I want you to pay particular
attention to the reading of this chapter, 2 Chronicles 26, because
my message this morning will refer several times to this scripture. Listen to it very carefully.
2 Chronicles 26. Then all the people of Judah
took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him king in the
womb or stead of his father, Amaziah. Amaziah had built Eloth,
restored it to Judah, and after that he slept with his fathers. But 16 years old was Azariah
when he began to reign, and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecholiah
of Jerusalem. Now listen to this verse, and
he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according
to all that his father Amaziah did. He was a good king. And
he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding
in the visions of God. And as long as he sought the
Lord, God made him to prosper. He went forth and warred against
the Philistines. He broke down the wall of Gath
and the wall of Jadnath and the wall of Ashdod and built cities
about Ashdod and among the Philistines. And God helped him against the
Philistines and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gabalel and Mahunens. And the Ammonites gave gifts
to Uzziah. His name spread abroad even to
the entering in of Egypt. for he strengthened himself exceedingly. Moreover, Uzziah built towers
in Jerusalem at the corner gate, the valley gate, at the turning
of the wall, and fortified them, repaired them. And he built towers
in the desert. He digged many wells. Water is
a precious thing over there. He had much cattle, both in the
low country and the plains. Husbandmen also, farmers, sharecroppers,
people who worked for him, bond-dressers in the mountains and in Carmel.
He loved farming, man of the soil. Moreover, Isaiah had a
host of fighting men that went out to war by bands, according
to the number of their count, by the hand of Jerau, the scribe,
and Manasseh, the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, the king's
captain, one of the king's captains. The whole number of the chief
of the fathers of the mighty men of valor was 2,600, and under
their hand was an army, 300,000 and 7,500, that made war with
mighty power, where they helped the king against the enemy. And
as I prepared for them throughout all the whole shields and spears
and helmets and and bows, and slings, to cast
stones. And he made in Jerusalem engines,
invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks,
to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far
abroad. He was marvelously that he was
strong, strong, popular, powerful, mighty, generous, gallant. Number one. Verse 16, listen to this. But
when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction.
Pride took over. Ambition, and he transgressed
against the Lord his God. He went into the temple of the
Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense. That was the
altar just in front of the Baal, in front of the Holy of Holies.
He went right into the, he's a king, he's not a priest. And
he went in there to offer to burn incense, which is the type
of the prayers of Christ in front of the Baal. In verse 17, as
a rower, the priest went in after him. And with him, eighty priests
of the Lord, they were valiant men. And they withstood Uzziah
the king. They rebuked him. They said to
him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense
to the Lord. That's the priest's work. That's
the priest's work. Not to thee, but to the priests,
the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense, that are pictures
and types of Christ. Now you go out of the sanctuary
because you've transgressed, you've trespassed. And neither
shall it be for thine honor from the Lord God. This won't honor
you, this won't bring you any honor. To violate this picture
of Christ, this type of the Son of God, this work of the priest,
it's not going to be a thing of honor. Well, they corrected
him, they rebuked him, and that made him mad. See, pride's taken
over, ambition's taken over. He's just high as he can get,
and he's fixing to be brought low as he can be brought. And
he was angry, and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense,
something a king, prophet, nobody else, nobody but the high priest
was allowed to do because it was the work of Christ. And while
he was walked with the priest, the leprosy rose up in his forehead
before the priest in the house of the Lord. From beside the
incense altar, he just started turning into a leper, the most
dreaded disease of that time. And Azariah the chief priest
and all the priests looked upon him, and behold, he was leprous
in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence. Yea, himself,
even as I himself hasted to go out, because the Lord had smitten
him, O God had smitten him, how the mighty fallen, walked in
a king without a leper, but he trespassed, he transgressed in
the most crucial area, the work of Christ, the priesthood. And
verse 21 said, And Isaiah the king was a leper unto the day
of his death. He lived after that a while.
