And we've looked at the last
two Wednesday nights at verses one through four of this vision
of Isaiah that he has seen, that he has seen the Lord high and
lifted up and his train filled the temple. And surrounding his
throne are beasts that fly with six, who have six wings. They
fly with two of them. They cover their face with two
of them. They cover their feet with two of them. We know that
represents the preachers of the gospel. And their message is
singular, that God is holy, absolutely, unquestionably, without a doubt,
holy. His eyes are too pure to behold evil. The sun and moon
and stars are not pure in his sight, how much less man than
is a worm upon the face of the earth. And their cries day and
night, everything he does, everything he's accomplished, everything
he speaks is holy, and the old earth, whether we're able to
see it, and I don't think we are at the present time, the
whole earth is full of His glory because the whole earth is spinning
on its axis just as was planned. The seasons and the times are
going on just as they were planned until that last moment when time
will be no more. And we will be able to see with
eyes clearly. For now we look through a glass
darkly, but we are able to see clearly that everything that
happened on the top side of this green earth happened for God's
glory and for his honor. And he will be honored by every
creature that he's made. Every creature, whether he walks
up and talks with a man's voice or whether it crawls on the earth
like a reptile. It doesn't matter. Every creature will glorify God.
Everything that hath breath will glorify God. Would God, and I
think perhaps momentarily, occasionally, when the gospel comes home, rests
in our bosom, we can see with beauty for a moment that glory
don't take us very long to lose it. All we gotta do is walk outside
the door, read a newspaper, turn on the TV, and seems like all
the glory's gone, but it's not. The whole earth is full of his
glory. Now, Isaiah's response to that vision that he sees of
the Lord is a personal response, and it has to do with himself.
If you will read chapter four and chapter five of Isaiah, you
will remember that he spent a great time, especially in chapter five,
pronouncing woes upon the people of God. And they were correct
woes, they were deserved woes. Mercy without judgment against
those who are drunks and those who are hypocrites and those
who are self-righteous. He pronounced woes upon woes,
but now the woe turns inward. And I believe this is a lesson
that every child of God learns when he sees the Lord Jesus Christ.
When he sees him as he is, not as this namby-pamby nobody that
walks around and can't do anything. Not the one who walks around,
his hands are tied, and wants you to let him do something for
you. Not the one that you can invite into your heart, as if
you would actually want to go into that black hole. Not that
one. I'm talking about the Lord of
glory. When you see him, your response will be wholly different
than that of religion. You won't hop down an aisle,
popping your blow gum, all happy and serene. You're gonna cry
like Moses, I mean, like Isaiah did. He said, woe is me. Woe is me. One of the marks of
the child of God is when he's seeing Christ, he ain't looking
at the sin of nobody else. He's not looking to find out
somebody else's problem or judge somebody else. He's looking right
at his own heart. And the response will be always,
woe is me. And he says, I am undone. The
word there is cut off. I'm just nothing, I'm nobody.
No hope for me, no hope in me. Now this is a prophet of God.
The same one who will say, as he looks at his own righteousness
many chapters later, that his righteousness are his filthy,
minstrelss rags. And he's like a leaf that fades
and blows away with the least bit of wind. but he says, I am
a man of unclean lips. That is a reference to leprosy,
which is the typical disease of sin throughout scripture.
And the picture painted here is that he has this breath that
exudes from lepers that is intolerable. People can't be around it. It's
just horrible. It's horrible. It's a breath
that smells like death. And so the lepers hung a towel
a cloth or a napkin over their face, so men wouldn't have to
smell the breath. And that's what he said, I'm
just a leper. No hope for me, no hope for me. Now what would
cause a person to come to this conclusion? Did the law of God,
was that anywhere in the first four verses of this chapter? Did you see anybody talking about
the law of God? Did you see anybody talking about
punishment? Did you see anybody talking about
even chastisement or correction? What will cause a person to come
to this place where he looks not outside himself and stops
being like Adam to blame his wife or like Eve to blame God
or to blame some box or some bottle for his woes, but look
exactly and precisely at his own soul and say, woe is me. What will cause that? There's
only one thing, and he gives the answer here for us in this
very verse. The next word we see is the word for, because. That's what for means, because.
Then said I, woe is me, for I am undone, because I'm a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips, because mine eyes, mine eyes have seen the king. My eyes
have seen the Lord of hosts. If you see him, ask what's gonna
happen to you too. If you see him in this glorious capacity,
as a successful savior, sitting upon a throne, having earned
the right to be your Lord, and he is your Lord, having put away
the sins of his people, this will be your response. I'm nothing. Why? I've seen the Lord. I've seen Him. When I've seen
Him, I know there's nothing in me. I've seen Him in His glory.
