Well, good morning, church. Before we get into the message today, I would just wanna mention one quick thing and that is that next week, next week we've been talking about this for the last three or so weeks, next week is our not ashamed baptism day. Now, here's what I know. We baptize almost every single week, but every now and then we need to pause and a special moment and really shine some light into the context into the what and the why and the win of baptism and that is next week. So here's what, here's what I wanna tell you about that. Number one, we're gonna baptize in every service next week, all right? We've already got over 30 that have said that they are not ashamed, all right? That they need to do this and they need to step into what is called biblical baptism, all right?
Or believers baptism. Now, some of you, all right, some of you, God bless your parents, all right? When you were a kid, they baptized you. Hey, fabulous. We love the fact that they had that foresight and they wanted you to live out that life. But some of you, you have given your life to Jesus and you have never followed through in believers baptism. So here's what I need you to do. I need you right now. I need you to take out your phone, scan the QR code that is on the screen. Reach out to us this week and let's get you scheduled for next week. But Matt, my family can't be here. Don't worry about it, all right? We're gonna stream all the services. It is just like they're here, all right? It's gonna be a great morning. Also, some of you, you've got friends, you've got family that you've been working on that have never taken this step.
I'm gonna teach on baptism, the biblical context of baptism and some of you next week, you don't know it yet, but you're gonna be baptized, all right? Uh, you are. It's just gonna happen, all right? The spirit is going to move and you are not going to be able to help it, all right? And here's the good news. We're going to be ready, all right? And all the services to do that, all right? That's coming up. Be praying towards that is going to be one of the best Sundays of the year next week, all right? That's it. All right, I'm so excited. All right, so here's the deal. The year was 1873. There was this young man named Dwight and he was a believer in Jesus. He knew who God was. He'd given his life to him, but he kind of had one foot in the world and one foot in Christianity.
I know you've ever experienced that, right? Well, on evening he ended up at a revival service just like every good half in and half out person is. And he was sitting way up in the balcony of this huge church and like it happens so often, he remembers the music, he remembers sitting through the whole message, but he doesn't remember one word the pastor said. Believe me, it happens, all right. But after the service, the pastor stands up after the invitation and he says, "Hey, listen, I just feel like we need to have a moment of just share time." Now that's a dangerous moment, right? There was a man that stood up in the crowd that day and literally said these words. He said, "The world has yet to see what God can do through on person that is totally devoted to him." And that evening, a young man named Dwight El Moody gave his heart, gave his life fully over to Jesus, heard the call of God on his life and literally from that moment on, God changed his life, let him move in this fresh calling in his life and literally became probably the largest Christian evangelist that has ever walked the streets of the United States of America.
God moved in him to give his life to Jesus and to hear the call of God to serve him. This morning we're going to see another calling from scripture on another man's life out of Isaiah chapter six. If you got a copy of scripture this morning, I want you to turn with me to Isaiah chapter six because we're going to see yet another example of this very thing happening, but yet in a whole different day and a whole different time. And then on the backside of this message, we're going to actually see one of our very own that I also believe that is answering this call. Now, Isaiah chapter six, if you've been in church for a long time, you know it is a super familiar passage, all right? Super familiar passage that shows God's character, it shows God's love, it shows God's nature and it shows how God calls all of his followers into service into the kingdom of God.
And it shows it in this context of even in an overwhelming moment when a whole nation is turning away from God this morning and we're going to see how the prophet, this prophet named Isaiah, how he gets a glimpse into God's nature into who he is and how he sees God's calling on his life. Now, as we work through the text today, let me just kind of go ahead and let the cat out of the bag, all right? We're going to see three truths about God, three truths about us and then on the very backside, we're going to see one challenge that really and truly we all need to hear. All right? And then right after we do all that, we're actually going to ordain one of our very own into pastoral ministry, all right? And we're going to do all that before 2:00 this afternoon, all right?
There it is. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. But you are the last service so that's on you, all right? There it is, okay? But hey, before we jump into the text, okay, before we jump into the text, let me give you some background of what is happening in Isaiah's life and who he really is. Isaiah was a prophet to what we call the southern kingdom of Israel. Now Israel, God's chosen people at this time had split into the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. Only two of the tribes went south and 10 of them went north and the 10 tribes of the North had already fallen into captivity because they had turned their backs on God and God had just kind of held his hand out and said, "Well, this is what you wanted so I'm giving it to you and I'm removing my power from you.
