WEBVTT 00:00:00.066 --> 00:00:01.133 Well, good morning. 00:00:01.133 --> 00:00:04.133 Church or. 00:00:04.365 --> 00:00:08.032 Hey, before we get started, let me pray again for us. 00:00:08.032 --> 00:00:11.032 Yeah. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:14.599 God, you are holy. 00:00:15.365 --> 00:00:24.998 And your word tells us Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. 00:00:25.099 --> 00:00:30.099 The whole Earth is full of your glory. 00:00:30.832 --> 00:00:33.332 And this morning, these words. 00:00:33.332 --> 00:00:41.265 How magnificent and great they are. Father, They still fall short. 00:00:42.198 --> 00:01:02.832 So, Father, I pray that as we approach this time, that we would see nothing about this as routine or as trivial, that we would not approach this flippantly, but we would see this as an opportunity to see you as you are. 00:01:03.633 --> 00:01:07.433 And I pray, Father, that your word would reveal that to us. 00:01:07.433 --> 00:01:11.533 It's not my opinion, it's not my thoughts. 00:01:11.533 --> 00:01:15.965 God, it is your words showing us who you are. 00:01:17.433 --> 00:01:23.365 So this morning, would you grant me the words to do that? 00:01:23.365 --> 00:01:30.933 And you would give us all eyes to see your holiness and glory this morning in Jesus name, I pray. 00:01:30.933 --> 00:01:38.766 Amen. And, well, if you want to turn with me to Isaiah chapter six, it's where we're going to be this morning. 00:01:38.766 --> 00:01:43.299 Isaiah Chapter six, verses one through eight. 00:01:43.299 --> 00:01:48.799 And we're actually going to be looking at the second part of our vision statement for this year. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:57.832 So we looked at free, as you can see over here on the wall, we looked at free the first two weeks and now we're going to be looking at the second part of that. 00:01:57.832 --> 00:02:01.998 And that is fearless and funny enough. 00:02:01.998 --> 00:02:05.433 So I went to college at Asbury. 00:02:05.433 --> 00:02:12.299 Some of you all may have heard this come in the headlines here lately of this school and PA going to Asbury. 00:02:12.633 --> 00:02:24.832 Every freshman class is assigned with a name and you're I think you've got a pretty good idea of you could probably guess what I'm about to say what our name was it was fearless. 00:02:26.032 --> 00:02:28.566 So I have a little bit of a connection with this word. 00:02:28.566 --> 00:02:33.665 And I got to admit, I'm not really a fearless person. 00:02:33.665 --> 00:02:34.832 I can admit that. 00:02:34.832 --> 00:02:36.532 My wife can tell you that as well. 00:02:36.532 --> 00:02:38.866 Sometimes I'm a little scared of her, to be honest. 00:02:38.866 --> 00:02:46.633 But part of being this idea of fearless, I can own up and say that I'm not really that fearless. 00:02:46.633 --> 00:02:48.899 For instance, I hate heights. 00:02:48.899 --> 00:02:51.832 Anybody is scared of heights in here. 00:02:51.832 --> 00:02:56.665 Well, naturally, if you're scared of heights, you probably aren't going to like roller coasters. Right? 00:02:56.665 --> 00:03:02.932 But I've learned that sometimes to overcome a fear, you need to be afraid of something else. 00:03:02.932 --> 00:03:05.466 More as that makes sense. 00:03:05.466 --> 00:03:08.832 So I was coerced and I use the word coerced very specifically. 00:03:08.832 --> 00:03:12.299 I was coerced to take a group of students to a theme park. 00:03:13.733 --> 00:03:20.265 So you can imagine the students heckling me, saying, Why aren't you getting on the roller coasters? 00:03:20.265 --> 00:03:21.866 You better come with me. 00:03:21.866 --> 00:03:33.598 Well, eventually it got to the point and I realized to myself, I think I'm more scared of being called chicken by these little students than to get up on this big roller coaster. 00:03:33.598 --> 00:03:38.566 So luckily, you know, you know, God walked in me and I got on these roller coasters. 00:03:38.566 --> 00:03:43.432 I got on a couple of them, and I was fearless up to the point of getting to the very top, you know what I mean? 00:03:43.432 --> 00:03:46.299 And all of a sudden you start plummeting down them like, What did I do? 00:03:46.299 --> 00:03:49.199 This is a bad, bad, bad move here. 00:03:49.199 --> 00:04:01.733 But I've kind of learned this idea and where to see this truth played out in this in this text this morning that to be fearless, we need to have a fear of God. 00:04:01.832 --> 00:04:07.432 And so this is going to be a truth that's going to be hard to to accomplish or to understand this morning. 00:04:07.432 --> 00:04:10.699 So we've got a lot of digging to do this morning. 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:15.866 But to be fearless, I believe we have to have a fear of God. 00:04:15.866 --> 00:04:20.533 And so there's two questions I'm going to ask and answer this morning for so you can be on the same page. 00:04:20.533 --> 00:04:29.399 There's we're heading into this text, two questions that that I'm going to ask and answer is, first, what does it mean to fear God? 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:36.565 And with that, following after this is how do Christians become fearless? 00:04:36.565 --> 00:04:45.598 So I think these two are connected that if we have a fear of God, that somehow in some way this will cause us to be fear lists. 00:04:45.598 --> 00:04:47.333 So join me on this journey. 00:04:47.333 --> 00:04:51.399 We're in impacts and big ideas, but I believe God has a lot to say this morning. 