January 15, 2006
Scripture:
Scripture:
Can we look once again at Isaiah 9:6; this one verse is so filled with wonder and glory, I feel incapable of explaining it. It starts by saying, “For unto us a child is born,” what child is this? There are 5 names for Him in this verse. Five denotes human weakness; but this child is God Himself, the Creator of the whole universe, stars, planets, etc. He became a child, born in Bethlehem. So astounding that God would come this way! Yet He had to be born into this world if He was to redeem it; He couldn’t just appear. His birth was amazing, it did not require a human father. If it did, Jesus would be of fallen seed. But his mother got her child from the Holy Spirit. “Unto us a son is given.” A son, no doubt the Son of God, was given for the world, it was Jesus. “The government shall be upon his shoulder.” Notice that shoulder is singular; if we were to turn to Luke 15 and read the parable of the lost sheep, we would find that when the shepherd finds his sheep, he puts it on his shoulders. One day He will take the government upon his shoulder. “And his name shall be called, Wonderful.” I like to think of that as being “full of wonder.” When we see Him, we will be filled with wonder, just like the Queen of Sheba, except in a much more significant way. “Counsellor,” a counsellor gives counsel. You can go to man to receive counsel, but God will give you counsel that could not be better. “The mighty God,” this child is God. “I and my father are one.” Jesus and God are the same person. His might is shown at creation. That which took place on Calvary took much might in order to save you and me. “The everlasting Father,” Think of the words Jesus spoke to Mary at the sepulchre, “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father.” We have a Father, one who loves and cares for us. “The Prince of Peace,” the world looks for peace. One day peace will come: when Jesus comes as the Prince of Peace. We will know the Prince of Peace before then; we will go to see Him before He comes to this earth. How wondrous to be a child of God! Jesus’ name has brought us salvation, but it has also brought us together this morning, Matthew 18:20. It is a name to gather to. Besides this, we will gather around Him in Heaven. How wonderful is the name of Jesus! This verse is so full of glory and adoration. How we praise His precious name!
EG Hymn 138–“Whosoever heareth,” shout, shout the sound, Prayer • Romans 10:1—This can be called the “gospel heart.” Even though Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, he still had a heart for the Gentiles. • Vv. 9,12–13—This is the “believing heart.” • Vv. 14 & 15—Paul then asks four questions” 1. “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?”—You would not call on someone in whom you didn’t believe. 2. “How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?”—For you to believe in that person, you have to hear about him. 3. “How shall they hear without a preacher?”—For you to hear about him, someone needs to tell you about him. 4. “How shall they preach, except they be sent?”—For someone to tell you about him, someone has to be sent. God will send people to preach the gospel, so others can hear, and believe, and call on the name of the Lord, and be saved. But what happens if the preacher can only speak English and the hearer can only hear Spanish. There was a missionary named Joy R__ who went to South America to preach to the Spanish people there; she had learned to speak Spanish. Then she got very sick and couldn’t stay in South America. Like the Apostle Paul, she had a “gospel heart”; her heart’s desire was that they might be saved. She said it would be wonderful if someone could go in her place to preach the gospel. But learning Spanish is not easy. Joy wanted a way to record a message in Spanish that could be given out and played by the Spanish people. This was before there were any mp3 players, CDs, or even cassettes. It was in the days of Thomas Edison and he had just invented the phonograph, with its records and players. Joy was able to get a message recorded in Spanish on a record. Now there was another problem: there was no electricity in most of South America. So they invented a cardboard record player that was turned by hand. Then people went down to South America with the records and players and handed them out to the Spanish people. These people would bring them back to their tribes and play them over and over. Then they would come back and ask for another record, because the first one was threadbare, it had been played hundreds of time. In this way, Joy R__ was able to preach to the Spanish people. The organization that made this record is still running today, except now they are using hand-cranked cassette players and have over 4000 languages.
Hebrews 9:23–28 • The ending of this chapter has 3 “hooks” to hang our thoughts on: