GCC Message. 28th March, 2016
In the last few weeks at Gaba Community Church we have been talking the vertical connection which we have called the UP. We talked about intimacy with God, and our relentless pursuit. Towards end of February we begun on the INNER part of our relationship with God, basing on Isaiah’s encounter.
Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord
Isaiah 6: 1-6. In the year that sKing Uzziah died I tsaw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train1 of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had usix wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.3 And one called to another and said:
u“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
vthe whole earth is full of his glory!”2
4 And wthe foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and xthe house was filled with smoke.
5 And I said: “Woe is me! yFor I am lost; zfor I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the a King, the LORD of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
I. WHEN WE PURSUE GOD WE SEE GOD
Jeremiah 29: 12
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. [1](The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Je 29:12–14). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.)You cannot go after God and fail to find him. All the people who sought after God found him and were used of God to make a difference in our world.
II. WHEN WE SEE GOD HE REVEALS HIS CHARACTER.
What do we see in Isaiah’s Vision?
1. God is Alive
2. He is a God of Authority
3. God is omnipotent. He has all power.
4. He is a God of Splendor
5. He is Revered
6. He is a Holy God.
III. REVELATIONS OF HIS CHARACTER DRIVES US TO EXAMINE OURSELVES IN LIGHT OF HIS CHARACTER.
VERSE 5: And I said: “Woe is me! yFor I am lost; zfor I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the aKing, the Lord of hosts!”
IV. HE IS A HOLY GOD.
3 And one called to another and said:
u“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
vthe whole earth is full of his glory!”2
What then is his holiness?
· Separate. Clean. Pure. Un-corrupted
· Nothing un-clean can come near him and survive.
· Holiness is God’s nature, it is who he is.
1 Samuel 2:2, “There is none holy like the Lord, there is none besides thee.”
Isaiah 40:25, “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.” Hosea 11:9, “I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst.” In the end God is holy in that he is God and not man.
He is incomparable. His holiness is his utterly unique divine essence. It determines all that he is and does and is determined by no one. His holiness is what he is as God which no one else is or ever will be.
God is glorious. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.” The glory of God is the manifestation of his holiness. God’s holiness is the incomparable perfection of his divine nature; his glory is the display of that holiness
V. THE MANIFESTATIONS DEMAND A RESPONSE
God has called us to a relationship and that relationship is like:
· Child to parent.
· Friendship
· Lover, husband and wife.
Leviticus 19:2 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. [1]
Leviticus 20: 7-8 7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you[2]
Isaiah 6: 5 And I said: “Woe is me! yFor I am lost; zfor I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the aKing, the Lord of hosts!”
Isaiah cried out to God, He asked for cleansing and inner change.
GOD RESPONDED.
We are always desiring to see God working in our lives, we are always in need of power, provision. Many of us want to be used of God. But we often ignore the conditions. It is changed people who will change the world.
It all begins with knowledge of God.
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Le 19:1–2),(Le 20:7–8). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
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