The Throne and the Altar

[0:00] So, we pray as we come into the presence of God, to a throne of grace, that the way to a throne of grace has been opened to us a new and living way.

[0:26] And a throne of grace by virtue of the one who is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High. King Jesus, our Saviour, the great King and Head of the Church, risen, triumphant, victorious in all the glory that belongs to him.

[0:56] O Lord, we come in and through the finished work of Christ.

[1:34] It is Lord's Day morning that we would bow truly in our hearts as well as outwardly.

[2:11] Teach us to pray.

[2:42] Teach us to come confessing our sins. itu.站 colocation afiadjah. if God's mercy.

[2:54] that we need to confess our sin, and that we need to own and acknowledge our sin, and that we need to kill our sin, to mortify through the Spirit the deeds of the flesh.

[3:13] Oh, forgive us, we pray, for all our sins. Sprinkle the blood on our hearts and on our consciences.

[3:26] And, Lord, take away anything that would cause a barrier between your presence being with us here today and us.

[3:38] Anything that would cause the light of your truth to shine on us. We know that if in our heart we sin regard, the Lord will not hear us.

[3:56] And, oh, grant us to come in that spirit of faith and repentance. And grant us thy presence, we pray.

[4:08] Bless the congregation here, every home and family. We give thanks for the invitation to be here. We pray for David, where he is this morning at the Communions, in a point.

[4:25] And we pray for him preaching the word. We pray, Lord, for the reason for their gathering on the Mount of Ordinances. The great commemoration, the great memorial, of the great feast, the great provision that Christ has made for us as we journey through the wilderness, feeding upon him, feeding on the word, feeding on the elements that present to us in a most powerful way the broken body and the shed blood.

[5:06] Oh, Lord, help us never to forget and help us to be making our own calling and election sure, to be zealous in the cause and for the cause of Christ, in our worship and in our work and in everything that we put our hands to.

[5:36] And bless that congregation and the two congregations in point. And we pray, Lord, for the continued developments there. And bless your servant who leads the congregation.

[5:50] Bless every congregation of our presbytery. And bless the vacant congregations especially. And we pray for them, we pray for the students in the college and we pray that for those who are contemplating coming to the end of their studies and full-time ministry, Lord, that you would bless them where they are.

[6:17] Bless them in their studies and bless the lecturers and the principal of the seminary. Watch over them and watch over that most crucial work in training men for the ministry of the world.

[6:32] Bless this congregation. Bless their witness. Bless everything that takes place in the congregation. Watch over the leadership, the elders and the deacons.

[6:46] And bless every home and family, every mother and father, every child, every grandparent, every relationship. We give thanks, Lord, for seeing so many children.

[7:00] And may this witness be blessed to them, to the saving of their souls. Bless those who grieve and mourn. Bless those who are in hospital and unable and unable to be in the public worship and to know the joy of being in the house of God.

[7:22] Yet, Lord, we know that they can have joy in their own private devotions and in their providence. Bless them and be near to them and help them to understand and to believe that for those who belong to Christ, they are never alone.

[7:45] Never alone, though they may feel it, they are never alone. And so, continue with this now as we say a word to the young folk.

[7:55] And, Lord, bear mouth and wisdom. Bless your word as we sing it, as we read it, and as we meditate on it. Cleanse from sin.

[8:06] Live the life of your countenance on us, forgiving us for Christ's sake. Amen. May the young people would like to come forward, please.

[8:32] So, good morning to you.

[8:51] Good morning. Good morning. This morning, we are going to be talking about a very important person. has anybody ever seen the Queen?

[9:06] Have you ever seen the Queen? Where did you see her? In London. Did you see her in London? You actually saw her. And did you meet her? Did you shake hands with her?

[9:18] No? I'm sure you've seen her on television, have you? Yes, you have. But she lives in a big palace in London, in Buckingham Palace, although she lives in several other palaces as well.

[9:34] But if you were to meet the Queen in person, if you were to meet her, what would you do when you met her? You would have to bow before her.

[9:46] She might put her hand out and you might shake her hand, but you would have to bow down before the Queen because she's the Queen. and she rules and she reigns over this country and over the other countries in the Commonwealth.

