
all of his countrymen in the same boat. I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord
of hosts." Fourthly, Isaiah saw full forgiveness in the blood
of God's Lamb, Christ and Him crucified. And then in these verses that
are so difficult for us to fathom, particularly verses 8 through
13, Isaiah saw the eternal purpose of God. Now, let's see if we're
on the same page. When this whole thing is wrapped
up in this earth and this world and this people on this globe
are no more, Is God victorious? Has he accomplished
everything he intended? Has Christ saved all those sheep
that were given to him in the covenant of grace in old eternity?
The answer to all these questions is an absolute yes. Yes, indeed. God does as he pleases in the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth, and
none can spay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou? Those
were the words that were spoken to old Nebuchadnezzar. And that
old bird, he got an eyeful when he finally saw what a fool he
was and how big God is. All right, let's turn to John chapter 12. very mistaken, and some people
tell me that I am on a frequent basis. But some of those statements in the
latter part of Isaiah chapter 6 might make us feel a bit uneasy, uncomfortable even. Well, we
are privileged. Oh, how privileged we are that
God has seen fit to put the events that we have just read in Isaiah
6 in the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of John. So let's pick
up right there. Beginning at verse 37 of John
chapter 12. I think I should back up just
a tiny bit. Verse 35. I want us to try to comprehend how God operates in Isaiah, in
the New Testament, in our own day. What is God doing? He is doing everything he pleases. Hang this scripture inside your head. Even the wrath of man shall praise
thee, that is, praise God, and the remainder of wrath shall
God restrain. I'll make this statement. You
might think I'm a fool. I think I'm right. Everything
that takes place on this earth, every day that rolls by, every
day of the month, every day of the year, every day of the week
does not matter. Everything that takes place in
this world in which men shrink from in horror at the number
of deaths and storms and all of this other stuff, I'm telling
you, Everything that comes to pass on this whole globe is carrying
out the will and purpose of God in Christ. And I don't care who
says that's not so. You can't read this book without
coming to that conclusion. Oh, and by the way, in the Gospel
of John, at the very end of this chapter,
we come to the end of Christ's public ministry as covered by
the Gospel of John. All that remains is for the Lord
Jesus to speak to his apostles and spend a good bit of time
with them, and then turn himself in to the authorities that he
might be captured by the king, And then it's on to the cross
and to the tomb, to the resurrection and to the ascension. Alright,
verse 35. Then Jesus said unto them, his
hearers, who do not understand and do not wish to understand,
they are comfortable in their false religion and so are people
today, yet a little while Is the light
with you? What light? Christ is the light
of the world, and he's referring to himself. Walk while you have
the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walks in
darkness knows not where he goes. While you have light, believe
in the light that you may be the children of light. Now watch
this. These things spoke Jesus and
departed, and did hide himself from them." Now, if you're familiar with
the New Testament, you know he didn't have to take another step
to make them blind to his presence. He speaks and it's done. There
are just too many instances in our Bibles. For us to question
such a thing is this. Verse 37 gives us now the summary,
at least in John's gospel, of Christ's public life and ministry.
