6 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. 2 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. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 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!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
8 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)
INTRODUCTION
In the year President Kennedy was shot (1963). In the year Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated (1968). In the year the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster (1986). In the year of the planes hit the World Trade Center Towers (2001). There are some of you who can remember some all of these events that changed our nation. If I were take a poll here this morning that nearly all of you experienced life-changing event. There is a year in your life that sticks out in your mind.
I’ve had many. I can tell you about this or that. In 2012 I was involved in an auto accident that permanently ended my career in law enforcement. That same year my grand-pap died. This all came immediately after I answered the call to return to full-time ministry.
I. Encountering God Changes the Perspective of Pain
We all have experienced pain at some time in our life, whether it’s physical pain, emotional pain, the pain of losing someone, or even spiritual pain. Pain has a way of changing people and change the way we look at life and relationships. You will get a fresh outlook when you touch/encounter God.
“In the year that King Uzziah died…”
Uzziah became King when he was 16 years old. He ruled Judah for 52 years. He was loved by his people. Prior to his rule, the walls of Jerusalem was destroyed and the city was vulnerable and unsafe to attack. Now the city was secure.
There was great spiritual prosperity. Uzziah was one of the great kings of Judah that restored the glory and power of David. "He did right in the sight of the Lord" (2 Chronicles. 26:4). He had great military prosperity. "God helped him against the Philistines" (2 Chronicles 26:6,7). "Built towers in Jerusalem . . . built towers in the desert" (v.9). Had 307,500 soldiers. There was abundant food. "He dug many wells . . . much cattle . . . he loved husbandry" (v.10). He instituted great technology. "Invented . . . bulwarks to shoot arrows, and great stones" (v.15). He brought to the kingdom economic prosperity, military power, and political influence.
At the same time, Uzziah sinned, and he became proud because of his power and his success. He went into the temple to offer sacrifice, which was only for the priests to do, and 80 priests withstood him. God struck his with leprosy, and he spent his last years ruling as a leper, a constant reminder to all the people of God’s great power.
It is pretty hard to forget when someone that influential passes from sight, or when something that traumatic happens in our lives. And so, Isaiah brings to people’s memory a time everyone would remember; the year Uzziah died, 740 BC.
Think of Churchill in World War II. No matter how afraid the British people were, and the Nazi bombings, Churchill comes out on the streets, and gives his powerful, stirring speeches that allay all the fears of the people.
Think back to the days following 9/11. Our nation is in a panic, flights are grounded, where will the terrorists strike next. But in the midst of all the confusion and turmoil, our nation’s president spoke with confidence and determination.
Isaiah was doing much the same thing as you and I are doing this morning when God came to him. Isaiah was worshipping. Isaiah went to the Temple just like he did every other Sabbath. Who knows what was going on in his life that day? Who knows what his week had been like? Who knows if he was even thinking about God and heavenly things? And then it happened. He saw the Lord. He really saw the Lord.
When your dreams collapse, go to the Lord. When life is full of pain, be at his footstool. When the pain seems unbearable, cry out to Him. Pull off the plastic mask and come to Him.
II. When You Come Before God, You are Coming to a Holy God
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!” (Isaiah 6:1b-3)
Something is lost in the American Church today, including Grace Community Church that I desire and pray will return. We lost the AWE and wonder of God’s majesty and His holiness. We are caught up in a kind of self-indulgence and self-centeredness that even views God only in terms of what He can do for us. God becomes sort of a utilitarian genie; you rub your little theological lamp. God is to be revered. Cathedrals were built with large, tall naves, ornate stained-glass windows, and the worshipers inside felt a sense of awe when they came to worship.
We want God to be our pal. We want our place of worship to cater to our comforts. We are the consumers of religion and the church is our peddler of religious wares. While we serve a God of love, we must never forget that He is a holy, fierce, fearful God.
We don’t understand God, God’s nature. The fundamental fact of our faith is God, and the fundamental fact about God is that God is holy. God is majestic. God is fearful. He is mighty. He is awesome. He is transcendent. In fact, in Exodus 15:11, it says He is glorious in holiness. The beauty of the Lord is the beauty of holiness.
Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
And it is because of his holiness alone that we are to worship Him. We approach God in worship because He alone is holy. Not for what we may get out of it. Not for the goosebumps of the music. It is reverent. He is not our bud. He is not our homeboy. He is not our superhero. He is the Almighty God. That has never changed and it never will.
Revelation 4:8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
Psalm 99:5 Exalt the LORD our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!
