Intro: Before Beth and I married, I had to do my own laundry. My technique of washing clothes was just like almost every other single male in the history of the U.S. – Everything in one load if possible. Blue jeans were washed with dress shirts, white socks, underwear, and everything else. In fact, you know if you put those things in the washer and they don’t quite fit, if you press them down a little harder they Will All Fit.
That is the Biblical way of doing laundry too - “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Did you catch that? Pressed down, shaking together – then it will surely run over.
It wasn’t until after we were married that I learned that you are supposed separate colors & whites. Needless to say, my whites no longer looked white. I never noticed the difference. They looked fine to me. But once I placed those old socks next to new ones I could see just how white socks were supposed to be. What happened is my view, my perception was skewed. I had become so used to the grayish, pinkish whites that I was unable to understand what white was. In a sense, my view was distorted.
Dr. Borror, Worship Prof at SWBTS says, “Your view of God is the most important view you have, and to the extent your view of God is distorted… to that extent your life is out of focus.” God is the focus of this morning’s sermon – is your view of God in focus or is it blurry or even smudged? We are going to examine the calling of the prophet Isaiah because we can see a transition from a life that is out of focus into one that is focused. Our text begins this morning actually talking about King Uzziah. Lets look at the text together.
I. The wise realize they are in the presence of the Almighty God (vs. 1-4).
This section of Isaiah begins by providing information about the when. When does this story take place? 1In the year of King Uzziah’s death. That would place the piece of history roughly around 740BC. That is somewhat important, but I want you to see that this reference is more than just a historical marker. Let me give you a little history of King Uzziah.
A. King Uzziah was considered a good king. In 2Chron 26 you can read, after this worship service, that King Uzziah followed the Lord. In fact, vs. 4 tells us that as long as he sought the LORD, God prospered him.
We read constantly thru the Old Testament how when a king followed the ways of the LORD, he and the nation would prosper. If they departed from the LORD then trouble would befall the nation. For example, Uzziah’s father, Amaziah, turned from following the LORD as he worshipped other nation’s gods. When that happened the Bible tells us, “From the time he turned away from following the LORD they conspired against him and ultimately killed him (2Chron 25:27). Then his son would reign alone.
During the early part of King Uzziah’s reign, the nation began to prosper again. He constructed cities, towers, cisterns, raised cattle, and planted numerous fruit trees. He also equipped Judah’s army with some of the most advanced weapons of the day. You need to understand this about King Uzziah, because we will come back to his story in a few minutes. Know that he was successful in the early part of his reign.
The text continues with the prophet describing the majesty of his creator. Listen to the words he uses to describe what he sees, Lofty and exalted. The Hebrew words give the picture that God is above all. The Hebrew word for exalted literally means to be high, exalted, rise above.
Illustration: Picture yourself living in Medieval England around the year 1540. You have a king by the name of Henry the 8th and you have been invited to one of his weddings. You see the king sitting on his throne before the ceremony begins. There is a sense of awe and wonder. Perhaps you may feel the same way if President Bush was to make a stop in Tyler, Tx and you go to see him give a speech. Once you leave, you may describe and write what you saw.
B. Seraphim (vs. 2). But Isaiah saw more than just the Lord sitting on His throne. He notices Seraphim, creatures that he describes as having 4 wings. Two covered their eyes most likely because they were in the presence of Almighty God. They may have been hovering around the Lord, but they were humbling themselves while doing so. In the same way, they also covered their feet. All of this shows or reveals their humility while in the presence of God. Creatures in Heaven already have a clear view and understanding of just how awesome and majestic God is. We know that by the next verse – 3.
C. Holy is the LORD (vs. 3-4). The Seraphim then begin to tells us why they humbly cover their eyes and feet – Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD… the whole earth is full of His glory. What a profound statement. The whole earth is full of God’s glory.
Illustration: Psa 19. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
The mountains, grass, rolling hills, rivers, lakes, desert, sunrise, sunset – All declare God’s glory.
All throughout the Bible, we need to understand that the real issue is Always the glory of God. When God moves it is to reveal His glory. In all of the lives of every bible character – they are used in some way to reveal God’s glory. From Adam to Zacchaeus. From the respectful Moses to the rebelling Pharaoh. His glory is revealed when you became a Christian.
The earth quakes in the presence of the Almighty God (vs. 4). God has entered into Isaiah’s presence. He is revealing Himself to the prophet.
II. When people enter the presence of God – Lives are changed (vs. 5).
Notice the shift in Isaiah’s attitude in this verse. He has moved from describing the scene of our mighty Lord to realizing his own state of existence. “Woe is me, for I am ruined! BDB Lexicon describes woe as this, “an impassioned expression of grief and despair.” You need to understand the prophets state when you read this text – “Oh my, I am nothing, a ruin.”
