I Saw God And It Ruined Me | When God Breaks In | Isaiah 6:1-13

You're listening to City Church Manchester. We are a church that invites everyone to enjoy Christ for the glory of God. If we can serve you in any way, then visit our website at citychurchmanchester.org to find out more. Would you turn to Isaiah chapter 6 with me? Isaiah chapter 6. We're going to reverse it one to 13. Listen to the word of the Lord. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and exalted, seated on a throne, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him was Seraphim, each with six wings, with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying, and they were calling to one another. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory. At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. Woe to me, I Christ, I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King the Lord Almighty. Then one of the Seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 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." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Who shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I, send me." He said, "Go, and tell this people, be ever hearing but never understanding, be ever seeing but never perceiving, make the heart of this people callus, make their ears dull and close their eyes otherwise. They might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn and be healed." Then I said, "For how long, Lord, and he owns it, until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields turned ruined and ravished, until the Lord has sent everyone far away, and the land is utterly forsaken. And though a tent remains in the land, it will again be laid waste, but as the terabeth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land." This is the word of the Lord. Good afternoon, City Church. It's a pleasure to be here, and how we're teaching from Isaiah to 6, from verses 1 to 12. I'm speaking on the topic, "I saw God, and it ruined me." And I have my synopsis, which will include introduction. The revelation of God, convicted by His holiness, clanged by grace and commissioned to speak. We want to study through the book of Prophet Isaiah, and Prophet Isaiah ministered in the Kingdom of Judah for about 40 years, from around 740 to 700 BC, through the reigns of several kings during one of the most turbulent periods in Judah's history. His book is often referred to as the fifth gospel, because of its remarkable Christ's centeredness. Though written 7th century before the birth of Christ, Isaiah contains astonishingly detailed prophecies concerning his virgin birth. In Isaiah chapter 7, in Isaiah chapter 9, he talks about his deity, in Isaiah chapter 61, "is spirit filled anointing." In Isaiah chapter 53, he talks about his substitutionary suffering of Christ, and in Isaiah chapter 11, he talks about the glorious future reign of Christ. So you know, it is also the most frequently quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament. Isaiah confronts almost every major issue of human condition, from seeing to pride, to idolatry, to political compromise, to injustice, to religious hypocrisy, for security, hope, grace, redemption, the common king, and ultimately the new creation. As one commentator beautifully observed, he says, "Isiah is not merely a book of prophecy. It is a grand cathedral of scriptures. Its foundation is God's holiness. Its pillars are justice and mercy. Its windows shine with the light of the common Messiah, and its doors open unto a new creation." To walk through Isaiah is to journey from humanity's deepest rebellion to God's greatest redemption. That imagery is fitting. Because before Isaiah, ever speaks about the servants, before he ever speaks about the cross or the common kingdom, he first introduces to us the foundation upon which everything stands, the holiness of God. So we'll talk about the revelation of God, Isaiah, sorry, but before we go into that, I want to talk a little bit about my mom. My mom was born in the year 1956, and she was just four years old when Nigeria gained independence from Britain. She often tells the story of how a grandmother who put out a show that, you know, to go through the crowd so she could catch a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth too during the independence celebrations. Whether or not she remembers seeing the Queen clearly, the memory has stayed with her because everyone wanted to see the monarch. Queen Elizabeth ruled Britain for 70 years before her death in 2022. And following our passing, there was a noticeable, though transient, increasing church attendance across the UK as people reflected on life, mortality, and the hint of an era. Something similar was probably happening in Judah at that time. King Uzair drew Jerusalem for 52 years. For most of the people who were alive, he was the only king they had ever known. Is that marked the hand of an era and created deep uncertainty about the nation's future? You could read my Bible this in second-crueling quiz chapter 26. You see the life and times of King Uzair. Isaiah appears to have gone into the temple carrying that grief. But while everyone else was mourning the death of an earthly king, God decided to reveal himself the eternal king to Isaiah. I saw the Lord, hired, exalted, seated and he thrown, and the train of his robe filled the temple. You could see the contrast and it is quite breathtaking. Uzair's throne was empty, but God's throne was occupied. Uzair's reign at hand dead, God's reign never will. Uzair, if you read the Quran, it says, you would notice that Uzair was a king, he went into the temple to offer, to burn incense onto the Lord, something that was supposed to be done only by Christ. It was once every day, but he didn't listen and while he was doing that, he was not. 