Holy Vision

As Pastor Aaron introduces us to our new series, Holy Fear, we learn about Isaiah's vision of the throne room in Isiah 6:1-8, and what it was like to be in the presence of God. 

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When you truly step into the presence of God, God's holiness has a way of exposing our every flaw. The moment you step in, all of a sudden you have this awareness that I am unworthy to be here. I shouldn't be here right now, is how we feel. And that's what true holiness reveals. In fact, the Hebrew word for holy is kadosh, and its meaning is to be set apart, utterly distinct, to be transcendent, to rise above. And the seraphim, they flew above God and noticed something. They didn't just call him holy. Did you see that? They didn't call him holy. In fact, they said holy, holy, holy. Did you see that? They said they called him holy three times. And check this out repeating holy three times in the Hebrew, it gives it the strongest possible emphasis. It places him in a category all by himself. And so, as this is all being proclaimed by the angels, and now Isaiah's eyes, they have they have clearly seen because the detail, it seems like he writes with here in Isaiah chapter 6. All of a sudden, he notices that the foundations of the temple are shaking just because of the presence of God and what's occurring in the room. The temple's filled with smoke, which is also a visible sign of God's presence. And I'm sitting there thinking, I'm like, this is so similar to when God showed up at Mount Sinai. When God showed up to Moses at Mount Sinai when he gave him the Ten Commandments and he established the covenant with Israel, listen to some of the things that occurred the same way. There was a thick cloud, it said in Exodus 19, 9. There's blazing fire in Exodus 24, 17. There was smoke in Exodus 19, 18. It says, all of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently. In Exodus 19, 19, there was thunder and the sound of a trumpet. And then in Exodus 20, 18, the earth shook. It says, when the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram's horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear. And now Isaiah is experiencing the same visible manifestations of God's presence as Moses did before him. And let me tell you what this is doing. This is causing someone who, you know, I'm not saying Isaiah felt any kind of pride or he felt like a big man before, but walking into that room, all of a sudden he feels very small. And in Isaiah witnessing all this, his first response, Scripture describes it in the New King James, woe is me, for I am undone. I am completely undone. And that's that's a similar response to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Listen to Hebrews 12, 18 through 21. The Hebrews, Hebrews recalls this moment and it says, You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai, for they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. They staggered back under God's command. If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death. Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, I am terrified and trembling. Now, this wasn't God demonstrating his vengeance, this was God demonstrating his power. And Isaiah, he's basically saying this, and he's like, I am not perfect, I am ruined, I am a dead man. And we all have this idea of who God is, and and we want the warm, fuzzy, soft feeling God. And we're saying, why is this the experience? And I'm telling you this: the closer you get to God, the more clearly you see your own sin. Have you ever gone to the Grand Canyon? Or perhaps been you've summited a mountain, maybe. And I I know that I I love going to the mountains, and I was I was sharing with Steve that every time I go to the mountains, it's always a new and different experience. I've never been like, I've seen this before. Never said that in my life. And as I'm standing at the top of a mountain that maybe I summited, I feel so small. Have you ever had thunder that was so loud that it it shook the foundations of the house? And when that that thunder clapped, it might have made your heart skip a beat. And all of a sudden you realize, oh no, like I'm not, I'm not that big, I'm not that powerful. In fact, you feel out of control. Peter experienced the greatness of God when Jesus instructed them to go out further and catch fish after after getting skunked, like they were just completely skunked, and all of a sudden they follow the instructions of Christ, and the nets couldn't contain all the fish. Listen to Peter's response, Luke 5.8. It says, when Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, Oh Lord, please leave me. I am such a sinful man.

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He saw the majesty and greatness of God. That's what the presence of God does. That's what the presence of God does.

