Hello, this is Brother Denny.
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I greet you all in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Flaming Son of
God.
Thank you, Moses.
That makes it easier to stand up here
with all that encouragement.
Praise God.
Amen.
Thank you for coming.
I also want to thank the visitors who
have come here tonight.
Tonight, thank you for coming.
Thank all of you for caring enough about
God to come and spend a week and
seek God.
Thank you.
May God reward you.
I have so many things to say as
I thought of what to say to all
of you.
I love you all.
It's a privilege to stand up here in
front of a whole bunch of young people
like this, and I thought, my, I could
say a lot of things.
But as I prepared and sought the Lord
for what He was laying on my heart
for you, I don't have time to say
a lot of other things.
So, I have an objective tonight, and I
intend to fulfill it.
My objective is to see the living God.
I have a prayer for you that are,
love the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many of you do, I know.
My prayer is that tonight you would get
a blessing as I lift up the living
God.
Some of you are struggling with the world
and the flesh.
My prayer for you is that God would
grant you a victory over the world and
the flesh.
There are some of you that are bound
by the devil.
And my prayer is that you would be
delivered in the name of Jesus.
Some of you are unbelieving and defiled, just
like 1 Corinthians says.
And I pray that the mercy of God
would be upon you tonight.
I pray the mercy of the living God
would rest on you tonight.
If you are unbelieving and defiled here, God
be merciful to you.
And then there are some of you that
are defiant.
Some of you are actually in defiance against
the living God.
And my prayer for you is that God
would open up your eyes and your ears.
That you might become wise and kiss the
sun.
So my objective tonight is to see the
living God.
And it's a joy to preach about it.
I love this subject.
I have delighted in the subject of God.
Seeing God for years.
And as I considered where you are tonight.
And this mixed group.
I hope it's not so mixed tomorrow night.
But I felt like I should lift up
the living God to you.
In a world that says there is no
God.
And even in a Christian life that can
become dull and dry.
There is nothing like seeing the Lord Jesus
again.
So, I want to just say a few
things and then get right into what I
have to say here.
We are going to walk through the first
chapter of Ezekiel.
If you would like to turn there, you
may.
Ezekiel chapter 1.
In John 2 verse 11 it says, This
the beginning of miracles Jesus did in Cana
of Galilee.
And He manifested forth His glory.
And His disciples believed on Him.
You know when He turned 150 gallons of
water into wine.
And it says there that He manifested His
glory.
And the way I picture that is that
Jesus pulled His brown robe apart just a
little bit in doing that.
He was just a man to them.
He was a great teacher.
Maybe a prophet even.
But when they saw Him turn 150 gallons
of water into wine.
It's like they took a second look at
this man.
And it was like the shell was cracked
for a moment.
And a beam of the light of the
glory of Jesus Christ shone out.
And His disciples saw it.
And they believed on Him.
The glory of Jesus Christ was revealed.
It was hidden.
Shrouded in flesh.
But there were times when His disciples saw
Him.
They saw His glory.
And oftentimes, I think, they took a look
when He wasn't looking and just thought, Who
are You?
Who are You anyway?
Who is this man that walks among us
that raises the dead?
And turns water into wine and speaks words
that make my heart burn.
Who are You anyway?
I remember that story in the boat.
When He had calmed the sea, He stood
up in the midst of the storm and
said, Be quiet.
And the sea obeyed.
And it says that the men feared greatly
and asked, What manner of man is this
that even the wind and the wave obey
Him?
He's the Living God.
That's who He is.
He's the Living God.
The Son of the Living God.
Alright, let's begin here in the book of
Ezekiel.
This is a revelation of God.
I believe that God gave a revelation of
Himself many times in the Bible because God
wants us to know some things about Himself.
He didn't give these revelations just to be
stuffed away in the backside of our Bibles
and ignored and go on vaguely wondering what
God is like.
He wrote these things clearly so that we
would have a clear understanding of who God
is.
Or else why are they written?
And so I'm approaching it with that faith
this morning or this afternoon.
Let's begin reading in the first chapter there.
And I'll just comment as we go along
here.
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth
year, in the fourth month, in the fifth
day of the month, as I was among
the captives by the river Kibar, that the
heavens were opened and I saw visions of
God.
In the fifth day of the month, which
was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity,
the word of the Lord came expressly unto
Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in
the land of the Chaldeans by the river
Kibar.
And the hand of the Lord was there
upon him.
And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind came
out of the north, a great cloud, and
a fire enfolding itself, and a brightness was
about it.
And out of the midst thereof, as the
color of amber, out of the midst of
the fire.
Now let's just stop there and ponder this
a minute.
It says, first of all, that there was
a great cloud.
Now this is not one of those fluffy
white clouds that you see on a calm
day.
This is a whirlwind, it says.
The hand of the Lord was upon Ezekiel,
and he says, I saw this cloud on
the horizon.
Have you ever experienced that when you're in
a storm?
Maybe some of you haven't actually seen a
tornado or a hurricane.
Have you seen that?
I know some here have, actually.
