God wants us to take time to Discover Him
In times before this how was it that men discovered God and it changed their lives and also the lives of
those around them? Let us look as some examples. Isaiah spent a day in God’s house alone. For Daniel it was three weeks alone by a river. John was on the island for a season alone. Bunyan was in prison for years alone. Finney was alone for a day in the woods. It appears that no great growth in the blessing from God has come until people took time to be alone with God. We have been robbed of this in our day by the things we think have to take up our time. From the book “Overcoming Overload” comes three statements that we have come to believe are true. Lie #1 “You can have it all.” If that were true where would you put it all? How would you have enough time or energy to care for it all? How much would it cost and would you want to spend that much money on temporal things? Solomon said “All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them.” Imagine the time and money had to spend on birthdays for his seven hundred wives. Solomon had all he desired but was not satisfied. Lie #2 “You can do it all.” What do we commit ourselves to? We over commit our children. They have to spend up to 40 hours a week in school. Homework of 2-3 hours a night, piano lessons, soccer team (one game a week plus five practices). So they have no time just to play for the teachers and coaches put pressure on them to be the best. Now if you have more than one child, think of your schedule? You will have a hard time even to find time to eat together. How many responsibilities do you have? Now just add two more things and you would be over loaded. I am sure you have retired people say that they we not as busy when they were working. We can not do it all. Lie #3 “You deserve it all.” The story goes about an attorney who said a local charity had never received a donation from a most successful lawyer. The director called to get a contribution. “Our records show that you make $500,000 a year yet you have not given to us. Would you like to help the community?” “Have you checked my record? My mother is ill with medical bills many times her income. My brother is blind and unemployed. My sister’s husband died in and accident and left her penniless with three children.” “I had no idea.” “So if I don’t give to them why would I give to you?”
One voice tells us “Be sensuous; enjoy yourself.” Another, “Be resourceful; expand yourself.” Another, “Be satisfied; please yourself.” Another “Be confident; fulfill yourself.” Another, “Be superior; promote yourself.” Another “Be capable; believe in yourself.” God says, “Be wise; humble yourself.”
We need to spend time alone with God for it says of Jesus “He often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. If we are wanting for God to be active and real in our lives we can not just lean back in our chairs with a smile and think about God.
If you are like me you are concerned about the holiness of God. When I became a Christian the church was called The Pilgrim Holiness Church. In 1968 they took out the holiness and we changed to The Wesleyan Church. I have wondered why they took holiness out of our name. Could it be that holiness does not mean what it used to or that we do not like the demands it would place on us to live holy lives because it is part of our church name?
When we pause to think about the attributes of God they could be likened to the spokes on a wheel and the hub would be holiness that brings them all together. There are many who love to dwell on the spokes that express God’s love, mercy, grace, goodness, kindness and even His wrath.
Isaiah 6:1-8
We are looking back to a time when there was great distress for God’s people. There was a mighty king in Assyria who was coming and taking one city after another drawing closer to Jerusalem and it seems there was no one to stop him. Isaiah went to God’s house to pray to ask Him to step in to help. While he was praying all of heaven opened up and he saw God high and lifted up. (KJV) With all the turmoil on earth Isaiah saw that in heaven there was calmness. He did not see the forces of heaven all upset and ready to throw down lightening and thunder upon the earth to fix the problem of men. He saw creatures worshiping God and it seemed nothing else mattered. In heaven they knew the importance of worshiping God.
We could also go to another scene in the N. T. where John is in heaven and has seen and will see much activity but in the midst he sees worship and the cry much like Isaiah saw, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty.
Let us look at five realities here from these scenes:
1. We see God’s Holiness. He is high and lifted up. He does not belong to the private possession of a few but is available to all who seek Him. Because He is the center there is an unplanned worship from men. It is a time when “Nothing is impossible with God” comes to our minds. When the Lord is lifted up His holiness overcomes all conflict and evil.
2. As God is lifted up we are humbled. Just to note here that when most of the prophets gave a date of their calling was when a king was alive and reigning. This account says, “In the year that king Uzziah died.” Isaiah dates his meeting the Lord when the king died. He was not even the king at this time. Jotham had be come king a year earlier. Uzziah started out as king when he was only 16. It appears he became greater than the kings before him. He succeeded and became rich and famous in his long reign of 52 years. He thought he was so powerful that he decided one day to offer a sacrifice at the temple of which only a priest could do. With his action to do such God sent on him a disease called leprosy. One historian even said that he tried to kill the 80 priests that were there when they warned him to leave. His condition made it so he could not even live in the city but was an outcast. He was still alive but his son had to take over as king. He had to cry to all who came his way to stay away from him. In less than year he died. Isaiah as we read was in the temple praying where Uzziah had been cursed. He no doubt was thinking about the events of Uzziah’s life and what was happening with the Assyrian king. He knew that God holiness could not be taken for granted or lightly. It was then that God showed Himself and that there is a vast distinction between Himself and those He has created. God was high and lifted up; the king’s body lay outside the city. God sat upon His throne in heaven, Uzziah had lost his throne. God’s robe filled the temple; Uzziah’s robe belonged to another. God is described as “holy, holy, holy”, Uzziah was unclean. God was being gloried, Uzziah was in a grave. It is when we dwell upon God’s holiness that we sense our unworthiness. As God is lifted up we are humbled.
3. As God is lifted up and we are humbled it leads us to see our sinfulness. “Woe is me!” is how Isaiah expressed it. “I am unclean.” Notice he did not say, “I need help.” A man named Brengle wrote this about this point which I believe expresses it well; “I saw the humility of Jesus, and my pride; the meekness of Jesus, and my temper; the lowliness of Jesus, and my ambition; the faithfulness of Jesus, and my selfishness; the trust and faith of Jesus, and my doubts and unbelief… I got my eyes off everyone else but Jesus and myself, and I came to despise myself.”
We can hear a lot of talk today about getting the world to see its sin. We can preach sermons, have crusades, control worship, wear turn or burn t-shirts to send a message. Repentance is not a product of mood, fear or guilt for having broken the law of God but it must be remorse of offending the Holy One. A spiritual brokenness, a sense of depravity cannot be taught or given away but discovered by one lost in sin. The revival that we would like to see as a church must come as we discover the holiness of God. I pray it has not been lost since 1968 when we took it out of our name.
4. Once we grasp the holiness of God we come to have grace and forgiveness. It was after Isaiah repented and confessed that he received God’s forgiveness. When he surrendered he was purified. He came before God confessing he was unclean and ruined in the light of God’s holiness and it was then God showed His holiness as a cleansing power to make him fit for heaven.
5. This final step of God’s power cleansing him made him want to serve God no matter what the cost. God changes us before He recruits us. Back n the 60’s we started what I call back door salvation which did us no good. It was then that the moment of Church Growth started and the emphasis turned from repentance to recruitment. We did not evangelism but started inviting everyone to come to church. We felt if we could get them inside the church they would be saved. The plan did not work. We left off getting people saved and wanted them to serve with their money and talents. In the 70’s we put emphasis on spiritual gifts. Whoever had a gift from a test was put into position of power whether they were followers of Christ or not. Once they became a part of the church their opportunity of repenting and being right with God did not seem important. We now had money and talented people who could put on a great performance. Isaiah did not cry out to serve the Lord until he had a changed life.
Isaiah saw the Lord. We need to see the Lord. A. W. Tozar gave a message I want to close with; “I believe we ought to have again the old biblical concept of God which makes God awful and makes men lie face down and cry, “Holy, holy, Holy, Lord God almighty.” That would do more for the church than everything and anything else.
