I would continue, as I have been
doing on a Thursday evening in our pastor's absence, to read
a sermon of the late pastor Mr Kenneth Matronola, a faithful
servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there are those of us here
who are greatly blessed under his ministry. Our prayer is that
this sermon, though it be a red sermon, might prove a blessing
to the hearts of those who hear it this evening. The title of
this particular sermon is, Unto Us a Son is Given. It was a sermon
preached on the Lord's Day morning, 20th December 1992. The text
is from Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6,
the first part of that verse. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given. May the Lord graciously enable
us to consider these familiar words. Isaiah is often called
the evangelical prophet because there is so much of the New Testament
gospel in this Old Testament prophet's writings. We have here
a clear prophecy or prediction concerning the coming of the
Messiah. I propose simply to look at the
two complementary statements which are contained in our text. For unto us a child is born. Isaiah speaks of the birth of
this child as though it has already taken place for it is literally
unto us a child has been born and yet as he pens these words
it has not taken place and would not take place until six centuries
or more had passed but it is it is such a certainty it will
so infallibly be brought about that he speaks of it as though
it has already occurred. Unto us a son is born. This also
applies to the second of these statements concerning the son.
Unto us a son is or has been given. Some have thought that
perhaps Isaiah was referring to someone who had already been
born. But what person, prior to the day in which the Prophet
is penning these words, could have been called wonderful, counsellor
of a mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace? Or of whom could it have been
said, the government shall be upon his shoulder, and of the
increase of his government and peace there shall be no end upon
the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to
establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth
even forever. There is no one that meets these
requirements. These words look to the coming
of the Son of God, the one of whom Isaiah had already spoken
prophetically when Ahaz was given a sign. that wicked king Ahaz
would not ask for a sign. Therefore, says the prophet,
the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall
conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7 verse 14. And that one who would be born,
and we know he has been born, is the one of whom these words
in our text apply. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. The emphasis, therefore, is on
something which is certain and which will surely come to pass. For unto us a child is born. Literally, a male child is born. The Hebrew word used is yeled. The word born is also used in
the Hebrew for the presentation or the displaying of the one
who has been born to the people. Just as when a nation learns
of the imminent birth of a child to its king and queen, the people
wait for the news and when the child is born, very often there
are those waiting outside the palace for the newborn child
to be brought out and lifted up in order that they might see
that they have a prince, a future king. It is in this sense that
we are to understand this expression, for unto us a child is born. He is born, but he is also manifested,
he is presented, he is lifted up that he might be displayed
to many. Isaiah is presenting this child
who will be born, not only to the godly remnant in his own
day, but to all those who will look for him in the centuries
of time until the child is born. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman. Those who
were the people of God, the true remnants, in the day of Isaiah
looked spiritually upon Him. They saw Christ's day. They saw Him as surely as godly
Simeon saw Him. when he was actually born, when
he was brought into the temple, and he said, Lord now lettest
thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine
eyes have seen thy salvation. It was by faith that the godly
remnant saw the salvation of God, just as it was by faith
that Isaiah was led to speak of the child that should be born,
the Messiah. Let us consider several things
about this statement. For unto us a child is born. This birth was anticipated. The
people of God, the godly remnant, looked for it. They had looked
for it throughout the centuries prior to this prophecy of Isaiah,
even from the Garden of Eden. When the Lord God said to the
serpent, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between
thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel. As the earth was peopled according
to the will of God, and as there was that distinction made throughout
the generations between the Lord's people and all others upon the
face of the earth, so there was a looking for the fulfillment.
of the intimation which was given in the Garden of Eden that of
the seed of the woman there should come a Deliverer. This birth was therefore anticipated
by the people of God and it took place according to their expectation. It was a real and natural birth
of the God-man at Bethlehem, and that too was prophesied.
