Now go back with me to Isaiah
chapter 6. As I mentioned this morning,
the title of this message this evening is, When a sinner sees
his Lord. Now this passage of scripture
is probably quite familiar to most of you, if not all. It's
probably one of the most read chapters out of the book of Isaiah.
It might be the second most read, Isaiah 53 obviously being the
first. But either way, I know you've
heard many messages on it, good messages, gospel messages, so
I assure you I'm not going to really say anything new. But
I pray that the Lord will enable me to preach the gospel of Christ
out of this passage. This is Isaiah's vision of Christ. The first seven verses of this
chapter speak of Isaiah's conversion. This morning I spoke on that
unction that we who know Christ have from the Holy One. That
unction is the Spirit giving life in the new birth. Well, here's an example of that
unction right here in the first seven verses of Isaiah chapter
six. And in the last verses, beginning
at verse 8 actually and on to the end of the chapter, speaks
of Isaiah's calling to the office of prophet, his calling and God
equipping him with the message of grace, the message of God
to the nation under which God sent him. Now, when we speak
of Isaiah's conversion here in the first seven verses, I want
to make it clear to you. And the reason I'm doing this
is because I actually heard it preached this way one time, and
it's not so. I didn't hear it preached here
this way, but it's not that Isaiah was preaching for five chapters
and then the Lord converted him. That's not the case. He simply,
in this passage here, reflecting back upon that time, that time
when God brought him to a saving knowledge of Christ. And he's
doing it to use himself as an example of what it takes to bring
sinners to faith in Christ and to true repentance. You know,
he's been preaching the gospel. He's been calling on sinners
to repent. We know that repentance, like
faith, is the gift of God. None of us, by nature or of our
own free will, will repent. Neither will we believe. That's
a gift of God. And so Isaiah is showing here
in his reflection, as this is recorded by the Holy Spirit,
that he's not calling upon the nation to do any more than what
God called him to. You see, we are all sinners in
need of salvation by grace. And lest you forget that, that
refers to the fellow standing up here behind this pulpit, too. I don't think there's much danger
in this place of you forgetting that, but in a lot of places
they do, don't they? You know, the preacher, you know,
if I step off this platform, I will fall. I don't walk on
air. No preacher does. And no office
that a man holds does. It doesn't elevate the man. You
see, the office is elevated, but the man is not. We are just
sinners saved by the grace of God, equally saved by His grace,
equally washed in His blood, equally clothed in His righteousness,
equally entitled to the whole inheritance of grace and glory
because of our Savior and our Redeemer and what He accomplished
for us. And so we do not sit one above
another. as far as our standing before
God. Now, we know God gives certain
gifts within his church. He makes men leaders and teaches
them and gifts them to guide the church. But still, that shouldn't
elevate the man. And I believe that's what Isaiah
is doing here. He's simply reflecting. I think he's doing here much
the same as what the Apostle Paul did in Philippians chapter
3. You know, he wrote the book of Philippians and later on in
his ministry. And it wasn't until the third
chapter of that blessed epistle that he reflected upon his own
conversion when he spoke of all those things in his religion
as an unconverted unbeliever that he thought recommended him
unto God, that which hindered his way to God. Yet he thought
it was the way to God. But he said, and we'll refer
to that later on, he said that when I saw the glory of Christ
And I saw that it was all but nothing, all but dumb, that I
may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith." Well,
in his way, back here in the Old Testament, under the Old
Covenant, in the nation Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem, Isaiah
is saying the exact same thing. It's the same way. Different
person. Different place, different time,
even a different culture, actually. Jerusalem in Paul's day was more
like the Greek culture than it was the Hebrew culture. So it's
a different culture. But it's the same God, the same
type of sinner, the same conversion, the same gospel, the same Christ. And Paul made this statement
one time in one of his epistles to Timothy. He said, God has
sent me forth as a pattern. as an example. In other words,
you're going to be saved the same way Saul of Tarsus was saved.
