Awesome a misused word today. Advertisers would have you to believe that candy and cars and makeup are awesome. It seems like a large word to for rather trivial items. I have experienced awe on several occasions. Perhaps the first time that I can remember the feeling was standing on the floor of the Persian palace of Persipilus. Gazing up at the pillars and doorposts that Alexander the Great rode through, and Dairus, and perhaps even Daniel. Another time that comes to mind was standing beside the Saturn rocket that you can see at Huntsville, Al, and Nasa near Houston. Each one of the 5 engines has a nozzle twice my height. Imagine the power that comes through that. A visitor to the White House wrote: My heart pounded faster and faster as I crept through the West Wing of the White House in awe, astounded when I peered into the Oval Office. A large, childish smile came over my face as I met one of my favorite celebrities, Tim Russert of ?Meet the Press,? after observing a live taping of the show. My blue eyes widened with anticipation as we entered the historic joint House and Senate Intelligence hearings. ..... Yes, when I think of awesome, I think of the power of the Saturn rocket or space shuttle. Or of the intricate complexity of the human hand. Or of the vast expanse of space. Or of God. But mostly of God. Psa 47:2 "For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth." I don't know if you realize it or not, but God has an image problem today. And it is because of his followers. We have made God in our image only more powerful. He is the cause of disasters. (acts of God) He is the answerer of our selfish prayers. And other than that, we as a whole tend to ignore Him. Even the worship of God ends up in a struggle for what I want vs. what you want. Today I invite you to look at God with me through the eyes of the Holy Spirit, as He helped men write down who God is. First, however, maybe it would help to define awe. Awe: A mixed feeling of reverance and fear, caused by something sublime: To respect and fear. Awesome: 1. Inspiring awe. 2. Feeling awe. Aweful: 1. Inspiring awe. 2. Worthy of reverance. 3. Terrifying. 4. Very bad. Unpleasant. Today I want to look at several aspects of God's awesomeness. His Awesome Presence. His Awesome Perfection. His Awesome Power. His awesome Purpose. His awesome Punishment. His awesome Protection. AWESOME PRESENCE C. Boyden Gray said in an interview: "There's something about the Oval Office -- anybody who's ever stepped inside it, even I, who would go there quite frequently, of course, I never lost the awe of that room." Presence. Being. Moses expperienced this at the Burning bush. I don't know if you have ever tried to picture yourself in Moses' place as he approached the un-burning bush. And then to have the voice of God come from it. Can you imagine it? How would you feel in God's presence. And later as he stood on Mt Sinai, after having asked to see the glory of God, he no doubt felt awe. That awe affected him, for when he returned to the people, they had to veil his face because of the reflected presence of God in Moses' face. Jacob expereinced the awesome presence at Beth-El. The angels coming up and down the ladder that streched from heaven to earth. The Lord stood at the top and pronounced blessings upon Joseph, to which he responded: Gen 28:17 "And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!"" ELIHU to JOB Job 37:22 "He comes from the north as golden splendor; With God is awesome majesty." Ezekiel gives us a picture of God's awesome presence. Ezekiel 1:26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking. Note Ezekiel's response. AWESOME PERFECTION Deu 7:21 ""You shall not be terrified of them; for the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is among you." Deu 10:17 ""For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe." Isa 6:5 "So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts."" Psa 65:5 "By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of the far-off seas;" God has total perfection and purity of person and motive. AWESOME POWER Plagues in Egypt Mt Sinai Imagine Mt St Helens contained in one spot. Hezekiah and sundial turning back. Psa 106:21-22 "They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, {22} Wondrous works in the land of Ham, Awesome things by the Red Sea." ISAIAH IS 64:1 Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence; 2 As fire burns brushwood, As fire causes water to boil; To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! 3 When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, The mountains shook at Your presence. 4 For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. AWESOME PURPOSE Deliver his people. From Egypt From sin ZEPHANIAH Zep 2:10-11 "This they shall have for their pride, Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats Against the people of the LORD of hosts. {11} The LORD will be awesome to them, For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; People shall worship Him, Each one from his place, Indeed all the shores of the nations." Psa 66:3-5 "Say to God, "How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. {4} All the earth shall worship You And sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name." Selah {5} Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men." Psa 111:9 "He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name." Daniel 9:4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, "O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, MOSES Exo 34:9-10 "Then he said, "If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance." {10} And He said: "Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you." AWESOME PUNISHMENT God's Strange act Deu 28:58-59 ""If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, {59} "then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues; great and prolonged plagues; and serious and prolonged sicknesses." Isa 28:21 "For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon; That He may do His work, His awesome work, And bring to pass His act, His unusual act." John the Baptist Luke 3:7 "Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Rev 6:14-17 "Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. {15} And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, {16} and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! {17} "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"" Rev 19:15 "Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." AWESOME PROTECTION Psalm 91 JEREMIAH Jer 20:10-11 "For I heard many mocking: "Fear on every side!" "Report," they say, "and we will report it!" All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying, "Perhaps he can be induced; Then we will prevail against him, And we will take our revenge on him." {11} But the LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten." NEHAMIAH Neh 4:14 "And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses."" Neh 9:32 ""Now therefore, our God, The great, the mighty, and awesome God, Who keeps covenant and mercy: Do not let all the trouble seem small before You That has come upon us, Our kings and our princes, Our priests and our prophets, Our fathers and on all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day." The visitor to the White House that we began with, continued. Even many of the men who have held that office were somewhat in awe of it. When Eisenhower became President, he is alleged to have talked about the first time General Omar Bradley visited him in the Oval Office. He said that when Gen Bradley came in, rather than greeting him with a 'Hello Ike", it was a "Good morning, Mr President". Eisenhower said that's when it really hit home to him that he was the President. During Reagan's tenure, no man ever entered the Oval Office unless he was wearing a coat and tie (or dress uniform in the case of the military), and that included Ronald Reagan. I've heard much the same thing about Bush. It is out of respect for the office. That is the result of awe for a human institution. HOW DO WE RESPOND TO AN AWESOME GOD? Psa 99:3 "Let them praise Your great and awesome name; He is holy." 1 Chron 16:27 Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and gladness are in His place. 28 Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Give to the LORD glory and strength. 29 Give to the LORD the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! 30 Tremble before Him, all the earth. The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved. 31 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; And let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns." 32 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it. 33 Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the LORD, For He is coming to judge the earth. 34 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 35 And say, "Save us, O God of our salvation; Gather us together, and deliver us from the Gentiles, To give thanks to Your holy name, To triumph in Your praise."