Sermon

Advent | Week 3

New Life Community Church

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  1. My name is Kyle for visiting with us today.

  2. I want to say, welcome to you. I'm glad that you're here, Echo.

  3. The sentiments of both, my wife and Jasper and welcoming you

  4. today. I hope that you enjoy your time

  5. worshiping Christ with us. If you have your Bible, you can

  6. turn to Isaiah chapter 9. Look at Isaiah chapter 9, it's

    Isaiah 9 chapter mention Isaiah 9 chapter mention

  7. real close. To the very middle of your

  8. Bible. All right, so Isaiah chapter 9,

    Isaiah 9 chapter mention

  9. is where we'll be today? Today we are as you're going, as

  10. you're going there, I'll just kind of set up what we're doing.

  11. We are in the third week now of our Advent series.

  12. And so there will be a message on Friday night at the Eve.

  13. Eve service just about about the birth of Christ looking forward

  14. to the birth of Christ and about whom he came to save.

  15. And so I really encourage you to come back Friday night to hear

  16. that. I think you'll find it

  17. encouraging, but you'll find the whole night a real treat for

  18. you. Our family during this time of

  19. year, it's a blast and then Sunday on Christmas morning.

  20. I'm excited to worship with you all on Christmas morning.

  21. I hope just want to encourage you to make plans to be here.

  22. I know that you're like, and it's Christmas morning.

  23. And I'm like, man, it's the Lord's Day, right?

  24. And, and we are people who say all the time that I assume you

  25. are, that Jesus is the reason for the season, right?

  26. So let's not say that. And then say, except if If the

  27. season falls on, you know, a Sunday, then I won't be there.

  28. So let's make plans to attend on Sunday as much as we're able,

  29. you may have travel plans. You may already be gone out of

  30. town but if you're here, come worship with us.

  31. It'll be a good time in the house of the Lord exalting

  32. Christ, again looking will look specifically at the birth of

  33. Christ. The peace that comes with him

  34. and with his birth and will glory in the Lord together.

  35. And then we'll go home and enjoy the rest of the festivities.

  36. So in our home were already making plans for that morning,

  37. what's it going to look like before church and after church?

  38. And so men, I encourage you sit down with your family this week.

  39. Make plans for that, plan it out.

  40. Look at look ahead and say, hey we're going to be there, but

  41. here's what we're going to have to do to make that work.

  42. Okay? You can do it.

  43. I'm in your corner. You have questions, let me know.

  44. But let's come and worship together on Sunday morning.

  45. Again, I say, Nonce, we're in the middle of Advent Advent,

  46. explores, the first coming of Christ and as we're looking at

  47. the first coming of Christ, it's in anticipation of the second

  48. coming of Christ and so there's going to be some of that theme

  49. we've throughout. But what we're saying is that

  50. there was real darkness, there is real darkness on the earth

  51. still but there was real darkness on the earth back then

  52. as well. And so these promises from

  53. Genesis 3:15 all the way through.

    Genesis 3:15

  54. Finally, the birth of Christ. The arrival of the Messiah were

  55. moments of light in the middle of darkness.

  56. And so we've looked at the promise in Genesis 3:15, we're

    Genesis 3:15

  57. God's just right out of the gate is letting Adam and Eve, both,

  58. and all of humanity for that matter know that this will not

  59. in this way. Christ will come.

  60. He will punish the serpent death will be dealt a death.

  61. Blow Christ will be bruised in the process, but he will reign

  62. Victorious. Aureus.

  63. And so it's the announcement of the gospel.

  64. And then we looked at Abraham last week and we just talked

  65. about so journey and how you are sojourners.

  66. You are men and women, boys and girls, who love the Lord.

  67. And so as such you're on your way to a Heavenly Homeland.

  68. Amen, there are things about this world that feel like home

  69. and then there's a lot of things about this world that are

  70. nothing like home, but the very best of this world.

  71. The very best of this world will still need to be redeemed in the

  72. new. Even a new Earth.

  73. Amen. And so the best of this world

  74. was just a foreshadowing of what awaits Us in the new Heaven and

  75. new earth. And so we look forward to that.

  76. That's our homeland. And we are going there by the

  77. grace of Christ. And so today I want to talk to

  78. you about a prophecy. And so in Isaiah 9, we see in

  79. the scriptures, we have Major Prophets and we have five books

  80. of Major Prophets and we have 12 books with Minor Prophets and

  81. through all of these God, Making pronouncements either of

  82. judgments or of Salvation to come.

  83. And he's using this as a way to turn the hearts of his people

  84. back to himself. And so Isaiah is a book that is

  85. full of both. It's full of coming judgment.

  86. Judgment Doom. That's coming up on you.

  87. Israel Judah Doom that's coming to you but it's also full of

  88. pronouncements of a coming Savior.

  89. And so we're going to look Look at Isaiah 9 today to see this

  90. but these are men who God Called to announce to his people who

  91. were dwelling in the darkness of sin that to announce either

  92. judgment or blessing which was to come.

  93. And the Old Testament there are 300 plus prophecies about the

  94. coming Messiah. 300-plus prophecies, really incredible.

  95. Considering the last book of the New Testament Malachi which also

  96. prophecies about the coming. It Was Written 400 years before

  97. Christ arrived on the earth and so it's really incredible what

  98. God is doing in the Old Testament to show us that Christ

  99. is coming and so Isaiah is a prophet to Judah.

