When The King Dies

Your sense of safety can vanish in a single sentence: “The king is dead.” That’s the emotional ground Isaiah stands on in Isaiah 6, and it’s why this sermon hits so close to home for anyone living with uncertainty about politics, the economy, family health, or what tomorrow might bring. We walk through why King Uzziah’s fifty-two-year reign felt like an era of stability and why his death sparks the questions we still ask today: Who’s next, and what happens to me? 

Then everything shifts. Isaiah says that in the same year the earthly throne goes empty, he “saw the Lord” still seated, lofty and exalted. We slow down and sit in the throne room imagery: the train of God’s robe filling the temple, seraphim covering their faces, and the relentless cry of “Holy, holy, holy.” It’s a vivid reminder that God’s holiness and sovereignty are not abstract ideas, they are the solid ground underneath shaking circumstances. 

We also get painfully practical. When we place our hopes on what’s visible, we panic when it collapses. But when we remember who is truly on the throne, we can face grief, bad reports, financial stress, and even opposition with a steadier heart. If you’ve been carrying anxiety that keeps you up at night, let this message reset your focus and strengthen your trust. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs hope, and leave a review with the line that stayed with you.

Transcript

Opening Worship And Welcome

SPEAKER_00 0:01

You my strength when I am we the treasure I see you I'm seeking you as a precious shoe looks again Jesus Good morning, everybody.

Anderson George 2:15

Good morning. Whether you're here for the first time or the fiftieth time, I want to welcome you to Mineral Springs. Thank you for being here on this morning. You could have been anywhere, but you chose to be here. And I certainly do not take that for granted. I also want to say a special thank you. I want to say a special thank you to all of you who were at Mineral Springs for your participation, your contribution in making our family and friends Sunday what it was. We had a blast. That was a point to say amen. I'll change it. It's fine. You didn't have a blast. I had a blast last Sunday. I sang, I prayed, I preached, I worshiped, I ate, I conversed. It was good. And I'm also appreciative of those of you who invited someone. We packed this place. We had record numbers in attendance on Sunday, and who stayed back uh for fellowship afterwards, and that's worthy of giving yourself a round of applause. Come on, do it like you mean it. Y'all did good. You all did good. You need to know when to celebrate the good. So thank you.

Isaiah 6 Sets The Sermon

Anderson George 3:43

Now that that is out of the way, Isaiah, chapter number six. Isaiah, chapter number six. Commencing at verse number one, culminating at verse number four. Isaiah is in the Old Testament. So if you are in Matthew, go left. If you're in Genesis, move a little bit to the right. Isaiah chapter number six. Commencing at verse number one, scripture says, 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. Seraphim stood above him, each having six wings, with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew, and one called out to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory, and the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke. If you read that, say man. From these four verses I want to entitle my sermon When the King DIE. When the King Dies. Because Isaiah begins chapter number six by saying, In the year of King Uzziah's death, it is fitting not just to title the sermon When the King Dies, but for us to understand what Isaiah is experiencing and going through at the point that he pens these words for us.

