[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here, and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in.
Come on. Let's make some noise for Jesus today in this place.
I'm so glad that you're here. Welcome to church, everybody. Good morning. Did you bring your jacket? Because this is the one day in Texas that you're going to need it. This is that one, so enjoy every bit of it. I'm so glad that you're here. Let's say a quick, warm welcome to all of you who are watching online. Come on, High Ridge family. Welcome them in, if you would.
We're so glad you could join us today, so grab your Bibles, if you will. We're going to spend some time in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah, chapter nine, specifically, as we get ready for Christmas. Come on, baby. My family and I had a fantastic Thanksgiving. We got to watch the Cowboys win for once.
It's been. It's been a really, really good season, so I'm grateful. I'm gonna preach a nice and pretty message today because I'm happy in my heart.
No, it's. It's been a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving season. I pray that yours was at least as good as mine. And then also, we are turning our attention now to Christmas. This is where you can roll the scale back 10 pounds. Come on, somebody put up the lights, put up the tree, put Die Hard on the TV and get ready for Christmas.
No, I'm grateful that you're here today, and I want to say thank you, especially for those of you who were able to join in our Operation Christmas Child, bringing a lot of Christmas gifts to children all over the world. So we joined in together with other churches, other believers, and you guys collected 122 boxes you put together last week. Thank you for that. That's a big deal.
We say that, but we. We can still do better. Come on. We can still do better. We can do better. We're going to set a record every single year. Come on, we can do this. Why? Because kids need Christmas.
Not your kids, somebody else's kids. Your kids have been bad. They don't need nothing.
Isaiah, chapter nine. I want to bring a message today called Hope has a Name.
Hope has a name. And so in Isaiah, chapter nine, we read this scripture a lot of times during the Christmas Season. And I've looked at the scripture, I've quoted the scripture, but I've never really just dug in deep to the scripture and just been able to see all the beautiful nuances that Isaiah puts in into this fantastic group of verses. And in order to really understand what Isaiah is talking about, you have to kind of understand the man. And so Isaiah himself is somebody that we don't. We don't know a ton about. But Jewish history tells us a little bit more than what the Bible gives when it's describing Isaiah as more than just the prophet. We know that Isaiah was married. We know that his wife was also in ministry as well. She is the prophetess. And then we also know that he has two children, and both of his children have prophetic names, and both of those children's names tell people Jesus is coming. So we see him as a family man, but also someone who. His family is all in for the good news of Jesus.
So a lot of people of his day would call him the royal prophet because he had unusual access to kings. Some historians say he had to have some sort of nobility. He had to be a part of the royal family because he was always right in the mix of whatever the king was doing. And Isaiah and his wife and his family, they're living and teaching and. And preaching and prophesying in some really tough and dark times.
So Israel and Judah have split. There's like a civil war going on between God's chosen people. And in the midst of all of that, there's a brutal nation that is coming to attack them called Assyria.
And this would have caused a lot of trauma for those that are living in Israel. And so they decide to. What we're gonna do is come up with a military plan to stand together, even though they're completely outmatched and they're completely outnumbered. And Isaiah said, don't do that. Turn your heart back towards the Lord. Turn it back towards the King of Kings. This is. This is not a military battle. This. This is a spiritual battle. And he's trying to convince the people to remember the Lord their God. But these people are lost in their sin. They're lost in their idol worship. They've turned their back on God, and they've drifted into a deep darkness.
And in the midst of all the trauma that is happening around them, here comes Assyria. And I wish I could go into detail about all the things that Assyria would do and the things that they had in their mind when Assyria was coming, but it'd be really dark and this thing would go from PG to rated R really, really quickly. I'm just telling you it was brutal. And so these people are in a dark place.
And so as Isaiah, he's gathering his family together, he's trying to give hope to the nation. He begins to prophesy about what would happen.
And just 700 years, I don't know about you, but if I'm getting somebody prophesying over my life and he's telling me something that's going to happen 700 years from now, I'm like, dude, do I move or not? Like, do I marry this person or not this person? Am I going to college? I'm going to the ministry? What are you, what are you telling me? Like, that doesn't, that doesn't help me.
