God is God, but if He’s your Father, that’s different.

Steve Brown:
God is God, but if He’s your Father, that’s different. Let’s talk, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
This is Key Life. We’re here to let you know that because of what Jesus has done, God will never be angry at you again. Steve invited our friend Matt Heard to do the teaching this week. Matt is a speaker, teacher, writer, pastor, coach, and the founder of a ministry called Thrive.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. Hi Matt.

Matt Heard:
Hey Steve.

Steve Brown:
Tell us about Strive real quickly. Where do people go to find out about it?

Matt Heard:
Well, striving is one thing, thriving is another.

Steve Brown:
Oh, thriving. I’m old. I’m doing the best I can. Tell us about Thrive.

Matt Heard:
Thrive is my ministry and really it comes out of a book I wrote, long ago called life with a Capital L.

Steve Brown:
Great book, by the way.

Matt Heard:
That is referring to the Zoë life of God, you know, there’s bios biological, there’s psyche that consciousness. But when we’re dead in our trespasses and sins, what are we dead from? We’re dead to the zoe life of God. So, that’s what the book’s about. And then what the gospel should enable us to do is thrive to his glory, not happy, clappy. So, if you want more information, ThriveFullyAlive.com

Steve Brown:
Thrive

Matt Heard:
ThriveFullyAlive.com

Steve Brown:
Check it out. It is an amazing website. As you know if you’ve been with us during Advent on Mondays, I’m taking a break from our teaching on Philippians, and we’ll go back to that tomorrow. And Dr. Heard has come in and he’s teaching us on the prophetic names that are given to the coming Messiah from Isaiah 9. Let me read it to you, and then we’ll pray, and then we’ll get down. This is from Isaiah 9: the second verse.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. For unto 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.

Let’s pray. Father, thank you for coming. Thank you that your Son entered time and space and lived a life that ended in death, that covered all our sins. We worship you and we praise you cause you are a good God and you’re our Father. And we pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen. Okay Matt, we’ve covered a couple of the names. We talked about joy yesterday and the week before on Monday talked about hope. What are you going to talk about today?

Matt Heard:
Well Hi Steve. You know, we’re taking a little walk on each of these Mondays during Advent looking at how the light for our darkness has a name. The people walking in darkness, it’s deep darkness, but they’ve seen a great light. And then he describes that light by saying he’s a Wonderful Counselor. And we’re looking at the four themes of Advent that you’ll see if you light a candle as a family or in your church each week. Those four, hope, joy, love, peace, and we’re companioning those four words with these four names. of Jesus in Isaiah chapter 9: verse 6. And so, hope is a Wonderful Counselor. And that’s what a Wonderful Counselor will do is give us hope. But Jesus goes way deeper than human counsel. And then there’s joy. And we companioned that with that title, Mighty God. And so, Isaiah says.

To us a son has been given, a child has been born. But a son has been given.

So, there is that he didn’t just happen. He’s a child, fully human, but a son has been given. So, this deity has been given to us for our predicament. And so, during Advent, as I’ve mentioned, I’ve still got my nail, here we are entering the third week of Advent, but every year I carry a nail in my pocket. It just reminds me that Jesus isn’t just a little fuzzy mascot, a little cute mascot to a holiday, but he is that child that was born, yes, but he was the son that was given a son that was given to die so that we’d live. So that we could go on back, so that we we could thrive. And so, let’s come to the third name and it, oh, I love this one. It’s kind of, you hear this question during Christmas season, who are you going to spend Christmas with? And this text is a great reminder of who we ultimately spend Christmas with. We’re spending Christmas with a Wonderful Counselor. Spending Christmas with a Mighty God. But then we come to the Everlasting Father.

Steve Brown:
Oh man.

Matt Heard:
And the child’s prayer, it’s just so rich theologically.

God is great and God is good.

You know, he’s transcendent, but he’s also eminent. He’s big and he’s small. And he’s the one that, as you and I have both heard, and I’m sure I heard it from you long ago, but he’s the one that hears our tears hitting the ground. He cares. And we don’t

Steve Brown:
And he shares his tears with us.

