Isaiah 6:1

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. Above it stood seraphim. Each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. One cried to another and said, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." The posts of the door were moved at the voice of him who cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Then I said, "Woe is me." Let's pray. Lord, as we look into Your Word, as we consider this book before us, Lord, and as You reveal Yourself in such a powerful way in the prophetic passages of the Bible, would You reveal Yourself to us tonight? As we consider the vision that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw, and the word that You spoke to him through those visions, we recognize that although You were speaking to him in his day and to the people living in Judah and Jerusalem, You were also speaking to us in the year 2009.

So, Lord, I pray that You would quicken our hearts and our minds. Open our ears that we may hear what You are speaking to us in these last days. For we ask it in the mighty and precious name of Jesus. Amen. You can be seated.

In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah says, "I saw the Lord seated upon a throne." It is very easy to read through passages of Scripture and sometimes not really grasp the weight of what is being said. We can quickly gloss over a statement like "the year that King Uzziah died" and not realize the backstory. We may not understand, as the late Paul Harvey used to say, "the rest of the story," and see just what was going on in the nation when Isaiah saw this vision of God on the throne.

In the year 739 BC, there was a lot happening in Judah and Jerusalem. It is important for us to recognize that these are literal, historical documents before us. There was a king by the name of Uzziah who reigned over the nation of Judah. For most of his reign, he was a good king, and we know that he died right around the year 739 BC. At that time, Isaiah was probably a young man, maybe in his late teens or early 20s, when he saw this vision.

Many Bible scholars and commentators believe that Isaiah was very close to the royal family in Jerusalem, if not a part of it. He clearly had access to the kings of Judah, making it plausible that he was present in the palace when these events were taking place. It is likely that he knew King Uzziah. While we could quickly move past the mention of King Uzziah's death to focus on the heavenly vision that Isaiah experienced, it is crucial to understand the context of what was happening.

In 2 Kings chapter 15, we learn about King Uzziah. He was a good king when he started out. 2 Kings chapter 15, verse 3 states, "And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done." For all intents and purposes, he was a good king at the beginning of his reign. Uzziah started fairly young; I believe he was 16 years old when he began.

If you would turn in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 26, we can read more about this great king, whom Isaiah no doubt looked up to. In verse 1, it says, "Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and they made him king in the room of his father Amaziah. And he built Eloth and restored it to Judah." After that, the king slept with his fathers. Uzziah was 16 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for 52 years.

Years in Jerusalem, his mother's name was Jekeliah of Jerusalem. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. Would you underline that at the end of verse 5? How awesome is that? As long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.

When I read that, I'm reminded of the word that God spoke to Joshua right as he was preparing to come into the promised land as the leader of the nation of Israel, many hundreds of years before this passage in 2 Chronicles. There in Joshua chapter 1, verse 6, God told Joshua, "Be strong and of good courage. For unto this people shall you divide for an inheritance the land which I swore unto their fathers to give to them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper whithersoever thou goest."

God said, "You follow my counsel, you follow my word, and you will prosper." We read of King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles chapter 26, verse 5, that as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. You and I will find the very same thing in our lives as well. As we seek the Lord, God will make us to prosper.

Now, we need to recognize that the prosperity spoken of here is not the kind of prosperity that's spoken of by a lot of televangelists in our day. God's view of prosperity is completely different than ours. It's a spiritual prosperity, an abundant life—the life that God desires for you and me. Remember, Jesus said in John chapter 10, verse 10, "The thief has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But I have come to give you life and that more abundantly."

Some people who are the richest in this world are really the ones who've had their lives stolen by the enemy, our adversary, the devil, more than any other. You can have all kinds of worldly wealth and have a stolen life, but Jesus has come to give us life and that more abundantly.

We are told here that Uzziah, as long as he sought God, God made him to prosper. It goes on to say in verse 6 that he went forth and warred against the Philistines. He broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jebna, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod among the Philistines. Uzziah, when he was king, was made to prosper spiritually, but God also made him to...

Uzziah prospered militarily. He was a strong, conquering king during the 52 years of his reign, and God did great things through him. God helped him against the Philistines, as mentioned in verse 7, and against the Arabians who dwelt in Garibaldi, as well as the Mehuams. The Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah, and his name spread abroad, even to the entering of Egypt, for he strengthened himself exceedingly.

Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, fortifying them. He also built towers in the desert and dug many wells, for he had much cattle, both in the low country and in the plains. He had husbandmen and vine dressers in the mountains and in Carmel, and he loved husbandry. We read of the great wealth of King Uzziah, how he prospered in all his might, achieved many military victories, and saw his kingdom grow in remarkable ways. As long as he sought God, God made him to prosper.

