 I am choosing to go, I am choosing to follow Jesus. I am choosing to obey the great commission. I am choosing to love the way that he first loved us. I will not settle for anything less. I am choosing to be a disciple of Jesus. Howdy, radiant. It's good to see everybody. And those of you who are joining us online, we want to say welcome to you. We love you and all of our brethren and sister-in at the Portage campus, Pastor Stephan and Candice and your whole team, we love you guys. Come on everybody that's present in the room and at home come on let's clap and say we love you guys and we hear you, we love you and grateful that you're clapping there for us. And this is an important weekend and moving into an important week for our nation. If you have not heard this coming Tuesday is election Tuesday. And I, this last week, Jane and I were up in Northern Michigan on a little bit of a getaway. We went to Trevor city and got to see some of the colors. And while I was up there, I was working on the message and really praying and asking the Lord, what do you want to say this weekend? And actually had an outline for a whole different message for this weekend that I had built as part of this disciple series. And the Holy Spirit really prompted me and arrested me and said, Lee, I want you to talk about politics. Now, the three things that you are never supposed to talk about in church are sex, money and politics. Well, the good news is I'm not talking about money or sex but today I am talking about politics. And I've entitled the message this weekend, the politics of his presence, the politics of his presence. And I want you to turn with me in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter six. Now, right about now, people on both sides of the political divide who are part of the radiant family or radiant friends who have joined us this weekend are queuing up all of their cackles going, wonder what side he's going to land on. That's not at all the point of this message. The point of this message this weekend is not that we try and help identify which side God is on, but to help identify whose side we are on, God's or man's. Because God, unwittingly, many people believe that God is not political, God is very political. It's just this, God is not interested in entering into either camp of man's political platforms but God is interested in inviting his people into his political platform. And I want to point you and draw your attention in this chapter, Isaiah chapter six. I'm gonna read it and then we're gonna look at it. And I have some things to say that are gonna help hopefully pastor us and shape us and shift us as we move into this week as the people of God. So look with me at verse number one of chapter six. It says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. And the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim, each had six wings with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to the other saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called. And the house was filled with smoke. And I said, woe is me, for I am lost. For 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. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hands a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and he said, behold, this has touched your lips and your guilt is taken away and your sins atoned for. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? And then I said, here am I, send me. Here am I, send me. Now to give you background, Isaiah, who is living about 735 years before Christ. So about the year 735, 736 BC is living in the midst of a time, a period of time in Israel's history of both political grief and political turmoil. And the reason for that is, Uzziah, who's one of the greatest kings in all of Israel's history, has died. And what this has produced is a leadership vacuum in Israel at a time when there's an economic downturn and there is imminent threat of Syria or the Assyrian Empire and Samaria, which is now the northern 10 tribes of Israel that have come under the leadership of Sinakarib. They've been invaded by the Assyrian Empire. They've been conquered. That would be, it'd be like this. It would be like if Kalamazoo, Michigan was a kingdom and Battle Creek, which is kind of a sister city, had already been taken captive and under the control of a foreign army. And they're using that as a base as they threaten to invade us. That's what's going on in Israel. And so Israel has a leadership vacuum. They have a weak king. They have an economic downturn and they have the threat of being invaded by armies. And listen, when Assyria attacks a city or a nation, they don't come in and just conquer you. They don't hack into your Facebook system. And it's not a digital attack. They come in and they rape, pillage, steal and enslave. They are under the imminent threat of that. So much so that Isaiah, who's the prophet of God that is a prophet to the army. That is a prophet to the southern empire or the southern kingdom of Judah. He marks time by the death of the king. In other words, he's marking time by a political tragedy. And in the year that King Uzziah died, he defines what is taking place by the death of the king and then by this encounter that he has with God in the temple of God. The temple in Israel is the center, both politically