From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Hey, in your hard time, in your devastating time, in your new normal, just remember this: God uses that stuff to bring you to your knees so that you would seek him. And when you seek him and search for him with all your heart, you find him. You see him more clearly. And as you see the Lord more clearly, he is the God who is in charge. He is the God who is holy. He is the God who is awesome to be feared. Then you see yourself in the light of his holiness, and you see the things that need to change in you.

Here's a big question: How can you and I turn our hard times into holy times? In other words, when bad things happen to us, how do we get better and not get bitter? This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, and thank you for joining us today as he reveals how we can take the devastating things that come into our lives and turn those into a deeper walk with the Lord with magnificent results in our walk with him.

This lesson is from Pastor Jeff's five-message series, *Life Goes On: How to Face a New Normal*. And it is also our gift of thanks to you for your support this month of any amount to From His Heart. And when you send that gift, we will also include the book, *Life Interrupted*, both for your gift today. You can find out more at fromhisheart.org.

If you can now, though, open your Bible to the sixth chapter of the book of Isaiah. Here is Pastor Jeff Schreve to show us the perfect life path to make hard times holy times.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: How can you? How can I turn our hard times into holy times? We find three encouragements from Isaiah chapter six. It says in verse one, the great chapter in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter six, his vision, his call. He says in verse one, in the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord.

Three encouragements today from the first eight verses of Isaiah six. Encouragement number one: In your hard times, you can seek the Lord more seriously. Isaiah saw the Lord because he sought the Lord. And it was in the year of King Uzziah's death. That is important because King Uzziah was king in Judah, and Uzziah, for the most part, was a good king. He did right in the sight of the Lord. And under his rule and under his reign, Judah was experiencing economic prosperity.

They were experiencing military victories, and there was peace and the people were secure. But now he is dead. And so, when a king dies, especially someone who has been ruling for so many decades like this, and everything has been good, then fear sets in to the people. What is going to happen next?

And so, not only was Isaiah experiencing the fears that the people were experiencing because the king is dead, but it is also his cousin who is dead. And so, what does he do with that? He seeks the Lord. You mark it down, God does business with those who mean business. And when you pray in your hard time, in your devastation, in your sadness, you remember this: God cares about your pain and your suffering and your heartache.

That is God. So in your hard times, you can seek the Lord more seriously. Second encouragement: In your hard times, you can see the Lord more clearly. In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord. How did you see the Lord, Isaiah? Because I sought the Lord. And because I sought the Lord with all my heart, I saw the Lord.

Look at it again. Verse one, 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. And what do we see more clearly about the Lord Jesus Christ from this vision that Isaiah had? First of all, we see that he is large and in charge. The Lord on the throne is large and in charge.

Now, in the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the king. I saw the real king. I saw the Lord, the King of kings. And he is the eternal king, and his kingdom has no end, and he is sitting on a throne. He is large and in charge. He has everything under control. And you and I do not need to fear an uncertain future, and nothing can happen to you and nothing can happen to me unless God allows it to happen.

God is large and in charge. Secondly, God is holy, holy, holy. The seraphim, the burning ones, they are standing above him, hovering above him. They have six wings and they hover around God, and day and night they do not cease to say back and forth, calling out to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory."

God is not just holy God. God is holy, holy, holy. The angels are emphasizing the fact that God is holy. He is set apart. He is not like anything or anyone else. He is completely pure, completely sacred. We have lost the understanding of the holiness of God in our world today.

In America today, definitely. We like to think of God as love, and God is love. But did you know nowhere in Scripture does the Bible repeat three times about any attribute of God other than holy? And we have taken his holiness, and we have said, "Well, I do not really like the holiness of God, and so I would like for God to be just loving and nothing else. I would like for God to just be merciful and nothing else. I would like for God to just be kind and nothing else."

God is not the God you want him to be. He is the God who is holy, holy, holy. Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, and he heard the angels cry out, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts." God hates sin because he is holy. He hates it.

He hates the sin in your life. He hates the sin in my life. He hates the sin in this world. You say, "Well, you know, I do not understand how God can be harsh and judge." It is because he is holy, and God cannot overlook one sin. His holiness will not allow that.

We need to remember First Peter chapter one, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." God hates sin. He is large and in charge. He is holy, holy, holy, and he is glorious, awesome, and to be feared. And the foundations of the threshold trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke.

These are the angels who are hiding their faces from God, and when they call out, "Holy, holy, holy," the whole place shakes, and smoke goes out. Kind of like it was at Mount Sinai when the people saw the glory of God and the smoke and the Shekinah glory of God, and they were scared to death, and they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourselves. Do not let God speak to us, lest we die."

God is a God who is glorious. The whole earth is full of his glory. That word "glory" is "kabod" in the Hebrew. That word means "weight." It means "splendor." It means "honor." It literally means from the root "to be heavy." And God is heavy. God's glory just goes out into the whole world because he is so glorious. It cannot be contained.

