[0:00] We're going to begin our worship by singing to God's praise. We're singing in Psalm 50 in the Scottish Psalter, the first version of the Psalm. Psalm 50, the first version of the Psalm, page 276 of the Psalm books. We're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 5, and the tune is Carlisle.
[0:20] The mighty God the Lord hath spoken and did call, the earth from rising of the sun to where he hath his fall, from out of Sion Hill which of excellency and beauty, the perfection is, God shined gloriously.
[0:36] We'll sing verse 1 to 5 to God's praise. The mighty God the Lord hath spoken and did call, the earth from rising of the sun to where he hath his fall.
[1:11] From out of Sion Hill which of excellency and beauty, the perfection is, God shined gloriously.
[1:39] Our God shall surely come, his silence shall not be.
[1:54] Now the world hath from the side. Well, remain, Lord, has a great einenembroscopy God sl mater. Before him fire shall put straight stars, shall undabilir,勝手 only 그러네.
[2:05] J extract them not be. unto the heavens clear he from above shall call and to the earth like wise that he may judge his people all Together let my sins unto the other be those that thy sacrifice have made are God well and with me
[3:10] Let's come to God in prayer. Let us pray. Our gracious Father in heaven, we come to worship and praise your name this night that you are a gracious and a loving and a kind God.
[3:31] We thank you for every reminder as we sing from your word and as we come and approach it with holy reverence and holy fear. We recognize to whom we are coming.
[3:43] We are coming to the Lord God of hosts, the maker, the creator of all things, the one who sustains and keeps the whole of the universe and all of your creation.
[3:56] For your word reminds us that it is in you that we live, move and have our being. All things are from you and for you. We praise your name, Lord, that you remember us, that the mighty God, the Lord, has spoken and did call.
[4:12] And we thank you that you continue to call us as your people, that you continue to speak to us and to call us to come and to find refuge, to find strength, to find comfort with you, to find that peace that passes all understanding.
[4:32] We live in a world that there is so little peace around us and even so often there's little peace within us. Maybe even this evening we come with troubled hearts.
[4:43] We come with so many things going on in our lives and all around us, Lord, and we can so easily be distracted. We can so easily feel a sense of despair and despondency.
[4:56] But help us, Lord, that as we survey the world in which we live, as we examine ourselves and even our own hearts, that you would enable us to lift our eyes and to see the glory of God and to see the person of Jesus Christ, the Lord who was lifted up, the Lord who bore our sins, the Lord whose death we come to remember even in this weekend.
[5:24] Prepare our hearts, we pray, Lord. We know how unclean we are so often, but may you cleanse us. May you forgive our sins as we come confessing them anew.
[5:36] We do indeed fall short of your glory so often. We sin, O Lord, and maybe we ask pardon so often, but then return to the sins of our hearts.
[5:49] But help us, Lord, not just to regret our sins, but to truly repent and to turn to you, the one, the only one, who is able to forgive our sins.
[6:01] And may we come and turn to you even anew this evening. Turn and look unto Jesus and feeling out unworthiness, but seeing his beauty, his glory.
[6:14] The one who came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost. And we thank you, Lord, that even as we have wandered away from you, as we have all like sheep gone astray, as the word says, that you sent the shepherd, Lord Jesus Christ, to gather his people to himself.
[6:36] And we thank you that you remind us, even in the psalm that we sung, that we are to come to gather together as your saints, to be gathered unto you.
[6:47] Those who have sacrificed have made a covenant with me. We thank you, Lord, that we come seeking to know that blessing of relationship with you, the relationship, the covenant that you have shown to us, how you have kept your every promise, how it is all secure through Jesus Christ, your Son.
[7:10] In him there is the yea and the amen of all things. And so we pray, Lord, that you will make us a willing people, that you will encourage us in our hearts, that you will build us up in our faith, that you will strengthen us, Lord.
[7:26] Those who have professed faith, maybe over many years, that you will give great encouragement, that you will remind them, Lord, that you know, as the journey goes on, we can feel so weary in it, but that you renew our strength day by day.