[10:05] And she's a very important person, the Queen, isn't she? Do you know that even her family, when she's doing something official, even her family have to bow before her?

[10:19] What do you think that would be like? Her husband has to bow before her. Can you imagine that? Even her sons and her daughters.

[10:30] I had the privilege once of meeting Prince Charles. I'm sure you've seen him on television and he was here not so long ago, wasn't he?

[10:40] And I think he was even in Harris just a few weeks ago. And I was told when I met Prince Charles that I had to bow before him just gently because he's a prince.

[10:56] Today, we're going to be talking about a king. A king. Do you know the king's name?

[11:10] King Jesus. That's right. King Jesus. Jesus, who is the king of kings.

[11:22] He's the king of queens too. And he's the lord of lords. And he's not just the king of a particular country.

[11:35] No, he is king over the whole world. The whole world. And he rules over the whole world.

[11:46] And what does King Jesus ask us to do when we come before him? When we meet today? When we meet before him and when we sing his praises and when we read his word, what does he ask us to do?

[12:01] He asks us to bow down and to worship him. Doesn't he? And to worship him because he's holy.

[12:14] He's holy. Holy, holy, holy. And where is Jesus' throne? throne? Where is his throne?

[12:26] In heaven. In heaven. That's correct. His throne is in heaven. And if we want to get to heaven, to be with Jesus around his throne, what do we have to do?

[12:41] We have to believe in him and trust in him and ask him to forgive us for our sins.

[12:53] That's absolutely right. The Bible tells us that Jesus wants us to come into his presence, into the palace of the king.

[13:05] He wants to invite sons and daughters of the king into his palace, and there they will stay forever.

[13:18] My prayer is that you would come to know King Jesus. We're going to be talking about him shortly. And so in your Sunday schools and your Sunday school teachers that they would be blessed and that everything that we do today would be blessed to you.

[13:36] May the Lord bless these few thoughts. Our second item of praise is Psalm 93, and we'll be singing the whole psalm.

[13:48] Psalm 93, which speaks to us, of course, of the king. Psalm 93, the Lord doth reign, and clothed is he with majesty most bright.

[14:04] His works do show him clothed to be, and girt about with might. The world is also established that it cannot depart. Thy throne is fixed of old, and thou from everlasting art.

[14:19] The floods, O Lord, have lifted up, they lifted up their voice. The floods have lifted up their waves, and made a mighty noise. But yet the Lord that is on high is more of might by far than noise of many waters this or great sea billows are.

[14:40] thy testimonies every one in faithfulness excel, and holiness forever, Lord, thine house be cometh well.

[14:50] Standing to sing the whole psalm. Dennard. Today's speech The Lord of freedom, Lord is he, with majesty most bright.

[15:14] His words to show him glory to thee, and gird the blood with might.

[15:31] The world is so so star-lishty, that it cannot depart.

[15:47] Thy goodness, grace of old and old, from everlasting art.

[16:04] The flood-stored, Lord have lifted up, they lifted up their voice.

[16:21] The flood-stored, Lord have lifted up their weight, and made a mighty noise.

[16:38] But yet the Lord that is on high, is full of might by fire.

[16:55] The noise of heavy waters is, or great sea-bellows are.

[17:12] Thy chest is brought in, everyone, in faithfulness excel.

[17:28] And holy is forevermore, thy house become as well.

[17:58] Thy chest is brought in, everyone, in faithfulness excel.

[18:16] Let's read the word of God together, as we have it in the Old Testament, and the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 6.

[18:29] Isaiah chapter 6. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

[18:45] Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

[18:57] And one cried unto 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 moved, and the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

[19:14] Then 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.

[19:27] For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.

[19:41] And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this has touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?

[19:58] Then said I, Here am I, send me. And he said to me, Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

[20:12] Lord, make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes. Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

[20:25] Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate.

[20:38] And the Lord hath removed men far away, and that be a grave forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten, as a teal tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves.

[20:59] So the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. And again in the New Testament, in the book of Revelation, chapter 20 and verse 11.

[21:14] Revelation 20, 11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.

[21:32] And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works.

[21:48] And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works.

