Light in the Dark: Hope sustains the present… Isaiah 9:1-7

Light in the Dark:

Hope sustains the present and aims us toward the future.

Isaiah 9:1-7

Aim Of The Message:

The sermon aims to reveal that Jesus is the hope for the world and rediscover the role and relationship of the church to the increasingly dark and trouble world.

We live in a world that is filled with gloom and darkness, and as Christians we say we have can have hope. Isaiah lived in a world similar to ours, and reveals the reason for our hope.

Isaiah 9:1–7 (ESV)

“But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. 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. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

Prayer: Asking for God’s help to understand and apply His word by the help of the Holy Spirit.

Explaining the Text

There were dark days in the future of the nation of Israel. The Assyrian nation was coming to destroy them and humble them. God gave Isaiah the gift of seeing past the impending doom and struggle to the day of a deliverer. The darkness of Israel was prophesied in the preceding passages.

Isaiah was told by God in 8:11-22 to fear the Lord and not man. God tells Him to stay faithful, to put His trust in the Lord, and to wait for the coming of the Lord.

Isaiah 8:11-17, [11] For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: [12] “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. [13] But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. [14] And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [15] And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” [16] Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. [17] I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.

Isaiah commits to waiting for the Lord to keep His promises.

Waiting is a theme in the grand redemptive plan of God. But not waiting impatiently for God to do what we want…

Waiting is an exercise of faith in God and His promises.

Waiting doesn’t negate God’s promises, it demonstrates our trust in Him.

God tells Isaiah how to wait. He is to be faithful, not retreat, but to serve the Lord in the midst of the coming doom.

yes, God tells Isaiah to be faithful to Him and wait for Him in the midst of the darkness of the world around Him.

God tells Isaiah what not to do… God tells him not to inquire of the wisdom and ways of men or dark spirits,

God tells Isaiah what to do… to inquire of the Lord for answers in times of trouble.

In the midst of the darkness God reveals that it is Israel’s rejection that has plunged them into their darkness and their waiting. Which means, that ultimately their waiting is part of God’s redemptive plan.

The Christmas season is also known as Advent. And why advent? Advent comes from the Latin word, adventus that means “arrival” or “coming.” So, during the season of advent we celebrate the arrival of Jesus at His birth and remind ourselves that we are waiting for His return.

It is during the season of Advent that we emphasize key themes to our waiting. These themes are hope, peace, joy, and love. During our worship services and our sermons we will be focusing our attention on one of these each week.

Waiting is sustained by hope.

Hope… there are many definitions of hope. But, hope in the Bible means something different than the way we commonly use the word hope in our American culture today.

Modern America defines hope as wishful thinking, the power of positivity, or probability based on statistics or observations.

But, the Bible doesn’t talk about hope as wishful thinking, positive thinking, or a hunch based on statistics or probabilities. No, Scripture sees hope as something much more sure.

Hope is based on the character of God.

Hope is the expectation of a future good.

Hope is believing that good is coming. It’s not a power of positivity, or wishful thinking. It’s not the sum of observations and statistical probabilities. No, Hope is expectant… like when a woman is pregnant- we refer to has expecting. Because when a woman is pregnant we look forward to the inevitable. (Knowing that there are tragic and difficult circumstances- but the illustration holds.)

Hope is the expectation that good is coming, to be more specific, hope is an expectation of what is certain, but is based on who God is and what He has done.

Hope is confidence in God and what He has done.

The Israelites had hope. Why? because they know who God is and they knew what He had done.

for the last couple of months we have been working through the book of Exodus, and one of the things we have mentioned is that God reveals Himself clearly to the Israelites in Exodus and through the Exodus. Knowing God and what He has done serves as a foundation for the hope that we have in this dark world.

In Isaiah 9:1-7, we see Hope. Hope rooted in who God is and what He has done.

God will deliver His people like He did in the days of Moses.

