Introduction
Let me begin with a discipleship question: will we trust and obey Jesus in the real decisions of everyday life? Christ forms us through truth received, repentance practiced, and obedience lived out.
Main Points
Grace and Justification
we are calling this series the king is coming to get excited for the reality that we can say that because christmas is a reminder that he came but he left some things for us to be working on in preparation for him to come again and we're going to do this in four main topics so we're going to look at the classic uh traditional topics of advent which are hope love peace and joy so each week we'll look at a different theme of the expectation of the coming king and what he brings into our life as we receive him in our hearts and our minds and ultimately what he'll bring into the world in his second coming so i am kicking all this off with maybe the one that sets the table for everything else this is like the christmas tree of the themes this is the one that you set in the middle if you do that uh it's hope without hope you don't make any preparation without hope you're not excited for what's coming hope is a commitment to say there is something i believe in that isn't here yet that's what hope is saying and we are people that as we'll look at the word today are supposed to be radically set apart by our hope in what is coming and we're going to look at that in a passage of scripture that is the best for our theme and the topic of the morning which is in isaiah chapter 9. i'm going to just point out three verses from isaiah starting in chapter nine and um if you if you have your bible there you can turn with me we'll start in verse two so isaiah a prophet comes on the scene in the time of the nation of israel that didn't look real great and i'm grateful for the context of this because as we read through the proclamation that isaiah is going to give to god's people then we're going to see some parallels for the way that we're proclaiming for god's people now it says in verse 2 the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death upon them a light has shined so in isaiah's day he comes on the scene as god has this plan to set aside a nation for himself he would be their god and they would be his people and by that relationship all of the other nations would see something really unique about them and so god gave them a land he gave them blessings and he protected them and over the years just as often as the case in the story of god all of the blessings actually turn into burdens because in their prosperity and in their growth and in their in their in their riches of their nation they take their eyes off of god and they start looking around and really the story of the nation of israel is a story of a slow drift away from the goodness of god and isaiah comes on the scene and he's describing a dark time and it's particularly dark because at this moment in their history if you if you're a nation of israel you're looking around and you're seeing other nations that are more powerful and they're rising up and it appears as though it's only a matter of time before they invade and take over and so there's not a lot of hope for their country and like i said i can't help but think of our time that we live in we are a people that seem to have been especially blessed when you think about the history of the world and the way that nations have risen and eventually fallen we seem to be on the riding a wave of great prosperity as a nation and much of that is you look back and you can say that we had god's favor we have a rich history of the church of god in our country we by all accounts are a christian nation and yet we seem to live in a very dark time we seem to live in a time where there's not a lot of hope whether you're in the church or whether you're just visiting in your in the world you look around it's like what is happening in fact most people now that when they do the polls most people say the country seems to be going in the wrong direction and you guys probably have felt the pains of that in your own world maybe even on thursday this week the topic of the country came up and it probably wasn't a real joyous conversation and so we think about this because we look at the passage of scripture today not just in the lens of a reason to uh to feel despair the shadow of darkness or death but we study it because god in his goodness in a time of great burden for his people sent in a message this is not the end of the story and he gave the prophets as almost a light in fact classically people will light an advent candle and the first one for hope is often called the prophet's candle because the prophets come and they say there's still a glimmer of light for this country and the prophets at this time and specifically isaiah comes in and says the people in darkness are going to see a great light and with this there is just a small measure but with great expectation that this is the hope that they were waiting for and this is really something that is interwoven into the story of god all throughout scripture it god is good people forget that they find themselves in darkness and then there's a glimmer of hope there's something in the story of god where he is reminding his people all the time you've got to be hopeful people because i'm not done with you in fact we see this in the new testament peter's writing to a church that's going through persecution they've given their life to god they've accepted the free gift of his grace the born-again spirit of christ in them and yet the world wants nothing to do them with peter says you guys are going to be different and so he actually takes some language from isaiah and he writes a letter to the first church and this is what he says first peter chapter 3 verse 15. sanctify the lord god in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear that first word sanctify your hearts for the lord essentially saying there's a lot of