Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] This is talk number six of a series called Meeting the Up Close and Personal.
[00:00:07] And it's perhaps the most confronting of all of them.
[00:00:12] So just to warm up a little, I thought I'd share a story that probably ranks in the top three dumb things that I've done in my life.
[00:00:21] So when I was in my early 20s, when most dumb things happen, I traveled with some Aussies through Canada.
[00:00:29] So Ray and Archie and I, one morning we came up with an idea of, let's go find some bears.
[00:00:37] And so we went hiking and we came across this massive grizzly bear.
[00:00:43] And he was rummaging around looking for some berries to eat.
[00:00:47] And then Archie came up with his second good idea of the day. Let's see how close we can get to him.
[00:00:56] We're downwind from him.
[00:00:58] Everything will be fine.
[00:01:00] Now, we read those signs saying, stay away from the bear. Don't get within 100 metres. But we thought that just applies to Canadians, not Australians, when we're traveling. And my backup plan, Archie, was bigger and therefore slower than me.
[00:01:18] Now, we got within 25 meters, and I still remember this grizzly bear's big head just slowly turning and staring at us.
[00:01:31] And I still remember the feeling inside.
[00:01:34] Am I the dumbest of all the dumb people that have walked on this earth?
[00:01:40] It was a scary feeling.
[00:01:43] Now, I have lived to tell the tale. Poor Archie, he made it to.
[00:01:50] But we were up close and personal with a creature that was far greater and more powerful than us.
[00:01:58] And we'd stepped into his zone without permission, and we were exposed as small and vulnerable and stupid.
[00:02:10] Now, in today's story, we see Isaiah in the temple and he's up close and personal, not with a grizzly bear, but with the Holy One of Israel.
[00:02:22] It's an experience that shocks and exposes and humbles him, but ultimately it sets him free.
[00:02:31] And I hope it does the same for each of us.
[00:02:35] Let's pray.
[00:02:37] Father in heaven, we thank youk that we can be in youn presence.
[00:02:43] We know it's because of the Lord Jesus. We have no right, separate from that, to be here.
[00:02:50] But we thank you for this story of Isaiah. We pray that you would speak to us in exactly the way that we need to hear this morning and give us what we need to respond with trust and obedience and worship.
[00:03:04] Amen.
[00:03:06] Now, last time we were with Elijah in the desert, and you'll remember he was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and he had a particular ministry of calling out the idolatry of the day.
[00:03:24] Now, you may remember that we talked about how his name embodied his message and his ministry.
[00:03:32] So do you remember what the name Elijah means?
[00:03:38] Who wants to have a stab at that?
[00:03:40] If you were here before 10 o', clock, you would have seen it flash up.
[00:03:46] So, Elijah, it's made up of these two words, Eli, meaning my God, and Yah, meaning Yahweh, the personal name of God.
[00:03:57] It may be a declaration of truth, Yahweh is God.
[00:04:02] Or it can be a statement of faith that Yahweh is my God.
[00:04:09] Now, Isaiah lived 100 years later, and he served as a prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah.
[00:04:17] Isaiah's name also embodied his message and his ministry.
[00:04:23] Now, there's a whole family of Hebrew names that belong together.
[00:04:28] Isaiah, Joshua, Josiah, and Yeshua, where we get the name Jesus.
[00:04:36] And each of these names are based on two Hebrew words. Yasha, to save, and Yah, the short version of Yahweh.
[00:04:47] And all these names declare that Yahweh is salvation.
[00:04:54] But we've got a third name to consider today.
[00:04:57] Isaiah 6 begins with these words in the year that King Uzziah died.
[00:05:04] Now, nothing is wasted in Hebrew storytelling. This is not simply a time marker. The storyteller is giving us a clue that if you want to understand Isaiah 6, you will need to discover who is King Uzziah and why did he die.
[00:05:24] So we get the backstory. In 2 Chronicles 26, it says Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 52 years.
[00:05:37] He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and his fame spread far and wide.
[00:05:45] Now, Yahweh is my strength.
[00:05:48] This is what Uzziah means.
[00:05:52] And for much of his life, he lived up to his name.
[00:05:56] He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
[00:06:00] Can you imagine 52 years under this godly leader?
[00:06:05] Compare it to Elijah living 22 years under evil King Ahab.
[00:06:12] But sadly, it didn't last.
[00:06:16] In verse 15 in 2 Chronicles 26, it says, After Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall.
[00:06:27] This good king stumbled and fell.
[00:06:30] Pride hijacked Uzziah's heart, and his mind became so muddled that he forgot his own name.
