Darkness has a shrill of coldness about it. Depression is a darkness of the soul. The glimmer of hope has dissipated. And you, like me, no doubt in many circumstances have given up hope during times in our lives. What have we given up hope in? We have given up hope in people, in circumstances and perhaps even in the world. The cynical Christian is perhaps the most dangerous Christian. They choose to decimate the hope of others.
What God did 2000 years ago in a tiny Middle Eastern nation was absolutely astonishing. The angel said it was good news of great joy. We see the angel using a double expression to describe the wonderful scene. Although we might draw back from the black background, God uses it to serve as a contrast in which His light is more easily seen and appreciated. Back in Galilee, Jerusalem and Bethlehem, we see Roman occupation. When foreign governments occupy a country, resentment builds up. They have pagan soldiers even staged right next to God's holy temple. Isaiah 9:4-5 gives us a taste of its bleakness. Listen to the words: yoke, burden, rod, oppressor.
God announces a great change but how will He do it? After all, it is no easy thing to conceive of overthrowing the massive Roman Empire off the back of the weakling occupied state of Israel. Israel didn't even have its own king not to mention an army. The few revolts that came about were easily squashed. Hopelessness does not believe it can escape its own bleak situation. Fortunately, God has a way. Like the chaos surrounding the earth before Creation, God spoke and an orderly mass was created fully stocked with animals. God spoke and Moses was able to drive the Israelites from Egypt. But could God do it again? Would He? He sure did. God's only begotten Son, Jesus Christ would bring deliverance to us. This is what the name ‘Jesus' means, "Deliverer" or "Savior." The rest of this message will be to explain the glory of this new government. In the New Testament the phrase ‘the kingdom of God' or the ‘kingdom of heaven' is commonly used. We should humble ourselves as we sit back and see the glory of God's kingdom eclipse the whole earth.
Our hope is around the child that would reign forever over a kingdom that would bring people out of darkness into light. This is the glorious kingdom of God now in our midst and yet is growing more and more apparent around the world. As verse 9:7 says,
Nothing will stop this. We can stand on the observer deck of earth and see God's mighty redemptive plan be fulfilled. There are four phrases that we will meditate on. Each name combines two descriptive nouns. They serve as foundations for a wonderful reign. His Names reflect never-changing policies that are built on His person rather than mere passing preference. Let us summarize them and then discuss each in more detail. Each summary has both the advantage of trusting Him and the result if I do not. Without trusting His wisdom, I am either prideful over my own success or depressed over my failures, but by relying on the Wonderful Counselor I can trust Him with every detail of my life and in what goes around me. Mighty God: Without trusting His power, evil and hard circumstances rob me of my joy and hope but by relying on the Mighty God I can trust Him for the miraculous for both the most desperate times of life as well as the most challenging ones. Eternal Father: Without assurance of His care, I look to other people and things to satisfy my deepest heart needs but never are, but by relying on the Eternal Father I can trust Him to always lovingly care and watch over my needs. Prince of Peace: Without His peace, I am competitive, selfishly ambitious and covetous; I simply am not able to prioritize good relationships with others whether it be my spouse, child, colleague, neighbor or friend but by relying on the Prince of Peace I can trust Him to bring healing to all the relationships I have with God and others. Without these trusts in our great Lord, we will not love our neighbor as ourselves. We will be too busy trying to satisfy our own needs. Let us now turn to think of our Glorious Lord by describing each of these names of Christ. Each Name is a faith enabler. It serves as a key to a special part of our hearts. It gives us faith to live a good and powerful Christian life. Without one of these keys, we are by doubt locked into trusting our own resources. (1)Wonderful CounselorWithout trusting His wisdom, I am either prideful over my own success or depressed over my failures, but by relying on the Wonderful Counselor I can trust Him with every detail of my life and in what goes around me. Counseling rooms are being filled as never before. More narcotics are legally being passed than would ever had expected. But there is no healing. Counselors do not promise a cure. Guidance counselors are not sure. We would expect the world to be this way but in many ways it describes the church. Pastors have given up hope. No one knows what to say to people anymore. Listen to how much God wants to instill this trust in our wonderful counselor.
Although there seems to be many books on finding God's will, it seems there is a crisis of trusting God with their lives. Instead we have picked up the magic wand and gone for the self-help books. The health-care crisis this and the other modern nations face stems from this problem of not seeking and following the advice of the Wonderful Counselor. The good news is that Christ's kingdom is here now. I can trust Him. We all can trust this infinitely wise God. He does marvelous things for those who trust in Him. Peter and Paul quotes from the Old Testament.
