God & Uncertain Times

Introduction

Illustration: “I am now the most miserable man living,” wrote one famous American leader. “If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on earth. To remain as I am is impossible. I must die or be better.” It might surprise you to know that it was the great Abraham Lincoln who made that comment.

Several years later, in the darkest days of the American Civil War, Lincoln wrestled constantly with the ghost of unrelenting depression. It can strike anyone. No one has ever been immune, not even honest Abe. When you stop and think about it, here is this marvelous character in American history who felt completely and totally alone during a time of crisis. Surely, if anyone should’ve been able to sleep well at night, it certainly had to have been Abraham Lincoln; he was the most protected man on earth! Yet, there he was, tossing and turning through the night, haunted by his dark and debilitating thoughts!”

Maybe what I said there about Abraham Lincoln is a good description of you. I’m sure we’ve all had our moments over the last few months haven’t we. Certainly, for me personally, there’s been several times when I looked up to heaven during my prayer time and asked God, “What are you doing? Why is this happening now?” It’s trying isn’t when things seem to be going haywire on the one hand, and God seems to be quiet on the other. A long, long time ago the prophet Isaiah had an experience like that, and I think we can learn a lot from what happen to him. So, if you’ve got a copy of God’s Word, I would ask you to open it up to the sixth chapter of Isaiah. I’m going to read a passage I know we’ve all heard several times, Isaiah 6:1-8, but I want to focus the vast majority of our attention on vv. 1, although I’m going to comment briefly on vv.2-7. Then I want to issue a challenge you and to me based on what’s said in Isaiah 6:8. In this text we’re going to see when, where, and how God shows himself in uncertain times.

Isaiah 6:1–8 NKJV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 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.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Prayer

When God Shows Himself

Isaiah 6:1a NKJV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

The first thing I want to point out to you is what’s said in the first portion of v.1. Isaiah said that this all happened “In the year King Uzziah died …” Quite often God shows himself in those moments and times when we would think that everything is totally uncertain; it’s in those moments when we think God is being quiet, so to speak, that he can speak loudest. In the case of Isaiah, the setting went like this. In about 740 BC the small nation of Israel had gone through a period of time that had been quite prosperous. 2 Chronicles 26 tells us that the people had made Uzziah their king when he was only 16 years old, and all in all, he had been a good one, doing an excellent job in protecting Jerusalem and keeping the people he ruled safe. However, the chronicler also tells us that when Uzziah grew in strength and power he got arrogant and went into the temple to burn incense on the alter, a job that was reserved for only the priests. It was because of his arrogance, that God had stricken Uzziah with leprosy and he had to spend the rest of his life in quarantine away from the people he led. You see, skin diseases in that time and place were extremely serious because if they were allowed to spread to the population as a whole, the effects could be devastating, bringing an entire civilization to its knees. That said, however, even in this judgement, 2 Chronicles 27 says that Uzziah did what was right in the eyes God. For all of his mistakes he had apparently put a lot of effort into doing much good. The people over which he ruled, however, not so much because they continuously pushed against the grain, wanting to worship other gods and serve themselves, and in the case of Isaiah, he could certainly see this, and doubtless that’s what he had in mind when he found himself at God’s house, the temple. With the king having died, times were uncertain. Would God show himself to be faithful to all he’d said in the past?

(Appeal) Let me ask you a question, how many times do we find ourselves in a situation like Isaiah when we feel like the walls of society and the world are beginning to close in around us? How many times in your life have you experienced this? Maybe you’ve got that feeling several times over the last few months, I know I certainly have! Did you know that it’s often in these moments that God looms largest; it’s often in these moments when God shows himself to be most faithful to those who place their faith in him? Look at the text.

Where God Shows Himself

Isaiah 6:1b NKJV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

In the middle portion of v.1 you see where God shows himself faithful in those tough times, and it’s found in where God located. Isaiah says in v.1 that “In the year that King Uzziah died [that’s the uncertain time Isaiah found himself in, he says], I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up ...” When I read this, I can’t help but wonder about what Isaiah might have been thinking as he made his way to the temple. I wonder if he was like me, and doubtless the majority of us all, in that I would have probably been thinking (and worrying) about the situation at hand instead of focusing my eyes on the One who is in charge, and is in reality the cure for it all? How many times are we like that? In times of uncertainty we focus our attention on the worry of what could be, one, not thinking God will show himself, and two, not understanding that where God shows himself in Scripture should be the supreme comfort to us all! In the last part of Is.6:1 it’s where God showed himself to Isaiah, and us, that’s important. Look at what the text says, Isaiah saw God “on a throne, high and lifted up …” Let me ask you a really simple question, where do kings sit? On a throne, where they rule over everything in their realm. If you’ve ever played the game king of the mountain then you’ll know that the person who sits the highest rules over everyone else. Of this king, God Almighty, the Scriptures tell that he says of himself, “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool …” (Is. 66:1a). You see friends, God is completely sovereign; he always has been, and he always will be, period, and it’s in his majesty and sovereignty that he assures those who love him that they have nothing to worry about because he is in control as he and he alone reigns supreme! Sometimes I think we, as believers, have a tendency to forget that. Let me give you a quick illustration.

