Holy and Awesome

Welcome Summit church at our campuses across the triangle.

This is the first official weekend that we welcome back our college students from all around the country are coming back to Raleigh-Durham to begin their semester.

I just out of curiosity, if you are a college student at one of our campuses.

I know that the 830 service. This may not be that many of you, but if you would at any campus you're at right now if you would stand to your feet. We want to welcome you back is you that are here to put our hands together we we certainly miss you guys when you gonna church is much different when you are not here our offering does not change the slightest bit but we are glad that you are back. We are in week number two of a series called the name the name you have a name and that name is important to use somebody's never really got to be that close to you. If they don't take time to learn your name if you call me DJ then I know that I'm not that important to you in the same way God has a name and understanding.

His name is crucial to knowing him for more. For most people. I explained you last week. God is a mystery.

There are number of people who are quite sure he exist or if he dies how you could know that he exists.

There are other people who you know they would say Jan I believe that he exist. I know it can't be that nothing comes nobody equals everything so, I believe that God exists. But I don't really know how you would know him relate to him like a person that confuses me. When you speak me talk that way.

There are even more of you, perhaps listening to me who are described last week is like I was. You believe in God. You know how to say I have a relationship with God. But for many years. I just felt no warmth of affection of emotions forgot I told you I would hear people talking about God and they would get emotional and I speak like there's not a lot going on down in here. I believe in them on the woman answer to him, but there's no warmth of feeling for him and there's a number of you that would, if you are honest would be in that category. All these issues are addressed in Scripture through coming to know the name of God. Exodus 34 is the place we are working from. So you have a Bible invite you to take it out and begin to open it to Exodus 34 that's where God declares his name to Moses this weekend. I want to talk about the holiness of God's name.

You see the concept of holiness woven all through this passage.

Holiness is the most common Lee use descriptive word about God by Moses. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, holy is the word that run through all those books impact that used to hundred and 24 times to describe God in just Exodus and Leviticus holiness is one of those words that most Americans find bland and unattractive. Maybe ask them what holiness means they're going to think of some kind of bright white colorless light or they think it means you weirdly religious so that if you say you know so-and-so is so holy that's usually not a compliment, but holiness just means perfection in English the word comes from the word hole like wholeness and so when you're saying holiness. You're saying the something is completed is holistic in its goodness that is the essence of goodness. It is something that I want to show you today that you yearn for whether or not you ever known what to call it, for example, we want holiness in our relationships.

Nobody wants a spouse who is unfaithful.

Nobody wants a boyfriend who lives nobody wants a friend who exploits them. We want holiness in our business dealings. Nobody wants to deal with a contractor who shows up late does inferior work and overcharges us. You may not have known what to call Babel what you're yearning for is holiness, but let me show you.

Exodus 34 real quickly. This is your turning their tell you that I always use multiple sources when I prepare messages and you can always access those, trace where I'm coming from itself on the blog on my blog or website church's website.

We always post the transcript before the weekend starts and you can just see it's all in there every dumb joke everything I wear it all comes from has always use multiple sources, but for these concepts this weekend. I feel particularly indebted to Tim Keller, Tim Keller. As many of you know if you been here serves a somewhat of a theological mentor for me at my Yoda he is, in fact, maybe you could probably conceptualize our church like this that might help you but anyway just for specially for this weekend. Chapter 33 chapter 33 will will get the 34 second but when Moses begins this encounter by saying God let me see your glory. Let me see your glory.

And here's how God responds. Chapter 33 verse 19 says this and God said, I will make all my here we go.

Goodness is your keyword. I will make all my goodness pass before you and I will proclaim before you my name, the Lord. Verse 20 but God said you cannot see my face for man shall not see me and live. Is it not ironic that when God makes all his goodness pass before Moses that his goodness is so good that Moses cannot actually look into his goodness. Without that goodness killing them. So God then tells Moses to take the 10 Commandments, which are the moral expression of God's goodness, that God is a God who is truthful. He's just he's pure he's compassionate and God says I want you to hold these 10 Commandments, which expired represent a moral expression of that which you hold them in your hands. And God takes Moses and he puts him inside of the amounts in the cleft of the rock, and he covers him up with his hand and then he passes by him and then it says that as of the 34th birth by then the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there proclaim the name of the Lord your scene again the concept of holiness series of goodness and the other verse descended here means a God high and lifted up and is coming down in the cloud. The cloud is mysterious even though God is coming close. He still hidden the cloud cover Sam still can't really see his shape.

