Seeing The Glory Of God
written by Pastor Bob Briggs
[source: SermonCentral.com]
Summary: People desire to see God’s glory, but what does it take for His glory to be seen?
Moses asked God in Exodus 33:18, "Now, show me your glory." God responded to the bold request of Moses in the next verses saying, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But, you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."
God allows each of us a revelation of who He is, but within that, there is a mystery, a seeing through the glass dimly that will one day be revealed when we meet Him in eternity. Through Jesus Christ we have gained a clearer picture of Father, but I believe in our own lives, we have yet to scratch the surface of who God is and with that, the knowledge of what He is capable of doing in and through our lives. I want to share with you a 10 part series, Catching a Glimpse of God, so we, like Moses, can increase our knowledge and understanding of God which will lead us to a higher level of living as we apply the principles the Word of God teaches. In your bulletin I have included the titles for this series and I want to encourage you to plan to be here or if you are on vacation, to get the tapes or the entire series to share with others. The more knowledge you have, the less you can be introduced to the growing number of cults and false religions that are spreading across this land as we come into the new millennium.
Today I want to begin this series with a message entitled, "What happens when we see God?" The text comes from Isaiah 6:1-13 (READ).
Can you draw a visual image of what is taking place. Isaiah, the prophet of God, who has already worked in the role of prophet, having received a vision from God according to chapter one, in the reign of Uzziah, now stands in the throne room of the One who send the vision, the throne room of God. There he sees the back of a robe, the train, so large that it fills the temple, angels flying around the throne, proclaiming "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." loud enough their voices shook the Temple, and smoke filled the room. Have you ever had an experience like this? John did in Revelation chapter one, and history records others who have had similar experiences with God.
In 1922, Smith Wigglesworth was ministering in Wellington, New Zealand and he called for a special prayer meeting with a group of 11 leaders. After each one had prayed, Wigglesworth rose to seek the Lord and the Presence of God began to fill the room. The light from God’s glory became extremely bright, and the heat in the room intense, so much so, the other men could not take it any longer and each one of them left the room, all except Wigglesworth, who was able to continue in the midst of the Shekinah glory of God.
I have a friend who told of the mist of God, his glory coming into the presence of his home as he and his wife communed with God. And the same God who has touched these lives, is the same God who would love to usher each one of us into His presence but we had best know what happens when we see Him.
The chapter starts out by stating, in the year King Uzziah died. There are several ways you can look at this inclusion into the text. Uzziah’s death in 740 B.C. could just be a road sign in history for dating the text, a landmark for us to come across, yet I believe the prophet Isaiah is really telling those who are seeking to enter into the presence of God something deeper than a date.
The first thing you are going to have to do to enter into the presence of God is to let your own King Uzziah die. Uzziah represented peace and security for Isaiah. He was someone everyone trusted in, who would take care of them, protect them and satisfy their hungers in life. A good person who blocked the need for drawing close to God. Some of us need to let our Uzziah’s die so we can learn to worship God’s majesty, to give Him the honor He alone deserves, to lift up and exalt His name for He alone is worthy of our praise and adoration, He alone is worthy to be Lord. And this will not happen when we have competing interests. What are the Uzziah’s of your life? Is it a boyfriend or girlfriend who pulls you away from your relationship with God? Young people especially, I want you to hear this. Missionary dating rarely works. That is where you date a non-Christian with the intent of bringing them to Christ. I know the personal pain it can bring. Laura had a cousin who was going for the Lord, dated a non-Christian, they married had children, all the while he did not accept her beliefs, only tolerated them when it was convenient for him. Racing down the freeway with another car one day, he lost control, Shelly was thrown through the windshield into oncoming traffic and died. She left a husband who is now mentally impaired and children who were no longer raised by their mothers Christian beliefs and now have a lifestyle as teens and adults that reflect that Uzziah in their upbringing. Uzziah could be your playthings, we live in one of the great recreational area areas of America and our boats and trailers, tents and snowboards could become a Uzziah when they interfere with our relationship with God and our desire to know Him more, and I could go on and on.