It's awesome, isn't it?
When you see the clouds and they're moving
thick, and there's a strange color in the
sky, and even more terrifying is when you
see it on the horizon, you see that
cloud is dipping, and something's happening over there,
and it starts to come down toward the
earth, and it's whirling.
You know that awesome feeling?
I don't know what it's like, but it
gets you right in the stomach.
You think, this is awesome.
Well, that's what Ezekiel saw.
He says, I saw this great cloud of
a whirlwind.
It was a storm on the horizon, and
this was just the beginning of the awesome
things that he's about to experience as God
manifests Himself to Ezekiel.
In this cloud, then, it says, there is
fire enfolding itself.
And I see there fire that's wrapping into
the cloud.
It's like a strange whirlwind with flames in
it.
This cloud on the horizon, and he sees
this storm, and it's a whirlwind, obviously, it's
taking place over there, and then there's fire
that's enfolding and moving in and out, and
darting into the storm.
It must have been an awesome sight, just
to see that coming on the horizon out
of the north.
Also, out of the midst thereof came the
likeness of four living creatures, and this was
their appearance.
They had the likeness of a man.
What do you think?
What do you think Ezekiel thought as he
saw that sight?
And then, all of a sudden, out of
the midst of it, it says, out of
the midst of the whirlwind and the fire
that's enfolding, these four creatures come forth.
It must have almost made your heart stop
to see it, coming right out of the
fire.
Sounds like a story, doesn't it?
It's right out of the Bible.
This is our God.
And this was their appearance.
They had the likeness of a man.
What that means is they had legs like
we do.
They had a torso like we do.
They had arms.
They had a face.
They were the makeup of a man.
When you saw them, you said, hey, they
look like men.
Just like men.
But they're not men.
Verse 6, And every one had four faces,
and every one had four wings.
Four faces and four wings.
This is not a man.
They had four faces.
Verse 7, And their feet were straight feet,
and the sole of their feet was like
the sole of a calf's foot, and they
sparkled like the color of burnished brass.
Now you may think this is strange, right?
A man's legs that end in calf's feet.
We would think that's what you see in
some storybook that some writer has made up
in a fanciful story.
This is the Word of God.
This is the description of real beings.
And I don't think you're going to laugh
at them.
You know when it says their feet are
straight like calf's feet, but look at them,
it says they sparkle.
And they look like burnished bronze.
I work in a metal shop, and if
you've ever seen metal when it's hot, it's
impressive.
If you've seen bronze when it's polished, you
know, maybe you've seen a door post or
a handrail that's been rubbed till it's just
sheen.
It says he's looking at these beings coming
out of this storm, and he looks at
their feet, and their feet are sparkling, and
it says that it looks like they're polished
brass for feet.
It doesn't show weakness in my mind.
That doesn't speak of weakness.
It speaks of majesty.
Alright, let's look at verse 9 here.
Their wings were joined one to another.
They turned not when they went.
They went every one straight forward.
Each one went straight ahead.
So there's four of them here.
Now, the way I see it, there's four
of them.
They're all facing this way.
And one's facing this way.
Four of them.
But they don't turn when they move.
They always go straight forward.
Always.
They move like this.
Sideways, but always he's moving forward.
There's a lesson for us there.
I don't have time to teach it right
now.
It'll come clear in a verse that we're
going to touch on here in just a
little bit.
They always went straight ahead.
They turned not as they went.
Verse 10.
As for the likeness of their faces, they
four had the face of a man and
the face of a lion on the right
side.
And they four had the face of an
ox on the left side.
And they four also had the face of
an eagle.
They had one face that was the face
of man.
Notice that that's the face that is facing
out.
He describes the other faces on the left
and the right.
And I assume that the eagle's face is
toward the back.
But the face of man is outward.
The face of man has been made in
a likeness of God.
It's interesting that we are not the only
people that are made in the likeness of
God.
Angels are described as looking like us.
God is actually described as looking like us,
as we're going to find here in just
a little bit.
They have these four faces.
I wonder how many of you, if I
ask you to be honest, would think that
sounds kind of funny.
To have four faces.
To us it seems kind of humorous, doesn't
it?
What a bizarre looking creature with four faces
on one head and feet like bronze.
You're tempted, I'm sure, to not believe it.
This sounds like something out of a book
that someone made up.
But my friend, you'd better get used to
the thought of beings with four faces.
Because you're going to spend the rest of
eternity with them.
Do you believe that?
These beings are beings that stand in the
presence of Almighty God.
These are living beings.
God is describing here things that are beyond
our understanding.
We'd better change our thinking to correspond with
what the Scripture is saying.
And learn to delight in the things that
God has made.
Because these beings are awesome beings.
They are the heavenly watchman.
We're going to spend eternity with them.
They are the cherubim of God.
Verse 12 And they went,
everyone straight forward, whither the spirit was to
go, they went, and they turned not as
they went.
Notice that.
Whither the spirit was to go, they went.
There's a little clue here into what happens
in heaven.
You ever wonder why Jesus prayed, Thy will
be done on earth as it is in
heaven.
