Isaiah chapter 6 this morning. It's such a good
passage. I hadn't preached from this passage
in a while and I was reminded of it this week
in a text message. Some of you may have got the
same message I got. And I said, you know, that's
a good couple of verses. I think we're going
to talk about that this week. Isaiah. That's
in the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 6. We're
just going to look at the first eight verses.
Isaiah chapter 6, verse 1. Isaiah chapter 6,
verse 1. Let's pray, and then we'll get started.
God, we come to you, and I thank you for being
good to us. I thank you for the freedom and the
privilege that we have today to come into your
house. Your love, I thank you for everybody in
this church that we're able to experience your
love and express love to one another, and I just
thank you for all that, dear Lord. It's a blessing,
and I pray that you'd be with us today, that
you'd free us from the distractions, the good
and the bad, all the things of this world, the
worries that we may have, dear Lord, the stresses,
the struggles that are heavy on us this morning,
whatever may be competing for our attention.
and tempting to distract us today, I pray that
for just a few minutes, God, that you just would
protect our minds and help us to see your word.
Dear Lord, you know where we are, and I pray
that there'd be something in your word that your
spirit would just kind of prick something within
our hearts today that you'd work in us in some
way. And I pray, dear Lord, that you just bless
our time together, and I ask these things in
Jesus' name. Amen. The book of Isaiah is the
prophet Isaiah writing to God's people, Judah
and Israel. They were not very good. We see throughout
the Old Testament that God's people, they continually
lived in disobedience and sin, and there were
always some that were faithful, and there were
ups and downs, and they would do good for a while,
and they'd follow the Lord for a while, and then
they would just be... totally disobedient and
seek false gods and living in all kind of sinfulness.
And we see throughout the Old Testament that
God sent lots of prophets to them to say, hey,
you better wake up and pay attention. Here's
what's going to happen. You're not doing right.
You better listen to me. You better seek me.
You better turn to me. If you don't, here's what's
going to happen. And oftentimes it was some hard
times for them. Kind of what Isaiah is doing
through the book of Isaiah. It's kind of a long
book, but God's telling his people, hey, things
are fixing to get really hard for you. And they
did. They got really hard for the northern kingdom
of Israel. They were overtaken, and eventually
they just kind of dissipated. And then sometime
after that, the southern part of Israel was also
overcome. It was called Judah in the Bible. Judah
was ultimately overtaken. And Isaiah's talking
about some of those things that were to come.
And in Isaiah chapter 5, we see some of the problems
that the people were dealing with. We see some
of these woe statements. You know, woe unto you
because you're doing some of these things. Some
of the things that are mentioned, woe unto you,
those of you who have many houses and are accumulating
a lot of land for yourself. Woe unto you, those
who are drunkards, essentially is what it says.
Those who like to drink beer early in the morning.
It's a lot of these woe statements that we see
in Isaiah chapter 5. One of them that's pretty
popular that we'll look at very briefly is Isaiah
chapter 5, verse 20. Woe to those who call evil
good and good evil, who substitute darkness for
light and light for darkness. So this just kind
of gives you an idea of what was going on. in
isaiah's day and it really is not so unlike what's
going on in our day as the book of ecclesiastes
says there's nothing new under the sun now you
may not realize this but humanity has always
been pretty rotten there are good seasons in
humanity and bad seasons and there's always some
good people and there's always some evil people
but just in our human nature we just We desire
what is against God, and we really have to try
hard to read God's word and to seek him and to
pray to him and to trust him so we don't go after
our fleshly and worldly desires. And sometimes
we're not so unlike the people of Isaiah's day,
even in our life. Now, we may be tempted to look
at the world and say, oh, those people in the
world are so evil. Sometimes we need to look
at ourself, and that's what we see a little bit
of in this passage we're about to look at. But
we certainly see and can relate to what Isaiah
was experiencing. Woe to those who call evil
good and good evil. We see that all around today.
