Sermons – Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

1 Peter 2:11-12 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

INTRODUCTION

Before we get to the mind of this passage, let’s consider its heart. Peter loves the people to whom he is writing. He is not primarily their theology professor. He is not primarily their disciplinarian. He is not primarily their chaperone. And he is not primarily their indifferent tutor. He is primarily their loving shepherd.

It can be so easy to go about doing the things God has called us to do in fulfilling the mission he’s called us to fulfill without the heart he’s called us to have. Above all, Grace Church, we are called to be people of love. We are to love God above all things, and our neighbors as ourselves. All of the Law and Prophets are summed up in these two things. All of the Church’s Great Commission is summed up in these two things. And, therefore, all that we do must be driven by these two things. We must be people whose primary disposition is love. It was Peter’s primary disposition toward his readers and so he addressed them as “beloved” (ones who are loved).

In love, Peter’s entire letter was meant to help God’s people honor God in times of various trials. And in love, Peter meant to communicate three specific things about God-honoring suffering in our passage for this morning (two this week and one next). First, he intended to remind his beloved readers of the fact that everything they were called to do flowed (not out of the circumstances around them, but) out of who they were in Jesus. Second, because of who they were in Jesus, Peter specifically charged them (again) to be holy. And third, Peter needed his readers to realize that living holy lives consistent with their identities in Christ was an important aspect of their ministry to unbelievers.

Simply, Peter’s main message in this passage is this: People of God, beloved, because of who you are in Christ, be holy as a ministry to unbelievers, and in so doing you will glorify God in your suffering (and the unbelievers may too). As his readers came to understand and apply these things in their suffering (or comfort) they would honor God. Let’s pray now that we too would receive these loving words of Peter and honor God.

BECAUSE OF WHO YOU ARE

It’s interesting to me to listen to people talk about themselves. It is particularly interesting to hear how people identify or define themselves. For some their identity is tied to their job. Have you ever noticed how, when asked about their career, people rarely say things like “I do electrical work” or “As an attorney, I get paid to provide people with legal advice” or “I work in the food industry” or “People pay me to take photographs of their important events”? What do they say instead? They say, “I am an electrician” or “I am a lawyer” or “I am a waiter/waitress” or “I am a photographer.” They define themselves by their work.

Other people define themselves by their hobbies (“I am a runner” or “a fisherman” or “a bible study leader”). Still others define themselves by their health history (“I am a cancer survivor”). Some people define themselves by their alma mater (“I am a Gopher”). Many define themselves by their most important relationships (“I am a mother”). Increasingly, in our culture, people want to be identified by their sexual preferences or gender identities.

My point isn’t that these things are irrelevant. Indeed, they give us important clues about how people see themselves,

Psalm 130 – Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

2 O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

6 my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!

For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

8 And he will redeem Israel

from all his iniquities.

INTRODUCTION

The responsibility of any preacher in a sermon is two fold. Whether it is Pastor Dave, Matt, myself, or anyone else that stands before you, we have two things that need to be in the forefront of our minds and hearts in preaching. We need to get the passage right and we need to get it across. We need to get it right by rightly understanding what God has revealed in the passage, and secondly we need to rightly help you understand what God has revealed in the passage.

God has given us a tremendous gift in that he has revealed himself through the Scriptures. We should never come to these texts in a cavalier or casual way. We hold the very words of God here.

The book of Psalms is a tremendous gift to us as a church from God. The uniqueness of these 150 chapters is that it talks about a range of emotions that we experience as humans. The psalmists write about joy and sorrow, peace and turmoil, life and death, loneliness and friendship, darkness and light, anger and love, guilt and forgiveness, and on and on. To be human is to have emotions. While some experience more intense emotions than others, we all experience them on some level and to some degree.

The uniqueness of the Psalms though is that it deals with the volatility of human emotions within the constancy of God’s sovereignty. The psalmists never treat human emotions as the ultimate truth that allows them to do whatever they want to. The Psalmists describe how they feel and then remind the reader of the truth of who God is and what he will do for his people. How we need this.

The Psalms are a gift to us. Become familiar with them. Use them in your prayers. Read them in the midst of trials and after you have sinned. These 150 Psalms were written over a period of 1,000 years. Seventy-three were written by David. One hundred and thirteen of them are referenced in the New Testament. So get these into your life. Let God’s Word conform your emotions upward towards God in worship and not inwards towards yourself in sin.

