Sermon

JUSTIN HILL | UNDONE: ENCOUNTERING A HOLY GOD

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  1. bless you for being here uh like Pastor

  2. Brandon just said my name is Justin Hill

  3. I have the honor and privilege of

  4. leading wake which is your student

  5. ministry here at LifeBridge uh We Gather

  6. your middle schoolers and high schoolers

  7. every Wednesday night In This Very Room

  8. and worship uh with the same songs open

  9. the same scriptures praising the same

  10. God that we are worshiping this very

  11. morning uh just to highlight what the

  12. Lord is doing he is obviously if you've

  13. been here the last couple of weeks on

  14. Sundays doing something powerful he was

  15. doing something powerful on Thursdays uh

  16. on the worship night in N key and as

  17. well with your students on Wednesday

  18. just a couple of weeks ago uh two

  19. Wednesdays ago we got to baptize seven

  20. students who had given their life to

  21. Jesus and uh I I that's just a testimony

  22. uh to the everpresent ever moving spirit

  23. of God that is in our house and so uh I

  24. I'm just privileged and honored to be

  25. able to uh bring his word to us today um

  26. pastor P Luke approached me about

  27. speaking on this very morning a good

  28. number of weeks ago and just said like

  29. Hey we're going to be kind of between

  30. what we call collections of

  31. conversations so you're not going to be

  32. a part of any particular larger series

  33. and so preach about what is on your

  34. heart what you believe God is telling

  35. you to talk to our church about no

  36. pressure and so uh I'm not used to not

  37. being a part of some sort of larger uh

  38. collection and so my mind was like okay

  39. where where do I go

  40. what am I supposed to talk about and it

  41. was just a lot of seeking the Lord in

  42. prayer asking him to just take me

  43. somewhere in scripture maybe illuminate

  44. something to me on a Sunday that's like

  45. this is what what our church needs uh

  46. and uh something that he did that he's

  47. never done before was actually about a

  48. month ago I woke up at like 2 a.m. on a

  49. Tuesday Morning um and usually it's

  50. because I have a 2-year-old but it was

  51. not because of him it was God woke me up

  52. I've never had this happen before for a

  53. message and he said Isaiah 6 Isaiah 6

  54. and so at 2:00 in my bed I sat up I

  55. pulled out my phone and went to the

  56. Bible app and I I read through uh about

  57. 10 verses of Isaiah 6 and highlighted

  58. and just made some very immediate notes

  59. uh and thoughts around what that passage

  60. might be saying and I went back to sleep

  61. and fast forward several weeks here we

  62. are this morning that's what we're going

  63. to be talking through is the first eight

  64. verses of Isaiah 6 and I believe the

  65. Lord has brought us there for a purpose

  66. not just for this morning but in the

  67. lifespan of our church and in particular

  68. what he's been doing over the last

  69. several weeks uh because I want to be

  70. real can we be real this morning church

  71. there is a massive problem in modern

  72. Christianity and it is known by many

  73. names probably most easily noticed as

  74. apathy apathy and indifference apathy is

  75. eating the church alive and what that

  76. can look like on a Sunday morning as we

  77. show up We Sip our coffee we eat our

  78. doughnut holes uh we do uh we sing the

  79. songs we do you know our version of

  80. Christian karaoke we sit and just kind

  81. of power through the message and you

  82. know try to maybe listen to something

  83. that applies to us and then we walk out

  84. unmoved unchanged we sing about Jesus

  85. but our minds are on lunch or the rest

  86. of the week and we read our bibles if we

  87. crack them open then go right back to

  88. our comfortable

  89. sometimes very self-centered lives and

  90. and I was doing some sociological uh

  91. digging and the Barna Group which is one

  92. of the leading sociological study firms

  93. in the world reports that only 9% of

  94. Americans who call themselves Christian

  95. so 9% of people who say I am a Christian

  96. actually hold to what is known as a

  97. Biblical worldview 9% nearly 40% of

  98. professed Christians do not engage in

  99. any form of discipleship

  100. only you know part of the Great

  101. Commission and church attendance the

  102. average American Christian now shows up

  103. once a month

  104. meanwhile we binge watch our favorite

  105. shows in a weekend we're living in an

  106. age Church of God on demand we fit him

  107. into our schedules when it's convenient

  108. when it doesn't cost us anything when he

  109. is a nice addition to our already

  110. comfortable lives I don't have time to

  111. read my Bible now but maybe if I've got

  112. nothing else going on and that is a

  113. total rejection of who God

