Who is the author of the story?

Who is the author?

GOOD MORNING!

Ask questions throw out candy:

            What is the theme?

            Name at least one section of the Story:

Story about traveling to India, monkey temple, meeting the flute man, describing God

Flute man’s god: Brahma; eight arms, strong, over 200 wives, able to steal any beautiful woman he wants from Earth, strong.

My Response: Long before everything that we see existed there was God. God was before the oldest living tree in the dark reaches of the Amazon. God was before the farthest star whose light is just now permeating our solar system. God was before your oldest living relative. God was before the Civil War, Revolutionary War, Christopher Columbus, dinosaurs, before everything that we see existed there was God! God was one in nature but three in substance. There is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and God formed a covenant amongst the Godhead to create the world. God created the whole world for one reason which was for His glory! God created the world to display His glory throughout everything that you and I see even the things we do not see. Everything on this planet exists to bring God glory. God is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-wise, never sleeps, authoritative, majestic, beautiful, magnificent, revered, loving, just, good, holy, etc… The Bible says that the mountains melt like wax before the presence of God. We could use every word in the English language and still not come close to encompassing the whole range of who God is.

At the end of my rambling, all the man could say was, WOW, that’s an amazing God!

This morning I would like to take a few minutes and direct our eyes upward to observe the greatness and the grandeur of who God is. If you get one of thing out of this sermon understand this, God cares about you. He cares about your problems, circumstances, and situation. God is big, mighty, and holy; however, He cares about you! This morning I am going to attempt to be like a hummingbird that flies near a flower in order to examine the flower on every side, or a bee that spends all day flying around a particular flower in order to examine the flower from every angle. Let us be like the bees this morning but instead of examining a flower let us examine God. Please open with me to Isaiah 6 in order to behold six attributes of God.

Read Isaiah 6:1-4

Sometimes the sermon is able to preach itself just by reading the text. Lets re-read and tick off what we notice about God. Isaiah 6:1-4…

1)      Uzziah is dead, but God is alive

2)      God is seated on His throne

3)      God’s throne is high and lifted up

4)      God is majestic

5)      God is revered

6)      God  is holy

1.      God is Alive:

King Uzziah is dead, but God is alive. If you were living during this time period you would understand the turmoil which existed every time a king would pass on. The nation of Israel was dependent on its king for protection and rule. When a king died the individuals who were living in the country did not know whether another army would come in and attack or if the nation would collapse. Israel did not know if the next king would be a good king who feared God or an evil king who did what he wanted. The death of a king was a very scary time, however, Isaiah records that even though Israel’s king may be dead, God is still on His throne.

God was the living God when this universe was created. He was the living God when dinosaurs roamed the earth. He was the living God when the English arrived in America and established the Plymouth colonies and He will be the living God long after all of us have departed from this planet. John Piper says, “God will be the living God ten trillion ages from now when all the puny potshots against his reality will have sunk into oblivion like BB’s at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.”

We are coming up on an election, Republicans are beginning to decide on who the candidate will be who will run against President Obama and regardless of what happens, regardless of who wins the elections, GOD will still be on His throne. God will still be ruling and reigning from Heaven. In a brief 110 years this planet will be populated by a brand new set of people and all seven billion of us alive today will have vanished off 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.

2) God is seated on His throne, God is Lord or God is authoritative:

Isaiah looked into Heaven and saw the Lord sitting upon a throne. God’s throne represents His authority over all. God see’s and knows all. Nothing takes God by surprise. Nothing causes God to worry or fret. Nothing takes His breath away. No one will ever catch God off guard. No one will ever find God not paying attention. No one will find God asleep at the wheel. You can’t tell God a knock knock joke because He already knows the answer. God sits on His throne and rules over the entire world. God is able to hear the prayers of everyone on this planet at the same time. God hears the prayers of the eight year old who prays that her dogs ear will be healed at the same time as He is hearing the prayers of the single mom who is barely providing for her family and praying for help to make it to the next pay check at the same time He is hearing the prayers of the elderly grandfather who praying for his wayward grandchildren. God hears it all and is in complete control. There is nothing God can’t handle. God is in control!

Do you believe that? What are you worried about? What are you fretting over? What or whom are you trying to control...Give it to God in prayer.