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And I'm asking myself, why are my lips unclean? Not why were Isaiah's unclean. Why were why are my lips unclean? You know, and and and for you, maybe maybe it's the gossip you told this week. Maybe it's the lies that you tell to make yourself look better, maybe it's complaining that dishonors God, or or words that can tear down your spouse and children, or maybe a coworker or a neighbor. Those are the kind of sins that our our lips do all the time. Yet, when we experience true holiness, we have no excuses. We have no excuses, none. And so we cry out things like, woe is me. I'm undone, I'm a dead man. I don't have a chance in his presence. Because there is nothing of me that is worthy to be here. And church, I want you to know the first mark of holy fear is exposing your unworthiness. That's the first mark. Holy fear begins with honest confession. And here's the thing, I don't I don't think it's something we should run from. I think it's something we should run to. The next thing that we see as a mark of this holy fear is that in this vision, God's sovereignty just completely rules. It rules over everything, it rules over every earthly throne. The most powerful person on the earth can't stand a chance against God. And so Isaiah, what he's dealing with is he's got this empty throne of his king on the earth, and he's given this vision of this occupied throne here in verse one, where it says that he was sitting on a throne that was lofty, and the train of his robe it filled the temple. Now, Uzziah's throne is empty, the Lord's throne is occupied, and that was a strong message in Isaiah's life. And then it describes this train as it's filling the temple, it's it's encompassing everything that is in the temple. Check this out. In Eastern culture, the longer the train of the robe, the greater the king's authority was. That's what the fear of the Lord does. And so it really doesn't matter what is going on in the earth. If I have God, He's got everything I need. Isaiah 33, 6 says, in that day, in that shaking earth day, in that day, he will be your sure foundation, providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the Lord will be your treasure. You catch that? What a great promise! It's it's not gonna be something you resent, it's not gonna be something like, oh God, not again. This is something, God, I cherish it, I treasure it, I need it in my life. Those are the moments that are with you that I long for. It's the most precious things in life. I believe that many of us feel we're in a season of instability. Give, just raise your hand if you agree with me. We're in a season of everything seems so unstable and it seems off-kilter. And it seems that outside of the realm of the church, that any time I get into politics with anyone, it reveals complete political turmoil. Right? That's what does. Think about it. That if you are a Republican, I hear you complain not about the other side, but your own side. And if you're a Democrat, I often hear you complain about your side, not the other side. And it's it's fascinating to me because what it represents, that everything's corrupt, right? It's all corrupt, it's it's all wash, because you're like, you say on either side, I don't know what they're doing. But they don't represent we the people. Now, obviously, we can point to so many things that create instability, whether it's economic uncertainty, a culture that is shifting. And so when we go through these long seasons of stability and watch them end, we get desperate. We crave for something stable. And so maybe for you, maybe it's not political, maybe it's the death of a parent. Maybe it's the loss of a job. Maybe it's a diagnosis. Those are seasons that make things so unstable, but there are times in life when we just want to cling to something, anything, unshakable, immovable. And I am telling you, that is God. Are you hearing me, church? Isaiah went from instability to seeing a throne that never sits empty. And so the same God that sat on the throne in 740 BC is the same God that sits on the throne today. And he is not nervous about what's going on in Washington, what's going in Iran, what's going on in China or Russia. He's not worried about it. He's under control. He is the king above all other kings. And so when I go to bed at night, church, I'm not worried about what's going on in the news and around the world. I sleep with peace because I know that the shaky moments in the earth don't move an unshakable God. There's nothing that surprises him. The second mark of holy fear is his sovereignty, anchoring us when everything else is shaking. Church, I want you to embrace that because holy fear, when we truly live at peace with God, holy fear doesn't make us passive people to the things of this earth, it makes us peaceful people, people of peace that don't give in to the news of the day and think that is going to ruin my day. No, it can't. It can't. I trust in God. And I know that when I keep my eyes on the Lord, and I mentioned this earlier, when I keep my eyes on the Lord, I can face uncertainty with a steady heart. But