  114. is that's why today we're going to open

  115. up to Isaiah 6 because some of us need

  116. to wake up and actually see the god that

  117. we claim to worship because I fear that

  118. some of us have reduced him down to a

  119. harmless

  120. manageable far off

  121. deity and an effort to ensure that

  122. people know that God is loving we have

  123. made him small and

  124. soft but that is not the god of the

  125. Bible we have a woefully inadequate View

  126. and understanding of God so did job if

  127. you're familiar with that story until

  128. God shows up and renders job speechless

  129. job in all of his suffering complains to

  130. God and in doing so he reveals that he

  131. doesn't have a true grasp on just who

  132. God is and God reminds him

  133. we too often are likely to be in that

  134. same category of not really even being

  135. in the same

  136. ballpark of who God really is and so I

  137. want us to look at this Vision Isaiah

  138. has of the Lord chapter 6 I'm going to

  139. read through to verse eight and then

  140. we're going to pray it says in the year

  141. that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord

  142. sitting upon a throne high and lifted up

  143. and the train of his robe filled the

  144. temple of above him stood the seraphim

  145. each had six wings with two he covered

  146. his face with two he covered his feet

  147. and with two he flew and one called to

  148. another and said holy holy holy is the

  149. Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of

  150. his glory and the foundations of the

  151. threshold Shook at the voice of him who

  152. called and the house was filled with

  153. smoke and I said woe is me for I am lost

  154. for I am a man of unclean lips and I

  155. dwell in the midst of a people of

  156. unclean lips for my my eyes have seen

  157. the king the Lord of hosts then one of

  158. the seraphim flew to me having in his

  159. hand a burning coal that he had taken

  160. with tongs from The Altar and he touched

  161. my mouth and said behold this has

  162. touched your lips your guilt is taken

  163. away and your sin atoned for and I heard

  164. the voice of the Lord saying whom shall

  165. I send and who will go for us then I

  166. said here I am send me let's pray

  167. together father I I beg you

  168. Lord I plead with you this morning that

  169. you would reveal yourself to us through

  170. your

  171. word in a new way that is is true to you

  172. father would you give me boldness in

  173. these next several moments to speak what

  174. it is you would have me say and if I

  175. have something planned to say Lord would

  176. you hold my tongue if you don't wish me

  177. to say

  178. it father would we during our time

  179. together in your word get a better

  180. understanding of who you truly are and

  181. in doing so a better understanding of

  182. ourselves and walk out of here changed

  183. for the

  184. better father we praise you in

  185. advance we ask that you would just

  186. descend upon this room Holy

  187. Spirit help us to be attentative to what

  188. it is you would say to

  189. us Lord I ask you and I thank you in

  190. advance for all of these things it is in

  191. your name I pray amen all right church

  192. we don't have a lot of time and I've got

  193. a lot to get through uh in those eight

  194. verses there is a lot packed in there

  195. and so in verse one we see Isaiah start

  196. off in the year that King Uzziah died I

  197. saw the Lord now some of you might be

  198. wondering well King Uzziah died who's

  199. King Uzziah and so King Uzziah after

  200. doing some digging in both biblical and

  201. extra biblical work we see that he was a

  202. very popular King King Uzziah had

  203. reigned over Israel for 52 years he

  204. began his Reign when he was just 16

  205. years old I want you to imagine some of

  206. you have a

  207. 16-year-old

  208. president but he crushed it okay he

  209. crushed it under his Reign the nation

  210. and when I say Israel it's actually the

  211. southern Kingdom of Judah over which he

  212. was reigning during that period Judah

  213. had uh great military advancement and

  214. prosperity they developed a a water

  215. system uh they they had enlarged their

  216. agriculture area they enlarged their

  217. territory by moving into territory of

  218. the Philistines which is something that

  219. they were not ever able to do prior to

  220. this under other kings he tore down the

  221. walls of gath and ashdod which was a

  222. great Philistine stronghold he planted

  223. settlements in Philistine territory he

  224. had a a a powerful Army of over

  225. 300,000 men uh they had built new

  226. weapons for their day slings and arrows

  227. they had strengthened the nation he had

  228. strengthened the nation mightily and so

  229. people felt very

  230. secure and very comfortable during the