'Leprosy' broke up in his forehead and it was isolated from the people for the rest of his ring. Yet the true King does not merely enter the temple, his robe fills it. There is no room left for any other king, there is no rival to his majesty, there is no comparison to his glory. Surrounding him at the surf, heavenly bees who have never known sin and have never ceased worshipping him. Yet after countless ages, they still haven't exhausted its beauty. They are eternally fascinated by him. They continually cry to one another, holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, the whole heart is full of his glory. In Hebrew reputation, you know means emphasis. When you repeat something twice in Hebrew, it's emphasis. When you repeat it three times, that is unparalleled. That means there is attention that you need to pay to these. They were overwhelmed above everything else by his holiness, which includes his absolute purity, his perfect goodness and his utter wilderness. This is what Isaiah saw. This is what every generation desperately needs to see again. In my own context and perhaps it is true here as well, many people claim to have visions of Jesus. As a young believer, I used to long for such experiences myself. I wanted to have visions of Jesus. I wanted to also be one of those people that claim to have gone to heaven and to have seen Jesus. Until I encountered Jesus' words and told us, "Thomas believe because he saw the reason Christ." Jesus replied, "Because you have seen me and you have believed blessed are those who have seen were not seen rather and yet have believed." Those words changed my perspective. Isaiah is not more privileged than we are. In fact, we have received something greater. God has fully revealed himself to us in his son, Christ Jesus. In Hebrew, chapter 1, verses 1 to 3, he says, "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed here of all things, and through him also he made the universe. The son is the radiance of God's glory, is the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his power forward after he had provided provocations for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty. Isaiah saw the Lord in a vision, but we behold him fully in Christ Jesus. Like the way this caught his pastor, Robert Murray Machin famously urged this congregation. He says, "For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ." This point was simple. Transformation does not come primarily from self-examination. It comes from sustained contemplation of the pressing of Jesus Christ. Nowhere does God's glory shine more than at the cross of Christ, at Calvary, God's holiness and God's love meet without contradiction. There we see its perfect unity, perfect purity rather, refusing to overlook sin. People of God, it is at the cross that we see absolute goodness, willy bearing our sin. The cross is not merely where God forgives us. It is where the holiness of God shines brightest in the face of Jesus Christ. Before Isaiah could speak for God, it first asked to see God. And before we can faithfully represent Christ to our world, which we must behold is glory. Convicted by holiness. I was at the story of a man who boasted rather foolishly that says, "God, it's seen so much. He would commit so much of it, so that when he eventually meets with God, God would be so hungry with him, and so God would pick him and so ferozly, troying, and then God would overshoulds hell and he would land on the other side in heaven." That's ridiculous, right? But it does expose how likely many of us think about sin. The reality I believe would be very different. Hell would not seem like an overreaction when we see the holiness of God. It would not. When we finally stand before his blazing holiness, rather every unrepentant sinner would recognize that God's judgment is perfectly just. It would be like willingly walking into the place that our rebellion has deserved. Because at last we will see the utter sinfulness of sin itself. We will see it. That's exactly what happened to Isaiah. He didn't leave God's presence in press with himself. He left Italy on dawn. He cried, "Who is me? I am Runt." What's the language of judgment? What is course? Throughout the opening chapters of Isaiah, the first five chapters, you know, exactly, Isaiah kept declaring war on others. In fact, the first five chapters of Isaiah, Isaiah declared war on others eight times. War on the proud, war on the unjust, war on the hypocrites, war on idolaters, but now standing before the only one, the prophets, stop preaching to everyone else. And the Samuels' inward says, "Wall on to me." Isn't that the right verdict of sin? Isn't judgment the natural consequence of rebellion against the perfectly Uly God? And it is in God's presence that we are convicted of our sinful states. Jesus says this in John chapter 16 verse 8. He says, "When the Holy Spirit comes, it will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgments." What happens when sinful people encounter the one true God, the one who dwells in unapproachable light? Is light which is places where carefully kept eating? It searches every corner of our hearts, exposing the nukes and the crevices of our lives. The sins we once excused suddenly appear accidentally sinful. The self-righteousness we once celebrated, so delinquelapses. And Isaiah experiences precisely this conviction. He is convicted of his sin as he sees true righteousness. And he says, "I am ruined." He's not exaggerating. For the first time, he sees what sin has truly done. Because after chapter 6, for the next 60 chapters, Isaiah only uses the word "world" others 12 times. From eight words in five chapters, he becomes one who in five chapters. He sinned the holiness of God. People of God sin is not a good thing. Sin does not merely. Sin does not merely break rules. Sin ruins people. It distorts the image of God. It corrupts our desires. It fractures our relationship with God and with one another. It deadens our