May 24, 2026 | From Darkness to Dawn: The Promised Ruler’s Light

I want you to let you know that I love you and I want what's best for you.

And I just asked that God would minister his word to you today.

So let's go ahead and pray.

Lord, I just know that sometimes we just go through lots of different things.

Just wake up and we're all fine, and man, things can just hit.

I just asked this morning, whether we're living the life we want or the life we don't want, that we would start to believe that you're in control, you love us, and you got a plan.

Help us to trust you and believe that you are so good to us.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

The life you have now, is it the life you want?

If not, why not?

Did something happen to you in the past?

Did someone do something to you?

Did you do something to yourself?

Or was it just circumstantial?

Like where you're at right now, is there anything you want to adjust or change?

Because things are tough.

It's not necessarily the life you want.

And I think that's going to be all of us at one time or another.

Things are going to come our way, and like we don't like it.

We want things to change.

And we're going to do something about it.

And I want you to see a very fine line here this morning.

When things are hard in our lives and we want to have them fixed, there's two ways of approaching that.

One way is like this.

Open hands.

Lord, I don't like what's going on.

I just ask that you would bring change.

And if you don't, I'm still gonna follow you.

Shadrach, me, shack, and a minigo, going in the fire.

Maybe God will rescue us.

If not, we're still gonna serve him.

That's one way of trying to bring change in your life.

Another way is what I like to call the clenched fist.

Where I will do all that I can to make things work for me.

Because after all, it is my life, it is my plan, and I will live on my terms with or without the Lord.

The first approach, open hands, is one of humility.

The clenched fist is one of pride.

And the Bible tells us that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

That's what we're gonna talk about today.

If you want to go ahead and turn to Isaiah 9, we're gonna go through Isaiah 9 and 10 today.

We're gonna just be popping around through some different verses.

If you've been paying attention at all, it's not going so well for Israel.

The northern kingdom is being attacked by Assyria, knocking on the door of the southern kingdom.

Ahaz is trying to partner with the Assyrians to protect his downfall.

It's just a mess.

And they're being punished for their idolatry by God.

And instead of repenting, they take the path of pride, clenched fist, where they try to make things work.

So let's start in chapter 9 of Isaiah.

We're gonna move fast, and we're gonna start chapter 9, verse 8.

Let's look at it.

The Lord sends a message against Jacob, and it falls on Israel, and all the people will know, even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, here it is, in pride and in arrogance of heart, saying, The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with smooth stones.

The sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.

So this is talking about the northern kingdom here.

Israel's northern kingdom has been devastated by the Assyrians, and then their arrogance, they're like, you know what?

We will rebuild.

Rather than repenting of their idolatry and turning back to the Lord, here's what they do: they double down.

They double down.

They're like, okay, you knocked over our trees.

Well, those were weak trees as it is.

We're gonna build with bigger trees.

You knocked over our places with junky bricks.

So what?

We're gonna build with smoother stones that are fancy.

They double down on their sin rather than repenting and turning back to the Lord.

Double down.

Look at verse thirteen.

Yet the people do not turn back to him who struck them, nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.

God is the one who has brought this judgment upon them, and in their pride, instead of turning back to the Lord who struck them, once again, double down.

We're gonna rebuild, we will make things better.

When trouble hits, when life's not going the way you want, rather than say to open hands, Lord, or whatever you want, clothed fists, double down, continue on in the path that we're going, rather than trust the Lord, maybe continue in our sin, Lord, we're gonna do it my way.

After all, my life, my plans, my terms.

And when it goes like that for you, I have to ask you the question: how bad does it have to get before you turn back to the Lord?

How bad does it have to get?

Well, let's see how bad it's gonna get for Israel.

Look at verse 19.

Verse 19.

We're still in chapter 9.

By the fury of the Lord of hosts, the land is burned up, and the people are like fuel for the fire.

No man spares his brother.

They slice off what is on the right hand, but still are hungry, and they eat what is on the left hand, but they are not satisfied.

Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.

When I was young, I used to wrestle with my children, and every single one of them I enjoyed biting.

I'm just saying, I would bite them all over the place as in fun.

But what if I was like kind of like a zombie, and I was biting them into their skin, chewing them up, kind of some walking dead scenario.

You're like, that is disgusting.

Put that guy in jail.

