The Prince of Peace

Please turn in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah in Chapter 9 I'm going to read verses 6 and 7 this is God's holy and Infallible Word for unto us a child is born Unto us a son is given and And the government will be upon his shoulder.

And.

His name will be called wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father prince of peace of The increase of his government and peace there will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom To order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward even forever the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

The Lord be pleased with our study of his word. Pray with me now. Oh.

Lord we.

Come with great expectancy Rehearsing your First advent and longing for your second. Help us. Oh Lord to to see more of your glory and grandeur help us to see the the magnitude the the specter of your reign and rule and Also the humility of the way you've come.

Oh And their hearts would be satisfied with your goodness and we ask this all in Jesus name.

Amen.

Please be seated today we have an Occasional message. This is our fourth Advent Sunday, I will not be doing a full exposition of this section. We're really going to focus on the prince of peace. Language it's found at the bottom of verse 6 but we have to Set things in motion.

If you turn back with me to Isaiah chapter 7 we have What's known as the? Emmanuel prophecy, I'm just gonna read a verse or two there. Emmanuel prophecy. Isaiah 7 14 says Therefore the Lord himself Will give you a sign Behold the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and Shall call his name.

Emmanuel.

Now when we get to and you can turn back now to chapter 9. You may know that the Jewish skeptics reduced this just to a prophecy about Hezekiah. But chapter 7 the idea of.

Emmanuel.

God with us is. Add some force to the argument that this may have some reference to Hezekiah. Certainly. But it finds its ultimate fulfillment and realization in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hezekiah was a Righteous king and he did bring peace and restoration to Judah and particularly he fought nobly against idolatry.

But Hezekiah is dead and buried. Hezekiah's kingdom didn't go on without end. There was no increase in his government. So the language of Isaiah 9 speaks of grander things than even of a good king in Israel Hezekiah.

Turn over to chapter 11 really quickly. This entered into our liturgy today a bit. It says in chapter 11 there shall come forth a rod from the stem of.

Jesse.

It's of course referring to the Davidic line and the stem of Jesse's rod is no doubt the Lord Jesus Christ. And a branch capital B. You remember our study in Zechariah. The capital B branch. Look forward to the Lord Jesus Christ.

A Branch shall grow out of its roots the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord all of these are embodied in the person and work of Christ.

Now turn over to Isaiah 53. There may have been other suffering servants But but none like Christ. Isaiah 53 Who has believed our report? This is verse 1. And To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and As a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness and When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not see him. Did we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken smitten by God and afflicted.

But who can be said who can be said who it could be said of other than Christ. Verse 5. But he was wounded for our Transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him and By his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of Us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet. He opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers is silent.

So he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment and who will declare his generation. For he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of my people. He was stricken.

And they made his grave with the wicked. Do you remember the thieves on the cross? But with the rich at his death, do you remember the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Could that be said of Hezekiah. No, this is about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because he had no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin He shall see his seed and shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many. For he shall bear their iniquities. Who could it be said of. In the world who has borne the iniquities of God's people only one person the Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore I'll divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for The transgressors.

Now let's go back to Isaiah Chapter 9. There are real historical events. There is a king of promise and Hezekiah is a good king. There are suffering servants of God. But all of these like the Psalms may refer to someone like David in a local sense.

But they have eyes to the future about the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's what's happening in Our text and now this theme is very familiar to us today. Look again at the promise in verse 6. This is the promise for unto us a child is born unto us a son is.

Given it's almost got a present feel to it, doesn't it? This is 700 plus years before the arrival of Christ in the incarnation the promise of God so real it is if it's happening now in Isaiah. Unto us a child is born.

As we learned last week the birth of the promised son has been prominent in Israel since her founding and how much more. So we consider the promise to to provide a serpent crushing seed of the woman a woman a baby born of a virgin as we see in the Emanuel prophecy.

Unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and The government Will be on his shoulder. The government in Hebrew is the misra and that means Dominion. It means a rule it means an Empire in governing means to rule to have power and the Jewish people anticipated a Messianic rule.

Which was expected to bring about peace and righteousness. Today our theme is the Prince of Peace. Christ has come to win the peace and his government is a government which extends the borders of peace and enlarges the peace within his people.

