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You can turn in your Bibles with 
me to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 6. Hopefully a familiar passage 
to all of you. A wonderful vision of the glory 
and the majesty of the triune God as the prophet is called 
to be a prophet. in this particular context, Isaiah 
recounting his visionary experience with the manifested God, and 
that same God setting him into his mission as a prophet of the 
Most High God. We'll get to this, but we'll 
also remember that in John chapter 12, we have there John speaking 
with respect to the fact that Isaiah 6, and there in addition 
to Isaiah 53, Isaiah wrote these things when he saw the glory 
of Christ and spoke of him. And so we see here the glory 
and the majesty of the Son of God in addition to a glorious 
manifestation of the God in His triune glory. So I'm going to 
read Isaiah 6, 1-7, and then we'll have a look at this passage. 
This is the Word of God. In the year that King Uzziah 
died, I saw the Lord sitting on 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. And one 
cried to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. 
The whole earth is full of his glory. and the posts of the door 
were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house 
was filled with smoke. Then I said, Woe is me, 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. Then one of the seraphim flew 
to me, having in his hand a live coal, Well, let's go to our God 
in prayer. God, we thank you for this time together now in 
this central act of worship, the preaching, of your Holy Word. We do pray 
that you would bless us, both preacher and hearer. We pray 
for the ministry of your Holy Spirit, that we might be lifted 
up to high thoughts of our God and precious thoughts of our 
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that we have that 
promise of the Lord Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation that 
he walks amongst his lampstands, his churches. We thank you that 
our Christ is here by his spirit in our midst and we do pray in 
this act of worship you would be honored that you would be 
glorified and that our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ would be 
exalted upon the praises of this gathered assembly and it's in 
Christ's name that we pray. Amen. Well, if I was to ask you 
the question, what is the greatest thing that you could ever see, 
I'll answer for you. The greatest thing that you could 
ever see is the manifested glory of Yahweh, the manifested glory 
of the triune God. Ask yourself, what is the greatest 
thing that you should want to see? It is the manifested glory 
of our creator, our sustainer, and the Redeemer of God's elect. 
And Isaiah recounts this vision of the manifested glory of God 
as he's commissioned to be a prophet, but as we'll note, as he receives 
the forgiveness of sins by virtue of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. that Isaiah is prophesying about 
700 years prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
the design of the book of Isaiah, if we could summarize it, is 
simply to announce the righteous judgment of God and to set forth 
the coming Christ as the glorious Savior and the comfort of the 
faithful. Throughout the book of Isaiah, there is the pronouncement 
and the promise of judgment. Israel, the North and the South, 
has violated the law of God. They have broken covenant. God 
promised them blessing upon obedience, but cursing upon disobedience. 
We see that in Deuteronomy 28. And so the prophets, in this 
case, the prophet Isaiah, comes, as you've heard before, as a 
prosecuting attorney, pronouncing judgment by God upon those who 
have broken the law, who have sinned, who have transgressed, 
who are wholly defiled in all the parts of body and soul. But 
he doesn't stop there. He sets forth the glory of the 
coming Messiah, the suffering servant, the servant of Yahweh 
who would come, in the fullness of the times to give himself 
a ransom for guilty sinners. And we see here this blessed 
vision that Isaiah has 700 years ago. So we're going to look at this 
passage under five things, and those five things are these. 
First, the introductory contrast. Secondly, the sentinels of the 
divine majesty. Thirdly, the glory of the exalted 
Lord. Fourthly, the fitting confession, 
and then fifthly, the gracious purification. Notice first, then, 
the introductory contrast. We see this contrast that Isaiah 
makes, and it's seen in verse 1. In the year that King Uzziah 
died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted 
up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Now, you might 
ask, where is the contrast? Well, first it's seen in the 
death of earthly kings contrasted with the eternal reign of the 
High King of Heaven. King Uzziah was reigned in Israel 
for, I think it was five decades or something like that. So Israel, 
on David's throne, had a king for a great number of decades. 
And we see something of a comfort given here because Israel does 
not want the throne of David absent. Israel does not want 
the throne of David empty. And so there's a measure of encouragement 
that is brought here. Yes, Isaiah has died, but fear 
not, because the High King of Heaven is exalted above the nations. And so there's a blessed comfort, 
but there's also a contrast. The death of earthly kings, as 
contrasted to the everlasting reality of the High King of Heaven, 
who reigns for His glory, and who brings a multitude of sinners 
to the knowledge of him. So it's a wonderful contrast. 