[7:42] And may we be thankful, Lord, for every blessing and privilege that has been ours and is ours and will be ours through Christ. We thank you, Lord, that your faithfulness is so precious, your faithfulness towards us, your covenant blessings new each day.
[7:59] We give thanks, Lord, that you are the one who remembers us. And in our weakness, Lord, you are our strength. And we know in this world we will go through times of trouble, but we thank you that Jesus said to take heart, to be of good courage, for he has overcome the world.
[8:18] So help us to go on in the strength of the Lord as your people to worship and to serve you with all our hearts and to know the blessing of the communion sacrament, to know the blessing of coming together to remember the Lord's death, to come and gather as your saints and to do so loving one another, praying for one another, encouraging one another.
[8:43] May your spirit be upon us and to be with us, to guard us in peace, the peace of Christ. Remember those, Lord, even here in our midst this evening who may be there longing and desire is to come to the Lord's table.
[8:59] We know, Lord, the challenges that that presents, how active the devil will be in discouraging and distracting, how unworthy we are made to feel in these times.
[9:11] But, Lord, may you help those in that situation here to know Christ with them, to know his peace, to know what it is to look to him.
[9:22] Yes, we are unworthy, but we look to Christ, the Lamb of God. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. And so we pray for every one of us here this evening to fix our eyes on Jesus and to give glory and praise to him.
[9:39] May you bless your word to us this evening and over these days. We thank you that it is a living word, a powerful and active word. And we pray that you will use it to your glory, that you will bless us by it, Lord, and build up your people, not just here, but even in our homes as people tune in online, those who are unable to be with us, those who would love to be here.
[10:04] We thank you, Lord, that the word reaches out, that they are part of our fellowship, the communion of saints, and that as they hear your word and as they watch on, may they know the touch of your spirit, the blessing of your peace also.
[10:19] May you bless us together as a people, bless us as a town and as islands and even as a nation now, Lord, that we would see your spirit come in power, that we would see, oh Lord, your hand upon us for good when we are in disarray and turning away from you, Lord.
[10:38] May you come and speak a powerful word into our midst, that we would see a people turning to you, a people ruling over us by your word and by your spirit.
[10:51] Remember those who need you in particular ways as well. We remember those who are unwell, those who are in hospital, those who are grieving the loss of loved ones.
[11:02] Lord, we know so often that we can feel alone in these things, but we thank you for a praying people. We thank you for the unity in Christ and the power of prayer and surround those who need you in particular ways.
[11:17] Oh Lord, that you will comfort and draw near to each. We do thank you, Lord, for your church far and wide. We thank you that you have your people, your saints throughout the world, that you have your church in all corners, a persecuted church a growing church, a church with its foundation in Christ Jesus and therefore a church and a people with that assurance that the gates of hell will never prevail against it.
[11:45] So we thank you that your kingdom comes in power and we pray, Lord, that you will bless your word to all ends of the earth and you will minister to us and that you will guide us and help us to be a faithful people, trusting and praying always and looking unto you.
[12:03] May you continue with us then this evening hour and go before us into this night and into the morrow as well, Lord. Take care of us, guide us and keep us. Bless us, we pray, and we ask all with the forgiveness of our sins.
[12:18] In Jesus' precious name, Amen. Amen. Let's further sing to God's praise. We're singing in Psalm 4 in the Sing Psalms.
[12:30] Psalm 4 in the Sing Psalms. It's on page 4. We're singing from verse 3, verse 3 down to the end of the psalm. Psalm 4 in the Sing Psalms at verse 3.
[12:44] Know that the Lord has set apart the godly as his own. The Lord will hear me when I call and my request make known. We'll sing from verse 3 to 8, the tune is Earshire.
[12:57] We sing to God's praise. Amen. Let's sing to God's praise. Amen. Know that the Lord has set apart the godly as his own.
