[0:00] We can turn back together to our reading in Isaiah chapter 6.! This evening we're going to look at verse 1 to verse 8.! Isaiah chapter 6.
[0:11] We'll just read again at the beginning of that chapter. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and so on.
[0:26] What kind of year have you had so far? As we've come into the month of April, we've come to that quarter of the way through 2026, and you could maybe say, well, perhaps things have been going well so far.
[0:40] Perhaps things have been difficult to this point. Or perhaps maybe it's just been, seemed like just another ordinary year in many ways. It's the kind of question we can just ponder from time to time.
[0:52] How have things been so far? We've got young people in here tonight, and many of you will be coming up to exam times just now, so maybe you don't want to be asked too many questions just now.
[1:05] But that kind of question is a kind of reflective question. How would you answer that in terms of writing an essay? How has your year been so far? Reflect on that.
[1:16] Or we maybe have some who have been to the 40th reunion this weekend, or maybe here for the fellowship this evening. And again, that's always a time of reflection. Maybe not just one year, but how have your years been so far?
[1:30] How has your life gone? What direction has it taken? Whatever age and stage we're at, there's always that time to reflect and to ask, well, how are things going for us?
[1:44] So how have things been this year? Sounds maybe like a bit of a survey question, where you're asked a variety of different questions. In a survey, they're trying to get to the crux of how things are going.
[1:58] For example, the nation that we live in every 10 years has a national census. It's a survey where there's a variety of different questions asked, and they're trying to ascertain just how the nation is going, what direction it's going in.
[2:14] And a lot of people get very excited about it, especially when they look at questions about faith. For some reason, people seem to enjoy finding out how faith is going, especially when, for the last number of years, the Christian faith, according to the census anyway, is in decline.
[2:34] It's said that between 1930 and 2010, the number of church members in the United Kingdom had reduced by 50%.
[2:44] The last census in 2021, it was said that for the first time in the history of these census, that Christianity had fallen below 50% of the nation identifying as Christian.
[2:59] It was down at 46%. So these kind of surveys, they tell us different things, but they don't always give a true reflection of everything that's going on.
[3:12] Just like when you have a house that may be going on the market, going for sale, you have to get a surveyor in to look at it. But the surveyor isn't able to tell everything about the house.
[3:23] You'll often see in a surveyor's report a line saying, I wasn't able to access a certain point. It may be the loft space. It may be under the floor, into the foundations.
[3:35] So the surveyor has only gone by what he can see. But in many ways, that might be missing the most important thing about that house. Maybe a foundation that is starting to crack, or a roof that is showing signs of decay.
[3:51] And so there's things that can be missed. A survey doesn't always tell us all the answers. But as we look at this passage here in Isaiah together this evening, Isaiah chapter 6, what we find here is Isaiah the prophet very much taking part in a survey of the nation, looking around and seeing what's happening in the land that he lives in, among the people that he is living with, and where he finds himself in all of this as well.
[4:23] And so it's an important time in his life, a time when he's looking around and taking stock. And we see that in many ways, it seems bleak for God's people.
[4:36] And even for Isaiah himself, it seems to be bleak in some ways. It's a time of sorrow, a situation in the land that's looking very difficult.
[4:47] But the deeper you go into his survey, you see that there is something else, and something greater to be seen. It reveals much about the situation that he's in.
[5:00] It reveals much about himself. But above all, this survey that he's doing reveals much more about God, and the need to lean on him.
[5:12] And Isaiah chapter 6 is very much a chapter that we see turning from a sense of despair to a sense of delighting in God, even in the midst of very difficult situations.
[5:27] It's a time for reflection, a time for survey. As we see in the beginning of this chapter, it's about a significant year, in the year that King Uzziah died.
[5:40] And so there's a significance in that for us. It's a time of asking, how is their year going? How have their years gone? And what might lie ahead for them?
[5:53] And so as we look at Isaiah's survey of the situation here, we're going to see five things that he sees as he looks around, and as he looks at himself. We're going to see that there's an ache in his heart, and among the people.
