We're reading from Isaiah 6. Let's read verse 1. In the year
that King Uzziah died, Isaiah records here, I saw also the
Lord sitting upon a throne, high lifted up, and His train filled
the temple. Now, I don't know about you,
but I trust that you are a whole lot like I am. We all need exactly
what God gave to Isaiah in this day, in his day. A revelation
of the glory of God and the necessity of the King of kings, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And to see him not weak and pitiful,
but to see Him as the King of kings, high and lifted up and
exalted." High and lifted up and victorious. I need this revelation of Christ. The glory of God seems and it
shines in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Proverbs 29
we read, where there is no revelation or vision, where there is no
gospel, The people perish. I need a revelation of Christ,
a beauty and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And where there
is no true gospel preaching and no revelation of the glory of
God in Jesus Christ, no work of grace upon our heart by the
almighty power of God left to ourselves. will perish in our
sin unless God is pleased to intervene by His power and teach
us the gospel of God's grace. Now hold your place here. I want
you to find John chapter 6. Hold your place and find John
chapter 6. I need to see constantly my need of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says here in John 6, verse
40, this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the Son, seeth the Son, eyes of faith, see Him in the
Word, see Him in the Gospel, this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up again
at the last day." I need a vision, a revelation of God Almighty
in the face of Jesus Christ. John 5, 24, read this one, "...verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, has already everlasting life, and shall not
come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life."
This is a revelation I need. Constantly, I ask the Lord daily
to show me the Lord Jesus Christ in His glory, in His beauty,
in His righteousness. He is altogether lovely. To you
who believe, He is He's precious. He's not something. He's everything.
Christ is all and in all. Now, in verse 1 in our text,
notice this revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ was in the time of the year that King Uzziah was killed. Uzziah was a very powerful king.
He was very prosperous. He was victorious. God gave him
victory over the enemy's roundabout. He was very popular, powerful,
and prosperous, but his heart was lifted up with pride. He
became presumptuous. He made a fatal mistake. He tried
to approach God apart from God's method of worship. He tried to
go around the priest, and that priest is a picture of Christ.
That altar of incense is a picture of the intercession work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He thought he could run into
the presence of God and worship God apart from the sacrifice.
God killed him. Now my friend, there's one God.
He is almighty. There's one God and one mediator
between God and men and that's the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, I am the way,
not a way, He's the way. Truth, the truth. He is life. And then the Lord says this,
no one can come unto me. No man can come to the Father
but by me. No one. No one. This is what's
being taught here. When God dealt with King Isaiah,
Isaiah said, now I get a picture of, a glimpse of the glory of
God and the necessity of the Lord Jesus Christ. God destroyed,
listen to this, God destroyed and killed and judged Isaiah
that Isaiah might see the King of kings and Lord of lords."
Maybe Isaiah got his eyes fixed on Isaiah, the king, and started
trusting and leaning a little bit toward the mighty king of
Israel rather than resting on the God of Israel. And you know
what God did? Kicked that prop right out from
underneath him. And he fell flat on his face and said, I'm undone.
I'm a man of unclean lips. You see, God took that earthly
king away that he might reveal the King of kings, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, notice this in verse 1 as
well. Notice who's revealed. He said,
I also saw the Lord, the Lord, sitting upon a throne high, lifted
up, and His presence just filled the temple, filled the temple.
Now, this is a revelation, my friend, of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the Lord Jesus Christ that's high and lifted up. When
Isaiah saw something of the awesome character of God, he was given
this glorious vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, where God can be
just and merciful. Now, I can make good on that.
Turn to John again, chapter 12. The Lord Jesus, referring to
this Scripture, applies it to Himself. In John chapter 12,
begin reading at verse 37, John 12, 37, but though he had done
so many miracles before them, John 12, 37, yet they believed
not on him, that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled,
which he spake, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report?
And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? That's from
Isaiah 53. Now, no doubt that's all about
Christ crucified, isn't it? Wounded for our transgression,
bruised for our iniquity. Therefore they could not believe
Therefore they could not bleed, because Isaiah said again, and
this is from Isaiah 6 verse 10, He hath blinded their eyes, hardened
their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor
understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should
heal them. These things said Isaiah when
he saw His glory. Now watch this. Those who have
seen His glory speak of Him. They talk about Him. You see,
the gospel is all about Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who He
is, what He has done, where He is, why He came, it's all about
Christ. Now notice the descriptive words
of this Lord to whom Isaiah worshiped in Isaiah 6-1. First of all,
he said, the Lord sitting upon a throne. It's the Lord that
is enthroned. It's the Lord that's the sovereign
of the universe. It's the Lord that has power
over all flesh. He's the absolute ruler, reigns
and rules in all things, creation, providence and in salvation.
