TEXT: Isaiah 6 (cf. John 12:35-41)

SUBJECT: Christ in the Old Testament #22: Holiness of Christ

Today, with God’s blessing, we’ll proceed in our study of Christ in the Old Testament.

The events of this chapter took place "in the year that King Uzziah died". Historians say that occurred in about 750 B.C.

At that time, Isaiah saw a vision. It was not the result of an overactive imagination, but the gift of God. He didn’t think up something for himself, but God showed Him what He wanted him to see.

What was that? He can speak for himself,

It was "The Lord" he saw. He saw other things, of course—amazing things too—but it was the Lord who dominated the vision. I suspect the beauties of heaven will be mostly unnoticed by the people who are there. We’ll be so wrapped up in the Lord Himself that Streets of gold and Pearly gates will hardly cross our minds.

Isaiah saw the Lord. Now, the term can refer to either God in general or to Jesus Christ in particular. Most of the time, we can’t say which with much authority. But here he can. John 12:35-41, speaking of Christ, says,

The Glorious Being at the heart of Isaiah’s vision is Jesus Christ.

What does the vision say about the Lord?

It says He is exalted.

This is not Jesus Christ in the manger or with no place to lay His head—no less hanging from a cross. This is King Jesus way above the Creation.

What does the Vision suggest?

We’re tempted to say it indicates His Sovereignty or Almighty Power. There’s truth in that. Isaiah calls Him "The King" (of men, presumably). And also "The LORD of Hosts" (which means the king of angels).

The majesty and authority of Christ are implied in the chapter, but are not its big idea.

Here, Jesus Christ is "High and lifted up" from sin. Others are chin-deep in its filth, but He is on a throne high above the pollutions of this world.

Hebrews 7:25 concurs on this point, calling our Lord,

He is separate from sinners—not in the sense of being unconcerned for us—but in that’s He’s not stained by sin. That’s what the Vision is getting at!

In the words of Peter, it is

Flying all around the Lord are the Seraphim. The word means The Burning Ones. Evidently, they’re angels made of fire.

Fire is used to purify something. Silver and gold were melted to get the alloy out of them. That’s mentioned very often in the Bible.

Fiery angels, you’d think, would be the purest of creatures—the cleanest things God ever made. Yet they’re not celebrating their own holiness. Day and night, they do nothing but chant,

They do it with enough volume to shake the Temple with their praise!

One other thing about the Seraphim. They have six wings. With two they fly; with two they cover their feet; and with two they cover their faces. The Hebrew has them covering and uncovering their faces.

I’m not sure about the feet, but why they’re covering and uncovering their faces seems pretty obvious.

Because they adore His holiness, they want to stare at the Lord. But, because He’s so much holier than they are, they keep feeling ashamed in His Presence. His overwhelming holiness both attracts them and throws them back; it makes them love Him and fear Him at the same time.

If you’ve read The Chronicles of Narnia, you know Aslan the Lion had the same effect on people. He was the most lovable of Beasts—but also the most terrifying! Children could ride on his back, but they never forgot he was a Lion!

Sinless creatures—even fiery angels—cannot but be overcome at the holiness of Jesus Christ.

If it does that to angels, what do you think it does to sinners! Just what you’d think: It overpowers us with a sense of moral dirtiness.

There’s no reason to think Isaiah was a notorious sinner. Yet, when he sees Christ, he feels as though he’s got a mouthful of mud! And not only he—but everyone does. The holiest man in Israel is caked with the dirt of sin.

In the Presence of Christ, everybody stinks! Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Saints, you and me—we’ve all been rolling in excrement!

Peter felt this way. After the miraculous catch of fish, he fell down and cried,

The stench clings—not only to our sins—but to our good works too. Isaiah 64:6,

By His grace, the Lord accepts our good works. But it’s only by grace. They’re never good enough. Human goodness melts before the One who is

Why did the Lord show Himself to Isaiah? It was to bless him of course. But not just to bless. He also wanted something back from the man.

Isaiah was branded with the mark of Christ’s holiness so that he would preach the Word.

Dirty mouths cannot preach the pure Word. So the Lord sends a servant to touch Isaiah’s lips with the burning coal off the altar. This purifies the man.

Then the Lord puts out a call for volunteers,

Entranced by the Lord’s holiness, Isaiah volunteers from the heart.

The preacher’s work is never easy. But Isaiah’s is uncommonly difficult. He goes—not to win the lost to Christ—but to harden them in their sins,

Try raising support for that ministry!

Because the Lord commissioned it, the work was a good one and served His justice. But what a thankless job it was! He would call men to repentance and tell them of God’s patience and willingness to save. Only to know that hardly anyone would listen.

He would do his work until Judah was no more. Until they came under the curse of unbelief.

Would anyone be saved? Yes, but only a handful. If Judah is a big tree, only a stump will remain…"So the holy seed shall be its stump".

Why did the Lord show His holiness to the prophet? To fire him with enthusiasm for witnessing…even when his work sees very few converts.

If you witness out of a sense of duty—only—you won’t do it very well.

If you witness solely from a love of sinners, you’ll give up before long because they’re mighty hard to love.

Duty and love for sinners play a part in our witnessing. But central to it is the holiness of Jesus Christ and His worthiness to be worshiped and served by everyone.

You don’t witness, chiefly, to save sinners, to build the church, or to slow down the decay of society. You witness for Christ’s sake, so that He will be glorified by people who—without the Gospel—won’t glorify Him.

The Gospel is a Call to Worship. Not everyone will obey it, of course, but it’s our job to call them to it.

Jesus Christ reveals His holiness to fire us with a zeal for obedience and witness.

Has it done that for you? Or, has the holiness of Christ been little more to you than a theological idea?

Brothers and sisters, we’re called to be "Doers of the Word and not hearers only". If you believe in the holiness of Christ, get to work serving Him. Tell your lost friends to do the same. Amen.