WEBVTT 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:10.660 The other evening, I rushed home from work and 00:00:10.660 --> 00:00:13.619 put on some grubbies. That's an old suit tie 00:00:13.619 --> 00:00:31.149 that I had. To watch my son. Hello there. I went 00:00:31.149 --> 00:00:34.170 to watch my son who was playing Little League 00:00:34.170 --> 00:00:38.270 baseball. When we got back home, I gave him a 00:00:38.270 --> 00:00:40.950 big hug because he'd done a great job playing 00:00:40.950 --> 00:00:47.909 ball. He said, Dad, you need a shower. Only your 00:00:47.909 --> 00:00:53.049 best friends will tell you how wonderfully refreshing 00:00:53.049 --> 00:00:57.009 and cleansing that shower felt after being hot 00:00:57.009 --> 00:01:04.260 and perspiring. How wonderful it is to have one's 00:01:04.260 --> 00:01:10.879 soul cleansed from guilt before God. And how 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:14.939 often we're unaware of our need for that cleansing. 00:01:17.700 --> 00:01:22.379 Such was the man Isaiah, the finest man in his 00:01:22.379 --> 00:01:26.560 generation. A man who was born into an upper 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:33.260 -class family in Judah. A man who was comfortable 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:39.180 with prophets and with kings. A man who was without 00:01:39.180 --> 00:01:46.439 peer in his character. He was a man who used 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:50.200 his position as a prophet to warn the nation 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:55.379 of impending judgment because of its disobedience 00:01:55.379 --> 00:02:00.700 to the Lord. But Isaiah's story really begins 00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:03.739 in the sixth chapter of the book that bears his 00:02:03.739 --> 00:02:11.120 name. He tells us that a king died, a man with 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:14.360 whom he was intimately acquainted. His name was 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:19.840 Uzziah. Uzziah had been a relatively good leader 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:24.659 of the nation of Judah. He had ascended to the 00:02:24.659 --> 00:02:30.150 throne at the age of sixteen. and had reigned 00:02:30.150 --> 00:02:34.030 52 years before he died. During those years, 00:02:34.210 --> 00:02:38.189 he improved the military position and the defenses 00:02:38.189 --> 00:02:44.169 of his nation. He was both a farmer and a rancher. 00:02:45.349 --> 00:02:47.629 And the Scripture says about him, as long as 00:02:47.629 --> 00:02:52.889 he sought the Lord, God prospered him. But that 00:02:52.889 --> 00:02:55.770 tells you something, it hints at something that 00:02:55.770 --> 00:03:01.099 happened in Uzziah's life. For later in his life, 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:05.060 in a moment of pride, he was careless about the 00:03:05.060 --> 00:03:09.759 holy things of God and intruded into the office 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:14.599 of the priests and took upon himself some duties 00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:17.840 that were the prerogatives given to the priests 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:22.840 alone by God. He was angry when he was rebuked 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:26.830 by the priests because of his intrusion. And 00:03:26.830 --> 00:03:29.270 immediately, right in the middle of the act, 00:03:29.469 --> 00:03:36.210 God struck Uzziah with leprosy. It appeared on 00:03:36.210 --> 00:03:41.770 his body in an instant. And the Scriptures say 00:03:41.770 --> 00:03:44.509 that from that day forward, Uzziah had to live 00:03:44.509 --> 00:03:49.069 by himself in a house that was provided. And 00:03:49.069 --> 00:03:53.610 ultimately he died. in shame. That was in 740 00:03:53.610 --> 00:03:57.729 B .C. Now it was in that year, in the year that 00:03:57.729 --> 00:04:02.930 King Uzziah died, that Isaiah relates to us an 00:04:02.930 --> 00:04:08.669 amazing event. This crisis of sovereignty must 00:04:08.669 --> 00:04:12.409 have motivated Isaiah to go to the temple of 00:04:12.409 --> 00:04:16.850 God and there to pray. And there his eyes were 00:04:16.850 --> 00:04:21.339 opened so that he might see the true sovereign, 00:04:22.259 --> 00:04:27.740 not only of Judah, but of the world. For he says, 00:04:29.079 --> 00:04:35.459 I saw the Lord. There is no one in this place 00:04:35.459 --> 00:04:40.459 this morning who can truthfully say that. God 00:04:40.459 --> 00:04:44.160 simply does not make himself manifest very often. 00:04:46.590 --> 00:04:52.930 But to Isaiah, God appeared. You will notice 00:04:52.930 --> 00:04:55.569 that when he says, I saw the Lord, it's capital 00:04:55.569 --> 00:05:00.709 L, small o -r -d, telling us that in the Hebrew 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:03.709 language, this is the word Adonai. Not the word 00:05:03.709 --> 00:05:08.550 Yahweh, which is all capitals, but Adonai. I 00:05:08.550 --> 00:05:13.589 saw Adonai. That word means the sovereign ruler. 00:05:14.189 --> 00:05:17.790 It is not so much a name for God as it is a title 00:05:17.790 --> 00:05:24.610 for God. It is like the name President, Mr. President, 00:05:24.689 --> 00:05:29.009 or we speak of President George Bush. The word 00:05:29.009 --> 00:05:34.189 President is a title that is understood to refer 00:05:34.189 --> 00:05:41.850 to him and him alone. The name Adonai is such 00:05:41.850 --> 00:05:47.660 a title. It refers to the sovereign ruler who 00:05:47.660 --> 00:05:51.360 is described later in this text as the king, 00:05:51.779 --> 00:05:58.959 Yahweh of hosts, the Lord Almighty. You will 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:02.220 notice the context of this revelation of God. 00:06:03.100 --> 00:06:05.939 It was in the context of national crisis in the 00:06:05.939 --> 00:06:09.319 first place. For here was a man who had ruled 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:12.069 over his people over half a century. who was 00:06:12.069 --> 00:06:15.910 now dead. Many of the citizens of that land had 00:06:15.910 --> 00:06:18.990 never known another king but Uzziah, and now 00:06:18.990 --> 00:06:24.089 this great king was dead. What was going to happen 00:06:24.089 --> 00:06:29.889 to this nation? It was also in the context of 00:06:29.889 --> 00:06:34.269 a royal court that the revelation came. He says, 00:06:34.550 --> 00:06:41.079 I saw the Lord sitting on a throne. lofty and 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:44.480 exalted with the train of his robe filling the 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:49.199 temple. It is likely that Isaiah had gone into 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:52.300 the temple in Jerusalem and whether this vision 00:06:52.300 --> 00:06:54.759 that he had, this appearance of God took place 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:57.899 in that temple or in one that was in a vision, 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:03.160 a heavenly temple, is not really clear. But it 00:07:03.160 --> 00:07:06.920 is a royal court that Isaiah sees. There is a 00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:11.629 throne. And he sees the long train of the one 00:07:11.629 --> 00:07:15.230 who sits on the throne. The train, of course, 00:07:15.290 --> 00:07:18.329 was that piece of cloth that came around back 00:07:18.329 --> 00:07:22.350 of the king, the sovereign. Those who were kings 00:07:22.350 --> 00:07:25.550 were known for their greatness by the length 00:07:25.550 --> 00:07:30.509 of the train that they had. Isaiah tells us that 00:07:30.509 --> 00:07:33.189 this piece of cloth came down cascading from 00:07:33.189 --> 00:07:36.389 the throne across the steps and filled the whole 00:07:36.389 --> 00:07:40.430 temple and out the door. So great was this one 00:07:40.430 --> 00:07:45.769 who wore this robe. And he says that there was 00:07:45.769 --> 00:07:53.410 Seraphim who stood above him, the Lord. Seraphim 00:07:53.410 --> 00:07:58.329 are angelic creatures of God. They are described 00:07:58.329 --> 00:08:04.009 to us here as having six wings. And these particular 00:08:04.009 --> 00:08:10.120 flaming angelic creatures used two of their wings 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:15.160 to cover their faces, two to cover their feet 00:08:15.160 --> 00:08:19.519 in the presence of God, and with two they were 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:24.560 able to fly. And it appears that they were flying 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:30.319 back and forth across the throne upon which the 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:34.980 majesty sat. And they were calling out one to 00:08:34.980 --> 00:08:38.549 the other. And their words are recorded for us 00:08:38.549 --> 00:08:47.570 in verse 3. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. 00:08:47.870 --> 00:08:53.070 The whole earth is full of His glory. Three times 00:08:53.070 --> 00:09:00.250 the word holy is used. That is a Hebrew literary 00:09:00.250 --> 00:09:06.789 device which calls attention to this word. If 00:09:06.789 --> 00:09:09.149 we were typing it on our typewriter, we might 00:09:09.149 --> 00:09:12.769 go back and put it in bold or we might underscore 00:09:12.769 --> 00:09:16.490 it. But in those days, the way that they had 00:09:16.490 --> 00:09:19.529 of accentuating this truth was to repeat it, 00:09:19.870 --> 00:09:26.029 holy, holy, holy. And since it is accentuated, 00:09:26.090 --> 00:09:28.269 we need to pause for a moment and try to gain 00:09:28.269 --> 00:09:34.899 some understanding of what holiness is. R .C. 00:09:35.100 --> 00:09:38.139 Sproul in his book The Holiness of God says, 00:09:39.379 --> 00:09:44.779 the primary meaning of holy is separate. It comes 00:09:44.779 --> 00:09:48.480 from an ancient word that meant to cut or to 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:52.399 separate. To translate this basic meaning into 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:55.740 contemporary language would be to use the phrase 00:09:55.740 --> 00:09:59.919 a cut apart. Perhaps even more accurate would 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:05.139 be the phrase a cut above something. When we 00:10:05.139 --> 00:10:07.279 find a garment or another piece of merchandise 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:09.940 that is outstanding, that has superior excellence, 00:10:10.580 --> 00:10:13.320 we use the expression that it is a cut above 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:19.399 the rest. He goes on to use the word transcendence 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:24.419 as a synonym. Sproul writes, the word transcendence 00:10:24.419 --> 00:10:27.759 means literally to climb across. It is defined 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:31.460 as exceeding usual limits. To transcend is to 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:34.279 rise above something, to go above and beyond 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:38.159 a certain limit. When we speak of the transcendence 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:41.980 of God, we are talking about that sense in which 00:10:41.980 --> 00:10:47.399 God is above and beyond us. It tries to get at 00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:49.659 His supreme and absolute greatness. The word 00:10:49.659 --> 00:10:52.440 is used to describe God's relationship to the 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:55.659 world. He is higher than the world. The world 00:10:55.659 --> 00:10:59.580 has no power over him. Transcendence describes 00:10:59.580 --> 00:11:03.100 God in his consuming majesty, his exalted loftiness. 