There are so many evil and sinful things in our
world that people celebrate and cheer as though
they are good. And there are so many good things
in the Word of God and the goodness of God and
the goodness of Jesus Christ that people... Right
off. It's insignificant. So we can understand
what a godly man like Isaiah would have felt
like. We can understand that even in our world
today, trying to live with all the things that
are around us. And we ourselves are trying to
stay on the straight and narrow and to avoid
those temptations. Isaiah chapter 6, verse 1.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the
Lord seated on a... high and lofty throne, and
his robe filled the temple. Seraphim were standing
above him. Each one had six wings. With two he
covered his face, with two he covered his feet,
and with two he flew, and one called to another,
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. His glory
fills the whole earth. Okay, so we kind of get
the scene set for us. I'm not really sure exactly
if Isaiah is seeing all this in a vision. Perhaps
he really is in the temple and God's revealing
these things in the physical temple in some visionary
way. Maybe Isaiah is just out in the middle of
the woods and all of this is a vision. Whatever
the scene is, we're not certain. But regardless,
we see what's going on here. Isaiah is in the
presence of the throne of God. And there by this
throne are these angelic creatures called seraphim.
We see a very similar angelic being mentioned
in Revelation. I don't think they're referred
to as seraphim there, but the six wings, probably
the same angelic beings. And they're saying the
same thing in the book of Revelation. Holy, holy,
holy. It says day and night they stand around
the throne and they continually praise God over
and over, holy, holy, holy. And so Isaiah is
getting a vision of this. He's getting a vision
of being in the presence of God with God seated
on the throne, an angelic being praising God
repeatedly. Let's continue on in verse 4. The
foundations of the doorways shook at the sound
of their voices, and the temple was filled with
smoke. Then I said, Woe is me, for I am ruined,
because I am a man of unclean lips, and live
among a people of unclean lips, and because my
eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. This
had to be a pretty overwhelming experience for
Isaiah. Now, Isaiah was a godly man. But here,
Isaiah is in the presence of the Lord. He sees
these angelic beings. He sees their praise. And
what is the first thing that he says? He says,
woe is me. Woe is me. Now, think about that for
a second. The God who created the heavens and
the earth. He is a God that has more power and
majesty and glory than we could possibly imagine.
There is no way for us to imagine the greatness
of God. No matter how much we may love God or
how much we may understand about the scripture
and how much we may long to stand before God,
I don't believe it is humanly possible for us
to even imagine what that moment is going to
be like. And when Isaiah encountered that moment
that he was in the presence of the Lord, he said,
woe is me. Perhaps you and I will have the same
experience. And one day we will all stand before
the Lord. There's no doubt about that. Whether
Jesus comes back today and takes us to be with
the Lord and stand before him in judgment, whether
we live another 50 years and die, one day every
single one of us in this room will stand before
the presence of the Lord. And I wouldn't be shocked
at all if our response is the same as Isaiah.
In the moment when we see the glory of God in
its fullest and we think back in that moment
to our life, it just reveals to us just how sinful
and rotten we are. That in the presence and the
power of God, what can we do but just shake in
our boots? What can we say to God knowing that
God is God and we're seeing Him and now all of
a sudden... In the most starkest contrast possible,
God is here, and we are way down here, and Isaiah
sees God, and he's in his presence, and he says,
Woe is me, because I'm a man of unclean lips,
and I live among a people of unclean lips. Now,
he had just spent in chapter 5 talking about
woe to these other people around him that's doing
all these evil things, but now even Isaiah. Being
a godly man. He says, woe is me too. Because
I'm a sinner. I'm not worthy to stand in the
presence of God. He says, a man of unclean lips.
That's probably just another way of saying, I'm
a sinful man. I'm a sinful man and I don't know
what I'm going to do standing in the presence
of God. Well, let's read a little further and
see what happens. Verse 6. Then one of the seraphim
flew to me. and his hand was a glowing coal that
he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched
my mouth with it and said, Now that this has
touched your lips, your wickedness is removed,
and your sin is atoned for. That's kind of a
weird scene. This angelic being takes this hot
coal, touches it to his lips. It's symbolic language.
He said, I'm a man of unclean lips. That is,
I'm a sinner. And the angelic being, Atones for
his sin. He says, look, okay, your sin has to
be atoned for. And that's symbolized in this
language of this hot coal being touched to Isaiah's
lips. That he would be forgiven. That he would
be atoned for. Now praise the Lord for that.
