“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD ALMIGHTY!” (Outline)
May 18, 2008 --
PENTECOST 1 / TRINITY --
Isaiah 6:1-8
INTRO: We enter God’s house of worship with praise, honor, and glory
in our hearts and on our lips. It is only be God’s grace that we come
to worship the Lord God Almighty. The Holy Spirit has changed our
hearts of stone into hearts of flesh in spite of ourselves.
Knowing, believing, and confessing this undeserved love of God (= grace)
is one reason we come with praise, honor, and glory. "Therefore I tell
you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed,"
and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit"(1 CORINTHIANS 12:3).
We agree with God’s angels in our text today:
“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD ALMIGHTY!”
But with Isaiah we also confess: I. Woe is me! I am unholy.
Thankfully, II. Our Lord makes us holy.
I. WOE IS ME! I AM UNHOLY.
A. Isaiah was God’s prophet for 45 years. Isaiah would live through a good number of Israelite kings.
1. Verse 1 tells about the death of Uzziah. The experts estimate this event to be about 740 BC.
2. At this time Isaiah is given a vision of the Lord. The Lord is on his throne with all his glory.
B. Verse 2. Seraphs are present to praise God. Seraph in the original means “to burn” or “burning”.
1. The seraphs are described. Two wings hide their faces. They feel unworthy to look at the Lord.
2. In great humility two wings cover their feet. They carry out their purpose of praise in verse 3.
3. They praise the Lord. This hymn of praise is thunderous and full of power, verse 4.
C. Isaiah confesses, verse 5. He is unclean, unholy, and sinful yet standing in the presence of the Lord.
D. Here is our challenge today. In our day and age not too many feel like Isaiah felt. People do not
want to admit to any kind of shortcoming or failure. This means that many will not confess being bad –
sinful. Some have tried to dismiss sin by re-defining it as disease or sickness. Others even reject the
idea of sin as an outdated teaching of the Bible. The fact is, none of us here like to hear that we are
sinful. Though we do not want to hear about our sinfulness, our sinfulness still clings to us. There is
no escaping sin on this side of heaven. "The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become,
and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time"(GENESIS 6:5). All the
time man’s hearts are evil. Every inclination (= leaning) is evil. We cannot escape sin.
We dare not deny it.
E. Day after day we commit evil acts against God and his word. But sin is not only action. Wicked words
that so quickly flow from unholy lips also are sins against God, not just our fellow man. Evil thoughts
condemn us before the Lord Almighty. Our sinfulness adds up day after day after day and every year after
every year of our earthly life. "Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your
ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?"
(PSALM 130:1-3). We can only confess with Isaiah: Woe is me! Unholy – I cannot stand.
F. Sin entered God’s perfect world of creation through the willful disobedience of our first parents, Adam
and Eve. In the next generation a brother kills his brother (Cain and Abel, Genesis 3:8ff). How quickly sin
multiplied. Thousands of years later our world has not grown closer to God. Sin has greatly increased.
This fact is not unexpected. "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be
lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful,
unholy"(2 TIMOTHY 3:1,2). (There are two more verses {3,4 not included here} that con-tinue this list of evil.)
These words can be put under the headlines of any news story today. These verses fittingly fill in the rest for
today’s headlines of man’s inhumanity to man. Woe is me! I, too, am unholy.
“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD ALMIGHTY!”
Even though we are totally and completely unholy
our Lord Almighty remains holy, holy, holy.
Thankfully and freely: II. Our Lord makes us holy.
II. OUR LORD MAKES US HOLY.
A. Isaiah’s excitement in seeing the Lord quickly changed to something overwhelming and dreadful.
1. Isaiah was standing in the very presence of God and his angels. How could he now live?
2. The Lord God Almighty did not give Isaiah this vision and insight in order to destroy him.
B. Verse 6. A seraph (burn, burning) brings over a live, burning coal to Isaiah.
1. This coal is real. Even the seraph uses a tong to bring it. The coal has real, spiritual meaning.
2. Verse 7. It does not burn the lips of Isaiah. This coal does something far, far greater.
a. Isaiah’s guilt is gone, removed. b. Isaiah’s sins are paid for, he is forgiven. c. Isaiah lives.
C. Now, now who will spread this joy of forgiveness!?! Verse 8 Isaiah says: “Send me!”
D. In the very same way the Lord Almighty has drastically and dramatically changed each and every one of
our lives. Our sinful thoughts, words, and action make us unholy in the sight of God. We cannot stand
before the face of the Lord. Sinlessness does not tolerate sinfulness. The holy completely consumes that
which is holy. By God’s grace our sinfulness and ungodliness have been removed. "But if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son,
purifies us from all sin"(1 JOHN 1:7). Connect this verse with the verse from Genesis (6:5). Jesus’ blood
“purifies us from all sin”. Every inclination of our evil hearts all the time now has been made holy!
E. Each day we wake up with our old man still alive and well in us. Every day we get up and get dressed.
We make a conscious effort to put on new or fresh, clean clothes. It is to be the same with our new man.
Remember creation (today’s first lesson listed below). The Lord made us in his image. Now we do not look
like God. Everyone looks quite different from one another. But we were created to be like God – his image.
"You were taught…to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be
like God in true righteousness and holiness"(EPHESIANS 4:23,24). Each day of grace that God gives us here
on earth is another day to put on the image of God: new, fresh, clean, holy.
F. The Lord did not send out the seraphs to proclaim his message. The Lord asked and Isaiah answered:
“Send me!” Isaiah was excited to tell others that his guilt was removed and his sins were paid. This
is God’s grace, his gift of undeserved love for and to mankind. As believers we know, believe, and confess
God’s great love for us. The world wallows in the deep darkness of sin. The world is exactly like the
Timothy (3:1,2) passage above. God has shown us his light, his love. With the love of Christ we joyfully,
brightly shine in this dark world of sin. "For Christ’s love compels us…that those who live should no
longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again"(2 CORIN. 5:14a, 15).
CONC.: Only by God’s gift of his Holy Spirit can anyone know the Lord Almighty. Rejoice today believer
that God has called you. Rejoice today believer that God has chosen you. Rejoice today believer that
God has washed you. Rejoice today believer that God has made you holy. “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD
ALMIGHTY!” The Lord Almighty does all of this for us in spite of ourselves. On our own and by
ourselves we cannot come to the Lord. We cannot pay for our forgiveness nor ever even earn our eternal
salvation. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died
for us"(ROMANS 5:8). With the seraphs boldly proclaim: “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD ALMIGHTY!”
But with Isaiah humbly admit: I. Woe is me! I am unholy. With every believer everywhere appreciate
and share: II. Our Lord makes us holy. “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD ALMIGHTY!” We are sinners.
Our sins are forgiven for good forever. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
SERVICES:
SAT – 1:00pm @ NCF Min.,
+ SUN – 12:00pm @ NCF Medium / 9:30am @ Redeemer
BIBLE STUDIES:
TUES. -- 6:00pm (min) + 7:30pm (med) @ NCF
/ 11:55am @ Redeemer (Sun)
Sunday radio broadcast @ 9:05am on KQNK 106.7FM or 1530AM
+ www.kqnk.com
PENTECOST 1 readings:
GENESIS 1:1-2:3;
2 CORIN. 13:11-14;
MATT. 28:16-20;
(PSALM 150)
