In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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!”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”—Isaiah 6:1–7

Introduction

Jesus is why we go!

As you can imagine, we’ve been asked, “Kempton and Caryn, why would you wanna go to East St. Louis, Illinois, of all places?” “Kempton, why would you take your dear wife and 4 young children, including precious Christian, who is significantly disabled, to (statistically) the most dangerous city in America in 2013 and 2014 up to this point?”

Why would you take your beautiful family to a city where the median household income is $11,000, where the high school dropout rate is more than 60%, where drugs and alcohol flood the streets, where the current booming business is the exploitation of young women and strip clubs, where roughly 85% of children grow up in fatherless homes, and where the most violent and most impoverished people in the nation live?

Well, this is the same question that I want to ask the prophet Isaiah, who said in Isaiah 6:8, “Here I am Lord, Send me, I’ll go!”

My response to Isaiah’s statement, “Send me,” is this: What Isaiah? What are you thinking? Why would you want to go to Israel of all places and speak to the people of Judah, especially during such a dark time in Judah’s history?

Why would you want to go to a city who has become a whore, filled with murderers?

Look at the beginning of Isaiah with me. Judah is described just like that: “How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was fully of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.” (Isaiah 1:21)

Judah is also described as a city full of money-hungry rebels and thieves (v. 1:23), a city full of fatherless homes and injustice (v. 1:23), a city full of lustful young women who seek to attract lustful men (v. 3:16), and a city where alcoholics get drunk from morning until night (v. 5:11).

And on top of all that, Isaiah was promised that the results of his ministry (as it relates to converts) would be slim to none. Basically he would have a “fruitless” and “unsuccessful” ministry according to man’s standards. (Isaiah 6:9–13)

What could possibly sustain a servant of the Lord considering such a hard and seemingly hopeless ministry call? Again, why even go to the people of Judah, Isaiah? And why even go to the people of East St. Louis, Kempton?

Here’s the answer—the same answer to why believers go anywhere—because of who Jesus Christ is!

Let’s read Isaiah 6:1–­7, where we get a glorious glimpse of who Jesus Christ is in his highness and holiness, as well as in his sovereign mercy and love!

Let me first ask a few questions. 

Is the vision Isaiah sees really of Jesus? Yes, according to John 12:41, this vision in Isaiah 
6 is of the glory of Jesus Christ before he, the second person of the Trinity, took on an additional nature, a human nature, as Mary’s baby born in Bethlehem. Bless his name!

How glorious and great is your idea/opinion/view of Jesus? Is he the most attractive, captivating person in your heart and your life? If not, by grace, may it be so today! This person, Jesus, is why we go to any hard place or people.

Isaiah 6:1­–7 shines as a bright light in the midst of the sinful, murderous darkness that made up Isaiah’s ministry context. God means to give his servant Isaiah gospel motivation to joyfully sustain him as he faces a very difficult ministry call. God does this by revealing
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to Isaiah’s heart.

God means to give the Turner’s, you, and your family (all of us) gospel motivation to sustain
us as we face very difficult callings and situations in this hard life. He does this by revealing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to our hearts. And this is enough—more than enough!

The first thing that must happen is easy to miss in the text. Read the first verse with me: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne….” Wait a minute. Did you hear what Isaiah said? He proclaims, “I saw the Lord,” and again, at the end of verse 5, likely facedown and with trembling, Isaiah says, “My eyes have seen the King.”

This was a spiritual vision of the Lord with the eyes of Isaiah’s heart, not merely a flesh and blood encounter. If anyone sees God with the eyes of their heart, an amazing miracle of grace has happened.

Have your spiritual eyes been opened to see the saving beauty in the face of Jesus Christ, the precious Lamb of God? This is what it means to be a Christian. This is what it means to be saved from the wrath of God. This is what it means to have the spiritual blinders of Satan taken off your heart so that you can trust Jesus as the Satisfier of God’s wrath and the Satisfier of your soul! Look to Jesus now and be saved!

Well, let us gaze on this Jesus together as Isaiah says, “I saw the Lord.” By sweet and sovereign grace, Isaiah was enlightened to see the glory of Jesus with the eyes of his heart. Amazing!

As we look, hear, and feel now, let us pray for God to open the spiritual eyes of our hearts to see seven glimpses of the glory of Jesus in Isaiah 6:1–7, whether it is for the first time or for the 500th time:

Just show us Jesus, Father! Open the eyes of our hearts to glimpse him, hear him, feel him through your word and your Spirit. He is our Joy! Show us that he is enough! Give us a vision of you that will help us “Go” wherever you want us to go in all the situations and callings you have placed in each of our lives.