You say, well, I never have traveled the road to Damascus. Well, no,
not geographically, but spiritually you did, and I did too. Well,
that's what Isaiah is saying to his people of his day. If
you're going to be saved, you're going to be saved the same way
I was saved. And that's what this vision is all about. Well,
the first thing that we come to in this chapter, verse 1,
is a startling discovery. I mean, it's a startling discovery. This is an eye-opener. And here's
what happened. He says, the first line of verse
1, he says, "...in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also
the Lord." Now, what he's saying is, I saw Uzziah die. I saw Uzziah
die. But I saw something else. someone
else. I saw also the Lord. And this, the Lord was sitting
up on a throne. This is Jehovah. That's who he's
talking of. Now what is, who is Jehovah?
He is the God who saves by grace. He's the God of the covenant.
He's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he's sitting up
on a throne for he, as Brother Joe prayed, he is a, he's a,
in the glory of his throne, he's the sovereign God, not the one
in the manger that people like to keep Him in, especially this
time of year. And don't get me wrong, I mean, I thank God for
the manger, don't you? The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, but we don't keep Him there in our hearts and in our
minds. But He's sitting up on a throne.
This is a judge. This is a sovereign, you see.
And He's high and lifted up. He's exalted. And his train filled
the temple. Back then in those monarchies,
kings would wear long robes with long trains on the back of them.
They couldn't do any work, but they could sit in judgment with
those long trains, those long trailing behind them. And it
was a signification that this is the most important person
in the kingdom. That's what that meant. Well,
here is the most important person in the kingdom of the universe.
God Almighty. But I want you to understand
that it is very significant now about this event for which God
the Holy Spirit mentions it in connection with the time of Isaiah's
conversion. It was in the year that King
Uzziah died. Now, Isaiah, as you know, he
was born during the reign of King Uzziah. Some say that he
was even Uzziah's cousin. He was a member of the royal
family. That may be true. And Uzziah was a great king.
He began to rule in Jerusalem when he was 16 years old. He
was a real up-and-comer. He was a celebrity. He was a
well-beloved king. He ruled for about 52 years,
and for the most part, Israel prospered under Uzziah's reign. He was well-known. He was well-respected. He was well-loved by the people,
as well as Isaiah. And they certainly considered
him to be blessed of God. God has given us a king, that's
what they would say when they thought of Uzziah. The scripture
says this in the book of 2 Chronicles chapter 26, and you can read
about this on your own. It says, Uzziah was one who did
that which was right in the sight of the Lord. You might notice
if you cover 1 and 2 Chronicles, those books, when it refers to
a king, either of the Northern Kingdom
or the Southern Kingdom, it either characterizes the king first
in this way, it's either, he did that which was evil in the
sight of the Lord, or he did that which was right in the sight
of the Lord. In the Northern Kingdom, there
wasn't one king of whom it is written, he did that which was
right in the sight of the Lord. Not one, not one of them. But
there were a few in the southern kingdom, and Uzziah was one of
them. Now, when the Bible says that he did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord, that doesn't mean that Uzziah was
not a sinner, and that he was perfect, and that he was always
right. It didn't mean that Uzziah was
not a sinner in need of God's mercy, for he was. Nor does it
mean that he earned God's favor or that he deserved God's favor.
What it does mean is that he was diligent in his office as
king in the kind of judgment and the kind of obedience and
worship that God required of this nation and its leaders and
its people. And the obedience that God required
the people began. Now think about this under the
old covenant. The first act of obedience that
God required of those people was to admit and confess their
sins. Did you know that? That's right. to admit and confess their utter
depravity, their inability, the wretchedness and the rottenness
of their best efforts, that they could not be saved by their best
efforts to keep the law. That was the first act required.
And then he required them to rely totally upon him. You are
what you are by the goodness and mercy of God. You have what
you have because God is powerful and God is good and God is merciful. You don't deserve the least of
God's blessings. That's what God speaks to this
nation. That's what he speaks to his
church. We are sitting here tonight as a bunch of undeserving people. Isn't that right? Now, does that
offend you? Because if it does, there's something
missing, isn't there? We don't deserve anything we
have. And I'll tell you what, I think that refers even to the
physical realm. You know, the Bible says every
good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of
life. We don't deserve it. And I know you men and you women,
you go out and you work hard and you earn your paycheck, but
ultimately, ultimately, it is God who gives the increase. Isn't
that right? Now, we can certainly see that
in salvation and eternal life. and the inheritance that we have
in Christ. We didn't earn it, Christ did.