[13:19] The Lord will hear me when I call And thy request may go In anger do not pay God's law Consider and be still Present a righteous sacrifice And wait upon his will For who can show us any good I hear so many say
[14:25] O Lord, shine on us with your light Show us your face, I pray You filled my heart with bitter joy The mother's sake of fire As they rejoice at harvest time When pain and wine abound I will lie down and sleep in these My heart will rest secure
[15:32] For you alone, O gracious Lord Will keep me safe and sure Let's turn to read in God's word In the Old Testament We're going to read in the prophecy of Isaiah Isaiah chapter 6 We can read the whole of this chapter together Isaiah chapter 6 Isaiah chapter 6 From the beginning 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
[16:34] Above him stood the seraphim Each 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 and said Holy, holy, holy Is the Lord of hosts The whole earth is full of his glory And the foundations of the thresholds Shook at the voice of him who called And the house was filled with smoke 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 Then one of the seraphim flew to me Having in his hand Having in his hand a burning coal That he had taken with tongs From the altar And he touched my mouth And said
[17:34] Behold, this has touched your lips Your guilt is taken away And your sin atoned for And I heard the voice of the Lord saying Whom shall I send And who will go for us Then I said Here am I Send me And he said Go And say to this people Keep on hearing But do not understand Keep on seeing But do not perceive Make the heart of this people dull And their ears heavy And blind their eyes Lest they see with their eyes And hear with their ears And understand with their hearts And turn And be healed Then I said How long, O Lord?
[18:24] And he said Until the cities lie waste Without inhabitant And houses without people And the land is a desolate waste And the Lord removes people far away And the forsaken places are many In the midst of the land And though a tenth remain in it It will be burned again Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled The holy seed is its stump Amen And may God bless That reading from his word Before we turn back to that passage We'll again sing to God's praise This time in Psalm 37 In the Scottish Psalter Psalm 37 At the beginning of the psalm On page 252 We're going to sing
[19:25] From verse 1 to verse 6 For evildoers Fret thou not Thyself unquietly Nor do thou envy Bear to those That work iniquity For even like unto the grass Soon be cut down Shall they Like the green And tender herb They wither Shall away Then the psalmist Goes on to say Set thou Thy trust Upon the Lord And be thou doing good And so thou In the land Shalt dwell And verily Have food And so on We'll sing from verse 1 To verse 6 And the tune is Grafenberg And we sing To God's praise For evil Do worship The love Thy self Unquietly Nor do The love In me
[20:25] Bear to those That work Iniquity Born Even like Unto the grass Soon be God Thou Shall they Unlike The green Of tender herb They wither Shall Shall Thou Wain Set Thou My Trust Upon The Lord And be Thou Doing Good And so Thou In the land Shalt Well
[21:26] And Better Be Comfort Delight Thou Self In God He'll Give Thy Hearts Beside To Thee Thy Way Father And thine Unto The Light Whe Shall Thy Righteousこ test Plain And he thy judgment shall bring forth like noontide of the day.
[22:36] We can turn back now to a reading in Prophecy of Isaiah, reading in chapter 6. In Isaiah chapter 6, we're going to look at verse 1 to verse 8 together this evening.
[22:49] We'll just read again in verse 1. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.
[23:02] Amen. This evening as we come, we come to prepare our hearts and we examine ourselves as we prepare to take the Lord's Supper together.
[23:17] Part of that examination is looking around us and we see all that's going on. But more importantly, we look at ourselves and look within.
[23:28] And we ask, well, what do we see within ourselves? As we look at this passage together this evening, what we find is the Lord bringing Isaiah to his knees.
[23:42] Bringing him to look around and see what's happening to the nation around him. And then looking within himself and seeing what's going on in his own heart. But then the focus changes.
[23:55] And that's the main thing about preparing ourselves. To take the Lord's Supper. We look around what's going on around ourselves.
[24:06] We look at ourselves and we look within ourselves and we feel this sense of unworthiness. But as we prepare, we want to see that our focus is then turned away from ourselves to someone else.
[24:20] We look to the Lord.
[24:50] Have you ever taken part in a survey? I'm sure the majority of you here this evening have taken part of a survey of one kind or another.
[25:11] And one of them is perhaps the survey that you've had to do in the last year that the results are now coming out for. And that survey is the national census that is taken every 10 years.
