Isaiah 8:16-9:7 (December 4 2022)

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FBC Travelers Rest sermon from December 4, 2022 by Pastor Rhett Burns.

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Well, if you have your Bible, you can open up to Isaiah chapter 8. We're going to be in Isaiah chapter 8, verses 16 down through chapter 9, verse 7.
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If you remember, during this Advent season, we're pausing our series in Mark, and we are going through a series of messages on kind of an
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Advent theme of waiting. Advent is a season of expectation, anticipation, hope, and waiting.
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In today's passage, in Isaiah 8, 16 through 9, 7, we're going to focus our attention on this theme, waiting on the victory of the
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Lord. Waiting on the victory of the Lord. And so let's read, beginning in Isaiah chapter 8, verse 16, and this is what the word of the
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Lord says. It says, bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the
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Lord who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Behold, I and the children whom the
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Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
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And when they say to you, inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter. Should not a people inquire of their
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God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony.
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If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. They will pass through the land greatly distressed and hungry, and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their
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God, and turn their faces upward. And they will look to the earth, but behold distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish.
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And they will be thrust into thick darkness. But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.
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In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.
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But in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
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The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them light has shone.
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You have multiplied the nation. You have increased its joy. They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
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For the yoke of his burden and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
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For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
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For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called
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Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
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Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.
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On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the
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Lord of Hosts will do this. This is the word of the Lord to us this morning, amen.
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This morning we're really going to focus in on chapter 9, those first few verses of chapter 9, but I wanted to read back into chapter 8 so we'd have a little bit of context.
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For here we see that gloom and darkness had set in on Israel.
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Isaiah had prophesied of the coming Assyrian invasion where Israel would fall captive to their enemies.
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And Isaiah, he will bind up the testimony, he will seal the testimony because he's no longer going to preach to those who have no ears to hear.
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And instead he will wait on the Lord, verse 17 tells us, he will wait on the Lord and hope in the
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Lord, entrusting the testimony of his teaching to his disciples. And while many in Israel at this time would turn to the occult and to vain superstitions for guidance, to the wizards that chirp and mutter,
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Isaiah instructs God's people, Isaiah instructs his faithful remnant to go to God and to God's word.
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If they will not go to God's word, if they will not go to God, they will have no light at all.
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As verse 20 tells us, they will have no dawn. Instead of light they will be, as verses 21 and 22 tell us in chapter 8, they will be greatly distressed and hungry.
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And when hungry they will speak contemptuously against their king and against their God. They will look to the earth but only find darkness and gloom of anguish.
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And they will be thrust into thick darkness. And so the picture that Isaiah paints here in the end of chapter 8 is that what is coming for Israel is bad, darkness.
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But then chapter 9 verse 1, chapter 9 verse 1 begins telling of the great reversal.
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Isaiah begins painting a picture of hope for Israel, he says, but there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.
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Here in this verse God is promising now salvation for Israel. He is promising deliverance from those who would oppress his people.
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Now as we make our way through this passage I want to make note of two things that will help us rightly understand this passage.
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The first is this, like many other Old Testament prophecies, there are both near term and long term fulfillments.
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That is sometimes God fulfills prophecies partially or in some sense, in some way in the short term for Israel, but then he fulfills that same prophecy in an ultimate way through Jesus.
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And so for example in chapter 9 verse 6 here, the son that is promised there, you can find a near term, short term, partial fulfillment of that prophecy in the birth of Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, but the prophecy finds its full and final and ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
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And so this morning I want to focus on that far term, ultimate fulfillment found in Jesus Christ.
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The second thing to note is you'll notice that when Isaiah is speaking here, he's using the past tense for future hopes.
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He's writing in past tense as if something had happened to communicate future hope.
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And he does this to express his certainty about what will happen. So this is kind of like when somebody asks you to do something for them and you want to assure them that you're committed to doing it, you would say, consider it done, or it's a done deal.
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You haven't done it yet, but it's a done deal. Well Isaiah is saying that you can take these promises from God, you can take these hopes for light in times of darkness, and you can consider it done.
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It's a done deal. Because God is the one who is doing it. Verse 7, the zeal of the
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Lord of hosts will do this. So let's make our way through these first seven verses of chapter 9 and see what the
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Lord is saying to us. Verse 1, in the former time he brought about contempt in the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the
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Jordan, Galilee of the nations. Now Galilee was in the north of Israel, and when armies came across the fertile crescent and came to attack
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Israel, they struck Galilee first. But here God promises to make their way glorious.