[6:07] There's an ache. But we see then that there's an aura. There's a sense of seeing something significant in the midst of their ache. Then there's an awareness, an awareness of what is happening.
[6:21] Then there's an assurance of what their situation that they are in is about. And then we see finally, there's an availability from Isaiah. So there's five things that we're going to see together from this passage.
[6:34] And the first thing is an ache. There's an ache in his heart and the hearts of many of the people. And we see that in these opening words that tell us, in the year that King Uzziah died.
[6:49] What's the significance of this, you might ask? Is there any significance in it? Well, it is significant. I say I record that because this is an important point in their history, in their lives.
[7:03] in the year that King Uzziah died. So this is a point of reflecting this year that they are in, this point that they've come to.
[7:14] And it's significant because it's a time of great pain. Uzziah the king has died. And sometimes in the history of the Old Testament, you find that the king's passing would not cause pain and grief.
[7:30] It would cause rejoicing when the king was not a good king. And there was often the case where the king could be quite hard on the people and mistreat the people.
[7:42] But we find here that Uzziah had been a king who was a good king. And he had been a king for a very long time. He'd been a king for about 52 years.
[7:53] And he had been good for the people. The people had enjoyed much blessing under his reign. There was power. There was wealth. There was success. You could almost say unlike anything that experienced since the days of Solomon.
[8:08] There was a real period of blessing. And so this year, the year that King Uzziah died, was significant. It brought grief into their midst.
[8:21] It disturbed Isaiah. He records it here for us. This was a significant point in the year that King Uzziah died.
[8:31] Because his death signaled the end of a great period for these people. A period of prosperity. A period of spiritual consistency where he had led the people well.
[8:44] And now they were going into a period of change and a period of doubt. And it wasn't all good. It's evidence for that when you see the first five chapters that things were changing.
[8:59] That things were going to go in a different direction for the people. There's evidence of it in chapter 6 at the end of the chapter when it's speaking about the people then being taken into foreign lands.
[9:11] So it's evidence here that this year in which King Uzziah died was an important year. A significant year. And so there was change in their midst.
[9:25] They had been looking towards Uzziah in dependence. Depending on him as their king. Depending on him as the one who was going to lead them well.
[9:37] And that as long as he was there then things were going to be well with them. In the year that King Uzziah died things changed.
[9:49] What can we say about it ourselves when we think of the years in which we're living in just now. Even this year 2026. We could maybe reflect on this year in many different ways and look at maybe our own individual lives and say things like well in this year when I was given a bad diagnosis.
[10:08] In this year when I lost my job. In this year when my heart was troubled in many different ways. Or we could look at it in a more wider sense as well.
[10:23] In this year when we have seen everything taking place in the Middle East. In this year when we are seeing again the prices of everything going in such a direction that it causes much worry and concern.
[10:37] There's so many things that are happening around us. We can reflect on this year already in a short space of time that's seen a lot of change. And when we see that we ask ourselves what does that do to us?
[10:57] Where does it take us? How do we feel in the midst of it? In the sense of all of these things changing. For I say in the year that King Uzziah died caused him great concern.
[11:12] And as we look at our year and we see all of these changes taking place does it cause us does it cause you concern? Because it makes us ask well what is the foundation of our life?
[11:25] The foundation for the nation as Isaiah is looking at here you might think initially is Uzziah. That he was the one who was important to everything and that's the way it would seem.
[11:38] It was significant and for ourselves the foundation of our lives may have been a loved one. It may have been a job. It may have been the money that we have.
[11:48] It may have been the peace that was relative around the world. But when things begin to change suddenly these foundations are shaken and they make us ask questions.
[12:00] What is your foundation as you look at the year in which you're living? Well for Isaiah it was Uzziah was important he was important for the people.
[12:12] So there was an ache a hurt when Uzziah died. But where did that take them? Where did it take Isaiah? Well it takes us to our second point where we see that there was an aura.
[12:28] There was an aura. In the year that King Uzziah died where did he look? Well he goes on to say I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up.
