John MacArthur: The Holiness of God and His People

[Applause] thank you well there goes my eternal reward it should go without saying that one of the highlights of my life is to be here on this occasion um i'm actually thrilled to say that at this age i have any highlights but just stretching out through my whole life this is as a wonderful occasion as i can remember uh and that stems from the fact that r.c made a place in his life for me and enriched me by that i have been telling our people at grace church that worship is rehearsing divine providence let me say it another way worship is meditating on divine providence the older you get the more history of divine providence you have the working of god in the old testament the new testament through church history and then the working of god through the many decades of my life providentially day after day after day after day fills my heart with worship people ask me sometimes if you could look back what would you change about your life well i'd sin less and love more but apart from that i wouldn't change anything because it's really been his story and of the providences that god brought to pass in my life few match the friendship with rc i was asked today by lee webb what i miss most about him and i said everything everything and i'm thrilled to be here if he could hear me from heaven i know he'd be checking with me to see if i get isaiah 6 right since he is the master of isaiah 6. i i want to put isaiah 6 in a context i want to frame it in such a way that will help us to understand not only that chapter but what that chapter communicates of the holiness of god the nature of god and the history of redemption and judgment so i i want you to have your bible with you nearby and i want to move you through some scripture and i want you to turn initially to acts 14. i know that's many miles from isaiah 6. but it's it's very important for us to start there acts 14. barnabas and paul cry out to the crowd that is treating them as if they are gods and in verse 15 we read that they said this men why are you doing these things we are also men of the same nature as you and preached the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living god who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them and then this most important statement in the generations gone by he permitted all the nations to go their own ways and yet he did not leave them leave himself without witness in that he did good and gave you reigns from heaven and fruitful seasons satisfying your heart with food and gladness history is linear history is linear because god began it and god will end it it flows from the first creation to the second and last creation from the creation of the original heaven and earth to the creation of the new heaven and the new earth it moves inexorably along the line of god's divine ordained sovereign will and purpose the story of redemption is the story of the beginning to the very end from the time of the creation of the physical universe to the time of the creation of the final new heaven and new earth but within that linear history moving from the beginning to the very end there are cycles there are cycles that are happening constantly incessantly and they are basically defined in one way by verse 16. in the generations gone by he permitted all the nations to go their own way the word permitted is a ow in the greek and it means to leave alone all the nations before ours came to a point where god let them alone like ephraim is given to idols let him alone there comes a point in the history of every nation where god abandons that nation this is not particularly to us or any other single nation this is the cycle the endless series of cycles of history when god abandons a nation you might say what does it look like turn to romans 1 and i'll show you exactly what it looks like as it says in the book of acts god had put himself on display by rain and the production of fruitful fruitful crops and what john calvin called common grace he displayed himself in the creation he displayed himself in the law written in the heart he displayed himself in human reason which leans leads back to a first cause but inevitably nations cycle through from the knowledge of god to being abandoned by god this is how it works romans 1 18 for the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness let me just stop there and say there are multiple forms of god's wrath there is eternal wrath there is eschatological wrath that comes at the return of christ and previous to his return there is cataclysmic wrath that could come from some natural disaster there is sowing and reaping wrath built into every transgression and iniquity are some inevitable bad consequences there are multiple forms of god's wrath this speaks of something other than those this is the wrath that i would call the wrath of abandonment this is what it looks like when god lets a nation go when he permits them to go their own way when no longer is their restraint on their corruption they suppress the truth in unrighteousness that which is known about god is evident within them god made it evident to them again by the law written in the heart by human reason so that since the creation of the world his invisible attributes his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood through what has been made so that they are without what excuse me it is inexcusable not to believe in god both in his creative power and his moral character verse 21 further indicts humanity even though they knew god not that they knew him savingly but they knew of his existence and something of his nature and power and moral character they did not honor him as god or give thanks they became empty in their speculations their foolish heart was darkened professing to be wise they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptable god for an image in the form of corruptable man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures everything from animism all the way up to the sophisticated kind of agnosticism that makes man the king of the universe in our culture today they have recreated god in their own image when a nation has the knowledge of god has the knowledge of god that is available from creation and from the law written in the heart with an active conscience they are inexcusable