This government is divinely ordained rule. Leadership in particular in relation to the Messiah's reign. Isaiah promised a king. Israel with her inability probably to see it in its fullness could not envisage the greatness of the kingdom of God and today The Jews in some measure reject Jesus as Messiah.

Because he did not inaugurate an immediate earthly kingdom there in Canaan. It's part of their rejection. They also Reject the language of Isaiah 53. They reject Isaiah 9 all these different ways. We have to have eyes to see and these eyes have to be from faith.

We have to have ears to hear and these ears only hear if we have faith and believe. Do we believe that Isaiah? 700 plus years prior to the birth of Christ is prophesying about Christ or not. He is most certainly is preaching and proclaiming.

Far beyond where their eyes could see about the promise of The Sun coming Into the world. Next language there that I want us to consider really quickly just as an aside is The government will be upon his shoulder.

Now see if you children see if you recognize this word from our Bible reading at some point. And also our even our singing today. The word shoulder is Shechem. Shechem does that sound familiar? The shoulder is the place of bearing burdens or responsibilities.

Husbands and fathers and moms and leaders of Organizations and businesses. You carry heavy burdens on your shoulders. Husbands and fathers take on more and more heavy burdens and responsibilities. Relieve your wife and your family and you take them upon your broad shoulders.

But this dominion this rule this divine kingship is placed on the shoulder of the one who has the strongest shoulders of all. The one who can bear the weight and the responsibility perfectly the Lord Jesus Christ.

Even in the Old Testament leaders are often depicted as carrying the weight of their people. Oh People of God today. We must realize that Jesus Christ has carried our weight on his shoulders. Shechem.

He has Born our griefs and born our sorrows. Yay. He is even born our sin on the cross. He's taken it away from us as far as the East is from the West. The Lord Jesus Christ has taken the Shechem the shoulder responsibility on himself.

After all, that's what the good Kings would do. They would go and fight from the front with their people. This is what Christ has come and he has done just as an aside. The government Will be upon his shoulder.

Are you heavy laden? Are you burdened? Come and bring your burden and your Hardship and your grief and your sorrow and your guilt and your shame and bring it to the Lord Jesus Christ. He can take All of that and bear the heavy load.

We can lay it down and let him carry it With us for us. Continuing into our section. Now we have the names of God. We don't have time To go through each of these today and we've spent time in former years on.

Many of them could it be said of an earthly king that his name would be called wonderful counselor. And the order in Hebrew God mighty Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace. Title the message is the Prince of Peace.

Our second point for consideration today is the Prince of Peace. The Lord Jesus Christ, what is? Peace. Would you like some peace in your life, I would love it. Well as we learned this morning, apparently it is our present possession in Christ.

Peace is completeness soundness a wholeness. It is a shalom is a Multi-faceted Hebrew word that encompasses a range of meanings related to peace and completeness. But it signifies not only the absence of conflict But also the presence of blessings.

Christ has taken away our sins and he's given us his righteousness. You see how it works both sides. It's just not the absence of war. It's the every man his own vine and fig tree. It's every person blessed in Christ.

He not only takes away our guilt and our shame. He gives us freedom and liberty and a bold confidence in him. It's not only the absence of conflict but also the presence of Blessings and this is all-encompassing health safety Prosperity.

Shalom in the Bible is used to describe harmonious relationships between individuals nations and maybe most importantly of course between God and his people. In ancient Israel and even today shalom is a common greeting and for farewell.

Reflecting a desire for the recipients overall. Well-being the concept of shalom is deeply rooted into and this is important the covenant relationship between God and his people. Where peace is a divine gift?

That results in blessings obedience Walking and righteousness. The pursuit of shalom was central to every aspect of the Old Covenant life. Holding great influence over their customs their laws their ethics and all of their community.

Interactions so today I ask you How is your peace. Now the world is striving after.

Some.

Psychological inner tranquility. That's not what this piece is. It could include that The world is is seeking just a relief from her problems. I just want to have peace. But what Christ has done is he has won the peace by Confronting the cosmic war.

He has Confronted the great enemy himself Satan. He has confronted the twin enemies of sin and death and this Conquering King has won the battle. He's conquered it with his love. The peace Has been won by Christ.

