I read this story about a honeymoon disaster. A young couple arrived at the hotel to begin their honeymoon. They were given the keys and escorted up to their room. When they entered, they were quite surprised. Instead of what they expected, they found a rather small room with very little furnishing. No flowers, No windows. A tiny little bathroom, not even big enough to swing a cat. Instead of the King-size double bed, there was a sleeper couch with a very uncomfortable mattress. What a disappointment it was. Well. the next morning the sore necked groom stormed down to the reception desk to ventilate his anger. After listening patiently for a few minutes, the clerk interrupted him and asked, "Did you open the door?" "What door?" "The door in your room?" Admitting he hadn't, the groom returned and opened the door that he had mistaken as a closet, and there before his eyes was the most magnificent room he had ever seen. Fruit baskets, chocolates, flowers, you name it. Can you imagine them standing in the doorway of the room they had overlooked? How nice it would have been. A comfortable bed instead of a sofa. A curtain framed window rather than a blank wall. A fresh breeze in place of stuffy air. An elaborate rest room instead of a tight toilet. But they missed it.
Why didn't you try? we may ask. And that would be a good question. not just for the couple but for everyone that stands before a door of opportunity but misses the blessing of what is behind.
Church, every day we stand on the edge of the kind of blessing that would radically change our lives, yet we miss it because we do not enter in.
The kind of entering I am speaking about is not the same as the young bridal couple, and the rewards are far greater. I am speaking about entering into the presence of God. There is much talk of revival. But no matter how much we talk about it and dream about it, revival will not come to America apart from God's people crossing the threshold of mediocre Christianity and entering into the throne room so that we may come to know Him in all of His resurrected power. I believe for the church in America to become the power force that it needs to be we will have to be done with our own agenda and get in touch with the power and the purpose of God. God has a very specific purpose for His church, and if I was to ask the question, most would respond that the purpose for which we have been saved is to serve God. To reach the lost.
That would be a noble purpose, but my brothers and sisters, this is not the primary purpose for which we have been saved, and it is because of this fundamental error that I believe we have become anemic as an army of God in these days. When Jesus was asked in Matthew 22:36-38 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. He had a reason for saying so. It was the first purpose of God for His church throughout the ages. It is out of obedience to this commandment that all other concerns would follow.
And so we will see today that our ministry Godward will urge us manward with awesome vitality and power.
Many Christians have been ignorant of the essential connection between our "upreach" and our "outreach." Throughout the Old and New Testament Evangelism stems from an intimate knowledge of and relationship with God.
One of the most striking examples of this principle is found in the OT in Isaiah 6. The reference speaks specifically in it's context of the making of a true prophet. However, the principle is the same. Isaiah 6:1-9 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. 2Above 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. 3And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
4At the sound of their voices the door posts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5"Woe to 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, the Lord Almighty." 6Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? "And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" 9He said, "Go and tell this people:
Isaiah was not commissioned to preach until he had had a dynamic worship encounter with the living God. The church in America today will not receive an anointing from God for evangelism or a Holy Ghost revival until we have had a fresh encounter with the living God.
There are four principles that Isaiah shows us about having a fresh encounter with God. We see God powerful. We see ourselves pitiful, We see our sins pardoned, and we see our neighbors passionately.
Firstly,
I. We See God Powerful - when We Move Beyond the Symbolism of Worship into His Presence. vs. 1-4
An encounter with the living God is more than entering into the sanctuary. It is more than stepping into the entrance hall of the bridal suite. There were many present in that sanctuary with Isaiah, who had not opened that overlooked door.
This was a familiar celebration. Dr. G.D. Kilpatrick writes in his commentary on Isaiah, "The pageantry must have been magnificent. Isaiah was there in his official capacity as a prophet. He was standing with the priests between the porch and the alter. He watched the play and movements of the ancient ceremony. To all the other worshippers it was a drama. Familiar yet enthralling, it was nothing more than that."
But for Isaiah something different begins to take place. He had found the door and boldly he enters in. Immediately he becomes aware of the divine revelation behind the symbolism that had become so familiar. How many of us find ourselves at the same place as the rest of those priests at the expense of the discovery Isaiah made? To experience the power of God we must move beyond the place of the placid though enthusiastic observer to the place of dynamic experience of the presence of God in our midst. It has little to do with the form. It has to do with faith. It has little to do with the art. It has to do with heart.
This is what Jesus was trying to bring home to the woman at the well in John 4. She tried to distract Jesus with the details concerning the art of worship and Jesus wanted her to understand the heart of worship. In order for us to truly worship God. to know Him in power we must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. And let me warn you. When we catch a glimpse of God in this manner, it will be difficult to hold back you exclamations of praise and adoration. Those holy angels couldn't help but cry out , Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory.
Sometimes we are a little afraid to give God the adoration and praise that He deserves. We are afraid that a little wild fire might break loose. I like what Vance Hafner said. He said, "Better to have a little wild fire than no fire at all."
Church for too long we have had no fire at all. We need the fire. We need the power of God. We need revival. When we move beyond that door we see God Powerful. High and lifted up, and we will never be the same.