However, if we skip down to verse 16, we find a turning point. When he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction. He transgressed against the Lord his God and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense. Azariah the priest went in after him, accompanied by four score priests of the Lord who were valiant men. When Uzziah was lifted up in his heart, he became arrogant and desired to go into the temple to burn incense there. However, this was not allowed for someone who was not a Levite or a priest, and it was definitely not permitted for someone who was a king.

God had made a clear distinction between the prophet, the priest, and the king. There is only one who can hold the offices of prophet, priest, and king together, and that is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Uzziah, when he was strong, was lifted up in his heart to his destruction. He left his place in the palace and went into the temple, wanting to offer incense. The priest, Azariah, withstood him, along with 80 other priests, trying to stop King Uzziah. They confronted Uzziah the king and said...

In him, it appertains not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary. You're not supposed to be here, for you have trespassed. Neither shall it be for thine honor from the Lord God. God is not going to honor what you're about to do if you go in there.

Uzziah was angry, and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. While he was angry with the priests, leprosy arose upon his forehead before the priests and the house of the Lord from beside the incense altar. Azariah, the chief priest, and all the priests looked upon him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead. They thrust him out from thence. He himself also hastened to go out because the Lord had smitten him. Uzziah, the king, was a leper unto the day of his death. He dwelt in a several house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. Jotham, his son, was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

When we read in Isaiah chapter 6, "In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up," it doesn't tell the whole story. We don't recognize what really happened. If there were tabloid newspapers in Jerusalem 2,800 years ago, they would have reported this as front-page news at every newsstand throughout Judah. The king tried to go into the temple to do what he was not called to do, not anointed to do, and not allowed to do. Eighty-one priests tried to stop him, saying, "Don't do this. God's not going to honor this." He pushed past them, grabbed the incense in a censer, and was determined to burn incense to the Lord.

As he was steadfast against these priests, God smote him. Suddenly, some form of leprosy appeared upon him, and they saw it. They pulled him outside of the temple, and he lived basically by himself for the rest of his days. We don't know how long he lived after that point, but he died alone and was never allowed to go into the temple of the Lord again because he was unclean. This would have been devastating to the nation. Uzziah had been a good king, one who achieved great military victories. He was a king who grew the nation and fortified the city. He did awesome things, and people looked up to him. Yet, the thing he is most known for is his transgression against the Lord and his death. This was heavy; it was one of those things that made people hang their heads in shame.

Uzziah died because the Lord had struck him. The king had been removed from the throne because of his sin, his foolishness, his arrogance, and his pride. At this point in time, the nation was essentially without a king. That is when Isaiah had this vision of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne.

The throne in the palace in Jerusalem was empty, but the throne in heaven was not. The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Messiah was there on the throne. Isaiah said, "I saw the Lord upon the throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple."

The question then arises: who was it that Isaiah saw when he saw the Lord? John chapter 1, verse 18, states that no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared Him. Colossians chapter 1, verse 15, says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.

Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3, tells us that Jesus is the brightness of God the Father's glory, the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power. When He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of majesty on high. Jesus is the express image of God; He is the image of the invisible God we see in Colossians chapter 1.

Who did Isaiah see 700 years before Jesus was born as a man? He saw the Word of God. He saw Jesus, the Messiah, seated on a throne in heaven. How do we know that? We are told by the apostle John in John chapter 12. Turn in your Bibles to John chapter 12, verse 37.

Speaking of Jesus, it says, "But though he, Jesus, had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him, that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, 'Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?'" This is speaking from Isaiah 53.

Therefore, they could not believe, because Isaiah said also, "He has blinded their eyes and has hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, nor be converted, and I should heal them." These things said Isaiah when he saw his, Jesus' glory, and spoke of him.

You see, John, the apostle John, quotes Isaiah chapter 6, verse 10, where he says, "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts and closed their ears." On the very day that Isaiah saw him, saw Jesus, there on the throne in heaven.

Jesus is eternal. He is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, the Scripture says. We're told in John chapter 1 and in Colossians chapter 1 that Jesus, given the title the Son of God and the title the Word of God, was active in creation. He was there when it was said, "Let there be light." He was on the throne 700 years before he was born of the Virgin Mary, which we're going to read about next week in Isaiah chapter 7. He was on the throne in heaven the day that Uzziah died, and Isaiah saw him. He saw him, we're told, high and lifted up, seated upon a throne.

You see, God is on a throne. There is a throne in heaven, and the Lord God sits upon that throne as the sovereign ruler of the universe. This is the central fact of heaven: there is a throne, and it is occupied by God. It's not vacant. It's not a place for you or I to sit. He's on the throne. God doesn't sit on just some lowly chair in heaven. Anyone might sit on a chair, but he sits upon an exalted throne. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

We see this throne mentioned many times in the Scripture. In Micah, actually, I'm sorry, in 1 Kings chapter 22, Micaiah speaks of the Lord God seated upon a throne. "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne" in 1 Kings chapter 22, verse 19.

