In 1984, John Piper, then the teaching pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, covered the text of Isaiah 6:1-8 in the morning service. On the third page of the transcript of that message, Piper made the following observation:
“There is not a single head of state in all the world who will be there in fifty years. The turnover in world leadership is 100%. In a brief 110 years this planet will be populated by ten billion brand new people and all four billion of us alive today will have vanished of the earth like Uzziah. But not God. He never had a beginning and therefore depends on nothing for his existence. He always has been and always will be alive.”
Today, those figures would have to be updated. Thirty-eight years of Piper’s suggested fifty years are in the past. Piper’s estimate of 4 billion in his time has become 8 billion plus. And few, very few of the world leaders of 1984 are still on the stage of history. The world is well on the way to the 10 million projected but it is still the Lord of glory who sits on His throne. “He always has been and always will be alive.”
Because He is alive, on His throne, and is the King of glory (Psalm 24), we have nothing to fear and but one question to answer.
From one angle, the whole Bible is about people either saying YES or NO to God and His will.
Think of the great epochs of the Bible,
the Exodus – would Moses say YES to God’s call to lead the nation
would the people say YES and follow Moses
the conquest of the land – would they say YES and go into the land
Israel vs idolatry – would the people say YES and give up their idols
Jonah – would Jonah say YES and go to Nineveh and preach
In the New Testament – would the disciples say YES and leave their nets
The church of Antioch – would they say YES and give up Barnabas and Paul
to a church planting mission or not.
A hundred passages could be given as examples but just one will summarize all of them:
2 Chronicles 16:9
“For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth
that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.”
Isaiah faced the day when he had to reckon with what God desired. It was the day of his call to ministry. It was also in the year that in which good king Uzziah died. Go ahead and read the first 8 verses of chapter 6. Here, I’ll make it easy for you:
Isaiah 6:1-8 (NASB95)
1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among 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 with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
8 Then 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!”
I don’t preach much these days, but if I did, here’s three things I would point out to observe:
- Through the trials and surprises of life, God remains both sovereign and holy. (vss 1-4)
- In the trials and surprises of life, there is an opportunity for self-discovery. (vss. 5-7)
- Through the trials and surprises of life, God asks the same question . . . (vs. 8)
“Will you say Yes! to Me?”
William Borden’s quote is right on point. “In every situation say NO to yourself and YES to Jesus.” It’s the key to life. May you remember to say YES to Jesus this Thanksgiving and may your heart learn to delight in saying NO to yourself.
ChosenRebel's Blog 