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Now for the last several months we've been making our way through the book of Mark, and one of the themes of Mark's gospel is that Jesus is the new king, bringing a new kingdom to establish a new
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Israel. You might even say that this new kingdom was invading the old one.
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And where does that invasion go first? Where does Jesus set up shop and begin his ministry?
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Let me read to you from Matthew's account. Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee, and leaving
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Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet
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Isaiah might be fulfilled. And when he's there in Galilee of the Gentiles, he begins his ministry saying,
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Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Indeed, God is making
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Galilee of the Gentiles, he's making their way glorious. Jesus began his kingdom.
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He began his new kingdom here, in the same area where foreign armies had come and invaded first.
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And he's making their way now, glorious. Verse 2, The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light.
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Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shone. We can say that darkness represents oppression and all that that entails.
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Slavery, harsh treatment, unbelief, lack of knowledge, and light represents freedom from such oppression.
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The promise is that the light is going to flood into this old world like the noonday sun when you open up the thick curtains.
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Light is going to flood in, or we might say it like John does in chapter 1 of the Gospel of John, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
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The oppression of Satan and all those who would align with him cannot and will not stand against the light of Jesus Christ.
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The people, the nations, have walked in darkness, but the glorious truth is that light has dawned.
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The glorious truth is that light is coming. So let me pause here for one second and remind us this is why we take up the
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Lighty Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. This is why we participate in that, because we want to send the light of the
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Gospel to all nations, to all peoples, that they might hear and believe.
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Now verse 3 tells us the result of the light dawning, and the result of the light dawning is joy.
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You have multiplied the nation. You have increased its joy. They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
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Now the you here in this verse refers to God. God is the one who does this. God is the one who has multiplied the nation.
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God is the one who has increased its joy. Now the multiplication of the nations finds its fulfillment in Revelation chapter 7 verses 9 through 11.
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Let me read. After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes, and peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the
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Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice,
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Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.
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The multiplication of the nations, all peoples, tribes, tongues, around the throne of Christ.
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And the nations, having received the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, they respond in joy.
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They rejoice with joy as at the harvest, when all the crops have been brought in, when all the work is done, and all they have to do is divide it up between themselves.
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Joy. Or if we were to put it in non -farmer terms, this is the joy of a big bonus on payday.
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This is the joy of the Gamecocks locker room last Saturday after the Clemson game.
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Or Clemson's locker room last night. It's the joy of soldiers after winning a battle.
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It's the joy of receiving grace and goodness from the Father's hands. Joy. The zeal of the
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Lord of hosts will do this. Verses 4 through 7 then tell us the reasons for such joy.
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Why are the nations glad? Why are the nations joyful? When we see it in verses 4, 5, and 6, they all begin with the word for, meaning because of this.
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God is giving, or Isaiah is giving reasons for this joy. Because this is what happens when light dawns in the darkness.
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When God shows up. So verses 4 and 5 tell us that God breaks the powers of oppressors and defeats our enemies.
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For the yoke of His burden and the staff for His shoulder, the rod of His oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
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For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
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For, because of this, God defeats His enemies. God defeats our oppressors.
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We can interpret this in two different ways. Both spiritually and earthly.
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In Christ, God breaks the powers of the oppressors of Satan, sin, and death. We saw this last week when we traced the deliverer throughout the
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Old Testament. He is the one who crushed the head of the serpent and deliver us from Satan, sin, and death. In Christ, God does this.
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Because Jesus rose from the dead, Satan, sin, and death no longer have power over us.
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Instead, we are indwelled by the spirit of the living God. The same spirit that raised
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Jesus up from the dead. And as the Old Hymn says, He broke the power of canceled sin.
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And in Christ, we can walk in the light. And in Christ, He has set us free then to obey
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God and to please God. To both hear
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His word and to do it. But we can also look to God and hope that He will vanquish earthly foes.
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This is certainly the immediate context that Isaiah is writing in. Where they have the
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Assyrian oppressor and He promises to break the rod of the Assyrian oppressor. And so when we face overreaching and oppressive governments.
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And when we face unjust and unqualified rulers. We ought to look to God for deliverance.
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And to cry out to God for help. Now it's interesting here.
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The referent is Midian. There in the end of verse 4.
