Show the Glory

Dannah Gresh: Need some perspective today? Here’s a healthy dose from Pastor Chris Brooks.

Pastor Chris Brooks: Whenever you are starting to feel small and Satan is starting to feel big, whenever the problems of life start to feel gigantic in your heart and in your vision, whenever whatever is going on in the world around you seems bigger than Jesus, just open up your Bible. You will be reminded of the glory of God and see how big He really is.

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Heaven Rules, for November 8, 2022. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: As you know, today is an important day, politically speaking, here in the United States. If you are an American citizen, I hope you have studied up on the issues and on the candidates, and that you'll exercise your privilege as an American to get out and vote today.

But even more important that what is happening politically in our country, today is a great day to be reminded how awesomely big our God is. Pastor Chris Brooks said yesterday that, no matter what the outcome of our elections today, God is still ruling on His throne . . . and He will still be ruling tomorrow, too.

If you didn’t hear yesterday’s episode of Revive Our Hearts, do me a favor: go to ReviveOurHearts.com or pull up the Revive Our Hearts app and be sure to listen to it. Chris is a husband, a dad, an author, a radio host, and a pastor. He’s a gifted teacher and expositor of the Word of God. We’re about to hear part two of the moving message he delivered at our recent True Woman conference. I was there in Indianapolis, sitting in that audience of almost 5000 women, as Pastor Chris Brooks gave us a commission, of sorts, from Isaiah chapter 6. Let’s listen together.

Pastor Chris Brooks: Verses 2 and 3, oh so much activity happening in these verses. The Lord is on the move! But first we see that Isaiah wants us to know something about the Lord in verse 1 that would be good for us not to forget, and that is that He is seated upon a throne. He’s not pacing Heaven.

Have you ever noticed that Heaven is never anxious? Have you ever noticed that God is never pacing the floor saying, “Oh, my goodness, I didn’t see that one coming!” Have you ever noticed that God’s position in Heaven is that He is seated, because He is in control and He knows His sovereignty. He knows His plan. 

He knows that though men run to and fro and make idols of themselves, ultimately His will shall come to pass. “Many are the plans of a man, but the Lord’s will shall prevail.” (see Prov. 19:21) I love this next part. 

Isaiah says that God is high and lifted up and the train of His robe filled the temple. “The train of his robe filled the temple,” might be lost on most men, but I hope, ladies, you can understand what this is. This is a picture of a train.

My wife, when we got married, she had a train on her dress, that wedding dress. And her wedding dress train was so big that she had a special attendant to walk with us, to straighten out that train every time we took a picture. And I thought, Man! I wish I had that support! But that train was reflective of her glory. 

Well, the glory of God doesn’t just fill the temple, but His glory (as we will see in a moment ladies) fills the entire earth. God is in control. Heaven rules. And then in verse 2,

Above him stood the seraphim, [each having] six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

What manner of God is this that causes angels to cover their face? To say that we are not worthy to look upon Him? What manner of God is this that causes angels to cover their feet, that causes angels to feel inadequate in His presence? This is the God of glory that you and I serve!

Can you see Him? Can you see what Isaiah saw? Can you see what these angels saw as they covered their faces, as they covered their feet, and with the other two feet as they flew laps around His throne?

With each passing lap, what did they say? They said these words:

And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Now that “holy, holy, holy” is repetitive, but it is not redundant. This is not an example of Isaiah’s senility; he is not forgetful when he writes this.

It is not as if he forgot he wrote the first “holy.” No, he writes each “holy” for emphatic purposes. The word holy means “to cut” in the Hebrew, “to separate, to set apart.” What each of these angel's  passing of the throne—and the image of God—reveals is that God is set apart. 

To put it another way, in the modern vernacular: God is in a class, in a category, all by Himself! He’s not just holy: He’s holy, holy. He’s not just holy, holy: He’s holy, holy, holy. This triad of “holies” is to help us to understand how great our God is.

When you say, “This food is not just good, it’s good, good!” You know what I’m talking about! (laughter) Have you ever seen somebody who’s rich and you say, “They’re not just rich, they’re rich, rich!”

