The Joy of Anticipation

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, well, good morning for a three, how you doing?

[SPEAKER_00]: Good, glad those awesome songs have warmed your hearts and saw your fingers from the morning that has been.

[SPEAKER_00]: My name is Kyle Moore, the pastor's here, and I spent a little bit of time living in Chicago.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when I woke up this morning, I was like, I remember this.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't miss this.

[SPEAKER_00]: It gets in your bones, but it's good to be with you here today.

[SPEAKER_00]: If it's your first time here at the church, first time in a while or maybe you've been here for a hot minute, but you just haven't really taken the next steps towards connection or just get to know a little bit more about us as a church just want to encourage you that the QR codes that are in front of you and your seats are just a really easy way for you to let that code take you to.

[SPEAKER_00]: The next steps that we really want everybody that comes to the church just to go ahead and take.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so if you haven't done that yet, this is an encouragement for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if you're new, please stay afterwards just to introduce yourself.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that way, be there myself or someone here on staff can get to know you get to know about your story.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, what God, maybe how you wound up here, what what's God doing your life.

[SPEAKER_00]: So always always things great to hear this morning for those of you who are over at

[SPEAKER_00]: If you want to go ahead and flip open to Isaiah chapter 9, we'll be in verses 1 through 7.

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: And as soon as I say that, I know that some of you in the room, you have heard more teachings about Isaiah 9-6 through 7.

[SPEAKER_00]: You might have heard more sermons about that than years I have been alive.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, and then, for the others of you, you will get to that section, you're like, oh, you know what I've seen?

[SPEAKER_00]: That's on a Christmas card.

[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know where this was from.

[SPEAKER_00]: Is that in the New Testament?

[SPEAKER_00]: The Old Testament or the Middle

[SPEAKER_00]: There's no middle testament, it's backwards.

[SPEAKER_00]: However, the versus that precedes this, that talk about the time, the place, and the things that we're going on then, I think we'll really just open up all of our eyes of sworn to see these passages in new light.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I pray for you what really happened for me the last week as I was preparing for this.

[SPEAKER_00]: As I read through this and thought about the people and time of this, the people and time of this passage,

[SPEAKER_00]: to think about what it would have been like to have lived in that time, and yet at the same time, my heart was filled with joy to think about what God had promised, and now as we stand here in 2025, thinking about all that God has done since then, and so anyways, I'm excited to get to share it with you, but to kind of get us into where we're going this morning, I want to do something to might be dangerous.

[SPEAKER_00]: But it's not my bank account.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just kidding.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, but like just I want you to imagine that I was going to hand you a blank check.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, and I know for some of you in the room, you're like, what's a check?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Ask your parents about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just cool piece of paper that if you turn one in and it's sign on the back and get money.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's pretty cool.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you've seen one in a birthday card.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I want to imagine I hand you a blank check and I just said, hey, you know what?

[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever amount you need to fill in that you just think would bring you a big cup of joy.

[SPEAKER_00]: Did you go ahead and write that number in?

[SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, it's gonna clear it's gonna cash.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's gonna go through.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know some of you in the room are like, oh, oh, oh, I got a number for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's connected to some situation, you know, situation, you're going through right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's connected towards something you'd like to have for you and your family to spend more time together I don't know whatever it is.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you got a number.

[SPEAKER_00]: Others of you, you're like Kyle, money doesn't buy happiness.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're right, but it's fun.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you're like, yeah, I don't have a number for that, but you know what I would put in.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're like, I got some scenarios and I got some situations.

[SPEAKER_00]: Can I put that in for the amount instead because those things would be priceless to me and there's no way you can kind of quantify that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's a restored relationship or reconciliation between you and a family member.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like just seeing them walk through the door right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: You'd have like happy smile, ugly cry going at the same time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Real conflict of interest of what's actually going on with the new emotionally.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe for others of you, you're waiting to hear about a diagnosis or what's going on or yeah, I would like to write what's gonna happen there.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe for others of you, it's just for a scenario just to get better.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe for some of you in the room, it's got nothing to do with that.

[SPEAKER_00]: cared for and appreciated.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's all you want.

[SPEAKER_00]: And especially this time of the year, whether it's so much going on, maybe you just feel invisible in the hollow yet you have your holiday smile on.

[SPEAKER_00]: Chances are some of you are like, can I have both?