when god unleashes his wrath on them if you add to those components which all human beings possess the fact that they have been exposed to his written law the guilt is even greater now it says the wrath of god is revealed against such a society such a nation what does it look like here it comes in verse 24. god gave them over this is god letting them go this is judicial language that is used to speak of a prisoner being turned over to those who inflict punishment on him god in his wrath gave them over let them go to the things that they desired without restraint gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity so that their bodies would be dishonored among them what happens in a nation that god abandons is a sexual revolution it becomes sexually perverted becomes sexually preoccupied this is because verse 25 says they exchange the truth of god for a lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever amen so when you have a nation that has been abandoned by god there will be a sexual revolution verse 26 adds the second stage for this reason god gave them over to a degrading passions for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error that last one may well speak of aids or any other venereal disease that inflicts homosexuals the first step evidencing the abandoned abandonment of god is a sexual revolution second is a homosexual revolution and the women who hold on to normal sexual conduct because they have a built-in mothering instinct are the first to lead that parade in romans one it's the women who exchange the natural function and then the men there's a third step verse 28 just as they did not see fit to acknowledge god again he keeps going back that they didn't acknowledge god that they did not hold on to the truth but exchanged it for a lie again rehearsing the cause of this but the third step verse 28 because they didn't see fit to acknowledge god any longer god gave them over to a depraved mind a mind that doesn't function there's a kind of insanity a nation abandoned by god has a sexual revolution followed by a homosexual revolution followed by insanity and insanity is when you think you're a woman and you're a man insanity is when you think there are a hundred genders insanity is when you make laws to protect those who are out of their minds thinking you're a man when you're a woman puts you in a category of someone who thinks he's a potato chip this is judgment this is the wrath being described in revelation chapter 1. this is the cycle a sexual revolution a homosexual revolution and then a mind that can not function it can never find its way back because it is not rational that irrationality is embedded in behavior cultural expectations and even laws does that sound familiar people sometimes ask me do you think judgment's coming to america no it's here and it's been here for a long time and now it's entrenched not only in the culture but in the leadership they're as insane as the most wretched people in the culture and that insanity dominates everything how how do you find your way back you don't you don't and out of that insanity romans 1 ends with a horrible list of all unrighteousness wickedness greed evil envy murder strife deceit malice gossip slander haters of god insolent arrogant boastful inventors of evil disobedient to parents without understanding untrustworthy unloving unmerciful and then that terrible indictment in verse 32 that even though they know because of the law written in their hearts and their conscience that those who practice such things are worthy of death they not only do the same but they give hearty approval to those who practice them which means they make laws to legalize wickedness you say what does this have to do with isaiah let's go back to isaiah 1. let's go back to israel isaiah's message was to tell israel that they were under judgment they were under judgment and he starts his message in verse 2 listen o heavens and hear o earth for the lord speaks sons i have reared and brought up but they have revolted against me sound familiar again this is the cycle an ox knows its owner a donkey its master's manger but israel does not know my people do not understand the last sinful nation people weighed down with iniquity offspring of evil doers sons who act corruptly they have abandoned the lord they have despised the holy one of israel they have turned away from him where will you be stricken again as you continue in your rebellion the whole head is sick the whole heart is faint from the soul of the foot even to the head there is nothing sound in it only bruises welts raw wounds not pressed out or bandaged not softened with oil your land is desolate your cities are burned with fire your fields strangers are devouring them in your presence it is desolation as overthrown by strangers the daughter of zionists left like a shelter in a vineyard like a shack remaining after the vineyard vineyard has been destroyed like a watchman's hut in a cucumber field like a besieged city unless the lord of hosts had left us a few survivors we would be like sodom and we would be like gomorrah even israel doesn't escape the inevitable judgment of god when they turn from him in psalm 81 we read in verse 10 i the lord am your god who brought you up from the land of egypt open your mouth wide and i will fill it but my people did not listen to my voice and israel did not obey me listen to this so i gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart to walk in their own devices romans 1 he gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart to walk in their own wicked devices that was asaph who lived in david's day because of the rejection of god israel went through the same cycle that all the nations in the past have gone god let him go he removed his restraint he removed his protection and the judgment began to fall he unleashed that judgment with the babylonian massacre and captivity the most powerful account of that judgment is found in isaiah 5 and 6. we've been circling the runway let's land on isaiah 5 and 6. sometimes i can't preach on a whole verse but i'm going to cover two chapters quickly this is this is a very powerful and to understand isaiah 6 you need to understand the context begins with the parable of the lord this is an exquisite parable at the beginning of chapter five it is a dirge