Turn with me, and actually we sang that not too long ago, but 
turn with me to Psalm 146 for a moment, because there we see 
the blessed contrast as well, as the psalmist is giving a contrast 
as he honors and praises the God of heaven and earth. Notice 
in Psalm 146, at verse 3. Do not put your trust in princes, 
we could say of course kings, nor in a son of man in whom there 
is no help. His spirit departs, he returns 
to his earth, in that very day his plans perish. So this is 
an introduction of the one side of the contrast. and the proclamation, 
the preaching, the exhortation, the commandment to not put our 
trust in earthly kings. And then comes the blessed contrast. Happy is he who has the God of 
Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. And notice this emphasis upon 
glorying in the Creator rather than in the creature. This is 
the God, verse 6, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that 
is in them, who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the 
oppressed, who gives food to the hungry, the Lord gives freedom 
to the prisoners. And so we are to see back in 
Isaiah 6 this contrast between the death of earthly kings and 
the eternal reign of the Glorious One. the God of heaven and earth, 
the High King of heaven. It wasn't just a happy accident 
that we sang, Be Thou My Vision, specifically chose that because 
of the blessed vision that we have here in Isaiah 6. We are 
to, the Israelites here were to, in reading Isaiah and in 
hearing Isaiah read, they were to behold their God, they were 
to sing, Be Thou My Vision, O Lord of my heart. Do not put your 
trust in earthly kings, but put that trust in the eternal high 
king of heaven. With regards to change and the 
departure of an earthly king, but the everlasting reign of 
the heavenly king, Alexander McLaren says this. He was a good 
Scottish Baptist around the same time as C.H. Spurgeon. On this 
he writes, when the leaves drop from the forest trees, we can 
see the blue sky which their dense abundance hid. It is well 
for us if the passing of all that can pass drives us to him 
who cannot pass. If the unchanging God stands 
out more clear, more near, more dear because of change. You hear 
that language, it is well for us if the passing of all that 
can pass drives us to him who cannot pass. That's what Isaiah 
is saying here. That the reign of kings may change, 
the reign of earthly kings may change, but praise God Almighty 
that we have the high king of heaven, and that high king of 
heaven visits Isaiah with this blessed vision and scene. We 
ought to notice as well the lowest state of man, of even heavenly 
beings, as we see here with the seraph, but the low state of 
man contrasted with the high station of the Lord. I think 
very often it is the nature of the case with humanity that we 
do think the universe revolves around us, that we're kings of 
our own station, that we're the lords of our own destiny. But 
the Bible constantly brings us back to that place of the lowliness 
of humanity in contrast to the greatness of our Creator, the 
greatness of our Redeemer, the greatness of the Lord of providential 
governance. We are to see our own estate 
and to magnify then the high station of the Lord God Almighty. 
Psalm 89.6 reads this way. Psalm 89.6. For who in the heavens 
can be compared to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty 
can be likened to the Lord? The angels in their manifested 
glory. The seraph as the burning ones 
who fly. The sentinels and the guardians 
of the throne of God. the cherubim, all of the hierarchy 
of angels, as glorious as they may be, who in the heavens can 
be compared to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty 
can be likened to the Lord? Who among those noble ones of 
the earth? Who among the mighty ones of 
the sons of men can be compared to the High and Exalted One? 
And we see this language, getting back to our text, this language 
of glory captured in, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high 
and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 
In the ancient Near East, a monarch's robe, a king's robe, the hem 
of the garment or the train of that robe, the length and the 
breadth The thickness, the characteristics of the robe marked authority. 
It marked majesty. It marked the glory of the earthly 
king. And so, utilizing that reality, 
the Lord our God manifests himself to Isaiah, or takes Isaiah away 
in this vision of him, and we see that the train of his robe 
filled the temple. And as you've heard me say before, 
with regards to this particular passage, it's not that God himself 
is in that temple, and that train as well fills the temple, we 
can envision with not vain imaginings, but with the words of scripture 
and the eyes of faith, a monarch who's in a temple. and this train 
of the robe filling that same temple. It's God above the temple 
seated on the throne, and simply the hem of the garment that fills 
the temple. That's to mark His glory. That's 
to mark the reality that the Lord God of heaven and earth 
cannot be contained. He fills the heavens and the 
earth. He is above even the presence, the divine presence, in the sanctuary, 
in the temple. The train of His robe fills the 
temple. He's the high and lofty one whose hem of the garment 
fills the temple. Secondly, we want to see then 
the sentinels of the divine majesty. That speaks to the seraph, the 
seraphim who are flying before the Lord God. And the first thing 
we want to see here is their exemplary posture. Notice what 
we see here regarding their exemplary posture. That means a disposition, 
a characteristic that demonstrates or serves as 
an example for us or for any creature under the rule and the 
majesty of the triune God. Notice the language here in verse 
two. Above it, that is, above the throne, not above God who 
sits upon the throne, but above either the temple or the throne 
itself, above it stood Seraphim, each one had six wings, notice, 
with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, 
and with two he flew. This is exemplary language for 
a proper posture before the God of heaven and earth. And what 
is it? We see that with two wings these 
seraphs cover their eyes. What is that indicative of, or 
what does that reflect? What does that communicate to 
us but the glory and the majesty and the unapproachable light 
of our precious God? No one has seen God at any time. In fact, God announces throughout 
the Old Testament that the one who sees me will surely die. No one has seen God at any time, 
the only begotten of the Father. He has declared Him, the Son 
of God incarnate, has seen the Father, being the second of the 
Blessed Trinity, the one who, along with Father and Spirit, 
receive eternal praises. So, they cover their eyes because 
of simply the glory of God. They cannot look upon the glory 
of God, or they're in such a posture of humility in the recognition 
of unrivaled majesty. They were the burning ones. They 
had an element of derived glory, not essential glory, but derived 
glory. They're seen in the scriptures 
as those who are sometimes robed in glowing white, a brightness 
attends the messengers of God. But only true glory can be ascribed 
of the triune majesty of heaven and earth. And so in their flying, 
they cover their eyes for the majesty, the burning glory of 
the God of heaven and earth. We see as well they cover their 
feet. One of the things that you would 
read a lot, if you read in the Old Testament, it's in the New 
Testament a little bit, but more so in the Old, that when men 
or women are in the presence of holiness, they recognize that 
it's holy ground. I stand on holy ground. You see 
that repeated throughout the Old Testament. And so why do 
the angels, these seraphs, cover their feet? It's because they 
realize, they know that they are in the presence of holiness. 