A few weeks ago Pastor Dave talked about different couples within a short period of time that had come to him for marriage counseling and were dealing with some major issues. One person said to him during one of these meetings that Grace Church wasn’t the right church for them because it didn’t seem like anyone else was struggling with the problems they had.

I think that feeling is more prevalent among people in our church and not just isolated to that one person. It is the feeling of looking around at other people or other families at Grace Church, thinking they have it all together while your life is messed up. You may look at other family’s kids and think they are so well behaved. You may look at another couple’s marriage and think that everything is great for them. You may look at another person’s job and think they must have a great life because of it. You may be in a family’s home and think they look so put together.

These feelings of being the only person that is struggling with sin or trials is a lie. All of us will go through the depths at some point in our life. For Johanna and I,

1 Peter 2:4-10 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

8 and

“A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

INTRODUCTION

What is the greatest gift you have ever received (something someone actually got for you)? Near the top of my list are a pair of skis, MSU NCAA basketball tournament tickets, stretchy jeans, a getaway with my wife (from my wife) and a few others. But let’s take it a step further. What’s the greatest gift you can imagine someone else getting for you? A cruise around the world? Superbowl tickets? A ’65 Mustang Shelby? An original painting from an old master? Something else?

Any of these would make for a remarkable gift. But none of them, however, would be in the least bit helpful should persecution come our way. A Shelby wouldn’t bring one iota of comfort to someone exiled from their home and family on account of their faith. The most exquisite master painting wouldn’t do a bit of good if someone’s children were taken away because they refuse to quit preaching the gospel.

And none of them would impress us in the least in the presence of God. All the glory of all the pomp and circumstance of the greatest Superbowl matchup in history would seem utterly insignificant compared to a glimpse of the hem of God’s heavenly robe in his heavenly court. The most exotic and luxurious cruise that’s ever been chartered would seem altogether dull compared to gazing at the backside of God for a fraction of a second.

On the other hand, and the point of this passage is that Christians have already been given and promised gifts that will help in times of great trouble and will last and impress even into eternity. The greatest gifts this world has to offer are like trash (Paul says) compared to the smallest gift in Christ Jesus.

This passage is so full of everlasting, glorious blessings that it is hard to even know how to preach it. To go one-by-one through them could take days. But to barely skim over them wouldn’t do any of them justice. Consequently, I decided to land in the middle. We’re going to start up high (beyond the view of any of them), zoom in just a bit on all of them, and then zoom in closely on just one. My hope is that this approach would whet your appetite enough to press further into some of them on your own.

Please pray with me that the joy of our salvation and all the blessings that it entails would overwhelm us with gratitude and gladness and hope and longing and help, even in times of trouble.

BLESSINGS BEYOND BELIEF

We need to have our eyes wide open to the presence and nature of sin. It is important think about its dangers and deadly effects. Demons too are real and we ignore their prowling and attempts at devouring us to our own peril. Likewise, we must understand the reality and terror of hell. It’s important to spend time thinking about all that the bible says about the eternal co...

1 Peter 2:4-10 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

8 and

“A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

INTRODUCTION

Peter’s aim in this letter is to help the persecuted, elect exiles endure their persecution in a manner pleasing to God. His main point, however, is that our ability to do so is entirely dependent on the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Grace, may we never forget this: our ability to please God in any circumstance (especially difficult circumstances) is completely contingent on the gospel.

What’s more, the grace of the gospel is entirely dependent on the reality of the person of Jesus and the historical work of God on our behalf. If Jesus is not the Son of God, if he did not die on the cross for our sins, if his resurrection from the dead is not evidence of the Father’s acceptance of his payment, if we do not gain access to Jesus’ cross-accomplishments through faith, and if the Holy Spirit was not sent to us to renew and strengthen and sustain us, then we have no reason for any hope at all, much less hope of suffering well.

The key here, once again, is that our hope and help are not based on the idea of Jesus or his cross, but on the actual, historical God-man and the actual-historical cross upon which he hung. Our help and hope are not based on our feelings toward God, but upon the fact that his one and only Son suffered the wrath of God, died, and rose again on behalf of all who would trust in him. It is not the sentiment of these things that saves us. It is not the spiritual lesson of these things that saves us. And it is not our self-made version of these things that saves us. It is the grace of God in the form of the actual person and death of Jesus that saves us.

