A Vision of the Transcendent God

In consideration of our subject this morning, a vision of the transcendent, majestic God of glory, I was drawn to a book that I purchased some time back and read and was inspired to awe and wonder of this God, written by Paul Davis of a trip, and the title of the book is simply, Awe. And in that book he speaks of Isaiah. And not just Isaiah here in chapter 6, but Isaiah in other places in his prophetic book.

And this is what he says. There are two things that Isaiah confronts. First, he confronts any view of the world that doesn't place a God of infinite grandeur in the middle of it. You simply cannot properly understand anything unless you look at it through the lens of the awesome glory that Isaiah sticks in your face. Not only does God exist, and not only is He active, and not only is He in control, but He is also so glorious that it is impossible to find words or illustrations that are huge enough to capture His majesty. He goes on to say, I am afraid that we often live as if there is no God, and it's all on us. We tend to worry too much, we tend to control too much, we tend to demand too much, we tend to regret too much, we tend to run after too many God replacements. We do all these things because we so quickly forget God's presence and glory, and Isaiah won't let you forget.

He arouses your memory with grand and expansive word pictures. But secondly, he's talking about Isaiah and what he confronts. The second thing he confronts is that there are a massive, according to him, a massive number of Christian people who remember God, but the God they remember is small, distant, disconnected, uncaring, and seemingly unwise. In a way they are suffering not just because of the size of the things they're facing, but also because of the smallness of the God they are trusting.

I tend to think that we suffer sometimes from the same ailment. He says proper theology is rooted not in our interpretations of our circumstances, but in God's revelation to us of His unchangeable glory. And then the last thing I'll read here about Paul David Tripp's consideration is, he says, every hope you have as a believer is rooted in the glory of God that Isaiah reveals. Every act of obedience flows out of your belief that one of this awesome grandeur exists. Every courageous act of faith gets its courage from the understanding that this kind of God sits on the throne of the universe. Every bit of personal willingness to persevere through trial is ignited by the remembrance of what Isaiah stretches the words of human language to describe.

Folks, what we're considering this morning is very, very practical. As we think about Isaiah 6, there are five things I want to set before you. I want to show you what he saw, number one. I want to show you what he heard, number two. I want you to see what he felt, number three. I want you to see and hear what he said in response to what he saw, heard, and felt.

And then I want you to see what he experienced. But before we get to the passage, Isaiah 6, I want to explain, identify, and prioritize two truths about God that we really need to get right if we're going to know God and relate to Him as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. And the first truth is the eminence of God, the eminence of God.

What do I mean by that? Well, by eminence, we mean the fact that God is close at hand. He's God with us.

Eminent stresses the love of God, the compassion of God, the mercy, the glory, the grace, the kindness of God, the fact that God has drawn near to us in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. And that's very critical and important to our understanding of God. It's all true and it's wonderful and it's worthy of consideration and meditation and appropriation, the eminence of God. But the second truth about God is what Isaiah 6 sets before us. And it is the truth about God that is almost lost in many churches today.

And if you question that, listen to what one pastor said as he endorses this book by Paul David Tripp, a pastor. He says, I still remember the first time I was in awe of God. It came at least three years after attending churches and calling myself a Christian.

It was a major turning point in my life. Three years after you were a Christian, you finally were in awe of God? That's what he confessed.

That's what he said. I wonder how many Christians there are in our day who have never had God set before them in a way that provoked awe and wonder and worship. The second truth about God is the fact that God is transcendent. The eminence of God on one hand, but the transcendence of God on the other hand. And what does transcendence focus on?

It focuses on the greatness of God, the glory of God, the sovereignty of God, the excellency of God. That He is the high and lofty one who is apart from us. He's above all of His creation.

He's independent from us. He needs nothing from us or His creation. He is gloriously full in the riches of His character as God. And I contend this morning that we must understand the transcendence of God before we can fully appreciate the eminence of God. We hear great emphasis in our day on the love of God and there's a place for that. But without an understanding of the transcendence of God, people hear, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God loves you. And people say, well, of course He does. That's who God is. He loves people and He loves me.

I'm a pretty good person. What's missing? What's missing is an understanding of the transcendence of God. They're not astounded by God. They're not moved to worship this God. You see, until we see that the God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son was under no obligation to give this Son.

No obligation. God is self-sufficient. He's infinite.

He's in need of nothing. He is the high and lofty, majestic and holy God of the universe. And to think that this God who needs nothing, who stands outside of His creation would condescend, come to this earth and the person of His Son to rescue hell-deserving sinners ought to move us. We ought to be moved with wonder and awe and humility that this God loves me. He loves you.

You see the difference? If you start with the eminence of God and divorce your understanding of God from His transcendence, the love of God doesn't mean a whole lot to you. Isaiah chapter 57 verse 15, let me just read this one verse to you because it captures both aspects of this God, His eminence and His transcendence. Listen to it, Isaiah 57 verse 15. Isaiah says, for thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place.

What is that? That's the transcendence of God. With Him who has a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. There's the eminence of God, both aspects. But did you see the order? Transcendence comes first.

And we must get that down. You see it's God's holiness that separates Him from all of creation. It's His eminence where He cares for the needy, the broken, the humble, the contrite.

The high and exalted one who lives forever whose name is holy. Isaiah learns this glorious transcendent God who is all those things and above all things is also a God who cares, forgives, and draws near to sinners. Now to the preaching passage here in Isaiah chapter 6. Notice with me it says, 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. In the year that King Uzziah died, this king reigned for 52 years. He was the king of the southern kingdom of Judah.

He was in most parts a good king. He reigned during the prophetic ministry of Zachariah and he was influenced by this prophet. And as long as the prophet lived, he listened to the prophet and was guided by the prophet.

But when Zachariah died, we read about Uzziah becoming proud. And he went into the temple to offer sacrifices. And 80 priests confronted him and said, What you are about to do is not good.

You need to turn away. And he was furious with them. He went ahead and offered sacrifices on the burnt offering of incense in the altar, in the temple. And in the process of doing that, God struck him with leprosy. And he lived with leprosy until the day he died. So his life didn't end very well. But in the main, he was a good king.

You're aware that there were two lines. There was the line of David and from that line came the kings. There was the line of Levi, the tribe of Levi, and from that line came the priests. And he was from the line of David, from the tribe of Judah. And he had a right to be the king, but he had no right to be a priest and to offer sacrifices. And God judged him for that. But I think there's more indicated here than simply giving us this date and this reminder of this happening during the year of King Uzziah died.

Isaiah saw the Lord when, in the year that King Uzziah died, I think there's this as well. At a time of great uncertainty. At a time of national upheaval. After all, who is going to be the king? We've had a king for 52 years.

Who is going to replace him? Who will be the next to sit in the position of power? Will he be a man who will promote righteousness or will be a wicked king that moves the nation further and further away from God?

Does that have any application in our day? In the face of uncertainty, in the face of instability, Isaiah saw the Lord. And in contrast to the chaos and the instability and the insecurity all around him, what did he see when he saw the king on his throne? He saw certainty. He saw stability.

And that's what we need to see as well. And when we don't know what is going to happen in our nation, in our country, we know one thing. That God is ruling and reigning in this world. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And has already been prayed this morning. He's the God who puts kings in place and takes kings from their place as it pleases him.

That's our confidence this morning. So who is this God that Isaiah saw? Notice with me, number one in my outline, what he saw.

What did he see? He says, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple. He describes a throne. He describes the Lord sitting on a throne.

Well, the only person that has a right to sit on a throne is a king. So here is a king sitting on a throne, a high and elevated throne is what he saw. One who's lofty and exalted and the train of his robe fills the temple. He sees one who is supreme in majesty and in his reign he rules over all things.

The whole earth is full of his glory. What do we make about this, the train of his robe filled the temple? Well, the train is a picture of royalty, of splendor, of royalty. The only thing that comes to my mind is an illustration, and I didn't watch this, but when Princess Diana was married and she made her way down the aisle and there was this train that was a part of her wedding dress that followed.

What was this long, long, long train meant to communicate? Power, majesty, authority. It tells us here that the train of his robe filled the temple. It speaks of his majesty, his authority, his splendor. You see, this is the greatest king that there is. This is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Notice one more detail with me in verse 1. Notice again that he is seated on a throne. And let me ask you the question, where would you expect to find a king sitting on a throne? You would expect to find the king sitting on his throne in a palace, right?

