Discovering Peace through Isaiah's Prophecy and Jesus' Birth

Ever grappled with the power of hope and healing amidst dark times? Ride along with us as we unravel the captivating story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whose timeless poem "Christmas Bells" mirrors his resilience and fortitude amidst the Civil War and personal loss. Despite the chaos surrounding him, Longfellow's poignant words radiate peace and goodwill, offering solace and encouragement even in the bleakest of times. Get ready to be moved by the true essence of hope and healing during our profound discussion of this inspiring chapter in history.

What does true peace look like? Join us as we delve into the prophetic words of Isaiah 11, tracing the thread of peace ushered in by the birth of Jesus. His teachings shattered the Israelites’ misconceptions, revealing a kingdom not of earthly power, but one overflowing with love, forgiveness and harmony. We'll dissect the transformative potency of His teachings and how it permeates every aspect of life. Journey with us to the manger in Bethlehem, as we relive the awe-inspiring birth of Jesus Christ, and the angel's message of hope to the shepherds. Tune in to immerse yourself in this spiritual exploration of peace, hope, and healing.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:03

morning, as always, I'm just asking you to take a minute just to pray and focus and ask the spirit to move and teach us God. As always, we thank you for this morning. We thank you for who you are and that's why we're here as we continue into this series and we look at the prophecies that were spoken of your son long before he came to the world, I pray that you, just as always, that you speak to us, god, you show us the truth that can only be found in your word. I pray that you protect those who are listening now and those who will listen later, and that the words that are coming out of my mouth, god, are always of you, not of me. God, thank you so much for the gift of the holiday, thank you so much for Christmas, thank you for the birth of your son, thank you for the sacrifice, thank you for everything. There's not enough time in the day, but thank you for who you are. Thank you for loving us the way that you do your son. Let me pray Amen.

Speaker 1: 2:48

The year is 1863, the United States of America is probably in one of the darkest periods of its history. The country is divided. There's a north and there's a south. You have families that are fighting families, sons who are fighting fathers, neighbors who are fighting neighbors. You have a country torn between some really interesting topics, and one of them being slavery. Should it continue? Should it disband? You have a country that's divided, and everyone on either side of the argument is right. So there's no hope. The country has decided that the best way to solve this division is to go to war with each other. Father kills son, neighbor kills neighbor. The damage is overwhelming, and yet they remain divided instead of being united. 1863.

Speaker 1: 4:24

There's a gentleman by the name of Charles Longfellow. He was the oldest of six children born a Fannie Elizabeth Appleton and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. His dad, henry, was a celebrated literary critic and poet. Charles had five younger siblings a brother eight seven scene and four sisters 13, 10, eight and one who had died as an infant. Less than two years earlier, charles' mother, fannie, had tragically died after her dress caught on fire. Her husband, henry, awakened from a nap, tried to extinguish the flames as best he could, just with a rug, and in his own body she had already suffered severe burns. She died the next morning, july 10, 1861. And Henry Longfellow? His own burns were so severe that he was not even able to attend the wife or the funeral for his wife. He actually stopped shaving on the count of the burns. If you've ever seen a picture of him, his beard is one of the things he's known for.

Speaker 1: 5:36

1863, on the first day of December, henry Wadsworth Longfellow was dining alone. His son, charles, the oldest of six, had gone to war. It was common then. Charles was trying to make a name for himself. As Henry Longfellow was dining alone at home, he received telegram letting him know that his oldest son had been severely wounded. The telegram actually was inaccurate, but a telegram he received stated he had been shot in the face. On November 27, 1863, while involved in a skirmish during a battle of the Mine Run campaign. Charlie had actually been shot to the left shoulder, with a bullet exiting under his right shoulder blade. He had traveled across his back and nicked his spine. Charlie barely avoided being paralyzed. After he was shot, he was carried into New Hope Church, which is in Orange County, virginia, and then transported to the Rapodon River.

Speaker 1: 6:44

Charlie's father and younger brother, ernest, immediately set out for Washington DC, arriving on December 3.

