INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Last week we began our Christmas series entitles UNTO US.
• Jesus’s birth is a powerful display of God’s faithfulness to bring peace, hope, healing, and life to a lost and dying world.
• This four-week series explores the Christmas story by examining the relationship between the book of Isaiah and the purpose and work of Christ in the New Testament.
• Because of Jesus, we can experience the joy that comes through his finished work. ‘Unto Us’ provides a powerful guide for helping us to understand and apply the nativity story into the world we live in today!
• Last week in Isaiah 7, we learned that a virgin would conceive a child, and that child would be Immanuel (God with us).
• In chapter 9, we now start to learn a little more about this anointed child of the Lord. He will be the incarnation of God and will have rule over the world: “Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
• He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom” (Isaiah 9:7).
• The Anointed One will have a rule, and since he is Immanuel, his kingdom will be God's kingdom.
• Isaiah fast-forwards into the future when he describes a time where “there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress” (v. 1) and “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light” (v. 2).
• Isaiah is speaking of the future kingdom of God where evil is defeated, and God's righteousness prevails.
• Remember that the Book of Isaiah was written over 740 years before the birth of Jesus. Yet, the prophecies contained in the book are exact!
• When you read the prophecies of the Old Testament, it can be a little confusing because the verb tense of the prophecy is written as if the events have already taken place.
• The reason for this is that when God says something is going to happen, it will happen.
• The technique of writing future events as if they have already happened is called Prophetic Perfect.
• When we read Isaiah 7 and 9, as well as other prophecies contained in the book, we have to realize the events were about 740 some odd years away from happening even though it sounds like they have already happened.
• The BIG IDEA for today is simply this: The child born of a virgin would be a mighty and peaceful ruler to bring light to the world.
• The rubber meets the road application for today is we need to let Christ rule our hearts and be our counsel, peace, and strength during times of darkness.
• SLIDE #2
• Isaiah 9:1–2 (CSB) — 1 Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future he will bring honor to the way of the sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations. 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. The hope is here.
• Last week we saw the Southern Kingdom as well as King Ahaz in a desperate situation.
• The nation was going to be under attack yet again. In his darkest hour, King Ahaz decides to turn to the Assyrian King, Tiglath-pileser, to help him.
• God sent Isaiah to plead with King Ahaz to trust Him, that God has this covered.
• King Ahaz chose to turn his back on God.
• Have you ever been in a spot where God is tugging at you to trust Him, yet, you already had your mind made up as to the course of action you were going to take?
• Since you made up your mind, you really did not care for God’s input.
• In chapter 7, God promised that Syria and the Northern Kingdom would fall.
• Zebulun and Naphtali (NAFF-TELL-I) were two Northern kingdom tribes that would get hammered by the invading Assyrian armies in 733 BC.
• Things looked terrible for the Northern Kingdom, but amid the darkness, there would be hope.
• Northern Israelite tribes such as Zebulun and Naphtali contained a mixed population in Isaiah’s day, accounting for the designation Galilee of the Nations.
• Invasions of Israel by Mesopotamian powers like Assyria and Babylonia would come from the north and thus strike this area first.
• The region which will first experience the darkness stemming from God’s judgment, however, will also be the first to see the great light of God’s redemption.
• This promised redemption even includes tribes which at that time had been removed into exile and whose territory was populated by Gentiles.
• Part of the reason Jesus came was to bring light into a dark, hopeless world. The age of the Messiah would be a time marked by the light coming into the world! Matthew 4:12-16 quotes this passage telling us through Jesus it happened!
• The prophecy was so sure to happen that God gave it to Isaiah as if it had already happened!
• Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah references the area of Jesus’s upbringing and ministry as being a place of honor.
• Even though the Northern Kingdom, and eventually, the Southern Kingdom would be overtaken because of the disobedience of God’s people, God would bring hope through Jesus.
• No matter what you are dealing with in life today, no matter how dark it may seem, Hope is here!
• The message of Isaiah is still valid today when God sent His Son to the earth, HOPE came as Jesus shined light into the dark world.
