00:00:09
Our Father and our God, when we approach
this subject of your holy character, we
00:00:19
know that we are embarking on an
impossible task, that even at this moment
00:00:28
we are standing upon holy ground, ground
that were it not for your abiding mercy
00:00:35
and grace would open up beneath our feet
and swallow us into the pit. And so
00:00:44
tonight we ask, nay we beg you for a
double measure of your grace and mercy
00:00:52
upon us as we seek to understand these
things that are so important to our
00:00:59
understanding of you; and we invoke the
presence of the Spirit of Truth, who is at
00:01:06
the same time the Holy Spirit, that He may
assist us in this endeavor. For we ask
00:01:14
these things in the name of Christ, amen.
00:01:30
I was a senior in seminary at Pittsburgh
Theological Seminary,
00:01:35
and it was a fall afternoon, and I
remember vividly that I
00:01:40
was studying by myself in the library. And
I had a stack of books in front of me, and
00:01:47
as you know, a library in a theological
seminary is a place that is quiet as a
00:01:51
morgue. No one is ever allowed to talk or
chatter. It's a hushed silence. When
00:01:57
suddenly my attention was distracted by
this murmuring that started running
00:02:03
spontaneously through the stacks and
through the open tables in the library,
00:02:08
and people began to disrupt the whole
atmosphere of the place, and people were
00:02:13
leaving their seats and their desks and
rushing out into the corridors of the
00:02:17
seminary; and I didn't know what was going
on until some lady -- somebody said
00:02:21
something out loud that was unmistakable,
and they said this: "Someone has shot the
00:02:28
President." You can imagine an
announcement like that and what it would
00:02:35
do to people's normal, daily routines. I
rushed outside, and like every other
00:02:44
American I glued myself to the radio, and
I listened to the moment-to-moment
00:02:48
bulletins as President Kennedy was
fighting for his life momentarily, and
00:02:52
then of course the announcement came
through that he died. And for the next
00:02:57
day, indeed the next weeks, the next
month, the people of the United States of
00:03:02
America were preoccupied with this tragic
moment in our history of the sudden death
00:03:11
of a popular President. And then later a
book came out that was entitled "Johnny,
00:03:17
We Hardly Knew You," and it called
attention to the fact that his
00:03:24
presidential term was indeed brief; but
anytime, ladies and gentlemen, that the
00:03:29
chief executive, the leader, the king, the
prime minister of a nation, passes away,
00:03:36
it is a time of solemn, serious trauma for
the nation. Well that was true in Israel
00:03:47
as well as in the United States, for in
the eighth century a king came to the
00:03:53
throne in Jerusalem and began to reign at
sixteen years of age, and he reigned in
00:03:59
Jerusalem for over fifty years -- imagine
it, over half of a century. And he wasn't
00:04:05
the most famous king in Jewish history or
the most important king of Jewish history,
00:04:09
but he would certainly rank in the top
five. His name was Uzziah, and what Uzziah
00:04:16
accomplished in his reign was to bring the
last significant spiritual reform to the
00:04:21
people of the land, and when he died --
and he died, incidentally in disgrace
00:04:27
because he was sort of a Shakespearean
tragic hero who violated his own
00:04:32
principles of ethics and spirituality in
the last year of his life. But when he
00:04:39
died, it sort of signaled a turning point,
a watershed in Jewish history where from
00:04:46
that day on the spiritual life and
vibrancy of the Jewish nation went into a
00:04:54
serious decline from which it never
recovered. I think it's significant in the
00:04:58
providence of God that four years after
Uzziah died the city of Rome was founded
00:05:10
and a cultural change took place that
would shape the whole future destiny of
00:05:14
history. But in the midst of that struggle
of that nation, a man was called of God to
00:05:24
the sacred vocation of being a prophet,
and some would call him the greatest
00:05:30
prophet in Old Testament history, a man
who was not only a religious person, but
00:05:35
he also was a statesman in his own right,
as he spoke to several kings in the course
00:05:40
of his ministry. He was the prophet who
said that someday in the future a virgin
00:05:49
would conceive and bring forth a child,
and His name would be called Immanuel.
00:05:58
It was the prophet who said that in the
future the servant of the Lord would come
00:06:04
and bear the sins of His people. His name,
of course, was Isaiah, and the record of
00:06:13
his call to the role of the prophet is
found in the sixth chapter of the book
00:06:19
that bears his name, and I'd like to read
the first part of that record for you now.