In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah said, I saw the Lord. So the first thing that happens when we see the Lord is our Uzziah’s have died.
The second thing that happens is we see ourselves for who we truly are. Isaiah cried out in vs. 5, "Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among people of unclean lips."
Ruined in the Hebrew means unraveled, Isaiah stood in the presence of God and basically said, I am coming apart. The Apostle Paul fell like he was dead. People who truly fall in the spirit, or are slain in the spirit, I believe fall because they can no longer stand in the presence of the Lord because a revelation of their state begins to weaken their knees, they realize they are undone.
When you see God face to face, He will affect your self-esteem. What happens is you might have thought you were cool, you might have thought you were somebody, but in the presence of God you will discover you are not anything like you thought you were.
Can I be honest with you, we don’t take the Christian life serious enough because we don’t know who God is. That’s why this series is important. Let me give you an example of what I am speaking. How many of you have kids, either grown or not? How many of you have ever noticed with your kids there are times when they forget who the parent is and who the kid is? Okay, we have experienced this phenomena of childhood. I think you would agree, that when a kid forgets who the parent is, that child will try anything during that time of disorientation. Is that right? What happens is this, every now and then, the parents need to remind their child who’s who.
Well, we are like children at times. We have a tendency to forget who God is and we too, will try anything, and God has to bring us back to the understanding that we are not God. And if we are going to stand in His holiness, I guarantee you, this revelation is going to happen.
Standing in the presence of God, Isaiah got the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about who he was, and it wasn’t all pleasant, that’s why he said, "Woe is me" That’s why all church services should not make you want to shout and feel good about yourself. If they do, you will never experience what truly happens when you see God. Shouting has its place, and I want us to shout and raise the roof for God, but I also realize some messages should make you cry, to gnash your teeth, to fall prostrate on your face before a living God. Because when you see God reveal Himself, when the true knowledge of God is revealed, it shows who you are.
The third thing that happens when you see God is repentance and forgiveness. The seraph’s, ministering before the Lord and to man, took a live coal and touched Isaiah’s lips, "See this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Romans 10:13 tells us, "Whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord (Jesus Christ) will be saved." How do we call upon Him, with our lips, though which we ask for forgiveness of our sins.
So lets review, 1. Our Uzziah’s must die; 2. We will see ourselves for who we truly our; 3. This leads us to repentance and forgiveness.
And fourth, the final thing I see happens here in this passage when we see God is we receive our call and ministry.
We struggle so much with our purpose and reason for being because we have neglected to get into the presence of God in the terms God has set. We have so much pseudo-Christian activity. There was a man who built an enormous machine with pulleys, belts, gears and all the whistles. People were impressed with the machine, its inventor a genius at putting it all together. When asked what it did, well, it did nothing except make everything work and look good. Pseudo-Christianity, looks good on the outside, but Christ has been excluded, it runs well without Him, after all, when God comes, he messes up our plans. But let God come and see what happens, He will refine His plans for our life. What kind of trade off do you want?
God said, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? I hope you understand he did not say this before Isaiah had worked through the process. Oh, he did use the prophet before this experience, but in a much limited way. Just read the book of Isaiah and you will discover a changed man, a great ministry, and greater results after chapter 6 then before. When you have stood in the presence of God there becomes no hesitation, no worry of inconvenience, no lack of desire to move out. Remember we have a room of angels that are shouting so loud the building is shaking, we have a room filled with smoke. We have Isaiah who has heard the voice of God lay out a challenge. I can hear Isaiah, not in a small voice, but one that wants to be heard above the sounds in the room, "Here am I, send me!"
So today, God always wants to draw you into His Temple, the inner court. What will happen when you see God? It is my prayer you will work through this chapter this week, but even more, I want to share the experience of seeing God right now, here in this room. He is here now, standing in our midst, his train fills the temple and he is waiting for you.