Because the beings of heaven are so in
tune with the spirit of God that whithersoever
the spirit would go, they go.
The power of these cherubim lies in their
total surrender to the will of the spirit
of God.
Our power lies in the total surrender to
the will of the spirit of God.
Thy will be done on earth as it
is in heaven.
Verse 13 As for the likeness of the
living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals
of fire and like the appearance of lamps.
And it went up and down among the
living creatures, and the fire was bright, and
out of the fire went forth lightning.
I don't think you'll laugh when you see
these angels.
It says that as for their figure, they
weren't just like dressed.
It says that they were like amber, like
a burning hot coal.
Their bodies were hot looking, glowing hot.
What else does it say there?
It says, like fire and lamps.
And then in between the beings, fire was
going up and down in the midst of
them.
This was everything but funny.
This was awesome.
You know, it's coming out of a whirlwind,
and the fire is unfolding, and these beings
come forth out of that whirlwind.
And we haven't even started to see the
awesome things yet.
I mean, we're just looking at the floor.
This is our God.
This is the living God.
Oh, that God would open up our hearts
tonight, and that He would allow us the
privilege to see Him the way He is.
How many things would suddenly be stripped from
our lives?
How many things would suddenly just change in
the presence of God?
But the blindness of the devil is upon
us.
His tactic is to shroud the eyes and
the minds of men from seeing the living
God.
Notice that there's a fire going up and
down between them.
Not a dull fire.
It doesn't say there was a little glimmer
of flame.
It says there was a fire and a
brightness coming out of it.
These were not apathetic creatures that just were
haphazardly moving here and there.
They were alive.
They are alive.
There is power that radiates from them.
They have light and radiance emanating out of
their beings.
They are alive.
They are alive and in perfect obedience to
the Spirit of God.
Then verse 14, notice this.
And the living creatures ran and returned as
the appearance of the flash of lightning.
Now if you can picture this, I don't
know how many of you have a graphic
mind, but if you can see these beings,
and I don't know how big you think
this whole thing is, but it's coming out
of the north, and now it says when
they move, they are not lumbering along like
a giant wagon.
They are moving like lightning.
Here.
There.
Now they are there.
And fire is moving inside of them, and
they move always straight forward, here and there,
like lightning, the Bible says.
All of a sudden all your human efforts
and all your macho strengths as a man
just drain.
As you suddenly realize, I can't believe what
I'm seeing.
I'm in the presence of a living God.
His eternal power and His divine nature is
clearly seen by those things which are made.
God said of Leviathan, He says, I made
Him.
Will you not be laid low even at
the sight of Him?
Who then can stand against Me?
I'm the living God.
I made heaven and earth, and all that
in them is.
Alright, let's look at verse 18.
As for their rings, well, let's see.
Let's look at 17.
And when they went, I'm sorry, I skipped
verse 16.
Let's go to 16.
And the appearance of the wheels in their
work was like under the color of Beryl.
Beryl is a golden yellow color.
And they four had one likeness, and their
appearance in their work was as it were,
a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
When they went, they went upon their four
sides, and they turned not as they went.
Golden colored wheels, double rimmed, that's the way
I see them, like a rim on the
outside and a rim on the inside.
A wheel within a wheel.
It speaks of not your average wagon wheel.
It's impressive.
It's sound.
And we'll also notice some other things about
these wheels too here in the next verse.
These golden wheels are beside these creatures.
In verse 18, as for their rings, and
I believe that means the rims of the
wheels, they were so high that they were
dreadful.
What does that mean to you?
How high is dreadful?
You know, I've stood by Niagara Falls, maybe
some of you have too, and it's dreadful.
Wouldn't you say?
Have you experienced that?
You're standing there and you can actually feel
the throb of the water.
And you're standing there so close and seeing
that water fall.
It just kind of grips you somehow.
It's dreadful.
Well, Ezekiel says, he doesn't say these angels
are dreadful, or the storm is dreadful, and
I would have to say they're dreadful already.
But now he says, But these wheels, these
wheels were so high, it was dreadful.
It filled my heart with a dread.
It was awesome.
It was beyond me.
All my strength just went out like water.
This is God.
Notice it says, they were full of eyes
round about them.
Full of eyes.
Now that's strange.
That's different.
The wheels are full of eyes.
I don't know about you, but it's kind
of uncomfortable to have a lot of eyes
looking at you, isn't it?
But here's a wheel that's so high it's
dreadful, and he says it's full of eyes.
Revelations 4.6 says, And before the throne
there was a sea of glass, like unto
crystal.
And in the midst of the throne, and
round about the throne, were four beasts, full
of eyes, before and behind.
And the first beast was like a lion,
the second beast like a calf or a
bull, the third beast had the face of
a man, the fourth beast like a flying
eagle.
Does that sound familiar?
Same.
Same creatures.
They're the cherubim.
And the four beasts had each of them
six wings about him, and they were full
of eyes within.
And they rest not day and night, saying,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was
and is and is to come.
Why would God make four creatures full of
eyes?
We have two eyes.
