Worshiping the Lord of Hosts
Isaiah 6:1-8
In Isaiah 6, a man by the name of Isaiah is called out by God to be His servant, to prophesy to a nation that was not living in God's will. The ministry God called him to would prove to be a difficult one. It would not be one of praise, wealth, or comfort. God did give Isaiah one wonderful gift-- the gift of seeing the Lord God in Heaven. This vision of God would be one that would inspire him and strengthen him during the many days of his ministry.
Isaiah 6:1-3 1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”
What is worship? The best definition I've ever seen I learned in seminary.
William Temple said that “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purposes of God.”
Why is God worthy of worship?
1. GOD IS ALIVE.
** A much loved and long-reigning king has died and the country has been mourning him. Isaiah has mourned him. There is fear of what will happen to the nation, to the people. But, kings and rulers come and go and when they die, others will take their places, and they will also die.
** But there is a King who is ever constant. A King that will never die.
Ps 90:2 “From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.”
He is the Lord and was there when Heavens and earth were created,
He was alive when the philosopher Fredeich Neitze called Him dead, and He was still on the throne when Neitze himself died.
He has been here thru the reign of every earthly ruler that ever lived and He will still be on His throne when time is no more!
He is El Olam, the Everlasting God.
2. GOD IS OMNIPOTENT. (All powerful)
Notice it is Almighty God that sits on the throne. The Throne of absolute power.
In Gen 17-18, God came to Abraham one day and gave him an awesome promise and made a covenant with him that He would accomplish what He had promised him. The promise was that Abraham “father of nations”.
Abraham responded “I am an old man, how is this possible?”
The Lord responded “I am El Shaddai! Is anything too difficult for the LORD? I will return in 1 year and you and Sarah will have a son.”
Do you sometimes feel powerless to confront the dangers and hardships in your life right now?
Then you need to call on El Shaddai,, God Almighty!
For He is the One with the power to protect you, to sustain you, to anoint you, to empower you, and to make you Victorious!
3. GOD IS ABOVE ALL. (Lofty and exalted)
Ill...Sliding on black ice. There was a big ice storm one year and I had to drive on the interstate about 50 miles to get to work. Everything was fine for 40 miles. I didn't drive fast, no slips, no slides, all was well. I made sure to keep much distance from other vehicles in case of a slip so that I would have room to maneuver. Then, suddenly, the truck's rear started catching up with the truck's front. It was obvious that I was in trouble, but I remained very calm. Defensive driving says to turn into the direction that the rear of the vehicle was going in order to recover, but I saw that I was already close to that side of the road and would surely go down a deep embankment. I said one of those short "God help me" prayers and then let my truck turn a slow 360 and as I came out of it still pointing east, I use some slow turns and light braking to regain control and direction. I was able to keep my wits about me and didn’t die that day, in fact, I didn’t even wreck.
BUT, sometimes our problems can come from every direction and overwhelm us. At times like that, it’s hard to stay focused because the storms have surrounded us and hitting us relentlessly. We can come to what we refer to as our Wit’s end. When this happens, you need to stop looking around at all your problems and look up!
For we serve a God that is lofty and exalted. He never gets caught by surprise! He never comes to His wit’s end! He is above it all!
“Above all” is a song I love very much. It reminds me that God is truly in control and above every problem I have.
I sing this song quite often when I'm all alone. (sing)
Above all powers, above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here, before the world began
Above all kingdoms, above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure what you're worth
When life is hitting you hard, you must keep your eyes on the One Who is above it all, El Hashamayim, the God of the Heavens, but when we are going thru the fire, it is also comforting to know that He is Immanuel, God with us!
4. GOD IS ALL-ENCOMPASSING MAJESTY.
There is nothing more beautiful on earth than a bride, your bride. At some weddings, brides wear a gown that is perfect in every detail, the lace, the sequins, embroidery are stunning. The train of the gown is long and seems to stretch the length of church aisle.
** But here we see the majesty of God. The train of His robe fills not only the aisle, but the whole temple. If we could look at God right now the way that Isaiah was able to see God, We would see MAJESTY.
“How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin speaks of the majesty and greatness of our God. (sing)
The splendor of a king
Clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice
He wraps Himself in light,
And darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice
How great is our God
Sing with me
How great is our God
And all will see
How great, how great is our God
He is the All-powerful God that can defeat any enemy of ours and solve any problem we have.
Is your world falling apart today? Is Satan robbing you of all the beauty in life?
Then you need to focus your eyes on El Hannora, The Awesome God of majesty and power!