Job speaks of the throne of God. In Job chapter 26, verse 9, Ezekiel also speaks of the throne of God. In Ezekiel 1:26 and chapter 10, verse 1, we find further references. Ethan, the Ezrahite, in Psalm 89, verse 14, said, "But justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne, O God." Daniel speaks of God upon the throne in Daniel chapter 7, verse 9. The throne is mentioned 35 times in the book of Revelation. It is an inhabited throne. The King of kings, the Lord of lords, is upon that throne.

In the very last chapter of the book of Isaiah, we read in Isaiah 66, verse 1, "Thus says the Lord, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build unto me? And where is the place of my rest?" God is on the throne. When Uzziah died and vacated the throne in Jerusalem, God was still on the throne. God desired to be the king and the ruler over His nation. The name Israel means "governed by God." When they chose to have a king rule over them, they were rejecting the kingship of God, but that did not mean He left the throne. He was still on the throne.

Although we are living in a world today that is trying to dethrone God, He is still on the throne. He will not be moved from the throne until He stands up to return and sets foot on the Mount of Olives. When He does, it will split in half, and there will come another throne: the great white throne of judgment. Let me tell you, if a man does not know God, he does not want to come to that point, but it is coming. The day is coming. Jesus is on the throne.

Not only did He see the Lord upon the throne, but we are told that the train of the Lord filled the temple. When we speak of a train, who wears a train? We instantly think of a bride wearing a train. However, it is really someone of great importance, great power, and great authority. Someone who is honored wears a train. You do not see the guy across the street mowing the lawn with a robe and a train following behind him. It is not something that you wear to do work; it is something that you wear when you are at rest because you are in an exalted position. You are in a dignified position. And there is our God in the position of supreme importance.

Exalted with dignified character, on the throne, we read in verse 2 that above His throne stood seraphim. Each had six wings. With two, they covered their faces; with two, they covered their feet; and with two, they did fly. This is not the only place in Scripture where we see these beings mentioned. However, it is the only place in Scripture where we see the name "seraphim" applied to them.

Seraphim, literally translated, means "burning ones." In another place in Scripture, we read of cherubim, or we read of the living creatures with six wings in Revelation chapter 4, Ezekiel chapter 10, and Ezekiel chapter 37. In the Psalms, we also read about them in Psalm 80, verse 1. The idea of these beings surrounding the throne of God with six wings is seen in many places in Scripture, with different names applied to them. Some people seem to think that cherubim and seraphim refer to different beings, but the name "seraphim" means "burning ones."

When Ezekiel speaks about cherubim in Ezekiel chapter 1, verse 13, he describes them like this: their appearance was like the burning of coals of a fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. I think they are speaking of the same beings—cherubim and seraphim—these attendants of God, these messengers of God surrounding His throne with six wings.

Now, what are wings used for? Flying, right? We all recognize that it’s a pretty simple answer to a simple question. But not in the case of these beings with six wings. We are told in Isaiah chapter 6, verse 2, that they had six wings, but with two, they covered their faces; with two, they covered their feet; and with two, they did fly.

Charles Spurgeon said something about this that I absolutely love. He states, "Thus they have four wings for adoration and two wings for active energy, four to conceal themselves, and two with which they occupy themselves in service." We may learn from them that we shall serve God best when we are most deeply reverent and humbled in His presence. You see,

Two-thirds of their wings were given to adoration and worship. With two, they covered their face; with two, they covered their feet; and with two, they did fly. But what were they doing there? We read in verse 3, "One cried to another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.'" The seraphim cry one to another, back and forth, about the holiness of God. They're not addressing God directly; they're not saying to God, "You are holy, holy, holy." Instead, they are addressing one another, proclaiming, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. The Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory."

They cry back and forth, day after day, week after week, millennia after millennia. The constant drone around the throne of God is a declaration of His holiness. That's powerful. Constantly in the throne room of God is worship and adoration directed toward His holiness. They cry, "Holy, holy, holy." They do this, first and foremost, as worship, ascribing value to who God is. He is great, He is awesome, and He is powerful.

Secondly, they cry, "Holy, holy, holy," as the Lord of hosts, serving as an important reminder that He is holy. Thirdly, they cry, "Holy, holy, holy," as a statement of fact. It is a clear statement that our God is holy. Why three times? In Hebrew poetry, things are repeated for emphasis. "Holy, holy, holy" communicates the idea that God is three times holy—holy to the third power, perhaps. He is so far above any other thing in all the universe, and He exists outside of the universe. He is powerful and awesome; He is three times holy.