And he dwelt in a several house, that's in a separate house, a
free house, alone, cut off. That's what he was, cut off from
all kindred people, cut off from the house of the Lord, cut off
from the people of God. Lived all alone in a several,
in a separate house, being a leper. For he was cut off from the house
of the Lord, and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging
the people of the land." He was such a great man, such a great
and noble man, fifty-two years of valiant, dedicated service
to God and to God's people, and now deserted, alone. because he transgressed. And
listen, verse 22 tells you what Isaiah thought of him. Isaiah
and the rest of the Acts of Isaiah, all of them, first to last, did
Isaiah the prophet, the son of Abel's right. Isaiah wrote about
this great man. He loved him. He really esteemed
him in the highest manner, wrote everything he did. Here's the
end of the story. Rezai slept with his fathers,
and they buried him, not in the sepulchre of the king, not there
at all, but with his fathers in the field of the burial, which
belonged to the kings. For they said he can't be put
in the sepulchre of the king, but only in the field, because
he's a leper. He's a leper. And his son reigned
in his stead. So we'll talk about this a little
bit on the subject, Isaiah's vision of the glory of God. All right, Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah was a prophet. who prophesied
about 700 years before our Lord came to this earth. He prophesied
for 85 years. He lived to be 120. He prophesied,
preached for 85 of those years during the reign of four different
kings. He lists them in the very first
verse of the first chapter of this book. of Isaiah, that's my message,
the vision, Isaiah's vision of the glory of Christ, the son
of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days
of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. And
the prophet Isaiah, whose prophecy we're reading this morning, It's
quoted in the New Testament. He's quoted more than any other
prophet in the Old Testament, with the exception of the book
of Psalms. And when John the Baptist began his ministry, he
began his ministry quoting Isaiah, a voice crying in the wilderness,
prepare you the way of the Lord. When our Lord Jesus Christ returned
to Nazareth, the place where he was brought up, came to the
synagogue on the Sabbath day, They delivered him the book of
the prophet Isaiah, and he read from chapter 61, the Spirit of
the Lord is upon me, he hath anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor, deliverance to the captive, recovery of the sight
to the blind, and set at bondage his people. And he said, this
scripture is fulfilled this day in your ears, and the Ethiopian
eunuch who had been to Jerusalem seeking the Lord and was going
back home, still in darkness, was reading the prophet Isaiah,
chapter 53. And God sent Philip to preach
the gospel to him. And there's one verse that sums
up the ministry of Isaiah. It says, you needn't turn to
it, I'll just quote it. It says in John 12, 41, When he saw his glory, he spake
of him. When he saw his glory. But Psalms
29 says everybody in his temple who beholds his glory will speak
of him. That's the test of a man's message
in ministry, is does he speak of him? Well, he will if he's
seen his glory. There's no doubt about it. because
there's nothing better or more glorious or more wonderful than
him. But when he saw his glory, he
spake of him. And here's one of the major times
that he saw his glory, Isaiah 6. It says, In the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting on a throne.
I lifted up his train, filled the temple. When King Uzziah
died, my hero, the most popular king
I suppose Jerusalem had other than David and Solomon when he
died. And the way he died gave me a
vision, a glimpse of the glory of God. There's a connection
between the death of Isaiah and Isaiah's vision of God's holiness.
That's the reason I read that chapter to you. I want you to
look into the life of this man and the the uplifting of his
heart and pride and the sin of this man and the result. He was
a great man, a benevolent man for 50 years, 52 years he reigned
in Jerusalem. But he became proud and presumptuous
and ambitious. But isn't this a trait that all
of us have, is pride? It's found to some degree and
in some way and under some circumstances in everybody here, pride. And
God hates him. Spurgeon one time, a man said
to him, Mr. Spurgeon, he said, I perceive
that there's a bit of pride in thee. He said, my friend, if
you preach to the multiplied thousands of people that I preach
to every Sunday, if your books were printed in every language,
if you had everybody calling your name and wanting to see
you and talk with you, get your autograph and take a picture
of you, and people wanting to make busts of you and name their
children after you, you'd be surprised I'm not prouder than
I am. That's being honest, isn't it? It's only by the grace of
God I'm not prouder than I am. But this man's pride led him
to a bad place to do a bad thing. He was lifted up with pride.
