S1: Today on Bold steps with Mark job, we're discovering the
S1: life changing power of finding the presence of God.
S2: If you can blame accuse, if you can walk arrogantly
S2: through the streets of Chicago, by the homeless, by the broken,
S2: by the businessmen, if you judge and walk with very
S2: little concern except criticism, then you have not been recently
S2: in the presence of the Most High God.
S1: Welcome to Bold Steps with pastor Mark Jobe, president of
S1: Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community
S1: Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Last week we began
S1: a powerful lesson from Isaiah chapter six about encountering the
S1: true presence of God. Before Isaiah could begin his public ministry,
S1: God knew he needed a fresh supernatural vision of his
S1: grandeur and holiness. A vision that would ignite Isaiah's calling
S1: with holy fire. If you missed part one of this
S1: eye opening message, you'll find it at Bold steps.org. But
S1: now let's join Mark Jobe as we continue exploring what
S1: happens when we truly experience God's presence. Our message titled
S1: In His presence.
S2: So the fact that you're a Christian doesn't offend anybody.
S2: As long as it's a contained Christianity, the fact that
S2: you're a believer in God doesn't bother anybody. As long
S2: as it's watered down. As long as it's nominal. As
S2: long as it's not too radical. As long as you're
S2: God is a shrunken version of God. But God needed
S2: to do something in Isaiah because he knew that Isaiah
S2: was going to be ministering in a culture with a
S2: minimized God. And before Isaiah was going to step into
S2: his public ministry. God said, you need to see me
S2: for who I am. You need a fresh vision of
S2: who I am. Because if you start to minister with
S2: this small vision, then you will never be consumed by
S2: the fire that I want to exist within your belly.
S2: Your calling will never be fervent. Your radical nature pursuing
S2: me will never be where it needs to be. You see,
S2: before you do anything, you need to be exposed to
S2: the real I am. And so, as Isaiah was in
S2: the temple seeking God, he had a supernatural vision of God.
S2: And there's two things that stand out immediately before Isaiah
S2: as he encounters this God. The Bible says that there's
S2: a throne and there's holiness. The throne speaks to the
S2: authority of God, his sovereignty, his power over all things.
S2: And his holiness means that God is set apart like
S2: no other. He's not one God among the others, he
S2: is set apart. There is no one like unto him.
S2: He's in a category uniquely his, a category that cannot
S2: be defined. A category that is far above. There is
S2: no other God like this God. And God wanted Isaiah
S2: to see him in all of his grandeur and beauty.
S2: Isaiah was not alone in seeing God's throne. Almost everyone
S2: in the Bible who had a vision of heaven has
S2: written about the throne of God. Look at revelation. There's
S2: a throne, and he describes what he saw in this throne.
S2: He describes that he saw this great throne representing the
S2: sovereignty of God, that they said, Holy, holy, holy is
S2: the Lord God Almighty. Now they could have said a
S2: lot of things to describe God, because God is a
S2: lot of things. They could say love, love, love is
S2: the Lord God Almighty. They could say, mercy, mercy, mercy
S2: is the Lord God Almighty. They could say grace, grace,
S2: grace filled is the Lord God Almighty. But you know
S2: what these angels said? Something unique. Something that defines our
S2: God like no other. They said, Holy, holy, holy is
S2: the Lord God Almighty. Why? Because the holiness of God,
S2: the holiness of God, defines his character. All of the
S2: other attributes of God are contained within his holiness. You
S2: can't understand the love of God unless you understand the
S2: holiness of God. You will not be consumed by how
S2: powerful God's love is, unless you first of all understand
S2: that he is pure, undefiled, like no other. And that
S2: in his own character us in our unblemished way, sinful
S2: way would be consumed. And now we understand the love
S2: of God to be overwhelming. You see, devoid of his holiness,
S2: the character of God, the other attributes of God, they
S2: become so mundane. Oh, God loves me. Yeah. And so
S2: does my wife and my kids and my neighbor and
S2: my cousin. But the love of God is not like that.
S2: The love of God is defined within the context of
S2: his holiness. This is a different kind of love. This
S2: is a higher kind of love. A.W. Tozer said he
S2: is absolutely holy, with an infinite, incomprehensible fullness of purity
S2: that is incapable of being other than who he is.
