Infinite Worth February 8, 2026

Well, good morning, fellowship. This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it. It is a good thing to be together in the house of the Lord. We know that God's presence is not confined to the four walls of this building, but it is still a blessing to be able to be together, to encourage one another, to be encouraged by one another, both in the room and online, of course, to those of you who are joining us today. So would you do me a favor to the person you're sitting next to or someone around you, would you just do me a favor and tell them for me, I can't tell everybody individually, but would you say, Hey, I'm glad you're here today. Would you do that for me? Tell them I'm glad you're here today. Amen. Tell them I'm glad you're here today. Amen. Amen. Hey man, we're glad you're here today. I believe it is important that we say that because you never know who needs to hear those words to both be an encouragement and be encouraged. Well, my name is Justin Bilson. If I haven't met you, I'm one of the four teaching pastors here at fellowship. We are one church in seven locations now with the launch of North Little Rock campus. And so we're excited as we're continuing, uh, through the year in an initiative that we actually said, uh, shared with you last year in August on our vision Sunday, we said that we wanted to take this ministry year to teach through our mission statement. Again, our mission is making disciples who live by God's grace and for his glory at home and across the world. And so throughout the year, we are intentionally taking, uh, that mission statement, breaking it up into segments, uh, starting off with the series we just finished on grace, uh, the series grace changes everything, which is probably by far one of my favorite sermon

series that we've taught and that I've been a part of teaching over the past few years as one of the teaching pastors. Uh, and so now as we have finished the series on grace, we're going to shift today, uh, as we begin this conversation about the glory of God, talking about the glory of God. And so, uh, after, uh, Easter, this series will lead us up, uh, through good Friday into Easter and then after Easter, uh, we'll continue on, uh, teaching what it means to make disciples at home and across the world. And so that's the trajectory of where we're going for the next few months. And so today as we kick off this series, I want to invite you to join me in the book of Isaiah. Let's go to the book of Isaiah chapter six. Uh, and normally when we teach through a book of, uh, the Bible, generally we will walk line by line and verse by verse, uh, because of the length and breadth of the book of Isaiah 66, uh, chapters, we are not going to walk through every single chapter, uh, but we're going to highlight specific chapters in this book as we talk about this theme of the glory of God. And so I'm looking forward to diving into this chapter today. Uh, chapter six is where we're going to be. We're going to read a verses one through eight today. Again, Isaiah chapter six verses one through eight. Listen to the recorded, uh, the written account, uh, of the prophet's vision. He says these words in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up in the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings with two, he covered his face with two, he covered his feet and with two he flew and one called to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, it's the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory and the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called and the house was filled with smoke. And I said, woe is me for I am lost for 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. Then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar and he touched my mouth and said, behold, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then I said, here I am. I am, send me. It's the word of the Lord to us today. As we talk from this thought, I wanna talk about a glimpse of his glory, a glimpse of his glory, a glimpse of God's glory. Let's pray over our time in the word. Father, thank you for the joy that is ours today to be gathered in this place, both in the room and online. Thank you in the chapel as well, and even our Espanol campus meeting in the warehouse. Lord, all of these believers gathered here today, thank you for the opportunity we get to fellowship with one another, to encourage and be encouraged by one another, and to hear you speak from your word. Father, I thank you not just for the believers, I thank you if there are unbelievers here or watching online, thank you for their presence in this room, that you by your grace and by your spirit have drawn them to this moment on this day to hear this message of the gospel. And I pray that by the power of your spirit,

you would draw them into a relationship with you, that today would be the beginning of a new day for them, that they would place faith in Jesus, or at least begin a faith conversation today. Thank you for the opportunity, Lord, as we have to dive into Isaiah 6. We understand and we humbly acknowledge that in our finite minds, we cannot understand the totality of your glory. To be able to even think that we can preach and teach and share messages about your glory. Humbly, Lord, we know that what we do know, there's so much more that we don't. But thank you for the glimpses of your glory that we see, and we'll talk about that throughout the message. Thank you for the ways in which you reveal your glory to us and allow yourself to be known. Thank you for that. So Father, help us to make sense by your spirit, help us to make sense of what we see in the passage today. Let it encourage us, let it challenge us, let it convict us in the areas that we need to grow. Thank you that your word never leaves us the same. We open our hearts and minds to receive what you have to say to us today. In Jesus name, amen. Within the pages of his 20th century work entitled, The Idea of the Holy, author Rudolph Otto looks intently at vision here in Isaiah chapter six,