And it led him down there to where he'd never been. Something
he'd never done, and wasn't supposed to do. It led him to the temple
of God to offer incense upon the altar before the Lord. It led him to try that. Now,
this was a denial of God's holiness. We've been reading about God's
holiness, and we'll see this in this chapter here. This was
a denial of God's holiness, because God is holy And this is the work
of the high priest. The priest was appointed by God
to minister in the holy place, to burn the incense, to offer
the sacrifice, and to put the blood on the altar. This priest
was a picture of Christ. This king was a picture of Christ,
who is king over his people. And Moses was a picture of Christ,
who is prophet to his people. And the priest is a picture of
Christ, who offers the sacrifice for his people. But only Christ
is the author of that sacrifice, and Isaiah came in there and
tried to offer a burnt offering. And God dealt with him in judgment,
and he died in disgrace. But all of these things are for
lessons for you and me. I want to read you two scriptures. Here's the first one. In 1 Corinthians
chapter 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, You know, 1 Corinthians 10, verse
11, says this. Now, all these things in the
scripture happen unto them, unto these people, for examples. And
they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world
are come, lest in the last days. Wherefore, let him that thinks
he stands, take heed lest he fall. God's teaching us here
in this experience of Uzziah the king. He's teaching us the
frailty of human flesh. That him that thinks he stands,
take heed lest he fall. Did this man know God? I believe
he did. I believe this man knew God.
How can you take one incident in the life of a man, however
severe, and judge his relationship with God. How can you do that?
David had one of his best friends murdered to cover his sin. Now, that's a terrible, terrible
act. But yet he knew God. And Peter,
under great trauma and duress, denied he knew the Lord. He said,
I don't know this man. I do not know him. Is that Peter
lost? Does he know Christ? Sure he
knows Christ. Abraham denied that Saber was
his wife. His son Isaac did the same thing.
You see, the Lord is teaching us here the prayer of this flesh,
no matter who it is. He is teaching us, secondly,
the power of pride, no matter what direction it takes. just
plain arrogancy and ambition. God hates, he said, seven things. Number one is pride, a proud
look. And he's teaching us, thirdly,
that no place is secure. No position, no accomplishment,
no office is secure from this terrible terrible plague of pride. No place is secure except in
Christ. You're always secure in him,
always. Not in yourself, not under any, any condition. And the fourth thing he's teaching
us is the main thrust of this message, is the gospel of substitution
cannot be compromised, not by not by thought, not by word,
not by sermon, not by message. It just cannot be compromised. That's what this man was doing,
compromising the gospel. And the Lord dealt firmly with
him, and at the same time, he taught Isaiah the glory of Jesus
Christ cannot be compromised. So let's read on. In the year
that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. I saw also the Lord
sitting upon the throne. Who is this he saw? Well, it's
Christ. It's Christ Jesus. You're going
to see this is Christ Jesus, no question about it. But it's
the Father, Son, and the Spirit. It's the Father, Son, and the
Spirit. Verse 3 says, And one cried unto another, and said,
Holy, holy, holy. Holy Trinity, holy, holy, holy,
is the Lord of hosts. God the Father is the Lord of
hosts. Christ Jesus is the Lord of hosts. The Holy Spirit is
the Lord of hosts. And the whole earth is full of
his glory. There are three that by record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, the Holy Spirit, these three are one. John said, I saw
one sitting on the throne, not three, one. And so this is all
three. Now watch verse 8. I know it's
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because in verse 8 it says, Also
I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? who
will go for us? And I said, here am I saying,
let us make man in our own image. Who will go for us? So I saw
the Lord. But the supreme glory here is
referring to Christ Jesus, the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting
upon a throne, high lifted up his train, filled the temple.
Isaiah saw the supreme glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
an enthroned Christ that he saw. Now, please, don't be misled
by religious pictures. I really, honestly, in my heart,
believe we are destroying every religious picture or likeness
of God, of Christ Jesus, of angels, of anything in heaven. Destroy
it, burn it, don't have anything to do with it anymore. Pictures
are deceiving. Nativity scenes, all the rest
of them, just wipe them out. Because God commands that. He
said, don't make any likeness of anything in heaven or earth. Our God is enthroned. He's not a shepherd out there.