But this was different.
And so Isaiah begins to describe Jesus. So well, remember, this is 700 years before Christ even walks the planet. As a matter of fact, those that know your Bible know that the, the book of Isaiah itself is called the fifth Gospel. There's Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, from people that, that knew Jesus walked with him, that, that understood him, that. That saw him perform miracles. And then there's the fifth gospel, which is Isaiah. You can't read Isaiah without him describing Jesus as if he's sitting right next to him 700 years before Jesus even walks the planet.
So in the middle of a dark season, Isaiah gives a beautiful chapter describing Jesus and that hope that is coming in to an incredibly scared, traumatized people. And I love that he starts it off with one of the words that I think is the most.
One of the most incredible words you can start off a chapter with. And it starts out with this word, nevertheless.
Say that with me. Nevertheless. That's a really good word. If you have a paper Bible like mine, you might want to underline that word. That's a good word to underline because they're walking through some dark seasons. But nevertheless, in spite of what I'm walking through, in spite of what we feel, in spite of what may be happening around us, nevertheless.
Nevertheless, he says, let me tell you, there's a king coming.
There's a king coming.
And this is where we open up the Advent season with this verse. Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. That's a good, good scripture.
In the past, it says God humbled the land, but in the future, he will honor Galilee.
It's interesting that Isaiah says Galilee, because at this time, Galilee was the very first nation to be invaded by Assyria. So they had watched what happens to their brothers on the outside?
As all these people were lost without their homes are being taken as captives and prisoners. They've completely destroyed their economy. They've lost their jobs, they. They've lost their families, lost their homes. All of these things are gone and in ruins.
And Isaiah said, that's exactly where God's going to begin the rebuilding process. The place where you feel like there was no hope, the place where you feel like it's too dark. The place that has already lost and fallen. The place that you're worried about. You turned your eyes there. What's happening in Galilee? It's horrible. It's horrible. He said, that's where God's going to start redeeming.
In the past, he humbled it. But in the future, that's where everything begins. We know that Jesus came walking the shores of. Of Galilee. This is where Jesus was born. This is where he's prophesying. Exactly. The place where Jesus is going to step his foot, where he's going to be born is here.
So it says in the past, God humbled that land because of their sin and disobedience. But in the future, he said, oh, there's going to be a great honor on Galilee.
It says, the people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of deep darkness. A light has dawned. And then he begins to speak prophetically about something that would happen as if it had already happened. He says, lord, you have enlarged the nation. You've increased their joy. They rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.
Look at it. Look at what he's describing. He's describing it in the past tense. And it's 700 years in the future. He said, this is what's going to happen and it's going to be good. You're not going to believe this.
He goes on to say this.
For you have shattered the yoke that burdens the people, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of the oppressor on their backs. Every warrior's boot used in battle, and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning. It'll be fuel for the fire.
And then here's the famous Christmas scripture. For unto us a child is born.
To us a son is given.
Notice, it says this. This is a son, a child given to the people.
To us, it says, a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders. Notice he's just described all the weight that's on the people's shoulders. The oppression, the cruelty. All the things that were. That were binding his people and symbols of their great oppression. He says, no, no, no. Now that. Now the weight is going to be on. On him, not on you.
The government is going to be upon his shoulders and he will be called. Look at these four names. Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Say those four names with me if you would.
Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
What beautiful words to open up the Christmas season. What.
What depth and insight. When you understand Isaiah and what he's walking in and what he's walking under, what he's preaching underneath, the weight of.
You see how these words carry a lot more than just oh, tis the season.
Why? Because for these people, they needed hope.
And for us today, we need to recognize that he is our only hope.
We have a difficult time sometimes in English language understanding that word hope because we use them as a synonym with. With. With hope and wish.
You know, synonyms. You remember that? Synonyms. You're like, I remember my grandma used to make synonym rolls. That's not what I'm talking about.
Two words meaning the same thing. Hope and wish. Hope and wish. But here's the thing. A hope is only as good as the person that. That's giving it.
And this is backed up and guaranteed by the Father who's speaking through Isaiah and saying, oh, this is. This is more than a hope. This is a promise.
