The Gospel According to Isaiah

Q: What does the Bible say about the gospel of Jesus Christ?

The Bible proclaims the gospel as the central message of salvation, highlighting the redemptive work of Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is considered the ultimate source of excitement and comfort for believers, as articulated by the prophet Isaiah. Through Isaiah's prophecies, we see that the gospel reveals God's plan for redemption, and Jesus Christ is at the center of this plan. Isaiah is often called the 'fifth evangelist' due to the richness of his writings that indicate the coming of the Messiah. The fulfillment of these prophecies in the New Testament reaffirms the significance of the gospel in the life of believers, as it offers both encouragement and assurance of God's redeeming grace.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of sovereign grace is true?

The doctrine of sovereign grace is confirmed through Scripture and the fulfillment of God's promises to redeem His people. The doctrine of sovereign grace asserts that salvation is completely the work of God, who chooses and saves His people according to His will. This is evidenced by passages throughout the Bible, particularly in the writings of the prophets and the New Testament. The ministry of Isaiah illustrates this truth as it reveals the holiness and sovereignty of God, showing that the initiative in salvation always rests with Him. Isaiah’s vision after the death of King Uzziah symbolizes the necessary humility that one must have before God to recognize their need for grace. Furthermore, New Testament affirmations of Christ's redemptive work fulfill the Old Testament prophecies, substantiating the claims of sovereign grace.

Q: Why is understanding the holiness of God important for Christians?

Understanding God's holiness is crucial as it reveals His nature and the seriousness of sin that necessitates redemption through Christ. The holiness of God is the foundational attribute that shapes the entire understanding of His character and His relationship with humanity. As emphasized in Isaiah's vision, the seraphim proclaim 'Holy, holy, holy' to signify God's supreme holiness as the chief attribute. Recognizing God's holiness leads one to see their own sinfulness and need for redemption. It underscores the gravity of sin and why salvation can only be attained through Jesus Christ, who fully satisfied the demands of God's holiness through His atoning sacrifice. Therefore, grasping the concept of God's holiness instills a deeper reverence and gratitude for the grace offered through the gospel.

Q: What is the significance of Isaiah seeing the Lord?

Isaiah's vision of the Lord represents a profound moment of revelation that leads to his understanding of God's holiness and his own sinfulness. Isaiah's encounter with God in Isaiah 6 is a pivotal moment that transforms him from a prophet who pronounces woes on others to one who recognizes his own unworthiness. Seeing the Lord in His holiness caused Isaiah to cry out, 'Woe is me!' as he became aware of his sin and the sinfulness of his people. This encounter is not just about a visual experience but signifies a spiritual awakening to the reality of God's majesty and the depth of human depravity. This understanding is essential for true repentance and sets the stage for Isaiah's commissioning to proclaim the message of God’s grace and holiness. It illustrates that true ministry flows from an encounter with the living God.

Q: Why is the sacrifice of Christ central to the gospel?

The sacrifice of Christ is central because it is the means by which sin is atoned for and redemption is achieved for believers. The sacrifice of Christ is the cornerstone of the gospel message, as it fulfills the prophetic types and shadows presented throughout the Old Testament, especially in Isaiah. Christ's atoning work is depicted as the ultimate sacrifice that takes away the sins of humanity, allowing for reconciliation with God. Isaiah's vision illustrates the necessity of a substitutionary sacrifice for sins, highlighting that no other means—be it works or religious rituals—can bring about true salvation. This underscores the sovereignty of God in the redemptive plan, whereby Christ becomes both the priest and the offering, securing eternal redemption for those whom He has chosen.

