Let's open our Bibles to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter six. This passage of scripture is Isaiah. He's been prophesying through the first chapters here of the prophecy of Isaiah. And then the Holy Spirit has led him to go back in time and speak of what I believe is his own conversion. Now there are people, some preachers disagree that Isaiah's speaking about his conversion. But what happens in this whole chapter, there's 13 verses in this chapter, and you know the Bible was not originally written in chapters and verses, but in this section of scripture, he begins to talk about his calling as a prophet. Look at verse nine, it says, and he said, go and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not. And what he's going to talk about, and the Lord revealed to this man who's a prophet of God, speaking God's word to the nation Judah and Jerusalem, and they don't hear him, they don't hear what he's saying, they don't listen to him, they don't obey it, they don't believe. And what he's showing here is that's his calling as a prophet. It's almost like God says, I'm calling you to preach my word, but they're not going to hear you. They're not going to listen to you, but you preach it anyway. And that's what God's preachers are to do. You say, well, you're not getting any results. Yes, I am. Paul spoke of that in the book of 2 Corinthians. He said, when we preach Christ, When we preach the gospel, whether anybody believes it or not, and we want everybody to believe it, don't get me wrong. I mean, I love it when God brings a sinner to believe the gospel. But whether anybody believes it or not, we're successful, we're victorious. Now he says, now to some, we're the saver of death unto death. And the reason is is because this is a message of life and death. This is no opinion. This is not something that you can take or leave. This is it. This is life and death. There's life in Christ as he's identified and distinguished in the Bible, and there's death everywhere else. And I know that's what people hate about true Christianity, true gospel, is that we say Christ is the only way of salvation. For anybody, I don't care where you're from, what part of the earth you live in, what language you speak, what color you are, what socioeconomic status you are, your only hope of salvation and eternal life is Christ Jesus crucified and risen from the dead, his blood, his righteousness alone. And there's no other way. And every other way is the way of death. And you know what people did, especially today, well, it's always been this way. But people hate to hear that. There's a thing now called, quote, progressive Christianity, unquote. And what that is is people who claim to be Christian, but they say, but there are other ways to heaven. There's other ways to live eternally other than Christ. Well, that's a lie. That's not what the Bible teaches, if you believe the Bible. And we do, and that's what we preach here. But Isaiah was told by God, I'm calling you to preach, you go preach to them, they won't hear you. Now, there always was, even in Isaiah's time, There was a remnant, a small group of people whom God brought to believe the gospel. In fact, Isaiah over in chapter one, he makes this statement. He says, verse nine, except the Lord of hosts, and when you see that term, the Lord of hosts, what it means is the Lord who's invincible. So Lord of a great army. and the army consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and they cannot be defeated. He says, except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, just a very small part of the nation, we should have been a Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah, which nobody was spared. The whole city, every individual in that city, that's why a lot had to get out. because that whole city, the two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. And Isaiah told this group of religious people who worshiped at the Temple of Solomon, he said if it weren't just for a small group, a small number, many are called, few are chosen, we saw that today, we'd be just like Sodom and Gomorrah. And you know how offensive that was to people who claim to be the people of God, claim to be saved. So over here in chapter six and verse nine, when he talks about his calling, verse eight, he says, and I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? Whom am I gonna send to preach for me? And who will go for us? And then said, here I am, send me. And so he tells Isaiah, but they're not gonna hear you. Now that's a real plan for evangelism, isn't it? Go, but they're not going to hear you. But Isaiah was just like the Apostle Paul, like every other true preacher of the gospel. Whether you hear me or not, Christ is preached, God is glorified, and that's our victory. To some, we're the saver of death unto death. To others, we're the saver of life unto life, however few there are. Well, in the first seven verses, what I think is happening here, what the Spirit's purpose is, is to show what it takes to bring a sinner to believe what Isaiah is preaching. Well, what does it take? Well, ultimately, this is a foreshadowing of the