A LEADER WITHOUT PEER                         Isaiah 9:6,7
 

Sunday, November 23, 2008

His Name Shall Be Called...Wonderful Counselor                          Isaiah 9:6,7
INTRO:  The world is in deep trouble and years for real LEADERSHIP...
  What is a leader:
   #1 - Someone whom we can look up to, admire and follow...   a person of VIRTUE
   #2 - Someone who knows where he's going and how to get there...   a person of VISION
   #3 - Someone who knows how to get others to follow him...    a person of VIGOR
Isaiah 9:1-5  Isaiah's world, like ours, was in darkness, needing the light to shine.
          9:6,7  The HOPE for Isaiah's world (and ours) is a LEADER WITHOUT PEER...
  How would this LEADER come?
    As a "child born to us..."   i.e. speaks of his humanity...
    As a "son given to us..."   i.e. speaks of his deity
His NAMES:  reveal his character, his essential nature...over these four weeks, we'll look at all 4
       pairs:  (1) Wonderful Counselor  (2) Mighty God  (3) Everlasting Father  (4) Prince of Peace
TODAY:  "WONDERFUL COUNSELOR"
  "Wonderful" - from Judges 13:17,18 we learn that God's name is "wonderful" or beyond
        understanding, secret, unknowable....  i.e. something we could only know if God reveals it
        to us...
  "Counselor" - OT used for those wise men who advised the king...
                        NT - used to speak of the Holy Spirit who wisely enables and guides us...
        Our leader is the embodiment of God's Wisdom (Proverbs 8:12-19)
             James 1:5....Colossians 2:2,3...1 Corinthians 2:6-16
 
His Name Shall Be Called...Mighty God          Isaiah 9:6,7
INTRO:  Wonderful Counselor speaks of his OMNISCIENCE...
Mighty God speaks of his OMNIPOTENCE...
     Many passages speak of God's great POWER:  Job 9:4; 12:13; Isaiah 40:26-28;
          Daniel 2:19,20 and Romans 16:25-27
How can we grasp this concept?
    #1 - By Comparisons to power we know...but God's limitless power is greater than this!
    #2 - By looking at historic events where God's power was displayed in the Exodus, the
             Conquest of the land, in the miracles of Jesus, at the Resurrection... 
    #3 - By direct statements of Scripture such as Ps. 115:3; Jeremiah 32:27; Matthew 19:26
Three factors always merge together with God...
    #1 - He is all-WISE     #2 - He is altogether GOOD    #3 - He is all-POWERFUL
James Montgomery Boice in The Sovereign God brings together 7 verses that describe God's
    power in the phrase:  "HE IS ABLE..."
#1 – Hebrews 7:25   
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because
           he always lives to intercede for them.   
#2 – 2 Timothy 1:12  Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that
           he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me/I have entrusted to Him  for that day.
 
#3 – 2 Corinthians 9:8  
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all
           times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good
work.                                  
#4 – Hebrews 2:18  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are
           being tempted.
           
#5 – Ephesians 3:20  
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
           according to his power that is at work within us…
#6 – Philippians 3:20-21  …the Lord Jesus Christ,  21who, by the power that enables him to bring           everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious      
          body.

#7 – Jude 1:24
 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious            
           presence without fault and with great joy
 

Sunday, December 14, 2008

His Name Shall Be Called...EVERLASTING
             FATHER                                          Isaiah 9:6,7
INTRO:  Key question:  how can the child born, the son given, be called "Everlasting Father"?
  KEY:  our understanding of the Trinity or Tri-unity of God...
    We tend to separate the 3 persons too much and forget that what is true for One is true for
         all three...
    We think of the FATHER as the ordainer/creator...so are the Son and the Holy Spirit...
    We think of the SON as the redeemer...so are the Father and the Holy Spirit...
    We think of the HOLY SPIRIT as the Enabler/Indweller...so are the Father and the Son...
These two names tell us that the SON functions and serves as our EVERLASTING FATHER in
   3 important ways...
  #1 - As fathers are COMPASSIONATE, so is the Son...   Ps. 103:13
  #2 - As fathers are CAREGIVERS, so is the Son...    Mt. 7:7-11
  #3 - As fathers are CHASTENERS, so is the Son...    Hebrews 12:5-9
 

Sunday, December 21, 2008

His Name Shall Be Called...PRINCE of PEACE  Is. 9:6,7
INTRO:  2 important questions:
  #1 - What does this name, "Prince of Peace," mean?
        A:  (best translation)  "The leader who will bring peace to us..."
  #2 - What kind of peace will he bring?
        A:  The Hebrew concept of SHALOM is more than an absence of conflict...
              It means the condition when everything and everyone fulfills their God-given destiny
                 undisturbed... as pictured in Isaiah 11:1-10
PEACE in 2 DIMENSIONS:
  #1 - International, world-wide PEACE   i.e. in the Future Millennial Kingdom when Jesus will
            be King of Kings and Lord of Lords...  this is for the FUTURE
  #2 - Personal PEACE  i.e. the peace in our hearts everyone longs for right now...
         John 14:27        Romans 5:1,2          John 16:33
CONCLUSION:  Complete and lasting peace comes only with the righteous reign of the divine
  Messiah.  That peace can only be accomplished through a ruler who is a Wonderful
  Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.  While
  righteousness and peace are impossible without Him, nothing is impossible for Him. 
  Someday that peace will come to our entire world when Jesus shall reign.  Until then, we will
  experience trials and testings, difficulties and persecutions in our daily lives, but nothing is
  too hard for Him to overcome when we fully trust in Him!