[00:06:40] Instead of continuing to trust Yahweh is my strength, he chose to go his own way.
[00:06:48] Now we need to finish the story, but it's a horrible read.
[00:06:53] Uzziah was unfaithful to the Lord, his God.
[00:06:57] He entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar.
[00:07:03] Azariah and 80 other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in.
[00:07:09] They confronted King Uzziah and said, it is not right for you, Uzziah, to do this.
[00:07:17] This is for the priests to do.
[00:07:20] Now leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and you will not be honoured by the Lord.
[00:07:27] Now Uzziah became angry, and while he was raging at the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead.
[00:07:37] So the priests hurried him out of the temple.
[00:07:41] What happened to King Uzziah is a vivid metaphor of a problem that every one of us have.
[00:07:49] The leprosy on Uzziah's body reveals the leprosy of the human heart.
[00:07:57] Now, leprosy is an infection that kills nerves.
[00:08:01] So when a part of the body is injured or burned, the pain is not felt by the person and the harm is not recognized and horrible damage can occur to the body.
[00:08:12] The invisible infection causes visible consequences.
[00:08:18] Leprosy spreads its uncleanness to others.
[00:08:21] So in Bible times, to protect the community, the leper was excluded and they had to say unclean, unclean whenever people came near.
[00:08:33] So we can see why leprosy is such a strong metaphor for sin.
[00:08:38] Sin kills our spiritual sensitivity.
[00:08:42] Our souls become numb to its devastating effects.
[00:08:46] And sin becomes visible in the ugliness of our thoughts and our words and our actions.
[00:08:53] And like an infection, sin spreads and damages our relationships with God and with one another.
[00:09:01] Leprosy of the heart is fatal.
[00:09:05] So how did things end for Uzziah?
[00:09:08] It says the king had leprosy. Until the day he dies, he lived in a separate house, excluded from the temple.
[00:09:17] Uzziah died and was buried in a separate grave. And people said it was because he had leprosy.
[00:09:26] What a tragically sad end to a life.
[00:09:30] But this is the context in which Isaiah began his ministry in the year the King Uzziah died. I saw the Lord.
[00:09:43] Now we'll explore this story using four headings.
[00:09:47] You might have noticed, as Bernie was reading it, the word Lord was mentioned twice or a few times.
[00:09:56] When it's spelled with small capitals, it's referring to the covenant name of God, Yahweh.
[00:10:02] But when it's just spelled capital L, O, R D, it translates Adonai, which means master, the one who has authority.
[00:10:13] So Yahweh and Adonai are two ways that this story speaks of the Holy One of Israel.
[00:10:22] So the first point, confronted with the Holy One, Isaiah sees Adonai, the Holy One, high and exalted and seated on a throne.
[00:10:33] The earthly throne of Israel might be empty, but the heavenly throne never is.
[00:10:39] Earthly rulers come and go, but the Lord continues to rule.
[00:10:45] And everything about this scene speaks of the greatness of the Lord.
[00:10:50] Isaiah sees the Holy One, high and exalted.
[00:10:55] He's greater than all the others and he governs all others. And he reigns supreme.
[00:11:01] He sees the Holy One seated on a throne.
[00:11:06] This speaks of the settled sovereignty of the Lord.
[00:11:10] There is no need for him to stand.
[00:11:13] He simply speaks and his will is done.
[00:11:18] And Isaiah sees the Holy One filling everything.
[00:11:22] The train of his robe fills the temple. His glory fills the earth and smoke fills the temple.
[00:11:30] The presence of the Holy One fills to overflowing.
[00:11:36] Isaiah has seen the greatness of the Lord, but he also sees the seraphim and hears their song.
[00:11:44] Now this is the only place in the Bible that we read of these amazing creatures.
[00:11:49] Seraphim is the plural of seraph, which simply means the burning one.
[00:11:56] Fire is a common picture in the Bible of holiness.
[00:12:01] And these creatures live so closely to the fiery holiness of the Lord that they are simply known as the burning ones.
[00:12:10] And each seraph has six wings.
[00:12:14] With two they cover their face.
[00:12:17] They do not want to draw attention to themselves, but seek to remain hidden.
[00:12:23] With two, they cover their feet.
[00:12:26] They do not choose their own path. They simply walk in humble obedience.
[00:12:33] And with two they fly.
[00:12:36] They are not passive, but they are alert and ready to respond immediately to the word of Yahweh.
[00:12:46] Now these seraphim are creatures who have never seen sinned.