revelation of God in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And it takes the power of God, the work of the Spirit, Invincibly calling a sinner, changing the very nature of things because by nature we're falling in Adam, born dead in trespasses and sins, spiritually totally depraved, darkness, deceit, unbelief and it takes a work of a sovereign, invincible, irresistible work of the Holy Spirit to bring us out of that state to a state of belief, looking to Christ and resting in Him. And so Isaiah, what he does, I believe, in these first seven verses, he goes back and shows his own conversion. And it starts with a glorious vision, a vision that every true believer has had in some way or another, all the same truth, And it starts out something here, and this is why I call this Our Confidence in Christ. Look at verse one of Isaiah six. It starts out something kind of strange. It says, in the year that King Uzziah died. Now this is the year that it happened. When a king of Judah, headquartered in Jerusalem, where Isaiah preached, And some say that Isaiah was related to the royal family of Uzziah. Some say he was an attendant in the court or something like that when he was young. It doesn't matter. But in the year that this man Uzziah died. Now, what's significant about that? Well, turn in your Bibles back to 2 Kings. I mean, I'm sorry, 2 Chronicles chapter 26. 2 Chronicles, now. You can also find a version of this history in 2 Kings 15, that's why I said 2 Kings, but I want you to go to 2 Chronicles. And incidentally, if ever in your study or reading of the Bible, if you've ever wondered why are there two histories, like there's the history written in 1 and 2 Samuel, And there's a little bit of a difference, not in contradicting, they're all together. Then there's a history written in 1 and 2 Kings, and a history written in 1 and 2 Chronicles. And why are there three histories like that? Well, Samuel starts out before Kings and Chronicles, but here's the way you need to look at it. 1 and 2 Samuel is the history of Israel and Judah, especially, from the view of a prophet. prophetic view and the history written in the Kings is the view from the throne, the royal view. That's like you might say a political view of it and the history written in First and Second Chronicles is the priestly view, the view from the tabernacle or the temple. And that's so significant because think about it this way, what is Christ to his people? He's our prophet, he's our king, he's our priest. So we have the same histories, just from different points of view, but they don't contradict. But you also have a little bit of this in 2 Kings 15, but look at 2 Chronicles 26. Uzziah, verse one, then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah. So Uzziah was a man who became king of Israel when he was 16 years old. It says in verse, now I'm not gonna read all of this, but you read the whole thing. But he says, he built Eloth and restored it to Judah. After that, the king slept with his fathers, that is Amaziah. And it says 16 years old was Uzziah when he began to reign and he reigned 50 and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jechaliah of Jerusalem. And verse four is so significant. You'll see this written about all the obedient kings of Judah, he said, he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah did. So Uzziah was a good king. Now that doesn't mean he wasn't a sinner and who needed salvation by grace, he was. But he ruled the land justly and according to the law of God. He was a good ruler. And it says, verse five, he sought God in the days of Zechariah who had understanding in the visions of God, that's the word of God. And as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. Now if you go ahead and read the rest of this, you'll find that Uzziah was one of the most gifted, prosperous kings that ever ruled in Judah, the southern kingdom from Jerusalem. He was admired, looked up to, And I'm sure that Isaiah, in his youth, looked up to King Uzziah. I'm sure, and I believe this, I can't prove this, but I believe that Isaiah, before he was converted, his confidence was in King Uzziah. But something happened. And if you'll jump over to verse 16 of 2 Chronicles 26, Now it's talking about Uzziah and how strong and how much he had done for Jerusalem and Judah. It says, but when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction. For he transgressed against the Lord his God and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense. Now what's the problem? Well, Uzziah was from the lineage of David. That's the tribe of Judah. Only the tribe of Levi, the priesthood, had a right to go into the holy place and burn incense in the temple. That's God's law. You remember how the temple was divided into three places? You had the outer court with the burnt altar, the brazen altar, rather. And then you had the next chamber, which was the holy place where the priest of Levi attended, with the table of showbread, and the golden candlestick, and the altar of incense. And then on inside, the holiest of all, was the holy of holies, the mercy seat, and only the high priest, a direct descendant