The Greatest Revelation

Isaiah 6:1-8
I remember the first time I saw the images of Alyssa and Garrett. In 1994 Crystal and I watched the monitor as we saw for the first time blurry images of the girl we had prayed for. Little did we know she’d grow up. Seventeen years ago, those images were not as clear as what we can see today...but it was a huge moment in our lives when for the first time we saw our daughter’s face on the screen. ...Same thing happened four years later when Garrett was about to be born. Like most folks we carried those pictures home to the family so they could see him too. It was a glimpse...a blurred revelation of what was to come.

Revelations are huge: Football teams wait to reveal their new quarterback. Apple waits to reveal their new ipad, ipod, and iphone. Auto companies wait to reveal their new designs for the coming year. And most Sundays, Christians wait for God to reveal Himself through His Word...or through the time of Worship...or simply through the working of His Holy Spirit. We often pray, “God reveal yourself to us today...reveal your will for our lives...reveal your plans and purposes... Do we really want God to reveal Himself? Really?

I am convinced, if we really experience God revealing Himself to us there would more weeping – less laughing. More praying – less boasting. More of us on our face – less of us on our feet. Truth is...just as with Isaiah, when God reveals Himself to us – it becomes more of a revealing of ourselves. Our pride is revealed. Our disobedience is revealed. Our secrets are revealed. Our need for God is revealed. Our weaknesses are revealed. Our sin is revealed. The revelation of God to us – leads to the revelation of us to God. We see ourselves as He sees us.

Chuck Colson’s story is interesting. His conversion is amazing. God revealed Himself to this powerful man through the witness of a friend –he was changed and has never looked back. He says, “A lot of people have asked me what I think about when I remember back to that hot, humid August night in 1973 when Tom Phillips, then the president of the Raytheon Company, witnessed to me in his home. I left his house that night shaken by the words he had read from C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity about pride. It felt as if Lewis were writing about me, former Marine captain, Special Counsel to the President of the United States, now in the midst of the Watergate scandal. I had an overwhelming sense that I was unclean. ....After talking to Tom, I found that when I got to the automobile to drive away, I couldn’t. I was crying too hard – and I was not one to ever cry. I spent an hour calling out to God. I did not even know the right words. I simply knew that I wanted Him. And I knew for certain that the God who created the universe heard my cry. ....From the next morning to this day, I have never looked back. I can honestly say that the worst day of the last 35 years has been better than the best days of the 41 years that preceded it. ....So how do you celebrate 35 years as a Christian? By recommitting yourself to use every available moment, every ounce of energy, in service of the King. For what He has done for me, how could I ever do less? Wow. God took one of the worst sinners and made him a missionary to prisoners worldwide through Prison Fellowship International. God revealed Himself to Chuck Colson. Chuck took a good look at himself. Then, God revealed His will to Chuck.

Has God been revealing Himself to you? Has He been revealing your own sin to you... Your pride, your attitude, your need for him? In the presence of God there is a great revelation: The “revelation” that I am a sinner and I desperately need God. In His presence I see myself as a sinner and the Lord as my Savior. There is no greater revelation.

Updated 2011 Preaching Schedule

January 30-Feb. 2 Russell Baptist Church, Meridian, Miss.
February 8 Florence First Assembly, Florence, Al., TRUE Conference
March 4-6 Trinity Baptist Adult Retreat, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
April 1-2 Summit Presbyterian, Arab, Al.
April 3-6 Fairview Church of God, Hartselle, Al.
April 4 Limestone Baptist Pastor's Conference, Athens, Al.
June 6-9 Greenwell Springs Baptist Youth Week in Mountain City, Ga.
July 26 New Prospect Baptist Church, Haleyville, Al.
August 21 Indian Springs Baptist, Kingsport, Tenn.
September 17 Westmeade Baptist Deacon Dinner, Decatur, Al.
October 2 First Baptist Austinville, Decatur, Al.
October 3-5 Flint Baptist, Decatur, Alabama
October 17 Valhermosa Baptist, Somerville, Al.
November 8 Danville Baptist, Danville, Alabama
November 27-30 Harmony Baptist, Moulton, Al.