It's a metaphor here, and they are biting and devouring each other, tribe devouring tribe, person ripping off person civil strife, and in fact, it is getting so bad that they are harming themselves.

Rather than repent, you could say they're turning to cannibalism.

And you go, Yeah, it's such a metaphor, isn't that crazy?

Israel doesn't want to repent.

It's almost like they're cannibals, they're eating one another.

I want to tell you this, and you're not gonna believe me, you can look it up later.

How bad does it have to get?

Well, not too far in the future.

I'm not joking.

Some of them will be boiling and eating their children.

I am not joking.

Two instances in the Bible where they are so hungry from siege and the judgment of God, they start eating their kids.

How bad does it have to get?

Cannibalism or repentance.

Well, who's the one punishing him?

Well, it's Assyria.

If you want to turn to chapter 10, let's jump to 10.

Who is punishing these people?

It's a it's Assyria, so Assyria, this country, must be good, right?

Well, not so much.

Look at chapter 10, verse 5.

Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger, and the staff at whose hand is my indignation.

I send it against a godless nation, and commission it against the people of my fury to capture the booty and the seas to plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.

When you read the Old Testament, you've got to hold two truths together at the same time.

Assyria is a brutal, godless empire that are fully accountable for what they're doing.

And yet God is using Assyria to punish his people.

Both can be true.

God's sovereignty, human responsibility.

But Assyria was just as pride as the Israelites.

Assyria thought they were doing this all on their own.

And so I really want you to see this.

I just thought I'd read it to you.

We're in chapter 10 still.

Look at verse 12.

Look at the boast of Assyria.

So it will be that when the Lord has completed all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will say, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness.

For he said, By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, for I have understanding, and I removed the boundaries of the peoples, and I plunder their treasuries, and like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants.

And my hand reached the riches of the people like a nest, as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth, and there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.

And then God says, Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it?

Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?

That would be like a club wielding those who lift it, or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.

Assyria is boasting of their accomplishments, but Assyria boasting of their accomplishments, accomplishments in the sense of overtaking Israel, is like a saw sitting on the bench, boasting about the wonderful bookshelf it just made.

That's the imagery here.

Assyria is just a tool in the hand of God.

And as he has brought disaster on his people, he will soon flip it and bring disaster on Assyria.

Welcome to Village Bible Church.

Such great news today.

And eventually, God will talk about a remnant that will return.

There's always this judgment.

By the way, the northern kingdom gets totally wiped out by Assyria.

The southern kingdom holds them off for a bit, and then the Babylonians come and take them into exile, but a remnant does return.

But I want to give you some good news.

Because in the midst of all this disaster, sin, cannibalism, lack of repentance comes chapter nine, verse one.

Turn backwards.

Chapter nine, verse one.

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish.

In the earlier times he treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Napile with contempt.

But later on he shall make it glorious by the way of the sea and on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.

Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.

These are great Christmas verses that we always recite at Christmas time, but you kind of got to go, well, what's going on?

Who's not Zebedon and Naphtali?

Well, these are the northern tribes that were totally devastated by Assyria.

And they are in the land now, and Jesus shows up on the scene.

The light shining in the darkness is a reference to Jesus.

The people did not rebuild with smooth stones.

They did not plant new trees.

They still lie devastated.

And if they think they're so impressive, they are now occupied by the Romans.

What do they deserve?

Complete and utter wrath.

But in the darkness, the light shines.

Jesus shows up.

I would say, even in your darkness, rather than just getting judgment and wrath, you get grace.

There's a saying that likes to float around in some of the men's uh in our in our church.

If you ever ask some of the men, how are you doing?

the answer will be, better than I deserve.

And so I ask you men and women, what is it you deserve?

The answer according to the Bible, I'm not trying to be mean here.

You and I, and every single human being being in this earth deserves the wrath of God.

And if we can be honest, I'm just telling you what the Bible says.

We all deserve the wrath of God in hell forever.

And in that darkness, Jesus shows up.

The light shining in the darkness.

Gets even better.

Let's look at verse three.

For you shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff of their shoulders, the rod of your oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.

For every boot of the Buddha warrior in battle, tumult, and cloak rolled in blood will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

God shows up.

What we have here, a combination of first coming, second coming for God promises joy, like the harvest festival, or victory celebration, the yoke of oppression.