00:11:03.899 --> 00:11:06.500 It points to the infinite distance that separates 00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:10.200 him from every creature. He is an infinite cut 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:16.500 above everything else. He is so far above and 00:11:16.500 --> 00:11:19.419 beyond us that he seems totally foreign to us. 00:11:19.779 --> 00:11:25.240 To be holy is to be other. To be different in 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:32.700 a special way. That's what the Seraphim were 00:11:32.700 --> 00:11:37.179 saying to each other. There is nothing, there 00:11:37.179 --> 00:11:44.679 is no one like this one on the throne. He is 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:50.960 above and beyond everyone or anything. He is 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:59.980 holy. It says that the whole earth is full of 00:11:59.980 --> 00:12:07.820 His glory. So powerful were these words that 00:12:07.820 --> 00:12:12.100 the very foundation of that temple began to shake 00:12:12.100 --> 00:12:19.100 and to quake. They trembled at the voice of the 00:12:19.100 --> 00:12:22.559 seraphim crying out. And at the same time the 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:26.529 temple began to fill up with smoke with incense 00:12:26.529 --> 00:12:30.090 as if it were being offered to the one who is 00:12:30.090 --> 00:12:35.230 seated upon the throne. You talk about a vision. 00:12:36.289 --> 00:12:41.169 You talk about the context of a revelation. In 00:12:41.169 --> 00:12:46.289 the time of national crisis, he saw a royal court 00:12:46.289 --> 00:12:51.169 and a throne whereon was seated the Lord God 00:12:51.169 --> 00:12:55.779 Almighty. And the content of the revelation was 00:12:55.779 --> 00:13:03.000 that He is holy. And notice the consequence of 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:08.480 the revelation. First of all, there is conviction. 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:20.960 Isaiah said, woe is me. Woe is me. The prophets 00:13:21.670 --> 00:13:27.250 in giving their oracles. If the oracle was a 00:13:27.250 --> 00:13:29.490 good one for the people, it would often begin 00:13:29.490 --> 00:13:36.490 by saying, blessed. Jesus used that form. For 00:13:36.490 --> 00:13:39.110 example, in the Sermon on the Mount, when He 00:13:39.110 --> 00:13:42.169 said, blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed, 00:13:42.309 --> 00:13:46.149 blessed, blessed. But on the other hand, when 00:13:46.149 --> 00:13:48.850 a prophet had an oracle to give that was one 00:13:48.850 --> 00:13:51.929 of judgment, they began often with the word, 00:13:51.929 --> 00:13:56.649 woe. You see this, for example, in Isaiah chapter 00:13:56.649 --> 00:14:02.830 5, where Isaiah has spoken to the nation, a nation 00:14:02.830 --> 00:14:05.370 that had been planted like a vineyard by God 00:14:05.370 --> 00:14:09.409 and kept, and pruned by him, but a vineyard which 00:14:09.409 --> 00:14:12.649 produced no fruit and which God then laid waste. 00:14:13.830 --> 00:14:18.740 Now why did God do that to this people? Well, 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:22.000 Isaiah tells them, beginning in verse 8. And 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.259 six times through the rest of the chapter, he 00:14:24.259 --> 00:14:30.720 says, woe to those. Woe to those. Woe to those. 00:14:30.820 --> 00:14:33.899 Judgment, you see, is being pronounced upon the 00:14:33.899 --> 00:14:37.179 very people of God because of their sinfulness. 00:14:39.500 --> 00:14:44.679 Isaiah has just penned these words. When he comes 00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:48.549 to chapter 6 to tell us about his vision. He 00:14:48.549 --> 00:14:51.730 says, so overwhelming was this vision of the 00:14:51.730 --> 00:14:57.570 Lord that he pronounced judgment upon himself. 00:14:59.490 --> 00:15:07.149 He said, now, woe is me. I am to be judged. You 00:15:07.149 --> 00:15:09.629 see, he was overwhelmed with his conviction of 00:15:09.629 --> 00:15:14.789 sinfulness in the presence of the Holy God. And 00:15:14.789 --> 00:15:19.600 he confesses that next. He says, I am ruined. 