Well, these angels fly around the throne and they say, “He’s not just holy: He’s holy, holy. He’s not just holy, holy: He is holy, holy, holy.” There’s nobody like Him. There is no second place. It’s God, and there is no other. There is no other God like our God. There is no other resurrected Savior like our resurrected Savior! (applause and cries of praise)

There is no one as wise as Him, no one all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving, all-beautiful. He is in a category all by Himself! And this is the God that rules Heaven and earth! This is the God who rules in His sovereignty, meticulously, looking over the affairs of humanity while at the same time keeping an eye on your life, knowing the very number of hairs on your head! (Or in my case, the lack thereof.) He is holy, holy, holy.

I want you to see what Isaiah saw. Can you imagine standing at the doorpost, opening the door to God’s throne room? Can you imagine how radiant God must have looked. Isaiah fiercely and scarcely could look at Him, covering his eyes, barely looking over his arm, seeing the radiant beauty of God!

When you get a glimpse of that, ladies, you won’t fear what gossipers have to say. When you get a glimpse of that, you won’t fear whether or not God will keep His promise concerning your children. When you get a glimpse of that, you won’t fear what a doctor’s report might say.

Because what you know is that your God is bigger! I want you to get a portrait of this God. I want to get a portrait of this God who is great and good, who is all-powerful and all-loving, who cares for you deeply, who knows you fully, who has said of the coming of Christ, “And he shall be called Emmanuel” (see Matt. 1:23) being translated, meaning, “God is with us.”

God is with you. He is with you in the waiting room. He is with you in the tears. He is with you in the brokenness, and He is whispering in your ear, “Keep your eyes on Me, because I am bigger!”

Have you ever noticed that in the sideview mirrors of your car, you’ll often see that little note across the bottom that says, “Objects may appear different in this mirror than they really are.” They may appear further away, they may appear closer. You’ve got to be careful looking into that mirror. This is how life is. There are times when things may appear to be bigger than what they are. But I want to remind you today that God is bigger than anything that the enemy has sent against you tonight. (applause)

 

I want you to be reminded that He is greater, that God is bigger, and that He cares for you. The foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of Him who called. (see v. 4) The foundations of the house shook at the declaration of who God is! The foundation of the house shook at the glory of the Lord.

And so, it is that the foundations of our lives should shake at the declaration of the glory of the Lord. Now, you may say, “Chris, of course the foundations of the threshold shook, because Isaiah got to see this amazing vision that I could never see.”

But the fact of the matter is that He has given us His Word. And ladies, I want you to know that every time you open the Word of God you are taking a glimpse of His glory. If you want to see His glory and in full expanse, just bury your heart in the Word of God.

Whenever you are starting to feel small and Satan is starting to feel big, whenever the problems of life seem to be gigantic in your heart and your vision, whenever what is going on in the world around you seems bigger than Jesus, just open up your Bible and you will be reminded of the glory of God and see how big He really is!

How did this glory impact Isaiah? Well, what we see here is that this glory is on the move. Isaiah tells us in verse 3 that “the whole earth is full of His glory.” The whole earth is full of the glory. The glory of God does not sit still. The glory of God moves, and do you know how the glory of God moves?

It moves in this season, in this dispensation, through you and through me. A careful reading of John chapter 17, the prayer of Jesus reveals Jesus saying, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them” (v. 22). We now are bearers of the glory as we go forth and declare to the world the salvation that is found in Christ alone. As we celebrate the resurrected Lord and the risen Lamb, as we stand before a watching world and declare that Jesus is Lord and that He is faithful, we are declaring the glory of Jesus, and it is spreading!

When you leave this place, you’re carrying the glory with you! When you deposit the Word of God in your life, you are depositing the glory of God in your heart. When you share it, it is spreading. I want you to not only see the glory, ladies, I want you to show the glory!

I want you to go back to your home and show the glory. I want you to go to your job and show the glory of God. I want you to go to the nations and show the glory of God as this promise of God is fulfilled right before our eyes.

Isaiah is present with a question, and I believe it’s the question of the night. It’s the question each one of us certainly needs to grapple with. Here’s the question: verse number 8, “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’” 

“Who will go for us?” This is the question of Heaven. If Heaven rules, will you go? If Heaven rules, will you take His Word and His glory, His promises, back home with you? If Heaven rules, will you stand on His truth in spite of the crushing pressure of a culture that is anti-Jesus. Will you declare that His Word is true?

