What Train Will You Take?

Isaiah 9:1–7 NIV

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness 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.

Introduction

When Isaiah was speaking to the Israelites they would have most likely been thinking that God was bringing a king to rule that had the same kind of characteristics and ideals that King David had. And they would have been right but wrong at the same time. David was a man after God’s own heart but he was human and had faults, like we do. The king that was coming, that Isaiah was prophesying about was going to be much different that just same kind of characteristics and ideals of King David. He was going to have the exact kind of characteristics and ideals of the Almighty God. gives us a powerful picture of what Jesus came to accomplish: peace on earth. “The end of war depends on the coming of a person—a royal person—yet one never explicitly called a ‘king’ here (cf. ; ; ). “ A Light has dawned.” This is the story of Christmas.

Hope Is Coming

All of us, every person ever born, deal with troubles. We go through times that seem very dark. Some of us go through very traumatic experiences. So what is the engine that drives you to continue on? Let’s allow this portion of scripture to encourage us.

When the Israelites heard this, when the prophecy was given, they were filled with hope. Every Israelite in the years to come would be filled with hope. Why were they filled with hope? Because a good king was coming, freedom was coming. “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light” (v. 2) is a hope we are all clinging to, believing that, even in the midst of great evil and despair, there is a light that has broken through and will only continue to win against the darkness.

I would encourage you to allow the Holy Spirit in this moment and every day forward to fill you with hope. You see Hope is the gas in the engine. Jesus is our answer. I don’t understand what gets people through if they don’t have Jesus. Our hope comes through Jesus, but that hope requires faith, believing some things that we will never understand this side of Heaven.

You might say Pastor Ryan that’s easy for you to say trust and have faith, but you don’t understand my situation. You don’t understand the hurts, you don’t understand my financial situation, you don’t understand.... You right I don’t understand. But I know who does. I know that, by experience, that Jesus understands. But this is the gap, the great divide we all have to cross, will I, will you choose to surrender our desire to have all the answers, our desire to know how things will turn out, and in turn trust, have faith in, and begin to have hope in Jesus. Will you, will I place our situations solely in Jesus’ hands?

You see for the Israelites the idea that “ A Light has dawned” gave them hope to be set free, to live again, to believe the future for their children and grandchildren would be bright. The choice that was set before them is the same choice set before us, will we wholeheartedly place our faith in Jesus, and will we be still and know that He is God?

Hope Changes Perspective

Isaiah 9:6–7 NIV

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness 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.

Isaiah 9:

Hope changes our perspective. When we place our trust and faith in Jesus we have hope. So when we read this passage with hope our perspective of the passage has changed. When I trust Jesus as Wonderful Counselor, I now can share with Him not just my troubles and fears, but I can share with Him every aspect of my life. When I trust Jesus as Mighty God I can celebrate that He is in control, knowing He is working on my behalf for the good. Knowing that the situation that might seem impossible is possible because He is Mighty God. My perspective changes when I have hope. Everlasting Father, I can trust that He will always, always be there for me, He will never abandon me. When our perspective comes from hope it doesn’t matter how dark the situation seems or how chaotic things seems, I know that Jesus is my Prince of Peace. There is no end of His peace. The only way I experience that kind of peace is to trust Him and allow Him to guide and direct me. I challenge you today to have hope and see how your perspective changes.

What Train Will You Take?

Where’s the tie in today to Christmas at the Movies? One of the beautiful things about the film The Polar Express is the way it captures that very sense of losing belief and then the beauty of the world becoming re-enchanted. A young boy begins to lose hope that Santa will visit him and questions his prior belief when he learns that the North Pole is too cold to be a viable place for human life. When a larger-than-life train arrives in front of his house to take him there, the world becomes magical again. When we gather together as the church and read words like , we are participating in a re-enchantment, a reminder that God is up to something, operating in our world in ways we don’t always see.

While The Polar Express re-enchants the world and points and hints toward a deeper meaning to the holiday, it doesn’t acknowledge the real power behind the “magic.” At one point, a character comments, “One thing about trains. It doesn't matter where they're going. What matters is deciding to get on.” But “it does matter which train we climb aboard, which dream we adhere to, and what we choose to believe in.” This passage doesn’t just remind us of the ways that God is working at all times or the power of Christ coming to earth; it shows us that there is an answer to a broken world: Jesus.

The word of God is calling out to you today,

Isaiah 55:1–11 NIV

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.” Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

We read last week in that the word is Jesus. Jesus came so that we could be not only in right standing with God but to have relationship with Him. Jesus accomplished that on the cross. So what train will you take? It does matter where it’s going. Will you take the train that the world is on? That says I create my own destiny, that say I got myself into this mess so I will get myself out, that says it’s never going to be any better than this?

Or will you take the train that surrenders to God’s will, that places trust, faith, and hope in Jesus. That train is headed to Heaven. That train is the train not only should you want to be on, but you need to be on that train.

Jody could you come.

The choice is yours, if I could do it for you I would, but I can’t, you need to choose.

Today is the day, if you need hope today, Hope is here, if you need a Wonderful Counselor, He is here, If you need the Mighty God, He is here, If you need peace today, the Prince of Peace is here. If that is you this morning come now to the altars, don’t delay, tomorrow is not promised. God has something special for you now. We want to stand in the gap with and pray.

Today is the day, if you need hope today, Hope is here, if you need a Wonderful Counselor, He is here, If you need the Mighty God, He is here, If you need peace today, the Prince of Peace is here. If that is you this morning come now to the altars, don’t delay, tomorrow is not promised. God has something special for you now.

He would appear as a child (emphatic in the Hebrew text); He would not only be God come to earth, but God born on earth, i.e., both human and divine. The ‘child born’ points to His humanity and the ‘son given’ to His deity” (Thomas Constable, Notes on Isaiah [Sonic Light, 2017], 62). We talk a lot about Jesus coming for our individual salvation, but this passage reminds us of the cosmic battle going on all around us, and the decisive victory that Jesus would accomplish.