← ArchiveAdvent 2016Sunday, December 18, 2016DateDecember 18, 2016Speaker—TextIsaiah 9Passages in this sermonIsaiah 92:18John 1414:12Ephesians 619:46TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00On your knees, oh hear the angel voices Oh, light divine, oh light when Christ was born0:18Welcome back. It's good to see everyone this morning. We continue our sermon series through this Advent season,0:48this time of expectation with the second of our He Is statements. So two weeks ago, three weeks ago now, we said that He is our light. Jesus Christ is the light that we are looking for. And then last week we paused because our choir led us in worship. And let me say this, I haven't had a chance to publicly say, what a fantastic time of worship last week. If, one, you know, this might sound funny as a pastor,1:18but I really do enjoy it when I don't have to preach. That I can be preached to. And so it was good for this heart. If you were in the nursery last week and weren't able to join us, one, you missed out. But two, you can go online and see the whole performance. And then hopefully in January we will have some DVDs if you would like to take one home. So I'm creating more work for our staff, but sorry.1:47If you would like a DVD, they'll make as many as you want in January. But really, share that. Share the message of Christmas and hope that He is. Mary, did you know what God would come down other than the God that we worship? So today we see that He is our light. Jesus Christ is now our peace. And so if you have your Bibles with you, and I pray that you do, turn to Isaiah chapter 9.2:18Isaiah 9. And I will do you a favor. You can mark your Bible. We'll be here for the next three weeks. Let me remind you now, and I will also remind you at the end of the service, that we will be here next week. Jesus did not take Christmas off. So we will not either. We will have a Christmas service. Now let me just say this. There will be no life group before, and there will be no child care. And so for you parents that are worried about whether your child will be running around the2:47sanctuary, the answer probably is yes, but my two will also be here. So if my child just runs up here while I'm preaching, just ignore them. So we're in the same boat. So, and bring your family. Invite a friend. They might not have anywhere to go for Christmas. And what better way than to worship and them to see you worship the Christ that so wonderfully serves us. Isaiah 9 verse 2 this morning.3:15I want to begin by telling you a true story about a king who voluntarily left his peaceful country to go to a devastated land. This king knew that many in the battlefield would not appreciate his rulership, even though he was what they needed. The king offered peace and yet was met at every turn with hostility and ultimately killed by3:40this war-torn and hateful people. But little did they know that by killing the king, they would ultimately find peace. This is the story of the Prince of Peace. His name is Jesus Christ. And it is a true story. And it is a story that is illustrated in God's word.4:08And we will see a glimpse of that this morning. So, read with me beginning in verse 2 of Isaiah chapter 9. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. And we said several weeks ago that it's, I don't believe it's a coincidence that Christmas follows the darkest day of our year. The 21st of December. I can't forget that day for a special reason, which I will not comment on this morning.4:38And I do not believe it's an incident either that during Christmas we put up lights. Because we illustrate whether we know it subconsciously or it's a conscious effort, we are illustrating that Jesus Christ is our light. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.5:06You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy, verse 3. They rejoice before you, according to the joy of harvest. As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For you have broken the yoke of his burden. And the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle.5:35And garments rolled in blood will be used for burning and fuel of fire. It's amazing how we pray for those that are currently in war. That God says one day, the clothes that you wear in battle, you'll use them for fuel. Because you don't need them to fight anymore. Because he is our peace. Verse 6. A verse we've already sung today. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given.6:05And the government shall be upon his shoulders. And he 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 forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.6:34Let's pray. Father, as we have read your word, we know that your word is living and it is active. But Father, may you touch our lives. We know that when we encounter the good news of Jesus Christ, we cannot help but be changed. But Lord, we also know that we will not understand your word without your guidance.7:00Without your spirit. So Lord, direct our hearts. Guide our minds. And Lord, fan into flame the spirit that you give us in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We pray this in the name of the Prince of Peace. Amen. And amen. Well, we see this in God's word over and over again, that he is peace. Now, you might get tired of hearing that this morning, but it's true.7:28He is peace. If you don't say that, I'm going to keep saying it. All right. He is peace. And we see in God's word that peace is intentional. This is what God's word through the prophet Isaiah affirms. That peace is truth, it is eternal, it is perfect, and it is not left to chance. It is intentional. Look at verse 6. For unto us a child is born.7:56Listen to the language of intent here. For unto us. And that word is to us or for us or because of us. So, because of you and I, that God sent his son that was born. And unto us, not only was a child born, but unto us a son is given. You don't give things by accidents. All right. So, look at the language. Listen to the language of intentionality here in God's word.8:26God's trying to remind us that peace is intentional. We see that over and over. The government will be upon his shoulder. Now, if we stop here and we miss the glorious message of Advents. See, Christmas is not just about a son being born. We have a blow mold nativity set in our, not really our driveway, I guess, our porch.8:51That's really the only decorations we have, right? By humbug at the Burnham house. Casey would tell you, I'm not really a decoration person. So, my job is to get the things out of the attic and then I'll put them back in the attic when they go back. But we have a blow mold nativity set that I think is from the 70s. Because it's so brittle, it's beginning to now break. Beautiful nativity set.9:21And I'm reminded in that that it's so much more than just the birth of a son. Many of you have these baby Jesuses around your house. But if we just stop at Jesus being born, that's not enough. Because God's words remind us, why was this son born? Verse 6. To you, for you, intentionally because of God's grace. Because he knows that if he leaves peace up to us, you and I will never have peace if it's left to us.9:50Peace is intentional. You see, we don't fall into peace. And this metaphysical, abstract idea that one day we'll all be in the beauty pageant and we're evolving as a society and we will just all have world peace is not biblical. Because if you're looking at the same world I'm looking at, I almost see the reverse.10:17The more we evolve as a society, it seems like the less peace that we have. Because peace is intentional. You know, actually the truth is this. Not only will we not find peace by accident, that you and I are sometimes not at peace with ourselves. So how can I be at peace with my brother or my sister or you when there are times that I am fighting a battle with myself?10:46That's why God looks at us and says, I did not leave peace to chance. I sent my son. So I pray today that you will find peace and that you will not leave peace to chance. Because God did not. He gave peace. And his name is Jesus Christ. You see, peace has a name. Peace is intentional.11:16And peace has a name. Look at verse 6. For unto you, unto us, a child is born. God says, I didn't leave it to chance. Church. And this is the name. His name will be called. Wonderful. Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. And Prince of Peace.11:44You see, the Prince of Peace also has another name. His name is Jesus Christ. And the name Jesus means what? It means that he will save the people from their sins. Jesus. Our God saves. It's the same Hebrew. The Hebrew equivalent is Yehoshua, which our God saves. It's the same name that you might hear, Joshua. That's the peace that we find in Christ. Prince of Peace has a name.12:12And I love how God's word touches every culture and every person and every tribe. You see, the Hebrew here, Prince of Peace, is a construct. I'm not going to get in too deep with the syntax here of the word. But it's a compound construction that cannot be taken out. So, it's two nouns put together. In the South, we would say it's a hyphenated name. It's like Bobby Sue or Billy Ray. So, it's not Prince of Peace. Jesus' name is Prince Peace.12:42And we know this about these Southern names. If your name's Bobby Ray, don't call Bobby Ray Bobby. Like, you don't call Billy Bob just Bob. And you don't call Becky Sue just Sue. Because you can't separate those names. And we see the same thing in God's word. You can't separate the Prince from peace. And we also see this. You can't separate the peace from Jesus Christ.13:11Because if we are looking for peace other than Jesus, we won't find it. Peace has a name. And his name is what? His name is Jesus. I love that heavenly truth. You see, when we have a longing in our heart for peace, we might not realize it, but that longing is Jesus. When I'm longing for peace, that journey will always lead me back to the throne of God.13:35And I know this. I know there are people here this morning that have not not yet believed. And I know there's probably people here this morning that are skeptic. But even skeptics desire peace in their life. And I would just say this. You might not yet believe. But ultimately, if you are searching for peace in your life, peace has a name. And his