Remember God is the potter we are but the clay. The potter has every right to do with His creation what He pleases. If God chooses to create pottery for honorable use than praise God, but if He chooses to create vessels for dishonorable use than praise God. God is the potter, we are but clay! We are created He is creator. We are the paint brushes, He is the painter. We are petty cash in the Lord’s hand to use as He pleases. We are but tools in the Master’s hand. Listen up gang, God is authoritative over the universe the same way your parents rule over you. The way you submit to your parents teaching is a micro picture of how you submit to God. How are you doing? Do you talk back when your parents give you a simple direction? Are you constantly looking for ways to rebel or go against their wishes? If so, you can take it to the bank you will have a hard time submitting to God. Few things are more humbling, few things give us that sense of raw majesty, as the truth that God is sitting on His throne and is utterly authoritative. God is the Supreme Court. God is the legislature. God is the Chief Executive and after him there is no appeal.

3) God is omnipotent or all powerful:

The throne of God’s authority is not one among many. It is high and lifted up. John MacArthur writes, “That God’s throne is higher than every other throne signifies God’s superior power to exercise his authority. No opposing authority can nullify the decrees of God.” God’s power is clearly demonstrated in our salvation. The Bible teaches that we were dead in our trespasses and sin; all we knew was sin and all we could do was sin. John Piper provides a helpful illustration in which he says, “We were like a woman living in a dark cave and we touch our neck and tell ourselves that we are wearing a beautiful broach (pin), we touch it and tell ourselves how beautiful it is. BUT suddenly the light comes on and we suddenly realize it is not a broach but a ROACH! We are disgusted and fling off the roach.” In the same sense at one time are sin appeared fun, we loved our sin and thought we looked good sinning. However, God flooded our eyes one day with the light of His truth and we suddenly saw are sin as horrible and disgusting. We realized it wasn’t a broach but a ROACH! The Holy Spirit opened our eyes and revealed to us our sin and through the work of the Holy Spirit we were driven irresistibly to the cross where we found Christ.  If God was powerful enough to save you from yourself at your salvation than He is powerful enough to continue to save you every day from yourself. Did you know there is nothing you can do to make God love you less and there is nothing you can do to make God love you more…HE LOVES YOU!

4) God is majestic:

Fourth, God is majestic. “I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and His robe filled the temple.” Raise your hand if you have ever seen a wedding. Did you see when Edward and Bella tied got married in the latest twilight movie? Maybe last year you saw watched the royal wedding on TV and saw the bride’s beautiful train (back part of the dress) as it flowed down the steps and into the aile. We have all seen pictures of brides whose dresses are gathered around them covering the steps and the platform. What would the meaning be if the train filled the aisles and covered the seats and the choir loft, woven all of one piece? The length of the train represents wealth. That God’s robe fills the entire heavenly temple means that He is a God of incomparable splendor. The fullness of God’s splendor shows itself in a thousand little ways.

God created hundreds of different bananas, He put 3,000 different species of trees within one square mile in the Amazon, He created hundreds if not thousands of different kinds of laughs. He created plants to defy gravity by drawing water upward from the ground into their stems and veins; He created spiders which produce three different kinds of silk.

I’m not sure if they still sell these but growing up I would receive Zoo Books in the mail. This magazine was dedicated to different types of animals, one magazine talked about the different kinds of fish in the ocean. Did you know that there is a species of fish that live deep in the dark sea and have their own built-in lights—some have lamps hanging from their chins, some have luminescent noses; some have beacons under their eyes. There are a thousand kinds of self-lighted fish who live deep in the ocean where none of us can see. They are spectacularly weird and beautiful. Why are they there? No one can see them! Why not just a dozen or so efficient streamlined models? Because God is lavish in splendor. His creative fullness spills over in excessive beauty. And if that's the way the world is, how much more magnificent must be the Lord who thought it up and made it!

Whatever God’s reason for such diversity, creativity, and sophistication in the universe, on earth, and in our bodies, the point of it all is His glory. God’s art speaks of Himself, reflecting who He is and what He is like. God is majestic!

