Brown's Daily Word 6-8-09

Good morning,
The Old Testament reading for yesterday was taken from Isaiah 6:1-8. The prophet Isaiah was given a vision of God and of His holiness. When we come in contact with the Holy, one thing is for certain…we will never forget it. Look at verses 1-4. “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.” In this passage we see that God was on the throne. Though King Uzziah had died God was still on the throne. The fact that the throne was high and exalted meant that it was greater than and exceeded all other thrones. The train (just the train) of His robe filled the entire temple. His royalty far surpasses anything we have known or can imagine. The angels praised the Lord with "three times holy". They declared that He is supremely holy. As they spoke, the words "holy" reverberated against the walls, getting stronger with each echo until their voices were shaking the doorposts, adding to the sense of awesomeness and power. All of these images are designed to point us to God's majesty, which should provoke reverence and awe. They point us to His holiness. It is Holiness which most defines God. [Originating in God’s nature, holiness is a unique quality of His character. The Bible emphasizes this divine attribute. “Who is like you, O LORD?” (Ex. 15:11). “There is none holy like the LORD” (1 Sam. 2:2). “Who shall not fear You, O Lord . . . For You alone are holy” (Rev. 15:4). God’s high expectations of His people flow out of His own holy nature: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6); “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2).] There is no one like God. He is so far above mankind that we cannot even comprehend His vastness or greatness. A.W. Tozer says, “We know nothing like the divine holiness. It stands apart, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible, and unattainable. The natural man is blind to it. He may fear God’s power and admire his wisdom, but his holiness we cannot even imagine. He is unique in His power, and also in His purity. " God is untainted by sin and He despises evil. The burning angels of Isaiah's vision and the smoke, a symbol of the judgment of God, must have sent shivers down Isaiah’s spine. The holiness of God caused Adam and Eve to hide from God in the Garden of Eden. When confronted with the holiness of God, Moses covered his face and the children of Israel kept at a safe distance. When confronted with the holiness of God Job’s accusations turned into adoration. When confronted with the holiness of God the Apostle John “fell at his feet as though dead”. The response of an unholy person to the holiness of God is an acute awareness of personal sin. When the unholy confronts the holy we become very conscious of our own sinfulness. It is as if we live most of our lives with the lights turned off, and we feel as if we are able to hide some of our wickedness in the dark.Then, in God’s light, we begin to see ourselves as we are. When we realize the awful reality that we are sinners and that God is a holy God who punishes sin, and when we know that we are guilty, we tremble in fear and in horror we cry out like Isaiah, “Woe is Me!” However, something amazing happened to Isaiah. When he trembled before the Lord, and saw his own sinfulness, God gave Isaiah grace. In Verse 6-7, “Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." How can mankind stand before a righteous and just God?, except by the grace of God. Isaiah did nothing to deserve this grace. It was all God’s doing. There is nothing that any human being can do to earn God’s grace. You can’t do it and neither can I. Isaiah, stained and covered in sin, was unable to cleanse himself, but God in His grace took the initiative and made Isaiah clean.
True worship always begins with an awareness of God’s holiness. We have lost something of that awareness in our worship services. There was a time when people were so aware of this aspect of worship that the very churches themselves were being constructed in ways that emphasized the awesomeness of God. It is difficult to walk into one of the cathedrals of Europe built centuries ago without feeling awe and wonder. The quiet, the slight aroma of incense or candles, the artistry of stained glass windows, and the classical music moves one to stand in awe and wonder. In recent years, we have emphasized the personal nature of God, the love God, and joy of God to such a degree that many have forgotten that our God is an awesome God. He is not a “little buddy” or someone to pal around with. God is such an awesome and holy God that to be in His presence is to be filled with wonder. God is powerful, holy, and just. He will not stand for evil, but He is patient and kind. He is the God of love and compassion. What His justice demands of us, His grace provides.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWnLnZsrvnA