I would like to ask you to use your imagination with me this morning. I’d like to start by asking you to close your eyes. In fact, for just a second, put your hands over your eyes just long enough to really “see” the darkness. Remember that darkness. You can open your eyes now but I want you to continue thinking about just how dark that was as we go for a little walk in our imaginations.
Imagine you
are walking along and it is just that dark outside. You aren’t blind. There is
just absolutely no light to be able to see anything. You fumble along in the
darkness, groping around for anything or anybody to help you find your way when
suddenly a hand grabs yours. It is startling at first but the person assures
you he is here to help you. “Trust me. I know the way,” he says.
As you walk
along, the person tells you to be careful of that hole in the ground. He
doesn’t want you to fall in. He then warns of the big rock in the way and guides
you around it and you can feel it with your hand. He warns you that at this
point you are on a cliff and to walk closely behind him. You feel the loose
rocks slip as you walk and hear them tumble down the cliff so you know this
person can be trusted even though you still can’t see anything and you are
wondering how he could possibly know.
Then he
tells you, “Soon everything will be well-lit. Soon you will be able to see
your own way. Until then, just keep on this path and don’t waiver. When you
feel the weeds around you, get back on the path. There is nothing to hurt you
if you just go straight and stay on the path.” And then you feel his hand
slip away and he is gone.
You have no
choice but to continue on without him but soon, just as he said, you walk into
a well-lit area of the path and you realize the person could be trusted and
knew what he was talking about. How do you feel now? It’s a great relief, isn’t
it? You were scared and all alone before but the man brought you and guided you
into the light and now you know everything is going to be okay.
Now…I want
to introduce you to the man whose hand guided you out of the darkness. I want
you to know that even today he can be trusted. Don’t get ahead of me. It is not
God that I am talking about yet. It is Isaiah. Isaiah was a prophet who
lived some 700 years before Jesus and we know he can be trusted because his
prophecies about Jesus came true. I will explain more as I go but if my
illustration of being in darkness has confused you, that’s okay. In fact, that
is perfect in my opinion because the book of Isaiah can be confusing to read
even today.
We are going
to read a very familiar passage out of Isaiah today but also some verses that
you may not be familiar with. I want you to see the familiar passage in context
and I want it all to be understood in the even bigger context of continuing in our
quest for revival.
We have
talked about revival for several months now. We started by learning to pray
like Jesus prayed because we know that there will never be revival without
prayer. We have cultivated our love for Jesus by studying some of those in
scripture that showed their love for Jesus and we see the revival that brought
to them. Now, we have just come out of a series on making disciples as Jesus
told us to because it is only when we are obedient that we will see revival in
our lives plus we want to share that revival with others.
Now, for the
next few weeks of the Christmas holiday, I want to focus on faith. You won’t
pray correctly without faith. You won’t truly love God or even other people
fully without faith. You can’t make disciples or see revival without faith and
Christmas is the perfect time to focus on faith. So, we are starting with an
Old Testament character who never saw Jesus on this earth but prophesied it
happening as if it had already happened. That is a beautiful picture of faith.
What is
faith? How would you
define it? Hebrews 11:1 defines it as, “the
assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." I
would say that faith is following that unknown man in my illustration this
morning. Faith is not being able to see the object but trusting and believing
that it is there in a way that is proven by our actions.
Let’s turn
to the Old Testament book of Isaiah and see his faith, the faith that God gives
him. Isaiah is between Song of Solomon and Jeremiah in the middle part of your
Bible. Isaiah was a prophet and was not afraid to speak doom and gloom when needed
but he also has some beautiful and wonderful prophecy as well.
The book of
Isaiah is perfect for a revival theme because the first part of the book is
warning Israel and the surrounding nations to repent of their sinfulness but
the latter chapters contain great hope for what God is going to do in their
lives. Our text this morning is in chapter 9 but in chapter 8 we
see Isaiah addressing the dark and gloomy times in which they lived. It may
have been written 2700 years ago, but it is exactly the kind of times we are
living in today. It’s hard to see clearly how things could possibly work out.
It seems sometimes like God is far away and not concerned about us but we see
that all of this is in His hands and in His will and if we will just be obedient
and show our faith, it will all work out to our good and God’s glory.
Turn to the
ninth chapter of Isaiah if you haven’t already but let me read something from
the eighth chapter to set it up. In the 21st verse,
Isaiah talks about how the unbelievers – those without faith - were living. He
says, “Distressed and hungry, they will
roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged
and, looking upward, will curse their king and their
God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress
and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter
darkness.” Doesn’t that sound like the world today? Everywhere you
look there is pain and darkness and sorrow.
But look at
the beginning of the ninth chapter. Isaiah prophesies with such faith that he
writes as if it has already happened. “Nevertheless,
there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress.” Then
in verse 2 he continues, “The people
walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land
of deep darkness a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy.”
Isaiah is
prophesying here to a sinful nation living in darkness that hope is coming for
those that believe. He is saying that it won’t always be this way. Better days
are practically here already. But this is not just pie in the sky dreaming. It
is not blind faith. It is not just the ramblings and hopes of a crazy person.
This is God’s word coming through Isaiah for the nation of Israel 2000-plus
years ago and also for the Unites States and our world today.
Look at verse
5. “Every warrior’s boot used in
battle and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.” In other
words, you are going through a bloody battle right now but soon all that will
be a memory and you can burn that old stuff in the fire.
But I hear
you. “Todd, that sounds good but when? And who? How is all this going to
happen and what does it mean for me?” And those are good questions.
I heard that
Cindy and Anna were teaching the children next door a couple of weeks ago and
were illustrating some Bible verse with pictures of animals. They held up a
picture of a squirrel and asked them what kind of animal it was and little
Kylie answered, “Well, I see it has a brown bushy tail. It’s sitting in a tree
eating nuts and it looks for all the world like a squirrel to me but since
this is Sunday School, I guess the answer has to be Jesus!” (I know
that’s an old joke.)
And that is
our answer today to the question of who Isaiah was talking about. Look at verse
6. Isaiah says, “For to us a child is
born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his
shoulders and he will be called Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” I know, some of you are thinking, “Finally!
He got to the Christmas verse.” But it’s more than just a pretty verse we
usually only break out for Christmas. This is our hope. This is our promise.
This is what and in Whom our faith rests.
The little
baby born in a manger grew up and lived to die for our sins. He showed us grace
and so we show Him faith even today. We can’t prove it mathematically or
scientifically but we can all prove it by the lives we lead because of what
Jesus has done for us. Let’s look at what these names mean for us today. Let’s
look at the One in whom our faith rests.
Since there was no punctuation in
Isaiah’s written language it is sometimes difficult to translate every nuance
and particular meaning but we might do well to put a comma right after
“Wonderful”. That may be a correct translation but we don’t know and for
today I want to combine it like it is in most Bibles. “Wonderful
Counselor” – what do you think of when you hear the word “counselor”?
The original Hebrew word simply means
one who gives good advice. This would have been of utmost importance in
the days of Isaiah. They were going through a rough time where the
leaders of the country had turned away from the one true God and had started worshipping
false gods or no god at all. And there was pressure from the community
and from society to follow the lead of the kings who were going in the wrong
direction. Sound familiar?
It would have been important then just
as it is important now to be able to rely on someone who gave good
advice. Have you ever gotten good advice? Somebody tell me in a
sentence or two. My dad has always said, “Just act like you know what
you’re doing.” That has been good advice for me. Have you ever gotten some
bad advice? I’ve heard it said that a wise man seeks much counsel…and
a fool listens to all of it. Why is that? Is it because people
are stupid? Is it because they are mean and want to see you fail?
Maybe sometimes but that’s probably rare. More often it’s because they
are human and see through human eyes.
Today the Holy Spirit is our Counselor
and He whispers to us through our peace and joy about making the right
decisions but the word “counselor” can also rightfully be used of an attorney
or lawyer. Have you thought about that? Yes, Jesus is our attorney
who not only gives us wise counsel but also stands for us before the
Father. Revelation 12:10 says that Satan stands before God
accusing us all day long and the sad thing about is, while Satan is the father
of lies, some of what he says is probably true.
And so I need a good attorney. I
need a really good lawyer. I need a Wonderful Counselor who will stand
before God and say, “Your Honor, what has been said may be true but that
crime has been atoned for. That price has been paid and while I may be the
Counselor I am also the one who paid the price. This man is no longer
guilty!” THAT’S a Wonderful Counselor! I don’t need a lawyer
with a nickname like “The Hammer.” I need one who is known as the
Wonderful Counselor. I can have faith in my Wonderful Counselor.
He is not only the Wonderful
Counselor; He is also the Mighty God. The name means strong
warrior or even hero. Do you think about God as being a warrior or a
hero? At this time of year it is appropriate to think of Jesus lying in a
manger, helpless and sweet. But at the same time, He was and is the
warrior in chief. He is the head general in this battle and as such He
has everything under control.