Going to send you a redeemer. I'm going to send you a savior. I'm going to send you a child. I'm going to give you my own son.
Here's the three things that I think are so important for us to get into our spirit this year and to really. To focus in on as we finish out this season.
The first of three is number one. This. Our hope in the dark.
Our hope in the dark.
All of us have walked through dark seasons of life. Yours might be completely different than the person next to you. And sometimes people look at your dark seasons like, oh, that's not as dark as mine. Like, it's not a competition.
We've all had bad times. Come on. We've all had bad days. It would be easy for us to come in on a Sunday morning and say, oh, you know, everything is perfect in my life. And hallelujah, Praise God. I know all the words, know all the things to say, but inside we know that that's really not the truth. Things are.
Things are a struggle for others in this place. You'd say, this is. This is the greatest season I've ever had in my life. Everybody's good. Like, don't breathe. Don't mess it up. Things are really good right now. We had a pretty good Thanksgiving. People took their medication, like, there was enough food.
People left. They went home. Come on, somebody.
Whatever season, you might find yourself and understand that it's difficult to read these scriptures unless you understand the season that they were prophesied into. And this was darkness.
So the brutal Assyrian empire is coming, and Galilee has fallen, and there's this great fear that Jerusalem would be next. And guess what? It was because the people didn't listen. They didn't want to turn their backs on their sin. They didn't want to repent. They didn't want to have a relationship with the Lord. They didn't want to go back to the ancient paths of fall, following after the Lord and serving after him. No, we want to do things our own way. And they had allowed their disobedience to walk them in to some dark days.
And so Isaiah is preaching and begging and prophesying, and he's using his entire family as an example of, this is what you need to do. This is a better way. This is not man's wisdom. This is God's wisdom. Because in the midst of all that darkness, these people are trying every single thing that man would tell him is a wise thing to do. Let's join together. Let's make a bigger military. Let's reinforce our cities. And Isaiah's like, you guys are fools. This is not about man's wisdom. This is God's wisdom. And it's different, but you won't listen. So you know what he's gonna do? He's gonna send his son to do what you could not do for yourselves.
In the middle of the darkest hours that a human being could ever walk through.
He says, the people walking in darkness, in a land of deep darkness. It's the exact same Hebrew words that David would use a few hundred years before when. When David says, yea, though I walk through the valley of the what? The shadow of death.
Those two Hebrew terms are synonyms, and they literally mean the deepest trauma and terror that a human being can feel.
As deep and as dark as it can possibly go. It said that's where we live. That's where we're walking.
These people are walking in a deep darkness, in deep trauma, deep terror.
No hope.
And then it gives one of the most incredible promises found in scripture. Into that deep darkness. It says, a light has dawned.
I love that. It doesn't say there was a. There was a candlelight flickering.
It says, it's a new day.
The sun has come up and I can see it. Isaiah is saying, I can see it. I can see it in the future. It might be dark now, but weeping endures for a night. Joy comes in the morning. And I'm telling you, the sun going to come up. And it's more than just the sun rising on this planet. It's the literal son of God coming down to this planet, bringing hope to the dark.
A new day has dawned. And he starts it. I love that word that he starts it all with. I think it's a word that every single soul needs to hear. They need to tell themselves this. He starts it with that word, nevertheless, in spite of that darkness, nevertheless, God's still going to send this son. It's a new day.
There's hope for those who have lost all hope.
It shows us a powerful statement in the midst of their dark circumstances. I want to put this on the screen for you to see it. That putting my hope in God doesn't mean I'm ignoring my circumstances. It means I know he loves to turn things around.
And when you put your hope in God, that's exactly what you're putting your hope in. He's a God that loves to turn things around. Come on, somebody. He loves to turn things around. And Isaiah begins to describe a rebound so ridiculous. He begins to describe something so dramatic that it sounds impossible.
Why? Because they're used to living in darkness.
He says, let me tell you what I see. Let me tell you what's going to happen. He says, God, you've enlarged the nation. You've increased their joy. You've shattered the yoke that burdens them all. The pressure that's on the people. You, you've destroyed all that. That sounds so ridiculous.
