There never can be much panic set in. when you know God is still on the throne. may have looked to Isaiah as if the whole thing was falling apart. But Adonai is a title meaning the sovereign one. The human king was dead, but history doesn't depend on human kings, but on the absolute monarchy, the supreme lord, Adonai, God Himself.
Welcome to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. It may sound foreign to nearly everything you've been taught, But God wants you, in fact He expects you to thoroughly enjoy Him. But there's a problem. Before you can enjoy God you need to know Him intimately and accurately.
The question, how well do you really know God? When you think of him, what comes to mind? A wise old grandfather? A stern schoolmaster? A far off ruler who doesn't know much or care much about his subjects?
We'll help bring your thoughts about God into clear focus as John MacArthur continues his compelling study here on Grace to You titled Enjoying God. And now with the lesson, here's John. Certainly it's apparent to you. If you're a Christian. As it is to me.
That we live in a profane Godless Secularized and for the most part, atheistic culture. Even our religion. is a kind of atheism. for it attempts to erase the true God. and substitute in his place a God Who makes men comfortable.
And whenever I read that 50 million people in America are supposed to be born again. And I see in comparison with that statistic the constant Ever-increasing secularization of our society. I find that the two don't go together very well. We're supposed to be a Christian nation. It's even popular to be born again.
Yet the impact of Christianity on our country seems to be weak. Seems to be shallow. It seems to be superficial. It seems to be saccharine. Being a Christian may be in.
But it doesn't seem to be having much of an impact. We are caught up in a kind of self-indulgence and self-centeredness. That even views God only in terms of what He can do for us. And God becomes sort of a utilitarian genie. You rub your little theological lamp, he pops out and says, three wishes.
People are preoccupied with relational things. Person who criticizes the Teaching of the word of God by saying, well, it's too strong, it alienates people. It's really saying we want a God who makes us comfortable. And I guess what I really see in Christianity as I look at it across our country is the absence of a theology. It just seems to me that there isn't one.
There's a lot of talk about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but in terms of a substantive definition of the Trinity and an understanding of theology, it just really isn't there. We're really big on relationships. And we certainly don't really understand. The source of all of them. God Himself.
And I guess if there's one element of theology that we really don't understand, it is the theology of God, theology proper, it's called. We don't understand God, God's nature. The fundamental fact of our faith Is God. And the fundamental fact about God is that God is holy. God is awful, if you want to use that sense.
God is majestic. God is fearful. He is mighty. He is awesome. He is transcendent.
In fact, in Exodus 15:11, it says he is glorious in holiness. The beauty of the Lord is the beauty of holiness. I don't think we understand the holiness of God.
Now, I would also want to add that I don't think we can understand fully the holiness of God, but I think we can understand it a lot better than we do. And I want to share with you some things that the Spirit of God has just been running through my heart for the last couple of weeks. about the holiness of God. I confess at the very beginning that I don't really understand the fullness of His Holiness, but I'm sure working at it. The central thing I want you to see about God is that He is who.
holy. And that weighs very heavily on our hearts, if we understand it. In order to help us focus on that, I want you to take your Bible and turn to the sixth chapter of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 6. And I want us to examine the first part of the chapter.
And I want us to see the holiness of God. As Isaiah relates it to us here. Just a little background. Isaiah was a prophet. Not just any prophet.
Some feel perhaps the greatest prophet. Of Israel. Isaiah was a man who was a statesman. Who spoke for God? to common people and also to kings.
He was known in the palace. In fact, he was a consultant to the monarchs. He prophesied during the reign of four kings, a time of great crisis. A time of great chaos. A time of moral decadence.
A time When God's people were turning their backs on him. In fact, during the time of Isaiah's prophecy, the northern kingdom, Israel, was taken captive by. Invaders. The southern kingdom, Judah. was attacked by Assyria.
These were unstable times. difficult times And he had a very strategic ministry. In the midst of these days of Isaiah, there came along a king in Judah. who compared to the others was a man of some influence.
some goodness, some excellence. His name was Uzziah. He has mentioned In verse 1. Uzziah reigned for a long time. Fifty-two years.
And he was generally a successful king. and brought benefits to his people. In fact, he subdued most of the hereditary enemies of Judah. and brought them some time of peace. He was able to turn Jerusalem into a fortified city, well equipped with.
arms for its own defense, and he gave the people a great sense of security. According to 2 Chronicles chapter 26, He developed agriculture and he developed commerce for the nation until it became extremely prosperous. The sad story of Uziah is that in the end, pride lifted up his heart. He looked at all the things he'd done. Given them a time of peace from their enemies.
Fortified Jerusalem brought security, developed agriculture and commerce. He was filled with pride and God gave him Terminal. Leprosy.
Now, in spite of how he ended up His time of reigning in Judah provided a season of peace from all of the chaos. And when he died, Apparently, there was a certain feeling of panic that began to set in. What are we going to do now? Uzziah has died. They became fearful.
I believe that the fear was probably greatest in the heart of the God-fearing. Jews. Who through all these years had maintained a true devotion to God. Because they knew that through the time of Uziah, there was an ever-increasing moral decadence. There was an ever-ascending disobedience.
There was a defiant kind of idolatry. And it was almost as if, as long as Uzziah was around, he sort of preserved the whole thing from coming apart at the seams. And in chapters 2 through 5 of Isaiah, Isaiah chronicles some of the terrible sins of the people of God. But in the midst of their sinning, they were so secure because of Uziah that they just kind of went on with it all. But then he died.
And they panicked. They were afraid. There were some events that made them afraid. Five years before Uzziah died. Tiglath Peliser.
the ambitious warrior king of Assyria, suddenly appeared on the horizon in the Near East. And he had a grand design to conquer all the kingdoms between the Euphrates and the Nile and to establish in their place the great Assyrian Empire. Naturally, all of the target nations The nations that were imperiled by his designs began to seethe with apprehension, and revolts broke out. They began to form alliances against Assyria. They began to plot political intrigues and sabotage and rebellion.
The kingdoms of Samaria and Judah were tottering on the brink of doom. Not only because of Tiglath-Pelizer, but because of the spiritual moral rot that was internal. Instead of turning to God as Isaiah had told him to do, the people were caught up in a frenzy of self-indulgence and dissipation and moral. Decadence. In fact, in Isaiah 22, Isaiah says, And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning.
But behold joy and gladness, eating flesh and drinking wine. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Instead of turning around to crying. And morning. They said, let's really live it up.
It may all end tomorrow. That's how it was. when Uzziah died. The leader was dead. Among all of the God-fearing Jews who may have sought the face of God was the prophet himself.
Isaiah And he goes to the temple. in chapter six. Let's pick it up there. The king is dead. And Isaiah goes to the temple.
In the year that King Uzzziah died, I saw also the Lord. Sitting upon a throne. High and lifted up. And his robe. filled The temple.
Now stop right there. I saw the Lord, he says. I saw the Lord. Incredible statement. Think about the situation.
You'll notice the word Lord there. Whenever you see in the Old Testament Lord, With an uppercase L and lowercase letters, it's reflective of the Hebrew word Adonai. When you see it, for example, down in verse Three, where all the letters are uppercase or capital, it is reflective of the word Yahweh. Yahweh has reference to God's essential nature. Adonai has reference to his sovereignty.
Now, with that in mind, you'll understand verse 1. In the year that we lost our human king, I saw the real king. There never can be much panic set in. when you know God is still on the throne. It may have looked to Isaiah as if the whole thing was falling apart.
But Adonai is a title meaning the sovereign one. The human king was dead? But history doesn't depend on human kings. But on the absolute monarchy, the supreme lord Adonai. God Himself.