5. GOD IS REVERED.
The angels that serve God must be an awesome sight to behold. God created them as beautiful as they are powerful. They are perfect in His sight. But the same angels God created that have never sinned, pale in comparison to God Himself.
Notice here the wings..... with one pair they cover their face. They do this in reverence to the Lord God Almighty. Though perfect in behavior themselves, they give reverence to the ONE who is perfect in every way!
** I believe God desires to show His power among His people today. But I also believe that He will not do it until we come to Him with our hearts, minds, and spirits completely submissive and reverent before Him.
I get so disgusted the way I hear believers refer to God.....
“The Big Guy in the sky” “The Man upstairs” “Jesus my Homeboy”
Truth is, there is no one bigger than God, and God is certainly above us, and we’ve no better friend than Jesus Christ, but when you refer to God in these ways it is evident that you’ve never met El Elyon, the God Most High, because if you did, you would cover your face in reverence and give Him the respect He deserves!
When you come face to face with Holy God you not only see how awesome He is, but you realize how little you are.
** Do you hunger to realize something, someone greater than you?
Then grasp onto Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness!
6. GOD IS HOLY.
The angels surround God crying out HOLY! HOLY! HOLY is the LORD of HOSTS!
There is no better one word description of God than “holy”. Why???
Because He is unique. He is special and there is no other like Him. He is singular in glory, no equal. He is the only One!
That reminds of a song I knew when I was growing up, It's the Tigger Song. (Reluctantly sing the Tigger Song)
God has something in common with Tigger. There is none other like Him. He is the only one.
There is but One God and God alone is holy!
When you look at your life filled with mistakes and regrets, saturated with sin. Do you long to be clean and pure again?
If so, then reach out to El Hakkadosh, the HOLY GOD who desires to forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness.
7. GOD IS GLORIOUS.
God’s holiness is the incomparable perfection of His Divine Nature and His glory is the display of that holiness.
“God is glorious” is the revelation that God’s glory has gone public!!
Leviticus 10:3 God says, "I will show myself holy among those who are near me, and before all the people I will be glorified."
I’ve had people come and talk to me about the glory of God and many ask me “Why don’t I see the glory of God in my life?”
Illustration: STARS/city lights. When you are in the city, sitting on the porch swing, you can look up and see quite a few stars on a cloudless night. But if you go way out in the country, very for from the lights of the city, you will see many times more the number of stars than you saw in the city. Why? because the city lights cover up the lights of many of the stars in the heavens. When you go to a place where no earthly lights distract you or cover up the lights of the heavens, you will see more of the heavens than you ever saw.
For you to see and experience God in all His glory, you need to get yourself to a spiritual place away from all the distractions of the world. You need to get to a spiritual place where you can really focus on God.
Are you tired of this mundane life you’ve been living?
Is your spiritual life dry as a desert lately?
Do you yearn for something more?
Then call upon El Hakkavod, the God of glory!
And He will draw your attention away from the ordinary and focus on Him, the Extraordinary One.
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Now that is Who God is and Why He is worthy to be worshiped.
For just a few moments, let’s look at what happens to us when we truly worship Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts!
1.Our View of God changes!
Is 6:4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
Notice as the angels sing out to God that the foundations of the Temple shake and vibrate and smoke is filling the place. Angels must be an awesome thing to behold.
But, now think about this. The One the angels are worshiping are even greater than them. That is what worship is all about, changing us! It is impossible to come into the presence of Holy God without being changed in some way! How are we changed?
2. Our View of our Self changes!
Is 6:5-7 5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
When you see God for Who He really is, we come to realize what we really are. And we are sinners. We will come to repentance.
I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
God loves you and He wants to forgive you! He wants to heal you! He wants to transform you and make you a child of the KING!
3. Our Purpose in life changes!
Is 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
When Isaiah came into the presence of God that day, he was forever changed. And he devoted the rest of his life to living for God and serving Him.
** The question before you this morning is “Are you willing to commit your life to serving God in response to your worship today?”
Illustration: John Kennedy/Peace Corp. In March, 1961, President John F. Kennedy started the Peace Corps and publicly challenged young people from all over America to join and go all over the world and work to make the world a better place. Each young person accepting the challenge went through 3 months of training and then served in some foreign land for 2 years working with the indigenous people to improve their lives and promote peace between our peoples. It was a great commitment.
Today, God is calling out to His children all over His Kingdom. He is calling us out to accept His call to serve Him in His Kingdom and share the Good News of Jesus Christ to every person in the world!
Like in Isaiah's case, It will take great commitment.
Won’t you make that commitment today?