What he's describing are not small repairs.
He's describing massive overhaul.
The God that changes everything. God begins to rebuild. It says Isaiah says he's going to rebuild everything that the darkness destroyed.
God rebuilds it and does it the right way.
He says, every warrior's boot, every garment rolled in blood, it's going to be destined for the fire. Why? Because the warriors ain't going to need it anymore. The battle is over.
Once Jesus comes to the earth, once he. Once he dies and they put him in a tomb. Once he comes out of that tomb alive, the battle is over. He said on the cross, it is finished once and for all. All the work, all the battle.
So he says, take all the warrior's garments, all those shoes dipped in blood, Burn those things. Why? Because you don't need them. Why? Because he fought the battle you couldn't fight. He has beaten death and hell and the grave and sin and evil and darkness and addiction once and for all. All it is done. It is finished. It's nailed to the cross. This is our Christ. He says, you can burn those things because it's not about you. It's about what he has done.
Oh, Isaiah has given a powerful, powerful prophecy, a powerful promise of the power of what Jesus is going to do.
It shows us very clearly that Jesus wins battles that we never could by sacrificing himself.
Why? To give us hope.
To give us hope in the darkest days of our life.
What are your dark days? What do they look like? What are the dark seasons? Some of those are in the distant past. Some of those are closer than you'd like to admit.
You've had dark days. I've had dark days.
Here's the good news is we still have hope.
I love what Paul talks about when he's speaking of the death and the shadow of death. He says we don't grieve like people who don't have hope. There's something different about us when we walk through darkest valleys. Why? Because. Because we have hope.
Jesus is our hope in the dark. I want to remind you, if you're walking through a tough season, a dark season of your life, if you're walking through terror and trauma, there is hope.
But it's not just hoping that things are going to get better. No, no, no. It's not hoping that somebody's going to change. No, no, no. It's. It's Jesus. Our hope has a name.
Our hope has a name.
Here's the second key that we see from this powerful chapter is just that, number two. Our hope has a name.
It's interesting that Isaiah begins to name these names that he's going to use to describe Jesus. He's saying unto us a child is born. And then he calls him a king. So it's incredibly profound that he's saying this is a baby, but at the same time, this is a king. This is one who is fully God and fully man. It's fully a child, but at the Same time, fully king.
It's a crazy paradox that he gives. And the order that he gives these names in is like a royal birth announcement. You know, it's difficult for us to understand because we don't live in a monarchy. Thank you, God. 1776. Woo hoo.
This is America, baby. But we don't have those royal titles like other nations would have. I'm the Earl of Sandwich or whatever.
We don't have all that.
But I have noticed something that, that the Mexican culture does not do. But white people do this all the time.
You, you name your, you name your children one, one name, and then you never call them by that name.
And you, which is weird.
Like, this is, you would not say, this is my daughter Samantha. Like, oh, this is Miss Stinky Butt. Like, that's not a name. Like, but. And then, and then you guys do something. I say, you guys, white people, you all give your, you all give your dogs white people names.
For the Mexican culture. Like, oh, this is blackie. Like, but for white people, this is Clarence.
I had somebody leave and says, I'm going home to my two dogs. I was like, what are their names? He said, clarence and Benson. I'm like, and here's the thing. You have white people names, but you never call them those white people names.
You have nicknames.
And then I realized, like, so I'm married into the white culture. I realized, like, okay, my son's name is Timothy Wade Ingram Jr. I've never called him Timothy Wade Ingram unless he was in trouble.
But that's tj. I don't really even call him tj. I call him Bubba. Like white people.
I didn't grow up in that culture, but I got here as fast as I could and now my credit report looks much better.
And I'm, and I'm thankful.
But you have, you know, Bubba. Then it changes to Bubby and then to Bubs. And people like, your son is Bobby. Like, no, no, but I understand it. So when Isaiah begins to give these, these names around Christ, he's using these to describe parts of his character and his nature.
And he gives us four incredible names that sometimes don't translate very well into what we read as our English descriptors today.
