Hello and welcome and let's just pray before we begin.
God and Father we thank you for your word, that we have it in our language, that we can openly read it.
And we pray that you will speak to each one tonight as we open it up.
We pray these things in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
So to get us going, I want you to go with me.
So we're in a spaceship, we're on our way to the International Space Station.
And we get there, we look down on the earth for the very first time from space.
We see its fullness. We see the light, the colours of it.
We see the vastness of the space.
We also see the stillness.
You know, nothing could prepare you for that sight of seeing that for the first time.
No matter how many pictures you'd seen or videos you'd watched, I don't think anything could prepare you for that sight.
You know, this is actually called the overview effect.
There is a term for this phenomena.
And it really changes astronauts' lives.
There's many reported instances where astronauts return completely changed.
Whether it's their priorities or their perspective on life.
They come back, change people.
They see the fragility of life on this small planet.
They see themselves as being so small.
They also see themselves as global citizens rather than individual nations.
You know, seeing the earth in this full way, it shatters what the astronauts previously thought about life.
It causes a change of their priorities and their perspective.
Why are we talking about this?
Well, tonight, Isaiah sees a vision which is far greater and more life-changing than seeing the earth.
To have a bit of a catch-up, so we are in Isaiah chapter 6.
Isaiah is written around 700 BC.
The nation of Israel is split into the kingdom of Israel in the north, whose capital is Samaria.
And the kingdom of Judah in the south, whose capital is Jerusalem.
Isaiah is speaking in this book predominantly to God's people.
God's covenant people, the line of Abraham, the people of Israel.
And we've had five chapters before this, which we've gone through in the last few weeks.
And these are really like summary of the prophecies in this book.
You can imagine them like a sky full of heavy, dark clouds.
And yet, you know, when you get those little rays of light shining through these dark clouds,
this is what the first five chapters are like.
Because we see the judgment, this dark judgment on this faithless nation of Judah.
Some words quoting from the first five chapters, we see that they have rebelled.
They are sinful.
They have stumbled.
They have fallen.
That the Lord will strike.
But we also see these glimmering bits of light.
There is hope in this judgment.
We see that the house of the Lord shall be established.
That they will be lifted up.
That they will be the people of Zion.
So where does that leave us?
Well, in chapter six, we see Isaiah's commissioning.
It marks a new section of this book.
We're going to split it into three different sections.
First of all, we're going to look at the glory of the Lord in verses one to four.
Secondly, we're going to look at the redemption of Isaiah in five to eight.
We're also then thirdly going to look at the judgment and hope of God's people in verses nine to 13.
So first of all, the glory of the Lord.
Verses one to four.
Please have it open in front of you and go with it through me.
Through it with me.
So we see that King Uzziah dies.
Now we can date this as 740 BC.
This is recorded elsewhere.
He was called the last godly king of Judah.
And yet many years before his death, he had gone against God.
He had lost his way.
And this is typical of the nation of Judah.
They had started on this moral and cultural decline, which never recovered.
They were on a downward spiral.
That's the situation we're in.
Now we're going to look at the glory of the Lord.
So what does glory mean?
Well, I love a dictionary definition.
First of all, the dictionary says that glory means exaltation, praise and honour.
Second meaning is something that brings or is worthy of praise.
The third definition is thanksgiving, adoration or worship.
And the example is glory be to God.
It can also mean splendor.
So that's what glory means according to the dictionary.
But how do we see God's glory here?
Well, Isaiah sees the Lord, a glorious image.
In verse one here, we see the Lord in a place of excellence.
Follow with me through the words and the phrases that is used here.
High and exalted speaks of his power.
Seated on a throne.
The Lord is the king of kings.
He has a throne.
And unlike Judah's ruling kings, the king of kings is permanent.
He is king forever.
We also see that the train of his robe filled the temple.
You know, clothes show power.
They show status.
Royalty across the world have different garments that they wear for special occasions to show who they are.
Even us, we wear designer goods to show our status or our wealth.
And you know, the Lord's robe filled the temple.
It shows his fullness and who he is.
