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Theme:

"Kingdom Power"

First Sunday in Advent -

Sermon Outline

YOUR KINGDOM COME - IN PROPHECY

Isaiah 9:1-7

Mention the name of Robin Williams and you think of a witty, stand-up comedian who also, at times, is a serious actor.  You likely would not think of him as a prominent theologian or philosopher.  And yet, in a recent interview he was asked, “Suppose for one day you could be the President of the United States, and had the power to do anything you would like to do in that one day, what would you like to do?”  Robin began to talk about education and how good it would be if everyone in the world could be educated. 

But then, that seemed to sound hollow to him; it didn’t seem to resonate.  Robin Williams is a funny man who has a thoughtful side to him.  He paused and then said, “You know what I really would like to do?  If I could, I would really like to stop all conflict in the world.”  He spoke of conflict overseas, and then came closer to home, asserting that there is conflict not only internationally, but also nationally and locally.  There’s conflict in the churches; there’s conflict in families.  Wherever in the world you turn, there is conflict. 

Do you know why there is conflict?  It’s quite simple.  It’s because we are sinful human beings who are selfish and lustful and we want things our own way, and so it creates all kinds of conflict.  Everything we see on the large scale of life is just an extension of what goes on all the time on a small-scale setting.

And isn’t that how it has been from the beginning of time?  Once Adam and Eve had disobeyed God their sinful nature was passed on to their children.  Cain killed his brother.  Why did he kill Abel?  Because he became angry and jealous of his brother.  There was conflict way back at the beginning of the Bible.  Accounts of conflict continue all the through the Bible. 

We see conflict recorded in the ninth chapter of Isaiah.  The people of the land of Naphtali had suffered greatly and were heavily oppressed.  The people walked in darkness, and there was conflict among those who were “living in the land of the shadow of death.”  Through the ages of man’s existence there has been conflict.  So, what is the answer to the conflict?  How can these conditions be changed?  What can make a difference in the way that we live? 

1.  THE NATURE OF THE CHRIST CHILD

We do well at Christmastime to think about the first and second advent of Christ and how the coming of Christ is really the answer and antidote to conflict. 

Isaiah 9 speaks of the first coming of Christ.  We see it as “Your Kingdom Come.”  This is basically prophecy; the Lord is looking forward from Isaiah’s day, and He tells us something of what the coming of Christ will be like. 

We see this in verse six where he talks about the nature of the Christ who is coming.  He says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.”  Now that’s rather straight forward, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. . .” There’s a child; there’s a son.  There’s a birth; there’s a gift.  It’s as though God is saying, I want you to think about Jesus who will come as the God-man, God manifest in the flesh, a child who is born through a virgin’s womb, and He is God as a baby being manifest in the flesh.  “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.”

2.  THE NAMES OF THE CHRIST CHILD

Not only can do we see the nature of this child, but we consider His names.  He has four of them listed here.  “And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  Some of us may be confused and unclear about life and it’s direction.  If that is so, we need to be reminded that Jesus is a Wonderful Counselor.  People go to counselors all the time these days.  But no matter how good that human counselor may be, that human counselor may fail to meet your need.  But if you are confused and bewildered today, be encouraged and assured that you will never be disappointed if you come to Jesus, because He is a wonder of a counselor. 

So many folk today have a sense of weakness.  They just don’t seem to have the strength to carry out the tasks that are before them.  If that’s the case, Isaiah says that the One we worship is a Mighty God.  He’s someone who has absolute strength.  He has the ability to step in and meet whatever needs you may have.  In your weakness, He is a Mighty God.  He can make His strength perfect in human weakness.  Are you weak today?  There is a Mighty God who is available for every need that you have. 

Then he says furthermore that He is not only a Wonderful Counselor and a Mighty God, but He’s an Everlasting Father.  So many men today feel orphaned from their fathers.  They may feel abandoned by their fathers.  They feel as though they never have had a father figure who was really worthy of their trust, to whom they could look up.  They have all kinds of struggles around father issues.  But there is an Everlasting Father who is available to help.  If you feel orphaned, if you feel abandoned, if you deal with those kinds of issues, there is Someone who is an Everlasting Father.  And He will never fail you in your time of need. 

Then, there are people who are troubled.  There’s been a fight at home.  Or there’s a child who is acting out and acting up and causing despair in the family.  You wonder if there is any possibility of having peace.  And Isaiah says, yes there is, because Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  He’s the one who can bring to the human heart the deepest sense of peace no matter what the circumstances might be. 

A beloved English pastor, F. B. Meyer, wrote, “Jesus is a child that is born; a son that is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder.”  Then he asks, “Is the government of your life upon His shoulder?”  The shoulder is the symbol of strength.  All is well when the government of our lives rests on the strong Son of God.  It’s a happy day that witnesses the transfer of the rule of our lives to the Wonderful Counselor, to the Mighty God, to the Everlasting Father, to the Prince of Peace. 

3.  THE NOTABILITY OF THE CHRIST CHILD

Meyer goes on to say, “The moment of definitely imposing the government upon the Lord Jesus is generally a marked one in our lives.”  In that moment He becomes the most notable, the most prominent person, in your life.  Now, how does that happen?  The first thing you have to do is to trust Him as your Savior.  Then, in your heart, you recognize that you are a sinner and that Christ died for you, and you say, “Lord, I thank You for dying for me. In my heart, I trust You alone for the gift of eternal life.”  At that moment God gives to you eternal life and as long as you trust Him you will never perish.  You’ve begun the transfer of the ruler ship of your life to the Lord. 

But there is another step beyond that.  You need to come to the place where you say, with Paul,” Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God . . .” (Romans 12:1).   When you take that second step. And you present your body to God as a living sacrifice, that is, indeed, a spiritual milestone in your life.  It stands out as the first of a long series, a chain of successive links.  Transfer the ruler ship of your life to the One who is the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.  What happens at that point?  In proportion to the increase of His government is the increase of your peace. 

Why don’t we have peace?  Because we’re trying to run the show.  Elsewhere in Isaiah the Lord says, “There is no peace for the wicked” (48:22).  No one can have true peace in his or her life as long as they want to be the boss.  There has to be that transfer of ruler ship in the life for peace to come.  As the government of Jesus extends, so does the peace of Jesus extend.  And the one who has extended the dominion of Jesus to the furthest limits of his or her being will know “ . . .the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. . .” (Philippians 4:7).

A poet has put it this way: “Yield to the King with a simple heart all that thou hast and all that thou art.  Renounce all strength but strength divine, and peace shall be forever thine.”    

Have you come to the place where you have transferred the ruler ship of your life to Jesus?  That’s what the Lord calls us to do, and the assurance is that to the degree that we have transferred ruler ship to the Lord so peace will be our experience.

Now look at Chapter nine and verse seven as Isaiah wraps up this prophecy.  “Of the increase 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.”  Do you know how you can be assured that God is going to perform the prophesy of Isaiah 9, verses six and seven?  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this - for you!