Scripture: Isaiah 6

I. When you have a fresh encounter with God, you know God as king.

A. In Isaiah 6:1 we read the historical setting for Isaiah’s encounter with God. King Uzziah of Judah had died that year. Everything feels uncertain and insecure. And what does God do for Isaiah? He gives Isaiah a vision of Judah’s true king: God. God has ascended to his throne, and He rules over all things. God and God alone is supreme in power over Judah and over the Assyrians and over the whole earth.
B. The train of God’s robe fills the entire temple in heaven (vs. 1). It wraps around and around, and it fills up the entire space in the temple. Why is the train of God’s robe so long? It emphasizes the supreme majesty and ultimate power of God. God, and only God, rules. The Lord God Almighty is still on the throne – just like He was in the year King Uzziah died. God the King can never die, and His throne will never be empty.

II. When you have a fresh encounter with God, you know God as holy.

A. God is so holy that for the only time in the Bible, we see three words used back to back to back to emphasize something about God. Who is God? Holy. Holy. Holy (vs. 3). God is the holiest of holiest of holy beings. All of Isaiah’s senses experienced God’s holiness. He sees the holiness of God in the long train of his robe in the temple. He hears the holiness of God in the cry of the seraphim. He then feels holiness as the thresholds in the heavenly temple shake (vs. 4).
B. Isaiah even smells the holiness of God when smoke started to fill his nose (vs. 4). Isaiah saw God’s holiness like Israel saw God’s holiness at Mt. Sinai when God gave the 10 commandments. In Isaiah 5, Isaiah had said, “Woe to you” 6 times to the people of Judah. But when Isaiah sees God with his own eyes, woe to you quickly changes to woe to me (vs. 5). When you see God in His holiness, you will see yourself for who you are.

III. When you have a fresh encounter with God, you know God as gracious.

A. Where did the burning coal come from (vs. 6)? The altar in the heavenly temple. The altar was the place of sacrifice. A person’s guilt was symbolically placed on an animal, and the animal died in the person’s place. Isaiah’s sinful lips were touched by this coal from the altar, and so Isaiah’s guilt was taken away. There would still be life left in the stump of Judah. Isaiah 11:1: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” A Messiah, a descendant of Jesse’s son David, would come from this stump.

Application:
The holy God will meet your guilt with His grace when you confess your sin.      

Sources:
The Bible
Commentaries by J.A. Motyer, Tim Chester, Bob Fyall and David Jackman.

Sermon Discussion Questions

1) Have you ever had a sense of woe before the holy God like Isaiah had? What do you learn about yourself when you encounter God’s holiness?
2) When Isaiah saw God on the throne, he and the nation were full of fear for their future. How did this vision calm Isaiah’s fears?
3) When God removes your guilt by His grace, what should be your response? What was Isaiah’s response?