Unless we trust His counsel, we will not wait on Him and find the wonderful answers to prayer. One person I know had two cars. One was smashed up and couldn't get repaired. His job requires him to run around to and fro. His wife and 4 children find it very difficult to get by with one car. But they had promised the Lord money for missions beyond their tithe. They decided to trust God with one car rather than use the money they had. Early one Sunday morning a couple from their church, who had heard about this need, delivered their car, a Honda, to them as a gift. In order to wait upon the Lord, we need to trust Him. In this case, the couple that received was blessed; the couple that gave stored up riches in heaven, and the church was encouraged at brave giving! Jesus Christ is the Wonderful Counselor; He is the infinite wisdom of the Lord. It is His special purpose and means by which He accomplishes His perfect and most wise will. Christ incorporated wisdom into every aspect of His creation so to form His wonderful plan. Is there something you right now are not trusting Him with in your life? Perhaps it is some sickness, closeness of death, some odd circumstance or person who has entered your life. Go to the Wonderful Counselor. It's free! The counsel can't be beat. Just remember to obey Him even if it seems a bit silly or strange. (2) Mighty GodWithout trusting His power, evil and hard circumstances rob me of my joy and hope but by relying on the Mighty God I can trust Him for the miraculous for both the most desperate times of life as well as the most challenging ones. You and I go through difficult times. It is part of life. God plants these times in our lives. Job and a host of other examples are given to us in the scriptures and so are the many promises to encourage us to trust the Mighty God in these times. We should note here that this Name describes the Messiah, the Christ. This name is clear evidence of Christ's deity. Confusion over Christ's deity often stems from a misunderstanding over the life of Christ. We must remember that Jesus purposely limited His Godhead powers to live on earth. He depended upon His Father to do those miracles. He did nothing on His own. He purposely trusted His communion with His Father to get by just as we are to do. See Philippians 2. Jesus was fully God and fully man. What does this teach us. Our Lord is the specialist in impossible situations. What do you do when you hit a crisis? You have a bill without money or a situation that cannot be solved. Do you pray? You should. Our church just had a crisis like this. We rent our building out. Most of our congregation are overseas students from China. They don't have much money. We have rented their premises for many years. All of a sudden we hear that in three months our rent is going to be raised to the minimum of five times up to ten times the rent. Where could we a congregation of over 200 hundred find a new home so quick that we could afford in the Oakland area? We decided to trust the Lord. After our annual Thanksgiving service where we share testimonies of God's faithfulness through the year, we had a late night prayer meeting from 9:30 to 12:30. We praise God for we just heard they greatly softened their stance and reduced that minimum pricing. We are hopeful because God can and often desires to do the miraculous. Let's return to the God who parts the Sea, who causes men to be swallowed alive by great fish and can raise the dead. Christ in His power lives today! Is there a circumstance in your life that needs a miracle? Bring it to the Lord. (3) Eternal FatherWithout assurance of His care, I look to other people and things to satisfy my deepest heart needs but never are, but by relying on the Eternal Father I can trust Him to always lovingly care and watch over my needs. The Lord is Eternal Father! We are not content to only own great counsel. Man also needs the warmth of God's love. This love and security of God is the cornerstone of our lives. Modern psychology seems to think they have fully identified the basic need of man in his need for self-esteem. Along this same line we hear many Christians are saying that we need to love ourselves more so that we can love others. This is not Christ's command. As long as man lives the secular life excluding God from his life, his solutions will always focus on what he sees. We are not saying that love from ones parents is not important. They are crucial for a healthy start in life. Many of our insecurities and diseases have come from not being properly cared for while young. But our solutions are not found there. Our lives need to center around our Eternal Father. God's sacrifice of His one Son enabled many to be His sons. Listen to the simple words of John issuing forth some of the most wonderful words we could here. These words form our very adoption papers. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Some think God is our natural Father because man is made in the image of God. No, no Jesus said. Jesus said our natural father is the devil. He simply told them it is easy to identify the father by what the child does. It is the principle of imitation. God was gracious; we are to be forgiving. God is faithful; we need to be faithful. God is truthful; we need to be truthful. If you find a contradiction, you need to start wondering about your life or your relationship. Something is wrong. It is funny when a little Chinese child hears me speaking Chinese, he will turn to his parents and ask whether I am Chinese. It is obvious that I am not but I am doing something that he knows only Chinese people do. The Lord does not want us to question our salvation unless what we say and do is not like our Heavenly Father. As scripture says, the covetous, lustful, arrogant, boastful, immoral man will not inherit the kingdom of God. We can get a head start in knowing this secure relationship with our Father by a good earthly father but even still that cannot substitute what we need the most: a security that comes from the eternal One by being adopted into His family. Once a child of God, forever a child of God. Once in the favor of the Father, always in the favor and protection of the Father. It never stops. He will discipline us if needed, but that itself as Hebrews 12 tells us is an expression of His love. We are hopeful because Christ as a Father faithful watches over all of our needs, emotional and otherwise. It is delusion to think that emotional security comes from trying to meet our own needs. Our security and general sense of welfare comes from trusting the Eternal Father. – Matthew 6:33.