These are all the concepts of God's holiness that that that you see there in that chapter. Now it will reduce or leave Exodus and I want you to go to another place in the Bible should be got your Bible leave Exodus 34 really good Isaiah 6 for the rest of the week were to get out even more in-depth look at God's holiness of lipid Isaiah just come out, hold it down on the menu bar in the little thing will come on to say Isaiah and go straight there. By the way, just out of curiosity, you have an actual like real people Bible in front of you want, you just hold out and be proud for a minute I that's also how did you have a real but you know digital Bible and you got it right now to hold it up like where the concert Rosario told you before that my pastor my little Baptist Church will not used to say that the sweetest sound, the ever heard in church with the sound of the roughly the pages of people open the Bible to God's word not one time have I ever heard that at our church never see the warm glow of God's word illuminating your faces, but I never get to see that so whatever kind of Bible you got. I would encourage you to bring one somehow to Bible. If you get so much more out of it when I'm teaching there would be see in front of you and by the way you're doing this right here. I know that's not the Bible. I know that's Angry Birds okay and God sees that there's only that, but you can follow along there with me. Isaiah chapter 6 verse one is a six first one we go in the year. Isaiah's not have a similar experience very similar to Moses in the year that King use IR die. Let's stop here. Talk about who to use.

I was King Uzziah was one of Israel, Judah's most beloved things he had reigned in Israel for 52 years. Half of the century. It was a very good king. He led the people to prosper spiritually to worship God, economically, politically, it was a time of unprecedented prosperity in Israel and everything was awesome right up until the very end when you sigh. I got a little cocky and he thought he no longer needed the priest to offer sacrifices for he was so awesome he could do it himself.

And so he goes into the temple is going to offer incense to God in the clear violation.

By the way of what God had admitted very clearly set come to the priest come running in and look at you sigh as I use I you can't do that desire turns to them, and basically is saying you shut up on the king and I will do what I want because I'm awesome and he's pointing at the priest threatening them. It says that leprosy broke out in his four head and inch by inch just covered his entire body until there was not a spot him that was not covered in leprosy. He ran out of the temple and a couple months later he died.

That left Israel. You can imagine in in political turmoil. It's like the bottom has fallen out there beloved leader that they depended on now for half a century who is led them and kept the nation stable has just fallen. He has fallen morally and he has died and everybody's looking into the future. Say what in the world is going to happen now where in utter dismay, the foundations of the nation have been shaken and that very year. Isaiah says I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne. In other words, you died just fell at his throne. But God still on his hustle him high and lifted up right and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the Sarah theme in Hebrew that literally means the burning ones.

Each of the Serafina Angels had six wings with through the wings.

He covered his face and to recover his feet, and with two he flew the Angels, the burning once you know when a inscription whenever an angel and human being sees an angel.

It's not a little overweight. Cupid looking thing that we know like I put on our Hallmark cards read like a chubby three-year-old has a toy bow and arrow. That's whenever in Scripture, human being sees an angel the first thing the angel always says is you're not doing don't die you'll have to die. It looks like you're about to die. But you're not going to die when these angels these angels that would scare her so badly. If we saw them that we would thought we were going to die. These angels are before the throne of God on their six wings, and with two thirds of them. They are covering their parts of their body in worship and with one third they are flying. I've heard some suggest that perhaps there there is a ratio for how we ought to relate to God in our service to him for every one third of service we do, we ought to have two thirds worship God is probably not trying to give us a mathematical formula there, but I think it raises a very interesting point and that is that everything that we do as believers ought to arise from, and be bathed in worship because the primary thing that God gave us as his followers is to sit in adoration and worship of him not to work for him. Work arises out of worship. Okay people in here see where I'm immersed in reading one called to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. The Hebrew language uses repetition to express superlative so for example in Scripture when it wants to say a deep pit in Hebrew, what it literally says is a pit pit or if you want to say pure gold you say gold gold economies like real gold. This is the only instance in Scripture where a superlative requires a threefold repetition. In other words, is the only time you get something repeated three times and it's telling you that God is pure and undefiled holiness. Holiness is his most defining characteristic notice. The Angels do not say power, power power, they will even say love love love, they say, holy, holy, holy. Notice the word holy meeting.