Additionally, although it may not be clearly expressed here, it could also be speaking to the fact that our God is a triune God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is holy, the Son is holy, and the Spirit is holy. God is three times holy, and in every aspect of His character and nature, He is holy.

It's not just God's personality that He is holy; it is His very nature that He is holy. Because of the holiness of God, it is required that anyone who comes into His presence must also be holy. You cannot come before God without holiness. This is why we read in the book of Leviticus about so much sacrifice. Because we are sinful and separated from God, the only way that man can even begin to approach God is through sacrifice. There must be a covering for our sin, and there must be death because of our sin.

Even after a sacrifice has been made, such as an animal sacrifice in the Old Testament, there was still a veil that covered the Holy of Holies. Man could never come before God or approach Him in fullness under the Old Covenant. Only one time a year could one man go into the Holy of Holies, and that was the high priest. After he had offered a sacrifice for his own sin and for the sin of the nation, he was able to go before God. When he would come into the Holy of Holies, he would be shrouded with the smoke of incense to cover him from God. If he didn't, he would be struck down in the presence of the holiness of God.

In fact, in ancient times, they would attach bells to the bottom of the garments of the high priest when he would go before the Lord. He had to remain active while he was there among the Lord, offering a sacrifice. The sound of those bells jingling was crucial. It was even said that they would attach a rope to his leg because if those bells stopped ringing, he may have died, and they would have to pull him out. No one else wanted to go in there to get him.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. He is clean, pure, free from defilement, and set apart. We are told in Leviticus chapter 11, verse 44, "For I, the Lord your God, am holy. You shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy, for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." He says the same thing in Leviticus chapter 19, verse 2, and Leviticus chapter 20, verse 7. This concept is not only seen in the Old Testament; Peter quotes it in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 15: "But as He who has called you is holy, so you are to be holy in all manner of your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'"

God is holy, completely separate from sinners. He requires that anyone who comes before Him is holy as well. In the Old Covenant, a sacrifice had to be made—an animal sacrifice. Under the New Covenant, we are told that when Jesus cried, "Telestai," meaning "It is finished," the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, exposing the Holy of Holies. Through Christ, in Christ, we can approach God. We can come boldly before His throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace in our time of need. It is an awesome thing that we have in Christ Jesus.

In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah had a vision. Whether he was actually caught up into the throne room of heaven or just had a vision, we do not know. However, we know that he saw the Lord high and lifted up on a throne. He saw angelic beings crying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord; the whole earth is full of His glory."

In Colossians chapter 1, we read that it pleased the Father that in Jesus should all the fullness dwell. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In Christ Jesus, the whole fullness dwells. We read in John chapter 1 that the Word was made flesh. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The whole earth is full of His glory.

So there was Isaiah in the throne room of God. He hears the seraphim crying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord; the whole earth is full of His glory." In verse 4, it says, "And the posts of the door were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke." No doubt, the construction standards in heaven are a lot higher than those on earth. I would imagine that the temple there in heaven, the throne room in heaven, is an enduring place. Yet, at the voice of the seraphim crying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord," the doorposts were moved.

Were shaken. This seems to imply that Isaiah was standing by the doorpost. He was probably standing by the door, hadn't really entered in, just looking into these things as he hears the seraphim cry, "Holy, holy, holy." The doorposts are shaken, and the house was filled with smoke.

In the book of Exodus, at the end of the book of Exodus, when Moses set up the tabernacle, what revealed that the presence of the Lord had come to that place? Smoke. Smoke filled that place. We see many times in the Scriptures that God encompasses Himself round about with thick darkness and clouds. In Exodus chapter 20, verse 21, it says that Moses entered into the thick darkness where God dwelt. In 2 Chronicles chapter 6, Solomon said there, "The Lord has said that He would dwell in thick darkness." In 2 Samuel chapter 22, it states that He made darkness pavilions round about Him, dark waters, and thick clouds.

You see, God the Father, the Spirit, the glory of God, when He comes into a place, He enthrones Himself; He surrounds Himself with this thick cloud. It would seem He does so to veil His glory from you and me, His fullness of glory. But there, as Isaiah was standing at the doorposts of the throne room of heaven, he sees Jesus on the throne, and now the whole place is filled with smoke, which is associated with God the Father, the presence of God the Father there in that room.

And so the Lord comes. What was Isaiah's response when he sees all of this? As he sees Jesus on the throne, as he hears the sound of the voice of the seraphim, as the place was shaken, and now he comes in contact with the glory of God, the holiness of God. In verse 5, then I said, "Woe is me."