It just keeps going out, and we see things in our world today that are just so beautiful. A sunset or a mountain scape, or some kind of a sunrise on the beach, and we are just like, "Wow." God is glorious and he is awesome, and he is a God to be feared. We do not really like that, but it says in Revelation chapter 15 that those in heaven, and they sing the song of Moses, the bondservant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are your works, oh Lord God Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear, oh Lord, and glorify your name, for you alone are holy?"

The holiness of God and the fear of God are connected. Who will not fear? I mean, what kind of an idiot would not fear God? Because he is holy, holy, holy. I love the line from the C.S. Lewis book, *The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe*, it was made into a movie called *The Chronicles of Narnia*. It is the children, they have met Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, and they are talking about Aslan.

And Lucy asked the question, "Is he a man?" Mr. Beaver replied, "Aslan, a man? Certainly not. I tell you, he is king of the wood and the son of the Great Emperor Beyond the Sea. Do not you know who is king of the beasts? Aslan is a lion, the lion, the great lion." "Oh," said Susan. "I thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"That you will, deary, and make no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver. "If there is anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they are either braver than most or just silly." "Then he is not safe?" said Lucy. "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Do not you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course he is not safe, but he is good. He is the king, I tell you."

We like to make God safe. He is not safe. He is good. And if you mess around with the holiness of God, there are people in the Bible who did that. Moses' nephews, Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, Leviticus chapter 10, they burned strange fire in the presence of the Lord. And God killed them just like that.

Why? Because you do not mess around with the holy God. Can you get close to God? Yes, but you always remember our God is a consuming fire. Is he safe? No, but he is good. And so we always come before God with tremendous reverence and awe because of who he is.

Hey, in your hard times, you can seek the Lord, and you can see the Lord because when you seek him with all your heart, he says you will find me. And so you see the Lord, and you see him more clearly for who he really is. And then encouragement number three: In your hard times, you can see yourself more accurately.

Guest (Male): You are listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, and today's message, *Making Hard Times Holy Times*. Pastor Jeff returns in just a moment. Charles Spurgeon, a very famous 19th-century English preacher, who was often called the Prince of Preachers, once wrote, "God is too good to be unkind, and he is too wise to be mistaken." You see, even in the struggles and disappointments in life, God is with us, for us, and guiding us to a deeper and cherished relationship with him.

Our message today helps to drive home that point with a truth that people need to hear right now because when life gets hard, many are tempted to give up spiritually. They stop praying, trusting, and believing God at his word. And he is working. He is kind, and he is wise. To help you deepen your understanding of this truth, we would like to send you two of Pastor Jeff's most treasured resources: the five-lesson series, *Life Goes On: How to Face a New Normal*, and the full-length companion book called *Life Interrupted*. Both for your gift of support this month.

To get them, just call 866-40-BIBLE, 866-40-BIBLE, or you can make your secure gift online at fromhisheart.org. Remember, your ongoing support helps us stand in the gap with biblical truth, compassionate encouragement, and the hope that people desperately need. Now, with the conclusion to today's message, *Making Hard Times Holy Times*.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Now remember this about Isaiah. Isaiah is arguably the most moral man in the kingdom. I mean, there is probably not anybody more moral, quote unquote, better man than Isaiah. And when Isaiah sees the Lord Jesus Christ in all his glory, in his holiness, and when the foundations of the threshold tremble at the voice of him who called out, the seraphim, and it says in verse five, "Then I said, 'Woe is me, for I am ruined. I am undone 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.'"

He pronounced woe on himself. Woe, the prophets normally said woe to the people, but now, here is the prophet saying woe to himself. I am in trouble. Woe is a cry of grief and despair. Isaiah saw himself so key in the hard times especially to see yourself.

To stand in front of the mirror, so to speak, to look soberly at yourself. I have noticed over the years that some people are so reluctant to look at themselves, so reluctant to see their own faults. They just like block it out. I am not going to look at that. I am not going there. I am just going to blame this person and blame that person. I am just going to be bitter. I am just going to say woe is me, poor me.

The very first thing that Isaiah saw is he is ruined. He is undone. The best that Judah could produce is a sinner before the Lord. And he has to cry out, as we all do, for mercy and grace and forgiveness. What did Isaiah need? He needed God's forgiveness. Desperately needed God's forgiveness. What do you need? What do I need? We desperately need God's forgiveness, and we need God's grace.

It says in verse six, "Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. And 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.'" Warren Wiersbe says, "Where did he get the coal?"

It is probably a picture of taking the coal from the brazen altar in the temple scenario. The brazen altar is where they offered sacrifices. That is where the blood was shed. How is your sin forgiven? How is my sin forgiven? What can wash away our sins? We sing that song, "What can wash away my sin?" Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22, "Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness." And so there was a sacrifice that could take away the sin from Isaiah. The only way that you get rid of your sin, the only way that you get forgiven, the only way that I get forgiven is to put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, to turn from sin and turn to the Savior, and his blood will wash you white as snow.

