I know a man who was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for a double murder.
He murdered a mother and her baby.
This was a number of years ago.
At one point, this man was placed in the same section of Long Bay Jail
as the guys who were involved, who were convicted for murder in the Milpere Bicy Bicy massacre
back in Father's Day in 1984, I think it was.
I'm a bit vague. I was pretty young at the time.
And in that massacre, I think six bikies were killed,
but they gunned down a 14-year-old girl in the crossfire, an innocent girl.
And so one day in Long Bay Jail, these bikies grabbed hold of this bloke that I know,
beat him up really badly, poured boiling water all over him and put him in intensive care.
And the reason they did that was because they considered him to be such a lowlife for having killed a baby.
Now, I find it remarkable.
It's a remarkable trait of the pride-driven human heart
that no matter where we are, no matter what we're guilty of,
we can always find someone who makes us feel morally superior.
Even in a supermax prison, surrounded by the worst of the worst,
you will always find someone who makes you feel better.
There will always be someone who will make our sinfulness and our lack of righteousness
look positively praiseworthy in our eyes.
Much like the Pharisee in the parable that was read out to us in Luke 18,
where he says,
God, I thank you that I'm not like other men.
And especially that tax collector over there.
What a scumbag.
Jesus directed this parable, he says right at the beginning in verse 9,
to those who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.
And the parable has a really tough ending.
And the tough ending of this parable tells me that our core value of humble authenticity
that we're looking at tonight is a matter of life and death.
This is how Jesus puts it.
I tell you that this man, the tax collector, rather than the other,
went home justified before God,
for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.
That is, God will humble them.
God will, in effect, crush them.
And he who humbles himself will be exalted.
God will lift up the humbled.
So this issue of self-righteousness and humility is so crucial
because it is ultimately about life and death and eternal life and death.
And there is a stark contrast between the Pharisee and the tax collector
and how they arrive at their self-evaluations.
The Pharisee assesses his righteousness by looking at someone that he considers a scumbag.
His tax collector.
The tax collector, humbled by his own sense of sin,
calls out to God.
He doesn't even look up to heaven.
He doesn't even look at God.
He is so crushed by his sin and he calls out to God.
John Calvin, bloke from years ago, said,
It is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself
unless he has first looked upon God's face
and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinizing himself.
For we always seem to ourselves righteous and upright and wise and holy.
This pride is innate in all of us.
Unless, by clear proofs, we can stand convinced of our own unrighteousness,
foulness, folly and impurity.
And so that's what we're going to do tonight.
Take a leaf out of Calvin's book
and we are going to begin with contemplating God first
and having contemplated the majesty and holiness of God,
we'll get an assessment of ourselves as human beings.
So let's have a look.
Isaiah invites us to share his vision of God in Isaiah 6, verses 1 to 4,
if you come with me on that one.
Isaiah 6, 1 to 4.
And this is obviously just one glimpse of God,
but I think it'll be enough for us at least to start for tonight.
And then you can continue on from here,
studying the attributes of God.
One thing that I want to encourage you to do.
Attributes of God and study your own human heart.
Know your heart and know God.
At least seven glimpses of God here in these first four verses.
Firstly, in verse 1, it says we see that God is alive.
King Uzziah is dead, but God lives.
Psalm 90, verse 2 says,
That's two sermons ago I said that.
God is ultimate reality because he existed before anything was made.
God was the living God when this universe banged into existence.
And that's not a sneaky reference to the Big Bang there.
He was the living God in 1966 when Time magazine put on their front cover,
God is dead.
And he will be alive, living 10 trillion ages from now
when all the puny human pot shots at his existence have dropped into oblivion
like a pebble into the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Over 54 million people die each year.
But not God.
In a brief 120 years,
this planet will be populated with at least 10 billion brand new people.
And the 7.238 something or other billion of us right now
will all be gone
off the face of the earth
just like King Uzziah.
But not God.
He always has been and he always will be alive.
Secondly, we see that God is authority.
Verse 2.
Saw the Lord seated on a throne.
God sits on his throne.
And that is the picture that you see consistently throughout the Bible.
God sits on his throne.
He rules.
All is at peace and calm in his heavenly kingdom.
