FULL OF GLORY

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Then said I, 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 mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.  Isaiah 6:1-8

Isaiah was a very fortunate person to have been allowed to witness this.  The description he gave is mind blowing.  He actually seen the Lord with the train of His robe filling the temple while the holy angels were covering their eyes and feet as they flew about the glorious temple.  Imagine it, Isaiah beheld God's glory while the seraphim were not able.  In fact the angels were crying out to one another holy, holy, holy and the whole earth is filled with His glory so loudly that the doors of the temple were shaken.  While Isaiah was looking and beholding God the angels were covering their eyes.  In a sense we are witnessing things that angels don't dare to gaze upon. 

No wonder Isaiah became frightened over his unclean lips and was concerned that he even came from a people with unclean lips.  This was a Holy God he was seeing.  Think of it.  These seraphim had never been anywhere but in the presence of God.  They are without sin, have never sinned, will never sin, yet they could not bear to look at the holiness of God.  They could only see that the whole earth is full of the glory of God.  Isaiah  instinctively knew he was not prepared to see what his eyes were fixed on. 

After he exclaimed his sinfulness the seraphim flew over and took a coal of fire from the altar and touched it to his lips.  I feel the coal of fire coming from the altar is symbolic of the Holy Sprit and fire Jesus baptizes with which comes from the altar where the Lamb of God was slain.  That is where the fire comes from.  From the one who baptizes with Holy Ghost and fire.  He cleanses us and fills us so that there may be a pure flow of his presence from His people.

God wants to fill the earth with His glory.  The doorways of the temple shaking reminds me later of a veil in the temple being rent in two at the very moment that Jesus passed from this life to the next.  Even graves split open and some who were dead were reported to be moving around Jerusalem for a few days after.  The doorway was opened for man to cross from death unto life.  It is also my opinion that this symbol of the rent veil also was God saying I am now free to invade the earth with my presence again.

If it is the will of God to fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory, and it is;

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.  Habakkuk 2:14

How will He do it?  Will it be a sudden ray of light, a mystical mist, or some other phenomenon we have yet to see?  Will it occur at the second coming or is it already occurring?  I feel the answers to such questions are addressed in Isaiah 6:1-6. 

            After Isaiah heard the angelic announcements, and had his mouth washed out with fire, it sounds so pretty to touch the coal of fire to his lips but it actually is painful.  No anointing or ministry comes without pain.  It is a strange paradox but we know we are favored if we are persecuted.  It is out of the wounds the anointing flows.

Following the painful experience of fire on his lips he heard the voice of God asking a question.  Oddly enough the angels who are not omniscient were making declarations of what they knew but the omniscient God was asking a question.  True the earth is filled with God's glory.  True His holiness is manifest to all creation.

	Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them.
	For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
	Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Romans 1:19-21

But God asks who can I send?  Who will go for me?  God needs man or rather He has chosen to need man to show His glory to the whole earth.

	For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
	How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
	And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!  Romans 10:13-15

In fact one verse says boldly that man is the glory of God.

For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. I Corinthians 11:7

As unlikely as it seems God desires to fill the earth with His glory and he has chosen us to demonstrate it.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  Matthew 5:16

 In essence we are the donkey that can carry the king into our cities, we are the mouthpiece the heirs God has sent to rule and reign over the earth. 

A careful study of numbers chapter fourteen reiterates this point.  The children of Israel refused to enter the land that God had promised them when they had left Egypt, a land that was reportedly flowing with milk and honey.  Instead of possessing the land in faith they feared giants and turned away.  This infuriated the Lord and He said that he would destroy this people and raise a new people from Mosses.  We twenty first century Christians have a hard time understanding this as we tend to believe that God is all about people, when in fact the people were created for God's pleasure.  If we do not fulfill the purpose for which we were made we deserve to be cut off and thrown into the fire like a fruitless vine.  Like Mosses generation we are facing impending judgment for our stubborn unbelief and stiff-necked unwillingness to surrender to the will of God.  We were created for His pleasure and if we do not give Him pleasure then what good are we.

Mosses could not accept this it would be too embarrassing for the all powerful God not to be able to deliver on His promise.  He argued that the world would say God was unable, demons would boast, scoffers would scoff at God and question His glory and power.  Mosses could not bear the thought of such a thing.  At one time I believed that Mosses was concerned for the people so he prayed a prayer to manipulate God in order to get his way,  but have later come to believe that Mosses was praying God's will for his glory to be seen.  God answered Mosses in this manner.

	And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
	But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.  Numbers 14:20-21

These verses are declaration of truth that no man could prevent even though man would be involved.  He was warning that this would happen with or without that generation of people.  I believe the same is true today, God is going to use someone to do this.  Will it be you and I or will we shrink in fear and let the next generation do it.  God desires to show the whole world how good He is by blessing a people that will trumpet His praise and good news to the whole world.  Jesus will return to us when we have done this.

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.  Matthew 24:14

The coming glory is connected to us.  It depends on us doing our job.  It is time for a completion.  Who will go?