and spiritually, of the people of God. The temple that Solomon and Bill, it stands there. There's the priesthood. There's the sacrifices. There's the presence of God that marks this temple as significant. And Isaiah is here in Jerusalem in the capital city. He's in the temple. He's filled with turmoil. He's filled with worry and concern about the nation. There's this leadership void. There's this political turmoil. And yet he says, in this moment, I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord on a throne in the temple, high and lifted up. In the temple, high and lifted up. The train of his robe filled the temple. And he saw these living angelic being that the Bible describes as seraphs, which literally described as fiery spirits that are encircling the one who is seated on the throne and they're crying out, holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty. And the threshold, the foundations of the very temple, these massive stones, these threshold stones, if you've ever been to Israel and seen these massive stones, limestones that they have built as the foundation stones of the temple. They are shaking at the voice and the temple is filled with smoke. For all those of you who don't think it's biblical to have smoke machines in church, read Isaiah chapter six. We're just imitating what God has done. And here's Isaiah confronted in this moment. God literally has given him the ability to see beyond the natural realm and gives him a glimpse into a higher, greater spiritual reality. The heavenly dimension and he beholds God. Literally, it's as if God, and if you read the whole thing, there's angels, there's his divine counsel there. He asks the question, who shall we send for us? It's God inviting Isaiah, not just through the natural veil, but through the spiritual veil into his purposes and into his politics. He's saying, who's gonna go for us? Who's gonna execute our decrees? And Isaiah, as he beholds God, is undone. He's undone in this moment. Imagine stones the size of a car trembling under your feet. And the veil between this reality and the eternal realm is pulled back and you behold God on a throne. You hear the voice and you see angelic beings who won't even look upon or gaze upon God. They take wings and they literally cover their face so that they're not exposed to the glory of the living one, the sovereign who's on the throne. They fly in circles, never ceasing to declare holy, holy, holy. In other words, other than different, distinct is God from all the other kings and all the other beings that exist, no one is like God. And when he's exposed to this revelation of who God is, who's above it all, who's bigger than it all, who's filling the temple, he's not running from his enemies, he's not worried, he's enthroned. And his voice literally shakes stones that modern man marvel at how they were moved. He says, I am undone. Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips. He's confronted by his words. He's confronted about the attitude of his heart. And his whole posture begins to change. The very same throne room that Isaiah sees in this vision, 700 plus years later would be seen by John the apostle as he is the last living apostle of the Lamb who is now imprisoned on a work camp island that is nothing more than a rock quarry in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, an island named Patmos. And in the day of the Lord, which is Sunday, John is in the spirit, he's 90 plus years old. And in Revelation chapter four, he sees the same throne. Isaiah chapter four says after this, I looked and behold, a door was standing open in heaven and the first voice, which I heard, heard speaking was like the sound of a trumpet and it said, come up here and I will show you what must take place after this. At once I was in the spirit and behold, a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne. And then Revelation five verse six describes who it is that's on the throne between the throne and the four living creatures of the same creatures that surround the throne of God in heaven where he reigns and rules. It says, and he was among the elders. I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain. And do you know what these living creatures are saying 700 years later? Holy, holy, holy, they didn't grow tired of it. 700 years later, what happened to Isaiah? What happened to John when they encountered the presence of God? When their countenance and their eyes, both of their natural and their heart were lifted up to something higher than the situation in a turmoil that they were facing and the political issues that were surrounding them. Well, I'll tell you what happened. Their fear went to fascination, their confusion went to confidence, their impurity went to impunity and their worry became encapsulated in the mission of God. Isaiah's response was, I'm a man of unclean lips. He has an angel take a coal off of the altar, the altar in the temple, which is a coal that is part of the remains of a sacrifice that had already been given. The angel took the coal, flies to him. Can you imagine this in your prayer time? An angel of the Lord, a fiery one coming to you with wings all over the place and he takes a coal, he touches your lips, he sanctifies you, cleanses you. And in that moment, everything changed for Isaiah. Or as they say