and he concludes that it is in his words, a non-rational religious experience that transcends intellectual understanding. Otto suggests that this dual nature of the holy experience in Isaiah six can be summed up in the words, fearful and fascinating. Fearful because in the presence of a holy God, mankind should shudder with fear. But also fascinating because the holiness of God allures the soul so that the creature who trembles before it also at the same time has the impulse to turn to it. Friends, I raise these words because I believe Otto helps the reader in his work and even those reading this passage today to better understand the tension between fear and fascination, which is what the prophet Isaiah experiences as he gains a glimpse of God's glory. Now, in just a moment, we'll talk about the practical application of what this text means to us and how we can apply it to our lives. But before we do, I wanna consider the context of the passage and give, if I can, an overview of Isaiah's vision. There's four distinct elements that I see in the text and I wanna walk us through these elements. We'll make sure that they're on the screen if you wanna write those, fill in the blanks.

But the first thing that we see in the text, which is important, is we see evidence of divine timing, divine timing. Let's leave that up on the screen if you wanna write it down, divine timing. Notice in verse one, the Bible says the prophet writes that in the year that King Isaiah died, I saw the Lord. Now, don't rush in your reading of the story of the account because that detail is important to the context of the passage. It helps us to know what's going on and to really gain greater insight into why this is important and even who King Isaiah is. I would say, I would challenge you to consider reading. You don't have to do it now, but consider reading 2 Chronicles chapter 26. 2 Chronicles chapter 26 tells us more about who King Isaiah is. It tells us that he ascended the throne after his father died. He ascended the throne in Judah at 16 years old. Bible tells us that he reigned for 52 years and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. And yet in verse 16, 2 Chronicles chapter 26, verse 16 says that he was strong and he grew proud to his destruction for he was unfaithful to the Lord. Lord, his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. Why is it an issue, Justin? It's an issue because kings were not allowed,

as a matter of fact, no one outside of the priesthood was allowed to enter this holy, sacred space and to burn incense on the altar of incense. And as a result of his disobedience, the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 26 that he contracted leprosy. And he suffered with this for the rest of his life. After his death, we see now Isaiah writes these words. Why is it important? Because his death marks a significant moment. It is the end of decades of security and prosperity. This kingdom is now left unsure of its future, and yet we see the divine timing of this vision. As the Bible says, Isaiah tells us that one king has died, but there is another king that he sees in this vision who is seated high on a throne. We see the divine timing. Not only do we see divine timing, we also see that to the best of his abilities, Isaiah gives a detailed description. See, divine timing, we see also a detailed description. Notice he says that this king, this divine king is seated high and lifted up on a throne. And I love this detail. He says, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Now, I read that as you did, and maybe you didn't think much of it. I didn't at the time, but I was inquiring deeper, and I wanted to know why is that included? Why is that important?

Because it's not just there for no reason. And church, I found an insight that I wanted to share with us today, because I thought it was so, I'm gonna just say it like this, I thought it was cool. I just wanna share with you. So did you know that in ancient Eastern traditions, anytime a king was victorious and defeated another king or another army, that victorious king would literally, it is suggested that he would cut a piece or a patch off of the robe of the defeated king, and he would take that piece or patch and sew it into his robe. So the longer his robe was, it suggested that he had more patches on his robe, which suggested he had more victories, which suggested that he was more powerful than the kings he defeated. So the idea, if that is the case, then the idea that Isaiah says that the train of his robe filled the temple, it suggests to the reader that this king is unmatched in his authority and victory and power. Train of his robe fills the temple with glory. He is high and holy. He is unmatched and he is king. He is the high and holy one who reigns over every other ruler and authority. He is supreme and that is why the Bible says,