[00:12:51] They embody holiness, embody humility and reverence and obedience.
[00:12:59] And they live to proclaim his glory 24 hours a day. The seraphims sing this beautiful song to one another.
[00:13:10] Imagine the harmonies coming out of their perfect mouths.
[00:13:15] It says they were calling to one another. Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh, the Almighty.
[00:13:22] The whole earth is full of his glory.
[00:13:27] Now in this context, holiness means uniqueness on every measure. The Lord is in a category of his own.
[00:13:37] He's absolutely unique.
[00:13:39] There is nothing and no one like him.
[00:13:43] Now let me give you an example of this. I want you to imagine some 14 year old basketballers and these boys are in a gym and they're playing king of the court, they're playing 1v1.
[00:13:57] And there's all the healthy banter and one upmanship that you'd expect from these young bucks testing their skills against each other.
[00:14:07] But then they look up and through the door comes LeBron James, the greatest basketballer ever to play the game.
[00:14:17] Now the boys are silenced.
[00:14:19] Their banter stops.
[00:14:22] Because they know LeBron James is here.
[00:14:25] A basketballer who lives and belongs to an entirely different category.
[00:14:31] There's no more bickering about who is better than who in the presence of Lebron.
[00:14:37] Even these boys know their place.
[00:14:42] Now, when human beings are in the presence of the Lord, the Holy One, all of our petty comparisons with each other become meaningless.
[00:14:54] As we worship this God, we actually unify as his people because we are in our place and he is high and exalted.
[00:15:07] The Holy One of Israel is in a category of his own.
[00:15:12] And this uniqueness applies to all of his attributes, not just his moral purity.
[00:15:18] He is holy or unique in his love and power and wisdom and greatness. There is no one like Him.
[00:15:29] Why holy, holy, holy? Why the repetition?
[00:15:34] It's a Hebrew way of expressing comparison.
[00:15:40] I mentioned Archie. I might be big. Archie is big, big. That's how a Hebrew would say it. But if LeBron James came in, he was big, big, big.
[00:15:53] It's the way of expressing not just bigger, but. But the biggest of all.
[00:16:00] Did you notice what happens when the seraphim sing their song?
[00:16:05] At the sound of their voices, the doorpost shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
[00:16:13] The song of the seraphim proclaims earth shattering truths.
[00:16:19] Brothers and sisters, this is what the seraphim live for.
[00:16:24] To declare that Yahweh belongs in a category of his own and that he deserves to be seen for who he is.
[00:16:33] Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh, the Almighty.
[00:16:38] The whole earth is full of his glory.
[00:16:44] Convicted by the Holy Spirit, Isaiah is aware that the king had just died from leprosy.
[00:16:53] A leprosy that came because he entered the temple, Yahweh's space, without permission, but with presumption and pride.
[00:17:04] And now Isaiah finds himself in that very same temple.
[00:17:10] This explains why he responded as he did in verse five.
[00:17:14] Woe to me, I cried. I am ruining.
[00:17:18] For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips. And my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh, the Almighty.
[00:17:30] Now this was worse than a few 20 year olds that got too close to a grizzly bear.
[00:17:37] This was Isaiah in the presence of the Holy One of Israel.
[00:17:44] And he says, I am ruined.
[00:17:47] Now this Hebrew word is damma.
[00:17:50] It's translated in a few different ways. Undone, ruined, cut off, destroyed, silenced.
[00:17:59] For Isaiah, this was a soul disintegrating experience.
[00:18:05] And the Holy Spirit brought three particular things to his attention.
[00:18:12] I'm a man of unclean lips.
[00:18:15] Of all the sins that could be highlighted, it was the sins of his speech that topped the list.
[00:18:24] How often do you and I Say careless words or fail to say a kind word, or speak untruth, or twist a story, or use flattery to get what we want.
[00:18:40] How often do we join in online, joining the pylon without considering the impact of our words?
[00:18:49] How often do we remain silent when we should have spoken for what is right?
[00:18:57] Isaiah realised, I live amongst a people of unclean lips.
[00:19:03] He was not just convicted about his personal impurity. He realized he belonged to a sinful society.
[00:19:12] Now, this is challenging for us as individualists.
[00:19:16] We love to shift the blame and say, it wasn't me, it was others.
[00:19:21] But Isaiah is not talking about blame shifting here. In fact, it's the very opposite.
[00:19:27] We have fallen short of who we were made to be.
[00:19:33] That's what he realized.
[00:19:36] We belong to the same human race and we're doing a good job at harming and destroying one another.
