Homiletical Bridge
Isaiah 6:1-8
Prior Context: Israel has been warned that mere sacrifices without true repentance was what the Lord wanted.
Immediate Context: The great king Uzziah has died. Isaiah and Israel had seen king Uzziah be a great leader but he was still a man. The Lord shows Isaiah who truly is King.
M.O.T.: Evanglistic
C.I.T.: Isaiah seen the holiness of a true King, the Lord.
Thesis: The view of God should show our need for true cleansing and a genuine desire to tell people about the Lord.
Proposition: I want my hearers to see God as the true King, seek his forgiveness, and seek to serve him.
Probing Question: “What does this passage tell me, specifically, about the holiness of God?
Unifying Word: Requires
Title: “The King of Glory”
Outline:
I. The Holiness of God Requires True Worship (vs.1-4)
II. The Holiness of God Requires Self Examination (vs. 5)
III. The Holiness of God Requires Extreme Cleansing (vs. 6-7)
IV. The Holiness of God Requires Willing Servants (vs. 8)
1) Introduction
a) We live in a world consumed with passion and pastimes
i) ILL: Football / Baseball (Major League Movie)
b) Jonathan Edwards said “Our external delights, our earthly pleasures, our ambition, our reputation, and our human relationships, for all these things, our desires are eager, our appetites strong, our love warm and affectionate. When it comes to these things, our hearts are tender and sensitive, deeply impressed, easily moved, much concerned and greatly engaged. We are depressed at our losses and we are excited and joyful about any worldly success or prosperity. But when it comes to spiritual matter, how dull we feel. How heavy and hard our hearts; we can sit and hear of the infinite height and length and breadth and love of God in Christ Jesus, of his giving his infinitely dear Son, and yet sit there, cold and unmoved. If we are going to be excited about anything, shouldn’t it be our spiritual lives? Is there anything more inspiring, more exciting, more loveable and desirable in Heaven or on Earth than the Gospel of Jesus Christ? We should be utterly humbled that we are not more emotionally affected that we are.”
c) The Holiness of God requires: True worship, self-examination, extreme cleansing, and willing servants.
2) Isaiah 6:1-8
3) The Holiness of God Requires True Worship (Vs.1-4)
a) God reigns over all (Vs. 1A & 1B)
i) In the year that King Uzziah died
b) Victorious over all (Vs. 1C)
I) His train filled the temple
c) Worshiped by all
i) Vs. 2 - Seraphims – flaming angels
ii) Vs. 3A – crying Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts.
d) Sovereign over all
i) Our galaxy & billions of stars he knows them by name.
ii) Charles Misner, a scientific specialist in general relative theory said this about Albert Einstein: “I do see the design of the universe as essentially a religious question. That is, one should have some kind of respect and awe for the whole business. It’s very magnificent and shouldn’t be taken for granted. In fact, I believe that is why Einstein had so little use for organized religion, although he strikes me as a basically very religious man. He must have looked at what the preachers said about God and felt that they were blaspheming. He had seen much more majesty than they had ever imagined, and they were just not talking about the real thing. My guess is that he simply felt that religions he’d run across did not have proper respect for the author of the universe.
iii) World leaders not sovereign over all
iv) God is sovereign over nature
(1) Nations
(2) People
4) The Holiness of God Requires Self Examination (Vs. 5)
a) Brokenness of sin
i) Woe – crying out, mourning
ii) Undone – to perish, be destroyed
iii) Unclean – defiled, polluted
b) Lack proper perspective of ourselves today
i) Genesis 19 – Sodom & Gomorrah
ii) Number 15 – man picking up sticks on Sabbath – stoned
iii) 2 Samuel 6:6-7 – Uzzah killed for touching ark of God.
iv) Acts 5 – Ananias & Sapphira – lied about offering
c) Seem harsh? Man-made view of sin
d) Genesis 3 – 1 sin affected the whole world
e) Think in this room – woe unto us
f) Brokenness of sin comes from seeing the Holiness of God
i) Mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
5) The Holiness of God Requires Extreme Cleansing (Vs. 6-7)
a) When Isaiah Cried out because of his Sin (Trusting in Christ)
b) Vs. 7 – iniquity – wickedness
i) Purged – Leviticus 16 – kid – 6 months and younger
ii) Picture of Christ
iii) How?
(1) Isaiah 53:4-6 – Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
iv) Why?
(1) Isaiah 43:25 – I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. (More good news)
c) ILL: Wealthy man & Rolls Royce
6) The Holiness of God Requires Willing Servants (Vs. 8)
a) After God had cleansed Isaiah, God ask for a servant
b) Only possible response from anyone whose guilt & sins paid for
c) Extreme urgency in Today
d) Isaiah – thrown in prison, tortured, sawn in half
7) Closing - Where are you at tonight.
a) Where do you see yourself in relation to God’s holiness.