in Australia, Isaiah. Everything changed in that moment. He said, he heard God speaking in the Godhead and amongst his divine counsel and he says, who will we send to the nation to be our spokesperson? And Isaiah went from being afraid, confused, grieving to saying, here am I, send me. And it's because of this that most commentators declare that this was the calling of the prophet Isaiah. Now, this next week bears a striking similarity to the time of Isaiah. Never before have I seen the tension, the turmoil, the grief and the confusion in our nation regarding politics. And I would also say that I have never seen a time when the political conversation and the sense of urgency related to politics has even found root in the church. To where much like Isaiah, we're marking time by the turmoil that surrounds us. How many know 2020 is going to be a hallmark year? In fact, in the future, 2020 may even become a cuss word. And in the midst of that season, there are many people that are feeling a lot of the same fears, anxieties, grief, anger, divide, division. And instead of saying in the year that King Uzziah died, we might say in the year of the great election, in American history, I saw the Lord. That is my prayer for the church. It's my prayer for this church, this little flock that God has given to us, that we would not become caught up in trying to squeeze God into our political box, but instead our eyes would be lifted up and we would have a greater revelation of God, even in this hour than we've ever had before, of the Lamb of God, more than we've ever had before. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't vote. Jane and I have already voted. That doesn't mean that we don't have political convictions we absolutely should. And it's not my job as a pastor to give to you a political checklist. My job is to teach you the scriptures. And I personally believe if a Holy Spirit filled Christian with a Bible in their hand and a submitted posture before the Lord, the Lord, the Holy Spirit is gonna lead and guide you into all truth. You will not stand before me and give an account for the votes that you pass, or the boxes, or the circles that you check, but make no mistake about it, Saint, you will stand before God and give an account for the vote because you do not belong to yourself, you belong to the Lamb of God. And so it is not my responsibility to say this or that. There is a whole mentality that we can have that says that God is so far removed from the politics of men that he's not interested in the politics of men and nothing could be further from the case. But God is above the politics of man. When Isaiah has this vision, it says he was high and lifted up. The temple represents the political, the spiritual environment, but above it all was Jesus. Around him were the angelic ministers and God invited Isaiah into his political agenda to be a prophetic voice and not a political pawn, to be a prophetic voice to the people that is higher than the politics of man. Listen, we operate in a natural plane and so whatever is going to happen Tuesday is going to happen on Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday or a month from now. But let me tell you something. The greatest shock of our hearts will not be or should not be connected to what happens on Tuesday. The greatest shock waves that have been felt in our culture must not be the ramifications of election day. The greatest shock that hell has ever experienced in our world has ever experienced and the church needs to stand in awe of his not election day shock, its resurrection day shock that the lamb of God has overcome. Jesus rose from the dead and he has been given a name that is higher than any other name that at the name of Jesus Christ, every name will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord. And so going into this week, here's what I want us to remember because revelation calls into remembrance significant spiritual realities. If we fail to remember, then we will fail to tap into the spirit of revelation that awakens our heart with confidence and fascination at who Jesus is. We don't want Jesus to just be a cheerleader for the platforms of men. We want to be prophetic voices of the one that we've become fascinated by. The one that we see high and lifted up on the throne. As believers, we've got to be people that swear our allegiance not to a donkey and not to an elephant, but to a lamb who is on the throne. That's who I've chosen to swear my allegiance to. My swear my allegiance to the lamb. That's who I belong to. So what do we need to remember? We need to remember a few things. Number one, we need to remember who's on the throne. We need to remember who is on the throne. The Lamb of God, Jesus, our King is on the throne. Ephesians chapter one, I want to just read this to you. It's important. In fact, in your Bibles, you should just turn over there with me. We're going to do old fashioned sword drills. I read a lot of verses and sometimes I just put it up on the screens and we'll do that right now. But I want you to look at this. Ephesians chapter one, verse 19 through 23. Look at this, verse number 19. It says, and what is the immeasurable? This is Paul saying that he wants the eyes of our understanding to be opened to this. To what? Verse number 19. And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe? According to the working of his great mind that worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead. Now get to this next part. What happened when Jesus was raised from the dead? And seated him at the right hand in heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named not only in this age but also in the age to come. It sounds to me like he's above it all. And then it goes on, look at verse 22. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all and all. Do you know that because Jesus was raised from the dead, God has put him on the throne and he is over all authority and all government and all rule and all platforms. When the Bible says that his voice shook the threshold of the temple, what that means is the platforms that men build and the agendas that men express are only vulnerable to the voice of the one who is higher than them, which is Jesus. Jesus is above it all. And church, we gotta remember who's on the throne. I'm gonna preach myself happy, even if you're not. See, Jesus didn't die to win 270 delegates. He came to win 8 billion souls. And he's not waiting for an electoral college to declare that he is the rightful king. The father, the creator of everything, the one in whom every family in heaven and earth has been named, he has declared him his king and he has installed him on Mount Zion. We gotta remember who is on the throne, not just some little spiritual language like, oh, Jesus is on the throne spiritually, but not really. Church, it's important for us to understand as we live in this world and we navigate these waters, we're gonna be political creatures, we're gonna have preferences, we're gonna have relationships and we're gonna listen to voices and all these types of things. But at the core of who we are, we've gotta constantly have our eyes lifted to something higher, which is to the reality that Jesus Christ is king. He's on the throne. And when that happens, we'll go from fear to fascination, we'll go from confusion into confidence, no matter what comes our way. Number two, we have to remember what our unity is built around. Our unity as Christians is not built around our political agreement. Our unity is not built around the platforms of men, it is built around the purposes of God. It isn't built around the promised work to come, but it is built around the finished work of Christ. What Jesus has done on the cross. Ephesians 2, 14 says, for he, Jesus, is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the laws and the commandments and the ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in the place of two, so making peace. The enemy comes and wants to divide. Jesus came to unite us. And let me just tell you that right now, both platforms, political platforms in our American context, because believe it or not, there are other political platforms all over the globe. We just happen to live in this nation. But in this nation, both political platforms work over time to divide and conquer. Jesus came to unite. Not unite us around our political agendas, but to unite us because we recognize that all of us come to God as sinners. All of us have brokenness, and only Jesus can become our peace. The platforms of men create cycles that perpetuate division. I'm fully convinced the only thing that is gonna bring about healing and oneness in our nation is not gonna be found in Washington, D.C., but it's gonna be found in the heavenly courts. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the only thing that can break down barriers between black and white, between wealthy and poor, between young and old, between Democrats and Republicans. It's the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Why? It's because nobody comes to the cross in pride or arrogance. Everybody comes to the cross in humility. And it's only through the supernatural shed blood of Jesus that we can be healed and made whole. You see, we can argue about where did sin begin and who's responsible for it and what created our divide, even the racial tension that's going on in our country. There is lots of guilt that can be dished out, but you know what? I'm not interested, and our nation is not necessarily interested in recognizing taking responsibility. Human sinfulness does not wanna take responsibility, but I'll tell you what I know. I know this, that I was a sinner and Jesus died on the cross for me so that I could be made new and I could be made one. And there's not a white Christian camp and a black Christian camp. There's one body, it's Jesus and we are one in Jesus. And only his blood brings us together. Only his blood brings us together. We need one another. It's time for the church to be an expression to a broken world of what unity looks like and that unity can only be found in agreement on who Jesus is. And we work from there. So we gotta contend for unity. Ephesians chapter four says earnestly contend for the unity of the spirit. We gotta fight for the unity that we find in Christ. In Colossians chapter three, Paul admonishes us. He says, put on then. He's talking to believers. Listen to this. Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved. Listen to this description. Here's what he wants us to put on. Compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, post it all over Facebook. It's not what it says. Protest them. No, that's not what it says. It says forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you. So you must also forgive. And above all these things, listen, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful. We gotta remember what our unity is based around. We all need forgiveness. Anybody who's watching me right now, is there anybody that I've ever met that doesn't need forgiveness? Do we all need some empathy? Do we all need compassion at times? Would we all do better if we listened to one another instead of talking at one another? Would we all do better if we took a spirit of humility instead of an arrogant, prideful, boastful attitude? What would happen if in humility and in grace and we let our words reflect empathy and compassion that we've received from God? What if we were quick to forgive and slow to divide? Because listen, if you get inflamed by the politics of men, the leaven of Herod and the leaven of the Pharisees, it will divide us every single time. But as the church, we've got to be reminded what we are united around. We are united in what God has done for us, and not what man promises to do for us tomorrow. Number three, we have to constantly remember how broken our world system is. And church, listen to me, the political system is an expression of this world's brokenness because man is broken and man creates political platforms. And so our platforms are broken. The democratic platform is broken. The Republican platform is broken. The Libertarian platform is broken. The Green platform is broken. The Independent platform is broken. And that's not to say that we don't necessarily have to engage in it. It just means that it cannot be our hope and we have to remember that we're called to something higher. Hebrews chapter 12 says, verse 27 and 28, this phrase yet once more indicates the removal of things that are shaken. That is the things that have been made in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain, therefore, let us be grateful for we are receiving a kingdom. Listen to this. We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and all for our God, just like Isaiah saw, is a consuming fire. Do you notice what it says? Everything that can be shaken is gonna be shaken. Our whole world is broken. It's being shaken just like the threshold of the temple in Isaiah's day was being shaken. Everything that they put their confidence in was being shaken. Today we're seeing everything that we put man's confidence in is being shaken but God's not allowing it to be shaken so that we would be fearful or expect destruction. He's doing it so that that which cannot be shaken is revealed and the only thing that cannot be shaken is that which is eternal, which is his kingdom. The politics of man are constantly on the decrease. The politics of Jesus are always on the increase. Of the increase of his government there shall be no end. Our world is broken and church we gotta learn how to navigate in the midst of a broken world without allowing the broken world to break us. And the last thing that we have to remember that Isaiah captured out of his revelation was we need to remember what our mission is. Isaiah says to the Lord, here am I, send me, I'll go. He wasn't going before this. He's in the temple. He's searching. He's grieving. He's scared. Sounds like us. But after he has a revelation of who's on the throne. He says, God, I'll go. My eyes have seen the Lord. And I know that whatever happens, God is on the throne. And nobody's removing him off the throne. Just like him, we have to remember what our mission is. Our mission is not to build a perfect utopia without God. As the people of God, our job is to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom of God. The gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation for the Jew first and also to the Gentile. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus. I don't want a perfect world without a perfect King because it will never happen. And if I put my hope in some platform or some agenda that they're gonna fix all the problems, unite us, make everything go away, then I have misplaced trust. My trust is in the one that I behold on the King. And my response, my heart's response is God. Isaiah says, I'm lost. Guys, our culture is lost. The only thing that will bring us and reorient our hearts is a revelation of who Jesus is. The gospel that has the ability to save us. It's the only thing that has the power to save us. And the church is the carrier of the gospel. What would happen if out of our mouths, listen, can we just be honest? We are a people of unclean lips. We are a people that have unclean lips. What do we need? We need the coals off of the altar, the finished work of Jesus to be applied to our lips. So that the words that are coming out of our mouths and the things that we're clicking on the keyboards with our fingers and the thoughts we are thinking are purified under the atoning work of Jesus. It's possible that we are successful in our political endeavors and we are failures in the gospel endeavors. The church was never called to be the champions of either political entity. We've seen both ideologies championed in God's house. What we need to do is be people that champion the Lamb's cause. And even this week as our nation rages, I'm not gonna make any