Sermon Tone Analysis

Advent 2010 #4

There Will Be No End

Isaiah 9:6,7

Well Thursday is my birthday.

Can you imagine it is your birthday, and all your friends show up; they gather in the family room, and everyone is so excited?

There are presents all over the place.

But when they start, there isn’t a single present for you.

They have bought EACH OTHER presents.

And they aren’t CHEAP gifts either, they are quite extravagant but nothing for you.

Well, you and I, good folks that we are, we would NEVER do that.

Not to anyone we know and love.

But do we do that to Jesus our Lord and Savior?

We say it’s all about him, but what is FOR him this Christmas?

What gift are you giving him to show him your love?

Oh there’s nothing wrong with giving to one another, but should the cause of Christ suffer for want while we lavish on each other?

Can we consider what we will give to the one who has given us so much?

(Inspired by a poem by —Fred D. Jarvis )

For 3 weeks now we have been looking at Isaiah 9:6,7 as we celebrate the Advent Season.

The word Advent as you know means, The coming of Christ in Incarnation.

That is Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, leaving the glories of Heaven, emptying himself of his rights and privileges and taking on the limitations of humanity.

Philippians 2:6-8 says this about Jesus and his incarnation … /“who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on as cross!"/

Be very clear about this.

Jesus Christ was NOT a human that grew into a great example for us.

Jesus Christ was not a human that worked himself INTO a position of divinity

Jesus Christ was not a Spirit that became a human and then a son of God

Jesus Christ was not godlike

Jesus was ALREADY IN VERY NATURE, in his natural state was already GOD.

He then willingly gave up the rights and privileges that this entailed so that he could serve us

We needed a pure and perfect sacrifice and he BECAME like us to redeem us

He didn't just leave Heaven because he was bored.

He left Heaven to start something.

He left Heaven to start something that would not end.

And he placed the desire for it in our hearts … what is it?

His eternal rule, an eternity with God's purposes and plans carried out in our lives.

*Isaiah 9:6,7 READ *

Ecclesiastes 3:11 /he has made everything beautiful in its time.

He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end … 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.

God does it so men will revere him.

/

God has put in your heart and mine a desire for eternal life, eternal rule and reign of Christ, and when we surrender to that … his purposes are carried out …

Let's break this down a bit, verse 7 says /He will REIGN / RULE on David's throne and over his kingdom/

!

*1.

Rule *

How is the rule and reign of God carried out in Christ Jesus?

THRONE = /seat of honor, authority and power/

!! A. David's Throne

Jesus was an answer to God's promise to David

Psalm 132:11 /the Lord swore an oath to David, a sure oath that he will not revoke: ´one of your own descendants I will place on your throne -/

V12 says /“if your sons keep my covenant and the statues I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever”/

Well David’s sons eventually did NOT keep those covenants.

And they were disqualified.

But God keeps his promises.

And we also couldn’t keep the laws and promises we made to God … But that was not the end of the story

1. Jesus was a Descendent of David both through Mary and Joseph … God kept his word.

2. Though he was fully God, he was born INTO the family of David so that God could keep his promise and Christ could reign on David's throne forever.

Jesus Christ came and lived according to the statutes and covenant.

God kept his promises.

Though hundreds of years had passed and many heartaches and disappointments as many of David's kings had been ungodly and wicked, yet still God protected his promise.

Luke 1:32 /he will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David/

3. By the way … Jesus has YET to sit on David's throne … at his FIRST Advent, he came meek, lowly, and humble.

He came as a suffering Servant.

But as we read and learn in The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the day is still coming when he WILL physically take David's throne.

The day will come when he will appear, coming with the clouds of Judgment, riding a white horse accompanied by his church

But if you and I are to be with him … he must rule and reign on our throne.

The throne of our heart Today NOW.

!! B. Your Throne

1.

When Solomon took David's throne, 1 Chr 29:23 put it this way … /Soloman sat on the throne of the Lord as king in place of his father David /

2.

You see Solomon recognized that HE was NOT the Eternal ruler of David's throne.

He was only HOLDING the Throne temporarily … the throne belonged to the Lord

3. We also must come to a place in our lives where we recognize that the throne to our heart does NOT belong to us, our heart is the throne of the Lord and we need to get down and give it to him

He is the holder of David's throne, he desires to be on your throne but you need to know that he IS on ….

!! C. Eternity’s Throne

1. Matt 25:31 - /he will come in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory/

2. In Rev 21:3 as Eternity enters its final disposition and the New Jerusalem comes down to the New Earth from Heaven we hear, /"Now the dwelling of God is with men and he will live with them.

They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

He who was seated on the throne said "I am making everything new!" then he said … "it is done.

I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.

To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of water of life."/

He is the promised one of David's throne, He is the One who is or wants to be on YOUR throne, and he is on Eternities throne

He rules not just for the purpose of ruling.

So many kings and rulers that this world have known have ruled for the purpose of ruling alone.

"It's Good to be the KING" that may be true for the King but not always for the subjects.

But for subjects, it is GOOD to have a GOOD King" …

Jesus didn't want to rule David's throne and your throne just so he could rule.

He has that already, but he wanted to bring PEACE

!

*2.

Peace*

Our sin destroyed our peace.

Our sin destroyed our relationship with God

Jesus rules and desires rule, so that he might establish peace and keep it forever …

Verse 6 ends by saying he is /“the Prince of Peace”/ leading into verse 7. /“and the increase of his government and peace will have no end/

He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, …

!! A. Establishing and Holding

1. What a different kind of King we have in Christ.

Think of every story you've ever read, every movie you've ever seen regarding Kings.

Thrones are TAKEN and held by Force.

God doesn't work that way with us.

The throne of the Universe is HIS ACCORDING to Who he is.

He is the one who created it, he is the one who holds it together, he is the one who continues it moving and operating in harmony.