[12:42] In the year that King Uzziah died Isaiah saw a greater aura. He saw the Lord sitting upon the throne high and lifted up.
[12:56] So in the midst of the pain of Uzziah's death and the doubts about the future what it might hold there is a reminder that Isaiah sees. It is the Lord that is sovereign and overruling in all things.
[13:13] It is the Lord that is in control. and as we look around ourselves this evening and in this year or in all our years through all the different changes through all the different directions we have gone through all the different ups and downs when so often we have maybe just looked to ourselves looked to our own wisdom our own understanding of things maybe we are being taken to the point where we begin to see something different something else where our eyes should have always been fixed upon and that is the aura of God the Lord sitting upon a throne.
[13:54] You get the sense here that the people had lost their vision of the Lord you get it so often throughout the Old Testament where things went into decline it is because they took their eyes of God away from God they started to look to idols and false gods of their own wisdom and that is when things went wrong and perhaps even a good king like Uzziah was making them take their eyes off the Lord and so Uzziah's death was perhaps maybe a good thing in that sense because it made them look somewhere else and look to the Lord Isaiah is reminded who is really in control Uzziah might have been a good king but he was a king appointed by God and used by God and so Isaiah here is being reminded that when we look around and we see turmoil on the surface the ache the pain of Uzziah's death and the uncertainty that it brings it brings him to a greater place that the Lord is sovereign sitting on his throne and what did he see of the
[15:09] Lord well you see that there's three things that he saw of the Lord first of all he saw his position Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon the throne so there was this sovereignty there's a peace in that there's an assurance in that an earthly king may have died but the Lord still reigned he saw the Lord in all his glory and it had a profound impact on Isaiah he lifted his eyes up I saw the Lord high and lifted up and so in the midst of everything going on in your life just now are you lifting your eyes up to God and faith as the Lord shakes our lives in different ways take things from us removes foundations that we were relying on are we lifting our eyes to God and faith and seeing that he is sovereign he saw us well he saw
[16:15] God's personality how did he see this well he sees it as you hear the angelic beings saying holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts the whole earth is filled with his glory there was that sense that he could see the glory of God not the glory of usiah as a good king but the glory of God and Isaiah understood that usiah might have been a good king but the Lord is a holy holy holy God he is far greater and he is the one who deserves all glory and praise and so when your life is stripped bare as we would say when the rug is pulled from under your feet and things are shaken in your life what do you have do you have that vision of God who is holy holy holy that security with God
[17:21] I say I learned it's not about Isaiah it's not about himself it's all about God that he is the one who deserves that place of glory in our lives so are you giving him that glory he saw his personality he also saw his presence you see that in verse four the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called and the house was filled with smoke there was a sense of the presence of God so Isaiah was gone but there was this assurance that God was there God was with him God was with his people he's reminded powerfully of that he might have felt forsaken in that sense of the loss of Isaiah but it only brought him to see more of the glory of God and the presence of
[18:21] God as a great reminder there for us we can be a people who feel lonely at times we can feel isolated we can feel afraid and maybe you have that sense maybe you are one of these people who feels a sense of loneliness tonight but there's that great reminder to us here this great truth that if we are saved if we are belonging to God we are never alone you are never alone because his presence is promised that aura of God is there for his people at all times he is with us always that's the promise that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ as he gave that great commission lo I am with you always even to the end of the age there is that presence that aura of God that we can know in our own lives as we look to him so are you lonely this evening well you can know that as you look to
[19:22] God as you lift up your voice your eyes to God as you see he is sovereign he is present he is holy he is all of these things and he is it for you that you might know him with you the third thing we see here is an awareness how did I say I respond in as he saw the glory of God what did it do for him well it made him realize what he had been relying on he had been relying on his earthly king he had been relying on usiah for things to go well for him and for the people of God instead of looking to the heavenly king to God in heaven and the king that is secure on his throne there so what he realizes now is seeing the glory of God is his error he becomes aware of his error you see that in verse 5 look at his response to everything that he has seen in verse 5 woe is me for