" Well, Isaiah was called in our text today to be the voice to the southern kingdom to warn them that they needed to turn from where they were going to begin to move in a direction in God's word and in God's love. So Isaiah is going to warn the southern kingdom that God was going to give them over to their desires if they just did not turn back to him. Now, this is a great warning for us today, all right? It's a great warning for our whole context of our culture today. It's so applicable because Israel had turned its heart from God and it was turning into themselves. Sound like another culture, right? Let me read the text to you because I think you'll see how we fit in the story. Here it is Isaiah chapter one, verse six. Here's what it says. It says, "In the year that King Uziah died." Now I want you to pause there because you're already thinking, "Well, is that important?" I mean, really and truly, well, for you Isaiah it was, right?
Actually for his family it was, right? But no joke for, for actually the whole nation of Israel, it was important. It was really important. Why? Well see, Uziah died in the year 740 BC and we know that from history, we know that just from, from world history, but also we know that actually 740 BC is like 150 years prior to the southern kingdom actually falling and giving in and God giving them into their own ways. So here we're like 150 years prior to God actually moving on the warning that Isaiah has. Now listen, listen, next time you see God in the Old Testament and you go, "Man, he's a vengeful God. He is a harsh God." Man, I want you to see something here 150 years of warning and these people didn't turn. These people didn't move towards God, to which I would say God is pretty merciful in that.
If I'm reminding my kids about something and it takes 150 years, this boy ain't gonna merciful anymore. Amen. But God for 150 years had been warning them, but they didn't turn to God. They didn't do it at all and they actually were taken captive to the Babylonians. Whole nother day, whole nother story. But King Uziah is a whole nother story. Now, let me tell you about King Uziah, because I know you know, but let me remind you, King Uziah was actually a good king. He was a good king. He ruled for 52 years. He kept the people walking in a direction of God. He did everything he could, but at the end of his life, he got prideful and he stepped into the temple one day and he actually tried to perform the role that God had said that only priests should perform, that only priests should come to the altar of God.
And because of his pride, because he stepped into that role, even though all the priests had warned him, he actually, God struck him with leprosy and he died. So that's the context we take up today's story in. A nation of Israel had been following this king. This king was a good guy. He turned into a prideful self, but now the king is dead. All hope is gone for Israel and God takes Isaiah to the temple in this vision. Isaiah chapter six, verse one, let me read it to you again. It says this, "In the year that King Uziah died," here's what he says about it, "I saw the Lord high and exalted seated on a throne." And in the train of his robe, he says, "It filled the temple." I want you to see some words here pretty clear. The first of the four words there is that I saw the Lord.
Now, how did he see the Lord? I want you to see something here. He sees the Lord in God's true context. He doesn't see the Lord struggling to stay on the throne. He doesn't see the throne and God's over here somewhere. No, what is he seeing? He is seeing God on the throne. Why? Because God is never gonna be knocked off a throne because God will never succumb to anything that we try to put on the throne of our lives. God is in control. God is there. God is on the throne. God is in control and there is no real rival to who God is. In fact, I want you to write this first truth down about God and that is, number one, is that God is on the throne and nothing else is. Nothing else is. Listen, I know there's things that we try to put on the throne, but they're not on the throne.
There's try to, there's things that we try to rise up to the, to the gravios of who God is, but it is not going to work. Even when we try to put something there, it is God and God alone that is on the throne. I, I want you to see the context here. Israel is hurting, right? They're hurting, but God hasn't taken a vacation. God hasn't changed. God is still as high as you can go. In fact, the text said right after he said, "I saw the Lord." Look at how he sees them. He sees them high. And what did the Bible say? High and lifted up. High and lifted up. It's what the text says. What does that mean? That means that nothing can take his place. Nothing can come close to his power. Nothing can sit in that seat and fill it with who he is and he is the ultimate authority.
Some of you guys are struggling with that right now. It is God that is in control. What did he say next? He says that he was, is his robe. Fill the temple. Fill the temple. Now, we don't really get that because it's kind of a weird thought in our sanctified imagination, but what does that mean? The robe in this day was a, was an honorable thing. And what it's saying is, is that no matter how big you think your robe is or the train of your robe, God's is bigger. And God's is more powerful and God's, what does it say? Takes up all space. Listen, we can try as well as we want to, but there is nothing that can fill the temples of our lives like the God of the universe that has given us life because he is on the throne and nothing else is.