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:54.033 And we're going to be announcing a Chapter six. 00:04:54.033 --> 00:04:58.598 We're also going to have scripture that we're going to bring in because we need it to understand the passage. 00:04:58.598 --> 00:05:01.499 But feel free to stay here in this book and follow along on the screen. 00:05:01.499 --> 00:05:17.798 But Isaiah chapter six verse one says this In the year that King Isaiah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 00:05:17.798 --> 00:05:18.233 King used. 00:05:18.233 --> 00:05:20.632 I was the king of Israel. 00:05:20.632 --> 00:05:23.632 He died in 740 B.C. 00:05:23.733 --> 00:05:29.766 and he was he was leading the people of Israel right up to the point that they were conquered and exiled. 00:05:29.766 --> 00:05:32.266 If you know your your Bible history. 00:05:32.266 --> 00:05:51.031 But in the same year, it says that Isaiah, this prophet who is going to be used by God to share his word to the people, he gets this vision sometimes in the Bible, visions sometimes would come while people were asleep, but then other times, prophets or people of God would sometimes get a vision while they're wide awake. 00:05:51.031 --> 00:05:57.298 So I don't know in this instance, which is if he's asleep, if he's awake, but it really doesn't matter so much. 00:05:57.298 --> 00:06:07.966 But he gets this vision and understand this this morning that he is going to try to describe heavenly realities with human language. 00:06:07.966 --> 00:06:11.766 So you can see some hopefully you can see that this is hard to do. 00:06:11.766 --> 00:06:14.165 He's witnessing something, He's seeing something. 00:06:14.165 --> 00:06:17.798 And so for him to describe these realities, he's using human words. 00:06:17.798 --> 00:06:20.598 But look here to verse one, back up here. 00:06:20.598 --> 00:06:33.499 It talks about how the the Lord is wearing a year on the throne, but he's also wearing a robe, talking a little bit about how he is a king. 00:06:33.499 --> 00:06:36.565 Also showing here that he is in a temple. 00:06:36.565 --> 00:06:40.632 And normally when you see the word temple, the word comes to mind is priest. 00:06:40.632 --> 00:06:44.031 And this is even a foreshadow of of Jesus as he comes. 00:06:44.031 --> 00:06:46.432 And he is to be called the king of kings. 00:06:46.432 --> 00:06:51.165 And he is supposed to be the great high priest who is supposed to make sacrifice on his people. 00:06:51.165 --> 00:06:55.065 But this is the description of the Lord in this moment. 00:06:55.065 --> 00:07:03.165 Look here in verse two goes on and says above him, This is Isaiah describing this stood the Seraphim. 00:07:03.165 --> 00:07:06.966 Now, these were Seraphim were angelic creatures. 00:07:06.966 --> 00:07:09.865 They were creatures that were in the presence of God. 00:07:09.865 --> 00:07:13.699 And they are described as worshiping God throughout the Bible. 00:07:13.699 --> 00:07:18.165 In fact, if you know your Bible, we know what the Ark of the Covenant is. 00:07:18.165 --> 00:07:21.165 It was this box that the people of God created. 00:07:21.165 --> 00:07:28.899 They overlaid it with gold, and on top of it was a mercy seat, a throne on and on either side of it were these Seraphim. 00:07:29.966 --> 00:07:33.899 And there's this picture even here in this passage of what this was. 00:07:33.899 --> 00:07:42.298 But these Seraphim, you could even call burning ones, they were kind of identified as these bright creatures because they were in the presence of God. 00:07:42.298 --> 00:07:43.531 They were holy. 00:07:43.531 --> 00:07:47.165 And so what we see here are these burning holy creatures. 00:07:47.165 --> 00:07:52.165 Isaiah sees them and he notices that they've got six wings. 00:07:52.466 --> 00:07:54.699 Says here they have six wings, too. 00:07:54.699 --> 00:07:57.132 They covered their face with them. 00:07:57.132 --> 00:08:09.165 And the reason why is because even these bright burning ones as beautiful and as glorious as they are, they can't even be in the presence of God without shooting their face, too. 00:08:09.165 --> 00:08:15.165 It says that they cover their feet with two of their wings out of a sign of humility towards them. 00:08:15.165 --> 00:08:17.665 And finally they've got to that they are flying with. 00:08:18.899 --> 00:08:20.298 And so all this to pick up. 00:08:20.298 --> 00:08:25.732 Isaiah is trying to describe this picture of the Seraphim flying around the throne of God. 00:08:25.732 --> 00:08:40.298 It says in here in Isaiah six, verse three, and one of these called to another and said the following words Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. 00:08:40.298 --> 00:08:44.331 The whole Earth is full of His glory. 00:08:45.399 --> 00:08:54.365 Now, we've got a lot to unpack here because we need to understand what the word holy means and what the word glory means for us to understand this passage. 00:08:54.365 --> 00:09:01.599 And so I'm going to try to define these things, but I'm to be honest right now, it's kind of impossible. 00:09:01.599 --> 00:09:08.532 And the reason why is because the word holy, the holiness of God in the glory of God is a very thick word. 00:09:08.532 --> 00:09:13.032 And I'm a lean on a pastor and speaker and teacher named John Piper for this. 00:09:13.032 --> 00:09:17.032 He's got a definition or a thought on this that I think is helpful. 00:09:17.032 --> 00:09:24.166 He says Defining the glory of God is impossible, I say, because it's more like the word beauty than the word basketball. 