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Isaiah: Your Guilt is Taken Away (Isaiah 6:1-13)

Isaiah: Your Guilt is Taken Away (Isaiah 6:1-13)

This is the third sermon in our seven week series on Isaiah. This sermon is “Your Guilt is Taken Away”. Preacher: The Rev’d Adam Lowe. Bible Readings: Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermons – St Bart's Anglican Church · The Rev'd Adam Lowe

October 23, 202226m 14s

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Sermon & Small Group Resources

This is the third sermon in our seven week series on Isaiah. This sermon is “Your Guilt is Taken Away”. Preacher: The Rev’d Adam Lowe. Bible Readings: Isaiah 6:1-13

DOWNLOAD the Small Group Questions, Going Deeper, and Sermon Transcript (PDF).

Next Steps this Week

BIBLE READING: Isaiah 6:1-13

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
    the whole earth is full of his glory.’

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

‘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.’

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’

And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’

He said, ‘Go and tell this people:

‘“Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.”
Make the heart of this people calloused;
    make their ears dull
    and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.’

Then I said, ‘For how long, Lord?’

And he answered:

‘Until the cities lie ruined
    and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
    and the fields ruined and ravaged,
until the Lord has sent everyone far away
    and the land is utterly forsaken.
And though a tenth remains in the land,
    it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
    leave stumps when they are cut down,
    so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.’

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS

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CONNECT: Is there one area in which you are most likely to doubt that God is working out his purposes? How could you hand this over to the Lord and grow in your confidence that the Lord will fulfil his promises?

WARM-UP

  1. What are the most common ways in which our culture teaches us to discover our true self?

  2. How has knowing God helped you to have a clearer understanding of yourself?

Read Isaiah 6:1-7

  1. Who was King Uzziah? How does he compare to the Lord? Why might Isaiah be making this contrast?

  2. How does Isaiah describe the throne room of God? How do the various aspects reflect Godʼs character?

  3. What is the refrain of the seraphim? What does ʻholyʼ mean and what is the significance of the repetition?

  4. How does Isaiah respond to the glory of God? Why was Isaiah afraid at the sight of the Lord?

  5. Should we be afraid of the presence of the Lord? Why or why not?

  6. Do we ever have a tendency to underestimate the height of Godʼs glory and/or the depth of our sin?

  7. What helps you to have and delight in a right view of self and God?

  8. What are seraphim? What is the significance of the coal from the altar? How is this a provision of God?

  9. How has God taken away our guilt through Jesus? How have we been made holy?

  10. How do you know the presence of God and how have you experienced his grace?

Read Isaiah 6:8-13

  1. How keen is Isaiah to respond to Godʼs call? Why was he not enthralled with the task?

  2. What task was God sending Isaiah to do? Have you ever felt reluctant to respond to Godʼs call?

  3. Do you think that God was being unfair in what needed to be proclaimed? Why or why not?

  4. Has following the call of Jesus ever involved you rearranging any aspects of your life? Are there any parts of your life that you feel reluctant to reorientate in service of the Lord?

  5. Whilst a message of judgement, how is the promise of a ʻholy seedʼ a sign of hope?

APPLY: What are the ways in which God has called you to serve him? (You might also like to take the opportunity to ask the opinion of some trusted Christian friends.)

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, please help us to grow our understanding of your holiness, deepen our experience of your grace, and grow in our commitment to serving you. In Jesusʼ Name, Amen.

GOING DEEPER

On Your Frontline This Week: What is a small or big joy on your frontline? Take time to thank God and celebrate it with someone else!


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SERIES Resources:

Topics

Isaiah 2022 Series
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