Three Kings, Three Signs

This is a very simple sermon and not strong on "practical application", though I must admit I'm never strong on that in general. I mostly aim to present a "picture" and hope the audience gets the point. Probably because that's the kind of sermon I get the most out of myself. This sermon was 2/3 written when I got to church. The final third remained unwritten. I had it sketched out in my head along the following questions: Who is this? What does he see? What does he ask? What answer does he receive? How does he respond? What sign is given?
The response to this sermon was unusually strong and emotional. I myself could not help getting emotional by the end of it. Interestingly, it was also one of the rare instances when I chose to preach in English, with my friend and pastor of our church, Volodya Gorbenko, interpreting. You will notice that the pacing of the sermon, as written—which I stuck to almost verbatim—lends to the constant back-and-forth of a sermon translated on the spot.

(Read Isaiah 7:1-15)

We see a king in fear. There is no faith in his heart. Ahaz was not one of Judah's great kings. But, he was king of Judah, and God gave him every opportunity to live in accordance with truth. Now, here, the Lord offers Ahaz another opportunity to believe.

Ahaz is inspecting the aqueduct, probably to make sure that he can defend the city in case of attack—or at least that he can escape if necessary. The message that Isaiah gives Ahaz from God is terribly simple. "Ahaz, you're wasting your time! Nothing that you're afraid of will happen. You're spending your time and energy—and probably a lot of money—for nothing. Relax, go home, forget about it." 

Isn't that good news? Wouldn't you be thrilled if God sent you such news about something you dreaded and were anxious about? Maybe an operation, or a big debt, or a problem at work. Imagine if news came from heaven, saying, "Your problem is gone; it doesn't exist anymore; everything's fine; forget about it." In fact, I'm sure we have all dreamed of hearing such news at some time or other in our lives when things have been bad. And I know that God knows we dream of hearing such news from heaven. And He knows our pain, and our fear, and even though He does not always say those words we'd love to hear, there is an even deeper sustenance and power for life in Him. So that we can go on victoriously.

But, paradoxically, to Ahaz, who had no faith in his heart, God does say such wonderful news: "The problem is gone. Forget about it!" This is God's grace and mercy. But Ahaz, the man of disbelief, doesn't accept the good news. Amazing! Why doesn't he accept? Again, because of fear. We can imagine how he was thinking: "What's this? This so-called prophet is telling me to stop preparing for war?! Telling me to just relax and not worry?! Does he think I'm crazy? Maybe I should just send an invitation to our enemies to come whenever they want, and we'll leave the gates open for them, and they can find me sleeping in the palace! No, I won't listen to such madness."

And so, Ahaz continues preparing to meet an enemy he cannot possibly defeat. I ask you, which is the greater "madness": to accept the Lord's promise of salvation, or to continue preparing for guaranteed destruction? There is something very analogical here to our spiritual lives. We can accept the Lord's word about salvation by faith, or we can keep preparing ourselves for eternity on our own merit—which means guaranteed disaster! 

The Gospel of Christ is the simplest good news, so simple that it offends the pride of Man. You can do nothing—nothing—to defeat your enemy. Your enemy is sin and death. Oh, yes, you can keep trying, and you can invest all kinds of time, energy, even money, but the end of it all is disaster and defeat. Or, you can open your heart and receive the free gift of eternal life from God, from His love and perfect mercy. You can freely receive complete forgiveness and eternal life from the resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ.

Why would anyone reject such simple, magnificent news? Well, there are two reasons. Jesus told Nicodemus, "They did not come to the light because they loved darkness more than the light." Pride and disbelief erect a wall in the heart against the glory and love of God. Ahaz is a living portrait of this pride and disbelief. Amazingly, God gives him a second chance. In verse ten it says, "Again the Lord God spoke to Ahaz…." Again. That means Ahaz didn't accept the first communication. And God offers Ahaz something that Ahaz has no right to expect: a sign. When God says, "Ask for a sign", He is serious! God never lies. And how does Ahaz respond? (read verse 12).

And yet, Ahaz really is testing the Lord right now, when he refuses to ask. Therefore the prophet Isaiah says (read verses 13-14). In other words, "Alright, Ahaz, you refused the sign I offered you; then I'll give the sign to the house of David. And the sign is Immanuel, who is 'God with us'."

You may not believe, Ahaz, yet I will bring my purpose to its magnificent fulfillment.

More briefly, let's look at another king and another sign.

(Read Isaiah 38:1-3)

This is Hezekiah, Ahaz's son. He's not perfect, but he's a much better king than his father was. It's interesting that Isaiah went to the bad king with good news, and now he comes to the good king with bad news. But that happens in life. The righteous suffer and the wicked flourish. The main thing, though, is how we react to what happens. Ahaz refused to believe. Hezekiah believes, and he turns to God with a broken heart. He doesn't ask for a sign; he doesn't even ask for healing. He only prays, with tears, "Remember me, Lord." And what did the Lord do?

(Read verses 4-10).

This story would sound happy if it ended there, but unfortunately we read in chapter 38 that Hezekiah did something very foolish. He received ambassadors from Babylon and proudly showed them all his treasures and riches. And when Isaiah found out about it, he told Hezekiah, "The Lord says that all your riches, and even your children, will be taken away to Babylon." And how did Hezekiah react? (Read Is. 39:8) "Well, at least I'll have a happy life, so if my behavior brings disaster to the nation later, it's not my problem." Yes, Hezekiah was a better king than his father, but far from perfect!

And now we will look at one more king and a sign that was given to him. Let's read Luke 22: 39-49 (read).

WHO IS THIS? This is the Creator who became man to share our sufferings and griefs, and to redeem us for His eternal kingdom because He is love. This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This is Jesus, the King of kings.

WHAT DOES HE SEE? He sees the sin of the world laid upon his own soul; he sees the hatred and humiliation, the whip, the cross, the nails, a crown of thorns, the unspeakable holiness that blasts the sin of the world, the infinite abyss of darkness in which no answer comes to the cry, "Why have you forsaken me?"

WHAT DOES HE ASK? "Please stop this if there's any other way; if there's any way at all, then, Father, please… take this away from me." The King of kings never asks His Father in heaven not to win redemption for His people, whatever the price. He only asks if there could be another way, somehow….

WHAT ANSWER DOES HE GET? "No." There's no other way. It will be this; this will happen, now. The King of kings is told: "No."  

HOW DOES HE RESPOND? "Yes." Your will be done, Father. Jesus says "Yes" to the Father's "No"--not as contradiction but as embrace. Your will, Your word be done. The Son receives "No" from the Father as He receives everything from His Father: as the unveiling of Love's perfect glory. And the King is ready to fulfill this glory. For love of the Father, for love of you and me.   

WHAT SIGN IS GIVEN? "An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him."  When God says "No" to the anguished plea of His Own Son, He says "Yes" to His Son's resolve to take the final steps of ultimate surrender to Love's demand. He says "Yes" to His Son's need. A servant appears out of Heaven's glory to meet the King of glory's humblest human need: comfort; strength; the need perhaps of a smile, the need even to be held, and told it will all be alright—you will do this; you will rise again….

Three kings, three signs… But one King of kings, Lord of lords and Risen Savior. Living for the perfect glory of His Father, He perfected the salvation of our souls. Only His total surrender to God could mean total redemption for us; there was no middle way. 

And in going the whole, and terrible, way, He became the Sign Himself, the Sign of glory and eternal life for the whole creation. This is Jesus Christ, and He is our King. May we be living signs of of His glorious, coming Kingdom, in the power of His Spirit and holiness of His love.