00:06:28
It says in chapter six of Isaiah, verse
one, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I
00:06:35
saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and
exalted, and the train of His robe filled
00:06:42
the Temple. And above Him were the
seraphim, each with six wings. With two
00:06:49
wings they covered their faces, with two
they covered their feet, and with two they
00:06:53
were flying. And they were calling to one
another, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
00:06:59
Almighty. The whole earth is full of His
glory.' And at the sound of their voices
00:07:08
the doorposts and the threshold shook, and
the Temple was filled with smoke." Now I
00:07:17
want you to notice in this brief passage
that I've read here that Isaiah locates
00:07:23
this experience that he has in the year
that King Uzziah dies, and we don't know
00:07:27
for sure whether what Isaiah beheld was an
ecstatic vision that took place in the
00:07:34
Temple in Jerusalem or if in fact what
Isaiah saw was a glimpse into the inner
00:07:41
sanctum of heaven itself. I prefer the
latter interpretation. I'm persuaded, for
00:07:47
technical reasons I won't get into here,
is that what happened was that God opened
00:07:52
the curtain. He removed the veil from
heaven itself, and as John, centuries
00:08:01
later on the isle of Patmos, would get a
glimpse of the interior of heaven, Isaiah
00:08:08
the prophet saw the Lord enthroned in
heaven itself. Now if you see in your
00:08:17
Bible, you'll see that it says here, "In
the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the
00:08:22
Lord, seated on a throne, high and
exalted, and the train of His robe filled
00:08:26
the Temple." If you look at your Bible,
you see the word "lord," and I'm sure
00:08:31
it's spelled L-o-r-d. Is that true in your
Bibles there? If you go down a couple of
00:08:37
verses to where the song of the seraphim,
where it says, "Holy, holy, holy is the
00:08:41
Lord Almighty." Do you see that? Do you
see that same word "lord" is spelled L-O-
00:08:48
R-D? How many of you notice that in your
text? Okay, it's a very common thing we
00:08:54
find in English translations of the Bible,
and it's not a result of a typographical
00:08:58
error, but rather the translators are
trying to signal to us that something is
00:09:04
going on here that is a bit unusual --
that even though the same English word
00:09:09
"lord" is here in the text, the fact that
there's -- that they are printed
00:09:15
differently indicates that there are two
distinctly different Hebrew words behind
00:09:21
the text. Anytime you see L-O-R-D you can
be fairly confident that the Hebrew term
00:09:29
that is being translated is the name
Yahweh, the name that God revealed to
00:09:38
Moses in the Midianite wilderness when He
said, "I Am who I Am." That's the sacred
00:09:47
name of God, the holy name of God --
Yahweh. Earlier when we see this word
00:09:54
"lord" -- L-o-r-d -- it translates now a
different word, which is the Hebrew term
00:10:01
Adon-adonai, and that is probably the most
exalted title that the Old Testament uses
00:10:14
for God. He's given many titles in the Old
Testament. This is the supreme title that
00:10:20
is given to Him. We think, for example, in
Psalm eight where we read, "Oh LORD, our
00:10:26
Lord, how excellent is thy name in all of
the earth." There it's what? "Oh Yahweh,
00:10:34
our Adonai how majestic is your name in
all of the earth." And again in Psalm 110
00:10:41
we read this, "The LORD said to my Lord,
'Sit down at my right hand'" -- a
00:10:46
fantastic statement to be found in the Old
Testament where David now describes Yahweh
00:10:52
talking to someone else and ascribing to
that third person the title Adonai, the
00:10:59
title that had always been reserved for
God himself. It's no accident, ladies and
00:11:05
gentlemen, that the most quoted and
alluded to Old Testament verse in the New
00:11:10
Testament is Psalm 110, where Paul tells
us that Jesus is given the name that is
00:11:19
above every name -- the title Lord,
Adonai, the name that originally belongs
00:11:30
to God and to God alone. Now the meaning
of the term "Adonai" simply is this: the
00:11:39
sovereign one. So do you see what's
happened? The king is dead. There is this
00:11:47
time of uncertainty and mourning in the
land and the Jewish people, and Isaiah
00:11:52
comes, in the name of his people, and he
looks and beholds into the interior parts
00:11:58
of heaven itself, and he sees not Uzziah,
not Hezekiah, not David. He sees Adonai,
00:12:06
the supreme sovereign, enthroned in
heaven. I'm convinced, personally, that
00:12:11
what he is seeing here is a preincarnate
glimpse of the enthronement of Christ
00:12:17
himself in His full majesty. He said, "I
saw the LORD seated on the throne high,
00:12:29
exalted. The train of His robe filled the
Temple." Oh, I love that phrase, "The
00:12:35
train of His robe filled the Temple." You
know in ancient days, the clothing of
00:12:42
monarchs was a measure of their status. An
international protocol would respond to
00:12:50
the various levels of the magnificence of
their clothes. If a king wore ermine, that
00:12:58
was incredible. If he wore sable, that was
even better. Mink was sort of second or
00:13:03
third grade level, and those that came
with canvas robes, they had to sit in the
00:13:08
back of the summit meetings of the kings.
