Dr MJ du Plessis Reformed Church Bellville 20 November 2005 (morning)

REFORMED CHURCH BELLVILLE: SUNDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2005: MORNING SERVICE

Sing before: Psalm 100:1-4

Let us commence this meeting with God by declaring openly to one another and to God:

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Beloved grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen

Psalm of praise: Psalm 119:50
Confession of faith: Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, or us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was Incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.

And we believe one holy catholic* and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

After the reading of the Law we confess our guilt and pray for forgiveness and a new life before God with Psalm 99:4+5
Law
Psalm 99:4+5

Prayer:

Doxology
Worship
Confession of sins

Forgiveness

Gratitude
Prayer for the need of the congregation for the church, the authorities and the sinful world and appeal to God's promises.
General prayer
·Enlightenment from the Holy Spirit for the sake of the ministry of the Word.

Amen

Psalm: 68:11

Scripture: Isaiah 8:23 – 9:7
Text: Isaiah 9:7

"Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this! These strong words are striking and makes one wonder:

What does it mean when the Lord is zealous?
For whom is He zealous?
What are the results when the Lord is zealous?

Isaiah prophesies of a people walking in the darkness of sin.

They experience the distress of war – which is nothing else but their own sins which have caught up with them.
These calamities strike them because the Lord punishes them because their worship is not up to standard.

Yet the punishment of the Lord is not loveless. His absolute holiness demands that He punishes all sin – but His love sees to it that the punishment is delivered in such a way that it will provide great blessing for those whom He loves.

To our human intelligence this makes no sense but that is how God deals with His punishment and His grace.

In Isaiah 9:1 the past and the future are separated:

The Lord speaks of the past – that is the time of all sorts of troubles we brought onto ourselves.
Then He speaks of the future – that is a time of salvation that He will bring us.

The people listening to the prophet Isaiah suddenly heard of God's amazing grace:

There where the darkest misery is God will send the light of His salvation that will rise like the sun dawning after a dark night.
On the one hand light is the symbol of the greatest happiness and joy.
On the other hand it is part of the Being of God – God is Light of Light.

The people walking in darkness are an image that encompasses more than only the people of Israel – it becomes the whole church (all the Lord's elect) during their earthly existence.

Verse 4 contains another image of our condition:

We are so caught in the slavery of our sin that we are compared to a beast of burden bearing a yoke on its neck.
The Lord then pictures His salvation as the shattering of this yoke by Him so that at once we shall be made free of this slavery.

Verse 5 tells us how the Lord will do it. "Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire".

There is more behind these words than only a reference to something known to Isaiah and his listeners.

They will know the image of the soldier's boot – they were being warned of the armies of Babylon that were on the way to take them into exile because they had sinned against the Lord.
The image of the bloodsoaked garment they also knew because those killed in battle were rolled into their bloody clothes.

The prophet's prophecy now tells them that all the accoutrements of war – the soldiers' cape and the soldiers' boot – were to be burned by the Lord. The meaning of this is that all those means used by the worldly powers to conquer people and force their will onto people and nations would be destroyed by the Lord.

But more than that – there lies some prophecy in the soldier's boots tramping round the cross and Jesus' garments soaked with His blood.

For the powers of darkness the moment of His crucifixion appeared to be the pinnacle of their victory.
But this victory was to be of short duration. For three days later the Lord arose from the grave as the Sovereign of life who gives life and victory to his chosen people.
Those people described her as enmeshed in the fear of the darkness.

The saved have a clearly spelled out future which is opened for them by the Lord. The Lord tells us who is the cause of this salvation and brightly lit future:

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace" (verse 6).

Seen in earthly context they hear that a king is to be born. This king shall be a descendent from David.

But the prophecy makes it clear – this child will not be purely human. He will rise beyond humanity.
The Lord's prophecy makes it clear. He will far exceed the capabilities of an earthly king.

This is it that points out to us that the military accoutrements of the previous verse do not refer to any ordinary war. The reference must be to the occurrence that ends the darkness – that is the crucifixion and all that went with it.

How does this all happen? Through the zeal of the Lord. The eternal God is the One who plans everything and who accomplishes it all.

This passage speaks of the zeal of the Lord. The zeal of the Lord accomplished our salvation.

What is the zeal of the Lord? It is in fact everything that is contained in the Names that the Holy Spirit gives the Child that is to be born.

The zeal of the Lord is the amazing wonder of God's irresistible almight.
It is God's counsel – but also the Counsel He executes over us and in which He involves us. It is the salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ but also the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in us.
It is the saving and disposing power of God.
It is the Being of our eternal God and Father.
It is the eternal perfect peace God gives us in His eternal kingdom. It is that peace that can never be disturbed.

The zeal of God is through time active over those who belong to the Lord. Read Zechariah 1:14 – "Then the angel who was speaking to me said: Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: "I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, …".

So the Lord in His predestination cares for the eternal protection of the true believers: "For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this". (2 Kings 19:31 and Isaiah 37:32)

The Lord's zeal is also seen in His judgment that is feared by all people for we know that we cannot stand against it. "Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than He?" (1 Corinthians 10:22)

Remember the words of Deuteronomy 29:20: "The Lord will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven."

Or Psalm 79:5: "How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire?"

Because we bear the image of the Lord this zeal for the Lord and for all that is important to Him must show itself in us as well.

Especially in the office bearers of the church, the minister, the elders and the deacons – remember the words of Romans 12:8 "If it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously, if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."

This does not exclude the church. All true believers are included in it. Romans 12:11 "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord."

The words of Hebrews 6:11 confirm the same matter: "We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure."

Accompanying this is the admonition that we must know what we are doing when we show this zeal for the Lord for if we do not act with the right knowledge we may do wrong in the eyes of the Lord. This is what the Lord tells us in 2 Peter 1:5. "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge …" and Romans 10:2 "For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge".

The zeal of the Lord is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ and the propitiation He makes for us. He makes Isaiah 9 come true.

In the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord provides for us.
He lets us live.
He guides us through death when we die.
He gives us the resurrection from death.

So the eternal light breaks through for us and shines brightly over us through the zeal of the Lord for us. Now it leaves us with the responsibility to live towards the Lord as enlightened believers. Consider the words that God the Holy Spirit let Jude write in Jude 1:3: "Dear Friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once entrusted to the saints".

Amen

Closing Prayer
Hymn 3-1:1-3

The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord turn His countenance to you and give you peace.
Amen

Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
20 November 2005
Scripture NIV