  100. Judah is the southern Kingdom. There was a split under the

  101. reign of Solomon David's son. There was a split in the Kingdom

  102. of Israel and Judah is part of this as part of the Southern

  103. Kingdom. Mmm.

  104. And so this is around 9:30 BC, Isaiah continues.

  105. Sorry, Isaiah contains prophecies about multiple

  106. aspects of the coming Christ. He prophesies about the last

  107. days things in, which you'll see in Isaiah 25 about how will

  108. dwell on the mountain with the Lord will eat of Choice Meats,

  109. and drink of choice, wine, and we will fellowship with Christ

  110. in heaven, and with his people, amen.

  111. I'm excited about it. He prophesized about a manual

  112. and Isaiah 7 verse 14. It says that the Virgin shall

    Isaiah 7:14

  113. conceive and bear a son, his name Shall be Called Emmanuel,

  114. which means god with us. We see they prophesize about the

  115. branch and the root of Jesse. We see that he prophesized about

  116. the Savior waited for. That's what our passage today is

  117. going to contain. We see that he prophesized about

  118. the Cornerstone or the foundation stone, specifically

  119. of the church Who is it? That unites all of God's people.

  120. It's Christ. We see that the prophet saw is

  121. about the way of the Lord being prepared which was a prophecy

  122. about John the Baptist largely. We say they prophesied about the

  123. Man of Sorrows and Isaiah 53. The one who would be acquainted

  124. with grief stricken to the point of death.

  125. So that, again, God's people might go free and enjoy The

  126. Spoils of such. He prophesized about the

  127. Redeemer to come to prophesize. Just Explicitly about the

  128. Messiah Isaiah's book is large and it contains a whole lot of

  129. encouragement, and a whole lot of discouraging things as well.

  130. But in the middle of Darkness, there is light and that's what

  131. we see in our passage today. So when I ask that, you stand

  132. your feet, we're going to read the word of God today.

  133. When I'm finished reading, I'll say this is the word of the

  134. Lord, and I'll ask that you respond.

  135. Thanks, be to God. All right.

  136. Isaiah 9, verse 1. Through 7, let's read.

    Isaiah 9:1

  137. But there will be, no Gloom for her who was in anguish, and the

  138. former time, he brought into contempt, the land of zebulun

  139. and the land of naphtali. But in the latter time, he has

  140. made glorious the way of the sea.

  141. The land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nation's, the

  142. people who walked in darkness have seen a great light eyes.

  143. Those who dwelt in the land of deep Darkness on them, has light

  144. Shone, you have Add the nation. You have increased, its Joy.

  145. They Rejoice before us with joy at the Harvest as they are glad

  146. when they divide the spoil for the Yoke of his burden and the

  147. staff for his shoulder. The rod of his oppressor you

  148. have broken as on the day of Midian for every boots of the

  149. tramping warrior in battle tumults and every garment rolled

  150. in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

  151. For to us. A child, is born to us.

  152. A son is given and the government shall be upon his

  153. shoulder. And his name Shall be Called

  154. wonderful, counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting father, Prince

  155. of Peace of the increase of his government and of Peace.

  156. There will be no end upon the throne of David and over his

  157. kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with Justice.

  158. And with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore This

  159. is Zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

  160. Amen. This is the word of the Lord.

  161. Thanks be to God. Amen.

  162. Let me pray for you before you see that.

  163. Heavenly Father, we praise you for today.

  164. We thank you for your word. We ask that you be with us.

  165. Now, would you open our hearts and Minds to have comprehension

  166. of the things that we read today to understand your word?

  167. Lord open our hearts and Minds to believe it.

  168. And to trust Lord, that you are, who you say you are.

  169. Lord, would you help us to see the lights of Christ today for?

  170. It is the only thing, powerful enough to save Souls powerful

  171. enough to sanctify. Our hearts and Minds to help us

  172. be more like Christ. It is transformative light and

  173. we are in need of it. And so Lord, we are helpless

  174. today to see it on our own were helpless today to know, Christ

  175. on our own. We must have the spirits help

  176. and so holy Spirit. We pray that you would

  177. illuminate God's word today. Help us to see it and to believe

  178. it, to trust it to live it out. It's in Christ's name we pray.

  179. Amen. Amen.

  180. May be seated. So the the theme of what I want

  181. to put before you today is this it's very simple, but

  182. life-changing nonetheless God fulfills his promise to destroy

  183. Darkness through the birth of his son.

  184. And so I'm going to talk to you about the themes of light and

  185. darkness again today, but from Isaiah here and Isaiah verse 22

  186. 8 sorry 8:22, so just a verse. Before where we started this is

  187. what we read says and they will look to the Earth but behold the

  188. stress and darkness the Gloom of Anguish, and they will be thrust

  189. into thick Darkness. And so this is the people for

  190. whom light has come or light is coming.

  191. These people are dwelling in darkness.

  192. They're separated from God they're in captivity and there's

  193. anguish they're beginning to get bitter and angry with God over

  194. their separation. And Isaiah 9 1 through 7.

  195. What we have here happening is that in the midst of Darkness?

  196. God sends Isaiah to proclaim the birth of the coming Messiah.

  197. For to us. A child, is born to us.

  198. A son is given and so, God is fulfilling his promise to

  199. destroy Darkness, through the birth of his own son.