Was it me literally in Hebrew the word Kadosh means set apart, set apart different distinct in these encounters both Moses and Isaiah as we see God set apart in at least two ways. Number one, we see that God is set apart by his awesomeness. He set apart by his awesomeness. He is high and lifted up. He dwells in and clouded mystery and there is smoke there is EEs covered yesterday to sin. Theologians call this the otherness of God is the often we want to reduce God to being just a slightly bigger, slightly stronger, slightly more intelligent version of virus you can see that and how we demand that God give us. For example explanation for his actions.

Know God, you better explain yourself and I better see some good coming out of this wants to quit believing in you. If you don't explain this to me if I can see this in this that makes sense and understanding that you I'm not that you don't exist.

I'm a rebel against you as if we could bring God down and put him on trial as if he were one of us. But God is not just one of us just a slob like one of our three children of the 90s, and at the end of the day. We are not in a position to judge him. That's kind of the whole point of the book of Job Job on emu. The story of Job is basically a guy who suffers and he doesn't know why he's suffering cancer for 38 chapters he essentially begins to yell at God and say God is this fair.

What I done wrong. Are you really ruling your universe and adjust way now. Ironically, you and I know the reason the Job's suffering is told was in chapters 1 and two. There's this cosmic theater going on and got it proving something to the Angels undo the life of Job.

What's interesting is that when when when God finally comes down to answer Job you know he doesn't tell him about chapter 1 into it as a Job yet. Here's what you'll see man is wanted to have here is that what's going on. That's while this is happening. This committee also Leifheit and Sadie that here's what he said 730 April 25 Job the lightning bolts report to me which of the lightning bolts report to you if I Job when we get together and discuss the problems you have with me running my universe will get together for coffee or tea, what, why don't you bring your universe you created my universe that I've created and then will compare notes and will to see who's doing a better job you have universe. Okay, maybe you're not in a position to judge me about my tongue. That's essentially what he tells him in the book of Job on gotchas you want to put me on trial.

Let's take a look at the expense of your knowledge for a second notice of I'm not telling you there is never a place for you to question God.

The Psalms are filled with people doing just that. But God's point in Job is that we are not supposed to ask God questions we can ask them questions but were not to do so in a way that supposes we can bring God down to our level as if God had the answer to our bar justice as if we could see or know enough to bring God into judgment the way. Isaiah would say it in Isaiah is this is a 55 my thoughts got says they're not even your thoughts. Got a better version of your thoughts is that your thoughts, my thoughts will even compare my ways are not your ways.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts in your thoughts. We know now even more than Isaiah would've known when he wrote that how high the heavens are above the earth.

Billions of light years is how high that distance is the distance between God's wisdom and my wisdom is the distance between his power and my power then it makes sense that there's a lot of things that I may not immediately be able to grasp yet because God is not on my level and we are not peers using the classic objection that people have the Christianity is probably the number one is what we call the problem of evil and the problem of evil. It's basically built on two premises. It goes like this. If God is all-powerful, then God could stop evil and suffering.

If God is all loving, then he would want to stop evil and suffering but evil and suffering still happen. Therefore, God must not be all-powerful, all loving, and a God who is not all-powerful, all loving, would not be the Christian God. Therefore God does not exist. That's the expiration of the problem of evil but I've explained you before that that problem is missing a premise and at premises this is that if God is all-powerful and he is God is all loving, which he is, but it would also follow that God is all wise and if God is all wise in his wisdom exceeds my wisdom.

To the extent that his power exceeds my power, then it makes sense that there might be a lot of things that my small mind are not immediately be able to grasp at least at the present moment that makes sense right thing about how much higher God's power is yours but illustration of this yesterday at the gym where I work out it's called iron tribe.

They have is a local bagel rowing machines and you get in there over to match any thought you're gonna die and so are you below what you can track your you know what you're doing and what's like honey watch are producing. And so, I'm in like a two minute rhythm and so in two minutes and that's all I got that you not check in.