But that's not what the text says. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple. The temple, not the palace, but the temple.

Think of the irony with me. You remember Uzziah, that God struck with leprosy because he assumed the role of a priest when he wasn't one? Well, here is a kingly priest.

Who is this? Who did Isaiah have the privilege of seeing? He saw the pre-incarnate Jesus. He saw the king, but he also saw the priest.

You say, well, wait a minute. Jesus was of the line of David. He had a right to be the king, but he wasn't a Levite.

No, he wasn't. But Hebrews tells us he was of another order. He was of the order of Melchizedek. He had a right to be the priest. So he is the kingly priest.

His priesthood is established independent of the line of Levi. And this is confirmed by John, listen to, let me just read this one verse to you. John chapter 12 and verse 21, listen to this. John is quoting Isaiah right here in Isaiah chapter 6. He says, But although he had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe because Isaiah said, again, he has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them. And then verse 41 says, These things Isaiah said when he saw his glory and spoke of him.

That nails it down. Who did Isaiah see? He saw him, and he saw his glory, and he spoke of him, that is Jesus. So that's who Isaiah is seeing here. What a privilege for considering what Isaiah saw. He saw Jesus in his transcendent, pre-incarnate glory and majesty.

But notice what else he saw. Verse 2 says, Above it, above that throne, stood Seraphim. Each one had six wings, with two he covered his face, and two he covered his feet, and two he flew. These glorious creatures of God.

Listen to me, if one of them were to make a presence, make an appearance in this place, we would all be on our faces. These are holy angels, sinless beings, created by God to serve him and to glorify him. And here they are around the throne, six wings. Notice what it says, with two they covered their what? They covered their face. Why did they cover their face? They're holy angels.

They'd never sinned. They're in the presence of holiness that would blind the most pure created being. It says each one had six wings, with two they covered their face, with two they covered their feet. Covered their feet with wings.

The only way you cover your feet is you're in a bowing position. They're in worship. Worship.

And with two they flew. So I don't know if you can get your mind around creatures that have six wings, that have covered their faces and they're flying around and they're in a worshipping posture, but that is what Isaiah was privileged to see. Holy creatures, sinless angels, worshiping this enthroned, majestic God. And it reminds us that too many people come to God way too casually, not with a sense of our unworthiness, not with a sense of our sinfulness before him.

We need to learn from this picture. What did he hear? Notice with me what he heard in verse three. It says in one cry to another, that is these seraphs, these holy angels, one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory. They're calling out to one another in an antiphonal way, holy, holy, holy. And we say, well, why the repetition of holy, holy, holy? Some have said, well, it's because they're worshipping God in the trinity of his being. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

Well, that might be. I wouldn't argue with somebody who holds to that, but I think a better explanation is an understanding of the Hebrew language. It is the way the Hebrew language emphasizes superlatives by the use of repetition, not just to say holy, but to say holy, holy, holy, to emphasize the holiness of God. In the Hebrew, they speak of Lord, Lord.

And what do we see that translated in our Bible? He is the Lord of Lords. In the Hebrew language, the emphasis is king, king.

What do we see emphasized in Scripture? He is the King of Kings. So this is just a Hebrew way of emphasizing this superlative of God. He is holy. He's the thrice holy God. And that attribute of God stands above all of his attributes. You never find angels saying love, love, love, grace, grace, grace, mercy, mercy, mercy, but holy, holy, holy, because he's holy in his love, he's holy in his grace, he's holy in every other attribute that he manifests.

There's no one like him. And the holiness of God draws our attention to the separateness of God. God is separate, and he's separate in two ways.

There is a metaphysical separateness, and then there is a moral separateness. And what do I mean by metaphysical? Well, when I speak of metaphysical, I'm speaking of the fact that God is eternal, while we are what?

Finite and temporal. God is infinite. God is the creator.

We are the created. God is separate from his creation. That's metaphysical separateness, but he's separate in the moral way. That is, he's pure, he's holy, he's unadulterated, he's unlike us in that way.

We're sinners, we're polluted, we're undone. You see, there's no one like him. He is exclusively God.

He is incomparably God. Notice number three, not only what he saw and what he heard, but what he felt. What he felt in verse four, it says, And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. Your Bible might say something about the foundations trembling in the temple. How do we explain this?