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You have broken as on the day of Midian. This refers to the story of Gideon.
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Back in Judges chapter 7. When God, He winnowed His army down.
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He started with 32 ,000 and He winnows that down to 300 men. You remember the story?
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And then in an epic bluff. God has those 300 men blow trumpets.
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Break jars and light torches. And the sight and the sound of that.
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Threw the Midianites into confusion. And they began to kill one another. They turned on themselves.
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Began to kill one another. And then they fled. And God won a great battle for victory. A great victory for Israel that day.
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But don't miss the fact that it was God who won the victory. Because He dismissed 31 ,700 soldiers.
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And He won the battle. And none of the other 300 remaining soldiers removed sword from sheath.
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God won the battle. It's like Moses told the Israelites on the banks of the Red Sea. The Lord will fight for you.
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And you have only to be silent. Or like verse 7 says. The zeal of the
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Lord of hosts will do this. So look to God.
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The Lord of heaven's armies. He will break the power over your enemies and oppressors. Their battle attire shall be burned in the fire.
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And He will establish peace. And you will rejoice as at harvest.
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Verse 6 tells us the who. Who will bring this victory?
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Who will win this victory? Verse 6.
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For unto us a child is born. God will send a child.
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Now in the Bible, the birth of a child often signals the dawn of a new era.
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So you can think of Moses being born at the beginning of Exodus. Right before God leads
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His people out of Egypt and into the land. A new dawn. Or you can think of Samuel being born at the time of the transition from the judges of Israel to kings.
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A new dawn. Or the New Testament which begins with the birth of Jesus. Who brings the new covenant.
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For unto us a child is born. To us a son is given. And this sentence gave great hope to Israel.
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It was a sign of God's presence with them. And it was a promise of His coming deliverance.
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The birth of that child. It may have been many centuries in the future.
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It may have been far in the future. There may have been a lot of challenges and sufferings and setbacks in the way.
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But the promise was there. And God always, always, always keeps
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His promises. And who did God promise this child would be?
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And what would be the result of His reign? Verses 6 and 7 tell us this. He says,
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And the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
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Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end. On the throne of David and over His kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness.
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From this time forth and forevermore the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. I read one commentator this week talking about the contemporary kings of Isaiah's day.
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And how they were disastrous failures. They had no wisdom in counsel.
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They were powerless in warfare. They achieved neither peace nor prosperity. Self -serving rather than citizen -serving.
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It's not the case with this child. This child to be born. The crown prince.
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The new king. He would be a wonderful counselor. That is
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He would be full of wisdom as a king should be. Always knowing what to do and how to do it.
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Judging rightly between good and evil. Between truth and falsehood. Between beauty and ugliness.
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Between glory and shame. Making right judgments. Full of wisdom. Able to lead and to guide.
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He would be a wonderful counselor. Not only would He be a wonderful counselor. He would be mighty
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God. Mighty. He would be powerful. And put enemies to flight.
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He would defeat oppressors and challengers. So that His people might take refuge in Him. He would be that type of king.
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The type of king who is mighty in battle. Think of Psalm 24 there. But not only is
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He mighty. He is the mighty God. You see. The One who is to come.
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Christ who fulfills this. Jesus is fully man. And He is fully God. This is what we celebrate at Christmas time.
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The incarnation. That God took on human flesh and became man. He is the eternal
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Son of the Father. Who took on human flesh. And dwelt among us. He is mighty.
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But He is mighty God. He is a wonderful counselor. Mighty God. He is also everlasting
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Father. Now. This isn't Trinitarian confusion. Isaiah is not calling the
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Son of God the Father of God. No. Rather this is kingly language. The king is a father to His people.
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The king is a protector and a provider. And so God is promising that Jesus will be this type of king to His people.
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That He will be an everlasting Father. As king to His people. We can look to Him as a kingly Father.
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And we can receive gladly from His hand. That He will protect us and He will provide for us.
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And He will lead us in the way everlasting. And our way in Him will be everlasting. His reign will not end.
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He sits on the throne of David. That was promised in 2 Samuel chapter 7. That His reign will be eternal.
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He is the everlasting kingly Father. And He is also the Prince of Peace. Jesus will bring peace between God and man.
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He will reconcile God and man. Making us at peace with God by forgiving our sins. And wiping them away.
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And placing us from our sins as far as the east is from the west. And Jesus, He will come bringing peace.
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Not only between God and man. Between man and man. Between people. We see this in Ephesians 2.
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Where Jesus breaks down the walls of hostility. Making one man in place of the two. So making peace.
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Jesus will bring peace on earth. And in fact,
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Jesus is bringing peace on earth. It might seem slow.
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It might not seem peaceful in any given location at any given time.
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But the Prince of Peace is ruling and reigning and bringing peace on earth right now.
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And though our days may be filled with turmoil. And it might seem like we are in the darkness of Isaiah chapter 8.
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God has spoken a promise. And God always keeps His promises. And we see it in verse 7. Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end.
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Of the increase there will be no end. The reign of Christ shall increase.
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The rule of Christ shall increase. The peace of Christ shall increase.
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And it will know no end. So brothers and sisters, we are Christians. And that means we cannot be doom and gloomers.
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We are Christians. That means we have faith. Which means we trust God more than what our eyes can see.
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That means that we may not be able to see the victory. But we expect it.
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We may not be able to see the victory. But we anticipate it. We may not be able to see the victory.
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But we wait for it. And we hope for it. Like verse 17 in chapter 8 says,
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I will wait for the Lord. I will hope in Him. We are
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Christians. That means we believe the world belongs to Jesus.
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He has bought it with His blood. The world does not belong to Satan.
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The promise that we find in Scripture is not. It is not that of the increase of Satan's government and of his evil there shall be no end.
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That is not what the Scriptures teach us. The promise is that of the increase of Christ's kingdom and of His peace, there will be no end.
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The promise is that the leaven will make its way through the whole lump of dough. The promise is that the mustard seed will grow into the largest tree in the garden.
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The birds of the air will make their nests in it. The promise is that Jesus will win.
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For He must reign until He puts every enemy under His feet. The last enemy is death.
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Verse 15. Now we may not see the fullness of that victory in our lifetimes, but we ought to order our lives according to that promise and to that hope and anticipation and expectation of it.
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And so brothers and sisters, if you look out and you perceive darkness, the exhortation to you this morning is do not despair.
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Do not despair. I'm reminded of the story of Marine Lieutenant General Chesty Puller.
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His unit was sent to a remote area back in the Korean War to look for the enemy.
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When one night the enemy army surrounded their camp and journalists embedded in his detachment began to demand to know what he was going to do.
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And he replied calmly, We've been looking for the enemy for several days now.
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We're surrounded. That simplifies the problem of finding them and killing them. We are surrounded by a godless culture full of people who hate
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God and love sin. And that simplifies our problem of finding sinners and preaching the gospel to them.
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I'm also reminded of a pastor who addressed a bunch of parents of young children at a conference that Shane and I attended a few years ago.
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And some of these parents were discouraged about the world that their children would grow up in. And he said,
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It would be a shame to raise a generation of dragon slayers and have no dragons to slay.
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God made your children for the problems of 2040. We do not despair.
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We do not despair because we have hope and eager expectation for the victory of King Jesus.
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He is, as verse 7 says, on the throne of David and over his kingdom. He has established it and will uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
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And here's the ground of our hope. Here's the ground of our waiting and our expectation.
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The end of verse 7. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
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The kingdom will come. God's will will be done on earth as it is in heaven because God the
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Lord, the one in command of heaven's armies will do it and He is zealous to do it.
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He's not going to half -heartedly do it. He is zealous to do it. And so there is hope for the victory of God in this life and the next.
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The question is how do we wait? And what do we do when we're in the darkness?
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Chapter 8 verse 20. To the testimony and the law. To God's word.
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We go to God's word. Every reformation and revival in history has started with God's people going to God's word.
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Not looking to other places for guidance. Not looking to other places for revelation. To the testimony and to the law.
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And so the encouragement to you this morning is to read it, to hear it, to know it, to love it, to cherish it, to obey it, to follow it.
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To order your life both private and public according to God's word.
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For this is how we win. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, I ask
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You to strengthen us so that we do not falter in the day of adversity. That You would make us a people who go to Your word and draw strength from it.
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And draw wisdom from it. So that we know what to do and how to do it. So that we can judge rightly.
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Father, help us to obey and to follow Your word in every aspect of our lives.
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Show Yourself victorious here on earth. Vindicate Your people. Show forth the glory of Your name.
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And may Your will be done on earth. May Your will be done here in traveler's rest as it is in heaven.