He's the Lord enthroned, sovereign. who does whatsoever He will in
heaven, in earth, sea, and all deep places. This is the Lord
to whom we worship. This is the Lord to whom we look.
It's the Lord who is sitting upon a throne. And you know,
this is good news for us because His throne, He says, I'm the
great high priest. He said, come unto Me. Come boldly
unto the throne of grace that you might obtain mercy, find
grace to help in time of need. From Hebrews chapter 4, seeing
we have a great high priest, he said, come boldly unto the
throne of grace. You see, his throne here to the
believer is not a throne of justice and judgment, it's a throne of
grace, mercy and truth. Notice something else here. The
Lord is sitting on this throne. He's sitting on this throne.
The Lord finished His work. He prayed in John 17, Father,
I've glorified Thee on the earth. I've finished the work You gave
me to do. The Lord Jesus Christ, when He
ascended on high, when He by Himself purged our sin, He sat
down. at the right hand of the throne
of God. You know, that earthly priest that ministered under
the law, he never sat down when he was doing his priestly work.
There wasn't a chair in that tabernacle. He was always standing,
always working, always busy. His work was never done because
it never put away sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ, when
He by Himself purged our sin, He sat down. Done. Salvation's
done. He said on Calvary's tree, it
is done. It's accomplished. It's finished.
You see, the gospel we preach is not a gospel of maybe and
ifs. It's done. It's done. Done by
Him. He's also the victorious Lord. Victorious Lord. He's sitting
in absolute victory, not worried, not anxious, not upset. All things are on schedule. Everything
is going according to His purpose, His decree, His plan. The glorious, victorious Lord. And then we see something of
His infinite glory. He's high and lifted up. High
and lifted up. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
crucified and exalted, high and lifted up. God had given Him
a name. We read in Philippians 2, God had given Him a name above
every name that at that name every knee should bow, every
tongue should confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. He's not Lord by something we do. God had made this same
Jesus whom you crucified Lord and Christ. I don't make Him
Lord. I worship Him as Lord. His infinite
glory high and lifted up. Well, how high is He? My friend,
He's God. He's God. He's the eternal, everlasting
God. You ever notice in the letters
of Paul when he refers, especially in the book of Titus, he refers
to the Lord Jesus Christ as God, my Savior? That's the one to
whom we worship. That's the one. And this is a
sight that Isaiah had of the Lord Jesus Christ, high and lifted
up. We see something of His infinite
glory and of His infinite presence. His glory filled the temple. Now, we read in the book of Colossians
that in Him dwelleth all the fullness of a Godhead bodily,
right? And that speaks of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is fully and totally God.
Full of God. And yet it also speaks of His
body. The body. His church is His body. And His body is full of Christ. Christ in you. The hope of glory. Now notice, let's move down to
the next verse. Isaiah 6-2. And around this throne,
before and about this throne stood the seraphims. Each one
had six wings, with two he covered his face, with two he covered
his feet, and with two he did fly. Now I believe these seraphims here I believe it's figurative language.
I believe he's describing the ministers of the gospel and the
messengers of the gospel. And the word actually means burning,
burning. And we know that God's servants
sent with God's Gospel have a fervent zeal to preach the Word of Truth
and they have a burning desire in their heart to magnify and
glorify the Lord Jesus. Now, I'll give you an example
of this. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 20. When Jeremiah, you know,
he had some pretty tough times. Persecuted and hated. He kept
telling the nation that judgment was coming. Judgment was coming
and they ignored him. And then he said this in Jeremiah
20, verse 8, For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence
and spoil, because the word of the Lord was reproaching to me
and a derision daily. Then I said, I will not make
mention of his name or speak any more in his name. Here's
a preacher who's going to quit. But his word was in my heart
as a burning fire. shut up in my bones. I was weary
with forbearing, and I could not stay." And that's a good
picture here of these who are burning with zeal to preach the
gospel. Turn to Psalm 104. Here's another
reference I believe that might help us here. Psalm 104. Psalm 104, verse 4, "...who maketh
his angels spirits, and his ministers a flaming fire. They burn with
zeal to preach the glory of God of the gospel." Psalm 104, verse
4. Now, back to the text. Now notice
this. And I believe this is figurative
language describing God's servants who burn with a zealous zeal
They're zealous and they have a zeal in their heart to preach
Christ and Him crucified. But it says here, these six winged
creatures, with two He covered His face, with two He covered
His feet, and with two He did fly. Now what does this mean
here? Well, I believe it's this. with their wings, two of their
wings, they cover their face in modesty. They don't brag. They don't promote themselves.