Jesus Christ had two eyes.
Why do these have so many?
It says they're full of eyes.
Not only front and back, but within.
They're full of eyes.
If you had that many eyes, what would
it do for you?
Nobody would sneak up on you.
You wouldn't miss much.
Think about it.
What if you were standing in the presence
of one of these beings?
Where could you hide?
You'd search that being over, and pretty soon
you'd find a couple of eyes looking at
you, wouldn't you?
Not only front and back, but within.
They're full of eyes.
And notice what it does for them.
They perceive God.
They're watching what's happening on earth.
They're watching what's happening in heaven.
Their eyes are watching the face of God
all at the same time.
And they're perceiving God.
And what is their response?
Night and day they cry out, Holy, Holy,
Holy.
The One who is, and the One who
was, and the One who is coming.
They're full of eyes.
And it's hard for us.
It's hard for our poor human minds to
fathom the things God has written here.
And yet these are the creatures that Ezekiel
saw.
These are the creatures that John saw.
And I believe with all my heart these
are the creatures you will see.
Daniel 4.13 says, if you remember that
story of Nebuchadnezzar, remember he had a dream,
and he was threatened that if he didn't
change his ways, his tree was going to
be cut down.
And in that dream it says, I saw
in the visions of my head upon my
bed, and behold, a Watcher.
And a Holy One came down from Heaven.
Now why do you think Nebuchadnezzar called him
a Watcher?
Maybe he had some eyes.
Maybe Nebuchadnezzar felt a little bit uncomfortable standing
in the presence of an angel coming out
of Heaven full of eyes.
Eyes looking here and there, and eyes looking
at him.
Maybe a few.
Maybe a half a dozen looking at him.
You know, and all those things in his
life, and he knew he wasn't right with
God.
And he says, a Holy One.
I knew he was holy.
I didn't have to ask who he was.
All I knew is he was a Watcher,
and he was holy.
Notice in verse 17 of that chapter, this
is what that angel says.
It says, cut down the tree, and then
band its stump, and then listen to these
words.
It says, this matter is by the decree
of the Watchers.
He says, Nebuchadnezzar, we, the Watchers, have given
decree on your life.
You're to be cut down.
That's awesome.
I believe that you'll find in the book
of Revelation, you'll find these four creatures intimately
connected with the judgment of God.
They are in the presence of God.
They perceive God.
And they also carry authority.
They are the heavenly Watchers.
And they cut Nebuchadnezzar down.
It says, this is by the decree of
the Watchers, and the demand is by the
Word of the Holy Ones, to the intent
that the living may know that the Most
High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and
giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth
up over it the basest of men.
Doesn't that sound like envy to you?
It sounds to me like some creatures who
are in the presence of God, and they
watch all things that are happening in the
earth, and they watch this man, Nebuchadnezzar, walking
on the top of his castle, saying, Babylon,
the great which I have made, and these
Watchers who perceive God.
They have a heart after God.
They know God.
And they can't stand what that man is
doing.
And they, on their own initiative, issue a
decree against that man, and say, cut him
down.
It's not God making the decree, because they
refer to God as the Most High.
These angels are jealous for the name of
God.
They love God.
They know He's the living God, and they
cry night and day, Holy, Holy, Holy, the
One who is, and the One who was,
and the One who will be.
We need to get a grip on it.
There are things happening today that we don't
even give thought to.
We are being watched.
If Nebuchadnezzar was being watched, you are being
watched.
And if those angels are jealous for the
glory of God in His life, then I
believe that they are jealous for the glory
of God in your life.
Verse 21, When these went, speaking of the
wheels, and when those stood, these stood.
And when those were lifted up from the
earth, the wheels were lifted up over against
them, for the spirit of the living creatures
was in the wheels.
Now, I don't have time here to go
into this verse.
This verse preaches a message all by itself,
and you can look at it.
Take it in your prayer room.
And read this verse.
This is the message it preaches.
The message this verse is preaching is that
of a surrendered life.
When the spirit moves, the one in whom
the spirit dwells moves also.
That's the simple truth.
This is heaven, my friend.
This is heaven.
When the will is totally surrendered to the
spirit of God, and where the spirit moves,
the one who is indwelt by the spirit
moves.
What a beautiful picture of a surrendered life.
The angels move, the wheels move.
Because the wheels, the spirit of those creatures
are in the wheels.
The spirit of God dwells in us, brothers
and sisters.
It ought to be like that with us.
Just like in heaven.
It should be like that with us.
Where He moves, we move.
When He stops, we stop.
When He rises, we rise.
Verse 22 And the likeness of the firmament
upon the head of the living creatures was
as the color of a terrible crystal.
The terrible crystal.
Stretched forth over their heads above, and under
the firmament were their wings straight, the one
toward the other.
Everyone had two, which covered one this side,
and everyone had two, which covered on that
side their bodies.
Now, like I said, we're just talking about
the floor yet.
These creatures have a job.
They're carrying an expanse.
See, this isn't a picture of these beings,
though the word spends a lot of time
describing them.
