Brother Gary Sunday Morning 12/2/12

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 12/2/12

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

As I worked on this message, I was struck with the greatness of God.  What I want to talk about this morning is the Zeal of the Lord.  This scripture says, “The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this.” 

It is not the thought that maybe there is a God somewhere that could do this.  Every one of us desperately needed a savior.  Not only did God’s zeal cover those that would be saved up to a certain time, God has a zeal that reaches to lost mankind wherever they are. 

It is the Zeal of the Lord that He desires your worship.  Many things in the world are worshiped today but nothing could take the place of worshipping God.  It is His zeal that made a way that we could worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

God designed that you and I would have the benefits of worship.  Coming into the presence of God Himself and the Holy Spirit of God has a powerful affect on us.  We enter our secret closet and yes make requests but we must also worship Him.

We need to worship God in studying the Word of God too.  No matter how long you study, God’s word is renewed and inspired over and over again.  However many times that I have heard this text preached, it has spoke new life and new enthusiasm to think that God Himself would desire to help mankind; that He would have the zeal to say that He was going to design a plan where men and women could live holy lives, be changed and receive definite benefits from worshipping.

When God speaks to you as you worship whether it is in prayer meetings, house meetings, our private devotions, or in Sunday service, God speaks to us of things that He wants us to take care of when we are worshipping.  There is a work for every one of us to do. Little is much when God is in it.  When I am worshipping and God lays a burden on my heart, He expects me to have a plan of action.

Worship will do for us what nothing else will do.  We could diagnose that we need sleep, a vacation, a rest, but there is something about God laying a burden on our heart and us acting on that that does something for us that nothing else can.

We are washed when we worship.

The zeal of the Lord is the Father’s love to us.  He loved us so much; it is His zeal that made a way that we could be saved. 

The zeal of the Lord covers God’s extreme justice.  When we think of the justice of God and our sin, there was no way that as a Gentile we could have the remotest thought that we could be forgiven of our sin.  Paul wrote to us Gentiles that we were without God and without hope.  Yet the Heavenly father’s zeal demands justice.  He sent His son to be the offering for our sin. 

Talk about Zeal! Talk about a desire to help and change lives! Talk about the desire to break the cycle of sin, of darkness, of being abused and an abuser!  The attributes of God include that He has the Zeal of the Lord.

His zeal provided a way of extreme Justice.

The Holiness of God!  God is so unbiased in the thought that He would not make a judgment of not doing something because you are inferior.  He is so unbiased!  His son was born of a Jew yet God is unbiased toward all nationalities.  What a mighty God we serve!

The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this. 

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

It is wonderful that God sent His son unto us!  Jesus was born unto us.  “Unto us a son is given.”  When we begin to grasp that He gave His son so that we could become a joint heir with His son.  It is wonderful that our heavenly father has the thought that, “I’m giving you my son so that you could be a joint heir with Him.”   It is wonderful that that wall of partition is broken down and Jesus wants to share His inheritance with us. 

God walks the dark hills.  There are times that you feel that “I have to get through this difficult spot.”  You don’t have to go through it alone.

There will be times when we are all alone, but it is wonderful that a son was given.  Only God can do this:  that a mother that lost her son need never be alone.

During the Korean War my brother was wounded in Korea.  In that day the parents were informed by telegram.  When they brought the telegram to my mother she began to pray.  Isn’t it marvelous that as her son was on the battle field for the USA that a Son was given that even thought she couldn’t get to her son, this Son could come to her and comfort her? 

God said, “I’m going to cover everything for that one that is redeemed.” The zeal of the Lord covered that the government would be on His shoulders.  God’s zeal wanted you to know that this son was going to be concerned about every detail of your life.  To preach anything else is heresy. 

God and His son are concerned about the very details of your life.  A sparrow doesn’t fall that He doesn’t see.  He wants you to know that you can cast every care on Him.  The government, decisions, and every detail of your life, you can cast on Him. 

We have one that we can go to.  We can go to God and pray for every decision that we make.  We have a God that cares about the little details.  They are very important to Him.  The answer may tarry but that doesn’t mean that God is not God.  It just means that He is setting things in their proper sequence.  You and I don’t understand why but we don’t have to. 