things that your heart can be given over to when you find yourself in that burdening season of life when it seems dark and you see the news feed and the dinner table's got tension and there's some missing people and relationships are strained and the word of the lord comes and says all the things that could burden your heart i want you to set aside your heart for what god wants you to have and god wants you to know that the story is not done and there's still hope and it's going to be so radical in your life if you really get this message if you really believe in the god that continually sends this message of hope in times of darkness peter's going to say get ready because you are going to look really weird to the world that you live in fact i've kind of felt this verse over the last couple years as one of the verses that i fall back on because if you're a follower of jesus today and you have been for the last couple of years and if the language of hope has been anywhere near your conversations it is the most scandalous thing you can do in our times is to be a hopeful person the most the most dangerous thing that you can do for our culture is to look at the news and to look at all of the circumstances that you can see with your eyes and to look through it and say you know what i still believe that something good can happen people look at you say what news are you reading it's almost bothersome to the people of this world when the christian hope rises up like the candle it's almost like you need to get real you need to get rooted in reality because there's nothing to be hopeful about we all need to be serious it's time to get really sober about the world we live in and we need to all do our part because hope isn't going to help us and that's why for this season as we prepare our hearts and our minds we are preparing to be set apart we're saying okay god it's been a crazy couple years but we are going to be people who learn to trust in you with such hope that we're going to be scandalous about it and so the title of our first sermon in our advent is the defense of hope and as we go through this promise that was given through the prophet isaiah i just want to if you take nothing else from this sermon i want to give you three axioms of truth about hope that we get from that candle that god will light in our hearts one that god is good there's reason to be hopeful because god is good two the end is glorious and three we're never going to give up and number three really isn't defense it's more like offense like we are not stopping to be we're not going to stop believing in god but sometimes offense is the best defense right keith we play soccer together so we're going to start with each one of these little moments that we can take from isaiah's truth and i want to give a definition of hope for each one the crazy thing about hope is that it's all over scripture it's like god of hope comforts you impatient endurance and hope the hope of glory christ in you there's just this message of keep trusting god and be hopeful and yet as a preacher who's going to preach on hope and as people who know the word it's sometimes hard to put your finger on what it's actually getting at what do we mean by hope so i want to give you three working definitions based off these truths that we take from isaiah of what hope is that you would just as you go through this week and the end of this year and whatever god has in store for you that you would hold on to these particular versions of hope so number one hope is this hope is confidence in the goodness of god you've become someone who when you enter into the sanctuary and you're singing the praises of god and we open the word and you're listening and you're bringing not just your words and you're not just bringing your attendance but you are bringing your hearts to build up your confidence and who he is and you are in fact building up the muscle of hope in your heart and look what we get from isaiah we'll get our second verse now listen to what this says about the goodness of god infused with the message of hope verse 6 isaiah chapter 9 for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called wonderful counsel mighty god everlasting father prince of peace isaiah is not proclaiming another king like all the other kings he's saying there is a hope there is a light that is coming into the world that is altogether different in its greatness and it is god himself you listen to the words on this page and think about what we believe about the goodness of god when we celebrate christmas look what it says unto us a child is born so you guys know the story of christmas how can you not see isaiah 9 in the manger and if you ever doubt the goodness of god in your life pause and think about what christmas is christmas is when we say god so loved the world that he gave his son to be born amongst men as a bond servant not simply to bring truth and example as a way to live but to literally lay down his life so that you could have yours god so loved the world he gives his son so that you would not perish christmas is rooted in the goodness of god and then it says the government will be upon his shoulder i think one of the reasons that hope seems to be at an all-time low in our country and around the dinner table is because our love of government seems to be at an odd all-time high i have no idea how this happened because when i was a kid growing up in the 90s my parents had a giant satellite dish in their backyard so that we could get cable and eagle because this is before eagle had tv reception that's how long the eagles changed a lot now it's like swanky but then it was like you live in eagle you can't watch tv out there and on that satellite dish was c-span it was like the worst channel all it was government stuff it was like next not that and nobody watched that and now everybody all day long is like what's happening in government today that's just the twitter feed of government everyone's