That's our first truth. Here's the second truth. Write this one down. Number two, not only is God on the throne, God is worthy of all praise. God is worthy of all praise. You see what's happening in Israel's life here is that Israel at this moment has kind of put God in this little box that as long as our king walked with God, then we would be okay, right? As long as our king would point us in the direction that we would be okay. They saw God as limited. They saw God as small. They saw God is only in power when King Uziah was in power, that God was only in the temple, that God was above only the, the, the cherubum of the arc of the covenant. You see, and God here is showing as Isaiah who he really is. And God is showing Isaiah, and he's showing us what?
That God is not confined to this little room, that God is not even confined to this moment, that God is not only the God of the throne room of God, but he is the throne room of all space and time.That's what he's showing him right here. And he's showing him that he is worthy of all the praise. Say, "Matt, how do you know that? " Well, look at verse two. It says above him, "We're seraphim. Each with, what, with, with six wings." Now get this into your imagination, sanctified imagination, right? Above him were serifim each with six wings. With two wings, they covered their faces. With two, they covered their feet. With two, they were flying. Now get in your mind. You've got the throne room of God, and now you've got these seraphim, these holy angels that are hovering above it. So God is not only all powerful and on the throne that we're seeing here and worthy of our praise, but he has this, he has this all, this dominion, this powerful angelic force that he can use at his disposal.
At any moment, he wants to. Remember in the Old Testament, 185 Assyrians were killed at one moment by one angel, but yet the Bible says that God has 10,000 times 10,000 at his disposal. But these angels have six wings. With, with two of their wings, they would, they would cover their faces, the Bible just said, showing a reverence for God, right? Why? Because they couldn't look into the glory of God. This was Moses in Exodus 33. With two, they covered their feet. Why? Because they were showing their humility to God. They knew they were standing in a holy place in front of a holy God. And with two, they would use the other two to fly. You say, "Amen, that's not a big deal." It is when you see the meaning behind that is because they were hovering awaiting their next assignment from God. You see how that rolls into our lives, that as believers in Jesus, when we truly see who God is, is that he's high and lifted up, that we have a reverence for God, a humility looking at ourselves and we're waiting for God to send us and to use us.
Oh, believers at this point in the message, man, we should be grabbing onto who God is already. And I think this is something that we fault in a lot because we try to bring God down into this level of, of, of he's my buddy or, or he's my pal, which yes, yeah, he is, he is, he is. But oh, how is Isaiah seeing God right here? Listen, the next time you don't know how things are gonna work out or the next time you don't know how you're gonna get out of this or how the future is gonna come. Listen, church, this is the view of God that we should start with, that he is high and lifted up on the throne and he is worthy of all praise. He's above all. Not only that, number three, write this third truth down about God that Isaiah shows us here and that he's showing Isaiah and that's that God is also holy.
He's holy. Now holy is the word we sing a lot and worship or we see a lot, but, but holy literally means set apart, separate, unique and pure, especially pertaining to sin. It's what we're seeing in the text. In fact, look at verse three. It says this. Watch the seraphim. It says this and they were, and they were calling out to one another. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. Watch what happens. The whole earth is full of his glory. Are you seeing this little view of God that the people had? To God is going, "No, no, no, no. The whole earth is my footstool." Verse four, and at the sound of their voices, the doorpost and the threshold shook and the temple was filled with smoke. You see in this carry, their worship is happening. Watch what they said. Holy, holy, holy. Now the smart people of the world would call this to the, the trihagion, right?
I know you use that word a lot, but here's what it literally means. It literally means that it wasn't just one holy, it wasn't just two holies. It was three holies, but don't think of three holies. Think of exponential holies. It was holy to the holy power, to the holy power. It was above anything that all of us can fathom. And it shows that not only that he is he holy, but above everything else, he's holy. This is the only point in any of scripture that three times an attribute of God is used one after another after another. And you know what is showing? It's showing that there is no end to his holiness. There's no edge that you can walk off. There is nowhere or boundary to it and that is how far God is also away from sin. So listen, what's God doing right here?
God's shaping Isaiah, right? He's shaping Isaiah to take him from this small little view of God and showing him that God is above all, that God is on the throne, that God is worthy to be praised, that God is holy, holy, holy. God is showing Isaiah his nature and he's getting this picture of this unchanging holy God that is on the throne that is worthy to be praised no matter what's happening in life. Let me ask you something, believer. When you pull up into the presence of God, is this where you're starting? Because if it's not, you're missing it. If it's not, you're blowing it and you're not seeing who God is. If this is not your understanding of God, man, we need to do a reality check and we need to begin to go, God, here I am. You see, your view about God shapes everything.