I see you have averaged about 240 W unit for that time and I think 240 W. That's enough to power for light bulbs. I can power for light bulbs and then I felt like I am going to pass out if I really push myself to get the 303 20 for about 30 seconds a minute so I can going to die. And that's five lightbulbs. Okay, that is the extent of my electrical engineer that you know that that's how much electricity I can produce the sign. The sign our son generates enough energy in one second one second to supply all US energy needs for 13 billion years and God just spoke the sun into existence is let there be light. There's light I work my heart out for two minutes and I can live lightbulbs God just has a throw aside comment any creates one*millions of stars that produces enough energy to light our earth, our planet for 13 billion years. Here's my question God's wisdom exceeds mind the extent that his electrical if you know generating power exceeds mind then and I really and a place to hold God to account. Imagine a seven-year-old health seven-year-old on a rocket scientist to know that rocket will never fly doesn't have wings. It's way too heavy. It's weirdly shady. It's not going to be able to fly, the scientist may not stop and explain all the principles of aeronautic engineering.

The scientist might just say no. Seven-year-old to sit and watch. That's essentially what God does to Joe is a Job II can explain. If you are and I want you to sit and watch want to think about the extent of my power again. Please understand I'm not saying there's no place for you to ask questions. I not say that God's purposes have no rhyme or reason of that will or that we will never grasp them. I'm just saying that we should approach the question with the knowledge that God is holy, that God is awesome that he is glorious. We should not be surprised that some of his purposes remain hidden from us, at least temporarily. And just because we cannot see a good reason for something bad doesn't mean that there is not a reason why God is allowing certain things that happen God is holy is beyond the beyond the as above, the above and I know that can be difficult for many of us because we really want to shrink God down to our sides so that we can predict him so we can compartmentalize them so we can control him right.

But that is not a God that is worthy of worship like Evelyn Underhill that the British political writer of the early 20th century used to say if God were small enough to be understood, they would not be big enough to be worshiped, got a set apart as awesome as number two got a set apart in his moral perfection. The set apart as moral perfection is God's pure goodness with no mixture of bad at all. He is without injustice without deceit, without caprices of pettiness or impurity. As I told you these are all things we value and people were there to find the ultimate expression of God. God's goodness is so good it's so good that it cannot tolerate a lack of goodness or it cannot tolerate evil back at 113 you are of such pure eyes back it says that you can't even see evil compared to before.

With you that the somebody handing you a nice big glass of iced tea as your drinking his glass of I see this they all by the way, forgot to tell you it's mixed with about 2% human urine.

You don't say. I will 90% good. That's a pretty good enough like in a rate no you don't do that you would spit it out. Why, because that amount of impurity would just make the whole thing nauseous to you. God is so good that I'm injustice in impurity and dishonesty cannot be tolerated in his character because he is pure goodness that go back I say at the side of God's holiness. Watch this the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called in the house was filled with smoke. The temple I said Isaias and woe is me prime lost a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips from eyes announcing the king the Lord of hosts God's holiness is terrifying. It's terrifying.

The Angels have to cover their faces when they're in the presence of God the temple the pillars of the temple which are even people there shaking with fear. Isaiah the prophet of God.

The man with the message God's appointed messenger for that generation.

Isaiah falls on his face and he says I'm lost. I'm ruined. I'm undone. When Job, whom God called righteous when Job finally saw God. He says I heard about you with my ears and I believe in you.

But now I see you and I pour myself I hate myself when I repent them in dust and ashes. One other interesting place.

You see this in the New Testament. So you see is not just an Old Testament thing and Jesus march up for the best stories of Jesus is life there out on the on the ocean and Jesus is asleep and about in this hurricane rises up and the disciples who are experienced fishermen think are going to die right in a rather humorous exchange. They finally wake Jesus up who is evidently sound asleep like what rob you were about to die and Jesus stands up and you cannot your wife and sleep out of his eyes.

As you guys want about him is like the whole thing just dues can immediately plastic) is almost like he's was like he turned off a car alarm store whose Geo storm as it stands up and turns it off, here's what's interesting about the story it says that after Jesus did that the disciples were get this greatly afraid during the hurricane when they thought they were going to die.

They were only afraid after Jesus calling the storm. They were greatly afraid.

In other words, they were more terrified by the rescue than they were by the storm that's God's holiness. They are seeing the extent of his power, and it is terrifying to them. Why is God's holiness terrifying to us give you handful reasons. First, just to be in the presence of greatness is terrifying just to be in the presence of greatness is terrifying. Have you ever really been in the presence of greatness. Let me bring it down to a human level, so we can start they are no back up to God. In the presence of human greatness.