He's not hanging on a cross. He's not a baby in a mother's
arm. That's not Christ Jesus. You've got the wrong Christ if
you're looking at a baby in a mother's arm. He was made for a little
while lower than the angels, not all for all time. That saved
his day. He was a baby, and he grew up,
and that's it. He died, and that's it. He's
king! When he comes again, we're going to see him as he is, as
he is. So I saw the Lord, the sovereign
Christ, the enthroned Christ. I saw him sitting on a throne,
not in a Madonna's arms, not hanging on a tree. I was working
in a carpenter's shop and I saw him, sovereign, the victorious
Christ. I saw him seated. He did not
walk in the floor, he was seated. He finished his work. He was
seated. I saw his infinite glory high
and lifted up. It wasn't the throne that was
high and lifted up, it was him! The throne of God, yes, but he
is the one, not the throne. I saw Him high and lifted up.
God's given Him a name above every name, and it's the name
of Jesus. Every creature in heaven, earth,
or hell will bow down and announce, He's Lord. He's Lord. I saw His supreme glory, the
victorious Christ, His infinite glory. High lifted up, exalted
above all exaltation, I saw his universal glory." Listen, his
train filled the temple. What's the temple here? It's
his kingdom. His train, his glory filled the temple. He's all in
and all. Every revelation of Almighty
God to human eye, human ear, human heart, is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he's high and lifted up. He's above all. Now watch the
next verse. And above it stood the seraphim. Now listen to this. Above it
stood the seraphim. Each had six wings. With two
he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, with two
he did fly. Who are these seraphims? They're
heavenly creatures. I don't want to try to draw a
picture in my mind, just take the scriptural definition, the
scriptural picture. Angels, heavenly creatures, but
I believe they represent somebody. I believe they represent God's
preachers, God's prophets. Because that's the one to whom
the Lord is speaking here, is Isaiah. That's the one the Lord
is dealing with, is Isaiah. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw the Lord, because God revealed himself to me. And
I saw him high and lifted up. And I saw around the throne seraphims,
and with two of their wings they covered their faces in humility
before the Lord. These are the You'll see it among
the preachers of God. They covered their faces in humility.
And then they covered their feet, conscious of the imperfection
of their walk, like Paul said, O wretched man that I am. But
with two of those wings, while they covered their faces in humility
and covered their feet, conscious of their imperfection and their
walk, with two they did fly, in haste to proclaim the word
of the Lord. In haste to proclaim what? Look
at verse 3. And one cried unto another and
said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory. That's their chief cry. Holy,
holy, holy. And Isaiah saw in the death of
that king, in transgressing and trespassing in the holy place
just how holy God is. And these seraphims cried, God
is holy. That's what I read beginning
of service. His name is holy. He's holy. Our God's holy. That's
his chief attribute. God's just. Oh, how just. His throne is the throne of equity.
God's love. Nobody can fathom or describe
the love of God. God is merciful. But God's chief
attribute is his holiness. That holiness with which we have
to do. Holy and reverent is his name.
And all that God does has to be in agreement with his holiness. And that's what he's revealing
to Isaiah here, is his holiness, immaculate, infinite holiness. And nowhere is the holiness of
God revealed any more than at Calvary, when Almighty God was
pleased. to crucify his son to satisfy
his justice and his law on behalf of his people with sin. Nowhere. That's the priestly work of Christ.
Let's read about it in Hebrews chapter 9. In Hebrews chapter
9. Let's just read and get a picture
of what Isaiah did here now in violating holiness of God and
the personal work of Christ. Hebrews chapter 9, let's start
with verse 1. Now, that first covenant which existed in the
days of Uzziah the king, had also ordinances of divine service
and a worldly sanctuary. And there was a tabernacle made.