name is Jesus. And you cannot separate peace from Jesus.14:05He is the Prince of Peace. Seek him. This is why Jesus says in John 14, 21, peace, I leave you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives. Let not your heart be troubled or fearful. You see, when God the Father named his son the Prince of Peace, he was revealing his character. That is who Jesus is. Where Christ is, there is peace.14:35And I know you're going to say, well, pastor, we prayed for churches that are being persecuted and killed today. So what is this peace you're talking about? The peace of Christ is a peace that someone can come in here right now and kill me for my faith. And on the other side of heaven, I can look at them and say, thank you, because you helped me find peace faster. That is the peace of Christ.15:04When my world is shattering, I can pray to the God of peace and say, Lord, I need you now. But his name is not only peace. His name is the Prince of Peace. He is the Prince of Peace, verse 6. He is Everlasting Father. He is Prince of Peace. Why would God name his son the Prince of Peace? Why not just call him Prince? No, not that Prince.15:35Why not just call him Peace or Shalom? Why would God call his son Prince of Peace? The word Prince actually comes from the Latin. It means a territory that's ruled by someone else. I believe that God is reminding us because we need to know that God is our Prince. See, the biblical worldview reminds us that he is ruler. And by saying Jesus is Prince, I think God is also acknowledging that there are other princes or princesses in our life that fight for our affections.16:04The number one prince that fights for your affections for ladies and princesses is you. There are times in our life where we say, God, I know you are King of kings and Lord of lords, and I know you are Prince of Peace, but I still want to be on the throne. I see this illustrated in my life in a very powerful way.16:33I grew up with a brother that's three years younger than me. His name is Eric. And we were boys to the core. And I'm being repaid because our son, who's four, is all boy. Everything is a stick or a gun or a weapon. My dad spent three hours with us this weekend, and he was just passing through town. And for the whole three hours, my son beat up on Pawpaw. And that's all he did. And he was gearing up because he was looking for him the whole week.17:03So that's what he did as a boy. But all that it took my parents to entertain us, as a boy, some of you might be in the same boat, we just needed a mound of dirt. Give me, I remember there were times that my dad wanted to level our side yard. And so for about a week, we had a pile, a dump truck load of dirt in our yard. And I thought that was the coolest thing ever. And we also lived in a neighborhood of boys. And some of you men now that used to be boys are, you know where I'm going here.17:31So the neighborhood boys would get together. And men, when men get together over a pile of dirt, what happens? It always ends in King of the Mountain. Right? And so we, for a whole week, we spent time just running up the hill and throwing each other off the hill. And if you're playing King of the Mountain, you know this. It doesn't matter how you get the person off the hill. You can throw something at them.18:00You can bite them. You can pull them down. It doesn't matter how they get off the hill as long as what? You replace them as the king. And I believe that's what God is trying to remind us of. Because there are times in our life where we say, well, he is my heavenly father. I come to church. God is the one I need. And yet we are trying to play this spiritual game of King of the Mountain. Right? We want the peace of God without him being the Prince of Peace.18:28So we come in here and say, my life's not very peaceful because you are fighting Christ to be the king of your life. And by the way, let me say this. You can't fight hard enough to win that fight. And so why do we still do it? Right? If God is on the hill that I can never conquer, why do I run up there and grab his ankle as if I can remove Christ from the throne?18:51He is the Prince of Peace because I cannot have peace in my life without him ruling my life. And for some of us, that's scary because we want to have our life in a way that we have everything mapped out. Some of you are way more compulsive than I am. So your life is mapped out to a greater degree than mine is. But mine is fairly mapped out.19:21I mean, I can tell you 95% of what I'm going to do every week for the next year. And yet there are times that God reminds me, maybe you don't need to be king of your life. Why don't you remove yourself from this little hill that you've built? Because he not only is peace, but he is Prince of Peace. And God's word recognizes this fight in our life and this fight in our world. Listen to what Ephesians 6 says. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the devil.19:49For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers. Now, I would argue that the number one ruler we have to watch out for is the one that you see in the mirror every morning. So our battle is not in flesh and blood. It is, Pastor, my heart is the one I have to battle. Because sometimes I don't have peace because I am ruling Josh's life.20:18And Jesus says, if you want peace, then come to the Prince of Peace. Against authorities, against the world powers of the darkness. And against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. In Revelation, Jesus commends the church to the one who has a sharp double-edged sword. Jesus says, I know where you live, where Satan's throne is, and you are holding on to my name.20:44Do not deny me in the faith. Even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was killed among you, where Satan lives. Jesus recognizes that many of you are in a war right now. And he says, don't worry, I am ruler. Let me rule, and you will find peace. And I just want to say this word of comfort. If he is king of kings of your life, your life might not feel very peaceful, but in Christ, it is.21:13It is. He is our Prince of Peace. He rules. And so you might say, well, then, okay, I get it. He gives us peace, and he is called the Prince of Peace, and he rules. Now, what is this peace that he offers? In the Old Testament, peace, the word means shalom. So actually, the word shalom, which doesn't just mean peace, it means wholeness.21:41It means completeness. You see, this is the peace of Jesus Christ. That wholeness means that everything in my life is in order. Now, some of you are going to laugh at that because you feel like your life is completely out of order. That's not what God offers us. You see, when there is sin in my life, then I am not in right standing with God. I am out of order. Actually, I am eternally broken from the Lord.22:08There is no shalom in my life without Christ. My life is broken. But heavenly peace is so much more. You see, Jesus justifies me. The birth and the death of Christ, if I believe and trust in him, Jesus Christ makes me right before a holy God when I am not right.22:27And let me just be honest with you. That is not fair. It is not fair that Jesus was born into a world that had no room for him. That he lived a sinless life so he would not die. And then he chose to die because I deserve to die in my sin.22:53Because he wanted to bring peace in my life. That is not fair. And yet, that is what Jesus offers us. He said, Josh, if you believe, I will give you peace that you need. The king of a peaceful land left his land of peace and went to a war-torn country, knowing that that country would hate him and kill him.23:13But knowing in his death, that was the only way those rebellious people would find peace in their life. That is the story of Christmas. That is the story that I need to hear. That is the peace that I need. Christ is not only the son of the king, he is the king.23:41And in him, we find peace. He is our prince. You know, a simple way to illustrate this, Jesus putting order in our life is observing the habits of the way some of you order at restaurants. And I don't see them here today. They might be, if they are, I'm not going to look. That way I don't embarrass them. But some people get nervous when they go to new restaurants. You go to a restaurant, you might not recognize a menu, and so some of you are nervous, so you just order the go-to.24:12So if you're at a new Mexican restaurant, you're just going to order the chicken tenders because you know that's safe. Or you go to the Italian place and you're going to order hamburger because you know that's safe. And for many people, that does cause a lot of anxiety. I can tell you, if we go to a new restaurant and Casey doesn't know what to order, her go-to is quesadillas. She says, that's safe.24:41It's just tortilla shells and cheese. You can't mess it up, and it's not going to make me sick. So our last mission trip to Baton Rouge, one of our most recent trips, I brought our group to a great po'boy restaurant in New Orleans. And one of the girls wanted a soft-shell crab po'boy. And so this restaurant is really known for having salty attitudes. It's one of those restaurants that when you get up to the counter, you better know what you want to order because they're not going to help. So this lady in the church walks up to the counter.25:11She says, ma'am, what is a soft-shell crab po'boy? And the response is, it's a soft-shell crab. So she asked him, well, what is a soft-shell crab? And the lady said, soft-shell crab. And she said, well, what type of crab is it? And for the third time, the lady said, it's a soft-shell crab. So the young lady in our church said, I'll have the roast beef. Casey will tell you, I have a completely different approach when I go to restaurants.25:42I've been to many new restaurants with some of you. My theory is this. I am always going to ask the chef what their favorite meal is, or I'm always going to order the chef special. There are several reasons for this. One, if they're a decent chef, then that's probably, their favorite food is probably the best food. Two, it's probably fresh. And three, even if it's a lousy restaurant, that's probably the best dish that they make. So I'm just going to, you know, go big or go home.26:12If I'm going to get sick, I'm going to