[Pastor Lee Grzywinski]

Hello all!

I hope you are enjoying the book so far.

It is amazing how the theme of honoring God – regarding Him as holy – with our lips is part of this chapter, since we just saw Malachi pronounce woe to the priests of his day for dishonoring Him with their lips. It is a strong reminder for us!

I can agree with Dr. Sproul: “The reason I have a deep hunger to learn of the holiness of God is precisely because I am not holy.” I would say it goes ever further: the reason I have a deep hunger for God Himself is precisely because I am not holy.

I loved the picture of true repentance that Sproul paints in this chapter, using Isaiah’s “Woe is me” as an example. He refers to the “awful pain of repentance.” Of Isaiah, he says, “He went beyond cheap grace and the easy utterance ‘I’m sorry.’ He was in mourning for his sin…” Blessed are those who mourn, indeed.

Sproul gets this idea of “cheap grace” from Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his book “The Cost of Discipleship.” I encourage you to read this (long) quote from Bonhoeffer about that:

“Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks’ wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?…

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

• This topic was modified 2 weeks, 1 day ago by Pastor Lee Grzywinski.

[Nayara Jordan]

Thank you Lee for the Bonhoeffer quote. It’s great. My campus minister when I was in college spoke extensively of God’s grace. One of Gaired and I’s favorite quotes we remember him preaching went something like, “Grace isn’t cheap, it’s free. And even if it was cheap- you still couldn’t afford it.” No matter the price, we will never be able to buy or earn the grace that our holy God gives freely- and that is because Jesus was the only one who could truly pay this price.

I really enjoyed this chapter. A few standouts:

1. The distinction between LORD vs. Lord and how it is used in scripture. I had heard of this before, but it was refreshing to hear explained in further detail. These distinctions can be so easy to miss if you’re casually reading the Bible, but meditation and attention to detail always reveals so much more.
2. I was particularly stricken by the story of Moses seeing God’s back as imagery for God’s holiness. The fact that God only showed his back, Moses’ face now reflected this glory, and that this display terrified the people so much so that he had to cover his face… How much more holy is the face of God himself? It really clicked with me.
3. The idea of repetition 2x or 3x for emphasis seems logical but was a new learning for me in terms of how this structure would resonate with the original audience in this time period. Just another example that really sat with me. God is not just holy, but he is holy, holy, holy.

[Lynne Mazza-Hilway]

Love the hymn -“purge my lips, make pure my soul a-new and…I will go for You.” Our purpose- to ” reflect God’s glory and the final goal of every Christian – to see what Moses was denied, (we) want to see Him face to face. And we shall be like Him, see Him as He is.” But “to see His pure divine essence we must first be purified and totally sanctified.”
“Inanimate items have the good sense to be moved by the presence of a holy God but the body of Isaiah, a man of integrity, quaked even more when he saw Him. He was dis-integrated, ruined, undone, exposed; his self-esteem was shattered as his sin and the sin of everyone before him was measured by the ultimate holy standard. Guilt screamed from his every pore and he experienced repentance, a purging of his mouth, forgiveness and he was made clean. In response to God’s next question, whom shall I send, he replied ‘Send me’.” What a beautiful, amazing picture of the process we must undergo from brokenness to mission or service. “God redeems the self and overhauls our personalities as He writes our testimonies.” Even a prophet’s mouth and heart had to be prepared to share the holy Word of God. He had to spend time in the desert, away from worldly distractions to meet with God as well. What a great model for us all. May we submit our time, attention, hearts and mouths regularly to this process, especially as we prepare to serve others for His kingdom.

[Theresa]

What other response can there be besides being “undone” when you measure yourself against a God as holy as ours? To know that the only characteristic of God mentioned three times in succession in the bible is that God is holy, holy, holy. I appreciate how the author takes us through this chapter starting with explaining the difference between LORD and Lord to Isaiah’s use of woe to me and becoming undone in the presence of a holy God. And I love that the author didn’t leave us at that. He reminds us that our holy God is also a God of grace. One who forgives and heals but then also sends us.

[Tom Courain]

The part of this chapter that I would like to discuss is the moment that Isaiah had his self esteem shattered. This world has made self esteem almost like a god. So many self help books place it as the highest priority in life. We see here how God looks at it. The bible speaks of how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. To have self esteem in this world is of great value. Not to God. God had to strip it away from Isaiah in order for him to be suitable for service. The god of this world has sold his subjects on the importance of self reliance and self respect and self worth and self love and self esteem check out the library on how many self whatever books there are. God commands us not to have any false gods before Him. Self is one of the big ones. It’s God’s mercy on us for us to become undone. To be humbled by God is His unfailing grace.

[Lilla Langford]

I had never seen the relationship between the citing of the death of King Uzziah and seeing the true King, the Sovereign Lord seated on the throne high and lifted up. And apparently Isaiah had known King Uzziah well. A part of the court crowd, I can well imagine his cry of “I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell with a people of unclean lips” was a reflection of the truth he lived. We don’t have to go far to hear unclean lips in our society. Tying it to not only the James passage on the tongue which Dave is going to preach on in two weeks, but to Jesus’ own statement that it is what comes our of the mouth that makes us unclean was insightful and convicting.
That passage from Bonhoeffer that you quoted, Pastor Lee is so convicting and that Nayala commented on so aptly. Holy BE your name, your Person, God, our Father.
One bit was confusing: Moses and Joshua uncovered their feet, the angels cover their feet in the presence of our Holy God. Because we are two different types of created beings?
I am so thankful for this book and Pastor Lee for picking it for our summer reading.

[Jonathan Mellone]

Chapter 2 really reinforced the idea that the closer we come to God’s holiness, the more clearly we see ourselves. Isaiah was a man of integrity and was considered by his peers to be the most righteous man in the nation. Yet even he, after catching a glimpse of the holy God, was shattered. His view of himself was lofty when compared to other people, but when compared to God, he was completely overwhelmed.
Isaiah’s realization centered on his unclean lips. This reminded me of Jesus’ teaching that what comes out of a person reveals the condition of the heart. Isaiah came to see that the problem was not only his own sin but also the sin of the people around him. As Sproul explains, Isaiah gained a new understanding of how pervasive sin is.
What encouraged me most was that God did not leave Isaiah in his guilt. After revealing his sin, God provided cleansing before calling him into service. That reminded me that God’s grace draws us closer to Him and prepares us to serve Him.
I am reminded of the old adage, “comparison is the thief of joy.” Have we become too comfortable comparing ourselves to others instead of measuring ourselves against God’s holiness? I wonder how different the world would be if we kept Isaiah’s vision in mind more often.

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