Holiness. That's the title for my sharing. I wouldn't call it teaching today because I'm
not going to teach about what we should do, what we shouldn't do. It's not about teaching
today but it's more about sharing, sharing today. Yeah? So I've titled my sharing as
The Highway of Holiness, Holy Encounter. If you are taking notes, that's the title, right?
Holy Encounter. And the idea comes from Isaiah 35. And I'm going to read this part.
And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. That's
where the title came from, yeah? And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean
shall not pass over it, but it shall belong to those who walk on the way, even if they are fools.
They shall not go astray. No lion will be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come upon it. They
shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransom of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing. Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain
gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Yeah? This is, I think, one of the most
breathtaking or so to say, one of the most astonishing promises that you see in Isaiah.
Because this came in the middle of a time when they were going through the wilderness, right? It
was a very challenging time and this suddenly, you know, Prophet Isaiah, you know, begins to
announce this, right? And this part, I want to focus because this is for God's people. This is
not just for the Israelites back in the day, but this is for us, right? And as you look there,
you see that this road called the Highway of Holiness. Some versions call it the Highway of
Holiness. Eugene Peterson calls it the Holy Road, yeah? But it's about a road that is exclusive for
God's people, yeah? And you know, we live in a time where, in the name of being inclusive,
without any transformation, without any standard, without anything required, we want to embrace
everybody. But here, Isaiah is pointing something that is not for everyone, yeah? It's an exclusive
road. It's a Highway of Holiness, but it says it's not for the unclean. Yeah, it's not for the
unclean. And unless you are ransom, unless you are redeemed by the Lord, you cannot be on this
highway. Isn't that interesting, eh? It's not for the unclean, not for the unrepentant, not for the
unchanged. They said, you know, Isaiah is announcing that they will not tread on this path. So it looks
like this is an exclusive path. It is protected. There are no lions, as in there are no threats,
there are no dangers when it comes to this path, yeah? And everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.
They shall obtain gladness and joy. Sorrow and sighing will flee from them. You know, imagine this
kind of life, eh? Where you are immune, where you are protected, where you are living a kind of life
where it is full of joy, gladness is upon your head. Sighing and all these sorrows are not part of your
life. Imagine that kind of life, right? And God is saying that it is for God's people.
Yeah? But the excess is not automatic. It's not automatic. It's only for the redeemed.
And, you know, Jesus comes and shares a similar idea in John. Jesus said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
It's very exclusive, guys. Christianity is, we have to hold this intention because, you know,
Christianity on one hand, it invites everyone. Salvation is for everyone. Everyone who is willing
to receive Christ, Christ belongs to them. Salvation is for the whole mankind on one hand,
but salvation is only for those who says, Jesus, you are my Lord, you are my Savior.
Yeah? It's crazy, guys. And so this path, it's an invitation for everybody because this is a path
to holiness. It's a path that leads to life. It's a path that leads to joy. It's a path
where there is no sorrow. It's a path where there is no sighing. It's a path where you will
experience no threats, no dangers. It's the road to life. And yet, it is exclusive. It is exclusive,
guys. Yeah? And this holy road, for you and I to access this holy road, you and I need to encounter
the Holy One. And Jesus himself said, I am the door. Yeah? We read that in John, I am the door.
And so the only way you and I can go into this path is Christ, the Holy One.
And so when we talk about holy, the word holy, we often limit the word holy to moral purity. Yeah?
Say, for example, if I'm not indulging in fornication or adultery, if I am morally clean,
my personal righteousness, then I am holy. But the Bible talks much more than that.
Holy is not limited to moral purity. Holiness is not limited to personal righteousness. Yeah?
So, say, for example, ritually pure, right? In the Old Testament, when they come in contact
with a dead body or with a bodily fluid or a man of disease, then they become unclean.
So they have to take seven days, right, in order for them to be cleansed. So they are ritually impure.
And so they have to be made clean, right? And then there is this holiness in our conduct, right?
First Peter talks about this, that God is holy. And so be holy in all your conduct, as in your
actions, right? The way you live, be holy. So here we're talking about two kinds of holiness here.