[00:19:46] Individually and collectively, we are guilty before the Holy One.
[00:19:53] The third thing Isaiah says, my eyes have seen the Holy One.
[00:19:59] If we compare ourselves to one another, perhaps we come out on top every now and then.
[00:20:05] But here is Isaiah, face to face with the Incomparable One, the One who is the true measure of what is good and true and beautiful.
[00:20:17] And Isaiah knows he does not measure up.
[00:20:21] The seraphim have their faces covered, but Isaiah is standing there with his eyes wide open.
[00:20:30] It's no wonder that he says, I am Dhamma.
[00:20:34] I am ruined.
[00:20:36] I am silenced.
[00:20:38] He has seen true holiness, true purity, true greatness. His heart is exposed. His sin is seen.
[00:20:49] In the year that King Uzziah died on, Isaiah realizes he's been diagnosed with leprosy of the heart.
[00:20:59] And he knows what that means.
[00:21:02] Separation, exclusion from God and from everyone else.
[00:21:10] But maybe not.
[00:21:14] One seraph stops singing.
[00:21:18] It's astounding.
[00:21:21] This seraph stops singing because he's been given a unique and holy mission.
[00:21:27] This seraph will enact a wonderful act of grace.
[00:21:33] One of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he'd taken with tongs from the altar.
[00:21:40] And with it he touched my mouth and said, see, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for.
[00:21:50] A live coal is taken from the altar and perfectly applied to those unclean lips.
[00:21:58] Isaiah was not even aware that there was a sacrifice on the altar, but it was lying there because Yahweh had already prepared it as an acceptable sacrifice.
[00:22:11] The seraph explains the effect of the sacrifice.
[00:22:16] It has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for.
[00:22:24] Now Two Hebrew words are used, translated as guilt and sin.
[00:22:30] One is Avon.
[00:22:32] Crookedness, guilt, iniquity.
[00:22:36] Isaiah, your guilt is taken away. Your debt is paid. There is nothing more owing. You have a clean slate.
[00:22:47] The second word, Katha.
[00:22:49] Sins or moral failures or falling short.
[00:22:54] Isaiah, your failings have been covered.
[00:22:57] They've been completely and comprehensively dealt with and you are free from your sin.
[00:23:06] Now we read this with New Testament eyes.
[00:23:09] We can see that the live coal is a symbol of the Lord Jesus.
[00:23:15] He is the holy sacrifice who cleanses us from our sin.
[00:23:22] People speak of the book of Isaiah as the fifth gospel.
[00:23:26] Even though it was written 700 years before Jesus, it speaks so clearly of him.
[00:23:33] Listen to these words. Isaiah 53.
[00:23:36] He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities.
[00:23:42] The punishment that brought us peace was on him. And by his wounds we are healed.
[00:23:51] Because of Jesus we can be cleansed by his holy sacrifice, cleansed from our sin and safe to enter and live in the presence of the Holy One.
[00:24:09] I want to read a poem written by a young man who reflected on this particular passage and also reflected on all the lepers that Jesus met.
[00:24:22] It's a poem called Washed clean, unclean lips, unclean hands, unclean eyes, unclean ears, unclean mind, unclean hearts, unclean. Me, unclean, unclean, says the leper. And I get away, get away, I'm not safe, I cry.
[00:24:54] I am full of dirt and sin.
[00:24:58] Disease and death are what I bring.
[00:25:03] And then the leper sees Jesus.
[00:25:07] He seeks me.
[00:25:10] He calls me, he reaches me, he touches me, he washes me, he heals me, he saves me.
[00:25:24] Be clean, be clean, says Jesus to me.
[00:25:29] Come near, come here.
[00:25:32] You're safe, you're free.
[00:25:35] This Holy One, he cleans my soul.
[00:25:40] His holy love, it makes us whole.
[00:25:47] Now let the words of the seraph sink into your soul.
[00:25:53] The sacrifice of Jesus has touched your lips.
[00:25:59] Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.
[00:26:07] Let the Holy Spirit have his way in your soul.
[00:26:12] Trust him to do his purifying and cleansing and healing work of grace within you as he cleans you by the holy sacrifice of Jesus.
[00:26:27] Point number four called to a holy purpose now, verse eight makes me smile.
[00:26:34] Isaiah, it says. Then I heard the voice of Adonai saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us?
[00:26:42] And I said, here I am, send me now. Three verses ago, Isaiah was ruined, but now he sounds like a 10 year old boy bursting with enthusiasm on Christmas Day.