Speaker 1: 6:51

Charlie arrived by train on December 5, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was alarmed when informed by the Army Surgeon that his son's wound was very serious and the paralysis might ensue. Three surgeons gave a more favorable report that evening, suggesting a recovery would require him to be long in healing at least six months. Henry Longfellow had lost his wife two years earlier, raising six kids on his own, surrounded by turmoil and chaos, in a country that could not figure itself out. He is fear of losing his oldest son, who's shot, and even more so when he finds out that he will live as a chance for paralysis. Back then like now, that was difficult to deal with. And yet, in the midst of despair, in the midst of the darkest season of his life, on Christmas day of 1863, longfellow would pen one of the greatest poems the world has probably ever heard. As a 57-year-old widowed father of six children, the oldest which had nearly been paralyzed as his country fought a war against his self, he wrote a poem on Christmas Day as he listened to the bells from the church nearby Maddie.

Speaker 2: 8:51

I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play and mild and sweet. Their songs repeat A peace on earth, goodwill to man. And the bells they're ringing like a choir, they're singing A peace on earth and in my heart I hear them. Peace on earth, goodwill to man. And in despair I bow my head there is no peace on earth.

Speaker 2: 9:53

I said, for hate is strong and marks the song of peace on earth. Goodwill to man. But the bells, they're ringing like a choir. They're singing. Does anybody hear them? A peace on earth. Goodwill to man. Then, ring the bells more loud and deep. God, it's not dead. Who does he sleep? The wrong shall fail the right grieving with peace on earth. Goodwill to man. Goodwill to man. Then, ringing, singing on its way the world revolved from night to day. A voice of chime, a chance of line of peace on earth. Goodwill to man. And the bells are ringing like a choir, they're singing A peace on earth. And with our hearts we'll hear them. Peace on earth. Goodwill to man. You will hear the bells. They're ringing, like the angels singing. Open up your hearts and hear them. Peace on earth. Goodwill to man. Peace on earth. Peace on earth. Peace on earth. Goodwill to man.

Speaker 1: 13:04

Lake and Weaver actually introduced me to that song about 11 years ago now, maybe a little longer than that. We actually did it when I was here Formerly. We had a Christmas Eve service that we performed to that. And I remember that song for two reasons. One, we did the Casting Crowns version, which if you've never heard that is pretty phenomenal. And at the time I was playing drums and the first time I heard it, or even before I heard it, lakin was like I'm going to bring in someone, a friend of mine, to play drums, I'm going to have you play bass. And I was like slightly offended because I was like I'm an okay drummer. And then I listened to the song. I'm like, no, that's a good idea, lakin, you should do that because it's a very complicated song. But the other thing I remember is when we went the first time I heard that song, he encouraged us all to go back and look at the history of it and where it came from.

Speaker 1: 14:04

Like I said, longfellow wrote this in the moment of time when there was a lot of despair, a lot of tragedy in his life. Right, he understood pain, he understood suffering. He was a man who lost at least to him he lost everything and in the moment on that Christmas day, as he heard the bells, he was reminded that the end had not come yet, that there's still very much more to the story of Christmas Isaiah, chapter 11,. We've been looking at Isaiah and his prophecies, and he's been foretelling of the future to come. He's speaking to a very broken nation of Israel who is in suffering. They themselves are even divided amongst themselves, but they're surrounded by enemies. They would go through years of turmoil, and I know I've talked about this before, but there's a period between the Old Testament the New Testament it's about 400 years long where there's no revelation from God. So Israel is going to be entering into a very dark time of their life, and Isaiah has not only foretold of the virgin birth, the savior of the world, but of the one and the only one that could ever be called Messiah.

Speaker 1: 15:45

Sometimes I think we throw that word around a little too loosely. We expect people and situations and we try to save ourselves. We talk about Messiahs or people that are messianic figures. When you are talking about the Messiah, or if you ever hear someone who speaks of Messiah, not speaking of Jesus, they're not talking of the Messiah, they are talking of a false hope. But Jesus is the Messiah, the one who would come, and Isaiah he talks about this in Isaiah 9 when he speaks of the government will rest on his shoulders, that every nation will bow to who he is and his power.

Speaker 1: 16:33

And then Isaiah continues into chapter 11, speaking again of Jesus, starting in verse 1. It says a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse, from his roots of branch, will bear fruit. The spirit of Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit of the knowledge and the fear of the Lord, and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide by what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness he will judge the needy With justice. He will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, with the breath of his lips, and he will slay the wicked, and righteousness will be his belt in faithfulness, the sash around his waist. Isaiah is prophesying the future coming king, and he says to the nation of Israel that he will spring up from the ground, from a root out of a stump, and he's talking about the future. Israel will become laid waste, they will be overrun by their enemies, they will be torn down, they will be overthrown by the Romans. And in this travesty, in this moment, a root will come forth from the stump, a man from the house of David that will bear fruit and bring righteousness and justice to all. And in Isaiah he speaks of this and, like I said, he's speaking in a time when so much is happening. And as Jesus was born and as he lived his life, and as you trace his lineage and Matthew does this in his gospel well, he shows where he comes from and he establishes.

