[0:00] I want to turn back to this chapter we have read from Isaiah chapter 6. And looking more at the first half of this chapter, we'll read the first three verses again.
[0:19] In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up on the train of his robe for the temple.
[0:30] 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.
[0:51] Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. Lord of hosts, the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.
[1:02] A word of prayer before we come to look at this passage. Lord, we come to you, people in great need.
[1:12] We come to look at areas that many ways are a way beyond us. But we ask that you, in your grace and mercy, would even give us a glimpse of the greatness, the glory, the majesty of Almighty God.
[1:32] And we ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. Amen. Charles Coulson, Chuck Coulson, as he was known as, who founded the Prison Fellowship, he visited a friend of his, Tom Phillips.
[1:52] Tom had explained to him that he had just accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. And Chuck Coulson could see that Tom was at peace.
[2:06] He was at peace in his own self and he was at peace with God. And that really spoke to Chuck Coulson that night. And he cried and he cried very much.
[2:20] And seemingly, as the story is told, he cried so much that he could hardly get his keys into the ignition of the car. He was confronted that night with his own sin and the hidden evil that lies within every human heart.
[2:39] And it was painful and he could not escape. And he cried out to God and found himself just driven into the waiting arms of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[2:56] That night, he, by faith, accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. And that began, he says, the greatest adventure of his life.
[3:09] But Chuck Coulson didn't, he didn't settle just for that experience, that conversion experience that night.
[3:21] Although he went on like that for some time. And I read that he was willing to cry. That was in 1973. But also to repent several years later of his very inadequate view of his God.
[3:44] He says that he watched lectures on the holiness of God, lectures by R.C. Sproul. And by the time it came to the end of the sixth lecture, he was on his knees deep in prayer.
[4:00] In awe of a God of absolute holiness. He gained a new understanding at that time. And a taste that he never had before of the majesty of God.
[4:16] We read here in the year that King Uzziah died. Isaiah said, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up.
[4:29] This was a memorable time. Not so much about the year or the fact that King Uzziah died, although that was significant as well.
[4:39] But the fact that he saw the Lord, that was the time. It was a memorable time. A time that he would never forgot he saw the Lord. King Uzziah had a successful reign.
[4:54] And there was much that prospered under his reign. Although laterally it was clouded. He was a leper to the day of his death. And he had to live in a separate house.
[5:06] He was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham, his son, was over the king's household. Governing the people of the land at that time. But it just reminds us, doesn't it, that kingdoms will rise and kingdoms will fall.
[5:24] But God is on the throne. He saw the Lord high and lifted up. And you know, that's really what we need to be seeing, isn't it?
[5:35] Because we can be faced with situations in life that can be, yes, a great blow to us. And they're hard to cope with.
[5:46] And they're hard to handle. And they're painful. But yet beyond all that, may God help us to see the one who is on the throne.
[5:58] Who's high and lifted up. The one that Isaiah saw that night. And people do have these encounters with God.
[6:08] We read about many in scripture. For example, Samuel. In 1 Samuel 3 we read, And all Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.
[6:23] And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. And Stephen, for example, in Acts chapter 7.
[6:37] And Stephen said, Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abram when he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran.
[6:49] And of course Moses. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire. Out of the midst of a bush he looked. And behold, the bush was burning.
[7:00] Yet it was not consumed. These times are memorable times. We have this account of it. And Isaiah could remember exactly the time because of the greatness of that vision.
[7:18] At that time it was so memorable. And we might be thinking, well, what did he see? What was really so memorable?
[7:34] And we get a glimpse of what that, or to help us to see in some way we might never, or I might not be able tonight to bring you to a place exactly what he saw.
[7:48] But I just long that God would show us something of himself. And I say in John 12, 41.
[7:58] We read, Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. He saw his glory.
[8:09] I found a very helpful comments in a commentary. We read in John chapter 1, verse 14.
[8:19] We're very familiar with the words. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory. Glory as of the only son from the father, full of grace and truth.
[8:34] They had seen his glory. And the comment is made that this is the radiance of his grace and the majesty of his truth.
[8:48] Shown forth, manifested in all his works and words. The radiance of his grace and the majesty of his truth.