We have this in two to four, we see the seraphim.
And these are heavenly beings.
And we see that they have six wings.
Two of which covered their faces.
It speaks of reverence for the Lord.
Complete reverence to him.
Two of which covered their feet.
It shows their humility.
Their humbleness.
And the other two they used for flying.
They were ready and willing to do God's work.
As we see.
You know, we see that they are calling to one another.
Holy, holy, holy.
You know, this repetition is used for emphasis to show the Lord's purity.
To emphasize his holiness.
He is the Lord Almighty.
This is his authority that he has.
He is the glory of creation.
The whole earth is full of his glory.
He is glorious through creation.
We see that the temple, the post shook.
And that it filled with smoke.
This is God's presence.
God's presence fills the temple.
Think of all that imagery.
What a marvelous image that is created in our minds.
What a marvelous image that Isaiah saw.
Try to grasp the glory of the Lord here.
The respect.
The honor.
The majesty.
A modern word may be the awesomeness of God.
But you know, words are not enough.
And put yourself in Isaiah's shoes here.
You know, this is in the days before CGI.
This is in the days before blockbuster movies and the Marvel Empire.
Even before virtual reality.
You can see why Isaiah responded the way he did.
Why he was so shocked.
You know, we can never fully see God.
But we would do well to ponder on his greatness and his majesty.
Is this the God here described that we hold in our minds?
These four verses are to fill us with awe and wonder at our great big God.
Our God is a great big God.
Do we sometimes make God little in our minds and do we doubt God?
Our God is a big God.
We see how the seraphim acted here.
They were in complete reverence to him.
And they were ready to serve.
Look at how the posts acted.
If the posts were moved, then we should be as well.
You know, like the astronauts seeing the earth in this new full vastness,
in this new way, God is shown in this way.
And it is to have a life changing effect on us.
And you know what happened to Isaiah who's seeing this firsthand?
Well, he responds in the appropriate way.
That takes us to our second section, verses 5 to 8,
the redemption of Isaiah.
The redemption of Isaiah.
God's glory, his worthiness,
it throws Isaiah into personal confession of his own unworthiness.
We see this in verse 5.
Isaiah says,
Woe to me.
This reminds us of what Luca was going through last week
with all the woes of chapter 5.
Now this woe is a legal term for being ruined or for being dead.
He follows it up by saying,
I am ruined.
I am a man of unclean lips.
Isaiah is saying here that he is not worthy,
that he has sinned.
It's a personal confession of his own position.
You know,
Moses actually uses this same phrase.
He uses,
he says that he is a man of unclean lips
when he is arguing with God
why he should not go to Pharaoh.
He's saying,
Moses was saying that I am not good enough
to do this for you.
We see that Isaiah says,
he lives among a people of unclean lips.
And his eyes have seen the King,
the Lord Almighty.
You know,
seeing God is associated with death in the Old Testament.
Moses,
again,
he asked to see the Lord's glory.
And yet what God does
is that God
puts him in a cleft of a rock
and God passes by.
And Moses was only allowed
to glimpse the Lord's back
to see his glory.
Exodus 33,
in this episode,
it says,
you cannot see my face
for no one shall see me and live.
So you can see Isaiah's fear
and his worry here,
his unworthiness.
You think of the New Testament,
Saul or Paul was blinded
in Acts chapter nine
because the Lord's presence
came upon him.
He was blinded
until made well again.
Grasping the glory
of the Lord
should cause personal confession
of our own unworthiness,
our own sinfulness,
our own hopelessness.
How often,
myself included,
do we think we're okay,
that we're not that bad?
It's only with comparison
to the holy,
holy,
holy Lord Almighty,
do we see
how we really are.
A colleague the other day
was describing
how during homeschooling,
as many people are doing
at the moment,
that his son keeps
finishing his maths work
in the record time
that it's so quick
and he's chuffed,
he's chuffed
that he's done it so quickly.
But you know,
it's only when the answers
are compared to
and he's actually got them
all wrong
because he's rushed them,
do we see
how he really got on.
