The Messiah King

[0:00] We're continuing our series looking at the names of God in the Old Testament. and especially as we're coming up to Christmas, we're looking at some of those names which! particularly point to his birth and to the Son of God coming as a baby.

[0:16] Of course, Christmas is a time when we give and receive presents. Now, I don't know whether any of you have ever had an unsuitable present.

[0:29] Or whether you've had some unsuitable cards. I certainly have had both. First slide, please.

[0:42] Second slide, please. That was given to me by one of my sons on a Father's Day.

[0:59] I still don't understand why they thought this was a good card to give me. Because I don't drink. And I especially don't drink beer.

[1:13] And I think the amazing thing was on that particular Father's Day, I got two cards like that. So, I don't know whether they're trying to suggest something to me or not.

[1:24] But certainly, not a suitable card for me. And I certainly have had unsuitable Christmas presents.

[1:34] And the next slide shows one of the most unsuitable I've ever received. Yes. Aftershave. I received this from my next-door neighbour, with whom we've lived for about 20 years.

[1:51] And during all that time, I've had a beard. In fact, I've had a beard since I was 19. So, you know, it's very unsuitable.

[2:03] But at the opposite end of the spectrum, the best present Sylvia and I ever received at Christmas was...

[2:16] That's my son, Andrew. He was born nearly 49 years ago now. But I'll skip over that. He was born on the 15th of December, actually, tomorrow.

[2:28] And there was something magical about holding a newborn baby on Christmas Day. It just makes you remind you of that son that was born 2,000 years ago, in a much worse circumstances than Andrew was born.

[2:49] But there is something magical about a baby on Christmas Day. Next slide, please. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.

[3:07] This prophecy of Isaiah was first a prophecy of a king of human descent. The prophet was speaking to the people of Israel, and he was saying to them, there's going to be someone coming in the royal line who will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom.

[3:25] As Anne suggested at the beginning, I've cheated a bit, because instead of having one name, I have four names. Excuse me, more scope.

[3:38] This child has a fourfold name, names associated with his character, the throne he will sit on, and how he will conduct his reign. Next slide, please.

[3:49] So he would be a person, a royal son, a king in the royal line of David, and he would reign on David's throne. Now, there's no timescale, as usual, in prophecies.

[4:03] No timescale to this prophecy. The people hearing these words for the first time would have hoped and expected that this son would be a king who would come soon to reign over Israel then.

[4:16] Now, Isaiah prophesied during the reign of four kings of Judah, Isaiah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. None of them fitted a description the king set out in this prophecy.

[4:29] In fact, no king of Israel or Judah ever fitted wholly in this prophecy. And as we see a bit later, this prophecy is only fully fulfilled in Jesus.

[4:43] Next slide, please. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

[4:54] And he will be called, could be said, one will call his name. We will call his name. And this name sets out the king's qualification for his rule.

[5:06] Next slide, please. So he will be a wonderful counselor. Literally, a wonder of a counselor. A counselor we would wonder at because he was so great.

[5:19] Now, a counselor indicates a king. In Micah it says, is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished? And this sets out his qualification for ruling. Someone who will rule with justice, righteousness, and who will deal fairly with the poor and the needy.

[5:36] He will be a king who will lead wisely, lead his people wisely. And he will carry out a program which will cause all the world to marvel. It hasn't happened yet, but it will happen when Jesus comes again.

[5:51] There will be a program where all the world will wonder and look at this wonder of a counselor. Next slide, please.

[6:04] He will be a mighty God. He is a mighty God. This shows his person, shows his power, shows he is sovereign overall. He will be a mighty king.

[6:16] A king strong in battle. And he is a God of all of us. The psalm says, Who is this king of glory?

[6:27] The Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle. This is the king of glory. This is the mighty God. The God who fights for us.

[6:38] And who is with us and for us. Next slide, please. Everlasting Father. Now, I know sometimes fathers are not a good role model for some people.

[6:55] But this is a role model of the best father you could ever have. He is the everlasting father. And it sets out the king's relationship with his people.

[7:07] Firstly, it would be forever. It's not something that's going to go away. He's going to be your father forever. An everlasting father. And he is a father with enduring compassion.

[7:18] A provider. A protector. Someone who loves those in need. As it says in Jeremiah, I have loved you with an everlasting love.

[7:30] A love that will never go away. A love that will remain. Whatever you're doing, wherever you are. Whatever's happened in your life. He will love you with an everlasting love.

[7:42] In Deuteronomy, you read, There you saw how the Lord your God carried you. As a father carries his son. All the way you went until you reached this place, the promised land.