The very place of the Redeemer's birth was foretold. Thou Bethlehem
Ephratah, out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to
be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old,
from everlasting. That which they had anticipated
actually going to pass at the appointed time. We believe in
the real historical incarnation of the Son of God. Unto us a
child is born. Just as the angel said to the
shepherds, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great
joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Generations
of Old Testament saints were in their graves having died in
the faith that he would be born before these shepherds were given
this intimation that he is born this very day. The birth was
anticipated and looked for by the people of God and actually
took place at the appointed time in history. The Christ of God
was born as had been prophesied. And it came to pass, and as a
result, it came to pass, and as a result, there is a great
division of all history into BC and AD, a division which even
our godless world is made to preserve. Before Christ, BC is
altogether different from Anno Domini, AD, from the year of
Christ, the Lord. There is also the presentation
of the One who was born, the lifting up that He might be displayed. The presentation has been committed
to the ministers of the Gospel throughout the generations. It
is for them to preach Christ crucified. It is for them to
declare not only the coming, but also the doing and the dying,
the rising from the tomb, the ascension into heaven, and the
coming again of the God-Man, the only Redeemer of His elect. It is given to the ministers
to declare concerning him, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. and that which the ministers
of the gospel do externally, the Holy Spirit does internally,
in the hearts of the people of God, by making it an effectual
word. So that the apostle could say
that his word came not simply in the form and sound, but it
came in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. In the places where Paul preached,
God was confirming the word with signs following, and it is the
Spirit of God who puts Christ into the hearts of those for
whom his blood was shed. There is the presentation, unto
you a child is born. There is then the anticipation
on the part of the godly that he would come. the realization
that He has come and the declaration of it by the ministers of the
Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ is formed in the
heart of His people by the Spirit at the appointed time and that
which the Spirit does is because the Father has willed it. No
man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost and
by the Father's will. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona,
was the Lord's word to Peter when he confessed that Jesus
was indeed the Christ of God. For flesh and blood have not
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Here
is the work of the Trinity in evidence, the Father willing
the revelation of his Son, the Spirit of God effectuating it,
and the Son, the glorious object of the Gospel, formed in the
hearts of his people in the appointed way and at the appointed time.
Oh, that we might see something of it, that these words, for
unto us a child is born, may be meaningful to us, and not
just idle sentimentality at this season of the year. Oh, that
we might behold a little of His glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. This birth was for the elect's
sake, for it is unto us that a child is born. It was not for
the angels, Although there were angels that were in a desperate
condition, there were fallen angels, and they remain fallen. For them there is no salvation. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
He took upon him a true humanity, the nature of men, of Adam's
race, and it was unto us, it was for the elect's sake. I'm
not saying that his birth does not affect all men, for as we've
already seen, it has affected all of history. It has divided
history. It does affect all men. He is the saviour of his people,
but he will be the judge of all flesh. He will be either saviour
or judge. The preaching of His name is
a savour of life unto life unto some, and of death unto death
to others. He is, as John the Baptist proclaimed,
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. But
He is not only the Lamb for the salvation of His people, He is
also the Lion, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to whom the government
pertains and who will be the judge before whom all nations
shall stand. There is a sense then in which
all men are involved in his birth. This child is set for the fall
and rising again of many, but it has a special significance
for the elect and only for the elect. His birth is for the elect. He came to be the surety for
his people. He came in time to fulfill the
engagement which was his from all eternity, from before even
the worlds were framed. He came that he might stand for
their sakes, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. He came to save His people. They
are brought to repentance and faith because He came for them
and suffered for them and therefore the Spirit of God applies to
them the benefits of His coming. Do you believe this gospel? The
gospel of the coming of the Son of God, can you say, until us
a child is born? Has the presentation of His child
been made to you in such a way that you have acknowledged Him,
that you have honoured Him and that you have come to worship
Him as Saviour and Lord? Christ is not honoured in the
world's Christmas. Thomas Boston, one of the great
and godly Scottish ministers of a past day, speaking to his
own people at Ettrick, near to the end of December says some
at this season pretend to honor his birth by observing a day
they count the day of it but where is the divine appointment
of that day is it not like Jeroboam's feast and then he goes on To
quote from 1 Kings, he offered upon the altar which he had made
in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the
month which he had devised of his own heart, and ordained a
feast unto the children of Israel. And he offered upon the altar
and burnt incense. 1 Kings 12 verse 33. True religion
in Jeroboam's day was centered on Jerusalem. which was the Southern
Kingdom, which was in the Southern Kingdom. So Jeroboam, who had
drawn away the ten tribes, had to make a counterfeit religion.
Men must have something to worship. They will not have the true religion. If they will not have the true
religion, they will have a false religion of their own making. Jeroboam was not keeping the
days which were appointed he was not following the will of
God in the matters of true religion so he made up his own holy day
the 15th day of the 8th month and that is what they have done
my friends with the 25th of December they devised it in their own
hearts and they have made a religion out of it and it is an abomination
in God's sight. It has all the hallmarks of that
which was characteristic of Jeroboam's religion. It pleased not God.
Do not honour him by your observance of the day. Honour him by faith. Honour him by receiving him according
to the Spirit of God's presentation of him as he is lifted up to
draw all men unto him. If this birth was appointed and
if this birth was for the elect, notice also that this birth means
certain things. In consequence of this birth,
for unto us a child is born, there should be the acknowledgement
of the Father's love to us in sending him. God has freely loved
us and given his Son for us. We note the faithfulness of God
to the Old Testament prophecies, that every word which he uttered,
particularly in respect to the coming of his Son, he fulfilled. If these have been meticulously
fulfilled, all that remains in the future is also bound to be
fulfilled. Every promise of God is validated
in Jesus Christ, and is yea and amen in him. O that there may
be gladness in our hearts, as we consider the incarnation,
for unto us a child is born. May we be like Mary, who said,
My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in
God my Saviour. These words clearly show that
Mary was not, as some claim, sinless. She needed a Saviour. as much as every one of Adam's
race need to save you. She was one of the elect of God
who was chosen for this high honor, that from her womb there
should be that holy humanity brought forth which would be
taken and assumed by the Son of God. She was not sinless,
not before the conception, nor after she brought forth the child,
nor when she was allegedly taken up into heaven. But rather, her
sleeping dust waits in the grave for the day of resurrection,
when with all the sleeping saints, the great voice of the archangel
and the sound of the trumpet, she will arise and she will be
in the presence of Christ. She is no co-redeemer. Rather, her rejoicing is that
of a humble sinner. who knows that God's time to
be gracious to his people has come. The time to fulfill all
his ancient promises. Oh may we, who are so manifestly
sinful, magnify the Lord. May we give thanks that the Saviour
has come. Do you have faith in Him as Saviour? Do you believe these things?
For unto us a child is born. Do you desire to serve Him? to
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God which is your reasonable service. God enable us so to do. There is however a second statement
contained in the verse. Unto us the Son is or has been
given Again, as we have already noted, the verb is in the perfect
form, which states something as if it has already happened,
even though, as Isaiah pens these words, it is still in the future.
We have also seen that it is the word for a male child, which
is used. But this is in no sense mere
repetition. The Scriptures never repeat anything
without reason. where there is any repetition
in the word of God, it is for a purpose. I believe that the
purpose of the repetition is that in the first statement,
for unto us a child is born, the emphasis is placed on the
incarnation, on the one who is henceforth the son of man. In the second statement, however,
The emphasis is on the manifestation in the flesh of the Eternal Son
of God. The Child is born, but the Son
is given. The Eternal Son, who has an eternal
subsistence with the Father and with the Spirit, in the will
of God and according to the provisions of the covenant, is now given
and assumes our humanity. Again, He is given unto us. Unto us! The only Son of God
is the only begotten Son of God. In terms of the flesh He is not
begotten. Jesus of Nazareth was not begotten. He was born of
a virgin. But the Son is eternally begotten
of the Father. Unto us a Son is given. He takes the humanity which was
especially prepared for Him by the Father in the virgin's womb. I would stress again that we
do not believe that Christ became a son at Bethlehem. Although
it has been fashionable to see this in the past, and I gather
it is becoming so again. Some of the Reformed groups in
America deny that Christ is a son by essence, a son from all eternity,
and maintain instead that he only becomes a son at Bethlehem,
at his incarnation. We pray that it will not come
in amongst our people and cause such division as there was in
the last century over the issue of the eternal sonship. But if
it were to do so, I trust we would all know where we stand
on this matter. Christ did not become a son at
Bethlehem. He was a son. A son was given
to us at Bethlehem. When the child was born it was
that the son was given having taken the humanity that was thus
formed according to the supernatural power and by the sovereign will
of our God. Unto us a son is given. We have many gifts and how thankful
we should be for them. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. But
this is the unspeakable gift. We cannot find adequacy of words
to describe this gift. How can we speak When we have said our very best,
when we have read the greatest utterances that men have made
concerning Him, we feel that the half has not been told us.
When we on occasion render worship where in the attitude of our
hearts we seem to be transported into the heavenly places, we
still feel that our praise of Him has been so inadequate. Oh,
for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise. says
Charles Wesley in the hymn. And we feel we have only one
tongue, and it is for the most part such a poor instrument,
to speak his worth, to speak the praises of our dear Redeemer,
although sadly so often it is a ready instrument to work mischief
and sin. This unspeakable gift is the
gift of a person. At this time of the year, there
is much covetousness. Many people are thinking of gifts,
but most think of gifts in terms of things which will please the
flesh. Are we rather those who spiritually look for the person
who is God's great gift to us? Do we look for the son given
and find our pleasure in him? What shall it profit a man? if
he shall gain the whole world, all the things which our heart's
affection has been set upon, and lose his own soul, and go
to hell. Here is a great gift indeed,
the gift of a person, and no less than a person of the Trinity,
the blessed second person of the Godhead, the Son from all
eternity, by an eternal generation. he who was ever as a son to the
father, as the father is ever a father to the son, is given
to us. No wonder the Lord said to the
woman of Samaria at the well, if thou knewest the gift of God,
and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldst
have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
We must know it is the Son of God from all eternity to whom
we are coming, that we might worship God through Him. If we
know Him as such and our hearts are drawn out towards Him, we
would have asked of Him, and what will He not give? He who
has made all things, and who is now in the place of mediatorial
glory and authority, he whom the Father delights to honour
for the great obedience which he has shown. This is the person. This is the gift. It is the gift
of the person of the Son of God. Unto us a son is given. But how is this person who is
the Son of God given to us? He is given as a child is born. Unto us a son is given, for unto
us a child is born. Here is the choice gift of the
Son of God wrapped around with flesh. We do not esteem the wrapping
of the present as more desirable than the present itself. The
present, surely, is of more worth than the wrapping. So it is with
the flesh of Christ. The uncreated Son is the gift. His nature is a created nature,
albeit a holy, sinless nature, but there is the enfleshment
of the Son of God. that we might be able to hear
and respond to such words as Philip heard, he that hath seen
me hath seen the Father. How was the Son given? He was
given as the Child was born. That is why the world does not
receive Christ. Not the true Christ. The Christ
of Scripture. The Redeemer who was sent from
heaven to save His people. The world does not know Christ.
The world does not want Christ. The words of Isaiah pertain to
the world's assessment of Christ. Who hath believed our report,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow
up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground.
He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him there
is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and equated with grief. and we hid,
as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. The faithful preaching of Christ
and him crucified and all the implications of the gospel would
be abhorrent to the great majority of people. They would cry, away
with him! But this is how the second person
was given, a son was given as a child was born. in him all
other gifts are contained who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption and of his fullness have all
we received and grace for grace the father spared not his own
son and shall he not with him also freely give us all things
as Paul says in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily and ye are complete in him. We have all gifts in this gift. It is the gift of grace. It is
given by grace. There are lovely words in Romans
where we are told of the free gift. The gift by grace which
is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. Romans
5.15 free grace salvation free grace salvation it is not earned
we do not earn it we do not work for it we do not merit it it
is freely bestowed ho everyone that thirsteth come ye to the
waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come
buy wine and milk without money and without price What if such a gift is missed?
What if he who is the second person of the Godhead, born as
a child, come in his incarnation, in whom all other gifts are contained
and given by grace, is missed? What a solemn thing that would
be! How the words of the psalm are
so important! Kiss the sun! kiss the Son unto
us as Son is given, lest He be angry as He perished from the
way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all
they that put their trust in Him." The gift is precious, but who
is the giver of the gift? The giver of the gift is the
Father. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but
should have eternal life his own son his only begotten son
his beloved son the only begotten son which is in the bosom of
the father he hath declared him the father gave his son in whom
he was ever well pleased oh let us magnify the love of to us. To whom was the gift made? Again it was made unto us. The
gift is made unto the elect, sinners of Adam's race. Some
want to make the gift of Christ for all men. This was a controversy
in centuries past and is still with us. Can you take a gift
which has the name of certain parties on it and give it to
those to whom it is not gifted? those to whom it was never the
will of God that they should receive it? Can you handle the gift of God,
Christ in the Gospel, in such a fashion? I can't. Christ is given to men. He is
given in the preaching which is to the ends of the earth.
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. But it is not that we tell every
creature that there is a gift which is theirs if only they
will receive it. This is a totally unscriptural
presentation, so-called, of Christ and is nowhere to be found in
the Word of God. He is not preached as available
for all men, if only they will come and take Him. He is to be preached rather as
one that is a Son given unto us, to those who are His people.
The Son of God is the Saviour only of those for whom He stands
as a surety. And it is the suretyship of Christ
which determines the salvation and the extent of the atonement. He is the saviour of all for
whom he stands. Our surety knows for whom he
stood and gave himself a sacrifice. We are to preach on these terms.
We are to declare that His name is Jesus, for He shall save His
people from their sins. Matthew 1.21 We are to show that
what are the marks and evidences that we are among the people
of God. Are we those who hunger and thirst after righteousness?
Are we those who know our lost condition and desire to be found
of Him? Are we those who are brought
to the place where we are shut up to the grace of God? That
is how we are to preach. This is how the preachers of
the New Testament preached. He is a son given to elect sinners
and they have the right to him by the provisions of the covenant.
If he is the saviour of his people then his people have a right
to him as their saviour by grace alone. Not of works, merit, or
creature power. O that those who lack assurance
might see that if they come on gospel terms, as those who have
come to an end of self, who feel to be at the ends of the earth
looking for the salvation of God, they have a right to this
salvation. even if they still feel to be
wicked sinners, yet they are looking to a Saviour whose salvation
stands for them, whose word is Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. Unto us a son is given, What
a Saviour the Son is, who stands for His people as their Prophet,
their Priest and their King. He who is Prophet declares God's
mercies. He who as Priest is working salvation
by His blood and righteousness. He who as King rules over the
hearts and affections of His people. Oh that we might worship
Him. Do you believe this Gospel? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Do you believe
in the historicity of his coming. Do you believe in the truth of
these words? For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given. The actual coming of the Son
of God in this fashion, John says, he that believeth not God
hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that
God gave of his son. There are many in high religious
office today who make God out to be a liar, because they do
not believe the record concerning God's Son. No wonder they do
not want the Bible, which is the only testimony which God
has given to us, by which we might know the way of salvation.
For faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. This faith is a very great gift. the ones to whom it is gifted
are completely unworthy of it but it is the provision which
God has made this is the word of the evangelical prophet for
unto us a child is born unto us a son is given if you perish
without the Son of God you perish everlastingly neither is there
salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved Jesus himself said,
I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the
Father but by me. There are those in certain parts
of the world which have never heard the gospel. They will die
in their sin, condemned as sinners. But they have never refused the
gospel. For they have never heard it.
But you have heard the gospel. And you may have refused the
gospel. Think of your accountability.
God grant that you may not be those who, in the words of Isaac
Watts, still refused to taste and perished in our sin, but
rather those that God will draw to his dear Son. For unto us
a child is born, unto us a son is given. God enable us to believe
and to rejoice. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. Amen.