For us,
it's only in comparison
to the holy,
almighty Lord
that we realise
that we are ruined.
This personal confession
leads to Isaiah's sin
being atoned for
by grace
in verses 6 and 7.
we see that
a live coal
is taken
from the altar
and that his guilt
is taken away
and his sin
is atoned for.
This altar
that this coal
was taken from
would have been
where the blood sacrifices
were burnt
in the temple.
The blood sacrifices
atoned for the sin.
You know,
Jesus' blood
was shed
2,000 years ago
and this act
can reconcile us
to God.
Jesus has paid
the price
through his
sacrificial death
so that our guilt
can be taken away
so that our sin
can be atoned for.
We need to
have this personal
confession
as Isaiah did
of our own
sinfulness,
our own
unworthiness
before God.
You'll notice here
that Isaiah
didn't do the work.
He didn't do anything.
It was done
for him.
The coal
was brought to him
and put upon
his own lips.
That is like us.
The Lord Jesus
has done the work
we need to
accept
and confess.
And you know,
Isaiah's name,
it means salvation
is from the Lord.
Salvation is not
from within.
It is from the Lord.
In verse 8,
we see
that Isaiah
responds to
God's call
of service.
The Lord says,
whom shall I send
and who will go
for us?
God calls
Isaiah here.
He was chosen
to see this vision.
He was chosen
here.
What does Isaiah
do?
Well,
he says,
here am I.
Send me.
The willing
servant
responds in love
to the call.
You know,
Isaiah can only
respond in this way
because of what
has happened to him,
because his guilt
has been taken away.
because his sin
is atoned for.
His newfound
position in God's
eyes
means that he can
respond in love
to go and speak
to the nation
of Judah,
to God's people.
We are called
to serve God
also,
and not out of
a sense of
repayment
or some sense
of duty,
but in response
and love
to what the Lord
has done for us
already.
And you see
that Isaiah
responded.
He didn't negotiate.
He didn't know
what was coming.
It wasn't
conditional.
Like Moses,
who argued,
who negotiated,
they said he
wasn't good
enough.
Isaiah
just answers
the call
faithfully.
You know,
back in primary
school,
we used to have
a particular
teacher who
quite often
used to ask,
right,
who wants to
do something
for me?
You know,
most people,
including myself,
would volunteer,
me, me, me, me, me,
me, I want to do it.
Most of the time
because it involved
getting out of the
class so you could
muck about in the
corridors for a while
en route.
You know,
the teacher would
always say,
you don't even know
what it is yet
that I'm asking you
to do.
And she was right.
And you know,
as years went on,
the response became
less enthusiastic
with age and it
turned into a few
mumbles going,
well,
depends,
depends what it is.
You know,
this is not the case
for Isaiah.
He says,
here I am,
send me.
We are called
to do God's work.
Whether or not
it suits us
or whether it
piques our interest.
We are to do so
out of love
and thankfulness
to our Lord
and Saviour.
We have been
chosen.
So finally,
we see the
judgment and hope
of God's people
in verses 9 to 13.
We see the
judgment for Judah,
the disbelieving
people.
In verses 9 to 13a,
13 and a half.
Judgment for Judah,
the disbelieving
people.
Isaiah is called
to be God's voice
to Judah.
You know,
the people of Judah
were God's covenant
chosen people.
people.
And yet,
this is a really
bleak picture.
When reading this
for the first time,
I wrote beside it
bleak.
Isaiah is told
that his ministry
here will not be
successful.
The people are
completely opposite
to Isaiah's
new position.
The people are
deaf.
They are blind.
They do not
understand.
Whereas Isaiah,
he has seen,
he has heard,
and he understands.
Isaiah has seen
the Lord.
The people do
not see.
The people are in
the dark.
He is in the
light.
Judah were a
nation of
hardened hearts.
You know,
there was
continual
disbelief from
Judah.
This wasn't
their first
chance.
It was
continual
rejection of
God.
This shows
the hardening
effect here
of the
gospel.
And it is
the same
for us
nowadays.
But this
is actually
should be an
encouragement
to us.
Stay with me.
