special speaker today, Ed Boyle. He's a senior at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. And of course, he's our newest member. And I remember when I was in Bible college and I would sit there and I'd hear the pastor preach. And I used to say, why don't he ever give me a shot? And we had 14 ordained ministers in the church that I was in because Florida was a place where you like to retire, you know. And every once in a while, when he'd go on vacation, he'd let me preach instead of all those other 14. And I always treasured that. But Ed's a good brother. He loves Christ. And I'm excited for us today. And they couldn't have picked a better day, because I don't know if I could get through a sermon or not. So brother, God bless you. And come and share with us God's word. I outlined this just the way I would have preached it. If you want, you know you can look now. How's that? Oh, yeah. I don't have to work too hard to project on that, do I? Well, I want to thank Pastor Maynard and all of you today for the privilege of bringing the Lord's Word this morning. What a beautiful day, and it is truly a privilege to come here today, and I really appreciate, Pastor Bob, you giving me this opportunity. A great privilege to bring the Word of the Lord to the Lord's people. What a great God we serve. I wanted to say something, though, considering the great Mess sermon series on the Old Testament that Pastor Maynard just recently finished here. I had to pass on a bit of humor. I hope you enjoy it. Because the Lord does have a sense of humor, obviously. You see me standing up here preaching, so the Lord does have a sense of humor. I wanted to ask, in regard to the book of Ruth, what kind of man was Boaz before he got married? Ruthless. Come on. I know that was bad. It was bad. But I couldn't resist that. When I saw that one recently, I thought, oh, I've got to do that for Pastor Bob. Well, a couple years ago I heard someone's concern, I read this, that many pastors today in America no longer tremble at the task of bringing the Lord's Word to his people. David Wells wrote back in 1994, the fundamental problem in the evangelical world today is that God rests too inconsequentially upon his church. His truth is too distant, his grace too ordinary, his judgment is too benign, his gospel is too easy, and his Christ is too common, and his preachers do not tremble at the task of taking his word upon their lips. We just read in Isaiah a man who saw his unclean lips. Brothers and sisters, I pray that we will tremble before the Lord's word this morning and be thankful that we have a pastor who trembles at his word and brings it to us faithfully every week. Well, my sermon title today, as you can see from the outline, in your bulletin is New Year, same God. Hard to believe it's already 2017, isn't it? 2016 is already gone, literally gone, as of a few hours ago. And here we are in 2017, a new year, we read about people's silly New Year's resolutions, we get emails with, you know, all the goofiest New Year's resolutions out there. But it brings expectation. For some of you, I can already see in your faces, that means that the school year is one day closer to restarting. So for students and teachers, another day closer to getting back to the grind. I don't make any New Year's resolutions myself. But one week ago was Christmas Day, the most cheerful and glorious of days. And even for unbelievers, as we know, many of our friends and family, there's something special about the Christmas season. that seems to transcend time and place. And so what I want us to do this morning is take a look at who is this God with whom we have to do. That's the basic question that we ask ourselves every day, or that we should be asking ourselves, who is the Lord? We saw a glimpse of that with the prophet Isaiah just now. You ever walked in somewhere and immediately realized you really didn't belong in that place? The prophet Isaiah felt just that way, as we just read. Let's take a look at the text again. If you see in Isaiah chapter 6, the pastor read the first eight verses for us. What a life-altering experience for this young man. In the year that King Uzziah died, he saw the Lord high and lifted up. The train of his robe filled the temple. Some of us have seen in a wedding, a long wedding gown, one person, sometimes two people, trailing behind the bride, carrying the train. Picture the scene that Isaiah describes, the train of the Lord's robe filled the temple. It was enormous, the details that the prophet gives us here. So as we look at that, what the prophet Isaiah saw, he mentions first the year that King Uzziah died. We're on the cusp of a new year. The year that King Uzziah died was about 740 B.C., 740 years before the birth of Christ, roughly. He died. He had been reigning for 52 years. He had generally been a good king. If you're familiar with some of the kings of Israel and Judah, they're always listed by the writers of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles in regard to one standard. They either walked with the Lord or they walked in the ways of people like Ahab and others. That is the standard for how God judges his leaders. Did you walk with me or not? King Uzziah generally was a good king, king of Judah. And yet, late in his reign, he became proud, and he was struck with leprosy when he dared to enter the Lord's house, the house of the king, and offer something that only the priests were authorized to offer. So after 52 years, think about that. That's like saying, when my dad got married, Uzziah was king. He had kids. When I was born, Uzziah was king. I got married and had kids. Uzziah's still king. My kids are about to get married. Uzziah's still king. So after 52 years, a lot of people knew nothing else. So there's political uncertainty now. The threat of the Assyrians, if you guys know anything about the Assyrian Empire, not Syria, in the modern sense, but ancient us Syria, a little north and east of modern day Syria. They were renowned for cruelty even in the ancient world. You see references to that in the prophets, where they would take prisoners, those they captured alive, and they would put metal hooks in their lip or in their nose or both and pull them along like that. They were a savage people. We get an understanding now of why Jonah was so hesitant to go to preach to Nineveh. Those were the people he was sent to. He didn't want to do that. So the threat of political uncertainty, the threat of Assyria was very real at this time. There was also economic uncertainty. Will our children be better off than we are with the Assyrians here? There was moral and spiritual uncertainty. The clergy and the people were just going through the motions. We read that continually throughout the prophets. They're just going through the motions, going to worship service, hanging out in the Lord's house, doing the right thing, as they thought, and walking away. They were shallow. Does any of that sound familiar? We can see that sometimes in our own lives. I'm preaching to myself here, but also all around us. If we examine ourselves, we can see the same thing, but now a stunning contrast occurs in this passage. Isaiah mentions the death of the king of Judah, and then he sees a vision of the king. He's probably never been in the throne room of the king, but now he sees a vision of the king of kings. God transports Isaiah in a vision to a reality that is unseen to our eyes. Look at what he sees here. The seraphim. Seraphim, translated from Hebrew, comes from a verb meaning to burn. The seraphim, the set of theme, are literally the burning ones. This is what Isaiah saw. They're not the same as the cherubim. We'll talk about those in a moment. But Isaiah sees them and he sees the throne of God and he says, above him stood the seraphim. We don't know how many there were. Sometimes they're confused with the cherubim and Ezekiel, I'll talk about in a minute, of which there were four. We don't know how many seraphim there were. These living creatures stood above the throne of God and they called out to one another. And so often, we read the passage Say for a Bible study, we're reading it at home, and we just, we read through the verses and it just comes across like, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. Just like we read many other verses. But think of what Isaiah the prophet saw. He said of these creatures, with two they covered their faces. They couldn't look upon the Lord. With two they covered their feet because they're creatures. And with two they flew. And they called out, holy, holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. And the prophet says the foundation of the threshold shook at the voice of Him who called. Does this mean they were calling to one another constantly? Like an antiphonal reading here? We don't know. But Isaiah was clearly stunned by the sight. But notice, what does Isaiah say immediately? In the presence of these beings and in the presence of the Lord of lords, Self-condemnation. Woe is me. You sometimes hear that expression used even today, oy vey. The Hebrew expression, woe is me. He's condemning himself. I am undone. He's saying, my life is forfeit. Mine eyes have seen the king. No man can see the king and live. And yet he's given a chance to see the throne room of God. throne room in heaven. Derek Kidner has written a number of commentaries. They're very short commentaries. I know Pastor likes those as well. They're really short. They're not large tomes. They're short, but they're really rich and meaty. And Kidner once mentioned, he caught the heart of this very well. He says, this whole passage strikes at the centrality of the presence of God. The emphasis is not on the creatures. It's on the one that creatures serve before whom they cover their faces. Kidner said, The passage speaks to the centrality of God in whose presence even the dazzling and sinless are overwhelmed, fit neither to see him nor be