They're awesome enough in themselves.
But it says here that there is an
expanse over their head.
As they're coming out of the north, and
they're moving like lightning, and these angels are
all aflame, they are burning hot, and they
have fire moving in and out of them,
and their faces are awesome, and their feet
are gleaming.
It says, as he lifts his eyes above
those dreaded wheels so high, and if the
wheels were dreadful because they were so high,
what must it have been to see a
crystal expanse spread out over the head of
those beings?
Now, the word firmament means expanse, or just
a space.
But firmamentum, which is the word that that
comes from, often refers to something solid.
And in this case here, I believe that
it's talking about a dish of crystal.
An awesome expanse of crystal above these angels'
heads.
It is the platform for the throne of
God.
In Revelation 15, verse 2, it says, And
I saw, as it were, a sea of
glass, mingled with fire.
And then that had gotten the victory over
the beast, and over his image, and over
his mark, and over the number of his
name, stand on the sea of glass, having
harps of God.
Well, if you just put your pictures together
a little bit, you're standing before the throne
of God.
These are those that overcame the image of
the beast and his mark.
And they're standing on a sea of glass.
I don't know about you, but I'm going
to stand there someday.
By all the grace of God that He's
poured out in the blood of His Son,
Jesus, I intend to stand on that sea
of glass one day.
I look forward to it.
To stand on top of this crystal expanse.
Underneath, above in front of the throne of
God, with harps.
To lift voices that are rejuvenated.
Remade.
No weakness.
There's enough awesome things in this chapter already.
Wouldn't you say?
It challenges our human mind to even conceive
of it being true.
Can these things be true?
What do you say?
Are they true?
I think we could say, if you believe
these things, then you're a believer.
And if you don't believe these things, you're
an unbeliever.
You need to believe God.
We need to break out of the foolishness
and the cloudiness that the devil has woven
over our minds with the carnal pursuits of
our life and our cars and our boats
and our bicycles and our houses and our
blenders and our carnal things of life and
all the nice things that we have and
the new ironing board and you know, all
those things that fill our lives, right?
And the net result of it is we
get so cloudy and our perspective is so
low that we get a little problem that
comes into our life and we forget there's
a living God that sits enthroned above the
cherubim.
I was going to say this later, but
maybe this is a good place to say
it.
I don't know where all you are.
I'm sure there are hurts here.
There are a lot of hurts in this
room.
Young people wrestling through life, trying to find
your way with your home situations, your work,
your future, all of us.
I don't know where you are or what
you're dealing with in life.
But I know this one thing.
The answer lies in the living God.
The answer for your problem lies in the
living God.
He is not a dead God.
He is not a religion.
He is alive and He is well.
And the power that emanates from those creatures
came from Him.
He made them.
There is no power on earth like it.
These things that we are wrestling with, if
we could just get our eyes off of
these things and look unto the God that
is alive, that sits above the cherubim, it
would change our lives.
It should change our lives.
Shouldn't it?
Does it change your life?
I pray it will.
It's my prayer for my own soul.
God, open my eyes.
I don't want to live down here.
I want to set my mind on things
above.
Amen.
Well, verse 26.
And above the firmament that was over their
heads was the likeness of a throne, as
the appearance of a sapphire stone, and upon
the likeness of the throne was the likeness
as the appearance of a man above it.
The likeness of a throne.
So you have these awesome creatures with power
that is just radiating out of them, and
they are carrying upon their head a tremendous
crystal expanse.
And as he looks and lifts his eyes,
he's kind of describing this whole thing as
his eyes are lifted, and I don't know
what his heart is doing, I don't even
know how he can stay conscious, but he's,
he sees above this crystal expanse a throne.
Now a throne, I think it needs a
little explanation.
A throne is not just a chair that
a king sits in.
King Solomon had a throne.
It had six steps going up to the
throne.
Six steps.
And then his chair, his throne, was made
out of ivory.
And it was entirely overlaid with gold.
The whole thing.
And there was a lion on every step,
on both sides, as you approached the king.
And then there was two lions sitting at
each armrest.
Never had been one made like it.
Never was there one made like it.
Like King Solomon's throne.
Isaiah said, I saw the Lord high and
lifted up upon his throne.
I don't think he had six steps.
I envision he had more.
I envision I envision God sitting on that
crystal expanse.
And there's a throne.
And his attention is drawn to that throne.
And his eyes go up those steps.
It says that the throne is made like
sapphire.
Sapphire is a bright blue.
A crystal blue throne.
What a picture.
I think God has good taste.
What a beautiful sight.
What majesty.
I don't think...
I think if you put Solomon's throne there,
it would have looked like tin foil.
The blue throne of God.
Enthroned upon the crystal expanse.
Carried by the four living creatures.
The watchers of God.
And then at the apex of the description,
he says these words.
As I saw Solomon sitting there as the
appearance of a man.
Isn't that like God?
God is so humble.
God is humble.
Can you believe it?
Someone with such power?
Who was made in whose likeness?
You were made in the likeness of God.
You look like you look because God looks
like He looks.