Well now, all of this that I've been speaking of as far as the
obedience of the people that God required, Uzziah doing that
which is right, all of that was revealed in the Word of God,
it was revealed in the worship of the temple, the priesthood,
The books of Moses, it was all there. I mean, it's not that
these things were hidden and they had to figure them out some
way. They were revealed by God. Now, we know, just like today,
the natural man back then, he wouldn't receive the things of
the Spirit of God, just like today. Men have not changed.
Women have not changed. We're still the same. There's
a lot of differences, but in this area, there's none good,
no, not one. There's none righteous, no, not
one. There's none. good. No, not one. And then when
we speak of the altar and the sacrifices, these truths were
taught there. But now think about it. Now Uzziah,
King Uzziah, the story of Uzziah's pride is told in 2 Chronicles
chapter 26. Again, you can read it on your
own. We won't turn there. Here's what happened. Twelve
years from the end of his reign as king over Judah. He became
lifted up in his pride. You know what I think happened?
It's like they say today, he started believing his own press,
basically. You know how people are. They'll
build you up, especially if you're a king. They'll build you up.
They'll build you up. I mean building a man up for
his accomplishments. You know what? Uzziah, like I
said, he was an accomplished king. Israel prospered. He was
one king that the Philistines could never defeat. He always
protected Judah from the Philistines. But he became so self-confident
and proud. And that made him negligent in
the pure worship of God. And what he did is he just started
making his own judgments rather than going by the Word of God
and seeking God's will in his Word. He started saying, well,
you know, I can figure a few of these things out myself. Now,
you know where that kind of attitude first began? In the Garden of
Eden. Isn't that right? God said, thou shalt not eat
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat
there, you shall surely die. Adam said, well, I can figure
a few things out for myself. And that's what Uzziah did. And
so what he did, he began to be a little more tolerant. And what
he did, he permitted idolatry in the land, something he had
never done before. He changed. Well, this fellow
had been here 40 years as king. Started when he was 16. Twelve
years from his reign, this begins to happen. He began to believe
that the prosperity of the land was due to his own greatness
and his own power rather than God. This caused him to be so
proud that one day he went into the temple of God to do something
that no king should have ever done. He went in to burn incense
in the holy place. That was forbidden. That was
only for the priest of Levi. No person outside of the priesthood
could enter into the holy place and burn incense. But Uzziah
said, well, I'm the king. I know better. I know what's
best. And he went in. And as a result,
Uzziah himself was cut off from the house of the Lord, from entering
the temple. Do you know what happened to
him? God made him a leper. And he lived in seclusion the
rest of his days. Total anonymity the rest of his
days. Now that's the story of King
Uzziah. Now I'm sure that devastated a lot of people. I'm sure it
devastated Isaiah. Here this man had been favored
temporally for such a long time. But you know what? God hates
pride. He hates a proud look. And that's
one of the seven things listed in Proverbs chapter 6 that God
hates. Read that sometime. Hates a proud
look. Because a proud look leads to
self-righteousness and unbelief. God said, you don't go in Uzziah. Uzziah didn't believe God. But God hates pride. That pride
which causes sinners, no matter how great they are, no matter
what people say, even kings, to be exalted and think that
they could earn the least of God's favor and God's blessings. My friend, God is holy and we
are nothing. Less than nothing. We're sinners.
And any thought of earning or meriting or deserving anything
from God, temporally or spiritually, is the height of human pride. And what we see here in Isaiah
6 is that God used this awful event of King Uzziah's death
to reveal himself savingly to a man named Isaiah. And this
was the gracious hand of God. Up until this time, it seems
like, according to the language here, that Uzziah was a hindrance
to Isaiah in looking to Christ. But now the hindrance is removed.
And Isaiah learned a lesson here, just the lesson I said a while
ago, that there is none righteous, no, not one, not even Uzziah. There's none good, no, not one,
not even Uzziah. So when the hindrance was removed
out of the way, Isaiah proclaims, in the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord. Now that's who we need to see,
isn't that right? You don't need to see me, and
I don't need to see you. We don't need to keep men in
our hearts and our head in this way now. I know we love each
other. We're to love one another. And
we're to thank God for one another. We thank God for His preachers.