• Light overcomes the darkness. If you've ever used your phone in a dark room to see, you know that a little bit of light can change everything.
• Get the room very dark and hold up a small flame from a lighter. The fantastic thing about light is that, no matter how dark a room can get, one small flame can help you see.
• No matter how dark things may look, Jesus brings light and hope!
• SLIDE #4
• Isaiah 9:3–5 (CSB) — 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before you as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils. 4 For you have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as you did on the day of Midian. 5 For every trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire.
• SLIDE #5
II. The blessing is here.
• Once again, Isaiah writes as if this had already happened.
• With the light and the hope coming from the child who would be born of a virgin, blessings would flow!
• In verses three through five, we see three listed!
• The day the birth would enlarge the nation! What this means is that access to God would be open to people, not just to Jews.
• But the prophet looked beyond the first coming of Christ to His second coming and the establishing of His righteous kingdom (Isa. 9:3–7). Instead of protecting a small remnant, God would enlarge the nation. Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Comforted (p. 37). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
• This opens the gates of heaven to all who come to God through Jesus!
• Verse 3 also tells us that He will increase our joy!
• Instead of experiencing sorrow, the people would rejoice like reapers after a great harvest, soldiers after a great victory (see Jud. 6–7), or prisoners of war after being released from their yoke of bondage. Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Comforted (p. 37). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
• Let me tell you something. Since I was baptized into Christ, my life has been joyful. I know the reason I am here; I know my purpose in life.
• Do I get down and discouraged? I do, but I do not stay there because I know my purpose on earth, I know who I serve, and I know who’s got my back!
• The third part of the blessing that is here to me is the best; the blessing of deliverance from the bondage of sin!
• Look at verse 4 again! 4 For you have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as you did on the day of Midian.
• The day of Midian goes back to the book of Judges, chapters 6-7, when the nation of Israel was under bondage to the Midianites because of their disregard for God.
• God used Gideon and an army of a mere 300 men to defeat and drive out the Midianites from the land!
• The funny thing about sin is the fact that it lulls us into thinking WE are in charge, when in fact, we are enslaved to it. Then IF we realize we are enslaved, we feel like we cannot break the bondage.
• The nation of Israel felt the same way when the Midian’s were oppressing them.
• Listen, no matter what has you enslaved, Jesus can deliver you!
• SLIDE #6
• Isaiah 9:6–7 (CSB) — 6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this.
• SLIDE #7
III. The King is here.
• The child will assume power, He will carry the burden of responsibility.
• SLIDE #8
• Philippians 2:10–11 (CSB) — 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
• He is called the Wonderful Counselor! He will always give you the counsel that is the best for your life, and He will provide it with no selfish motivation!
• He is the MIGHTY GOD! No one or nothing can take Him down or defeat Him! Who do you want on your side? I want the MIGHTY GOD!
• The designation Mighty God is applied in exactly the same form to God in 10:21, and a similar description appears in a list of names for God in Deuteronomy 10:17 and Jeremiah 32:18
• He is the ETERNAL FATHER! This ties into verse 7, and without this fact, verse 7 cannot be a reality! When He gives you counsel, it is what is best for your enteral well-being, not only for the short-term!
• And he is called the PRINCE OF PEACE!
• The final title does not obviously point to the supernatural nature of the future ruler. Still, Prince of Peace characterizes the nature of his reign.
• He will be a "peaceful prince," one who not only rules compassionately but also in such a way that his subjects can live in peace.
• The Old Testament concept of peace implies wholeness, an environment in which the frustrating effects of the fall are minimized or eliminated.
• Isaiah's hearers may have thought that peace could be secured by a righteous human king. Still, their experience should have shown them the futility of that hope.
CONCLUSION
• When the Magi followed the star to bring gifts, they were bringing gifts to a king (Matthew 2:2). Jesus goes beyond just the one who saves souls from hell. Jesus is the King over everything.
• One day the king born in a manger will have every knee bow to Him as Lord!
• We will let Christ rule our hearts and be our counsel, peace, and strength during dark times.