The government of our life, of His church, and of the world is on His shoulders.  It may not go the way that we think that it should, but that doesn’t mean that God is not God

He is a wonderful savior, healer, and companion.  He is wonderful in counsel and in working.  He is the wonderful counselor.  It is the zeal of the Lord of Hosts that performs this.  When you need someone to talk to, He is the wonderful counselor.

He is the mighty God.  He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.

He is the everlasting Father.  Jesus Christ is the Father of eternity.  The zeal of the Lord sent this Son that He would be able to make the way open for you and me to ever be with the Lord.

He is the prince of peace.  All of our lives we will experience, turmoil, difficulty, and hard places.  It is wonderful that there is the prince of peace.  When you and I still ourselves before Him, he will come as the prince of peace.

Isa 9:2  The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

766 years later:

Mat 4:12  Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;

Mat 4:13  And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:

Mat 4:14  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

Mat 4:15  The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;

Mat 4:16  The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

This is to those that walk and sit in the region of the shadow of death.  A region is an area that is covered.  We live in the northwestern region of Montana.  We refer to different regions that show a distinct area.  God moved and wanted us to understand that there is the region of the shadow of death. 

I hope God helps me this morning to be able to teach to this audience about this shadow.  We’ve all had the experience of feeling a shadow.  If someone walks up with the sun shining, we may see their shadow before we ever see them. 

When Jesus came, there was a region that people sat and walked in, a region of the shadow of death.  There is something that is needful for you and me to know concerning this shadow of death.  In the World, there are literally millions under the shadow of death.  They are overshadowed by this separation between them and God.

It was a bit of a mystery in my mind, until I grasped this teaching:  There are people that are so over shadowed by death that they take pleasure in sin and enjoy sin so much that God is not in their thoughts at all.  They are bound by sin.  They are over shadowed by it.  If you were in a position to do so, we could go to a group such as AA that tries to help people recover from the sin that they are given into. 

There are people that are so overcome by sin that they turn here or there and that shadow is still there.  There are people that steal not because they are hungry but because they are given into a spirit that causes them to steal. 

Some are so given into being takers; no matter who they see they are thinking of how they can get something from that person. 

There are people that tell you that they don’t want to be what they are: alcoholics, child abusers, or whatever they are doing, but they are overshadowed.  This is where Jesus came through, the power of God, the Lord of Hosts and the Zeal of the Lord shone through.

If one is overshadowed, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t hope.  God wants to wake you up and cause you to pray and fast and pray for that one that is overshadowed.  If one is over shadowed, that causes them to go back to the darkness over and over again.

The region of the shadow of death is the multitudes that are overshadowed.  Through connections of whatever kind, these form colonies that stick together and there is darkness that can almost be felt.

There is a certain amount of our natural tendency to protect our self.  That isn’t all bad; we are to try the spirits.  God allows darkness to be felt so that you could know that there is darkness there.  The darkness in Egypt was so strong that they were blinded and were captive of the darkness.

Exo 10:21  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.

Exo 10:22  And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:

Exo 10:23  They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

The darkness possessed them inside and outside.  It left them blinded, hopeless, and controlled by a dark shadow.  The enemy of our souls will try to send something to hover over us of darkness.  It may come when there is disappointment or loss.  It is like the birddog with his paw on the bird waiting for the hunter to get there.  When you feel that darkness trying to invade upon your territory, get a hold of God.

Jesus came to give life and to give life more abundantly.

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

The zeal of the Lord: in the fullness of time He gave us His son Jesus Christ.  The zeal of the Lord visits us because He loves us.  He doesn’t visit us with a critical eye or to knock us down or destroy us.  He visits us because He loves us.  If God visited you this morning, to edify, to warn, to open eyes, give understanding, or to open your heart then you need to thank Him.  Thank Him for Jesus.

If He visited you this morning and you realize that there are times that you come into darkness that can be felt, the thing is not to run, but to say, “God what do you want me to do?”  Jesus did many of His miracles in the region of the shadow of death. 

They walked, they sat:  that was their lifestyle, they were overcome by shadows.  They that sat in darkness saw a great light.  We praise God this morning.