The Bible says, how beautiful are the feet of them that come
to bring good tidings. But right here they cover their
feet. And you know why? They don't want you looking to
them. They're like John the Baptist. Don't look to me. Look to Christ. That's the issue. We need to
see the Lord. We need to see the God of salvation. That's who we need to see. We
need to see the God of redemption. We need to see the sovereign
God of election. The sovereign God of redemption. The sovereign God of regeneration. The sovereign God of glory. That's
who we need to see. Let everything else get out of
the way. And that man who will not step out of the way, I'm
telling you what, if you're one of Christ's sheep, he'll remove
him. He'll get him out of the way. Because God's children are
going to see him. And what a glorious time it is
when a sinner sees the Lord. But you see here, look, he says
all of this. All of this is something to behold. Here's a revelation of grace,
the startling reality. Think about it here. And then
the revelation of grace. Now, look here. He said, I saw
the Lord sitting on a throne. God is king, not Uzziah. God
is Lord. God is judge. God is the one
with whom we have to do. God judges in righteousness. by that man whom he hath ordained,
and that he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath
raised him from the dead." God judges according to truth. God's
judgment is no respecter of persons. Think about it. This is the God
we need to see. Not a God, but the God, the only
God. And it says that he is high and
lifted up. Oh, he's so high above us we
can't even imagine. And His train filled the temple.
His glory filled the temple. This temple was all about God's
glory and nothing about man's glory. That's what that refers
to. His train filled the temple. That means there's no room for
any other glory. God will not share His glory, the Scripture
says. He's not going to share it with me or with you or anybody.
He's going to be glorified in all things that He does. He's
always right. Then look at verse 2, and above
it stood the seraphims. Each one of these seraphims had
six wings. With twain, or with two, he covered
his face. And it says, and with twain he
covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. Now all of this,
when we see how God removes King Uzziah out of the way, and we
see him high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple,
We see also here a proclamation from heaven. Now that's what
this is, the seraphim. Surrounding the throne of God
are messengers known as seraphim. Some call them angels, but an
angel means a messenger of God. We don't really understand exactly
what kind of beings these are. We know they're heavenly beings.
In many other passages, these seraphim are called cherubim. You've heard that term. Or sometimes
they're called living creatures. The book of Revelation refers
to them that way. This is the only chapter in the
Bible where these creatures are named seraphim. Some deny that
cherubim and seraphim refer to the same beings, but the name
seraphim, you know what it literally means? It means burning ones.
Burning ones. You say, well, what in the world
can he be talking about? Ezekiel, he described the cherubim
in this way. He says, their appearance was
like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going
back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright,
and out of the fire went lightning. That certainly seems to describe
burning ones, doesn't it? Well, who are they? Well, I believe
they're symbols here. I'm not going to deny that they're
literal creatures. I don't know. The Scripture doesn't
say. As I said, this is the only time in the Bible that term is
used for them. But I know who they symbolize. They symbolize
the ministers and the messengers of God's Word, proclaiming the
name of the Lord, burning with the fire of God's Word. And when
they preach it in a way that God's children receive it in
the power of the Holy Spirit, lightning comes forth. Isn't
that what it is? It's like a lightning bolt. One
old preacher said, somebody turn the light switch on. And you
saw something you never saw before. You saw the Lord high and lifted
up on the throne, and His train filled the temple. And that is
who these seraphim represent. The gospel going forth, proclaiming
the glory and the majesty and the sovereignty, and proclaiming
the grace and the love and the mercy of the Lord in all of its
glory. Six wings. Two of them, they
covered their face. That's symbolic of humility. Paul said it this way, who is
sufficient for these things? Not us. John the Baptist said
it in so many ways. I'm not the light, don't look
to me. Christ is the light. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. I'm not even worthy to untie
his shoelaces. He must increase, I must decrease. Paul said, we have such a glorious,
majestic, life-giving message. It's the proclamation of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And it's a message of
life, savor of life unto life, and savor of death unto death.
And if God is pleased to let that lightning strike, you know,
lightning strikes in one place. You see, the gospel preached
in the power of salvation is not like sheet lightning. It's
like the boat that comes down, touches that one spot. And that's
Christ calling his sheep into the fold. And if God be pleased
to do it, it's like lightning from heaven, isn't it? Lightning
from heaven. And then after that, Paul made
this statement. He said, but we have this treasure
in earthen vessels, clay pots. Cover your face. You're not wanting people to
see your face, are you? We want them to see the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Isn't that right? And it says,
with two they covered their feet. Most commentators say that means
readiness to serve, walking in the way of the Lord, but guarding
their steps according to his word. ready to fly, ready to go into
all the world and preach the gospel with two ready to fly. Lord, send me where you will.
We don't make that choice. God does. And that's what Isaiah
says later on in his commission to be a prophet. Here am I. Send
me. He didn't say, well, where are you going to send me first?
Then I'll make that decision. No, here am I. Send me. Look
at verse three. And one cried unto another, and
said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory." Most commentators say, and I agree with this, that
the reason holy is repeated three times is because that seems to
reflect the glory and majesty of the Trinity. God the Father,
God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. That is the triunity of His nature
and His person. One God who subsists in three
distinct persons. All three persons of the Godhead
are holy. And this one attribute of holiness
signifies the absolute perfection of each and everything about
God. All of His attributes. When you
speak of His love, it's holy love. When you speak of His power,
it's holy power. When you speak of any attribute
of God, it can be undergirded and infiltrated with holiness.
It's always right. It's always of God. Because the
least imperfection of any one of God's attributes, you know
what it would do. If there was any least imperfection
in any one attribute, it would destroy His holiness. But you
can't destroy holiness. You know there are no degrees
of holiness. I know what the Puritans said,
but that's them. This is God's work. You don't
grow in degrees of holiness. You don't get holier. You're
either holy or you're unholy. That's the way it is. That's
why we cannot attribute any imperfection to Christ. He's holy. And I know you can look at his
humanity and you can see the infirmities and the weaknesses
of the flesh, but you cannot attribute any imperfection to
him within himself. He never had any thoughts or
ideas or motives that were unholy. He could not have stated what
he stated on the cross if he were a sinner. He couldn't have
done that. Put yourself in that place and
be honest. What would you have done? If
I could have called the 10,000 angels, I would have. And you
know you would too. We don't have that kind of love
in us. Herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved
us. Send His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. And the whole earth,
all of creation, is full of His glory, reveals the perfection
of God's being. Now, the highest manifestation
of God's holiness is in the redemption of sinners by Christ on the cross. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. If you want to see the fullness
of the Father, the fullness of the Son, and the fullness of
the Holy Spirit, look to Christ, the God-man. God's holiness demanded the death
of His holy, harmless, pure, undefiled Son when the sins and
guilt of His elect was charged to Him. And in Christ we see
that God's love provided what God's holiness demanded. And
in the same way, God's holiness demands the eternal salvation
of every sinner whom Christ died for. God's holiness does. If God would fail to save even
one whom Christ redeemed on the cross, you could not say holy
and attribute it to God. Christ's righteousness, Christ's
shed blood demands the salvation and final glory of every sinner
for whom he lived and died and arose again. And then look at
verse 4. And it says, in the post of the
door, now that word door there, means thresholds, and what he's
talking about is not a way into it, but a foundation of it, that
which holds it together and bolsters it up. And he says, "...and the
post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and
the house was filled with smoke." These are foundations and thresholds
of God, and these symbols signify entrance into the temple, yes,
for Christ is the way to God's presence and God's favor. And
they're symbolic of the church where God dwells in mercy and
grace towards his redeemed people. But the whole scene and all the
language of this verse signifies God's awesome power to do what
he says he would do. He's faithful. God is willing
to save his people and God is able to save his people. And
I want to tell you something. God is faithful both to his promises
and to his threats. He that believeth not shall be
damned, the scripture says. That's built upon the foundation
of the presence of God, and when God speaks, the post of the door
moved at the voice of him. When God speaks, you can bank
on it. You can believe it. He's never
gone back on a promise. He's never gone back on anything
he said he would do. If he said it, it's done. And
we hear his voice, thank God. Now think about this. We hear
his voice in the good news of the kingdom of Christ. There
are three New Testament truths that shed light upon this. First
of all, his voice is the call of the gospel. He said, my sheep,
hear my voice. And when they hear it, you can
bank on it. Christ is the way, and it's bolstered up, and it's
founded upon a promise and the power of God. Hebrews 6 says
it this way. I've turned to that so many times.
his oath and his promise. He promised it, he's able to
keep it. Secondly, the gospel is the power
of God unto salvation because therein is the only ground of
salvation revealed with a holy God. It's the power of God unto
salvation to everyone whom the Holy Spirit brings to faith.
