Sermons
|
|
Sermons |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sermon preached by John Cooper at Christ Church on 1/12/02. It was on the topic of Anointed Reign and was given at the morning service. The day's Bible reading was from chapter eleven of the book of Isaiah and reading from verses 1 to 9. |
Bible
Readings: Main
Themes: Most people seem to think that the Queen Mother was a good person [1], and they are undecided about the queen. I have never known anyone produce such strong conflicting emotions as Princess Diana. Was she a good person [2] or not? And now we debate whether we should have Camilla! It is strange that people want to have a dynasty in power. America has had at least two pairs of Presidents who were father and son. In ancient Rome a good Emperor [3] (by their standards) such as Augustus ultimately led to a Nero. It was no different in ancient Judah. After the promised land divided into two, the southern nation of Judah tended to have better kings than the north but there were still problems. The good king Hezekiah [4] gave birth to the bad king Menassah. They longed to have a good king such as David reign for ever. And that will happen! [5] Jesus, was a direct descendent of King David. There was royal blood flowing through His veins. And He is reigning for ever. Jesus is more than the baby at Christmas [6]. What is more Isaiah tells his audience that this new King (Jesus) will have the God-given characteristics of the great leaders from their past. He will have the Spirit of wisdom and understanding (v2) just like Solomon in all his glory, the Spirit of counsel and power just like their military leader Gideon, and the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord like the great David. But Jesus was going to be greater still because He would have all the fullness of the Spirit upon Him, so even His Father would be well-pleased with His Son. Unlike earthly leaders Jesus will be incorruptible; righteousness will be the essence of His judgements [7]. No powerful lobby will be able to sweet-talk Him; in fact He will be particularly concerned about the needs of the poor (v4). Judah had become a corrupt nation - it needed to remember the underpinning Laws that God gave them. They had forgotten their responsibilities [8] - to show justice to all people and help the widows, orphans and the poor. Being 'righteous' [9] is more than trying not to fall into sin - more than not stealing, cheating on your spouse, or embezzling a few pounds on your expense account. Righteousness is about unselfishness - turning to others and helping them and offering real practical help even when it is not convenient. It seems all too good to be true. What it actually means is paradise on earth. It seems as likely to happen as the lion sleeping with the calf in Isaiah's idyllic scene (v6). [10] It will mean 'new heavens and ... new earth' (Isaiah 65:17, 25). That is something we have to look forward to when Jesus returns. Then children will be able to play outside unsupervised. Not only is it difficult for calves to sleep with lions it is also true for humans as well! Christine and I discovered that on our recent holiday in Kenya. Jesus has not gone away in the sense that King David has [11]. He has given us His Spirit. He fills the Church. He is making new men and women of us. But are these gifts [12] of wisdom and understanding, counsel and power, knowledge and fear characteristics of this church here in Finchley? If Jesus initiated the Kingdom of God here on earth what evidence can we show for it? Do we have power in the world around? If we have the fear of the Lord do we ever get frightened of Him? Imagine Britain did not have a dynastic monarchy. Imagine we chose our country's First Person. Would we want such a leader as depicted here? Would Jesus [13] be voted into power? Actually Jesus did have a mid-term election. The people voted for a criminal instead. He was called Barabbas. Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this world (John 19:36). Could we not try to make it so? ref: 02/8
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Web page last updated 04 Jul 2009 |