Isaiah writes that these angels, these seraphim, that word seraphim means burning ones. They are flying around the throne of heaven and they say to one another in verse three, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. One translation says it like this. It says that they are saying, may his glory fill the whole earth. These angels proclaim this consistently and continuously in his presence. And do you notice in verse three that they don't just say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord. The whole earth is full of his holiness. No, they say the whole earth is full of his glory. Why is that important, Justin? I'm glad you asked. Here's why it's important. It's important because when scripture talks about God's glory, it points to his holiness on display. Points to his holiness on display. And that is why, and I wanna give this to you right at the outset there. And I failed to give it to you at the beginning. So if you go back up in your notes, let me give it to you now. Here's how we define glory as a church. Grace, we define as a church. We, Fellowship Bible Church, believe that grace is defined as the sovereign love of God

in the redeeming acts of Jesus. Sovereign love of God in the redeeming acts of Jesus. That's there on the bulletin. But here's how we define glory. Glory is the public display of God's infinite worth. The public display of God's infinite worth. I wanna make sure I give that to you before we move forward because it's important. We're gonna talk about that throughout the series. I don't want you to miss it. So forgive me for skipping back up, but I wanna give that to you. So again, we define glory as the public display of God's infinite worth, which is his holiness. It's holiness. That's important because again scripture links his glory and his holiness They're intertwined why because one of the major things that we'll see in the book of Isaiah is that God is the Holy One of Israel That's a phrase that we'll hear throughout Isaiah He's the Holy One of Israel and he is the exalted King that governs over all his creation This is who he is. He is divine This is his display of his glory the glimpse of his glory. And so we see divine timing We see this detailed description of what Isaiah sees in God's presence and then notice number three the direct response of Isaiah Let's see that up there in case you want to write it down the direct response of Isaiah this response comes from an honest place in his heart because yes He sees the light of God's glory the beauty of God's glory the majesty of God's glory But he also sees the weight of his sin He's the weight of his sin and he says I am a man woe is me. I'm a man of unclean lips When he says that I cannot help but think about Matthew chapter 12, I think it's around verse 34 Matthew chapter 12 It says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks

Which is suggesting that whatever comes out of your mouth is a reflection of what is in your heart I believe that's what Isaiah is pointing at when he says my lips are unclean and the people I dwell among their lips are unclean He's pointing to the fact that my lips are reflection of my heart. God. My heart is not clean He says woe is me He is deeply convicted in the presence of God He's convicted of his own sin He sees his own sin in the presence and the light of God's glory and his holiness and yet Here's what I love and and and I wish I could have said it like this But Warren Weir's beset it much better than I could he said that Isaiah's conviction leads to confession And his confession leads to cleansing His conviction leads to confession and his confession leads to cleansing That's why the fourth element we see in this vision is divine atonement and call See Isaiah's divine atonement and call After confession in in verse 6 the Bible tells us that one of the angels who is flying around the throne of heaven Comes down to where Isaiah is he has a burning coal in his hand touches the lips of Isaiah And I love that line. He says that your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for I Love that and as I as I read that I could not help but think about the point of connection I thought about the the historical reference in the Old Testament even during the times of the temple in the wilderness when not when the priest would would take a Sacrifice from the people you see here's here's what it looked like the people or during the time of prayer that they would take an animal Sacrifice lay their hands on it as if to transfer their sin onto the sacrifice It would give this that this this this perfect sacrifice this animal sacrifice to the priest and he would place it on the altar Place it on the altar that brazen altar the coals would consume it by fire And that was a sign and a symbol that their sacrifice was received that their sins were forgiven And what is interesting is you see those same coals the Bible says those same coals from the altar Taken by the angel and placed on the lips of Isaiah as a sign that you were cleansed and you were freed from sin And yes, that is beautiful But I cannot also forget about the fact that yes, it shows us what the priest did