But when I was a teenager and like every other kid in North Carolina. Every other boy, my hero was Michael Jordan I was nine years old and hit the shot against Georgetown to when I have I have reenacted that shot probably thousands of times everyone on one game ever played, always in it was him. I sent over the Jordan, the fadeaway and hit that so just a hero so might one of my life's ambition was, I want to meet Michael Jordan when I was 14 years old and there was a golf tournament in Winston-Salem where Michael Jordan is a charity term complaint, I don't understand why people like to watch golf me if you like that I'm not driving you to play golf your awesome. But, I don't yet so I was like make Michael Jordan to be there. To me, my best friend went and the whole day all we were trying to do is, Michael Jordan was because was 14 years old. Not that smart. We could not find Michael Jordan the entire I'd like a big failure. I went this golf tournament and I didn't seem all that, at the very end of the day after the whole thing shut down understanding on this little like you wrote in the golf course. I see this is purple Porsche 924 Carrera and I was a devotee so I knew that was Michael Jordan's car and I see it coming down the road and I turned around. My friend was getting food and I was like that's my garden, so he was over and a bunch of people run over and I'm here the frontal line and Michael Jordan rolling up and he rolls on his window because he's looking for somebody is not looking for me on these rolling it down and my friend my best friend takes me and shoves me in my head into Michael Jordan's car up to my waist. I am this far from Michael Jordan's face that far. I could have licked him and one of my life regret is that I did not like him and I were right there decide I Jordan know he's just cool.

He's got him his card looks at me, cut it out. I guess he says got my car and pulled back and I turned around I promise you, and outlook of the crowd know what way to talk to me.

Michael Jordan spoken to make no for me. Michael Jordan just to be in his presence is a mixture of fascination and fright right but that's what it always means to be in the presence of greatness. Fascination your simultaneously attracted and repelled at the same time Rudolph Alter the German philosopher said that's how you know when you're worshiping whenever you're filled with a sense of fascination and fright at the same time, the idea of a threatening frightening God is really out of fashion.

Today, I understand that it's on modern would much rather have God be the precious moments teddy bear that we can make this a warm or cold, but if being in the presence of human greatness makes you feel fascination and a great deal of fright. How much more is it to be in the presence of the Almighty God, how much fright must you actually on the presence of that kind of greatness. You see, we want to reduce God down to be in our body to be in our young when I was in college at a teacher. Jesus is my homeboy my the precious moments God, but you understand that when we say things to God like oh God, we wouldn't be in your presence and just be with us, that if in the middle of worship today. God answered our prayers and okay you want me to rinse off the roof and looks down in here.

We would all outside of Christ would all die. That is the God that you and I are dealing with and it is terrifying. Second, God's holiness is terrifying because it exposes our sin medicine. Isaias is home and clean.

I'm lost and ruined the KJV King James version. I grew up on. You say I'm undone I'm undone – I like that translation better.

Out of all the different English words because the word in Hebrew implies I'm coming apart psychologically. The glue that held Isaiah's life together. His sense of goodness is revealed to be nothing before God is God's presence enters your life begins in real life you always feel you feel like everything that I depended on to be good.

Everything that I've used to justify myself everything I've usable strong I feel real, and then I feel undone.

I'm coming apart. These signs listen to this. These sign that you don't know God at all is that you feel pretty good about yourself. So when we live in a culture that's all about self help at all about feeling good about yourself. Being confident in yourself what you're seeing is a culture that is teaching us not to know God at all is the first sign you coming into God's presence as you start to feel undone. You see, we are creatures of comparison, and so we tend to console ourselves people by comparing ourselves other people what they want.

Not bad is also part of it, but I'm not a bad so it's up to grade the curve is like when you're in school and everybody does that in the test and you feel good because he talks and said all he did buy limit just to go once or to fail others. You did really badly anything morally speaking, that's got to be the child porn people and terrorists and you're not one of those so to be okay and got to be fine with you but all of a sudden you get in the presence of God's holiness and you realize that has nothing to do with how you compare to somebody else how you compare to the goodness of God, and you look into his holiness and you see how sick and twisted in the form your heart has really become Isaiah would later explain. I probably reflected on this counter, he would say Isaiah 5040 tell my righteousness is like a filthy rag. We only translate that well in English because we just don't have a word that captures the word filthy for them. Filthy mint defiled on Billy use it in the Old Testament to describe two different things, filthy rag was used to describe the lepers, rags who had wrapped that open source of his leprosy. These rags now fill with blood and class and disease contagious disease that would be a filthy rag.