You get no picture of God in the Bible at all, anywhere,
of God needing to cut the grass, pull the weeds out, load a truck,
or direct traffic, or anything like that.
He sits and he rules.
The throne is his right to rule the universe that he has created.
He has authority over our lives, whether we like it or not.
And after him there is nowhere else to appeal.
There is nothing beyond him.
Thirdly, we see that God is all-powerful.
The throne of his authority is not one among many thrones.
It says,
I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted.
That throne is,
God's throne is high and exalted,
is that it signifies his superior power over every other throne,
every other authority.
No opposing authority can nullify God's decrees.
He always fulfills and accomplishes what he purposes.
Nothing can get in his way.
As God says a little later in Isaiah 46, verse 10,
I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times,
what is still to come,
I say my purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.
And so to be gripped by the all-powerful sovereign God
is either marvellous,
because you know he's on your side,
or it is terrifying,
because you know that he is against you.
I want to say indifference to the sovereignty of God,
and he's all-encompassing power,
means that you just haven't seen him.
You can't be indifferent to the sovereignty of God,
and he's all-encompassing power,
just means you haven't seen him.
You haven't seen it for what it is.
Let me tell you friends,
if you're a person who trusts in the Lord Jesus,
in this world of chaos and instability and sin,
the sovereign authority of the living God
is a refuge full of joy.
It is a refuge full of joy.
It gets you out of bed in the morning.
For me, the sovereignty of God is a matter of survival,
day by day.
Fourthly, we see that God is magnificent.
I saw the Lord seated on a throne,
high and exalted,
and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Most of you,
a number of you,
weren't even alive when this happened.
1981,
Diana, Princess of Wales,
married Charles,
and the wedding day was televised,
it was live.
I was a young kid at this point,
like I was 11 or something like that.
And what happened was,
we had sort of like a wedding party.
So,
that is not I did.
A bunch of families got together,
watched it all on this little TV.
They weren't flat screens back in those days.
This little TV,
we're all watching this stuff,
all the weddings happening.
And I can remember it vividly
in this person's lounge room.
It's the middle of the night.
And,
what are we doing here?
At a wedding,
for goodness sake.
But the big moment was,
when Diana copped out of the carriage,
and started to walk up the steps of,
of St Paul's Cathedral in London.
And as she got out of the carriage,
the train of her dress,
just kept coming,
and kept coming,
and kept coming.
It was eight metres long.
And I didn't care,
but all the women in the room went,
oh,
wow,
look at that.
And,
really?
That was my response,
as an 11 year old boy,
and frankly,
it still would be now.
But,
what would it mean,
if the train of her dress,
not just filled the steps,
as a ball's cathedral,
but all inside cathedral,
all the pews,
and the,
the choir loft,
and the pulpit,
and the,
the balconies,
and the whole lot,
it was all made out of one piece of material.
I think the oohs,
and the ahs,
and the wows,
would be even more,
magnificent,
because that's the picture,
of the train,
of the robe,
of God's,
fills,
all of the heavenly realms.
It,
it,
the picture here,
is that God is incomparable,
in his splendor.
The fullness of God's splendor,
shows itself,
in thousands,
and millions of ways,
in what he has made,
from the heights of the galaxies,
and,
you know,
like,
you go out there,
in the middle of the darkness,
I know you can't do it in Chatswood,
but you go out there,
in the middle of the darkness,
and you just see the galaxies,
and you just read the passages,
where God says,
I just placed that one there,
and that one there,
and spoke them into existence,
from the heights of the galaxies,
to the depths of the ocean,
right down in the darkest deeps,
of the ocean,
where there are strange little fish,
that have their own headlights,
and some of them have got these dangly lights,
on the front of them,
and some are attached to their chins,
and some are at the bottom of their eyes,
and the noses glow,
and you can't even get your rod there,
and you go,
what are they there for?
I don't know,
except,
it's a display of the splendor,
of God.
You see,
God is lavish in his splendor,
and his creative fullness,
spills over,
spills over in excessive beauty,
and if that's the way the world is,
in all its,
intricate detail,
and beauty,
and majesty,
how much more spectacular,
is the God who,
thought it all up,
and brought it all into existence?
Fifthly,
God is revered,
above him,
were seraphs,
each with six wings,
with two wings,
they cover their faces,
with two they cover their feet,
and with two,
they were flying.
For whatever is going on here,
these six strange winged creatures,
with feats,
and eyes,
and intelligence,
they never appear in the Bible again,
at least,
not under the name of seraphim.
One thing is for sure,
given the grandeur,
of the,
the scene,
that we get a glimpse here,
of the heavenly realms,
and the power,
of these angelic hosts,
it's best for us,
not to picture,
chubby little babies,
with wings,
flushing around the ears of God.
That's not the picture here.
These are awesome beings.
Verse four says,
that when one of these dudes here,
speak,
the,
the foundations of the temple,
the foundations of heaven,
shake.
So there's no puny,
silly little creatures in heaven,
only magnificent one.
And even they,
these magnificent beings,
as great and as good as they are,
as untainted by human sin,
as they are,
even they,
revere their maker,
with great humility.
Two wings cover their face,
they won't even look upon the Lord,
nor do they even feel worthy,
to have their feet uncovered in his presence,
two are covering their feet.
How much more,
would we shudder and quake in his presence?
We,
who could not even bear to endure,
the presence of one of these seraphs.
They,
they,
they would freak us out.
Six,
God is holy,
verse three,
and they were calling to one another.
This,
this is the seraphs,
the ones who speak,
and the whole foundation shudder.
Holy,
holy,
is the Lord almighty.
The possibility of language,
carries the meaning of God,
and eventually,
you get to a point,
where it just runs out.
I mean,
what's left there to say?
And the word holy,
carries us to the brink.
This is,
this is kind of as far as we go.
And from there,
the experience of God,
is,
is beyond words for us.
And the reason I say that,
is every effort that you have,
in terms of trying to define,
what the holiness of God means,
it just keeps coming back around to say,
God is holy,
means,
God is God.
That's basically it.
God is one of a kind,
in a class by himself.
In that sense,
he is utterly holy,
but then you have just said nothing more,
than he's God.
God is absolute reality,
beyond which there is only more of God.
There's nothing beyond God.
There's nothing else that he answers to.
There's nothing else that he is separated from,
to make him distinct in his being.
He is incomparable.
His holiness determines all that he is,
and all that he does,
and it's not determined by any person,
or anything.
The arrogance of human beings,
to think that we can determine,
what God is like.
His holiness is what he is as God,
which no one else will be.
His holiness determines,
what it means is that,
he's not me,
and he's not you.
He is other than us.
Then the seventh and final thing about God,
God is glorious.
Verse 3,
Holy,
holy,
holy is the Lord God Almighty.
The whole earth,
is full of his glory.
And the best way to understand that,
in this context,
is probably to say,
the glory of God,
is the display,
or the exhibition,
of his holiness.
God's holiness,
is the incomparable perfection,
of his divine nature,
and his glory,
is when,
that divine nature,
is made public to us,
so that we can see it.
God is glorious,
means,
that his being,
has gone public,
so that we can understand,
what he's like.
In Leviticus 10 verse 3,
God says,
Among those who approach me,
I will show myself holy,
in the sight of all people,
I will be honoured,
or a better translation,
in the sight of all people,
I will be glorified.
When God,
shows himself to be holy,
what we see,
is glory.
And what we are meant to do,
when we see glory,
is worship.
That's our response.
And so when the seraphim say,
the whole earth is full of his glory,
what they're saying is,
the whole earth,
displays him.
We're meant to make the connection.
And the seraphim can say that,
it's because from the heights of heaven,
where they are in the throne room of God,
they get to glimpse,
all that God's made here,
and they go,
oh,
yeah,
I get that.
I get the connection.
I can see how this God,
has made that.
And this is a reflection of this God.
They see that.
The whole created order reflects something of the beauty,
and the character,
and the worth,
and the splendor,
and the holiness of God.
And so friends,
that is the necessary first step,
towards a life of humility.
It is seeing something of God,
something of his glory.
And can I say,
it is a continual process of seeing his glory.
And as I said in the first sermon on this series,
in Christ-centered Bible saturation,
the ability to see God,
is the gracious work of God in our lives.
And without his help,
we are blind to the facts about God.
