Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty

May 21, 1989, Trinity Sunday

Isaiah 6:1-8 "I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, High and lifted up..." "...thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged."

"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"

Introduction:

Much of our worship, private devotions and public prayers, is imperfect. We come to the place of worship for many reasons. We come because we have needs. We come seek to "explain" and "understand" the Infinite. We come to release our tensions and feel "holy" or "happy."

But somehow in spite of our imperfection it happens! God comes! And again and again we are face to face with God, (in some small measure) as Isaiah was in this text passage.

True worship is a wonderful thing! It is never an "ordinary thing" or something to be taken for granted when we perceive that God is very near.

True worship is more than just thinking about God. And yet as we talk about God, and invite Him to help us know Him better, perhaps He will grant that we shall worship even as we think about the mystery that is "the Trinity."

I. THE TRINITY IS MYSTERY

A creed, such as we have read together is not a "puzzle to solve" but rather a statement of truth; a revelation, an opening to our hearts and minds something of the reality of the way God IS. We think (ponder) on such truth:

  1. God is ONE, not three Gods.

    Dr. (William) Greathouse said this week (at district assembly) that many people are professing monotheists but practicing polytheists. By that, he explained, he meant that we worship many other things beside the Almighty.

    But there is also a danger of worshiping the God we "understand." The God that we have become "comfortable" with; the God we have "tamed" or brought down to our size so that we may live comfortably with Him.

    God is ONE because the Bible says so. Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord..." and Jesus quotes from it in Mark 12:29 and added "mind" to the list: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, MIND, and strength."

  2. Jesus Christ is Himself God.

    Many passages ascribe deity to the Lord Jesus Christ. The first to come to mind is the Prologue of John's Gospel. In the beginning WITH God, the Word WAS God. The Son was with God in CREATION "All things were made by Him."

    Jesus prayed to the Father. They are One [see John 10:30, and John 17:11;] and they are separate Persons. This is part of the Holy Mystery of the Godhead. But We have a Christ-like God. God is LOVE, because Jesus is love. (Philippians 2:5-11)

  3. The Holy Spirit is spoken of as Person and as God.

    In the final discourse of John's Gospel Jesus spoke of the Promise of the Spirit. In John 16:13 Jesus says: "When HE the Spirit of truth is come, HE will guide you into all truth: for HE shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever he shall hear that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for HE shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you."

    Certainly the Spirit is more than just an impersonal Force.

    Gift of the Father and of the Son, the Spirit from all Eternity is part of the eternal, unchanging Godhead.

  4. We must accept all these truths as scripture: Ralph Earle says, "None of these facts can be surrendered without giving up the faith of the New Testament."

[But what does this possibly have to do with you and me, where we live and struggle day by day? It has a great deal more to do than we may realize!]

II. GOD AT THE PLACE WHERE WE ARE

[What does the vision of Isaiah have to say about meeting with the reality that is God?]

God does not exist for us. We exist for Him. But from our perspective, we understand God as He relates to us. And God reveals Himself to us just at the point of our need:

  1. GOD ON THE THRONE OF THE UNIVERSE.

    We need a God high and lifted up.

    There is within us the need to know something of the AWE of God Himself. Idols will never satisfy. The most subtle idols are those we construct mentally of scraps of truth; without realizing it we desire to control even the idea of God.

    But when GOD begins to reveal Himself the idols pale. The young prophet was good, dedicated, true to the best he knew. But the dawning of God's reality forever cured him of lesser objects of worship.

    THE HOLINESS OF GOD DEMANDS HOLINESS ON THE PART OF THOSE WHO WOULD BE IN HIS PRESENCE. A glimpse of the awe of God begins to reveal the true limitations, weakness, and sin of our own nature. The proof of genuineness of theophany: "Woe is me!" [Peter: "Depart from me!"

    Disciples: "What manner of man is this that even the wind and sea obey Him!?"]

  2. GOD ON THE CROSS; THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE.

    We need a God who can take away our iniquity.

    The vision of God high and lifted up does not excuse sin, and it does not deny sin; but it does reveal our own sin. But there is ACTION from the throne: a messenger comes to take a cleansing coal from the altar to purge the sin away! Fire. Purging. A voice declaring: "Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged."

    There is no contradiction between the high and holy One and the provision for cleansing. This God who fills the temple, and indeed fills the universe, this Infinite and Eternal One is also the one who sees that a young prophet is cleansed from sin.

    THE LOVE OF GOD PROVIDES A CLEANSING SO THAT THE HOLINESS OF GOD IS NO LONGER ALIEN. [John 3:16]

  3. GOD CALLING: "WHO WILL GO FOR US?"

    We need a God who will actually bring us into His own work of CREATION and REDEMPTION.

    "Who will go for US? Whom shall we send?"

    The communion of God, of God the Holy Spirit, brings salvation near to us. But then God the Holy Spirit also calls for us to be a part of the plan of salvation.

III. FELLOWSHIP WITH THE HOLY ONE IN THREE

  1. The Trinity is not "a puzzle to solve" but as we reverently open our hearts and minds to its truth we begin to grasp that our God is greater than we can ever know— and yet that He makes Himself known even to our little children!

    (Conclusion:)

  2. So: How shall we worship?

    How does this magnificent vision of God which Isaiah describes help us in our worship today? How are WE to worship in our personal prayer times, and as we come together?

    1. The best we know how.

      We will continue to be creatures of our culture. I will probably continue to preach sermons trying to explain the unexplainable. And we will continue to think to ourselves that the services where we "feel good" are better than the services where we are challenged ("dug out") and stretched and brought under conviction.

    2. But we must not limit our God!

      We must not 'create Him' in OUR image. When "Uzziah" dies— when we seek to "Draw near to God ..." — when we seek for Him for Himself alone!

    3. And our God WILL reveal Himself!

      And we will cherish the "high moments." They will come as we seek to worship the best we know, with open hearts.

      We may actually be dismayed when God begins to reveal Himself in awe, as Isaiah was dismayed. He said: "WOE is me!" But that dismay is the opening of a door on life as we have not experienced it before.

      It may not neatly fit into our theology, but as Dr. William Greathouse once expressed it (in his book The Fullness of the Spirit) "Again and again we must break through into spiritual reality!"

Prayer:

O God, Help us not to be satisfied with anything less than YOU! Come to us where we are— as YOU will— how YOU will— in Your holiness and your grace and mercy and in your love and purpose. At any cost, O Lord, grant that we may please You, and live for Your glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We pray in the Name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

#21 Come, Thou Almighty King