The other one the use of force woman's menstrual rag which they believe made her ceremonially unclean and Isaiah said all my goodness that I was carrying all these things that I thought made me awesome. All these things I thought made you approve of me and it gave me hope for the future.

He said suddenly I realize it was standing there holding a big group of plus feel blood filled lepers, rags, and I'm saying this is how I want you to accept me, God's holiness is terrifying as it reveals our goodness to me. Not that good. Which leads to this last one here. Third, God's holiness is terrifying because it reveals her strengths to be weaknesses. Notice that Isaiah's are talking about his lips was significant about his lips my lips are unclean for a prophet.

His lips would've been his pride and joy, is how he proclaimed the message of God. He's been a prophet now. By the way, for several years.

This is not his calling is a prophet for five chapters for Isaiah. His lips admin's greatest wrinkles, like the quarterbacks arm of the dancers led to the science is mine. But God reveals even his strongest strength to be weakness.

That's why he feels undone because even his best is insufficient is all Tim Keller says of the holiness of God does not make Isaiah ashamed of his weaknesses boldness of God because they look at his strengths and realize it or not really strengths all that's how you feel when you come into God's presence and that's why you feel undone because the glue that you believe hold your life together is suddenly gone. The apostle Paul had a very similar experience. He described in Romans chapter 7 when the apostle Paul says what I thought always held my life together when I thought maybe awesome.

What I thought was my hope for the future.

Was my knowledge of the 10 command knowledge of God's law and my obedience to the to command these as I was a Jew with the Jews back to the law better than anybody. I knew that I was in the upper 1% when it came to religious zeal. He said one day I was studying the 10 Commandments and I came to the 10th commandment thou shall not covet, and it suddenly God illuminated my heart to see that all my life I've been jealous and I've never been satisfied with what I had and people that I thought were little better than me. I just hated them. He said, and suddenly I realize that every one of my obedience to the 10 Commandments was saturated with this disease.

They said in that moment. Normal switch to Galatians 3. Is it in that moment I saw that all my obedience always uses another word with a lot of translate scribble all my obedience was scribble to God, scribble out, we translated as dong, but let me just tell you parents this if your kid spoke Greek and since Kubla washed her mouth out with soap. The apostle Paul did not use a polite word and back to used a pretty rough word.

He bases at all my best righteousness was nothing but a bunch of human dong. It was filthy and nasty and my greatest strength was revealed to be weakness. Let me just ask you for a moment. What is that for you. What is your glue.

What you what what what you feel like is your strongest thing that gives you hope for the future or justifies you before God is your bank account.

You think you know what, this is a rough season we had an offer to be fine. Is your business ability like Things over tomorrow to rebuild things as I'm also your athletic ability is that your looks. Is it your family. Is that your involvement in church is that your moral goodness, George Whitfield, who helped spark the great awakening in the United States and 18th-century.

It basically had one message he preached in different forms right on Richard like this, including me, you have based your message just put in different forms deliverance toward his message. Let only two points. It always tell the people he was speaking. Cinema one repent of your sins want to say that repent of your sentence you start going about something is wrong but Whitfield second one was always really surprising. The people as you would say, repent of your goodness because you say two things that happened with your goodness and the one you use your goodness is a cover to justify yourself to cover up the fact that your heart is really evil. He said number to your goodness is the place where you do not depend on God because you feel like this strength in this goodness is going to give you the ability to succeed in life. What is that for you. What do you feel like will justify you what you think. Hold your life together because that will be the greatest source of your sin because it's that strength it takes your eyes off of your hope in God's grace and it's that strength that makes you reline your strength, not his. The apostle Paul would say it like this, whatever is not of faith is sin. What is that mean what it means is whatever in your life does not come from hoping in God's grace for your justification and dependence on God's grace and strength for your future. That is the very thing that is become sent to you and it is more likely that your strengths will keep you from hoping in God's grace in your weakness as well. You see, you naturally lean on God and and a place of weakness right when you feel unable you like I got a have God help this now it is your strengths where you begin to rely on yourself and that is your goodness that keeps you from hoping in God's grace. That's why the writer John Newton of amazing Grace would say grace first teaches our hearts fear and then our fears reliefs needed to make us feel undone makes us feel like nothing. We have is sufficient. That's how Isaiah feels of the holiness of God. Now this point it all feels like bad news, then what happens next in one of the seraphim flew to me, having it in his hand a burning coal be taken with tongs from the altar and touched my mouth with it and he said, behold this is test your lips, your guilt has been taken away and your sin is been atoned for out of the darkness comes a burning Angel with coal from the altar, he touches Isaiah's mouth with you might be tempted to think of this some kind of purification by fire burning out the impurities but that's not an Old Testament concept. We never see that metaphor used that way in the Old Testament what's happening here.