[25:25] In that survey, people answer a number of different questions. They look at the national statistics for all sorts of things. Age profiles, working status, education, ethnicity, and faith.
[25:42] And the results of this census have started to come out even in this past week. And it always makes the main headlines, and especially the results when it comes to faith.
[25:55] Some people get very excited about these results. And even in this past week, there's been much gloating among many. Again, seeing, as it were, a decline in the Christian faith.
[26:08] The statistics are showing that there is a decline in the number of people who are putting themselves down as Christian on the survey. To the delight of so many.
[26:20] Taking great pride in this, that we're now saying that we're no longer a Christian nation. And the decline, if you like, has been there in terms of the census for a long period of time.
[26:34] If you look from 1930 through to the last one in 2010, there was a reduction of about 50% of those who are professing to be Christian.
[26:44] And now it's below 50% who are saying that they are of the Christian faith for the first time. But what we have to remember with these kinds of surveys, that we don't lose heart in them.
[27:00] For they don't tell us everything. People may delight in some of these results that are coming out. But we weep. We weep at a nation that's turning away from God.
[27:14] But we weep in a way that we remember the one who is high and sovereign and lifted up. If you're selling or buying a house, it has to have a survey done.
[27:27] But very often the surveyor isn't able to tell you everything. Because there are parts that are hidden. Or parts that they cannot get access to. So the survey isn't complete in that sense.
[27:41] There's the hidden things behind it. And as we think of our national census that's been taken, there are things that are hidden from the eyes of those who are gloating.
[27:52] And they are the things that we see. Isaiah in his own survey here in Isaiah chapter 6, coming to realize what is important for a nation. When he surveys the situation of the land, the nation that he is living in, when he surveys what's happening all around him, and where he is in it all, he comes to realize what's important.
[28:19] In many ways, in Isaiah's days, like in our own day, things may seem bleak. There may be so many things that would discourage us for our nation and for our people.
[28:33] But what Isaiah finds, and what we are to see as well, is in the sorrow of our situation, we're not just to look on the surface of things. We're to think of our survey going down much deeper.
[28:46] Something else and something greater. It reveals much about the situation that Isaiah's in, reveals much about himself, but it reminds him of God.
[29:01] And so as we examine ourselves tonight, as we think about all that's going on around us, as we think of our own hearts, what we want to see is what Isaiah saw.
[29:12] The Lord sitting upon the throne. The one who is overruling in all things. And our survey, as we see here, is going to take us to see five different things.
[29:27] Five different things that Isaiah sees or knows in this situation. And if you like, it's a step-by-step, turning away from just looking around to coming to fix his eyes on the Lord.
[29:43] And that's what I want us all to do this evening together as well. To look around us, to look within us, but ultimately to look to the Lord.
[29:53] And to see and remind ourselves that the Lord is still lifted up, high on the throne, and ruling, and that we are to trust in him.
[30:06] The first thing we see here in Isaiah's survey is the ache, the pain that there is. The opening words tell us in this chapter, in the year that King Uzziah died.
[30:21] What's the significance of this? Is there any significance in these opening words, you might ask? Well, it is significant. And it tells us the situation of which Isaiah is surveying.
[30:36] The situation in which he is looking around. Normally, as you read through the scriptures, you find that when a king passes away, what's mentioned is the length of his reign.
[30:49] So normally this would have said, in the 52nd year of King Uzziah, but it doesn't say that here. It says, in the year that King Uzziah died.
[31:01] There's something going on here, something important. And what the Lord is showing Isaiah is that Uzziah, who had reigned for 52 years, reigned over a time of prosperity for the people, a time of much material blessing for the people, a time of much progress for the people, but now we are seeing it's a time of great pain for the people.
[31:29] There's an ache in this nation. There's a pain in this nation. A lot has changed with the passing of Uzziah. The year that King Uzziah died was significant.
[31:45] It disturbed the nation, disturbed Isaiah himself. As he opens this chapter, we see that it's in the year that King Uzziah died.
[31:58] It's that signaled the end of a time of great prosperity, a time of great consistency within the nation. But was it all good?