  200. Amen. In verse 1, God speaks through.

  201. I'm just going to walk kind of verse.

  202. By verse through this today, I'll make a few applications

  203. along the way, but then I'll wrap it up and we'll be on our

  204. way in verse 1. God again, he's speaking through

  205. Isaiah. And he announces an into the

  206. Gloom is going to be an end to the darkness.

  207. You dwell in great Darkness but thick Darkness.

  208. It says I mean if ever set in thick Darkness you've ever gone

  209. hunting maybe you sit and the thick of the dark of night

  210. waiting on the sun to come up you know maybe used a light to

  211. get to your stand but once you're in the stand right all

  212. lights go out. Preparation has begun its time

  213. to wait. And so as the day Dawns, there's

  214. thick Darkness as you wait on that.

  215. All right, there's a thickness of that, or maybe it's some of

  216. these clouds these foggy nights. We had recently, right?

  217. It just felt like Darkness upon Darkness, right?

  218. It is already getting dark early but now the darkness felt thick.

  219. There was a maybe it's just the humidity.

  220. There was a thickness to the darkness, right?

  221. And so this is what's being described of the people of God

  222. here in and Judah. There's a Darkness, that their

  223. dwelling in and at one time, God dealt with his people, rebellion

  224. and wrath, this is why there's a separation of the Kingdom.

  225. Got it separated, as people as people were now in captivity.

  226. And and their destruction, this happened through the destruction

  227. of the promised land, everything that they had gained by their

  228. faithfulness, they lost by their unfaithfulness, they broke their

  229. Covenant with God and God punished them.

  230. And so, there are moments in a Believers life, where God will

  231. seek, try attempt to gain your attention through punishments,

  232. will bring about some sort of captivity.

  233. You might say, Say it bring about some sort of discipline in

  234. your life and if you hear the discipline, you see the

  235. discipline you repent? And you turn to the Lord what's

  236. removed from you. But if you do not The discipline

  237. may become stricter, may become increasingly larger and this is

  238. what has happened to God's people.

  239. I didn't listen, I continued to rebel against the Lord and now

  240. they sit in great Darkness but a time is coming, this is what's

  241. being announced for them. There's a Time coming where God

  242. is going to rescue his people by his own Grace right for to us.

  243. It's for them. A son is given, right, but whose

  244. son, God's son. And so by Grace, he's going to

  245. rescue them from Darkness. It will come through Galilee,

  246. right? And it's going to affect the

  247. nation's. That's what we're reading about.

  248. In verse one, another words come affect the Gentiles not just

  249. going to be these these Jews anymore.

  250. It's not going to be just the nation of Israel, but it's going

  251. to extend to the nation's going to effect the Gentiles.

  252. And so here we see right out of the gate are called to

  253. unbelievers. Even today, we might read it as

  254. such anyone who sits in their sins.

  255. Anyone who sits yet, unrepentant of their sins, anyone who is

  256. without faith in Christ for their salvation.

  257. They sit in grave, Darkness thick Darkness, their soul is in

  258. danger. But when the gospel comes and

  259. when it comes to anyone who will receive it by repentance of sins

  260. and faith in Christ, then a great light has Shone upon that

  261. person, and when they see the great light, I must welcome that

  262. light. Let it grow in them and it

  263. shines brighter with each new day.

  264. You become more and more like Christ.

  265. This is what we read about a few weeks ago as we looked at Second

  266. Corinthians, three and four, where it talks about their how

  267. there was a veil that's Removed and the same God who spoke a lot

  268. into being is now shown into the hearts of his people, through

  269. the Light of Christ. That is the gospel and now they

  270. can see the Lord, and he says there that it's by seeing Christ

  271. by beholding Christ, The Light of Christ, looking to the Light

  272. of Christ that you are transformed from one degree of

  273. glory to the next. And so this happens for this

  274. happens for unbelievers. They see the lot of Christ

  275. Christ makes himself known to them regenerates, a heart,

  276. there's Faith. Now in the Lord and by their

  277. faith in Christ by their following him, they are

  278. transformed from one degree of glory to the next and so they

  279. must welcome the LIE, Let It Grow shine in them each day and

  280. it's that shining through the regenerative person that becomes

  281. evidence of a transformed life, right?

  282. Where once you have someone whose heart was far from the

  283. law, And it was evident by their actions that they didn't care at

  284. all about Christ and his commands about Christ and his

  285. call to repentance. Now, there's fruits, there's

  286. fruit, but I like the way the John.

  287. The Baptist says to the Pharisees, he says bear fruit in

  288. keeping with repentance and also his baptism was a baptism of

  289. repentance. It wasn't yet the baptism that

  290. we see where were baptized into Christ into his death raised to

  291. New Life. It wasn't that yet.

  292. So he tells the Pharisees bear fruit in keeping with

  293. repentance. Don't just say I Repent.

  294. Don't just say forgive me Lord but bear fruit in.

  295. That's right. And that's the same thing that

  296. you see with a genuine believer, there's going to be a

  297. transformed life and from that transformed life, there's going

  298. to be evidence of such. You don't talk the same way.