I've seen Him in His compassion. I've seen Him in His greatness.
I've seen Him in His majesty. I've seen Him in His life. I've
seen Him in His death. There's nothing to me. He is
a man who has earned the right to ascend, to sit on the very
throne of God. And who am I? I'm nothing. Woe is me. I am undone. But if you ever
reach that place, you'll have something to say. You don't even
know you've got something to say, but you've got a story to
tell. You've got a story to tell. Verse six, it says, then one
of the seraphims, that is the preachers, blew unto me, having
the live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from
off the altar, that is the altar of burnt offering. And he take
those coal because they were drenched in the blood of the
lamb. And that smoke had already risen up to God as a sweet-smelling
savor. And he takes that, that's the
gospel message we preach. We're not talking about what
can be done or what you might do, but what has been done. When
I preach the gospel, I'm doing the same thing. I'm taking that
coal off of the altar. That offering has already been
made. That offering has already been
accepted as a sweet-smelling savor unto God. And I'm taking
it and putting it upon your lips. You'll have blistered lips from
here on out. But you'll have a message to tell. You'll have
a message to tell, and if God calls you to tell it, you'll
say, here am I. Here am I. I'm not the kind of
person that thinks you ought to go to people's house and make
them cut off their TV and just aggravate the Lord out of them
with religion. I don't believe in that. I think that's wrong.
I used to do it. I used to do it. I used to go out on visitation.
Later on, I finally realized I was going out on aggravation.
That's what I was going on. People didn't want me in their
house. They didn't want me pushing them to swallow a Jesus that
couldn't do anything. They didn't want any of that
mess. But you'll have a story to tell. If your lips have been
blistered, when the opportunity arises, you will tell your story. You'll be willing to tell your
story. He laid it upon my mouth and said, Lo, this has touched
thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is
purged. Not because he was touched on
the lips with these things that already, this was a token. that
his sins had been taken away and his sins had been purged.
How are sins purged? They're, excuse me, they're purged
only one way. They're purged by the blood death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. No other way. If you want to
know what purgatory is, that's what purgatory is. It's what
Jesus Christ did on Calvary's tree. In a like description,
as far as quality of using adjectives and language to exalt the person
of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote in the book of Hebrews,
God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners, spakent in
times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken unto us by his Son, or in his Son, that's the language
of God, the Son whom he hath appointed heir of all things.
I mean, if you're a thing, he owns you. And everything you
got is a thing, and he owns that too. It's his. He's heir of all
things, by whom he also made the world. Jesus Christ is the
creator of the universe. I hear people talk about the
creator a lot. He's got a name. His name is Jesus Christ. John
1 says, nothing was made that he didn't make. Nothing was made
that he didn't make. And here he's described, not
unlike the language of Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6, when he
says, who being the brightness of God's glory. The brightness,
that's the effulgence, the outshining of God's glory. We see the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ through the preaching of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ according to 2 Corinthians chapter
four and verse six. Who being the brightness of his
glory, one of the Psalms says, out of Zion, our God has shined. In Habakkuk three, it talks about
God coming from the south from Timan and standing upon the mount.
And there upon the mount, shards of, or shafts of light come out
of his hands. and bright and fearsome lights
and thunders and rumblings and fearsome sights. And the prophet
says, there's the hiding of his power. Not the revelation of
it, but that's nothing. We saw that, we'd say, wow, God
is great. And the prophet say, well, that's
hiding who he is. That's just a little speck of
this, a little flash of who God is, who being the brightness
of his glory and the express image of his person, the image
of the invisible God, he's called him Colossians. And upholding
all things by the word of his power, the power of his word
and the word of his power. This word, the gospel, the gospel
is the power of his word. excuse me, the power of God and
salvation to everyone that believes. And listen, the next word says
when, so this is done done, when, well it ain't in the future thing,
it's when, because he's already sitting on the throne, when he
had by himself purged our sins. What'd I mean? He got rid of
them. He put him away by the sacrifice of himself. And after
he had done that, having done that successfully and accomplishing
our salvation, he sat down on the right hand of the Father.
He touched the coal upon the mouth of Isaiah and said, thy
sins are taken away, thy iniquities taken away and thy sins are purged.
And then in verse eight back in our text, it says, and also
the voice of the Lord said, whom shall I send? Well, there ain't
nobody in the room but Him and His Son, but Him and a vision,
is it? Whom shall I send? And who will go for me, or go
for us, the triune Godhead? And Isaiah said, I'm here, here
I am. I'll go, I got something to tell.