get sick to the max. That's just my, I'm ordering, I'm letting the chef order for me. And there's actually a hot dog restaurant in New Orleans that you can go and order the chef special. And he will put on your hot dog what he feels like you want. So you have, if you go and say chef special, he literally says, this is what I want on your hot dog. Here, take it and eat it. And for those of you who, like me, have a mayonnaise phobia, that's, I tell him, chef special, but no mayo.26:40But I believe this is what, this is what the peace of God offers us. Because there are times in our life where we need to trust God to not only order our lives, but order for us daily. Because if we're honest, there are times that we, that we wake up and we, we feel like our spiritual life is a menu.27:07So we're going to wake up tomorrow and say, God, I want your peace, but I don't want patience. So I'm going to order a number one, give me the peace, but don't give me the patience that I need to find the peace. Or let me, Lord, give me love today. I'm going to order the number two, king size with love, but don't give me the enemies with that, that I have to love.27:35And so sometimes we want peace and we want order in our lives, but we want that with saying, God, I want order in my life, but let me still order my life. But when we have the peace of Christ, it's as if we give him the menu every day and say, chef, king, you order for me.27:55Jesus, you know best. Jesus, I trust your peace. And there are often times in our life where that peace is found in difficult circumstances that we may know when we walk through the shallow shadow of the valley of death, that his peace remains true in that.28:13Do you have the peace? And when we know the peace and shalom that Jesus Christ can offer, when you let the king order your life, the Bible says, taste and see. That the Lord is good.28:42When he orders for you, you will know that he is good and that you have peace. Let him order your life. That is peace. It is wholeness in our life. Verse seven, not only does Christ, is he ruler in that, not only does he order our lives and make us right and in right standing before God, but we see this, that his peace is not at one time events. So God doesn't say, here's your peace, go home.29:10Look at the peace that Jesus offers us in verse seven. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. It is as if God's word is reminding us that Jesus, his peace is constantly increasing in your life. So I ask you, if you trust in Jesus, look at your life. Do you have more peace today than you had yesterday? And it might be this.29:40You might find in your life that your life is more hectic today than it was yesterday. It seems like this is the season in our church and our families that people are just struggling in the hospital. We have many today that are in the ICU and they're not here. We have many today that have had funerals in the last month. And we would be foolish to look at that and say, well, my life is more happy and joyous.30:04And my life is in order. Everything is going like I planned. That's not what God's word says. But we can see this, that even when I have loved ones that pass, even when I struggle, that his peace increases in my life. If I trust him, if I lean into him, of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end.30:27And so I ask, are you leaning into his grace and relying upon his mercy today? If we are following Christ, his peace should be increasing. His peace should be increasing in our lives. And I just ask of my life and yours, don't you want his peace to increase? I've never met a person that said, you know what?30:58I just want my peace. I want peace to be less tomorrow. That's what I'm praying for. God, decrease your peace. God, just give it to me all. Let me have a full out Job experience. That's what I want. That's not what we desire. But that we can say, Lord, no matter what happens, Father, if I am in Iran and we are being persecuted, Lord, we might be killed because we are meeting today to worship. Father, let your peace increase, even in that.31:26And Lord, as we walk through difficult times, Lord, may your peace increase. This is his holy promise. Trust me and I will increase peace in you through my spirit. That is his promise. That of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no ends. So you might say this, well, then why do I need peace?31:53Why do I need this peace? The peace of verse 6 that says, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. He is wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. Why do we need peace? Have you thought about that? But we live in a beauty pageant society. We live, if people ask you, well, what do you want most in life?32:20Many of us are going to say, world peace. If we don't think about why do we need peace? You say, well, obviously there's worse. Look at what's going on in the news. Look at the fights. Look at Chicago. And look at the killings in Baton Rouge and New Orleans and Birmingham. We're kind of insulated because Moody, I think, is one of the safest towns in Alabama.32:48And I'm thankful for that. But that doesn't mean that