The winged Seraphim are continually worshipping God declaring His holiness. The word Holy in Hebrew is Kadosh. Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh; Holy, Holy, Holy. It is in triplicate as a means of expressing holiness and it is also pointing us to the trinitarian being of God. But understand, it is a declaration to God and as a witness to all who are present. The Lord and the Lord alone is holy. R.C. Sproul made an interesting statement. He said, “Any attempt to understand God apart from His holiness is idolatry.”
As Isaiah sees this vision, it says, “And above it stood the seraphim, each one had six wings: With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly.” Now why do they have three sets of wings. Have you ever noticed when God makes anything, He makes it to do what He expects it to do? There was something very purposeful in their design.
Notice it says that were for flying. These marvelous, incredible, supernatural, eternal creatures had the capacity to hover around the throne of God. Then it says they had two more wings with which they covered their feet. Why? Some say that was a sign of humility, of lowliness, of humble service.
Then it says, they had two wings with which to cover their face. Remember when God called Moses, he asked God to show Moses his glory? And God gives him a very good answer. He says, “No man can see my glory and– live.”
It is at this realization that Isaiah sees himself in light of God’s holiness. “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!” (v.6). And here is an amazing thing: A prophet of God pronounces a curse on himself.
III. God is Looking for Relationship
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the
Isaiah saw himself for who he really was: A man. A human being. A sinner. A person struggling with life and with himself. A person who is lost. A person with a lot of bad in him. Not the kind of person a holy God would want to have around. That is how Isaiah felt that day when the Lord appeared to him in the Temple. No one can stand in the presence of God without becoming profoundly and devastatingly aware of his own wretchedness, sinfulness.
It was one of the worst years that the man of God could remember, it seemed all hope was lost, the nation had lost its king and what seemed their security and yet the man of God knew the only thing he could do is go to the House of God and begin to worship.
I know some of you have been under attack, you thought you was about to lose your mind, lose your life, the people you love, it seems like it’s one attack right after another, and after another. To stand before God only magnifies our sin and the sin of this world.
IV. We Need God’s Holiness to Sanctify Us
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
When the fire of the Holy Ghost is burning in your life and in the church it can be painful. No cheap grace. No easy believe-ism. There is pain involved in redemption. The lips, sensitive, tender. In fact, in expressing affection to one another, we use the lips because of their tenderness and sensitivity. And it is to that very part of the body that the angel places a lump of live coal and sears the flesh. I believe that true salvation is painful. There is a wrestling, there is a pain, but His iniquity was taken away and his sin was purged. I always think about John Bunyan who said that before he had the sense of knowing Jesus Christ, he agonized over his sin for no less than 18 months. It was painful. It’s not easy. It takes a broken and shattered heart. And the pain of giving up sin and embracing the sovereign God. When we come to worship, and we truly meet with God, we will be struck by the greatness of God. We will sense his power, his faithfulness, his forgiveness, his care, and all of the other attributes of his person. An encounter with God begins with seeing his character. And when we do that, We see our own sinfulness. Isaiah’s immediate response is “Woe to me!” The holiness of God revealed Isaiah’s unholiness. When God meets with us, we are convicted of sin.
Without God’s sanctification, we are ruined. Our eternal state is damned. It is by his power, His righteousness, and His initiative that we are cleansed. Not our own.
V. God’s Holiness Burdens Us to Go
This is so wonderful “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.” You? You’re undone. You’re woeful. You’re wretched. You’ve got a dirty mouth. You hang around with people with a dirty mouth. Yes, but, I’ve been cleansed. The only way a man is fit to serve is when he’s cleansed by the grace of God. I’ll go.
Why not stay, why not hang in the throne room with God and the Seraphim? Because others need this too! God is holy, holy holy. He is mighty. It is a new year. This could be the year that we mark time by because of tragedy and pain. This could be the year. “Who shall I send?” Not me, Lord. That’s too uncomfortable. I don’t like those people. If he’s going, I’m not going. It costs too much.
There is no greater manifestation of God’s Holiness than the Cross of Calvary. If we hold that to be true in our hearts, 2020 will be a year that Grace Community Church no longer will appeal to consumer preference. Our heart and our prayer are that people will come to God through the power of the Cross. These 10 people before you have heard and answered the call. They’re not holy apart from the Cross of Christ – God is holy and the nations need to hear it.
Take it to the Cross
Sermon Notes
1. Encountering God Changes the Perspective of Pain
2. When You Come Before God, You are Coming to a Holy God
3. God is Looking for Relationship
4. We Need God’s Holiness to Sanctify Us
5. God’s Holiness Burdens Us to Go