[32:10] Was it all healthy? Well, all you have to do is read the opening five chapters of Isaiah, and you see it was not. There was much material blessing.
[32:21] There was much prosperity in the land, but it all was not well. There was woe. There was pain. There was wickedness going on all around them.
[32:32] Bit by bit, they were turning away from the Lord. There was judgment coming upon the people. And that's made clear for us, as Isaiah has given his commission later on in this chapter.
[32:48] It is going to get worse before it gets better. And that's so often the case in a time of prosperity and blessing in that one sense where everything's going well for a people, and yet the people forget the Lord.
[33:06] And what can we say about our own day? What can we say as we describe our own day in which we live? It's so very similar to the year in which King Uzziah died.
[33:18] When we think about this year, as we come to the end of what has been a momentous year in so many ways, we come to the end of the year in which Queen Elizabeth II died.
[33:30] Having reigned for so long over our nation, having seen so much blessing over our land, it comes now to a time of great uncertainty. As we see our world in which we live and the chaos all around us, in a year in which war has broken out in the Ukraine between them and the Russians, and so much instability in the world in which we're living in, so much fear and anxiety all around the world, in a year in which COVID has still been so prevalent in all our lives, in a year of so much uncertainty in the financial sense, in a year of so many pressures bearing down upon our people, what do we say about this year?
[34:15] There's so much worry, so much anxiety. There is an ache in so many people's lives, in so many people's hearts. It's a time of change, and a time of change is always a time of great uncertainty, but it's a time to survey.
[34:34] As we come to the end of this year, as we come even to this weekend, as we come to the Lord's Supper, God willing, tomorrow, it's a time when we look around, when we see all that's going on around us, we see all the hurt and the ache and the pain that there is, but are we just looking at it on the surface, or are we looking deeper?
[35:00] Well, Isaiah was looking beyond that. There was an ache. There was so much pain going on around him. In the year that King Uzziah died, it was a significant year.
[35:14] But what it leads to is a greater vision of what is important. And for ourselves this evening, the ache that we know, the pain that we see in ourselves or all around us, it should take us to look and see what is truly important in life.
[35:33] Well, what did Isaiah see? And what are we to see? The second thing we see here is the aura. It's so often spoken about that people have this great aura about them.
[35:48] There's just something about certain people. They describe this aura that's around them. But there's no greater aura than what we see in the Lord. And that is what Isaiah came to see.
[36:01] In the year that King Uzziah died, what did he see? He saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.
[36:12] He saw a greater king. He saw one who would rule forever. One whose reign was going to go on and on.
[36:22] One who is described as the holy seed is its stamp at the end of this chapter. Our Lord will reign eternal. Our Lord will reign forever.
[36:36] Earthly kings and queens will come and go. We will come and go. But the Lord will reign forever. And what he saw was the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.
[36:51] So in the midst of the pain of Isaiah's death and the doubts about what the future may hold now, there is this great reminder that the Lord is sovereign and ruling over all things.
[37:05] Isaiah is reminded who is really in control and his need to focus on him. The survey takes him to see the times of turmoil and the times of trouble that are going on around them as just seeing the surface.
[37:22] But now to come and see that the one who's sovereign is the Lord, that underneath are the everlasting arms of God, the one who has promised through covenant mercy to his people, that he will be with them, that he will uphold them.
[37:41] And what does he see of the Lord? Well, we see so much of what he's looking at here. He comes to see so many things about God. First of all, he sees his position.
[37:54] He sees where he is. He's high and lifted up, sitting upon a throne. He is the Lord in all his glory.
[38:06] Isaiah and all the people have been so focused on King Uzziah, giving praise to him for all the prosperity that they had. But now he is gone.
[38:16] Now he is taken away. And when life seems to fall apart and everything seems to be going wrong, where does his focus come? It comes on the Lord who is sovereign, the one who is high and lifted up.
[38:34] Where do our eyes go today? Where do our eyes go tonight? As we look around us, as we feel anxious, as we feel troubled, do we see the Lord lifted up?
[38:45] Even as we think of how it speaks here of the Lord God lifted up, sitting on his throne, we remember the Lord Jesus, the one who was lifted up, not on a throne, but on a cross.