[20:36] I am lost that's his response in verse 5 woe is me for I am lost I say I probably thought all was well in his life enjoying that peace that the king usiah had brought the blessings that had been many he thought all was well but when usiah was taken away he was made aware of his own short comings he says I am lost what he's saying is I am as good as dead when I am relying on earthly things for my life for my salvation for everything that I need if I am putting my trust in these things I am lost woe is me and what has made him aware of this is the glory of God when you're driving at night and we see it maybe more so now with the cars that are coming towards us and the brightness of their lights it can be hard sometimes to see where you're going the lights are shining so brightly you almost have to come to a stop sometimes to make sure that you're staying well imagine what the glory of
[22:00] God does how that stops us in our tracks we see it here with Isaiah he has just stopped in his tracks the glory of God all that he is seeing and he comes to the point and says woe is me for I am lost it has stopped him and that's what the word of God does to us to this day maybe it's doing it has been for some time it's making you stop in your tracks and all you can say is the same as I say a woe is me for I am lost because the word of God makes us aware of our lostness it makes us aware of where we are in this year and in every year it brings us to realize where we stand before God and if we are relying on the world when we survey our lives when we survey our situations when we think do
[23:05] I have God in my life am I trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for my salvation if not well we can only say woe is me for I am lost the glory of God brings this revelation to Isaiah and the word of God the glory of God that speaks to us through it makes the same through for ourselves it makes us realize that apart from God we are indeed lost but where was Isaiah here he wasn't turning away from God he was looking towards God God and so it is good for us to be looking towards God it is good for us to be coming under the word of God when it makes us stop in our tracks and when it makes us look at our lives and makes us realize we are indeed lost because if we don't realize this nothing changes if we just carry on as if life is fine nothing changes and sometimes it takes a moment or a circumstance or a providence in our lives to make us stop and take stock and see what is important had
[24:34] Isaiah not died perhaps Isaiah and the others would have carried on as aware thinking we are fine as long as we have Isaiah and we can carry on in our lives thinking I'm fine as long as I have my health my work my family and all of these things but when they are taken from us that is when we become more aware woe is me for I am lost we see the wonder of God here though you see God in his words speaking and you see him pointing!
[25:10] us towards himself and towards all that he would do for us because when we think of these words woe is me for I am lost we think of our condition and sin that we are a lost people and if we are lost we need a savior who Zacchaeus in the sermon this morning. And we're reminded that the Lord Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. The lost. And so in the midst of everything that's changing and becoming aware of our situation, that is a good thing. Because we see here it leads to the next point, which is an assurance. An assurance. And that's what Isaiah is given here as well. Because he says,
[26:33] Woe is me, for I am lost. 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. He has seen the glory of God.
[26:47] He has seen how lost he is in the midst of it. But then he is given an assurance. And what is the assurance that he's given? Well, the assurance that he has given is that as he draws near to God, God draws near to him. And that's the assurance that we can have this evening as well.
[27:10] That when we begin to realize and become aware of our lostness, our sin, and how we are destined to be lost for eternity in it, well, it leads us to see our only hope is through God and his word and a Savior who is Christ Jesus. And so the assurance that we come to see is that God will not turn us away, but that God is seeking after those who are lost. You see it in the Old Testament. You see it in the New Testament. And for example, Nehemiah chapter 1 verse 9 and 10, But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen. So we can go so far away from God.
[28:02] We can be like that prodigal son who has just gone far away from his father, but God can still reach out. There's an awareness, and then we come to that assurance that God will not turn us away.
[28:22] Jesus tells us that in the Gospel of John chapter 6 verse 37, All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
[28:34] There's great assurance in that. Where do we go with our lostness? We go to Christ. And as we come to Christ, we are assured, whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
[28:48] And what did Isaiah find as he came to God? That he was full of glory, that God was full of glory, that he was lost and unclean, but ultimately he found that God could save. Because you read in verse 6, Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongues from the altar.