it is an elegy it is a funeral song it is a plaintive wailing weeping song let me sing now for my well beloved a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard my beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill he dug it all around removed its stones and planted it with the choicest vine and he built a tower in the middle of it and hewed out a wine vat in it and he then expected it to produce good grapes but it produced only shem hebrew for sour berries and now o inhabitants of jerusalem and men of judah judged between me and my vineyard what more was there to do for my vineyard that i have not done why when i expected it to produce good grapes that it produced worthless ones so now let me tell you what i'm going to do to my vineyard i will remove its hedge it will be consumed i will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground i will lay it waste it will not be pruned or hoed but briars and thorns will come up i will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it in ancient israel as even today the valleys were filled with grain and the hillsides with grapes the rabbis used to say that when god was distributing rocks he accidentally dropped too many of them in israel those rocks all over the hills of israel were used to create the terraces that basically laid the ground for the wine growing this is a sad story jesus is going to pick up on this and make much of it in the parable of mark 12 and we'll get to that you say what does this have to do with jesus it is the father referring to jesus as the well beloved it is the father who said my beloved son in whom i'm well pleased this is a song the father is singing a funeral song about a vineyard that belonged to the beloved one how do we know that verse 7 the vineyard of the lord of hosts is the house of israel and the men of judah his delightful plant thus he looked for justice but behold bloodshed for righteousness but behold a cry of distress now let's look back at the beginning of the parable and see if we can't sort out what's going on in this language this is a sad story even on the agricultural level but on the level of which it is to be interpreted it is infinitely more sad what does it mean that god had a vineyard on a fertile hill that god chose a people and put them in a land full of milk and what honey a veritable garden of potential productivity he dug it all around removed its stones some commentators think that refers to god removing the canaanites who were a threat to israel planted it with the choicest vine jews are one tenth of one percent of the world population and 27 of them have won nobel prizes fifty percent of the ch chess champions uh in the last century or so have been jewish and 25 percent of all those accepted into ivy league schools they're a noble vine they're a noble vine and they were planted in a fertile hill and he built a tower in the middle of it probably referring to jerusalem in any vineyard he'd have a tower to look for animals or enemies who would come and do harm and jerusalem was the tower and the those who occupied the tower were kings and priests and prophets and there's a a wine vat and that may well have reference to the sacrificial system with all of that effort he expected good grapes and he got sour berries then come the rhetorical questions could god have done any more than he did and the answer is no that's that's plenty to have expected good grapes why did they produce worthless ones well according to romans 3 they were given the oracles of god according to romans 9 they were given the adoption they were given the covenants the law they were given the temple they were given the fathers they were given the promises and they were even given christ why the failure why when god looked for justice was there bloodshed why when he looked for righteousness was there a cry of distress in hebrew he looked for mishpock and found mispak he looked for zeddakah and found za'aka play on words so yahweh has lavished love on israel and they have rebelled and god reacts verse 5. i'm going to leave you unprotected completely exposed and you're going to be wiped out the hedge of protection the wall of protection trampled down you're going to be laid waste never cared for no rain this is the wrath of abandonment i'm done with you i'm done with you this is the way all the nations have gone through human history even israel the lord doesn't just make a general indictment he probes that's the parable here's the probing it starts in verse eight let's look at specific sins and you will see here the word woe running down through verse 23 used six times woe is in hebrew an onomatopoeic expression why expressing horror at the judgment woe to those who had house to house and join field to field until there is no room they were characterized by materialism grasping materialism and he said your houses are going to be desolate even the big houses the great and fine ones the second woe in verse 11 to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp by tambourine and flute and by wine but they do not pay attention to the deeds of the lord nor consider the work of his hands meaning the creation of the body they take no thought for their own bodies this is drunken pleasure seeking characterized by wild drunken parties because of these two sins verse 13 says therefore my people go into exile for their lack of knowledge verse 14 he says sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure in jerusalem splendor her multitude her den of revelry and the jubilant jubilant within her meaning the wild drunkenness and all it goes with it descend into the mouth of sheol the humble ark destroyed and so are the proud verse 16 but the lord of hosts will be exalted in judgment and the holy god will show himself holy in righteousness now we're getting a hint at what isaiah 6 is about it's about holiness related to judgment it's about holiness related to judgment the woes continue the third one is in verse 18. what are those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood and sin as if with cart ropes in other words they have such a load of sin they can't carry it on their own back they have to get a wagon fill it with their sin and parade it by the pulling of animals this is defiant sinfulness this is aggressive sinfulness and this is also mocking