Here's a sinner in the presence of God. And how
can a sinner stand in the presence of God unless
they are atoned for? Now the same is true for
you and I. The same is true for you and I. We
can read through the scripture and we can see
enough about the power and the glory of God that
there should be some fear that's within us. Like
holy smokes, like I'm going to stand before this
God one day. And how will I be able to stand
in his presence? If I stand before God and I
think back at all the things that I've done and
said, all the thoughts that have run through
my mind, and God knows those things, and one
day I'm going to stand right in front of him,
where is my hope? Well, our hope is similar to
that of Isaiah. Our hope is that through God
we can be atoned for. Now, we're not atoned for
by a burning coal touching our lips. We're atoned
for through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the
way that we can be atoned for so that when one
day we stand before the Lord, as scary and as
overwhelming as that may be, there will be a
certain excitement there and a certain joy there
to know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, He
was nailed to a cross. He became a sacrifice
for us so that all of our sins could be forgiven.
And praise the Lord for that. Because apart from
Jesus Christ, apart from Jesus Christ, if we
stand before God and we have not trusted in Jesus
and we have not repented of our sins and we have
not asked to be forgiven, One day you're going
to stand in the presence of God and you're going
to have to answer for everything that you've
done. And what can you say to God? I wish I would
have done better. God, please just give me another
chance. God, let me make it up to you. Let me
work it out to you, God. Look at all the... The
good things I did on the earth. Look at how much
money I had. Look at how famous I was. Look at
all this. God, was any of this good enough? But
all you're going to have before you is all of
your sin. It far outweighs any bit of good that
you can do because there's no amount of good
that we can do to earn forgiveness. It is only
earned by the goodness of God. And just as...
God allowed this angelic being to touch Isaiah
to bring atonement. So God sends one in Jesus
Christ to be our atonement. Yeah, our sins are
heavy and they're rotten and they make us feel
guilty and ashamed, but I want to tell you today
that when the day comes that you stand before
God, you can stand before Him with hope if you
put your trust in Jesus Christ and would ask
God to forgive you today and just follow Jesus.
And live for him. You can be atoned for today.
And that's the only way. That we will be able
to stand. In the presence of God. With any hope
at all. For all of eternity. That if we experience
that atonement today. That perhaps we'll stand
around the throne. With the seraphim. Repeating
those same words. Holy, holy, holy. But if we
reject. Jesus Christ today and stand before God
that day, perhaps the words we'll be saying are,
help me, help me, help me. Continue on. Verse
8. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
who should I send? Who will go for us? I said,
here I am, send me. Now look at Isaiah's willingness
to serve the Lord right here. He had just stood
before the Lord and he said, woe is me in the
presence of God. But then after he experiences
his atonement, God said, who can I send? Who's
going to serve me? Who's going to do the work
that I need to be done? Who's willing to follow
me and listen to me and tell the people and do
what I need them to do? And Isaiah said, here
I am, send me. He experienced the power of God.
He experienced the atonement of God. And now
there's a willingness in him to serve. That he
says, woe is me, but he says, God, I've been
atoned for and here I am. I'm ready to serve
you. Send me wherever you want me to go, God.
Send me. That's a beautiful verse. That's a beautiful
heart. And that should be the heart of every
person who has been atoned of their sins by Jesus
Christ. That once we recognize our sinfulness
and we say, whoa, God is... is God and He is
good and He is powerful and one day I'll stand
before Him and I'm not deserving of His grace,
but God, would you please give it to me? I trust
in Jesus Christ. And once we experience that
forgiveness, there is peace and there is joy
and there should be some excitement for us. That
we should say, God, here I am, send me. I'm ready
to go and I'm ready to serve you, Lord. So is
that our response today? Is that your response
today? How many times do we say that to the Lord?
Here I am, God, send me. I can say this morning,
don't do this, if I ask. If God were to say,
who can I send to church on Sunday mornings?
We'd all raise our hand. Here I am, Lord, send
me. I know that because you're here this morning,
praise the Lord. What if I were to ask? Who's
willing to go to Sunday school this morning?
Well, be a few less hands. What if I was to ask,
if God were to say, who can I send to the nursing
home to visit the people out there? Be a few
less hands. What if God were to ask, who can
I send into the remote places of Africa to minister
to those people? Few less hands. Who can I send
to the... Streets of the big city to help the
homeless and the poor. A few less hands. How
many can I send to the prisons to minister? You
see, there are some things. Here I am. Send me,
God. Send me to the padded pew with the air conditioning
and the good people and a good feast to eat sometimes
after church. Here I am, God. Send me. But the
things that God really calls us to, sometimes
are really hard. And maybe we're not so eager
to say, God, send me. But maybe we should be.