00:09:24.166 --> 00:09:30.298 And his point is simple is that with a basketball, we can define it as it's this, it's this ball. 00:09:30.298 --> 00:09:31.599 It's sometimes orange. 00:09:31.599 --> 00:09:33.198 It's either rubber or leather. 00:09:33.198 --> 00:09:34.731 You can bounce it. 00:09:34.731 --> 00:09:37.298 You're supposed to shoot it into a basketball goal. 00:09:37.298 --> 00:09:40.631 So we can define what a basketball is. Right. 00:09:40.631 --> 00:09:44.231 But now try to define the word beauty. 00:09:44.231 --> 00:09:45.698 It's hard. 00:09:45.698 --> 00:09:51.631 Instead, what we do is we point to things and say, That's beautiful and we'll point to something over here. 00:09:51.631 --> 00:09:54.532 We'll say, This is beautiful. 00:09:54.532 --> 00:09:56.331 Yes, the sunset and the sunrise. 00:09:56.331 --> 00:09:57.999 Those things are beautiful. 00:09:57.999 --> 00:09:59.865 The Grand Canyon is beautiful. 00:09:59.865 --> 00:10:07.599 And by pointing to things as we see them, that's how we come to a definition of what the holiness in the glory of God is as well. 00:10:09.231 --> 00:10:12.331 So I'm giving a give you a definition, as imperfect as it may be. 00:10:12.331 --> 00:10:17.298 But for us to understand the passage, I believe we need some type of baseline. 00:10:17.298 --> 00:10:33.265 So for us this morning, the holiness of God is the quality of the infinite perfection, greatness and worth of His character that makes him uniquely separate from all things. 00:10:33.265 --> 00:10:39.399 I realize this is a thick definition, but for us to understand the holiness of God, it's going to be okay. 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:40.298 But here it is again. 00:10:40.298 --> 00:10:52.865 The holiness of God is the quality of the infinite perfection, greatness, and worth of His character that makes him uniquely separate from all things. 00:10:52.865 --> 00:10:54.532 You see, God is separate. 00:10:54.532 --> 00:10:56.066 He is unique. 00:10:56.066 --> 00:10:57.532 We separate. 00:10:57.532 --> 00:11:02.198 And the reason why he is uniquely separate is because of who he is. 00:11:02.198 --> 00:11:03.532 It's in his character. 00:11:03.532 --> 00:11:04.899 It's in His Holiness. 00:11:04.899 --> 00:11:07.932 He is perfect and he is infinitely perfect. 00:11:07.932 --> 00:11:14.631 And as a result, that separates him in a unique way that no one else in this universe can achieve. 00:11:14.631 --> 00:11:21.231 The holiness of God is what makes God God, and no one can achieve it. 00:11:21.231 --> 00:11:23.631 And yes, there are things made in his likeness. 00:11:23.631 --> 00:11:25.798 You and me, we are made in the likeness of God. 00:11:25.798 --> 00:11:29.965 But we can never achieve the holiness of God. 00:11:30.099 --> 00:11:32.599 But here's another aspect to this. 00:11:32.599 --> 00:11:33.965 That's the holiness of God. 00:11:33.965 --> 00:11:39.231 But now, as the passage says, Holy, holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. 00:11:39.231 --> 00:11:43.831 All the earth is filled with what His glory. 00:11:44.631 --> 00:11:47.999 So how do these two things kind of connect? 00:11:47.999 --> 00:11:54.599 So the holiness of God is, is who God is His His words and his greatness and his character. 00:11:54.599 --> 00:11:55.264 Listen to this. 00:11:55.264 --> 00:12:00.831 The glory of God is the display of His Holiness. 00:12:01.698 --> 00:12:04.532 So make this kind of clear with an illustration. 00:12:04.532 --> 00:12:09.899 But the glory of God is the display of God's holiness. 00:12:11.399 --> 00:12:13.999 And so I'm have the the light, the lighting person. 00:12:13.999 --> 00:12:15.099 He's working the lights this morning. 00:12:15.099 --> 00:12:16.932 They're actually going to dim the lights for us. 00:12:16.932 --> 00:12:17.932 So bear with me. 00:12:17.932 --> 00:12:18.999 I know this is a little bit different. 00:12:18.999 --> 00:12:27.698 Might throw you off, but if we have this light shining up from our mover here, you can see the lights, you can see it. 00:12:27.698 --> 00:12:35.764 And honestly, this is can symbolize the glory of God for our sake this morning that we can see and visualize the glory of God for all it's worth. 00:12:35.764 --> 00:12:37.298 We see this in creation. 00:12:37.298 --> 00:12:39.231 We see this in a great marriage. 00:12:39.231 --> 00:12:41.465 We see this when a parent loves their child. 00:12:41.465 --> 00:12:44.532 We can see the glory of God in all of these things. 00:12:44.532 --> 00:12:47.198 But there's a difference between the holiness of God. 00:12:48.532 --> 00:12:58.331 And so I'm going to warn you, I want you to maybe cover your faces a little bit because I want to see the holiness of God is when the light comes down and we see the source of it. 00:12:58.331 --> 00:13:01.331 So go ahead and do that. 00:13:01.698 --> 00:13:06.798 The holiness of God is that source of the glory of God. 00:13:06.798 --> 00:13:11.131 It is what's shining and it kind of makes You do what? 00:13:11.131 --> 00:13:16.264 Yes, it kind of makes you do this. 00:13:16.532 --> 00:13:25.631 So, yes, we at times can see the display of God's glory, but we really can't see the holiness of God because it it is perfect, infinite character. 00:13:25.631 --> 00:13:28.164 And this is what I say is doing is is about to do. 00:13:28.164 --> 00:13:30.298 He's got to lift his hands because he can't see it. 00:13:32.198 --> 00:13:33.831 Because you and I are imperfect. 00:13:33.831 --> 00:13:39.465 While God is perfect, there is an infinite chasm between the holiness of God and our unclean. 