The first thing that he gives Christ is he's. He's going to be called Wonderful Counselor.
Wonderful Counselor. That's difficult for us sometimes to process because for us a counselor would be someone that you, that you like a therapist. Someone that, like an advisor, which Jesus is. You can go to him, he can help you, help you solve your issues. He is a therapist of kinds. He's an advisor. I get. But that's not the term that he's using here. Not the same way that we would translate it. Because wonderful counselor in the Hebrew means he has supernatural strategy.
This is a. This is a military term that he would use to describe someone that knows exactly what they're doing in the battle. They said, oh, he's a wonderful strategist beyond all human ability. He is a miracle working strategist. And so it helps us to understand that. So here's something important for us to know is that Jesus never improvises.
He's not flying by the seat of his pants. When it comes to your life, oh God, I don't know what you're gonna do. I don't know either.
That's not our God. He's not up in heaven saying, I wonder what's gonna happen next. What do you think I should do? Oh, my me. He doesn't do that.
He knows the end from the beginning. He has a strategy. He has a purpose. He has a plan. Look at me. He has a plan for your life.
And it's better than what you can strategize on your best day. He knows. He understands the writer named John writing the gospels. When he's sitting down and writing about Jesus, he writes about the miracles that he understood differently later on in life. You see, at the time, he thought Jesus needed his help and needed his advice. Later on, he's like, that was dumb. He did not need my help. As a matter of fact, he says this in, in John 6. Jesus already had in mind what he was going to do.
It took him a couple of decades to figure that out.
Here's the thing. Jesus doesn't need your help.
He wants your cooperation.
Cause he already has in mind what he's gonna do with your life. He has a plan for you.
He has a purpose for you.
And he is a wonderful counselor. Our God is an expert at strategy.
We've seen this before, by the way. Not just in my own life. I could tell you stories about how God just completely told me, like, you're going left, everybody else is going right. You this way, you go that way. You do this. And there's times where I'm like, absolutely. And other times I'm like, absolutely not. I want to do what I want to do. I'm human.
But I know this. God's also done this for us as a church.
He's shown us exactly what to do at the right time.
You'd Be shocked at the things that we sit back as elders and say we look really smart.
All we know how to do is how to listen and obey.
Once again, God doesn't need my help.
He wants my cooperation. He wants me to listen and recognize the simple fact that he is a wonderful counselor. When you don't know what to do, he knows what to do. And if you'll listen, he'll show you. Here's what we know is that life's storms are unpredictable. But Jesus's wisdom brings expert navigation.
Expert navigation. He moves on to the second word. He calls them the mighty God. This word better translate, better translates into English the. The mighty guy. It really translates, the hero God, the one who fights and wars on behalf of his people. And some of us need to remind ourselves our God is a mighty God.
He still does incredible things. Sometimes we try to put him in a box and say, God, if you can do anything, if. I don't know if it. If you feel like it, if you might want to just move like. No, no. He's a mighty God. He does incredible things.
And Isaiah begins to describe the things that God is going to do. And people wouldn't believe it. Let me tell you, I understand this because there's parts of my life where, if you would have told me that I would end up here, I would not have believed you. I'm as shocked as anybody else. I get a chance to preach for a living, I would not have listened to me. I know, me.
But for a mighty God who loves to turn things around, a God who fights on behalf of his people, a God who wars for you, here's what we know, is that that unshakable hope comes from trusting a mighty God who fights for me.
He fights for me.
Let me just give you a nickel's worth of free advice the moment that you pick up your weapons.
Because our battle is not against flesh and blood. Your battle is not against your husband. Your battle is not against your wife. Your battle is not against your boss.
You're against spiritual forces and principalities. This is a spiritual battle. And the moment that you pick up your weapons is the moment God begins to lay his down.
He wants to fight for you. He wants your cooperation. He doesn't need your help.
Your job is to listen and to obey and say, lord, what would you have me to do? But I'm not here to fight this battle. I'm not the one in charge. You're in charge.
Help me.