If Heaven rules, will you go back to your job as if Heaven rules? Will you say “yes” to going to the nations to spread the Word and the glory of God? If Heaven rules, the question of the evening is, “Who will go for us?”

I love Isaiah’s quick and prompt response. “Then I said. . .” I didn’t wait. I didn’t collaborate. I didn’t phone a friend. I didn’t have to text, didn’t have to seek external advice. I knew this: that if God is who He says He is, there is only one answer to the offer of salvation. If God is who He says He is, there is only one response to His request for our obedience.

• If He is King of all, then the only proper response of the human heart is to bow in His presence. 
• If He is Lord of all, the only proper response is for us to pledge our allegiance. 
• If He is the Savior who came to die for the sins of the world, the only proper response is for us to say, “Lord, save me and cleanse me!”

And maybe you’re here tonight and you’ve been debating in your heart whether you should follow this Jesus. Let me just explain to you that this Jesus commands our allegiance, that the Lord of glory requires our obedience. We would be foolish to chase after anything else. If Jesus is resurrected from the dead, then everything else in life is a footnote!

You obey God and let Him handle everything else. You trust that Heaven rules, and you watch Him put His glory on display in your life. Let tonight be the night of demarcation. Let tonight, this evening, be the night where you declare as Isaiah declared with boldness and assurance, “Here am I, send me!”

Do I have anybody in this room tonight that will say with a glad heart, “Here am I, Lord, send me. Here am I, Lord, I will go for You. I am here to be faithful to You! I am Your servant, ready to gladly do Your will!” (applause)

And Isaiah went. If we had time, we could read the rest of the story, and we would know that God gave him a hard assignment. What was the hard assignment? It was to declare truth to a hard-hearted nation that didn’t want to hear it. This is what it means for you and I to be on mission for Jesus. Every one of us is a missionary.

I used to think that a missionary was one of those slightly weird people who would rather live overseas than in the comforts of home, where there’s a McDonald’s around the corner. That’s what I used to think. (laughter) But now I realize that every single one of us are missionaries. All of us are called to a person, a people, a generation. 

Ladies, this is your moment! And if you don’t know it, the enemy sure does! What he has tried his best to do is to distract you and discourage you, to get you off mission. What Isaiah discovers when he experiences the glory of God is his mission in life!

What you will discover when you gaze upon the glory of God is your mission in life. What the enemy wants to do is rob you of that purpose and rob you of that mission! But may this be the weekend where you are reminded, and you make the declaration, “Here am I Lord, send me! I’m not turning back. I’m not backing down. But if Heaven rules, my God is with me. And if God is for me, He is greater than the world against me.” How many believe it to be so? (applause)

Nancy: Amen! That’s Pastor Chris Brooks, speaking at the recent True Woman conference. His message is titled “Finding Your Mission in Heaven’s Rule.” That's a message that I know I'd like to hear again. If you'd like the same thing, you can do that on the Revive Our Hearts app, or at ReviveOurHearts.com. 

The fact that Heaven rules is something you want you to keep in the forefront of your mind, not only on this important election day, but all through the upcoming year. One way you can do that is through the 2023 ministry calendar from Revive Our Hearts. Each month as you turn the page, you’ll find Scripture passages and a quote from my book Heaven Rules. You'll also find photos from scenes in nature that I've taken in recent years on my iPhone.

We'd love to send you that calendar as a way to say "thank you" for your donation of any amount to help support Revive Our Hearts. Your support is so vital as we continue calling women around the world to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ. To make a donation, just go to ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1-800-569-5959. Ask about the Heaven Rules Wall Calendar when you get in touch. Thank you so much for your gift which means more than you could ever know.

Do you ever feel like you’re in a spiritual desert? I know I have those seasons. Tomorrow on Revive Our Hearts, I want to share with you from my heart and from God’s Word what I believe is one of the greatest reasons so many of us as Christians spend so much of our lives wandering around in a spiritual desert. I hope you’ll join us for that.