  299. You don't walk the same way, don't live the same way, right?

  300. You are transformed and so that person has been removed from

  301. Darkness. They've been brought into The

  302. Marvelous Light of Christ Jesus as first Peter.

  303. Two calls it and that light is a sweet light, right?

  304. It's a transforming light. It's one that carries with it,

  305. the brightness of eternal life. And so it draws Us in and it

  306. transforms. Well, there's also a word of

  307. encouragement, so that's a call to unbelievers to repent.

  308. Don't stay in your thick Darkness.

  309. Come to the light of Christ. But there's a call here or a

  310. word of encouragement. At least four Saints as well.

  311. For those of you in here, who love the Lord, who have

  312. submitted to him, There's a word of encouragement here in the

  313. worst of times. In the worst of times God's

  314. people have a, nevertheless now my translation says, but but I

  315. didn't want to say that. All right, I don't want to say

  316. God's people have a, but right children.

  317. God's people have a nevertheless and that's what's taking place

  318. in verse 1, but there will be no Gloom for her. or nevertheless,

  319. there will be no Gloom for her who was in anguish, you have a

  320. nevertheless, you have a, but so to say, To comfort yourself

  321. with. It's a bomb for you and your

  322. distressed and troubled heart. It's a help for you.

  323. And what you're reading here in Isaiah 9.

  324. Is that though you may be persecuted, you're never

  325. forsaken. Though, you may experience

  326. persecution for your faith. The Lord never leaves you, he

  327. hears your cries, though. You may be filled with sorrow

  328. yet, you may always be rejoicing, you don't have to be

  329. overwhelmed by sorrow. Does not defeat you though.

  330. You feel it, you can be always rejoicing which is what second

  331. Corinthians 6 tells us. And so this text is a comfort to

  332. us when there are times of Darkness, we need to remember

  333. that he who forms the light and creates.

  334. The darkness has appointed to both their boundaries, right?

  335. Darkness can only be so dark for the people of God because Christ

  336. Reigns, amen. And we are holding on to Christ.

  337. And so, Darkness will not overcome the people of God.

  338. The people of God, have the promise of the Light of Christ

  339. to willed against Darkness. Amen.

  340. That that God is not going to leave you in the dark.

  341. Darkness. And he alone is able to shine

  342. great light upon his people. So let that be an encouragement

  343. to your heart today. But though you may be

  344. experiencing dark times, you may be having a really difficult

  345. year months weeks days, maybe it's an hour.

  346. Like, just on the way here, just didn't go.

  347. Like you hoped it, put And so, you come in today, and I want

  348. you to hear today. That Darkness does not Reign

  349. Over the people of God, cannot will not ever.

  350. Amen. Not saying you won't experience

  351. Darkness. I'll send you won't walk through

  352. it. But you have a bright light in

  353. the middle of great darkness. That is the word of God that you

  354. can stand on its a lot of Christ.

  355. And then in verses 2 through 3, the tone begins to change.

  356. I'll read it to you again. The people who walked in

  357. darkness have seen a great light.

  358. Those who dwelt in the land of deep Darkness on them has like,

  359. shown you have multiplied, the nation, you have increased, its

  360. Joy. They Rejoice before you as with

  361. joy at the Harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.

  362. And so in verses 23 the the tone begins to change Isaiah you

  363. notice what he's doing? He's speaking in past tense, on

  364. them, light has Shone they have seen a great light.

  365. Those who dwelt in the land of deep Darkness on them.

  366. Light has Shone you have multiplied, the nation, you have

  367. increased, its Joy. Let me tell you, when they're

  368. hearing this, it hasn't happened yet. but, The tone is changing.

  369. Because when God announces something, When God says that

  370. something is coming, guess what? It's as good as if it has

  371. already happened. Amen.

  372. You can trust it as though you're looking in your rear-view

  373. mirror at it, even though you might be looking forward with

  374. expectation of that day, a great light has Shone on those who

  375. were in deep Darkness. John chapter 1 as Alan, read it

    John 1 chapter mention

  376. earlier right? That the light Light shines in

  377. the darkness, the darkness has not overcome it, not speaking of

  378. the Light of Christ which is what I'm trying to point you to

  379. today. It's what it's what Isaiah was

  380. pointing the people of Judah to in this time.

  381. And so the nation has been multiplies not only has Judah

  382. seen the light not only is Israel.

  383. Going to see the light that Remnant there that God's going

  384. to keep for himself, but the light is going to shine on the

  385. nation's. It's going to bless the

  386. nation's. It's going to be a Multitude.

  387. And so it's going to be multiplied.

  388. Amen, you sit here. Today is evidence that this is

  389. true. You're not Jewish.

  390. I don't think right. You don't hell from Jerusalem.

  391. You sit here today as Americans, right?

  392. And your people came from all sorts of places to create your

  393. mixture, but what we see is that God has fulfilled Isaiah 9.

  394. He's already fulfilling it. He's calling people from every A

  395. tribe and tongue and Nation to worship him to glorify his name

  396. and so we see are together as people from South Arkansas doing

  397. that. But guess what?

  398. There's people all over the world who are sitting together

  399. on Sunday, the Lord's Day worshipping Christ as well.

  400. Amen, because God, God makes good on his promises.

  401. He can be trusted. And so the people of God now

  402. includes all nations and tongues and tribes.