  231. reign of King Uzziah he was a popular

  232. man his name had spread throughout the

  233. land going all the way down to Egypt

  234. everybody had heard of them or heard of

  235. him and the name whose I was on the lips

  236. of everybody and it's very important

  237. that we read in 2 Chronicles 26:5 it

    2 Chronicles 26:5

  238. says and as long as he sought the Lord

  239. God made him to prosper he was a

  240. prosperous King he was a popular King

  241. the kind of kind of man that you would

  242. have great confidence in because of his

  243. accomplishments and so the people had

  244. confidence in him they became to trust

  245. in him

  246. and rely upon Him perhaps too much so as

  247. is often the case with a very good and

  248. popular leader people begin to rely upon

  249. them too much and we get our eyes onto

  250. man instead of on the Lord and we begin

  251. to put our trust in man rather than in

  252. the Lord and so many times it is

  253. necessary that when that becomes the

  254. case in our lives that in order that we

  255. might get our eyes back on the Lord God

  256. has to remove the man and often times

  257. God does take that man that you've been

  258. relying on and trusting in and removes

  259. him him from the scene in order that you

  260. might get your eyes back on him and such

  261. was the case with Uzziah and so it's

  262. significant that Isaiah would say in the

  263. year that King Uzziah died I saw the

  264. Lord prior to this his eyes were on

  265. Uzziah prior to this his trust was in

  266. Uzziah he was good and popular things

  267. are going well things are

  268. prosperous yet you don't it seems

  269. unfortunately think about the Lord a

  270. whole lot in prosperity it's only when

  271. Calamity

  272. strikes the throne is empty what are we

  273. going to do you can imagine the kingdom

  274. is thinking uzziah's sons are not the

  275. same as their

  276. dad they are surely not as capable as

  277. their father the northern kingdom is

  278. going down the tubes Anarchy is riging

  279. like one king after another is being

  280. assassinated there is confusion there is

  281. danger of being wiped out because they

  282. are surrounded by their enemies what are

  283. we going to do Uzziah is dead the throne

  284. is empty and Isaiah says and I saw the

  285. Lord what does that mean church that God

  286. is

  287. there God is still there the king is

  288. dead God is not God

  289. is scripture says from Everlasting to

  290. Everlasting when the universe exploded

  291. into existence God was already alive and

  292. existing throughout all ancient times of

  293. antiquity and War he was alive he was

  294. very much alive when Time Magazine so

  295. foolishly published

  296. several years ago the the front page

  297. saying God is dead and he will be alive

  298. in 100 trillion years when every single

  299. one of us who have dared to lift a tiny

  300. squeaky voice against him are long dead

  301. he is alive and will be alive

  302. forever think of it every world leader

  303. every King president Congressman General

  304. great thinker in 50 or so years are dead

  305. they're gone and 120 or so years there

  306. is a 100% reset on who the people are on

  307. this planet and God will still be alive

  308. forever never coming into or going out

  309. of

  310. being so what did he see let's take a

  311. moment and look at what it means to be

  312. in his presence he sees God sitting upon

  313. a throne high and lifted up God is

  314. sitting he is not at work or pulling his

  315. hair out from all of his paperwork he is

  316. not running to and fro having to stress

  317. about all the things that he has to do

  318. he is in complete control complete

  319. Authority The Authority displayed to us

  320. is by what he is sitting on he is not

  321. just in any chair he is not just

  322. casually chilling on a

  323. bench he is on a throne the throne

  324. signifies God's right to rule over the

  325. world to rule over all of us to rule

  326. over you

  327. it is a great lie that we have bought

  328. when we say things like I have given God

  329. Authority in my

  330. life God already has the authority in

  331. your life some of us just choose to

  332. blindly or willfully act as if it

  333. doesn't

  334. exist he has in the

  335. universe absolute Authority he is all

  336. three branches of government there are

  337. no checks and balances

  338. few things are more humbling and give us

  339. a sense of his majesty than the truth

  340. that he is utterly and supremely

  341. authoritative it's him that's

  342. it and the train of his robe filled the

  343. Temple Church this is Royal imagery the

  344. longer the robe the greater the

  345. authority and God's robe doesn't just

  346. drag a little behind him it fills

  347. the entire Temple I want you to

  348. imagine maybe if you have gotten married

