December 14, 2022
Author: Pastor Gordon Cook
December 14, 2022
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a
throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings; with two he covered
his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And
one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of
hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the
thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was
filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man
of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the
seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken
with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold
this has touched lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned
for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and
who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
Isaiah 6:1-8
I’m sure you have said this, or you’ve heard someone else say this,
maybe to you “Who do you think you are?” That question can be asked in
anger and maybe a high level of irritation. It might be asked in a way
that’s really a rebuke, “Who do you think you are? you have no right to
think that way or behave that way.” Let me just give a couple of
examples, if I went to the White House this coming week and made my
presence known and insisted that I speak to the president of the United
States “Right now!” What if I somehow got into the Supreme Court
precincts and was able to get hold of a security guard and I said, “I
would like to have a face-to-face talk with the nine Supreme Court
judges.” I’m sure there would be people that would ask, maybe even
laugh, “Who do you think you are, you arrogant fool?” They don’t have
time for you, you’re just a nobody. Here’s the question you might ask,
maybe we should ask ourselves this from time to time; How do you and I
come into the presence of a God expecting undivided attention? Who do
you think you are?
Isaiah chapter 6 gives us a sense of
who God is. Notice again Isaiah 6, A thrice holy God holy, holy, holy,
sitting upon a throne of infinite majesty and absolute sovereignty. One
man has described God right here sort of this snapshot, “God is super
superlatively holy.” That’s how he describes God, “He possesses a moral
character that’s impeccable, infinitely pure and holy.” And it’s very
clear that Isaiah the prophet has the high sense, does he not of how
great God is. He sees God high and lifted up. At the same time, he’s
keenly aware of his own sinfulness. He’s pierced to heart and cries out
“Woe is me; I am undone.” He’s devastated by his own sinfulness and also
overwhelmed by God’s holiness. Everything about God, I would say in
this vision says he’s unapproachable, don’t come near him. Someone has
said the church today has lost sight of God’s holiness. The fear of God
is pretty well absent from most people’s thinking today and I think
we’ve also lost the sense of our sinfulness. Remember Isaiah was a holy
man, this is not at the front end this is a recommissioning by God. Here
he makes what you might call a rediscovery of his sinfulness and God’s
holiness. He’s devastated, “Woe is me I am undone, I’ve gone to pieces.”
But look here there’s more, the prophet is not left here
groveling in the dust, at the front end you could say he’s trembling
but at the back end he’s rejoicing. Something wonderfully gracious
happens that changes everything. Look at verse six and seven, when
Isaiah is feeling at his worst overwhelmed by the holiness of God and
his own sinfulness, God comes to the rescue and brings Isaiah to a
deeper experimental acquaintance of divine grace and forgiveness. One of
the strangest creatures, I think this is the only place they appear in
scripture the seraphim, one breaks rank and flies towards Isaiah and has
in its hand a burning coal and he comes with a word of forgiveness,
touches his mouth and says, “Your guilt is taken away and your sin
atoned for.” And look at Isaiah’s response, again he’s a saved man and
no sooner does God give him a new assignment or a call for action and
Isaiah responds as quickly as quickly can be, “Here am, I send
me.” I think it could be put this way; Isaiah captures a glimpse of the
gospel in a fresh new way. That’s why so many have said, I think it was
Jerry Bridges who said, “We must preach the gospel to ourselves every
day.” That explains I think more than anything else Isaiah’s willingness
to serve, what you could say all hands-on deck. I think we could argue
those who are best acquainted with divine forgiveness are the most ready
and eager to serve God. Didn’t Jesus say that to some degree? Not
exactly like that but remember that woman who anointed his body with
oil. She wiped his feet with her hair. What did Jesus say those who are
forgiven much they love much. You could say those who are forgiven much
love much, but they serve much, they serve much. And I hope brethren we
never lose sight of this grand privilege, this fundamental blessing of
the gospel, forgiveness. It should never ever cease to amaze us and spur
us on, I would hope it does that as well spur us on to greater
godliness and service for Christ. We are accepted and forgiven in Jesus
Christ. So, go back to the question, who do you think you are? The
answer, I’m forgiven I’m accepted in the beloveds all because of Christ
Jesus his blood and sacrifice. There’s a wonderful hymn in the Trinity
hymnal titled, My God how wonderful thou art. Here’s the first two lines
it sort of captures in a nutshell what Isaiah the prophet experienced
here. Thy majesty how bright, how beautiful thy mercy seat. That
describes Isaiah experience, he sees the wonderful God in majesty seated
upon the throne, but he also sees how gracious he is, the mercy seat.
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