Sermon: A Brighter Day is on the Way!’
Isaiah 9:2-7 “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. 3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. 4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. 5 The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire. 6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!
Introduction: Isaiah encourages us with the idea that darkness can never put out the light. That’s the way light is. The darker the darkness gets, the brighter the light becomes. It was a dark time living in a land occupied by a foreign power, a power which made a kind of demands on God’s people. This has been a dark time for our world as well. We need some light in view of a relentless pandemic, destructive wildfires, typhoons, hurricanes, constant protests and riots and civil unrest. As I have reflected, so often the darkness has seemed inescapable. And yet, the darker the darkness gets, the brighter the light becomes.
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” Dickens was describing the mood of the world around him, but these words are describing our times as well as those times in which Isaiah lived.
Israel had been carried away into Assyria and scattered throughout their empire. Judah and Jerusalem were doomed to be carried away into Babylon. The prophet comes with a word of hope, God would send His Messiah into this dark world bringing light and life. God will often visited the most hardhearted, arrogant, ignorant, and despised people with wonderful opportunities to change. The offer of salvation is so precious! Many ignore God’s call to salvation, yet He call them. The gloom, despair and oppression so vivid in Isaiah’s day is overshadowed by a new light the prophet sees. This prophet moves from walking in darkness to walking in the light; from oppression to justice; from war to peace. The prophet sees God’s world becoming what God has originally intended. He sees light and life, joy and peace, liberty, and freedom. The messiah will come and bring all these things to fruition. The messiah come from the heart of God and knows that God is a lover of justice and peace. Isaiah sees and believes the Messiah is God’s answer for the world’s ills. Isaiah’s world’s view and hopes are in the coming messiah who could save the world, uphold life, establish justice and peace, turning the hearts of man to God.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” Have you caught the prophet’s vision? Do you perceive it? Does the world you imagine look like the world Isaiah foretold? The good news is, It will come! Why, The zeal of the Lord of Host will do it. Isaiah described the present condition as the people walking in darkness, stumbling, falling and in constant danger. In Matthew’s gospel, he describes them as people sitting in darkness, paralyzed by fear, afraid to stand, or move, afraid to forward. Darkness expresses confusion, calamity, ignorance and hopelessness. The good news is a brighter day is coming!
1.God’s Light will Outshine the Present Darkness! “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.”
Jesus Christ came a bright light from God, so bright, the darkness cannot overcome it. The darkness has no power to extinguish God’s light.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” John 1:1-5
During these dark times, Jesus himself commissions us to shine brightly. Mt 5:14 -16 “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
It is good news that darkness cannot conquer light. Darkness has no power, it is simply the absence of light. Darkness is negative, light is positive. All the darkness in the world can be driven back by a single candlelight. The only influence that darkness has is to create illusions and inspire fear because of uncertainty and a lack of knowledge. Yet the moment light comes, reality is revealed, and fear is driven back. God’s light will always outshine the darkness. A brighter day is coming!
2.God’s Light will Transform This Present Dark World – “You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. 4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.”
Isaiah reminds the believers that they had faced great odds before. When Gideon faced the Midian with 300 men, over a hundred thousand Midianites were defeated as one man. God’s light will transform the world because His people are no longer sitting in darkness, no longer paralyzed by fear, God’s people are rising up to break the yoke of slavery. They are rising up to lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. God’s light is within His people and is shining through them bringing light and life to others. Ro 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
God can through good things and well as bad things with equal grace! God can work through light and work in darkness. God can work through politics, economic, and the election. Don’t allow this present darkness to convince you that there is no light, that it’s dark everywhere. Don’t allow darkness to obstruct your vision, blinding you from God’s hope. Without hope, there is no expectation of the future. God’s light bring hope! A brighter day is coming, beyond the doom and gloom! God will turn our mourning into dancing. God will gives us great joy, joy as in the day of harvest! We will divide the spoils of victory. Elijah, Job, David, and even John the Baptist experienced seasons of doom and gloom, yet in every case God’s light, his word and his peace sustained them all! To every believer, God has made us agents of transformation. Just as His word and Spirit has transformed our lives, it will transform others. Let your light shine and brighten the corner wherever you are. Take the light with you everywhere you go and let it shine! Our Lord is the way, the truth and the light. Jesus’ light cannot be put out. Even though the Roman soldiers crucified him, they could not put out his light. The cross, the worst evil of the world was transform into a symbol of salvation and deliverance. The Roman seal could not stop him, the grave could not hold him, He rose with all hand in his hands. You and I as believers have been raised by that same power. Let it shine!
3.God’s Light will Transform Our Difficulties into Testimonies of Victory! “The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.”
The things intended to stop God’s people will be fuel for them. God promised the yoke of burden would be broken, the staff of cruelty would be removed and that the instruments of war would be fuel for our warming fire. The present difficulties will end, and the testimony of victory will be fuel for your fire! A brighter day is here! Don’t believe the reports that all hope is lost! If you have been looking for good news, I have good news, Jesus the light of God has come. He can turn your mourning into dancing and give you beauty for ashes. Walk out of the darkness into the light. Things look better in the light, it’s clearer, and brighter!
My family visited Grand Canyon Caverns, one mile under the earth’s surface. For about five seconds, the tour guide turned off the lights, leaving us in total darkness. The guide said, according to medical science, if we remained in darkness a few months, our eyes would forget how to see, the muscles and nerves would completely lose their function, and sight would not return even if we were brought back into the light. Live in darkness long enough, vision is lost, hope is lost and the future is in danger. Jesus can give sight to the blind. He comes to bring a brighter day.
A brighter day is coming because God’s Light will Outshine the Present Darkness; God’s Light will Transform This Present Dark World; and God’s Light will Transform Our Difficulties into Testimonies of Victory! God will use his church as agents of transformation. Yes, the church is flawed, but Christ is not. Left alone, the church would be a mess because of its messy people. So, God places the responsibility of the shoulders of Jesus Christ! There is problem too hard, no situation too complicated, Jesus is the answer. “6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!”
This great work will not be left in the hands of democrats or republicans or independents; it won’t be left in the hands of the senate or congress or the supreme court, God has the whole world under his control. Why doesn’t everybody enjoy his peace and joy? Notice “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.” The given is important because a gift must be received. A gift should be received with thanks, yet a gift can be ignored or unappreciated, or even criticized. Joh 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” God has made a brighter available to all who would receive His Gift. God is not will that any should perish, yet many will. They choose to sit in darkness when light has come. I have good news a brighter day has come!
