Redeemer Church
Feb 1st Holiness of God

      • Psalm 118:1NKJV

  • Jesus Paid It All

      • Psalm 118:19NKJV

      • Psalm 118:21–24NKJV

  • I Want To Know You

      • John 12:36–41NKJV

      • 1 Corinthians 10:31NKJV

  • Only A Holy God

      • Jude 25NKJV

  • Intro

    Passage I have wanted to preach for a long time;
    It’s an emotional passage for me, definitely was emotional while writing parts of this, hopefully got it out of my system, but if not, just bear with me.
    No intro that will do it justice, so we are going to jump right in:

    Isaiah 6:1-13

    Background

    Chapters 1-5 are a pronouncement of Judgment
    This is Isaiah’s call to ministry (other examples)
    -Samuel
    -
    One of the most quoted OT books, right behind the Psalms.

    I. Vision of the LORD (1-4)

    Saw the Lord (physical manifestation) (1)
    John 12:41 - this is Christ
    John 12:36–41 ESV
    When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.
    Quotes Isaiah twice on people hardening hearts, first from 53:1 (suffering servant passage), and the second from our passage today in verse 10.
    Christophany (Theophany) - it’s an appearance of God to an individual to deliver a message
    Speaks to the divinity of Christ and the oneness of the trinity.
    JW may argue that John 1:1 says “The Word was with God and the Word was “a” God,” but passages like these and the ones we are going to look at in SS today leave no doubt that the NT writers believed Christ to be God.
    Throughout the NT, we see the personhood of the Son/Father/Spirit, they are often talked about as separate entities, but then these passages (Like Heb 1 and John 12:41) point us back to the oneness of essence.
    All fully God, all one. So, as we dig into the rest of this passage, we are digging into the essence of who God is, which applies across all three persons of the Trinity.
    Seraphim (2)
    Creatures with 6 wings and the name Seraphim indicates they are fiery as well. Word itself is complicated and used to indicate a few different things, so I don’t think it’s helpful in determining exactly what they look like, but I do think we can say that it indicates something that would be terrifying.
    covered face/feet - humility
    Not told why, but perhaps they covered their face because of the surpassing glory of the Lord
    Perhaps they covered their feet as a mark of humility. Feet are a “lower” part of the body.
    cry out: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is filled with his Glory”
    repetition in Hebrew poetry is emphasis (superlative) good, better, best
    Look at this a little bit deeper, look at What is Holiness?
    This is a terrifying scene just as we see it laid out here, but understanding these terms takes it to an entirely different level.
    What does it mean that God is Holy, Holy, Holy?
    Holy - to be set apart; be devoted to.
    Holiness carries the connotation of divine transcendence.
    Though we are made in the image of God, we are not god. He is transcendent.
    The glory at the end of this verse is a part of this transcendence.
    Moses desired to see God, but could only see his back side as he passed by. His glory is so great.
    Glory carries the connotation of something weighty or worthy. God’s Glory in a sense is a display of his worthiness.
    If we dig a little deeper into “Holiness” then we will see a little more of what that Glory is displaying:
    Wayne Grudem: “God’s Holiness means that he is separated from sin and devoted to seeking his own honor.”
    It also tells us that God is set apart from all evil. There is no evil in Him and He is the ultimate good.
    Not just simply that he doesn’t do bad things, but in all things He is good and there is no perversion of that Good in him.
    Often times our sin is a perversion of what is good.
    Because He is the ultimate good, He is completely devoted to his own honor that is that Goodness.
    “For God, then, to be holy means that he is devoted to his own glory since he alone is God and thus the highest end of all things.” - Stephen Wellum
    Because He is the highest end and the ultimate good of all, then by it’s very nature, anything that does not seek His honor would be sin.
    There is no good thing if it does not seek to Honor God.
    1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
    So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
    It also means that there is no such thing as a little sin. When we go against God’s will, it is cosmic treason.
    Argument: Doesn’t that make God an egomaniac?
    No, if He were not the ultimate good, then it would. But he is.
    God’s devotion to His glory is not vain, it is not selfishness, it is love and seeking the highest good possible.
    All of the other attributes of God pour out of His Holiness.
    God’s Love is a Holy Love because it is set apart from all evil and it is devoted to the highest good, his glory.
    God’s Justice is a Holy Justice, God’s Wrath is a Holy Wrath
    God’s Mercy, Grace and Patience are Holy Mercy, Grace and Patience.
    God’s Beauty is a Holy Beauty (Sermon from David)
    When the Seraphim are crying out God is “Holy, Holy, Holy,” what they are saying is that God is the ultimate good, He is set apart from all evil, He is devoted to Himself, the highest good.
    When it comes to eternity, we like to compare ourselves to people we think are worse than us: “At least I’m not Hitler”
    But that’s not the standard, Holiness is the standard.
    We are called to be set apart from evil and sin, to be devoted to God; the highest good possible.
    Isaiah is confronted with this standard.

