How We Can Be Cleansed from our Sins
Isaiah 5-6
Every human being feels guilty for things we’ve done wrong. And it’s painful to feel guilty. So we try to get rid of our guilt in different ways. We compare ourselves with others – I’m not as bad as that person, I’m better than that person. Or we do good things to try to make up for the wrong we’ve done – so we volunteer at the neighborhood school, or we give money to the Cancer Society. Or we try to do spiritual things to make up for our sin – like going to church.
But sadly, none of those things help; and we are left feeling guilty for things we’ve done wrong. But there’s good news. This book, the Bible, says that it’s possible for us to feel all our guilt lifted off of us, and to feel God’s complete forgiveness pouring upon us.
Here’s an example, from George Whitefield, who so powerfully experienced being forgiven by God that he ended up preaching this throughout England and New England in the 1700’s. Here’s how he described his experience of being forgiven:
But oh! With what joy – joy unspeakable – even joy that was full of, and big with glory, was my soul filled, when the weight of sin went off, and an abiding sense of the pardoning love of God, and a full assurance of faith broke in upon my disconsolate soul. (George Whitefield’s Journals, p.58 n.1)
Have you experienced anything like that? God wants you to experience this. And in today’s chapters in the book of Isaiah we will see how we can all experience this. Let’s turn to Isaiah 5 and 6. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll bring one to you. Isaiah 5 is on page 569 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Let’s start off with a review: What has Isaiah said so far? Here’s what’s been going on in the first four chapters. Ch.1 is about how Israel has sinned against God and must be cleansed from her sin or face be punished by God. So if you were an Israelite reading this, you’d be thinking – how can I cleanse myself from sin?
Then in ch.2:1-5 we read that in the future God will raise up a cleansed Israel and all the nations will come to her and be saved. So you’d be thinking – cleansing is possible! But how?
But then in ch.2:6 through 4:1 Isaiah comes back into the present: he warns about Israel is filthy with sin and facing terrible punishment. So again, you’d be faced with how crucial it is that you get cleansed from yours sin.
But then in ch.4:2-6 Isaiah again looks ahead to the future. He encourages Israel with how in the future God will cleanse Israel from sin through His Branch the Messiah.
But still – you’d long to know how cleansing was possible. And I think Isaiah has purposefully put these passages together so his readers are longing for the answer to that question. And in ch.6 Isaiah answers that question. But first he writes ch.5 and answers the question -- how much does Israel need cleansing?
In vv.1-7 Isaiah says that Israel is like a vineyard. God took some land which was covered with rocks and cleared it and planted choice vines. He watered it and fertilized it and cared for it. He gave it everything she needed to produce luscious grapes. But when he went to it at harvest time, and picked a grape, and tasted it – “Yech! That’s horrible!”
In the same way, God has cared for Israel, loving her, providing for her, protecting her, helping her. And God expected this care to cause Israel to bear luscious grapes of love for God and love for others and care for the poor. But instead, the vineyard bore horrible grapes – sin – and the sins are listed in vv.8-23 with six “woe’s.” The word “woe” means “you are doomed.”
So in vv.8-10 – woe to those who pile up money and property. Vv.11-17 – woe to those who drink too much and ignore God. Vv.18-19 – woe to those who are so attached to sin that it follows them wherever they go. V.20 – woe to those who call evil good and good evil. V.21 – woe to those who are wise in their own eyes. Vv.22-23 – woe to those who drink too much and let bribes make them unjust.
So what will God do? Just like the vineyard owner, God will destroy Israel. And in vv.24-30 God says that he will whistle for the nations to come – and they will come and destroy Israel – all because of Israel’s sin.
So if you were an Israelite reading through the scroll of Isaiah – at this point you’d be feeling weighted down by your sin, and you’d be longing for cleansing. That’s the question Isaiah has been building towards in chapters 1 through 5 – which he answers in ch.6 -- how can Israel be cleansed from her sin?
Isaiah answers this question by explaining how he himself was cleansed from his sin. This happened at the very beginning of his prophetic ministry. But he writes it here – because he wanted to use the story of His call to explain to Israel how they too can be cleansed from sin. There’s five parts to what Isaiah experienced:
First, Isaiah saw God. You can see that in vv.1-4 --
1 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.
Cleansing starts with seeing God. So ask God right now to use these words to help you see God.
In v.1 we read that Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.” God’s throne is a picture of His absolute authority over everything. See, God created everything. If God had not created you, you would not be. If God had not chosen to create you and give you the gift of life, you would not be here right now. So you owe everything to God. God is your rightful authority. So see God’s authority.
Then in v.3 Isaiah saw God’s perfect holiness. Seraphim are probably angels – who are created spiritual beings who have never sinned and who serve God. And these awesome beings are totally captured by God’s holiness. In v.3 they are calling to each other: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” So why repeat the word “holy” three times? It’s because in the Hebrew language the strongest way to express the superlative – the way to say that someone is the absolutely strongest person is to say he is strong, strong, strong. So when the Seraphim say holy, holy, holy they are saying that God alone is holy. So what does that mean?
Two weeks ago we saw that God’s holiness means he’s not just one of many important things in your life. God’s holiness means that who He is makes Him infinitely important, infinitely valuable, infinitely precious. God’s infinite power, His absolute authority, His flawless wisdom, His perfect love and unfailing goodness and astonishing mercy – there is no one and nothing like God. God is a 100,000 carat diamond; everything else is gravel. So see God’s perfect holiness.