Notice what it says. And the posts of the doors were shaken by what? The voice of him who cried out. There was such an intensification of worship in this place that it shook the foundations. Think back a month or two or however long ago it was, and I don't know if it was a Sunday morning or when it was, but we felt the trembles. The windows in our house rattled a little bit.

Why is that? Because it was an earthquake. Here is an intensification of worship that is so intense that it moved the very foundations in the temple. I think Robert Murray M'Cheyne captures that in this phrase, When this passing world is done, the last stands. He says, When the praise of heaven I hear, loud as thunders to the ear, loud as many waters' noise. We've had some marvelous times of praise and worship to God in this place, but they pale in comparison to what awaits us. There will be an intensification of worship that is unimaginable to us, and we see a picture of it here.

If you have the devotional book Valley of Vision that is a collection of Puritan prayers, I would highly recommend that you spend time in that, make use of that in your devotional time. There's this for contemplation on page 199 entitled Journeying On, and it's speaking about God and how we can speak of Him. It says, Compared with thee, the sun is darkness. Compared with Him, the sun is darkness. All beauty, deformity, all wisdom, folly, the best goodness, faulty, the Puritan says. Are you looking forward to that kind of worship?

I hope you are. So that's what he felt. He felt the trembling that was produced by the intense worship of God.

And notice what else he experienced. It says, The house was filled with smoke. The house was filled with smoke. What do we attribute the smoke to? When you read the Old Testament, when God would, His glory would be manifested, there would be smoke, there would be fire, there would be on Mount Sinai there was smoke, there was fire. It accompanies the glory of God.

It's to draw attention to the glory of God. But I think there's something else going on. Because where there's smoke, there's what? There's fire. And where is there fire in this picture? Well, you remember what happens a little bit later? One of these seraphs takes a coal.

Where is that? Then one of the seraphs flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. The smoke is from the activity of the altar and the sacrifice that was being burned in that place.

See, it represents purity and perfection and sinlessness. Well, we've considered what he saw and what he heard and what he felt. What did he say? He had this incredible vision.

And how did it affect him? What did he say? Notice verse 5, So I said, Woe is me. Who's talking here? This is the prophet of God. This is the messenger of God. And he says, 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, it's only because Isaiah has seen God in his holiness that he sees himself as a woeful sinner. Too much good intended evangelism that is trying to convince a man or a woman that they're a sinner misses setting a holy God before them. I'm a sinner? What are you talking about? I'm as good as so and so.

I haven't done this, I haven't done that. And as long as no holy God is set before them, that's the way men think. But when a holy God is set before you, who of us can say, I'm right with God? No, we're undone. And that's what Isaiah said, Woe is me. Woe is me, for I am undone.

Why? Because I am a man of unclean lips. And I wonder, what is he making reference to?

I'm a man of unclean lips. He was a prophet of God. He used his lips to speak of God, to communicate right things about God. And was he conscious of the fact that he hadn't always represented God faithfully?

I don't know. But he says, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips. So it makes me wonder if that's what is really in his mind, because the people weren't prophets.

He was the only one who was a prophet. He was a man of unclean lips, and so were the people around him. Could it be that what he is communicating to us is what the New Testament communicates to us, that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks?

Perhaps that's what he's saying. You see, unless people have such a God set before them, they'll not see themselves as sinful as they really are. It's why, in my opinion, people are convinced that they're pretty good people, because they've never been confronted with perfect purity and holiness. And we need to see God in the fullness of his glorious, majestic holiness, in order to have an accurate understanding of ourselves and our unworthiness before him. He said, I am undone.

I have no hope. He realizes he's ruined. It's a mixture of absolute hopelessness, of absolute inability to do anything about his state before God. Now I want you to think with me, this passage could have ended right there. There could be nothing more said, but thank God there is more said, but this passage just easily could have ended right there.

Why do I say that? Because God is under no obligation to extend mercy and grace and forgiveness. There's a day coming that every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that he is Lord of the glory of God the Father.

That's going to happen. Whether men do it out of pure worship because their hearts have been changed, or whether they do it in rebellion toward him, they will acknowledge him as Lord. He's under no obligation to do anything for Isaiah, but what does it tell us? Notice with me what he experienced, and it begins in verse 6. Then one of the seraphim flew over to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar, and he touched my mouth with it and said, Behold, this has touched your lips, your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged.

