Monday, December 28, 2020

Colossians: It’s All About Christ 3: Christ, My Life - Col 3

 Colossians: It’s All About Christ 3: Christ, My Life - Col 3

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Introduction:

Paul now begins the practical section of his letter to the Colossians.   He begins with a summary of what the first two chapters we have studied.  

Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

In this opening to the how to live section of Paul’s epistle, he reminds the Colossians that Christ is their life and because Christ is their life, this is the life they should live.

To the pagans of Paul’s time the way you lived and the things you believed had no real relationship. You could make your offerings to an idol, leave the temple and no one expected you to live or act any differently. Certainly, morality, honesty or loyalty had nothing to do with your belief in the gods because the god of the Greeks and Romans had none of these qualities and did not require them of their believers.

But for the believer in Christ it was different. The followers of God were to be holy for God was holy. Their lives must be different, after they came to Christ because Christ was their life.

In this opening of the third Chapter Paul reminds them how much this is true. He says, We are raised in Christ in vs. 1a, we are hidden in Christ in vs. 3 and we are glorified in Christ in vs. 4.

Warren Wiesbe says, “Christ is our life. Eternal life is not some heavenly substance that God imparts when we, as sinners, trust the Saviour. Eternal life is Jesus Christ Himself. "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" - Bible Exposition Commentary - Be Complete (Colossians).

The old man we were and the old life we had are gone and now Christ is our life. Verse 4 read, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” In the Greek there is no italicized words in vs. 4 it simply says, “Christ our life!”  Now because we are no longer who we once were, now because we are raised with Christ, now because our life is hid with Christ, now because Christ is our life, then live our lives in the power of these truths. “Seek those things which are above, where Christ sits.”

 Put Down – Colossians 3:5-7

5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6  For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: 7  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

Spiritual Slaying

First Paul says the believe must do some spiritual slaying. He must deal harshly with the most harmful, to our new lives, sins. These must be be put down, put to death or as the KJV says, “mortified.”

 The word mortify is from nekrow, (nek-ro’-o ) and it means to make dead, to put to death, slay, to deprive of power, destroy the strength of.

Paul tells the Colossians and us to kill…

fornication: sexual sin
uncleanness: sinful lifestyle
inordinate affection: lust
covetousness, which is idolatry: sinful desire

These are all sensual sins. Sins that can be hidden but like a sickness deep inside us, they will poison us on the inside, until they erupt outside. These sins are killing your Christians life, so you must act to kill them.

Paul reminds us that God’s wrath comes upon the children of disobedience because of these things. They shouldn’t be in your because you are no longer those children of disobedience.

He says, you know this because you used to be just like them. These sins used to be your life, but now your life is Christ and you should no longer live under the power of sin, but in the power of Christ.

Conscientious Christian Culling

Christianity is a very positive lifestyle. I should be filled with an attitude of glory, praise and joy, but never accept the idea, that many are now preaching, that there is no negative aspects of living the Christian life. Paul just told you to get to killing some things. We don’t like to think about it, we don’t like to talk about it but nevertheless we have to deal with it. These sensual sins, hidden, deep in the dark corners of my heart sins, have no place in the Child of God’s life. I must slay them, put them down, mortify them, kill them, dig a hole, bury them and finally don’t stand there mourning them, walk away from the grave.

The child of God has died to sin and is now alive to Christ. I am no longer one of the children of disobedience, no longer under the wrath of God and those sins, faults, and failures which used to be my life and dominate me, need to be gone. I can’t set my mind on things above when its being polluted by hidden sin.

Paul writes more extensively later to the Romans about this same theme of overcoming sin in our lives.

Romans 6: 4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7  For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

You’ve got to believe in your new life in Christ and the power you now have in that new life to overcome these sins. Put them down, without mercy. They are trying to kill you, kill them now.

You do this in the same way you came to salvation, by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ who took on sin and death and won. You must believe that the person you were, who was once dominated by sin, has been crucified with Christ, buried with Christ and risen a new man with Christ.

And now that new man is not dominated or controlled by his old sin, it is buried in the ground with the old man.

Our problem is one of faith, too many times we simply don’t act in the power of this truth.  We are like the "Peanuts" comic strip, where Lucy asks Linus, "Do you think people ever really change?" "Sure," replies Linus, "I feel I’ve changed a lot this past year." Lucy says, "I meant for the better."