The first part of it where he was a candlestick, the table
of showbread, which is called a sanctuary. And after the second
veil, the tabernacle, which is the holiest of all. which had
the golden censer. That's what Isaiah, that's what
he took hold of. When he came into that tabernacle,
that temple, the temple is just like the tabernacle. When he
came into that tabernacle, he went past the table of showbread
and the The seven candlesticks came right here to this veil,
separating the holy of holies. Therein was the ark and the mercy
seat, and there was that altar of incense. And he took that
censer, and he put some coals on that censer. Now, that bread
stands for Christ, the bread of life, and that candlestick,
Christ, the light of the world, and this altar of incense. that burned 365 days a year,
every hour of every day was changed and burned, except the priest
did. It was the prayers of Christ ascending to the Father. And
this man, wasn't a priest, this man took that and was going to
offer it to the Lord. The next thing he'd done, he'd
gone under that veil into the Holy of Holies. That's when God
stopped him, and struck him with leprosy. That's the censure here
is what he had in his hands. the golden censer, verse 4, and
the art of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein
was the golden pot that had manner, and avens rod that budded, and
the tables of the covenant. And over that mercy seat the
cherubims of glory, shadowing the mercy seat, of which we cannot
now speak particularly. But when these things were done,
were ordained, the priest went into the first tabernacle, where
the bread and the candle and the incense were, accomplishing
the service of God. just the priest. And into the
second went the high priest once every year, not without bed,
which he offered for himself in the areas of the people. And
the Holy Ghost was signifying, this was what the Holy Spirit
was showing to us, that the way into the holiest of all was not
made manifest while that first tabernacle was standing. In other
words, no human being other than a priest could come into that
tabernacle. No one but the high priest could go into the Holy
of Holies. But after Christ, who is our priest, and our atonement,
our sacrifice died on the cross, that veil was read in twain.
Christ is full for all of this, and it was folded up and put
away. Now, you and I are all priests and kings under God. We can go in this place, come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may find mercy and grace
to help in times of need. Let us come boldly before the
Lord. He's open for us a new and living way, but at this time,
These pictures prevailed, and these patterns prevailed, and
nobody would dare violate them except the fool. And now watch
this. Verse 8 says, The Holy Ghost
thus signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not
made manifest while that first tabernacle was standing. It was
a figure, a picture, for the time then present in which were
offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that
did the service perfect as pertained to the conscience These blood
atonements couldn't put away sin. They were pictures of Christ
who did. These people offered these things
in faith, believing that the Lamb of God would come, the high
priest after the Holy Melchizedek, and by his offering make us perfect. And these things stood in verse
10 in meats and drinks and different washings and carnal ordinances
imposed on them until the time of reformation, regeneration,
the time of Christ. Now what? The Christ being come,
a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not this one made with hands, not this
building, but by his own body, and not by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered, our king of kings,
our prophet, our priest, entered once into the holy place, not
this place, into heaven itself. And having obtained eternal redemption
for us. That's the gospel story. And
that's what this man had violated. And that's what Isaiah, God teaching
him and us here. And let's look, if you will,
at verse 5. Tim said, I, when I saw the holiness
of God, when I saw the the holiness of God, the awesome presence
of God. Then said I, woe is me, I'm undone. What was Isaiah's response to
a revelation of God's holiness? First of all, he saw himself.
He said, woe is me, I'm undone, I'm cut off, I'm ruined, I'm
a sinful man, I'm reduced to That's always the result when
we are, by the Spirit of God, able to see the holiness of God.
And then he saw another thing. He saw the root of his problem.
Because I'm a man of unclean lips, unclean lips, unclean lips speak
from an unclean heart. How the heart perceives evil. thoughts and adultery and fornication,
lasciviousness of the heart, the mouth speaking. Keep thy
heart out of inner issues of life. Isaiah saw his true problem
was his heart. I'm a man of unclean lips because
I have an unclean heart. I was listening to a preacher
preach the other day, and he's trying to deal with a congregation
about sin. And I thought, well, I wonder
what he's going to He used an example here, and these were
the three examples he used, which I agree with him, but this is
not the definition of seeing. He said, now you people with
computers, you're watching things on that thing you shouldn't watch.
