My First Sermon
By Adam Parker
Preached at Pleasant Hill Nazarene Church
8/25/01
Whenever anyone in the Bible comes face-to-face with the Holy living God, he never comes away the same. After a close-encounter with God, there is a recognition of that encounter by others as well as a dramatic, visible change in that person’s life. There are numerous examples of this principle at work in scripture, but today I want to closely examine two events where the saints of scripture met God.
One thing which is certainly characteristic of men whom are obsessed with the Holy and the Most High is an insistent desire to know God Himself, and not His benefits which surely come from knowing Him intimately. In the book of Exodus, Moses makes an unthinkable request towards an infinitely righteous, holy, and perfect being:
Then Moses said to him, “If your presence
does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your
people unless you go with us? What else
will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of
the earth?”
And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very
thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, Yahweh, 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,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where
you may stand on a rock. When my glory
passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until
I have passed by. Then I will remove my
hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”[1]
Moses recognized that without God’s presence, the children of Israel would be no different than any of the other nations. Because of this, he asks God not only for the promise of His presence, but also for a direct, experiential encounter with God. May I interject here for but a moment to suggest to you that be it not for the God of Israel and His Son, Jesus Christ, be it not for the divine initiative which God holds solely for Himself to give or to withhold, we would be no different than anyone else in this world. Indeed, there is nothing which separates one man from another, for all are born the wicked sons of Adam with a bold propensity to sin and to hate God.
We sinful people need the initiative and the change, which can only wrought by God and that by His own initiative and not from obligation, as He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Regarding this verse, Calvin tells us, “By this oracle the Lord declared that He is the debtor of none of mankind, and whatever He gives is a gratuitous benefit, and then that his kindness is free, so that He can confer it on whom He pleases.” Once again, without this compassion, which God obviously freely bestowed on the children of Israel (which He also freely bestows upon us), they would be, by Moses’ own observation, no different than any of the other pagan nations. Remember, Christians, that without the Divine initiative, you also would be lost and justly so, forever!
After Moses’ request, God dissuades Moses from wanting to literally see Him, because “no one may see me and live.” Instead, God offers an alternative option, which would allow Moses to still see Him and yet live, which involves an action by God of placing Moses between the rocks. Yet God does tell Moses that he will be allowed to see His back. Even this was a great and gracious gift on God’s part for which Moses must have been amazingly grateful.
One question, which may plague some readers of this passage, is, “Why can no man see God’s face?” The answer I propose is that God is Holy, and at that, infinitely and perfectly Holy. In fact, according to Jonathan Edwards, even one sin against an infinitely righteous God is an infinite transgression, and thus, is deserving of infinite punishment. This explains why it is necessary for Hell to be eternal.
To proclaim that God is Holy is to proclaim not only that He is morally pure, but also that God is set apart, unique, untainted by imperfection, all-knowing, all-powerful, and at the same time, amazingly gracious. Holiness is not just moral purity, but a total picture of Who God is. Holiness is not an attribute of God; it is God. He is Holy. He does not just have holiness; He is Holiness! God’s attributes define our virtues. He is the definition, the anchor of reality from Whom we define what is true, and what is righteous. Because human beings deviate so much (as Edwards would say, infinitely) from God’s Holiness that it is an absolute impossibility for human beings in this unholy state we live in to see God.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.[2]
There is always a visible change when someone meets God. Whether this change involves a bigger smile, a positive outlook on life, treating your family right, open excitement, bold witnessing, love for others, or even (in Moses’ example) a glowing face. Something always happens in a person’s life when they have truly seen the Lord, the King of Glory, and others notice this change. In this event, all of Israel knew for a fact that Moses must have seen God, because Moses’ countenance was dramatically changed.
This experience of terror was directed at the face
of a man who had come so close to God that he was reflecting God’s glory. This was a reflection of the glory from the
back of God, not the refulgent glory of His face. If people are terrified by the sight of the reflected glory of
the back parts of God, how can anyone stand to gaze directly into His holy
face?[3]
Moses was in God’s very presence, and as we have seen from the text, he never came back the same man.
In the same year that great pain and great tragedy strikes, Isaiah receives the greatest of spiritual blessings: a chance to see God’s glory.
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 Yahweh
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.
“Woe is me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a
man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes
have seen the King, Yahweh Almighty.”
There is something deeply pleasing and wonderful about this passage. It contains sweet words for those who love God and His Holiness, for they are words of pure admiration, a view into Heaven itself where the praise, which God deserves, is manifest in its fullness. Isaiah’s peek into Heaven reveals the angels who here cry out, “Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Almighty!”