I recognize that you're a wonderful counselor, and you are a mighty God, the third name that Isaiah begins to give us here is the everlasting Father. Now this one is more confusing I think sometimes for us, especially for believers, because you hear Jesus described as the Father. So it's not, it's not Isaiah saying that the Son is the Father because then you get into a whole trinity kind of mixed up and theological cluster. But here he's saying, no, no, no, I'm not calling the Son the Father. I'm saying that the Son is a father and he's the everlasting Father. And the father term that he's referring to here is what they would call a king as the benevolent protector of the people. And he's saying he's an everlasting, benevolent protector of his people.
He's the one that sits on the throne and he understands the heart of the people. He wants to protect them and take good care of them. And his rule is not going to have any end. When you think about the term father, some of us have a fantastic version of, of your earthly father. Some of you would say, I had no idea who my father was. And some of us would even say, my father was a horrible, evil human being.
No matter what version you may have, when that term comes up, know that Jesus is better. He is the perfect Father and he's the everlasting Father.
So Isaiah is saying, look, he's the benevolent protector of his people. He's going to sit on the throne of David and his kingdom is going to be something different. It's not going to have an end.
Isaiah prophesied to four different kings. He understood that kings rise and kings fall and kings die and kings get overthrown. Kings, kings get taken over, kings get assassinated. He said, not this one, not this one.
He's an everlasting father. So our hope is grounded in a king who will never abandon his people, never be replaced, and never change in character. We can trust him forever.
We can trust him.
He's a good father.
The last word that he gives to describe who Jesus is, once again, 700 years before Jesus walks on, on this planet, he says he's the prince of peace.
The prince of peace.
You know, in our world that that word peace does not translate very well to the Hebrew shalom. It's, it's, it's a completely different thing. It's, it's, it's similar in nature, but it's not the same. Because to us, peace comes when we have calm emotions.
Peace comes when we have control.
Peace is the absence of conflict.
But the Hebrew shalom is Much deeper and much, much better than that word. When we look at the Hebrew word for. For peace, it's not a piece that depends upon circumstances or control.
The Hebrew word shalom better translates as. As wholeness, as reconciliation. It's a word that people would use to greet each other. Shalom. Shalom. That means that we're back together again. We're reconciled again. I can see you and you can see me. There's nothing in between us. A deeper translation would say, everything is just as God intended it to be.
That's shalom. That's peace.
There's a wholeness. There's reconciliation. There's togetherness. There's justice hidden within that word. It's more than just, hey, I'm in control. Everybody be quiet.
That's not biblical peace.
And then it says, jesus is the prince of peace.
That word prince means he's the ruler of it or the administrator of it.
And it gives us a much deeper definition of the describing prince of peace. It shows us that Jesus doesn't just enjoy peace or even offer peace. He does. Does Jesus offer peace? Yes. Does he enjoy peace? Yes. But it's deeper than that. It says, he establishes it.
He enforces it.
He leads with peace.
This is how we can walk through some of the darkest seasons of our life and have what the Bible describes as the peace that passes all understanding.
Because when Jesus is in the middle of the room, when he's here, there's an overwhelming peace that comes.
No matter what you're facing. I want to just encourage you, if you haven't experienced that peace, you need that peace. I need that peace.
Jesus is the prince of peace. It shows us through the understanding of this term that peace isn't just what Jesus gives, it's what he rules with.
He rules with peace.
He's the prince of peace.
He describes a peace that's different than peace that depends on us being in control or peace about our emotions. He says there's now peace between who? Between you and God.
Jesus is that peace between you and others.
The battles that we fight with people, said Jesus, brings peace to that.
And also maybe the biggest battle that you fight is the. The battle for peace within your own self. That Jesus himself is the prince of peace. He establishes it. He rules with it. He brings peace on the inside of your peace in the relationships that are suffering so much and peace between you and your Father.
Jesus is the prince of peace.
He shows us that my peace is found in Christ alone. And he is everything that my soul has ever needed.
Are you Thankful for the Prince of peace.
Here's the final thing I'll share with you. We talked about. He's our hope in the dark. And our hope has a name. Here's number three. Our hope is guaranteed once again. When God gives us this guarantee of hope, it's only as good as the person saying it.
