90 102 The Desired of all Nations

The reading is from Isaiah chapter 9, verses 1 to 3 and 6 and 7. Nevertheless there will be no more gloom for those who are in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Gnatholai, but in the future he will honour Galilee with the Gentiles. By the way of the sea along the Jordan, the people walking in darkness have seen a great light.

On those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy. They rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.

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, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 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 Lord is with you. For he that is mighty hath done great things, and holy is his name.

My soul doth magnify the Lord, my soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he that is mighty hath done great things, and holy is his name. My soul doth magnify the Lord, my soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he that is mighty hath done great things, and holy is his name. This is a poem called The Star. I don't know where it comes from.

Actually my wife sent it to me for Christmas about 10 years ago when I was in Africa. Lord, there is not enough light in myself to guide me. Reason throws its light on the path in front of me, but sometimes the darkness is stronger than reason.

The world is not always reasonable, but dark, irrational, absurd, cruel. I feel truth I cannot understand. I apprehend with my flesh and blood mysteries that my mind cannot explain.

Yet my heart can be traitor, fickle in its love, opening its doors to darkness as much as light. Lord, there is not enough light in myself to guide me. You have set a star in my heavens that I might follow it, Lord, a star whose light pierces up and down and out like the beams of a cross, a star risen never again to plunge into the earth like a dead man.

I see its light, Lord, in the eyes of those I love, in the word of a preacher, in the faith of a friend, in the courage of those who resist adversity, in the darkness that men have made and I have made. I see its light, Lord, and I know that I must follow it. It isn't easy, Lord.

It couldn't have been easy for them, wise men on a fool's errand, leaving the security and prestige of home, padding across the deserts, tangled in political duplicity, looking for a king without a crown, without a kingdom, without power, without name. Yet they followed, Lord. That star in my heavens beckons me, Lord.

Give me faith. Give me faith, Lord, lest I choose the worldly wisdom of the uncommitted and caution root my feet in the ground while that star pursues its journey to be lost forever from my sight. So bring me to that place where every light gathers, where he is, whose kingdom is earth, whose kingly robes are this flesh and blood, whose cause is justice, whose way is peace, whose power is love, whose name is God with us.

And I know that the journey was as nothing, the place where this star comes to rest, everything. My hope, my hope, all the way, my hope. Our next carol is printed on the back of Notes and News.

It's the carol Ding Dong Merrily on High. In heaven the bells are ringing, ding dong, verily the sky is riven with angels singing. So let's stand and sing this together.