They don't have their hands in their pocket, or they don't have 
their left hand in their pocket and their right hand holding 
a latte. They're flying and they're covering their eyes and they're 
covering their feet for the exalted majesty and the glory of our 
God. That's exemplary. That's an exemplary posture. 
That ought to mark us. This church doesn't have in and 
of itself an inherent holiness. When we come into these doors, 
we're not so much entering a holy place because of the building 
itself, but note most surely we are entering a holy place 
because it's here in the sanctuary that God communes with his people. 
The same God who showed himself in manifested glory to Isaiah, 
the same God who manifested himself before whom the angels had to 
cover their eyes for his glory and cover their feet For His 
glory, that same God communes with us by His Spirit in the 
gathered assembly. And so when we come through those 
doors, not for the place, but for the reality of the gathering 
place of the people of God, there's to be something different when 
we enter into the sanctuary. We don't stroll in as if strolling 
into a Starbucks. We don't stroll in as if strolling 
into a movie theater or a grocery store. We stroll in, or we should 
say, we walk rejoicingly into the doors of the house of God 
because it is a delight for the people of God to gather in the 
name of God for the worship of God in his house. What a wonderful 
thing. And these seraphs, in their posture 
of recognizing the holiness of God and therefore acting in accordance 
with that recognition of his holiness, cover their eyes and 
they cover his feet. And notice, secondly, under the 
sentinels of the Divine Majesty, their antiphonal praise. Verse 
two again, above it stood Seraphim, each one had six wings, and with 
two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and 
with two he flew. And then this antiphonal praise, 
and one cried to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the 
Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. What a 
wonderful exclamation of the glorious majesty of the triune 
God. Holy, holy, holy. is the Lord 
God of hosts. The first thing that we can derive, 
that we can gain from this antiphonal praise, is the fact that their 
praise is Trinitarian. Is the holy, holy, holy an emphatic 
declaration of the glory and the majesty of God, such that 
it's as if to say one holy isn't good enough? Yes, that's most 
certainly the case, but it is also Trinitarian. Holy, holy, 
holy is the Lord God of hosts. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, one 
divine and infinite being who eternally exists as Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord 
of hosts. Their praise is honorific. That is, because of the subject, 
because of the object of their praise, they're rendering honor 
to the One who ought to be praised. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord 
of hosts. The whole earth is full of His 
glory. And we'll have a look at what this means in a moment, 
but their praise is Trinitarian. Their praise is honorific. The 
ascription of ultimate reverence. And their praise is also instructive 
for us. That this God is thrice and emphatically 
holy, holy, holy, holy. We'll have a look at what holiness 
means in a moment. And then this name, this description 
of a name to God, the Lord of hosts, and then this reality 
of the ultimacy of his unbounded presence. The whole earth is 
full of his glory. But this is instructive for us. 
How ought we to think of our God? We ought not to think of 
him lightly and lowly. very often in our modern landscape 
in the pseudo-religious ambiguity of modern spiritualism, that 
God is envisioned as a, you know, an old man with a gray beard 
and a cane who, you know, can kind of bless every now and then, 
who serves as a genie to the men and women who think they 
deserve his blessings. God is brought down to someone 
who's maybe just a superman, or a super angel, or as one person 
has described him in this negative way of mockery, the uber Santa 
Claus. Our God can be reduced to something 
that is far below His deserved station. Far below His honor. Far below His praise. The God 
who created all things. The God who providentially sustains 
all things. The God who redeems His elect 
by virtue of the perfect work of the Son of God incarnated. 
He is great. He is majestic. He has ultimate 
or should be shown ultimate reverence. He is awesome in the proper sense 
of the word. And so we are to be instructed 
by these angels, again, we're not to stroll around with, you 
can have your hands in your pockets, this is just an image that I'm 
trying to create as far as a posture that can be visited to the high 
king of heaven. We don't stroll around with our 
hands in our pockets, with our lattes, casually talking about 
the subject of God as if he's also, or as if he can be put 
on par with the latest color of Skittles. God's majesty can 
so often be reduced and be transgressed against in our modern era. And this is some language from 
A.W. Pink that some of you may have 
heard before. It's a wonderful quote on the 
greatness of our God in contrast to the so-called God that modernity 
seeks to put upon us. The God of this 20th century, 
we could say now 21st century, no more resembles the supreme 
sovereign of Holy Writ than does the dim flickering of a candle, 
the glory of the midday sun. The God who is now talked about 
in the average pulpit, spoken of in the ordinary Sunday school, 
mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached 
in most of the so-called Bible conferences is the figment of 
human imagination and invention of Maudlin's sentimentality. 