No, instead we should be more in tune with the word of Johan Arndt. Everything that is born of God is no shadowy work. God will not bring forth a dead fruit, a lifeless and powerless work, but a living, new man must be born from the living God. - Johann Arndt (1555-1621)

Illustration: Apaches living in old wickiups even though they had brand new houses.

I grew up near the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona.  We often drove through the reservation on our way to somewhere else.  We would see the Apaches shopping, driving and living.  My Dad would point out the houses that the Apaches lived in. There were mostly, if not all, government built block houses, actually nicer than the houses I lived in as a boy. Then he would also point out a little hut made of branches, sticks and mud that would be in the back of almost every new government house.  It was called a wickiup.  It was the traditional home the Apaches used to live in.  Even though they had been given a brand-new home with running water, indoor bathrooms and electricity some of the old ones stilled preferred to live in the huts.

We can be just like that. God has given us a brand-new life, empowered by the Holy Spirit and we have Jesus Christ as our life, yet we still prefer the old hut our in the world. 

Transition: Next Paul moves on to those things that must be put off.

Put Off – Colossians 3:8-11

8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9  Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11  Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

Spiritual Stripping

The picture Paul gives us here is of a person changing clothes and discarding the old ones as rags not worthy of wearing of one whose life is Christ. First, we are do spiritual slaying and now we are do some spiritual stripping. Living the Christian life, the life of a child of God, requires a constant putting off of wrong actions and attitudes that will always crop up in our lives, due to our carnal, physical nature. Paul says, “Put them off..” strip these away from our lives …

Anger: This is the stronger, deeper word for the emotion, most times in the Bible it is translated wrath. God’s wrath is justified by His nature but in the child of God, wrath has no place. It has be replaced by the willingness to forgive.

Wrath: This is the Greek word thumos, Paul is using it here as a bitter, emotion that takes control of us and begins to rule our life and dominate our relationship with others.

Malice: This is when anger and wrath aren’t put off. Soon those emotions take on a life of their own and instead of just emotion, we begin to act, in hurtful, painful, backstabbing, malicious ways toward others.

Blasphemy: is slander, gossip which is false and hurtful.

Filthy Communication: uttering obscenity, using foul, inappropriate language.

Finally, Paul says, “Lie not to one another, seeing you have put off the old man.”

All of these sins are social sins, they are grouped together here because they are sins that can be seen in the way we deal with other people in our lives. These are sins that are on the outside of our life and that can have terrible effects on the lives of others.

Consistent Christian Character

Paul says we can put off the old because we have put on “The new man.”  Vs. 10. It is possible to put down the sensual sins and put off the social sins because we have put on the new man. The new man who is renewed every day in knowledge after the image of Christ, can deal with these sins that try to come back into our life through our old nature.

In vs. 11 Paul says, this man is so new that even his nationality, race or station in life has be changed, in fact it no longer exists. “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free”

All that counts, all that should exist, for us is Christ. Christ, our life!  He is now our ultimate reality, our consuming passion and our overcoming power.

We must maintain a consistent Christian character and that kind of character is not static. Every day as the Holy Spirit reminds and focus us on the task at hand, we need kill the hidden sensual sins on the inside and make sure I put off the visible social sins of the outside.

The key is seeing ourselves as God does through the eyes of the Holy Spirit and then surrendering to the power of God’s Son, our life, who makes all things, at all times, new.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

This is in the perfect active indicative and it means to have become new and now will stay that way. – AT Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament.

The stripping away of the old is by the power of knowing Christ.

It means you can take off the old rags daily and be renewed because you know Christ. “Colossians 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Putting off the old in the power of the new man renewed in Christ, should be a true action, something that is part of my daily life. It should be real. It should be as real as the story of …

Illustration: From KKK to Bandages

The American Red Cross was gathering supplies, medicine, clothing, food and the like for the suffering people of Biafra. Inside one of the boxes that showed up at the collecting depot one day was a letter. It said, "We have recently been converted and because of our conversion we want to try to help. We won't ever need these again. Can you use them for something?" Inside the box were several Ku Klux Klan sheets. The sheets were cut down to strips and eventually used to bandage the wounds of black persons in Africa.