They're not all about the ministry of promoting myself. Remember
when they sent out those to ask John the Baptist, John, who are
you? Remember what he said? You know,
John could have said something. He could have said something.
He had some credentials. He could have said, well, I'm
the forerunner of the Lord. And he did it in other places, but
not at this time. He could have said that his father was a priest. He could have said his birth
was miraculous. But you know what he said? He
said, I'm a voice, crying in the wilderness, prepare you the
way of the Lord. And that's all we are, just a
voice. Just a voice. You see, they cover their face
in modesty. I don't want you to direct your
attention toward me as I preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I want you to see Him. I don't want you to fall in love
with me. I hope you appreciate my labors in the ministry, but
I want you to look to Christ and see the Lord Jesus Christ.
So they're modest in their ministry. And it says here, they cover
their feet. knowing their sin and their imperfection. The Apostle
Paul says of himself, I'm less than the least of all the saints. And what I am is by the grace
of God. The grace of God alone. He said
another place, old wretched man that I am. We don't brag about
where we've been and what we've done. Humbled man. Sinner saved by the grace of
God. Oh, wretched man that I am. He called himself another place,
I'm the chief of sinners. And yet he was God's apostle,
sent with God's message. It says here thirdly that with
two they do fly. Now what does that mean? Well,
it means that they are swift to fly with the message of Christ. They're ready to preach the gospel.
When Paul wrote to the Romans, he said, for as much as in me
is. Remember Romans 1.15? For as much as in me is. I'm
ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome. For I'm
not ashamed of that gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes, to the Jew and to the Gentile. In
that gospel is the very righteousness of God revealed from first to
last. So they're swift to fly with God's gospel, God's message. When Paul was sitting in prison
down there in Rome, when he wrote back to young Timothy his last
words, recorded in that last chapter, 2 Timothy 4, he said,
I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge
the living and the dead, be ready to preach the gospel always. the desire of God's servants.
Now, I believe that's what's being said there. Now, notice
their message, verse 3. Isaiah 6, verse 3. One cried to another. Here's
their message. And said, holy, holy, holy. Why three times? Father, Son,
and Spirit. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. And notice that's capital L-O-R-D. Jehovah. He's the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His
glory. Now, here's their message. And
notice this. Hold your place here. Now, look
at this scripture here. I want you to see this. Turn
to Revelation 4. And we'll see something more
of these winged creatures here in Revelation 4. Revelation 4
verse 8, And the four beasts had each of them six wings. And these four beasts here, again,
this is symbolic language describing God's servants. And the four
beasts had each of them, well, look there, six wings. God's
consistent, isn't He? God's faithful about Him. And
they were full of eyes within. They were full of eyes within
and they rest not day and night. They're ready to fly saying,
well, look at there, the same message. Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. He's the eternal
God. Now, my friend, I want you to
hear me here. This is a message that's missing
in our day. It is. If you would listen to
the preacher in most churches today, their message is, God
loves everybody. That's not so. Their message
is, Christ is trying to save you, but you won't let Him. That's
not so. The missing note in our day, God is holy. God is holy. I've been doing a study through
the book of Acts for the last year. And I brought a message
from Acts chapter 18 today. And through all those sermons
that the apostles preached and the early church preached, beginning
with Peter, and all the message that Paul brought, there on Mars
Hill, and in Antioch, and all the different places that he
preached, how many sermons did the apostles preach that's recorded
in the book of Acts when they talked about the love of God.
You know how many times it's there? None. None. Not one time did they mention
the love of God. Now they preach God that is holy,
God that is sovereign, God that is purpose. Purpose is all things. and works all things according
to His will. You see, my friend, God is holy. Now, don't misunderstand me.
The Word of God does declare that God is love. But is God
love at the expense of His holiness? The central, if you would ask
the, I challenge you, you go to work tomorrow and you ask
the average religious goer in one word to sum up the God he
worships, and I almost guarantee you he would say, God, the one
word, love, wouldn't I? The central attribute of God
that's revealed in the Holy Scripture is not love, He is holy. Holy. Now, we see all the characteristics
of God, the attributes of God revealed in the Gospel, revealed
in His Word, but all of them hub and come out from that central
character of God, holy. His love is His holy love. His
mercy is His holy mercy. His justice is His holy mercy. You see, my friend, the love
of God is revealed and is seen in the Lord Jesus Christ. God
is love in Christ because He can deal with my sin. He can
save me and still be a holy God. And His justice can be honored.
