June 11, 2021 -- Isaiah 6:1-5 -- Truly Cleansed

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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!”

Isaiah 6:1-5 ESV

How clean is clean? Yesterday my wife received a cleaning product. The instructions are clear, soak fabric in this cleaner and the dirt trapped in the fibers, hid from sight on fabrics that appear clean, will be released. So, the tea towels used for dishes were soaked in this liquid soluble solution. Note, these towels had been washed already in the laundry. These tea towels are used exclusively to dry dishes that have already been washed. So it was surprising to see how the soaking waters became gross with all the released dirt.

Isn’t that the case with us? We are sure “we’re fine” or “we’re good”. At least, we are to all outward appearances clean and upright. We even believe it ourselves. Surely, if we compare our lives and actions to others, we come away from the comparison thinking we’re fine. That is, until we are in the presence of true purity and cleanness.

Isaiah was a prophet of the LORD. He had already prophesied to the people of the LORD the Word of the Living God. Yet, this same prophet, when confronted with the holiness of the LORD, was profoundly aware how impure, unclean, and defiled he actually was. People of the Living God, confronted by His Word and Spirit we realize how much sin and stain clings to us.

Thanks be to God for the healing Isaiah experienced—”your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7). As New Testament Christians, we read this and know this is the work of Jesus Christ at the cross—our defilements and impurities, our sin both known and all that is hidden to us are all cleansed and we are made holy. Blessed is the LORD our God. In view of the purification received in Christ—go and serve the King of Glory fearlessly and with all the strength you have and all the giftedness He has put at your disposal.

With the Apostle Paul, having examined our lives and actions in the light of Scripture, we declare “What a wretch I am! Who will deliver us from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Blessed are You, LORD our Father, for the cleansing You have given us in Jesus Christ. Spirit of the Living God, renew in us a fresh and holy zeal to serve our God this day and always. Amen.

The quotation marks in this prayer set apart Romans 7:24-25a

https://youtu.be/sI6ZkTbUgW4