seen, yet swift to serve and tireless in praise. But how does Isaiah respond? Does he say, I have dirty hands, my clothes are dirty, my feet are dirty, I'm wearing sandals, I have a dirty mind? The first thing he goes to is his mouth. I've got a dirty mouth. I dwell in the midst of a people with dirty mouths. Why? Why does he go to his mouth? Because all he hears in the throne room of heaven is praise to the Holy One. Nothing but pure speech. The seraphim had just praised God with clean lips, and this is something that Isaiah the prophet could not do. I can't praise him with clean lips. And he says it out loud. Imagine being transported to that scene and one of these creatures now turns to look at you. I don't think I'd want anybody looking at me in there. I don't want to be hiding in the corner. I don't want anybody looking at me. I don't belong here. And Isaiah knows that. One of the creatures looks at him. What does he do? He takes a coal with tongs from the altar. With tongs. The fire that burns before the throne of God is too hot for the touch of an angel. Not even the seraphim can touch that fire. He brings those tongs and touches that hot burning coal to the mouth of Isaiah. What must that have been like? He doesn't go into details. It's probably just as well. Probably didn't feel too good. But the seraphim then pronounces purity. Behold, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. Where did that coal come from? The altar, the place of sacrifice. Notice how that's put in there. It came from the place of sacrifice. God provides the way even in heaven there to purify his people because we cannot be pure in his presence. I love his response after that. The Lord calls out, whom shall I send and who will go for us? And Isaiah just can't help it now. He's standing and he knows now his sin is atoned for. He wants to be part of the Lord's work. Here am I, Lord. Send me. Send me. May that be the call for all of us. So after five chapters here of Isaiah pronouncing prophecies and proclamations to the people of Israel in Jerusalem, he now gets around in chapter six to say, and by the way, in case you're wondering why I'm telling you this, This is the encounter I had. These are my credentials. I can't help but speak. Who am I gonna be afraid of? The one sitting on that throne or the people in Jerusalem who are telling me to be quiet? It's a pretty obvious question or answer to that question. How about Ezekiel? You can turn there if you like. I'm gonna turn to Ezekiel chapter one. As we think about the God with whom we have to do on New Year's Day, a new year, Think of Isaiah, the year that King Uzziah died, a new chapter in Israel's history. We're starting a new year here. Ezekiel chapter one, you flip to the right a little bit, past Jeremiah and Lamentations. Another one of the great prophets of Israel. Isaiah was prophesying from Jerusalem. This is later now. Ezekiel is in exile. Judgment has fallen on the people of Judah. And he is now prophesying from Babylon. Look at the details in the first verse. I love Ezekiel's sense of detail. In the 30th year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, the 30th year of the exile, as I was among the exiles by the Kebar Canal, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. And then he goes on, in verses four, five, and elsewhere, he talks about the likeness of four living creatures. And as you glance through that passage, you see they had different aspects to their faces all around their head, and they had wings. And he goes on to describe their appearance, and the fire around them. And he talks about wheels and wheels within wheels. And it's hard even to picture what this looked like as Ezekiel describes this. What is he talking about? But think about it. This whole chapter, Ezekiel keeps using expressions like the appearance of, the likeness of, like, as if, because he's trying to describe the indescribable. Who has words for this? The living creatures amaze us here. but look at what they point to. I'll start reading here in verse 22. Over the heads of the living creatures, there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads. And under the expanse, their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body. And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult, like the sound of an army. When they stood still they let down their wings and there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, again he says, they let down their wings. And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne in appearance like sapphire. And seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist, I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist, I saw as it were the appearance of fire and those brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face. And I heard the voice of one speaking." He fell on his face. What else would you do? I don't think there's any other response possible. Isaiah, Ezekiel, good men, prophets of God. We would