of Aaron, Moses' brother from the tribe of Levi, only he could go in there one time a year, bringing the blood of sacrifice for atonement, on the day of atonement. Well, what happened here is Uzziah began to believe his own press, and he became lifted up in pride over God's blessing him and all the accomplishments, and he became proud, and he took upon himself to go into the holy place where only the priest of Levi could go and burn incense on the altar. Strange fire, they call it. And it says, look at verse 17. It says, and as arrived, the priest went out after him, and with him fourscore priests, what's fourscore? That's 80, isn't it? And of the Lord, and they were valiant men, and they withstood Uzziah the king and said unto him, it appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, it's not appropriate for you, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests of the sons of Aaron that are consecrated to burn incense, they're separated out by God to do this, Go out of the sanctuary, for thou hast trespassed, neither shall it be for thine honor from the Lord God. God won't honor this. Now you know what this is, it's a picture of Christ going into the presence of God for us. Only Christ has that right. You can't go in on your own. But look at verse 19. Then Uzziah was wroth. That means he was angry, he got mad. And he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and while he was wroth with the priest, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priest. That means it was all over his body and it reached up to his forehead. In the house of the Lord from beside the incense altar, And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests looked upon him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence. Yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the Lord had smitten him. And Uzziah the king was a leper until the day of his death, and he dwelt in a separate," that's several, means separate, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord, and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land." And I think it's said that when Uzziah died, Isaiah was about 25 years old, and Uzziah dwelt in a leper's house separate from the people about 12 years. Again, one of the greatest kings of Judah. But he did not honor the Lord, he broke the law, and he spent his last days as a leper and died. And then Isaiah, go back to Isaiah 6 now. In that year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah said, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train, his robe, filled the temple, the king's robe, indicates his power, his authority. What I believe is happening here is that when all this happened with Uzziah, Isaiah, whose confidence was in Uzziah, the king, his confidence was turned from Uzziah to the Lord. What is that telling us? We cannot put our trust in men, no matter what they accomplish. We trust men who stand behind this pulpit to tell us the truth, but in them telling us the truth, what do they say? Don't trust me for salvation. Trust Christ. You see what I'm saying? I've seen it happen so many times where people will follow preachers when they go away from the Word of God. You know, it's just amazing to me. Well, it's not amazing, because if left to ourselves, that's what we'll do. We put our stock in some man. And we do have confidence in men to do what men are required and called to do, but when you think of them as being your salvation, and especially preachers who go away from the Word of God, when they go away from the Word of God, you don't follow them. Your confidence is not in men, it's in Christ. We are the circumcision. What Isaiah is going to describe here is his spiritual circumcision, his new birth. And what he's showing here is what it takes for God to do to bring a sinner to faith in Christ. and it's totally the work of God. Look at, here's God high and lifted up, the Lord, that's Jehovah, that's Christ who is the manifestation of deity. He says in verse two, above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings, with twain or two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly. I don't know a whole lot about the seraphim. This is probably, I think it's the only place that's mentioned in the Bible. They were angels, but they had a certain task. And that word seraphim, as this is the only place that appears in the Bible, in the Hebrew what it means is to burn. And I believe what this is is angels who are set on fire of the glory of God. They're showing forth God's glory which no human being can rival. Not even Uzziah. Not even Uzziah's best work. stand beside the work of God, especially in the salvation of sinners. And look what he says in verse 3, one cried unto another and said, holy, holy, holy, thrice holy. I believe that this is a reference to the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. Not everybody agrees with that but it doesn't matter. God is holy. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The earth, the whole earth is full of his glory, his effulgence, his nature, his light, his work. Stand in awe, that's what he's saying here. I was talking about God's attributes a little bit in our lesson at 10 o'clock. And I told the people, I said, you know, one of the most terrifying statements that you'll find in the gospel or in the Bible, is this, God is good. You say, well, what's terrifying about that? I'll tell you what's terrifying about it, if you realize that you are not good. And realize this, that in order for God to save you and me who are not good, God has to remain good. How can that happen? He cannot deny himself, he cannot deny his justice, and he cannot deny his holiness. What does it mean God is holy? It means he's separate. It means there is no being like God. Nothing to compare him to. That's why we're forbidden to make likenesses and say like statues and paintings, well that's God. No it isn't. He's holy. He's high and lifted up. It says here the whole earth is full of his glory. Think about it. The creation, that's what David wrote in Psalm 19. The creation, the whole firmament reveals the glory of God. His wisdom, his power. But there's no place where God's glory is revealed more than in the salvation of a sinner by his grace through Jesus Christ the Lord. Every attribute of God is revealed, honored, as working consistently together in the Lord God who is both a just God and a Savior based upon His grace revealed in the glorious person and the finished work of Christ. And so when this vision, this glorious vision, when it comes to us in the preaching of the gospel and the power of the Spirit, we see how holy God is. It says in verse four, the post of the door moved, and the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Smoke, like the cloud, the pillar of cloud that followed the Hebrew children out of Egypt. It's a signification of God's presence. God is here. That's what he's telling Isaiah. Uzziah's not here. He's gone. He disobeyed God, and God punished him. But God is here, and that's where we need to seek the Lord, where He is. You say, well, He's omnipresent. He's everywhere. I'm talking about in the effulgence of His glory, and that's where the gospel is preached. Understand it. Now, we don't have any bright lights and smoke and everything going up here, but you know what we do have? We have Christ. in the preaching of the gospel where he's defined and distinguished and identified and set apart in the glory of his person and the power of his finished work. And if God ever brings you and me to see that, here's the next thing that's gonna happen. It'll bring us to an honest confession. Look at verse five. Here's where Isaiah was brought to. Now this is conviction right here. Then said I, woe is me. You know what, we don't use that word woe very much today, but woe is me. If you've ever studied any early English literature, you see that word a lot. It means I'm in trouble. It means I've got a problem. That's what it means, woe is me. I'm in sorrow. Isaiah was brought to sorrow. And he says this, he says, I am undone. What does that mean? It means I'm cut off. I thought I had fellowship with God. I thought I was saved. But when I saw this vision of God's holiness, his glory, I found out I'm cut off. I'm separate from God. That's what it's talking about. I've said before, I said, you know, everybody, just about everybody, thinks they are saved before they are saved, until they are saved. And then, just like that word in Philippians 3, for we are the circumcision which worship God in spirit. That means we worship God from our hearts as he reveals himself to us. We have our confidence in Christ. and no confidence in the flesh. I don't have any confidence in me. I'm telling you. I can't save myself. You can't save yourself. I can't make myself righteous. You can't make yourself righteous. And God doesn't enable us to do that. He saves us by His grace. And he gives us everything necessary. I'm undone by nature. He says in verse five, because I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. You know, somebody might say, well, Isaiah, you can say that about yourself, but you can't say that about everybody. Oh, yes, he can. You're in the same boat I'm in. I've had people say, well, that's the way God revealed himself to you, but he revealed himself to me differently. Oh, no, he didn't. No, sir. We're in the same boat. We're sinners who need salvation by grace. We're sinners who need a righteousness that none of us or all of us put together can produce. Can you believe that? Why does Isaiah just mention the lips here? Well, you know what the Bible says about the lips and the mouth. Look with me over at Matthew chapter 15. He says, I'm a man of unclean lips. And he's talking about what he says, because what he says reveals two things about him. What he says with his mouth, with his lips, with his tongue, reveals two things about him. It reveals what he thinks. Preachers get up and they preach what they think about God, what they think about man, what they think about salvation. We hear it from their lips. I've heard people say, well, I may be wrong in my doctrine with what I say, but it's right in my heart. That's not scriptural, folks. By your words, you'll be condemned or justified. So the lips reveals what a person thinks