They must be born again. Thirdly, all who hear this gospel
are commanded to seek salvation. Let me tell you something, if
God says, and commands in the gospel. For you to seek the Lord,
you better seek Him. Is that right? You don't have
the option. That's the voice of Him whose
glory, the house was filled with smoke. That smoke, you remember
the cloud? That the pillar of cloud by night
and the pillar of fire, that was a visible manifestation of
the presence of God. And that's what this means. That
smoke was filled with, the house was filled with that smoke. This
is the presence of God. Now in light of all that, look
at the confession of a convinced sinner. Here's what Isaiah said. Now here's the sinner's reaction.
Here's what happens when a sinner sees his Lord. Here's what happens
when the Holy Spirit gives that unction from on high. Then said
I, then said I, well, I was baptized when I was 12. Isaiah didn't
say that, did he? I've given my tithe every week.
I've never missed a Sunday. I was born a Baptist. Had some doubts when I was 16,
but I got back in, rededicated. Then said I, no, here's what
he said, woe is me. Oh my, so how do we stand in
that vision when a sinner sees his Lord? Woe is me. That's not
a good thing to the world. but to a sinner seeking relief,
seeking salvation. It's a good thing. This is a
good place to be brought to, isn't it? Woe is me. In myself,
that's what this means, in myself I have no hope. When you say
woe is me, it's all gone, it's all lost. Everything that I depended
on, everything that I was looking to, everything that I felt gave
me refuge and peace, it's all gone. Woe is me. I have no hope. He goes on to describe it, he
says, I'm undone. Now that word undone, you may
see in your concordance, means to be cut off. And what it is,
is the confession of a sinner who at one time thought that
he was close to God, but he found out he was alienated from God.
He didn't know God. Isaiah didn't know God before
this sinner saw the Lord. He didn't know God. He didn't
know the holiness of God and the majesty of God. He thought
he did. But he says, now I'm undone.
One old writer said that it would be better translated that I've
come apart. I've been broken apart. I told
the Sunday school class, I said, it's like we would say, I've
come apart at the seams. Can't hold it together anymore.
I'm undone. I'm cut off. The Bible says in
Colossians that we, before we were converted, we were alienated
in our minds by wicked works. That's what Isaiah said, I'm
undone. Now why? Because I'm a man of
unclean lips. Now you've got to understand
how the scripture describes these things. Because when he says
he's a man of unclean lips, there's two things that you need to keep
in mind when you see this. First of all, you need to keep
in mind that what is said and spoken with the lips in these
matters is a revelation or an evidence of the state of the
heart. Christ taught His disciples that. He said, out of the mouth
proceed the issues of the heart. Isn't that right? So that when
they speak, when they speak of God, when they speak of who God
is, when they speak of how God saves sinners, when they speak
of themselves, what they are revealing to others is the state
of their heart. So that here comes a man and
he preaches the gospel of salvation by works. Well, that's a false
gospel. Isn't that right? Paul said this, he said, though
we are an angel from heaven come to you preaching any of the gospel
than that which we have preached. Let him be anathema. When a person,
when he speaks of his own, when he speaks of how God saved him
based upon something he did or was unable to do, what he is
revealing there by his lips is the state of his heart. So that
when they preach themselves, instead of preaching Christ and
Him crucified, they're revealing that they're lost. And that's
what Isaiah is saying here. I'm a man of unclean lips. I've
been preaching a false gospel. I'll never forget when I realized
that. Because you know what a man is who preaches a false gospel?
You know what the Bible calls him? He doesn't hold back now.
Calls him a soul murderer. Because that's what he is. So
he says, I'm a man of unclean lips. This is not just outward
sin. This is total depravity. Right here. That's what Isaiah
is saying. I'm cut off. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips. My heart's not right with God.