The heathen outside the pale of Christendom form gods out 
of wood and stone, while the millions of heathen inside Christendom 
manufacture a god out of their own carnal mind. In reality, 
they are but atheists, for there is no other possible alternative 
between an absolutely supreme God and no God at all. A God whose will is resisted, 
whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated, 
possesses no title to deity, and so far from being a fit object 
of worship, merits not but contempt. Our God is glorious. The seraphs, 
if they could, would agree with A.W. Pink, I'd like to think, 
that this God is majestic. He's not like the God of nations. 
He doesn't have eyes but cannot see, a nose that cannot smell, 
arms but they cannot move and pick up things. He doesn't need 
to be propped up when he's fallen down. He doesn't need to have 
his head glued back on when his head falls off or his arm. He's 
not a half man, half fish. Speaking of Dagon, of the Philistines, 
he's the one who has created all things, who upholds all things, 
the one who fills the heavens and the earth, who is located 
nowhere, but fills every place with the replete of reality of 
His glorious essence. He is everywhere. He is glorious. He is majestic. His will cannot 
be frustrated. His designs cannot be stymied. 
He is the Supreme Lord of heaven and earth. Their antiphonal praise. It's Trinitarian. It's honorific. 
And it's instructive for us. How are we to approach this holy 
God through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ? It is 
with the most high honor and praise that we can with our remaining 
corruption render. We are to have high thoughts 
of our God. When we think of our God, we 
are to think of the One who is holy, holy, holy. The One who 
is the Lord of hosts. to some of that now with thirdly, 
the glory of the exalted Lord. The glory of the exalted Lord. 
This is in verse 3 and 4. So repeating verse 3 but also 
moving into verse 4, the first thing that we see is His superlative 
holiness. It's interesting to note that 
Holiness is the only divine perfection that is thrice repeated in successive 
praise in the Holy Scriptures. His holiness. In fact, turn with 
me to the book of Revelation and chapter 4, because there 
we see something of an echo of the Isaianic vision, an echo 
of the words of Isaiah and the vision of God, and the singing 
of the angels in Revelation chapter 4. Notice what we see beginning 
at verse 8. And the four living creatures 
each having, notice, six wings, were full of eyes around and 
within, and they do not rest day or night, saying, holy, holy, 
holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Whenever 
the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who 
sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders 
fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him 
who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the 
throne, saying, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and 
honor and power for you created all things and by your will they 
exist and were created. You see the You see the foundation 
or the cause, or in this context, the reason for this praise? You 
are worthy, O Lord, for honorific praise, for instructive praise, 
for remarking after your triune majesty, you are worthy to receive 
glory and honor and power, notice, for you created all things and 
by your will they exist and were created. because of the creating 
majesty of God, the one who brought all things into existence, the 
one who spoke all things into existence out of nothing in the 
space of six days and all very good, and who upholds all things 
by the word of his majestic power, he's worthy of honor and praise. So we see, holy, holy, holy, 
it is this superlative exclamation or this exclamation of superlative 
holiness It is an unmatched holiness. It's not somehow just 10 times 
better than man's, 10 times better than the elect angels. It is 
an other holiness. In fact, we'll look at that now 
as we move to what holiness is. These angels are crying out, 
these seraphs are crying out, holy, holy, holy. And the first 
thing that we should say is that, yes, this would include God's 
moral perfection. And I think that's often where 
we stop with holiness, that we simply think it to be moral purity 
or moral perfection. And it's not wrong to say that 
a definition of holiness ought to include that, and especially 
with God, who is most holy, who is most just, who is most righteous, 
there is, of course, no iniquity, no capriciousness with the thrice 
holy one of heaven. But His separateness or His otherness, 
that is the key reality of His holiness. his separateness, his 
otherness, his transcendent separation from his creation in the reality 
of his glory and in the reality of his majesty. Again, McLaren, 
on this reality, we must ever remember that the root meaning 
of holiness is separation and that the popular meaning of moral 
purity is secondary and derivative. What is rapturously sung in the 
threefold invocation of the seraphs is the infinite exaltation of 
Jehovah above all creatural conditions, limitations, and, we may add, 
conceptions. Just listen to that for a moment 
because in our human minds we can very often conjure up conceptions 
of God. We can think of God as perhaps 
limited. That He does actually physically 
dwell in a place called heaven and is not present here on earth. 