consciousnesses. There is nothing beautiful about sin. Once it is viewed in the light of God's holiness, I like the way the Puritan pastor John Owen warned believers. He says, "Be killing sin or sin will be killing you." Always point was that sin is never passive. It is always destroying something. If it is not destroying our joy, then it's destroying our holiness. If it's not destroying our holiness, it's destroying our witness. Our communion with the Father. Sin destroys. Isaiah continues. He says, "For I am in man of unclean lips and I live among the people of unclean lips, Isaiah measures himself against God and arrives at the only possible conclusion. He is as unclean as the very people he was judging." So later, he would write, "In Isaiah, chapter 64, verse 6, he says, 'All of us have become like the one who is unclean and all our righteous acts.' I like filthy rags." The closer we come to God's holiness, the less confidence we have in our own righteousness. That's why John comes. aftar. He is never officiant. He is affected by the awareness of his Lulia state until he has compared himself with God's majesty. Carving observes that we tend to think highly of ourselves only because we compare ourselves with other sinners. But when we stand before God's infinite holiness, every illusion of self-righteousness disappears. And that by saying the narrow and mildly to God, the more intensely he mourns over his own evil hearts. This is not because my child believes us seen more. It is because they see more clearly. The light has become brighter. The awareness has become deeper. A true revelation of God's holiness. Unbuse even the best of us. Isaiah was supposed to be the best of them. He was their prophet. But when he came in contact with God's holiness, he embodied completely that he felt completely undone. When the prophet belled out the glory of God, he had no resume to present, no achievements to parade and no righteousness to boast about. Because before the holiness of God, every mouth is silenced. Every excuse ever parites. And every sinner discovers the same desperate need for grace of God. That's what we all did. That's what we sang about this morning if not for grace. Just when Isaiah expected judgments, something remarkable happened. One of the seraphim acting at God's command flew toward him with a life call taken from the altar. Isn't it beautiful that God always makes the first move? That it wasn't Isaiah climbing his way back to God. That the same king who revealed himself to Isaiah is the one who is also moving towards Isaiah. That is the beauty of grace. A perfectly holy God moving toward an utterly sinful people. Grabbo's receiving mercy instead of condemnation the guilty being embraced instead of being destroyed. No matter how we try, we could never find God in our own. We can never we're utterly undone. We are completely dead in our sins and trespasses. I like the way John starts puts it. "We are cares and stoops and rescues." Grace is not God lowering his standards. Grace is God's stupid to save those who could never reach him. No one had John Newton sings it. He says, "Amazing grace. I'll sweet the sound that save the rich like me." Newton knew exactly what grace had done. It had not improved in. It had not made it better. It had rescued him. Grace is what the sinful man needs. Grace is God's antidote to sin. In the places where sin that are drained, victory only comes when grace is applied. He's applied. But Grace, don't freely give him. Never comes cheaply. He never comes cheaply. Notice carefully where the burning cold came from. It came from an altar. Grace always flows through an altar where it sacrifice has been made. The altar was the place where the blood of animals had been sheltered for guilty people. The burning cold collied with it. The symbolism of our toolments already accomplished through the sacrifice. However, we know that the sacrifices under the Old Testament could only provide temporary ceremonial cleansing. A dying animal could never permanently remove our human guilt. As the writer of Hebrews reminds us, it is impossible for the blood of booze and goats to take away our sins. Those sacrifices where shadows, Christ is the substance. The altar in Isaiah ultimately points us to the ultimate altar, the eternal altar. There, not an unwilling animal, but the williest son of God laid down his life for us. The Old Corp. and provided temporary atonement, the cross secured in tunnel atonement, and Martin Luther joyfully declared all the prophets were so vast under cross. Jesus became the greatest murderer, adulterer, thief, rabble, blasphemer, and these things, but because he took them upon himself. Luther's language underscores the doctrine of substitution. Christ bore our guilt so that we might receive His righteousness. When the Seraph taught Isaiah's lips, it declared, "See, these are taught your lips. Your guilt is taken away, and your sins are torn for." And the Seraph was saying that those were captured the two glorious dimension of Christ saving work. First, there is propitiation. God's right as a rough. Again, sin is fully satisfied. God is no longer angry with us. The penalty, our deserved sins, falls upon Christ instead of him. As Leon Morris, the Australian philologist, and Anglican minister, the love of God does not mean that God is indifferent to sin. Rather, in His love, He himself provides the sacrifice that satisfies His own righteous judgment. So we see propitiation. But it's not just propitiation, there's also expiation. Our guilt is your guilt. Because even though God is satisfied, we still would not come to Him if we're reading with guilt. And our guilt is not merely covered. It is not merely ignored. It is completely removed. Our sins are carried away. As far as the east from the west, our sins are gone. Our record is white, clean. Our conscience is purified. The code that taught Isaiah's lips was only