His law can be satisfied. Yet, He can show mercy to me,
not at the expense of His holiness. God is holy. God is holy. Well, you say, well, how holy
is God? I tell you what, take a look
at Calvary. Take a look at Calvary. How holy is God? It says in Habakkuk
that God is so holy He cannot look upon sin with favor. Habakkuk
1.13. God is so holy that Christ came
to honor the law of God. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law. Can God save us apart from Christ? No. Why? He's holy. God must
punish sin. How holy is God? Christ came
to honor the law in all of its precepts. Christ came and died
to satisfy the penalty of that law. Why did He die? God is holy. God is holy. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. How holy is the Lord
Jesus Christ that when Christ died for our sin, and when our
sin was reckoned and imputed to Him, God is so holy that He
says, smitten, stricken of God, and afflicted, and forsaken of
God. That's how holy God is. Well, how can God forsake God?
I don't know. You tell me. But that's what
happened at Calvary. Why? God is holy. And that's the message, my friend,
that's missing in our day. God is love, but not at the expense
of His holiness. The beauty and glory of the Gospel
is how God can save us and justify us and honor His holiness. How
He can be a just God and Savior. in Christ. That's the only way.
How He can be just and the justifier of the ungodly in Christ Jesus. Now, my friend, this is a vision
we need. And I don't mean by that we need
to go seek dreams. But this is a revelation of the
gospel that we need in our day. This is a message that's missing.
This is a message that needs to be preached. God with whom
we have to do is holy. And we cannot approach Him, cannot
worship Him apart from His holiness being satisfied. His justice
being honored. And that's what happened at Calvary.
Psalm 85. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Where? At
the cross. Psalm 85, 10. This is the message we need.
Look what it says there in verse 4. And the post of the door moved. at the voice of him that cried,
and the house was filled with smoke." I tell you, this is the
only message that God has ordained that will move us, and fill us,
and save us, move us away from every refuge of lies, and fill
us with the good hope of grace in Christ Jesus. This is a message
that will move us. I mean truly move us. Turn us
upside down. and make us new creatures in
Christ, and fill us with a good hope through grace. Now, in our text, look at verse
5. Then, oh then, then, then said I, woe is me. Now you look back at chapter
5, not now but later, Isaiah declared unto them, he said,
woe unto you, woe unto you, woe unto you. Now, he said, mine
eyes have seen the king, the king of kings. Woe is me. Woe
is me. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips. I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. What's the problem Isaiah? Look
what he says. For my eyes have seen the King. The King. He's the Lord of hosts. Now my friend, this is a good
confession. This is a good confession. This is a confession we need.
I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I tell you what,
before God ever closes with His righteousness and shows us the
beauty and glory of Christ, He must strip us. That's what's
going on here with Isaiah. He's being stripped by the Holy
God. And then he hears the message
of grace. Pardon of sin. Complete salvation
in Christ Jesus. I'm a sinner and God is most
holy. Has God ever brought you to that
time, that point? I'm not asking you to look back
to a time, a day, an experience. That's foolishness. I'm telling
you that the work of God Almighty, when the gospel comes in power,
it slays us before it makes us alive. He wounds us before He
heals us with the truth. He operates on us, and then He
saves us by His grace. When given a sight of the most
holy God, we see ourselves as most sinful. And I tell you what,
you'll never take your place before God who is holy until
you see Him who He is, and then you'll get a sight of what you
are in the sight of God. Now you compare yourself with
one another, you look pretty good. But you can't compare yourself
with God Almighty who is holy and you'll come away with the
same conclusion when taught of God, I'm a sinner. I'm undone. I'm cut off. I'm unclean. Mine
eyes have seen the King. Wasn't that the experience of
Job? He said in Job 42.5, I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but
now my eye seeth thee. Wherefore, I abhor myself. I repent in dust and in ashes. Wasn't that the experience of
the publican? When he cried, God, he wouldn't even look up,
smote upon his breast and said, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Would you be my propitiation?
God is holy. I need a sacrifice. Would you
be my propitiation? God, have mercy on me, the sinner. Wasn't that the experience of
the Apostle Paul? This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners, whom I am chief. By birth, by nature, we're all
as an unclean thing. None righteous, no, not one. My friend, salvation is for sinners.
Christ died for the ungodly. And I tell you, we'll never come
to this confession until God Almighty works upon us by His
power and by His grace and reveals Himself unto us. Then, look at
verse 6, Now notice verse 5, then, I think
these are two key words here, then, he said, woe is me, I'm
undone. Then, when God stripped him,
here comes the good news. Then one of those seraphims,
here's the messenger of the gospel, sent from God, sent unto me. The gospel didn't come to you
by accident. It came to you by purpose. God purposed it. God
purposed it. And this messenger came, this
seraphim came, this burning servant of Christ came, having a live
coal in his hand. What is that? It's the Word.