see these guys and think, these are some of the most devout men we know. In the presence of the Holy One, they're completely overwhelmed. Ezekiel just falls forward. He no longer has body control. He hears the voice of one speaking. As it goes on, the Spirit enters him and sets him up so he's able to listen to this. He's blown away by this, as any one of us would be. So what were the implications of that? That all sounds nice. Ezekiel, Isaiah. So what? What are the implications for us today? What's the application? Brothers and sisters, what this tells us is we have a God who deserves our worship. This is the God that Ezekiel and Isaiah got a glimpse of, in light of which they saw themselves as they were for the very first time. This is the God that the people of Israel casually tried to replace with sticks and stones, with carved images. And you wonder why the Lord kept telling his prophets to tell him to stop that nonsense. Look at the God who delivered Israel during the exodus from Egypt, who continually protected them from their nations, My friends, this is the God whose house we are in right now. All around us, there is an unseen world. It rages in warfare around us. We wonder sometimes why things happen inexplicably. There is a battle going on. We are the image bearers of that God. Not even the angels are said to be in God's image. When we think about that, it's amazing, isn't it? Even the angels are not said to be created in the image of God. They are his servants. but we bear his image. And that's why the enemy of our souls hates us so. He hates believers with a special hatred, but he hates all image bearers of God, all people. He is always on the attack against us, so we must be aware of that. And here we get a glimpse of what God is like. Isaiah was transported to the throne room in heaven. What Ezekiel saw here as an exile was God on the move. These creatures were moving with God. The throne was moving. God is engaged in his creation. He's not a distant God who cannot be concerned with what we think of our petty problems. You ever feel guilty sometimes about praying a little prayer to heal your dog, to find something you lost? Is that too small for the attention of the God who flung the universe into existence? Sometimes we think so, don't we? We think, Lord, it's even a sin for me to be concerned with that. I'm sorry to bring that to you. He says no. Bring that to me, pour out your heart to me." When we read through the Psalms, we see what it's like for a man of God to pour his heart out. And he's questioning God. If you read through the Psalms, read Ecclesiastes, read Lamentations, read Jeremiah, read Haggai. They're questioning God. It's almost as if in the wisdom literature and the prophetic books, as it's been said, it's almost as if in those books God gives us the language to challenge him. He wants us to come to Him, but He wants us to see not only that He is great, but He wants us to see that He is good. That's why He's worthy of our worship, not only that He's great, but that He's good, my friends. So now, to point to on our bulletin there, the second part of the outline, the incarnation, that God, think about that for a minute, the God we just saw described, saying His Son, who is also God, in the likeness of men. He became a man, a servant, and he dwelt among us. Think of how he was born on Christmas Day. Much is made of that, but I don't think sometimes we think of the implications of that in light of the God which Ezekiel and Isaiah saw. That God came and took on the form of a servant. He humbled himself to live among us. The last couple of sermons we've heard here from Pastor McNutt About Christmas, we think of the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke. They're so familiar to us and they're so precious to us. We love to recite that every year as well we should. But in light of Old Testament prophecies, what were the Jewish people expecting from their Mashiach, from their Messiah? They wanted someone who would militarily and politically free them from the hated Romans. Who could blame them? God understood that. It's not like he was hammering them for wanting deliverance. They cried out for deliverance. God hears the cries of his people then, hears the cries of his people today. They were looking for military deliverance. They were looking for a return to the glory days of David and Solomon, preeminence among the nations. But this Messiah wasn't just a little different. He was very different, completely different. A blue collar, hardworking man, born into that family because God chose to be born in that way. That God in the throne room of Isaiah 6 is the baby who was born in a manger. Think about that. He was of the Davidic line, but he hardly seemed royal or important. And according to Isaiah 53, the suffering servant, he even apparently looked very average. Ladies, this wasn't Hugh Jackman or young Tom Selleck here. This was the most average of guys. People wouldn't even notice him, which made his ministry so astonishing to so many. Well, does it matter? It does. Because Jesus, as many of us know, the name Jesus comes from the same Hebrew root as the name Joshua or Hosea, Hoshia. Yeshua, Yahashua, those things mean Yahweh saves or God saves. But he was also said by the angel Gabriel in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 9, he was also to be given another name. Do you remember what that is? Emmanuel, which means God with us, God with us, God with us. In the Old Testament, the Lord traveled with the people of Israel in the tabernacle. As they moved, he moved with them. He made his dwelling place with them. Later on, it was the temple. But later, after the exile, return from exile, he said, I will come and tabernacle among you. without a building, that his body was his building. And so he came to walk among us. What does that mean, Emmanuel, God with us? We read that sometimes when we go through the birth narratives and the angel Gabriel saying he should be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted means God with us, and we just keep reading on. But God with us means that he came to be the second Adam, as the apostle Paul calls him. He came to do what the first Adam in Israel failed to do, failed to represent him, failed to be his vice regent, failed to bear his image properly, just as we do every day. So he came to do just that, to bear the sins of men. That's why the cross is our symbol. The Christian church turned a symbol of ugliness, a scandal in the ancient world. Nobody wanted to be identified with crucifixion. And if you see dramatic portrayals of that, like in The Passion of the Christ, if you read anything about crucifixion in the ancient world, it was a gruesome, a gruesome event, and it inspired terror in people. You read about the Romans when Judea had rebelled, as well as other places that would take the people they captured and crucify them, they would line the road with crucified people all the way to the city. So you entered that city, the message was clear, don't mess with the Roman Empire. And yet he chose to die in that way, a shameful death, unclothed, tortured, seemingly helpless, and yet not helpless at all, because that was the God of Isaiah and Ezekiel. So when we begin to see God in that light, I think we should look at the Christmas, the birth narratives in a whole new way, the power of the God who came to do that for us. But he's returning in glory and judgment, the last part of our outline there. A lot of Old Testament passages that kind of touch on that, the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord had fulfillments in an immediate context, because judgment fell on the people of Israel and Judah. So there were completions and fulfillments of the day of the Lord in the Old Testament. But there's coming another day of the Lord, as we know, at the end of time, the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he comes in glory and judgment. Both things go together. He talked about it in the Olivet Discourse, parallel passages, Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, the Gospel writers allude to that, what the Lord said about that return when He comes back. But what I'd like to do is read for us here, you turn there if you like, to the book of Revelation, last book of the Bible. Revelation that the Lord gave to the Apostle John. To show them things that might be? No. This isn't a Christmas carol. Show them the things that will be. This will be. Why? because the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. My friends, the word of God is authoritative. Don't be dazzled by some of the talking heads out there and some of the books that make the bestseller list that question the authority of God's word. God's word is authoritative because the Lord gave it to us. That's why judgment is so great on those who neglect or refuse to believe God's word, because you're calling the Lord the universal liar. If you think of the God of Ezekiel and Isaiah there, I don't think I'd like to do that. That's a bad move. Revelation 19, beginning in verse 11. Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, excuse me, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood." That's the Lord Jesus. And the name by which he is called is the Word of God, John 1. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Is that gentle Jesus meek and mild? Yes, it is. The same God who came as a baby, meek, mild, gentle, loving, patient, is also just, uncompromising towards sin, angry at wickedness and injustice, and utterly, completely holy. The great hope which we have from Scripture, the resurrection of our bodies, is also the vindication of the Lord upon His enemies, those who hate Him, those who reject Him, and the restoration of all things. Because God created this world good. The body is not a bad thing. When the Lord comes back, the great hope is the resurrection of our bodies, not that we'll go floating away on a cloud somewhere. He created us to be embodied creatures. In the first two chapters of the Bible, there's no sin, Genesis 1 and 2. The last two chapters of the Bible, the other bookend, Revelation 21 and 22, there's no sin. But heaven comes to earth. The new Jerusalem, the Lord comes down and makes his dwelling among men. When he ascended into heaven, did he float up there as a spirit? There is a man in heaven. Think about that. The Lord Jesus Christ embodied in a glorified body. The body that we just saw a glimpse of in Revelation and he's coming back. He promises to. And when he says it is going to happen, my friends, because God's Word does what it says. Think about that. Let there be light. And there was light. Lazarus. Come forth. Lazarus came forth. God's Word does what it says. When He says it, it's accomplished. There's no power in the universe that can stop it. There's no yin and yang. There are no competing powers of light and darkness. There's no equal and opposite power of the dark side of the force. God is sovereign over all. There's no hint of any of that foolishness in Scripture, is there? All we see is the kingship of God, totally sovereign over every aspect of creation, His good creation. Tolkien, to use an analogy from Tolkien, I like this, near the end of his third novel in the trilogy there, The Return of the King from The Lord of the Rings. It's a day, his restoration, his old world, his fantasy world there, is a day when all the sad things will come untrue. I thought that's a nice way to think of that. Because when the Lord comes, that's when all the sad things will come untrue. Because right now, they are true, aren't they? There's much sadness and grief and sorrow in our world. There's pain. Many of us out here right now know the meaning of deep pain, emotional pain. The Lord knows that too. That's why he came. Look behind me here at the solos of the Reformation, what Luther and Calvin and some of those other great men of God that he raised up to bring his church back to the teaching of the apostles. Take a look at that. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, our authority is the word of God alone. Everything we do is meant to be for the glory of God alone, the God on the throne, and yet the God whose Holy Spirit lives among us right now and moves in our lives from day to day in ways that we can't see and understand. How far will his restoration go? What does the great Carol, Joy to the World, say? He comes to make his blessings known. How far? Far as the curse is found. I love that line. as far as the curse is found. And the curse is everywhere, isn't it? You can turn on the news, look at the newspaper, on the internet, anywhere, we can talk to one another. The curse is everywhere. But he will come to make his blessings known and restore his good creation as far as the curse is found. So as we conclude here, we took a glimpse at the king, the king of kings, the king who came as a baby. We talked about how the incarnation was a different kind of Messiah. And as we start a new year, we looked at how the Lord is coming back. And sometimes it seems like a long way off. You know, is he ever coming back? Peter mentions that in his epistles, you know. All things have continued since the fathers fell asleep, you know. Nothing's changed, big deal. And Peter's admonishing the people of God, don't fall into that trap. Because the Lord himself told us, when he comes, he'll come as a thief in the night, so be ready. Don't worry about trying to predict things and connect all the dots with prophecy. Should we be watchful? Yes, of course we should. We should be looking for the signs, but the most important thing for us is to be ready and to stay ready. So as we start a new year, my friends, it's not just a new year. It's also the late morning of a new day. God doesn't promise us the year. He doesn't promise us tomorrow, but he gave us today. Every one of us who sits in here has been given today, this day, this hour. So as we begin 2017, let us remember that this day, every day, is a day that the Lord has made. Yes, it's a day filled with challenges and problems and opportunities and struggles, but it's a day filled with blessings. It's a day filled with divinely ordained opportunities. So let us rejoice and be glad in it. Happy New Year. Please bow with me. Fathers, we come before you this morning, we thank you and praise you for the wonderful privilege, Lord, of assembling as the people of God. We thank you for what you revealed to us in your word about your holy nature. Only a glimpse, Father, and yet even the mighty angels in heaven turn their faces downward, Lord. Father, fill us with a fire in our bellies, Lord, this year, this day, this hour, to serve you faithfully in all that we do. Lord, as we serve you, let us seek to serve one another, fellow image bearers of you. And Lord, thank you for the unspeakable gift of your son, Jesus the Christ, the name which is above every name, most holy. Amen.