Last week in Isaiah chapter 5, we read six woes that Isaiah declared to the people of his nation. He said to them there in verse 8 of Isaiah chapter 5, "Woe unto them that join house to house." In verse 11, "Woe unto them that rise early."

In the morning, they may follow after strong drink. In verse 18, it says, "Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as it were with a cart with a rope." In verse 20, it continues, "Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." In verse 21, it states, "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight." Finally, in verse 22, it declares, "Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink." Six woes were spoken to the people in Isaiah chapter 5.

Now we encounter the seventh woe. In the Scriptures, seven is the number of completion, the number of perfection. Here we have the completeness of woe as Isaiah recognizes that he is just as sinful as the rest of his nation. One of the dangers that many of us can fall into when we begin to walk with the Lord and God starts to use us in the ministry of speaking forth His word—whether from a pulpit, in a children's ministry classroom, at work, or among family—is that we begin to point the finger at everyone else, proclaiming that judgment is coming upon them. We forget to realize that we are just as much sinners as they are. We are no different.

I guarantee that if you were here last week as we went through Isaiah chapter 5, you were likely thinking, "Yes, judgment is coming upon this wicked nation because look at their woes, those bad people in America." But God says, "Whoa, wake up!" Isaiah said, "Woe is me, for I am undone." That is what we call conviction. He came into contact with the presence of God and was instantly convicted of his sin. Why? When we come into contact with the holiness of God, we quickly recognize that we are not holy. When we hear that God is holy, holy, and that the whole earth is full of His glory, we realize that we are wicked and so far fallen from who He is.

Thus, he said, "Woe is me." This is conviction. But then comes confession: "For I am undone because 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. First, conviction; then confession. I am a man of unclean lips. I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. When did he have this recognition of who he was? When his eyes saw the King, the Lord of glory.

May we, as individuals and as a church, gain a proper perspective of who God is. I do believe that the modern church has lost the right recognition of the holiness of God. A big part of that is because the modern evangelical church, or Western church, departed from the Old Testament a long time ago. In the Old Testament, you see the holiness of God very clearly because you see the holiness of God come in contact with a sinful people. What happens to a sinful people when the holiness of God comes in contact with them?

Now, we are so thankful that in the New Testament, the grace of God is revealed in abundance among a sinful people. However, when we, a sinful people, are constantly basking in the grace of God—which is a good thing—we are told to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But when we focus on only one attribute of His character and lose recognition of the whole attributes of God, that He is a holy God, we begin to forget these things. We begin to forget who we are and where we've come from.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6, talks about the ultimate doom of sinners: of homosexuals, adulterers, fornicators, liars, and drunkards. He says they are all going to be doomed to hell. But then, in the very next verse, he says, "And such were some of you. But you've been washed. You've been cleansed." We are so thankful that we have been washed and cleansed.

Yet, it is so easy sometimes for us to point at the sinners of the world and say, "Oh, you're all going to hell. Woe to you, woe to you, woe to you." The completeness of the woe comes when we recognize that we too are under the judgment of God, but for His grace. Apart from His grace, every single one of us is abiding under the wrath of God. Romans chapter 2 says that the person who is under the wrath of God is storing up for themselves wrath for the day of wrath.

It's as if there's a storehouse of the wrath of God in heaven awaiting the sinner. No one wants to stand under the wrath of God. The only way we can be removed from that position under the wrath of God is to be found in Christ by the grace of God.

However, we must never forget that we are men and women of unclean lips, and we dwell amidst a people of unclean lips. We need to gain a proper perspective of who God is. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord.

Conviction comes first, then confession. We read in verse 6, "Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from off the altar. He laid it upon my mouth and said, 'Lo, this has touched your lips, and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged.'" First comes conviction, then confession, and finally cleansing. The cleansing cannot come without confession.

1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us." Confession is necessary; it is important, and it rarely comes apart from conviction. Conviction must be present first, and we thank God that He has given us His Holy Spirit. The Spirit, as mentioned in John 16, is sent into the world to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

We praise God for the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting us of our sin. It is only as we come in contact with the holiness of the Holy Spirit that we experience the conviction of sin, which leads to the confession of sin, and ultimately to the cleansing of sin.

As the seraphim takes this live coal from off the altar and touches it to the lips of Isaiah, he declares, "Your sin, your iniquity is taken away, your sin is purged." I think of the words of David in Psalm 32:1, where he said, "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." Blessed! Oh, how happy is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven.

This seraphim took tongs and a live coal from off the altar of God in heaven. He touched it to maybe the most tender part of Isaiah—his lips. When the cleansing coal touched his unclean lips, he didn't cry out in pain or wince from the discomfort. He was more pained by his sin than by the cleansing fire. That's powerful.

The angel said, "This has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, your sin is purged." Notice that the angel used the cleansing fire to touch the unclean part of Isaiah. Isaiah had said, "I am a man of unclean lips," and God touched his lips. I believe it is important for us to confess our sin to God, not just in general terms, saying, "Oh Lord, I confess I'm a sinner," but to come before Him and confess specifically.

"God, I am covetous. I confess to You that I am a man who covets. I confess to You that I am a man of anger. I am a man of unclean lips." Whatever it may be, confess it to the Lord so that He may remove it, cleanse it, and purge sin away. He has the only thing that can remove our sin as far as the east is from the west: the blood of Christ.

Isaiah was convicted, he confessed his sin, and then God cleansed his sin. Notice the progression in verse 8: "Also 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.'" When Isaiah came in contact with the holiness of God, he was convicted of his sin. He confessed his sin to God, and God cleansed his sin. It was only after he had been cleansed of his sin that he heard the call of God.

He heard the voice of the Lord speaking. God did not start speaking in Isaiah 6, verse 8; it was only that Isaiah began to hear God speaking at that moment. God is speaking at this very moment. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the church, as we read in the book of Revelation on a number of occasions. God is speaking. The question is, are we listening? The only thing that hinders us from listening to Him is sin. Your sin has separated you from your God. It was after his sin was cleansed that Isaiah was able to hear.

That he heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Who shall I send, and who will go for us?" He heeded the call and said, "Here am I, Lord. Send me. I'll go. I'll do whatever you call me to do." Then, in verse 9, came the commission. God said, "Go." It is interesting that God is constantly telling us to go. The Great Commission instructs us to go into all the world and make disciples.

I shared with you this last weekend Micah chapter 2, verse 10: "Arise and go." God told the children of Israel, who were on the other side of the Jordan River after the death of Moses, to "Arise and go into the promised land. I've given it to you."

Here, Isaiah is convicted of his sin. He confesses his sin, and God cleanses his sin. He hears the call of God and responds to it. Then God says, "I'm commissioning you. Go." He instructs Isaiah to go and tell this people, "Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people dull, or make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand and be converted and be healed."

God tells Isaiah to go and preach to a people who are not listening. They hear, but they do not listen. "Hear ye indeed, but you do not understand. See ye indeed, but you do not perceive. Make their heart fat. Shut their eyes." One great preacher of old said of this passage that Isaiah's commission was to go to his people, the children of Judah and Jerusalem, and to preach them to hell because they were not going to listen.

The commission that Isaiah is given by God here is, "I want you to go and speak to a people that won't listen to you. I want you to show signs unto this people, but they're not going to get it. I want you to make their heart hard, make their ears heavy so they don't listen any longer, and their eyes shut so that they will not understand, that they will not hear, that they will not be converted."

"Preach them to hell." How would you like to have that congregation? How would you like to have that as your commission? That your message...

Would it only serve to harden hearts, close eyes, and deaf ears? Regretfully, I think there are many preachers throughout the years who have thought that they had a congregation like that. I have always hoped and prayed that the message I would speak would actually break a hardened heart and open closed ears and shut eyes. However, Isaiah's message and ministry were to do exactly the opposite: to make the people ready for judgment, to ensure that they were without excuse.

They were already without excuse because God had revealed Himself to them in a very powerful and phenomenal way. The nation of Israel had received more revelation than any other people group of their time. They saw God perform miracles and plagues upon the Egyptians in the land of Egypt. They witnessed God part the Red Sea. They saw God provide water out of rocks and bread from heaven. They watched as God subdued their enemies before them and did miraculous, marvelous things in their midst. They had seen the revelation of God like no other people ever before, and so they were without excuse.

In the book of Romans, we are told that even the most distant pagan is without excuse because God has revealed Himself to man through creation. The heavens declare the glory of God; the earth shows forth His handiwork. He has also placed a conscience within every single human being, a recognition that there is a God and that He has given us a moral law. Thus, man is without excuse. However, God was making it so that these people were far beyond merely being without excuse on the day of judgment. They could not stand up and say, "I didn't know."

Bertrand Russell, one of the great atheists of the last century, was asked near the time of his death what he would do if, when he died, he found out there is a God and he had to stand before Him. He was asked what he would say for himself, what he would answer. He replied, "I will tell God you did not give me enough evidence." I guarantee you that on the day Bertrand Russell died, he did not say that. I think he probably said, "Woe is me."

Jesus said in Matthew chapter 13, verse 13, "Therefore I speak unto them in parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not."

Neither do they understand, and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, "By hearing you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart and should be converted, and I should heal them."