[SPEAKER_00]: Cause I could think of a number and I'd like some scenarios.

[SPEAKER_00]: And good news, we have a QR code for that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just kidding, we don't, we don't, we don't, we can be cool if we did it, but we're not, we don't do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But,

[SPEAKER_00]: But I do want to say this, the God of Scripture tells us that if we will turn and trust to Him at His Word, there is an accessible available and a bounding joy that can be ours right now in this current moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it comes from this, and I'm gonna alluded to this at the end as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: God's joy is promise and offered through knowing who He has proven Himself to be in the past.

[SPEAKER_00]: trusting what he has promised to do for the future, that will fuel, and this will fuel, your steadfastness in the present to have joy, no matter your circumstance.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so for the next few weeks, we're gonna as we approach Christmas, we're gonna talk about this sort of joy that God promises.

[SPEAKER_00]: This morning, what we're gonna talk about, the anticipation of joy, like when people heard about the Messiah to come and the joy that was related to that,

[SPEAKER_00]: What anticipation was there?

[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to take a trip back to 732 BC.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be a little bit of a time portal here in a minute.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so we're going to talk about the anticipation of joy.

[SPEAKER_00]: That comes.

[SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, I think even still today in 2025, there's an anticipation of joy that we have, not just in Jesus arriving, because he's already been here, but in him coming back, him in, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And then next week, we'll talk about the anticipation of joy

[SPEAKER_00]: And then they anticipation and then the experience of joy and looking to the future.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so this morning, we're going to, as I just spoke a minute ago, we're going to take a trip back to the prophecy that God gave the prophet Isaiah that was really supposed to help a king by the name of A. has not just regained his sense of sanity and peace, but also give him a message

[SPEAKER_00]: That even if it wasn't going to happen in its fulfillment in his entire life time, it was coming in the future.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so if you would go ahead and flip open to Isaiah chapter nine, we're going to read verses one through seven.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then we'll go ahead and break it down to three parts and explain it for a little bit.

[SPEAKER_00]: So here we go.

[SPEAKER_00]: Isaiah chapter nine verses one through seven.

[SPEAKER_00]: The land of Zebulon and Eftali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan of the sea, will be filled with glory.

[SPEAKER_00]: The people who walk in darkness will cease, this is speaking future, will see a great light.

[SPEAKER_00]: For those who will live in the land of deep darkness, a light will shine.

[SPEAKER_00]: You will enlarge the nation of Israel

[SPEAKER_00]: They will rejoice before you as the people rejoice at the harvest, and like warriors divide in the plunder.

[SPEAKER_00]: For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.

[SPEAKER_00]: You will break the oppressor's rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian, the boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, verses one, two, five, might not have been what you've heard before.

[SPEAKER_00]: Connected to the next two verses I'm gonna read.

[SPEAKER_00]: There we go.

[SPEAKER_00]: For a child is born to us.

[SPEAKER_00]: A son is given to us.

[SPEAKER_00]: The government will rest on his shoulders, and he will be called, wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, Prince of peace.

[SPEAKER_00]: His government and its peace will never end,

[SPEAKER_00]: from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.

[SPEAKER_00]: The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's armies will make this happen.

[SPEAKER_00]: So if there was a way I was going to summarize all that we just read for the people of that time in our promise, we're gonna bring it into today as well, it'll just be simply this.

[SPEAKER_00]: Rejoice, final and ultimate peace is coming.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some of you may be saying, well, yeah, I see a piece and a joy that's coming, but Kyle versus one through five.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's go in on.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's bloodstained boots and uniforms being burned in a bonfire after a battle that's just happened.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's a sense of bloom and darkness that's been present like what all is going on here?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well,

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to break this down into three parts.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the first thing I want you to understand is that the hope and the promise of this light that God says is dawning, that Isaiah is supposed to give to King A has, it's coming from an unlikely direction that the people would not have been expecting.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I've got a map to go ahead and put up on the screen.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll go ahead and point your attention to it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you'll see some names up there.

[SPEAKER_00]: You'll see names like Judah and Ruben, Ashur and Neftali.

[SPEAKER_00]: Does anyone remember or recognize what those names are connected to that we just got finished with in our last series?

[SPEAKER_00]: Brothers of Joseph.