but it also points ahead to what Jesus will do because he is the only one who is both sacrifice and Priest because he says I am the one who stands before the father on your behalf and I will sacrifice myself I will be the one so that in me your sins will be forgiven and atoned It's the beauty of the gospel and we see this this glimpse in the text So all of this is what we see in the story and technically we could go home just off of that But there's more that I want us to see I want us to dig a little deeper and to consider this because this is a beautiful Story, we see so many rich elements in this that we could talk about it for days even considering the fact that that that not Only does conviction lead to confession and confession to cleansing. I'll even add another see it leads to calling Because in verse 8 we see that Isaiah says here I am when the question is asked who will go for us who can we send Isaiah says here I am send me Isaiah becomes a prophet to the nations and yes this is beautiful and we see the glory of God displayed through this text and and as I wrestled through this Text this week and as I processed through it and studied it I have to be honest church. I wrestled because I wondered how can I help our church relate to this text? Because the beauty of this text is the vision But the reality is when we read it many of us would say if not all of us I believe I'm right in this none of us have had a vision like Isaiah had in chapter 6 Unless unless you have and you can say Justin I had the exact same vision I guarantee you none of us in the room have had this vision that he had As a matter of fact, I thought about it and and I process Lord How do I help our church relate to a text like this because it seems so otherworldly it seems so beyond us How do we relate to this? As I process through it, I realize the central truth of the sermon. Here's where it it captured me Here's where it came alive for me. It captured my heart and I realized no I have not stood In the same place that Isaiah stood I have not seen the vision of the celestial throne of God I've not seen the seraphim flying around the heavenly throne. But what I can tell you is this I Have not had the same encounter as Isaiah But I have seen glimpses of God's glory. I Have not had the same encounter that Isaiah had but ladies and gentlemen I can tell you and I believe you can say the same is true for you that I have seen we have seen

glimpses of God's glory Okay, wait a minute Justin I've never had the vision that Isaiah had how can you tell me I've seen glimpses of God's glory Number one I can tell you you've seen glimpses of God's glory because every time you open up his word You see glimpses of his glory As a matter of fact we see glimpses of his glory in the first of all in the person in the work of Jesus Christ We see glimpses of his glory in the work of Jesus Christ. Not just in his work, but even in his divine birth His divine arrival born as a baby in the womb of a virgin as the fulfillment of prophecy You see God's glory on display and how Christ taught the scriptures and performed miracles and had compassion on the least of these You see glimpses of God's glory in the paradox of the beauty of the cross Justin why would you say it's a paradox? It's it's a paradox because how could something so gruesome and painful and awful be considered beautiful? It's beautiful because the Savior of the world died for the sins of the world so that through him we might be saved And that is beautiful and Then the same one who died by the beauty of the gospel We hear and read was raised in three days and the resurrection is proof of the glory of God So we look at Christ And we see the glory of God on display in his life and in his ministry and his death and his resurrection We see it clearly evidenced in Scripture But can I also tell you that not only do we see Glimpses of God's glory evidence in the life and the ministry in the work of Jesus Christ We also see evidence and glimpses of God's glory in creation We see it in creation As I was thinking about this point I I was I wanted to ask you because I had to ask myself this and sit with this own question During the week, but I wondered church When was the last time? you paused to take in the beauty of the morning sunrise What was the last time you went outside and sat under the vastness of the starry sky?

It was the last time you took a walk in the park Notice the diversity of the birds and the flowers and the trees and yes, even the bugs even bugs Can reflect Majesty in the glory of God even spiders as long as they stay over there Just over there you can glorify God over there don't come over here But all of creation glorifies God It reflects his glory and we see glimpses of it all around us And yet as I process through that I will be the first to stand up here to admit to you that I am guilty And maybe you are as well of being consumed in my own busyness And I often miss glimpses of his glory in creation Which is why I've learned that I'm still learning to be intentional to regularly practice what one author calls the power of pause the power of pause So that I can experience a glimpse of his glory in creation sometimes for me that means walking in in the park either by myself walking the park with my wife or my kids are standing in The vastness of the ocean taking in the picturesque beauty of a sunset Or enjoying good food and laughter in the company and community of the people God created we do that family The gatherings in our small groups on holidays and maybe even today as we celebrate I'll just say hunter we celebrate hunter. Yes, because I know I'm in mixed company I heard some of y'all earlier when he said go Patriots. So I just said we celebrate hunter. There we go. Yes Yes, we celebrate one of our own But but all of these ways we practice the power of pause We practice these moments because it breaks us away even if just for a moment from the all-consuming Busyness of the world and it centers our heart and mind so that we can see glimpses of his glory in creation As I thought about that this week I was Processing through and thinking about Lord Is there a picture that maybe I can show our church to to cement this thought this idea and I start looking through my phone Of all the different pictures I've taken over the years and and and I remembered I said, oh I gotta show them this I gotta show them this photo, but before I show you the photo I want to tell you the story behind the photo. So a few years ago. I was blessed to be able to take some time away just a time of reflection and time of solitude by myself and so I went to