I think this is one that we can't sing sitting down, so let's stand and sing. Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh your glory veiled not to be served but to serve and give your life that we might live this is our God the servant king let's sing this together there's a carol that's going through my mind that we'll sing in a little while but there's one statement in that carol that has bugged me for about ten days it's a carol written by Charles Wesley along with George Whitfield I heard it crooned over the PA system in Montague precinct and I've heard it sung over the BBC the carol itself is well known but the last stanza not so it commences, hark the herald angels sing glory to the newborn king and this is the final verse come desire of nations come fix in us thy humble home now it's that phrase come desire of nations come that could not be evacuated from my thinking during these last few days and I thought well Wesley and Whitfield they were pretty good preachers they had a good knowledge of the Old Testament why did they latch on this particular expression and bring it into their carol describing the Lord Jesus as the desire of nations now he's described in many ways in the Old Testament and in the New Isaiah as Peter read in the opening quotation from Scripture tells us in the words of Isaiah that his name will be called wonderful counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace and as one of our Scripture songs has emphasised his name is Emmanuel God with us Joseph did not have the problem of many a father in selecting a name for the child born of Mary you shall call his name Jesus, Iesus, Saviour because that's what he'll do, he'll save his people from their sins and so you can heap up many, many names as descriptive of our Lord Jesus many titles but this is a funny one funny in the sense that it's not obvious in its meaning desire of nations so I did a little bit of research and way back in the dusty pages of the minor prophets you read in the prophecy of Haggai and in the sixth verse of the second chapter this is what the Lord Almighty says in a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth the sea and the dry land I will shake all nations and the desired of all nations will come and I will fill this house with glory and rightly Wesley and Whitfield believe that the New Testament writers look back on the birth of our Lord Jesus and in the language of the Old Testament they describe him or think of him as the desired of all the nations well my research continued a little further and I discovered or was reminded of the fact that the first man ever to wear that title or at least ever to be described in such a fashion was a man called Saul the first king of Israel the fact that the Israelites wanted a king was not immediately warmly received by the Lord but he granted them their request and he selected one of the most unlikely people as far as personality though not physique was concerned to become the regent under him of Israel and on one occasion Samuel who's got the job of hunting out this new king finds Saul and he says you who are the desired of the nation a number of men have thought themselves as staying in the wings so to speak of the political scene waiting for the moment when they would come central stage I don't think it's being unfair to suggest that Michael Heseltine is a fair example of that but when the moment came the country at least the Tory party passed him over and brought another man in but there have been those I'm not suggesting that it's a dishonorable thing who have been so to speak just off stage waiting for the call for them to come and take over the reins Winston Churchill is perhaps a more well known figure from history but to what extent could you think of our Lord Jesus Christ in terms of the desired of all nations I've put up two or three questions what do you think the nations today want more than anything else I would love to believe that the answer is they want peace I would love to think though I can't that if for a moment you displaced Iraq or let's say you displaced Kuwait and in its favour you put, in its place you put Bangladesh and had the Indians gone into Bangladesh and occupied that land which is politically sensitive to India and once was part of India I wonder if the whole world would have sent in its troops to gain independence for a Bangladesh which has as its only commodity in terms of more than it requires first of all people and secondly water for the Ganges delta floods almost every year sweeping many of its citizens to a watery grave or could it be the case that the basic reason for the world's preoccupation with Kuwait has little to do with Kuwait as such but a great deal to do with that black gold that we call oil I put it to you for your consideration but I think I could substantiate alas my case Time magazine led off with a lead article one week or two weeks ago front page is Kuwait worth dying for what does the world want more than anything else peace or material prosperity what does England want more than anything else if a man if a Martian came in from that planet assuming life there which I'm not but just for the point of my illustration or else it collapses he drops down on Montague street it's December the 23rd and he hears the serenading of this man Jesus for unto us a child is born once in royal David's city oh come all ye faithful and he might well feel that this is quite a religious society that he's dropped on to if he were in London I didn't go on the precinct this afternoon so I don't know about Worthing he might however have found that the shops were open on the day that was supposed to celebrate his resurrection a very special day and it seems as though the people who are milling around the supermarkets are more concerned in material acquisition buying things than they are in actually seeking after this man whose name is heard in many a department store today in terms of Christian carols, Christmas carols as they're vamped from place to place what does our world desire most of all? what does our nation desire most of all? let's go for the jugular what do you desire more than anything else? the statement here says of our Lord Jesus he is the desired of all nations what's the prime thing that you're looking for? don't you think that some of the adverts on television are absolutely daft particularly the Cadbury tray one you know where this man goes through tremendous feats of daring in order to get to this beautiful woman and then offer her a box of Cadburys as though the greatest desire is to risk your life in fulfilling that particular exploit I once remember reading some years ago of a young fellow who was waxing lyrical whose poetry was in excess of his physical ability and he wrote to his young woman for you I would cross the trackless desert I would climb the highest mountain I would swim the widest ocean and so forth see you on Saturday if it doesn't rain I use the absurd illustration to indicate the fact that sometimes when we think in terms of the most important thing in life we're off course or we pretend to make a commitment to that which we think is important but our actions disprove our contention here is the prophet Haggai and he speaks of our Lord Jesus and his coming into this world as though he were the desired of all nations and we have to ask ourselves was there anything really desired or rather was there anything really international about the birth of Jesus Christ well if you were to check his birth certificate you would discover that amongst his ancestry he has a lady by the name of Ruth our Lord is born in Bethlehem and into Bethlehem some centuries before he was born came this woman who was a Moabites a sort of refugee she fell in love with a man called Boaz and as a result of their union someone called Obed was born and he is part of the family tree which eventually is in line to produce or from that line comes none other than our Lord Jesus when our Savior is but a little lad there's a man of mixed race who seems to hold his life in the balance his name is Herod not a true Jew a mongrel Jew and it's at his decree that