[9:05] Demonstrated in all his works and words. They had seen his glory. And of course we can get an illustration from the word of God to help us.
[9:17] Just to see that a little bit better. And in John 2, we know about the first of the signs. Signs in John's gospel, of course, is just another word for miracles.
[9:31] Instead of the word miracle, the word sign is used. And this is the first of his signs Jesus did at Cana in Galilee. And what does it say?
[9:43] He manifested his glory. He manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. I've had the utmost privilege of, and I'm sure many of you have too, of sitting with people who have lived through and have been saved during the 49 revival.
[10:11] Particularly over in Shadder and over in these areas. I've had the privilege of meeting people over there. I remember sitting with the Reverend Willie McLeod.
[10:22] And just talking to him and just asking him about these things. And asking him about the glory of God. And he brought me to this very parable.
[10:34] And what he said was that what was human ran out. And it will bring disappointment.
[10:47] But when he saw his glory, it surpassed all that went before. I wonder tonight, do we just have a longing for something more?
[11:00] That we wouldn't be satisfied. Yes, it's wonderful to have, and it's crucial to have, a conversion experience.
[11:11] Whether it's in a moment of time or whether it's over a period of time. It doesn't matter. There will be people in here, and you'll have both experiences.
[11:23] There will be people here tonight that you probably couldn't see when you actually came to know the Lord. But you know that you know them. You know tonight that Jesus Christ is your Savior.
[11:36] Though do we have a longing for more? Do we have a longing for something greater? That we wouldn't just go on as we are.
[11:47] That's not the Christian life. That's not what we're called to be. We're called to be sanctified. We're called to become more and more like Jesus. That we might see him.
[12:01] From the fullness of... From... For from his fullness we have received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
[12:14] And no one has ever seen God. The only God. Who is at the Father's side. He has made him known. Perfectly holy. That we would stand in awe of his holiness.
[12:25] Of course. We're told in the word that without holiness. No one will see the Lord. Maybe we don't think enough about holiness. You know we live in a day of so many distractions.
[12:39] And we live in a day too when so much is creeping in. Even among the children of God. In a day when... When anything...
[12:50] Anything goes really in many ways. And then there's this whole... Theology and teaching of holiness that's so crucial. And we miss out so much.
[13:03] We miss out on so much in our lives. We don't have that desire and longing. To see more and to be more like him.
[13:16] Holiness has been set apart. Holiness has been separated from what contaminates what's secular. Holiness has been set apart. I read...
[13:27] I read... A glean from John Piper. Who has a tremendous way of putting things. And he used... An illustration...
[13:39] To explain the glory of God. He said it's the going public... Of his holiness. It's the going public of his holiness. And he said about this verse...
[13:51] He said... And one called to another and said... Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. The whole earth is full. He says you might expect it to say... It's full of his holiness. But it talks about...
[14:01] It's full of his glory. The radiance of his grace. And the majesty of his truth. Manifested in all his works. And words.
[14:13] Oh for a glimpse of this. And you know... If we got a glimpse of this. Just a glimpse. It would without doubt... Show us anew. Show us anew what we're really like.
[14:26] It would show us anew the seriousness of sin. We live in a day when sin is not counted so serious anymore. And God hates sin. But a glimpse of him.
[14:38] A glimpse of the king. Would show us anew what we're really like. Would show us the sin in our lives. We live in a day when... When surely this is not realized.
[14:51] God cannot tolerate sin. He is holy. Holy, holy. A wonderful. An unforgettable experience I say I had.
[15:03] It's life changing. Wonder. Have we got these times? Do we long for them? Remember...
[15:14] I remember... Sitting with... Agnes Morrison from Shader. She was recalling... Some of the accounts of revival.
[15:27] And she spoke about a time when there were... She said so often there were... In church and... The presence of God was so real that... Nobody wanted to leave.
[15:38] In this day she said... We were sitting in the church. The service had finished. And the presence of God was so real. She says... We just sat in silence and quiet.
[15:51] In the presence of God. And then she said... Slowly... People began... Leaving the church. And she says...
[16:02] We were just at the door. Just... Almost going down the steps. When all of a sudden... Just the... The power and the presence of God fell.
