I Yearn for more Holy Moments with God (4)

This Holy Moment Reveals Why I Attend Church

Introduction

Holy Moments are those just God and me moments. They can occur in the privacy of your prayer closet or even in a room with a thousand people. It is that time that God gets your attention, and it is just God and you engaged in a conversation.

The Bible is full of Holy Moments. We have looked at three so far, and from each we have learned a different lesson. And today is no different as we look at another famous Holy Moment. This one occurs in the Jewish church house which they called the Temple. The temple was always bustling with activity, but God got Isaiah alone. And we who read about this Holy Moment, let’s see what we can learn from it.

Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 6:1-8.

Scripture

Isaiah 6:1–8 NKJV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because 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.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Point 1

Isaiah’s Holy Moments reminds me that I come to church to cast my burdens on God.

Isaiah 6:1 NKJV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

King Uzziah of Judah was not just any king; he was a good king, and probably the only one that Isaiah knew. King Uzziah reigned over Judah for 52 years. He was like the spiritual patriarch of Judah. He was a righteous king. And now he was gone, and the fact that he begins Chapter 6 with the words “in the year King Uzziah died” tells me that Isaiah is mourning the death of his king. There is uncertainty for the future of Judah because it is too soon to know how his son Jothan will reign in Judah. Will Jothan continue governing righteously like his father or will he be more like the Northern Kings of Israel and be wicked? There is the drumbeats of war on the horizon because the year is 742 B.C. and Assyria is rising to power and planning to attack the Northern Kingdom. Will they attack and take the Southern Kingdom hostage also?

So, Uzziah goes to the temple to pray. The church house is the perfect place to pray and to cast all your cares upon God.

In fact, he tells us in 1 Peter 5:7 (NKJV)

7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

And what makes the church house special is that when Christian gather and pray with one another, there is real power in that prayer.

Matthew 18:19–20 NKJV

19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Isaiah was in the church house praying because he has lost his king.

It amazes me today that when a person dies today, Christians instead of being in the church house avoid the church house. Isaiah’s king had died, and we find Isaiah in the church house.

As pastor, I almost hate to have a funeral in the church house because I hear people tell me that every time I walk in the the church, I can still see the body of my love one in that coffin up in the front. Surprisingly, that person doesn’t see that deceased love one when they enter Walmart or their favorite restaurant or that favorite chair that sat in at your house. Know what I think-the devil has you right where he wants.

Point #2

Isaiah’s Holy Moments reminds me that I go to church to praise the Lord because the Lord has victory over all things.

Isaiah 6:1 NKJV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

You might have missed this point if you don’t know the traditions of that time. In those days, kings often went to war against one another. When one king defeated another king, the robe of the defeated king was taken from him, a portion of it was cut off the robe and sewed on the robe of the victorious king making the train of his robe longer. So, depending upon how long the train of the robe, the evidence how victorious that king was.

Isaiah “saw the Lord, high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple”. What that is symbolizing for Isaiah and for us is that God has victory over all things. The train of the Lord’s robe filled the Temple.

Jesus has victory over sin; Jesus has victory over death; Jesus has victory over the devil. Jesus has victory over sickness; Jesus has victory over addictions. Name anything that might seem to have victory over our life today and Jesus Christ has victory over that things.

Point #3

Isaiah’s Holy Moments reminds me that I go to church to come under conviction for my sinfulness.

Isaiah 6:5 NKJV

5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because 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.”

If I have truly have come to church to seek a Holy God, I will come under conviction for my sinfulness. In the presence of a Holy, Holy, Holy God, my sinfulness should be standing out to me. It stood out to Isaiah, but he is not the only one.

Adam and Eve when they hear the Holy God looking for them in the cool of the day ran and hid from the presence of God after they had sinned.

Job said in the end of his book that I heard of you by the hearing of my ears, but now I see you and therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.

If you walk out of church in the same spiritual condition that you walked into the church house, you have not been with the Lord. If you have truly been with the Lord, you will be changed.

Point #4

Isaiah’s Holy Moments reminds me that I go to church not to be entertained or feel good about my self but to be challenged.

Isaiah 6:8 NKJV

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

First,

Here are the top 10 reasons given by Americans who attend religious services at least once a month, according to Pew Research. They conducted this survey in 2018.

Survey respondents were allowed to give more than one reason. The percentage refers to people who said this was a “very important” reason for their decision:

To become closer to God. (81%)

So their children will have a moral foundation. (69%)

To become a better person. (68%)

For comfort in times of trouble or sorrow. (66%)

They find the sermons valuable. (59%)

To be part of a faith community. (57%)

To continue their family’s religious traditions. (37%)

They feel obligated to go. (31%)

To meet new people or socialize. (19%)

To please their family, spouse or partner. (16%)

Interestingly, not even considered, so that God can challenge me and strength their faith. When God met Moses at the burning bush, God challenged Moses. When God met with Jonah, God challenged Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach the Gospel. When God met with Peter, God challenged Peter to welcome Cornelius into the household of faith.After you become a Christian that should be the number 1 reason that you come to church.

If God did that in Bible times, why would we not expect God to challenge us?

Thought to Ponder

Do I need to re-think the reasons that I attend church?