[22:01] And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Amen. This is God's word. May he bless it to us.

[22:24] Our third item of praise is in Gaelic. We'll sing from Psalm 32. Psalm 32, verse 5.

[22:39] "'Good' Thank you. with greater importance of music.

[22:58] about is oh Jethons is to mention theста of war.

[23:48] I don't know that you're my blood For what is your spirit?

[24:37] Thank you.

[25:07] Thank you.

[25:37] Thank you.

[26:07] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[27:11] Thank you. Thank you.

[27:43] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[27:55] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Thank you.

[28:07] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Isaiah 6, verse 5.

[28:19] Thank you.

[28:51] Thank you. He saw two kings. The first king, Uzziah, was dead.

[29:03] He saw another king who was very much alive. So what of Uzziah? He was a good king.

[29:15] And the story of Uzziah's reign is told us in 2 Chronicles. And in 2 Chronicles 26. In particular, he was a strong king.

[29:27] He conquered the Philistines. He rebuilt Jerusalem. But we know that pride entered his heart. Pride, the great root sin.

[29:40] He was puffed up in his own heart. In his own soul. And he did something that was strictly forbidden him.

[29:51] He went into the temple. And he offered an offering in the temple. Something that was restricted to priests only.

[30:04] And God brought a judgment on Uzziah. And that judgment was leprosy. And for the remainder of his days, he was separated.

[30:19] Separated from his people. Separated from his home and family. And he was, in a sense, separated from God's presence.

[30:32] Why was he separated? Because he violated the holiness of God. He violated God's holy law.

[30:43] God's holiness. God's holiness. God is holy. And sin, any kind of sin, is a violation of the holiness of God.

[30:58] Isaiah, confronted with this particular situation that was developing at this time.

[31:08] saw a dead king. And not only that, but he saw a people, a people of whom he writes in the first chapter of this remarkable prophecy.

[31:22] A people of whom he says that from the soles of their feet even into the head there is no soundness in it but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores.

[31:36] Not only was there violation of God's holiness by the king but there was a violation of God's holiness by the people. By the people. They had violated God's covenant with them as his covenant people.

[31:52] They had rebelled. They had chosen idols for themselves. And God is speaking to them through this prophet.

[32:06] The vision of Isaiah the son of Amos which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken.

[32:17] I have nourished and brought of children and they have rebelled against me. And chapter 1 provides us with a remarkable narrative of the whole of the prophecy.

[32:32] The whole of the prophecy. It's almost a summary of this prophecy. But Isaiah pleads with the people. He pleads with them and he appeals to them.

[32:44] In chapter 2 and verse 5 he appeals to them and he says, O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

[32:56] And what do they do? What do they do? Well, we know what they did. At the end of chapter 5 and verse 30 we read these words.

[33:08] And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the seas. And if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow.

[33:20] And the light is darkened in the heavens thereof. they have chosen darkness instead of light. They were unresponsive to God's call to holiness.

[33:35] God's call to repentance. God's call to turning back to Him. They rejected the light, chose darkness, chose their own will.

[33:48] My will. And the root of all sin is pride and following closely in attendance is self.

[33:59] Self-aggrandizement, self-importance, self-in-all its ugliness and awfulness. the great Augustus top lady once said that the greatest judgment that God can inflict on man is to leave him at his own will.

[34:22] And it's a frightening concept to be left to your own will. It's a frightening concept because it's true.

[34:33] And when you look at this portion of scripture and when you look at the prophecy of Isaiah I hope if we have time to look at the fact that God rejected Israel.

[34:46] Why did God reject them? Because they rejected him. And he sent Isaiah out with a message with a message a hard message a hard message and if we have time as I said I'll come back to that.

[35:04] And God is calling us he's calling us to holiness he's calling the people to holiness. Everything around Isaiah seems to be falling apart.

[35:15] The king the people all is darkness. And out of that darkness God provides him with this marvelous vision this marvelous vision a vision of holiness a vision of glory.

[35:33] Glory. What does this teach us? It teaches us something very important. It teaches us this that if we are to approach God we must be made holy.

[35:49] Any holiness which falls short of God's holiness and God's demands according to his word will not stand in his presence.