Uzziah’s Long Reign Explained

Anderson George 6:21

In the year of King Uzziah's death, the first question we should ask is Who is King Uzziah? That Isaiah should be writing about his death. Why is his death important? I'm glad that you asked because King Uzziah is told, his story is told to us in 2 Chronicles, chapter number 26. From verse 1 to verse number 24. Now, if you just heard me, I said his story is from verse 1 to verse 24. In chapter 26 of 2nd Chronicles, I don't have time to read 24 verses to you. So what I'm going to do is try to condense it because these 26 verses in Chronicles are important to us understanding the first five words in Isaiah chapter number six in the year of King Uzziah's death. That's six words. Scripture tells us in 2 Chronicles chapter number 26 that his father, Uzziah's name, was given to him by his father Amaziah. Amaziah was the king, but then he did wrong and he lost his kingship and died. When he died, Uzziah was just 16 years old. And because there was no better king at the time, he was crowned at 16, and he reigned for 52 years. It was one of the longest reigns of a king in the land of Judah. Not only was it a long reign before Uzziah, there were nine kings. Not only were there nine kings, but Judah had a bad time with kings. The first king was bad, his name was Rehoboam. The one who succeeded Rehoboam was bad, and they served two long terms. Then they had a good king, but he died quickly. Then they had three bad kings, one after the other, long reigns. And then you have two kings. One of them is Uzziah's dad, whose reign was short. What I'm trying to tell you is Judah does not have a good history of being ruled right now. Even though they had good kings, the good kings don't seem to last long. The bad kings last long and bring hell and havoc to the nation. Uzziah becomes king, and he's the first good king that's reigning long. In his long reign, he extends the borders of Jerusalem and Judah. He defeats the armies. He defeats so much armies that the book of Chronicles in verse number six lists all of them. He lists the Philistines and Ashdod and the Arabians and the Muanites and the Ammonites and He lists all the ice. Uzziah defeated every enemy and reclaimed the territory Israel has not had for centuries. He got territory Israel never had. Not only did he do that, he improved their agriculture, he improved their farming, he improved their water system. So when drought came, they still had water. He was a good king. He raised a big army of over 300,000 men. They were undefeatable, they were unstoppable, they were prospering. But then he died. Fifty-two years later, the best king they had in centuries is now dead. Oh, you're all in seeing this. We had no inflation for 52 years. Taxes were down, not up, in fifty-two years. The economy was booming. Everybody had land and money. Everybody had access to water, everybody was treated as a citizen of the Commonwealth of Jerusalem and Judah. It was a great time. You should have been here. But now after 52 years, it's over. If you are a citizen of Jerusalem and Judah, of the kingdom of Judah at this time, your first question is, who's next? Not only is your question, who's next, your follow-up question is, is he going to be a king like Uzziah, or is he going to be a king like Rehoboam? In other words, is he a good king or is he an evil king? And then your third question is: what's going to happen to me? Am I still going to have water? Am I still going to have land? Will the enemies take over? Will we have prosperity? Is this going to be a good year? Is this going to be a good decade? Am I going to have a good harvest? Will my family be well? Could I raise children at this time? Do I have to worry about pestilence, disease, and dangers? Is now good now that Uzziah is dead. See, it was good for the last 50 years. But I don't know if the next two will be good. I don't know if the next day will be good.

Unrest After The King’s Death

Anderson George 12:40

Judah is experiencing unrest. Unrest because the one good thing they had going for them is now gone. Oh, I wish I had a church. Not only is it gone, Babylon is now rising up as an empire and is taking territory. Are we going to be slaves to Babylon? Are we going to be slaves to Syria? What's happening geographically? What's happening politically? What's happening financially? What's happening agriculturally? What's happening? What's happening? What will happen? That's that's the question, and I need to marinate this before we move on because here's the concern of everybody. We had 50 good years, it was a good run. I didn't want the run to end, but now it's over. Could we get another run like this? But the chances are it was unlikely. So now it's turmoil and unrest because the king is dead. Tumoil and unrest because the king is dead.

Isaiah Sees God Still Seated

Anderson George 14:20

It's during this moment when everyone is worried about what will happen, who will become king, what will tomorrow look like that Isaiah gets this vision. Let's go back to the text. You're looking at me funny. In the year of King Uzziah's death, now you understand it. A good king who was reigning for 52 years is now dead. What's going to happen? Isaiah said, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. I could shout, but you all would look at me funny. In the year that the good king died, I saw a king. Let me try this side. In the year that the king who reigned 52 years and brought me good stuff died, I saw a king. I saw a king, and this king is different because he is not seated on Uzziah's throne. This king is different because I don't see him in Judah. I see him in a temple in heaven. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne lofty. Lofty here is an idea of how regal he looked, how royal he looked. What Isaiah said is when Uzziah died, and we were worried about tomorrow. I saw a king that was bigger than Uzziah. I saw a king more regal than Uzziah. I saw a king more royal than Uzziah. He was sitting on a throne higher than Uzziah, and that's why he was lofty and exalted. He wasn't just king, he was king above every other king. And then he begins to describe this king. Let's go for a Bible commercial. Y'all pray for me. Here's why you have to pray for me. Since I've been in the US of A, I've heard this slogan repeatedly for the last two years. Make blank great again. Make blank great again. I've just heard that and I'm nauseated with the phrase. So that's why you pray for me. Number one, I don't want to hear it again. Number two, is because I heard it so much when thinking about next week's sermon. I'm not sure it's the Holy Spirit, but I'm still praying about it. But something deposited in my spirit that the title of next week's sermon should also come from Isaiah 6. And the title should be Make God Heavy Again. Make God great again. That's the new MAGA. So y'all pray for me because that's a rough sermon if that's the sermon next week. Back to the text. He saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted. Well, how great is he with the three the train of his robe filling the temple? Let me help you. We only see trains today when wives get married, and even so, not so much anymore. In the good old days, when a woman got married, she had a train. And she would try to have a train long because something about it signified beauty and majesty. And when it was long enough, you'd have people to carry it. You all remember those days? The young people at the back say we never saw it. Yeah. Before wives did it, kings did. And the longer his train was the more power he had, the more glorious he looked. Now that you understand that, the text said the train of his robe filled the temple. You missed it. It did not say his robe filled the temple. Just his train. He had so much glory, so much power, so much honor and royalty that the temple could not contain all of it, just the train of his robe. That's a king that I'm interested in. Because just the small part of him filled the temple.

Angels Cry Holy And Hide

Anderson George 20:06

Isaiah didn't stop there, he then said there are seraphs there. Seraphim. Because what he does is he says, these angels who minister to God are the ones flying around the throne. However, these angels who are ministering spirits to the king of kings seated on the throne were unworthy to look at him. So even though angels are his creation and they are in the place where he is, he was too much God. He was so much God that even they couldn't look. Y'all missing this. Two wings covered their eyes. You see, that wasn't enough because God's glory was shining all over the place. And they were worried about getting some of his glory on them. So two wings had to cover their feet. God was too much. Holy, so even the angels. Now, I I probably should explain this because you're looking at me funny. You know, an angel is a big bad, right? We're nothing compared to angels. If we saw an angel now, we would drop dead just from the sight. Angels are mighty, powerful spirits of God. Every time an angel showed up in the old testament or the new testament, the first word out of the angel had to be, do not be afraid. It didn't matter who you were, you could be spiritual. Zachariah was spiritual, he was a priest, he was in the temple praying, and an angel showed up and he got scared. And he was a believer. Samson's parents saw an angel, Manoah, his dad, saw an angel and said, Today I'm going to die. You could we would drop dead seeing an angel, but angels are fearful of looking directly at God. That just tells you how awesome He is. So these angels are flying, they can't look at Him, so they cover their eyes. They don't want His glory to shine on them because it might be too much for them, so they cover their feet. They have six wings, and they only use 30% of them for what it was intended to do. Fly. The other four are for hiding from the glory of God. Oh, I wish I had a church. So out of six wings, they only have two that they use for flying. The rest of them shield them from the glory of God, and they fly. And while flying, Isaiah said they were doing a call and response, like a song. It's in the text. Don't look at me funny. Verse 3 tells us, and one called out to another. It's a call and response. One is calling out, and as he calls, he says, holy, holy, holy. And the other one responds, holy, holy, holy. So all Isaiah is hearing is holy, holy, holy, holy, holy. I could keep doing that, but y'all get the point, right? That's all he's hearing. Constantly. The angels flying, and they have no choice but to say, You're in a holy place. You're before holy God. This is a holy moment. Holy, holy, holy. Because of who God is, and the reason why we can't leave these four verses today is because we have to answer the question why was this vision given to Isaiah at this time?

Why God Interrupts Our Fear

Anderson George 25:53

Before I continue, I need you to know that God could have given Isaiah this vision 10 years before. He could have given him five years later. He could have given this vision to Isaiah to Isaiah at any time, but he chose the year that Uzziah died. The reason why he did it is simple. The reason why he did it is because all of Israel and Judah now placed all their hopes, all their dreams, all their promises on an earthly king. Everything they were expecting, everything they were building, everything they were banking on was built on the earthly king. And so God came to Isaiah at a time where they were wondering: is the next year going to be a good year in the throne? Is it going to be a good year politically, financially? Is the economy going to be stable at a time where everybody is wondering what's going to happen because their hopes and dreams died with Uzziah? Isaiah said there is still a king on the throne. His name is not Uzziah, his name is Yahweh. He is God above every other God. He's king above every other king. It does not matter who is king, it doesn't matter who's president, because God is still on the throne. I wish a Christian said that louder. But here is the scene. Isaiah sees God in all his splendor. God in all his royalty, God with all his power, still seated. Even though Uzziah is dead. Let me send you home with this.