I had impressed upon me today,
once again, that there's nothing as exciting to me and interesting,
nothing quite as interesting and stirring as the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing. I've been preparing Sunday school
lessons a couple of days this week. I've been writing some
studies from the book of Isaiah, and I got so excited and so stirred
in my soul as I wrote this Sunday school lesson from Isaiah chapter
6 that I just could not refrain from bringing it as a message
tonight. I know we'll be studying it in
February, but we'll just study it again tonight. And I'll tell you something else.
Not only is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ exciting to
me and stirring, but there's nothing
that comforts my heart like the gospel. There's nothing that
encourages this center like the gospel of Jesus Christ. It encourages me. It comforts
me. I get through studying the Word
of God and preparing a Sunday school lesson or a message. And
rather than being depressed and troubled, I'm elated and comforted. I heard somebody say one time,
if a message doesn't bless you, you can be sure it won't bless
anybody you preach it to. And then thirdly, I have found
in these years nothing, absolutely nothing. I don't know of anything
or anyone who can either impress me or interest me in compromising
this gospel. I can't think of anything. I
can't think of anything that this world has to offer or anything
that any person has to offer that would cause me to compromise
this gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't understand those who
do. I just don't understand it. I have found him whom my soul
loves. Solomon said, I am my beloved's
and he is mine. And they said, what is your beloved
more than any other beloved? Oh, if you had time. If we had
about a thousand years, I'd tell you. But I am satisfied. I am totally,
completely satisfied with this gospel of God's redeeming grace. Now, Isaiah was an unusual man. He lived over a hundred years.
I don't remember. I wrote it down somewhere, 115
or 120 years. And for 85 years, he was a prophet
of God, a faithful minister of God's Word for 85 years. And the unusual thing about Isaiah
is that he ministered, he was a prophet, in the days of four
different kings. There was Jotham, there was Ahaz,
there was Hezekiah, and Uzziah. His ministry spanned the reign
of four different kings in Judah. That's unusual. But he was faithful
to God. and faithful to these men for
85 years. It's not how a man begins, it's
how he winds up. It's how he winds up. And then
somebody called Isaiah, somebody called him the fifth evangelist,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Isaiah. It is said that the book of Isaiah
could easily be called the gospel according to Isaiah. We may be
in it for several weeks because there's so much. Did you know
that Isaiah is quoted more in the New Testament than any other
prophet in the Old Testament? Isaiah, he's quoted more than
any other prophet in the Old Testament. I could give you several illustrations.
You know, when our Lord was born of the Virgin, the angel said
to Joseph that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet
Isaiah, call his name Immanuel, God with us. When our Lord Jesus
Christ came to Nazareth and spoke to that crowd of folks, he turned
to Isaiah 61 and said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. when
God would teach the eunuch the gospel. He was riding in his
chariot from Jerusalem on the road to Ethiopia and he was reading,
guess who, Isaiah. And Philip began at the same
scripture and preached unto him Jesus. Let's look at chapter
6 of Isaiah. It says in the year that King
Uzziah died, I guess for twenty some odd years of my ministry, I paid very little attention
to what Isaiah was saying here. Isaiah died. I said, okay, he
died. He died. But is it possible that
the death of Isaiah had something to do with Isaiah seeing the
Lord in his holiness? Do you reckon? I suppose it might
have had something to do with it. I'll tell you a little bit
about Uzziah. Now, you can jot this down. I
don't want to spend a lot of time here. But over in 2 Chronicles
26, you can write that down and read it later. It's probably
in the margin of your Bible somewhere. But Uzziah, Uzziah was a good
king. The Scripture said of Uzziah
that he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. Uzziah
was a king who loved God. He loved the people. He did many
things for the people. And Isaiah, the prophet here,
loved the king. Uzziah was a very popular king,
a very strong and brave king, and one who wanted to do the
right thing. And the people loved him. Isaiah loved him. It says
Isaiah wrote everything that Uzziah did. All of his acts were
recorded by Isaiah. But something happened, and who
knows what happens in the lives of men according to God's purpose
and providence, but King Uzziah's heart was lifted up with pride.
His heart was lifted up with pride and presumption. And King Uzziah took upon himself,"
now you know in the Old Testament there are three major offices,
prophet, priest, and king. No man ever held those three
offices except one man, the God-man. Christ Jesus is that prophet,
blackened to Moses. But Moses was not a priest, Aaron
was the priest. Aaron was the priest, but he
was not the king. David was the king. David was
a king, but he was not a priest. No man ever held those three
offices. Each of them typified the Lord Jesus in his own way.
Moses the prophet, Abraham the priest, David the king. When
our Lord came, he is all and in all. He is our prophet, priest,