sinfulness verse 19 they say to god let him make speed let him hasten his work that we may see it and let the purpose of the holy one of israel draw near and come to pass that we may know it this is them saying if god doesn't like it let him do something about it defiant scornful mockery where they even refer to him as the holy one and dare him to stop what they're doing the fourth sin is in verse 20 what are those who call evil good and good evil who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness to substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter i know you've probably thought of isaiah 5 20 as you look at what's happening in our country where everything is turned upside down the criminalize righteousness and legalize sin this is moral perversion grasping materialism drunken pleasure seeking defiant sinfulness moral perversion and down in verse 21 is the fifth one woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight that's arrogant conceit arrogant conceit they they think they can do anything they want and they're proud about it and then number six and verse 22 what are those who are heroes and drinking wine and valiant men in mixing drink who justify the wicked for a bribe and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right the word heroes and valiant men refer to leaders corrupt leadership the sins that dominated their culture materialism the pleasure madness defiant sinfulness moral perversion arrogant conceit and corrupt leaders they escalated because god let them go they escalated to a point where judgment had to fall so you see the parable and you see the probing into the sin and then in verse 24 you see the punishment as god promises them there is judgment coming and i'll just look at it briefly he defines it in terms of fire flame rot dust and again at the end of verse 24 for they have rejected the law of the lord of hosts and despised the word of the what holy one of israel verse 25 on this account the anger of the lord has burned against his people he has stretched out his hand against them and struck them down and the mountains quaked and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets for all this his anger is not spent but his hand is still stretched out in judgment in particular it's going to be the babylonians in verse 26 it's a distant nation it's as if he whistles for the nation the nation comes to execute his judgment verse 26 says they come speedily or swiftly verse 28. now verse 27 says they are relentless they do not weary they do not sleep verse 28 says their arrows are sharp their bows are bent their horses are like a whirlwind verse 29 says they are like a lioness who is seizing his prey its and the end of verse 29 no one is able to deliver it into verse 30 darkness and distress this is where you're introduced to the holiness of god in this context the holiness of god is made manifest over and over and over and over through all of human history in the judgment of nations and generations of people and that judgment is an abandonment now that gets us to chapter six isaiah is profoundly distressed it's not supposed to be going this way he's a prophet he wants the best for his people he needs help he needs what rc always said we all need a vision of god right and god answers him verse 1 in the year of king azia's death you say is that important it is if your name is isaiah or mrs zaziah but it's particularly important because he had reigned for 52 years this death occurs in 740 bc but as long as isaiah was in power it was sort of a symbolic evidence of god's blessing isaiah died how did he die second chronicles 26 says that he was lifted up in his heart so he acted corruptly what was the corrupt act he he went in and offered a sacrifice he invaded the priesthood which he was not allowed to do and god hit him with leprosy and he lived in isolation until his death by the way 80 priests had confronted him about doing what he did but it was the confrontation of the lord that was most devastating so now the indictment is clear the judgment is clear and the one hope we we still have a king who is good and they were strong in the cold war position because they had a powerful army the nation was being blessed flourishing economically agriculturally but all of a sudden he is struck by god with leprosy and isaiah wants to check in we had this leader and even though he may not have been godly it seemed that he ticked off enough boxes to maintain blessing on our nation and then god killed him isaiah needed to find god and he needed to check on one thing to start with is he still in charge right verse one in the year of king azia's death i saw the lord here's the good news sitting on what what hmm thank you lord ever since the election of joe biden we needed to check in and find if we could have a vision and be sure god was still on the throne he needed sovereignty for comfort the most comforting doctrine of all is sovereignty of god he's on the throne nothing has changed he is not only on the throne he's not slouching he is lofty and exalted and his glory completely fills the temple in the vision in other words his glory extends throughout the fullness of everything that isaiah can see he is all glorious lofty exalted absolutely sovereign he is undisturbed he is unconquered he is impassable which is to say he is unaffected this is exactly what isaiah needed to see because everything seemed so out of control in the 14th chapter of isaiah verse 24 the lord of hosts isaiah writes the lord of hosts has sworn saying surely just as i have intended so it has happened and just as i have planned so it will stand is that comforting isaiah's comfort is based on god's sovereignty the greatest comfort we have is that god is on the throne high lifted up and his glory fills everything plan is on schedule it just happens to be the plan of judgment isaiah's comfort however is short-lived verse 2 says seraphim stood above him each having six wings with two he covered his face and with two he covered his feet and with two he flew seraphim appear to be angels that guard the holiness of god and six wings two covering the face of the angel because even they are created beings and can't look on the glory of god according to exodus 33 without being incinerated the two covered their feet because they were in the presence of