[16:14] And she says... We all stopped. And there were silence. And they began singing... A psalm. I will not enter my house.
[16:27] I will not get into my bed. I will not give sleep to my eyelids. Or slumber to my eyelids. I can't quite remember it. Until I find... A place for the Lord.
[16:38] A dwelling place... For the Holy One of Israel. Now we seem so far removed from that. I know that we're living outside of revival.
[16:50] But I know that God is the same. Yesterday, today and forever. We seem to live in a day... When we're so far removed... From experience... The amazing...
[17:02] And just the loveliness... And the majesty of God... And his presence. That's what Isaiah saw. He saw. His train... The train of his robe...
[17:13] We read filled... The temple speaks of the hem... Or the bottom... Of the robe of a king or a priest. His kingly reign. He is king. And we are...
[17:24] His people. We are... His temples. I wonder... Does Jesus have that kingly reign... In my life? In your life? He saw his glory.
[17:37] He saw... He saw the splendor... And the majesty. And he was overwhelmed by it. And you would be... Wouldn't you? Oh, if we could just get a glimpse...
[17:47] Of something more. 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 he covered his face.
[17:59] That's surely... Showing just reverence for God. Are we careful how we come? In humility?
[18:12] Do we know that reverence? With two he flew. Could speak of...
[18:22] God's errand service for God. God's errand service for God. And they called to each other... The praise. Holy, holy, holy...
[18:35] Is the Lord. The whole earth is full... Of his glory. Isaiah saw these things... Because... He saw his glory... And spoke...
[18:47] Of him. What did he do? Just... In application. What did this do for Isaiah? What he saw? He saw the Lord. Unforgettable.
[19:00] Unforgettable. An overwhelming sense of his presence. And his power. And one of the things that... That Agnes said...
[19:13] All these years later. She said, I'll never forget it. We don't forget times like these. When God comes in power.
[19:24] Do we long for it? Do we look for it when we come together? When we come to worship the King? When we come to times like these?
[19:37] Are we praying for it? You know, it's very easy... It's very easy... Friends... To come and go. And just... Think of it just like another evening service.
[19:48] And it should never be that way. We're coming to worship the King. And we should come just longing for... Just for a glimpse. Just for something more.
[20:00] Just for something of his presence. Oh, that God would come. That God would come down. What an impact that would have. We would never forget it.
[20:13] And we would leave... Different from what we've come in. And it wouldn't just be another evening service. If we could look back and...
[20:24] Our lives should be changed. And we could say, well, it was... On that evening... That God came. I say... He saw the Lord.
[20:40] He saw the Lord. It was unforgettable. Just a glimpse. Oh, that Jesus... Would be revealed to us.
[20:53] When... Philip... In John chapter 12... No among those who went up to worship at the feast... There were some Greeks. So these came to Philip.
[21:05] Who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. And asked him, sir. We wish to see Jesus. We wish to see Jesus. And just think too...
[21:17] I was thinking about the woman at the well. You know... You know... The discourse with Jesus and the woman at the well. And she was having a struggle to get her eyes off the earthly things.
[21:33] And Jesus kept bringing her back. And bringing her back. And the woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming. He who is called the Christ.
[21:43] When he comes... He will tell us all things. What wonderful words these are. Jesus said to her. I who speak to you... Am he. Just then his disciples came back.
[21:56] And they marveled that he was talking with a woman. But no one said... What do you seek? Or why are you talking with her? So the woman left the water jar. And went away into the town.
[22:07] And said to the people. Come see a man. Who told me all that I ever did. You know... When she saw Jesus. When she had an encounter with Jesus. What was earthly.
[22:19] She left behind. You know... That's what an encounter with Jesus will do for us. What is earthly. We will want to leave behind. And we will just want more of him.
[22:32] That we might see him. That's what he saw. He saw Jesus. What he realized. When he saw Jesus. What he realized. Then he was unclean. He was unclean.
[22:45] Unclean. Here is... Is really a general term in the Old Testament. For all that is unfit to be in the presence of God. You see... That's what a glimpse of the Holy One does.
[22:58] It shows us what our lives are like. Shows us things in our lives. That we wouldn't otherwise see. You see... We can go on. On through life. And when we're blinded really to what we're like.
