104 days until the Lilburn, GA, USA Revival Conference
When we see the holiness of God, we shall adore and magnify Him. Moses had to learn the same lesson. God told him to take his shoes from off his feet, for the place whereon he stood was holy ground. When we hear men trying to make out that they are holy, and speaking about their holiness, they make light of the holiness of God. It is His holiness that we need to think and speak about; when we do that we shall be prostrate in the dust.
You remember also, how it was with Peter. When Christ made Himself known to him he said, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8). A sight of God is enough to show us how holy He is and how unholy we are.
We find that Job had to be taught the same lesson. "Then Job answered the Lord, and said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer Thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth" (Job 40:3-4). As you hear Job discussing with his friends you would think he was one of the holiest men who ever lived. He was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame; he fed the hungry, and clothed the naked. What a wonderfully good man he was! It was all I, I, I. At last God said to him, "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me" (Job 38:3). The moment that God revealed Himself, Job changed his language. He saw his own vileness and God’s purity. He said, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5-6).
The same thing is seen in the cases of those who came to our Lord in the days of His flesh: those who came aright, seeking and obtaining the blessing, manifested a lively sense of His infinite superiority to themselves. The centurion, of whom we read in Matthew, said: "Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof…" (Matt. 8:8). Jairus "fell down at Jesus’ feet," as he presented his request (Luke 8:41). The leper in the Gospel of Mark came "kneeling down to Him" (Mark 1:40). The Syrophoenician woman "came and fell at His feet" (Mark 7:25). The man full of leprosy "seeing Jesus fell on his face" (Luke 5:12).
So, too, the beloved disciple, speaking of the feeling they had concerning Him when they were abiding with Him as their Lord, said: "…we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). However intimate their companionship, and tender their love, they reverenced as much as they communed, and adored as much as they loved.
We may say of every act of prayer as George Herbert says of public worship:
"When once thy foot
Enters the church, be bare;
God is more than thou;
For thou art there
Only by His permission.
"Then beware,
And make thyself
All reverence and fear.
Kneeling ne’er spoiled silk stocking;
Quit thy state,
All equal are
Within the church’s gate."
The wise man says: "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools; for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few" (Eccl. 5:1-2).
If we are struggling to live a higher life, and to know something of God’s holiness and purity, what we need is to be brought into contact with Him, that He may reveal Himself. Then we shall take our place before Him as those men of old were constrained to do. We shall hallow His Name as the Master taught His disciples when He said, "Hallowed be Thy Name" (Matt. 6:9). When I think of the irreverence of the present time, it seems to me that we have fallen on evil days.
Let us as Christians when we draw near to God in prayer, give Him His right place. "…let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:28). -D.L. Moody
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