We desperately need his forgiveness, and we need his grace. The Bible says we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin. Therefore, let us boldly come before the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find what? Grace to help in time of need.

Grace is the desire and the power to live for God, the unmerited favor of God. You need it and I need it. And we need grace to change us so that we can be the person that God wants us to be. And we have to look in the mirror. We have to say, "Lord, I have to see me more accurately."

Have you found out that it is difficult to really assess yourself? You know, you ask yourself this question, "How do people perceive me?" Sometimes that is a hard one to answer. I do not really know how people perceive me, so you ask people, "How do you perceive me?" And those are your friends, they do not really want to say your negative things because they do not want to hurt your feelings. Sometimes you ask people that do not like you, they will give you a laundry list. "Well, let me tell you, I think you are a jerk and I think you are stinking and all that other stuff." So you are kind of careful.

But the Scripture says this: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." We have to have people that will be honest enough to tell us about ourselves. We need to have people that will tell us the truth. Why? So we can see ourselves. "Lord, show me if I am proud, if I am arrogant, if I am selfish, if I am bitter, if I am insecure."

"Search me, oh God," David prayed, "and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts and see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." If you are oblivious to how you come across, that is not a good thing. You need to pray that prayer from Psalm 139. "God, show me and bring friends who will bring faithful wounds because faithful are the wounds of a friend."

Hey, we need his forgiveness and we need his grace so that we can be changed by the power of God. So that we are not conformed to this world, but we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. So we are changed from glory to glory, as it says in Second Corinthians chapter three. And not only do we desperately need his forgiveness and grace, but we desperately need to do his will.

Verse eight. "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here I am. Send me.'" "I have just been forgiven of all my sins, Lord. You told me that I have been forgiven. And God, I want you to use me. I want to be in league with you. I want to be doing the things that you want me to be doing. Here I am. Send me."

Hey, in your hard time, in your devastating time, in your new normal, in the time you did not, "Who signed me up for this? I did not want this." Just remember this: God uses that stuff to bring you to your knees so that you would seek him. And when you seek him and search for him with all your heart, you find him. You see him more clearly. And as you see the Lord more clearly, he is the God who is in charge. He is the God who is holy. He is the God who is awesome to be feared. Then you see yourself in the light of his holiness, and you see the things that need to change in you.

And you see that he hates sin. He loves you, but he hates sin. And God wants to take that out. Take out the dross from the silver, the Bible says, and there comes out a vessel for the smith. How much dross is in your life? God wants to take that out so that you can do his will.

And remember this: In your pain, in your suffering, in your hardship, in your difficulty, God did not put you on this earth. He did not take away your sin. He did not save you so that you would live on easy street, so that you would not have difficulty. As Andre Crouch said, "Through it all, through it all, I have learned to trust in Jesus. I have learned to trust in God. If I never had a problem, I would not know that he could solve them. I would not know what faith in God could do."

And your number one job for being on this earth is to be a witness. To please God by being a witness. Jesus said, "And you shall be my witnesses. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses." And that is your job on this earth. That is my job on this earth. We talk about shying and share. We talk about chasing chariots. That is what we are here for.

And in the midst of suffering, that is the time you can shine more brightly than any other time. People perk up their ears when you are suffering, when you are going through hard times and you are praising the Lord and you are still trusting the Lord. Somebody has well said, "The one God uses the most, he has to hurt the most." So that man learns to trust in him.

Guest (Male): You are listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, and today's message, *Making Hard Times Holy Times*. Listen, has today's message penetrated your heart easily? Well, that is likely because the wound is open and in need of healing. Do you not sense his presence? Perhaps the words that describe you now in life are discouraged, frustrated, hurt, disillusioned.

Many people are there, but the truth is, God is faithful. He never has left you. He is waiting to give you the beauty for ashes and bring you through as he promised. And this month, to say thank you for supporting this ministry with a gift of any amount, we will send you Pastor Jeff's five-lesson series, *Life Goes On: How to Face a New Normal*, and the companion full-length book, *Life Interrupted*. The series is available in the format of your choice.

These are impactful and unique supporting tools for you. Call 866-40-BIBLE, 866-40-BIBLE, or go to fromhisheart.org and request the series when you make your gift. And thank you for joining us in this ministry. Thank you too for being here today on From His Heart. I am Larry Nobles, and we want to invite you to watch the From His Heart television broadcast on a station in your area or online at fromhisheart.org.

And be sure that you are right back here for the third message in the *Life Goes On* series, and we will learn about the life of Naomi in the book of Ruth, who faced bitter times. She lost her husband and both her sons, was hurt and became so bitter that she even changed her name to Mara, a name that means "bitterness." Tomorrow, learn to get rid of that bitterness. Join Pastor Jeff Schreve Friday for the lesson, "Call Me Mara," here on From His Heart.