In the second place, when we have that kind of an
encounter with God,
II. We See Ourselves Pitiful - and
Desperately in Need of Cleansing when Compared to His
righteousness. Vs.5
Isaiah's problem was profanity. What is ours? When we see God as He really is, we see ourselves as we really are. We see ourselves desperately in need of cleansing, because our consciousness of God reminds us that as believers we are called to be like Him. To not be conformed to the image of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we may become like Him.
Holiness seems to have disappeared from vocabulary of the average preacher in the American pulpit. The call to repentance has long ago been silenced as we busily try to pursue our programs as if somehow they can be offered to God in place of the sacrifice of ourselves.
Reading Time magazine recently - in their State of the Union Report, one of the statistics they quoted was that 95% of American men claim to be Christian. In the same article they announced that last year 8.1 billion Dollars was spent on pornography. Now that means one of two things. Either we have an incredibly wealthy 5% or something is desperately wrong in the 95%.
I believe that has got to change. And the only way for that to happen is for the church to come face to face with God. Recognizing the standard that He has set for us, and setting the record straight.
At Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary there has been an outpouring of revival. I read one of those testimonies this morning of a young student. He said, "I found myself at the place where the discomfort and the pain of my covered sin heavily outweighed the comfort of my complacency. The only thing left to do was to repent." That sounds a little like David in the 32nd Psalm, doesn't it? Psalm 32:1-7 Of David. A maskil. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. [2] Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. [3] When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. [4] For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah [5] Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah [6] Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. [7] You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Selah
That is what we need. That is what will happen when we come honestly and openly before God and truly experience His glory. Because when this happens we will experience a third principal. We see God powerful, we see ourselves pitiful, and thirdly,
III. We See Our Sins Pardoned - as a result of our open confession of who we really are. vs. 6-7
This is an absolute necessity for true revival. We must know forgiveness. Not as a doctrine, but as an experience. Isaiah knew the doctrine and faithfully preached it. But it was only when he came to experience that which he knew as a doctrine that God anointed and appointed him to be His spokesman.
As Baptists we know the doctrine of forgiveness better than anyone. We could have coined the words, justification, sanctification, glorification. We defend vehemently the doctrine of eternal security. But how many of us truly know forgiveness as a reality in our heart rather than a doctrine in our heads.
We are carrying burdens that long ago ought to have been lifted. We carry bitterness against our brothers and sisters. Churches are powerless because of unforgiveness. There are skeletons in the closets which should have been buried a long time ago. In order for us to be the bearer of the good news of God's forgiveness, we must know that forgiveness as a reality in our own hearts. At that point of understanding we will be able to be used as Isaiah was in the following verses to "go and tell" of His goodness and kindness that leads to repentance. When we see our sins pardoned, we come to the place where:
IV. We See Our Neighbors Passionately - as we respond in complete dedication. Vs 8-9
There are many who have experienced forgiveness and gone away rejoicing in a life of regained peace and happiness, but with eyes still blind to the desperate plight of the lost. Ears still deaf to the urgent call of God to "Go and tell this people." Hearts uncommitted to loves unending quest. I wonder about the priests who with Isaiah. They heard no voice. God's question never reached them. Perhaps because the urgency of the moment drew them away from God's presence too soon for them to hear His call. How many of those who stood alongside Isaiah in that awesome moment heard the voice of God? For Isaiah, the call was intense and personal. He did not pause to debate the obligations of forgiveness. He did not pause to debate whether holiness was optional. This is more than obedience. This is yielding totally and unconditionally to the Father.
Unquestioningly yielding. These are the natural responses of a soul that has caught the whisper of divine love. A love which would one day bear the full brunt of a Roman Cross as an example of what true love and true commitment means. So that all mankind might turn and be saved.
So we have seen that before anything else matters. Before our service. Before our programs. Even before the great commission comes the need to meet with God. Our purpose for being. To love him with all our hearts, minds and souls. It is then that we recognize our own need for cleansing and repentance, we receive cleansing and we are mobilized to reach San Antonio for Christ.
We are moved to action as we read Solomon's final conclusion to the issues of life and salvation. (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14, Amplified Bible)
But about going further [than words given by one shepherd], my son, be warned. Of making many books there is no end [so do not believe everything you read], and much study is a weariness of the flesh. All has been heard. The end of the matter is, Fear God -- know that He is, revere and worship Him(this is the first part of our mission purpose) -- and keep His commandments;(the second part of our mission purpose) for this is the whole of man [the full original purpose of His creation, the object of God's providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness, the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun], and the whole duty for every man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it is good or evil (comments in parenthesis mine).
And you know what? it is a choice. Once again we come under the tension of God's sovereignty and man's free will to respond. And respond we must. Each day that we choose to turn away from that door is a day less in the honeymoon suite in the presence of the Groom. If you continue to walk away without a response, there may come a day that you will cease to hear, and as in the words of Amos 8:11-12 states: "The days are coming," declares the Sovereign Lord, "when I will send a famine through the land--not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. 12Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
Seek Him while He is still to be found!