[39:02] The one who was lifted up and that all who would look to him would find mercy, would find forgiveness, would find peace. We come to look at the Lord who came down for us, who came down for his people.
[39:16] We see him lifted up, but one who then ascended up on high and who sits on the throne at the right hand of God the Father. We have a great God and a great King.
[39:31] And what did he see of God here? He was high and lifted up, but he also saw that this was a holy God. He was a holy God, as it goes on to say, around him with a seraphim.
[39:44] And they were calling out, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. He is a holy God.
[39:58] When we think of that too, how unworthy we are even to come into his presence. This is a holy God. But Isaiah comes to learn that it's not about a king in Uzziah who can help.
[40:14] It's not about himself, Isaiah, who can help in this situation. But it's about this holy God. Uzziah might have done much good for the nation, but there is no good apart from God.
[40:29] And God is holy. He is deserving of all praise. He deserves all glory from us as his people. And when you think about yourself tonight, when all your life is stripped bare, what do you have?
[40:46] What do you look to? Who do you look to to find help and comfort and blessing? Sometimes we need everything else stripped away. Just like this nation of God, this people was having everything stripped away.
[41:00] They were going to be taken into exile. They were going to suffer, but they needed that. So they might come to see the glory of God, the only one who could help. And so where is our focus this night?
[41:16] Are we giving glory to God, the one who is holy, holy, holy? I say I seize the holiness of God.
[41:29] But then he also sees something else as well. He saw the presence of God. The whole earth is full of his glory, they were saying.
[41:41] And the foundations and the threshold shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. The presence of God was there in a powerful way.
[41:53] I say, Isaiah may be gone, but God, the Lord, is reminding them that he is there for them. And that's so often the reminder that we have throughout Scripture.
[42:06] We see and remember the truth that God promises to be with his people. That as we call on him, he hears our cry. As we, in our desperation, as we see our great needs in this world, if we call on him, he is there.
[42:29] If we trust in him, we are never alone. And maybe you're anxious this evening. Is the Lord with me? Can I really know him?
[42:42] Well, the promise of his word is that he will be with you always. That is his promise. The presence of God is with his people.
[42:54] Isaiah, he saw the Lord. He saw the aura, the glory of God. And that is what we are to see ourselves. The third thing that we see as Isaiah surveys here is an awareness.
[43:12] An awareness within himself. So he's been looking around. He's been looking at the nation. He's been looking at the people. Everything that's going on around them. But now he begins to look at himself.
[43:26] And how did he respond in this circumstance? As he saw the glory of God, what happened to Isaiah and the death of Isaiah, the king, and all this being taken away from the people?
[43:40] Isaiah became aware that he had been relying on his earthly king. But the people had been trusting in Isaiah instead of relying on the heavenly king.
[43:53] Instead of relying on the Lord who is high and lifted up. And now what he realizes is is he has seen the glory of the Lord as the error of his way.
[44:03] And look at what it makes him say in verse 5. And I said, Woe is me for I am lost.
[44:14] I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. From my eyes I've seen the king, the lord of hosts. The more he sees the king, the lord of hosts, the more he realizes how lost he is.
[44:32] Oh, that we would see that ourselves. That we would recognize those words of Isaiah for ourselves. Woe is me for I am lost.
[44:43] There is a realization, there is a recognition here that apart from God we are as good as dead. We fall short of his glory.
[44:55] Isaiah and so many of the people with him in that day would have thought all is well. We have a good king in Isaiah. We have a great prosperity in our land. All is going well.
[45:07] But underneath there is something seriously wrong. And it's only when we see God that we begin to realize no matter how good our life is apart from God there is nothing there at the end of the day for us.
[45:23] We are as good as dead. And when Isaiah sees the glory of God all he can say is woe is me for I am lost.
[45:37] Have you come to that point yourself? You begin to see the wonder of God the glory of God and the passion of Christ. And is it making you say woe is me I am as good as lost.
[45:54] I am not worthy of the least of these mercies. The glory of God just stops us in our tracks. It's never a nice time of year just now to be out driving when the late afternoon when it's starting to get dark or into the evening.