It could hardly be more dramatic--from symbols of hatred to bandages of love because of the new creation.- Maxie Dunnam, Commentary on Galatians. 

Transition:

It is not enough to stop certain things we must also begin some things.  Next Paul continues in the power of the new man and tells the Colossians what things to “Put On.”

Put On – Colossians 3:12-17

12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13  Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Spiritual Suiting Up

Now this is Spiritual Suiting Up, this is the positive, more powerful side of Christ as life. In the same way a child of God must be consistent and conscience of putting off the rags of his old nature, they must also be conscience of putting on the clothing that marks them as child of God.

Get rid of the sad rags and put on the glad rags. Here they are. Put on…

Bowels of mercies: (the seat of the emotions to the Greeks) clothe yourself a compassionate, caring heart.

Kindness: is compassion that acts, not just an emotion but a reaching out to others in acts of Christian kindness.

Humbleness of mind: we are to be clothed with humility, pride is the sad rag of the old nature, humility is the glad rags of a child of God.

Meekness: put on gentleness, a gentleness that comes from the real strength of one who know the God of eternity.

Longsuffering: put on the clothing of patience through the harsh, events and times.

Forbearance: the means we should be clothed with the patience towards the harsh people of our life. Put on forbearance and put up with the difficult people God has place in your life.

Forgiveness:  this is to be clothed with the same clothing as that of Christ, who forgave us.

And finally, above all put on charity. Paul says this is the bond, the thing that unifies all of us, the thing that completes us. Put on agape, the self-sacrificing love which marks us as mature and complete in our relationship with others and our Lord.

Paul then gives them two last things that they must Let or submit to, if Christ is their life, The Peace of God and the Word of Christ.

In vs. 15 he tells them, Let the peace of God rule in your hearts. This is your umpire, your referee in dealing with all people, events and issues in our lives. Let the peace of God rule in you.

In vs 16 Paul says, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly,” This means submitting to the teachings, examples, commands and admonitions of the Lord as the core of our lives.

What it doesn’t mean is what the Ethiopian emperor Menelik II, thought it meant.  Whenever he got sick, he'd eat a few pages from the Bible, believed it would restore his health. You know “let the word of Christ dwell in you,” Well he got it wrong, because in 1913, he was so sick he just kept on eating trying to get well and finally he died after eating the entire book of 2 Kings. That is not what this verse is saying.

What it is saying is that the Word of Christ dwells in us when it results in our lives though all wisdom, teaching and admonish one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Doing all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and giving thanks to the Father by Him, Jesus Christ, our life.   

Conscious Commitment to Christ-likeness

Here is my last application we should make a Conscious Commitment to Christ-likeness as we live our lives in this world, that so desperately needs to see a reflection of Christ in the people of God.

Let me give you an illustration, a working illustration. I worked for United Parcel Service for over a dozen years. In one of the dressing rooms where the drivers would change from their civies to their UPS browns there was a mirror, but it was not just a normal mirror. It was a UPS attitude mirror. As you looked into it, you would see question etched into the glass at the proper places corresponding to your refelection. At the top of the mirror was the question, “Hair combed?” just below that “Smile On?” then, “Clothes Ironed?” and at the bottom, “Shoes Polished?”  The last thing every driver was to be aware of as he left the hub was, “How well do I reflect the company I work for?”

I think we could all benefit from a spiritual mirror that we look into each day, a spiritual mirror that asks, “How am I reflecting Jesus Christ today?”

Can I give you some scripture to dress by? like Matthew 5:14  Ye are the light of the world.16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

 Conclusion:

Do you remember the story of how Elisha replaced Elijah?

It also had to do with putting off and putting on of clothing, in this case the mantle of Elijah. First of all, Elijah calls Elisha in 1 Kings 19:19  So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.

This signified Elisha was to put on the clothes of prophet and put off the clothes of a plowman.

Then on the way to Elijah’s being taken by the fiery chariot he strikes the water with the same mantle and it parts.

2 Kings 2:8  And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

When Elijah is finally taken up his mantle falls to the earth, Elisha picks it up and goes to the water.  Would he be able to wear the mantle of Elijah?  Would he have the power and be the prophet of God that the mantle represents?