holiness holy ground and with two literally in hebrew they hovered like celestial helicopters waiting to be dispatched as hebrews 1 14 says for the ministry of the saints and then verse three one called out to another and said holy holy holy try hugging on holy as the father holy as the son holy is the spirit thrice holy is god the triune god no other attribute is repeated in this way three times this is his uniqueness this sums up his complete otherness holy holy holy is the lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory his glory is tied to his sovereignty in verse one his glory is tied to his holiness in verse three and as comforting as his sovereignty is just so terrifying is his holiness because in verse four it says the foundations of the threshold trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke to see the holiness of god is a terrifying reality this is why peter when he knew the lord was in the boat said depart from me for i am what sinful man he didn't say wow jesus what a cool miracle all those fish came out of nowhere when he knew he was in the presence of the creator all he could see about himself was his own wretchedness all creation responds to the glory of god everything starts shaking according to verse 4 everything in the vision trembles in 66 chapter isaiah says that god is looking for the one who trembles at his word the clear view of god friends is this it is both reassuring and terrifying it is both reassuring and terrifying it is reassuring because of his sovereignty it is terrifying because of his holiness god is in control but he is god and if you expected him to do anything other than judge the nations that go their own way you don't understand his holiness and the prophet wasn't so much moved by the transgressions of the people around him although he was aware of it but rather by his own sinfulness in verse 5 he responds woe is me do you think he knows what the word woe means he just used it six times in chapter five woe is me for i am ruined i am literally falling apart i am crumbling i am going to pieces i am disintegrating i am being destroyed the prophet is crushed by the recognition of the holiness of god because he was a man of a dirty mouth you might say well look you've got a bad self-image you're not going to make much of a profit he was among people with dirty mouths why does he choose the mouth because that's where you most freely sin you can do other sins but there's some planning involved but there's not planning in the sins that just come out of your mouth out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks so he comes to realize his own sin and you might say to him i say you're a little carried away you're the best mouth we've got you're the prophet he says you don't understand end of the verse verse 5 my eyes have seen the king the lord of hosts i'm not comparing myself with you i'm comparing myself with the holy one i would say that it's pretty obvious that this generation of so-called evangelicals have neither a clear view of the sovereignty of god or his holiness they are neither comforted nor terrified and he is a dirty mouth prophet surely can't continue to speak for god that section is the presence of the lord then we come in verse six to the purification heaven acts by the way do we need to say sovereignly isaiah's prayer is purely a prayer of confession then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with tongs he touched my mouth with it and said behold this has touched your lips and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven sovereignly heaven acts it is powerful and it is painful if you want to test the pain of this when you have the barbecue on july 4th that the president says you can have take maybe take the coal off the fire and put it on your tongue the altar here is symbolic of the altar of atonement which we know is a picture of the cross that atonement is applied painfully to the lips of the prophet there's a behold in here behold this has touched your lips this is the surprise of sovereign grace and i love this your iniquity is taken away and your sins literally are atoned for your sins are atoned for and finally for the first time in verse 8 god speaks then 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 i don't think he said here am i send me he was the only one in the vision it probably was like you could send me verse 9 he said go what kind of person is the lord looking for in a nation under divine wrath and judgment somebody perfect you wouldn't have anybody would he all i can do is pick up sinners who've been forgiven who will go and speak to these people humbly willingly with a broken heart the prophet says you're my send me god says go and tell this people now we come to the important point what is the message what is the message here's the message tell them this keep on listening but do not perceive keep on looking do not understand render the hearts of this people insensitive their ears dull their eyes dim otherwise they might see with their eyes here with their ears understand with their heart and return and be healed what what is that go and tell them they can't perceive they can't understand they're too insensitive too dull too dim and i've made it that way and so that they don't see with their eyes they don't hear with their ears they don't understand with their hearts and they don't return and be healed this is bizarre ordination into evangelistic ministry you know what the message was tell them this it's too late too late it's too late you had your chance you had your season it's now too late judgment has arrived you wouldn't and now you couldn't so tell them it's too late so isaiah says in verse 11 what i would say lord how long do i do that how long do i just go around and tell them it's too late judgment has come it's inevitable it can't be remedied it's too late and he said until the cities are devastated and without inhabitant houses are without people and the land is utterly desolate you keep telling them until there's no one left under the fury of that judgment except the last living person and then tell that person and what are you telling them god is holy he cannot look upon iniquity he cannot tolerate sin he is god keep doing it until the lord has removed men far away and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land