the moment, like Peter stepping out of the boat, the moment I take my eyes off the Lord and place it on what I see as reality, is the moment things get pretty shaky. So wisdom, true wisdom, not worldly wisdom. Wisdom begins when you stop trusting in things that change and start trusting in the one who never changes. God. And God can take you from where you're at, and He can move you from feet feeling undeserving to all of a sudden I'm cleansed. Because this is the most important part of this story is that God made a way for Isaiah. Because God's grace, it cleansed and then it commissioned him. And that's significant because he went in there as a man that all of a sudden seeing the Prince of God saying, I'm unworthy, I don't, I don't belong here, I don't deserve to be here. And yet God said, No, I can make a way. Because Isaiah expected judgment before God's throne. Standing before the throne of God, that's not a moment where you're gonna have any pride left. You're gonna realize how powerful he is. And this is the most beautiful part of the vision to me in Isaiah 6 through 8. Isaiah cries, Woe is me, and he prepares for judgment. And instead, one of the seraphim flies to him with a burning coal from the altar. And the altar, check this out. The altar was a place of sacrifice, right? And so the coal was burning because a sacrifice had been offered. And so when the seraphim flies to him and touches his lips, he says, He touched my lips with it and said, See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed and your sins are forgiven. So instead of grace, or instead of grace, instead of judgment, he finds grace. Not because he deserved it or because he cleaned himself up, but because the altar of God had provided a substitute. Are you seeing that, church? Now, this is this is a deep teaching, but it preaches. Because God doesn't waste a moment at that point. He has a cleansed Isaiah. He has a man standing there that has witnessed him in power, and immediately he speaks. We see it, he says, Whom shall I send? Isaiah being freshly cleansed, basking in God's grace, no longer burdened as he was moments earlier. He shouts, Here I am, send me. Church, the third mark of holy fear is not terrorizing you with fear, it's propelling you into mission. And you see, that's exactly what takes place here. That so many of God's greatest servants, if we look through scripture, were first broken by the vision of God's holiness. Think about it. Moses at the burning bush, he said, Who am I? Gideon. Gideon said, I am the least. Jeremiah said, I'm only a youth. The apostle Paul said, I am the least of the apostles. Every one of them was cleansed and commissioned. So check this out, church. It's not about what you've done, it's not about who you are, it's not about your status, it's not about your talents and gifts. All you have to do is be cleansed, be submissive to God and obedient to him, and just embrace what God has in your life and he can use you to do mighty things. Trust and know it. We see this pattern with God. This pattern of He He convicts, He cleanses, and then He commissions. Church, God doesn't cleanse you so that you can just feel better about yourself. That's not why He does it. He cleanses you so He can send you out, so that you can be used by Him. And so many, so many people are just sitting there on the sidelines because you feel unworthy. And this is what I would tell you to do stop looking at yourself. Look to the altar of God. You hear in me, church? Look to his altar, look to the coal, look to the cross. And when you do, what happens is your guilt is removed, your sin is atoned for, and God is saying to you, Who's gonna go for me? And you're going to respond, I will go. Here I am, send me. Not by your power, not by your might, but by the Spirit of God. Are you hearing me, church? By the Spirit of God. I was sitting there thinking about watching my daughter leave tomorrow and thinking, you know, Aaron, you created this monster. It was 2001. My wife and I we were only we were only 20 years old, and we let my parents know that we were going to Papua, New Guinea for two months. Guys, this was before cell phones. I mean, they were around, but you didn't just have them. And so when we said goodbye to my parents, we we did not know where we were going. We didn't have a clue. There wasn't like the internet, it was there back then, but there were so many unknowns still. And so we really felt like we were stepping into an unknown and we didn't have a clue. And you see, we were just babies, like we we were we were absolute babies, and definitely in the eyes of the world fell out of our minds. But I can tell you it was birthed out of a heart that just said, God, I'll go where you send me. And church, I want you to know it's about a heart that says, I will go where you send me. I'll do what you are asking me to do and be completely unyielded. And I know that that that there was a day where we when when Eva was born in 2009, we lived in Illinois and we came back to the church. And we had Pastor Morris dedicate her as a child, as a as a baby. And I know that that day, I it's it's