George Müller preached this sermon at Clifton Bethesda Church, Alma Road, Bristol, England, on Sunday, March 6, 1898. Four days later, on March 10, he went to be with the Lord and got to see his beloved Jesus face-to-face.
Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. (John 12:41, NIV)
This verse from John settles the matter that what we read in Isaiah 6 all refers to the glory of our worthy Lord Jesus Christ. In the whole of Scripture, we do not find a single portion that speaks more of the majesty and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ than what we are reading in Isaiah 6. We will now read it and meditate on it, attributing it to our worthy Lord.
The time is fixed when Isaiah saw this vision:
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. (verse 1)
I am reminded of what happened to Uzziah. All was going well for him until he was highly exalted, and he became mighty and powerful. When he was puffed up with pride, he entered the Temple and offered incense to the Lord, which was for the priests alone to do, and in consequence of his pride, he was struck with leprosy, and to the end of his days, he was a leper. Here is a valuable lesson for us all: seek to be humble and lowly, and pray that we may be kept from pride and self-righteousness. This was the fault of Uzziah.
Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. (verse 2)
The Lord was surrounded by the highest order of holy angels, the seraphim. We see the humility of these high angelic beings—they could not look at Him. Here’s another lesson for us: seek to have an increasing hatred of our fallen nature, of our many sins, and consider ourselves unworthy to look at that Holy One.
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (verse 5)
This is the language of the prophet who was aware of his sinfulness, and being in the presence of the infinitely Holy One, he cried out, “Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips.”
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.” (verses 6-7)
The altar represents the Lord Jesus Christ; the live coal taken from the altar represents His precious blood. And as this live coal touched the lips of the prophet and took away his guilt and atoned for his sin, so the precious blood of our worthy Lord Jesus Christ, though our sins are many, removes all spiritual filth from us, making us clean and spotless in the sight of God, so that it is as if we had never been guilty of one single evil deed, said one single unholy word, and had never rebelled against the will of God. Oh, how unspeakably amazing is the position into which we are brought by faith through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice we are now about to remember when we take communion together.
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (verse 8)
Isaiah was ready at once to offer himself for the Lord’s work. We should do the same. Whatever work the Lord may call us to, whatever business the Lord would have us do, whatever service He would wish us to be engaged in, our hearts should at once respond to His desire, and we should offer ourselves to the Lord like the prophet did. If it is to give some food to the poor, if it is to clothe the poor, if it is to go to Central Africa, if it is to go to India, whatever work the Lord would have us do, our hearts should be ready at once to do that work, no matter what form it takes. But often, it is, as in the case of the prophet, difficult work. He had to shut the eyes of Israel in the way of judgment, to blind them, so that they could not see the truth. As servants of the Most High, our part is to do the work, whatever it may be, pleasant or unpleasant. A servant does the Master’s work.
The Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. (verse 12)
We don’t often read of such severe judgments in Scripture, but in this case, it came upon them because the Lord sent His prophets again and again, and they refused to listen. This judgment still remains on them to this day. Yet they are still the people of the living God, and in time it will be seen that the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be fulfilled. We need to look at ourselves in light of this judgment and recognize: “This could have happened to me if left to myself! My ear might be deaf to truth, my heart hardened and unyielding, if God hadn’t dealt with my sins!”
Oh, how merciful, patient and kind our gracious Lord has been to us in Christ! What He has done and is doing, He will continue to do until we see Him face-to-face. He won’t leave or forsake us, and after a little while, He’ll bring us home to Himself. Oh, what a beautiful, glorious promise we, poor sinners, have in faith through Christ! To be taken home forever with the Lord, to see that worthy One who laid down His life for us, that we could kiss His feet, His hands—oh, what a glorious promise awaits us! Just a little while longer, and all will be fulfilled.
Our hearts should overflow with constant, living gratitude to the Lord Jesus Christ for giving His life for us, for shedding His blood to forgive our sins. And how thankful we should be that—though we are guilty sinners by nature, and though our sins are beyond number—through the power of Christ’s blood we have been made completely clean, as spotless as if we had never once sinned, never spoken a single unholy word, and never entertained a thought contrary to God’s will. This is the standing we now have through faith in Jesus Christ: for the rest of our lives on earth, and for all eternity, not one sin will ever be charged against us. Oh, the priceless blood of Christ!
Our heavenly Father, we come again before You with praise and thanksgiving for the blessing of the past week, the past month, the past year, and the whole of our earthly pilgrimage. But above all, we adore and praise You for the greatest of all these gifts: the blessed Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ we find our refuge; in His righteousness we rest for our acceptance before You, and by faith in His name we look to the power of His precious blood for cleansing. O Father in heaven, how can we ever thank You enough for the gift of Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, as we share in this bread and this cup, we ask that by the help of Your Holy Spirit, You would lead us deeper into their meaning. Fill our hearts more abundantly than ever with praise and thankfulness for all that our Savior has done and suffered on our behalf. Lord, You have blessed us so often before—please do so again. Remember us in mercy, and bless us, poor and unworthy sinners though we are. Amen.
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George Müller