just addicted to all of the things that the different rulers of babylon are arguing about and as our trust in the worldly government goes up your hope will decrease because this idea of government which god administers to administer justice it has its role but its role is not to save you its role is not to encourage your soul and to prepare you for eternity it has a very limited role in its blessing in this world and so when we say confidence in the goodness of god we're confident in his government in his kingdom in the way that he administers justice and mercy to his people you want to have an increase of hope we must have a shift away from babylon and back to christ as the hope of what we are preparing our hearts for in this season then it says his name will be called wonderful and counselor what a beautiful promise of hope that the god of creation is coming as a wonderful counselor and here's another reason that we can see a decline of the assurance of hope is because we live in a time where man wisdom is all-time high it's like everybody's got a counselor and a therapist and a psychologist and a psychiatric help everybody's got counsel but it seems to be everything but the counsel of god again there is hope in the word of god's wisdom when you live your life according to your design and according to how god created you will live your life under the flow of his blessings and when he is your counselor when his word is guiding your life you have hope because it tells us not to lean on our own understanding but to trust in him and he directs our steps and you have joy because in the plan of god for your life the good works that he's prepared beforehand there is joy and life and life more abundant and as we trust in the confidence of the goodness of god we say counsel us lord give us your give us your word so we know where to go then it says everlasting father trusting in the goodness of god is trusting in the goodness of god's plan to be your father and to make us a family and some of you got the reminder of why hope is on the decline around the dinner table some of the fathers here are great some of them are bad but the reality is that every family is broken and every time we gather we get reminded of how tense it can all feel and how flawed we all are and god says there's hope on the way because i'm coming and i'm the father that you're all made to love and when i'm your father then you're adopted into the family of god and you become this family that is built on the love of the father for one another and it brings us hope that we can reconcile that we can forgive that we can show each other mercy that we can be different than all of the broken families of this world and then it says the prince of peace here is this last mark of one of the reasons that you may be feeling the need for this message this morning you remove god from your aim of hope and you will see anxiety rise there's just no getting around the reality that where hope decreases anxiety is on the rise we want peace we're made for it god wants to give it to us but we won't let him be the prince of peace in our lives and so hope comes on the scene and says you want to have hope you better trust in the goodness of god for every category that he's come to put hope into your life for he's your king the government he's your father the family he's your peace your soul protected by god one of the psalms that i love maybe my favorite psalm 27 and it's really a message about hope although it doesn't say hope in it but look what king david says when he's thinking about his need for hope psalm 27 13 says i would have lost heart unless i had believed that i would see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living that phrase losing heart is the antithesis of this entire message to lose heart it means you don't have any more hope you look at the circumstance you read the news you study the world and you say i don't see it and my heart is gone i don't see a way out and what changed for david in this song of worship he said that would have happened to me unless i hadn't believed in the goodness of god it is the goodness of god that will restore your hope it's the confidence that god is good yesterday today and forever that will maintain your hope as i was preparing this message this verse was like my go-to i'm like i know psalm 27 is definitely going to get in there so praise god it did and so it was really all i had in uh in my heart and two weeks ago as you know i wasn't going to be here because i got invited to do a couples retreat with fca idaho so excited and it was one of those lose heart moments for me you guys ever have those moments where i would have lost heart or should i say have you had one this week today are you ready for your next one it's like i can't believe this happened i'm done so my lose heart moment was getting all of my kids ready we're on our way up to mccall and everything is like oddly planned for us it was like perfectly planned we had a place right next to the retreat where we were going to take our kids it was daniella's sister and danielle was like that brings me so much peace to right down the road if anything happens i'm like cool i was thinking that too kind of and we're we have the whole house ready so when we come back we'll be nice and clean nothing to think about we're on our way up we just got to stop to get some food for the kids there they are right there it's kind of weird that i'm preaching and talking about you guys and we pull over and we get some food and the youngest daughter we're eating and she's like i don't feel good and i'm like i can see through your lies i was thinking she was saying that so that she could go to our bed in the back while we ate and i'm like she just wants to get out of her car seat she's fine and she's like i don't feel good i was like ah we're good we're nothing's gonna stop us and uh about two minutes later she didn't feel good everywhere was not feeling good