[36:03] They were talking about holiness in the year 739. They were talking about holiness because of the violations of holiness. In 2016 we don't really talk about holiness very much do we?

[36:19] When did you last have a conversation about holiness? The Bible tells every one of us without holiness you can't see God.

[36:30] well if you're a Christian and if you don't see God then you've got a problem. If you're not a Christian what the Bible is telling you is that it is possible for you to see God to know God to have a personal living relationship with God.

[36:56] God there's a whole book in the Bible that is dedicated to holiness. If you ever want to understand Leviticus read it in the light of God's holiness and God's demands on you to come in the God ordained way to come and to worship him.

[37:19] why did God accept Abel's sacrifice and not Cain's? Well there's a very good reason.

[37:30] The Bible tells us of course that Abel had faith and Cain didn't have faith. But it also tells us this that God had made his way of coming to him known.

[37:47] He had made it known to both Cain and Abel. One chose to come in the God ordained way. The other chose to come in the way that he wanted to come.

[37:59] This is my view of how I'm going to come and worship God. And there's a great danger for each and every one of us in a day and generation that we make a God for ourselves that's not the God of the Bible.

[38:15] You simply cannot come to God as you choose and as you please and say well I'm going to worship him this way and that way and this way. You're bordering if not going over the border in terms of idolatry.

[38:33] I often wonder why the first commandment is thou shalt have no other gods before me. Well in a sense why would I wonder when I know something of my own heart and the incredible capacity we have for idolatry for covetousness which is idolatry.

[38:59] if you covet anything other than the things you ought to covet it is idolatry the Bible makes it so clear so clear or that we would begin to talk about the holiness of God the pure majestic awesome glorious holiness holiness of God the godness of God the godness of God and in this vision that Isaiah sees he sees a living king and he sees around him in this magnificent vision the seraphims crying to one another holy holy holy holy is the lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory even these heavenly beings bowing in adoration bowing in adoration the whole earth is full of his glory the whole earth is full of his glory why would we wonder what is the glory of

[40:29] God it is the eternal splendor that is the evidence of his holiness he created the earth did you not oh yes we spoiled it we sinned and the earth is cursed and we are cursed but that doesn't take away from the fact that God's glory and God's holiness is still on the earth and remarkably he's left he has left the earth for us there's a marvelous text in Romans 1 which tells us something of this Romans 1 and verse 20 for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse the things from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made and there's no doubt that this reference to the whole earth is full of his glory has a present a past and a present and a future reference in that one day one day the whole earth will be full of his glory there's going to be no sin there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells and the vision that is presented to

[42:12] Isaiah here is of a king his glory and his holiness and the fact that this throne room that this throne is going to extend it's coming into each of our particular situations God is extending his throne room into our lives he's confronting us he's confronting us here today he's confronting you every time you gather before the word of God God is confronting you with his kingdom with his holiness with his plan of redemption that's going to be fulfilled and when Christ comes again then you will stand before him as we read in those marvelous words in revelation chapter 20 heaven is spreading my friends you might look around and you see well darkness and sin and war and chaos but heaven is spreading heaven is moving in

[43:24] Christ and his kingdom I am building my church he said and the gates of hell will not prevail against it and of course the gates of hell will try to prevail against it we make the mistake in that text of thinking that the gates of hell will not try to prevail against Christ but they do if you're a Christian again you will know something of Satan and his devices trying to undo your walk and your witness and everything you are as a Christian doing everything to spoil and to mar and to rebel against Christ against Christ and his kingdom kings of the earth rulers of the earth gathering up together against the

[44:29] Lord and his anointed it was ever this it was ever this one of the remarkable things about the Genesis 4 narrative it's just how quickly from the fall if you read that narrative read it please from the fall in Genesis 3 into Genesis 4 and you see how quickly the world deteriorates it's remarkable and in that narrative of course between Cain and Abel you see so clear the demonstration of the seed of the woman the great promise that the seed of the woman will come which of course as you know is Christ there is also to be a seed of the serpent and you see in that narrative Cain and Abel the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent the war against the flesh and the spirit the kingdom of heaven the kingdom of

