In His Presence – Part 2

eye opening message, you'll find it at Bold steps.org. But now let's join Mark Jobe as we continue exploring what happens when we truly experience God's presence. Our message titled In His presence.

his public ministry. God said, you need to see me for who I am. You need a fresh vision of who I am. Because if you start to minister with this small vision, then you will never be consumed by the fire that I want to exist within your belly. Your calling will never be fervent. Your radical nature pursuing me will never be where it needs to be. You see, before you do anything, you need to be exposed to

the real I am. And so, as Isaiah was in the temple seeking God, he had a supernatural vision of God. And there's two things that stand out immediately before Isaiah as he encounters this God. The Bible says that there's a throne and there's holiness. The throne speaks to the authority of God, his sovereignty, his power over all things. And his holiness means that God is set apart like no other. He's not one God among the others, he is set apart. There is no one like unto him.

He's in a category uniquely his, a category that cannot be defined. A category that is far above. There is no other God like this God. And God wanted Isaiah to see him in all of his grandeur and beauty. Isaiah was not alone in seeing God's throne. Almost everyone in the Bible who had a vision of heaven has written about the throne of God. Look at revelation. There's a throne, and he describes what he saw in this throne.

He describes that he saw this great throne representing the sovereignty of God, that they said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Now they could have said a lot of things to describe God, because God is a lot of things. They could say love, love, love is the Lord God Almighty. They could say, mercy, mercy, mercy is the Lord God Almighty. They could say grace, grace, grace filled is the Lord God Almighty. But you know what these angels said? Something unique. Something that defines our

God like no other. They said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Why? Because the holiness of God, the holiness of God, defines his character. All of the other attributes of God are contained within his holiness. You can't understand the love of God unless you understand the holiness of God. You will not be consumed by how powerful God's love is, unless you first of all understand that he is pure, undefiled, like no other. And that in his own character us in our unblemished way, sinful

way would be consumed. And now we understand the love of God to be overwhelming. You see, devoid of his holiness, the character of God, the other attributes of God, they become so mundane. Oh, God loves me. Yeah. And so does my wife and my kids and my neighbor and my cousin. But the love of God is not like that. The love of God is defined within the context of his holiness. This is a different kind of love. This

is a higher kind of love. A.W. Tozer said he is absolutely holy, with an infinite, incomprehensible fullness of purity that is incapable of being other than who he is. A piercing purity. You say, well, Mark, I don't know if I can relate to that. I'd rather see Jesus as my friend. Oh he is. But never get too familiarized with Jesus to feel like he's just a little buddy out there because he's not. He's the incomprehensible, high and lifted up holy God. And when we lose that,

We lose a sense of urgency. Listen, when we lose that, we are not propelled to purity. Isaiah saw him high and lifted up in this way. When the Bible calls God holy, it means that he's primarily that that God is transcendently separate from all others. There's no competition. There's no syncretism, there's no mixture. He's not diluted. He's 100% holy. But I need to remind you what happens when Isaiah encounters his holiness. Because this is not just a description

of who God is. This is not an exercise in impression. This is so that Isaiah would be intrinsically changed. You see, his presence stirs us with a renewed awareness of our desperate need for purity. And the very first thing that Isaiah says when he's exposed to the grandeur of God and His holiness. The very first thing, he doesn't bow and worship and say, you're such an awesome God. I

would think that maybe that would be his response. But immediately what Isaiah does in light of God's holiness, he is becomes acutely aware of his unholiness. The very first thing that he says is woe is me. He doesn't say, woe, God, you are amazing. He said, woe! I am unclean! I cried, this is a desperate cry. He says, I'm ruined. Why? Because he's exposed to the unblemished purity and holiness of Almighty God. You see, it's within that contrast that we

realize how much we need to change. It's in the horizontal comparison with others that we excuse our fleshliness, our deficiency, our sin, and we walk around like we're okay. It's in the undaunted view of God's holiness that immediately we are pierced with our need to be cleansed. It's when I have not been exposed to God. It's when I'm

not concentrating on God. It's when I'm not focused on the vertical that I become very, very comfortable with my fleshliness, my sins, my attitude, my pride, my egotism, my lust. I become very comfortable with it. I excuse it, I minimize it, I live with it, and I take on a nonchalant attitude like it's not that bad. That's me walking in the flesh. Me walking in the flesh is when I compare myself with others. And of course, I always compare myself with people that are a lot worse

than I am. He said, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty. I like what J.I. Packer says. He says revival is the visitation of God, which brings to life Christians who have been sleeping and restores a deep sense of God's near presence and holiness, thence springs a vivid sense of sin and a profound exercise of heart and repentance.

Praise and love. Listen with an evangelistic outflow. I am at worst when I am least perceptive of the presence of God. When I am walking in little awe of who he is. That's when I'm the worst. I'm the worst. When my pride tells me I'm okay. When my deceptive heart minimizes that which causes the heart of God to grieve. We can live in a culture that's lukewarm. In a culture that's accepted a shrunken God, it breeds and fosters a culture of lukewarm Christianity. A culture of nominal holiness.

A culture of. Gentle passion. A culture that tolerates. A culture that assimilates. A culture that synchronizes with our culture so that we fit in. But I believe that God is looking for Isaiah's. I believe that God is looking for Isaiah's, who have been exposed to the presence of God and cannot swallow or accept a lukewarm, watered down version of what it means to be a follower of Jesus the Christ and the awesome, Holy God of the universe. And the Bible tells us that. Listen, the Bible tells

us that when Isaiah saw, he said, I'm ruined. I'm a man of unclean lips. In other words, what it did to him is it drove him to the need to be clean. I have to be clean. I have to be clean. There's a desperation when you encounter the presence of God when you expose His holiness, there's not a just, hey, it would be nice if I got my life right. There is a desperation. I cannot go one more day without getting right with God. There's a deep conviction of sin. There's a deep drive for purity. Why?