This glorious vision of Jesus in Isaiah 6 is why Isaiah went to the people of Judah. And this vision of Jesus is why the Turner’s are going to the people of East St. Louis.

And may this vision of Jesus be why you “count not your life of any value nor as precious to yourself” (Acts 20:24) and why you “deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus” (Matthew 16:24) with joy into the hard places for the eternal good of the hopeless, hell-bound people all around you.

Let me share with you seven glimpses of the glory of Jesus in these verses and how they help us go to these hard places.

Seven Glimpses of Jesus’ Glory That Empower Us to Go

Church: We go because Jesus’ reign is eternal.

In comparison to King Uzziah, King Jesus is superior in several ways. First, King Uzziah is dead but King Jesus is alive now and forevermore. He is risen! 

Secondly, King Uzziah’s reign is over, but King Jesus’ reign will be forever and ever. Isaiah 9:7 prophecies the eternal kingdom reign of Jesus the Messiah saying, “Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end.” Listen, only Jesus has an infinite, unstoppable reign of love and leadership over His people!

Thirdly, King Uzziah is finite and has an end, but King Jesus is infinite and has no end. I used to wonder why the writer of Hebrews followed Hebrews 13:7 with Hebrews 13:8; it seemed to come out of nowhere. 

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.—Hebrews 13:7–8

God’s word is telling us here, Yes, it’s good to remember, honor and imitate the pastors that God has given you, but don’t ever place your trust in them, because their leadership is temporary.

There will always be a “changing of the guard”. For example, here at Bethlehem, we have changed leadership from John Piper to Jason Meyer and soon, the Downtown Pastor for Senior High Discipleship will change from me, Kempton Turner, to whoever will be the next Downtown Pastor for Senior High Discipleship, and this “changing of the guard” process will continue forever and ever. 

However, there is only one, eternal, unchanging leader over the people of God, and he is Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And so we say with Paul in 1 Timothy 1:17, “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Church: We go because Jesus is Lord over all.

The word “Lord” here is “Adonai,” which means boss, ruler, or master. Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Master, Ruler, and Boss of all things! Jesus gets supreme honor as “the boss of everything that exists.” He is called the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” (Revelation 19:16)

Listen, Jesus commands storms to shut up, water to hold up (ruler of weather and water), fish to break nets, demons to get out, and Lazarus to come forth from the grave. Why? Because He is boss of all things, and bosses tell things what to do!

But when he tells you to leave your internet or media­gazing and go pray, does your heart often say “no”?

Jesus says in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you?” 

Help us Lord! When I say “no” to the Lord of the universe, I am being dumber than a fish and more wicked than a demon, because even they say obey Jesus. Oh, I am so thankful for his patient grace and kindness toward me in my rebellion!

Wait a minute, I know some people that have not bowed down in allegiance to this Lord Jesus (maybe it’s you). What about that? Well, Philippians 2:10–­11 says that sooner or later every knee will bow and “every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,” the Boss! One day President Obama, Oprah, Madonna, Beyonce, Katy Perry, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, LeBron James, Lil Wayne, you, me, and everyone will bow to Jesus and acknowledge that he is the Boss. It will either be now or later, willingly or forcefully. I plead with you to joyfully call him Lord!

Church: We go because Jesus is the King­-Judge of all.

Look at Isaiah 6:1 again. Jesus is sitting. He is not pacing, worried, frustrated, or threatened. He is “sitting” to show how he effortlessly sustains everything in the universe by the word of his power. He sits on the throne—in sovereign control over all!

Psalm 2:4 shows that God is not worried as he sits in heaven on his throne; it says that he is laughing at all those who are rejecting his Son’s kingship and rebelling against his rule in their hearts. He laughs because he knows how ridiculous it is that they would try to overthrow him. He knows that atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, the church­going religious, the rich and comfortable cannot overthrow his reign and rule. Therefore, repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ or you will be eternally judged by this powerful King, sitting confidently on his throne. (Revelation 20:11­–15)

Let me make a small side note to encourage you: If this Jesus is your Lord by faith, then he has chosen to use his powerful reign and rule to plan your life and help you through it. Whatever you are going through in your heart, home, and life will be turned so that it works for your good. (Romans 8:28) Rest in His all­-controlling goodness over your life, born­-again, Jesus-­lover! (Genesis 50:20)

Church: We go because Jesus is supreme over all.

Get this: Jesus is high and lifted up. This means that his supremacy is way up there. This means that Jesus’ highness and supremacy reaches to the greatest vertical extent. Jesus’ highness and supremacy is far above sea level, ground, mountain, and sky. Jesus’ highness and supremacy is the greatest in amount, value, and size. Jesus’ highness and supremacy is the greatest in rank, prestige, or status. Jesus’ highness and supremacy is spiritually and morally superior to all!