Practical Peace For Real Life

Anderson George 28:11

Sometimes we make the same mistake Judah made in this text. Because God was with Uzziah, we forgot it was God with Uzziah and placed the emphasis on Uzziah. Don't worry, I'll be where you are in two seconds and make it simpler. And so because we lost sight of God and placed hope on Uzziah, we started to worry when Uzziah died. But the message was even though Uzziah is dead, the Lord is still on the throne. Let me be as practical as possible by saying it like this life happens to every one of us. We are not immune to it. But even when life happens, you need to read your story into Isaiah 6.1. Let me let me let me read it for you like this. In the year that I lost loved ones, God is still on the throne. In the year that I got a bad medical report, God is still on the throne. In the year that I worry about what's going to happen to my family, the Lord is still on the throne. In the year that turned out against me financially, economically, or some other Ali, the Lord is still on the throne. In the year that I worry about tomorrow, in the day that I worry about tomorrow, the week that I worry about tomorrow, as I worry about what my children will be, as I worry about the geopolitical landscape, as I worry about inflation, as I worry about prices, as I worry about this, that, and the other, we should still see the Lord seated on his throne. And here's why that's good. Here's why I'm trying to preach it like I feel it. Because that tells me, even though Uzziah is dead, there's still hope for tomorrow. Because the Lord is still sitting on the throne. Because I understand the Lord is still seated on the throne. And I realize that for you to really feel this and get excited about it, and like me, I feel like shouting this to the mountaintop and running around this building. But you all would say I'm crazy if I do that. But that's how I feel. I want to jump right now and just scream. Yeah! But I realize, I realize, I realize I'm feeling this way about this text and this and this message because I've been through some stuff. I've been through some stuff where I've seen people move hell and high water to stop me getting something or to stop me from being something. I've seen people put obstacles in my way for all sorts of stuff. And in spite of how hard they tried, I'm still here. In spite of everything they did, I still overcame, I still crossed over, I was still victorious, and it wasn't because people weren't plotting, it wasn't because people weren't scheming, it wasn't because the enemy wasn't trying to keep me down, it's because even though the enemy had power, my God has all power, even though he pride, my God knows how to take what he means for good and turn it into evil. Turn it, I said that wrong. God knows how to do that, and sometimes I used to get worried because the problem was bigger than me. The people who cause the problems have more connections than me. They have more influence and sway than me, and I used to be bothered, I used to work myself up into a frenzy, trying to figure out how I am going to make it and work things out for myself, and then I read this text in the year that the devil schemes against you, the Lord is sitting on his throne, high, lofty, and exalted, and the train of his robe fills the temple, and the word then is the same word now. He is still holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, he is the only king above all kings, and he's God above all gods. I no longer worry about weapons being formed against me because any weapon formed against me can't prosper. I don't worry, you form God will stop your prospering, not me. Oh, that was the amen point right there. See, let me say it this way. Let me let me see if I can come down to your level. Here's what happens I used to worry about the people who were forming weapons and the forming of the weapons itself. But then I read the text properly. It didn't say your enemies won't form weapons. What it says is none of the formed weapons that are against you will prosper. You're tracking with this, they will form, but I'm no longer worried that they form what they try to form because I know who is seated on the throne, who is high and lofty. I could sleep peacefully at night now. Give you one more. This was why in the New Testament, when the storm came while the disciples were in the boat, they were not to be worried because the Lord was with them. Granted, he was sleeping, but he was still with them. Don't miss this, even if God is sleeping, as long as he's with you, you're good. Let me let me make this more plain. If he's sleeping, it means he's not troubled. If God is not troubled about whatever is on your horizon, why are you troubled? It's why when they woke him up, he was groggy. Not because he was groggy from sleep, he was groggy with their faithlessness. He was like, Why do you have so little faith? And then he simply said, Peace be still. And I would like to imagine, scripture never says what happened, but I would like to imagine he went back to sleep. He got up, he rebuked them for making too much noise, he rebuked the wind and the waves, and he went back to sleep. And while he was sleeping, is how I pictured the disciples saying, What kind of man is this that even the wind and the waves obey him? And Jesus is just on the bottom deck snoring. But don't miss it. If God could sleep, it means he's at peace. And if he's at peace, already knowing what's on the horizon, then I shouldn't be troubled because he's got everything in his hands. He alone is king, he's high, exalted, and lifted up. He is holy, holy, holy. Let's all start. Don't sing yet, let's just start. Every now and then, as we go through the vicissitudes of life, we need to remember that God alone has the final say because he alone is seated so high that no other person could reach. He alone is King of Kings, Lord of Lords. He alone is God. That, however, does not stop us from experiencing life.