a declaration when parents do that, and we've had a couple of them lately. It's a declaration that says, God, they are yours. It's not for me to control, it's not to not to wield my will into her life. It is for you, God. And so when I have someone talk to me about sending my daughter for six weeks, I say I might be a little bit out of my mind. But I trust God. And my question for you is do you trust God? Do you trust God with your life? If you don't, you've not come to have that necessary holy fear of knowing that God is all powerful. God is in control. God can do what he wills. And yet we have a loving God who says, I am choosing to partner with my creation. I am choosing to work alongside my creation. And so God uses us if we choose to surrender. And here's the cool thing: it all starts with the vision. Isaiah, what he saw, he saw the Lord high and lifted up. And all of a sudden, God's holiness exposes his sin. The sovereignty anchored Isaiah's soul. And grace cleansed and commissioned him. So the fear of the Lord is not that God is just this tyrant of terror who's coming to scare you. That's not it at all. It's this reverent trembling before a sovereign king who loves you enough to cleanse you and use you. And so many of us, what we need to do is we need to just get out of our own way and yield to the Lord. So when we come in here and say we want the presence of God to be in this place, it's a big deal. It's a big deal. And yet so many of our hearts are not prepared for this kind of presence.

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Many of us are not.

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Here today, gone tomorrow. And yet I know that God has prepared something so much better for each and every one of us if we just choose to embrace it. But I don't want to be attracted to the things of the world. I don't want to be tied to the things of the world. I want the awe of God in my life. I want to be captivated by the things of God and cap and not captivated by the things of the earth. And so I think if if we truly want that, we have to learn to yield and open the door to say, God, I want to experience that. I want your presence in my life. And church, we have the opportunity here. We have the opportunity to go before God and confess our sins. Isaiah did. Isaiah said, Woe is me. I am a person of unclean lips. And what he was doing was he was being specific, he was naming it out loud. Confessing to God. We also have the opportunity to receive, to receive this by faith, that the blood of Jesus Christ has already paid for our guilt. Our sin is atoned for if we would just claim it. Here's the thing. I have seen so many people do steps one and two that I just described time and time again. But seldom do I see step three. Respond. Respond to God. Respond to what He's calling you to. Not just respond at the altar, but when you leave these doors. The word of God means so little to so many people so often that walk outside of these doors, and then all of a sudden their heart is changed and it's it's onto the things of the earth. And I'm telling you guys, what needs to happen is that whatever God is placing on your heart, He's waiting for you to respond in action and say, okay, what are you gonna do with it? I'm calling you to this. Are you going to truly be called to your family to see them saved? Are you gonna be called to your workplace? Are you gonna be called to your neighborhood? Are you gonna be called to the nations? And if God is calling out, are you gonna be as bold as Isaiah to realize what God has done on your life and just say, here I am, send me? And so many of us get excited for the thought of where God might send us and what he might have us do. And I'm telling you, every time God has spoken something over me and I go, it's beyond anything I could imagine. But I also had to remove my expectations and realize that God has his specific purpose, and I need to not fulfill my own purpose, I need to fulfill his. And so it does come at a true yielding to say, God, my life is yours. If I could have every head bow and eyes close. Yield our heart and soul and our flesh, Father, and allow you to speak over our lives, Lord. To have a yearning desire for your presence. God, I know that if you just show up in power, that Lord, there is nothing we can do but repent. Repent of the things that have separated us from you, that stand in conflict with you. And God, what we see is because of what you have provided through your Son Jesus Christ, that you are so faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us when we call out to you with a true repentant heart and desiring, Lord, to honor you with our lives. God, the way we honor you is by claiming your Son Jesus Christ. And Lord, we yearn for that right now. Because there is nothing in us that is deserving of your presence but your son. Lord, I believe that, boy, if we had a world full of believers that chose to respond to your voice, Lord, we'd already be in eternity. God, your work would be complete. But so many have not yet found that all. That Lord, you will impact them mightily by your spirit.