Now, because of the great, overwhelming needs we experience in our country at this time and also throughout the world, we asked our dear friend Blair Linne to lead us in crying out to the Lord. Blair is an author, a poet, and a spoken word artist.

Here’s what I’d like to ask you to do. If at all possible, could you stop what you’re doing right now—even if your children are with you, have them join in with you—and spend the next few minutes with us in prayer? I don’t want you to be late to work if you’re driving, but if time allows, you may be even able to pull over to the side of the road to pray with us. If you’re at home, put down the laundry you’re folding, the dishes can wait, or whatever. Would you focus your heart’s attention, maybe even slipping to your knees, as we all pray together? Here’s Blair Linne to lead us in prayer.

Blair Linne: Heavenly Father, we come before You right now. We thank You first all that You are God. You are good. You rule. You are in control of all things. We give You the praise that You in Your grace You lavished us with the ability to know You personally through Your Son, Jesus.

We thank You, Lord, for the preeminent One, Christ, our Messiah who willingly took on flesh and came here in order to redeem us through His precious blood being shed on the cross. We thank You Lord that He willingly went to the cross, went to Calvary. We thank You that although He went in the grave, that three days later He resurrected. He resurrected with all power in His hands. He resurrected and ascended to Your right hand. We thank You, Lord, that He is going to return.

We praise Your name that You've given us the ability to be united with Christ, that we are not our own, that we have been bought with the precious price. It is no longer us but Christ who lives in us. We are filled with Your Spirit now. We are able to die to our flesh, and we are able to live unto God and put on this new nature that You have purchased for us. Because of that, we thank You that now we are Your people. Your Word says that once we were not Your people, but now we are God's people, and You hear the prayers of Your people. You hear our cries; You hear our requests.

Lord, we are praying, we are interceding for our nation. We pray for the leaders in our nation. Father, we pray for those who are governing us. We pray that You would please be merciful to our nation. We pray that You would turn our hearts toward You. We pray that You would turn our leaders toward You. We know that the heart of the king is in Your hand. Apart for You, we can do nothing. There is no goodness apart from You. I pray that You would give leaders that conviction that they need You.

I pray for our churches. I pray for the pastors of churches around our nation. I pray You would give them a sobriety—that they would be serious and focused about You and Your Word. That they would come up under the authority of Your Word. That they would submit themselves to Your Word ,and that they would allow the Word to go forth in power from every pulpit in our nation and that that would have a transforming effect on the members of all of those churches. We pray that You would protect us from false teaching, protect us from putting our hope in man, putting our hope in material things. Help churches to build eternal treasure.

Lord, we pray for families. I pray for fathers. I pray fathers would not only get back to their homes, but would get back to God and would lead their homes and be an example and would pour into their wives and children and it would have a transforming effect. Lord, we pray for our children. We pray for the family who is under attack. I pray You would have mercy; that You would help the family to be a light.

I pray for children. I saw recently where a lot of young women have turned away from the faith. There are more women who say they denounce any religion than there are men in our nation. I pray Father that You would have mercy; that You would turn the hearts of the children to You; that You would minister to them, and that they would understand Your gospel and how much they need a Savior. I pray that would transform their hearts and it would transform our world.

Lord, we pray that You would deliver us from confusion. Lord, would You help us to hold on to that which is true. Help us to hold to objective truth. I pray for any confusion that's happening; would You protect us from Satan and his schemes? Lord, help us to put on the full armour of God so that we can stand against the wiles of the enemy. Help us, oh God; we need You! We cannot do anything apart from You. Lord, we know that unless You do this, Lord, we cannot do anything. Have Your way; have mercy upon us. We just cry out, and we say Lord that we need You. God, we need You.

Lord, give us a heart, personally, of repentance, a heart of revival, a heart that will seek You above everything else in our lives. Lord, deliver us from the distractions, from all the messages of social media, all the opinions. Lord, deliver us. Help us to hold on to truth. Lord, we need You, we need You!

Be the satisfier of our hearts, Lord. We are so lukewarm. Deliver me, deliver me, deliver us from worldliness. Deliver us. Purify us. Help us to know we are strangers—this is not our home. Help us, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is calling you to find your mission in Heaven’s rule.

All Scripture is taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted.

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