Fully aware of this (for he personally, actually walked with the actual person of Jesus and witnessed the actual crucified and resurrected Jesus), Peter, himself amazed by the true nature of Jesus, invites his readers to join him in amazement. That’s the main point of our passage for this morning: the amazing reality of the person of Jesus and what he accomplished for the people of God, according to the will of God. Grace, if when I’m finished preaching through this passage over the next three weeks, you are not increasingly amazed by who Jesus is, what he has done and is doing for us, and the loving kindness of the Father to orchestrate all of this, something went tragically wrong. Let’s pray now that no tragedies would happen this morning, and that instead we’d all be thoroughly and appropriately amazed.

JESUS: THE CORNERSTONE OF THE CHURCH

Again, in our passage this morning there are three principles that we must see and understand if we are to honor God in our suffering. First, we must not miss the fact that Jesus is the cornerstone upon which God is building his Church.

1 Peter 2:1-3 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation- 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome back to 1 Peter. After a several-week break we’re set to begin the second chapter of Peter’s remarkable letter. As you undoubtedly remember, 1 Peter is a letter written by the apostle Peter to a group of Christians who were exiled and suffering because of their faith in Jesus. The point of the letter was to challenge these suffering saints to honor God even in their suffering to describe for them what that looks like.

While many of us use seasons of suffering to justify all kinds of sin, Peter charges Christians to view their suffering as the remarkable opportunity it is. Suffering provides greater contrast than nearly everything else in this life. When people suffer, the world expects them to act a certain way. Peter teaches his readers that because of their new life in Jesus, Christians ought to look dramatically different from the rest of the world in their times of suffering. Christians honor God in our suffering when we are selfless instead of selfish; engaged rather than apathetic; hard-working rather than lazy; encouraging rather than complaining; hopeful instead of hopeless; confident rather than despairing; faithful rather than faithless; generous rather than stingy; kind rather than harsh; loving rather than demanding. These differences, Peter argues, honor God by demonstrating the glory and truthfulness of the gospel and the legitimacy of our faith in it.

To that end, chapter 1 was largely intended to remind the suffering saints of the nature of the gospel they’d believed in and the salvation it brought. God had caused them to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (1:3). As children of God, they were given an inheritance in heaven that could not be taken or lessened or destroyed (1:4). This new birth and the faith it came through were more precious than gold (1:7). Their salvation was one that the prophets spoke of and angels longed to see (1:10-12). Their salvation was made possible by the precious blood of Jesus offered as a ransom for their sins (1:18-19).

Peter’s point in doing so is to show them that rightly understood, the joy of the gospel overshadows any amount of earthly suffering. Indeed, that is why Christians will look different in their suffering—because they have the joy of the gospel.

Just like getting a paper cut can’t diminish the glory of the $1,000,000 check that caused it, no amount of earthly suffering can overcome the glory of the good news of Jesus Christ. Christians must, therefore, Peter argues, suffer differently than non-Christians…because of the gospel, we can’t not.

There are countless specific ways faithful Christians will suffer differently from non-Christians. Beginning in chapter 1 Peter mentioned a few: hope fully (not in your job or family or savings or prognosis or government, but in) grace (1:13), be holy (not as you might define it, but) as God is holy (1:15), and fear (no man or circumstance, but) God alone (1:17), and love (all people, but especially) other Christians (1:22).

In chapter 2, Peter continues giving practical, gospel-application. That is, he describes the types of actions that flow from suffering Christians who believe in the gospel. In the first few verses (which we’re looking at this morning) he focuses specifically on practical ways for suffering saints to love other Christians. Again, he picks back up on his charge in 1:22 and expands on what it looks like for each of us to love the church during hard times.

Please pray with me that God would give us souls that believe and love and are overwhelmed by the truths of chapter 1 so that the actions of chapter 2 ar...

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

INTRODUCTION

Merry Christmas! It’s even more of a joy than I’d anticipated (and I anticipated significant joy) to be able to celebrate Christmas with you all on a Sunday morning. What better way could there be to honor Jesus’ coming than this—gathering together around God’s Word, his praise, his prayers, and his people? Welcome once again to Grace Church and welcome to the celebration of the fact that Christ has come!

Appropriately, we are going to end our series on the names of Jesus this morning with Immanuel, which means God with us. God was faithful to his promises in Isaiah and we get to celebrate that together this morning. Please pray with me that our minds and hearts would be stirred as we consider the promise, wonder, blessing, and necessity of Immanuel.