We can sometimes conjure up a God who is bounded by creaturely 
conditions, that he can only do such and such, that he can 
only be here and not there, or there and not here. What is rapturously 
sung in the threefold invocation of the seraphs is the infinite 
exaltation of Jehovah above all creaturely conditions, limitations, 
And may we add conceptions. His separateness or his otherness 
is in view. And we see this by virtue of 
the seraphs covering their eyes and covering their feet. And 
we'll see it in a number of minutes here with regards to the response 
of Isaiah. In accordance with this antiphonal 
praise, we also see His glorious majesty. He is the Lord of hosts. You've often heard this, you 
often see this description of God in the Old Testament, in 
the New Testament. We sing it in many hymns. In 
some hymns, it's the word sabbaoth. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing 
that right. We sing that in a mighty fortress is our God, Lord Sabaoth, 
the Lord of hosts. He is the one who is the majestic 
one, the Lord over the angels. The hosts of angels, 10,000 upon 
10,000 are under the glorious and gracious sway of the majestic 
one of heaven and earth, who created them as those ministering 
spirits unto the throne and unto the people of God. He is the 
Lord of earthly armies. Some of the commentators will 
get really granular, but gloriously so with regards to this Lord 
of Hosts language. He's Lord even of the host of 
locusts that consume the crops. He's the Lord of earthly armies, 
whether wicked or good. He is the King, and the kings 
of the earth are in His hand and according to His sway. He 
is the Lord of Hosts. We see also His righteous judgment 
in that language. the Lord of hosts. Holy, holy, 
holy is the Lord of hosts. He is righteous then to judge 
those who transgress His law. He is righteous to judge and 
condemn sinners who have violated the holy precepts of Almighty 
God. But as we'll see, He's also gracious 
in His condescension to save those who have sinned against 
Him and their fellow man. We also see, so in addition to 
his superlative holiness, we also see his unbounded presence. We see that in the clause, the 
whole earth is full of his glory. We see a movement here from shadow 
to substance, from temple to cosmos, to the whole earth. In the vision, Isaiah is seeing 
the hem of the robe filling the temple. That's simply a microcosm 
of the macrocosm reality that the glory of the Lord fills the 
heavens and the earth. The whole earth is full of his 
glory. The whole cosmos, the whole world 
is full of His glory. This reaches back to the promises 
of God made to wilderness Israel. If you want, you can turn with 
me. You don't have to, but to Numbers 14. In Numbers 14, notice 
there that this praise, the whole earth is full of His glory, reaches 
back to the promises made to Old Covenant Israel. In Numbers 
14, notice at verse 21, Back to verse 20, actually. Then 
the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word. But truly, 
as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the 
Lord. It's a gracious covenantal promise, 
not to earthly covenant Israel, but to the church, that in and 
through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the glory of the 
Lord would fill the heavens and the earth. Not his essential 
glory, because that already does, but the manifested glory through 
the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel goes 
out, in fact, that's the movement in Isaiah 6. the vision of God, 
the declaration that the whole earth is full of His glory, and 
then the sending of the prophet out to proclaim the suffering 
servant, Jesus Christ. glorious thing we have in the 
reality that this, the Lord fills the heavens and the earth, His 
glory, again it reaches back to the promises of God made to 
wilderness Israel and it stretches forward to fulfillment wrought 
in and by Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 11 at verse 9 we read 
the following, They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy 
mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the 
Lord as the waters cover the sea. What a glorious thing that 
we can have the confidence that the Lord God Almighty will be 
victorious in the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can look upon the world and 
with human eyes sorrowful and in despair, look upon the the 
face of the earth and see the wickedness, see the madness, 
see the political upheaval, see the wars and see all of these 
things. But what Isaiah wants us to see, 
in addition to many other things, is that there is a high king 
in heaven. God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. 
As Psalm 2 says, he laughs and looks at derision upon the kings 
of the earth and the judges of the world who would seek to cast 
down and try to pull down the reign of his anointed one. the 
Lord Jesus Christ. The one who sits in the heavens 
shall laugh. Kiss the Son. Kiss the Christ. Lest He be angry and you perish 
in the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. But, blessed 
are all those who put their hope and their trust in Him. We have 
this blessed reality that the whole of the earth will be filled 
with the glory of God. And where I was going with that 
is as we look upon the world and as we see the wickedness, 
as we see the evil, as we see tumult and upheaval and affliction 
and oppression and tyranny, we ought not to despair because 
holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts and the whole earth 
is full of His glory. We can look away with eyes of 
human despair and with eyes of faith and look upon the glory 
of God. And there we find our hope that 
the righteous one will judge the earth and he who has graciously 
brought us forth from the deadness of sin to life in Christ will 
bring us into the everlasting bliss of Emmanuel's land. His unbounded presence, He is 
not confined to temple, but rather He, by His essential glory, fills 
the heavens and the earth, and by His manifest and covenantal 
presence, He will bless His people with the knowledge of Christ. 
We see this movement in the Bible. We see this movement in the Bible 
itself. The movement from a localized manifest glory to the glory of 
God filling the earth, as the angels here sing. If we look 
at, for example, first the redemptive historical progression of the 
glory of God in filling a dwelling place, we see it first in Eden. 