S2: A piercing purity. You say, well, Mark, I don't know
S2: if I can relate to that. I'd rather see Jesus
S2: as my friend. Oh he is. But never get too
S2: familiarized with Jesus to feel like he's just a little
S2: buddy out there because he's not. He's the incomprehensible, high
S2: and lifted up holy God. And when we lose that,
S2: We lose a sense of urgency. Listen, when we lose that,
S2: we are not propelled to purity. Isaiah saw him high
S2: and lifted up in this way. When the Bible calls
S2: God holy, it means that he's primarily that that God
S2: is transcendently separate from all others. There's no competition. There's
S2: no syncretism, there's no mixture. He's not diluted. He's 100% holy.
S2: But I need to remind you what happens when Isaiah
S2: encounters his holiness. Because this is not just a description
S2: of who God is. This is not an exercise in impression.
S2: This is so that Isaiah would be intrinsically changed. You see,
S2: his presence stirs us with a renewed awareness of our
S2: desperate need for purity. And the very first thing that
S2: Isaiah says when he's exposed to the grandeur of God
S2: and His holiness. The very first thing, he doesn't bow
S2: and worship and say, you're such an awesome God. I
S2: would think that maybe that would be his response. But
S2: immediately what Isaiah does in light of God's holiness, he
S2: is becomes acutely aware of his unholiness. The very first
S2: thing that he says is woe is me. He doesn't say, woe, God,
S2: you are amazing. He said, woe! I am unclean! I cried,
S2: this is a desperate cry. He says, I'm ruined. Why?
S2: Because he's exposed to the unblemished purity and holiness of
S2: Almighty God. You see, it's within that contrast that we
S2: realize how much we need to change. It's in the
S2: horizontal comparison with others that we excuse our fleshliness, our deficiency,
S2: our sin, and we walk around like we're okay. It's
S2: in the undaunted view of God's holiness that immediately we
S2: are pierced with our need to be cleansed. It's when
S2: I have not been exposed to God. It's when I'm
S2: not concentrating on God. It's when I'm not focused on
S2: the vertical that I become very, very comfortable with my fleshliness,
S2: my sins, my attitude, my pride, my egotism, my lust.
S2: I become very comfortable with it. I excuse it, I
S2: minimize it, I live with it, and I take on
S2: a nonchalant attitude like it's not that bad. That's me
S2: walking in the flesh. Me walking in the flesh is
S2: when I compare myself with others. And of course, I
S2: always compare myself with people that are a lot worse
S2: than I am. He said, for I am a man
S2: of unclean lips, and I live among a people of
S2: unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the
S2: Lord Almighty. I like what J.I. Packer says. He says
S2: revival is the visitation of God, which brings to life
S2: Christians who have been sleeping and restores a deep sense
S2: of God's near presence and holiness, thence springs a vivid
S2: sense of sin and a profound exercise of heart and repentance.
S2: Praise and love. Listen with an evangelistic outflow. I am
S2: at worst when I am least perceptive of the presence
S2: of God. When I am walking in little awe of
S2: who he is. That's when I'm the worst. I'm the worst.
S2: When my pride tells me I'm okay. When my deceptive
S2: heart minimizes that which causes the heart of God to grieve.
S2: We can live in a culture that's lukewarm. In a
S2: culture that's accepted a shrunken God, it breeds and fosters
S2: a culture of lukewarm Christianity. A culture of nominal holiness.
S2: A culture of. Gentle passion. A culture that tolerates. A
S2: culture that assimilates. A culture that synchronizes with our culture
S2: so that we fit in. But I believe that God
S2: is looking for Isaiah's. I believe that God is looking
S2: for Isaiah's, who have been exposed to the presence of
S2: God and cannot swallow or accept a lukewarm, watered down
S2: version of what it means to be a follower of
S2: Jesus the Christ and the awesome, Holy God of the universe.
S2: And the Bible tells us that. Listen, the Bible tells
S2: us that when Isaiah saw, he said, I'm ruined. I'm
S2: a man of unclean lips. In other words, what it
S2: did to him is it drove him to the need
S2: to be clean. I have to be clean. I have
S2: to be clean. There's a desperation when you encounter the
S2: presence of God when you expose His holiness, there's not
S2: a just, hey, it would be nice if I got
S2: my life right. There is a desperation. I cannot go
S2: one more day without getting right with God. There's a
S2: deep conviction of sin. There's a deep drive for purity. Why?