[SPEAKER_00]: So hit fast forward, 800 years from then.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what you're seeing here are the different land allotments for each of Joseph and his brothers.

[SPEAKER_00]: And those made up to 12 tribes of the people of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: However, since that time, in her years, God's people are now no longer one people, but they're divided up in between two kingdoms.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Southern Kingdom was the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, and the Northern Kingdom was the rest of Joseph and his brother's tribes.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, if you want to look to Zebulham and Nath Tally, you'll see I've got some red arrows and their names highlighted there.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's a particular region there that comes up

[SPEAKER_00]: And the reason is because it says that this is where the light, the hope is gonna dawn from, and the reason, that the people would not have probably thought, this was the area that would have come from, is because this region was called the gateway of the Gentiles.

[SPEAKER_00]: Or the gateway of the CY.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, because trade could come down through this passage, this plot of land.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it could also bring treachery and war down this passage this way.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so as a result, like there, because this bordered all of you could put that side back up there, because this bordered so many other regions, whenever someone was going to come and invade or for trade, this was the route that they would take.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so when it came to the area of Zabulin and Neftali to the north,

[SPEAKER_00]: This was an area that some people associated with anxiety and fear, because there were threats of war or invasion and destruction, not just commerce.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so in the times of Isaiah chapter 9 and 732, there's a lot of things happening.

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: There are a lot of things going on that kind of make this even more of a situation.

[SPEAKER_00]: For one, this Syrian Empire is actually coming in

[SPEAKER_00]: and they're advancing their empire to the southwest.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so in response to this, tragically, the northern kingdom, which was made up of 10 tribes, much more people, much more land.

[SPEAKER_00]: Their king, Peca, has decided that he is actually going to join alliances with the Arimians, a king by the name of Rezen.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because, well, he thinks, well, you know what?

[SPEAKER_00]: A Syria is going to be a threat.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so to help kind of save our own skin, we're gonna go ahead and join allegiance with people that don't even worship our God, which isn't surprising because the Northern Kingdom was always a mess.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then, catch this, they begin pressuring the Southern Kingdom and with force, like listen, you guys need to join us.

[SPEAKER_00]: You need to join our alliance because as serious coming, they're coming for sure.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so you guys need to sync up with us.

[SPEAKER_00]: And King A has, although it was not always a particularly great king and did some things that are pretty despicable.

[SPEAKER_00]: He feels the sense of like, wait a minute, I don't think this is smart.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so between Isaiah chapter seven and Isaiah chapter nine, there's a series of conversations that happened between him and Isaiah, where he's like, oh, what do I do?

[SPEAKER_00]: My own countrymen of the north, they've joined up with the air and means, they're telling me I gotta join them

[SPEAKER_00]: Clearly, it could crush us.

[SPEAKER_00]: That doesn't seem right.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Isaiah's like, hey, listen, do you not remember who God has revealed himself to be in the past?

[SPEAKER_00]: Just as he's been our king and our warrior and our shield and our sword, he'll be in the future and by the way, even if,

[SPEAKER_00]: He allows things to happen to us that are gonna humble us.

[SPEAKER_00]: God will not take his hand off of us, even though we've let go of him.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so he's trying to speak truth.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's trying to speak logic and sense into A has.

[SPEAKER_00]: But A is isn't really hearing it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so between chapter seven and nine, that's where you get all these prophecies about who the Messiah was gonna be that he was gonna be born of a virgin, that he was gonna be our God with us.

[SPEAKER_00]: he was going to be powerful that he was going to come to usher in a kingdom and so between chapter seven and nine all that is taking place and you're kind of left wondering you can go ahead and read about this in the book of kings as well as is like okay so so what am I going to do what am I going to do so what does he do does he listen to what Isaiah says no he doesn't and instead he sends tribute to the king of a Syria why

[SPEAKER_00]: because he's thinking and hoping that maybe after a Syria wipes out another kingdom in the era, that maybe they'll go light on him.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so he doesn't do what he should have done with the first decision about joining the kingdom of the North and the Arabians, but then he does what he shouldn't do and that he goes to a Syria.

[SPEAKER_00]: So by the time chapter nine happens, a Syria is advancing.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's only a matter of time between the era

[SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, they're threatening, they're threatening A has all on the way to join them, and so A has is having a moment, and in the midst of that, Isaiah gives this prophecy about how deliverance, a final and ultimate piece is coming from the north.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's coming from Zabulina, Natali, the way of the Gentiles, and you've got to imagine that the people

[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't that where trouble usually comes from?