Boy, have I got a story to tell. And I got a story to tell. I
can remember very well when God saved me, brought me to a knowledge
of Jesus Christ. I remember it very well. And
I just wanted to tell everybody. I was so excited and so happy
and so full of joy that God had actually saved a wretch like
me. But I found out not many people wanted to hear what I
had to say, especially when I was telling them who God was and
how he saved me and how he saves every sinner. They didn't like
it very much. but I wanted to tell it. And every person who
has really met Jesus Christ wants to tell folks about Jesus Christ. And everybody in one sense is
a minister of the gospel. Might not have a pulpit ministry,
but you've got a ministry. You've got a story to tell. You've
got a story to tell. Now I'm not talking about going
out and haranguing people and trying to straighten them out
doctrinally and theologically. I'm talking about when the time
arises, you've got a story to tell. If it's nothing more than
saying I'm a poor sinner, nothing at all, Jesus Christ is my all
in all. If that's all you can say, say
that. Because you've got a story to
tell. Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up. He saw his train
fill the temple. He saw beasts flying around him
continually, day and night, it says in Revelation, crying holy,
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. He heard the Lord speak and the
doorpost shook. And he saw in a flash, in a moment,
the whole earth was full of his glory. And he saw something about
him. So I ain't never seen that. You
have if you've seen the Lord. Where he is now. You've seen
him. By faith, you've seen exactly
that. And when asked to tell a story,
you won't back up, you'll tell a story. I got something to tell
you. What God did for me. So when God says, who's gonna
go? Isaiah said, I'll go, I'm ready. Let me at them, I got
something to say. And then a very important lesson
was learned by Isaiah. He was going out with the gospel
message. Not of a Messiah who was to come,
though it was part of the message, but a Messiah who had already
accomplished salvation for his people. a Messiah already enthroned
in glory, sitting enthroned having earned the right to sit there
because of his work on Calvary's tree. He saw him high and lifted
up. He saw when the gospel came to
him, it came as off the altar of burnt offering. and those
coals were taken because God had already accepted that sacrifice
and that gospel came on. That's what I'm doing. And that's
what you'll be doing too when you tell your story. If you're
taking that hot coal, you're not gonna say this is gonna save
you. What you're gonna do is this is gonna remind you. This
is gonna remind you, this is gonna show you what God has done
for you. God has already accepted the
sacrifice. And here's the lesson you're
gonna have to learn and we all do have to learn. God says to
him in verse nine, go. Isaiah said, send me, I'll go.
He said, okay, go. And tell this people, here's
what you tell them. Hear ye indeed. And what are they gonna hear? They're gonna hear the story
he's telling. The gospel that he knows. Hear it. Hear ye indeed. But don't get it. Don't grasp it, don't understand
it. What a thing. You mean I've got this great
story that showed me the Lord God Almighty and who he is and
showed me what I am and I gotta go out and meet people and then
tell them here, but don't understand. And see ye indeed with your eyes,
you see. But don't understand, perceive
not. Perceive not. Make of this heart
of this people fat, comfortable, at ease, console them. With the gospel, with the gospel,
this gospel can make lost men comfortable. I was comfortable
in it a long time before God saved me. And I mean the real
gospel. I was comfortable in the fact
that I understood it and some men didn't. I was comfortable
in the fact that it had been revealed to me and not to others.
All the wrong reasons I was comfortable, but I was nonetheless comfortable.
My heart was fat. Make this people's heart fat
and shut their eyes. Put them to sleep. Anesthetize
them. Shut their eyes. Why? Well, unless
they see with their eyes. God said, I don't intend for
them to see with their eyes and I don't intend for them to hear
with their ears. Because then they'd be converted
if that happened, and that's not gonna happen. That's not
according to my purpose. And then they'd be healed, and
I'm not gonna heal them. They're going into captivity here. But
you say, well, what's this all about? The gospel, as great as
it is, is not good news for everyone, nor is it good for everyone. The gospel's not good for everybody.
