Seeing The Glory Of God

Moses asked God in Exodus 33:18, "Now, show me your glory." God responded to the bold request of Moses in the next verses saying, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But, you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

God allows each of us a revelation of who He is, but within that, there is a mystery, a seeing through the glass dimly that will one day be revealed when we meet Him in eternity. Through Jesus Christ we have gained a clearer picture of Father, but I believe in our own lives, we have yet to scratch the surface of who God is and with that, the knowledge of what He is capable of doing in and through our lives. I want to share with you a 10 part series, Catching a Glimpse of God, so we, like Moses, can increase our knowledge and understanding of God which will lead us to a higher level of living as we apply the principles the Word of God teaches. In your bulletin I have included the titles for this series and I want to encourage you to plan to be here or if you are on vacation, to get the tapes or the entire series to share with others. The more knowledge you have, the less you can be introduced to the growing number of cults and false religions that are spreading across this land as we come into the new millennium.

Today I want to begin this series with a message entitled, "What happens when we see God?" The text comes from Isaiah 6:1-13 (READ).

Can you draw a visual image of what is taking place. Isaiah, the prophet of God, who has already worked in the role of prophet, having received a vision from God according to chapter one, in the reign of Uzziah, now stands in the throne room of the One who send the vision, the throne room of God. There he sees the back of a robe, the train, so large that it fills the temple, angels flying around the throne, proclaiming "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." loud enough their voices shook the Temple, and smoke filled the room. Have you ever had an experience like this? John did in Revelation chapter one, and history records others who have had similar experiences with God.

In 1922, Smith Wigglesworth was ministering in Wellington, New Zealand and he called for a special prayer meeting with a group of 11 leaders. After each one had prayed, Wigglesworth rose to seek the Lord and the Presence of God began to fill the room. The light from God’s glory became extremely bright, and the heat in the room intense, so much so, the other men could not take it any longer and each one of them left the room, all except Wigglesworth, who was able to continue in the midst of the Shekinah glory of God.

I have a friend who told of the mist of God, his glory coming into the presence of his home as he and his wife communed with God. And the same God who has touched these lives, is the same God who would love to usher each one of us into His presence but we had best know what happens when we see Him.

The chapter starts out by stating, in the year King Uzziah died. There are several ways you can look at this inclusion into the text. Uzziah’s death in 740 B.C. could just be a road sign in history for dating the text, a landmark for us to come across, yet I believe the prophet Isaiah is really telling those who are seeking to enter into the presence of God something deeper than a date.

The first thing you are going to have to do to enter into the presence of God is to let your own King Uzziah die. Uzziah represented peace and security for Isaiah. He was someone everyone trusted in, who would take care of them, protect them and satisfy their hungers in life. A good person who blocked the need for drawing close to God. Some of us need to let our Uzziah’s die so we can learn to worship God’s majesty, to give Him the honor He alone deserves, to lift up and exalt His name for He alone is worthy of our praise and adoration, He alone is worthy to be Lord. And this will not happen when we have competing interests. What are the Uzziah’s of your life? Is it a boyfriend or girlfriend who pulls you away from your relationship with God? Young people especially, I want you to hear this. Missionary dating rarely works. That is where you date a non-Christian with the intent of bringing them to Christ. I know the personal pain it can bring. Laura had a cousin who was going for the Lord, dated a non-Christian, they married had children, all the while he did not accept her believes, only tolerated them when it was convenient for him. Racing down the freeway with another car one day, he lost control, Shelly was thrown through the windshield into oncoming traffic and died. She left a husband who is now mentally impaired and children who were no longer raised by their mothers Christian beliefs and now have a lifestyle as teens and adults that reflect that Uzziah in their upbringing. Uzziah could be your playthings, we live in one of the great recreational area areas of America and our boats and trailers, tents and snowboards could become a Uzziah when they interfere with our relationship with God and our desire to know Him more, and I could go on and on.