and i was like no this isn't the plan uh i don't okay that's all right it's only friday the whole week we had the whole weekend so we just come home and i was like we get put the kids right to bed we'll wake up early in the morning we'll do it all again and so i wake up at 5 00 a.m i'm ready i wake up or a little daughter i'm like how you feeling she's like i'm like good enough let's go so we're doing it all again repeat and then uh my other daughter comes up to me and says i don't feel good and i'm like oh you're fine and she goes i don't feel good and it was everywhere and there was my moment it's like i'm supposed to be at a wedding or a marriage retreat i'm supposed to be hanging out with my wife and just being poured into and away from kids and it dawned on me as i was cleaning up there not feeling well all over that it was the exact opposite and by god's grace infused into my heart was this divide that says lose heart or trust god and every one of you is going to walk down the fork of the road it's like lose heart or god is still good and again god's grace i'm a weak sinner the verse just boils over and i'm like god is up to something god is doing something god is good i have confidence that if god wanted me there i'd be there but god must want me here so i'm here because god's plan is better than my plan because i have confidence in the goodness of god i have hope that this is all going to make sense and by god's grace it was amazing it was like there's no plan we're here i'm not preaching the weekend so i've got nothing to do so we're like going for walks me and my wife we're cooking together and we cashed in on the promise of god's goodness that day but that's not always how it happens trusting in the goodness of god is not instant gratification i say that because as we read the prophet isaiah the glimmer of hope the light in the dark it would take hundreds of years for the prince of peace to be born and as i share the word the message for you this morning to encourage your heart so that you would not lose heart i am not sharing a message of instant gratification and that brings us to the second truth or the second definition of hope number two says this hope is faith in the good ending hope doesn't mean the middle is always perfect hope believes in the goodness of god as promises are true yes and amen hope believes that god is sovereign and his will not be thwarted and hope is especially necessary when your plans go awry when things happen in your life to remind you of the fork in the road who are you going to trust and this is the message that isaiah brings a message that is pointing people to a future not a present he says in verse 7 of his increase of his government and peace there will be no end upon the throne of david and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward even forever i love that the prophets didn't come with a wishful expectation when we talk about hope we're like man that would have been nice i hope it works out and if it doesn't then i'll just be disappointed we're talking about hope that's rooted in truth and grounded in specifics and is given over to god he says it's coming there's a there's a throne that god is establishing through the line of david that will go on forever and when that day comes it'll never end and so there's parts of this promise that we still wait for a never-ending kingdom where god reigns with supreme justice but that's the end of the story we're still somewhere in the middle in the timeline of god's sovereignty and it's true of your own life there are things that you feel hopeless about today and what you're hearing or what i want you to hear is that the story's not over that part of having confidence in the good goodness of god is having faith in the good ending because god's endings are always good he always finishes the story well as i was preparing for this i heard a thought experiment i'll share with you because it kind of helped me if you're if you're if you're like me sometimes just a visual i want you to think about a monotonous job and you've been given a monotonous job i thought about my own monotony in my career and the most monotonous job i ever had was just picking up trash along the freeway i don't know if you guys have ever done that it's great reward it's helping you know save the habitat but it's also it takes you know all day long you're just like oh there's like a tiny should i get the tiny wrapper i guess i get everything you know it's like you start talking yourself and your back hurts like when imagine that you had to do that for one year and for one of you i say after the year's end i'm going to pay you what you're worth i'm going to give you're probably worth about 25 000 so at the end of this just know that you're going to get a nice sum of money that your time was not wasted and you're going to get a little cash for what you did the second person i say listen you do this you prove that you can make it through this i'm going to give you 10 million now imagine those two people find themselves picking up trash together can you imagine the different attitudes that they might have the first person barely making enough money at the end of the year to pay off his bills is like this has got to be the worst job of all time now imagine what the second person might say are you kidding me this is amazing when we get to the end of this the payoff is going to be so incredible that there's nothing stopping me i'm going to be the best in the world this is the difference between hopelessness and hope and this is why the message of god always has an alpha and an omega he has prophecy that he gives to us he has his word that shows us a future for what he has planned and throughout your life he's always bringing you along to the storylin
Conclusion
We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.
Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.
Conclusion
We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.