S2: What drives us? The fear of hell? No. It's the
S2: fear of God. It's exposure to the undiluted presence of
S2: the Holy God that causes us to have a urgency
S2: about getting things right, not a unwillingness to continue to
S2: live and walk that way.
S1: A powerful description of what it means to experience the
S1: presence of God. And Mark Jobe will continue after a
S1: short time out, but you're listening to Bold Steps, a
S1: message titled In His Presence. Mark, I want to take
S1: a moment and especially thank our bold partners, people who
S1: give to this ministry on a monthly basis. We we're
S1: just so grateful for them. And we got this note
S1: from a man who's listening now to one of our
S1: newer stations online with us. Uh, he says, Pastor Job
S1: and the Bold Steps radio team. Thank you for a
S1: great program. I listen every weekday and also enjoy the
S1: short messages. Pastor job, the spirit speaks to me through
S1: your practical, down to earth preaching. We also share something
S1: as fairly unique as Americans. I also speak Spanish with
S1: a Spanish accent. Not only that, but because I lived
S1: in Catalonia for almost 20 years and spoke the language there,
S1: much to the amusement of people I meet from the
S1: rest of Spain and the Spanish speaking world, I sound
S1: like a Catalan farmer in Spanish. I hope to use
S1: this linguistic situation to glorify God. God bless your bilingual ministry.
S1: And he's a he's a bold partner.
S3: That's great. Well, Robert, thank you for that encouragement.
S1: Here we go.
S3: Robert.
S1: You got him going.
S3: Okay. So blessings. You know, it's great to people from
S3: all over the world both in this country and other
S3: places can connect with what the Spirit of God is doing.
S3: And so, Robert, that word of encouragement is great. And
S3: we appreciate, uh, we appreciate you as a bold partner
S3: as well. Thank you.
S1: Well, be like Robert and become a bold partner today
S1: by giving to this ministry. You can do that online
S1: at Bold steps.org and it is so much appreciated. Thank
S1: you for doing that. Now back to our message. Here
S1: again is Mark Jobe with more bold steps.
S2: In the Welsh revival at the turn of the century,
S2: just a couple of years after D.L. Moody had died,
S2: the heart of it was a 26 year old man
S2: named Evan Roberts. Read about the Welsh revival and you
S2: will be astonished at what God did in staggering proportions
S2: in that little country. More than 100,000 people professed conversion
S2: during a six month period. What they emphasize. Confession of
S2: all known sin have done with all secret and doubtful things.
S2: Confess Christ openly and obey the Spirit's prompting immediately. This
S2: in my time is running out. So let me finish
S2: with this. His presence always points us to the centrality
S2: and work of Jesus. The Bible says, then one of
S2: the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in
S2: his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
S2: With it he touched my mouth and said, see, this
S2: has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and
S2: your sin is atoned for. You see, most scholars believe
S2: that the coal was taken from the altar of incense.
S2: It's the same altar that Uzziah had stood before and
S2: 15 years before desecrated. It is also the altar of
S2: incense was the holy to the Lord, and was atoned
S2: for with the blood of sacrifice. It's pointing to Jesus.
S2: It's pointing to atonement. It's the blood of Christ applied
S2: in our hearts that makes our prayers acceptable. It is
S2: the sacrifice of the lamb. It drives us to Jesus
S2: at the heart of every renewal. At the heart of
S2: every revival is not just a conviction of sin, but
S2: it's a drawing, a drivenness to Jesus, the the pure sacrifice.
S2: There cannot be renewal and revival in our heart with
S2: a new appreciation for what Jesus has done for a
S2: new consecration to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives.
S2: In Isaiah's fresh encounter. Well, you know you've heard it before.
S2: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom
S2: shall I send, and who will go for us? And
S2: I love this. He had seen a fresh vision of God.
S2: So his response is, here am I. Send me. You see,
S2: if you don't have a passion, a drive, a fire.
S2: Don't blame it on your personality. It may have much
S2: more to do with your exposure to the presence of God.
S2: Because the presence of God puts an urgency in our soul.
S3: I'm going to close with this.