00:13:39.465 --> 00:13:49.465 This and a rely on John Piper again, because he says the glory of God is the going public of His Holiness. 00:13:50.698 --> 00:13:55.399 It is the way He puts His Holiness on display for people to apprehend. 00:13:55.399 --> 00:14:02.532 Because for you and I to understand that something as great as God's holiness, he needs to put it in terms that we can understand it. 00:14:02.532 --> 00:14:05.664 That's why we have things like the Grand Canyon. 00:14:05.664 --> 00:14:11.432 That's why we have the things in this world and then this this creation to look at when we look to the stars of heaven. 00:14:11.432 --> 00:14:19.099 In fact, Psalm 19 one says, The heavens declare what the glory of God. 00:14:20.432 --> 00:14:24.565 Psalm 91 says, The heavens declare the glory of God. 00:14:24.565 --> 00:14:28.565 And the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 00:14:28.565 --> 00:14:30.298 ROMANS One has something here for us. 00:14:30.298 --> 00:14:44.831 Two Romans 120 says for God's invisible attributes, namely his internal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived where ever since the creation, the world and the things that have been made. 00:14:45.664 --> 00:14:50.831 So we can see and know the holiness of God by seeing creation. 00:14:50.831 --> 00:14:55.664 And ultimately, as we're going to get to in a second, by seeing Jesus. 00:14:55.664 --> 00:15:00.198 So for me to put all these things into terms, it's hard for us to wrap our minds around this fully. 00:15:00.198 --> 00:15:03.631 But there's a little bit more here in verse three. 00:15:03.631 --> 00:15:05.831 I say it six three back here again. 00:15:05.831 --> 00:15:10.999 Holy, holy, Holy is the Lord. 00:15:12.131 --> 00:15:27.932 Three times they have to say it in fact, there's a passage later on in the Bible in Revelation, the last book, when John's writing his vision, he sees something very similar and hears very similar words. 00:15:27.932 --> 00:15:41.164 He sees angels surrounding the throne, Seraphim and cherubim, and they're singing to God very similar words, saying, Holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is him is to come. 00:15:41.164 --> 00:15:45.999 And they're doing it night and day continuously over and over and over again. 00:15:45.999 --> 00:15:54.399 And it is a picture of the heavens and the throne room of God of what these angelic beings are doing. 00:15:54.399 --> 00:16:01.465 So there's a point out of this because I think we often missed this because in our culture we sometimes thinks repetition is a bad word. 00:16:02.899 --> 00:16:12.131 But let me tell you this morning, that repetition is not redundancy about redundancy, I mean, worthless or boring. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:18.432 But listen, repetition actually allows us to think on things more and more and more. 00:16:18.432 --> 00:16:27.331 And if you were to go to these Seraphim and we had this conversation saying, Don't you get tired of singing about the holiness of God, they would say, No. 00:16:27.698 --> 00:16:39.032 And I think the truth is, is that we need to be repetitive in some of the things that we do in regards to our worship of God, because sometimes we need to say over and over again so that we can get it. 00:16:39.032 --> 00:16:42.631 It's why Jesus prays three times in the garden. 00:16:42.631 --> 00:16:51.164 It's why these angelic beings are singing this over and over again, because they can see another glimpse of God by singing it one more time. 00:16:52.798 --> 00:17:00.565 But I think that's the culture we live in because we kind of have developed this habit of just going on to what's next. 00:17:00.565 --> 00:17:03.097 We kind of see this in technology, don't we? 00:17:03.097 --> 00:17:05.464 There's new things, new devices, new technology. 00:17:05.464 --> 00:17:06.498 Will that will come out. 00:17:06.498 --> 00:17:11.365 And before we even understand what the is, we want to jump to the new, don't we? 00:17:11.365 --> 00:17:20.332 And as a student pastor trying to keep up with trends and slang terms with the teenagers, it's impossible. 00:17:20.332 --> 00:17:26.632 It's because one word is being used by teenagers today is not going to be used tomorrow because this one's old. 00:17:26.632 --> 00:17:30.632 And so for me, trying to keep up with some of these words is very difficult. 00:17:30.632 --> 00:17:32.731 So I had someone help me out. 00:17:32.731 --> 00:17:34.432 They made a list for us this morning. 00:17:34.432 --> 00:17:39.065 It's going to come up on the screen because I needed help coming up with these terms. 00:17:39.065 --> 00:17:41.565 And even the teenagers can probably help us with this. 00:17:41.565 --> 00:17:47.397 But maybe this is a little homework for you all, because if you all have teenagers or around teenagers, this is the language they use. 00:17:47.397 --> 00:17:51.632 And if you're going to ask me what it means, I can get help here, but you're not to ask them. 00:17:51.632 --> 00:17:52.397 So. 00:17:52.397 --> 00:17:57.265 So one word that we used to use is called what's the skinny on something? 00:17:57.265 --> 00:18:00.097 Well, today they say, what's the tea? 00:18:00.097 --> 00:18:01.897 What's the tea? 00:18:01.897 --> 00:18:05.865 Or they might say something that's so cringe. 00:18:05.865 --> 00:18:09.365 Well, today they say it gives me the ick. 00:18:09.731 --> 00:18:11.565 I mean, yeah, you make the connection. 00:18:11.565 --> 00:18:12.531 I can't. 00:18:12.531 --> 00:18:13.932 Third one is that's lit. 00:18:13.932 --> 00:18:15.198 Meaning it's like a good term. 00:18:15.198 --> 00:18:17.632 Like something's good, like something's great. 