[45:34] God and the kingdom of darkness and he sees a king a king and he hears this this great throng and this great praise and he hears and he sees and he feels this presence this holiness even the post of the door and the house is filled with smoke I saw the Lord he sees when he says in the first verse I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne and in the text I was considering in verse five my eyes have seen the king the lord of hosts the lord of hosts who did

[46:35] Isaiah see well the bible tells us just exactly who he saw he saw the lord jesus christ the pre incarnate christ do you begin to see now how the heaven and how the kingdom and how god's plan of salvation from the very beginnings of time is beginning to unfold here is one of the greatest revelations of the holiness and the demands of god's holiness and yet more this king jesus this king jesus john 12 verses 40 and 41 make it clear to us that this is talking about the none other than christ himself it presents us with a marvelous narrative about who christ is who he really is he is the god man man in the fullness of time he became man but he is the god man the text speaks to us of the deity of christ it speaks to us of the glory of the mediator between god and man our great king our great priest and our great prophet prophet and the whole idea of a king the prophetical idea of a king where did it begin where did this whole idea of a king begin it began with the promise in the garden of eden after the fall the seed of the woman shall crush the head of the serpent how does that refer to a king it refers to a king because this is typically the symbolism of a king's rule and defeat of his enemy that he would stand on the head of his enemies it's a symbolism which presents us with the idea that there is one to come the seed of the woman who's going to defeat satan and the bible tells us that he did come and that he did so that he did so and the whole prophetical idea of a king and his kingdom is demonstrated for us time and time again throughout the scriptures revealed from time to time by God as he unfolds the great plan of redemption the plan of redemption for sinners like you and me so that we would be saved saved

[49:57] I was speaking very recently about the remarkable passage in Matthew 2 2 where the magi come and they say where is he that is born king of the Jews that we might worship him we have seen his star and we want to come and worship him so what well think about it think about the magi think about the fact that here are pagans from Babylon and it's the pagans from Babylon who want to come and to worship the king of the Jews what does it tell us it tells us there was more in their heart and curiosity when they saw the light they rejoiced there was a spiritual rejoicing there was a spiritual desire and they had heard about the king from

[51:09] Daniel and the remarkable thing about Daniel's mission the remarkable thing about Daniel's mission there's a sense in which despite the sin of Israel and Judah and Jerusalem which we have in this prophecy of Isaiah and the end of the prophecy of course tells us something about the fact that God was going to bring his judgment to bear on his people he was going and he did use Babylon as the lord of his judgment and his people were carried away to Babylon as a sign of God's displeasure with his people for some people it might come as a bit of a shock well I didn't realize that if I'm a Christian that God could be displeased with me well if you didn't my friend then you better realize that that any sin and falling away from

[52:18] God God is displeased with sin especially displeased with sin and waywardness and backsliding in his people especially displeased every sin has to be judged and God will judge he won't judge to damnation for his people but he will still judge them in rebuke in chastisement the remarkable thing about Daniel and he was carried away in the first group that were carried from Babylon what did he do he had a mission field and he was talking about the king and his kingdom and you see of course in the revelation you see in the bible the remarkable message of the bible that it was as a result of his death and resurrection that he was crowned with glory and honour it doesn't mean that he wasn't king before then he was he was king for all eternity we sang these very words thy throne is fixed of old and thou from everlasting art a king from all eternity and a king to come here heaven is coming the kingdom is coming and out of the darkness that surrounds

[54:01] Isaiah a dead king who violated his holiness a people who violated his holiness and the remarkable thing about chapter 5 if you read it is the woes Isaiah is pronouncing a series of woes on the people judgments and he himself is now confronted with that judgment he's confronted by the throne and the holiness and the glory of the throne and what else woe is me for I am undone I am as good as dead the glimpse that he had of the majesty of the king seems to be a flitting glimpse my eyes have seen the king almost that that glimpse that he saw of the king was incongruous to him that one such as him should praise

[55:13] God everybody else seems to have been debarred and when he realizes when that holiness exposes him when that throne and the claims of the throne expose him ah woe is me for I am undone I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips time and time again the scriptures present us present us with pictures of them of leaders and and people in the bible who come face to face with the glory of God just like Job did I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear but now my eye sees you and