  403. Christ. There is neither Jew nor

  404. Gentile, we read about in the New Testament that we are all

  405. one family in the Lord. We're all a part of the body of

  406. Christ. The bride of Christ, he is our

  407. head, we are his body. Isaiah is saying, this is a

  408. message of great Victory, that's what he's telling them.

  409. Like this, this Gloom that you feel will not last Light is

  410. coming and this Remnant that you see of faithful believers who

  411. are having to dwell in this Darkness will guess what your

  412. faithfulness is going to pay off the Lord is going to not only

  413. redeem you, You but he's going to redeem people from every

  414. tribe and tongue and Nation. The multitude is going to be

  415. increased is going to be more and more.

  416. Who proclaim the goodness of God, the excellencies of Christ.

  417. We're going to stand on him despite great darkness in their

  418. own lives. The Light of Christ is going to

  419. shine and it's going to be Victorious.

  420. And this brings overwhelming. Joy me.

  421. Just see it there again. In verse 3, You have multiplied,

  422. the nation. You have increased, its Joy.

  423. They Rejoice before you as with joy at the Harvest as they are

  424. glad when they divide the spoil. So you see all the gladness and

  425. the joy that comes from Light which shines on a heart, which

  426. gives New Life In Christ and now there's great joy.

  427. In Verses 4 and 5. We see that it's not simply a

  428. deliverance from their oppressors.

  429. Look at this for the Yoke of his burden and the staff of for his

  430. shoulder, the rod of his oppressor you have broken as on

  431. the day of Midian where every boots of the tramping Warrior

  432. and battle some bolts. And every garment rolled in

  433. blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

  434. So God, here is announcing the breaking of the bondage of sin

  435. on mankind. It's not just that you're going

  436. to be released from your oppressors is that you're going

  437. to be released from the oppression of sin.

  438. That's a far greater Victory. Amen.

  439. Sin will not rule over. You, will not Reign Over You

  440. Christ, Reigns. And so, this is the promise of

  441. the New Testament. Again, when God takes a Stony

  442. heart and he removes, any puts in a heart of Flesh, that's

  443. called regeneration. That's a, that's a new

  444. beginning, right? It's a new life, a new creation,

  445. its creative work. And second Corinthians 5:21

    2 Corinthians 5:21

  446. where we see that old things are passing Earth.

  447. Sorry 517 or see old things are passed away.

  448. Behold. All things are becoming new

  449. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are his workmanship God's

    Ephesians 2:10

  450. workmanship created in Christ Jesus.

  451. For good works which he prepared beforehand.

  452. So what we see is that we're getting an altogether, new life

  453. in Christ, And now you have at your disposal, the ability, the

  454. will the want to the drive, the desire to please Christ to live

  455. a life that honors him. And glorify his name where as

  456. once we couldn't obey the law, whereas once we found ourself

  457. oppressed by sin and its nature. Now, we are free from our sin

  458. nature and we can obey the Lord. Now You might pause here and

  459. raise your hand and say, we'll call that.

  460. I still struggle with sins. I still wrestle with desires.

  461. That are contrary to the Lord's desires for me.

  462. Yes, you do. Because you have not been

  463. detached from a broken flesh though, your spirit and your

  464. mind is set free by the spirit of God.

  465. And this is Romans 6 7 8 or really getting into this and

  466. those who have been set free, their free indeed.

  467. And so you were free with your mind to serve the Lord.

  468. But what Paul is saying in Romans 7 is that my body is

  469. still at war with me. My flesh is still at war with my

  470. renewed spirit and Though, in my mind I want to serve the Lord

  471. though. In my mind I want to do all that

  472. He commands. I find myself still doing the

  473. things that I don't want to do. I find myself still retreating

  474. into sin and selfish desires. And so in Romans 8, he says, You

  475. must mortify, the flesh by the spirit, you must put to death,

  476. the Deeds of the flesh, by the spirit of God, alive in you.

  477. And so, that's what's taking place, the bondage of sin is

  478. broken. Once you were bound only to sin.

  479. But now, in Christ, you have been set free in your mind and

  480. your spirit, to live a life that honors him.

  481. Once you could only send now, Now, your will has been renewed

  482. and you can serve Christ. It's been freed.

  483. Amen. And so you are able now.

  484. God has not only removed you as he did here, removed you from a,

  485. the oppressors, he's removed. You from the Great Depression

  486. which is your sin nature. And so if you were in Christ,

  487. you've been delivered from that, the bondage of sin is no longer

  488. on you anymore and this is a reason to exult in the Lord.

  489. Amen. Got announces here that piece is

  490. coming. He's announcing an end to Wars

  491. and end to evil in the world. How will it come?

  492. Well, in verse six for to us a child is born.

  493. To us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his

  494. shoulder. And his name Shall be Called

  495. wonderful, counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting father, Prince

  496. of Peace. Amen.

  497. So, how does the war cease? How does the end of evil arrive?

  498. How is their peace with God? It's only through the son of

  499. God. It's through that Babe in a

  500. Manger. Who was born to die?

  501. It's a gift of divine grace. You must see it that way.

  502. God is giving to you. His very own son.

  503. God looking into the darkness of the since card world says, here

  504. is my son here is The Marvelous Light of the Savior to save you,

  505. out of great darkness and by his life, You will know what I am,

  506. like. You will know who I am by his

  507. death, you will know true life. This is the encouragement.