[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't that where invading armies normally come from?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's very clear, and especially in verses three through five, that this hope that's dawning, this hope that's coming.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's gonna have a final and ultimate victory over all that opposed God, over all that opposed God.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because did you catch the bonfire?

[SPEAKER_00]: In verses four and five, what was in the bonfire?

[SPEAKER_00]: Bloodstained boots and bloodstained uniforms.

[SPEAKER_00]: And people were addressing why, because a victory had been won, a victory was coming that was going to be final and ultimate.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why do you burn your defenses?

[SPEAKER_00]: Why do you burn your defenses?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, because there's no more battles to fight, folks, that's not really a world that we know this side of heaven.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just not.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's not a world that the people of A

[SPEAKER_00]: if it wasn't for the hope that was said to be coming.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, when it talks about in verses 4 through 5, when it talks about how this hope is coming from the North, it's not just a thought of like, okay, that's for the threats come.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's also a lot of imagery that the people of that time would have had and remembering the yoke of slavery that came from Egypt.

[SPEAKER_00]: the hardships that came from the Midianites, and so in this prophecy, God speaking to the prophet Isaiah, is trying to remind A has this whole thing of like, hey, remember who I've always been, and trust what I say is gonna happen.

[SPEAKER_00]: So they're right now, you can have a little bit more steadfast, and a little bit more steadfastness and courage than you were currently demonstrating.

[SPEAKER_00]: So this is where it's coming from, but how is this gonna happen?

[SPEAKER_00]: How is this going to take place?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, in verse 6 and 7, it's very clear.

[SPEAKER_00]: This final and ultimate piece is coming through a person who was unlike anyone ever.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, oftentimes, when it comes to verses 6 through 7, people talk about the four-fold name of this child who's going to be born, the son is going to be given.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we'll get there here in a second.

[SPEAKER_00]: But the thing I would like to tackle first,

[SPEAKER_00]: is in verse six where it says for a child is born to us, a son is given to us.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some people have read this and said, oh, well, this is speaking about something that must have happened then, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, even when you look at it in the ancient Hebrew, it's using what's called the perfect tense, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: And now I'm gonna push pause for a minute.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some of you that know me well, or they're for me teach, you're like Kyle.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to tell us about grammar.

[SPEAKER_00]: What did you get on your ACT?

[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't good.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, you're like, God, you can't even sit in an email without using grammarally.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're right.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_00]: And believe me, you'll know if I got to turn it on.

[SPEAKER_00]: However, however, I do know a few things.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I've stayed a few things.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I read people that probably like you and got 36 or something.

[SPEAKER_00]: But anyways,

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's using the perfect tense.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so the difference, like, for instance, like, past tense is, you know, Kyle lost his keys, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's something that happened in the past and there's a clear time marker about, like, I lost my keys yesterday, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Past tense.

[SPEAKER_00]: Perfect tense is, Kyle has lost his keys and you're like, when?

[SPEAKER_00]: What does it say?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, in this passage, what is being used

[SPEAKER_00]: is what is called the prophetic present, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: Stay with me.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what it talks about is like the prophet is standing on a mountaintop where he is in the time that he's in.

[SPEAKER_00]: And God is allowing him to look ahead into the future and to see another mountain out ahead.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in this mountain out ahead, God enables the prophet to be able to see what God, not just what God is promised, but what is taking place.

[SPEAKER_00]: And because the character of God, as we talked about earlier, can be trusted from things that God has done in the past.

[SPEAKER_00]: What he's allowing the prophet to do is to see what's going to happen, and it's almost like it's taking place even though he isn't there yet.

[SPEAKER_00]: Does this make sense?

[SPEAKER_00]: And so he says, look, like this check is going to cache, if you will, on what I'm promising, it's out there.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, Isaiah, I'm going to allow you to see it like it's already happening.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to take that message onto A has.

[SPEAKER_00]: He needs to hear it.

[SPEAKER_00]: The people need to hear it.

[SPEAKER_00]: so that they can know that the Lord is with them.

[SPEAKER_00]: The gloom, the hardship, the troubles, the fears, the anxieties that they're feeling, it's not gonna be the end of the story.