[56:14] I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes in dust and ashes what did Peter say when he caught a glimpse of the glory of the deity of Christ the glory of the person of Christ depart from me Lord for I am a sinful man for I am a sinful man and the result of this of this exposure was that he makes this profession of sin I am undone and I am unclean he had never seen himself like this he had never been measured by such a rule or weighed in the balances of God's holiness and what the profession of his sin tells us is this that he professes not just a catalogue of his sins not just a list of his sins but the very fact that he has a corrupt sinful nature and that from that corrupt sinful nature sins flow sins flow we are we sin because we are sinners that's the order that's the order we have a nature that is radically corrupt and my conduct if it's defective is only defective because my nature is absolutely and wholly corrupt undone and unclean a people of unclean lips

[58:16] I say I couldn't meet those claims he couldn't meet those claims and God stands before each one of us he demands holiness can we meet his claims can we meet the claims of the bible not one of us can meet the claims of the throne you all must see in this remarkable narrative the cry from the seraphim going up holy holy holy and there's a cry coming from isaiah's heart unholy unholy unholy as he confesses his sin revealed in the power of the the blaze of purity that's coming from this throne but there was more than a throne there there was an altar a man was asking me for a title for the sermon which

[59:31] I didn't send him but perhaps the title might be the throne and the altar an altar not only was did he have an experience as it were although I hesitated to use that word because it could be misunderstood not only was he confronted by the claims of the throne not only was he brought into personal contact with the throne and everything surrounding the throne and the person on the throne but he was brought into personal contact with the altar with an altar then flew one of the seraphims unto me having a life called in his hand which he had taken with the tongues from off the altar and he laid it upon my mouth and said lo this has touched thy lips and thy iniquities taken away and thy sin purged what a message what a message

[60:43] Isaiah exposed and undone and unclean and here comes God sending his messenger what message did the messenger convey to him it wasn't a message of divine judgment not of divine judgment on Isaiah anyway it was a message of love of love these calls these burning calls these live calls weren't burning with wrath they were burning with love burning with love burning with cleansing and forgiveness what altar is this many people ask what altar was it was it the altar of burnt offering or was it the altar of incense the altar my friends is symbolic whether it's the altar of burnt offering or the altar of incense you will note that these two altars are always connected because the fire was taken from the altar of burnt offering and taken to the altar of incense and they are both representative on one substitutionary sacrifice to expiate sin or to remove sin the other the prayer that could only be offered on the basis of a right relationship established by sacrifice by sacrifice there's a remarkable narrative after God gives the commandments he commands an altar of earth to be built an altar of earth what is God saying he's saying the simple unadorned worship what is the altar it's the meeting place of God and man the meeting place of God and man one infinitely holy one sinful and God has provided a meeting place that they might transact together that there might be a relationship that there might be sacrifice and God says to

[63:24] Isaiah thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged or your guilt the guilt arising from your sinful nature and from your sins is taken away and your specific acts of sin are atoned for there is reconciliation Isaiah reconciliation there is salvation there is salvation why were the cause burning with love because God had already been satisfied blood was already shed God was pleased the sacrifice had been offered it presents us with a marvelous picture of Christ's work it presents us with a marvelous picture of Christ the king Christ the priest Christ the prophet and as a priest he came to offer a sacrifice what sacrifice did he offer he offered himself he offered himself for sinners like you and like me and the guilt which the throne detects the altar removes we have a picture of a king of a redeemer of the lamb of God who takes away sin an all sufficient savior king and a priest he was prohibited it was prohibited for man ordinary man but the bible presents us with the fact that we have an all sufficient redeemer king priest prophet the fullness of his mediatorial glory and the remedy reaches to the full extent of the ruin what about you what about you where are you before christ where are you before the gospel where are you before this revelation of the glory of god that was a revelation of the glory of god you don't need to see that revelation to be saved it's here it's here in the scriptures of the old testament and the new testament here is god's glory revealed to us revealed to us in the face of jesus christ this is the reality of our day and generation a gospel a word a word of salvation to deal with man's sin to deal without sin what is christianity what is it it is first and foremost god's way of redeeming the world and making it possible for the unholy to dwell with the holy and this must be your story as it must be mine it must be mine what is this vision it's a vision of holiness and glory but a vision of grace and gospel and Isaiah has given a work to do a work to do