5) God is revered:

Fifth, God is revered. “Seraphim were standing above Him; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.” No one knows what these strange six-winged creatures with feet and eyes are. Given the scene however, we had best not picture chubby winged babies fluttering around the Lord’s ears. According to verse 4, when one of them speaks, the foundations of the temple shake. What power these angels must possess if when they speak the walls of the temple shake. When I was a kid my dad used to take me to the air shows on the military base. I would love to walk around and see the different planes and sit in the cockpit and pretend that I was flying a plane. The highlight of the day was watching the Thunder Birds show. These airplanes would do barrel rolls and other tricks to amaze the crowd, the highlight of the show would be when they would fly low  and break the sound barrier with a loud BOOM! They would appear to zoom over the crowd and than twenty seconds after they had zoomed off you would hear the BOOM as they broke the sound barrier. This is probably a better picture than cute, chubby babies. According to Dr. Piper, “The point of this picture is that not even they can look upon the Lord nor do they feel worthy even to leave their feet exposed in his presence. An angel terrifies a man with his brilliance and power. But angles themselves hide in holy fear and reverence from the splendor of God.” How much more will we shudder and quake in his presence who cannot even endure the splendor of his angels? God is revered.

6) God is holy:

Sixth, God is holy. “And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth.” The repetition of the word holy refers to God’s perfection; there is no blemish or defect in which God is. God’s holiness refers to His separateness. Think about it like this: When you are making Christmas cookies and you have the dough and you cut off a piece from the dough in order to make the cookies that piece you have cut off is separated from the dough. That’s kind of how it is with God. God is separate from us. God is incomparable. His holiness is his utterly unique divine essence. It determines all that He is and does. His holiness is what He is as God which no one else is or ever will be.

God is holy and because He is holy He can have nothing to do with sin. We are not holy. Every day we sin both in thought and in-deed. Consider these questions, how many lies have you told this month? Have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever had bitter feelings in your heart towards another? Have you ever lusted over someone of the opposite sex or maybe even the same sex? We are all sinners and because of our sin we are separated from God. No matter how hard we try we are unable to get to God on our own. Remember, God is holy meaning he is separate from us, however, God is not just holy, He is also loving. God in His love sent His Son, Jesus Christ. Consider this, the God who is separate from us, came and dwelt among us. The infinite, holy, God took on the form of a finite man. Jesus lived a perfect, law abiding life, he never sinned, and however, Jesus was put to death in order to satisfy the wrath of a holy God. Jesus lived the life we should have lived and He died the death we deserved to die. Jesus did not stay dead however because on the third day He rose again. Jesus resurrection proved that He was who He claimed to be, God! If you put your trust in Jesus and in Jesus alone, God will credit Christ’s death to your account and your trespasses to Christ’s account.

In conclusion, we must remember the greatness of our God. God is alive! God has no birthday! He has always existed and He will always exist. God is authoritative. God is sitting on His throne. Nothing takes God by surprise and He can handle anything, therefore, we are to daily, hourly, minutely, every second bring our requests, cares, and worries to the throne of God. God is all powerful both in salvation and in every day. God is at work in this world drawing His elect to Himself for the praise of His glory and His grace. God is majestic and His majesty is put on display in this world for all to see. God created beautiful sunsets, mountain ranges, etc to give us a glimpse of His beauty and majesty. God is revered and worshipped by angels, therefore we should revere and worship Him. Finally, God is holy meaning He is separate from us, however, in His love He sent His Son and all those who trust in Christ will be saved. This is the God we worship, this is the God we praise.

Let me ask a dangerous question, you have heard all this about God, but do you truly believe it? Have you always put God first every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day, of every month, of every year? Did you know that ANYTHING you put over God is an idol? Idols are not just plastic figures which other religions worship, rather idols are anything that takes the place of God and more often than not idols are usually good things which we have made into gods.

Examples:

Sports: do you focus more on your foul shot than you do on spending time with God; School: extracurricular activities, clubs, etc;

Lust: checking out girls, porn, masturbation

Body image: comparing yourself to others, obsessed with losing weight

Family: no love from earthly father, disobey

Self-esteem: Not sure if God could ever love you because of what you’ve done or could never forgive you.

Good Christian Kid: know all the  right answers, enjoying that…

 Take time to ask forgiveness and place God on His throne.