Well, I guess they are, but that's not the real problem. He said,
secondly, he said, it's the movies you're going to. You've got to
stop going to those movies. Thirdly, he said, it's the magazines
you read. You ought not to look at those
magazines. I said, I didn't say, Lord, I've seen your glory and
pressed upon me I shouldn't look at the internet. I shouldn't
read certain magazines. He said, my problem's in here. I'm a man of unclean lips. I
speak from an unclean heart. It's the fountain that's messed
up. That's where I'm wrong. That's my whole problem. If my
eyes were put out, my ears were stopped up, and I couldn't walk
and take a step, I'd still be a sinner. I'd still grumble and
gripe about God's prophetess. You hear what I'm saying? He saw himself. I'm cut off.
I'm ruined. I'm a sinner. He saw the problem,
the root of it in my heart. He saw, thirdly, the total ruin
of the whole human race. He said, not only that, but I
dwell in the midst of a people that are just like I am. He didn't
say to the Pharisee, I thank you, I'm not like other men.
He said, I am just like everybody else. I dwell in the midst of
a people of unclean lips, none righteous, none that doeth good,
none that seeketh after God. You know, this is the twofold
message of evangelism. The two-fold message of the pulpit.
You know what it is? Turn to Isaiah 40. This is a
two-fold message of evangelism. What we are looking at here in
Isaiah chapter 6 is the two-fold message of the evangelist, of
the missionary, of the pastor, of the preacher. He says here in verse 5 of Isaiah
40, And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh
shall see it. the glory of the Lord. For the
mouth of the Lord is spoken, and the voice said, Cry, and
he said, What shall I cry? Number one, all flesh is grass,
all of it, all of it, in the church, out of the church, in
the world, out of the world, old flesh, young flesh, female
flesh, male, all flesh is grass, and the glory of man is as the
flower of the field. The grass withers, it's like
grass clippings off your lawnmower. The grass withers, the flower
fadeth, it's like your old, faded, dead flowers you throw in the
garbage. Because the Spirit of God blows upon it, the people
are grass. The grass withers, the flower
fadeth, but the word of the Lord shall stand forever." Now here's
the second part of that message. You show man what he is, now
you show him who God is. that bringeth good tidings, you
get up to a high mountain, O Jerusalem, that bringeth good tidings, you
lift up your voice, lift it up now, don't be afraid, say to
the cities of Judah, Behold your God. He'll come with a strong
hand, his arm will rule for him, his rewards with him, his works
before him, he'll feed his flock like a shepherd, gather the lambs
with his arms, carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those
that are with him. Our God reigneth. God reigns in supreme, victorious,
exalted holiness. And Christ is that shepherd. On the next two verses, let's
look at the next two before we quit. God revealed to Isaiah his glory,
I saw his glory, his holiness. And following that, seeing God,
the sinner saw himself. He said, I'm unclean, I'm cut
off, I'm finished. But then thirdly, in verse 6
and 7 comes an application of grace and mercy in Christ Jesus. Then flew one of the seraphims
unto me, one of the seraphims, a minister of the gospel. That's
what the picture is in. Then came a minister of the gospel,
just like Philip went to the eunuch. John the Baptist came
to Judah. Paul came to Lydia. Peter came
to Cornelius. Then one of those seraphims came
to me to minister the gospel sent by God. He came to me, having in his hand a live coal,
a burning live coal. What is this coal? It's the glorious
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel of his grace, the
good news of his redemption, the power of God unto salvation. Where did he get this cold, this
live cold? Where did he get it? It says
here, having a live cold which he had taken with the palm from
off the altar. What is the altar? That's where
the lamb was slain, the altar, that's where the lamb That's
where the lamb was quartered. That's where the lamb was burned
with fire. That's where the lamb's blood was collected. The altar
of fire. That's where he got that live
coal. He got it off the altar. And that live coal off the altar
is the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross of Calvary. He took
combs. Human hands didn't touch it.