The cold listen represents the fire of judgment that sorted and burned.

You see, came from the altar. What would happen is there take a lamb and they would put it on the altar and if you were offering that land you would reach out your hand and you place on the head of the Lamb and you confess your sins, and it symbolizing that your sin is being transferred to that innocent lamb and as you confess your sin.

The priest would take a knife and slit the throat of the lamb and the blood would soak down onto the cold and then they would light the coals on fire until the coals had completely burned up the sacrifice and when it was all burned out. All that will be left will be the glowing ember of one of those coals from a fire judgment that sorted and burned through when that when Angel takes this coal what he is taking is the coal of God's judgment already having been poured out on something or someone else and come in and say now your sin is covered and you are atoned for you when I've course, even more clearly then Isaiah saw, but I what Isaiah saw was that God's holiness was not just terrifying. Listen to this is the irony God's holiness was also cleansing because not only was God's goodness so far above Isaiah's. He felt undone. God's goodness also included him being in crate filled with love, so that God could not watch Isaiah suffer God would ultimately come and receive the punishment that was due to Isaiah for his sin. We know that that land that was offered on the altar was going to be Jesus and in Jesus we would see the holiness of God on clear display that though God was so holy that sin could not survive in his presence.

We see that God is so loving that he offered up himself in our place so that we could survive with him forever. We see in Jesus the guy was so righteous. He was so good that we had to die for our sins but God was so loving that he was glad to die in our place. This is what it means for God to be holy and what Isaiah it experiences. In this moment is this kind of understanding of who God is and how much he loves Isaiah when you see it was in this is not his salvation a profit now for five chapters is the central God's grace is becoming real to him as we talked about last week is when all these theories suddenly become felt and that's when your eyes begin to fill with tears because you begin to say, oh my god look at what you save me from and look at how much you love me and that experience caused two things happen. Isaiah wanted propelled him outward to the next phrase.

What happens then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, whom shall I send it will go for us and I sit here in my send me have often told you guys got the spiritual cyclone. He never pulls you in, without a merely propelling you back out surgeon uses a burning heart always find for us, all the flaming tong the sign that you have met God is that you suddenly become very overwhelmed with people around you don't know God, who are no less holy than you were, but are under God's condemnation and you begin to see and sense how much God loves them. I think when I read this I think back to my own call to ministry basically have like this on some of you will think a strange and weird, but you know whatever it is what it is night when I was in high school I just could not get insurance on my salvation and I used to go when I'm sick and I have I have nightmares of the middle the night as I dream that I was him stand before God one day and I was in a term your way I was going think I was a Christian and actually one and help him turn me away and I would go apart from him and and go to hell forever and I struggled with that for several years until I got in the college bubble out of that comes book stop asking Jesus in your heart right when I get in the college. God finally gives me the assurance of salvation where I know that I'm say, but was this was dreams continued but it wasn't me that was standing before God being turned away. I would dream and I would think about other people that I went to college with. I would see them be turned away from God and I would think about the 2.2 billion people in the world that it never heard the name of Jesus. I thought about one day then being turned away from God in the midst of this email college career where I was headed to law school, I began to say. One afternoon I just look to God Vanessa God, please would you let me go tell them now. Up until that point I will surrender to God and I was ready for God to like you know all you have to always thought I would call me by writing something in the sky spell not my Cheerios JDL shall go to Indonesia and I was like I'm ready for that but I started my Cheerios for years know whatever split out with you over and over and over again right well all the sudden overwhelmed the side of the holiness and the grace of God I said, please let me go tell these 2.2 billion people.

