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February 27, 2008
for MySpace
There have been several times over the years when someone has asked me about Heaven, and who will be able to enter into the presence of God. There seems to be a trend nowadays to simple believe that everyone will get to Heaven, or that all good people will get to Heaven. So these people ask me questions such as these:
"Why can't God just let everyone into Heaven?"
or: "Aren't all gods the same? Can't I get to Heaven if I believe in something else?"
or: "Is it fair that good people should be damned to Hell simply because they did not believe in Jesus?"
I have, on these occasions, tried to explain that there is only one God, and His standard for salvation is absolute perfection, a perfection no man could reach. And therefore it doesn't matter how good you are, you are not good enough, and that is why we need Jesus. Sometimes people understand this, but most often they do not.
But I came across a passage in Isaiah the other day that may help explain this concept:
In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said,
"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory."
And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said,
"Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven."
-Isaiah 6:1-6
Now, this is an amazing scene, and Isaiah's reaction to seeing God is particularly interesting. Isaiah was deemed worthy enough to receive direct communication with God, and even to be elevated to his presence. We are not speaking of some terrible sinner here. And yet, his reaction to the glory of the Lord is absolute terror. "Woe is me, for I am ruined!" he cries out. The Hebrew word here for "ruined" has a connotation of death and destruction. When he says, "I am ruined," he is, partially, saying, "I am a dead man."
The very sight of God fills Isaiah with fear for himself. There is something there, in the very nature of God, that overwhelms him.
And why? Because he has unclean lips.
Now, I do not want to speak for you, but I fear I have more than unclean lips. Jesus has told us that if we are even unduly angry with a brother we have committed murder in our hearts. If we look with lust at a woman, we are guilty of adultery. Unclean lips? My entire being has been polluted. With my hands I have modeled idols of money, of women, of books, of knowledge. I have tainted by heart with pride. With my feet I have walked away from places where I could do good. With my eyes I have coveted.
So Isaiah has come to God in much better condition that I would come to God, and yet he is terrified for his very life. There is no indication that Isaiah had even thought about is unclean lips before that moment, but the perfect light of God revealed it, and also made it clear that Isaiah had no business standing in that place and surviving the experience.
This is not such a strange reaction. It is one we probably know very well if we will think about it a little bit. Perhaps you have wronged someone, and you did not think much about it until you came into that person's presence. All of a sudden, the weight of conscious comes upon you. Has this happened to you? It certainly has for me. I felt suddenly ashamed of myself, even if the other person did not know what I had done! Guilt overcomes me.
Can you then imagine what it would be like to come unto the Lord, who is perfect in every way and never wronged anyone, and have your sins against Him exposed? How many million times worse would that be? It would be so bad, that we would have the immediate understanding that we deserve, and are facing, death.
Even if you have done so well in life that you only come to Him with unclean lips, still this will be your understanding. You would stand before Him and with all clarity understand that you deserve to die.
Many people have said that everyone will go to Heaven, but think of this! If Isaiah is right here, do you want to be in the presence of God? If you will experience this sort of terror over each of your sins, then your Heaven will become a Hell to you.
So how may you be cleaned of this? Can you wash yourself with soap and be cleaned? By this I mean, can you go to other religions and follow their rules and please God? No, this soap is not enough because the stain is too deep. Can you decide to live rightly from now on and make up for your sins? Again, we must say no. There is no indication that Isaiah's good works overcame his sin. Can we say that we were more good than bad? No, because it was only unclean lips that damned Isaiah.
Only by the fire of heaven was Isaiah forgiven. This fire appears also in the New Testament, for it says that Jesus will baptize us with fire (Matthew 3:11).
Do you see the connection here? My whole being is tainted, but Jesus promises to take me and purify me in the flames of Heaven so I may be cleansed.
You see, sin brings a sentence of death to us. And in the presence of a perfect and just God, those sins will be exposed, and our sentence will be delivered. But the blood of Jesus Christ has become a purifying fire for us. His was a perfect sacrifice, and He has taken our place in death.
It is only by the grace of God that we can be saved, not by our own doing.
My friends, I urge you to examine yourselves. Many of us have grown up in a tradition that tells us that if we have prayed a prayer or grown up in the church, then we do not need to worry. But the Bible tells us this:
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?
-2 Corinthians 13:5
I urge you to look within to make certain. If you have said a prayer but not truly repented, then you are trying to wash off your sin with the soap of religion rather than the fire of Heaven. If you find sin within, then repent now! Fall upon your knees before His holy Throne and beg for mercy through Christ Jesus. Do not wait until you stand before His presence to have this sin exposed! At the Day of Judgment, it will be too late. You will be as Isaiah before God, crying out, "Woe is me, for I am ruined!"
Let not that day come. Instead, seek His will, so that He will instead tell you, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
Let's pray.
Oh, Father, we are unclean, and live amongst people who are unclean. And yet, in Your great mercy, You have provided Your purifying fire to us in the death of You Son. I thank You for Your provision and grace, but I also pray for those listening to the sound of my voice. Stir Your Spirit within them, so that they may come to you repentant. I pray that when they see Your face, Your light will find them cleansed rather than unclean. In Christ's name I pray, Amen.
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Paul Lytle