  508. The Son of God given to save sinners.

  509. Isaiah is prophesying about the coming of Jesus Christ.

  510. And he's speaking as though it's already happened for to us.

  511. A son is given to us a child is born, but this is seven hundred

  512. plus years before the birth of Christ incredible what God is

  513. doing. Incredible.

  514. And as, as he was the lamb, who was slain.

  515. So he is also the child here, born.

  516. Amen. This is the light of the

  517. prophets. As we see it.

  518. This is the light of this Prophecy in the middle of great

  519. Darkness. God is speaking through his man,

  520. has a about what is to come. Here God is telling the world.

  521. How he's going to rescue his people from Darkness.

  522. It's not just a baby being born. He tells us what the baby will

  523. be like what he will accomplish by giving by giving himself for

  524. us, what he will be, who he is. And he tells us that and four

  525. names here. His name Shall be Called

  526. wonderful counselor. He is Christ, is the wonderful

  527. counselor? Amen.

  528. He is wonderful because he is both God and man.

  529. He is wonderful because he is the Son of God is counselor,

  530. because he is intimately acquainted with the counsels of

  531. God from eternity. And he gives counsel to his

  532. people as a person. All right.

  533. This is what we read about the great high priest and Hebrews.

  534. The rider. There is making the case that we

  535. have no need for a flesh. We have no need for high priest

  536. and he Longer because we have a great high priest who is entered

  537. once and for all behind the veil into heaven.

  538. And he stands. Now ready?

  539. He stands now ready to offer himself.

  540. He pleads his own blood. His own scars before.

  541. The father. There is no need for the blood

  542. of bulls and goats of rams and doves.

  543. There's no need for any of it. Any longer because Christ has

  544. been crucified and he is our great high priest and what we

  545. read about the great high priest.

  546. It's not that he's some distant high priest, and Heaven is says

  547. that he's a great high priest because he became like us, it

  548. says, he's a great high priest because he was in every way

  549. tempted As we are yet without sin, it says that he's a great

  550. high priest because he's sympathetic to your weaknesses

  551. because he knows them intimately.

  552. What we read about Christ there is that he endured all the way

  553. to the point of Bloodshed. How many of you have endured

  554. your Temptation long enough to the point of Bloodshed none of

  555. us, right? we might make it 10 minutes and

  556. then we give in or were victorious because we trust in

  557. Christ. The point is, if someone has

  558. already paid the penalty for your sin and he stands in

  559. heaven, ready to save to the uttermost, all of those who will

  560. draw near to him near to the father, through him.

  561. And so, I bid you to come to him to see him as a wonderful

  562. counselor. He's a wonderful counselor

  563. because he's able to sympathize with you and your weaknesses.

  564. He's tempted and tried as you are yet without sin, so he's

  565. dependable. No one teaches like Christ does

  566. no one instructs your heart. Like Christ will no one gives

  567. you wisdom. Like Christ gives wisdom.

  568. He is himself wisdom. Amen.

  569. And he makes the wisest plans. And he orchestrates the best

  570. stories. And he stands ready to give you

  571. counsel, that you might join the story that he's writing.

  572. He has wisdom beyond all human capabilities.

  573. He can be trusted. He is wonderful counselor, I

  574. digress, let's move on. He is mighty God.

  575. Christ is mighty God. This is the title of the Lord

  576. himself, right? Until this point.

  577. Unless there's other prophecies as all of me.

  578. But until this point they did not know the Son of God as

  579. mighty God. But here, what we're finding out

  580. is that there's coming one a child who will be born a son who

  581. is given and he will be Mighty God again.

  582. He's fully God fully man. and yet in his birth, what we see is

  583. his humility and his birth and his willingness to to give up

  584. the glories of Heaven, to come to the Earth, to dwell in the

  585. land of Darkness with us to enter in so that he might save

  586. us out of. We see his humble estate that he

  587. would be born as a babe in a Manger.

  588. That he would grow up before his peers and he would increase in

  589. wisdom and stature and favor with both God and man that he

  590. would endure, the problems of the world that he would endure.

  591. The worst for us as the only one who should have never endured it

  592. at all. He is mighty God yet.

  593. He's a child born to us. He's given to us as a ransom for

  594. Sinners. Again, in John chapter 1, we see

    John 1 chapter mention

  595. that the light shines in the Darkness And that light is none,

  596. other than the glory of God revealed to us in the face of

  597. Jesus Christ. He is the he is full of grace

  598. and truth. Hebrews. 1 says that he is the

  599. exact imprint of the father. Jesus Christ is fully.

  600. God fully, man. He is mighty God in Christ being

  601. born to us is the foundation of our greatest hopes.

  602. It's he is the Cornerstone of all that we believe it is a

  603. fountain of great Joys to see the birth of Christ.

  604. It's a fountain of great joy in times of great, fear, and great

  605. grief to know that Christ has achieved death of deaths that he

  606. is 1 for us, the Battle of sin and death, and that we might

  607. live fully complete in him, he alone is mighty to save.

  608. You see here. Also the Christ is the

  609. Everlasting father as doesn't mean that he is the father

  610. Christ in the father or separate persons within the Trinity.

  611. One Essence, three persons, right?

  612. We've talked about this many times.

  613. He and the father are in perfect Unity.

  614. But what we're reading here is that as an everlasting father,

  615. he gives eternal life to his people.