No,
that's not what I said.
What did I say?
Two Sundays ago.
We're not blind to the facts about Christ.
We're blind to the glory.
We can't see glory.
We can't,
therefore,
we cannot see God.
Because glory is what he's revealed.
Without his help,
we are blind to his glory.
We can't even see God by our own strength,
and that is humbling.
But know this,
when God graciously allows us to see him,
when he reveals his glory to us,
we actually,
correspondingly,
at the same time,
we see our sin,
our lack of glory.
Isaiah 6,
5,
Woe to me,
I cried,
I am ruined.
For I am a man of unclean lips,
and I live among a people of unclean lips,
and my eyes have seen the King,
the Lord Almighty.
So to quote John Calvin again,
Isaiah sees in this moment
his unrighteousness,
foulness,
folly,
and impurity.
Impurity.
And it's the same experience that Peter had
when he'd been out fishing all night.
Remember the occasion,
he's fishing out all night,
doesn't catch anything,
so he kind of is about as good of a fisherman
as what I am.
And then Jesus comes along
and says to him,
cast your net on the other side of the boat.
And he's like,
really?
And so he does,
and he gets this huge haul of fish,
tries to bring it on the boat,
huge haul of fish.
And what happens in that moment?
Peter goes,
my goodness,
look at all these fish.
Retirement plan.
This is fantastic.
No, he doesn't.
This is how Luke records his response.
When Simon Peter saw this,
he fell at Jesus' knees and said,
go away from me, Lord.
I am a sinful man.
You see,
Peter had been walking with Jesus
and talking with him
and eating food with him for some time,
and then in this moment,
God allows him to see glory.
And the immediate response is,
I'm a sinful man.
God allowed Peter to see his glory
in the face of Christ in that moment.
And when that happens,
your own lack of glory,
your own sinfulness is what's exposed.
And Peter's experience
is the same as Isaiah's experience
because both of them got the same glimpse
of the same God.
John 12, 41 says,
Isaiah said this
because he saw Jesus' glory
and spoke about him.
That's a reference to Isaiah,
chapter 6, verses 1 to 4.
When God allows us to see his glory,
we also see how far short
we have fallen of that glory.
Romans 3, 23,
for all have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God.
The Bible diagnoses sin
as a universal deformity of human nature
which is found at every point
in every person.
The phrase that gets brandished around
is total depravity.
And it's commonly used
to make explicit
the implication of sin in our lives.
It means that there is a corruption
of our moral and spiritual nature
which is total.
Not in the sense
that we are all as bad
as we could be
because none of us,
none of us
are as bad
as we could possibly be.
Not one of us.
God graciously
restrains
our wickedness.
If he did not,
no two of us
could be left
in the same room
at the same time.
We would destroy each other.
That's kind of a glimpse
of hell
when God takes his hands away.
The only reason
you are sitting here today
or I'm standing here today
and not in a prison cell
is the gracious hand of God.
My friends,
that is humbling.
Total depravity means
that no part of us
is untouched by sin.
There is no action of ours
that is good
as it could possibly be.
Even the good things we do
are tainted by sin.
I mentioned this morning
at church this morning
that a month or two ago,
I can't remember exactly
what it was,
there was an elderly lady,
she was up reading the Bible
and then stepping down
off the stage,
I was up to preach
and I grabbed,
I put my hand out,
she grabbed my hand
and I helped her down the stairs,
you know,
help an old lady thing,
you know,
one good deed sort of stuff.
And in that moment,
when I saw her coming down
and realizing that she needed to help,
it was no problem for me
to stick my hand out
and help her.
And once she was down safely,
she walked off
and I started to ascend the stairs
and before I even got
to the lectern,
the thought in my mind was,
I wonder how many people
saw me do that.
Just like that,
just happened like that.
Everything that we do
is tainted by sin.
You know,
I don't just need
the blood of Christ
to cover the wrong things I do,
I need the blood of Christ
to cover even the good things I do
because there's no such thing
as a perfect performance.
I don't ever get anything
perfectly right.
Nothing in us or about us
ever will match
God's perfect standards.
Everything is tainted by sin.
And like Isaiah,
we are ruined
unless something is done for us.
And there is only one solution.