[7:55] Here was a father who loved his children so much that he was willing to carry them, in effect, across the desert to the place he'd promised him to take them.

[8:06] A God who cared for the people during their travel in the wilderness. I will leave them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel's father.

[8:23] He's a father who leads us to where we need to be, to where water is, where we need to drink, on a path that won't stumble, a straight and narrow path, which Jesus spoke about in the Gospels.

[8:39] Next slide, please. Prince of Peace. This is the society his rule will create. Liz prayed elegantly about peace, and how much this world needs peace, how much some of us need peace in our hearts.

[9:02] And Jesus, as we all see, is the one through whom we will find peace as individuals, and as the world, only in him.

[9:15] And we get a picture of what this peace will look like from Isaiah and Micah. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leper will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion, and the yearling together.

[9:28] He will judge between many peoples, and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. He will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.

[9:39] The nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. That's what Liz was praying for. That's what I pray for. That's what the world longs for.

[9:50] But those who are opposed to each other, in Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Middle East, Africa, where what they're doing is killing each other, our prayer is that actually, one day they will lie down with each other.

[10:08] One day those guns will be made into harvesting equipment. That's our prayer, and that's what we long to see. Next slide.

[10:22] So this, as I said, points to Jesus, these four names. Firstly, Jesus as king, because that prophecy is about a king who's going to come, about a king who's going to sit on a throne.

[10:38] And so when Jesus came, this was to fulfill what Isaiah said to the people of Israel. Say to daughter Zion, see your king comes to you, gentle, and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

[11:01] Reading from Luke, mentioned that Jesus was the Messiah. And I believe Jesus saw himself as Messiah, but he saw himself as a Messiah, Messiah, unlike the one that Israel were looking for.

[11:17] Israel was looking for a Messiah who would come on a horse, with a sword, and would throw out the Romans, and march up and renew the temple.

[11:30] But that wasn't the way that Jesus saw his role as Messiah. He came as a prince of peace, not as a warmonger.

[11:43] He came gentle, and on a donkey, not on a war horse. And he didn't go towards where the garrison was when he came in.

[11:54] He went to the temple. And we know that Jesus is that kind of king. And he is king, and that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth.

[12:09] Next slide, please. And he is a wonderful counselor. And I ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.

[12:22] The Spirit of truth, the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit is Jesus, and the counselor will teach us all things, remind us of everything about Jesus, and what he said, and he will testify about Jesus and help us to testify about him.

[12:42] Next slide, please. Mighty God. This, I think, is the one where there's been many arguments over the years.

[12:53] Was Jesus God? It's clear that the Bible tells us that Jesus is God. The Son is the image of the invisible God, for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.

[13:08] Regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was the descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power. At that time, this was Jesus talking about when he's going to come again.

[13:25] At that time, men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

[13:42] Paul was talking to the Corinthians, but he's also talking to us. We have Christ, the power of God in us. and we need to use that power for good, use that power to show the love of God, the love of Jesus to everyone.

[14:02] Next slide, please. Everlasting Father. Then the disciples asked him, where is your father? You do not know me or my father, Jesus replied.

[14:17] If you knew me, you would know my father also. I and the father are one. Jesus is our everlasting father.

[14:29] He's the one who cares for us, looks after us, leads us as a shepherd leads us, and leads us to the places we need to go and helps us not to go to the places we shouldn't go to.

[14:41] Next slide. Please. He's a prince of peace. I've talked about that. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.

[14:53] I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid for he himself is our peace. In this troubled time, in these troubled times, it's very difficult to find peace, very difficult to see where peace can come from.

[15:13] but in Jesus, the spirit in us, we can find the peace that's beyond our understanding, the peace we can't find anywhere else.

[15:24] I don't know whether Handel was a Christian, but I believe he was inspired when he wrote The Messiah. And when they come in with that wonderful counselor, he sends prickles up me because it's amazing.

[15:38] but he was pointing to a person who we've all a royal son, someone who would be king, a wonderful counselor, a mighty God, an everlasting father, a prince of peace.

[15:58] And we learned last week that we are a royal priesthood and the person spoken of by Isaiah was of the royal line of David, as was Jesus.

[16:10] And clearly, this is pointing to the most important birth of all, the birth of Jesus. Jesus is this person Isaiah was looking forward to.

[16:26] Again, as Liz prayed, Christmas can sometimes be a sad, lonely time for some. But this wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace, came 2,000 years ago and is with us still.

[16:47] You can know him and we can look forward to him coming again. He can be your counselor, your God, your father and your peace this Christmas.

[17:00] Amen. Amen.