Messiah Has Come: God Is on the Throne
Isaiah 6; 11:1-2a
“God is on the throne!” That’s the comment I think I heard pastors and preachers like me saying most often during the recent presidential campaign: “No matter what happens. God is on the throne.” And, usually, after we had said it, church people responded with applause or with a resounding “Amen!” That powerful phrase communicates that, no matter who might become the leader in any nation at any time in history, the God who loves us and is our Father is the one who is in control of everything in the world he created. God is God and God is on the throne. Hallelujah!
Today, on this second Advent weekend of 2016, I want to think about what it means personally and practically to you when you believe that God is on the throne. It makes a difference in any setting in this world when you know who is in charge. My Mom was in charge of the kitchen when we got ready for big meals at our home. Sometimes, I’d walk into the kitchen while she was making the meal and the whole place looked like a mess. But, over the years, I learned to know that she knew what she was doing. That “mess” was a necessary part of a marvelous meal that was to come. I knew the meal would be great, that the family dinner table would be beautiful, and that – after all was done – the kitchen would be put back into good order. Mom was in charge – and I learned to trust that the final product would be fantastic. It always was. And what was true about my Mom in the kitchen is infinitely more true about God in this world.
To show us that truth today, we will turn to Isaiah 6, the Bible passage that occurs just before Isaiah’s great prophecies about the coming of a Messiah. It’s about a young man who one day met the King on the throne.
What Was Going On When a Young Man Learned Who Is on the Throne?
In the year that King Uzziah died… (6:1)
Isaiah starts this chapter by making sure we know that what he would testify to happened in the year that King Uzziah died, i.e., 739 BC. This date was life-changing for him. You can read all about what was going on at that time in Isaiah 1-5. After years of great material and military success, the people in Judah had become smug, proud, and pleasure seeking. Oh, they still claimed that their lives were right with God – but the way they were living showed they were not. Every sin that people in other nations engaged in, the people of Judah engaged in them too. But, they excused themselves saying, “We’re better than other nations. At least we show up at worship. We’re OK!”
But the truth is that things were beginning to fall apart in their country. Their material success was diminishing. Their families and marriages were disintegrating. And, after years of feeling secure, a major superpower, i.e., Assyria, had a new dictator – Tiglath-Pilezer -- who said he was ready to expand his kingdom with an expansion that led directly through Jerusalem.
The one thing Judah still had was an effective king. King Uzziah had been a good king, generally speaking, and he had experienced a very long reign, 52 years. He had been a strong military leader, an efficient administrator and a man generally true to God. In any institution, or organization or nation, there always seems to be a ray of hope, even in the worst of times, when the one in charge is capable. In light of that, the significance of that little opening phrase in v.1 shouts out at us: “It was in the year that King Uzziah died.” He would no longer be on the throne.
Who Is the King Who Was, Is and Always Will Be on the Throne? I saw the Lord seated on the throne…
With all the change and uncertainty happening in his country, this young man – probably a teenager at the time -- went into the Temple one day. It seems likely that the throne for the coronation of the next king, Jothan, had already been erected there. You see, coronations took place in Jerusalem’s temple. With that in mind, Isaiah must have been shocked when he walked into the temple and saw there was someone already on the throne. What he saw was not the future king of Judah. He saw the King of Glory.
In just a few words in vv.1-4, Isaiah describes what must have been a staggering encounter. The impact of this event seems to have its way burnt into his memory and stayed with him for the remainder of his life. Imagine being there when Isaiah walked out of the sanctuary and said:
Guess what I just saw. I saw the Lord high and exalted seated on the throne; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. I saw fiery angelic beings encircling him each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
And guess what I heard. These fiery angels were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is filled with his glory!”
The music must have been thunderous. Isaiah says it rocked the foundations of the entire temple. And smoke was rising in the temple. If this is, as I imagine, the smoke of incense, then the overall effect is that Isaiah’s three senses -- of sight, sound, and smell -- were overwhelmed by the power and holiness of God.
What would you think if one of our high school or college students came up to you and said that he had shown up early in church this morning and this is what he saw? But, that is what young Isaiah saw.
Let me say that to each one here today: I believe you and I – and all Christians – need to live in light of the fact that the God Isaiah saw that day is still on the throne over everything in this world. I fear that we Christians in America may be where Judah was in Isaiah’s day, i.e., saying that we are believers but having lost a sense of God’s power and holiness. I ask you: Do you believe that God is as Isaiah described him to be? Do you believe that he is “on the throne”, sovereign over everything? Mostly, is God on the throne of your life?