THE PROMISE OF IMMANUEL

The beginning of this sermon might not feel much like a Christmas sermon, but I assure you, it is! If you can hang on for a bit of background, you’ll be Christmasly rewarded in the end.

In the first 13 verses of Isaiah 7 we are given a good deal of the background necessary for truly understanding the significance of v.14—perhaps the most famous Christmas verse.

In those verses we find out that one of David’s descendents was on the throne of Judah (the southern kingdom of Israel). His name is King Ahaz. At this point God’s people, Abraham’s children, were well past the peak of their glory. Under kings David and Solomon they had been among the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth. But by the time of Ahaz, because of their unfaithfulness to God’s covenant with them, God’s judgment was upon them. This left them weak and vulnerable to outside attack. And that is exactly what we find by v.2.

Treacherously, the northern kingdom of Israel, along with the Syrians, had agreed to attack Jerusalem (the capital of Judah). Having received word of this impending attack, King Ahaz and the rest of God’s people trembled in fear. And in fear, not faith in God, King Ahaz determined to form an alliance with the Assyrians. His hope, of course, was that Assyria would protect Judah from the immanent attack of Israel and Syria.

In modern terms, this is loosely the equivalent of the US turning to Iran for help in light of an impending invasion. Whatever Iran’s expressed purpose for their willingness to initially align with us, it is certain that their ultimate purpose is not the good of the U.S. Everyone would know this from the beginning which is what would make any such alliance utter folly.

Again, this is what Ahaz felt he needed to do in light of the threat from Northern Israel and Syria. And at this point God sent Isaiah to King Ahaz.

Speaking on behalf of God, Isaiah pleaded with King Ahaz not to fear and not to trust in Assyria, but to fear and trust in God alone. For it is God alone who can protect and deliver Judah. Indeed, God promised that Syria and Israel “shall not stand” and “will be broken to pieces.”

As God’s covenant promises repeatedly made clear, if God’s people would hope fully in God, he would protect them and bless them. Simple faithfulness on the part of God’s people means they need not fear anything or anyone, ever!

And yet, the entire OT is one consistent, repetitive record of Israel trusting in God, being blessed by God, trusting in the blessings rather than God, abandoning their promises to God, experiencing the resulting judgment of God and God’s patient call to repentance,

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

INTRODUCTION

I vividly remember taking part in various Christmas programs when I was a boy. Unfortunately, most of my vivid memories involve things that had nothing to do with the meaning of Christmas. I remember burning through an entire box of Kleenex with one of my worst colds ever. I remember all the fuss about costumes. And I remember singing “We Three Kings” (I was one of the kings) and wondering where in the world the city of Orientar was located (“we three kings from orient are…”).

What really gets me, though, is that whether the program itself was unclear, the director was unclear, I was unclear, or, most likely, some combination of all three, in all my years of Christmas plays I don’t remember anyone ever explaining the actual significance of the Christmas story. I’m glad that is not the case here.

I’m very thankful for David Oman’s directing of this program, his commitment to faithfully telling the story of Jesus’ birth, and his earnest desire for the kids to grasp its meaning and significance and glory. It is an amazing story that needs no embellishment.

What increasingly amazes me is the fact that this familiar story told by our kids is the actual, historical account of the coming of the Messiah of Isaiah 9:6 and 7:14. This simple story is the story of the virgin conceiving and giving birth to a son. Jesus is the child who was born. He is the one through whom God would save his people.

Great job, Dave. Great job, kids!

If you’re a guest this morning, once again, welcome! Thanks for joining us for our children’s Christmas program and worship service. We’re very glad you’re here.

You should know that for the past several weeks we’ve been working our way through the names of Jesus the Messiah given in Isaiah 9:6 and 7:14. Those two passages promise Christmas, describe Jesus, the child of Christmas, explain some of what he would accomplish. That is, those two passages give us reasons sufficient to justify celebrating Christmas with unmatched (I used a thesaurus) exhilaration, elation, animation, enthusiasm, eagerness, anticipation, and feverishness.

Who is the child of Christmas? So far we’ve seen that Jesus, the child whose birth story we just witnessed, is Wonderful Counselor (he always gives only good counsel, died to pay for our sins, and strengthens us to take his wonderful counsel), Mighty God (nothing can stand in his way and he is the eternal second person of the Triune God), and Everlasting Father (he is fatherly in his representation of us, his imaging of the Father, his perfect keeping of commands of God, and his fatherly giving of life—physical and spiritual).