  349. maybe you were a bride or you've been to

  350. a wedding where the bride has a long

  351. train as I know some Brides have had

  352. before probably most famously we have

  353. the train of Princess

  354. Diana famously a 25 foot long

  355. train this idea of a long train it's

  356. supposed to evoke Authority and

  357. regality I want you to look at that

  358. train that Princess Diana has there it's

  359. 25t it's covering a good bit of real

  360. estate as we can see I know there were

  361. other photos taken where you can see it

  362. covering the entire staircase behind her

  363. or going into um the the the alley as

  364. she's standing getting ready to get

  365. married I want you to process that the

  366. train of Our God's robe fills the temple

  367. I want us just to take a

  368. moment and actually do this with me I

  369. want you to close your eyes let's use

  370. our god-given minds to

  371. imagine this

  372. train of a robe just filling up this

  373. room spilling over every seat spilling

  374. out of this room over the

  375. building into the streets covering roads

  376. and other buildings completely covering

  377. the city of Orlando every if we want to

  378. call them

  379. skyscrapers that is a glimpse of How

  380. Majestic our God is he is sitting on

  381. that throne with the train of his robe

  382. filling the temple covering our

  383. city in verse two it says above him

  384. stood the seraphim each had six wings

  385. with two he covered his face with two he

  386. covered his feet and with two he flew

  387. there's some debate over who these be

  388. are they never show show up again in the

  389. Bible under this particular name of

  390. seraphim but we better be careful with

  391. how we conceive of them I know we just

  392. got done with a collection of

  393. conversations titled the Renaissance but

  394. one thing that the Renaissance did not

  395. do is give us an accurate understanding

  396. of who these beings are through ART

  397. these cherubim and seraphim that we read

  398. about in scripture are not fat little

  399. babies fluttering around with tiny wings

  400. and

  401. diapers this can also seraphim be

  402. translated as the burning

  403. ones we know it's not like that because

  404. as we read later on in verse three and

  405. then when they speak in verse four it

  406. tells us the very foundations of the

  407. earth that's what it means by that

  408. threshold

  409. shook that is quite a voice from these

  410. beings it's not coming out of fat

  411. Cupid's

  412. mouth the point is that these

  413. magnificent creatures we need to

  414. understand they cannot look directly

  415. upon God

  416. with two of their wings they are

  417. covering their face there there's shame

  418. in their humility with two of their

  419. wings they're covering their feet we

  420. need to remember these are sinless

  421. beings they have not

  422. Fallen they are ashamed before God they

  423. have to cover their face and they

  424. continue to move around him ready to act

  425. at his request in a moment's notice

  426. church God is revered and he is always

  427. revered although we may look around this

  428. world and Beeman the clear lack of

  429. reverence for our God God has ured he is

  430. never lacking in being

  431. revered by the seraphim day and night

  432. doing what one ought to always

  433. do revering his

  434. Holiness praising his

  435. glory we see them in verse three and one

  436. called to another and said holy holy

  437. holy is the Lord of host the whole earth

  438. is full of his glory and the foundations

  439. of the threshold Shook at the voice of

  440. him who called and the house was filled

  441. with smoke they called holy holy

  442. holy what does holy

  443. mean that Hebrew word kadosha means to

  444. be set apart it means to be utterly

  445. distinct cut off in a category all un

  446. itself see the word holy is used to

  447. describe many things many things can be

  448. set in a category on their own and

  449. distinct and cut off there are plenty

  450. instances of things being set apart in

  451. scripture and defined as holy there's

  452. Holy Faith the holy city holy offering

  453. holy Sabbath there is the holy law God's

  454. holy people there is his holy nation

  455. there is the holy Temple there is Holy

  456. Ground there is his holy word and I want

  457. us to notice what happens when we try to

  458. apply this definition to God

  459. walk in with me here okay this is we

  460. have Minds let's let's try to turn them

  461. on I know we didn't get as much sleep

  462. last night so God through coffee help

  463. us the very godness of God means he is

  464. separate from all that he has

  465. made there is an infinite qualitative

  466. difference between God and everything

  467. else that

  468. is all of this all all of everything is