So here we're talking about two kinds of holiness here. Two aspects. One is the positional
holiness. As in, like, when you believe Christ and you receive Christ, repents of your sin,
you are made holy. As in, you have been made right with God again. So that's the positional
holiness. So now, if I am a believer, I don't have to try harder to be more believer, right?
You know, I don't become more Christian, right? I'm already a Christian. Why? Because I follow
Christ. But then there is this other aspect of holiness, which is the behavioral holiness, right?
Where now I have received Christ, so now my lifestyle has to match Christ.
This is why First Peter talks about be holy in all your conducts, right? So you see the difference
between the two, right? So we are not trying to be more Christian, but we are trying to reflect
the life of Christ, the nature of Christ in our everyday living. So today, I am not going to talk
about how to be holy in our thinking. I'm not trying to teach about how to be holy in our living.
I'm not talking about behavioral holiness here, yeah? Nor am I interested in talking about five
ways to sustain our holiness. No, I'm not talking about that route. But I'm more interested about
the idea of holy, the understanding of holy and how when a man or a woman, something ordinary comes
in contact with something that is holy, I want to explore that idea. Because if a man who touches
something unclean can make him unclean, what about a man who is ordinary, who comes in contact with
something extraordinary that is holy? It is fascinating, guys. The way I tell, I mean,
as I'm preparing this, I was blown away by this. Because holiness is often made about us,
which I hate it. I have to fast, I have to pray, I have to read, I have to do this, I have to do that.
Then it becomes about us, right? But when you read the Bible, holiness has nothing to do with you,
nothing to do with me. Why? Because you and I cannot manufacture holiness. Because God alone is
holy, right? God alone is holy and so you have to come in contact, you know Jacob was talking about
this, right? You have to come in contact with the holy one. And you know what? When you come in contact
with the holy one, you become holy. Your life change. It's fascinating, guys. And you know,
the two words, two words that really defines the word holy is separate and other. These are two
words that defines holy. As in like when we say God is holy, God is separate, separate from everything
else and everyone else. And then when we say God is holy, God is the other one. Meaning he's not you,
he's not me. Nothing can be compared. He's the other one. He's separate, he's the other one.
Those two words are the root word for the word holy. Yeah? So when we say God is holy, God is
separate. When we say God is holy, God is the other one. God is the other one. Yeah? So when God who is
separate, when God who is the other one touches you, you become separate. You become the other one.
This is why God reminds the Israelites, you are separate. You are the other one. You cannot be
like the Gentiles. You cannot live like the other nations. Why? Because I have touched you. You are
my people. You are my holy people. You are my chosen race. I am your God. You are my people.
They cannot be the same. And do you think that has changed for us? Not at all. Why Christians are
indifferent? Right? Sometimes you cannot differentiate whether he's a Christian or not. Why? Because
we don't live differently. We don't think differently. We don't behave differently.
Crazy guys. And this is why I want to focus on this word holy. Why? Because on one hand,
when we begin to understand this, it'll change you, it'll change me. And this is why I'm saying this
is not a teaching, but this is an invitation to experience the holy one. The word holy first
appeared in the Bible in Genesis chapter 2. And it's very interesting. It's not about anything else.
But it's about a day. Yeah? God made first day, second day, sixth day he rested, right?
Sorry, on the seventh day he rested. But he blessed the seventh day and made it holy.
The seventh day was holy. Why? Because the six days he worked, the seventh day was separate.
Seven day was the other day, which was different from the rest. And he made it holy.
Yeah? Do you understand what I'm saying here, right? That's what it means to be holy. Something is
separate. It's the other one. And then you read later, you know, a little later,
when Moses encounters God at the burning bush,
the ground becomes holy. The place becomes holy. Now notice here, the first one is the day becomes
holy. The second one, the place becomes holy. When the presence of God comes,
it doesn't matter where it is, it becomes holy. That moment becomes holy. That time becomes holy.
Holy. That time becomes holy. That ground becomes holy. Crazy, eh?
And we can go on and on. Later on we see holy garments, right? Holy altars, the holy of holies,
holy objects, holy oil, holy priests. We move on and on, right? But then in Exodus 15,
this is when Moses for the first time calls God holy.
Moses comes in contact with God and he said, who among like you, who among like the gods is like you,
Lord, who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders. For the first time,
mankind is addressing God as holy here.
