Holy and Awesome

Today on Summit life with Jeannie Greer not just create one store millions of stars produces enough energy to white. All of our planet with 13 billion years. Here's my question God's wisdom exceeds mine.

To the extent that his electrical generating power exceeds mind and and I really a place to hold God to my author and theologian Jeannie Greer. I'm your host Molly minutes we are so thankful to be jumping into God's word with you again today. Okay, so what you think is God's most appealing attribute most people are attracted to his love and kindness and they gravitate to verses that describe him as our father and our shepherd.

The today on Summit life. Pastor Jay reminds us that God is so much more than just loving and kind. If we really want to know him. We have to know as much as possible about him.

We can't just pick and choose.

As always, if you miss any of our programs or if you're in search of our featured monthly resource you can find it all online. Jeannie Greer.com right now. Let's join Pastor Jeannie for this challenging message. He titled holy series called the main name you have a name that name is important to you. Somebody's never really got to be that close to you.

If they don't take on the learn your name in the same way God has a name and understanding. His name is crucial to knowing him for most people watch lady. Lastly, God is a mystery. There are number of people who are quite sure he exist or if he does how you could know that he exists. There are other people who you know they would say that I believe it 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 until Joe would hear people talking about God and get emotional not speak like there's not a lot going on.a near believe in them on the woman answer. Doing but there's no warmth of feeling for him and there's a number of you that what 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 each of you have a Bible to 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 to see the concept of holiness woven all through this passage. Holiness is the most common use descriptive word about God by Moses. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, holy is the word that runs 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. They asked him what holiness means they can think of some kind of bright white colorless light or they think it means you weirdly religious so that if you say 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've 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 website. We always post the transcript before the weekend starts and you can just see you all in there every dumb joke everything I wear it all comes from is 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 as somewhat of a theological mentor for me, my Yoda, he is chapter 33 chapter 33, 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 goodness as 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 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 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 a rock. He covers him up with his aunt and then he passes by him and then says that some of their divorce verse five then the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there proclaim the name of the Lord your see again the concept of holiness series of goodness and the other verse descended here means a God is 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 it shape. These are all the concepts of God's holiness that that that you see there in that chapter.

Now what would you do if you leave Exodus that 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, but you can follow along there with me. Isaiah chapter 6 verse one is a six first one to be going the year. Isaiah's not have a similar experience very similar to Moses in the year that King Uzziah died. Let's stop here. Talk about who to use. I was King Uzziah was one of Israel, Judah's most beloved things and everything was awesome right up until the very ends when Josiah 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 he's going to offer incense to God in the clear violation.

By the way of what God had admitted very clearly said come to the priest come running in and look at you sigh as I use. I didn't do that.

Uzziah 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 she's poignant. 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 in 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 off his throne. But God stored 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 once each of the Serafina angels had six wings with two of 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 cubit look at thing that we know like I put on a Hallmark card would 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 don't die. You don't 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 us so badly if we sold 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 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 to go on here was a worldly verse three, the 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 go 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, known as the Lord, 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 sent theologians call this the otherness of God is the often we want to reduce God to be 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. If you don't explain this to me if I can see this in this it makes sense that I was getting mad at 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 us 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.

Now, ironically, you and I know the reason the Job's suffering is told to us in chapters 1 and two.

There's this cosmic theater going on a dotted proving something to the Angels under the life of Job.

What's interesting is that when God finally comes down to answer Job.

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 what we get together and discuss the problems you have with me running my universe will get together for coffee County, 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 that maybe you're not in a position to judge me about my that's essentially what he tells him in the book of Joe 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 you 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 are 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 that 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 here. The message titled Lee and I sent will be right back with more teaching and just a moment. I wanted to tell you about our brand-new resource. We just began offering this teaching series will show as I God that is both more awe-inspiring and more intimate for imagined and we had the ability to embrace that intimacy and communicate with the living God through prayer. Our new bundle of resources includes three short bucks on prayer that are designed to boost your prayer life with fresh ideas and approaches.

Each chapter takes the passage of Scripture and look how it influences how we pray for a specific issue. Give us a call today at 866-335-5220 or go online to Judy Greer.com to reserve your bundle. Now let's get back to her teaching is the classic objection.

The 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 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 or 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 I premises this is that if God is all-powerful and he is God is all loving, which he is also follow the 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 dry they have is a local bagel rowing receipts and I usually get in there over two minutes. He thought you're gonna die and so I you little what you can track your you know what you're doing and what's like how many watcher 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. 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 and resistance is let there be light.

There's light I work my heart out for two minutes and I can live libelous God just has a throw aside comment and he creates one star out of millions of stars that produces enough energy to light our earth, our planet for 13 billion years.

Here is 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 is a Job II can explain. If you are and I want you to sit and watch what you think about the extent of my power again. Please understand I'm not saying there's no place for you to ask questions. I must 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. Betty 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 happened 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 is to say if God were small enough to be understood, they would not be big enough to be worshiped to God is set apart as awesome as number two got a set apart in his moral perfections be set apart as moral perfections. God is pure goodness with no mixture of bad at all. He is without injustice without deceit, without caprices of pettiness for impurity. As I told you these are all things we value and people find their 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 on Habakkuk 113 you are of such pure eyes back it says that you can't even see evil compared to before.

With you to somebody handing you a nice big glass of iced tea as you drink in his glass of I see this AO 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 and 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 and the house was filled with smoke. The temple I said Isaias and woe is me prime lost I'm 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 terrified 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 Joe God called righteous when Job finally saw God. He says I heard about you with my ears. 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 as 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 asleep in the boat and 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 were about to die and Jesus stands up and you cannot your wife and sleep out of his eyes. 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 the car alarm stories 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 called 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. Why is God's holiness terrifying to us give you a 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 or backup 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.

So my my life's ambition was, I want to be Michael Jordan when I was 14 years old and there was a golf tournament in Winston-Salem where Michael Jordan the charity term you complained to me.

My best friend went and the whole day all we were trying to do is, Michael Jordan was at the very end of the day understanding on this little like you rode 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 good food and I was like that's my so he was over and a bunch of people run over and I'm here the frontal line Michael Jordan rolling out and he rolls on his window because he's looking for somebody in my friend my best friend takes me and shoves me in my head into Michael Jordan's car up to my waist right there I decide I enjoyed know he's a supercool way does it get him his cards are there lots of makeup. The delicacy says got my car and pulled back and I turn around I promise you, and outlook of the crowd know what a doctor may Michael Jordan spoken to me now for me. Michael Jordan just to be in his presence is a mixture of fascination and flight but that's what it always means to be in the presence of greatness. Fascination your simultaneously attracted and repelled at the same time by Rudolph Alter the German philosopher said that's how you know when your worship whenever you're filled with a sense of fascination and frightened at the same time, the Lord means that you understand his power and his glory. You are listening to Senate life and a message titled holy and I sent from Judy Greer today we'd like to get a very encouraging resource into your hands is a set of three guides that will help you to pray for three unique aspects of your life, your kids, your parents and your community. Each prayer suggestion is based on the passage of the Bible so you can be company as you use it that you are praying, great prayers, prayers that God wants you to pray because they're based on his word will be glad to send you these books on prayer to express your financial support. When you get to Senate life you make it possible for us to deliver these daily Bible teaching all of the other resources on our website so give today and join our mission to bring the gospel into center by calling 866-335-1526, 552 20 and when you give online clear.I'm out even events.

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