The people of God operate in the first place from a place of peace a Comprehensive wholeness and wellness a soundness a health a contentment.

Now.

What may be most prominent for us to think about today?

Is.

We have peace with God. To properly understand God you have to see him in his holiness. You have to see that he has an unwavering standard of righteousness and we forget this sometimes. God doesn't ever compromise his holiness.

Did you know that? So well, we're sinners and he likes us as yeah, he loves you. But he's never compromised his holiness. Not one jot not one tittle. So, so how can we have peace with God?

Well.

Apparently he's been pleased to lay the burden of our sin as has already been mentioned the weight of our guilt. He was pleased to bruise him. He was pleased to make Jesus to be the offering for our sins.

So.

Jesus doesn't come into the world to sing. Happy Christmas music. He comes into the world to fight a war and to win. The battle has raged. Satan takes him into the wilderness to tempt him like our forefathers.

At every turn he faced opposition even his closest disciples Abandoned him and alone he goes to the cross you see the godly King the one who's the ruler and Dominionist over peace he's willing to carry the load.

To go to the cross to bear its shame to experience the just wrath of his father. So that you might have peace. And we're evangelizing people. We're talking to people trying to disciple people. We need to tell them The story of how Christ has come to win the peace to reconcile men and and women children.

To God no need to turn there, but I'm just gonna read something that always pops into my mind in this connection from the second Corinthian letter. Paul says we do not commend ourselves Again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf.

That you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God or if we are of sound mind it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us.

Oh. That a PC that these people of God would be compelled by the love of Christ. To move and to act and to worship and to obey and to repent of sin and to serve with gladness. Oh that we would be compelled.

Holy Spirit compel us your people to do this work. Paul continues. Because we judge thus that if one died for all then all died and He died for all. That those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and Rose again.

Therefore from now on we regard no one according to the flesh even though we have known Christ according to the flesh. Yet now we know him thus no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.

Christ has won the right to make us new creatures. The old things have passed away all things are becoming new. Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ. And he has given us the ministry of Reconciliation.

We go out like the ancient heralds and we run into town and As the town criers we say the victory has been won. The victory has been won. That's what we should be doing in this season. The whole world has come to our party to celebrate.

The king has come not to give little kids nice toys. The king has come to win the victory. To win and secure the peace through the vanquishing of his and our enemies on the cross. To to destroy the enemy of sin and death.

Christ has vanquished all three. The devil the sin in our life the shame the guilt. He's taken it all and here it is that is that God was in Christ Reconciling the world to himself. Not imputing their trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of Reconciliation.

Oh. In Seminole County in Longwood the victory has been won the victory has been won. Now then we are Ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us. This is our message To the world. It's not at peace.

We implore you on Christ's behalf.

Be.

Reconciled to God. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in.

Him.

Hallelujah.

Amen. Now, let's go back. You didn't ever leave. Did you. Isaiah chapter 9 rods coming forth? From Jesse a Prince a ruler a leader a captain reflective of the hierarchical nature of the ancient world.

That authority would be centralized and Even hereditary. Can you imagine how that flies against our own sensibilities? But it doesn't seem fitting that the Son of God would be the heir. That the Sun would be the Prince of Peace.

That the Sun would take up the sword and run into battle and to win. Doesn't it seem fitting that he should have all glory and honor and praise? That takes us to the third point today. And that is the proliferation of his reign.

Can never be said of David or Solomon and all of his splendor even righteous Hezekiah. Of the increase of his government and Peace there will be no end.

Now.

One of the challenges for us today is we can have a soaring rhetoric about the glories of Christ and It's appropriate for us to think about even the cosmic nature of Christ's victory. What he has done.

But there's something else we also need to think of the expansion of his kingdom on the more micro scale the nation's. We could go back and read in Isaiah 55. The Gentiles are coming in to the kingdom of God.

We can make much of that grand theme every tongue every tribe every nation the Worldwide mission of God to bring in the harvest. We could spend some time on that. But what about the enlargement of the kingdom?

Within your heart. Within the individual the little children in our midst our families this little church. It says in verse 7 of the increase of his government and peace. There will be no end. And what I want to point out to you today is when we.