But until this point, God has not called himself holy.
And later on, for the first time, you see in Leviticus, in Leviticus 11, verse 44, he said,
I am holy. And he said, be holy.
Be separate. Be the other one. He expects that we'd be different from others, eh?
You know, there was this German theologian, his name is Rudolf Otto.
And Heidi is smiling here. And please forgive me, Heidi, if I don't spell it correctly. But
he wrote a book called, it's called Das Heilige, something like that. And which is the idea of
holy. Yeah, the idea of holy. So in this book, he does a research, right? He explored Asians,
Africans, Europeans, the Aborigines, he explored, and then he wants to understand
the definition of holy. Because holy is something not just about Christians, right? Even in other
religions come to this place where they consider things as holy, as sacred, right? And so, in this
tiny book called The Idea of Holy, many theologians consider this as one of the most important
books in the 20th century. It's a small one. But he went around and he examined the
phenomenology of this human experience. Human experience to something holy. When human
encounter something holy, what's their reaction? Right? And he has been exploring about this
definition of holy. And you know, he concluded saying that the word holy is mysterium
tremendum, meaning it is a mystery that fascinates and terrifies.
It's both. A mystery that fascinates, but it also terrifies, right? So,
you know, when people come in contact with something holy, people have different reactions.
Some become quiet, some are overwhelmed, they're stunned. Whereas some people,
you know, react in certain ways. And he writes something like this. When someone comes in contact
with something holy, he writes like this.
The feeling of it may be at times sweeping like a gentle tide, pervading the mind with a tranquil
mood of deepest worship. Or it may pass into a more set and lasting attitude of the soul,
continuing as it were, thrillingly vibrant and resonant until at last it dies away.
Right? But we have different feelings. And I'm saying that not everyone has, or say not every
season, not every moment are flooded with these kind of moments. Right? Even in our times of church,
I'm not saying that God is absent, but I'm saying that there are moments where there is this
heightened awareness of God's presence. Right? There are these moments where we know God is there
right from the beginning till now. But there are moments when the presence of God becomes more
evident. Yeah? And he describes that not everyone reacts or responds the same way to these kind of
moments. And so he concluded saying that after his research, he concluded saying that
when a man comes in contact with something holy, he said it's a response of ambivalence,
as in a conflicting feeling. Right? A conflicting feeling, something about holiness that attracts you
and something about holiness that terrifies and you want to repel.
Yeah? And this is so true. Right? Everyone in this room had had those kind of moments.
Everyone in this room, I tell you. I've had such moments when I experienced the move of the spirit.
The move of the spirit. Sometimes I just can't help but shake violently, vibrate. My body would
be electrified. I'm shaking violently and I'm terrified, but I'm feeling amazing at the same time.
Yeah? And there are moments when I'm just overwhelmed. I'm silent, but I can feel
waves and waves of God's love overwhelmed by his presence. I'm just lost for words. Yeah?
That's the presence of the holy God.
We all have those kind of moments, guys. If we are open for it, man, God wants to manifest
so much in our midst. Psalm 28, Psalm 78 talks about they limited God. They prevent God from
blessing them. They rebelled again and again. Right? It prevents. If not, God always wants to manifest.
This encounter with this holy is just mind-blowing, I tell you. Right? You know,
growing up, we loved to talk about ghost stories. So, you know, by the fireside, we would sit by
the fireside and talk about, do you have any ghost stories? And then, you know, so we would share and
then we would have chills over our body. And then the hairs would straighten, you know, and then later
on, we don't want to go to our own rooms because we're scared now. Right? But why I'm sharing this
is because on one hand, you want to talk about it because it's exciting. It fascinates you,
but on the other hand, it terrifies you. Now you're scared. I remember. I know, and you know,
let me not go there. But what I'm trying to say here is that
people are drawn to Jesus, but they're also terrified with his presence.
It's both. And we have the tendency to keep distance,
a safe distance from the character of God. Because even though we are attracted by it,
on the one hand, we are repelled by it as well.
Because this is the otherness of God. You realize that
God is different. You realize that
you are too unholy before him. You feel uncomfortable.
The disciples had experienced this with Jesus, right? On one hand, they saw the astonishing
wisdom and the power of God manifesting in this man called Jesus. And then they also understood
that it's linked with his devotion to his father. And so they come and said,
Jesus, would you teach us how to pray? And then Jesus said, also, Jesus,
come and said, Jesus, would you teach us how to pray?
And then Jesus said, All right, I'll teach you how to pray. You know, I'm paraphrasing here,
but he said, our father, who are in heaven? And then the next line says, hallowed be thy name.
It's not an address to who God is. One way to define hallowed be thy name is,
you will treat God as holy.
His name will be revered as holy. That's another way to put it, hey? Let's pause that for a moment.
The Lord takes his name seriously.
You know, when we think of the Ten Commandments,
the first three commandments is all about God.
Yeah, I am the God who brought you out of Egypt. Right? You shall have no other gods before me.
Right? You will not have any idols, any carved image, you will not bow down to any other thing.
And then the next one goes, you will not use the name of the Lord in vain. Yeah? Man. And you know
what? These Ten Commandments, these are the ten most important things for humanity. Right?
God has these Ten Commandments. Do you think that he'll put something insignificant there?
Not a chance. If you are to pick ten things and make ten commandments for your son or for your
kid to grow up with these principles, with these truths, you'll be careful, man. You wouldn't write
anything random there because you only have ten things to say. And you know what? The first three
things mentioned here, it's everything about God. Nothing to do with humanity. It's about his name,
it's about not bowing to any other gods. Yeah? You shall not use the name of the Lord in vain.
And then the next one goes, you shall observe the Shabbat. Right? But the first three things
is very clear. It's about God.
And so that's why it's no wonder when Jesus taught us how to pray,
to revere his name as holy.
You know, one man of God wrote like this, and I just want to read it out.
I don't think the kingdom of God will ever come on this earth, or that the will of God will ever be
done on earth, until and unless the name of God is revered by his people. And he goes on to say,
how is it possible for a people to honor a king and at the same time desecrate his name?
God doesn't like when his name is used in vain. And he goes on to say like this,
let me tell you like this. If you use the name of God as a common curse word,
you are at root a profane person. You have no respect for holiness of God. And I urge you to
think before you let those words pass over your lips again in a frivolous manner, because God will
not tolerate the desecration of his name. Strong words, hey? Strong words.
But it makes sense. It makes sense. If these makes the top three, 10 commandments, if they are on the
top list in God's constitution, do you think it doesn't matter to him? It does, guys. It does.
Not to profane the name of the Lord makes the top 10 percent, top 10 most important commandments
in his constitution, man. God alone is holy. His name is to be exalted. His name is to be lifted high.
That's why I find it strange when if you have understood who Christ is,
if you have believed who Christ is and has got to know who he is,
it would be very weird to come into this room and not worship him.
You will be very weird, I tell you.
Because he's holy.
It would be very weird, guys. It's strange how Christians can be comfortable in the presence of
God without giving him the due worship and honor that he deserves. I tell you, guys, we have reduced
Jesus to a buddy. And I'm not saying that we shouldn't be casual. No, I'm not saying that.
But I'm saying we have to hold this intention. On one hand, he's my father. On one hand, he's
my brother. On one hand, he's my friend. On one hand, he's my teacher. On one hand, he's the most
fun guy to hang out with. But I shouldn't forget that he's holy. He's God. Right? On one hand,
can I be undignified before him? But on the other hand, can I learn how to remove my sandals quickly?
Because the ground that I am standing is holy because of his presence. Right? It has to be
hold together, guys. This is why let's move on to what happens when the people of God begins to
encounter the holy presence of God. And I want to share three stories here. And I'll end with that.
Three points, three stories.
Three stories. But long stories.
You know, remember the story in Exodus when God invites Moses to come up to the hill and spends
time with him because he wants to give the Ten Commandments. So Moses goes up to the hill.
And it took a very long time. Yeah. And the people must be anxious. You know, here I am just making
up here. But I'm like, where is Moses? Yeah. Is he going to return? Has the earth swallowed up?
And like, has he been swallowed like the sons of Korah? Right? They're anxious. They were waiting
for days. What happened to their leader? And Moses was at the mountain and he was spending
time with the Lord. And I'm here, you know, I'm just, you know, improvising here again. Yeah.