I remember seeing one of the first
00:13:16
international television broadcasts that
was taken place in America was a viewing
00:13:22
of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, and
the commentators went on and on about the
00:13:29
pomp and the circumstance that only the
British can bring to such a celebration,
00:13:35
and the magnificence of her gown. As she
came to approach the throne in
00:13:41
Westminster, she was -- and before she
went to Buckingham palace -- they had
00:13:47
several pages who had to lift the train of
her gown as she made her entrance into the
00:13:55
Abbey because that gown traveled for
several feet behind her as she processed.
00:14:03
But do you hear what Isaiah is saying
here, is that when he saw this vision of
00:14:08
the heavenly King, he saw a King whose
splendorous garments billowed out over the
00:14:14
sides of the throne and so went on to
furrow back along the sides of the Temple,
00:14:20
around the back entranceway and spilled
out and completely filled the entire
00:14:25
building. And what he is seeing here is a
visual experience of majesty that is
00:14:39
focused in the magnificence of the
garments. And then he said over the throne
00:14:48
and above the Yahweh and Adonai, the Lord,
were the seraphim, each with six wings.
00:14:58
This is the only reference in Scripture to
these creatures who were called seraphim.
00:15:06
Some have tried to identify them exactly
with the cherubim, but I think since the
00:15:11
Bible distinguishes, we need to
distinguish them. We know very little
00:15:15
about them except that they are part of
the heavenly host, those beings that were
00:15:22
especially created by God to serve Him day
and night in His immediate presence. And
00:15:28
if we read the description that Isaiah
gives of them, it seems as though they
00:15:33
appear in almost bizarre fashion, for we
are told that they had six wings. Now let
00:15:40
me just stop here for a second and make a
comment. When God creates creatures, He
00:15:50
does it with a certain creative economy.
He doesn't waste material. He has an
00:15:59
amazing, extraordinary ability to create
whatever He makes in such a way that it is
00:16:05
adaptable and suitable for its
environment. God makes fish with gills and
00:16:10
with fins because their natural habitat is
in the water. He makes birds with wings
00:16:17
and feathers because their environment is
in the air. And so when He creates angelic
00:16:25
beings, whose specific task and function
in creation is to minister to Him in His
00:16:31
immediate presence, He constructs them in
such a way as to make them fit for their
00:16:38
environment. And hence we are told they
are given two extra sets of wings. With
00:16:49
two they covered their face. Think of it-
that these angelic beings ministered
00:16:58
daily in the immediate unveiled presence
of Almighty God, whose glory is so
00:17:06
refulgent, so piercing that even the
angels have to shield themselves from
00:17:16
looking directly at His face. Remember the
story in the book of Exodus when Moses,
00:17:27
representing the people of God, was
summoned by Yahweh to Sinai to receive the
00:17:33
law of God; and you remember, Moses went
up there into the clouds and was sort of
00:17:39
swallowed up on that mountain. And the
people waited for days after days, and
00:17:46
they were apprehensive and stricken with
anxiety as they wondered what had happened
00:17:52
to their leader. Had he been swallowed up
by the wrath of God on that mountain like
00:17:57
Korah and his people had in the rebellion?
Would he retur alive? What would the
00:18:03
message of God be if he did come back? And
so they waited in fear and trembling for
00:18:09
Moses' return. And while Moses was on the
mountain, he spoke with God. Do you
00:18:15
remember the conversation? If I can
improvise a little bit, it went something
00:18:20
like this: Moses said to God, "I have seen
some magnificent things in my lifetime.
00:18:25
You've shown me the burning bush. I've
seen the plagues by which you devastated
00:18:31
the Egyptians. I saw you part the sea and
bring a whole nation of people through on
00:18:37
dry land. I've seen you provide
supernatural, miraculous provisions from
00:18:42
heaven for us hungry people, but now let
me have the big one. God, please let me
00:18:51
see your face." God said, "Moses, you
know better than that. You know it's my
00:19:02
word that no man shall see me and live.