2 Kings 2:13  He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; 14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

That is a great story and it is a great conclusion to this sermon. When we were saved, Christ cast his mantle over us. Jesus called us unto himself and made us His own. Now He is in heaven and the mantle has fallen to us. Will we take it up, put it on and show the world a new person in Jesus Christ?

Are we willing to show a lost world that truly, Christ is our life.

 

Monday, December 21, 2020

The Promise - Isaiah 9:6

The Promise - Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

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Introduction: Christmas Rats

A Sunday School Teacher was very nervous about her first Christmas pageant, so she had everything written down on cards which the children would turn over when she called out the item in the story.  She had one group of boys which just couldn’t be trusted so she gave them the easiest word STAR.  All they had to do was march out on the podium turn over their signs and all would e well.  The big night came, and the teacher narrated the story of the first Christmas.  All was going well the children were turning over their cards like clockwork.  Now came those four little rowdy boys marching out on stage.  The teacher speaks, “And as the wise men looked that night for the baby Jesus, they were led by the wondrous Christmas… and she motioned for the boys to turn over their signs.  There was a gasp from the audience and then several stated to laugh, the teacher looked at the four boys and then almost fainted from embarrassment.  For you see the four little boys had gotten mixed up and marched out in reverse order.  So, when they turned over their cards, the wise men that day followed the wondrous Christmas RATS.

There are many things about Christmas that are mixed up even backward just like those four boys.  I’m not destroying anyone’s myth by telling you that Jesus was not born on December 25th, am I?  Nor that there was no Christmas tree, mistletoe, Yule log. Even the wise men didn’t make it on the night he was born. That took place up to 2 years later when the baby was now a young child and Joseph and Mary were in a house no longer the stable. But when you sift through all the myths and legends and mix ups from the last 2000 years what do you have?  You have the fulfilled promise of God.  A promise of One who would come into this world, into the nation of Israel and into the lives of those who believe. This morning lets go to Isaiah 9:6 and look at that promise and the person of Isaiah 9:6.

The book of Isaiah was written by Isaiah the Prophet, who served God as a prophet to the southern kingdom for over 40 years. Isaiah’s name means “salvation of the Lord,” and salvation and deliverance are the themes of the book he wrote. The book consists of several sermons detailing those acts of deliverance that God would do for His nation Israel.

Chapters 11-12 the future deliverance of the Jews from worldwide dispersion among the Gentiles
36-37 the deliverance of Judah from Assyrian invasion
40 the deliverance of the nation from Babylonian captivity
60, 66 the final deliverance of creation from the bondage of sin when the kingdom is established
53 the deliverance of lost sinners from judgment.

Isaiah begins with a series of sermons condemning sin in the lives of the people of Judah in 1-6 and the sins of the nation as a whole through its leaders in chaps. 7—12. He warns of judgment and pleads for the people and the nation to repent. The prophet Micah was preaching the same message to the same people at the same time, while the prophets Amos and Hosea were preaching to the northern kingdom. All these servants of God warning Israel and Judah that time was running out.

The people’s sin and God’s judgment meant that the days were dark. Dark in sin, dark in hopelessness. The King during the early part of Isaiah’s ministry was Ahaz, a weak and wicked King influenced and in fear of the pagan nations around him. It was during this time that Isaiah was instructed by God to name his son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which meant the enemy is coming fast. (You know things are bad when you start naming kids things like, Maher-shalal-hash-baz.) In this time of political sin and coming judgment Isaiah wrote the passage we are studying today, 8:21-22 gives us the sense of the blackness and gloom of the nation and its people.

Isaiah 8:21-22 - And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead (greatly distressed) and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. 

Then in Chapter 9, God speaking through Isaiah gives His people hope in the midst of the darkness.

Isaiah 9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

In verse 6 Isaiah gives us the reason for this hope, he gives the hope of the light that has shined.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called wonderful Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

I have a translation of the Bible written with emphasis on the Hebrew and especially the names of the Old Testament, in the Jerusalem Publication Society Translation this verse reads like this, Isaiah 9:6 JPS - “For a child is born unto us, a son is given unto us; and the government is upon his shoulder; and his name is called Pele-joez-el-gibbor-Abi-ad-sar-shalom; {That is, Wonderful in counsel is God the Mighty, the everlasting Father, the Ruler of peace.}

Let’s take the titles of Jesus the Messiah given in this powerful verse of hop and savor them this morning. Let’s meditate on just how the Messiah was described and how much each one of those names, offices and descriptions means to us, especially during the dark times when we need like the people of Israel, to see a great light and have that light shines on us.  

