Light Beyond the Darkness Introduction This morning we want to learn from Isaiah chapters 6-12. I have entitled this sermon, “Light Beyond the Darkness.” I want to bring out a key principle from these chapters and in the words of a commentator “The principle is the place Isaiah accords to hope in the life of the people of God. [What we see as we go through these chapters is that Isaiah] always sees hope for divine action against all the odds of human merit and deserving.” Every where we are confronted with the darkness of sin. Harsh, unfair, insensitive words streaming out of us at our spouse, a loved one wasting away with a terminal illness kept alive by morphine and drugs, violence and the threat of violence, families torn apart by substance abuse and divorce, a shattered reputation, loss of trust, emotional pain, shame, guilt the inevitable consequences of sin. The hope of a bright future for ourselves, the light beyond the darkness is not brought about by a gradual improvement on our part or our own great planning for the future but in the words of a commentator, “it is a work of God; it comes as the outworking of the logic of his faithfulness; it dawns because he is as true to Himself in mercy as He is in judgment.” And so what we see in these chapters is light beyond the darkness. Or to be more specific hope beyond the pending doom of God’s wrath played out on Israel as the just consequence of their perversion, idolatry, witchcraft, adultery, and lust for sensual pleasure and material things and lack of faith. The passage we want to study in detail is Isaiah 6:1-13. In this passage Isaiah is sharing the account of his commissioning by God to the office of prophet to the people of Israel. The hope Isaiah sees for divine action against all the odds of human merit and deserving is birthed out of his own experience of God in these verses. All of Isaiah’s message in chapters 6-12, and the rest of the book, emulate from his life-transforming encounter with God in these verses. Read: Isaiah 6:1-13 “In the year that King Uzziah died,…” This statement is significant. He could have said, “In the last year of Uzziah’s reign” but he intentionally mentions the death of Uzziah. Nationally this was very significant. The reign of Uzziah, which spanned the whole first half of the eighth century, was a time of military expansion, political stability and great prosperity. But as Uzziah’s reign drew to a close it was clear that this state of affairs could not be maintained much longer. Five years before Uzziah’s death, in 745 BC, an ambitious and capable new leader came to power in Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser III. In the year Uzziah died the international scene was full of threat and it was clear that Uzziah’s son Jotham would not be the leader that his father had been. The year that king Uzziah died marked a fall into darkness nationally, socially, religiously for Judah. As one commentator said, “The new-found wealth was not evenly distributed. It was concentrated in the hands of an economic elite who cared little for the have-nots beneath them. Deep fissures were opening up in Judean society as justice was bought and sold, or simply disregarded and replaced by violent exploitation and repression. Religious observance continued, but could no longer conceal the rot that had set in underneath. The creed that the Lord was king had become hollow. Its ethical implications were disregarded at home, and it no longer inspired much confidence when one looked out on the changing world beyond Judah’s fragile borders. It was going to be a hard creed to live by in the turbulent years that lay ahead.” In the year that King Uzziah died the nation of Judah was plunging into the darkness and judgment Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 5:26 “He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Here they come, swiftly and speedily[God was going to bring the Assyrian’s against Judah…30 In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks at the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be darkened by the clouds.” And so that is the darkness. But listen, in that year when the darkness was settling in “In the year the King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple” Yes Uzziah has died but I saw the Lord seated on a throne, And so there is the darkness of Uzziah’s death but the light beyond the darkness is that God is our eternal King who reigns supreme with dominion and authority over the universe. I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, Isaiah saw God high and exalted and listen to what he writes: Isaiah 29:16 “Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, "Who sees us? Who will know?" 16 You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"?” God is exalted: Isaiah 40:25-26 25 "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. 26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple” The train of His robe filled the temple and if only the train of his robe filled the temple then how majestic and awesome and big is our God. As one commentator said “In other words, words fail to describe the greatness of this God. They can rise no higher than the hem of His robe. This is analogous to the words of the elders in Exodus 24 when they return from feasting with God on the mountain and report that ‘under His feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself.’ Words stop at the pavement. God is utterly outside our categories. To try to describe Him in terms of the created world is always to fail.” What we can learn from verse one: Isaiah sees the darkness of Uzziah’s death and light beyond the darkness: The Lord Almighty is our King and He is eternal. He is sovereign. He reigns in awesome majesty and absolute authority and dominion. Read through verse 2-4 Now here again is darkness: Isaiah 6:5 “"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." “I am ruined” the word “ruin” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to be silent.” This could refer to the silence of loss, or death or also to translate it ‘silenced’ would fit here as Isaiah could not enter into the choir of praise for he was excluded He was outside. He was in darkness. But why didn’t Isaiah say my heart is unclean, why his lips? Jesus’ words in Matthew 15:11 “What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’…15:17-19 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean’. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean,’…’” And so the term “unclean lips” is comprehensive and encompasses all of Isaiah’s being. Isaiah 64:6 “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” The darkness of seclusion, of separation, of guilt, of shame, deserved death because of the evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander coming from a heart of darkness. And so there is the darkness of Isaiah’s guilt and shame and yet we will find light beyond the darkness in verses 6-7 The undeserved, extravagant grace of God. Guilt: taken away; Sin: atoned for. The hope of a bright future for ourselves, the light beyond the darkness is not brought about by a gradual improvement on our part or our own great planning for the future but in the words of a commentator, “it is a work of God; it comes as the outworking of the logic of his faithfulness; it dawns because he is as true to Himself in mercy as He is in judgment.” We must not think that in any way God is obligated, because of some inherent goodness on our part, to forgive us and take away our guilt. To think that somehow we are compatible with God, that we could somehow come together. As one commentator described it: “We no more have the ‘right’ to God’s love than a bale of hay has the ‘right’ to live in a blast furnace. ‘Rights don’t enter into the question; the two things are simply utterly incompatible. There is a strong likelihood that until we come to an understanding of ourselves like this, we will treat the grace of God—his unfailing, undeserved love—as a throwaway item: ‘Of course God loves me; that’s His job.’ No, it is not His job. It is an unimaginable, unexpected, and, indeed, unnecessary wonder of the universe.” God removes Isaiah’s guilt and atones for his sin and now in verse 8 the result of seeing his own sin in light of God’s holiness. [read verse 8] Notice that God did not ask Isaiah to go? God, in His grace, allowed Isaiah to hear and understand that there was an opportunity to serve. Isaiah was now ready to truly serve because he had seen God. There was no more self-righteousness, arrogance, or self-will. “Hear am I, send me!” Listen to the strange commission: 9-10 Speak the truth. Speak the truth plain and simply and the people will not respond. And the truth spoken plainly will condemn them as I have given them over to the hardness of their hearts. The truth will make the heart of the people calloused and their ears dull. You could tickle their ears telling them what they want to hear, gaining a following, but I want you to speak the truth. Verse 11-13 You will not succeed. I have already given them over to destruction. And yet again notice the light in the darkness: 13b This can be referring to two truths: 1] God will leave a purified remnant. 2] It is a reference to Jesus as in ch.11 Jesus is referred to as a shoot coming up from the stump of Jesse. And so we have this theme: Light beyond the darkness. Conclusion: We can trace this principle of hope through Chapters 7-12 In Chapters 7:1-17 we have Ahaz failing to lead Israel by faith in the face of the northern threat of King Peka of Israel and Resin of Damascus. In Chapters 7:18-8:8 the pending judgment. Consequences of lack of faith and the complete turning away from the Holy One of Israel. And then chapter 9:1-7 hope breaking through with the promise of the coming King Jesus reigning of David’s throne with justice and righteousness. And so in chapters 7-8 the failed king and the darkness of divine judgment and then in the first 8 verses of ch. 9 the light beyond the darkness: Jesus the coming King. And then in chapters 9:8-11:16 We see a parallel message given to Israel. The moment of decision, divine judgment, and then in chapter 11 again royal hope, light beyond the darkness: the coming Messiah. And this is a message for us. Though Canada and our leaders, may be refusing to live by faith, and spurning the Holy God, and are subject to judgment and the consequences of sin there is light beyond the darkness. We yet find hope in our personal faith in the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to forgive us and transform our lives which is a guarantee of our reward that is yet to come at the return of Christ. Light beyond the darkness. Isaiah 9:6-7 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned…For to us a child is born…He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 “For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"[a]made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” Matthew 5:14-16 14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” And so as individuals and as individuals living in community we can sing the song of the forgiven remnant in Chapter 12 [read it]