But Moses did something quite daring. He said, like, God, I've seen you, how you rescued us
from Egypt. I've seen how you part the Red Sea. I've seen how you destroyed with plagues,
like Egypt with plagues. I've seen quite a lot. But I want a little more this time. Yeah. Can I
see your face? And God said, you know, Moses, nobody can see my face and live. And yet,
that's the crazy thing about Moses. He knows that he will die. He asked for it.
I find that very interesting because he knows that nobody can see the face of God and live.
And he dares to ask to see the face of God. That's one thing I like about Moses. He does
things that nobody asks. This is why God says, with other prophets, I speak to them in dreams,
in visions. With Moses, I talk to him face to face. The intimacy, the level of intimacy
is different with Moses. Yeah. And so, you know, back to the story. Here, God's saying,
all right, I know you won't survive. But what I'll do is I'll hide you in the cleft of the rock
and I'll cover you and I'll let my glory pass by. And I know that if you see my face, you will die.
So I'll allow you to see my back. And you know what? God did exactly that. And Moses
saw a tiny glimpse of the Lord's back. Yeah. It was in instantaneous glory of God that he saw
for a brief moment. And then he comes down. Yeah. He comes down. Now the people are waiting for him.
They have been waiting for their leader. He has gone 40 days, right? Like, finally, you know,
they saw a man appearing. They are now running towards Moses. They're excited about their leader
who is back. And then, to their surprise, when they saw the face of Moses, they began to retrieve.
They were terrified. They shrunk back. Why? Because Moses' face was radiating with God's glory.
They couldn't see his face. He was blinding to them. And so they said,
Moses, cover your face. Cover your face, right? So Moses covers his face. It's a fascinating story.
And you know what? This is a mere mortal.
Moses didn't even see the face of God. He just saw the back for a brief moment, passing by.
And you know what? Man could not handle the glory of God that was reflected through this man.
Just imagine, eh? This is why you will see people terrified. And whenever God encounters man,
God will often say, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid, right?
That's the holiness of God. Man cannot face the holiness of God.
And so they get ruined. They get ruined. They get undone.
Saul on the road to Damascus, he was strong. He was plotting evil against Christians.
He encounters the glory of God, the holiness of God on the road to Damascus. He was undone.
Guys, all you need is an experience with this God, the encounter.
That's why my subtitle was The Encounter, The Holy Encounter.
It transforms people, man. One encounter is all you need.
You know, even angels have to cover their faces. Angels have six wings, right?
And you know, in Isaiah chapter 6, two wings covered their faces, two wings covered their feet,
and then they were using two wings to fly. But even angels could not see, could not face God, man.
You know, the Bible didn't explain why they have to cover their feet.
Yeah, but one can imagine because feet in the Bible often symbolizes our creatureliness, right?
The feet of a clay, made from the clay.
So feet represent something creaturely. Now, they cannot face this holy presence of God,
and even the angels had to cover their feet. Yeah.
That's the encounter of Moses with God.
It ruined him. It commissioned him. Right? And after the burning bush encounter, Moses was never the same.
He was commissioned to lead his people. He said, I'm slow to speak. I cannot speak. Right?
He was self-focused, but the encounter with the Holy One changed him.
He was always focused on what he was saying. He was always focused on what he was saying.
Right? He was self-focused, but the encounter with the Holy One changed him.
In Isaiah, that's the second story. The encounter with the Holy is even more fascinating.
Yeah? Something spectacular that Isaiah encountered with the presence of God.
You know, in English, when we want to emphasize something,
we capitalize it, right? We make it bold. We underline it. We put it under inverted
comas so that we are trying to highlight a word that we're trying to emphasize. Right?
But the Hebrew is very different. In Hebrew, if someone is really trying to make a point,
they'll repeat the word. Right? So you'll see this when I say, go, go. That means you really need to
go. Yeah? And this is why you will see in the life of Jesus as well. Jesus said,
verily, verily. Some virgins say, truly, truly, I say to you, Jesus is saying,
what I'm saying right now is really important. Right? And here in this passage in Isaiah 6,
for the first time, the word holy, holy, holy is repeated not twice, but thrice.