The genuine Jesus-follower is one who has seen that all authorities throughout the entire world are nothing compared to the authority and power of Almighty God. We are people who have surrendered our lives to the King over kings. Have you done that? If you have, you are to live each day trusting him no matter what happens in this world. God is on the throne.
Do you remember the movie Chariots of Fire when Lord Cadogen tries to compel Eric Liddell to run on a Sunday against his conscience? Cadogen said, “In my day, it was kings first, and God after.” Liddell said, “God made countries, God makes kings, and the rules by which they govern. And those rules say that the Sabbath is His. And when God says it, I for one intend to keep it that way.”
Think of what happened to Isaiah: He went into the temple anxious because his good king was dead. He came out confident because he knew the real King is alive eternally. I am convinced that knowing God as Isaiah knew him is the starting point for you and me living each and every day of our lives in ways that honor him – and that are at peace even when everything seems to be out of control. The Bible declares to you that no matter what happens each day in your life, this God is on the throne. Knowing that changed Isaiah’s life.
So, now the personal question: How should believing God is on the throne change you today?
How does knowing God is on the throne change your life?
I believe that knowing God changes everything. Of course, I cannot talk about everything God changes in us in one sermon. So, let’s focus on how Isaiah’s meeting began to change him and how it applies to us.
#1: You get your personal life right with God. Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. (6:7)
While he is in the presence of this holy God, Isaiah takes a look within his own life and what he sees there isn’t pretty. He cries, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
Isaiah thinks, “I’ve had it now. I shouldn’t have shown up in church today! I know myself. God is holy and I am unholy!” He might have only said as so many churchgoers say, “My family needs to be here today." They really need to repent.” Or, “The politicians need to be here today. They need to meet God.” And, of course, Isaiah would have been right about that. However, it was immediately clear to him that he had to start with himself. It wasn’t just others. No, he needed to be forgiven. He needed his life to change.
Imagine being Isaiah that day. He is in the presence of an awesome and holy God. Isaiah looks at his sin and feels that this holy God is going to destroy him. Then…just as he had feared…he sees one of the fiery angels, a seraph, pick up a fiery coal from the altar. It is so hot that even the seraph has to carry it with tongs. The seraph flies closer and closer to Isaiah with the live coal by the tongs. Then…the seraph touches Isaiah’s mouth with the hot coal. “This is the end!” Isaiah must have thought. “I am ruined.”
But Isaiah is not ruined. Hear his testimony:
One of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand... With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
What about you today? Isaiah was not the only one who has ever gone into the house of God needing to get his life right with the Lord. The same God Isaiah met is here today. Is everything in your life right with him? I tell you today: Confess your sin to him. He will say to you, “Your guilt is taken away. Your sin atoned for.”
When God broke into Isiah’s life and convicted him of his sin, God’s purpose wasn’t to shame him or to make him feel guilty – but to call Isaiah back to him and to offer him a new beginning. But, Isaiah had to receive the cleansing. Every time you hear the Word of God, you come away either a little bit closer to God or a little bit further away from him, either more softened to God or more hardened. But you are never the same. If God is convicting you of something in your life that needs to be confessed, don’t harden your heart to him.
Think about it: The angel said his sin had been atoned for. That phrase “atoned for” means that the penalty for sin had been paid. But who paid? At this moment in his life, Isaiah didn’t even know how God would atone for his sin. Later he would get foretastes of how God would pay for the sins of sinners and declare us right with him. Isaiah would begin to have prophecies of a coming Messiah. But, here, this young man just knew that this big a God could do whatever he said he would do. And God said, that his guilt was taken away.
Anytime you truly you meet God, you will be like Isaiah. You will know you have to get your life right with him. How? What you must do is confess your sins and turn from them. Ask him to save you. Place your faith in Jesus, the one who atoned for your sins on the cross. I urge you to get your life right with him now.
#2: You gain a new “first desire”, to please God – Here am I. Send me! (6:8)
I have tried to imagine what Isaiah must have felt when he heard his guilt was gone. Relief? Surprise? I think he felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I think Isaiah knew that he didn’t deserve even to be alive but – suddenly – now he finds Almighty God declaring him forgiven. I am sure Isaiah was wildly grateful. He was so grateful to God that he was willing to do anything God wanted him to do. He would always have a lot of desires like we all have. But, the one that had priority over all others was that Isaiah wanted to please God.