I don't know about you, but if you've ever had to go through a season, like when I grew up, when you had to clip coupons, anybody remember that? You go to redeem a coupon and like, oh, this one is invalid. Or this, you know, this business went out of business and it's like, oh, that it's completely worthless. And we, we have things that say, oh, this is guaranteed. And like, it's only as good as the person that's giving the guarantee.
But this is God himself guaranteeing us that. This is not a wish.
I wish that Jesus would bring peace in my relationship. I wish that Jesus would bring peace with inside of me. No, no, no, no. This, this is more than that. This is. This is a promise that he is everything that you need.
But once again, it's your choice.
It's up to you. Because many of us are really stubborn and we really like the pain that our own decisions cause. Come on, somebody.
We get used to it. But he's our peace.
He came to bring peace between you and God, peace between you and others, peace on the inside of you.
And our hope is guaranteed.
I love how Isaiah ends this part of the scripture with one of the most reassuring promises in all of Scripture.
It says this in verse nine. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Why is that so reassuring? Because it has nothing to do with you.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty is going to accomplish all of these things.
Has nothing to do with me.
It's a free gift for me, but it's not dependent upon my strength.
It's not dependent upon my goodness.
It's not dependent on my best days. It's not dependent on my righteousness.
He is my righteousness. He is my strength.
It's about him says, the zeal of the Lord Almighty is going to accomplish this has nothing to do with my faithfulness, nothing to do with my consistency. He is God whether I'm faithful or not.
He's God on my inconsistent days, and he's God on my consistent days. He's still God.
And it says, he has a zeal to do this. We don't use that word a lot anymore, do we? We didn't say, oh, it's a very zealous person. You'd think he's just trying to mispronounce the word jealous. No, no. The. The zeal of the Lord is. Is.
Is a fascinating word because Isaiah describes it as. As a burning passion inside the heart of God to bring you hope, to bring you what you could not get for yourself, to do what you couldn't do on your best day.
It says, it's the zeal of God Almighty. It's a burning passion inside of his heart. It's a. It's a jealous protection that he has for his people. It's a unstoppable determination that God has to send His Son to do for you what you couldn't have done for yourself.
It shows us that the story of Jesus is not about human effort. It's about a divine initiative.
It's his heart to do this.
It's not because you're so good, you're so perfect. We're not.
But he is good enough for me.
He's perfect so that I wouldn't have to be.
We're human. We make mistakes. We mess up, we lose it. And in spite of all of Israel's dishonesty, in spite of all of their sin and their idol worship, God says, they're still my people, and I'm going to do for them what they can't do for themselves. They can't find a way out of the darkness. So I'm going to send them the light of My Son.
No. The story of Jesus is not about humans and their best efforts. It's about a divine initiative.
It helps us to see that God has a heart and there are things that matter deeply to Him.
The thing that matters most to him is you.
He recognizes that on your best day, you couldn't do it.
Here's the thing that I've been studying about, is that when it says in John 3:16, for God so loved the world, it doesn't say that he gave a donation, that he gave his son.
It mattered to him, mattered deeply.
Why? Because his people had no hope.
And someday I think we can wake up and realize the passion that God has for us.
He wants us to know Him.
So Isaiah is describing him the best way he can. He said, oh, he's a wonderful counselor. He's a mighty God. He's the everlasting Father. He's the Prince of Peace. He's everything that your soul needs.
In chapter seven, he said, oh, he's Emmanuel. He is God with us.
How could God love us? How could he want to Come here with us. We're broken. We're messed up, he said. That's exactly why.
Because you need me to. It helps us to understand the zeal of the Lord Almighty that Isaiah said would accomplish all this. And we know that it did.
And here's the good news. Not only did Isaiah's prophecy come to pass just as he was telling us it would, but Jesus is coming again.
He's coming back.
He's coming back for you, and he's coming back for me.
I don't believe our time is thousands of years from now.
No, I don't see that.
So lift up your head.
Our hope is coming. Our hope has a name.
His name is Jesus.
I want to finish up right there. Won't you go ahead and close your Bibles and put away your phones for the next few minutes.
