Princeton Presbyterian Church

Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1719

February 22, 2026

Isaiah 6.1-13                         Click here for audio worship.

Dr. Ed Pettus

(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)

 

“Holy, Holy, Holy!”

 

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. 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. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 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!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.

 

• Holy, Holy, Holy!

 

I heard someone recently speaking on this simple phrase, “holy, holy, holy,” and he lifted up the possibility that the threefold expression could speak to the Trinity of the Godhead. Holy is God the Father, holy is God the Son, holy is God the Holy Spirit. I don’t know if I have ever really made that connection or even considered why repeat holy three times. If not about the Trinity, it is certainly about emphasis. It is certainly about the otherness of God. God is holy – unlike any other. God is holy – set apart from any other god. God is holy – without stain of sin. God is holy in that He is utterly unique, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, and more, and all in the vastness of the term glory. His holiness is somewhat beyond words and beyond our comprehension. Therefore, we stand in awe and in the only response we can utter, “Holy, holy, holy!”

I think Isaiah would have had difficulty in finding enough words to describe what he saw in this vision but what he heard was the threefold expression of holiness from the seraphim, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” What Isaiah saw was the throne, the robe that filled the temple, the angels who spoke, and the smoke that filled the house. What he heard were words lifting up holiness and glory. He also felt a shaking of the thresholds at the voice of God, I suspect it felt like an earthquake and with it a loud rumble. This really sets the stage for all that happens in the book of Isaiah. God’s holiness is everywhere in the book and in creation and in our understanding of our God. This powerful vision reveals the holy One who is Judge and Redeemer, King and Lord, Creator and Provider. None can stand in His presence, none before the glory of the Lord, and Isaiah knows the power and the vastness of the Lord which leads him to the realization of his sinfulness and the sinfulness of the people of Israel. All he knows now is his humility, frailty, sinfulness, and incredible need before the Holiness of God.

• Woe is Me

 

Because of the awesome holiness of God, Isaiah sees clearly the sinfulness of his own person and all people. While the angels are flying around singing holy, holy, holy, Isaiah can only say, “Woe is me.” He had just proclaimed a series of “woes” against Israel and now calls one on himself. So often we might seek to justify ourselves by comparing with other people. Of course, we might find another who is worse than we are in some way. But stand before the Lord. Stand in the presence of the Holy God and comparisons with others are completely obliterated. Stand before the throne and we begin to see our own sinfulness along with the sinfulness of those we may have thought we could compare or contrast. We would all be saying, “Woe is me!”

But something miraculous occurs in this vision. God sends a hot coal by way of the seraphim and touches Isaiah’s lips with it. That had to hurt! But it does not seem to; it does something we might not expect. The burning coal touches what is unholy and “burns” the unholy to make one holy. God’s holiness is what cleanses Isaiah’s sinfulness. It does not take a “brainiac” to make the connection with Christians, that in Jesus Christ we have been made holy by His sacrifice on the cross. We have been made holy only because Jesus gave Himself to cleanse us of sin. We are only holy in that God is holy!

 

For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” Leviticus 11.45

 

but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1.15-16

 

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2.9-10

 

Isaiah was cleansed by the holiness of God through a burning coal. We have been cleansed by the holiness of the sacrificial Lamb of God, Jesus Christ!

 

• Whom Shall I Send?

 

There is a new creation when we have been regenerated and have repented and been forgiven and believed in Christ and have been born again and have been transformed. And there is a new willingness to serve and follow and obey. I think this was true of Isaiah, even when he was already serving as a prophetic voice, this vision of the Lord sparked an even greater willingness to go wherever God called.

 

And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

 

Everything changes for us when we have been touched by God. For Isaiah it was a willingness to go. “Send me.” For us it is a similar call to follow, to go and make disciples, to conduct our lives in holiness, and all that God’s Word commands for us. May we be willing always to say, “Here I am! Send me.”

• The Message

 

God gives Isaiah a message to proclaim. It is the kind of message that one might preface with, “don’t kill the messenger, I’m just the messenger here!”

 

“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

 

Here is what you shall say...there is little hope for you who are spiritually deaf and blind, hard of heart. In fact your heart will be hardened all the more, ears and eyes further hardened. God has come to a troubling proclamation that there is no hope for this people. Sin is deadly. Rebellion against God will meet judgment and so God sends prophet after prophet to warn Israel.

This is an alarming text because it is quoted again in the New Testament on two occasions in full. Jesus was asked about why He spoke in parables, Matthew 13.10-17,

 

Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

 

What does it mean when He says, “seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear?” I think it is about pride and a particular arrogance that makes people think they know everything and yet they are the ones who know nothing! Israel in Isaiah’s day thought they knew, but had no humility, in fact they sinned and rebelled deeply in their ignorance. The Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus’ day also thought they knew more that the Scriptures and they were blinded to the Messiah’s presence by their own distorted perspectives.

 

The second use is when Paul spoke to the Jews in Rome, Acts 28.23-28, When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: “‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

 

They had eyes but could not or would not see. They had ears but could not or would not listen. Paul really cuts to their hearts when he tells them the Gentiles will listen! Paul writes the same message in shorthand in his letter to the Romans, Romans 11.7-8 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”

 

This is still the case today for many Jews in Israel and around the world. It is the case for many Gentiles as well! What a phrase, “God gave them a spirit of stupor.” We need to use the word “stupor” more often. Would it not fit so well with politics, with people disillusioned by wokeness, and those who live in a bubble of foolishness? They have a spirit of stupor. May we never fall into that category. May we be humble before the Lord, knowing His Word, His will, and yet realizing how little we truly know.

I thought also about how the world in general wants nothing but that which is pleasing to the ear. The world wants only that which validates their actions. The world refuses to hear anything that challenges their worldview. And sadly, the same can be said for some in the church and Paul exhorts Timothy to always preach the truth, 2 Timothy 4.1-5, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

 

No doubt every generation has had such a people who will not hear sound teaching but only want what is assuring them of their own sinfulness. It is the trap of the culture infiltrating the church and its teachings and causing some to abandon God’s Truth for the rhetoric of the world and culture, in essence, the lies of the devil.

 

• The Hope

 

While God gives a less than encouraging message, He does offer hope with one line at the end of this vision in Isaiah 6. One line - “The holy seed is its stump.” The terebinth and the oak are known to sprout new seedlings out of the stump. This is the hope that remains. Even thought few will see or hear, even though judgment will be executed, even when all hope seems lost, a stump remains, a hope remains. God will bring judgment upon those who are spiritually deaf and blind, but a few will sprout up and remain. Hope. Always a hope in God’s message.

We shall see, in a couple of weeks, another shoot from a stump, in Isaiah 11.1-2, There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” This is a preview of Sunday after next! This is the hope of Israel and the hope for the world in the person of Jesus Christ upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rested, upon whom was wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord. This is the hope that always rests in the heart of God and His Word. A hope for all who will see and hear and understand. This is our hope today as we trust in God and follow the Christ. Amen.