You can't see my face, Moses. Here's what
00:19:10
I'll do. I'll carve out a little niche in
the rock over here, and I'll put you in
00:19:15
the cleft of the rock, and then I will
cover you, and I will pass by, and I will
00:19:21
let you see my backward parts" -- the
Hebrew reads the hindquarters of Yahweh --
00:19:27
"but my face shall not be seen." And so
God put His servant in the cleft of the
00:19:35
rock, and He allowed His glory to pass by,
and ladies and gentlemen, for a split
00:19:42
second, Moses got a backward glance of the
refracted glory of God, and what happened?
00:19:57
When he came down from the mountain, and
the people saw this figure approaching in
00:20:04
the distance, they became all excited for
the return of their leader, and they
00:20:09
rushed forward to greet Moses. And
suddenly they shrunk back in horror and
00:20:13
fell on their faces, and they began to
plead with Moses saying, "Moses, Moses
00:20:18
cover your face!" They couldn't bear to
look at him. Why? Because Moses' face was
00:20:28
shining with such radiance and such
intensity that it was blinding the people,
00:20:36
and what the people were seeing, ladies
and gentlemen -- think of it -- was merely
00:20:42
a reflection on a human being's face from
a backward, instantaneous glance of the
00:20:51
glory of God. The angels themselves must
cover their eyes in His presence, and with
00:21:06
two wings, we are told, they cover their
feet. Now the Bible doesn't explain to us
00:21:13
why it was necessary for the seraphim to
cover their feet. I can only guess, and I
00:21:18
will venture a guess at this point, and
that is that the feet, for angels as well
00:21:22
as for men, is the symbol in the Bible of
creatureliness. We are told that we are of
00:21:30
the earth, earthy, that our feet are of
clay. When Moses met God in the Midianite
00:21:39
desert and wilderness, what was the first
thing God said to him? "Moses, Moses take
00:21:47
off thy shoes from off thy feet for the
ground whereon thou standest is holy
00:21:52
ground." He asked him to bare his feet,
the sign of his creatureliness, the sign
00:22:02
of his submission before the holy one. And
so even in heaven the angels cover the
00:22:14
sign of their creatureliness. But as
fascinated as I may be, ladies and
00:22:20
gentlemen, with the anatomy of the
seraphim, these are really minor
00:22:26
considerations with the text here. What is
really important about this text, as far
00:22:33
as I'm concerned, is not the structure of
the angels. It's the message of the
00:22:40
angels. Listen to what the Bible tells us.
"That with the two they were flying, and
00:22:47
they were calling to one another saying,
'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.
00:22:58
The whole earth is full of His glory.'" I
was standing over there before we began
00:23:08
this series, and those who are watching it
by video tape missed some of the things
00:23:14
that we did by way of lead-in, and one of
the things that this group of people
00:23:19
enjoyed was the singing of the classical
church hymn, "Holy, Holy, Holy." And I
00:23:28
was listening to you as you sang that. I
cannot hear that hymn without chills
00:23:34
running up and down my spine. It is
magnificent, isn't it? And I think about
00:23:40
the angels and everyone casting down their
golden crowns beside the glassy sea, that
00:23:47
everything that we have that is worth
anything is something we would gladly lay
00:23:52
at the feet of the holy one. And how this
church so triumphantly -- or this hymn so
00:23:57
triumphantly -- celebrates the majesty of
God. But as I was listening to you sing
00:24:04
it, I thought, "As beautiful as it sounds,
imagine how it would sound sung by a choir
00:24:09
of angels." And that's what Isaiah saw:
the heavenly host above the throne of God,
00:24:21
singing to each other in antiphonal
response a single word, repeated over and
00:24:29
over and over again. "Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord Almighty. Heaven and earth is
00:24:44
full of His glory." Now friends, there's
something here in this text that as
00:24:52
English-speaking people we could read a
thousand times and miss every time.