 Wonderful Counselor - Isaiah 9:6

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor.

Jesus The Wonderful Counselor

There is a minor debate about whether or not this first name of Jesus the Christ is one title, his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor or if it is two, his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor. The ancient languages did not use commas and there is nothing in the word itself that definitely tells us that wonderful is an adjective that is describing counselor, but if your read the other titles, mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of peace then wonderful counselor would seem to fit the pattern. It doesn’t change the meaning of the message of hope that Isaiah was giving which ever way you read it.

Isaiah was describing the Messiah who would be to the people, a counselor like no other, a miraculous counselor, who would be able to understand them no other could.

Later we would understand why this was true, because Jesus would come into this world and take on human flesh and become man. He would understand us, he could comfort, console and counsel us because he was both creator and creature. He not only knew us from above but become one of us. He was born of Mary, he grew, he lived, he suffered, and he even died as a man.

Galatians 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

This is the miracle, the wonder of their Messiah as their counselor

Jesus, My Wonderful Counselor

The only one who can or ever will ever completely understood you and I is Jesus. Jesus understands me as no other person possibly can.  He knows me as my Creator but also as the creature that I am.  He sees me in my fear and doubts, he sees me in my sin and shame, He see not only what I am but also what I can be in Him.

When Jesus calls out in Matthew 11:28-30 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” That is the invitation of my wonderful counselor, someone who truly knows what I am struggling with, how dark my world may be and how much I need someone to bear the burdens I can’t carry. Jesus is that someone.  

Illustration: Writing of the Song, "No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus"

Charles Weigel was an itinerant evangelist, drumming up meetings, preaching one week at this church and another week at a church a hundred or a thousand miles away. He often traveled by himself, leaving his wife and son at home.  One day after finishing a gospel crusade, he came back home to find it dark and empty, there was a note from his wife that said she was taking their son and leaving him, being a lonely evangelists wife was not the life she wanted.

The next few years were a time of terrible despair and sorrow for Weigel. He questioned his calling; he questioned the purpose of his life and wondered there was any who cared what he was going through. After a time, his faith was again restored, and he wrote a song about how Jesus had always been with him. He wrote the words and the tune for the hymn that he is famous for, "No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus."

 

    No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus.

 

​​I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus
Since I found in Him a friend so strong and true;
I would tell you how He changed my life completely
He did something that no other friend could do.

 chorus:

No one ever cared for me like Jesus;
There's no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me
O how much He cared for me!

 All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me;
All my heart was full of misery and woe;
Jesus placed His strong and loving arms around me,
And He led me in the way I ought to go.

Every day He comes to me with new assurance,
More and more I understand His words of love;
But I'll never know just why He came to save me,
Till someday I see His blessed face above​

Transition:

Brother Weigel understood that truly Jesus was a wonderful Counselor and yet He is much more than just someone who listens passively listen to our problems and pains.  He is also one who will act on our behalf. Isaiah goes on to say that He is, “The Mighty God.”


 Mighty God – Isaiah 9:6

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,

Jesus Is The Mighty God

Next Isaiah says that the Messiah would be called, “The Mighty God.” Some would try and deny the godhood the deity of Jesus Christ. The Jewish leaders during his first advent accused him of blasphemy when he flatly said, “I and my father are one.” And yet here way back over 750 years before Jesus came, Isaiah plainly says that the Messiah would be called The Mighty God.

There is not doubting as to what the prophet is saying in Deuteronomy 10:17, Moses called God mighty, because He would fight for His people. 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

The Messiah in His rightful title as the Mighty God would lead Israel to victory in battle over her enemies. Indeed, this great champion was the type of Messiah expected by the Jewish Pharisees and scribes, but they wanted Him to fight against Rome and the heathen nations and so they missed their mighty God. Missed Him because before He could win the battle against the oppressing nations, he had to win the battle against their possessing sin.