Have.

The government on his shoulder.

When we.

Recognize and submit to his.

Glorious.

Authoritative and gracious reign. The increase of his government and peace is felt in a very tangible way in the life of the individual Christian. Let me explain if you want peace from the Prince of Peace.

Submit to his authority. Children if you want to have a peaceful existence in your family home. Submit to the lawful authority of your parents. Do you remember what Jesus said to Paul? Stop kicking against the goats.

They explain this to you guys in Sunday school recently kicking against the goats is an agrarian term. And The farmer would have a stick with a pointed end like my older son would run around poking his younger siblings.

It's been a while. I had to get you and When the oxen was not going where it needed to go they'd crack them on the rear end and poke them with stick and punctured their skin. It hurt him and the oxen in their rebellion and their hard-heartedness would kick against it and would stick in their feet and The lower parts of their legs wherever you call their hooves or whatever it is.

Paul in his conversion to Christ Christ says don't you go kicking against the goats? You can't resist me. And Jesus Christ says to the world you stop kicking against the goats. You cannot resist me or my authority and so on.

That macro comes down to the micro. I ask you where are you in your individual life kicking against the goats? Where are you resisting his reign and rule in those areas and their implications. That's where you have no peace.

It's interesting, isn't it? The cosmic violence in the heavens. All the way down to our problems. Christ is our peace in every step and every thing. Christ is the answer. Submit to his government. And as you know, but I believe There's going to be an never-ending proliferation of His government and peace because Christians are going to submit more fully.

Unbelievers are going to kiss the Sun and repent and believe. Nations who formerly rejected to him I believe the gospel will triumph in Saudi Arabia and all those places that seem so far away. I believe Christ and his authority and his power and his strength and his might and his purposes and his love for his creation is going to.

Massively.

Transform the earth with his gospel It may not happen for a thousand years but it will happen of The increase of his government and everlasting peace. There will be no end. Stay where you are. I'm going to Just remind you of Psalm 2.

We forget the terrors of the Lord and we think about God at his mercy and the person of Christ who saved sinners. But but we have to understand there is a a big judgment also For those who continue to kick against the goads There's no peace out there without Christ.

Why do the nation's rage and The people plot a vain thing. The kings of earth have set themselves and the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord against his anointing saying let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords From us isn't that?

Unbelieving.

Humanity, isn't that the world as we know it? We're just gonna silence this Christian talk this Bible this authority. It's just gonna be silenced. We'll make it go away. What is the response of our Lord?

Who has the broadest shoulders? Who has a government and authority and power that is limitless. What does he say? How does he respond. He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall hold them in derision then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure.

Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. The Davidic line is going to run through Christ and Christ is going to occupy that throne forever.

I.

Will declare the decree the Lord has said to me. You are my son today. I begotten you ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. And I Venture some speculation that in the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He said to his father I'll take the nations now for my inheritance. Righteous father I have done the work that you have sent me to do. Give me my inheritance. Break them with a rod of iron. Dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel lest they repent.

It concludes now therefore. Be wise O Kings. Be instructed. You judges of the earth serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Sun. That language means worship. Adore the Sun lest he be angry and you perish in his way.

When his wrath is kindled. But a little. But how does it end blessed. Are all those who put their trust in him? He is their prince of peace. He's gonna wage a vicious war a war of judgment. Kiss the Sun.

And He'll be your prince.

Well.

The time is running short. I have to conclude my last pint. Look briefly at the proliferation of his reign which is comprehensive in my view extends into eternity the full glorification of all of his people.

The new heavens the new earth the end of Revelation all of that swept up in this Idea of the proliferation of his reign and finally the power to perform Upon throne of David and over his kingdom. He's going to order it and Establish it with justice and judgment from that time forward even Forever.

How will it be accomplished? It says the zeal of The Lord of hosts will perform this. Now when we think of zeal we think about it maybe in a singularly positive light. We think that person is a zealous Christian.

They're very excited about the things of the Lord. But this word has a greater depth of meaning than that and I think we lose the the actual intensity the actual intensity of zeal. The intensity of the Lord's zeal is so strong for the righteous that nothing will stop him from Redeeming them and saving them and being their peace.