00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:24.240 I am ruined. The word ruined literally means 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:28.379 to be undone or to come apart at the seams. It 00:15:28.379 --> 00:15:32.220 means to come unraveled. Isaiah is saying that 00:15:32.220 --> 00:15:37.740 he was experiencing disintegration in his personality 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:41.799 because of the vision that he had of God. He 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:45.460 was literally coming apart as a person, as a 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:51.440 human being. because of the holiness in whose 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:56.019 presence he stood. Now understand that here was 00:15:56.019 --> 00:15:59.379 a man who had it all together. But here was the 00:15:59.379 --> 00:16:03.720 most virtuous man in his nation, in that generation. 00:16:04.980 --> 00:16:08.940 And yet an instant in the presence of the God 00:16:08.940 --> 00:16:13.100 that he saw on this throne, this God of absolute 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:23.419 holiness, left him shattered. And he said, I 00:16:23.419 --> 00:16:33.779 am a man unclean. I am a man who is unclean. 00:16:34.340 --> 00:16:36.460 And he said, I dwell in the midst of a people, 00:16:36.580 --> 00:16:44.019 a nation that is like me. Sproul says, Isaiah 00:16:44.019 --> 00:16:46.320 understood the whole nation was infected with 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:50.500 dirty mouths. I live among a people of unclean 00:16:50.500 --> 00:16:55.220 lips. He said, in the flash of the moment Isaiah 00:16:55.220 --> 00:16:58.860 had a new and radical understanding of sin. He 00:16:58.860 --> 00:17:03.919 saw that it was pervasive in himself and in everyone 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:11.920 else. So often we are unaware of our need for 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:17.500 cleansing. Isaiah was in the presence of the 00:17:17.500 --> 00:17:22.789 living God. And in one moment he was made to 00:17:22.789 --> 00:17:28.309 understand how totally corrupt he was. You and 00:17:28.309 --> 00:17:33.849 I can be grateful that God does not often expose 00:17:33.849 --> 00:17:39.490 that much of our own corruption to us. God graciously 00:17:39.490 --> 00:17:43.710 exposes more slowly the corruption that is in 00:17:43.710 --> 00:17:47.829 our hearts. For if God pulled back the covers 00:17:47.829 --> 00:17:50.170 and we saw all of the corruption that was in 00:17:50.170 --> 00:17:53.390 us in one instant as Isaiah did, we too would 00:17:53.390 --> 00:18:01.269 come apart at the seams. Isaiah confessed his 00:18:01.269 --> 00:18:13.609 sin. One of the seraphim responded. One of the 00:18:13.609 --> 00:18:21.190 seraphim took a burning coal in some tongs. And 00:18:21.190 --> 00:18:25.950 he flew to where Isaiah was, and with those tongs 00:18:25.950 --> 00:18:32.349 he touched that coal to the lips of Isaiah. Isaiah 00:18:32.349 --> 00:18:37.109 does not record for us what that was like. We 00:18:37.109 --> 00:18:39.890 can only imagine that it must have seared his 00:18:39.890 --> 00:18:44.519 lips, the pain. must have been intense, and the 00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:48.220 acrid smell of burning flesh immediately filled 00:18:48.220 --> 00:18:57.279 his nostrils. But because of that act, he was 00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:01.200 cleansed. The Seraphim said, Behold, this has 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:04.099 touched your lips, and your iniquity is taken 00:19:04.099 --> 00:19:12.240 away, and your sin is forgiven. Uncleanness can 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:20.339 only be dealt with by God. It required Isaiah's 00:19:20.339 --> 00:19:23.599 full understanding of his corruption and his 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:28.299 deep repentance in order for his sin to be cleansed. 