    II. Isaiah’s Fearful Response (5)

    Right to be terrified, the flaming creatures, the voice of the Lord shakes the “foundations of the thresholds”
    Add in the weight of God’s Glory, of His Holiness, and could we respond in any other way than Isaiah does in vs 5?
    Woe is me!
    recognizes guilt- “Woe is me, for I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;”
    When we are confronted with the Holiness of God, our own guilt becomes apparent.
    Illust: Furniture - I build it, think i do a pretty good job, then look at something professional and realize...nope, i didn’t.
    For us, seeing God’s Holiness is like this, we may think we are doing good, but then we look at the standard and realize we aren’t.
    Precisely the point of the Sermon on the Mount. Not too far away from starting that, and Jesus points out to the Pharisees that what they think is the standard isn’t even close.
    recognizes the just penalty for his guilt
    “For I am Lost,” The Hebrew word “demah” is typically translated “to be destroyed” or “to die”
    Other translations use the word undone, ruined, etc.
    Jewish people knew that to see the full glory of God meant death.
    In the presence of God; he understood the penalty for his “unclean lips” was death.
    It is a Holy Justice and Wrath that is poured out.
    Call out false teaching of so many mainline denominations today:
    Missing the weight of God’s Glory, His Holiness.
    Jesus is not simply a “buddy/friend.” He is the creator and sustainer of the universe and there must be some kind of awe.
    His Holiness means He is perfectly righteous and His Holy Justice means that sin cannot stand in His presence. If we ignore that, then we are teaching a false God.
    We need to lean into God’s Holiness, be in awe of his goodness. Recognize our sin for the distortion that it is. Feel that guilt, because it makes the grace that much sweeter.
    We do have a friend in Jesus, and we see that in vs. 6-7.

    III. Redemption is Given (6-7)

    Isaiah 6:6–7 “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.””
    Coal was taken from the altar
    This is the original altar that the altar in the temple would be an image of. It was located in the most holy place.
    The fiery creature (Seraphim) took the fiery coal and touched the lips and removed/destroyed his sin.
    Lips because he was to be a prophet (Jeremiah 1) and because he had specifically mentioned being of unclean lips.
    not something earned - Isaiah didn’t do anything to gain favor with the Lord.
    The Coal for us is the Cross.
    At the cross, Jesus did more than just cleanse our lips, he took our sin on himself and took the just penalty that we deserve.
    We are a people of unclean hearts, and at the cross, Holy Justice was done and the penalty paid. The Holy Spirit comes and makes our hearts new.
    It’s an act of Holy Grace.
    It takes us, ones who distort what is good, who justly deserve death, and makes us new, gives us the ability to be Holy.
    Not because of us, but because of His Holy Goodness.
    He opens our eyes to see what is truly good, changes our hearts to desire His glory. He invites us in to call Him “Father”
    Isaiah understands this grace, and in his gratitude, he responds to God’s call.

    IV. Isaiah’s Grateful Response (8-13)

    Isaiah 6:8 “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.””
    God asks who will go, Isaiah responds “Here am I, Send me!”
    The call is not an easy one. God calls on Isaiah to go back to that people that have unclean lips and give a message of judgment.
    To condemn them for not following God and to do so until the judgment has come.
    There is a seed of hope at the end in vs 13 “The Holy Seed is its stump”
    The hope of a remnant that will be holy when the judgment has passed.
    But Isaiah goes and does what the Lord has called him to.
    To start wrapping up, this is what we see in this passage:
    God reveals himself to Isaiah through this vision, and reveals His Glory; His Holiness.
    Isaiah is wrecked by this vision, the weight of Glory the immensity of Holiness. He recognizes his own distortion of what is good, his own sin and the consequences for those sins and cries out the only thing he can: “Woe is Me!” - A fearful response
    By Grace, God atones for the sins of Isaiah, burning up the sins and calls him to a task and Isaiah cries out “Here I am, send me!” - A grateful response.
    When confronted with a Holy God, Isaiah recognizes his guilt, receives the grace of God, and responds in gratitude.

    So What?

    When we look at this passage, the biggest thing I want us to do is to be wrecked by God’s Holiness.
    This isn’t a one time experience, it is a lifetime walk.
    Part of the reason I wanted come back to this passage today is because when I am in a slump, it is passages like this and Isaiah 40 and so many others that point me back to the Holiness, bigness, otherness of God that pull me back out. I’m so often focused on the things I can’t control, and these passages remind me to fall on my knees before a Holy God. That he has already provided all that I need in Christ, and has promised so much more. He is sovereign, He is Holy, and He is Good.
    We recognize that we don’t measure up, in those moments, I realize that I am trying to take the place of God and control things that are in His control, that I am not trusting Him. I recognize that I am an image bearer that is distorting his image. So my only hope, our only hope, is His grace. The grace that we find at the cross.
    Revel in that grace.
    It’s a joyful thing that God redeems us and invites us to call Him “Father.”
    It’s easy to get caught in a spiral of guilt, a spiral of never feeling like we measure up. Rejoice in the grace that God has granted forgiveness.
    Rejoice in the grace that God gives us the Holy Spirit to change our hearts and works in us to make us true image bearers of God; rightly reflecting Him.
    Respond to God’s call
    What is God’s call to us?
    Live a Holy Life
    set apart from sin and devoted to God.
    Share the good news of the Gospel.
    To tell and demonstrate the change that God works in people.
    To show them a Holy God.
    This week we will be doing communion
    We are going back to doing this every week - it is a weekly reminder pointing us back to the foundation of our faith.
    Christ gave instructions for us to do this in remembrance of Him until he returns
    1 Corinthians 11:24–26 “and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
    It’s a moment to remember that we stand before a Holy God, who by grace offers forgiveness through the blood and broken body of Christ. Who invites us in to His presence.
    Here we practice open communion - If you are a believer we invite you to come
    if not, we want you to experience the real thing, not this symbol, so we ask you to abstain.
    Take a moment to quiet are hearts, examine ourselves, repent of our sin and turn our eyes upon Jesus.
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