and king. But the priest was the only one
who could come to God. The priest was chosen from among
men. in things pertaining to God and
pertaining to men. And the priest would bring the
sacrifice, the priest would bring the blood offering, the priest
would burn the incense, the priest would offer the sacrifices and
the atonement. No king was allowed in the Holy
of Holies, or in the holy place. And no prophet was allowed, only
the priest. You see that? Only the priest.
And that represents Christ. No man can come to the Father
but by me. Christ is our priest, our high
priest. Christ is our altar. Christ is
our atonement. Christ is our sacrifice. Christ
is our... He's our mercy seat. And God
speaks to us through Christ, and Christ takes us to God. He's
the priest. So the king, King Uzziah's heart
became lifted up with pride and presumption. And so he took upon
himself to go down, down to the temple, and to burn incense unto
the Lord. He took upon himself, I'm a king. I'll just go to God. I'm important.
I'll just, I'll impress the people. I suppose that's what he thought
he'd do. I'd impress the people and impress God. That I'm really
for God and that I'm really, I really want to serve God. And so I'll just go down and
I'll take the very the very kingdom into the presence of God. And
the priest met him at the door of the temple and urged him.
Eighty priests and all met him and urged him. This is what they
said, it appertaineth not to thee to offer a sacrifice to
God. It's not your job. It's not your
office. You've not been commissioned.
You've not been ordained of God. You can't do it. Now, he didn't
listen to them. He should have. Because what
he's doing here is he's encroaching upon the person and work of Christ. He's denying the person and work
of Christ. And so he took the incense and
went on in and offered burned incense. You see, the incense
is the prayers of Christ, the intercessory prayers of Christ.
The blood offering is the blood of Christ, the incense prayers
of Christ. And when the high priest went
into the Holy of Holies, he took the blood and the incense. Both
were there present before the mercy seat on the day of atonement. And this king just went around
Christ. He bypassed Christ. And this
is the serious, serious mistake that anybody makes, whether he
chooses baptism or sacraments or works or law or whatever,
deeds or whatever, to recommend himself to God, he's bypassing
Christ. And when he did that, God killed
him. God turned him into a leper. It was the very worst thing that
God could do to him. You see, a leper. A leper was
despised. A leper was unclean. A leper
was put outside the camp. A leper had to go with his hand
over his face and something over his mouth, hollering, don't anybody
let my shadow fall upon you, I'm unclean. And here's the king
in all his royalty, is gold and silver and crowns and
power and rule and influence over the people who comes to
God and God sends him away crying, unclean, unclean. And any man outside of Christ
is unclean. Any man outside the blood is
unclean. It doesn't matter what he does
or what efforts he puts forth to come to God, he's unclean.
And that's just exactly what the Lord is saying there. When
he turned to Zion, he brought him from so high to so low. He
brought him from number one to the bottom that nobody could
have anything to do with him. He brought him from the man of
influence and power to the man despised and rejected. Put him
out. And like I say, wow, this must
have been a shock to Isaiah. I must have, you know, Isaiah
back in chapter 5, don't bother to turn there and read, but he
was a pretty moral fellow himself, you know. He was, he was pretty
hard on everybody and in chapter 5 of Isaiah he kept saying, woe
is you, woe is you, woe is you, woe unto them, woe unto them,
about four or five times. He's tough on folks. And I find
him here in chapter 6 saying, woe is me. Something's happened,
something drastic, climactic. unusual has happened to this
man. He's had an experience that we'll
see about. So when God killed King Uzziah,
Isaiah said, I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord. Now, I don't
know anything about visions. I've never had one. I don't know
anybody that has in our day. God speaks to us through His
words. If any man speaks not according to the Word of God,
there's no truth in him. And I know God spake to our fathers
by the prophets, but he has in these last days spoken to us
by his Son. And we need no other vision or
revelation other than Christ. But back here in these days,
God did speak to these prophets. You see, holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. God breathed through
them the Scriptures. And God gave them visions, and
God spoke to them audibly. God spoke to them, spoke to their
hearts. God revealed things to them that
they might write them down for us. And he said, I saw the Lord.
Now whom did he see here? He saw Christ. That's exactly,
Isaiah saw Christ. Let me show you that in John
12, John chapter 12. Isaiah said, in the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw Christ. I saw the great high priest.
I saw the great prophet. I saw the great king. I saw the
king of kings and Lord of lords. I took my eyes off myself and
off Isaiah and off everybody else, and I saw the Lord. I saw
Christ. Now look at John 12, 41. These
things said Isaiah, Isaiah of course is Isaiah, John 12, 41.
This is important here. These things said Isaias when
he saw his glory and spake of him." Whose glory? Christ's glory. Of whom did he speak? Christ.