He said, tell these people and let them go to sleep on it, because
I'm going to put them in hell. Our Lord met with a group of
people and began to teach in parables. And all he did was
make this certain group of people mad, but his disciples wondered,
why does he teach in parables? And so they asked the Lord over
in Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13 in verse 10. It says, and the disciples came
and said, why do you speak in parables and comparative stories,
you know, like the sower and the seed and the vine and the
branches and the fruit, and why do you talk like that? Why do
you teach like that? Our Lord had just taught about
the sower and the seed, and he had said to men, who hath ears
to hear, let him hear. Now here he said, let these hear,
but not hear. And he says, and he's talking
to his disciples, but also talking to those whom he's given this
parable. And the disciples came and said,
why speakest thou unto us in parables? He answered and he
said, because it is given unto you, my people, to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of heaven. Do you know you know that? If
you're a child of God, you know the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven. Well, I have not seen nor hear
heard what God has prepared for them that love him, but God by
his spirit has revealed it unto you that you might know the good
things that God has freely given you in Jesus Christ. Why do you
speak in parables? Because it's given to you to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. It's not given to them. It's not given to them. For whosoever hath, whosoever
hath shall be given, and shall have more abundance, and whosoever
hath not from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Kind of reverse view of redistribution
of wealth, I think. Therefore I speak to them in
parables because they seeing see not. He's quoting Isaiah,
isn't he? They seeing see not, and hearing
they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled
the prophecy of Isaiah, which said, by hearing ye shall hear,
and shall not understand. and seeing ye shall see, and
shall not perceive, for this people's heart is waxed gross,
and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed,
lest any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with
their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should
be converted, and I should heal them. But, blessed are your eyes,
for they see, Blessed are your ears, because they hear. Now, how'd you get here and here
and seeing? It's a gift of God, isn't it? And it's a blessed
thing. When Isaiah is confronted with
this, that God has hid these things from the wise and prudent
and revealed them unto babes, that the gospel is hid from them
that are lost. He wonders how long he's gonna
have to preach and not see no good results. How long gonna have to do this,
Lord? How long? I can remember seasons here where
I didn't see a new face for three or four years. And I think, well,
how long is this gonna go on, Lord? I see nobody gonna come
in and hear the gospel. How long? Isaiah says in verse
11, then said, I, Lord, how long does this go on? How long are
you gonna preach the gospel and it's gonna destroy men? How long
are you gonna preach the gospel and men aren't gonna hear? How
long are we gonna preach the gospel and men aren't gonna understand? How long, Lord? You know, a little
light at the end of the tunnel might be nice now. A little something,
a little crumb here might be nice to see a convert here and
there, but how long, Lord? And the Lord answered, until
the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and
the land be utterly desolate. And the Lord hath removed men
far away There'll be a great forsaking in the midst of the
land. Now we know that's immediately
applicable to their going into captivity to Babylon. But when
you see they're in captivity to Babylon, you go to Revelation
and look at Babylon and see where they are and what God is gonna
do to men. One of these days, he's gonna call his people out
to himself and when they look back and see this earth, this
earth is gonna melt with a fervent heat. Everything that men love
and desire, that including each other, are going to be wasted
and burnt up, and there will be none left. Not a man in a
house, not a house for a man. Desolation and destruction till
he destroys this, and then by word of his mouth makes it new
again. In a land wherein dwelleth righteousness, and peace and
love and mercy and grace all there. And where you and I will
live again upon the earth, I believe, because the earth was made for
men. I don't know how we'll be in these new bodies. I don't
know what it'll be like. I kind of like to think we can
transport like they do in space machines from one place to another
and walk through a door like our Lord did without opening
it. I'd like to have some of those
things as much as anybody else. But I know this, in that place
there's gonna be no sin. Because the earth and all that
dwell therein will be a desolate place. How long I gotta preach
this? Till this is done. What if all the people I preach
to, you shut their eyes and close their ears and don't repent?
They don't repent, you don't bring them to faith in Christ. Till I'm done. Till I'm done, and the Lord hath
removed Yeah, but it don't end there.
But in the midst of this preaching, people going blind by it, being
condemned by it, for them it becomes a savor of death unto
death. He says, yet there shall be a
10th. There shall be a 10th. The word 10th there is the same
kind of language he used when he says back in chapter one,
Oh, I'm gonna ruin my people. I can't stand them. But there
is a remnant according to the election of grace. There is a
10th. It's not all without hope. It
seems hopeless when you look out here at a world of religion.
It seems hopeless, but it's not hopeless. There is a remnant
and it shall return. It shall return. and shall be
eaten as a teal tree. They will live and they will
die and they will be like a teal tree or an oak tree. He'll put
forth acorns and new trees will grow up from them. Talking about
his family growing, whose substance is in them when they cast their
leaves. So the holy seed shall be the
sustenance or the substance thereof. are not without hope in this
world. The world is without hope. We're
not. We're not. We have a hope that
every person who's ever lived upon this face of this earth
and shall live upon this faith verse whom God has chosen unto
salvation, they will return. and they all have this message.
They'll be like oak trees, they'll cast out leaves, they'll cast
out acorns, you know what? More children will be born through
that gospel that is preached. Isaiah said, I go, and here's
the message. A lot of people ain't gonna like
it, but that's the message. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name. Amen.