He said in the very beginning, let us
make man in our own image.
But look what He says here.
And I saw one sitting there and God
bows Himself to be described as looking like
the Son of Man.
It's all backwards.
He just does it so that our puny
understanding can somehow grasp what God looks like.
What He looks like us.
I grew up in a school of thought
that said that God is spirit.
He has no form.
It's not true.
We look like God.
We are made in the likeness of God
and yet He stoops to be described as
in the likeness of man.
You are made in the likeness of God.
He is the living God.
It says of Jesus Christ that He was
gird about in the book of Revelations.
He is gird about the paps with a
golden girdle.
His head and His hair were white like
wool, as white as snow.
And His eyes were like a flame of
fire.
And His feet like unto fine brass as
if they burned in a furnace.
And His voice as the sound of many
waters.
And He had in His right hand seven
stars.
And out of His mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword.
And His countenance was as the sun shining
in His strength.
So John describes the risen Jesus Christ.
Daniel 7 says, I beheld till thrones were
cast down and the Ancient of Days did
sit, whose garment was as white as snow,
and the hair of His head like pure
wool.
His throne was like a fiery flame and
His wheels as burning fire.
A fiery stream issued and came forth from
Him.
Thousands, thousands ministered unto Him.
And ten thousand times ten thousands stood before
Him.
And the judgment was set and the books
were opened.
Isn't that a beautiful picture?
In the book of Daniel, Daniel says, I
saw the Ancient of Days.
Hair as white as wool.
His throne was a flame of fire.
And then John comes and sees the resurrected
Jesus Christ who has come from the presence
of His Father.
From sitting on the right hand of God.
Come to speak to His church.
And the description that He gives to Jesus
Christ is just like His Father.
Like Father, like Son.
We didn't see it.
Like Paul said, if we'd have known, we
would never have crucified the Lord of Glory.
That song was a very fitting song tonight,
Samuelette.
And can it be that I should gain
an interest in my Savior's blood?
Died He for me that causes pain?
That Thou, my God, should die for me?
The living God, I know, the mind just
wants to shut down, doesn't it?
It's like I can't grasp it.
The mind comes to the end and we
say, wow, this is heavy, too heavy, good
night.
Really, that's what it does.
But we're talking about reality.
This is reality, young people.
And I'm telling you, if you get a
hold of this reality once in your life,
you'll never be the same.
If you get a glimpse of God once,
and I pray God He gives it to
you.
If this preaching won't do it, I pray
something else will.
But you are in the presence of the
living God tonight.
He sees you.
If those angels see you, He sees you
even better.
He watches the heart.
He tries the reins.
He sees the very motivation of every thought.
He sits upon that blue throne.
And notice how it describes and maybe we'll
just look at that first here.
It says in verse 27
and 28, And I saw as the color
of amber, as the appearance of fire round
about within, from the appearance of His loins
even upward.
He's sitting on a blue throne, high and
exalted.
And Ezekiel says, I saw from His loins,
His waist, upward.
And there was an amber color.
Now if you've ever worked with steel, amber
is a beautiful description of hot metal.
If you get it hot, cherry red hot,
it becomes translucent.
You can almost look into the metal.
It becomes red hot.
There's something in our nature that naturally withdraws
from it.
There's heat there.
And this says that God from His waist
up was glowing hot, like red hot metal.
And inside of the hotness, Ezekiel said, I
saw flames of fire moving inside.
Is that how you see God?
In this week day when God is a
sugar daddy upstairs with a gray beard, and
from the appearance of His loins even downward,
I saw as it were the appearance of
fire.
I didn't see any legs.
All I saw was fire.
What a picture of God.
Friends and brothers and sisters, behold thy God.
Behold the God of Israel.
This is the God whose heart burns for
men.
This is the God whose heart is warm
with a love and a longing that men
would turn from their sin and escape the
burning wrath of His fury.
And as the appearance of the bull that
is in the cloud in the day of
rain, so was the appearance of the brightness
around about it.
This was the appearance of the likeness of
the glory of the ever existing one.
Jehovah.
That's His name.
Uses His proper memorial name there.
Says this was the glory of the I
am.
The one who exists.
The one who lives.
And when I saw it, I fell upon
my face.
And I heard the voice of one that
spake to me.
God sits upon His crystal throne.
From the waist up, He is glowing hot.
And from the waist down, He is all
fire.
This is God.
I'm sorry, but He's not He's not some
glowing, dying ember somewhere far away in outer
space, like some view Him.
He's not dying.
He's not glowing lower and lower and lower.
He's glowing today like He glowed here.
His life is in Him just like it
is here.
There is a radiance coming out of Him.
If you get the picture of that throne,
it is not a throne of confusion.
It is a throne of awesome light.
In the book of Revelation, it says that
peals of thunder and lightning come forth from
that throne.
It's not confusing to Him.
It makes us tremble.
God is alive.
He is alive.
There is a living God tonight.
And He cares about the life that you're
living.
He cares about your life.
For this cause, the Son of God was
manifested that He might destroy the works of
the devil.
He is alive.
He is the Son of the living God.
He is alive.
He is not a dusty rule book in
a lifeless religion.
He is not.
And neither is He a formula tucked away
somewhere in your theological equation.
He is the living God.
He speaks to hearts.
He is in our presence this night.
Where two or three of you are gathered
together, I, the Son of the living God,
am present.
May the Spirit of God open up our
eyes that they might never close to the
truth of the living God.
I don't care how many problems you're facing.
I don't care how big they are.
I don't care if they are unsurmountable.
If you are struggling with confusion, failure, there
is a living God tonight.
God is alive.
There is a radiance coming out from His
being.
He is alive.
He has energy.
He is not asleep.
He is not far away.
He is near at hand.
Notice it says, I fell upon my face.
I fell upon my face.
That's what John did when he saw Jesus.
I fell upon my face.
Have you fallen on your face, young lady?
Do you know what that means?
Do you know what it means to come
to grips with the living God and fall
on your face?
I am not preaching a story.
I am telling you the sober truth.
And as sure as I'm standing here this
night, each one of you will stand on
that crystal expanse and you will look into
the face of this one I am telling
you about and we will give an account
for every word.
This is the truth.
This is God.
He is alive.
May we never forget it.
Do you know what that's like?
To fall on your face in surrender?
I am undone.
I'm done with my macho life.
I'm done with going my own way.
I'm done with trying to be cool, macho.
All I care about is that that God
when He looks into my life is pleased
with me.
Have you been there?
Have you young men been there?
You know what it means to say I
have come to the end of myself in
the presence of the living God.
I have surrendered.
I'm willing to move when the Spirit moves.
There is no life like it.
There is not a life like it.
I fell on my face.
Why not do it now?
What are you waiting for?
Unless you don't believe me, I read those
words right out of the Word of God.
I'm not telling you a story that I
fabricated my own theology.
I'm not stretching these words.
I'm telling you there's glory.
There's glory beyond our understanding.
Jesus said, I'm telling you the truth that
I have seen with my Father.
He is seeking you to be His worshiper.
I'd like to say one more thing before
I close here tonight.
Just leave you with an illustration.
God is a God who is alive.
And He is a God that is watching
you right now.
And I know you don't feel it.
And maybe it doesn't even seem a reality
to you.
But you can believe it.
You can believe it because the Bible says
so.
And you can cry unto God that He'd
open up your understanding.
The eyes of God when they look upon
your life, there is an area of your
life that God is keenly interested in as
He watches your life.
As He sees from that throne and He
looks upon your life, and He tries your
reins and your motivations.
He's looking down into your life.
The thing He's watching is your conscience.
You can mark my words.
God is watching your conscience.
And He delights in a man or a
woman whose conscience is 100% clean.
God delights in that man.
Can you imagine that?
He looks from heaven upon that man's life
that is utterly clean before Him.
And He says, I am pleased with you.
Is anything more valuable in the world?
Is there a person in this room that
is more important to you than that?
Or maybe a person that you left behind
back home?
Who is more important than the person that
sits enthroned on the crystal throne?
When we talk about a conscience, I have
a picture in my heart when I talk
about my conscience and dealing with God.
This is a cake pan I have here.
It's square and it has these little corners
down in here.
And sometimes when a little girl is doing
the dishes, it's hard to get it out
of that corner, isn't it?
I see some smiles.
You all agree with me.
Because you've taken the scouring pad and scoured
in that corner for a good few minutes
just to try to get it out of
there.
And a good girl, a good girl will
do that.
And those young men who have experience in
washing dishes, you know what I'm talking about.
But I'm talking about your conscience.
Cleansing the conscience.
And when a good girl washes dishes, she
pays attention especially to those hidden areas that
are hard to get clean.
And when she feels they're clean enough, and
she just holds the little pan up to
mama.
Is that clean enough, mama?
Is that clean?
Now, there's a naughty girl who doesn't want
to go through the effort of that.
She's scrubbing a little bit there.
Well, that's good enough.
That's good enough.
Opens the cupboard, shoves it in, and closes
the door.
And then she hopes that nobody asks to
see her work.
And she hides behind that and she knows
she hasn't done right.
She knows that there's stuff in the corner
of that pan.
But she doesn't care whether mama approves of
it or not.
And she closes her eyes to the approval
of her mother.
She closes her eyes to her conscience, shoves
that pan where it cannot be seen and
ignores it.
That is a picture of a dirty conscience.
And in my own life, I know what
that feels like.
And I think you do too.
But freedom and liberty and power and light
in the Christian life comes when you're willing
to take your pan out of the cupboard
and deal with it.
And even hold it up to daddy and
say, what do you think of my pan?
And he's a good father.
He's not going to say, oh, that's good.
Put it away.
No, he says, you have some more scrubbing
to do here.
But there's nothing more blessed than coming to
the end of your scrubbing of repentance and
confession and getting clean with God and dragging
out every little sin and every little bit
in your life before the living God and
holding up your conscience and saying, am I
done?
Am I done?
Is my conscience clean?
