Are You Sure Yor Are Ready To See God? Part 1 Series

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Pastor Ed Pruitt

Are You Sure You Are Ready To See God?

Sunday, May 27, 2007 Part 1

Isaiah 6:1-13

6 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.

2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.

3 They were calling out to each other,

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies!

The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.

7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

9 And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people,

‘Listen carefully, but do not understand.

Watch closely, but learn nothing.’

10 Harden the hearts of these people.

Plug their ears and shut their eyes.

That way, they will not see with their eyes,

nor hear with their ears,

nor understand with their hearts

and turn to me for healing.”

11 Then I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?”

And he replied,

“Until their towns are empty,

their houses are deserted,

and the whole country is a wasteland;

12 until the LORD has sent everyone away,

and the entire land of Israel lies deserted.

13 If even a tenth—a remnant—survive,

it will be invaded again and burned.

But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down,

so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed.”

This passage of Scripture never uses the word “worship” once.

The subject is never specifically referred to.

Yet we all know Isaiah is very close to the heart of what the essence of worship is about because he’s describing something that defines what our lives, as worshipers, are all about.

He’s describing what it’s like to encounter God.

This is ground zero when it comes to defining worship.

In a world drowning in trivia, this is what matters.

Think about religion.

Why do we go to church?

Why do we pray?

Why do we read and meditate on the Scriptures?

Why do we serve?

None of these exercises is an end in itself.

They only have value to the degree they bring us to God.

Encountering God is what true worship means.

God is omnipresent, meaning He is close to all of us all the time.

None of us can live our lives removed from His presence.

But that is not the same as experiencing His presence.

And experiencing God is what this passage describes.

So here’s the question:

What should happen when a person encounters God?

How shall we determine whether the alleged encounter is genuine or counterfeit?

What are the long term effects of meeting God genuinely?