10 Growing in Humility Through Greater Revelation of God’s Holiness.
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Last week we discussed the positional value of serving God and how it is our highest liberty, or, in other words, our greatest freedom.
And today, I want to continue looking at ways we can grow in humility. A few weeks ago we talked about dying to self, and how that was a key to growing in humility. I then chose to talk about the importance of serving God, as I believe that is a tremendous example of dying to self, which leads to humility.
And, over the next two weeks, I’m going to look at and speak on Scripture that continues to lead us closer to that death to self in order to grow in humility.
DISCLAIMER: The only and proper reaction to God’s presence and revelation of His holy character is that of humility. If you have truly encountered the LORD, experienced His goodness, His presence, His perfect character, His holiness, your response will be that of humility. It just will.
There is no other response.
You CANNOT, absolutely CANNOT, experience the presence and holiness of God and be drawn to self. It is not possible. Let’s look through three separate examples of this point in Scripture, one in the book of Isaiah, another in the book of Job, and one more in the book of Revelation.
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Firstly, let's look at Isaiah 6. This is truly one of my favorite chapters in the Bible because it gives us a great visual of who God is and also of who we are in light of Him, along with the proper response to an encounter with Him.
Initially, this chapter gives us a great visual of who God is. Isaiah writes…
‘In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”’
Now let me describe this scene to you. God is sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, with the end of his robe filling the whole temple. He is in a position of authority and power. Furthermore, there are seraphim standing above Him.
The seraphim, for those wondering, are angels, but they are not just any angels, they are the highest ranking angels. They are the holiest of beings, yet, verse 3, even they call to another saying
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
HELLO!!!! Even the holiest of beings, who as the following verse says, had a voice so powerful that ‘the foundations of the threshold shook’ when they called, acknowledged that they fall in comparison to the holiness of our God, who is seated upon a throne. Even these beings covered their faces and their feet in the presence of the LORD.
If that be the response of the holiest and highest of angels, what does that mean ours should be? Well, Isaiah shows us in verse 5:
‘And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”’
Wow. What a depiction of how we ought to respond to the presence of God.
WOE IS ME!!!!! FOR I AM LOST…A MAN OF UNCLEAN LIPS….IN THE MIDST OF A PEOPLE WITH UNCLEAN LIPS….!!!!
In the revelation of God’s holiness and His presence, Isaiah was humbled. He saw his iniquity, his imperfection, his sin. He recognized his nothingness in light of almighty God.
Now none of us have seen the LORD the way Isaiah did, so you may be wondering…what does this mean for us? It means in the light and revelation of the living God…that is, that He exists, that He is real, that He is holy, holy, holy… our response is humility and desperate need for God. Our response is thus: That we are lost, that we are unclean, meaning that we are deserving of death, an eternity of shame in the depths of hell.
But the story doesn’t end with Isaiah’s accurate assessment of self, which, if you’ve been tracking in this series, is that we are nothing, and God is all. The story goes on, verse 6,
‘Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”' 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.’”
Now this is so beautiful to me, and I will have to do a podcast on this in full detail sometime in the future. But in light of Isaiah’s sin, God forgave Him, and in light of the great extent of God’s grace, Isaiah wanted to be sent to share His experience with others.
WE SHOULD BE NO DIFFERENT THAN ISAIAH!!!! In Christ we have had our guilt taken away and our sin atoned for…we ought to go forth and share the grace that we have received!!!!! Anyways…that aside, what do I want you to learn from Isaiah here? I want you to learn that the only and proper reaction to God’s presence and revelation of His holy character is that of humility. We are nothing, and God is all.
Now let's further this idea by looking at Job. In Job 42, the LORD has just finished challenging Job over his contention with Him. This is because, in Job 31, verses 35-40, Job very much wants to complain before the Lord over his circumstance.
But, in light of the revelation of God’s glory and His power, Job responds in verse 5-6 (of chapter 42), saying…
‘I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.’
In verse five there is a distinction between the hearing of God’s word and the seeing of Him. In modern terms, this is the difference between hearing the word of God and personally experiencing the presence of God. As one commentary puts it, this reminds us that the most powerful aspect of Job’s encounter with God was not primarily what God said, but God’s simple, loving, powerful presence with Job that changed him most profoundly.
Well… what exactly did the revelation of the presence of God and holiness change about Job? It humbled him. It brought him to repentance. That phrase ‘I despise myself’, in this context, could be rendered as ‘I take back what I said’, which again, was that he wanted to contend with God. He recognized his sin and was brought to repentance.
Now for you, despising yourself means recognizing the sinfulness of your ways, which could include the sinful deeds you are committing, or maybe it is the words of your mouth that are crooked, or the evil intentions of your thoughts. No matter what it is, the point is that after revelation of God’s presence and His holiness, we are drawn to repentance. We are drawn to humility before God.
So what do I want you to learn from Job here? I want you to learn that the only and proper reaction to God’s presence and revelation of His holy character is that of humility. We are nothing, and God is all.
Lastly, let's look at the book of Revelation. This chapter, chapter 4, that I’m about to read to you, gives us an incredible image of what heaven looks like, insight into the throne room, and the actions of those who are in the presence of God.
I’ll pick up, verse 2, with who is believed to be John, disciple of Jesus, writing…
‘At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne’…
Sounds familiar to Isaiah 6, right? Now, as I keep reading, I really want you to imagine this vividly in your head…Verse 3:
‘And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.’”
WOW. Look at the glory of God as depicted in these verses!!!! A rainbow with the appearance of an emerald around the throne…flashes of lightning and peals of thunder coming forth from the throne…seven torches of fire before the throne…representing the Holy Spirit, with four crazy unimaginable creatures around the throne with eyes in the front and back of their heads, never ceasing to say
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
With twenty four elders clothed in white falling on their knees before the Lord, casting their crowns to Him saying,
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
This place is almost beyond imagination. It is a place of non-stop worship before the LORD, a place filled with His glory.
I so desperately hope that you, that I, can begin to even grasp the glory of God as depicted in these verses. If we could, we would be led to give Him more praise, to worship Him, and to lose ourselves.
In light of God’s holiness, His presence and His power, we die to self. Did you see John at all in those verses? No. Did you see yourself? No. If you were truly imagining the scene, you only saw the immense glory of God. If not, read it again. That is a full circle moment right there. We talked just a few weeks ago about dying to self, and there is no easier way to do that than by immersing yourself and seeking after the holy presence of God every single day. You lose yourself through greater immersion into God’s holiness and character.
The only and proper reaction, the ONLY and proper reaction to God’s presence and revelation of His holy character is that of humility. To see that we are nothing, and God is all.
If you’ve read this far and you’re at a point where you understand that we can grow in humility through the revelation of God’s holiness, but you don’t understand how, I encourage you to seek Him. To ask for Him. Pursue God, and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Ask for His presence.
Jesus says in Matthew 7:7 ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find…’
God wants to reveal Himself to you. He will answer your prayers.
He is not hiding from you. Seek him, but understand that in revelation of God’s presence and His holy character, you WILL be humbled. Know that.
I will see you all next week.
I love you all.
God bless.