[SPEAKER_00]: So if you say, okay, well, is this prophetic present, is a prophetic perfect?

[SPEAKER_00]: Is it only used in the book by Zia?

[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, no.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's used in Genesis 175 when God says that he is going to make, he's made Abraham a father of many nations before he everything has a kid.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's used in Deuteronomy 1-8 when God talks about how he has already given them the land that they're not yet in.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he says, hey, listen, I've already given it to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's already there and they're like, wait a minute, we aren't there yet, he's like, yeah, I know.

[SPEAKER_00]: But when I say things, it happens.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so even though you haven't even seen the, you haven't seen these things take place, you should just assure that they're going to happen.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is also the tense that is used in Josh with six, too.

[SPEAKER_00]: When God tells Josh when the people that he's already given them victory, even though they haven't blown the trumpet yet.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, the use of the prophetic perfect that happens here in verse six is meant to be a character statement about how the people can trust what God is up to.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, if you're reading your English translation, there might be some times, and I won't knock out which translations do it more than others.

[SPEAKER_00]: where things are spoken of in a present tense and it might be a prophetic perfect, or what they'll do is they'll make it sound like a future tense.

[SPEAKER_00]: The reason being is it just wants to read a little smoother, no one's intentions are bad, but it just kind of what happens, and this versus an example of it.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, for the NOT, good job.

[SPEAKER_00]: You do the right way.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, moving past grammar is some of you are probably like to hear about something different.

[SPEAKER_00]: What about this four-fold name of the child?

[SPEAKER_00]: who is obviously going to be born, it's going to be truly human, but also truly God, why do we say this?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, because with each one of the names of the four-fold name given to the child who will be born, there's a divine end to care that's associated with each one of the names.

[SPEAKER_00]: We'll explain what I mean by this.

[SPEAKER_00]: For instance, wonderful counselor.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is when this word is used, when it talks about the council, those person gives, the word wonderful, is this Hebrew word, Pale, and here's the interesting about this word, and we're at all connects.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is a word that is only used to describe the wonders and the actions and the things that God does that we really can't do.

[SPEAKER_00]: Where this word is used the most is in the book of Psalms.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll give you my opinion.

[SPEAKER_00]: Keyword, opinion.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Psalms are a book of the Bible that meet us in our human experience with things that can be really, really high and amazing, the things can be really, really low and with everything in between.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yet what did the Psalms call us to do?

[SPEAKER_00]: God uses them to help us be real with ourselves, to be real with Him.

[SPEAKER_00]: And guess what?

[SPEAKER_00]: To remember the things that He has done so that we will trust what He has said

[SPEAKER_00]: And so that in this moment, I'm in right now, I can let God be be steadfast, and to be faithful, and to have courage.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even when I literally, let's get back to the text, feel like I am surrounded on every front.

[SPEAKER_00]: My borders are caving.

[SPEAKER_00]: My earthly king is faithful.

[SPEAKER_00]: As if people, what are we gonna do?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, we're going to trust in what God says.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so when it says that this person is a wonderful counselor, there's no, even though it says that this child will be born from the lineage of David, there's no king that's ever spoken of like this besides this guy.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, let's think about it, who, and within some people's minds, what they have thought of being perhaps the wisest person that had ever lived.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they would have thought of Solomon, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: A guy who wrote over 3,000 Proverbs,

[SPEAKER_00]: People from all over the world would travel to hear this guy.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you want to talk about a guy that would have a podcast with some reach.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was Solomon.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then here comes that, you know, Kyle Vokabulari.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yet, the dude was done more than a box of rocks when it came to discernment about women, status, projects, and success.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you don't believe me, read the book of Ecclesiastes all over the place.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he lacked major discernment when it came to who he created alliances with, which is actually

[SPEAKER_00]: So, I mean, even for the guy that the scripture celebrates is being so wise, just like us, you can be so stupid.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, well, what about the mighty God?

[SPEAKER_00]: What's the divine indicator there?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, Eligabor.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's the word mighty God, it could also transit.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like warrior God, that's because the word to get bored, what it speaks of.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like Eric Sheriff's, like a mighty warrior, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: He's right there in the back.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's probably going to kill me right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: But anyways, it's like a person that's got valor, a person that's got courage, a person that's got a resume.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like this is not the guy that you want to mess with, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: He's mighty, he's valiant, he's a warrior, he's not passive.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so this name, mighty God, or warrior God, the only three times this phrase is used throughout the Old Testament outside of this moment right here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't Isaiah 1025, Jeremiah 3218, Deuteronomy 17, and every single time this phrase is used, it is never talking about a normal person.