We aren't to
be downhearted
or we aren't
to be,
see ourselves
as failures
when the
gospel doesn't
reach people,
when they do
not respond to
what we are
trying to say
or when we
invite them
along to
various events.
It is God
who saves.
We are to
faithfully do
his work,
to witness,
to speak his
word,
but it is
God who
saves.
in verse
11,
in pain,
Isaiah
says,
for how
long,
Lord?
You know,
these were
his people,
this was
his nation.
He would
want them
to see
and believe
like him.
We should
want those
around us,
those whom
we love,
to see
and believe
like we
do.
we see
that Judah
will be
ruined,
this word
ruined again.
You know,
after this
in chapter
seven onwards,
we see
that the
nation of
Judah is
in war.
They go
into captivity
in Babylon
and there
is destruction
for Judah
ahead.
But there
is this
glimmer of
hope in
verse 13b,
13,
the second
half of
that verse.
There's
this glimmer
of hope
like those
light beams
shining through
the dark
clouds.
There's this
strange image
of stumps
being left
after trees
are chopped
down.
If you've
ever been
up on
Forestry
Commission land,
you'll have
seen vast
areas where
the whole
trees have
been felled
and yet
they leave
the stumps.
And you
know,
these two
types of
trees that
are mentioned,
these grow
again from
that stage.
Branches and
roots come
out again.
There is
regeneration.
There is
new birth.
Judgment
will take
place on
this unbelieving
nation and
yet there is
hope.
Grace will
abound.
This nation
does not
deserve God's
grace and
yet they get
it anyway.
And you
know,
there will
be a
remnant,
this holy
seed.
A remnant
will return
from Babylonian
captivity.
They will
not all be
destroyed.
You know,
Jesus comes
from this
holy seed.
He is the
holy seed who
is our
hope.
In Isaiah
chapter 11,
which we will
come on to in
a few weeks
time, it
says a
shoot will
come up
from the
stump of
Jesse.
From his
roots, a
branch will
bear fruit.
The Lord
Jesus is our
hope.
You know,
to finish,
like the
astronauts who
were changed
by what they
saw in
space when
they looked
down, we
are to be
transformed by
beholding the
Lord and
his majesty,
his greatness,
his awesomeness.
We are to
have this big
view of God.
We should
keep in our
minds, we
should ponder
on his
greatness, on
the glory of
the Lord.
This is to
cause us to
respond in
confession of
our unworthiness
and cause us
to respond in
willing service
to him.
Jesus'
sacrifice allows
us to do
so.
Allows our
sin to be
atoned for
by grace.
It allows
us to serve
him.
And we are
to go and
we are to
do as God
wants us to.
And not just
on our own
terms, not
what suits
us, not
what piques
our interest.
You know, our
ministry will
not always be
fruitful, but
we have our
hope and are
to remain
faithful and
do his work
even in
bleak, bleak
times.
When we
truly see the
Lord, we
can't help but
speak of him.
I'm aware
that I feel
like I've
just touched
the surface
of these
verses and
also of the
glory of the
Lord, but I
really hope that
this has piqued
your interest
and you want
to go away
and ponder
on his
greatness, on
his glory.
Let's pray
for us as
we finish.
God and
Father, we
just thank you
for your
glory, your
majesty, your
awesomeness.
Words just
don't do it
justice, but
we just pray
that as we
think on these
things as we
go through
this week,
that we will
respond in
love to who
you are and
what you have
done for us.
Personal
confession of
our own
unworthiness,
our own
position before
you, and
yet thankfulness
in what the
Lord Jesus
has done, and
that we will
respond in
love and do
your work.
Not that
suits us,
but what
you would
have us
to do.
We pray
that we
will be
encouraged
that it
is you
who save,
that we
are to
faithfully
witness and
to speak
your word,
and yet
you are
the one
who saves.
Salvation
is from
the Lord.
So we
ask your
blessing as
we think
on these
things further.
We pray
that you
will speak
to us as
we think
on these
things
throughout
this week
and beyond.
So we
just pray
all these
things in
Jesus'
name.
Amen.