That's the famous Tozer quote, right? Your view about God shapes your past. It shapes your present. It shapes your future. All things revolve around your view of God. It's not a habit problem. It's not a mouth problem. It's not an attitude problem. It's not an action problem. It is not a, it is not something that we just slip into. It's a view of God problem that everything revolves around.
God is on the throne. God is worthy of our praise. God is holy. But now let's turn to us and we just mentioned the first one that I wanna lean into a little bit here and that is number one. Here's the verse truth about us. We simply just need a bigger view of God. We need a bigger view of God. That's what's happening in the text, right? We need a bigger view of God. And I don't care if you've been walking with Jesus for 60 seconds or, or 75 years, we need a consistent bigger view of God. It's called sanctification where every day we move a little bit towards him and a little bit towards him and a little bit towards him. It, it's what we're seeing right here into this glimpse of Isaiah's life when he's taken into the throne room of God, just like John was in Revelation and He's gonna walk away knowing God and trusting God and even more seeing who God is.
And this is where our life should be pointing, right? Why? Because the more we're truly in the presence of God, the more clear we see God. The more clear we see God, the more God becomes to us in our lives. The more God becomes to us in our lives, the bigger influence that God has on us. Listen, if you have an influence of God and problem in your life, it just means that you have a God problem in your life because God's like a mirror. When you begin to look into him, he, he takes the mirror up and he points back at you and says, "Hey, in light of who I am, who are you? " See, number one truth about us is that we need a bigger view of God. The number truth that, truth about us is that we're sinners in desperate need of God.
In desperate need of God. Again, the clearer you see God, the more you see his holiness, the more you see his holiness, the more our sin is exposed in comparison to God. Matt, why do you keep talking about my sin being exposed? My sin being exposed, I want to hide that mess. So did Isaiah. But that's not the point. The point is not to hide. The point is to allow God to illuminate it and change it and you confess it and repent of it and him set you free from it. In fact, watch what happens to Isaiah, right? The Sarah from flying, he is in the temple, the robe is there. There's lots of smoke. That's how it's working in my mind at this moment. And now, and now watch what happened. Isaiah actually, he begins to worship, right? Kinda, right? It's not the worship you're thinking of.
It's the woo is me worship. Watch this. Verse five. Watch his heart after he sees God. Isaiah's response is not, I've got it all figured out. Isaiah's response is, woe, it's me. I cried. For I am ... And when's the last time you said this before God? I'm ruined. I'm ruined. Does that mean you're a bad person? No. It just means that in comparison to the Holy God, you are ruined and I'm ruined. Not comparison to that person sitting beside you because you might be outweighing them, but to God. Woe is me I cried, for I'm ruined. For I'm a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the king, the Lord all mighty. And then one of the Sarah from flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
I got questions about that. Why take it with a tongue for an altar and put it in your hand, just grab it with your hand, but whatever. All right. Verse seven with it. He touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips. Your guilt." Oh, catch it. Your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for. Are you seeing what's happening here? What's happening is, is what was used on the altar as a sacrifice, because that's what the coal was, right? It was a sacrifice that was brought to God to be a pleasing aroma to God, a forgiveness, offering of sin to God, the offering that was on the altar as a sacrifice is now being used for the forgiveness of Isaiah. Oh, church, what a picture of who Jesus is.
In his sin, watch what's happening here. God sees Isaiah. God sees Isaiah. God is watching all of this happening. He's seeing Isaiah in his sin and his shame with his dirty mouth. Now, before you think it's just a dirty mouth, although it is, it's way more than that. Why? Because where does a dirty mouth come from? It comes from a dirty heart, right? Nobody has a mouth problem. It's a heart problem. But on top of that, what was Isaiah's talent? Mostly it was to prophesy, right? So we're seeing it's a heart problem. We're seeing it is a mouth problem. We're seeing it's a talent problem and all of this is what he's dealing with in this moment. You got to think that Isaiah thinks that he's ruined at this point, right? That it's over with God steps in and forgives him. Oh, believers, I want you to notice the progression here is that not that he was forgiven automatically, but what did Isaiah do?