Now, preachers who do not preach Christ have evidently never seen
his glory. Because to see the glory of Christ,
like Isaiah of old, is to preach Christ. Once ushered by God into
the presence of the glorious King of Kings, he'll be your
theme from then on, I guarantee you. People talk about that which
is important to them. People describe great and wonderful
events which have happened to them. And if a man ever meets
Christ, Christ from then on will be his theme, his message, his
song. That's what it says here of Isaiah.
When Isaiah saw his glory, When he saw it, he spake of him. All
right, let's look at what he saw. I saw the Lord, the Lord
Jesus Christ. You see, my friends, every revelation
of God to eye, ear, or heart is Christ. Now you write that
down. Every revelation. No man has
seen the Father at any time. The Son hath declared it. Every
revelation. You go back through the Old Testament.
And the angel of the Lord that appeared to Manoah and his wife
and announced the birth of Samson, that's Christ. God who appeared
to Abraham in the burning bush, that's Christ. Every appearance,
and the one who appeared to Abraham and told him he'd have a son,
that's Christ. I guarantee you, no man has, I have never seen,
God, no man can look on God the Father and live. Told Moses that. The only revelation, every revelation
to eye, ear, or heart is Christ. We know God as we know Christ.
We love God as we love Christ. We worship God as we worship
Christ. Your idea of God is the revelation you've had of Christ.
It's exactly right. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. And he saw the victorious Christ. He saw him where? Sitting.
He saw him sitting. Now nations fret and fume and
men pace the floor, but Christ sits. He said, I've purposed
it, I'll do it. I've spoken it, I'll bring it
to pass. He said, Thou art my Son. This day have I begotten
thee. And he said to the Son, Sit thou
on my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.
Our Lord is confident, our Lord is calm, and our Lord has conquered. And he sits. at the right hand
of the Father. He sits victorious. And then
he said, I saw the Lord high, high and lifted up. What's this
saying? The Father hath given him a name
which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow and every tongue shall confess that he's Lord. He has
been exalted above all exaltation. His name is high and lifted up. Isaiah saw Christ He saw Christ
victorious, seated, having conquered all his enemies. He saw Christ,
the infinite glory of Christ, high and lifted up. And he saw
the universal glory of Christ, he said, in his train, in his
skirts. His glory, his presence filled
the temple. He's all in all. He filleth all
things. Christ is all. Jesus Christ is
all. I sometimes hear people say,
well, there are other things to preach than Christ. Well, now listen to me. If you
mean this, if you mean there are other things to preach other
than His actual crucifixion, I say yes. Oh yes. But it's impossible to preach
anything having to do with redemption and not preach Christ. It's impossible
to preach anything having to do with the redeemed and not
preach Christ. It's impossible to preach anything
having to do with God's creative purpose and redemptive glory
without preaching Christ. You see, before the world was,
Christ said to the Father, glorify me with the glory which I had
with thee before the world was. So if you're going to talk about
anything before creation, it has to be talked of in the light
of Christ. Because He said, I was with Him
before the mountains were formed, before the seas were brought
forth, I was with Him and I was daily His delight. And then when
you come to creation, you can't preach creation without preaching
Christ is all in creation, because all things were made by Him,
for Him, And by him all things are held together. So whatever
you discuss in creation has got to be preached in the light of
Jesus Christ. And then in the fall of man,
when man had sinned, transgressed the law of God, and had died,
when the Father spoke good news, he spoke good news of Christ. He said, the seed of woman is
going to straighten this mess out. The whole message, you see,
in that darkness, Christ was the light. In that grave, that
special grave, Christ was the life. In that inmatent anger
of a holy God, Christ was the reconciler. And then in the Old
Testament types, if you start with the first lamb that was
slain outside Eden's garden when Abel brought the sacrifice, that's
Christ. When you talk about Abraham's
seed, Isaac is a type of Christ. You show the flood and Noah's
Ark, that's Christ. Christ is our Passover. Christ
is that rock. Christ is that brazen serpent.
Christ is that tabernacle. Christ is that priest. Christ
is that lamb slain. Christ is that mercy seat. Christ
is all things. And it doesn't matter where you
turn, in the Old Testament, in Ruth, Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer,
is Christ. David, the king, is Christ, you
see, he's a type of Christ. Ruth of Jesse, Lion of the tribe
of Judah, offspring of David, everything is Christ, you see
that in the Old Testament. All the prophets bore witness
unto him. That's what it says, to him give
all the prophets witness. And he said, talking to his disciples
when he went through the Old Testament, major and minor prophets
in the Psalms, he taught them that these things were written
concerning him. And then in redemption, when
Christ came to this earth, he's all in the redemption of a sinner.
And then when life is over and we appear before the judgment
