It was the summer of 2000 and I was attending a conference of preachers in Amsterdam. My plane was on time but I missed the bus from the airport to the city centre. As a result I arrived late for the start of the conference, but when I walked in I could not believe it. There were 11,000 people from what seemed like every nation on earth. Different nationalities, different languages, different dress yet all united in their love for Jesus and their desire to make him known. I remember thinking this is what Heaven is like.
This fellowship here in Shalom reminds me of Amsterdam. People from so many places but united by Jesus.
Today’s message: 3 lessons from the Bible: Woe, Lo, and Go.
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because 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 live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “ Lo (Behold), this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” And He said, “Go” ! Isaiah 6:1-8 NKJV
- WOE: A WORD OF CONFESSION.
Isaiah 6:5 tells us Isaiah was ministering in the temple when the Lord appeared to him. Isn’t that amazing? He was doing what he had done many times before but this time he saw the Lord.
Wouldn’t that be wonderful if that happened to us? If in the midst of our worship today, & our praise today, & our service for God wouldn’t it be wonderful if we suddenly saw Jesus?
That is what we all dream of and some day we will see Him face to face. Isn’t the Christian hope that because of the life, death and R of Jesus, death has been defeated, that when we come to the end of our life on earth, because of Jesus we can leave here and go to the place where Jesus is?
Remember his promise: I go to prepare a place for you that where I am, there you may be also, so if we go to the place where Jesus is then we will be able to gaze on that wonderful face, filled with compassion, grace and love. (Mr McCormick.)
That is in the future, but what about the present?
When Isaiah saw the Lord he saw the holiness of God and he saw his own sinfulness.
When you paint a wall it is easy to see what has been painted. The wall that has been painted is fresh and clean and sits beside the wall that has not been painted and it is looks dirty.
That is why Isaiah cried out WOE. He saw God and he knew his heart was dirty compared to God. God’s holiness showed up his sin. He knew his life fell short of what God desired. He knew there was a gulf between him and God and that is why he cried out:
Woe is me. I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King the Lord of Hosts.
Isaiah 6:5
The best known Psalm is Psalm 23 – beginning the Lord is my Shepherd. But the very next psalm, Psalm 24 asks this question: Who may ascend to the hill of the Lord? And then that psalm gives the answer – he or she who has clean hands and a pure heart.
“Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.” Psalms 24:3-4 NKJV
My friends in Shalom, are our lips unclean? are our hands clean? Is our heart pure? We all need to look into our own heart and honestly admit to our self what we see.
Then we need to confess our shortcomings to God. Are you willing to cry out Woe is me, as Isaiah did, because only when we do can we acknowledge our sinfulness, confess that sin to God and cling to the grace of God in mercy and forgiveness.
- LO: A WORD OF CLEANSING.
In chapter 6 verse 5 – word of confession but in chapter 6 verse 7 we have the word of cleansing.
“And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Lo (Behold) this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.””Isaiah 6:7 NKJV
The AV translated in the 1600’s tells us that Isaiah saw the Lord and cried out Lo.
The seraph was an angel and he took a live coal from the altar, i.e. a coal that was still burning and was red hot & touched the lips of Isaiah and said to him, Lo your guilt is taken away.
You might ask why?
The answer is that fire burns and cleanses. When I was studying to be a pastor, there was another student who had previously worked in the steel industry. I understand that steel is made by taking iron and coal and heating them to a temperature of 3000 degrees F, in order to remove the impurities and produce nothing but genuine pure steel.
Isn’t that what happened to Isaiah? His lips and his life were cleansed, his sin & guilt was taken away, and the barriers between him and God were removed.
The angel said your sin is atoned for. That was a reference to the coming of Jesus and all he would do on the cross.
It was Jesus who took our place on the cross and the old hymn says He took my sin and my sorrow. He made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone.
When we turn to Jesus and trust in Him as our Saviour a swop takes place. He takes our sin and he gives us peace with God as a replacement.
Instead of being separated from God because of our sin, Jesus makes us friends with God.
That is why Paul could write: There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
All that happened to Isaiah but there was more. In the Bible fire is always a picture of the Holy Spirit, so not only was Isaiah cleansed but he was empowered by God.
It was the sin in his life that made his service ineffective, but now he was cleansed & empowered and God used him mightily as a trumpet voice to call his people back to God.
O how we need an experience like that. We need an encounter with God that will cleanse our hearts, renew our minds & empower us so that our service for God can be effective.
Look into your heart today. Is there a barrier in our relationship with God? Is there something that is preventing God from working in this fellowship or this town? (Ex: the Car and blocked petrol lines.)
Isaiah confessed his sin and his need. He cried out WOE and then God sent the angel and Isaiah cried out LO. O that God would do such a thing again. O that God would sweep through all the churches in this town and make us clean and then use us in His service.
Are you willing to ask God to cleanse you as he cleansed Isaiah? If you are He will do a new work in your life, and this town and nation will be wonderfully enriched by the grace and mercy and love and power of Jesus..
- GO: A WORD OF COMMISSION.
In chapter 6 verse 5 – word of confession and in chapter 6 verse 7 – word of cleansing. Now in chapter 6 verse 9, – word of Commission.
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” And He said, “Go”.
Isaiah 6:8-9 NKJV
Isaiah cried out WOE. The angel said LO and now the angel told Isaiah GO.
Isaiah was told to go to the population of the land and give them the word from the Lord.
Isn’t that what God longs to see us doing? Just before Jesus ascended back into Heaven he told his disciples, all authority has been given to me so go and make disciples of all nations.
All nations include Monaghan and O does Monaghan need Jesus.
A few years ago we were invited to the opening of the Irish language school in Monaghan. My wife kissed by the Taoiseach (Prime minister). She was sitting beside a Roman Catholic priest from this town. He told her they had 10,000 names (members) on the books but only 1000 attended on Sundays. That means that 9,000 souls in this town have walked away from Jesus. Could God be asking you to go to them and bring them to Jesus?
What about those who have come to live here from other nations? Perhaps they are struggling with the language, or loneliness. Could God be asking you to go and share Jesus with them?
What about those living here who only get through each day because of drugs, or alcohol, or relationships? Could God be saying to you Go and introduce them to the Prince of peace?
“Charlie Price lived a life of crime and was eventually caught and sentenced to be executed. When the morning of his execution came he walked to the gallows behind the chaplain of the prison and the chaplain was reading some Bible verses. The criminal stopped and asked what the chaplain was reading and when he was told the man was reading about Heaven and Hell, the prisoner shouted out, If I believed what you say you believe, I would walk over broken glass on my hands and knees all over England just to see one soul saved from hell.”
What lengths are you willing to go to see 1 soul in Monaghan saved from hell?
There is an old hymn that says: Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave. Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen; tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.
The reason we need to tell Monaghan about Jesus is that only Jesus and Jesus only can bring peace to a heart.
The angel asked the question; who will go for us? and Isaiah said, Here am I, I will go.
Are you willing to go to your next door neighbour and tell them of Jesus? What about those you work with? What about those live across the road?
WP Nicholson – Bangor. 1899 aged 23. Hiding behind the crowd.
Is God asking you to step out and stand up for Jesus and go, tell Monaghan about Jesus?
Remember this:
Isaiah cried: Woe – a cry of confession He needed God.
The angel said Lo – a cry for cleansing
The angel said: Go– – a word of commission.
Go to the highways and byways of Monaghan and tell all about this wonderful, amazing and magnificent Saviour whose name is Jesus and as you do so, God will send His blessings and Monaghan will never be the same again.