His kingship is infinitely superior to that of Uzziah or anyone else. And so, God, in the midst of the crisis, To let Isaiah and his people know that all is not lost makes a personal appearance. And Isaiah sees it. And he sees him. sitting upon a throne, Isn't it great to know that God hadn't abdicated?
That when the whole world falls apart and everything seems to be going to pieces, God's still there on the throne. Exalted, it says, high and lifted up. And his robe filled the temple. And this, of course, is a picture of his majesty and his exaltation, his glory and his power. And by the way.
Make a little note in the margin of that verse. Write down John 12:41. Because in John 12, 41, The writer tells us that this was Christ. A really a pre-incarnate. Christophany, an appearance of Christ.
Now look at verse 2. As Isaiah sees this vision, it says. And above it, that is above the throne. stood the seraphim, Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face.
With two he covered his feet. And with two He did fly.
Now what is a seraphim? Or what are seraphims since it's plural? Apparently they are A certain Group of angels. Who's Personal Calling and design by God. Was to attend to God's Holiness.
They are fiery guardians of the holiness of God.
Now, why do they have three sets of wings?
Well, have you ever noticed that when God makes anything, He makes it to do what He expects it to do? He makes it functional. And if they had six wings, it wasn't just that God got carried away. With the idea of making wings. There was something very purposeful.
In that. Notice it says that with two at the end of the verse. He did fly. Apparently These Marvelous, incredible, supernatural. Eternal creatures.
Had the capacity to hover like some kind of a celestial helicopter. Around the throne of God, which was high and lifted up. And upon some occasions, as indicated in verse six, would do the bidding of God. as the one who flew with the live coal. But they hovered around the throne of God.
Macy Then it says, they had two more wings with which they covered their feet. Why? There are several possibilities.
Some say that was a sign of humility. of lowliness Of humble service. There may be that thought, but That might be stretching the point of the angelic role. Perhaps it's better to see it this way. Do you remember that Moses was up on a normal, plain old dirt hill one day?
Probably a hill he'd walk many times. But he turned around and he saw a burning bush. And a voice came out of the bush and said, do what? Take off your shoes. Take off your shoes, Moses.
Why? For you're standing on what? Holy ground.
Now your reaction to that might have been, huh? I've been here a lot. Same old stuff. But whenever the divine presence appears, everything is immediately sanctified. This was holy ground, not for any virtue in and of itself, but because God was there and his pervasive presence sanctified the earth under his feet.
There may be a sense in which Whatever kind of ground there is in glory. whatever kind of place angels land. is a place so sacred that they cover their feet. for its holy grail. Then it says They had two wings with which to cover their face.
That's a little easier to understand. If they hover around the throne of God. They are exposed there to his full Glory. You remember in Exodus 33? Moses said so.
Brashly to God. He says, God says to him, You're going to be my man. Go lead my people. And Moses says, I'm not going to do it alone. Who's gonna go with me?
And God says, My presence will go with you. I'll go with you. And Moses said, That's a nice promise, God, but I'd like some. Please. I mean, I appreciate you saying that, but would you just prove it by showing me your glory?
And God gives him a very good answer. He says, No man. Can see my glory. And what? Liv.
No creature. could withstand The site. of the blazing fullness of the glory of God. God promises proximity. but never full revelation.
So God says to Moses, I'll tell you what. I'll tuck you in the cleft of a rock. And I'll let my, and the Hebrew means my hindquarters. My back parts, I like to think of it as afterglow. Yeah.
You can't see the whole deal, but I'll let you see my afterglow. I think maybe that's why the angels covered their face. I don't think they could have existed. In the full effulgence of the glory of The holiness of God. Incredible creatures.
But the most incredible thing about them is not what they look like, it's what they said. It's what they cried. Verse 3. And one cried unto another. They had an antiphonal thing going.
Back and forth. And they said, Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.