That's the superlative. It's the third degree of repetition. No other character, no other
characteristics or the attributes of God has been repeated thrice. Nowhere in the Bible,
nowhere in the Bible it says love, love, love, or joy, joy, joy. It says holy, holy, holy.
Meaning God is not just holy, but God is infinitely holy. Nothing beyond that. It has reached the third
degree of holiness, man. Nothing beyond that. The word holy is, you know, you know, kadosh,
right? Which we sing, you know, kadosh. But it's a fascinating story here. For the first time,
an attribute of God has been repeated thrice, and it was never repeated again.
Holiness of God is something you and I needs to learn how to behold. I love how Don kept repeating
behold, behold, behold, because he has no idea of what I'm going to teach today.
He has no idea. We haven't talked about this. But all I'm trying to say here is that come
and behold this holy God. That's all I'm saying here. That's why you don't even need to take notes
here. All I'm saying is these guys have behold the holiness of God. It has ruined them. Yeah.
And I'm saying that if you're confused with life, if you're unsure, if you're unsatisfied with where
you are, come. Simply come into the presence of this holy God. He will ruin you, man.
And we do this Sunday after Sunday.
There have been so many times when I've been ruined when it comes to worship.
You know, notice here, holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory.
At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and the thresholds shook and the temple was
filled with smoke. Right? And then, you know, notice here, you know, Isaiah is known for saying,
right? And then now here he's saying,
Yeah?
I'm a man of unclean lips and I live among the people of unclean lips. My eyes have seen the king.
Wow. It's fascinating, guys. And you know, I'm saying, I'm saying, I'm saying, I'm saying,
I'm saying, I'm saying, I'm saying, I'm saying, I'm saying, I'm saying, I'm saying, I'm saying,
Wow. It's fascinating, guys. And you see the progression of this story.
Then one of the seraphim flew, flew to him, right? And with a live coal in his hand.
Yeah. And which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And then with it, he touched his mouth and said,
See, this has touched your lips and your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.
Did you notice how here is this man who is called a prophet, who is supposed to be a holy man,
comes in contact with the holy God, ruined. He begins to admit he is a prophet.
He begins to admit he is a man of unclean lips. He is a man of God. He says, I'm a man of unclean lips.
Right? He is ruined.
You notice that there is a holy cleansing that is happening here.
The angel touched him with live coal in his mouth and said, Your guilt is taken away. Your sin has been atoned for.
Cleansed. Made holy.
Then the commission followed, right? The commission of Isaiah follows after that.
Who will send, who will go, right? And then Isaiah says, Send me, right?
Here am I. Send me.
Here am I. Send me. And then, you know, God tells him to go, right?
But you know what? My point of sharing this is that as we come in contact with this holy God,
he doesn't just ruin you, but he sets you on the highway of holiness that I've been talking about.
It's an exclusive road. It's an exclusive highway. But it's for the redeemed.
For the ones where the holy God has touched them. It's for those people.
This road is for those people. It's a highway for the holy people.
Yeah? The third one, third story.
It's the disciples with Jesus.
In Mark chapter 4, one time Jesus was with the disciples.
And then they wanted to go to the other side of the shore.
And he was sleeping in a stern, you know, with a cushion, right? On a cushion.
And then a fierce wind came up and then the waves broke over the boat and it nearly swam them, right?
And so they woke him up and said, Don't you care?
Don't you care that we drown, right?
It's crazy how they brought up such a question.
Here is the author of life who is sleeping on a boat and he's like, Don't you care?
Jesus has been taking care of their needs all this time.
And yet, you know, we don't know what Jesus responded to that question.
But he said, he woke up and he said, Quiet, be still, right?
And we know the story.
The waves were calmed. Yeah?
And yet, what fascinates me about this story is not just there,
but it's the reaction of the disciples that really surprised me.
They reacted this way.
Who is this man that even the waves and the sea obeys him?
They were terrified.
Instead of being happy, I knew you would do it, Jesus.
No, they didn't say that. Yeah?
I knew you would come to me.
I knew you would do it, Jesus. No, they didn't say that.
Yeah, I knew you would come the storm. Yeah.
Yay, you know, the waves are gone. No, right?