Canada because I wanted to go to Banff National Park. I've never ever been to Banff National Park is absolutely gorgeous I went to Lake Louise and and and I saw it and and the mountains was beautiful and I Canoed in the turquoise water and it was absolutely gorgeous And so I got all my pictures and and and soaked in all the beauty of that nature And so as I was walking back to my car, I heard someone say and they weren't even talking to me But I heard someone say yeah, Lake Louise is beautiful, but you really got to go to Moraine Lake And I just kind of made a mental note of that and I drove back About an hour and a half to my Airbnb and so when I got there I remembered what they said and I went down church about a two-hour rabbit hole of Googling and youtubing and researching this Moraine Lake and I decided I got to go see this I've got to go see this it was two hours almost two hours of 15 minutes away from where I was staying So the next day I got up at 2 30 in the morning. Yes, you heard me correctly dark and early at 2 30 in the morning I drove some two hours and 15 minutes went to a open parking lot in the shopping mall There were a few of the cars there We all got on this bus at 5 o'clock drove up the mountain drove up the the mountain area where we needed to be parked followed the signs and I found my spot on the side of a rock where I Needed to sit and I waited for the Sun to rise and then I saw it And this was the picture that I took let's show the picture I Know some of you you're thinking you googled that you didn't take that picture. I Promise you I took that picture. I was there And for almost an hour and I know it's hard to believe I was speechless. Just yes you yes, I was speechless because at the end of the day to see and and to be To be immersed in this environment to see the vastness of that mountain I needed that moment because it reminded me how small I am and how big God is Not in sentence not small in the sense of insignificant in the sight of God But no it reminded me no Justin the world doesn't revolve around you You are small God is big and vast and glorious. I Don't know about you, but I believe we all need some moraine lake moments in our lives Moments where we are humbled and reminded that we are small and God is big and that we rejoice like the prophet Isaiah

We rejoice and tremble in his presence because he has given us in creation and in Christ. He's given us a glimpse of his glory Yes Now the beauty of the gospel is that we see these glimpses here and there and we will not see it fully until we see him face to face But while we remain in this body of flesh he has granted us by his grace glimpses of his glory and Before we close. I want to process through one more question Because now that we know what's going on in the text now that we understand the central truth of the sermon that I have yet Seen glimpses of his glory. I see it in creation. I see it in Christ. Now. Here's the question I want us to process through before we leave. How should we respond? to these glimpses You see them in Christ. We see them in creation. We see them all around us So how Justin based on what we see in the text, how should we respond? I Would suggest to you two things that we see in the text The first one is actually two words, but I want to give both to you I believe that we should respond with awe and wonder We should respond with awe and wonder Let's leave that up there just for a second with awe and wonder Paul David Tripp great author in in his book He says this he says without being captured by the awe of God One's heart often turns to self self-awe, which can be dangerous. I love that insight because what he is suggesting and what he is concluding is that far too many of us are guilty of self-awe in our walk with the Lord. I will be the first again to admit that yes, I have practiced self-awe in my ability to put confidence in the things that I know and my ability to work hard because I have often fallen privy to the lie that says, yeah, if you just know more and you just work harder, everything will be better.