  469. made and dependent upon his second by

  470. second upholding it the very next Breath

  471. You Take the very fact that this stays

  472. in place and doesn't just wipe out of EX

  473. existence the fact that we are all here

  474. in this room is because he holds that

  475. together when he gives his name to Moses

  476. he says I am that I am he is saying that

  477. his essential being is not dependent

  478. upon anything outside of

  479. him all of us everything in existence is

  480. dependent upon him he is dependent upon

  481. nothing he is

  482. separate so

  483. essentially what I've taken a long time

  484. to say is his Holiness is his

  485. godness the other side of Holiness is

  486. that things are devoted to something for

  487. something to be holy it's not just

  488. separated it's devoted to it's

  489. consecrated to something so what are we

  490. supposed to devote God

  491. to there is nothing above him it would

  492. be Blasphemous to say that his Holiness

  493. consists of him conforming to something

  494. other than

  495. himself which means that if there is

  496. anything in this world that is Holy then

  497. it is

  498. God it starts there God isn't good

  499. because he conforms to a law above him

  500. he wrote the

  501. law he isn't holy because he keeps the

  502. rules he made the rules he is not holy

  503. because he keeps his law his law is Holy

  504. because it reveals

  505. him God is absolute and everything is

  506. dependent so what do they mean holy holy

  507. holy this is the only attribute of God

  508. that is repeated three times in

  509. Scripture it is not love love love it is

  510. not Grace Grace Grace it is not wrath

  511. Wrath

  512. wrath but holy holy holy every

  513. characteristic and aspect of God's

  514. nature that we love has to be described

  515. by adding the word holy to it his love

  516. is Holy love his grace is a holy Grace

  517. his wrath is a holy wrath his Justice is

  518. a holy Justice repetition in Hebrew

  519. literature implies increase and implies

  520. emphasis so not holy not even holy holy

  521. we see that when scripture talks about

  522. the holy of holies the most holy place

  523. in the temple but holy holy holy God is

  524. supremely

  525. Holy notice that this is even being sung

  526. back and forth these beings the seraphim

  527. they are doing a call and response they

  528. are worshiping In This Moment singing

  529. back and forth to one another some of

  530. the beings sing the first holy then

  531. others sing the next and then others the

  532. next and then they all join together and

  533. say the whole earth is full of his glory

  534. Isaiah is watching the greatest worship

  535. session you can ever

  536. imagine there are also some theories

  537. which I have to say I align with that

  538. the three holies are one for each member

  539. of the Trinity that the seraphim knowing

  540. God's full nature are also ascribing

  541. Holiness to the Son and the spirit just

  542. as much as the father his Holiness it's

  543. utterly unique it is oneof a kind in a

  544. class all by himself which therefore has

  545. more infinite value the rarer a diamond

  546. the greater increase of its

  547. value we have a picture of all things of

  548. a Pokémon

  549. Card some of

  550. you I'm I'm curious that does anyone

  551. have any idea have y'all has anyone seen

  552. this before do you know this Pokemon

  553. card here this exact one this exact one

  554. no okay you've seen any Pokemon card all

  555. right this exact card right here sold

  556. for nearly six million

  557. doll and if you are like

  558. me it is plastic and

  559. paper and die to add

  560. color and it's sold for almost 6 million

  561. dollar because it is a one of

  562. one because it is

  563. rare it has

  564. value I can't think of any truth that

  565. could have a greater impact on you on us

  566. and your life than for you to believe

  567. that the most important value in the

  568. universe is not yourself it is not your

  569. family it is not the whole world it's

  570. not the whole universe that is all we

  571. are all drops in the bucket compared to

  572. the value of God the main problem in the

  573. world and in the church is the failure

  574. to feel that his infinite worth his

  575. infinite value so we see he is Holy Holy

  576. Holy and then the Angels say the whole

  577. earth is full of his

  578. glory and when I first read that I

  579. thought well why not

  580. Holiness if he is supremely Holy and I

  581. kind of expected the whole earth is full

  582. of his

  583. Holiness because Holiness is his

  584. internal Essence glory is when God's

  585. holiness goes public

  586. the outward display of his Holiness is

  587. his glory the Earth is full of it every

  588. ounce of water in the ocean every animal

  589. every person every rock all are