00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:34.299 But his guilt was removed. Notice that his dignity 00:19:34.299 --> 00:19:38.259 as a human being was not destroyed, but his guilt 00:19:38.259 --> 00:19:43.329 before God. had to be dealt with. God is not 00:19:43.329 --> 00:19:46.630 here punishing Isaiah, but he is constructively 00:19:46.630 --> 00:19:50.990 cleansing him. He is fitting Isaiah for something 00:19:50.990 --> 00:19:58.490 that is yet to come. When you and I sense our 00:19:58.490 --> 00:20:01.309 guilt before God, there is only one source for 00:20:01.309 --> 00:20:04.609 our cleansing, and that is the source that God 00:20:04.609 --> 00:20:09.619 has provided at Calvary. Where the blood of the 00:20:09.619 --> 00:20:13.660 Lamb was shed as we sang this morning. Where 00:20:13.660 --> 00:20:19.400 God's grace, God's marvelous grace was manifested. 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:24.019 Where God opened a fountain where the sinners 00:20:24.019 --> 00:20:28.000 of the world might come and find their cleansing 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:35.740 as they repent of their sin. You and I worship 00:20:35.740 --> 00:20:42.160 a God who cleanses. Jacob Chamberlain was an 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:46.859 early missionary to India. In his writings he 00:20:46.859 --> 00:20:51.339 tells of a man who had crawled in great agony 00:20:51.339 --> 00:20:59.420 over miles on his knees and his elbows in order 00:20:59.420 --> 00:21:02.220 to bathe in the sacred stream that is called 00:21:02.220 --> 00:21:07.789 the Ganges River. Finally, he reached that river 00:21:07.789 --> 00:21:11.690 and plunged himself beneath its waters, only 00:21:11.690 --> 00:21:17.069 to emerge with the same conviction, the same 00:21:17.069 --> 00:21:23.029 guilt on his soul that he had before. And the 00:21:23.029 --> 00:21:29.009 fear of death still tugged at his heart. Chamberlain 00:21:29.009 --> 00:21:33.569 saw him and took him aside and shared with him 00:21:33.569 --> 00:21:38.319 the wonderful story of Jesus Christ and what 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:42.000 God had provided through His death for the cleansing 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:47.259 of sinners. As the man listened to that story, 00:21:48.099 --> 00:21:52.380 he exclaimed, Oh, that's what I need! Forgiveness 00:21:52.380 --> 00:21:57.559 and peace! And as the story was further unfolded, 00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:01.319 the man came to faith in Jesus Christ as his 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:07.690 Savior and Lord. Cleansing, that's what you need. 00:22:08.349 --> 00:22:15.829 That's what I need. We worship a God who cleanses. 00:22:17.650 --> 00:22:19.750 But the story doesn't stop there. Isaiah goes 00:22:19.750 --> 00:22:22.450 on to relate to us the purpose of this revelation. 00:22:24.809 --> 00:22:28.769 There was a commission for some work to be done. 00:22:29.950 --> 00:22:33.369 Here was a man, a virtuous and upright man by 00:22:33.369 --> 00:22:36.990 every human measurement. who went to the temple 00:22:36.990 --> 00:22:43.470 to pray. And there God revealed himself to him. 00:22:44.210 --> 00:22:48.109 And he saw how corrupt and how unclean he was 00:22:48.109 --> 00:22:54.930 before God. And God cleansed him. God washed 00:22:54.930 --> 00:22:59.569 him of his guiltiness. And then God made Isaiah 00:22:59.569 --> 00:23:04.069 his spokesman. Perhaps that is why Isaiah focused 00:23:04.069 --> 00:23:08.049 on his lips. A man of unclean lips, he said. 00:23:08.589 --> 00:23:13.609 God washes, he cleanses, he purifies those lips. 00:23:15.089 --> 00:23:17.970 And then God says, whom shall I send and who 00:23:17.970 --> 00:23:22.630 will go for us? And he said, here am I, send 00:23:22.630 --> 00:23:27.470 me. You see Isaiah now was fit that he could 00:23:27.470 --> 00:23:32.039 represent God. He had been cleansed and could 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:36.299 be God's servant. There are several insights 00:23:36.299 --> 00:23:38.940 that we gain from this experience that Isaiah 00:23:38.940 --> 00:23:42.900 relates to us. The first one is this, that God 00:23:42.900 --> 00:23:47.599 uses crises