[SPEAKER_00]: Who is just being really, really mighty like God?

[SPEAKER_00]: They're not, it's never describing that.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, I mean, when you think about this, it's like, okay, well, like, who would people of that time's greatest definition of a mighty warrior have been that maybe this child could be like, I mean, they knew the stories of David in his accolades with, you know, defeating Goliath and other balance that he was in, but as mighty as a warrior as he was, did he always use it for good all the time?

[SPEAKER_00]: No, in fact, there was one time where he used his rule, his rank, in his resume, to try to cover his traps, perhaps one of the worst things, one of the worst decisions he ever made.

[SPEAKER_00]: So as he had a man who was after God's own heart, yes, but was he failed, finite, and flawed like us.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because you see, power, it can attract the worse.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it can also occur up the, it can also occur, it can, let me imagine more time, slow down count.

[SPEAKER_00]: It can attract the worst, and it can occur up the best.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we see that in the story of David.

[SPEAKER_00]: And perhaps maybe even you felt that sometimes we're like, as God has promoted you and along in your company or whatever, or in your status, sometimes you forget about what it was like to not be there and how to really be with people.

[SPEAKER_00]: So,

[SPEAKER_00]: As far as the everlasting Father part, I'm gonna skip past that, come back to it.

[SPEAKER_00]: But let's look at this title, Prince of Peace.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is no small title.

[SPEAKER_00]: This talks about a mission in which this person would be the chief ruler and sustainer of God's people, and I'm sorry, of God's peace for God's people for all time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Power would never corrupt him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Power would never detach him from ruling his people with the sort of justice compassion

[SPEAKER_00]: and the peace that he realized and the peace that he brings and the way in which his current post would happen.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this would once and for all put to an end, all of God's enemies.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I would say not just of earthly nature, but of the heavenly realm as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: What person in Scripture that was just like you were me, a flawed, finite, and failed human being, ever does that, nobody yet.

[SPEAKER_00]: It says that this is who this person would be.

[SPEAKER_00]: In the words of Dale Davis, one of my favorite commentators, he says Isaiah is not talking about a person that brings peace as we often think of.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's interpease.

[SPEAKER_00]: He means a person that brings peace in this nasty world.

[SPEAKER_00]: He brings peace in a world of oppression, war, and combat.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he brings peace.

[SPEAKER_00]: The way he brings peace is in no check out this.

[SPEAKER_00]: So this person has power, they have authority, they have a mission, and who can do that, but got himself.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yet, everlasting father, I'm going to suppose that you can figure out that everlasting is never worth this use of describe humans, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yet with all this power, with all this authority, yet with all this conquest, with all these things that he has going on, he's tender.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's a person that you can go to with anything.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, let's just take a break for him and all right.

[SPEAKER_00]: How many of you mirror right here?

[SPEAKER_00]: How many of us, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: When you got a lot going on in your in charge, you got your checklist, things to do, actions to tackle, whatever else to be get impatient.

[SPEAKER_00]: They don't talk to me right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sorry, I can't do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure none of us ever power up a little bit

[SPEAKER_00]: It may be in the process, wind up devaluing or dehumanizing the people around us that sometimes we love and care for so much.

[SPEAKER_00]: This passage when you look at it, that's not the way this Prince of Peace is going to be because he's an eternal father, he's someone that you can approach as someone you can talk to, he's someone that will listen.

[SPEAKER_00]: In the midst of all this, what was this supposed to, how was this supposed to land for the people of A has its time?

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, think about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you're living in Judah, and you hear this passage, you're like, man, this guy cannot get here soon enough.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like things are not going well.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't trust the guy that's leading us, and I have no idea where this is going.

[SPEAKER_00]: When you heard this passage or I'm sorry, when you heard this prophecy, you were eager.

[SPEAKER_00]: There was joy.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this would not be fulfilled, and this would not be fulfilled in more of its entirety until 732 years later.

[SPEAKER_00]: So does that mean that for 732 years, God was like just somewhere else.