I've told myself that and yet I realize that the more I know and as I grow in my journey with the Lord, I realize, church, the more I know about him, the little I know about him. The more I think I know about him, the far less I really know about him because his glory is vast and big and beautiful and so at the end of the day, I don't want to practice self-awe but I wanna be continuously captured by the awe of God. I wanna be captured by his beauty, captured by his holiness, captured by his splendor, captured by his majesty, captured by what? Walter Brueggemann, that beautiful commentary scholar, he says, I love this phrase he uses. He says, captured by God's sovereign otherness. I wanna be captured by his sovereign otherness. I wanna continue to see glimpses of his glory and I wanna respond in awe and wonder. And let me say this because I think this is important before I move on. Some of you are here, you're watching me and the reality of your life right now is you hear me talking about awe and wonder and that's beautiful and that's great but Justin, I am struggling, I am suffering. It is hard to be filled with awe and wonder when I'm struggling. I get that and that's why my prayer for you today is that even in your suffering,

that the Holy Spirit would help you to maintain and to have and to maintain an eternal perspective to know that even when life gets hard, that you are not without hope, that you are not without help, that you can lift your eyes and see the one who is your help. Responded with awe and wonder. Last one, number two, we respond with humble gratitude. Humble gratitude. Why does humble gratitude come after awe and wonder? Well, it comes after awe and wonder, I believe, because based on what we see in the text, Isaiah is the model. He shows us that we are in awe and wonder. We're fascinated by God's glory. It is beautiful and wonderful but then when we see our sin and brokenness, it leads us, yes, to repentance but it also leads us to humble gratitude. Why are we humbled? Why are we grateful? We're humbled and grateful because the Holy God of heaven, the one who was unapproachable by sinful men, chose to approach us by sending his son to save us from our sins so that through him we would be back in right relationship with the Father again. That is the promise of the gospel, ladies and gentlemen,

and the glimpses of God's glory humble us. Why? Because they show us, yes, Isaiah says he is the Lord of glory but then Jesus comes in the New Testament to show you that he is also the Lord of grace. He is the Lord of grace and the Lord of glory, the Lord of glory and the Lord of grace. He's the Lord of glory and the Lord of grace because he came to earth, he went to the cross, he died for our sins so that through his life and death and burial and resurrection we can see God's glory on display. So my prayer for us, church, for all of us, for each and every one of our campuses, for our staff, for our elders, for our members, even for those who are attending, even if you're here for the first time, welcome. Here is my prayer for us. As one of your teaching pastors, my prayer is may we be captured again and again and again in awe and wonder by his glory. May we respond in humble gratitude that the Lord of glory is the Lord of grace and may every glimpse of his glory on this side of heaven, knowing that one day we will see fully and perfectly the totality of his glory and celebrate him. But on this side of heaven, praying that everything we experience, knowing that as beautiful and as wonderful

and as awesome as it may be, it is still drawing us closer and closer and closer because he says, yeah, I know you think that meal is good, but there's more. I know you think that mountain range, that picture that Justin showed you is beautiful. There's more. I know you think that maybe that nature scape that you saw, whatever you think is beautiful is yes, but there's more that I wanna show you. My glory is vast and beautiful and amazing and it's beyond. beyond you can ever imagine. And I pray that His glory would draw us closer and deeper, deeper in our relationship with Him, deeper in our devotion and our love for Him, and ultimately deeper in our obedience to His word. Father, thank you that you are calling us by your grace and for your glory, deeper to see and to wrap our minds around it. Yes, Lord, I know that our minds are finite. We cannot fully understand the weight and the beauty of your glory. It's like trying to understand the universe. We cannot, cannot wrap our minds around all of it. It's beyond us, but thank you for your sovereign otherness that you choose to reveal yourself to us, that you've revealed yourself to us in ways that we can understand, that you've revealed yourself to us in creation, that you reveal your glory to us, not just in nature,

but even in the people that you've created. Thank you that we can be reflectors of your glory. Thank you that your glory is your holiness on display, your otherness, you're beyond us. Thank you that you are above us. You're the King seated high on the throne, and you are also, Lord, as I read this week, a down-to-earth God, that you don't just sit above us, but you are also invested in our everyday lives. Thank you for the blessing, thank you for the beauty, thank you for the richness of seeing, of savoring, of celebrating your glory. Forgive us in the times when we've been so busy, so caught up in our own world and our own things that we have missed the glimpses. And I pray, Lord, that we would continually, until we see you face to face, be again and again captured and in awe and wonder by your glory, in Jesus' name, amen.