Speaker 1: 18:39

And listen, the Israelites wanted a Messiah, but they were confused about what this Messiah would look like. A lot of them were convinced that he was going to come and overthrow the government in Rome and he was going to reestablish them as a nation. But Jesus had bigger plans. He understood that the only way to truly bring righteousness, the only way to truly bring about his kingdom, was that he would have to forego an earthly one. So he was born as a baby and he lived about 33 years and everything he said was right and just. He called the hypocrites to attention. He changed the way they understood even sin in their own lives, that forgiveness was available. He chose men and women who were not the highest of stature to show that his kingdom was bigger, that if they followed him, if they believed in him, if they did what he asked, that he would save them from themselves.

Speaker 1: 20:01

Isaiah, speaking in chapter 11, is speaking of this coming king who would change the world. But it wasn't just about righteous and justice. Jesus would bring peace. Isaiah 11, 6 through 9 says the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra's den and the young child will put its hand to the vipers' nests. They will neither harm nor destroy. On all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Speaker 1: 21:04

Can you imagine living in such peace? Can you imagine what it's going to be like to live in a world where a lion could walk next to a zebra and is not going to kill it. A couple years ago, Danny and I, we were on this documentary kick and there was this documentary on animal planet and it was called MOTHER ANIMALS AND THEIR BABIES. I was like, oh, this is going to be cute Stacey knows where I'm going with this. This is going to be a cute little documentary and we're going to sit down with our very little kids and we're going to watch about mothers and their babies and how cute. And within the first five minutes there's a lion killing a zebra and I'm like that is not where I thought this was headed. And so, like they're chasing down like this little baby zebra, and we're like, yeah, we're turning this off, like this is not where we're headed, and I get it Like, listen, it's nature, right, I'm not unaware of those things. Can you imagine living in a world where even the animals that are greatest of enemies are the best of friends? Can you imagine your own worst enemy coming into your presence and you actually wish nothing but the best for them on purpose? Can you imagine the peace that will come when we don't have to worry about wars and in in in fighting in this country, attack in this country.

Speaker 1: 22:55

But Jesus is bringing peace. It is going to go beyond anything you and I will ever understand. And this is what Isaiah is talking about, the prince of peace, and what I, what I love about it is. It's so much more than just a future peace. When Isaiah speaking of the child the night that he was born, and we're looking at the future, the very long future, you and I have this understanding that when Jesus came into the world, that he brought peace with him. For those of us who follow him, for those of us who have given our life to him, we understand what that peace feels like.

Speaker 1: 23:41

Because, in the middle of some of the darkest moments of my life, in the middle of the loss of two children, in the middle of losing a job, in the middle of being honest, my marriage a couple of years ago was in turmoil. I was working 80 hours a week, making a lot of money. My marriage was suffering, my children were suffering, but I knew that I had to do something and my focus had to come back to what does God expect from my life? And in the understanding that Jesus wants me to have peace in my life, he wants me to understand that he is the peace maker, the peace keeper, the peace bringer, that he will give me peace, but only if I'm willing to give him the life that he gave me. I see so many people who chase after peace and they try to find it in drugs, they try to find it in alcohol, they try to find it in extramarital relationships. They do everything they can to give themselves a sense of peace, but when they go to bed at night they can't sleep because their mind won't stop.

Speaker 1: 25:12

The only one who will ever bring peace is the only one that you and I can ever call Messiah, because peace is his end. He's not coming to just destroy the wicked. He's removing evil from the world, because that is his plan. He offers us peace and he offers us a future where the lion will line down with the lamb, because Jesus understood something you and I don't, that's we'll never get the peace on our own. I know a lot of people have tried. I know a lot of people tell you, if you just do this and this and just follow this, and I'm telling you, I've never seen it work long term. The only time that I've genuinely seen people find peace is when they find Jesus. That's it, because he is the Prince of it. It is who he is. To walk among people, to walk among the nations and to eventually have them lay down their swords, to be the one ruler overall is the one thing that not only do we get the experience now, but it's the hope that we get to long for. I talked about it last week. I think one of the hardest things about following Jesus is I wonder when he's coming back, because I could tell you that I'm ready.