  616. He achieves eternal life for his people.

  617. And so in that way, we become Sons and Daughters of the father

  618. just as he is a son of a father. He is also their benevolent

  619. protector. Like a father is meant to be a

  620. benevolent protector. He is a benevolent protector for

  621. all eternity. He can be trusted for all

  622. eternity. Really, it's the task of the

  623. ideal kings that he would lead in this way.

  624. He would sacrifice of himself in this way and this is exactly who

  625. Christ is. It also read here that Christ is

  626. the Prince of Peace. He Shall be Called Prince of

  627. Peace. And guess what?

  628. He is, our peace, he is the ruler who will bring about peace

  629. because the Nations will rely on him for their peace with God.

  630. But Nations, I mean, the people of all places tribes tongues.

  631. He gives peace to all who will call on him and these titles

  632. show that Jesus will be the best kind of King that he is,

  633. literally the King of Kings, the Lord of lords, that he is worthy

  634. of all of our devotion and affection and all of our worship

  635. and acclamation, he is worthy of everything.

  636. No one in the davidic line of kings that we read about will

  637. even come close to Christ. He's perfect in every way.

  638. What verses 6 and 7 are showing us as Isaiah begins to focus on

  639. the Messianic, hope of an air of David, again, for to us.

  640. A child, is born to us a son is given.

  641. The government shall be upon his shoulder and his name Shall be

  642. Called wonderful, counselor, Mighty God.

  643. Everlasting father, Prince of Peace, verse 7 of the increase

  644. of his government and of Peace. There will be no End.

  645. Amen. On the throne of David and over

  646. his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with Justice.

  647. And with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore the

  648. Zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

  649. And so here we see the, the Messianic hope of an air of

  650. David, who would extend his rule from Israel to include all the

  651. Gentile Nations, bringing to them, the blessing of knowing

  652. the true God. And this Empire of Grace will

  653. forever. Expand.

  654. It will go unhindered. Every moment better than the

  655. last God's mission to save his people through his son will not

  656. be stopped. It will be accomplished with a

  657. passionate intensity of only over, which only God can

  658. accomplish. In other words, do we live now

  659. in a neo-pagan society, a new Pagan, the society or modern

  660. Pagan Society? We live in a place that seeks to

  661. redefine marriage by its own terms, even, as recently as this

  662. week. we live in a place that seeks to murder human life in

  663. the womb and to soften the language of that, By coming up

  664. with all kinds of terms to dodge the subject.

  665. We live in a nation that seeks to ignore and reject all

  666. together, God's truth and wisdom.

  667. We must remain. Though we live in the neo-pagan

  668. society. You and I as Christians who know

  669. the Light of Christ must remain people of good cheer.

  670. I don't want far enough, Amen to that.

  671. And if you can't say, Amen. Say ouch, right?

  672. So Advent reminds us that light shines in the darkness.

  673. And so, the beauty of pausing yearly to look at Advent, the

  674. beauty of pausing yearly to say, let's look at the birth of

  675. Christ. Let's see how light has come and

  676. how we can trust God to fulfill his promises.

  677. The beauty of that. Is that it creates Joy.

  678. In the middle of Darkness, it brings cheer where there should

  679. be no cheer. Just came to me.

  680. I should have said it creates cheer where there should only be

  681. fear and all of you would have applauded, right?

  682. so, our King is the king of the universe.

  683. Our home is in Eternal Homeland. The Light of Christ will not be

  684. snuffed out. Amen.

  685. You serve a God. Who will not has not will not be

  686. defeated. No man, no president, no

  687. government. Can extinguish the Blazing light

  688. of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Just ask our brothers and

  689. sisters in China. Amen.

  690. Well, there's reports of ten thousand plus people coming to

  691. Christ a day and a place where that shouldn't happen.

  692. The gospel. The coming of Christ.

  693. Jesus to die for the Salvation of Sinners, that age, Old

  694. Faithful gospel, message. It still saves, amen.

  695. And it's worthy of all of your devotion.

  696. It's worthy of your attention. That's worthy of your gaze.

  697. It's worthy of all that you have.

  698. It exalts Christ which was what makes it successful.

  699. We proclaim the excellencies of God.

  700. Just as the apostles proclaim, the excellencies of God, we

  701. Proclaim Christ and him crucified just as the apostles,

  702. Proclaim Christ and him crucified.

  703. Why? Because it's the message that

  704. God has ordained for the victory.

  705. It's the message that God has ordained to be light in the

  706. darkness. We don't twist it.

  707. We don't change it. We don't make it more.

  708. Palpable to Sinners, we say that, if you want to live, you

  709. must die to yourself. Repent of your sins, and turn in

  710. faith to Christ Jesus, and that's light. and I tell you, as

  711. Believers that if you want to experience Joy, don't align

  712. yourself with things of the world any longer but turn and

  713. repent and put your faith fully in Christ, not half-heartedly.

  714. Be wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord.

  715. We'll see joy in your home. Joy in your marriage joy.

  716. In your parents, enjoying your work, join your service to the

  717. Lord, joy in every area of your life.

  718. You want that devote yourself to the King of Kings.

  719. The vote yourself to the King of Kings.

  720. Devote yourself to the one who says you have increased Joy,

  721. they Rejoice before you as with joy at the Harvest, they are

  722. glad amen. Devote yourself to him.