of Almighty God, the Scripture says the Father judges no man,
he's committed all judgment to the Son. God hath appointed a
day in which he shall judge the world in righteousness by that
man, Christ. I tell you this, when you stand
at the judgment, you wish that you'd even heard more of Christ,
and certainly not less, and certainly not less. And then after the
judgment in eternity, the scripture says that in all things he might
have the preeminence, for the song of heaven is unto him who
loved us and washed us from our sins in his own precious blood. So it doesn't matter where you
go to preach. And when you're trying to exhort
people to be witnesses, Christ said, you're my witnesses. You're
my witnesses. Even the Holy Ghost came down
here to do what? Take the things of Christ and
show them to you. He said the Holy Spirit's not
going to speak of himself. He'll glorify me. And then when you talk about
even being, Brother John said in his prayer, that praying that
God give us more concern for one another and kindness toward
one another, on what basis? Be you kind one to another? Tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, as God, for Christ's sake, forgave you.
When you teach love, what did the Master say? You love Mike
like I loved you, he said. When he taught humility, and
he stooped down and washed their feet, he said, what I've done
to you, you do to him. This message is Christ. And the
person who accuses any preacher of over-emphasizing Christ is
ignorant of who Christ is, and he's ignorant of the Word of
God, totally. And I'll tell you this, and he's
a fool. He's a fool. He doesn't know
the glory and the value and the preeminence of my Lord, because
he's everything. There's nothing that I want anything
to do with outside of Christ. And I want no motive other than
Christ. Because if Christ, if the love
of Christ cannot constrain me, then don't constrain me. I don't
want to be constrained. Now that's just so. He fills
the temple. Fills everything. His presence
fills, He's all and in all. He fills all things. And watch
verse 2. And above it stood the seraphims.
Each one had six wings. With two, he covered his face.
With two, he covered his feet. With two, he didn't fly. Boy,
there's been a lot of ink spread out on this. Who are the seraphims? Who are the seraphims? Well,
some say they're angels. Some just say they're heavenly
creatures. But you know figuratively speaking who I believe they are?
I believe these seraphims, are the true ministers of God, the
true ministers of Christ. All right, let me show you that
in several incidences. First of all, it says they had
six wings. Of course, this is figurative.
What he saw is figurative. He covered his face with two
wings. That would be the minister of
Christ covering his face in genuine modesty and humility. God has
no proud true ministers. I don't believe it. There are
a lot of proud preachers, but they're not God's preacher. Because
like the Apostle Paul, every true preacher of God says, I'm
not worthy to be a preacher. I'm nothing. Nothing. He always
says, I'm less than the least of all the saints. And he says,
I'm the chief of sinners. And he says that meaning every
word of it. That's so now. With two, he covered
his face in modesty and humility in the presence of God. And with
two wings, he covered his feet. What's that talking about? He's
embarrassed by his walk. That's right, he's embarrassed
by his walk, by his conduct. He's embarrassed. You know the
Lord talks about us having to daily wash our feet? And this
true minister of Christ recognizes That like everybody else, oh
wretched man that I am. Oh wretched man that I am. He
knows that. He knows that. And then with two wings he did
fly though. Where's he going? He's going
to declare what he sees, the glory of God. He makes haste
to go and tell the good news. Oh yeah, in the presence of God.
With great humility and great modesty, he covers his face,
and because he is a wretched man in walk and conduct, in the
presence of God, he covers his feet. But then he sails forth
to tell the good news. He's glad to declare these good
tidings of Christ Jesus. That's right. And what does he
cry? Oh, that's verse 3. And one cried
to another. Each one of them, one cried to
another, and what did they cry? Well, I tell you, this is a missing
note in present day preaching. They didn't go forth crying,
God is love. And my friends, He is. We must
understand, He is all indescribably, infinitely, unchangeably, everlastingly
love. Thank God for His love. But I'm
telling you this, I'm telling you this, the chief attribute
of our God is holiness. The chief attribute of our God
is holiness. Holy and reverend is His name.
And that's what these, that's what these evangelists, that's
what these true ministers cry, God's holy, God's holy. And I've told you this before,
but I'll repeat it for those who are here for the Maybe the
first time or hasn't been here many times, you know where I
see the holiness of God, the true holiness of God? I see it outside Jerusalem wall,
when a blood spattered, spit upon, visage marred as no other
man. Blood running down his back and
out of his hands, hanging between two thieves, John sang about
it. His head bowed in sorrow, and
a crown of thorns on his brow, and the heavens dark, and men
cursing and laughing, and he's dying. And I see the holiness
of God. Almighty God shows at Calvary
more than any place at any time in the universe that He is supremely
unchangeably, infinitely holy because he's showing us he cannot
save a sinner without nailing his son to the cross. He cannot