They were shocked.
More than the natural forces, they were more terrified by this man with them.
Because they suddenly realized that they suddenly realized the otherness of Jesus.
Right? The otherness of Jesus.
Here, the storm is calmed, but they were terrified.
Why? Because that was something only God can do.
See, guys, in every human heart,
there's this regard for something beyond the natural forces
that draws you, that terrifies you. Yeah?
Because you will see guys doing crazy stuff, yeah?
Risking their lives, like on a motorbike or skiing or whatever it is, they take risks, man.
They're not scared about natural forces,
but they're scared of something beyond that.
And when they come in contact with this holy, holiness of God, they always get terrified.
I have not come across any man in the Bible who had experienced the presence of the Holy God and was not scared.
They're no longer talking about the waves. Yeah?
You know, did you notice? They were not talking about the waves anymore.
They were talking about this guy, Jesus.
Isn't that amazing?
This xenophobia, right?
Zenos meaning foreign or stranger, and then phobia is fear, right?
Something unfamiliar.
They come in contact with something unfamiliar, something different.
That's where they realized that Jesus is different.
Jesus is the other one.
And you know, these kind of stuff did not happen just one or two occasions.
It happened multiple times.
You know, another time was when Peter and his friends were fishing, right?
The whole night they fished, they caught nothing.
And you know, the Bible projects Peter as someone who is impulsive, someone who is rash, someone who is a hot-headed.
Yeah?
And so here, you know, I'll improvise here again.
Yeah?
But when Jesus said, you know, how did the fishing go?
You know, Peter said, well, it was a lousy night.
We tried the whole night, caught nothing.
And then Jesus said, why don't you try on the other side of the boat?
I'm sure you know, Peter must be thinking.
Jesus, I know you are a good theologian.
You teach well.
You do stuff here.
But you're not a fisherman.
You're a carpenter, right?
Now, what do you know about fishing?
And I'm a professional fisherman, right?
But Peter, well, all right, you're the master.
I'm a disciple.
So let me just do what you say.
And you know what?
When he cast his net on the right side of the boat, the whole fish in Galilee jumped onto his net.
He was blown away by that.
They need another boat to draw the fish, right?
And you know, there was one guy who was narrating about this story.
Peter is a Jewish.
He's a professional fisherman.
He's not fishing for fun.
He's fishing for profit.
He earns his livelihood through this.
He's not fishing for fun.
It's one thing to fish for fun, and it's another thing to fish for your daily bread.
And so this pastor was narrating about this story.
If I were Peter, I would make a deal with Jesus.
Jesus, all you can do is come once a month on Saturday, just for five minutes, tell me where to cast my net,
and then you can go back home, and I'll share 50% of my profit with you, right?
Because Jesus knows exactly where to put the net, right?
Yeah.
But you know, how Jesus...
I'm sorry.
It's amazing how Peter responds to this.
His response was astonishing.
He said, away from me, Jesus, for I am a sinner.
Wow.
What happens here is this man suddenly comes in contact with something holy.
Couldn't face it.
I cannot handle your holiness anymore.
Jesus, be away from me.
I'm dreadfully aware of our unholiness.
This is what an ordinary man experiences.
Even in our own lives, I had seen this, guys.
Where it's not even God, but I had seen how people put away their cigarettes, put away their bottles,
just because they saw their pastor or someone who is a spiritual man.
You know, the pastor didn't say anything, or this man of God didn't judge him or say anything,
but the person becomes uncomfortable.
Have you ever experienced that?
Maybe someone with you? Yeah?
It's because the holy presence of God is in you.
And you know what?
It is interesting to note that the most vehement enemies that Jesus had in his lifetime were the Pharisees,
who were supposed to be devoted to righteousness.
Yeah?
And they were so self-righteous that people cannot embrace their kind of holiness,
because it was a holiness that is human, a holiness that is religious, a holiness that is self-righteous.
But Jesus on one hand is so holy, and yet the kind of people that he draws to him is sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors.
Why?
Because these people have no illusion about their own righteousness.
Right?
They have no illusion about their own self-righteousness.
And you know, how the story ended was beautiful.
When Peter said, go away from me, Jesus, right?