the message to a nation under judgment it's too late they're going the way of every other nation that's the message today in our nation it's too late you turned against god the knowledge of god was yours both that knowledge which is built into humanity and the knowledge of his saving purpose through holy scripture has been a part of this culture the message is too late say well is that the end no there's another verse listen to this yet there will be a tenth portion in it and it will again be subject to burning like a terabyte or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled when the judgment is over there will be a remnant there will be a stump which he calls the holy seed so here's the point out there in this nation under judgment is god's chosen remnant you tell the nation it's too late but god will draw through the gospel his elect tell the nation too late god's remnant will come go and preach judgment tell them it's too late turn to john as we kind of wrap up john chapter 12 this passage by the way is quoted in matthew mark luke and john in similar context but i want to show you we don't have time to cover everything let's go to jesus we just jumped from the 8th century bc to the 1st century a.d and verse 37 says though he had performed so many signs before them yet they were not believing in him this is the ministry of jesus this was to fulfill the word of isaiah the prophet which he spoke lord who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed that's isaiah 53 1 for this reason they what could not believe they would not they could not for isaiah said again he has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart and be converted and i heal them these things isaiah said because he saw his glory and he spoke of him jesus said exactly the same thing to the israel of his day that isaiah said to the israel of his day it's too late you wouldn't and you couldn't and to show that as an illustration verse 42 many even of the the rulers believed in him but because of the pharisees they were not confessing him for fear they'd be put out of the synagogue for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of god even those who superficially believed couldn't believe savingly there was isaiah saying it's too late it was jesus saying it's it's too late at the end of the book of acts the apostle paul chapter 28. verse 23 he had been solemnly testifying to jews about the kingdom of god and trying to persuade them concerning jesus from both the law of moses and from the prophets from morning until evening some were being persuaded by the things spoken but others would not believe and when they didn't agree with one another they began leaving after paul had spoken one parting word here's his parting word the holy spirit rightly spoke through isaiah the prophet to your father saying go to this people and say you will keep on hearing but will not understand you will keep on seeing but will not perceive for the heart of this people has become dull and with their ears they scarcely hear and they have closed their eyes otherwise they might see with their eyes here with their ears and understand with their heart in return and i would heal them paul is saying to those jews it's too late it's too late verse 28 let it be known to you that this salvation of god has been sent to the gentiles they will listen and that's the church it is too late too late for this nation but not too late for the elect go back to isaiah 1. verse 10 hear the word of the lord you rulers of sodom calls jerusalem sodom give here to the instruction of our god you people of gomorrah what are your multiplied sacrifices to me says the lord i've had enough of burnt offering of rams and the fat of fed cattle i take no pleasure in the blood of bulls lambs or goats when you come to appear before me who requires of you this trampling of my courts bring your worthless offerings no longer incense is an abomination to me new moon and sabbath the calling of assemblies i cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly i hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts they have become a burden to me and i'm weary of them and by the way god ordained them but it was too late verse 15 so when you spread out your hands in prayer i'll hide my eyes from you wow even though you multiply prayers i will not listen your hands are covered with blood but that's not the end a final plea to those who can believe wash yourselves make yourselves clean remove the evil of your deeds from my sight cease to do evil learn to do good seek justice reprove the worthless defend the orphan plead for the widow come now let us reason together says the lord though your sins are a scarlet they will be as white as snow though they are red like crimson they will be like wool too late for the nation not too late for the elect father we thank you for your word so much more to say about this but help us to grasp this that we have to be faithful to proclaim judgment we can't be telling people that god is in heaven hoping they'll think kindly of him and come to him he is on the throne wreaking havoc in this world through his holy judgment we thank you that we are comforted by your sovereignty and the fear of your holiness was removed when the coal from off the altar touched our lips and we were forgiven but lord the rest of the people around us the nation this generation have to hear the message that it's too late it's too late but it's never too late for those whose names are written in your book use us to call them to repentance and grant them both repentance and faith in the savior may he gather his elect and return to take us all home we pray in his glorious name amen you

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Keywords: coal, dr. john macarthur, god, god is holy, god's holiness, god's people, holiness, holy, holy holy holy, isaiah 6, john macarthur, john macarthur sermons, ligcon, ligonier ministries, ligonier national, ligonier national conference 2021, reformed theology, seraphim, seraphim in isaiah 6, the bible, the holiness of god, the holiness of god john macarthur, the prophet, the prophet isaiah, theology, touched his lips with coal, unclean lips, understanding isaiah 6

Id: ojKQL_L1-IM

Length: 64min 15sec (3855 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 18 2021