[SPEAKER_00]: These people were out left, a band and on their own.

[SPEAKER_00]: under bad leadership, under bad care, and they're just supposed to like sweat and suffer it out.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sorry guys, they'd have a lot of get better when the Messiah comes.

[SPEAKER_00]: No.

[SPEAKER_00]: This was God, like God was refining his people in this moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was telling them of the joy that they could have right now based on what they knew of him the past, even though things in the future that had not come yet, were meant to inspire them in their right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: In this moment that they were in right now, they were to know that the God that they served and that the God that they had been unfaithful to, was the God who wasn't gonna be unfaithful to them.

[SPEAKER_00]: Although in time, both the northern and southern kingdoms would fall, and although in time, both kingdoms would experience exile and be subject to the empires of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.

[SPEAKER_00]: God shows that he never took his hand off his people.

[SPEAKER_00]: In time, God reestablishes them in a homeland, even though it's not quite like it was before.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the Lord is paving the way to bring about a more complete fulfillment of this prophecy that He had given.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because this final and ultimate peace, it will be accomplished because of a zeal,

[SPEAKER_00]: unlike any other.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because it's the Lord's seal.

[SPEAKER_00]: Did you see this very ending of Isaiah chapter 9 verse 7 where it says, when it talks about all these things it's gonna happen.

Isaiah 9:7

[SPEAKER_00]: This hope that's gonna come, the way that it's gonna go down, the person is gonna be.

[SPEAKER_00]: In the midst of chaos and idolatry and everything else, it says, the passionate commitment of the Lord of heaven's armies will make this happen.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, some of you who read other translations might see the word zeal there, both work.

[SPEAKER_00]: What this word Kinnan Hebrew talks about is the way that a husband has an affection and a jealousy for his wife.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, let me explain this.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not when we hear those phrase, but they say, oh, yeah, a jealous husband, that means he's super insecure and needs something to control.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I'm that thing, and I get the brunt of it.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, no, no, no.

[SPEAKER_00]: That kind of zeal, that kind of stuff is the result of a broken man who's

[SPEAKER_00]: He's got insecurities, the way that this is being described.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when you look at this whole context, this is being described by the Holy and Complete God of Heaven and Earth who made everything.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the affection, the love, the passion he has for his people.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's protected.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's protective.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's engaged.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not sorry for carrying.

[SPEAKER_00]: and in that sort of zeal, as zeal and a passion for the things that we came in quite comprehend.

[SPEAKER_00]: The prophecy says, yeah, zeal, the Lord will accomplish all this.

[SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, around 2,000 years ago, from us today, 732 years in the future from Ayaz's time, a guy by the name of Matthew

[SPEAKER_00]: ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus, he writes this, and I think as I read this, you'll see the reason for the connection.

[SPEAKER_00]: When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee.

[SPEAKER_00]: He went first to Nazareth and left there and moved to

[SPEAKER_00]: This fulfill what God said to the prophet who, Isaiah, so we just read.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the land was up a long enough to tell you beside the sea beyond the Jordan River and Galilee were so many Gentiles live.

[SPEAKER_00]: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.

[SPEAKER_00]: And for those who lived in the land where the death casted shadow a light has shined.

[SPEAKER_00]: From then on Jesus began to preach, repent of your sins and turn to God for the kingdom of heaven is near.

[SPEAKER_00]: God has a passion, had a passion to bring this to fruition.

[SPEAKER_00]: And is it complete yet what Jesus came to do?

[SPEAKER_00]: No, we're still in the meantime of Jesus' return.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're the final consummation of His kingdom and everything that He has set out to do will become the past.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, what are we to do in the meantime?

[SPEAKER_00]: What are if you take away for us?

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, first and foremost, I just want to remind you all that I think one of our takeaways for today for all of us in the room is that we can rejoice because final and ultimate peace is coming, but depending on where you are with Jesus, there's a different response for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you're here today and you do not yet know Jesus as your Savior, I just want to come

[SPEAKER_00]: to letting hope, comfort, enjoy, come from a place that you weren't expecting.

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you let that be the case in 2025, when it's 2026?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you let that be the case by coming around, sticking around, getting to know a few people, introduce yourself.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let us get to know you, your story.

[SPEAKER_00]: How you wound up here?

[SPEAKER_00]: Awesome, amazing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's do it, let's go.