A. His sinful state. Because I am a man of unclean lips. He recognizes that next to perfection, next to God he is a sinner. Isaiah will later say that the holiness of God is to the sinner a, “consuming fire.” “A true vision of God and His holiness always makes us realize our own sinfulness and failure.” Wiersbe
Illustration: Listen to what Oswald Chambers wrote about this passage in his devotional My Utmost for His Highest. “A person will easily say, “Oh yes, I know I am a sinner,” but when he comes into the presence of God he cannot get away with such a broad and indefinite statement.
Our conviction is focused on our specific sin, and we realize, as Isaiah did, what we really are. This is always the sign that a person is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but a focusing on the concentration of sin in some specific, personal area of life. God begins by convicting us of the very thing to which His Spirit has directed our mind’s attention.
If we will surrender, submitting to His conviction of that particular sin, He will lead us down to where He can reveal the vast underlying nature of sin. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously aware of His presence.”
He mentions his unclean lips, but what comes out of our mouths is a result of what is in our heart. Jesus tells us in Matt 15, “17“Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? 18“But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.” Isaiah realized what was inside of his heart when God revealed Himself.
God is here right now, in this sanctuary. Listen, be still and know He is God and know that He is here. You come into worship in this sanctuary to wipe the smudge of the world away from our eyes. Once that dirt of sin is gone, then you can see the Holy, Wonderful, Living LORD. And you can walk out and see the sin in the world – that is exactly what happened to Isaiah.
B. Surrounded by sinful society. And I live among a people of unclean lips;
Jesus will quote Isaiah when he says, “‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 7‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’
Once we know our state and allow God to cleanse us with the blood of Christ we are able to see all the things of the world that are sinful.
It has been said that people learn and retain more theology in one 30min sitcom/tv show than all the sermons put together each week in churches around the world. Most of the time we don’t realize it, but TV is teaching us theology. Music teaches theology.
•Desperate Housewives. Teaches us that flings are ok. It is flat out adultery.
•Any comedy sitcom. Teaches us that all of life’s problems can be worked out in 30min.
•Simpsons. I used to enjoy watching this one. Teaches that it’s ok to disrespect parents and other adults. Teaches us that it’s ok to go drinking at the bar.
•Lost. Teaches that we do not need to love our neighbor. It is everybody for themselves.
•Will and grace teaches that homosexuality is ok.
Don’t take this the wrong way. I am not saying go home and throw out your TV. What I am saying is parents need to monitor what you and your kids watch. We come to church and learn about holy living – that christianeese term we call Sanctification, well now its time to start living what we’ve been coming here learning.
Why? Just as the prophet spoke, “For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Christian, "God speaks to people who take time to listen regularly." - As quoted from Rick Warren
Our concept of sin is formed by our idea or view of God. If we take God lightly, we will take sin lightly. Chuck Swindoll writes, “If our image of God on of an impotent, weak ‘deity-in-training,’ we will sin without restraint. Conversely, if we take God seriously, if we have a deep sense of His holiness and His power, and His majesty, we will take sin seriously; we will be quick to bow in humility, confessing our inadequacy, our inability to measure up, our need to have the rags of sinfulness replaced by robes of righteousness. If we have no relationship, or a superficial relationship, with Almighty God, then we will care not a whit about how our sin hurts God and harms our relationship with Him.”
If you have the proper view of God, a growing intimate relationship with Him then you will be grieved by your sins and will rush to God to confess them and find His forgiveness.
What ever your view of God is, that is the extent of your concept of sin. “Your view of God is the most important view you have, and to the extent your view of God is distorted… to that extent your live is out of focus.”
III. You must be willing to let God remove the worlds scum from our eyes (vs. 6-7).
The coal is still hot from a recent sacrifice. It burns away the impurities of his mouth and consequently, his heart. Your guilt, depravity is taken away. Verse 7. The burning coal has taken away his sin. He has been made a clean vessel as God prepares Isaiah for his mission.
A. King Uzziah. Remember I asked you keep in the back of your mind King Uzziah? Although, King Uzziah was considered a good king his view of God became smeared over with pride and indifference. His story is told in 2Chron 26 and at the beginning of his kingly rule, he viewed God as mighty and able. He had the proper view of God and his life, his rule flourished, but when he disobeyed God, we realize that he no longer feared God. His view was distorted. He was able to carry a sword for Judah, but not a censure in the temple.
Application: You may be a new Christian; you may have been one for years. Neither are exempt from losing sight of just how holy and magnificent God really is. We must return to seeing God as holy and just. Your view of God is primary, for from it you gain your view of self, others, things, success, and all the issues of life. How you view God will determine how/if you serve in church, how/much you tithe. Your attitude towards growing as a Christian is shaped by what you believe of God. How you view death is directly connected to whether you believe God is dead, far away, or alive and near. The enemy of our souls is in the distortion business. Each day he finds new and creative ways to block and distort our view of God.
If you view of God is distorted now is the time to clear the smudge away.