The presence of God is seen there in the unmediated walking with 
Adam in the garden. The glory of God manifested to 
Adam in the cool of the day as he walks with Adam. We see the 
Garden of Eden as a temple wherein God was communing with the first 
man. We see the movement then after 
the fall of sin. Remember that God's glory fills 
the tent, the tabernacle of meeting. In Exodus, God's glory fills 
the tabernacle. As we move forward in redemptive 
history, God's glory fills the temple. So once the temple is 
built, no longer a transient movement of an erected tent wherein 
the glory of God is manifested, but a built structure where the 
glory of God was manifested. We see the anticipation of God's 
glory filling the earth in the Old Testament, the long-expected 
arrival of the glory of the Lord, and then the expansion of the 
glory of the Lord in Acts 1-8. In fact, turn with me. to the 
Gospel of John for a moment. Speaking of the glory of God, 
we ought to draw a wholesome connection to this verse in the 
Gospel of John. In John chapter 1, in the prologue, 
where we see The unmitigated deity of the Lord Jesus Christ 
in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 
the Word was God. And then in verse 14, notice 
with respect to glory, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among 
us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten 
of the Father, full of grace and truth. And so what is Isaiah 
ultimately seeing here? He's seeing a vision of the progress 
of the gospel by virtue of the Lord Jesus Christ. That when 
that Messiah comes, when the servant of Yahweh that I am prophesying 
about comes in the fullness of the times, born of a woman and 
born under the law, he will bring in salvation and everlasting 
righteousness and the gospel will go out beyond the borders. 
of Jerusalem. And that's what we see in Acts 
1-8. You are to be witnesses to me first in Jerusalem, then 
in Judea and Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the 
earth. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord 
of hosts. The whole earth is filled with 
His glory. And notice, getting back to our 
passage, we also see His purity and the provision of atonement. his purity and the provision 
of atonement. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord 
of hosts. The whole earth is full of his 
glory. And now notice and the posts of the door were shaken 
by the voice of him who cried out and the house was filled 
with smoke. Now, it's it's implicit. But let's just pause for a moment 
at this particular verse, and the house was filled with smoke. 
And while we're saying that this is the purity of God and the 
provision of atonement, what happened in the Levitical sacrifices? God's presence was mediated through 
the presence of smoke from the sacrifice given on the altar. In fact, if you may, turn to 
Leviticus with me, The Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16, which 
is, remember, ultimately and finally about the glorious sacrifice 
of Jesus Christ. rendered upon Calvary's cross, 
what were all of these washings? What were all of these ceremonies? 
What were all of these sacrifices but signs and signals that pointed 
to the real and true and only lasting sacrifice that given 
by the Lord Jesus Christ upon Calvary's cross? Notice in Leviticus 
16 at verse 12, Then he shall take a censer full of burning 
coals of fire, we'll see coals of fire in a moment, from the 
altar before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten 
fine, and bring it inside the veil. And he shall put the incense 
on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may 
cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony, lest he die. So, we see that connected to 
the Day of Atonement, there is this reality of incense, the 
fires of coal, and smoke that communicates mercy and access 
to the living and true God. And so, getting back to our passage, 
and the posts of the door were shaken by the voice that is the 
seraphim who cried out. and the house was filled with 
smoke. This is the provision of atonement, 
and we'll see that here in a moment in the next verses. This is to 
point us to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. How are 
these coals from the altar, taken from tongs, how are they to be 
efficacious? How can they be applied to the 
lips of Isaiah if there is no sacrifice, if there is no atonement 
made? That's why we see here the house 
was filled with smoke. And now we see the fitting confession, 
fourthly, the fitting confession of Isaiah. the language of a 
man humbled before the majesty of the triune God, we first see 
the recognition of our condition before God. Notice the language 
of Isaiah here, and this is exemplary as well. This ought to instruct 
us as well. When we can think so highly of 
us, when we can often think so highly of humanity, maybe not 
always, but sometimes we can think mankind better than he 
is and we can think ourselves better than we are. And Isaiah 
instructs us here with this recognition of our condition before God. 
Verse 5, Then I said, that is Isaiah, Woe is me, 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. You see this connection here 
between what he confesses as his condition before God and 
the vision of divine majesty. The foreclause at the end of 
his confession, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." 
What is a vision of our God supposed to be, or supposed to bring? 
That is not ourselves receiving a vision of God, but with eyes 
of faith, as we behold the Word of God, read and proclaimed, 
with our eyes of faith, we cast those eyes upon an exalted God. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord 
of hosts, and our response is not to be casually walking around 
the sanctuary with a hand in the pocket and a hand on a latte, 
it is to be like Isaiah here, woe is me, for I am undone. We're all sinners. If you're 
a Christian here this morning, you're a saint saved by God's 
grace alone, not by deeds of righteousness, which you have 
done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of 
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit by virtue of 
the perfect life, death and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. 
but you still sin. We have that remaining corruption. 
The flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. 