S2: I almost quit ministry six months into it. And God
S2: brought me into deep, deep conviction that.
S3: I was trying to do the.
S2: Work of God in the power of the flesh, and
S2: I needed to spend.
S3: More.
S2: Time in his presence. It was contrary to my nature
S2: because I wanted to do not be still. I wanted
S2: to accomplish. Not gaze.
S3: But it was.
S2: In that time of breaking that for the first time
S2: I wept over the city. It was in the presence
S2: of God that for the first time, my heart broke
S2: over the brokenness that I saw in our communities. It
S2: was in the presence of God that A unabashed, compelling
S2: love filled my soul for people that I could care
S2: less about before. It was in the presence of God
S2: that a fire started burning in my heart. A compelling
S2: desire to see people change and know the gospel. Without
S2: exposure to his presence, you know the gospel. You know
S2: it's important. It's in your head. But you will have
S2: very little desire and drive that others should know. There's
S2: never spiritual renewal without people gaining a fiery passion to
S2: tell others about Jesus. If we can walk down the
S2: street and just complain about people, look down. If you
S2: can see the prostitute on the street and turn and
S2: disgust instead of allowing your heart to break over someone's
S2: daughter that needs the Lord. If you can blame, accuse.
S2: If you can walk arrogantly through the streets of Chicago,
S2: by the homeless, by the broken, by the transgender, by
S2: the businessmen. If you judge and walk with very little
S2: concern except criticism, then you have not been recently in
S2: the presence of the Most High God. Because if you
S2: had listen, if you had, your heart would weep and break.
S2: Compassion would break out. Grieving would take over. A A
S2: desire for people to know Jesus would be a part
S2: of your encounter, your daily encounter. Maybe some of you
S2: would be saying, O Lord. Give me a fresh vision
S2: of who you are. I need an Isaiah encounter. God.
S2: Start with me. It's easy for us to say, God,
S2: do it in everybody else. But let me tell you,
S2: the right posture is not what God needs to do
S2: in them and those in this and what their sin.
S2: The right posture is God, start with me. Father, we pray.
S2: That the scales of our eyes would be lifted. That
S2: are distorted, minimized, sanitized version of you Would be displaced
S2: by true encounters with who you are. God. I thank you, father,
S2: that you are good. You pursue us. I pray God
S2: that you would prepare our hearts to be exposed to
S2: the light of your holiness, and that we would not
S2: shy away. But, God, we would deal with whatever you
S2: need to deal with our lives. That we would respond
S2: promptly in obedience and that you would have your way.
S2: I thank you for this student body, and I thank
S2: you for the faculty. I thank you, father, that this
S2: is an amazing community that wants to follow you, God.
S2: But there's so much you need to do in us
S2: still so much God that you need to do in
S2: us still. And so we wait with expectation. We honor you.
S2: We bless you. And we pray this in Jesus Amen.
S1: Amen. That's Mark Jobe. You're listening to Bold Steps, a
S1: lesson titled In His Presence. And you can revisit this
S1: message or share it with someone you know by simply
S1: visiting our website. Bold Steps. Now, as our regular listeners know,
S1: every month we pick out a very special book that
S1: we believe will help strengthen you and encourage you in
S1: your spiritual growth. It's known as our Bold Step gift,
S1: and this month we've got a resource that's tailor made
S1: for our modern age. Because in today's fast paced digital world,
S1: it just seems harder and harder to make genuine connections.
S1: Often we don't know what to say or what to ask,
S1: or how to respond to our own family and friends,
S1: even when we want to go deeper. That's why doctor
S1: Heather Holloman's book, The Six Conversations, is a life changer.
S1: Through real world guidance and biblical wisdom, this book will
S1: transform how you approach every interaction, walking you through from
S1: start to finish, and how to build better communication and
S1: discover breakthroughs in your relationships. This bold step gift offers
S1: proven strategies to help you move beyond small. Talk to
S1: conversations that truly matter. So reach out today and get
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S1: I'm Wayne Sheppard, coming up tomorrow on the program, Mark
S1: has an important lesson about settling in where God has
S1: placed you. It's a message titled Getting the Big Picture.
S1: So tune in for a fresh biblical perspective on your life.
S1: Tuesday on Bold Steps with Mark Joe. Bold steps is
S1: a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.