This morning, there was a visiting pastor at our church. I'm always a little bit nervous about listening to a new pastor since I don't know how easy he will be to understand... Today went well:)
The text for the sermon was Isaiah 6:1-9. He talked about how God desires us to have the face of Jesus Christ...just like new parents want to see their traits reflected in their child. There are a couple ways that God does this.
-God wants us to have a correct image of him--"Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. the whole earth is full of His glory." God is holy and pure and that needs to be proclaimed on earth as it is in heaven.
-God wants us to have a correct image of ourselves--When we see God's holiness, we can't help but cry out "Woe is me...because I am a man (woman) of unclean lips". We see our own sin. We can often get caught in a trap of explaining away our sins while being critical of others. We might claim to have high standards ourselves while seeing pride in others.
-God wants to purify and cleanse us and bring healing--he wants to do this through his ways and not some program or path we choose.
This pastor pointed out that only after Isaiah's lips were cleansed did he hear God's voice. In vs. 1, Isaiah saw the Lord, and in verse 8 Isaiah heard the Lord. We need to have clean hearts, hands, and lips to hear God's voice. Only when we are spending time in God's word will we be able to hear and recognize that voice.
May God grant us eyes to see clearly, ears to hear, and hearts to be obedient.
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