Now, can you imagine? Angels just flying around forever saying that. No, you can't. Because you don't understand. The worthiness nor the holiness of God, and neither do I.
But that's what seraphim do. Holy Holy Holy The whole earth is full of your glory. Why, holy, holy, holy? You say, well, that's because that's the way the song is written. No, no, no.
The song came later. Why holy, holy, holy?
Somebody says it's the Trinity, one for each member. Certainly the Trinity is thrice holy. But the Jews had a figure of speech, a device they used. When they wanted to emphasize something, They had many literary devices they could use, but one of them they commonly used was repetition. And that can be illustrated many, many places in the Bible.
Very frequently, before Jesus would say some very important truth, he would say two words. What were they? Verily Verily. Why didn't he just say verily? Or truly, truly.
You know what that word is? Amen, amen. Amen, amen. I say, now, wait a minute. You're supposed to wait till the end to say that.
That's right. In fact, in the Hebrew congregation, the rabbi stood up, and the rabbi would teach, and the people in response would endorse his teaching by saying, Amen, amen. Jesus did not wait for such endorsement. He started out by saying, Amen, amen first. And then he spoke.
because he didn't need any humans to validate what he said. But when he said it twice, he was affirming by repetition the significance of what he was to say. Emphasis is the issue. And when the Bible says holy, holy, holy, what it's trying to do is emphasize the holiness of God. We don't even know that God is holy, let alone holy, holy, holy.
By the way. Do you know that that is the only attribute of God in All of the scripture That is spoken of in repetition three times. Never does the Bible say God is love, love, love. Never does it say God is light, light, light. Truth, truth, truth.
Mercy, mercy, mercy. Wrath, wrath, wrath. But it says he's holy. Holy Holy. This is an absolute priority, people.
It is impossible to understand the fullness of it, and yet you must understand. As much as the scripture gives us. The absence of a clear understanding of God's holiness is the reason for our shallowness. It is the reason for our impotence. It is the reason for our selfishness.
It is the reason for our weakness. It is the reason for our disobedience. We don't really understand how holy God is. That's why we compromise. That's why we are the worst kind of pragmatists who do only what fulfills our desires.
One day the disciples came to Jesus, you know it. They said, teach us to pray. Said, here's how to pray. Our father Who art in heaven, what? Hallowed.
Be thy name. You know what hallowed me? Holy. You want to pray? Start out by a recognition of the holiness of God.
God is holy. R. C. Sproll made an interesting statement. He said, Any attempt to understand God apart from his holiness is idolatry.
It's true. This is affirmed in the Ten Commandments, where we are to have no other gods before us, and under no circumstances are we ever to use the name of the Lord God in vain. He is holy, holy, holy. The entire earth is filled with his glory, and we have to acknowledge that.
Now let's see how Isaiah reacted in verse 4. First of all, And the posts or the pillars, or perhaps it's best, the foundations of the door moved. at the voice of him who cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Now this is getting pretty dramatic. The place begins to shake. The whole vision is like Mount St. Helens. Everything begins to move.
It's like an erupting volcano. The foundations of the place begin to shake, and fire and smoke, which could either be emanating from the altar or could be a manifestation of the fiery presence of God as at Mount Sinai. In other words, we begin to see a holy God of judgment. This is not a manifestation. particularly of God's mercy.
But Tremendous Majestic holiness. It is awful. It is fearful. It is like Sinai. It is a statement to Isaiah and his people that God is a consuming fire.
and you can't toy around with God. You'll be consumed. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. Today, John highlighted what Scripture teaches about the holiness of God and how God's holiness relates to your enjoyment of Him. John's current series is titled Enjoying God.
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Now for the entire Grace TU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Remember to watch Grace to U television this Sunday on DirecTV Channel 378. or watch anytime at gty.org. And be back tomorrow as we continue John MacArthur's study called Enjoying God. Showing you how to cultivate a vibrant relationship with your Heavenly Father.
It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time. on Grace to You.