Isaiah 6.6
says that one of the seraphs
flew to Isaiah
with a live coal
and touched his unclean lips.
See,
this has touched your lips,
your guilt is taken away
and your sin is atoned for.
The seraph came from God
to Isaiah
to deal with Isaiah's sinfulness.
God atoning for our sin
is our only hope.
The seraph and the live coal
coming to Isaiah
is simply a forerunner
to God himself
coming to us
in the person of Jesus Christ
to deal with our sin.
1 John 4.10
This is love.
Not that we love God
but that he loved us
and sent his son
as an atoning sacrifice
for our sins.
1 John 2.1-2
makes it explicit.
Jesus Christ,
the righteous one,
the only one who's not sinned,
he is the atoning sacrifice
for our sins
and not only for ours
but also for the sins
of the whole world.
We are only saved
from our sin
by the action of God.
It is all of God
from first to last.
And so Christianity
is not about good people
getting better.
It's not about good people
getting better.
If anything,
it is good news
for bad people
coping with their failure
to do anything good.
Winston Churchill.
He was the master
of the clever put-down.
He once described
a political opponent
as a modest little man
who had a great deal
to be modest about.
But the Bible
consistently leads me
to believe
that I've got a great deal
to be modest about.
I've got every reason
to be humble.
I'm finite,
I'm weak,
I'm limited,
I'm sinful,
I'm inept,
I'm flawed,
I have a beginning,
I will have an end.
And yet,
the deceitfulness
of sin
means that I am not
immune from the
logic-defying effects
of pride.
When I first heard
about that incident,
about,
a number of years ago,
that incident about
those guys
in Long Bay Jail
and what they did,
I was amazed
how self-righteous
they were.
What right do murderers
have to judge
another murderer?
What makes them think
they're any better?
You know,
those guys,
I mean,
my goodness,
filth,
scumbag of the earth,
you gunned down
an innocent
14-year-old girl,
who gives you
the right to say
this guy,
because he killed a baby,
is worse than we are?
And yet,
when I say that,
I actually elevate
myself over them
as if they're worse
than I am.
How easy it is
to put ourselves
into this parable
of the Pharisee
and the tax collector
and know
that I must be
the tax collector
in order to be
right with God
and read this
parable
and go,
God,
I thank you
that I am not
like that
self-righteous Pharisee.
The irony
of sneering
at the one
who sneers.
is so entangled
in our hearts.
It's so easy
for us
to move
from dependency
in Jesus
back into
self-dependency.
The key
to living
the Christian life
is to never
get up
from the foot
of the cross.
You came
to Jesus
as an open
handed
beggar
and nothing
ever changes.
Nothing
ever changes.
When I see
beggars in the street
I used to think
get a job.
now I think
that's me.
I might be
wearing different
clothes
and I might be
showered
but that's me.
You came
as an open
handed beggar
and nothing
ever changes.
I rediscovered
this a fair bit
recently
in the last
number of years
in the life
of Charles
Simeon.
he was a
Christian minister
suffered greatly
and after
you've been
a Christian
for 40 years
he wrote
this
there are
two objects
that I've
ever desired
for these
40 years
to behold.
The one
is my own
vileness
he means
his own
sinfulness
and the
other
is the
glory of
God
in the
face
of Christ
and I've
always
thought
that they
should be
viewed
together.
You want
to get a
bigger
picture
of
God
and his
glory
what will
happen is
you'll
discover
your own
lack
of
glory
and to
mine
the
depths
of
your
own
lack
of
glory
and
your
own
sinfulness
you need
to cling to the
cross
you go
together.
He actually
labored to know
his true
sinfulness.
heart
He wrote
the tender
heart
the broken
and contrite
spirit
are to
me
far above
all these
joys that I
could ever
hope for
in this
veil of
tears.
I long
to be
in my
proper
place
my
hand
on my
mouth
and my
mouth
in the
dust.
I feel
that this
is safe
ground
here I
cannot
err
for I'm
sure that
whatever
God may
despise
he will
not
despise
the
broken
and
contrite
heart.
To
paraphrase
him a
little
bit
I
think
what
he's
saying
is that
the
safest
place
in the
world
is at
the
foot
of
the
cross
of
Christ
with
your
face
in
the
dust
in
humble
submission
in
total
dependency
upon
him.
