September 5, 2025 - Isaiah 6:1-5 - "The LORD Upon His Throne"

Isaiah 6:1-5

"In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."

Here, Isaiah, the LORD's prophet, is brought face to face with His majesty, holiness, and sovereignty. The earthly throne of Judah had been emptied by the sudden death of Uzziah, but the heavenly throne remained unmoved and forever occupied by the Eternal King. This vision is not merely historical; it is Christ Himself Whom Isaiah beheld, as John testifies, “These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him” (John 12:41).

Isaiah is laid low by this clear revelation of Christ in all His majesty as the Eternal God, before His appointed time to come to the earth to pay the sin debt of His people. So glorious is the LORD Jesus that the holy angels veil their faces before Him, declaring, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”  In the light of such holiness, Isaiah is undone, confessing, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.”

This passage brings us to the heart of the Gospel: before the glory of Christ, every sinner is exposed, ruined, and silenced; but it is this same LORD, high and exalted, Who in sovereign mercy and grace reveals His cleansing work through the altar, pointing us to the finished work of Christ on Calvary's cross. Therefore, Isaiah’s vision is both a humbling revelation of the sinner's ruin in the fall of Adam, but also the gracious foreshadowing of redemption in Christ Jesus, the Last Adam, Who came and earned and established that Righteousness necessary for God to be just and justify those whom He ordained to salvation from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-7) as the King of glory.

Earthly leaders rise and fall, seasons of life change, and even what once seemed strong and secure collapses—there is one reality that never changes: Christ is on the throne. He is not merely a figurehead king, with a throne of pomp and circumstance and empty ceremony or fragile power. It is the Throne of the Eternal Son of God, ruling in holiness, majesty, and grace. To see Him as He truly is shatters the sinner's pride, humbles the heart, and yet also gives Hope, because this Holy King is also the Merciful Savior.

The death of King Uzziah marked the end of an era for Israel. He was a capable and prosperous ruler under God's providential Hand, but his story ended in pride and judgment. He presumed to take upon himself what only the priests were consecrated to do, and God struck him with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16–21). What a sobering picture: a man who began well, prospered greatly, and yet fell under the weight of his own pride. It is against that backdrop that Isaiah says, “I saw also the Lord.” When the earthly king fell, Isaiah saw the heavenly King—Christ Himself, high and exalted on His throne of glory. The glory that filled the temple was none other than the glory of Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God.

The scene around the throne is awe-inspiring. There stand the seraphim, crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). God’s holiness is not merely one attribute among many—it is His glorious attribute from which all of His other attributes flow, like the hub of a wheel from which all the other attributes are aligned: His Grace, Mercy, Justice, and Wrath. He is holy in His love, holy in His justice, holy in His sovereignty, holy in all that He is. He is so Holy that even the sinless angels hide their faces before Him. Job 15:15 tells us: "Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints [holy angels]; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight"

What happens when Isaiah sees this? He is not lifted in pride for having received this vision of Christ. Nor in response does He offer up any supposed "good works". No, he cries out, “Woe is me! for I am undone” (Isaiah 6:5). This is always the result when God opens a sinner’s eyes to His glory. They are brought low, stripped of any pride, and all self-reliance crumbles. Like Paul, we will count all our works as loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ (Philippians 3:8). This is the work of sovereign grace—God showing us Who He is, and in that Light, showing us who we are.

But the vision does not end with despair. A seraph flies to Isaiah with a live coal from the altar and touches it to his lips, saying, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged” (Isaiah 6:7). What mercy! What grace! The very holiness that should have condemned Isaiah now brings cleansing. That altar, with its burning sacrifice, points to the cross of Christ.

It is there—at Calvary—that sin was purged, and every elect sinner justified before God (Hebrews 1:3). It is there that Christ, our Great High Priest, did not bring incense, nor the blood of animals, but His own blood.“Once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26). Only Christ can make unclean lips clean. Only Christ can remove the guilt that overwhelms us before a holy God.

Notice that Isaiah did not purify himself. He didn’t reach for the coal. He didn’t cleanse his own lips, nor appropriate it to himself. God sent the coal. God declared him clean. Salvation is of the LORD, from beginning to end. As Paul reminds us, “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy” (Romans 9:16).

This is the Gospel: the King upon His throne is also the Lamb upon the altar. The One before Whom angels veil their faces is the same One Who humbled Himself to die for sinners elected by God and given to Him. The vision that undoes us is also the vision that delivers us from fear of condemnation, because Christ bore the wrath we deserved as His people and gave us His righteousness in return.

What then do we do when we see Him? We bow. We confess. And we cling to Christ alone. Apart from Him, all our works are like King Uzziah’s incense—presumptuous, unclean, unacceptable. But in Him, we are accepted, forgiven, and clothed in a righteousness not our own but that which the Father imputed to our spiritual account upon completion of His work on the cross. Isaiah saw the LORD in majesty, and he saw himself undone. But then he saw redemption and reconciliation through the blood of the sacrifice. That is sovereign grace. That is the gospel of Christ. And that is our Hope today, tomorrow, and forever.

“Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood… to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:5–6).