pardon iniquity without it being paid for in full. And that's
where God's holiness is. God spared not his own son. Christ died that he might be
just and justify you. That's God's holiness. And I
see there at Calvary God's love better than any other place. God so loved He gave His Son.
That's where it is, holy, holy, holy. I'll tell you this, there's
a two-fold message of evangelism. It's not being preached. It's
flat not being preached. Now listen to me, in Isaiah 40,
you needn't turn, you know it by memory. The voice said unto
me, Cry. And I said, Well, what shall
I cry? He said, Two things. All flesh is grass, and the glory
of man is the flower of the field. The grass withereth, and the
flower fadeth. That's what man is. He's nothing
but old grass clippings that are fit for the fire. All flesh
is grass. I mean that pretty flesh and
ugly flesh, old flesh, young flesh, intellectual flesh and
stupid flesh. It's all grass. It's all like
the flower of the field. That's what you call it. Tell
them! And then you tell them secondly, Behold your God! Open your eyes and look and see
God Almighty. His Word will always live. The Word of God lives forever.
Come on now, that's the message. Where have you heard it preached
lately besides here? Well, what was in the post of
the door moved? Oh, the power of our God, the
power of the voice of His message, His gospel. This gospel moved
the post, and the house will be filled with His glory, smoke,
the incense, the prayers of Christ. It's something, it's big doing. In the average place, the preaching
is just tolerated to get to the music. The preaching is tolerated
to get to the playtime. The preaching is tolerated to
get to the sharing time. Sharing. The preaching is tolerated to
get to the testimonies. The preaching is tolerated to
get to our fun time. But I'll tell you this, the only
thing that will move the post is the preaching of the gospel
of Christ. The only thing that will generate a house filled
with the power of God and the presence of Christ and the smoke
of His glory and His intercession is preaching His holiness, His
glory, His power. There's not much great preaching
because men do not know the great God. Preaching is great when
God's glorified. Preaching's not great because
of its oratory. Preaching is not great because
of its eloquence. Preaching is not great because
of its intellectualism. Preaching is great when Christ
is the theme. That's when preaching's great.
Whether it's five minutes or five hours, it's great if it
glorifies Christ. And it'll move things, too. It'll
move things. If nothing's happening, God's
not there. You can put that down. Man's got no fruit in his ministry,
he's no minister. It's exactly right. God never
sent a messenger yet without using him. He always gives him
a message, He always gives him the experience with it, and He
gives him fruit. I guarantee you something will
happen. Something will happen. You can't preach this message
without something happening. Some will happen. What's his
reaction to this? Well, verse 5, "...then said
I, woe is me, I'm undone." He saw himself, I'm cut off, he
said. This is the prophet. This is
the woe is them fellow. This is the blameless law man.
This is the one that's getting on everybody for drinking, gambling,
and swearing and cussing in chapter 5. This is a fellow who says,
God's going to get you if you don't quit that. And here he
is. Oh, it's me. I'm undone. I'm cut off. I'm cut off. I'm separated from God. What
in the world caused that reaction? He saw the Lord. A man can look at others and
say, I thank thee, God, I'm not like other men. But when he looks
at God, he says, I am like them too. I'm hewn out of the same
rock, dug out of the same pit, came from the same dung hill.
I'm a man of unclean lips just like they are. A man can look
at the law and say, all these have I kept from my youth up.
But when a man sees God, there's just one response. That's, woe
is me. He'll be woe is me tomorrow too.
He'll be woe is me the next day. Job had this experience. Job
said, I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord. I put my hand on my mouth. I
said, Lord, once have I spoken twice. Things too wonderful.
I abhorred myself. I repent in sackcloth and ashes.
I tell you, when the Apostle Paul saw the Lord, come on now,
listen to me, when he met the Lord on the road to Damascus,
the Lord now, he didn't tell the fellows next
week that he was converted back yonder in his temple days and
he learned some new theology on the road to Damascus. I just
don't believe he told them that. I don't believe he did. What he did tell them, he said,
back yonder, I was this, that, and the other. But I count it
all dumb because I've seen the Lord, the true God, the true
Savior. I tell you, when God meets a
man or a woman, and I'm tired and weary of people claiming
to be saved under a false gospel, I'm tired of it. There's only one gospel under
which a man can be saved, and that's the gospel of a sovereign
Christ. I'm telling the truth. What Paul told them was this.
I count all that, but don't. I count every little song I ever
sung, and every little prayer I ever prayed, and every little
tithe I ever gave, and every little sermon I ever preached,
I count it but loss that I may win Christ and be found in Him. There's only one gospel, and
that's the gospel of grace. Anything else is a gospel of
works. Whether it's yours or Mama's
or whoever it is, it still works. If it's not all Christ, it's
works, isn't it? And he said if it's works, it's
no more grace. And if it's grace, it's no more