Clinging
to his
righteousness
not
yours.
And
I
think
that
he
also
gets
that
from
Isaiah
66
2
that
tells
us
what
actually
draws
the
approval
of
God.
Not
our
ministry
budgets
not
our
building
program
not
how many
people
are
sitting
here
in
church
not
what
sort
of
good
deeds
you
do
or
what
money
you
give
in
church
this
is
what
gets
God's
attention.
He
who
is
humble
and
contrite
in
spirit
and
trembles
at
my
word.
I
am
thoroughly
convinced
that
there
can
be
no
effective
life
Christian
growth
or
ministry
or
mission
without
the
cultivation
of
humiliation
in the
heart
and the
weakening
of pride
in the
life.
Living
living
out
humbly
in
authentic
way
will
look
sort
of
like
this.
When
you're
confronted
with
the sin
and the
failure
of
another
person
you'll
be
more
aware
the
humble
person
will
be
more
aware
of
their
own
sin
and
their
own
failure
towards
God
than
another
person's
sin and
failure
towards
them.
That's
humility.
you'll
be more
aware of
your
own
failure
than
another
person's
failure.
Therefore
you'll
be less
judgmental
and less
critical.
You'll
also
mean that
you won't
try and
smooth over
your sin
to excuse
it, make
it less
than what
it is.
You'll
be real
about it.
I'll be
frank with
you.
I'm
standing
here looking
at all
you right
tonight and
I think
you're a
bunch of
rotten
sinners.
That is
my
assumption.
My
assumption
with every
single
person sitting
here right
now is
that you
all have
skeletons in
the closet
that you
would be
absolutely
mortified if
we jammed
them up there
on the
screen right
now.
The reason
I know it's
true is
because that's
me as well.
I work on
the assumption
that you're
all human
and you've
all fallen
short of the
glory of
God.
reality
and I
believe
that
reality
ought to
be evident
more and
more in
the church.
When we
present that
we've got it
all together
and we
present that
to the
world,
it is
anti-gospel.
Let me
give you an
example of
authenticity.
One episode
of the TV
show The
Simpsons,
Homer Simpson
is being
interviewed
for a job
at the
nuclear power
plant,
Springfield
nuclear power
plant.
There's two
jobs,
three blokes
going for
an interview.
The three
of them
were asked
the question,
what would
each of you
say is
your worst
quality?
The first
guy says,
well,
I'm a
workaholic.
The second
guy says,
he responds
in a similar
kind of
self-righteous,
not really a
weakness,
more like a
strength kind
of way.
He says,
I push
myself too
hard.
Homer Simpson
on the other
hand answers,
well,
it takes me a
long time to
learn anything.
I'm kind of a
goof off and
things start to
disappear from
the workplace.
And he
starts going on
and the
interviewer,
that's enough,
that's enough.
Somehow he got
the job.
Now,
I want to say
to you,
I don't
recommend it
as an
interview
technique.
But the
honesty is
refreshing.
His
authenticity
is appealing
especially
against the
self-righteous
false humility
of the other
two.
Because that's
what false
humility is.
It's actually
pride in
disguise.
Designed to
extract
praise.
My friends,
we start the
Christian life as
beggars at the
foot of the
cross and we
finish the
Christian life as
beggars at the
foot of the
cross.
As we sing,
nothing in my
hand I bring,
only to the
cross I cling.
It never
changes.
We must
labor to lay
aside any
remnant of
self-righteousness
that lurks in
our hearts and it
lurks there in
every dark
corner.
At the cross is
where we must
begin and end
if we have
experienced the
daily joy of
living by God's
transforming grace.
grace.
We need the
spirit of God
to help us to
see our total
spiritual bankruptcy
and also to
drink deeply
from God's
infinite grace
to us in the
Lord Jesus.
May we experience
both deep
humiliation for
our sin and
deep joy in
Christ at the
same time.
And then in
deep awareness
of what we have
received,
looking only to
Jesus and
only having
our comparison
with him,
may we extend
that same
spirit of
grace to
others as we
authentically live
out who we
are, beggars,
in daily need
of grace.
Amen.