"What a Night"

That night when in the Judean skies
The mystic star dispensed its light,
A blind man moved in his sleep
And dreamed that he had sight.

That night when shepherds heard
The song of hosts angelic choiring near,
A deaf man stirred in slumber's spell
And dreamed that he could hear.

That night when o'er the new-born babe
The tender Mary rose to lean,
A loathsome leper smiled in sleep,
And dreamed that he was clean.

That night when in the manger lay
The Sanctified who came to save,
A man moved in the sleep of death,
And dreamed there was no grave.

Only Jesus The Mighty God, only Jesus as both God of this world and Champion in every battle could be the messiah Israel needed and only Jesus as mighty God and victor over sin can be the savior we needed.

Jesus, My God and Champion

As we face the darkness and difficulties of our present days. These days, weeks and not months of uncertainty, struggle, sickness and political turmoil, you know what we need? That’s right we need a might God, we need Jesus to be our champion. And He is the Mighty God as scripture tells us over and over again.

In John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Or in John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (Claiming the personal name of God as it was given to Moses at the burning bush)

In John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

In Titus 2:13 Paul tells his son in the faith that we are, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

In 1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

He is God but if I am to know him in my life as mighty, as champion in the battles I face then I must not make the same mistake the Jewish leader made when Jesus first came. Jesus fights for me when I am following Him and fighting in His cause. Jesus is not my paladin, my representative sent to fight my personal battles. No, Jesus is my Mighty God and I am in His army. I will know victory in my struggles and hope in my darkness if I have my eyes on the Captain of the Lord’s host and I am marching to His orders.  

Too many times I feel defeated because am looking for Jesus to fight my own personal, petty battles, instead of understanding I am to fight in the battles where He leads. Jesus looks for soldiers in the battle for the souls of men, but some look for Jesus to put dollars in bank accounts.  Jesus looks for warriors to carry the Gospel as a banner into the battlefields where sin is powerful, but I think He should fight for me to have a better job, a nicer car, or a bigger house. Too many so called Christians today aren’t looking to Jesus as the mighty God, they are look to Jesus as the Genie with three wishes to grant. Its no wonder we are losing the battles of our life.

Do you need to see Jesus as Mighty God? Then join Him on the battlefronts He has called us to as the Church of God and then we will see what a champion He truly is.

Illustration:  Another night of lights, Gideon fights the battle God sent him to fight.

A battle planned only in a way only God could plan, fought in a way only God could sustain, and won as only God could win. That's the mighty God of Isaiah 9:6, that’s the mighty God of December the 20th 2020.

Transition: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty god and then Isaiah under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says, He is the Everlasting Father.

Everlasting Father

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given … and his name shall be called …The Everlasting Father...


Jesus, The Everlasting Father


Now Isaiah calls the Messiah, The everlasting Father. In Hebrew this is literally, the Father of Eternity. Isiah was saying that Eternity belongs to the wonderful counselor and the mighty God. Eternity belongs to Jesus.

In Isaiah 57:15 the prophet said it like this, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

To Isaiah The Messiah made his home eternity. It is where He lives, He is the cause of eternity. He is the sustainer of eternity and for those who believe and trust Him, He is the giver of eternity.

Jesus, My Eternity


Certainly, Jesus in the role and title of Everlasting Father is once shown as equal with God the Father, given the same honor and the same title, only a fool would dare deny the deity of Jesus. Yet there have been many over the centuries and even more today.

I also want to consider this title in its sense of the One who owns eternity. Eternity is where Jesus dwells, it is His home and as it is His home then those who answer His call, and accept His invitation can come and dwell with him in eternity.

John 3:14-17 Jesus, the everlasting Father, the cause and sustainer of eternity tells Nicodemus the seeker, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 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. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-7 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Sitting together in heavenly places in Christ for the ages to come. That is what knowing Jesus as the Everlasting Father means to us personally. It is eternal life, for only the One whose home is eternity, can open the gates of heaven and let me live with Him forever.

Can I share with you one more song that describes this truth? 

Beulah Land

Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling;
Then I know the sins of earth beset on every hand;
Doubt and fear and things of earth in vain to me are calling;
None of these shall move me from Beulah Land.

Refrain:
I’m living on the mountain, underneath a cloudless sky,
I’m drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry;
Oh, yes! I’m feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply,
For I am dwelling in Beulah Land.