a symbol of the blood of Christ and accomplishes the reality. Our guilt is taken away forever. Glory to God. This is the wonder of the gospel. The holy God who rightly exposes our sin is the same God who lovingly provides the sacrifice for our cleansing. The judge becomes the savior. The king who sits on the throne is the lamb who dies on the altar. That is grace. That is the gospel. That is our holy hope. Is our holy hope. Something remarkable happens after Isaiah is cleansed. Before the vision, he had nothing to see except, who is me? After he receives grace, he has only one thing left to say, "Here am I, Lord, send me. Convictual leads to cleansing and cleansing to commissioning." Those who have truly encountered God cannot remain spectators for long. Since my wife and I arrived in the UK last week, we've eaten at Waga Mama, we've eaten at Nandu's, we've eaten at five guys, and we've eaten at four hours, each half provided a nice meal for us. Apart from the food each I gave us, back with my Nigeria, we don't have many of the others that I mentioned. We don't have Waga Mama, we don't have Nandu's, we don't have five guys. So most of them were completely neutralized. How did we discover that? How? People recommended them. Friends joyfully evangelized these restaurants to us because they had eaten there themselves and believed the food was worth sharing. This is how recommendations work. People naturally speak about what they have genuinely enjoyed. They are not merely sample their good meal. They are tested literally because the cold was put at these lips, right? They are tested the burning cold that tossed these lips and spiritually as experienced, they are astonishing grace of God. How could he possibly remain silent? How? When you test anything good, you call others to come and enjoy it. You are just inviting us. He says taste and see if the Lord is what? He's good. Those who have tasted God's goodness, cannot help but tell others. where the pate adds. Right? So when God asks, "Him shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah did not hesitate. There is no bargaining. There is no negotiation. There is no carefulness. There is no, what's my family going to hit? How am I going to survive? He wasn't asking questions. No request. Even for more information, no concern about his comfort and safety. His only response was, "Here I have Lord, send me. Send me." Because he had experienced the grace of God. You know what is even more remarkable? Is what God tells him next? God says, "Your ministry will not be easy. It won't be easy." Many were refused to listen. Many hearts were remained hard. It's very easy to do ministry when you're seeing testimonies, when you're seeing your life's change, when you have many baptisms. But what if you were preaching for years and you have only one converts? Remember I was speaking with a missionary who had been an African country. I think it was Tanzania or Uganda. I can't quite remember now. And he says he was there for 10 years and there was no conversion. His preaching will not produce immediate visible success. Yet Isaiah does not withdraw his offer. Why? Why? Because he has tasted something to glorious. He has tasted something to holy, something to beautiful, something to gracious, to keep to himself. Charles Progyz once said, "Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter." Which are you? A missionary or an imposter. Now, Surgeon was not saying that every believer was cross oceans. He meant that everyone who has truly received Christ becomes in one way or another in witness to Christ. It comes in witness to Christ. The British missionary, Seats, is taught also roots. In Jesus Christ be God and died for me. Then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him. Start missionary's ill, float from one of a well-made reality. He had sinned a wolf of Christ. And that is Isaiah as story too. And the question is not merely as God called. Because the truth is that God has called every single one of us. The reason Christ has already commissioned his church to make disciples of all nations. Perhaps the question I should be asking or we should be asking ourselves is, "Why are we still sitting there?" Why are we sitting still? Why are we so hesitant to speak about the one who has forgiven us? Why do we readily recommend restaurants? Films, books and holiday destinations yet struggle to recommend the Savior who rescued our souls. Although, could it be that our silence is not primarily a problem of courage? Could it be a problem of vision? Could it be that we have not seen the Lord in all of His glory? Could it be that we have not captured the face of God, the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus? Perhaps our weakness in evangelism is at least in parts the results of a diminished revelation of God. People who have truly seen His holiness felt His conviction, received His grace, cannot easily remain silent. J.I. Pakaruz, the church exists to worship God and to make Him known. Those two colleagues always belong together. We behold His glory and we share His story. May God open our eyes once again. May we see His holiness afresh. May we feel the weight of our cleansing once again. And having tasted the goodness of the Lord, may we rise with Isaiah and gladly say, "Here I am, Lord." Send me. Can we pray? A Lord our God will pray that you would open our eyes, Lord. That we would see you in all of your glory, as we read your word, as we come to church and fellowship with you, as we pray in our homes, as we open our bibles, that was to behold your glory. Help us to once again feel the weight of our cleansing, the grace that we have received. Help us to not sit till anymore. Help us to be said by the revelation of who you are, and the beauty of your grace, and you run to speak as you call us to share the gospel to the hands of the earth. Thank you Lord Jesus. In Jesus' name I pray.