Listen to how high he is. Jesus is superior to and supreme over:

• All spiritual beings: Angels, Satan (Luke 10:18), demons, principalities, rulers. (Colossians 1:16 says they were created by Jesus, for the glory of Jesus!)
• All human beings: Kings, presidents, house/senate, military commanders, governors, mayors, local police chiefs, pastors, elders, parents, teachers.

Jesus is the highest in nature, in rank of beings, in morality, in value, in everything!

Church: We go because Jesus is full of majesty and splendor. 

In Isaiah 6:1, it says, “The train of his robe filled the temple.” In the East in Isaiah’s day, similar to today in countries where there are still kings and queens, the length of a robe’s train speaks to the amount of dignity, splendor, majesty, importance, weightiness of office, and richness of royalty.

When Queen Elizabeth had her coronation in England, her train was so long and heavy that several men had to carry the end of it. Well, the train of Jesus’ robe is so huge that it not only runs the length of the aisle, but fills the entire temple! 

Jesus has extraordinary, unfathomable, transcendent, incomparable majesty that is jaw­dropping, stunning, overwhelming, and infinite in scope. This means that he is absolutely worthy of all of our worship.

Church: We go because Jesus is infinitely holy. 

Look at Isaiah 6:2. The word “seraphim” means “burning ones.” Because of their proximity to the unimaginable brightness and splendor of Christ, it appears that these angels were on eternal fire. They are blazing with the (derived, not owned/divine) glory, beauty, and majesty of King Jesus!

Think about the angels in Bible. They are described in human form. Yet they still had to tell everyone they appeared to, “Fear not.” They were in human form and they still were scary. These seraphim are not in human form. They are burning ones because they are so close to Jesus. If they appeared to us on this earth, I don’t think they would have anyone to say, “Fear not” to; I think we would all be incinerated! These seraphim are not cute, chubby, little angels. I think that idea of angels is a subtle plan of Satan to get us to forget the holiness of Jesus.

These seraphim “covered their faces.” Why? Christ is so great that he cannot even be looked upon by perfect, holy, sinless, pure, burning angels! Wow!

What do they see in this King with a beauty so bright and majestic that they cover their holy eyes? (Oh, that we might see what they see and humble ourselves!)

They see Jesus’ infinite, superior, un-created radiance and beauty. It blinded these woefully inferior, created, burning servants to the point of being overcome by their own creaturely unworthiness before the King of Eternal Glory. The reason they cover their feet is to signify their creaturely-ness and unworthiness.

And what are they doing besides flying and covering their faces/feet? They are calling to each other “Holy, holy, holy.” They are talking about Jesus’ holiness. Do you know why they say the word “holy” three times? I don’t think this is a reference to the Trinity. In Hebrew language, repetition is used to stress the importance or weightiness of a thing. For example, if I want to tell a group of Hebrew people that my wife Caryn is beautiful, I could say, “Listen, my wife Caryn is beautiful” and they would say “Ah!” But if I wanted to show them more of what I thought of my wife’s beauty, I would say “My wife Caryn is beautiful, beautiful,” and they would say, “Oh! We see! Very beautiful.” But if I wanted to tell them what I most truly and deeply think of my wife, I might say “Listen closely, all! My wife Caryn is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!” And they would say “Ah! Wow! He is saying she is the highest and most beautiful!”

That’s what the seraphim are saying. The glory of the holiness of Christ is so massive and powerful that pillars in the temple shook as these fiery angel-beasts proclaimed the highness of the holiness of King Jesus ­as smoke, symbolizing the awesome terror of his presence, filled the heavenly temple!

So what is this holiness all about? Holiness is all that makes God who he is in his infinite worth, diverse beauty, and blazing moral perfection, thus eternally setting him apart from all things unto himself, apart from all creation and all corruption.

“Holy” means that God is set apart, being God in himself, by himself, unto himself, and for himself!

Holiness does not only mean that Jesus is sinless and separate, but alsothat He is God and no one else is.

Isaiah 40:25 says, “To whom will you compare me, that I should be like him, says the Holy One?” He is incomparable!

Exodus 15:11 says, “Who is like you, O Lord among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” He is in a majestic, holy, awesome, glory, and power class by himself!

Jesus, God the Son, is infinitely higher in all of His characteristics than all of his creation and his creatures! No one is like him!

Yes, the holiness of Christ means that he has no error or flaw. He never sinned, lied, lusted, gossiped, disobeyed his Father, stole, and never ceased to worship. (Matthew 22:37, 1 Corinthians 10:31) 

But it also means that Jesus has no equal. Who else sovereignly conceals himself and reveals himself like Jesus? Who else is eternal, infinite, and immortal like Jesus? Who else is the Lord of heaven and earth like Jesus? Who else is the King-­Judge seated on an everlasting throne like Jesus? Who else is the most high and supreme like Jesus? Who else is full of majesty, royalty, and splendor like Jesus? Who else is infinitely holy, holy, holy like Jesus? 