Far below the storm of doubt upon the world is beating,
Sons of men in battle long the enemy withstand;
Safe am I within the castle of God’s Word retreating;
Nothing then can reach me—’tis Beulah Land.

Let the stormy breezes blow, their cry cannot alarm me;
I am safely sheltered here, protected by God’s hand;
Here the sun is always shining, here there’s naught can harm me;
I am safe forever in Beulah Land.

Viewing here the works of God, I sink in contemplation;
Hearing now His blessed voice, I see the way He planned;
Dwelling in the Spirit, here I learn of full salvation;
Gladly I will tarry in Beulah Land.

Transition:

Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and then Isaiah gives us the final description, the final title, He is the Prince of Peace.

Prince of Peace-  Isaiah 9:6

6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Jesus, Prince of Peace

Isaiah tells the Jewish people that their coming Messiah would be The Prince of Peace.  He is promised here as though He had already come, because God’s promise was eternal and the hope that the promise gave was theirs, right now, despite the surrounding darkness.

The Messiah would be the ruler who was peaceful, but He would also be the ruler who would bring peace. To the Jews of Isaiah time it was the assurance that their enemies would not overwhelm them, but it superseded just the promise of a short term peace for them as a nation. Just as the Messiah was mighty God and everlasting Father this peace meant much more than relief from the threat of an invading Syrian army.

The nation of Israel that had been taken from the slavery of Egypt was in so many ways at war with their God. They still worshipped idols, they had wicked kings, they allayed themselves with idolatrous, pagan nations, but when Messiah would come their internal war with God would cease. They would have an eternal lasting peace with the One who had called them and blessed them and led them as a nation.

In Jeremiah 31:31-34, the Lord speaking through his prophet promised a new covenant, a covenant of peace. 31  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Jesus, Messiah, Prince of Peace would rule the nations and rule the hearts of mankind in peace.

Jesus, My Prince of Peace

That new covenant promised in the book of Jeremiah was established not between Israel and God but between God the Father and God the Son. Israel would enter into the blessings but its keeping was not up to them. We also enter into that same covenant and in the same way by trusting in the one who is the Prince of Peace.

Scripture:

Hebrews 7:22  … Jesus made a surety of a better testament (covenant).

Hebrews 8:6 …he (Jesus) is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Hebrews 13:20  Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

Jesus is the Prince of Peace because Jesus shed his blood to pay the price of peace, to cover our sin and to reconcile us with God. Israel could not do it, no matter how many laws they were given or how many they made up themselves. We can’t do it, we can’t find peace in ourselves, in our families, in our nation or in this world unless it comes through Jesus the Prince of Peace.

Illustration: United Nations Peace

At the United Nations in New York City you will find an impressive statue with this scripture from Isaiah 2:4 and Mica 4:3. Isa 2:4  And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

That is a great verse and it give great hope and yet we don’t have peace. Do you know what is missing from the scripture in New York? The first part of the verse. They leave out, “An He shall judge the nations and rebuke many people.” The United Nations, like all the nations that meet there, have left out God, they leave out the Messiah and therefore they also leave out peace, because without Jesus as Lord and Ruler, Without the true Prince of Peace, there can be no peace. No peace between nations but much more immediate, no peace in my life and no peace with God.

Conclusion

The Promise of Isaiah 9:6 was not fulfilled until Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in fact the promise won’t fully be fulfilled until Jesus comes back leading that host of heaven, returning through the heavens and ruling and reigning for a thousand years as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And yet the promise of Isaiah 9:6 is spoken in the present tense. Not unto us a child will be given, but unto us a child is given.  Do you understand why? The reason the language was in the present was because the promise could begin in the heart of anyone who would believe. If you heard Isaiah message and believe in the Word of God that came from him, then the Messiah in the moment would be in your heart, the wonderful counselor, the might God, the everlasting Father and the prince of Peace.

Back then, the people of Jerusalem needed that promise and the hope it brought to them. And we need that some promise and hope today. If you listen, you can still hear the words of Isaiah. “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” It is the Promise of God’s Gift, the promise of the Messiah, the promise of eternal life and the promise of Peace. I pray that you believe it and that it is your promise today.