Title: Sit on your throne, O Zion!
Contents
Isaiah 52:1-6 Zion, sit on your throne!
To the Israelites who were taken to Babylon and lived as slaves there for 70 years, God delivered a message of hope through the prophet Isaiah.
"You will be redeemed without money. From now on the uncircumcised and the unclean will no longer come in to you. Therefore you shall know my name."
And God spoke these words of request to the Israelites. "Awake, Zion. Put on your strength. Put on your beautiful garments. Shake off the dust." In other words, God will do new things for the Israelites in the future, so let's move forward together with me with a new heart.
We believe this prophecy of God to be the words of God's prophecies that were given not only to the people of ancient times, but also to us living in 2002 and to me.
So this 2002 is going to be an amazingly good year for us. It will be a year of blessing, a year of glory, a year of prosperity, a year of revival. Let's say hello to each other. In 2002, good things happen.
In today's text, God said this to the people of Israel again. “Arise, sit on the throne.”
It would be unthinkable to even dream that the people of Israel, who had been captives and slaves for 70 years, would sit on the throne. But God is going to exalt the people of Israel who had become so lowly. He wants you to make Cinderella. It's meant to make you a star. It is meant to be placed on the throne of the king.
How in the world could this happen ? Prisoner, it is a joy and joy to have a slave freed, but what a heartbreaking promise to make him a king in an instant. I wonder if this promise is a lie.
However, it is not a man who spoke these words, but a God who does not lie, so we believe that these words will come true. Look at the Bible.
At the age of 17, Joseph was trafficked by his half brothers and sold into slavery. And he was being imprisoned in the king's prison under the false accusation of being falsely accused of slandering, falsely accused of raping his master Potiphar's mana.
Even being released from prison is a miracle like a dream, but who would have dreamed that he would sit as the prime minister of Egypt, the most powerful country at the time? But God speaks. "Joseph, the time has come for you to sit as prime minister!"
In an instant, God placed Joseph, who had been in a lowly, despised, and shameful position, in a proud, dignified, powerful, and supreme position.
Ladies and gentlemen, God is the One who pays for our suffering and hard work. Of course, in heaven, of course, we will repay you, but God also pays for our suffering and hard work on this earth.
So Jesus also said: “I tell you the truth, whoever has left houses or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for me and for the sake of the gospel will soon receive a hundredfold more houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions. There is no one in the age to come who will not receive eternal life." (Mark 10:29-30)
In other words, those who work hard and make sacrifices for the kingdom of God will make them prosper and prosper not only in heaven but also on this earth. It means that he will elevate and exalt him so that he will eventually sit on the throne.
Look at Joseph. Isn't God placing him on the throne of the prime minister to save the people and his family during the seven-year famine in the Palestine region?
The age in which you and I are living is the age of famine of faith. We believe in God, but we do not believe properly, and we have the form of faith but lack of ability. Just as Joseph, who was trained at this time, sat on the throne and directly ruled over many people, isn't this the way to guide God's people through me and you who have been tested in faith?
Just as Joseph went through a lot of hardship and trials, God made our church go through various processes. It made us discern what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong, because it causes us to experience not only pleasant things, good things and happy things, but also sad things, bad things, and things that shouldn't happen.
"Aha, to believe in Jesus is to believe with a pure heart, a good heart, and a loyal heart like a child! You shouldn't complain about nothing, take a negative, disobedient attitude for nothing! There is no need to do it! When there is a difficult situation, if you draw closer to God and move forward with faith, God will do miracles for you!"
Through suffering, those who have received the guidance of faith correctly and those who have passed the test of God are seated on the throne, so that through these people God will teach many people who will come to our church in the future how to believe in Jesus.
Therefore, to sit on the throne is to set a right example, and to properly guide those who will enter our church in the future with the example of right faith. In other words, God puts people on the throne who will set examples of faith.
Everyone, please. As people of right faith, please guide those who will join our church in the right way. Please guide them correctly based on the words God has taught you.
To sit on a throne never means to be arrogant in front of others. It's not meant to be unkind and to put pressure on your neck. It is to get rid of slavery, captivity, and negative tendencies and take the right attitude of a leader who guides others properly.
Just as Joseph received trials and became a good leader through great tribulation and hardship, did you and I still learn something through the trials that pass through fire and water? And isn't it time to teach what you've learned?
In other words, should we no longer be slaves, not destructive people, negative people, constructive people, positive people, full of hope, right leaders?
Just as Joseph, the upright leader, sits on the throne and guides the people upright, shouldn't we also properly guide the people who come forward from the seat of the upright leader in faith?
Make a negative person a positive person, a complainer into a grateful person, an impatient person a patient person, a disobedient person a obedient person, a disloyal person a loyal person, Shouldn't we be the right leader to turn those we hate into people we love?
Today God is telling us to sit on the throne. That is, to be a good leader. It is to be an example of right faith that does not lean to the left or the right.
Think for yourself. Am I able to set an example of faith enough to sit on the throne of faith? And try to answer this question yourself.
"Lord, since you are asking me to sit on the throne, I want to set an example of faith in the future. And I want to make our church the best church, the most blessed church. Please guide me to set an example of faith!"
This year 2002 will be a very good year for me and all of you who have made new decisions in 2002 and are moving forward. God will greatly bless each one of us.
Everyone, to believe in Jesus, shouldn't it be wonderful? What's more, how sad and sad it would be if you didn't believe in Jesus properly while living in a foreign country away from home.
Even if you did not believe correctly in the past, shouldn't you believe in Jesus correctly in the future? Sometimes, even if my strength and ability are lacking, "I can do everything if you give me strength. Lord, give me strength! I also want to believe in Jesus as number one." Shouldn't we be making the right decision and moving forward?
God gives power to people who make the right decisions and believe in Jesus rightly even in difficult circumstances and adversity, and gives them the strength to overcome all adversity. And "to him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with him on my throne, just as I overcame and sit with him on my father's throne." (Rev 3:21) He said.
It is not easy for the people of Israel to live as captives and slaves in a foreign land for 70 years, but not forsake God's name and trust and rely on God to the end. But God is going to give the people who have overcome well to sit on the throne. He wants me and you, who will fight the good fight of faith and keep the faith to the end, to sit on the throne even in this foreign land.
You and I are the people who will ascend to heaven and sit on the king's throne together with Jesus to receive authority to judge the world and rule the entire universe. And even in this land, we are no longer ashamed, ridiculed, and humiliated as captives and slaves, but are people to be respected, honored, valued, and envied by others.
Now, therefore, shake off the dust of shame, put off the garments of ridicule and contempt, and put on the garments of kings. And sit on the throne. Today God speaks to us. "Zion, sit on your throne!"