00:18:17.632 --> 00:18:20.298 But now they say that straight gas. 00:18:22.698 --> 00:18:24.865 What is who came up with that? 00:18:24.865 --> 00:18:25.365 I don't know. 00:18:25.365 --> 00:18:27.365 In fact, you probably ask him where did that come from? 00:18:27.365 --> 00:18:28.432 They're going to say, I don't know. 00:18:28.432 --> 00:18:29.765 They just say it. 00:18:29.765 --> 00:18:33.332 Number four, They say something is used to say that's lame. 00:18:33.332 --> 00:18:35.865 Well, now they say, that's Chucky. 00:18:35.865 --> 00:18:39.298 I, I don't know, a fifth. 00:18:39.298 --> 00:18:41.132 And this is the one that was used the most. 00:18:41.132 --> 00:18:43.397 But we used to say, you got game. 00:18:43.397 --> 00:18:48.964 But the last one is you got Riz right over my head. 00:18:48.964 --> 00:18:50.265 Like, I don't know. 00:18:50.265 --> 00:18:53.332 And they don't even know, honestly, how these words came to mean. 00:18:53.332 --> 00:18:55.632 But it's crazy how words change. 00:18:55.632 --> 00:19:01.498 So quickly and we move out of what is what used to be into what's next. 00:19:01.498 --> 00:19:14.365 But I bring all this up in a funny way is that we often exchange repetition with for what's next, meaning we don't linger on a thought, we don't linger on a passage in our Bible studies. 00:19:14.365 --> 00:19:18.932 We just read something and we want to get on to what's next in a worship song. 00:19:18.932 --> 00:19:25.998 Sometimes we get tired of singing a lyric or a bridge or a chorus or even a song because we want to move on to what's next. 00:19:25.998 --> 00:19:31.065 But the reality is sometimes we need to sing it again because we need to understand it a little bit more. 00:19:31.065 --> 00:19:34.031 Sometimes we need to stay in the Word of God and work through it. 00:19:34.031 --> 00:19:38.998 And we read a verse and we read it again and again and again until it makes sense in our minds. 00:19:38.998 --> 00:19:40.765 But too quickly we read it. 00:19:40.765 --> 00:19:42.132 Okay, I'm done and move on. 00:19:43.731 --> 00:19:47.798 But listen to me we can't get close to God with that. 00:19:47.798 --> 00:19:48.731 It's it's also true. 00:19:48.731 --> 00:19:51.731 Meditation is not mundane. 00:19:52.397 --> 00:20:00.765 Meditating on God is not boring lingering and thinking more deeply about who God is in His Holiness and His glory and his beauty. 00:20:00.765 --> 00:20:05.964 Sometimes it requires us to to spend a little bit more time in it. 00:20:06.164 --> 00:20:15.531 So when it comes to the perfect, infinite Almighty God, listen, it requires repetition and meditation to know him more. 00:20:15.531 --> 00:20:16.765 So some of you may have a question. 00:20:16.765 --> 00:20:19.065 I just want to get to know God more, but I'm not sure. 00:20:19.065 --> 00:20:23.998 Well, maybe you need to spend a little bit more time in lingering in this word. 00:20:23.998 --> 00:20:38.464 Maybe you spend more time singing those songs or praying those prayers, because if we want to get to know the infinite God, we're going to have to spend more time goes on here in verse four and the foundations. 00:20:38.464 --> 00:20:46.765 This again, Isaiah trying to capture this moment of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called and the house was filled with smoke. 00:20:46.765 --> 00:20:55.231 So now God speaks and now the thresholds of the temple are shaking and Isaiah is trying to record this as much as he can. 00:20:55.231 --> 00:20:59.932 But often in the Bible, God reveals himself in ways for man to understand. 00:20:59.932 --> 00:21:06.998 He would reveal himself in the burning bush with fire, with smoke, and sometimes with these thunderous voices. 00:21:06.998 --> 00:21:16.597 But it's cool to think that the God who must hold back his holy presence from man, he occasionally revealed himself in a form that we can comprehend. 00:21:16.597 --> 00:21:20.265 This is why he says to Moses, You can't see me and live. 00:21:21.664 --> 00:21:23.132 Moses says, I want to see you. 00:21:23.132 --> 00:21:25.365 But God says, Listen, you can't see me live. 00:21:25.365 --> 00:21:28.365 So you need to turn around. 00:21:29.565 --> 00:21:42.865 But the beautiful kind of a climate climax of all of this is that God becomes a man so that we can actually comprehend and see God in human form, in Jesus Christ. 00:21:42.865 --> 00:21:43.897 Yeah. 00:21:43.897 --> 00:21:45.565 So, yes, the God is holy. 00:21:45.565 --> 00:21:48.332 He is separate, He is high lifted up. 00:21:48.332 --> 00:21:56.865 But what separates Christianity from all other religions is that God became a man so that we could see Him and be with them. 00:21:57.765 --> 00:22:02.498 He goes on here verse five, I want you to see Isaiah's response. 00:22:02.498 --> 00:22:06.832 And I said, Woe is me. 00:22:08.198 --> 00:22:15.698 Isaiah says, Woe is me, for I am lost. 00:22:15.698 --> 00:22:18.698 Other translations might say undone. 00:22:18.698 --> 00:22:21.298 Isaiah was he was dead. 00:22:21.298 --> 00:22:23.931 He sees God, He hears his voice. 00:22:23.931 --> 00:22:26.664 And you can imagine Isaiah just being on his face. 00:22:27.698 --> 00:22:30.498 I am undone, I am lost. 00:22:30.498 --> 00:22:32.698 Woe is me. 00:22:32.698 --> 00:22:38.431 I want you to really pay attention here to Isaiah as personal conviction. 00:22:38.431 --> 00:22:44.265 Because in the chapter right before this, Isaiah was saying Woe to those wicked people. 