Assyria, Babylon, sin will be broken, like the defeat of Gideon and Midian the day he won.

Basically, what we're saying is that God is going to pull off a reversal of fortunes for those who trusted him.

The darkness will now be light, and that light will come through Jesus Christ, and a restoration will happen, but it will not be through your plan.

It will not come on your terms, but it will be God's plan and God's terms.

Hey, see, I don't know if you're like me, but I am always, I mean, I feel like I'm always doing this.

I'm always looking for angles to make the hard parts of my life better.

Anybody else like that?

You're like, there's hard parts, I'm looking for angles to make them better.

So I told my wife this week that I was wondering something.

And every time I tell her I'm wondering something, she just has no clue what I'm gonna say.

And I told her I always get sick on boats.

I get sick on cruise ships, I get sick on sailboats, I get sick, sick, sick.

I've done shots, I've done patches, I've done dramamine.

Nothing works ever.

So don't come up to me afterwards and say, have you tried blah, blah, blah?

Yes, doesn't work.

So I was asking my wife this week, I said, I wonder, honey, I get sick in boats, but would I get sick in a submarine?

So I looked it up, and the answer is probably not.

And I thought that was good news.

So while you are all taking your cruises around the world, I'll be taking a submarine cruise to the bottom of the ocean.

I'm always looking for angles to make my life better, and sometimes that can turn into pride where I want to do my life, my plan, my terms.

And God comes in, he says, No, no, I got a better plan and better terms.

And here's the greatest news ever.

It's hitting us now in verse six and seven, the most famous Christmas passage here.

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, mighty God, eternal father, prince of peace.

There'll be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to behold it with justice and righteousness.

From then on and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Wonderful counselor, reference to Jesus, wise beyond human limits.

He is the great God man.

We are told he's the mighty God, divine in power, eternal father, which he has a caring and concern for you and his people, Prince of Peace, bringing that shalom and that wholeness.

And so we see these passages referring to Jesus, and we say, okay.

When I'm confused, I can do the clenched fifth thing, or I can go to the wonderful counselor.

When I'm feeling weak, I can go to the clenched fist thing and say, I got some power, or we can go to the one who has mighty power.

When the reality hits, we're feeling rejected, we're feeling alone.

Like, you know what?

I'm gonna try to figure out how I can medicate that or distract myself from that clenched fist, or open hands and say, you know what?

Everlasting Father, the fatherly care and concern of Jesus, and then the Prince of Peace.

Oh man, if I could just get peace, if I could just figure out how to get peace in my life.

Open hands, the Prince of Peace, Jesus.

And I want you to notice something.

Did you notice there that the government is where it's on his shoulders?

It's not in his hands.

It's not like he's gonna take the world's affairs and the governments of this world and just set it down.

It's on his shoulders, which proves that he is carrying absolutely everything on this earth, including your life.

If I were to ask you today, I'd corner you and I'd say, hey, do you truly believe that God is sovereign and over every president, every prime minister, every government on this earth, and he's in control of everything?

You would say, Absolutely.

We can trust him.

Even if we don't see what's going on, you would say we can trust him with the affairs of men and women, we can trust him.

And then I would corner you and say, Since you believe that, do you truly believe he's also in control of your life?

Well, I don't know about that.

He's got the government on his shoulders, he's got a lot to do.

But he has just as much control over your life.

And so I asked you, well, what are you gonna do with his sovereignty and love and control for you?

What are you gonna do?

Are you gonna keep doing the clenched fist thing and I'll ask for help when I need it?

Because sometimes, I mean, just to be honest with you, if I asked most of everybody in here, is Jesus important to you?

You would say, Yes, Jesus is important to you.

Hardly anybody's talking, he's not important.

But here's here's the here's a better question.

What does that mean?

Do you treat Jesus like Lord, or do you treat him like a life coach?

Like a consultant?

He's like your spiritual assistant, he's your godly chat box.

I need some help, Jesus.

I'm doing my life, I'm doing my terms, I'm doing my plans.

Can you give me a little assistance?

Can you give me a little coaching?

And Jesus says, you know what?

I don't come to make your life better.

I come to rule over it.

I'm the Lord and I know what's best for you.

And if we're truly following with open hands, he comes in and says, Your life, my life.

Your terms, my terms.