We do not always do what we ought and what we ought to do we don't 
find ourselves doing. But praise God, as we'll see in a 
moment, that he has condescended to bring us salvation through 
Jesus Christ, and that as Christians, we can behold the majesty of 
God, not for our goodness, but because of His goodness, and 
we can rejoice in Him, and hopefully sing with the antiphonal praising 
angels, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth 
is full of His glory. This comes, this woe is me, for 
I am undone, and specifically, for I am a man of unclean lips, 
Notice that this comes immediately upon the lips of the holy seraph 
proclaiming God's holiness. The angels sing, the angels praise, 
holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. The whole earth 
is full of his glory. And then Isaiah says, I am a 
man of unclean lips. In other words, not worthy not 
maybe too prideful, but not worthy to proclaim, not worthy to behold, 
not worthy to be the recipient of divine blessings. His lips 
were not marked by antiphonal praise. His lips were not marked 
by the beholding of Yahweh and then the singing of Yahweh's 
praises. His lips, rather, were unclean. This ought to hearken back to 
Moses' language when he says that he is a man of uncircumcised 
lips. And he asks God to bless him 
for his mission as the leader in Israel. To be, if you will, 
a proclaimer of the holiness of God. To be a prophet of the 
righteousness of the coming Christ. One of the old commentators on 
this book, I can't remember if it was Ambrose, but they gave 
a prayer sort of in the midst of their exposition of the text. 
You see, for a preacher of the word of God, the preaching of God is in one 
sense easy because of the glorious subject matter. What a wonderful 
thing to proclaim, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the one and 
only living and true God who has created all things, who upholds 
all things, and who redeems sinners from death and condemnation. What an easy thing in that sense. 
But what a difficult thing, what an exceedingly difficult thing, 
because holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. And so the 
prayer of this commentator was something like, oh, Lord God 
Almighty, the Holy One, may I receive as well coal upon my lips that 
I might not be unclean, but well prepared and equipped to proclaim 
the glories of the triune God and Christ Jesus whom he sent. 
And so we see here the righteous, the proper response, the recognition 
of Isaiah's condition, and the thing that ought to humble us, 
which is, my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Do you 
prepare yourselves for Lord's Day worship? Do you get enough 
sleep so that you don't have to sleep here? Do you get enough 
food so that you're well-equipped to be here to attend unto the 
worship of the triune God? Do you prepare your mind through 
prayer? Because your eyes of faith behold 
the living and true God through the worship of that God. When 
we are gathered here and we read the scriptures, When we are gathered 
here and we pray to God, when we're gathered here and we preach 
this Holy One, God is with us. We don't have a God who, you 
know, perhaps is on the other side of the world right now and 
is present with the Eastern Europeans because he's so bounded and so 
limited in creaturely conceptions that he can't be here as well. 
We worship the one who is holy, holy, holy, and the whole earth 
is filled with his glory. We're to prepare ourselves so 
that attentive in worship, we can receive the Holy Spirit who 
lifts our minds, who lifts our illumination, so that we might 
with eyes of faith behold the Holy One. My eyes have seen the 
King, the Lord of hosts. And we close now with this, the 
gracious purification. Lastly and finally, the gracious 
purification. Notice first we have divine action 
in salvation. Notice what we see here. Then 
one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal 
which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. Remember, the 
house is filled with smoke because of the sacrifice of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And the coal is coming as that 
which is symbolic of the forgiveness of sins. But it's not Isaiah 
approaching Yahweh. We don't have a scene here where 
the Lord Christ Almighty, where Yahweh is knocking with a limp 
wrist upon the door of a sinner, pleading with him to open the 
door. That's not our God. Our God is glorious in His sovereignty, 
glorious in His condescending grace, and the nature of man 
is so wicked that he is wholly defiled, remember, in all of 
the faculties and parts of body and soul. He needs to be made 
alive. He needs to be regenerated. He 
needs to be born again so that he might behold the glory of 
God with saving eyes of faith. And so it's divine initiative. Then one of the seraphim flew 
to me. It is divine movement towards 
the man, not manward movement towards the divine. And we also 
see the divine application of atonement. Notice this wonderful 
language. Having in his hand a live coal 
which he had taken with the tongs from the altar, that sacrificial 
altar, and he touched my mouth with it and said, behold, this 
has touched your lips, your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged. It's hot, it's 1215-ish, if the 
clock is right, 1217 and 25 seconds. And man, we got lunch waiting. 