00:22:44.597 --> 00:22:52.164 He was prophesying and he was judging the wicked and God was telling him, Woe to these wicked people, woe to these wicked people. 00:22:52.164 --> 00:23:02.664 He says it five times in the chapter before, but now he gets to hear and he sees God and he says, Woe is me and you and I need this. 00:23:02.664 --> 00:23:09.897 We need to have a personal conviction of the glory and the holiness of God and realize who we are. 00:23:09.998 --> 00:23:16.897 This is why He goes on to say, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. 00:23:17.964 --> 00:23:25.164 And this idea of unclean lips is coming from the chapter before likely because he's talking about sins we commit with our lips. 00:23:25.164 --> 00:23:29.730 Don't get me started on that now, since that we commit with our lips. 00:23:29.730 --> 00:23:37.597 And Isaiah says I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of people with unclean lips. 00:23:37.597 --> 00:23:45.698 So if Isaiah to be an effective prophet for God's Word, then the truth of God's Word needed to penetrate his own heart first. 00:23:45.698 --> 00:23:47.065 And the same goes for you and me. 00:23:47.065 --> 00:23:59.530 Because today we can fall in the trap of instead of allowing God's Word to penetrate our hearts, we can skip over personal conviction and begin to judge others. 00:23:59.530 --> 00:24:07.230 So instead of reading God's Word, letting it get into our heart to change us, we'll move very quickly to talk about someone else. 00:24:09.265 --> 00:24:14.698 And if our culture needs anything, the culture doesn't need any more hypocritical Christians. 00:24:14.698 --> 00:24:17.365 They need convicted Christians. 00:24:17.365 --> 00:24:21.798 That is, people who are convicted about their beliefs, convicted about their own sin. 00:24:21.798 --> 00:24:31.298 And now we're moving forward to show the world of a holy God who was willing to send his son to die for us in our place, that we could be holy like that. 00:24:31.298 --> 00:24:33.597 We don't need any more hypocrites. 00:24:33.597 --> 00:24:35.498 We don't need any more judgmental Christians. 00:24:35.498 --> 00:24:41.964 We need people who love people who love God and just stand by his word in holiness. 00:24:41.964 --> 00:24:47.030 But we need Christians who are convicted and rap of this verse. 00:24:47.030 --> 00:24:55.431 It says at the end, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. 00:24:55.431 --> 00:25:04.530 So the reason why Isaiah was filled with fear and why he gets down and he says I am undone is because he sees God. 00:25:06.897 --> 00:25:14.397 See, when we catch a glimpse of the holiness of God, we will see ourselves as God sees us. 00:25:14.397 --> 00:25:23.065 When we get a glimpse of God in His glory, we will see ourselves accurately for the first time. 00:25:23.065 --> 00:25:25.131 Because here's the problem. 00:25:25.131 --> 00:25:31.765 I believe when we compare ourselves to other people, we can always find people that were better than. 00:25:31.765 --> 00:25:38.964 But when you compare yourself to the Almighty infinite God, you've got nowhere else to go but down. 00:25:38.964 --> 00:25:41.397 And Tozer has a great quote to help us understand. 00:25:41.397 --> 00:25:54.198 He says, Until we have seen ourselves as God sees us, we are not likely to be much disturbed over conditions around us as long as they do not get so far out of hand as to threaten our comfortable way of life. 00:25:54.198 --> 00:26:02.330 We have learned to live with holiness, and I've come to look upon it as the natural and expected thing. 00:26:03.830 --> 00:26:11.365 It's like when you are at your house and you keep walking past that mess that's been there for a long time, right? 00:26:11.365 --> 00:26:16.664 Or you got that unfinished project that you haven't finished and you've walked past and you've kind of just stopped noticing it. 00:26:16.664 --> 00:26:17.530 Well, listen to me. 00:26:17.530 --> 00:26:38.230 We can do that with the sin in our lives because we're now looking at things that are wholly we're comparing ourselves to other people and we keep working through our sin and not really dealing with it, saying we are not disturbed by our sin because we have become comfortable with it and we compare it to others. 00:26:38.698 --> 00:26:41.830 Who are you comparing yourself to today? 00:26:41.830 --> 00:26:44.631 I can tell you who Isaiah did. 00:26:44.631 --> 00:26:50.065 He was comparing himself to God in the moment and he falls flat. 00:26:51.498 --> 00:26:53.597 So here is my understanding of the fear of God. 00:26:53.597 --> 00:26:57.897 I know it took us a while to get here, but I warned you, it's going to take us a minute. 00:26:57.897 --> 00:26:58.565 But here it is. 00:26:58.565 --> 00:27:12.597 The fear of God is the result of recognizing the infinite distance of God's holiness from your unkindness that leads to a death appeal for His grace. 00:27:12.597 --> 00:27:14.631 Let me shorten that for you. 00:27:14.631 --> 00:27:22.498 It's when we see God and we realize we're not God, it's when we see God and realize that we are broken and unclean. 00:27:22.498 --> 00:27:31.730 And not only are we broken and unclean, we need his grace just to move forward for you and not to even enter the presence of God. 00:27:31.730 --> 00:27:33.798 We need the blood of Jesus to be over us. 00:27:33.798 --> 00:27:40.765 And by faith in Jesus, we are cleansed and we are made holy in the eyes of God and we can be in the presence of God because of it. 00:27:46.664 --> 00:27:51.431 But that requires that we see God for who He is. 00:27:51.431 --> 00:27:57.498 So my first encouragement this morning is that you would ask for eyes to see the glory of God. 00:27:57.963 --> 00:28:01.698 I'm talking in the morning when you wake up, I'm talking at the end. 00:28:01.698 --> 00:28:04.030 Your bed when you're going to sleep. 