That intensity is so strong equally against those who rebel against him and Anger and wrath there's a sign still up for that church that says God's not angry. Does it still say it? God's angry With the wicked every day.

But what about you? The burden that you carry is gone. And you might take it up you might after the Sandbags have already been loaded. You might go grab them again and walk around with them. But in reality positionally The burden has been lifted.

We have to walk in that peace. We have to believe it's there we have to operate as though it's there. It's not a a fairytale idea the reality for the people of God is that they have the Comprehensive shalom of Christ himself.

We have to walk in it. That's a little bit harder a couple words to conclude. Oh people of God today as we Begin to be very distracted about our family activities. Let's truly rejoice that the Lord is King.

He reigns and rules us. His kingdom continues to grow numerically and exponentially, but it gets heavier because in each of us he's doing a work and His kingdom is growing within each person in the faith each family each little church.

So we all we have to think about the expansion and width. We also have to think about the depth. The Lord is deepening his kingdom in his people. We should rejoice.

In this.

Should also be noted.

I.

Think of you. I just looked at you Gina. You're caring for your little baby. Every act of faith and obedience. Every child nurtured. Every psalm sung. Every sacrament partaken of. Every true sermon preached.

Our battle cries and emblems of Christ's victory. The cosmic level. All that stuff. Whatever's happening in that great spiritual war and the victory of Christ and what's already been accomplished. There are little battles that are being won in the hearts and lives of you.

His people and the enemy knows of their defeat. He knows he's defeated. Every righteous act is the expansion of God's kingdom. Isn't it exciting? Every soul saved. Every marriage in Christ. Every covenant child born.

Every scripture devotion read. Every prayer offered. Every psalm sung. Every hymn. All of these things are victory. Emblems badges banners. Second I'm urging all of us to really take this to heart. To stop kicking against the goads.

We need to submit to his government. Whatever the consequence. We need to flee whatever sin that is in our lives. We need to walk in his righteousness that we may enjoy the serenity of his peace. We're in conflict and we're at odds because we're not walking in his ways.

We're doing it to ourselves. It's a self-sabotage of our peace.

Relent.

Stop being hard-hearted kiss the Sun walk in his ways and find and enjoy The serenity and peace that comes with that greater level of faithfulness. You're really gonna run into some more opposition from without but that peace that won't be bothered by it.

Third I would like us to meditate on What I believe is what a man ought to be. Because Christ shows us what he is. We need to meditate on his might His sheer power and also in the tenderness of his love.

Husbands, you could defeat any enemy who could come to your house to cause your family harm. But you are like the tender loving father Like Christ to the people that you are entrusted to care for. We need to be men who have that range of strength.

There's a lot of saber-rattling, but we need strong men who tenderly love their wives and their children. Finally we need to resolve in this season to not forget What's happened here for unto us. A Child is born through unto us the Son is given.

The government is on his shoulder. His name is wonderful counselor the mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Lord Jesus we rejoice that you have come and we long for the day When you will come again the Prince of Peace.

Let's go to the Lord now in prayer. Lord we we have many tribulations and trials and In our life. We know that it may even get worse for us as we try to To follow more closely after you. But Oh Lord, we cling to these promises.

We know that you are God and you keep your promises and Oh Lord Jesus, we ask that you would be Prince of Peace to us in the grandest and most spectacular of ways, but also in the most humble and ordinary ways.

Oh Lord reveal to us in the power of your spirit where we have not accepted your reign and rule and that you would enable us to repent and This will be joy filled for us because we'll be be more in keeping with our new nature and our love for you.

Oh Lord help us to function as citizens and servants in your kingdom in a way that is pleasing in your sight.

Oh Lord.

Help us and energize our psalm singing our reading of Scripture our prayers our care for our children all that we do In your name to see it Amplified and to see its effect even in the world That more and more may come to know you.

Oh Lord. Give us a boldness in our witness and to run into the town and cry that that Jesus Christ Has come and he's King and he has conquered with his love and poor men women and children to submit and to turn in faith and walk with him.

Oh Lord. Give us a passion and a zeal for this great kingdom work. We ask this all in Jesus name.

Amen.