all the young boys under the age of two are slaughtered in Bethlehem and its and its precincts the international flavor of the birth of our Lord perhaps can be found out even more when you appreciate that he was brought up in the county so to speak of Galilee called Galilee of the Nations because there not only Jews lived but also a lot of Gentiles and it became a hotbed of resistance to the Romans and also that part of Palestine that was looked down upon by most Orthodox Jews I mention this because it's the only evidence that I can really discover that helps at least in one sense to illuminate Haggai's description of Jesus when he talks of him as the desired of all nations as to his birth well international to a limited extent as to his ministry well it was the angel who said of our Savior you remember that when speaking to the to the shepherds that the Lord Jesus' advent into the world would bring great joy not only to the Jews but also to all nations and when you scan through the gospels when the infant Christ is now a mature man you find he has kind things to say about Roman soldiers and he won't resist the request of a Syrophoenician woman and unlike many of the rabbis in his day he won't bypass Samaria he'll go straight through as though he has an interest in that tract of land between Galilee and Judea as to his death well in one sense that too had an international aspect didn't it? After all it was when Greeks pitched up to see Jesus that he took that as the sort of reminder, the prompter from God that the hour was drawing near when he would be pinned to a cross it was as a result of the Roman Pontius Pilate that the death certificate was signed but it was Pontius Pilate's wife who to her credit sent the telephone wires, inverted commas so to speak into a hum as she communicates with her husband and tells him to have nothing to do with that just man but the bottom line is this that our Lord was not desired in a wholesale fashion by all the nations when he came into the world this is an expression of what should have been the saddest verse perhaps in the narratives of the nativity is that which speaks about the wise men when they go to Jerusalem and they tell Herod that Jesus is born and Herod we are informed is agitated and it goes on to say all the citizens of Jerusalem were troubled with him when Jesus comes to his own country and to its capital city he should have been received with tremendous accolade I believe I am right that memory serves me correctly when I say that Billy Graham was born in Charlotte the United States of America and on one occasion fiddling around with my little radio I picked up the voice of America and Graham featured on the program and also President Nixon as he was then and the broadcast came from the hometown of Graham you'll find this hard to understand because you are British and you may not understand American culture there is a lot to the credit of American culture but this is rather unusual they had a Billy Graham appreciation day and Nixon waxing eloquent came along and paid his tribute and rightly so to this great spokesman of the Christian church but there was no Jesus Christ appreciation day not when he was born hardly the desire of his own nation let alone all nations our Lord Jesus later on when he is full grown reflects upon his life speaks of it in terms of a day and he refers to Abraham the founder of the Jewish race and he said Abraham rejoice to see my day the desire of all nations the expression of what should have been the expression of what was for some of the people after all kings did come to his rising there were Gentiles who pushed their way across the trackless desert following a star and eventually found themselves by the crib in Bethlehem and you must admit that for them there was tremendous desire of course they say to Herod we are seeking he who is born king of the Jews they had a desire that perhaps is an advance of the desires of most people in our congregation today certainly in the town of Worthing today they long to be in the company of God's Messiah the shepherds who as I referred to this morning perhaps were the fulfillment of the prophecy those who sat in darkness have seen a great light they responded well did they not to the information given that in yonder Bethlehem there was a most outstanding person who had been born and those rustic shepherds make their way towards the crib and it would be true to say of them that the one who is within the crib is indeed the desire of their hearts Mary who touches the little child to her breast and whose heart is filled with love could so describe the Lord Jesus as could those two old pensioners Simeon and Anna as Simeon takes up the young child and said now Lord let us now thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation but when you've gone through all those examples in terms of people who might well be described as those who desired the birth of our Lord Jesus and thought of him in terms of the desire of all nations you leave a lot of room for those who never made that sort of profession so I want to suggest to you that this title is an expression of what should have been it's an expression of truth that describes some of the people but hear me out for the last few moments it is an expression of what will be you see the scripture really is one that is couched not just in terms of the first coming of our Lord Jesus when God does shake the world and send his son into the world but it also refers to the second coming of our Lord Jesus when once more he will enter into this world but drop his incognito and then all men shall see who he is and the scriptures say metaphorically but beautifully at that time a man would cling to the skirts of a Jew in order to gain information as to the nature of this one who has returned to take upon himself the government of our world this Jesus of Bethlehem born so strangely in one sense so wonderfully this Jesus whose message has shaken this world desired by all those who have confessed him as Lord hear me will one day return to this earth and your eternal well being depends upon your response to all that you have heard about him his birth his pure life his sacrificial death his unique resurrection and the fact that he is now in heaven interceding for all those who put their trust in him so I ask you in my concluding comments is this Christ of Bethlehem's manger your desire the world and its desire says John writing one of his epistles shall pass away one of the people who fell in love with our Lord Jesus found that his death was the most horrific thing she ever had to cope with and she cried out in her misery tell me where you have laid him as she confuses the Saviour with the gardener on the resurrection morning and the picture is of a woman who is completely beside herself because her heart's desire has been taken away when our Lord Jesus once asks his disciples will they leave him as many of the multitudes who have hung onto his words now melt into the background and disappear from the sight disappear from the scene the disciples say to Jesus to whom shall we go you only have the keys the words of eternal life Jesus had become for them their heart's desire I ask you afresh what is the most important thing in your life advancement in your profession the accumulation of material things all this will pass away but he who is and should be the desired of all nations has the future in his hands and the essence of wisdom is to follow the same star as the magi and to bow your knees before his crib and before his cross and to say to the Lord God he your son is my heart's desire as the deer pants for the water brooks so I hunger and thirst for your son let's pray a moment just for quiet reflection and for response I have a little booklet with me that I'd like to give I've not many copies left that compiles all the salvation texts of the nativity and will speak to you further about what I've tried to bring to your attention come and ask me for a copy or Tim for a copy after the first part of our evening's activities the most important part are through let's really lift up verse 4 to a crescendo Hark!