No one. 

Only Jesus alone has those attributes. He has no competitors and no equals. He alone is truly glorious.

Because he alone has no error and no equals, he is truly “holy, holy, holy.” That is why there is this ceaseless, unbroken, burning praise of his holy glory around the throne in 
heaven by these captivated seraphim. There is no one high and holy like him!

What about you? If these pure, holy, sinless, mighty burning angels—who would no doubt scare you to death at the sound of their temple­-shaking voices and even incinerate your body by their awesome fiery blaze—cover their faces in unworthiness, humble themselves before King Jesus, yield themselves to his holy service and exalt his holiness with non­stop praise, amazement, and captivation, how much more should this sinful man (me) do the same? How much more should all of us, should you?

Church: We go because Jesus is our merciful Savior.

As Isaiah is no doubt on his face in humility, trembling, like you and me should be, under the weight of his filthy sin in light of the high and holy glory of Jesus Christ (displayed in his sitting, in his throne, in the train of his robe, in the seraphim’s proclamation), then infinite mercy comes.

God lovingly sends a seraphim to apply cleansing and forgiveness to Isaiah’s soul to remove his sin. Three words of amazing love: “Flew to me”! (Isaiah 6:6) What a beautiful display of the pursuing love of God!

The seraphim flew to me (showing God’s pursuing love). He took a coal from the altar (which points to the idea of sacrifice and foreshadows how Jesus would come as the lamb of God and sacrifice his life). The coal touches Isaiah’s lips and he is told that his guilt is taken away and his sin atoned for. How this picture so clearly points us to the cross! How? Look at Isaiah 53:4­6.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.—Isaiah 53:4–6

Two thousand years ago Jesus “flew to us” to make filthy sinners acceptable, clean, holy and righteous before God (2 Corinthians 5:21). He lived a perfect life of obedience in the place of all who trust in him, he substituted his life, and he died on the cross for all who believe, love, and follow him.

Jesus “flew to us” when you were drowning, trapped in a burning house, near a bomb about to go off, falling from the cliff, in front of a shooting squad, strapped in the electric chair, tied to the train track, locked in the gas chamber, under a machete, with a tsunami wave rising over your head. Jesus “flew” to your rescue and saved you. 

Listen, everyone in this room who runs to this crucified, but now risen and reigning Savior, will have their “guilt taken away” (cleared and clean before God) and their “sin atoned for” (debt paid and at peace with God)—forever! He will save whoever calls on his name.

This is what the word “gospel” means. The gospel is the good news of how God flew to us (in Jesus) so that he might bring us to himself through the cross to enjoy him for all eternity. (1 Peter 3:18)

Loved ones, we go into the darkest places with the good news of the gospel because Jesus is eternal, Lord/Boss, superior/supreme, the great King-­Judge, majestic, holy, and merciful!

Isaiah 6 is basically the Old Testament’s version of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18­–20. When Jesus, based upon his sacrificial death, triumphant resurrection and supreme authority in heaven and on earth, commissions his disciples in Matthew 28, he says to them (and to us), “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Application

So let me apply this to myself and to you with a question: What hard place is God calling you to, maybe for the first time, right now?

Some of you may need to move from the comforts of the suburb or your neighborhood into the Phillips neighborhood to partner with Mike Tong and others. (Some of you may need to stay where you are for the precious souls in the ‘burbs as well!) 

Some of you may need to “dethrone your comfort zone” and come out to Peavey Park on Wednesdays to minister and serve the souls there. Much good to be done there! 

Some of you may need to walk across the street to the neighbor you have never had a meaningful conversation with (cookies & prayer) to begin an intentional friendship.

Some of you may need to go across the sea to an unreached people group for the sake of the gospel.

Some of you may need to join us in East St. Louis at City of Joy Fellowship or go to some other gospel-­needy, inner-city area.

Ask the Spirit of God, “How do you, Spirit, desire me to apply this word to my heart, life, and family?” What is your “East Saint Louis”? Pray this way: “Help me, Lord Jesus. Send me; I’ll go! By your grace alone, I will do it—because of who You are!”

And so: Caryn and I have heard our glorious Triune God say to us, “Who will go to East Saint Louis for us?” And because of the glory of Jesus, we have said with trembling and trust, “Send us; We will go!” As the Lord leads, please partner with us.

For the glory of Jesus and the eternal joy of East St. Louis—and the ends of the earth!