This morning, we’re going to consider the fourth name of Jesus from Isaiah 9:6: Prince of Peace.

In this abbreviated sermon I want to show you the bible’s answers to four questions concerning the peace of the Prince of Peace: 1) If Jesus is the Prince of Peace, why is there so much conflict (such a lack of peace) in the world? 2) What does it mean that Jesus is the Prince of Peace? 3) What is the nature of the peace of Jesus? and 4) By what means does Jesus bring his peace? Let’s pray.

APART FROM CHRIST, ALL IS CONFLICT

Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but let’s be honest, you don’t need to have lived very long to see that there is a great lack of peace in this world. From brothers and sisters bickering to sickness lingering to debt piling to nations warring,

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the third week in our Advent series on the names of Jesus given in Isaiah 9:6 and 7:14. In considering these names we are considering the nature and work of the One whose birth we celebrate and whose return we anticipate this Christmas season. And we are doing all of this because in so doing, we find an inexhaustible supply of fuel to power birthday celebrations truly worthy of Jesus, the Isaiah messiah.

To that end, two weeks ago we considered and marveled at the fact that Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor. We saw that he always gives only wonderful counsel, that at the cost of his life he forgives our rejection of his counsel and all our resulting sins, and that this Wonderful Counselor gives us new hearts to love, and new strength to obey, his wonderful counsel.

Then, last week, we saw that Jesus is also Mighty God. He is mighty in that nothing can stay his hand and he is God in that he is the eternal second person of the Trinity. What’s more, it is because he is Mighty God that he can be Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Immanuel, and, as we will see today, Everlasting Father.

This morning, then, we are going to consider the third name given to the messiah in Isaiah 9:6: Everlasting Father. This is of course a rather strange title for Jesus for several reasons. Nevertheless, by God’s help I believe we will all find great truth and great hope in the fatherliness of Jesus.

This sermon has been helped by Spurgeon’s 724th sermon (on the same text) and so it seems appropriate to begin with his prayer: “This morning I cannot pretend to dive into the profound depths of the word, but can only skim the surface as the swallow skims the sea. I have no silver of deep learning and gold of profound thought; but such as I have, I give to you. If my basket contains nothing more than a barley loaf and a few small fishes, may the Master of the feast multiply the food in the breaking, so that there may be enough food for his people” (Spurgeon #724).

AN UNEXPECTED EVERLASTING FATHER

It would be odd to find out that Michael Jordan’s nickname is Hockeytown. Or that Donald Trump’s is Operaman. Or that Jack Antil’s is Nimblefoot. Even if Michael Jordan enjoys hockey or Donald Trump opera or Jack Antil dancing, it’s certainly not what any of these men are known for. Each of these men have a well developed and well known aspect of their personhood by which we have come to identify them. A nickname that doesn’t include, and seems in some ways even to contradict, the more defining aspect of who they are seems strange.

As I mentioned in the introduction, in a similar way, most people are likely to find Everlasting Father to be the most strange, or at least the most unexpected, title for Jesus. There are two immediately obvious causes of this.

First, it seems a strange name for Jesus because in both Isaiah 7:14 and in the first half of 9:6 the emphasis is on the fact that the messiah will come as a child.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son…

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…

It is unexpected at best that a few words later in 9:6, without warning, the emphasis on the nature of the one who would rescue and restore God’s people changes from virgin-born child to “Everlasting Father.” Again, read in context, we’re at least caught off guard from the sudden switch.

Second,

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

INTRODUCTION

Last Sunday marked the beginning of Advent. It also marked the beginning of a short sermon series on the names of Jesus given in Isaiah 9:6 and 7:14. This series is intended to help build excitement and celebration appropriate for the One whose “coming” this season remembers, by describing the nature and work and glory of the One whose “coming” this seasons remembers.

To that end, last week we considered and marveled at the fact that Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor. He is a counselor because he gives counsel. He is a good counselor because his counsel is always true and helpful and right. He is a great counselor because at the cost of his life he forgives our rejection of his good counsel and all our resulting sins. And he is the Wonderful Counselor because, in addition to each of these things, he gives us new hearts to love, and new strength to obey, his wonderful counsel.