predictions about it. I don't know what's gonna happen, but I know this. That come Wednesday, I know who's on the throne. Come Thursday, I know who's ruling and reigning. Come Friday, I know who the one is who is able to break the seals on the scroll. Come Friday, I know who's able to heal the nations with the leaves from the tree of life. Come Saturday, I know the one who holds the keys of death, hell and Hades in his hands. And come Sunday, I know who the one is who has overcome the grave, who rolled the stone away. And if he's able to roll the stone away and emerge and speak peace, I know that he's able to step into our situation and declare peace, be still. Cause I'm still on the throne. If we come through this election cycle, bitter, divided, gloating, offended, angry, then it will show that our truest allegiance is to the politics of man and not the politics of Jesus. But if as the people of God, we come through this election cycle and we can forgive, we can believe the best, that we can pray for one another and with one another, even people that we disagree with. If we can unite around Jesus, if we can speak words filled with grace, if we can demonstrate faith and we can work side by side for a higher agenda, if we can point the world to Jesus, then we'll be able to show the world, our King, who is high and lifted up. And his name is Jesus, and he is the hope of the world. Church, lift up our eyes, and behold the King who is on the throne. And let's be people of the Lamb. Let's be people about the politics of the kingdom of God. You see, in the kingdom of God, every sinner is a candidate to become a saint. In the agenda of heaven, every sick person is a candidate to receive healing by his stripes. In the politics of Jesus, those who are outcasts, foreigners and strangers are brought in and given a place at the table and called sons and daughters. In the politics of Jesus, those with dark skin have an inheritance just as much as those who have light skin. In the politics of Jesus, there is unity through the blood of Jesus. In the kingdom of God, there's a place for everyone. And that's what we stand for. So my prayer is that as we go into this week, we will be people that are prayerful. We will be people that are spirit-led, and we will be a people united. And the reason I say this is the last election cycle, 2016, we had people who were angry and upset at their brothers and sisters, that Trump won and actually left the church over that issue. And there are also people that right now are so offended and divided at those who would dare support Biden in both sides of the equation. And we're lobbing hand grenades at one another. And you know, hell can take the month off. They can sit back and say, because believers are destroying each other. But we need to say that those are secondary issues. Our unity is in Jesus. Wherever you're at, here, online, portage, I want you to take the communion elements that you have. This is where our unity is found. It's found in what Jesus gave us, his broken body, his shed blood. See on the night in which Jesus was betrayed and was on his way to go to the cross to die a death he did not deserve to pay for sin he didn't commit. He gathered his disciples, 12 of them around a table. And today he gathers millions around the table. And he took the bread, he broke it, he blessed it. And he gave it, and he said, this is my body. Church, we are his body. He was broken so that we could be united. And tonight as you hold the bread in your hands, remember his body broken for a reason. It was us. Lord, we thank you for your body. Unite us, oh Lord. As one body, one people, no more dividing wall, no more hostility, because we've seen the Lord. Receive his body broken for you. And in the same way, and on the same night, Jesus took the cup at the end of the meal. And he said, this is my blood shed for you. This is my blood of the new covenant, a covenant that was established in his own blood. He said, take and drink it. And as you do, remember. Tonight we remember who's on the throne. Tonight we remember what unifies us. Tonight we remember how broken our world is, but today we also remember what our mission is. And we remember that Jesus shed his blood for us and for others. Receive the blood of Christ. I wanna invite you to stand with me. Lord, we respond to you today. We respond to the one who's on the throne. We want the eyes of our heart to be flooded with that revelation that shakes us to the core. And we confess, Lord, without you we're lost, we're undone, we're people of unclean lips. But Lord, in your presence, in your presence, our heart is illuminated. In your presence, we are transformed, God. In your presence today, we say, in response to your heart's cry and your desire, who can I send who will speak to this broken people? Who will go on my behalf? We say, here we are, God. Send us. Send us to a lost and divided world. Send us to those who are broken and fearful. Send us to those who have no hope. Send us to those who are searching for a foundation because their whole lives are being shaken. Jesus, you are the resurrected one. You are king forever and ever and ever. Send us, change us, purify us, and use us as your people, extending the politics of your presence everywhere we go. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.