to bring us to a new understanding 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:53.960 of ourselves and Him. The crisis that you may 00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:56.680 be passing through right now in your life or 00:23:56.680 --> 00:24:01.220 in your home God would use to bring you to a 00:24:01.220 --> 00:24:06.880 new understanding of Himself. The most important 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:09.500 knowledge that any of us can have is the knowledge 00:24:09.500 --> 00:24:16.779 of God. God wants to reveal Himself to you through 00:24:16.779 --> 00:24:20.579 what you're passing through right now. God wants 00:24:20.579 --> 00:24:24.500 to show you something more of yourself. It may 00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:29.289 not be pleasant. God may need to say to you, 00:24:29.490 --> 00:24:36.730 my child, you need to be cleansed. He doesn't 00:24:36.730 --> 00:24:40.309 say that to be unkind, but he says it because 00:24:40.309 --> 00:24:47.769 it's a greatest need that we have. I notice also 00:24:47.769 --> 00:24:51.589 that God must always deal with our sin as we 00:24:51.589 --> 00:24:58.059 come to know Him in a deeper way. If you desire 00:24:58.059 --> 00:25:04.359 the knowledge of God, God must deal with the 00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:06.779 corruption of your heart if you would draw near 00:25:06.779 --> 00:25:15.279 to Him. For He is holy. And as we draw near to 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:20.940 Him, that corruption becomes more evident. The 00:25:20.940 --> 00:25:23.380 story is told about a young minister who was 00:25:23.380 --> 00:25:27.210 speaking to Alexander White. a leader of the 00:25:27.210 --> 00:25:32.250 church in Scotland in the last century. This 00:25:32.250 --> 00:25:35.730 young minister told him about a friend of his 00:25:35.730 --> 00:25:39.910 who claimed to the minister that he could go 00:25:39.910 --> 00:25:45.210 several days without sinning consciously. And 00:25:45.210 --> 00:25:48.250 this young pastor wanted to know what Alexander 00:25:48.250 --> 00:25:51.809 White thought about this young man's evaluation 00:25:51.809 --> 00:25:59.369 of himself. Dr. White, his eyes burning with 00:25:59.369 --> 00:26:03.589 intensity of knowing God, replied immediately, 00:26:03.910 --> 00:26:10.650 no sir. No man who has seen the exquisite holiness 00:26:10.650 --> 00:26:20.650 of God could say a thing like that. If we say 00:26:20.650 --> 00:26:24.690 we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. writes 00:26:24.690 --> 00:26:28.789 the Apostle John. And indeed, the closer we come 00:26:28.789 --> 00:26:33.730 to God, the more we know of God, the more aware 00:26:33.730 --> 00:26:39.269 we will become of our own sinfulness. That's 00:26:39.269 --> 00:26:41.990 why it's so wonderful that God has provided the 00:26:41.990 --> 00:26:45.630 propitiation, the satisfaction for our sins in 00:26:45.630 --> 00:26:49.509 Christ. And that we have an advocate who stands 00:26:49.509 --> 00:26:53.089 between us and God to intercede in our behalf. 00:26:53.369 --> 00:26:58.410 in Jesus. Through Him, God graciously provides 00:26:58.410 --> 00:27:01.109 for the cleansing from the guilt that we have. 00:27:02.230 --> 00:27:06.390 You see, it is not a bad thing that God progressively 00:27:06.390 --> 00:27:10.210 exposes the corruption of our hearts. Indeed, 00:27:10.329 --> 00:27:15.930 it is a very good thing that He does it. Because 00:27:15.930 --> 00:27:19.250 it is only as it is exposed to us that we will 00:27:19.250 --> 00:27:22.539 draw near to Him for the kind of cleansing we 00:27:22.539 --> 00:27:28.380 truly need, and that we can then know Him more 00:27:28.380 --> 00:27:33.519 intimately. God's purpose, however, in all of 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:36.460 this process is not just that we might know Him. 00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:40.359 It is not merely that we might be cleansed, as 00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:44.180 important as that is. It is so that we might 00:27:44.180 --> 00:27:48.710 serve Him. It is so that he might prepare us 00:27:48.710 --> 00:27:52.309 too for the commission that he has for our lives 00:27:52.309 --> 00:27:56.509 in the world. Before we can serve him, we must 00:27:56.509 --> 00:28:00.769 know him. To know him brings awareness of guilt. 