And you know that the living God is
saying it's clean.
That is life.
That is eternal life.
Do you know what that's like?
Are you afraid tonight to hold up your
life like that?
Can you open up your heart to God
right now?
You know, I mean, you know when the
pan is in the cupboard, you know it.
Are you holding your heart up to the
light of Christ and the eyes of the
all-seeing God tonight?
Is there something, can you say honestly to
God, Lord, is there anything in my life
that I'm saying no to?
That I'm hiding from?
You'd know it if you are.
Or if you don't know it, I'm sorry.
There is nothing like coming clean with God.
God is alive tonight.
God sits enthroned on high.
His heart is burning in love for us.
His wrath is not asleep.
It comes upon the world.
I'm not telling you God is all love.
I'm not trying to paint a picture of
God like he's all wrath and he's an
angry monster in the sky.
I don't think that's the picture that God
gives us here.
But there is a holy terror in standing
before God.
And oh the delight when that God who
sits there says, I love you.
I sent my son to die for you.
And of how much severe punishment are we
worthy who shun it and trample it underfoot
as if it's unimportant.
That's all I have to share tonight.
I feel like in light of these truths,
many of you may be pondering your life
and I know that some of you have
a pan in the cupboard and you need
to get it out.
You need to pull it out and you
need to do business with God.
You need to go back to the scrubbing
in those corners and be honest.
And God will cleanse you.
God will cleanse you tonight.
You could go to bed tonight with your
heart entirely clear with God.
You believe that?
The things that I shared tonight don't need
to cause you fear.
You don't have to look at that day
when the books are open as it says
there in Daniel with trembling.
You could say, I'm going to stand in
front of God someday and I'm looking forward
to it.
So I think we'll sing a song here
tonight and I'm going to ask those of
you who have things that you need to
deal with God to come up here to
the front.
Is there someone in this room that is
ashamed to do business with God?
Are you ashamed to do business with God
when you think of coming up here and
confessing that you are a needy soul?
Does that cause you shame?
In light of who God is?
In light of the living God who longs
for you and wants to make you clean?
Don't be ashamed.
I love you all.
I pray that God will open your hearts.
Open your hearts.
And expose everything.
And if you're clear with God, I'm sure
that this message has been a blessing.
I hope it encouraged you and I hope
that you're ready to help someone else get
their pan clean.
Let's sing a song.
Samuel, do you have a song for me?
899.
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for
you and for me.
See on the four poles he's watching and
waiting, watching for you and for me.
Amen.
Come home.
You are weary.
Come home.
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling.
Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not his
mercy, mercy for you and for me?
Come home.
You are weary.
Come home.
Earnestly and tenderly Jesus is calling.
You know, it
says earnestly and tenderly Jesus is calling.
That's right.
Can you hear an earnest tender call from
him whose feet are like burnished bronze that
has been made to glow in the furnace?
And his face is like the sun shining
in his strength.
And out of his mouth comes a two
-edged sword.
And he is girt about the paps with
a golden girdle.
And he is the son of the living
God.
And yet in all that magnificence and power
he earnestly humbly pleads with sinful men.
He humbles himself to plead with you and
say, what are you waiting for when I
shed my blood for you?
If you're sitting in your seat, and I
know some of you are, you're sitting in
your seat saying, I just can't do that.
May I add to the plead of Jesus
Christ, don't wait.
Please.
You could be happy tomorrow with a clear
heart.
You could have a conscious tomorrow that is
totally clean with God.
We'll sing one more verse.
Oh for the wonderful love he has promised
promised for you and for me though we
have You
are weary weary tenderly
Jesus is calling calling calling Alright.
I know that some of you decided not
to come forward.
Maybe you're ashamed.
Maybe you're not certain as to what you
need to deal with.
Maybe you think you've been a Christian too
long and it would be a defeat to
admit that you have a problem now.
We're going to dismiss these mourners back to
the prayer rooms.
If you ladies would like some counseling and
would like someone to pray with you or
you'd like to just go back to the
prayer room and pray by yourselves, you should
go out these doors to my left.
Go ahead girls to the right.
I'm sorry.
Out to my right.
If you'd like, just get up right now
and go out the doors to the right
there and there'll be someone there to help
pray.
Go out this way here.
You men, if you'd like to pray or
you'd like some counseling, if you go out
this door here, go back there and wait
and someone will be there to help you
counsel with you.
If you'd like counseling or find a place
to pray in the prayer room back there,
I encourage you to open up your heart
to the living God.
If you are sitting in your seat and
you know you have business to do with
God, I encourage you right now to get
up and go back to the back rooms
there and find help cleaning out your heart.
This week will be all the more blessed
for you if you do.
God bless you counselors.
We are in the presence of the living
God.
It's not a religion.
It's not a movement.
It is the mercy of the living God
in our lives that He would allow us
to be right with Him through the blood
of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Aren't you glad your heart is clear tonight?
Are you glad you can say, my heart
is clean before God.
I am accepted by God.
There's nothing between my soul and the Savior.
Are you glad you can say that tonight?