Human hands make no contribution to this gospel. This gospel can't
be touched, can't be changed, can't be altered, can't be adjusted,
can't be made effective with human hands. It's not touched
with a human hand. He took tongs off the altar where
the lamb was slain, where he shed his blood and took that
live coal and brought it to me from off the altar. Please God to bruise him. We
preachers need to get up out of the way. Preach Christ. Preach the gospel. Take to me
the live code of the gospel in some way that you don't mess
it up. You don't alter it. You don't
interpret it. You don't apply it. You've got
problems between you and that code. And he laid it on my lips, on
my mouth. He laid it on my mouth, the source
of the whole problem. He laid that live, burning, purging
fire. He got off Calvary's cross. The
cleansing, purging fire, the blood of Christ actually met
my sin, met my sin, met my rebellion, met my pride, met my selfishness,
met my evil, came in contact with my iniquity, engaged to
purge it. and burn it out and eradicate
it from all impurity. That's what the gospel is. If somehow we can get around the traditions
and around the form and ceremony and around the I believe this,
I believe that, you believe that, you believe that, we can't agree.
If somehow we can get around all this religious jargon and
foolishness And some seraphim sent from God can come with that
live code, that living gospel, living word, living message,
living truth. But he didn't mess up. His hands,
his fingerprints aren't on it. There's no way his fingerprints
are on it. But it's a live code. And he
doesn't address me. The seraphim didn't do it. The
live coal he laid on my lip burned out the purge, out the dross,
burned out my sin, eradicated my heart from all its impurity. And then he said, this has touched
your lip, not me. This has touched your lip, and
your iniquity is taken away. And you're seeing this purge. Boy, I'm telling you, it is no
more. It's burnout. Burnout. Infection is burnout. All of the proud flesh is burnout. All of that which is infected,
gangrene is burnout. by the fire of the altar, the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He appeared just for the unjust
to put away sin with the sacrifice of himself and bring us to God. O Lord, can a sinful worm endure
the presence of a God so pure? Are these polluted lips proclaimed
the glory of so great a name. Oh, for thine altar's burning
coal to touch my lips and cleanse my soul, to purge this sordid
dross away and into beauty turn my clay. That's a happening. That's a
happening. your iniquity is taken away,
burned, purged, eradicated by the blood of the Son of God."
And then I heard a voice, the voice of the Lord saying
two things. Whom shall I send? Who's willing
to go wherever I send? Who's willing to go wherever
I send? And who will go for us? Not for
his own purpose, not for his own glory, but for my glory.
Who's willing? Who shall I send? And who can
do it for us? Only for my glory. Not at any consideration of himself
at all. I remember 54 years ago, Doris and I had been
married three months. I'd just come from the Navy and
we got married and I started school, worked at the hot strip
mill, steel mill. And we lived with my parents.
And an invitation came from Ashland, Kentucky to come up here and
be a song leader and youth director at Pollard Baptist Church. And we resolved to go. We didn't
have any furniture. We didn't have a car. We had
each other and our clothes. Somebody asked me, do you know
anybody up there? I said, no, sir. Don't know a soul. I met
the pastor. What are you going to do up there?
I'm going to work with the young people. Lead the singing. Did you ever lead the choir before?
No, never led a choir before. Never led singing before, but
I studied it a little bit. You're going up there, yes, sir?
Because I feel called of God to go up there. Where are you
going to live? They said they'd rent us an apartment.
And they did. And I came. And it's 54 years
later. And I'm glad I came. It's a long way from my home.
But it's where God sent me. And that's what he's saying here.
Who am I going to send? Who will go for me? Yeah, but
there's certain things I have to do first. No, you don't either. How much they gonna pay you up
out there? Forty dollars a week. We got buy on it. You can get
buy on what God supplies. Now, I found that out through
all these years. You can get buy on what God gives you. And
you don't need any more. I thought about that song. And
Isaiah said, Hear my eye. Send me. Just send me. Just send me, just like I am.
We caught a train, came up here and pulled in down here at this
beautiful, I've never seen a depot that big. And we've been here
ever since. Here am I. Send me. Somebody wrote a song. There's
surely, there's surely somewhere a humble place in this earth's
harvest field so wide where I can witness through life's short
days, for my Lord who was crucified. So trusting my all unto his care,
I know, Lord, thou lovest me. I'll do your will with a heart
sincere, and I'll be what you want me to be. And I'll go where
you want me to go, over mountain or plain or sea, and I'll say
what you want me to say. and I'll be what you want me
to be. And that's what he's saying to you, he and I.