And then at the end of v.3 Isaiah saw God’s revealed glory. God is not hiding. He’s not hard to see. In v.3 the Seraphim also say: “The whole earth is full of His glory.” God’s glory is the display of who He is. And the Seraphim are saying that God has filled with earth with displays of His glory.
The size and order of Creation displays that God is all-powerful and infinitely loving. The intricacy and marvel of your body displays that God is flawlessly wise and deeply good. God’s provision of rain for crops and tides to circulate the water and sun to warm and the moon and stars to delight all join together like a massive billboard displaying that God is infinitely powerful and perfectly loving. So see God’s revealed glory.
Isaiah saw God. That’s the first step. And then second, Isaiah saw his sin in light of who God is. Look at v.5 --
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!"
Let’s see if we can get a little taste of what Isaiah felt. Think about a time this last week when you sinned. You gossiped, or lusted, or were impatient. Do you all have one in mind?
Now see that sin in light of God’s absolute authority. The God who rules everything commanded us not to gossip, not to lust, not to be impatient. So when we gossiped or lusted or were impatient we were willfully rebelling against the infinite authority of the universe. Imagine that a police officer pulls you over and asks to see your driver’s license – and you say “no,” and drive off. You’ve just rebelled against rightful authority. But when we sin – we rebel against the infinite rightful authority.
And see that sin in light of God’s perfect holiness. Everything else in the universe is like gravel compared to God who is a 100,000 carat diamond. Think about it. There is someone in the universe who is perfectly good, absolutely sovereign, flawlessly loving, breathtakingly merciful – who created a massive universe and who created and knows and loves you. And with the even more clear revelation of Jesus we see the depth of His love – He loves you so much that He put your sin on His perfect son, He punished His son in your place, so you could be forgiven and restored to Him. So that’s the God who is there.
And when I sin, I sin against a being of flawless beauty, love, power, wisdom, mercy, goodness. The Mona Lisa painting is beautiful and rare and precious. So imagine walking up to the Mona Lisa painting, and spray painting your initials on it. That’s just a tiny bit of the outrage that’s involved when we sin against the God who is perfectly holy.
And see that sin in light of God’s revealed glory. Our sin wouldn’t be as bad if we could claim ignorance. But we can’t. The whole earth is full of His glory. We all know that God is infinitely wise and good and loving. We see it everywhere we look – from sunsets to eyes to lasagna to everything. The whole earth is full of His glory! So when we sin, we’ve willfully and knowingly rebelled against God. We’ve sinned against His revealed glory.
Then third, Isaiah saw that he deserved punishment from God. Again, look at v.5 --
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!"
Too often the reason we feel bad about what we’ve done is because we’ve hurt someone else, or because we’ve been found out. But that won’t bring God’s cleansing. To be completely cleansed and forgiven for sin’s guilt, we must see that we have sinned against the God who has absolute authority, against the God who is perfectly holy, against the God who has revealed His glory.
That’s what Isaiah saw, and his response was: “Woe is me! For I am lost.” Isaiah saw that what he had done was absolutely wicked and that there was no excuse. He saw that he was as sinful as the rest of Israel. He saw that he faced God’s judgment – eternal punishment from God. “Woe is me! For I am lost!”
But notice what happens next: God supernaturally cleansed Isaiah from all his guilt. Look at vv.6-7 --
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7 And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for."
That word “atoned” is key. The Hebrew word has the idea of sin being paid for; of a substitute paying the punishment owed by sin. And Isaiah’s sin was atoned for. Someone paid the punishment owed by Isaiah’s sin. Who? He tells us in ch.53 – it’s the Messiah – Jesus – who would die on the Cross 700 years after Isaiah wrote these words.
Isaiah saw his sin in light of God. Isaiah saw that he rightly deserved eternal punishment from God. But Isaiah also looked to God’s mercy – trusted God’s mercy. And so all the punishment Isaiah deserved was put upon Jesus – God the Father punished Jesus the Son in the place of Isaiah. And so Isaiah’s sin was atoned for – and Isaiah felt all of his guilt lift off of him, and felt all of God’s forgiveness come upon him. He was completely cleansed from sin’s guilt.
But this cleansing did not just remove the guilt of sin. It also broke the power of sin. Remember that up to this point Isaiah was as sinful as the rest of Israel. But look at what else happened – Isaiah’s heart became completely surrendered to God – look at v.8 --
8 And 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."
This is astonishing. Isaiah didn’t even know what God was going to call him to do – and he said he would go. But see, he didn’t need to know. He had experienced the infinite love and mercy of a God who would atone for all his guilt. And he was so captured by God’s love for Him and so certain of God’s perfect goodness that he said “Anything, Lord. I’ll go anywhere you tell me to. Because I see your love and I know that it will be good.”
One of the ways you can tell that your heart has been cleansed from sin is that your heart will be completely surrendered to God. Not that you become perfect. But you have experienced God’s perfect love and goodness, you love His perfect love and goodness, and so you will trust whatever His perfect love and goodness calls you to do.
So here Isaiah is telling his readers how they, too, can be cleansed from all the guilt of their sin – that’s what he’s been building towards in theses first six chapters. And here Isaiah is telling us how we, too, can be cleansed from all the guilt of our sin.
What does this mean for us?
First of all, ask yourself if you have been cleansed from sin’s guilt.
Second, if not, then see God, see your sin in light of God, see that you deserve punishment from God, trust God’s mercy in Christ – and your guilt will lift and God’s forgiveness will come.
Third, let God’s cleansing love strengthen your trust in Him – so you are completely surrendered to Him.