[46:12] Especially when you're driving and there's another car coming towards you. And it can be so dazzling. The lights of the other car can be so bright. You almost have to slow down to a stop sometimes because it's just putting you into a blindness.
[46:25] You can't see where you're going. Well the glory of God is just that to us. It stops us in our tracks. The glory of God is a powerful thing.
[46:42] And when Isaiah sees it he's there in the temple. He sees the glory of God. And it just stops. Woe is me.
[46:54] The closer we come to God the more we hear of this Christ who died for our sins. The more we see that it was our sins that put him there.
[47:06] The more we see woe is me. For I am lost. So Isaiah was coming to see that. And our conclusion may be that very same conclusion as Isaiah that we are lost.
[47:25] And that's where our survey or examination will take us. We feel lost. But we remember the shepherd who came to seek the lost.
[47:38] The good shepherd who came even for that one sheep who was still missing. He came to bring that sheep in. And so as we move on the fourth thing that we see here is the assurance that Isaiah has given.
[47:58] The assurance in God's word that when we draw near to him he will draw near to us. Isaiah feels lost.
[48:10] He is a man of unclean lips when he sees the king the lord of hosts. Then in verse 6 it goes on to say then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand a burning coal they had taken with tongs from the altar and he touched my mouth and said behold this has touched your lips your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.
[48:39] There is this great assurance to Isaiah. There is this great assurance that as we see our sin and as we repent of our sin as we come to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ that there we find the place where our sin our guilt is taken away and our sin atoned for at the cross of Jesus Christ.
[49:07] Christ. In John chapter 6 Jesus says all that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
[49:26] So if you come you have that promise you have that assurance he will never cast you out. yes you feel woe is me yes you feel I am lost but as you trust in the sacrifice that Christ has made as you put your trust in him your sin is atoned for your guilt is taken away through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[49:59] Isaiah found that as he came near to God God was a God of glory that he was lost and unclean but that God was able to save and that's what we have in the sacrament of the Lord's supper.
[50:17] We remember what he has done what we could never and cannot ever do ourselves he gave his body he shed his blood so we might have that assurance that through faith in him our sin is atoned for so we examine ourselves to that end as well thanks to God that the Lord does not just point out our sins and say look at all the things that you have done wrong that's what we'll do we'll examine ourselves and say how could I possibly come before this holy God this God of glory how could I possibly come and sit at the Lord's table we don't come through what we have done we come through what has been done for us through the cleansing blood of Christ our sins are atoned for with the precious blood of Christ so what you see is he is beholding the glory of God and the more he is beholding the glory of God the more he sees the wonder of sin atoned for the more he sees the wonder of the grace of God and for us today we behold this glory in the portion of Christ we come through faith in him so him writer says when I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died my riches gain
[52:01] I count but lost loss and poor contempt on all my pride forbidden Lord that I should boast save in the death of Christ my God all the vain things that char me most I sacrifice them through his blood where the whole world the realm of nature mine that were a present far too small love so amazing so divine demands my soul my life my all the assurance that God gives that when we come through faith our sins are forgiven it makes a demand of us demands our life demands our all and so the final thing that we see here is that through this assurance that Isaiah is given we see finally the availability in verse 8 it says
[53:07] I heard the voice of the Lord saying whom shall I send and who will go for us then I said here am I send me what a transformation has taken place woe is me for I am lost but now through the assurance that God gives and a greater vision of God inspires him that whatever he will do he will do it for God and that is the challenge to ourselves this evening as we examine ourselves do we put ourselves into the hands of God and say here am I yes I'm a sinner yes I'm unworthy but here am I Lord send me Lord use me as Isaiah realizes that he is redeemed he also realizes he is ready do you do you realize that through faith you are redeemed and therefore you are ready you are ready to come to the