works. So I'm not going to repent of my sins before God. I repent
of my dead works. I'm sorry I lied on God. I'm sorry I lied on God. Alright,
I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. Why
did he say, I'm a man of unclean lips? Why did he say lips? Well, that's where the heart
reveals itself, out of the mouth. Out of the heart, the mouth speaks. And that's what Isaiah is saying.
He's saying, I'm a man of unclean lips. My heart is wicked. The
source of evil is my heart. But the evil of my heart is revealed
by the words of my mouth." That's exactly right. And he said, I'm
not the only one with a wicked heart. He said, I see everybody
around me. I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips and a wicked heart. Out of the heart the mouth
speaks, and our throat is an open sepulchre. I think it would amaze some of
us if we realized that we've actually taken God's name in
vain. I tell you, any time his name's ever come from these lips
that has not given him full glory, I'll take his name in vain. A man can sin greater in a church
than anywhere else. Now, you look through the Bible
and see if I'm not telling you the truth about everybody God
killed in the Old Testament that was playing church with strange
fire or some other way. That's right. Well, he killed
Isaiah, and Isaiah was offering incense in the temple. But he wasn't doing it in Christ's
name, through the priests. That's right. What brought all this? My eyes
have seen the Lord of hosts. All right, watch this now. Then,
boy, then, then, I'll tell you this, you won't see mercy until
you see sin. And you won't see sin until you
see God. And you won't see God until He reveals Himself. Do you get that? You're not going
to... You see, judgment comes before
mercy. You're going to be stripped before you're clothed. You ever
been lost? If you hadn't, you hadn't ever
been saved. If you've never been dead, you've
never been raised. If you've never been blind, He's
never given you sight. That's right. You've never been
a sinner and you've never been saved. Well, I just kind of grew
up in religion. You grew up in religion, but
not in Christ. Christ is revealed to you. A man is born again. That's right. Isaiah saw his
sins. He saw his corruption. He saw
his evil. Then flew one of the seraphims
to me. That's the preacher. You ever
get in trouble, God will send you a messenger. He sent a eunuch
one. He sent Lydia once. He sent Cornelius
once. That's right. If you ever get
in trouble, he'll send you a messenger. He sent one of these seraphims.
Isaiah's in trouble. Where is me? Where is me? I'm a man of unclean lips, a
wicked heart. Help me! Here he came. Here he comes. What's he got
in his hands? having a live coal in his hand.
What is that live coal that that messenger's got in his hand?
That's the gospel. It's alive. It's hot. It's on
fire. It'll burn. It'll purge. It's
not some silly sing-song doctrine some fellow learned in a seminary.
It's not some old dead catechism he dug up somewhere. It's not
some old inherited religion he got down the line from his pappy.
It's not something he's doing to fill in time or make a living.
He's got something hot on his hands. He's got something alive,
something big, something real, something burning. He's got a
gusto. Old David said one time, I just
made up my mind I wasn't going to talk anymore, I'd like to
burn a hole in my belly. I had to say something. It's
a live coal. It's a live coal. Somebody said,
well, I just keep my mouth shut. You know, don't talk about religion
or politics. Well, that's right about religion
and politics, but if Christ's in your soul, you talk about
Him. Can't help it. Like a fellow told me yesterday,
he said, my sister said she used to be so close to me, and he
said, I learned the gospel, and she told me, never, never do
you ever come back in my house and talk about that gospel. You
can talk about anything you want to, but don't you ever talk about
what you believe. What's he going to do? He's going
to talk about it. I can't help but speak those
things I've seen and heard Peter say. Huh? I've got a live coal
on my hands. Where'd he get it? All right.
Watch it now. He took it with tongs from off
the altar. You know what I say? I see that old altar with its
four horns out yonder in the tabernacle yard, Charlie, and
the fire is burning, and the fire is burning. And the high
priest lays that bullet, puts his blood in a vessel, and lays
his body on the altar, and the fire consumes it. It burns it,
burns it. And I see my Lord, my Passover,
my Lamb, hanging on that cross. I pass! His lips broken open,
his tongue cleaving to the roof of his mouth, burning, burning
fever under the wrath and judgment of hell, bearing our sins. And that's the altar where he
got that gospel. He took it right off the altar.
You come in here, having been there, you'll have something
on your hands. Oh, I'm telling you, I can tell
any preacher that. You come up here, having been with your tongs
to Calvary, and you'll have something on your hands. But now you need
to get one of these little old city international books and
try to come up here and teach me something moral, or something
social, or something that might make us all better citizens.
I need to be a new creature, not a better citizen. If I'm
a new creature, I'll be a better citizen." But he got that seraphim,
that messenger, he got that live coal, and he got it off the altar,
off Calvary's altar, where the lamb is dying. And he brought
it, and what did he do? Verse 7, he laid it on my ugly,