What drives us? The fear of hell? No. It's the fear of God. It's exposure to the undiluted presence of the Holy God that causes us to have a urgency about getting things right, not a unwillingness to continue to live and walk that way.

and the Bold Steps radio team. Thank you for a great program. I listen every weekday and also enjoy the short messages. Pastor job, the spirit speaks to me through your practical, down to earth preaching. We also share something as fairly unique as Americans. I also speak Spanish with

a Spanish accent. Not only that, but because I lived in Catalonia for almost 20 years and spoke the language there, much to the amusement of people I meet from the rest of Spain and the Spanish speaking world, I sound like a Catalan farmer in Spanish. I hope to use this linguistic situation to glorify God. God bless your bilingual ministry. And he's a he's a bold partner.

Confess Christ openly and obey the Spirit's prompting immediately. This in my time is running out. So let me finish with this. His presence always points us to the centrality and work of Jesus. The Bible says, then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, see, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and

your sin is atoned for. You see, most scholars believe that the coal was taken from the altar of incense. It's the same altar that Uzziah had stood before and 15 years before desecrated. It is also the altar of incense was the holy to the Lord, and was atoned for with the blood of sacrifice. It's pointing to Jesus. It's pointing to atonement. It's the blood of Christ applied in our hearts that makes our prayers acceptable. It is the sacrifice of the lamb. It drives us to Jesus

at the heart of every renewal. At the heart of every revival is not just a conviction of sin, but it's a drawing, a drivenness to Jesus, the the pure sacrifice. There cannot be renewal and revival in our heart with a new appreciation for what Jesus has done for a new consecration to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives. In Isaiah's fresh encounter. Well, you know you've heard it before. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And

I love this. He had seen a fresh vision of God. So his response is, here am I. Send me. You see, if you don't have a passion, a drive, a fire. Don't blame it on your personality. It may have much more to do with your exposure to the presence of God. Because the presence of God puts an urgency in our soul.

exposure to his presence, you know the gospel. You know it's important. It's in your head. But you will have very little desire and drive that others should know. There's never spiritual renewal without people gaining a fiery passion to tell others about Jesus. If we can walk down the street and just complain about people, look down. If you can see the prostitute on the street and turn and disgust instead of allowing your heart to break over someone's

daughter that needs the Lord. If you can blame, accuse. If you can walk arrogantly through the streets of Chicago, by the homeless, by the broken, by the transgender, by the businessmen. If you judge and walk with very little concern except criticism, then you have not been recently in the presence of the Most High God. Because if you had listen, if you had, your heart would weep and break. Compassion would break out. Grieving would take over. A A desire for people to know Jesus would be a part

of your encounter, your daily encounter. Maybe some of you would be saying, O Lord. Give me a fresh vision of who you are. I need an Isaiah encounter. God. Start with me. It's easy for us to say, God, do it in everybody else. But let me tell you, the right posture is not what God needs to do in them and those in this and what their sin. The right posture is God, start with me. Father, we pray.

That the scales of our eyes would be lifted. That are distorted, minimized, sanitized version of you Would be displaced by true encounters with who you are. God. I thank you, father, that you are good. You pursue us. I pray God that you would prepare our hearts to be exposed to the light of your holiness, and that we would not shy away. But, God, we would deal with whatever you need to deal with our lives. That we would respond promptly in obedience and that you would have your way.

I thank you for this student body, and I thank you for the faculty. I thank you, father, that this is an amazing community that wants to follow you, God. But there's so much you need to do in us still so much God that you need to do in us still. And so we wait with expectation. We honor you. We bless you. And we pray this in Jesus Amen.

for our modern age. Because in today's fast paced digital world, it just seems harder and harder to make genuine connections. Often we don't know what to say or what to ask, or how to respond to our own family and friends, even when we want to go deeper. That's why doctor Heather Holloman's book, The Six Conversations, is a life changer.

Through real world guidance and biblical wisdom, this book will transform how you approach every interaction, walking you through from start to finish, and how to build better communication and discover breakthroughs in your relationships. This bold step gift offers proven strategies to help you move beyond small. Talk to conversations that truly matter. So reach out today and get your copy of this life changing resource. We'll send you a copy with your gift of any amount to support

bold steps. Just call us at one 800 Moody. That's (800) 356-6639 or give online at Bold Steps org. You can also send your gift through the mail. Write to us at bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. And today, we'd like to invite you to become a bold partner. A bold partner is someone who supports this ministry with a monthly financial gift, helping us spread the truth of God's Word around the world all year long.

And when your gift is $30 or more each month, we'll send you some special bonuses, like a signed copy of Mark's book unstuck. There's access to our Bold Partner post and a 50% discount on all items at the Moody Publishers online store. Signing up is simple and easy. When you visit Bold Steps. And by the way, one final note have you subscribed to Mark's YouTube channel yet? It's a great way to get his latest video teachings

right on your phone or smart device. Just search for Bold Steps Radio on YouTube and click the subscribe button. I'm Wayne Sheppard, coming up tomorrow on the program, Mark has an important lesson about settling in where God has placed you. It's a message titled Getting the Big Picture. So tune in for a fresh biblical perspective on your life. Tuesday on Bold Steps with Mark Joe. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.