[29:16] And he touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away, and your sin is atoned for.
[29:26] So he has given assurance. So he has given assurance. What great assurance there is for us as we come to God, that he is the one who is able to forgive us our sins. He came with a coal, a burning coal, and touched his lips.
[29:49] Your sin is atoned for. Where do we go? Where do we look for that atonement, that our sin being forgiven?
[30:00] We look to the cross. We look to the place where Christ died in our place, that we might have salvation through him.
[30:14] In 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18, Paul says there, There is a work going on in God's people as we look to him being turned from one degree of glory to another.
[30:37] Little by little, being made like Jesus. Seeing his glory more and more. Being transformed into his likeness.
[30:52] That assurance that we have that the more we look to him, the more we see our sin, but the more we see our salvation in what he has done for us.
[31:04] And so for us today, we behold God's glory in Jesus Christ. Christ crucified for his people. We look to the cross.
[31:15] When we speak of surveying everything that's going on around us, looking at the year in which we live in, where can we turn? We can survey the cross. As the hymn writer says, When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died, my riches gain, I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride.
[31:39] That is what Isaiah was doing here. His pride was in the king who was Isaiah, who was taken away. But it takes him to put all that aside and look to the glory of God.
[31:57] So where are you looking this evening? For that assurance. For that hope. For today. For tomorrow. For all eternity. As you see your lostness.
[32:10] As you are able to say, like I say, A woe is me. For I am lost. Where do you go? Well, you can go to the cross. And to Jesus Christ.
[32:22] Pour contempt on all your pride. Everything you have count as loss. Compared to the riches that are in Christ.
[32:35] Find that assurance in him. Well, the fifth and final thing we see here is where it leads, I say. Isaiah. And what we see is an availability.
[32:48] Because a great vision of God and his glory, as somebody said, inspires us in the mission of God. And when you look at Isaiah here, when you see his sin atoned for, in verse 8 then it goes on to say, And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send?
[33:07] And who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I. Send me. Here am I. Send me.
[33:18] What a changed. It's just a few verses before, when Isaiah is showing where he stands. Woe is me, for I am lost. I'm a man of unclean lips.
[33:29] Well, he's seen the glory of God. He's seen his lostness. But he's been given that assurance of his sin atoned for. And so what now? Well, he makes himself available.
[33:41] Here am I. Send me. He was made right with God. And so, instead of now surveying the hopelessness of everything around him, and the despair, Isaiah was dead.
[33:57] All the blessings that they've enjoyed, they were gone in many ways. But his survey takes him deeper. And now he realizes it's about the Lord who is sovereign.
[34:09] And as we look at the world in which we live in, and as we see everything that can make us afraid, let's just see that that is just the surface.
[34:20] Because the depths of the foundation of this world are a sovereign God. And we are to make ourselves available to him. So are you making yourself available?
[34:34] Are you giving yourself over into the hands of this sovereign God? Just like Isaiah saying, Here am I. Send me. You don't know what he's going to send you out for.
[34:48] But he has a purpose for every one of his people. He has a use for every one of his people. It may be something that seems small and insignificant, but yet it is to be faithful to God, and just to say, Here am I.
[35:04] Send me. To make ourselves available for him. That is what is key. That is what Isaiah did here. And that is what many of God's people have done.
[35:17] In the year 1903, late in that year, there was a pastor in West Wales who had become very grieved over the worldliness among young people and a lack of devotion to the Lord Jesus among the young people.
[35:35] And this burden kept growing on him. And so he arranged at New Year time a special two-day youth event so that the young people could come together.
[35:46] And they were coming under the Word of God. The Word of God was to be preached. And messages were preached that spoke to the hearts of the young people and made a deep impression on them, especially on one young girl, a teenage girl.
[36:01] She was called Flory Evans. She was challenged by the preaching of God's Word that she heard. And God's Word would not go away from her.
[36:13] And a month later, she found herself at crisis point. And so she asked to meet with the pastor and speak with him. And she spoke to him about how God's Word had been speaking to him.