[67:25] but I want to finish because I guess the time is moving quickly I want to move not to focus so much perhaps on the message of Isaiah's prophecy or the message that was given to him when he was recommissioned as it were there's a remarkable thing about Isaiah when he goes from here as it were everywhere in the rest of the whole of the prophecy he speaks about holiness holiness and the holy God the holy God and the narrative is a difficult narrative as I said difficult narrative in a sense that go and tell this people hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not you have to understand it in the light of God's judgment of his people they rejected him and he reserves the right to reject them despite all his pleadings they reject him they reject him and he's going to bring his judgment to bear how long until the cities be wasted without inhabitants and the houses without man and the land be utterly desolate and the

[68:48] Lord have removed men far away it's a picture for us of God's judgment and the Babylonian captivity but yet and it's a message of hope but yet there shall be a seed a holy seed a holy seed this whole narrative has a present or a past looking at Isaiah's day it has a present relevance for us it always has a future relevance the vision that John saw in the revelation he saw the vision he saw a very similar vision revelation 4 8 he saw the Lord the throne and the seraph and say holy holy holy oh to be there to be there some of you might be wondering why did you read revelation chapter 20 what's the relevance of that piece of scripture well the relevance of that piece of scripture is this how tragic would it be to have a throne but not an altar how tragic would it be to have a throne and all its demands and claims but not an altar on which those claims and demands can be met well that's exactly what we have in revelation chapter 20 we have a throne a great white throne a throne of judgment who's sitting on the throne of judgment king jesus the king of kings and the lord of lords and by then it will be too late the great root sin of pride you must make sure you must make sure you must put everything in your power into ensuring that your pride doesn't enable you to accept christ and to bow before him no in submission and confession of your sin because one day you will bow despite yourself and your pride will take you to the day of judgment and your pride may even take you so far as to say to god i can stand before you well if you do woe betide you woe betide anybody whose pride takes them to the day of judgment thinking that they are good enough somehow that god is not what he really says he is there is no altar there no altar there no more grace no more mercy just unmingled judgment the claims of the throne the books opened everybody judged according to their works and one day you will say

[72:48] woe is me but no altar no seraph no burning love just a lake of fire will you not come to Christ will you not see this king will you not experience the salvation that comes from him and him alone will you not know the joy of being a Christian the greatest joy you can ever know is being a Christian being saved by the grace of God in Christ amen let's pray oh Lord and God as we come to the end of those sins we pray the

[73:52] Holy Spirit to convict of sin and convince of Christ and his finished work his righteousness for he made him to be sin new in our sin that we might be made of righteousness of God in him oh bless us together bless the service this evening your servant over the worship and continue with us in your day on your day help us to call the Sabbath a delight to keep it holy oh to keep it holy not just inside the bounds of our homes where no one can see us but within the bounds of our heart which God sees oh keep us and bless us for

[74:53] Christ Savior our final psalm is psalm 43 psalm 43 at verse 3 psalm 43 verse 3 oh send thy light forth and thy truth let them be guides to me and bring me to thine holy hill even where thy dwellings be then will will here here is the psalmist going to the altar of God and what does he say about the altar of God to God my chiefest joy yea God my God thy name to praise my heart I will apply why art thou then cast down my soul what should discourage thee and why with vexing thoughts art thou disquieted in me still trust in

[75:55] God for him to praise good cause I yet shall have he of my countenance is the health my God that doth me save oh send thy light forth and thy truth standing to sleep oh send thy light for thine light good let them be guys to me and bring thee to thy holy hill in when thy dwelling thee then when I took

[76:56] God's heart the road to God my children join yea God my God thy name to preach my heart my will and joy why art thou then trust earn my soul what should this courage be and why respect in those are now despite yet hilt in me still trust in

[78:04] God for him to praise good cause the yet shall have he of my countenance is the health my God that doth me save Amen May the Lord bless the Lord to ph get arm big plus words