It's the Word of God. I want you to find Jeremiah 23.
Jeremiah 23. And look at this here. It's the
Word. And notice it says here, having
a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from
off the altar, came from the altar of God, the sacrifice of
Christ. Jeremiah 23, verse 29, is not
my word like a fire, saith the Lord, like a hammer, that breaks the rocks in pieces. That's what happened to Isaiah.
Broken. Broken. And here comes the good
news. Here comes the messenger of the
gospel with a living message from the living God, from the
living Lord Jesus Christ, who was both altar, sacrifice, and
priest. And he said, verse 7, or rather
he laid it, verse 7, upon my mouth and said, This is the message
you need. This is the message that Isaiah
received. And he said, Lo, this hath touched
thy lips, thine iniquity is taken away, thy sin Now, this is the message of the
gospel. We receive Christ by faith, God-given
faith. Faith is the gift of God. And
the message of the gospel that we receive, that sin of God is
our sin and our iniquity is purged, taken away by the sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. My friend,
this is the sacrifice we need. Turn to Isaiah 40, look at this.
Isaiah 40, when you consider all your sin and what you are, I tell you what, we need to hear
this message again and again, thy sin, thy iniquity taken away. How? Well, by Christ, by the
gospel. Isaiah 40. Christ crucified. Isaiah 40, verse 1. Comfort ye,
comfort ye, my people, saith your God, speaking comfortably
to Jerusalem, crying to her that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the
Lord's hand double. Abundant mercy. Abundant pardon. Double for all her sins. This is the sacrifice we need.
The Lord Jesus Christ. He hath taken away thy sin. Thy iniquity is purged. Now sin is pretty hard to put
away. Animal blood never put away sin.
He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. The blood of Jesus
Christ cleanses us from all sin. This is the Savior we need, who
died, who came, lived, and died under the penalty of that law,
satisfying God, put all our sin away. This is the Savior we need
who is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him.
Turn to Romans chapter 4 in just a moment. Romans chapter 4. And I tell you, my friend, we
have an atonement. We have a Savior that saves.
We have an atonement that atones for all sin, covers all sin.
We have a Redeemer that redeems, delivers us from all iniquity.
I love to tell that message of atonement complete, effectual
to the covenant people, the sheep of Christ. Notice, if you will,
Romans chapter 4. It said, verse 6, even as David
also described it, the blessedness of the man under whom God imputeth
righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven. Now who's a blessed man? That man whose iniquities are
forgiven. whose sins are covered, covered with the blood of Christ.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not charge sin. That's a blessed man. Turn to
Romans 8. Look at this. This is our message. This is our message. Salvation
complete in Christ. He made complete atonement for
sin. All the sin call His name Jesus. He shall save His people
from their sin. Look at Romans 8. Verse 32, He
that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
that is, all whom He did predestinate, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, brethren, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God. who also makes intercession for
us. When you sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. He's Jesus Christ the righteous.
Now in closing, let's look back at one more verse, Isaiah 6 verse
8. When Isaiah heard the good news,
the message of salvation, full and free in Christ, it motivated
him. Preachers are all the time trying
to motivate people. I tell you what, I don't try
to motivate people. I preach the gospel and God motivates
His people. Preachers try to motivate people by fear of punishment
or promise of reward. Look, when the gospel of God's
grace is preached and we realize that Christ took care of all
our sin, what better motive to serve the Lord out of gratitude
and love? Verse 8, also I heard the voice
of the Lord saying, now who shall I send with this message? Whom
shall I send? And who will go for us? Isaiah said, I'm ready. Here
I am. Would you send me? Can I go with
this message? Can I run with this message?
and declare this gospel. You see, the sovereign grace
of God stimulates us and cheers us, motivates us to go and declare
this message to others. Who will go with this message?
Those who have seen His glory. Man is going to preach what he
believes. Who will go with this message? Those who have experienced
His grace, experienced His mercy. Who will go with this message?
Those saved by His grace. David said in Psalm 116, I have
believed, therefore have I spoken. You remember when God was through
whittling old Saul of Tarsus, that proud religious man going
about to threaten the Lord's disciples when he was unhorsed
and God put His face in the dust? You remember what Saul of Tarsus
said, Lord, what would You have me do? He's saying the same thing. Lord, here am I. Send me. Send
me. You see, God makes His people
willing in a day of His power.