00:25:01
There's something very Jewish about this
text. In the English language, when we
00:25:11
want to call attention to something that's
particularly important, to give it
00:25:15
emphasis, there are different ways that we
can do that in print. We can underline
00:25:20
words or italicize them, put them in bold
face type, put little quotation marks or
00:25:26
brackets around them or fill the page with
exclamation points -- how I hate
00:25:31
exclamation points when it's not an
exclamation. Even my editors do that. I
00:25:35
find it in the final draft. I'll see --
I'll read these things, and they'll put
00:25:38
exclamation points in sentences that
aren't exclamations, and please don't
00:25:42
think so poorly of me to think that I
don't know any better about the use of
00:25:46
exclamation points. They do that, and it
drives me crazy. But that's what we do
00:25:51
with emphasis. Well the Jews did the same
thing. They did all of that -- underline,
00:25:59
boldface, italicize -- but they had
another technique to call attention to
00:26:05
something's particular importance, and it
was the simple technique of verbal
00:26:12
repetition. I think, for example, of the
apostle Paul when he's writing to the
00:26:19
Galatians and warning them of the dangers
of departing from the gospel that they had
00:26:24
received from Paul. And he said, "I say
unto you that if anybody preaches unto you
00:26:32
any other gospel than that which you have
received, even if it's an angel from
00:26:35
heaven, let him be anathema, anathema --
let him be damned." That's a strong
00:26:46
statement that comes from the pen of the
apostle Paul, but he doesn't stop there.
00:26:52
He immediately goes on to say, "Again I
say to you if anyone preaches unto you any
00:26:57
other gospel than that which you have
received, let him be anathema." Jesus was
00:27:06
fond of using this device of repetition to
make His points. Now remember, Jesus was a
00:27:13
rabbi. That meant that He was a
theologian. He had a school, and He had
00:27:18
students called disciples, or learners,
who enrolled in His school. And He was a
00:27:23
peripatetic rabbi. That meant that He
walked around, and as He walked the
00:27:27
disciples literally followed Him. When
they -- when Jesus said, "Follow me," He
00:27:32
meant literally, "Walk around behind me."
And the way they would do it would be this
00:27:36
way: the teacher would give His
recitation. He would lecture as He walked
00:27:40
down the road to Emmaus, or wherever, and
the disciples would follow along behind
00:27:45
Him and commit to memory the things that
the rabbi taught them. Now ladies and
00:27:51
gentlemen, every teaching that ever came
from the lips of Jesus Christ was
00:27:56
important, but even our Lord took time to
call attention to things that He regarded
00:28:06
as being super important, and whenever He
would come to a point like that that He
00:28:11
wanted to make sure His disciples never
missed, He would preface His teaching by
00:28:16
saying two words. He would say, "Truly,
truly I say unto you..." or the older
00:28:27
translation, "Verily, verily." Actually
what He said was, "Amen, amen I say unto
00:28:33
you." You recognize that word. It comes
directly into English, and we say, "All
00:28:37
the people said" -- what? "Amen." But we
say, "Amen." after the teacher teaches or
00:28:43
after the preacher preaches. It means, "It
is true. We believe it," and so on. Jesus
00:28:49
didn't wait for His disciples to confirm
the truthfulness of what He was saying. He
00:28:53
started His sermon by saying, "Amen,
amen." That's like the captain of a ship
00:28:59
getting on the intercom and saying, "Now
hear this: This is the captain speaking."
00:29:06
When Jesus repeated that word, saying it
twice, He was underscoring its importance.
00:29:21
Ladies and gentlemen, there is only one
attribute of God that is ever raised to
00:29:32
the third degree of repetition in
Scripture. There is only one
00:29:38
characteristic of Almighty God that is
communicated in the superlative degree
00:29:45
from the mouths of angels. Where the Bible
doesn't simply say that God is holy, or
00:29:54
even that He's holy, holy, but that He is
holy, holy, holy. The Bible doesn't say
00:30:12
that God is mercy, mercy, mercy or love,
love, love or justice, justice, justice or
00:30:19
wrath, wrath, wrath, but that He is holy,
holy, holy. This is a dimension of God
00:30:32
that consumes His very essence, and when
it is manifest to Isaiah, we read that at
00:30:41
the sound of the voices of the seraphim
the doorposts, the thresholds of the
00:30:47
Temple itself shook and began to tremble.
Do you hear that? Inanimate, lifeless,
00:30:55
unintelligible parts of creation in the
presence of the manifestation of the
00:31:01
holiness of God had the good sense to be
moved. How can we, made in His image, be
00:31:11
indifferent or apathetic to His majesty?
God alone is holy, and what I want to do
00:31:28
in this series is try to describe what
that means and what the reaction of Isaiah
00:31:35
and other people historically is when the
holy appear. Let's pray. Father, we
00:31:48
rejoice that something and someone in this
unholy universe is not only somewhat but
00:31:57
altogether holy, holy, holy.
Impart to our hearts the joy
00:32:07
of the seraphim for that truth. Amen.