  590. representation of God's glory and his

  591. love and point to his Splendor his

  592. creativity and his

  593. power when Isaiah sees God's glory he

  594. sees the overwhelming unbearable

  595. Majestic weight of God's

  596. presence and the only proper response is

  597. Terror what does Isaiah say in verse 5

  598. he says woe is me for I am lost that

  599. word lost can be undone I am struck dumb

  600. I am speechless I am disintegrating I am

  601. destroyed I am dead for I am a man of

  602. unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of

  603. a people of unclean lips for my eyes

  604. have seen the king the Lord of hosts he

  605. sees the Lord sitting upon the throne he

  606. sees the train of his robe filling the

  607. temple he sees the seraphim singing

  608. about his Holiness and His glory he does

  609. not clap he doesn't join in he doesn't

  610. nod in appreciation and dap up some

  611. angels and say yo this is

  612. awesome he falls on his face he

  613. collapses because for the first time he

  614. sees reality as it truly is he sees

  615. himself as he truly is Isaiah is finally

  616. getting a real look at himself it's like

  617. have you ever gotten ready and you

  618. didn't have like the lights on all the

  619. way like you didn't fully turn on the

  620. lights in in the bedroom or bathroom

  621. and got the hair done the outfit on

  622. maybe this was you this morning you walk

  623. out have the lights all the way on and

  624. you

  625. realize I thought that was black it's

  626. navy blue or I thought I had brushed

  627. that part of my head and I didn't even

  628. get close for me it's not even turning

  629. the lights on it's just I walk in front

  630. of my wife and she says yes or

  631. no

  632. yeah but either way when that happens we

  633. go from not full to a full understanding

  634. we see ourselves in a True Light we're

  635. able to truly

  636. see ourselves fully that is what Isaiah

  637. is having happen right here when we can

  638. clearly see God and only them can we

  639. clearly see

  640. ourselves and I believe that when we see

  641. God truly we will respond just like

  642. Isaiah does here with a woe is

  643. me I am lost I am undone I am speechless

  644. God is on his throne He reigns he's not

  645. struggling for power he's not waiting on

  646. our approval he is King the train of his

  647. robe filling the temple and Isaiah the

  648. prophet of God comes

  649. apart he's ruined he's deceived

  650. integrated he is undone and here's the

  651. truth if Isaiah the most righteous man

  652. in Israel the prophet of God falls apart

  653. in his presence what hope do we

  654. have I don't know about you I'm like if

  655. Isaiah can't handle it I don't know

  656. where that puts me but it's not in a

  657. good

  658. place the greatest problem in the

  659. universe is this that God is Holy and we

  660. are

  661. not see stories of that Illustrated to

  662. us throughout scripture one in Leviticus

    Leviticus 10 chapter mention

  663. chapter 10 where two newly consecrated

  664. priests and God's new priesthood that he

  665. had just instituted nadab and Abu offer

  666. what is described as confusing or

  667. unauthorized fire they put a sacrifice

  668. before God that God did not ask for and

  669. fire from God does not consume their

  670. sacrifice it consumes them in Exodus 33

  671. Moses asks to see God's glory and God

  672. says you cannot see my face no man can

  673. see me and live Hebrews 12:29 describes

    Hebrews 12:29

  674. Our God as just that in Leviticus 10

  675. that he is a consuming fire I don't know

  676. about you but if a fire broke out in

  677. here a consuming fire you would not be

  678. like that's my buddy let me go just like

  679. hang

  680. out you'd flee you would be

  681. terrified the greatest danger in our

  682. life is not Financial instability it is

  683. not sickness it is not shifts in the

  684. culture the greatest danger in our life

  685. is God himself himself because he is

  686. Holy and we are

  687. not we have conflated two similar but

  688. very different ideas on how we are in

  689. the presence of An Almighty God and the

  690. presence of God we are comforted yes but

  691. we should not necessarily feel

  692. comfortable he is comforter he is

  693. himself not

  694. comfortable I

  695. fear I myself have found myself in this

  696. place before where I have so I I love

  697. that we can describe Our God as

  698. friend but I want you to think if you I

  699. want you to imagine you have a friend

  700. you grow up with them Elementary Middle

  701. High School maybe even go to college

  702. together y'all are just best friends

  703. maybe you have that person I want you to

  704. imagine that at some point in adulthood

  705. this person you've known their whole

  706. life your whole life achieved some level

  707. of celebrity status they become a famous