That's what he's saying. I'm a sinner through and through,
not just in what I do, but in heart and mind and motive and
every way, like Paul confessed in Romans chapter 7 when he was
speaking of his time before conversion. Proud, self-righteous, uplifted,
denying God, a God-hater. But not only this now. Isaiah
goes on. He says, and I dwell in the midst
of a people of unclean lips. Not only am I a sinner through
and through, but my whole nation is in the same boat I'm in. Now,
somebody might say, well, Isaiah, how can you know everybody's
heart? I'll tell you how, because God told him. God told him the
same thing he told the Apostle Paul. The scripture hath concluded
all under sin. There is none righteous, no,
not one. There's none good, no, not one. Oh, this nation, and Isaiah said
it back in chapter 1, all sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity. If it weren't for the fact that
God had a small part that He's called out unto Himself, we'd
be like Sodom and Gomorrah. But look on, he said, for mine
eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. You can only see
yourself. as God shows you Himself. You're not going to see yourself
by looking at other people. You're not even going to see
yourself by looking into the mirror. You can only see yourself in
your sinnerhood and your need as you see the God of glory high
and lifted up. Holy, holy, holy. What does God
require? Oh my soul, I don't even come
close. That's what Isaiah is saying. You won't go around talking about
how, well, I'm closer than others. That's religion, see. Oh, he
said, I'm undone. But look at verse 6. Now, here's God's provision for that
sinner who sees the Lord. Look at this. Then flew one of
the seraphims unto me. having a live coal in his hand."
Now, notice it's a live coal, not a dead coal. "...which he
had taken with the tongs so hot that he couldn't even handle
it." You know, I thought about this with Jeremiah. You remember
Jeremiah was an awful discouraged prophet. They called him the
weeping prophet. And I've done that too myself. But Jeremiah,
he said, one day he just got up and he said, I'm just not
going to preach to that bunch anymore. I'm not going to preach
anymore. I've had enough of it." But he
said, but the Word of God burned in me like a fire. Too hot for
me to handle. And I had to let it go. If God
has saved you and equipped you with the message of grace, you
can't hold it in. I can't remember which old preacher,
you know, all these sayings of old preachers, there's many of
them, I can't remember. But one of them said, it'll leak out
on you. It will burst out of you, I believe. But this is what
he is saying here, this live coal, it was taken with the tongs
from off the altar. Now what that verse 6 is, is
a symbolic statement, a metaphor of salvation by the grace of
God in the doing and the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
altar speaks of God's judgment falling upon the sacrifice, the
substitute. And that live coal is a coal
from the ashes of that sacrifice after it's been burned up, after
it's already taken the full measure of God's wrath for the sins of
the people. And yet it is still alive because
He is not dead, He is risen. It is a live coal. Christ himself
went to the cross for our sins charged to him, and he took upon
himself the full measure of the fiery wrath of God, and it consumed
him in this sense as he paid our debt in full. He made an
end of sin and finished the transgression and brought in everlasting righteousness,
and he died, but he did not stay dead. The grave could not hold
him. For God would not suffer his Holy One to see corruption. And he was raised out of that
grave on the third day. And what we do when we preach
the gospel, literally taking live coal from off the altar
and putting it on the lips of the people who hear. And that
putting it on the lips changed Isaiah's message, changed Isaiah's
outlook. That's the Holy Spirit who changed
his heart, circumcised his heart. Circumcised his heart. And that's
when the preacher's message changed. He was redeemed by the blood
of Christ. Oh, yes, he saw his sinfulness. But he says in verse 7, he laid
it upon my mouth and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips. And
listen to this now, and thine iniquity is taken away. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. And thy sin purged, purged on
the altar of sacrifice by the substitute who took my punishment
in full and paid my debt and made me righteous in the sight
of God. That's Holy Spirit conviction.
That's what that is, Ed. Oh, He'll show us our sins and
our depravity and our wretchedness and our rottenness, but He will
not leave us there. He's going to guide us to someone
for relief. And the only one He's going to
guide us to and leave us with is Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who died on that cross to take away our sins, to purge our sins
away completely. So far that God says He'll remember
them no more. They're cast behind His back.
They're as far as the East is from the West so that we can
confidently, and as we look to Christ and rest in Him, say,
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? What a message. Now, who could
keep that in if it's on your heart? Well, nobody could. I'm
going to quit.