I want to ask you if you wouldn't mind. Just bow your head and close your eyes if you're watching online. Thank you so much for watching this. This is a such an honor for you to stay with us all the way to the end. If you like what you heard today, don't be afraid to click the share button. It makes a big difference when you do that.
But now, with heads bowed and eyes closed, I want to ask you, how's your relationship with Jesus?
Would you say it's closer than you've ever been?
Or perhaps today, if I've done my job correctly, there's a new fire for you to know him more, for you to get closer to him, for you to recognize his heart. For you.
There's a God that loves you in spite of what you've done, what you said, what you've looked at, where you've gone, in spite of your mistakes. He has a passion for you.
He has a future for you. He has a hope for you.
And your hope has a name.
It's Jesus.
He truly is everything that your soul has ever needed.
He longs for you, for a deeper relationship with you with heads bowed and eyes closed. Perhaps you're here today. Perhaps you're even watching online. And you would say, pastor, you're talking to me because I don't have a relationship with Jesus.
I'm so far from God right now, I don't know Him.
My friend, God led you here today for this moment. It's time for you, for others. Man, you were probably raised in church and you've gone and done all the things, but you would say, if you're being honest, you're so far from God right now, you've been Running from him. My friend, if you could see it right now, God himself is reaching down his hand. He's saying, come home.
Come home to me.
So maybe you would say, pastor, I don't know how to do that. What does that mean, my friend? It starts with a prayer, and I would love to. I would be so honored if you would allow me to help you the same way that somebody helped me one time. I would love to lead you in a prayer.
A prayer where you repent of your sins and ask Jesus to take over your life. It all starts right there. So if you want a relationship with Jesus, if you've been far from God and need to come home, I'm gonna ask you to pray this prayer with me. I'm gonna tell you the words to say. I want you to pray this prayer out loud with me. As a matter of fact, all of us in this church service are gonna pray it out loud together so you don't feel embarrassed in any way. My heart is not to single you out or to make fun of you. I would never do that. But you need to do this.
So with heads bowed and eyes closed, pray this prayer with me. All over this place, just say, jesus. Come on, say it like you mean it. Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God.
I believe that you came and died, and I believe that you rose from the grave so that I could have life and forgiveness for my sins.
I ask you to forgive me.
I've messed up.
Please forgive me, and I'll give you the rest of my life.
In Jesus name, with heads bowed and eyes closed, with no one else looking around. If that was you and you just prayed that prayer, would you do me a huge favor? With no one else looking around, would you just slip up your hand and say, hey, Pastor, that was me. I prayed that prayer, and I meant that prayer. Good. I see you. Good. Good for you. Yes, ma'. Am. Good for you.
Yes, sir. I see you, young man. Yes, sir, I see you. You put your hands down.
You might even be watching online as well. If you. If you prayed that prayer, if you meant that prayer, I want you to know that behind me, on a screen, or maybe the screen that you're watching from is a phone number. It's going to appear. I want to invite you to text me, text the words I prayed to that number. I'm gonna send you back some things that I've prepared just for you. It's my free gift to you to help you and your walk with Jesus. It's the greatest honor of my life to help people know Jesus.
So please let me help you. Text the words I pray to that number and I'll take care of the rest. And for everybody else, go ahead and look up at me if you would. Let's stand to our feet together as we finish up our service today. I want to invite our elders and their wives here and they're going to be available to pray with you about anything that you might need prayer for. We recognize that some of us come in here and it's a struggle even to make it to church. Please let us pray for you. We believe that God has strength for you. For others, I want to say thank you so much for praying for my Dallas Cowboys. It is working. Please fast and pray.
That was a great thing to be able to go to Cowboys game this past week and they actually won. Like, thank you Lord. You've been good to me. So I'm not saying it's all because of me, but that's exactly what I'm saying.
Let me pray for you and let me bless you and send you out. Father, I thank you for my friends. I pray you'd bless them with an incredible week honoring you, walking in your favor, hearing your voice, being obedient to you. Would you bless them everywhere that they go? We ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus and all of us said together, Amen. God bless you as you go. I hope you have an awesome week.
[00:42:18] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening.
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