[23:09] Unless we see... We see him. He shows us... He... He highlights things in our lives. That need to be put right. And I'm sure for all of us tonight.
[23:22] That's the case. There's things... There's things that need to be put right. Isaiah said... Woe is me. For I am lost. I'm undone. I'm ruined.
[23:35] In the light of what he saw. That's what he realized. What did he require? He required cleansing. And the coal of cleansing.
[23:47] Here that the seraphim took a burning coal and touched his lips. The coal of cleansing symbolizes that God had in place in the temple all that is necessary for the sins of his people.
[23:59] To deal with the sins of his people. And that surely today brings us to the cross. To the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ where there's cleansing. And as I was saying this morning that all that is necessary was done at Calvary's cross.
[24:18] All that is necessary for our cleansing. For our sin to be dealt with. It's there. It's been done at Calvary. Surely. Oh well.
[24:29] Surely. Surely. My friends tonight. A glimpse of him would take us to Calvary. Would take us to Calvary. Where we would seek a fresh forgiveness.
[24:44] And cleansing from his own presence. If, as we sang in closing this morning from Psalm 130.
[24:54] If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities. O Lord, who could stand? If we were all called account for our sin. No one could stand. Except for the next line.
[25:08] It says, but with you there is forgiveness. There's forgiveness. With him. Yeah, what he saw, he saw the Lord. What he realized, he was unclean.
[25:20] What he required, he required cleansing. What he experienced, he experienced a surrender. You know, from all of that, he went from, woe is me.
[25:33] I am finished. I am ruined. Am I clean? To respond to the call. He said, here I am. Send me.
[25:45] Here I am. Send me. What a change from being undone. To the failure and all that he felt. To having a boldness and a freedom.
[25:58] A trust to be willing to serve. I had the privilege of sitting under the ministry of the Reverend David Patterson in Perth for many years.
[26:12] And what a blessing that was. I remember Davy one time. He was looking for someone to take the prayer meeting. And he came to me and he said, Darnie, he says, I know.
[26:27] There are people here that could take that prayer meeting. And could do it well. But he said, a willing person. Is worth far more.
[26:39] I wonder, are we willing people? Are we willing? Here I am. Send me. And the boldness that he showed. It was nothing of himself. He would have been the first to admit that I can't do it.
[26:54] And none of us can. But we're resting in the one who is able. We're resting in the one who says, You know, through him.
[27:06] Paul said, I can do all things. In our weakness, he is our strength. He said, here I am.
[27:21] Send me. Just in closing. Time is gone. Or getting there. Just a little story to illustrate something of what we've been saying.
[27:37] Long, long ago, there was a horseman. He rode out with his horse and carriage. Out from the city and out into the night.
[27:47] He was wanting to get right out into the darkness so he could look up and he could see the wonder of the night sky. And he rode out into a forest area and right out into a bit where there was a clearing.
[28:02] And he stopped and he got down and he looked up. And he couldn't really see the night sky as he thought he should.
[28:13] And then he went round his carriage and he snuffed out all the lights that were shining round the carriage. Until it was all dark and then he looked up. And he saw an amazing view of the night sky.
[28:30] I wonder, are there things in our lives that are stopping us? Having a proper view of the Lord.
[28:44] That I say so. Do you see the sin in our lives separate? That prevents us seeing what we should be seeing.
[28:56] Whatever that might be. It's maybe just a hankering after the world. There's things in our lives and we know tonight that they're not right.
[29:08] They shouldn't be there and they're stopping us seeing Jesus as we should see him. They need to be dealt with. Whatever it might be, you know tonight what's stopping you.
[29:22] I know what's stopping me. Oh, for a longing for a view of him. For a view of him like Isaiah saw.
[29:33] He said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up. And the train of his robe filled the temple and the angels cried, Holy, holy, holy. It's the Lord of hosts, the whole earth.
[29:45] It's full of his glory. May God in his grace and in his mercy come to us. And reveal himself to us in you. That we might see him and our prayer would be, oh.
[29:59] That we would see Jesus. For his glory. And for usefulness. In his cause. In this day that we live in.
[30:12] Amen. Glory to God. Amen. Amen. Amen.