So, Jesus says the reason that He speaks in parables to these people is the very same reason that Isaiah preached: to shut their hearts up. Paul the Apostle applied the very same thing to the Jews at Rome in the last chapter of the Book of Acts, specifically in Acts chapter 28, verse 25. When they agreed not among themselves, remember that the Book of Acts ends with Paul in jail, contending with Jewish men who lived in Rome. When they departed after Paul had spoken one word, he said to those Jews that came to him in the prison cell, "Well spoke the Holy Spirit by Isaiah the prophet unto our fathers, saying, 'Go unto this people and say, Hearing you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and not perceive. For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and should be converted, and I should heal them.'"

So, Jesus, in His ministry, when people rejected His message, said, "Hey, this is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy." Paul would say the very same thing when people rejected the gospel that he preached. I would say the same thing: the individual who rejects the gospel of Christ in our day is fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah given 2,800 years ago.

Now, if God came to you and said, "Okay, this is My calling. You've been convicted, you've confessed your sins, I've cleansed you, and now you hear My call. I'm commissioning you to go speak to this people, and you're going to make their hearts hard and their ears heavy," what might be your response? "Oh, praise God! Thank You for sending me!" Right? Well, if that's the case, you're more spiritual than Isaiah and more spiritual than me, because my response would be exactly the same as Isaiah's.

Look at verse 11; his response to the commission of God was, "Then I said, Lord, how long?" I love that. I just love the honesty of the Scriptures, the honesty of Isaiah here. God commissions him to go and do a work that is a brutal work. "I want you to go preach to a people, and they're not going to listen to you."

Just about every one of them that you preach to is going to go to hell. It is sobering, the commission that God gave to Isaiah. He asked the Lord, "How long?" If the commission was difficult, the answer to Isaiah's question is even more difficult. God answered, "Until the cities be wasted and without inhabitants, and the houses without a man, and the land be utterly desolate. The Lord has removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land."

You're going to preach to these people until the land is destroyed. That's how long. You will watch the land that you love be defiled, be utterly desolate, the cities wasted, and men and women killed or taken captive. I guarantee you Isaiah was a patriot in his nation. He loved Jerusalem, he loved Judah, and he loved the people of his nation. He did not want to see those things happen.

You may be a patriot in this nation, and you love the United States of America. You cherish the freedom that you have and all that God has given and granted to us as a people because every good and perfect gift comes from God. The prosperity of our nation has come from Him, yet we often do not recognize that.

God's judgment will come upon our nation. I'll give you a preview of the prophecy update: our nation is going to be judged. Billy Graham said many years ago that if God does not judge America, He'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah, and I agree. The children of Israel in Judah and Jerusalem 2,800 years ago had an awesome abundance of the revelation of God, and we in America have the same.

Never in any other nation throughout history have we had so much of the abundance of the Word of God and disregarded it. It is on TV, it is on the radio, and we have multitudes of Bibles in every color, in every size, in leather, in bonded leather, in fake leather, in plastic, in metal—whatever you want, we have it. Every possible translation is available. Never could there be a person in our nation who could say, "God never revealed Himself; He never gave me an opportunity to know." No, that's not the case, and God will judge our nation.

Cities are desolate, as Isaiah described. We may see the difficulty of famine, earthquakes, and all kinds of different tribulations and challenges. These may come to pass in our own nation. We often blame these issues on global warming and economic collapse, but as we go through the book of Isaiah, we will see that God allows these sorts of things to take place. I know it's politically incorrect to say it, but that's what the Bible says. It won't be easy for us to witness these events, and it was clearly not an easy thing for Isaiah. That's why he would cry out, "Lord, how long?"

God only gives us a small glimmer of hope in verse 13, where it says, "But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and shall be eaten as a teal tree and as an oak whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves." So, the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. You see, God's punishment serves the purpose of purification. God says here, "Listen, I am sending you now that you've recognized that you're just as much of a sinner as they are. Now that you've acknowledged that you've been blessed by Me because I've removed your sin as far as the east is from the west, blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven."

I've forgiven you your sin, you man of unclean lips, but I am now commissioning you to go forth and speak My word to these people. However, they're not going to listen to you, and the nation is going to be destroyed because they contemn the counsel of the Most High. They disregard God's word, and so the nation will reap the judgment of God. Yet, a remnant shall return; a tenth part, He says, "There shall be yet a tenth part, and it shall return."

Now, it's going to be eaten up as a teal tree and as an oak. The substance is in them; it's just going to be the very last little bit, just a small seed. A small remnant will remain, but a remnant shall return. When we get into Isaiah chapter 7 next week, we will see that this is the very thing that Isaiah named his firstborn son. He named him Cher Jashub, which means "a remnant shall return."