“But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. - Isaiah 9:1-2

You can see the parallels between God’s covenant with Abraham, Moses, and David.

3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. - Isaiah 9:3-5

God promised a child to Abraham, God used a child born under slavery in Moses, God promised a child to David that would reign forever on the throne… and Jesus is the fulfillment of these promises.

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. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” - Isaiah 9:6-7

God has revealed himself as faithful and loving from generation to generation… and It is God’s character and the ways He has fulfilled His promises that fuels the hope and faith of His people in the present.

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s plan and promises.

Matthew 1:18-23

[18] Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. [19] And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. [20] But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. [21] She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” [22] All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: [23] “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).

Luke 1:26-33

[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

John 1:1-5

[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Jesus is the light of the world that has come to shine on those who are in darkness.

Jesus is the Messiah who has delivered us from our sin and established his kingdom.

Jesus is described with titles reserved for the Messiah in Isaiah 9.

Wonderful Counselor

Suggests that his life will exhibit miraculous acts of God

Mighty God

This same name in Is 10 is used to describe God himself. No other person ever has God’s name, and God is never referred to by any other person’s name.

Everlasting Father

In 2 Samuel 7:16 tells us that one will rule on the throne of David forever. This signifies that the one to be born is that person, and that He is different from the pagan gods of their day.

Prince of Peace.

Peace implies an end of war and is reminiscent of the ideal peace described in the kingdom of God in 2:4. It is also comparable to the promise in the Davidic covenant that God’s people will not be oppressed again and that they will have rest from their enemies (2 Sam 7:10–11).

The type of kingdom that He will lead makes impossible to connect this description with any earthly ruler of Isaiah’s day or after. Every kingdom ends, there has yet to be a peace, there is no perfect justice in a worldly ruler or system. The one to be born is unique, divine, a messiah who will bring all things under His rule, and rule for eternity.

Hope in the person and promise of Jesus sustains us while we wait in the present.

Be more concerned with pleasing God than pleasing others while you wait.

God told Isaiah to fear Him over men… and you cannot pease both God and man, so you are either pleasing God or you are not. and in our waiting we are to strive to please god more than others.

Be faithful to God’s Word while you wait.

While we wait we are still to be faithful to what God has said. There are many church goers who can tell you what a preacher has said, but they cannot tell you what God has said in His Word.

And, while I pray that we preach the Bible well to you, it is not the same thing to hear it explained as it is to hear it.

Being faithful to God’s Word means reading it, understanding it, and choosing God’s Word over the traditions and opinions of men.

Be selfless toward others while you wait.

Waiting is not a passive experience. We are called to live for God and to live for Him toward others. Our waiting is meant to be filled with living for God’s purpose in the midst of all the hard and difficulties brought on through sin.

And, when it comes to being selfless, it’s one of the most basic characterizations of a Christian in the Bible. We are called to be selfless and to put God and one another as our priorities.

Selfless takes shape through serving, giving, and praying. So, selflessly pray for others. Selflessly give to the ministry and mission of the gospel. Selflessly serve others through ministry and missions.

Be future focused in the present

Paul said that we are to forget what lies behind and strain forward to what is ahead in Christ Jesus.

This means we live for the future in the present and we are mindful in the present that there is a future. I read a really good article by Joe McKeever this weekend on the difference between a dying church and growing church… and one of the characteristics he wrote about was the dying church lives for the past in the present versus the growing church that lives in the present for the future.

Hope isn’t found by living for the past in the present. Hope is expressed when we live in the present confident of the future because of God’s faithfulness in the past.

Waiting in the darkness is sustained by hope in promise of God through Jesus Christ.

“the zeal of the Lord will do this.”

The zeal of the Lord did do this! God’s love for you was displayed through Christ on the cross. zeal equals desire, fervent, commitment, etc. Not, begrudgingly etc.

Hope relies on the faithfulness of God

Hope trusts for God while waiting expectantly for God to keep His promise.