This morning, we’re going to look at the second name in Isaiah 9:6: Mighty God! It is a particularly important name because it is the one upon which the rest are built. It is because Jesus is “Mighty God” that he is able to be “Wonderful Counselor,” “Everlasting Father,” “Prince of Peace,” and “Immanuel.” No mere man could ever be these things. But, as we will see this morning, Jesus is no mere man. He is the mighty God-man! Let’s pray that, once again, we’d be given appropriate awe at these awesome things.

NAMES ARE MORE THAN A POINT OF REFERENCE

Quickly, before we get to the name of Jesus, I want to state explicitly something I alluded to last week: names and naming in the bible are far more significant than our culture understands.

Most of the people I know (myself included) give little thought to the significance of the naming they do. People tend to name things because we’re expected to. And we tend to give names primarily because we like the way they sound or because we want to honor someone important to us.

We named our dog Izzo because we thought it’d be fun (and funny) to have a dog named after MSU’s basketball coach. We named Anna, Christianna because we liked the sound of it and because really liked the character in Pilgrim’s Progress. We named Daniel, Daniel because we wanted him to have a character in the bible to look to and because we didn’t dislike anyone named Daniel. Again, most of the people we know have given names for the same types of reasons.

Whether we realize it or not, however, naming things is a much more significant and serious thing than we often make it out to be. In biblical times and in other cultures today this was/is understood. Please consider R.C. Sproul’s words to this point.

A name is more than just a handy way of referring to someone else, it also gives us telling clues about a person’s history and identity. The last name Carpenter, for example, tells us that woodworking is or was a prominent vocation in a family’s line. Or, the name Jacobson indicates that a man named Jacob was a patriarch in the family’s history. Similarly, the names by which God is known tell us a lot about His character.

[What’s more,] biblically speaking, the act of naming is inextricably linked to authority. In ancient times especially, authority over someone or something was wielded by the person who chose its name. Adam, for instance,

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

INTRODUCTION

As you may know, Advent begins today. For many, however, Advent may seem a little like Maundy Thursday…something you know you should know more about. You may have a good idea, but the edges are a little fuzzy.

I can’t explain Advent better than Noel Piper does in her book, Treasuring God in Our Traditions. In it she writes,

We are a people of promise. For centuries, God prepared people for the coming of his Son, our only hope for life. At Christmas we celebrate the fulfillment of the promises God made—that he would give a way to draw near to him.

Advent is what we call the season leading up to Christmas. It begins four Sundays before December 25….

1 Peter 1:10-12 is a clear description of what we look back to during Advent.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (1 Peter 1:10-12 )

For four weeks, it’s as if we’re re-enacting, remembering the thousands of years God’s people were anticipating and longing for the coming of God’s salvation, for Jesus. That’s what advent means—coming.

Again, we’re now in Advent. In celebrating Advent we’ll be joining centuries of Christians who have used this time of year to prepare their hearts for celebrating the coming of our Savior. To help us to this end, I’m going to spend the next five weeks, culminating on Christmas day, looking at the names given to the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6 and 7:14: “Wonderful Counselor,” “Mighty God,” “Everlasting Father,” “Prince of Peace,” and “Immanuel” (in that order).

From each name, beginning with “Wonderful Counselor,” we glean something of the Messiah’s nature and work on behalf of his people. Please pray with me that God would grant us an accurate picture of the One whose birth we celebrate, such that our celebrations would make sense.

FOR YOUR JOY

The book of Isaiah covers a good deal of Israel’s history (over 200 years when we consider the future prophesies of Isaiah). The main message of the book, however, is quite simple and clear. Isaiah is primarily addressed to the southern kingdom of Israel (Judah), and Jerusalem in particular (the most important city for God’s people), but really it concerns all of God’s people. Both the northern and southern kingdoms are in rebellion and refusing to turn from their sin and keep covenant with God.

The northern kingdom is about to be destroyed by the Assyrians because God has already handed them over on account of their wickedness. Afraid that they too will be destroyed, rather than trust in Yahweh to fight for them, the people and leaders of the southern kingdom seek to make alliances with the surrounding nations.

Isaiah writes to Judah and Jerusalem (1:1) to warn them that the same fate awaits them (as the northern kingdom) if they do not turn from their sinful ways. But, rather than listen to Isaiah, and more importantly trust in Yahweh, they continue in their sin.

By chapter seven God has made it clear that his judgment is certain and w...