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you be open to that?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because I want to tell you that the God of Scripture, he's got character that you might not know about yet, or maybe for whatever reason, your eyes just haven't been open to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: That you can learn about from who he's been in the past, and it's consistent with who he's gonna be in the future, and guess what, he's calling you to himself right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so if you're here today and you do not yet know Jesus, would you let hope come from a place that you weren't expecting at the come from in 2025, when in the 2026?

[SPEAKER_00]: And would you be a part of things, would you get connected?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you come to us with your questions and your story and just let us sit with you?

[SPEAKER_00]: We don't have all the answers for all things all the time, but we got some, and Jesus made a difference and we'd love to tell you about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: For others of you in the room, if you do know Jesus is your savior, I just want to remind you all, and I say this to myself, we have an incredible reason to have joy today.

[SPEAKER_00]: to have steadfastness today.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because we know a longer way is a, we know a longer way is a arrival.

[SPEAKER_00]: We wait for his return and we are told in the meantime, what is Jesus doing?

[SPEAKER_00]: He's refining his people.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's using his people to proclaim what he's doing in the world.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he knows that this life, that this existence is hard.

[SPEAKER_00]: He knows that we don't just need a good counselor friend

[SPEAKER_00]: He knows we need a mighty one.

[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't it a joy to know that God knows you better than you know yourself?

[SPEAKER_00]: He knows the hearts of men, better than you could ever understand.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's willing to counsel you.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's willing to speak to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't it a great joy to know that God knows what he's up to, not just in the future?

[SPEAKER_00]: But God knows what he's up to right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he is willing to come for your heart, he is willing to refine your heart, he is willing to speak to you in ways.

[SPEAKER_00]: That would be forever changing if we could just let him grab us by the shoulders and set us down and listen.

[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't it a great joy today to know that you have a mighty God who fights for you?

[SPEAKER_00]: Not just like with presenting you a new idea, hey, here's a new thing to think about.

[SPEAKER_00]: Here's some ideas.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, our God is not Nambi, Pambi.

[SPEAKER_00]: He used the words of Del Davis.

[SPEAKER_00]: He came and fought and slayed the greatest evil enemy that we could ever have.

[SPEAKER_00]: Slater sin.

[SPEAKER_00]: He conquered it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he conquered it to give you new life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus, he's come to conquer the things that distract you.

[SPEAKER_00]: the forces of evil that lie to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: His come to bring justice against all those who don't want his shalom.

[SPEAKER_00]: They don't want his peace like Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of like, that is awesome.

[SPEAKER_00]: That is a reason to have great joy.

[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever you are facing right now that you feel like you need God to be fighting for.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know that he already is the question is do you realize it or not?

[SPEAKER_00]: Or your eyes are my eyes open to it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in the midst of all of this,

[SPEAKER_00]: Our mighty counselor, our wonderful counselor, our mighty God, our Prince of Peace.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let us not forget that God is one to sit with us.

[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't it a joy to know that he is like a father?

[SPEAKER_00]: Of all the words that he could use to describe himself.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in the way that Jesus modeled leadership to his disciples, his personal, he had time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even though I would say he had a pretty big checklist

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, time for people, he healed, and he cared.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so in the midst of all that, we today, may we know that God's promised joy is available to us.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's available, he offers it, and it's abundant.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's pray in rejoice in that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Lord, we thank you for today.

[SPEAKER_00]: We thank you for the fact that you are all these things

[SPEAKER_00]: Go beyond what we can relieve and imagine.

[SPEAKER_00]: We thank you that you are our mighty God who fights for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: We thank you that you are our wonderful counselor who can deal with us.

[SPEAKER_00]: We thank you that you are our father who sits with us.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we thank you that Jesus, the light, the hope that you've brought, like it's doing things.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's changing us.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Lord, today I pray for those who may be here and, you know, they, they didn't expect that maybe there would be an invitation of hope in 2025 and 2026 to come from you.

[SPEAKER_00]: They maybe just came seeing if like this would even work or what they even might feel.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so today whether it's the preaching of your word, a warm hello at the door, or the

[SPEAKER_00]: and you're producing steadfastness and courage within us.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so would you help us to just be sensitive to whatever it is you're doing?

[SPEAKER_00]: As we finish out this last song, and as we seek to be led by you this week, it's in just name you pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.