and reveals the state of their heart. at Matthew 15, look at verse 8 I believe it is, Christ said, this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and honoreth me with their lips but their heart is far from me. You see that? What is the heart? That's your mind, that's your affections, that's your will, that's your conscience. Go down to verse 11, told him, he says, it's not that which goeth into the mouth that defileth a man but that which cometh out of the mouth this defileth a man. It's not what you eat or drink that defiled, it's what comes out of the mouth and why? Because that's what comes out of the heart. Look down at verse 15 and he says, then answered Peter and said unto him, declaring to this this parable, he was talking about this parable here of of the mouth and the lips and all that. And he says, Jesus, are you also without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatsoever entereth at the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast into the draft? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart. And they defile a man for out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemy. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashing hands defiles not a man. In the conversion of his people, go back to Isaiah six now, what does the Lord do? It says he gives us a new heart, a new heart. A heart of understanding, a heart of belief, a heart that wants to serve God. As God reveals Himself, holy, holy, holy. A new heart. That's what we need. That circumcision that Paul spoke of is circumcision of the heart. Cutting away the filth of the flesh. What does that mean? It brings a sinner from thinking that salvation is conditioned on something he does or decides and brings him to knowing that salvation was all conditioned on Christ and he fulfilled those conditions by his obedience unto death to establish the only righteousness by which God can justify a sinner like me. And so Isaiah, go back to chapter six now, after he comes in on verse five, he said, I'm a man of unclean lips, dwell amongst a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. And look what happens in verse six. Now all of this language is the language that illustrates the new birth. And it says, then flew one of the seraphims, one of these creatures of fire, light, He flew unto me having a live coal in his hand, a living coal, burning coal. Where did he get that coal from? Which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar." What altar? The burning brazen altar where sacrifice was made. What sacrifice? The sacrifice of a lamb or a goat. Remember the lamb that was slain? shedding its blood, the lamb that was a year old, without spot and without blemish, what all that was, that was a type of Christ, the Lamb of God. And out of Christ's obedience unto death, giving himself as a surety, a substitute, a redeemer, a sacrifice for the sins of his people imputed to him, out of that comes righteousness. And out of righteousness comes life, alive coal. Burning. This is the burning power of God the Spirit to burn it into our hearts, our new heart. The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And it says, he laid it upon my mouth. What does that mean? He gave me a new message, a new way of thinking. I think differently now, don't you? I know when I was in seminary, learning to preach a false gospel, I had different thoughts than I have now. That's because the gospel and the power of the Spirit has been laid on my lips. I've got a new message. And that's what Isaiah had after King Uzziah died. I'm not going to go around singing the praises of Uzziah anymore. I'm going to preach Christ. He laid it upon my mouth and said, lo, this has touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. How was my iniquity taken away? Well, it's no longer charged to me. It never has been, really. It's charged to me as I stood in Christ, but really that's charged to him. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. That's right, in whose heart there is no guile, no dishonesty. See, Isaiah was made by God to be brought from a dishonest sinner, trusting in himself, trusting in Uzziah, trusting in his works, to an honest sinner, trusting in Christ for all salvation. Has that been your experience? He says, your sin, your iniquities taken away, and thy sin is paid for. The redemption price has been paid on the altar. And the live coal has touched our lips in the preaching of the gospel and the power of the Spirit. Isn't that marvelous? If that ever happens to any of us, which I believe it has, that's the greatest, greatest event in our whole lives. I mean, I know y'all think about great events in your life. Your marriage, having your children, and those are great events, and I don't want to belittle them. Kids graduating from high school and college and all, those are great things. But there's nothing greater than this right here. Isn't that right? when that live coal touches your lips, and you go from trusting yourself, trusting men, to trusting Christ, and Him alone for salvation. I think that's enough said, don't you? All right. In the year that King Uzziah died. All right.