Illustration: There’s a story about a woman named Mary Slessor. Mary was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1848, and was brought up in the Scottish Presbyterian Church. When she grew up, she became a missionary to Africa at a time when it was almost unheard of for a woman to even think of doing such a thing. Mary spent years working with the local tribes and one of the things that she fought long and hard against was a tribal practice that had persisted for generations in the African culture. When twins were born to a family one of the babies was considered to be a child of the devil. Because the tribesmen were unsure as to which twin it was, they would kill both babies. Over and over Mary Slessor watched this brutal practice and she would plead with the leaders not to do it, but to no avail. It finally go to the point at which she though she couldn’t continue on, and it seemed as if God was never going to answer her calls for help! The worry and intensity of the situation seemed to be too much for her to stand! Then finally, right when she thought all was lost, God moved to open a door and she was afforded the ability to adopt the children. Church, it was when Mary Slessor was at her weakest that God showed her he sits highest upon his throne. And so it is with us also.

(Appeal) Let me ask you, when you’re at your weakest where do you look? Do your eyes go vertical toward God, or do they move horizontally toward the world that surrounds you? I would encourage you to look to God because it’s often at that lowest moment when God shows himself high and mighty upon his throne, lifted far above all others!

How God Shows Himself

Isaiah 6:1c NKJV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

Just to give a quick recap, in the first portion of v.1 you see when God shows himself, then, in the second part of the v.1 you see where God shows himself, and finally in the last part of v.1, and on through v.7 you see how God shows himself. Let’s look at that now. Isaiah begins at the end of v.1 by saying that “the train of His robe filled the temple.” I want you to use your imagination for just a minute, if you will. Imagine the most amazing building in the world, and from your perspective, its size is immense; it’s the biggest building you’ve ever been in, let alone seen. If that’s not enough, attached to this structure is the fact that the creator of the universe, the ruler of all things, God, calls it his earthly residence! Now, imagine walking into it and you find that you can’t even move because every square inch of space, every nook and cranny, is filled with the train of God’s robe. Now, what’s more, is that word “train” is actually referring to the very edge, what we might call the hem, of the robe! Let that sink in for a minute. (Pause) If you haven’t caught what’s going on here, the point is that not only is God sovereign, he’s also BIG, and by “big” here I mean that in his sovereignty God stands over, beyond, and above all things. The Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it like this in question four when it asks, “What is God?” The answer states, “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” The point is that in all of those things listed there, God is BIG with all capital letters. How does God show this? In Isaiah’s case, he was given a vision of the heavenly throne room in vv.2 and 3 where heavenly beings, seraphim, attended God crying out that he was not just holy, but three times holy (v.3), and the of the voice of the seraph, when he said this, was so loud that it made the “posts of the door/the threshold” shake, and the temple was “filled with smoke.” Now here’s where I want to point out something to you. What does poor Isaiah do when all of this happens? Does he grab a selfie stick and start snapping pictures and posting on social media? No, he realizes who he is, what he is, and where he is. He says “Woe is me, for I am undone/destroyed/cut off! 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.” What’s happened here is that Isaiah has realized that he’s been witness to the holiness and vastness of God, and he knows that he’s about to be made into the dust from which he came. But hold on! God may be sovereign and vastly above all things, but he’s also patient and he had a job for Isaiah to do. Verses 6 and 7 speak of Isaiah being purified when one of the seraphim touched his lips with a live coal from the alter. Now, here’s the thing we need to understand about that, if a live coal was taken from the alter, it presupposes that a sacrifice had to be made, or else Isaiah could not have heard the words, “You iniquity/guilt is taken away, and your sin purged/atoned for.” [I think it’s interesting that the LXX renders Is. 6:7 like this, “And it touched my mouth and said, “Look, this has touched your lips and will take away your transgressions and will purge away your sins.” NOTE: The word “will” is in both instances rendered in the future in the Greek text.] Church, from Isaiah’s perspective this sacrifice was future. You see, God is so BIG that he could say that to Isaiah. From our perspective God is so BIG that he can tell us it has already been done on our behalf, completed when Jesus rose from the grave. That, church, is how God shows himself, he’s that big, and I don’t know about you, but I can certainly serve and rely on a God that’s like that even in the most uncertain of times.

Conclusion

Isaiah 6:8 NKJV

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Now, with all of that said, I want to conclude this message with a challenge to all of us here, and anyone else who might be watching, or watch this in the future, and I want to base it on Isaiah 6:8. Look at the text, it says, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Church, we’re all in this together. I cannot do it by myself, and neither can you. The gospel message will not be spread in this community nor any other if you and I are not here to do it. The people outside these doors will never see how BIG the God you serve is unless we as a church are unified in all the things we do. That means all of our programs; all of our activities. Why? It’s because we are the means through which God shows his bigness and love to a lost and dying world, and that most often in the most uncertain times! So, my challenge is this, who are you going to be; who are we going to be? Are we going to be people who stand in the shadows, or are we going to be like Isaiah who said, “Here am I! Send me”?

Invitation

Prayer