But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they
believed not on him. And I'm trying to tell you that
is still how it is. That's still the way it is. Verse 38, that statement, after
doing all these miracles, they believed not in him. That, verse
38, that the saying of Isaiah, and you can say Isaiah, Esaiah,
I don't care how you say it. I'm just going to stick with
one pronunciation, Old and New Testament. And I could be wrong. It would be the first time, but
I could sure be wrong. The saying of Isaiah, the prophet,
when he spoke, who has believed our report? And to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed? Lord, if all of these people
have heard you and seen you and rubbed shoulders with you, why
aren't they coming with you? They didn't find anything they
wanted. He would not cater to their selfish needs. He could have set up the most
elaborate welfare program this world has ever seen. But no,
he doesn't see fit to do that. Is there no virtue in working
for our daily bread? The first two statements in Isaiah
53 is here in verse 38. who has believed our report,
our gospel. And the second one is the answer
to the first one. And to whom has the arm of the
Lord been revealed? For whom? for all of God's sheep
in Christ? For all of those people that
he gave to Christ? Don't fret yourself that God
somehow can't deliver all that he's promised. Abraham said he
could. He can't out-promise himself. Then we read, Verse 39, therefore
they could not believe. Now earlier in this chapter,
that's not the right verb. It says they would not. Anybody in this room, anybody
in this world can come to Christ. Well, why don't you come? They could not believe. Unbelief is without question
the deadliest sin this world has ever seen. Therefore they could not believe,
verse 39, because Isaiah said again, He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts that they should not see with their
eyes and understand with their heart and be converted and I
should heal them. These things said Isaiah when
he saw Christ's glory and spoke of Him. Nevertheless, among the chief
rulers also Many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess Christ. Now, is that saving faith or
not? Or not? Faith that refuses to own Christ,
no matter whose who it is that is trying to keep us from becoming
his disciple, if we truly know him, we must. We have no alternative,
we must confess him. Then it goes on to tell us in
verse 42, Nevertheless, the chief rulers in many Also, many believed
on him, but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest
they be put out of the synagogue." And in verse 43, "'For they loved
the praise of men more than the praise of God.'" Now, that ain't no praise at all when
it comes to God. If we love ourselves more than
we love Him, we ain't changed. That's how we were born into
this world. Verse 44, Jesus cried and said,
He that believes on me believes not on me, but on him that sent
me. And he that sees me sees him
that sent me. I am come a light into the world,
that whosoever believes on me should not abide in darkness.
If any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not.
For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects me and receives
not my words has one that judges him. The word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day." Two more verses. For I have not spoken of myself,
But the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what
I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment
is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore,
even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." Now, some people might interpret
Isaiah's encounter with God, that he did not see Christ, but
rather he saw the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
There are statements in this book to anyone with ears to hear
and eyes to see that tells you that that cannot possibly be. So I'd like to take you to a
couple of those. The first one is found in John
chapter 1, John's Gospel chapter 1. John 1, verse 18. No, it's not 18. Yes it is. I'm looking at 19. John 1, 18. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Christ is the revealer of God. He came in order to reveal God
to men. And that's what He's still about. Nobody can see God except in
the incarnate Christ and live. Moses said that. The children
of Israel said, We don't want this God to speak to us, Moses. You let Him speak to you, and
you tell us what He said. Just a minute. Get my bearing. John chapter 13. That'll work. Did I say John? I meant Matthew. Matthew, how come you didn't
tell me that? Matthew 13. Now, if you're familiar at all
with Matthew 13, you know that it's a chapter altogether given
to parables. And the disciples begin to be
a little curious at this point. They want to know from the Savior
why He speaks to men in parables. And when we read a chapter like
we did in Isaiah 6, everybody's got questions. You know, why
are these people incapable of finding God? Because we're looking for Him
in the wrong place. He's only to be found In the
glorious Son of God, our wonderful Redeemer and Mediator and Savior,
the Lord Jesus. Alright, here in Matthew 13,
beginning at verse 10, And the disciples came and said
to the Lord Jesus, Why speak you unto them in parables? Why don't you just tell them
plain as day? Our Lord said, he answered and
said unto them, Because it is given unto you. It's what? It's given to these men, but
not to others. Yeah, but that ain't fair. Hogwash. Who are we to talk about being
fair? "...because it is given unto
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
them it is not given. For whosoever has, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance." For whosoever has
not from him shall be taken away even that that he has. Therefore speak I to them in
parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear
not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled," watch
it, the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, By hearing you shall hear,
and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see, and shall
not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they
have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and should understand with their
heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." Returning
to his disciples, he said, But blessed are your eyes, for they
see, and your ears, for they hear. This is not a simple matter. It is, in certain respects, very
complex. But this is how it is. In Proverbs 20, verse 12, it
goes something like this, For the hearing ear and the seeing
eye, both of them come from the Lord. This matter of coming to Christ
has something to do with seeing with not the physical eyes. I'm not talking about seeing
Christ in the flesh. I'm talking about spiritual sight
and spiritual hearing. We cannot know him apart from
this divine method. that is so gloriously set forth
in our Bibles, and most particularly in the gospel accounts, it is
everywhere to be found. You know, that's enough. That
is enough. And stick with the Chorus Book
again.