Psalm 45:3 says, “Gird your sword upon your side, O
mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.” And Revelation
19:13-16 says, “He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is
the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white
horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a
sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an
iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God
Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of
Kings and Lord of Lords.”
And while He is a mighty warrior, I
have one more passage to help us understand the nature of this Warrior. Zephaniah
3:17 says, “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who
saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you
but will rejoice over you with singing.” The Mighty God, Hero God,
Ancient Warrior who is all-powerful loves us so much that He rejoices over us
with singing. Just knowing that enhances my faith in Him.
He is a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God and Everlasting Father. Family-life specialists Delmer W.
Holbrook and his wife have conducted surveys across America. In a survey
of hundreds of children, the Holbrooks came up with 3 things fathers say most
in responding to their kids. “I’m too tired.” “We don’t have
enough money.” And “Keep quiet.” (Illustrations for Biblical
Teaching)
I don’t know what your earthly father
was or is like. For me, I have to say those exact things to my dad even
today. “I’m too tired. I don’t have enough money. Keep quiet!”
No, that’s not true but whatever your fatherly role model, it’s time to quit
falling back on that because we have as our Heavenly Father an ancestor,
teacher, advisor, priest and protector. That’s what the words “Everlasting
Father” stand for.
Now any of you that are parents know
that there comes a time in almost every kid’s life that they start to pull away
from Mom and Dad. First, you can’t kiss them goodbye when you drop them
off for school and then they don’t want you to even drop them off. They
would rather walk than be seen with you. Then, as older teens, most kids
finally leave the nest. They think dear old dad is just stupid and they
can do it better on their own. Until what? Until they need something,
right? Until they can’t figure out what to do or they have no other
option and then they come back asking for help.
The school shootings and mall
shootings and movie theater shootings that we see on the news are beyond
comprehension. Nobody can understand how somebody could do such a thing
and nobody can comprehend how to keep it from happening again. You have
heard the argument that we need fewer guns or more guns or better mental health
programs or less video games or blah, blah, blah. But I remember a couple
of years ago when the news broke that a shooter had gone to a school and killed
several children. Do you remember what happened?
We prayed. We as a nation
prayed. The president prayed. The school teachers prayed. The
TV news anchor prayed! Because we don’t know what to do and we have no
other option, just like kids who have left the house and now we are in trouble,
we come back to the Everlasting Father and we cry for help. The same
people who just the day before said there is no God or God is stupid or how could
God do this or that are now saying, “God, help us.”
And do you know what God says?
Do you know how the Creator of the universe responds to us when we do
that? Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then approach the throne of
grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us
in our time of need.” And He has given me such mercy and grace in my
life and so I know He will continue to and so I have faith in Him.
And so we show faith in our lives
because He is the Prince of Peace. He is the Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the
Prince of Peace. Oh, how those words must have comforted the
Israelites back in the day. A prince is a representative of the king, a
ruler or an honored person and to know that the Messiah would soon come to save
them from their enemies had to be comforting.
I went to Israel probably 35 or 40
years ago and do you know what? It had not changed much in any way from
those days when Isaiah made this prophesy. Everywhere you go there are
soldiers in uniform carrying high-powered weapons and while the weapons of war
may have changed not much else has. There is still no peace. They
are still being attacked every day on all sides from people who want to take
their land. Psalm 122 tells us even today that we should pray for
the peace of Jerusalem but there will be no real peace there until the Messiah
comes back.
The good news is though, that peace is
not necessarily the absence of war. Those favored people, the Israelites,
can have personal peace right now through a relationship with the Messiah and
so can we. The last part of that passage says that the zeal of the Lord
Almighty will accomplish this. That word “zeal” means his eager desire is
to make all this happen. God has an eager desire to have a relationship
with you; a relationship that means no more guilt and no more shame.
Those things get replaced with peace and joy.
Admit that you need a Savior today.
Come before the Everlasting Father and say, “God, I need help.” Accept
His mighty power, his good advice and the peace that passes all understanding
even in the midst of war; even in the midst of everything going on in your
life. That is God’s Christmas gift to you this year if you will only
accept it.
Ask God for forgiveness of your sins,
repent of those sins – turn away from that lifestyle – and allow Him to change
you. Do it right now as the music plays.
Invitation
D.L. Moody once wrote, “Faith is
the gift of God. So is the air, but you have to breathe it; so is bread but you
have to eat it; so is water but you have to drink it.” God gave Isaiah the
faith to see what couldn’t be seen and to prophecy something that wouldn’t
happen for 700 years after he died. You might say God gave Isaiah faith for
Christmas. And He wants to give you the same gift. Will you take it?
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