Speaker 1: 27:12

It's 2023 and while I don't think we're anywhere near what was going on in 1863, I think we're about as divided as it comes the hate, the desire to ruin people's lives, the fact that we can't let go of even small slights, because when you look at social media and it's like that someone makes a mistake and then all of a sudden it's everywhere and then all of a sudden you hate someone and you have no idea why you even do. And we're so divided. Even churches in this country are so divided. We don't even work together. We all serve the same God with the same purpose of bringing peace and hope to the world, and we can't even figure out how to do that Because name it we're divided, we don't work together, we're in competition with each other. It's not that is not what Jesus wants for us.

Speaker 1: 28:45

Listen, I don't know where you are in your life. I don't know what season you're in. Some of you are coming to a close of a season it's been good. Some of you are stuck in the middle of a really dark season where you feel like there's no hope. Some of you are about to step into a season that you know. You know it's coming, you're aware of it, and there's one thing that I hope that this Christmas brings, and we talk about Jesus and we talk about the birth. I hope that people realize that in the greatest darkness of your life, there's a light, there is a God who loved you so much that he sent his only son to be born of a baby to show the world that this is not where it ends.

Speaker 1: 29:44

My favorite part about becoming a Christian and I've been a believer since I was 15 years old I gave my life to Jesus when I was 15 years old my favorite part about giving my life to Jesus is the fact that I know he rewrote my story. I know where I was headed. I know the stupid decisions I make I was making. I know the fact that I woke up every day of my life hoping for death, because that's all I wanted at 15 years old was to die. I've walked through those valleys, but the moment I gave my life to Jesus, he wrote a different story. I love the Christmas story and the reason I love the Christmas story is the same reason that I love following Jesus.

Speaker 1: 30:46

At the darkest of times, in one of the craziest moments of history 400 years Israel had not heard from God. Jesus changed the story, and what I love about it is Isaiah, 700 years prior, said listen, this is coming. You don't understand this yet, but it's coming. You know why I love that? Because I believe with everything in me that every person in here that your story is not done yet. You don't see that sometimes because maybe you haven't made that decision to give your life to Jesus. Maybe you're still on the fence and you're trying to figure it out. But I'm telling you your story is not over yet Because when you give your life to him, he will change and he will show up and the power of God will change everything and it'll give you hope for a future.

Speaker 1: 31:41

It'll give you hope for now. It'll give you peace beyond understanding. It'll give you so much more that when you wake up every day and what's happening, you can breathe a sigh of relief and say God, I know that in you I have peace today. I know that you're in charge of my life. I know that if you can make the line and the lamb work together, then there's no relationship in my life you can't fix. If you can make the line and the lamb lay down next to each other and not kill each other, there's no situation that you cannot overcome If you have that kind of power, that kind of control, that kind of presence and the life of an animal, how much more than the one that you created to look like you.

Speaker 1: 32:37

And that is why Christmas is so important. When you strip away everything, when you take away the presence, when you take away the tree, when you take away the lights, when you take away all of the festivities, the reason why Christmas is so important is because this is the story, the only story, that truly offers hope to a very dark world. This is the story of a God who loved sinful humanity so much that he was willing to do whatever it took to save them. This is the story of light into darkness, of peace, honor, and this is the story that you can be part of too, because Jesus was born for me and he was born for you. He was born for your neighbor, he was born for your greatest enemy. I know that's a hard one to swallow, but he was. He was born for the person in the grocery store who cut you off. He was even born for the people who talk on their cell phones out loud while they walk through the store. I believe that I love those people not always, but the Christmas story is bigger than you and me. It's about the moment that God showed up and he made himself known.

Speaker 1: 34:20

We're going to end with Luke, chapter 2, 1 through 14. I'm actually going to ask you to stand as we read this. No, that's not something I typically do, but Luke, chapter 2, verses 1 through 14. And it came to pass. In those days, the decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. The census first took place while Coranus was governing Syria, so all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Speaker 1: 34:53

Joseph also went out from Gadoli, out of the city of Nazareth in the Judea, the city of David, which is called Bethlehem Because he was the house, the lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

Speaker 1: 35:09

So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered, as she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now they were in the same country as shepherds living out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them and to the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. And the angel said to them do not be afraid, for, behold, I bring you good tidings and great joy which will be to all people, for there is born to you this day, in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ, the Lord, and this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger, and suddenly there was, with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill towards men.