00:28:04.030 --> 00:28:09.263 I'm talking throughout your day that God would give you eyes to see His glory. 00:28:09.263 --> 00:28:13.530 Because when we see the glory of God, everything changes. 00:28:13.530 --> 00:28:13.998 Look at this. 00:28:13.998 --> 00:28:16.163 In Exodus 3318, I mention this earlier. 00:28:16.163 --> 00:28:20.530 Moses says, Please show me your glory. 00:28:20.530 --> 00:28:31.030 Oh, you know, we would pray this church that our staff would be praying this, that our people would be praying this, that our elders and our deacons would be praying this. 00:28:31.030 --> 00:28:37.163 Because if we are church that is looking to see the glory of God, a lot of things would take care of itself. Amen. 00:28:38.298 --> 00:28:43.597 And you will find God when you see him with all of your heart. 00:28:43.597 --> 00:28:47.064 Some of you may be thinking, Well, I just I'm struggling to see God in here. 00:28:47.064 --> 00:28:47.864 God lately. 00:28:47.864 --> 00:28:50.897 What are you seeking Him with all your heart? 00:28:50.897 --> 00:28:54.730 Are you holding back because God doesn't want half of. 00:28:54.730 --> 00:28:57.263 Yeah, He wants all of you. 00:28:57.263 --> 00:28:59.663 He doesn't want part of your thought life in your mind. 00:28:59.663 --> 00:29:02.064 He wants all of it. 00:29:02.064 --> 00:29:03.463 And he wants confession. 00:29:03.463 --> 00:29:07.798 And a part of being that we need to repent of our sin and come before God and say, God, here I am. 00:29:07.798 --> 00:29:11.298 I want you with all of my heart. 00:29:12.131 --> 00:29:17.530 So notice what happens after Isaiah falls before God in repentance. 00:29:17.530 --> 00:29:27.263 It says in verse six, in Isaiah six, then one the Seraphim, his angelic creatures flies over to Isaiah, having in his hand a burning coal. 00:29:28.263 --> 00:29:33.730 And this burning coal likely come from this altar of sacrifice. 00:29:33.830 --> 00:29:35.298 It's this picture we get here. 00:29:35.298 --> 00:29:42.931 So this Seraphim takes this burning coal that he had taken with the tongs from the altar and he's flying over to Isaiah with it. 00:29:42.931 --> 00:29:44.498 And there's a purpose. 00:29:44.498 --> 00:29:45.730 Look at verse seven. 00:29:45.730 --> 00:29:55.131 And he touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away and your sin atone for. 00:29:56.097 --> 00:30:06.163 So the burning coal taken from the altar of sacrifice brought to the very place Isaiah said, I'm unclean, my lips are unclean. 00:30:06.163 --> 00:30:14.730 Well, God, since this angelic creature and says, Listen, I'm gonna touch your lips and I'm going to make you clean again. 00:30:15.597 --> 00:30:35.064 So listen, this morning, although this temporary atonement for Isaiah cleanse his conscience so he could do ministry, Listen, it was foreshadowing a perfect atonement to come later, because not this Kol could not fix his issue with unclean this only the blood of Jesus can. 00:30:35.064 --> 00:30:44.198 And for me and you know religious practice or amount of praying will fix your unclean this but only faith in Jesus and his blood applied to your life. 00:30:44.198 --> 00:30:47.198 Can you be holy before God. 00:30:47.864 --> 00:31:01.663 So listen to me this morning that the fear of God leads to atonement by God, some of you maybe have approached and you've kind of offered up a prayer saying, God, I want to be saved. 00:31:01.663 --> 00:31:06.431 But honestly, have you ever come to fear God? 00:31:06.631 --> 00:31:10.397 Have you ever come to the place that realized that God is holy and you're not? 00:31:10.397 --> 00:31:15.631 And because of that, his judgment over you and your sin has a cost. 00:31:17.131 --> 00:31:23.530 But when we have a right attitude and posture towards God, it will lead to atonement by placing our faith in Jesus. 00:31:23.530 --> 00:31:33.564 And I pray that is for you this morning in our last verse, in our main passage here in verse eight, the Lord speaks and look what He says. 00:31:33.564 --> 00:31:35.631 Whom shall I send? 00:31:35.631 --> 00:31:38.631 And who will go for us? 00:31:40.763 --> 00:31:46.030 And notice there's a plural there who will go for us. 00:31:46.298 --> 00:31:50.663 See, I don't think God's speaking on behalf of him and these angelic creatures. 00:31:50.663 --> 00:31:54.230 I think God's speaking in behalf of the Trinity. 00:31:54.230 --> 00:32:02.230 We even hearken back all the way to Genesis when it says Make man in our our image. 00:32:02.230 --> 00:32:05.163 Let us make man in our image. 00:32:05.163 --> 00:32:07.830 And this is the Trinity speaking to us. 00:32:07.830 --> 00:32:16.830 They here saying and just kind of declaring, who will we send to go on mission for us? 00:32:16.830 --> 00:32:18.364 And I love what Isaiah says. 00:32:20.463 --> 00:32:25.763 Here I am, sin me. 00:32:25.763 --> 00:32:36.564 This is the same Isaiah who was struck with a terrible fear before God, and it's the same person who fearlessly offers himself to be sent by God. 00:32:36.564 --> 00:32:41.498 You see the transition, you see the transformation once being on his face. 00:32:41.498 --> 00:32:46.263 Now he's up, had his hand up saying, God, send me. 00:32:46.463 --> 00:32:48.498 And what did it take for him to get there? 00:32:48.498 --> 00:32:54.163 It took him the first fear God, before he could become fearless. 