[00:26:59] The Holy One has healed me and I am clean.
[00:27:04] The Leprosy of my heart has been cured.
[00:27:07] He's taken away my sin.
[00:27:10] So whatever this Holy One wants from me, I am all in boots and all I just want to live for his glory.
[00:27:22] Now Grace does this.
[00:27:25] It sets people free and moves them to give themselves wholly and solely to the Lord and His purposes.
[00:27:37] Isaiah had been suddenly confronted with the Holy One of Israel and thoroughly convicted by the Holy Spirit, completely cleansed by the holy sacrifice.
[00:27:53] And now he had discovered the reason for his life.
[00:27:57] I'm called to a holy purpose.
[00:28:01] And so Isaiah responds, here am I.
[00:28:05] Send me whatever this Holy One wants from me. I am all in boots and all I want to live for his glory.
[00:28:17] Now. Verse 8 is a good place for us to finish this morning.
[00:28:22] The Lord is at work in this world, and you and I can join in with what he's doing.
[00:28:28] Each of us are sent to different parts with a different part to play.
[00:28:34] But it begins with the same boots and all willingness to give ourselves wholly and solely to the Lord.
[00:28:44] In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.
[00:28:50] Two men entered the temple that year.
[00:28:55] Both encountered the holiness of God and both their lives were changed forever.
[00:29:02] Uzziah was foolish.
[00:29:06] He forgot the meaning of his name.
[00:29:10] He trusted in his own strength.
[00:29:13] Isaiah was humble.
[00:29:16] He learned the meaning of his name.
[00:29:20] He discovered that Yahweh is his salvation.
[00:29:25] For Uzziah, the leprosy on his body was a sign of his pride.
[00:29:31] And so he was set apart and he died a leper's death.
[00:29:37] But for Isaiah, the leprosy of his heart was cleansed forever that day.
[00:29:44] And he was set apart with a holy purpose to love and serve the Lord.
[00:29:54] Now this series has given us six opportunities to meet the Lord up close and personal.
[00:30:00] I want you to remember where we have been.
[00:30:04] We were with Adam and Eve in the garden with Abraham on the journey with Moses on the mountain with David in the palace, with Elijah in the deserts, and today with Isaiah in the temple.
[00:30:22] In each one we've seen a different aspect of the Lord, but there's a consistent thread through them that goes like cannot meet the Lord up close and personal and remain the same person.
[00:30:41] He is too great and glorious, too kind and compassionate to leave us as we are.
[00:30:51] So I want to finish and leave you with one story.
[00:30:57] A chief from southern Africa was strongly convicted about his sin after a missionary shared the Gospel with him.
[00:31:08] And he felt the only way to respond to the great love of Christ was to surrender items of his traditional kingly regalia at a local church. Service.
[00:31:20] So one by one, he placed them into the offertory basket at the front.
[00:31:27] But then he felt that that was not enough.
[00:31:31] So the chief stepped inside the offertory basket himself.
[00:31:39] I've given all my stuff, but I need to give everything that I am.
[00:31:44] I want to give myself wholly and solely and completely to the Lord Jesus.
[00:31:54] I don't know what this chief's name was, but Isaiah would be a pretty good name because he did exactly what Isaiah did.
[00:32:04] Here I am.
[00:32:06] Send me.
[00:32:09] Have you seen enough of the Lord to give yourself wholly and solely to him?
[00:32:18] Here I am.
[00:32:20] Send me.
[00:32:22] Whatever this Holy One wants from me for the rest of my days on this earth.
[00:32:28] I'm all in.
[00:32:29] I'm boots and all.
[00:32:31] I want to live for his glory.
[00:32:36] Let's pray.
[00:32:44] Father, we want to acknowledge that you are high and exalted. You are in a category of your own.
[00:32:52] There is no one and nothing like you.
[00:32:56] And we know that apart from Jesus we would be separate.
[00:33:02] But we want to thank you that the Lord Jesus came and lived as one of us.
[00:33:07] We want to thank you that he died in our place, died that death that we deserve.
[00:33:14] Thank you that you raised him from the dead and he has ascended to heaven and is ruling at the right hand of you, His Father.
[00:33:23] Thank you that you tell us that as we trust you and put our faith in Jesus, you can deal with our guilt, you can deal with our sin, you can wash us clean, and you can give us all that we need so that we can live wholly and solely for you.
[00:33:43] We pray that you would help each one of us to receive what we need from you and to know how to go back into our places and our relationships and live boldly and humbly for your glory.
[00:33:59] Amen.