Maybe you should be. And I suspect that for everybody
in this room, that there are some times that
maybe not in a booming, audible voice from heaven
that God says, I want you to go here. But there
are times in our spirit, in our heart, that we
feel like, I think I need to do this. I think
I need to do this thing. But instead of saying,
here I am, send me, we talk ourself out of it.
I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow. I'll
do that tomorrow. Because I'm really busy today.
And I want to do it, God. I'm going to do it.
I just need to build up the courage. And I'm
ashamed to say in my life that there are so many
things that I have put off to tomorrow for years.
And tomorrow has never come. And maybe we need
to stop saying, God, I'll do it tomorrow, I'll
do it next week. And maybe today you just need
to look at the words of Isaiah and you need to
say, God, here I am, send me. God, this is really
scary, this is really hard, this is out of my
comfort zone. God, this is going to cost me my
time, this is going to cost me my money, this
is going to cost me my patience to go and...
see somebody that's an old curmudgeon that just
is so negative and I don't want to go see them
and I don't want to love on them, but God, I
know somebody's got to do it, so here I am, send
me. You might be surprised that there are so
many blessings in this world when we do the things
that we don't want to do. God knows our heart.
We're not pretending. You don't have to just
pretend like, okay, God, I'm ready to go and
do this thing. We can say, God, I'm struggling
with this thing. God, I really don't want to
do this. God, this is hard. This is scary. God,
I know I should want to do it, and I want you
to change my heart, Lord. But after Isaiah experienced
the grace of God, the atonement of his sins,
the first opportunity he had, When God said,
who can I send to do my work? Isaiah said, here
I am, send me. What about you today? Have your
sins been atoned for? You read through the scripture,
you see God. Not in the same way that Isaiah
did, but you can see enough of the power of God
and who God is and the character of God to know
that. It's going to be pretty intense when we
stand before Him one day. Woe are us and our
sinfulness. But praise the Lord for Jesus Christ
that our sins may be atoned for. Have your sins
been atoned for today? If they haven't, all you
have to do is pray. If you just pray to the Lord,
just ask Jesus Christ to forgive your sins, to
be your Lord and Savior, to just follow Him and
live for Him and to seek to... Follow His example.
Just ask Him to forgive you today. He'll do it.
He died on the cross to do it. I guarantee you,
He wants to do it. If you don't know Jesus today,
that's the only source of atonement for us. If
you don't know Him, you need to know Him. And
if you've experienced that grace today, are you
willing to go? I don't know what God wants you
to do. I don't know where He wants to send you.
It might be something so simple. It might be
something just crazy. I don't know how God wants
to use you, but I know that sometimes there are
things that God puts on our heart and things
that God calls us to and opportunities to serve
that we miss because we say, not I. But Isaiah
showed us the proper response. When God calls
you to do something, When you feel the Lord working
on you, may we be those who are faithful in the
days to come to say, Here I am, Lord. Send me.
Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank you
for your good word. Dear Lord, there's a lot
for us to learn. We are not really any better
off than the people that Isaiah was around, dear
Lord. We see the same type of evils in our world.
And if we're honest, dear Lord, we're guilty
of some of the same evils, God. It's not good.
It's not okay. We don't just want to turn a blind
eye to it, dear Lord. But in these few moments,
God, I pray that you would help us to address
our sinfulness. That we would not keep living
in darkness and pretending like we're in light,
dear Lord. But that we would repent. That we
would seek you today, God. If there are some
in this room that do not know Jesus Christ, I
pray that right now in this moment, that they
would just ask you to forgive them. That they
would put their faith in Jesus Christ to know
that he died on the cross so that their sins
could be forgiven. I pray that they would just
pray right now, dear Lord, and ask him to forgive
them. I pray, dear Lord, that they would just
experience your peace and mercy and know that
their sins are atoned for, God. And that when
we follow Jesus, that we no longer live for ourself.
We no longer desire to live for the world, but
we desire to live for him. And I pray, God, that
if there is any that have done that today, that...
We can just rejoice with them, dear Lord, in
just a moment. God, maybe there are some in here
today and they're yours and maybe they've squandered
some opportunities, some things that you really
put on their heart, ways that you wanted them
to serve, things that you call them to. God,
they didn't respond right. But I pray, dear Lord,
that you help us to clearly see ways in which
we can serve. That when we feel you prompting
and guiding and calling us, dear Lord, that we
would be faithful to say, here I am, send me.
And I ask these things in Jesus' name.