we're safe, that we don't need peace. Why do we need peace? We need peace because the greatest war that has ever been fought is the war for your soul. And it is a dark and difficult fight. I'm thankful for those that have served in our midst today. We have many veterans. And they have not told me many stories.33:19There was a point, I knew a gentleman that he was in Pearl Harbor. And his ship was the ship that the day before that fateful day, his ship was stationed where the USS Arizona was the next day. And he was on the rescue crew that were lifting men and women out of the water during that time of battle. And I know there, for those of you who have served,33:47we thank you for your service because you have seen things that no one should ever have to see. And I contemplate how much darker then, if earthly war is that ugly, how much more ugly is the war for our souls? You know how ugly that war is? It took the Son of God becoming man. Being born of a virgin. Being born in a town that, by their own admission, had no room.34:18But they gave him a consolation prize. They let him stay in a feeding trough. And it wasn't this beautiful manger with hay, with spotlights, and the cattle lowing, and the drummer boy, you know, drumming him to sleep. It was a feeding trough. Possibly not cleaned. This is where the Messiah was born. And he lived a sinless life34:47that one day he could proclaim to the world, your king is here. And this is what we did. We stripped him naked. And we gave him a purple robe. And said, king, if you are the king, here's what you will wear. And we put a crown of thorns on him to the point where his head would bleed. Not knowing that he had already in the garden praying for us35:16had sweat drops of blood. And not knowing that several days later, as he pierced his side, that blood and water would flow. And not knowing that through the blood of Christ, there is forgiveness and remission of sins. Folks, that's the war. That's why we need peace. Not knowing that we would then, as a world, when the king of peace would come,35:47we would put him on a cross and say, if you really are the king of the Jews, if you really are Jesus, which means God saves, then save yourself. You see how the world is mocking the king? You see how we do that? If your name means God saves, then prove it. Some of you are asking that question today. If you really are the savior, then God, clean up my life and I'll follow you.36:16God, do this for me. God, I've been praying this prayer for years. And until you answer that prayer, like I want you to pray, I will not believe. And God would say, until you humble yourself and repent of your sin, you can't pray to a father that you don't recognize. That is the war. When I end my sin, Jesus said, I know that you will kill me.36:46I know that you will fight me, but it is a fight that is worth my life. And he laid down his life that we may have peace. And so country that's in hostility, your soul is in a battle today. And Christ has won the war if you trust him. And I know your reaction because I had this. Well, you don't understand what I've done.37:15No, but the Bible says, while you were still a sinner, Christ died for you. That gives me comfort because I know that I'm a sinful person. And I know it was before I tried to clean up myself, God said, look, you can't do it. Quit trying. Quit playing the church game. I died in your darkest day, not in your day of hallelujah. I died that the war would be won, that you might find peace.37:45If you need the Prince of Peace today, will you not admit your sin and say, Lord, you did it and I need you. I pray that you, where you sit, will find resolution and redemption in the Prince of Peace today. Maybe you're here and you trust Jesus Christ and you say, well, pastor, I know what you've been preaching, but my life is anything but peaceful. And actually things are in disarray. And this peace of Christ that you preach on,38:13I don't feel like I have it. I want you to know that his peace is increasing. And that I pray that maybe today his peace will be restored in your life. Even if we die for our faith, that he will say, well done, good and faithful servants. That your life was chaotic, but my peace was reigning supreme in your heart, in your soul. And maybe during the time of response shortly,38:42you need to come on behalf of someone else and just lift them up in prayer. That you know, as we've already come before with these countries and these churches, maybe you know someone that is fighting a war right now and God is calling you in that battle to pray for them. Don't miss a chance to speak on behalf of someone. To come to the altar and say, Lord, I'm going to intercede. I'm going to lift them up because they're in a battle39:11and they need the Prince of Peace. Knowing that I cannot separate the peace from the Prince. And knowing that God, when you rule, I find peace and order in my life. May we respond to him who is able to do exceedingly more abundantly than all we think or ask. Let's pray this morning.← Previous in Advent 2016Sunday, December 4, 2016Next in Advent 2016 →Sunday, December 25, 2016More sermons on Isaiah →