And, the first thing God asked him to do was really hard! Isaiah was to go and tell the people that the time for God’s verdict on their sin had come. God let Isaiah know the people would not believe him when he delivered the message! What preacher wants a job like that? Preaching – but nobody believing?
But, after experiencing God’s grace and forgiveness, Isaiah is ready to do anything God asks. He doesn’t ask what the assignment is, the salary, the retirement plan or even the health care benefits under the new Judah Affordable Care Act! He only says, “I’m ready. Send me!” Are you grateful to God for loving you in spite of your sin? How grateful are you? Are you so grateful to Jesus that you say? “Here am I. Send me.”
Read through the rest of Isaiah’s book and you will read about a man with remarkable courage. Isaiah would have to confront kings and deliver unpleasant messages of judgment. He would have to call people to trust God even when they saw powerful nations bearing down on them. Isaiah’s calling was a hard calling! But he did what God asked him to do!
Let me tell you this: The times in my life when I have most experienced the closeness of God are those times when I said, “Lord, what I think You are calling me to do is bigger than I am and harder than anything I want to attempt. Even seeking to be LAC’s pastor shepherding this wonderful group of people through these volatile times in our society and country. How can that be done, Lord? But if you want me to do it, here I am. Send me.” When I simply say, “Not my will but yours” – again and again I have experienced the presence and sufficiency of God. I’m sure Isaiah did.
So, from where did Isaiah’s courage and confidence come? I say it began that day recorded in Isaiah 6 when the young man Isaiah had a personal experience of the awesome power, glory and grace of God. After that, Isaiah would need to fear nothing - even when he would stand before kings who would seem to have the power of life and death over him. He knew where the real power lay. He knew who was on the throne.
#3: You never lose hope
But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down,
So the holy seed will be the stump in the land (6:13).
This is one of the biggest things I want you to take home today. In v.13, the judgment that Isaiah would preach about would leave Isaiah’s people in a broken condition: Almost dead -- like a stump being all that’s left of what was once a beautiful forest. But, that stump was not yet dead. It had a “holy seed” in it. It was through that stump, through God’s people, that a Messiah would come. In other words, there was still hope.
Isaiah’s illustration is something we understand well here in Southern CA, i.e., that when fires burn through our lands, they do not only destroy – they also clear the ground for new growth. So, with beautiful poetry, Isaiah prophesies that there is hope when God is on the throne. Be sure of this, Isaiah says, even though sin must be judged, God will always provide a way of rescue for all who trust in him.
We will be talking about this hope for the rest of our Advent Season. Isaiah 6 is the beginning of a larger section of Isaiah’s book that runs from Isaiah 6-12. In Is 7, Isaiah will tell of a child who will be the central figure in God’s plan to rescue the world. That child will be Immanuel”, i.e., God with us.” Yes, the God whom Isaiah saw in the Temple will be born as a child through a virgin.
In Isaiah 11, we will learn that a shoot will come out of the stump. Listen to Isaiah’s words again: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him.” When he is done, “they will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Is 11:1-2a,9).”
I will stop there for now – with this final word of encouragement to you. I do not know all that is happening in your life, in your marriage, in your family or in any other part of your life. But, I do know this: God loves you with an everlasting love. He is greater than anything you are facing. If a part of the problem is you, then I tell you that God is ready to take your guilt away. He has found a way to atone for your sin. God is ready today to start again with you. I want you to tell God that you are returning to him – and that you are turning everything over to him.
No matter how hard the going may seem, when your trust is in God, you always know there is hope -- for the same God Isaiah saw on the throne one day is still on the throne.
“Trusting that God is on the throne is really the only thing that can keep us sane in the craziness of this life.
Yes, we are not to be passive and do nothing. In an election year, we need to vote and do our part as responsible citizens of this GREAT albeit broken and imperfect nation. And we need to pray...A LOT! But ultimately, I really believe that if we can remember that God is the one who removes kings and sets up kings and that he is not biting his nails over the outcome of all of this, we will actually be a whole lot more at peace, more effective and more relevant in our witness to this world and in this nation. And – to say the obvious – we will be a lot less "freaked out". God is on the throne.”
Steven Curtis Chapman