As we look at our own nation, we see that many people disregard the word of God; they contemn it.

The counsel of the Most High calls you and me foolish because we believe that God created the heavens and the earth in six days, and on the seventh day, He rested. They say that we're stupid because we believe that there was a global flood and that only eight people survived on an ark that Noah built over a hundred years. They think it's ludicrous that we actually believe that at one point in time, all men spoke the same language, and there at the Tower of Babel, thousands of years ago, God disrupted their language.

They think we're absolutely insane for believing that dinosaurs didn't live millions and millions of years ago, but that they actually lived among man, which there is much evidence to support. Did any of you happen to see 60 Minutes a couple of weeks ago, where they talked about soft tissue found in fossils that are 65 million years old? They said, "Well, this doesn't fit with all of our scientific things, but it must be." You mean to tell me there's soft tissue in 80 million-year-old bones? Yep, really! Because they are so steadfast in their foolishness, they refuse to look at the evidence.

I was watching something the other day on the Grand Canyon, and they were talking about the Colorado River, the most dynamic erosion force in the world. Over millions and millions of years, it created this unbelievably huge canyon that can be seen from space. It's 17 miles wide at its longest and more than a mile deep at its deepest. That river, over millions of years? No, it was a flood, and it was draining off that plateau, cutting that big thing in the ground pretty quickly. In fact, we saw the very same sort of things happen in 1981 when Mount St. Helens blew up. I was only one year old at the time, so I don't remember it, but it happened.

God's Word is truth, and man, in our day here in the United States, in the West, and the world in general, disregards God's Word and calls us fools. As we preach the gospel and speak forth the Word of God, they harden their hearts, close their ears, and shut their eyes. They don't want to look at the evidence; they don't want to hear the testimony. They want nothing to do with it, and they fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah. They will be damned, and they will stand before God one day and say, "You didn't give me enough evidence," and He will say, "You're without excuse."

In Isaiah, he was devastated by the judgment of God. We're going to see, as we delve further into the book of Isaiah, that he didn't want to see anyone go through the judgment of God. That's why he would cry so loudly, urging people to repent and turn to the Lord while there's still time. May the Lord stir us so that we would speak up, even in the face of those who will heckle us and call us fools. We can respond, "Well, I'm a fool for Christ; whose fool are you?"

You need to repent, for there is a day approaching when God will judge the earth. That day is nearer now than when you first believed, and with every second that ticks by, it grows closer and closer. I don't know the day or hour, and neither do you, but God the Father does. He knows when He will say to His Son, "Reap the earth, Son; the time is now." The day comes quickly, so make sure you invite your friends. On December 30th, we're going to talk about the indicators of that day, as we are seeing them all around us.

Take heart, church; your redemption draws nigh. The Lord is on the move, but He wants us to be actively moving too. So rise and go, because this is not our rest. This place is going to be destroyed, and if you hold on to this world, you'll be destroyed with it. May we be filled with boldness to speak, even though you may, like Isaiah, ask, "Lord, how long?" Speak the word, and if you refuse to speak, may His word be like a fire in you, as it was in Jeremiah. Jeremiah the prophet didn't receive the encouraging word that a remnant would return; he didn't have anyone listen, but he kept preaching. May we do the same. Amen.

God spoke to the prophet Habakkuk in Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 17, and said...

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vines. The labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. A bleak, dark day, Habakkuk said. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, and I will joy in the God of my salvation.

You can only have that kind of joy if you recognize that this world is not where it's at. There awaits another kingdom, a kingdom which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. That's where we're headed. Until then, may the Lord unbridle our tongues to speak at liberty of the coming of our Lord.

Let's stand in prayer. Father, I thank you for the truth of your word. Lord, I thank you for the candor with which you speak to us. Very clearly, you don't try to spin it a certain way; you don't try to make it more palatable to us. You just tell us clearly what the truth is.

Lord, would you give myself and my brothers and sisters here boldness to speak that same truth to those that are lost and dying in this world? Help us to be willing to be accused of being fools, to be willing to perhaps be ridiculed by this world, just as Isaiah was. They mocked and ridiculed him, and did the same to Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, and Obadiah.

Yet, Lord, you would tell us, as you told your disciples there on that mountaintop, that we're blessed. We're blessed when men revile and persecute us and say all manner of evil against us falsely. Lord, you told us to rejoice and be exceedingly glad because we have a great reward in heaven, for that's the same way they persecuted the prophets which were before us. Lord, would you cause us to be...

Salt to this earth, light to this world that cannot be hid and cannot be put out in these dark days. I pray this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying Amen.

God's Israel cannot be diminished. Amen. Thank you for their amazement. Thank you.