corrupted, foul mouth. He blistered my limbs. He purged
my sin. He purged my sin. Let me tell
you something. I'm telling you the truth. The
very Lamb of God, the Son of God, actually, in His gospel,
in His redemptive mercies and sacrifice, met my sin. He met my sin. My sin encountered
Christ. He literally actually bore my
sin and purged them and burned them out and put them away. He touched my mouth, and He said
to me, listen, lo, this hath touched your lips, not this water,
not the wafer, and not the catechism, and not your standing and saying
the sinner's prayer. And you repeat after me, Lord
be merciful. You don't need to spout off.
You need something to touch your lips, not come out of you to
God. You need something to come from God to you. Isn't that right? Am I telling the truth? I'm telling
the truth. Salvation is not something you
do for God. It's not cooperation between you and God. It's something
He sovereignly, on purpose, sends Himself to him with a loud call
from the altar and touches your mouth. And He said, now, now
your iniquity is taken away, all of it, and your sins are
purged. It's all gone. All gone. What did that? All atoned for,
I'll remember their sins no more. They're gone. I don't have any
sins. But only the live coal, the gospel. Oh brethren, I declare unto you
the gospel by which you're saved, wherein you stand. You keep in
memory what I preached to you. Has that gospel touched you?
Has it touched you? Has that Christ in person, Christ
In His sacrifice, Christ in His atonement has touched you. Touched
you. Well, I made a profession. I just say to the whole world,
you better get off that now. You better come off of it. It just will not do. It will
not do. Will not do. I know whom I have believed. He didn't say, I know what I
believe. That's the theologian. He didn't say, I know when I
believe. That's the experimentalist. He said, I know whom I have believed. You reckon Isaiah ever got over
this? You reckon he ever got over it? I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord. And I saw me
and everybody around, and I cried, woe is me. And he sent one of
his messengers. coming down there with a live
coal. He got off that altar at Calvary and he blistered my lips. It's like he touched old Jacob
and he limped the rest of his life. You reckon you ever forgot
that? All right, then I heard a voice
say, who's going to go now? Whom shall I send and who will
go for us? And I said, here am I. I can
sure tell what happened to me. I can tell what happened that
night. I can tell what I saw. I can
tell whom I met. And I can tell what he did for
me. And old Isaiah never had a word to say about what he did
for God. When he saw his glory, he spake
of him. Those lips have been touched
now, John. He knows substitution and satisfaction.
You just take all the preachers you ever hear, ever have heard,
ever will hear, and you listen to them, and you can tell where
they've been, with whom they've been. You can tell what they've
seen, or what they hadn't seen. I like what Brother Ward said
about that preacher. There was a lawyer in town, and the lawyer was a famous lawyer,
and he won every case he tried. He just won all of them. Right
or wrong, he wanted all of them. And the preacher wasn't getting
nothing done. And the preacher went down to the lawyer's office
and he walked in and said, I want to talk to you. The lawyer said,
well, sit down. The preacher said, I just got
one question. He said, how come, how come that
you get up and you can speak in a courtroom and you can convince
every jury and judge and people and win a case? And I get up
and preach and I can't convince nobody. And the lawyer looked at him
and said, well, preacher, he said, I take the lie and make
it sound like a truth, and you take the truth and make it sound
like a lie. You reckon that's the way some of us preach? I
like what old Benjamin Franklin said about George Whitefield.
He's going to hear him preach one time. Somebody stopped and
said, where are you going? Benjamin Franklin said, I'm going to hear
Whitefield. Well, the man said, you don't believe what that fellow
preaches. Franklin said, I don't, but he does. Let that be our
watchword. He does. And that's Isaiah. But you know something? Let me
show you one other thing, and I'll quit. I've gone too long.
But Isaiah 6. Somebody told me last night,
said, throw the watch away. All right. Look at verse 9. He said, Go and tell this people,
Hear ye indeed, but understand not. See ye indeed, but perceive
not. Too often, that's our response.
They hear, but they don't hear. And they don't see. But I tell
you this, he can give them sight, and he can make them hear. And
out there, once in a while, somebody says, I see. I see. I see him. All right, Mike, come
lead us in closing here.

The Gospel According to Isaiah

What does the Bible say about the gospel of Jesus Christ?

How do we know the doctrine of sovereign grace is true?

Why is understanding the holiness of God important for Christians?

What is the significance of Isaiah seeing the Lord?

Why is the sacrifice of Christ central to the gospel?

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The Gospel According to Isaiah

What does the Bible say about the gospel of Jesus Christ?

How do we know the doctrine of sovereign grace is true?

Why is understanding the holiness of God important for Christians?

What is the significance of Isaiah seeing the Lord?

Why is the sacrifice of Christ central to the gospel?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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