  723. The gospel, exalts Christ, who alone is able to save to the

  724. uttermost. All of those who draw near to

  725. the father through him. By the gospel alone.

  726. Sinners are saved by the gospel alone.

  727. Redemption flows into the world. Light shines in the darkness, by

  728. the gospel alone. God is worshipped in all the

  729. Earth. Though, Kings and kingdoms will

  730. fall. And great will be their demise.

  731. They plot in vain against the Lord.

  732. Psalm 2 says, and he laughs at them.

  733. They will fall. And though they do you must

  734. remember you must be a people of good cheer.

  735. And remember that the gospel is invincible.

  736. The gospel is undefeated, the Gates of Hell Christ.

  737. Says will not Prevail against the gospel.

  738. And so light shines in the darkness, the darkness has not

  739. overcome it. And Matthew chapter 4.

    Matthew 4 chapter mention

  740. We see that Jesus Christ, Matthew for just tells us

  741. explicitly that Jesus Christ is the Fulfillment of this prophecy

  742. in Isaiah 9. This is what we read in verses

  743. 12 through 17. Now, when he heard that John had

  744. been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee and leaving Nazareth.

  745. He went and lived in Capernaum by the Sea and the territory of

  746. zebulun and naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet,

  747. Isaiah might be fulfilled, the land of zebulun and the land of

  748. naphtali the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan Galilee of the

  749. The Gentiles the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great

  750. light. And for those dwelling in the

  751. region and shadow of death on them, light has dawned.

  752. And from that time forward, Jesus began to preach saying,

  753. repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand messages.

  754. The same today, Repent. For the Kingdom of Heaven is at

  755. hand. As a result, John 3, we see that

  756. God fulfills his promise to destroy Darkness through the

  757. birth of his son. It's extremely explicit so much

  758. so that even I could understand it.

  759. It's the beauty of the gospels. It's a simple message, able to

  760. be understood by anyone by the least.

  761. Verse 16 of John chapter 3 for God.

    John 3 chapter mention

  762. So loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever

  763. believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

  764. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the

  765. world, but in order that the world might be saved through

  766. him, whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does

  767. not believe in him is condemned already because he has not

  768. believed in the name of the only son of God.

  769. And this is the Judgment that the light has come into the

  770. world and people loved the darkness rather than the light

  771. because their Works were evil. For everyone who does wicked

  772. things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his

  773. work, should be exposed, but whoever does what his true comes

  774. to the light so that it may be clearly seen.

  775. That his Works have been carried out in God.

  776. Amen. Light has shone and if you

  777. refuse to run to the light, if you refuse to come to Christ,

  778. what is being said about you is that you love Darkness more than

  779. light. You're clinging to Darkness and

  780. yet you would tell us that you're not blind.

  781. But the word is clear. You're blind.

  782. You're unable to see But offered to you today is the grace of

  783. Christ, the light of the Lord, able to give you eternal life.

  784. And if you'll trust him today, if you'll turn from your sin

  785. turn to Christ by faith, you will be saved today.

  786. So I encourage you back of you to run away from darkness and

  787. run into the Light of Christ. We might be lovers of Darkness

  788. but there is good news. The light shines in the darkness

  789. and the Darkness has not overcome it.

  790. Amen. Believers.

  791. Those of you in here who say you love the Lord.

  792. I encourage you to live by the Truth live.

  793. By the Light of Christ. Shine the Light of Christ in the

  794. world. Do it through your words.

  795. Do it through your Deeds. Dude, in the white that you

  796. worship. God daily.

  797. Matthew 5:16 says in the same way, let your light shine before

    Matthew 5:16

  798. others so that they may see your good deeds and give glory to

  799. your father who is in heaven. Amen.

  800. Those of us who have come into the light recognize that we are

  801. not the life. We are reflecting the light, but

  802. we are not him. I am not able to save anyone,

  803. but I know one, who is, amen. Let's Proclaim him until we

  804. breathe our last and especially in this season, her claim the

  805. excellencies of Christ. During that vent.

  806. Let me pray for you. Heavenly Father we love you and

  807. we praise you and we thank you Lord that you have shown great

  808. light on us. We are so undeserving of your

  809. grace. And if we deserved, it wouldn't

  810. be grace. Lord, you have seen fit.

  811. Father, you have seen fit to Grant to us grace and mercy unto

  812. salvation. And you've done it in the face

  813. of Christ, the word become flesh.

  814. The word dwelling Among Us. Light has come and so Lord.

  815. Would you help us to see it? Help us to not be blinded by

  816. thick Darkness, but help us to Rejoice, with great joy, as

  817. light shines in the darkness of our hearts and minds and we were

  818. able to see Jesus and Lord as Believers, I pray that you would

  819. help us. Help us to be men and women and

  820. boys and girls who love the Lord.

  821. Who don't take for granted light anymore.

  822. But who seek to proclaim the Light of Christ and all the

  823. Earth, take it wherever we go into our homes into our

  824. workplaces into our marriages into our parenting into our

  825. friendships. Or it may there be not one place

  826. in our life. Where we refuse to let the light

  827. of Christ in let us walk in marvelous line.

  828. Father, especially during this Advent time.

  829. We love you so very much. We pray these things in the Name

  830. of Christ Amen. Amen.