[54:25] Lord's table you are ready to come to be used by God to be sent by God to whatever ends he has prepared for you to make yourself available to put yourself into his hands the hands of this God the Lord of hosts high and lifted up the one who is able Isaiah realizes this and he says here am I send me what a brilliant transformation are you trusting and making yourself available are you coming in faith to the table of the Lord trusting in him who has prepared it for you the one who says there is a place for you his word may sear your heart but may touch your lips and may you see that though you are still saying what I say a woe is me may your lips be touched by Christ that you may profess him there is a story told it was late in 1903 and there was a pastor in West
[55:51] Wales who had been ministering for a number of years there and he was growing weary and grieved by the worldiness of the young people in that village and how little devotion they had to the Lord Jesus he was concerned and troubled for them and as his burden grew he arranged for a special two day youth meeting to take place over the new year many of the young people were invited and messages were preached that spoke to the hearts of many of these young people the word of God was powerful and it made a deep impression on them and especially on one young girl a teenage girl named Flory Evans she was maybe in her late teens at this point but she was challenged by what she heard troubled by what she heard so just a few weeks after this event she was so troubled in her heart she was grieving over her life that she came to speak to the pastor one evening she shared how troubled she was and she realized she couldn't rescue herself but what happened in her life was this she came to the conclusion that she knew
[57:16] I cannot go on like this and the pastor asked young Flory he said to her can you say my Lord of the Lord Jesus Christ she couldn't answer but she was left pondering this question soon after she was converted she gave her heart to the Lord Jesus Christ and now she was wanting to be obedient to him but her heart was so troubled by her own nature she was such a shy girl she just couldn't speak out for the Lord but one Sunday evening in February she heard the minister ask an assembled crowd of the youth what Jesus meant to them he was looking around the room for an answer not just in a general sense but to actually hear what Jesus meant to them he asked what does
[58:22] Jesus mean to you there was silence in the room no one was speaking then after a minute or so Flory stood to answer and she said I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart and as she spoke those words the spirit of God moved in that place and those who heard her saying it began to understand the love of Christ that had touched this young girl's heart and there was a great movement of the spirit in Wales in 1904 this was the beginning of a mighty revival the Welsh revival of 1904 1905 a young girl a shy girl stood on the side of the Lord and said I love the Lord with all my heart can we say that in a year when so much has changed when so much is going on around us may we see the
[59:32] Lord high and lifted up ruling over all our woes and see a gracious saviour who has come to save us and that we would come and worship him can you say my Lord of the Lord Jesus Christ can you say I love the Lord with all my heart then your sins are forgiven your sins are atoned for because through faith in him he does that for you that love demands our all it demands a response and the greatest response we can give is to come and do this in remembrance of him we examine ourselves we feel unworthy we feel woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips but we lift our eyes to the
[60:44] Lord the one who rules on high we fix our eyes on Jesus the one who was lifted up may we see him in all his glory and see ourselves unworthy as we are but to be able to say I love the Lord with all my heart let us pray Herrn Lord help us please help us lives. Help us, Lord, that we may be able to profess the Lord as my Lord and to say I love the Lord with all my heart. Lord, help us and strengthen us for it as we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.
[61:43] We're going to conclude by singing to God's praise in Psalm 116. Psalm 116. We're singing from verse 11 down to the end of the psalm.
[61:58] I said when I was in my haste that all men liars be. What shall I render to the Lord for all his gifts to me? I love salvation. Take the cup on God's name will I call. I'll pay my vows now to the Lord before his people all. We sing from verse 11 to 19 to God's praise and the tune is rest.
[62:20] I said when I was in my haste that all men liars be. What shall I render to the Lord for all his gifts to me? I love salvation. Take the cup on God's name will I call. I'll pay my vows now to the Lord.
[63:18] The Lord before his people all. The Lord before his people all. The Lord in God's sight is his sin's death.
[63:33] . . .
[63:46] . . . . .
[63:57] . And all things I to thee will give, and on God's name will call.
[64:11] I'll pay my arms now to the Lord, before his people all.
[64:28] Within the courts of God's own hearts, within the midst of thee, O city of Jerusalem, Father, praise to the Lord, dear thee.
[65:00] After the benediction, I'll go to the main door. Now may grace, mercy, and peace from God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest upon, and abide with us all now and forevermore.
[65:14] Amen.