  708. musician actor actress artist

  709. something now there would be a level of

  710. like that's awesome I know that person

  711. but at the end of the day you'd be like

  712. oh that's just so and so I hung out at

  713. your house I saw you do dumb things as

  714. kids but if you flip that story and I

  715. want you to imagine who's who's the

  716. celebrity in your mind that if you were

  717. to just walk into a room and all a

  718. sudden said they're

  719. there how Isaiah describes the presence

  720. of God you would be pretty close to like

  721. coming undone you'd be speechless I

  722. always give my sister a hard time

  723. because it's Julie Andrews for her if

  724. she would ever see Julie Andrews like I

  725. think she would literally like quite

  726. physically fall apart and it's the queen

  727. of Genovia Mary Poppins herself like

  728. I I think we run a risk in making sure

  729. we understand God as friend that we have

  730. no reverence for

  731. him so when we are in his presence it's

  732. just oh it's

  733. God instead of acknowledging when we're

  734. praying to him that we are before his

  735. throne pleading through the power of the

  736. Holy Spirit to the father instead of

  737. acknowledging it that way we're just I'm

  738. just I'm just talking to him so I can

  739. just kind of

  740. slouch

  741. yet through all of this there is

  742. hope we see in verse 6 and 7 says then

  743. one of the sarim flew to me having in

  744. his hand a burning coal that he had

  745. taken with tongs from The Altar and he

  746. touched my mouth and said behold this

  747. has touched your lips your guilt is

  748. taken away and your sin atoned

  749. for what is this this is Mercy displayed

  750. the fire of judgment that should have

  751. destroyed Isaiah but instead dead it

  752. purified him and why because there was

  753. an

  754. altar because there had been a sacrifice

  755. this burning coal is a shadow of what is

  756. to come centuries later the true altar

  757. would not be in the temple but on a hill

  758. outside of

  759. Jerusalem the true cleansing fire would

  760. fall not on a coal but on a

  761. cross Jesus Christ the Holy One takes

  762. the full wrath of God so that we like

  763. Isaiah might be purified instead of

  764. consumed and here's what I want you to

  765. see Isaiah did nothing to earn

  766. that he did not cleanse himself he did

  767. not fix himself up first God did it God

  768. provided the sacrifice God took the

  769. initiative and he does the same for us

  770. today if you are here today and you

  771. think to yourself I am too sinful I am

  772. too far gone God can never forgive me

  773. let me tell you on some of those things

  774. you're you're right you are too sinful

  775. you cannot fix

  776. yourself but God can cleanse you God can

  777. forgive you the cross of Jesus Christ is

  778. the burning coal that purifies Sinners

  779. his blood atones for your sin his

  780. sacrifice removes your

  781. guilt if we will humble ourselves and

  782. stop making excuses if we will simply

  783. fall at his feet and cry out for Mercy

  784. he will Give

  785. It 2 Corinthians 5:21 it says he made

    2 Corinthians 5:21

  786. him who knew no sin to be sin for us so

  787. that in him we might become the

  788. righteousness of God the moment Isaiah

  789. is cleansed he hears God's

  790. voice the moment he's cleansed he hears

  791. his voice and it's God having a

  792. discussion not even with Isaiah he's

  793. speaking with the other Heavenly beings

  794. and he says whom shall I send who will

  795. go for

  796. us and Isaiah doesn't negotiate he

  797. doesn't

  798. hesitate here am I send me

  799. this is what happens when you encounter

  800. the Holiness of God a true vision of his

  801. majesty does not leave you

  802. indifferent it doesn't leave you just

  803. kind of shrugging and saying well that

  804. was

  805. okay it does not leave you sitting in

  806. complacency it actually sends you

  807. out God is looking for men and women who

  808. will no longer treat him as small no

  809. longer come to church out of obligation

  810. no longer live lives as though he is

  811. just a nice addition to our lives God is

  812. calling us calling you to surrender

  813. everything for too long we have lived as

  814. though God exists to serve us we have

  815. treated him as though he is there to

  816. bless our plans to keep us comfortable

  817. to make our life

  818. easier and I believe what God is saying

  819. to us through this text through his

  820. prophet Isaiah seeing him on the throne

  821. is no more the god of Isaiah 6 is not

  822. safe but he is good he is not man able

  823. but he is

  824. merciful and today he is calling us he

  825. is calling you some of you he is calling

  826. you to repent you have been

  827. lukewarm you have taken his presence

  828. [Music]