[36:26] And she felt herself lost in life. She was in despair. And she was saying, I cannot live like this. And the pastor asked her a question.
[36:38] He said, Could you say, My Lord, to the Lord Jesus Christ? And she began to ponder this question deeply.
[36:48] Could she say, The Lord Jesus is my Lord? And that's what kept working away at her. Until she came to the point where she was able to say, He is my Lord.
[37:03] She was converted. God had given her a new heart. And a heart for the Lord.
[37:14] And obedience to him was her new life. And God would soon use this young girl in a powerful way. It was at the end of February on a Sunday night.
[37:27] And it was after a sermon that evening where the young people were gathered together. And the pastor asked them a question to all the people there.
[37:37] What does Jesus mean to you? And he was waiting for a few moments to see if anyone would speak. And there was silence. Until, after a few moments, Flory stood up.
[37:54] And she said, I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart. It's all she could say. I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart.
[38:05] But that expression of love in that room touched many of the other people's hearts. And that sense of conviction started to spread among the young people.
[38:17] And many started to be converted. Flory's simple testimony that night began to move among the people.
[38:30] And at that time, the Welsh revival of 1904, 1905 began. Did it begin with her? No.
[38:41] Because it was all of God. But God used her. And her testimony. Just those few words. What does Jesus mean to you?
[38:53] I love the Lord Jesus with all of my heart. He used her. Because she said, Here am I. She could not hold it in.
[39:07] Isaiah could not hold it in. Here am I. Send me. And so God sent him. And sent him into a very difficult situation.
[39:19] But God used him mightily. And God can use any one of us in a mighty way. And so as we look at this year in which King Uzziah died, in all the uncertainty that it brought, in all the pain, the ache that there was, what it brought Isaiah to see, was the glory of God.
[39:45] And may our year, may your year just now, may your point in life just now, bring you to see that there is no foundation in this world that is secure other than the salvation that is found by God giving his son.
[40:01] May we see our lostness, as Isaiah says, Woe is me, for I am lost. But may we see with assurance that he is able to save our sin as atoned for through what has been done at the cross.
[40:17] And may we then come to say, Here am I. Send me. Lord, use us. Whatever plan, whatever purpose you have for every one of us, may we say, Here am I.
[40:32] Send me. Let us pray. Lord, our gracious God, we thank you that your word is an active word, a living word, a word that gives us assurance in the midst of the most difficult times, in the midst of most uncertain times.
[40:49] As Isaiah experienced that in the year that King Uzziah died, may we look at our own years and say, In the midst of all that goes on around us, may we see the Lord high and lifted up.
[41:02] May we see his glory, your glory, in our midst. And may we see it working in our hearts to see us coming to recognize our lostness, but the salvation that you give through Jesus Christ.
[41:16] So we ask all of these things for your glory and for your sake. Amen. We're going to conclude by singing to God's praise in Psalm 116.
[41:30] The Sing Psalms version, page 154. Psalm 116, we'll sing from verse 1 to verse 9.
[41:40] I love the Lord because he heard my voice. He listened when I cried to him for aid. I'll call on him as long as I shall live because he turned to hear me when I prayed.
[41:54] The tune is even tied. We stand to sing verse 1 to 9. I love the Lord I love the Lord because he heard my voice.
[42:11] He listened when I cried to him for aid. I'll call on him as long as I shall live.
[42:29] because he turned to hear me when I prayed. The court of death with grip and entangled thee upon me came the anguish of the grave.
[42:56] With grief and trouble I was overcome Then on the name of God I called Lord save The Lord our God is strengthened full of grace Both righteous and compassionate The Lord protects all those of childlike faith When I was in grave When I was in grave need He rescued me Rest, O my soul
[43:57] God, I speak with you For you, O Lord I've saved my soul from death My feet from stumbling And my eyes from tears That I may live for you While I have breath After the benediction I'll go to the door to my left We'll close with the benediction Now may grace, mercy and peace from God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon and abide with you all now and forevermore Amen Amen Amen Thank you.