Leave me alone, because he cannot just stand the holiness of God.
And yet Jesus didn't leave. Jesus didn't leave.
Instead, he said, Peter, come. Come, Peter.
You know what? Today, you will be fishing men.
Wow. He changed the course of his destiny.
Right? An encounter with the Holy One.
See, guys, when we come in contact with this Holy God, it sets you on the path, on this highway called the Holy Road, called the highway of holiness.
Man, no threats. You will only be joyful. No sighing, no sorrow.
Because God's protection is upon your life, life becomes different.
You're on a highway, a highway of holiness.
Fascinating, guys. Yeah?
And you know, it's not just for Peter.
This invitation is not just for Peter, guys.
It's for you and it's for me.
We are invited to come into the presence of this Holy God.
You don't have to do anything.
You don't have to get to a certain level in order to encounter this Holy God.
No. Come. Come.
The invitation is so simple that sometimes I'm sure there's something to do.
No, there's nothing to do, guys.
Just come into his presence.
Shall we close our eyes? I would like the musicians to come up.
But let's close our eyes and pause for a moment.
As we close today, the highway of holiness still stands before us, guys.
This highway of holiness, how we started, still stands before us today.
It is not crowded. It is not casual.
It is not entered by accident.
But it's a holy way prepared by a Holy God.
And it is open to only one man.
And that is Jesus.
The question is not about whether this road exists.
The question is about, will you enter this road?
God's holiness is never meant to push you away.
God's holiness is never to judge and condemn you.
God's holiness is always to expose sin in us and then draw us to himself.
The same presence of God that ruined Isaiah for good,
that same holy presence that ruined Peter for good,
that same holy God is in our midst today.
He can ruin you for good, guys.
You will be undone.
Jesus, the Holy Lamb of God, He is the way and He invites us now.
Will you repent where you have grown comfortable with the things that are unholy in your life,
things that are sinful and you still hold them?
Will you lay down what cannot be brought to this highway of holiness?
Will you drop things that cannot be brought to this highway of holiness?
Will you step into this true encounter with this holy God?
Today, don't just wish for this highway of holiness.
Don't just wish for it, guys.
Step into it.
Encounter His holiness.
Receive the Holy One, guys.
Father, we recognize what you're doing tonight.
Abba, I like to use the word setup rather than invitation.
This is a setup that you have set before us for us to enter.
I love the chapter that Thuney said about, Abba.
Isaiah chapter 6, the throne room of God.
The creatures that are covering their feet,
covering their face because they can't even look at the Holy.
With two, they are flying and they're crying, holy, holy, holy.
But there is another chapter, Abba, in Revelation chapter 4.
Same throne room, same God who is holy, same holiness, the same four creatures.
But in this case, it says that the wings are covered with eyes that can see this Holy One.
It's covered with eyes outside and inside the wings.
They're not covering their faces anymore.
They're clearing, looking at the Holy One.
The difference is one person and who is a lamb that was slain.
The lamb that was slain is the reason and the invitation now for us to open our eyes and look at the holiness.
Because you said, Abba, be holy as I am holy.
This is a set up by you because by beholding you, by looking at you, by holding you close, Abba,
there is this invitation for us to lay things down.
Abba, for us, some of us who need a fresh encounter with the Holy,
I pray tonight is the night.
For Abba, for some of us who have not had an encounter yet with the most powerful spirit,
with the most potent spirit, may tonight be the night.
Abba, as Tuni was saying, there are moments when we shake because we can't control the power of the most holy God.
It ruins us for good. It changes us for good.
May tonight be the night, Abba.
As we pray and as we worship, Abba, I pray that we open ourselves up.
We gaze into your presence and holiness and we say, instead of saying woe to me, I will say holy, holy, holy.
Instead of crying out, I am not worthy, I'll say because of the one who paid the price, I am now worthy.
I will say I want to be holy just as you are holy because this is my rightful place, Abba.
So, Father, I pray that people in this room be touched tonight,
that something new happens because of the setup that you have made tonight.
We'll spend some more time, Abba, in worship.
May this not be a closing up, winding down ceremony, Abba.
This is not that worship.
This is the time to look into your presence and cry out holy, holy, holy.
In the process, I am ruined and become holy.