Your plans, my plans.

Can you be trusted?

I mean, some of you would tell me some things you're going through right now, you're not sure God can be trusted.

And I want to tell you this there is something that I've read before that is one of the most amazing and helpful things, and I'm gonna share it with you, and it's really brief.

It's just a a little bitty saying from John Piper, Pastor Piper, and he says this.

Show this to you.

God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of only three of them.

You may not know why some certain things are happening.

Does it make sense?

I mean, really, some of you would say, why did that even happen?

What is God doing?

Oh, he's doing 10,000 things in your life, and you're aware of probably three of them.

And when it's all said and done and you're with him one day, it's all gonna make sense.

But until then, it's his life.

It's his terms, it's his plans for you.

And if you can trust him to run the governments of the world, you can trust him to run your life.

So, what do we do?

What does that mean?

What does it even look like?

If I'm gonna have open hands, what does that mean?

Well, it means this.

And this is the way I'm gonna land.

I'm gonna encourage you to pick a name.

Pick a name of Jesus.

Pick a name.

If you are confused right now, this week, open hands, start your prayer like this.

Wonderful counselor, help.

I need wisdom.

I have decisions to make, and I'm tired of making them like this.

I'd rather make my decisions like this.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.

He's not gonna hold back on you.

Wonderful counselor.

Any of you feel weak?

All right, pull things off on your strength.

Let me know how that goes next week.

Or you can say, Mighty God, I need your strength, I need your power, I cannot make it through.

I need you.

And then some of you will say, Clench fist, I don't feel loved, I don't feel cared for.

My parents abandoned me, my parents treated me like this.

I was listening to someone recently and said, you know what, my mom never looked at me.

She just never looked at me.

She's my mom, but she didn't even set her eyes on me.

And if that's you, you feel that way, and you say, Oh, I'm gonna get love one way or another.

And one of the ways I'll just shut people out.

Or you can say, you know what, Lord, I have been dissed and dismissed by this world, but I know you love me.

Start your prayer this week, everlasting Father.

And then there's the peace part.

What's so amazing?

Some of you are those so disheveled, and you got so much mess in your life right now, and you have everything that is existing except for peace.

And what's so amazing about Jesus, the Prince of Peace, he not only gives us peace between us and the Father through the death and resurrection, but he gives us peace with one another, but he also gives us peace.

And get this, get this.

He gives us peace that surpasses understanding.

And you may want me to explain that peace to you, but I can't because it surpasses understanding.

So if that's what you want this week, start your prayer off like this, Prince of Peace.

Give me that peace that surpasses understanding to trust you.

I think it'd be a good idea to go to this time of prayer, and maybe you can pick a name right now.

Now, I'm telling you, it's up to you.

You don't have to do this, but if you want to, feel free to pray with open hands.

I mean, you can pray with your hands closed if you want.

And you know that you're gonna pray and yet you're still gonna do your own thing.

You can just go ahead and pray with closed hands then.

Be kind of embarrassing, but do it anyway.

Or open hands.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer right now.

Lord, we don't want this pride.

So much pride.

We've done it for so long, and some of us are at the point where it's just cannibalism.

We're hurting other people.

It's like we're eating other people, we're devastating ourselves.

And how's that working for us, Lord?

How bad does it have to get?

Lord, we just ask that you would be with us, that you would take those clenched fists and turn them into open hands.

And we may say to ourselves, well, some sins can't be forgiven.

The things that I've done cannot be forgiven.

Prince of peace.

Remind us that you've brought peace through the cross.

And some will say, Well, I've brought the problems of myself.

That may be true.

That's why you're the everlasting father from eternity past and eternity future.

You love me.

And the voice in our head, and the voice of the evil one, may say, You are all alone.

May we cry out, You are the mighty God who will never leave me, you will never forsake me.

And there may be a voice in your head that says, God's angry at you, you're going to hell.

Prince of peace, bore the wrath of God that I deserve, and now I get love.

Voice in your head, the enemy may say, It's too late, it's too late to change, it's too late for things to get better.

Way too late.

You've wasted your life.

Wonderful counselor.

Guide me and change me.

Yeah, but I would be better off dead.

Call on all four.

Wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This is now no longer my life.

It's your life, your plan, your terms, all for your glory.

In Jesus' name, amen.