00:28:01.829 --> 00:28:04.809 Our repentance then brings cleansing from God, 00:28:05.250 --> 00:28:12.420 which cleansing then qualifies us to serve. The 00:28:12.420 --> 00:28:14.599 point that I'm making this morning is just this, 00:28:14.700 --> 00:28:17.220 that the God we worship provides cleansing from 00:28:17.220 --> 00:28:21.240 defilement so that we can carry out his calling 00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:31.880 in our lives. So often, we are just like I was 00:28:31.880 --> 00:28:37.960 the other evening, busy, perspiring in our service 00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:44.809 for God. And we're unaware of our true condition. 00:28:46.650 --> 00:28:49.509 And God draws near to us and says, my child, 00:28:50.369 --> 00:28:55.150 you need to be cleansed. For here's the real 00:28:55.150 --> 00:28:59.609 condition of your soul. Listen, friend, if God 00:28:59.609 --> 00:29:03.230 is showing you what's really inside of you in 00:29:03.230 --> 00:29:08.369 that sin that is still there, even as His child, 00:29:09.250 --> 00:29:14.170 do not despair. O despair of yourself, for there 00:29:14.170 --> 00:29:19.029 is nothing in us to merit ourselves to God. But 00:29:19.029 --> 00:29:23.009 do not despair ultimately because God's exposure 00:29:23.009 --> 00:29:27.210 of that corruption will bring you to humility 00:29:27.210 --> 00:29:30.109 and repentance and then cleansing before God. 00:29:30.490 --> 00:29:34.410 And that cleansing then fits you to serve Him. 00:29:36.670 --> 00:29:38.950 And that's why we're in the world. That's why 00:29:38.950 --> 00:29:43.819 we're here. to serve Jesus Christ in that office, 00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:45.940 the neighborhood, the home where God has placed 00:29:45.940 --> 00:29:49.460 us, in those contacts that He gives us. But before 00:29:49.460 --> 00:29:53.420 we can serve Him very effectively, there's got 00:29:53.420 --> 00:29:58.759 to be a dealing with what's in here. We worship 00:29:58.759 --> 00:30:02.619 the God who cleanses. Let's rejoice in that. 00:30:04.220 --> 00:30:07.759 And let's avail ourselves of what He's provided 00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:16.269 in Christ. Let's pray. Father, I pray that in 00:30:16.269 --> 00:30:22.650 the quietness of these closing seconds, if there 00:30:22.650 --> 00:30:24.849 are some who are here who are struggling with 00:30:24.849 --> 00:30:27.509 guilt because they realize the corruption that 00:30:27.509 --> 00:30:33.950 is in them, that like Isaiah, they might cry 00:30:33.950 --> 00:30:37.690 out what is the truth, that they are undone. 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:44.680 unclean, and that you would then graciously cleanse 00:30:44.680 --> 00:30:49.279 and wash them through the sacrifice and the blood 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:56.519 of Jesus Christ and fit them for service. But, 00:30:56.740 --> 00:30:58.559 Father, perhaps the ones who have greatest need 00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:01.259 are those of us who do not realize our need, 00:31:02.900 --> 00:31:05.799 who think ourselves as Isaiah did before he went 00:31:05.799 --> 00:31:09.390 to the temple. virtuous and upright and having 00:31:09.390 --> 00:31:16.410 it all together. We, above all others, need your 00:31:16.410 --> 00:31:21.930 work in our lives, showing us yourself that we 00:31:21.930 --> 00:31:30.609 may see then ourselves and be broken. Thank you 00:31:30.609 --> 00:31:32.869 for being willing to work with us and bring us 00:31:32.869 --> 00:31:35.170 through that process that we might be cleansed 00:31:35.170 --> 00:31:39.680 and useful in your hands. Amen.