(4) Prince of PeaceWithout His peace, I am competitive, selfishly ambitious and covetous; I simply am not able to prioritize good relationships with others whether it be my spouse, child, colleague, neighbor or friend but by relying on the Prince of Peace I can trust Him to bring healing to all the relationships I have with God and others. What does "Prince of Peace" mean to you? Christ is the greatest peacemaker there is. Does that mean He has no enemies? No. Clearly not. He has, however, taken brave and sacrificial steps to create peace. The world uses money to pretend peace. "I'll give you so many dollars to be a friend." We know that kind of friend is not a real friend. They are bribed. People can't stand those people or nations that they allow to manipulate them because of their lusts for money. Christ is the great reconciler. He has brought man to God. Through the powerful work on the cross, Christ made peace. If we would only follow our Lord's way, God would do great things in our midst. I am not saying that every relationship will become sweet, but when you do everything you can because of your love for another, you change. People change. They are so attracted to the love of God that they change. Where are the greatest needs of making peace? Usually in the families. The closer you are to someone the greater the need for peace. Sometimes as parents we have created our own family storm center. How is your relationship with your children? We might need to be the peacemaker if there is a problem. Ask your child whether there is anything that you have done that needs to be forgiven. A promise broken? An act without love? Over critical? Don't defend your bad moment in life. Humble your heart and confess your sin to the Lord and your child. Ask them to forgive you. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God" (Matthew 5:9). Clearly we see the Lord working mighty things in our lives where we tear down the walls and build bridges. The person on the other side will be suspicious. Is this an attack bridge? Just quietly and humbly pray and confess. Good relationships are everything about peace and love. The Lord is not just concerned with peace between God and man but also man and man. We are hopeful for peace because God has a way of bringing peace even when facing difficult people. SummaryThese four names summarize the key principles of God's kingdom. It sets on four beautiful crystals: wisdom, power, love and peace. Combined together we find an irresistible reign. We long to be part of it. We see it partly in David and Solomon's kingdoms but that is nothing in comparison to the eternal and most glorious reign of Jesus Christ. Don't be like King Ahaz. God told him to ask for a sign to show His great power to save. King Ahaz in doubt didn't ask for one. And then God spoke out His own impossible sign. Do you know what it is? Look in Isaiah 7:14 just before this passage we are speaking on today.
Do you live under the reigning influence of our great savior or are you dominated by the world's words and ways? As we approach this Christmas time, let us step back and remember the Christ who was born is now the ruler of all. As we live in response to His kingdom and ways, His counsel, might, love and peace become our way of life. Jesus has the cure for anxiety, despair, injustice and confusion. Turn to Him. Let His light shine through you in this season and into the beyond of the future. Would you pray with me this moment? Think of a situation where you have given up hope. As you quietly tell the problem to the Lord, let us raise these needs to the Lord in faith. He will hear us. We only have to pay attention to the circumstances in life. I was praying with a pastor a couple of weeks ago. He had a leader wanting to do something that would most likely cause offense. He wanted to improve the effectiveness of the ministry but it seemed rather insensitive to the others. This pastor prayed. We prayed together. Would you believe it that the very next day he got an email stating that God had caused the one that might be offended to make the decision on their own! This is God's way. The pastor respected this brother's desire for better ministry. God solved it His majestic way. Isn't it nice we have the Wonderful Counselor with us to accomplish the great works of God? You can meet him right in your living room on a cold snowy day. He is there. "Come to Me all you are heavy-laden" Christ declares. Let's look at the second name.
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Darkness by definition is the absence of light. No warmth or security. No direction or pattern. The Lord has said that there would one day be a people who walk in darkness. But something would happen to them that would revolutionize the world. They would see a great light. This light would not be something that they just saw from afar. That same light would shine upon them and great changes would happen to their lives that would bring exceeding joy. This is what we remember in Luke.
Now let us turn to Isaiah 9:6.