Let me preach the people in a way that brings them to faith in Christ. I know it was one of those moments where the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit said finally. You're asking the right question shall volunteered to go. That's what Isaiah did as it is 70 got to sit around waiting on God to reveal some of the problem is you've never been overwhelmed. God's grace is when you're warm, God's grace, it will turn you into an evangelist/version said reader a missionary or an imposter. Because those people who have been saturated by experience with the grace of God.

They become zealous evangelist for the grace of God, so he is Vegas propelled our his giving happens. What's this, he gives Isaiah ridiculous amount of confidence.

Notice how Kai describes Isaiah's ministry assigned Elizabeth and I can hear this and God said Isaiah notice. Note that it is people keep on hearing and you understand keep on saying but do not perceive make this people's heart un-perceptive and go what kind of call to ministry that got any depravities going to preach for the next 40 years and everybody's gonna hate them, and nobody to listen and not a single person can be converted, and I say like limited it wasn't. That means nobody ever wrote a glowing review of Isaiah's ministry.

Nobody ever came of glacé on the street with tears in her eyes and said major sermons of really touched my life. Isaiah would be be hated all of his life he will be rejected. In fact, we know that Isaiah died because one of the Israelite kings took him and put them in a log and cut them in half. How does Isaiah volunteer for a ministry like that.

He volunteered for ministry like that because he knows a holy God stands behind him and he says that God is with me that God promises to supply my need that God is waiting for me at the end of the journey to say well done good and faithful servant that I stand against the world because I got him on my side. That's all he does is I think about that sometimes you guys never like this to me yes or no some audience bites when I go places is not always as friendly as places are called college campus. And when I'm sitting at a college him sometimes I look out there and I see occasionally just pure hatred coming from some third I get a little intimidated. Know that section of that and let me write happens real quick.

But I will very quickly elephant autumns a little of miles of really quick glance up because I get this picture of God in heaven.

When I feel intimidated. I just picture God the father likes tin on the edge heaven looking down right he's got the eight people themes around his JD, he's preaching again. I know he's scared right now. He scared because if you like him.

He's preaching way too long bites. He is my boy. He's my son is the one that told him that it and all the sudden the mess that preaching I get the sense of confidence because all know how much that God stands behind me that I don't care who stands against me.

Some of you are aware, Isaiah was your discourage success is not in front of you. Nobody praises you, you need a vision of what I say, a soul, and that is a holy God.

If you're doing what he told you to do stand behind you saying I am with you. Others of you over the nation of Israel was your in the year that King Uzziah died the foundations of your life are shaking, you suddenly need to learn. He got cancer.

Or maybe you're in a divorce, or maybe your family's phone partner. I don't know what's going on with you something to happen and then found that you lost your job in the foundations of your life are shaking in my gonna be okay need to see that where others fail you, parents, leaders, a friend, your job, would they have fallen off the throne. God never will. In the God that made his promise to you in the beginning is to stay with you for the rest of your life and that God is the one rock that you can build your life on. He's the one throne that will never falter. It will never fail and you can establish the rest of your eternity on you Jesus is the God that you see high and lifted up, and it's the God you always wanted to know you meant out of real life. But Jesus is the God that you've always craved you crave this kind of goodness is one of the time that Isaiah talks about God being hi lifted up, and it is the entrance into Isaiah 53 which is the story the prediction of Jesus crucifixion you see Jesus as can have us experience very similar to Isaiah's he's got a stamp for the judgment of God. But he's pure what he is nothing to be afraid of, and you can see God there's no fear, but in the midst of that moment.

Listen what Jesus does. He's a man of unclean lips. Jesus reaches down the pics of our filthy rags in the old Mrs. these are my rags and God's father is not your rags is one of them Jesus as I hold them in their place. And Jesus would be struck down by the judgment of God because of our filthy rags in our sin and our sense of pride in their we would see the holiness of God on display that he is so holy that sin had to dine his presence, but he was so loving that he couldn't let us die and so he gave himself for us so that we could be saved and when you come to know that God is holy in that way that will satisfy and transform your entire life. Once you bow your heads with me all over campus as you bow your heads, do you notice God never come to know this God he never received him right now.

You could begin a relationship with him. It's just repentance and faith, repentance means, you acknowledge that he's the Lord you're the rebel that he's in charge, not you. Faith means you say to him right now, Lord Jesus. I receive your gift of salvation offered to me. I receive is my