In the Hebrew language, there are no adverbs such as “very” or “really,” so in order to express the greatness of something, there was a system of repetitives in place so that if something was very great, they would say “great great.” If something was so great that it could not be proclaimed to be any greater they would say “great great great.” There is actually an instance in the Old Testament where the Israelites encounter “pit pits.” These must have been very large pits, but not so large, I suppose that they deserved to be “pit pit pits.”
By proclaiming that God is “Holy, holy, holy,” the angels are actually saying that God is the holiest Holy any being can conceive of. There is no being besides God in human terms which could be referred to as of equal holiness as God is being called in this passage in Isaiah.
One of the biggest reasons Isaiah and the rest of the saints were transformed so uniquely was that they saw themselves as they truly were, humbled before the great and Holy God. Viewing in light of God is the only way human beings should perceive themselves. This is because human beings are prone to believe they are good, based on the bad behavior of their neighbor, thus the idea that, “I’m better than Davie Crockett over there, so I must be good.” This idea is so pervasive in our society that to proclaim that all human beings are wicked from birth aloud is, to many people, akin to saying that all babies should be eaten.
Calvin declares: “[There is a] dread and amazement with which…holy men were struck and overwhelmed whenever they beheld the presence of God…Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.”
Christians often compare their own spiritual walk to the walk of other Christians, thinking, “I feel inferior, because I don’t spend that much time in devotions.” There are two reasons why Christians should not think in this way: 1) Not all are called to the same type of walk with God. One man may be called to private time with God in the mornings for two hours, but that does not mean that this is what God wants for all believers. Everyone’s walk is his own. Everyone is different. The body of Christ is extremely diverse, and this is by God’s design. And 2) The only person we as Christians should compare ourselves with is Jesus Himself. He is our goal. He is our only example of perfection. Anyone else is not going to be a proper goal for us as Christians.
The interesting thing about Isaiah is that, just as Calvin said, when he found himself in comparison to God in His majesty, he fell on his face and recognized the impure within himself. “WOE IS ME! I AM UNDONE!” (Undone literally means “cease to be, to cut down, to be destroyed, to be silenced, to be utterly ruined.”) Isaiah was broken before God. Isaiah was speechless! Isaiah considered himself to be as nothing and completely silenced because of his experienced before the Lord of Heaven and earth.
This moment of ruin happened because Isaiah lay figuratively naked and bare before a Holy God. God saw into his heart and saw the sin that was there. But (the divine initiative) God did not leave Isaiah laying there in this state of misery and brokenness. Instead, God actually took the initiative to purify Isaiah’s lips with a coal from the altar (v.9).
The lifelong process of sanctification will never be completed in this life. Just like Isaiah’s experience, ours will not always be pleasant or painless, but it ends in God’s glory and our own Holiness. Maybe the coals, which God uses on you, are an abundance of suffering so you will learn that He is your own help. Perhaps your coals are a difficulty in the family where God wants you to learn patience. Maybe your finances are short and God will use that coal to teach you to depend upon Him alone for your life, health, and wealth. Whatever your coals may be, God is going to use them to make you more like Christ.
Notice, also, that after his cleansing, Isaiah went on to minister with power and become one of the greatest prophets in Israel’s history. This shows us, weak vessels that we are, that God can use flawed, evil, and wicked men, whom He changes and transforms, through whom He then transmits His messages to God’s people. You and I are sinful people, and yet we know, because of Isaiah’s confession of his “unclean lips,” that no man of God is perfect or without flaw. Incidentally, doesn’t this sound a lot like Peter’s own exclamation, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”? Once again, a sinful person God chooses to show and also minister His mercy through.
The real question I suppose I have for those listening today is this: Have you ever been in His presence? Hebrews 4:16 tells us, “Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” We may freely approach God’s throne for forgiveness, friends! We are able to enter God’s presence now because of our High Priest Jesus who has made abundant sacrifice for us, and who is always interceding on our behalf! Come into God’s presence and seek Him each and every day. If you do this, the Word of God promises that you will not remain the same person. You will be changed.
I will close with a quote from Thomas Merton, which has given me great comfort in my own infirmities.
If we know how great is the love of Jesus for us we will never be afraid to go to Him in all our poverty, all our weakness and infirmity. Indeed, when we understand the true nature of His love for us, we will prefer to come to Him poor and helpless. We can be glad of our helplessness when we really believe that His power is made perfect in our infirmity.
Isaiah also came to God as a poor wretch.
Come to Him with a humble and honest heart recognizing your need for His
presence in your life.