This message is for every called minister, every other believer, and also to every not-yet-believer reading this, and also a reminder to myself!
God is Eternal! God is not bound by time, but with God, timing is everything, and He expects we will show up on time! — In other words, when He is ready to move or act, He expects we will have made ourselves available, both to Him and what He is doing!
Beloved, I want to show you some extraordinary experiences, of some ordinary individuals, which you and I need to have routinely, if we are going to show up on time for God to be able to use for the Kingdom.
First of all, we must have . . . “A Moses Experience!”
“Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
2 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4 And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” ( Exodus 3:1-6)
Three Things to See Here:
- (vs. 3) “I will turn aside to see . . .” —Moses stopped what he was doing . . . he made time . . . to investigate the things (It was important to him).
Beloved, when you make “time” for God, He will include you in His “timing”!
This is, at the least, intentional time with God in Bible Study and Prayer.
Notice in vs. 4, that because Moses had made time for God, God then spoke to him personally! (Many wonder why they do not hear from God. —Duh!)
2. (Vs. 5) “Holy Ground!”
Far too many have lost the sense of the Holiness of God! We must never forget Who it is that we are speaking to, relating to, serving! We serve a Holy God! Yes, He wants us in a deep, personal, intimate relationship with Him, but none of that changes Who He is! We must always approach Him in the understanding that He is the Creator God! Healing God! Saving, Sustaining God, but, we must absolutely approach Him!
His presence is Holy! Everywhere His presence is becomes Holy! The Spirit of God indwells all genuine believers! There is Holy ground within each believer. Can you not see that if each member of Christ’s body respected the presence of God within each other that the church could finally experience Koinonia?!
(Don’t rush to pray . . . take a moment to remember Who you are about to speak with)
- We see a result of this in vs. 10.
Moses was interested — intrigued — available, so he heard from God, and God gave him an assignment.
Beloved, God gave Moses this assignment . . . this calling on his life when Moses was 80 years old! When we are interested (study, prayer) and available, God will use our lives (long or short), to accomplish His glorious will!
Secondly, we must have . . . “An Isaiah Experience!”
“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” (Isaiah 6:1-8)
Folks, somehow God gave this vision/experience to Isaiah. Isaiah “saw” these things! And because of what he saw, some things in himself were changed forever! I want to point out a few things to you, Beloved:
- (Vs. 1) God’s Presence Filled the Temple – His glory is everywhere!
This was a Holy place! The result is powerful worship! This worship was not based on the angels . . . not based on the gifts of the singers . . . nor the charisma of the preacher! This worship experience (as all should be) was based only on the Holiness of the full Presence of God!
My friend, for you to be an effective Christian for the Kingdom of God, you must place a high priority on worship of the King, both personally and corporately. And folks, if you ever leave a worship experience feeling less than satisfied, because of the music, or the people, or the prayers, or the preaching, you were not worshiping the Holy Presence of God, you were worshiping yourself!
- (Vs. 5) “Woe is me!”
Folks, you can . . . never . . . be in the Holy Presence of God and not see and feel a contrast between His Holiness and your anything less. Worship in the Presence of the Holy God should cause us to examine our selves in the glow of His light. Then be honest enough before God to repent, confess, and become cleansed. If you and I cannot see God somehow in the course of our worship (in the Word spoken or sung), that may be the first thing we repent of!
(Vs. 8) Isaiah Heard the Voice of God!
This is what I believe is happening in these verses in Isaiah 6. Isaiah finds himself caught up in this tremendous worship experience where the Presence of the LORD is powerfully overwhelming. (Folks, the only reason we won’t have this each week is we, ourselves!)
He sees the Holiness of God, and by contrast, he sees his own sinfulness (and also of his own nation), he confesses, repents, God forgives and cleanses. Now, Isaiah is in right standing before God, and he is therefore privileged to hear God speak.
But, I want to point out something different from the Moses encounter. God said to Moses, “Now, you go . . .” , but, here, it is as if Isaiah is listening to a conversation in the Throne Room. God is either speaking to angelic beings, or possibly a dialog within the Godhead (Trinity) Itself. And instead of God directly sending Isaiah, as He sent Moses, He asks the question: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”
God allowed Isaiah to see the need, and then volunteer to meet the need! Isaiah then said, in response to what he heard: “Here am I; send me!”
Christian, sometimes God directs you to go meet the task; sometimes He just reveals to you the need. In either case, He expects we will have made ourselves available, both to Him and what He is doing! This is you . . . living a yielded, surrendered, life to God . . . daily!
I challenge you, Beloved, to make this your priority in the rest of your life; whether that be one more day, or 40 more years, as was the case for Moses! God bless you, my special friends!