00:32:54.230 --> 00:33:04.131 So listen, fearing God makes us fearless and now must share three ways before we close today about how this is made possible. 00:33:04.131 --> 00:33:06.798 I'm gonna run through this pretty quickly. Look at this. 00:33:06.798 --> 00:33:11.963 Fearing God makes us fearless towards judgment and sin. 00:33:11.963 --> 00:33:13.897 Look at Psalm 103 11 and 12. 00:33:13.897 --> 00:33:18.830 It says, For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so is so great. 00:33:18.830 --> 00:33:29.963 Is his steadfast love towards those who what fear him as far as the East is from the West so far, does he remove our transgressions from us as a father? 00:33:29.963 --> 00:33:31.830 Shows compassion to his children. 00:33:31.830 --> 00:33:39.864 So the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him, for He knows our frame and he remembers that we are dust. 00:33:41.064 --> 00:33:45.497 So you can be fearless from judgment and sin because you have a fear of God. 00:33:45.497 --> 00:33:56.364 Second, fearing God can take or sorry, fear of God can make us fearless to temptation over thought about this, but fearing God can make us fear. 00:33:56.364 --> 00:33:57.564 List the temptation. 00:33:57.564 --> 00:33:58.064 Look at this. 00:33:58.064 --> 00:34:17.063 In Exodus 20, Moses said to the people, Do not fear for God has come to test you that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin the fear of God helps you battle scene in your life. 00:34:17.063 --> 00:34:26.597 Because when we see God is holy and we recognize we don't want to disobey him, we don't want to walk away from the good things in our life, we're going to walk away from that temptation. 00:34:26.597 --> 00:34:26.963 Friends. 00:34:28.063 --> 00:34:33.831 Last but not least, fearing God can make us fearless towards man. 00:34:35.364 --> 00:34:35.963 Look here, look. 00:34:35.963 --> 00:34:36.664 12. 00:34:36.664 --> 00:34:42.396 I tell you, my friends do not fear those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do. 00:34:42.396 --> 00:34:47.764 But I will warn you whom to fear him. 00:34:47.764 --> 00:34:51.597 Who, after he has killed, has authority to cast him to hell? 00:34:51.597 --> 00:34:52.764 Yes, I tell you. 00:34:52.764 --> 00:34:54.197 Fear him. 00:34:54.197 --> 00:34:57.197 Fear God. 00:34:57.731 --> 00:35:10.431 So here's my point for you this morning, and I hope that you would hear me as we walk through this incredibly thick passage, is that you would fear God to be fear less hope. 00:35:10.431 --> 00:35:12.297 You see that this morning. 00:35:12.297 --> 00:35:25.831 I've been praying for you this week that you would would see this truth unpack from all of this, because the holiness and the glory of God can be seen if we would seek the Lord. 00:35:25.831 --> 00:35:30.764 And that fear that comes from it can actually make you fear of us. 00:35:32.664 --> 00:35:42.797 I mean, in with this last verse in Revelation one, this is John seeing the glory, the glorious Christ in this vision. 00:35:42.797 --> 00:35:43.896 And notice what he says. 00:35:43.896 --> 00:35:48.896 When I saw Him, I fell at his feet as the dead. 00:35:49.197 --> 00:35:56.597 But he said, but he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not friends. 00:35:56.597 --> 00:36:12.530 I hope this is the place that you're in today, that you would be before God, a holy glorious God, and you would be appealing to His grace and you would reach out and guess what he's going to say to you. 00:36:12.530 --> 00:36:15.364 Don't fear. 00:36:15.364 --> 00:36:16.931 Don't fear. 00:36:16.931 --> 00:36:18.264 You can be fearless. 00:36:18.264 --> 00:36:19.431 Because here's why. 00:36:19.431 --> 00:36:23.963 He says, I am the first and the last and the living one. 00:36:23.963 --> 00:36:24.831 I died. 00:36:24.831 --> 00:36:27.063 Behold, I'm alive ever more. 00:36:27.063 --> 00:36:30.931 And I have the keys of death and Hades. 00:36:35.097 --> 00:36:38.396 You want to be fearless today. 00:36:38.396 --> 00:36:50.130 If God is for you, who can be against you and if Christ has conquered death and He has the keys to death in Hades, listen, we can go to him and not fear anything in this life. 00:36:50.130 --> 00:37:03.396 And he wants to use you be on a mission just like Isaiah, to reach those around you for the glory of God so that they might see the glory of God and they might join our. 00:37:03.664 --> 00:37:06.896 So the challenge for you this morning is very simple. 00:37:06.896 --> 00:37:09.896 Do you fear God? 00:37:09.896 --> 00:37:12.496 And I hope you do. 00:37:12.496 --> 00:37:14.963 Let's pray. 00:37:14.963 --> 00:37:26.664 Lord Jesus forgive us forever, coming to you in a routine, trivial way. 00:37:27.063 --> 00:37:36.463 Because yes, you are close, you are near, but you are still the Holy God of the universe. 00:37:37.463 --> 00:37:40.463 And we bow before you. 00:37:40.764 --> 00:37:45.463 And yes, we do fear you because you are holy and we are not. 00:37:45.463 --> 00:37:56.697 But we're so thankful that when we come to you in fear, you tell us Fear not because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. 00:37:58.496 --> 00:38:19.831 And we want to cling to that and we want to use this fearless attitude to go and make more disciples, to go and spread your glory into our neighborhoods, into our homes, into our workplaces, and to the people that we meet every day. 00:38:19.831 --> 00:38:24.563 We pray all this and the matchless mighty holy name of Jesus. 00:38:24.563 --> 00:38:26.530 And everybody said, and then,