Episode Notes:
Episode Transcript:
So I'm 27 1 The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Rock of ages cleft for me Let behi hide myself in thee Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flow be of sin the double cure cleanse me from its guilt £10 Nothing in my hand I bring simply thio thy cross cycling naked Come to the foot, dress helpless Look to the four Grace Foul I to the fountain fly wash me Save your I die while I draw this fleeting breath When my nice shall close In death when I saw two worlds unknown See the on my judgment Throne Rock of ages Cleft for me Let me hide myself in thee I'll never forget the day I was chased by a bear Not an actual bear, but a large dog that all of the kids in the neighborhood I grew up in referred to as bear because he was a giant chow And he was on one of those leads where he would run up and down the yard and he would bark at us ferociously as we rode our bikes or ran by our neighbor's yard, and we, with all of the swagger and false courage of 12 year old boys, would tease him in the comfort of knowing that he was tied up.
But then one dreadful day when we were running by our neighbor's yard and he was barking frantically at us, I looked up and realized, and we both had that moment of realization that he wasn't attached to his his lead.
He wasn't on his leash, and I'm getting anxious now, Even thinking about it, my heart started to beat faster as he started to take off. And for my friends and I, it was a moment of abject terror, And for him, it was sheer delight as he started sprinting after us and we started running and screaming Run! And I hollered out to my friends, you know, to the garage we started running to my garage, and, uh, I am sure this is not how it happened, but how I remember it is I remember my brother, uh, jumping on his bike, come charging towards bear and screaming like a wild banshee to try and divert him while we were racing frantically to get into the garage and we come sliding in.
We didn't have an automatic garage, so we jumped up and then pulled the garage down. Justus, my brother, came dashing in on his bike and sliding under it as it cut as we fled to safety, safe from the vicious jaws off the bear.
And in that moment of terror, we we ran home. That's where we ran when we were terrified. Where do you run in times of danger? You know, all throughout the songs, we see that the Lord is my stronghold.
My defender, my rock, my shield, my fortress, my refuge and the Bible says that the name of the Lord is the strong tower that we can run to in times of danger. So today I want to give you four names that you can run to and these air familiar names these air names that you probably hear every Christmas.
But I'm one of the I'm one of those who thinks we ought to sing Christmas songs all year round because the glorious truths of the incarnation do not need to be put into plastic bins and kept in the attic and only brought out once a year we need to live off them.
So the names I wanna call your attention to or from Isaiah, Chapter nine for unto us, a child is born unto us, a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor.
Mighty God, everlasting father, Prince of Peace. And if you have time today, spend some time reading this whole section in Isaiah because if there was ever a portion of Scripture that's applicable, it's this section and the Lord sends these four strong, powerful names to his people during one of the darkest days of their existence.
You can read chapters nine through 11 and assist long, beautiful but haunting poem that's painting a picture of times of national disaster. There's four stanzas to the poem following the names. Uh, the first stands in verse 8 to 12 paints a picture of national disaster, then verse 13 to 17 of political collapse and then 18 through 21 of social anarchy, where rank self centeredness is spreading like wildfire and then stands a four and chapter 10 1 through four is blatant misrule.
So you hear you have in the midst of national disaster, political collapse, social anarchy and then blatant misrule. You have the Lord coming to his people to give them these names and the promise off.
One who's going to come and these names could be a refuge. So let me encourage you to run to them. His name will be wonderful, counselor. This is his qualifications to rule. He will bring council. He will be wise.
The wisdom of the world has failed, and he will bring wisdom and, oh, how we need wisdom. But he doesn't just bring wisdom. He also brings power the mighty god. He not only knows what should be done and can offer counsel.
He has the power to accomplish it. And this is what Christianity is all about. Christianity is all about the fact that this is God's good world that's been ruined by sin and has redeemed by the sun and being recreated by the Holy Spirit by his person power.
He can accomplish his goals, and then he's the everlasting father. He brings both familial love and stability, because in this world, even the best things could be lost. But here's a father that's everlasting.
And then he's the prince of Peace. And then piece here means mawr than just internal calm. It means total fulfillment. It means achieving all that God has planned for you and the world. It means Shalom total well being.
Relational goods Spiritually good social. Good, Fruitful. No conflict. So which of these four names do you need to run to today? Do you need to know of one who brings wisdom? Do you need to know of one who is powerful? Do you need the one to know of one who is everlasting and loving and is the prince of peace? We live in anxious times, and anxiety is contagious.
But so is peace. And the only way to become people of peace is we must dwell with the Prince of Peace. He is our rock the rock of ages. And we run to his name. Our hope is found in his name. Our life is found in his name.
Salvation is found in his name. His name is our light in the dark. His name is our refuge in the storm and in running to his name we find rest for our souls. Praise God. From whom all blessings flow. Praise him.
All creatures here be low. Praise him above E heaven, the home praise Father, son and Holy Go! Um