  829. lightly church is an

  830. obligation this hour and a half is

  831. checking a

  832. box and my plea to you is fall on your

  833. face and return to

  834. him my prayer is that you would see his

  835. glory revealed this morning and have no

  836. choice but to fall down before

  837. him some of us we need to worship like

  838. we have never worshiped before stop

  839. singing as though God is small and

  840. instead start singing like he is Holy

  841. Holy

  842. [Music]

  843. Holy One of the silliest things is when

  844. we walk out of church and we go I didn't

  845. like worship that much well good thing

  846. we weren't worshiping you

  847. [Music]

  848. and some of us just need to surrender we

  849. have been holding back we have been

  850. negotiating with

  851. God God saying who can go for us and

  852. you're

  853. saying give me give me a couple years

  854. let me finish this thing let me focus on

  855. this let me change this let me fix

  856. this stop lift your hands and say here

  857. am i s in

  858. me and why do we do any of those things

  859. why do we repent why do we worship why

  860. do we surrender because he is

  861. worthy because he is Holy and I found it

  862. only appropriate to

  863. end reading over our time

  864. together the 10 verses in Psalm 24 it's

  865. a Psalm of

  866. David he says the Earth is the Lord's

  867. and the fullness thereof the world and

  868. those who dwell therein for he has

  869. founded it upon the Seas and established

  870. it upon the rivers who shall Ascend the

  871. hill of the Lord who shall stand in his

  872. holy place he who has Clean Hands and a

  873. pure heart he who does not lift up his

  874. soul to what is false and does not swear

  875. deceitfully he will receive blessing

  876. from the Lord and righteousness from the

  877. god of his

  878. salvation such is the generation of

  879. those who seek Him who seek the face of

  880. the god of Jacob lift up your hands O

  881. Gates and be lifted up oh ancient doors

  882. that the king of glory may come

  883. in who is this king of glory the lord

  884. strong and mighty the Lord Mighty in

  885. battle lift up your heads O Gates and

  886. lift them up oh ancient doors that the

  887. king of glory may come in who is this

  888. king of glory the lord of hosts he is

  889. the king of

  890. glory father I

  891. pray this morning that that would ring

  892. true in our hearts and Minds God that we

  893. would

  894. sit and be still and know that you are

  895. God that we would not rush to the next

  896. thing that we would not be more

  897. concerned with something else other than

  898. the fact that we are in your presence

  899. and let that wreck us let us not be

  900. comfortable in

  901. that father that we

  902. would just

  903. sit stand listen worship

  904. ship God I plead with

  905. you that you would

  906. just give us the very

  907. hym of the train of your robe that we

  908. would just

  909. see some of your glory revealed to

  910. us that we would respond

  911. accordingly knowing how great you are

  912. that we

  913. would fall down in your presence but

  914. then with the reassurance of Salvation

  915. through the death and resurrection of

  916. your son Jesus that we would then be

  917. able to stand hear your voice and say I

  918. am right here God send me I'm ready to

  919. move I'm ready to follow I'm ready to do

  920. whatever it is that you would have me do

  921. because I am surrendered to you because

  922. there is nothing more worthy nothing

  923. more

  924. holy than

  925. you father would that ring true in this

  926. house in this room

  927. today would we make whether it's the

  928. front of this platform our SE seats our

  929. cars the an

  930. altar to lay down whatever it might be

  931. that we have been wrongfully placing

  932. upon the throne that is intended for

  933. [Music]

  934. you that we would see your Holiness we

  935. would see your glory and Splendor and

  936. Marvel at

  937. it that we would rejoice in your

  938. magnitude that we would worship you like

  939. we've never worshiped before not because

  940. you are small but because you are holy

  941. holy holy it's in your name Jesus I pray

  942. amen