High And Lifted Up

High and Lifted Up

By Pastor Jim May

As I think back upon the past week and of the mountains that we traveled through, I am reminded of a few passages of scripture that I want to bring to your remembrance today.

Standing upon the mountains and looking down into the valley, I was impressed with the grand panorama that lay before me. You could see the entire city below, with all of its beautiful Christmas lights. Everywhere you looked, if you looked close enough, you could see the lights of vehicles as people went about doing what they needed to do. It all looked so peaceful and beautiful. If only the world could be as beautiful and peaceful when you are down in the valley as it seems to be from the mountaintop.

If you have ever been on an airplane flying over the city below you know what I mean. The view from high above is a sight to behold. From high above you can’t see the filth of the streets, or hear the scream of the sirens, or experience the despair and crying in the streets. Don’t you wish that you could live above all of those things?

In a manner of speaking you can live above them right now. Even though we are walking around on a filthy, nasty, sin-darkened world, we can still live above that sin by living a life that is sanctified, dedicated and holy unto the Lord.

But I long for the day when we will forever be lifted high above and out of this life of sin! I long for the day when we never hear of the death of a baby at the hands of its own mother or father like I heard about just this week. A mother cut off the arms of her own child and allowed it to bleed to death. I long for the day when we will never hear of a loved one who was killed by a drunk driver. I long for the day when we will never hear of anyone dying of aids, or cancer or any other dread disease. I long for the day when we will never grow old or feeble anymore.

I was speaking to an elderly minister yesterday. This is a dear lady who was my first pastor’s wife nearly 50 years ago. She told me that she sometimes wonders why God leaves her here for she doesn’t feel in touch with life anymore. She has so much invested in Heaven, her treasures are all there. Her husband of 57 years is already there. She has children waiting for her on the other side. Most of all, Jesus is there. While she loves life and loves her family that are here in this life, her heart is really on the other side of Jordan. I’ve begun to have those same thoughts as well, and so should you if you love the Lord.

This world is not your home, you’re just passing though. Your treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. Jesus is calling you to from Heaven’ open door and you can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

How many of you long for Heaven? Are you looking for the coming of the Lord with great anticipation? He is coming soon you know.

But as I think of our great God I am reminded that he is also high and lifted up. He is omniscient and omnipresent. He is everywhere at the same time and there is nothing that escapes his knowledge or sight.

The Prophet Isaiah caught a glimpse of God’s place of habitation once.

Isaiah 6:1, "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."

David caught a glimpse of God in his temple also.

Psalms 48:1-2, "…Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King."

What strikes me is that the city of God is “high and lifted up”.

God is looking down on you and I this morning, but he doesn’t always see us the way that I saw the world from the mountaintop. My limited vision and knowledge looked upon a world that seemed beautiful and peaceful but God’s vision and knowledge are so much more than mine. He sees the world just the way it is. Even though God is “high and lifted up” he still looks right down into the very heart of each man, woman and child, and He knows what is there.

God doesn’t look down upon a “perfect world”. There is very little beauty in it for Him for he only sees a world that is ravaged by the powers of hell. He sees a world that is sold out to sin and rebellion and there is nothing that escapes his view.