Isaiah recognized who God was. He saw who he was and then he began to confess what it is that was separating him from God. He not only confessed it, but he had a heart of repentance. And listen, and at that moment is when the coal was taken off the altar and it was seared onto his lips. Now look, you think this hurt? Give me a yes or no. Yeah. You're like, I don't know. Yes. Listen, confession always hurts. Repentance always hurts, but oh, does it lead to life? It leads to life. It hurts at first, but what does God do? God reaches in and gives him. Life. Let me ask you something. What are you holding on to? What are you bringing? Not bringing to God. What are you not confessing for God? What do you need to repent from right now to walk into the full presence of God and for him to do work in your life?
Because listen, when you come to God in a woe is me moment, when you know who God is really is, God will always forgive. Always. So we're seeing that we need a bigger view of God. We seeing that we're a sinner and desperate need of God. And here's number three. I want you to write down. Number three, truth about us is that truly being in the presence of God always leads to action. It leads to action. You see, Isaiah is forgiven. Isaiah's healed. Isaiah's made whole. There's no pride here. Self-esteem is not part of the problem here. Oh, we're never enough, but Jesus is. But in God's presence, this humility comes over him. He forg- he gains forgiveness of his sin and it's at that point that Isaiah is what? He is called into the service of God. You know the whole point of these first eight verses is to commission Isaiah to be the mouthpiece of God.
You see, here's the point though. God is not looking for perfect people. I hope you're seeing this here, right? That's never where it starts. God's looking for purified people. That's what you're seeing. In fact, look at the verse, last verse, verse eight, it says this, "Then, then, notice the word then." This is not an automatic deal. You're not born with it. It's not something you come out of the womb with. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I sin and who will go for us?" And then I said, "Here am I. " Here's the famous one, right? Sind me. Now I want you to notice something, this blew my mind this week. I, I don't know how many times I've studied this or even taught on this, but, but, but, but check it out. This is the first time that God talks.
You realize that? God hasn't said anything yet. It has all been Isaiah pouring his heart out. It's all been Isaiah seeing who God is. It's all been Isaiah experiencing the goodness of God and now, and now and now, now, now, now watch this. After he is purified, now he hears the voice of God. You wanna know why some of us have never heard the voice of God because we've never given our heart to Jesus and we've never had our sins forgiven and we've never repented of our sins.
Isaiah now, he has this right view of God, this right view of hisself. He has his sins, atone for it. The forgiveness is there and what's the natural response of it? He's sent. He sent. He is now God's mouthpiece to the nation. Listen, if you're not living in the action of God, that means that either you don't have a right view of God, you don't have a right view of self. You have not had your sins atoned for and you have not heard the voice of God. Don't get mad at me for that. That's what Isaiah is showing us. So what does Isaiah do? Isaiah's, uh, he does the only thing that we, we should do, right? What does Ida, Isaiah do? Isaiah simply says, "Here am I. Here am I. " You know the, the, the best part of this story is that when God calls him, do you, have you ever realized the fact that there's nobody else in the room, right?
So Isaiah can't be like, "No, not me, right?" <laugh> That's kind of how God's calling feels sometimes though, right? When it's like, "Hey, if this is not for anybody else in the room, it's for me. " So what happens? Isaiah says yes. Here's the final challenge, just kind of roll that into a word. God is in the calling business and our role is to simply answer yes. Have you ever thought about that?
That it's God that's in the calling business. And our role is to simply see God for who he is. See us for who we are, recognize that God is all powerful on the throne. And our role is not to look at our circumstances, not to look at our life, not to give the excuses, not even to think about what somebody else is gonna say, but our role is to simply say, yes, Lord. I love this chapter because it really and truly explains what it looks like to be called by God. You know, there's basically three different kinds of callings in the Bible. Number one, there's a call to salvation. The call to salvation usually, what does that look like? That looks like the Holy Spirit beginning to knock on the door to our life and calling us to turn from our sin and turn to Jesus to radically redeem us and give us life.
Here's the deal. Some of you, that is your step this morning. Your view of God needs to radically change and you need to simply submit your life in a woe is me moment and give your heart to Jesus. That's the call to salvation. God desires all me to come and to repentance. The second kind of call in scripture is what I would just kind of call a call to kingdom service. A call to kingdom service. Now, this is a universal call as well, but to all believers. The call to kingdom service is that every single one of us that have been redeemed that have had the, the, the call pressed to our souls, if you would, are now called to serve God in some capacity, no matter how young, no matter how old, we are called to serve him. So here's what I would ask some of you.
Some of you have answered the call to salvation. God has redeemed you. He has saved you. You have stepped into a life of him. But here's my question to you. Are you hearing this call to serve him? Are you just taking those steps to serve him? I