You know, we got things we gotta do on Sunday. But just pause 
with me in the moment and glory in the reality that God graciously 
applies atonement. Isaiah recognized his sinfulness 
before a thrice holy God. And the answer is seen in atonement 
that must be given. And we know how that atonement 
comes, not by virtue of man moving towards the divine, but the divine 
coming to the man, that one who is God, condescended in the assumption 
of our humanity that he might live a holy life of obedience 
unto the law of God in our place as our righteousness that avails 
with God, and then he died upon Calvary's cross. Not an atonement 
of maybe, not a sacrifice of perhaps, but a sure and certain 
death upon Calvary's cross so that he might secure the salvation 
of a multitude that no man can number. What a glorious gospel 
that we have in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the 
living coal, who is the burning coal, the application of atonement. This is Cyril of Alexandria on 
this. One of the seraph is sent to 
Isaiah with the burning coal which he took from the altar 
with tongs. This is clearly a symbol of Christ who on our behalf offered 
himself up to God the Father as a pure and unblemished spiritual 
sacrifice with the most pleasing fragrance. This is Christ applied 
in his atoning work to Isaiah, both unto salvation and unto 
his commissioning as a prophet, because he cannot have unclean 
lips when he proclaims the riches and the excellencies of Jesus 
Christ. He must have lips purified by 
God himself that he might go forth and proclaim the excellencies 
of our blessed Savior. And then the declaration of purification 
What glorious news we see here in verse 7. Behold, this has 
touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away and 
your sins purged. If you're here this morning and 
you know yourself, you know that you're a sinner. All have sinned 
and have fallen short of the glory of God. If you're here 
and you're a Christian, you know that it was not you Dead men, 
dead women, dead boys and girls can't reach out to the divine. 
God conquered your dead heart by amazing and victorious grace 
and brought you forth to behold with eyes of faith his glory. 
And so you know this blessed reality. Your iniquity was taken 
away and your sin purged. John the Baptist speaks about 
the Lord Jesus Christ. He uses the language of purgation, 
of purging. That the one who comes, Christ 
will thoroughly cleanse or purge the threshing floor. And that 
same language is used of Christ in Hebrews 1. The one who sat 
down at the right hand of the majesty on high was the one who 
has purged our sins by himself and his sacrifice. What glorious 
news that we have in our Savior. Just to close in a brief conclusion 
on three things. First, the divine action in salvation, 
or excuse me, first, our confidence and comfort in a crooked and 
perverse age. Our confidence and comfort in 
a crooked and perverse age. As we see the madness of the 
world, the sin, the transgression, the tyranny, the oppression, 
in every sphere, the madness of sin, We can rejoice that though, 
in the words of Isaiah, though kings die, the eternal king reigns. 
Though there is change, though there is tumult, though there 
is affliction and all of these things, we can look with eyes 
of faith upon the high king of heaven and know that he has us 
and know that he has his creation through his providential governance 
as he works out his glorious plan to save a multitude of sinners 
to the praise of his grace. Spurgeon on this point says, 
We still believe in the conquest of the world because we believe 
in the omnipotence of God. Nothing short of dominion from 
sea to sea dare we ask in prayer or seek in service for our Lord 
Jesus. The idols must be utterly abolished. Error and sin must fly before 
the light of the truth of God. and holiness. The ends of the 
earth must yet see the salvation of our God, and the whole earth 
must be filled with His glory. This isn't a wishful must, but 
Spurgeon resting upon the promise that the glory of the God of 
heaven and earth will fill the earth from sea to sea. Glorious 
reality. Our confidence and comfort in 
a crooked and perverse age is not legislation. It's not the 
passing or non-passing of laws. It's in the High King of Heaven, 
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is King of the Nations. Secondly, 
an example for man's posture before God. Both the angels and 
Isaiah instruct us in what our posture ought to be before the 
Holy One of Heaven. It ought to be prostrate. It 
ought to be humble. It ought to be a recognition 
of our humanity, which is low in station, and the otherness 
and separation of divinity, which is glorious in its exalted majesty. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord 
of hosts. The whole earth is full of His 
glory. And lastly, we ought to note 
the gracious God of our salvation. Behold, this has touched your 
lips. Your iniquity is taken away and your sin purged. You're 
a Christian here this morning. Reflect with great joy upon what 
God has done to you and for you. You were dead in your trespasses 
and sins, following after the allurements of the world, following 
after the assailments of the devil. following after the lusts 
of your own flesh, and yet God condescended by amazing grace 
to bring you forth from deadness and darkness to life and light 
in Jesus Christ. What a glorious and gracious 
God. And if you're here this morning outside of Christ in 
unbelief, know that there is a Holy One in high heaven. who 
is worthy of praise, holy, holy, holy. And that holiness will 
be visited upon those who reject the gospel, upon those who reject 
Christ. That holiness, instead of the 
goodness of it being found in Jesus Christ affecting your salvation, 
the holiness will be found in the righteous flaming eyes of 
Yahweh and His justice in casting you into the lake of fire reserved 
for the devil and his angels. The clarion call of the gospel 
is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. 
And you will with eyes of faith then sing with the angels. Holy, 
holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. Let's pray. God, we thank 
you for your word. We rejoice in your truth. We 
thank you for this passage as it speaks to the glory of our 
Savior. We know that as we read in John chapter 12, Isaiah wrote 
these things when he saw the glory of Christ. We do pray that 
you'd help all of us because it's possible only with you. 
Every single tongue would leave this place singing the praises 
of our victor and our redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do go 
with us. Help us to honor your day. Help 
us to honor you, our God, and help us to reflect with sweet 
reflections upon so great a savior. And it's in his name that we 
pray. Amen.