What did he experience? Well, so far he's experienced this incredible vision of God, but at this point in the text, he experiences unmerited mercy. Unmerited mercy, and I add that word unmerited because if we don't understand that, mercy has no definition. It's something God extends to sinners with no obligation. They have no claim upon God, but he experiences unmerited mercy. He experiences cleansing. Notice the language. Behold, this has touched your lips, your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged. He experiences unmerited mercy, cleansing, forgiveness, and a recommissioning for service. And notice what it says. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Who shall I send?

And who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I, send me. Notice with me that God is the one who is the initiator in the giving of mercy. Isaiah is not asking for it.

He's not conscious of it. He's not begging God for it. He just extends mercy to him because that's what God does to sinners when he humbles them. But just keep in mind, there's nothing in us, there was nothing in Isaiah that would provoke God to extend mercy to him. God freely gives mercy. I want you to notice that the cleansing and the forgiveness that he received was personalized.

What do I mean by that? What did he confess? He confessed, woe is me for I am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. He's confessing sin and specifically sin related to his lips, that which he's communicated. And what forgiveness does he receive? A coal is taken by the seraph off the altar and it comes and touches what? His lips. Folks, I don't know what sin you're guilty of here this morning before God, but God has a coal from his altar that matches your sin.

It matches your sin. When I think about how we relate to this world, we relate to this world through our, what, five senses. What we see with our eyes, what we hear with our mouth, what we taste, what we, what are the five senses, what we touch. All five of Isaiah's senses were engaged in this encounter that he had with God. The joy of his sins forgiven. And you see how, what happens in, God humbles a man, breaks a man down, brings him to the place where he says I'm undone, I'm hopeless, I have no use. I'm shut up to God in his mercy and God extends mercy, forgives a man, cleanses a man, and restores a man. And the man says, put me back in Lord, I'm ready. The rest of the passage says, well, you better know what you've signed up for. As a prophet, you're going to speak, you're going to prophesy, you're going to speak, and these people are not going to hear you. There'll be no good preaching, pastor. Thank you for that.

They'll hate you. Week after week, month after month, year after year. Isaiah says, Lord, I'll persevere as long as I have to. You see, this encounter with the majestic, holy, transcendent God has fueled his service.

And that's the last thing I want to say. Willing service flows out of such an encounter with God. Sometimes we get bogged down, sometimes we feel like quitting, sometimes we become weary in well-doing. What do we need? We need a fresh encounter with God.

Because when we've had an encounter with God, we're moved with gratitude, we're moved with humility. God, use me. Put me in charge of something. Give me something to do.

I'll serve you out of gratitude for what you've done for me. That's what we need, folks, in our day. That's what you need. That's what I need. That's what we all need.

That's what this world needs. Let me pray, and as I pray, I'm going to be praying a prayer from that devotional book, Valley of Vision. And then I will pray, we will sing the last hymn.

Join me, would you please. O Lord God, who inhabits eternity, the heavens declare your glory, the earth your riches, the universe is your temple, your presence fills everything with immensity. Yet you have, by your own pleasure, created life and communicated happiness. You've made us what we are. You've given us what we have. It's in you that we live and move and have our being. Your providence has set the bounds of our habitation, and you wisely administer all of our affairs. We thank you for the riches we have in the Lord Jesus, for the unclouded revelation of Him in your word, where we behold His person, His character, His grace, His glory, His humiliation, His suffering, His death, and His resurrection. Cause us to feel in need of our continual Saviorhood and cry with Job, I am vile with Peter, I perish with the public and be merciful to us, a sinner. Subdue in us the love of sin.

Show us the need of renovation as well as forgiveness in order to serve and enjoy you forever. We come to you in the all prevailing name of Jesus with nothing of our own to plead, no works, no worthiness, no promises. We're often straying, we often knowingly oppose your authority, we often abuse your goodness. Much of our guilt arises from our religious privileges and our low estimation of them.

Our failure to use them to our advantage. Help us not to be careless as we think and regard your glory. Impress more deeply upon us a sense of thine omnipresence, that you are indeed this transcendent, holy, majestic God beyond all imagination. Glorify yourself through our lives today, tomorrow, next week, next month, and the rest of our days. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.