Matt Heard:
He shares his tears with us. And so, Isaiah describes Jesus, imagine this little infant, he’s going to grow up, which is what this nail reminds me of. He grew up to die, but it was a purposeful death, not a tragic one, and it was for the joy set before him that he endured the cross and despised the shame and he did it out of love. And this is, it’s to me it’s a such a powerful word, but it’s also, there’s baggage. You know, when you mention the word Father,

Steve Brown:
Oh yeah.

Matt Heard:
A lot of people say,

Steve Brown:
Had bad fathers.

Matt Heard:
Whoa, whoa, whoa, so, what do you do, Steve? How do you turn that, pivot on that and turn that on its ear and get back to our Heavenly Father?

Steve Brown:
Well, you go to the Scriptures just, you know, I had a father who was not a good man, he struggled with alcoholism, there were some other things that I don’t want to go into. But you know something about my father? He loved me so absolutely and totally that he taught me about my heavenly Father. And every time I think of my heavenly Father, I think of my earthly father and his love for both his sons, my brother and I, he carried our pictures, he talked about us, he couldn’t have a party unless we were there, we were touching, he hugged us, he loved more than anything in the world to be with us. And I remember reading the Scripture for the first time.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Father in heaven.

I thought of my father and I thought, boy, if God is like that and loves me just a little bit like that, I’ve got it made in the shade.

Matt Heard:
Yeah, I love it. I love it. I mean, what would change in the way that we do our lives if we were really loved as much as the gospels says we’re loved, if we believed it. Years ago, there’s this, it’s still going on, I see it periodically, but back when it was new, Arlene, my wife and our youngest son, talked me into watching a TV show with them. It’s called the Voice, and it’s this talent competition and some people would be really familiar with it, but in case you’re not. So, the theme is you meet these seniors kind of backstage and they’re all good. They’re all good. There’s, they’re not making fun of anybody. And so, they come out and they’re singing, but they come out. So, we’ve met them, but the judges, so you’ve got four celebrity judges. They’re each in a big red chair. And, but they’ve got their chair turned away from the stage. So, the judges are all facing the audience. And each chair is equipped with a button that will cause it to turn if they hit that button. And so, the audience is facing the performer, but the judges are not. And so, it’s a brilliant concept. So, this artist comes out and starts singing. And they’re doing great. And then you start, I started yelling at the TV for one of these judges. So, what happens if they hit that button and they turn around, what they’re doing is saying, I believe in you. I believe that you’re gifted enough, and I want to be your coach for the season. And so, if it’s really good, you can have all four chairs turning at the same time and they do the big bass drum, they hit it and all the drama. But there’s also the ache of when none of the judges turn their chair. And you’re just cringing for that artist who’s been doing pretty good. But as I was watching it, and then there’s the exhilaration when all four hit the button and turn around. But I was exposed in my view of God as Everlasting Father in that, because so often we think we’ve got to perform in order to get him to turn his red chair toward us. And what this text is saying is that he’s turned his red chair towards you before you even sing a note.

Steve Brown:
Before you were ever born.

Matt Heard:
Yeah. He says, I’m for you. I love you. And I love you so much that I want to bring you back from the dead. And that’s what Jesus came to do. And I, the byline that we use here at Key Life, God’s not mad at you. That’s not a statement of daffodils and kind of pretending. That’s rooted in the gospel. It’s what this Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God and Everlasting Father has done.

Steve Brown:
So, during this Christmas season, stop for a moment because it’s busy and just be still and think of your Father, not your biological one, your heavenly Father, who loves you more than you could possibly know. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve and Matt. I am loving this Advent thing we’re doing each Monday, and there’s still one more to go next week before we get to Christmas. Don’t miss that, and be sure to join us tomorrow as we resume our journey through the Book of Philippians. So, on our other radio show, Steve Brown Etc. we do a special Christmas episode each year, and it is a blast telling stories, eating cookies. Steve even reads the Christmas story from Luke 2. Honestly, if I could, I would have you hang out with us in the studio. But we can offer the next best thing, sending you that episode on CD for free. Yeah, just, you know, consider it an early Christmas present. To get your call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to order that CD. Or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for the free Steve Brown Etc. Christmas show CD. And finally, if you’re blessed by the work of Key Life, would you help share that blessing with others through your financial support? Just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or simply text Key Life to 28950, then follow the instructions. And as always, if you can’t give right now or maybe you’re not called to, all good. But if you think about it, please do pray for us, would you? Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.