May God be with us now as we
turn together to his word and consider it this evening. We'll
turn back to the chapter we read together tonight, the prophecy
of Isaiah in chapter 9, and we'll read together the final clause
in verse 7. Isaiah chapter 9 and the closing
words of verse 7. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this. Well in this coming week we will
of course consider many things regarding the birth of Christ
and we will probably focus on a number of characters from the
narrative. We can think of Mary and of her
situation and of her calling of the mother of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the things that went through her life and through
her mind in those days. And there's a lot of teaching
there. We can think of Joseph. and how hard it was for him hearing
that Mary was expecting a child and the message from the angel
and how he received that message and acted on it and he acted
so honourably and so faithfully. We think of the shepherds, of
the visitation from the angels and the message that Christ was
born and how they ran to find him. We think of the wise men,
of them diligently following the star and eventually having
gone via Jerusalem, finding the Lord Jesus Christ, presenting
the gifts and worshipping him. And there are other characters
as well, perhaps less positive ones. There are Herod, for instance,
who feigned an interest, and yet's real desire was to destroy
this new king. You see, there are many characters,
many interesting accounts, and there's teaching. I'm sure if
we study each one individually, but you know, the events of that
night, of that occasion, though there are many people involved,
it's really about God. It's really about what God is
doing, what God has come to do. It's really about the wonderful
and glorious truth that God has come to earth. That God has come. to be with us, and it is Him
that is working, and the others, as blessed as they are, and faithful
as they are, and God-honoring as they are in so many occasions,
are mere instruments in the whole plan. It is God's plan. It is
God's work. It is God's Son who is the focus
and the center of these events, and I hope It is God's Son who
is the focus and centre of our thoughts in the coming days as
well. Christmas is about Christ. Christmas is about the work of
God. And we are told in these words
here that the Lord of hosts will perform something. The Lord of
hosts will bring something to pass. He will bring something
glorious to pass. He will bring an amazing event
to come. The Lord of hosts will perform
this. No other man Mary may have brought
forth Christ in a natural sense, but she didn't perform the wonderful
coming of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. Joseph fulfills his
role, but he doesn't bring forth the Son of God. It's the Lord
of hosts who performs this. But you see, there's a striking
word as well, isn't there, in this sentence. The zeal. of the Lord of hosts will perform
this. The zeal of the Lord. You see, this isn't just a vague
interest. This isn't just a vague concern,
even. Zeal shows an energy. It shows a determination. It
shows a real... It's something that he must do.
It's something that he's fully engaged in. It's something which
is fully in his heart. There's a zeal there. You know,
if we have a hobby or something, I hope you won't think I'm being
irreverent in the illustration, but if we have a hobby and it's
a vague interest, then it's something we can easily let go. But if
we're zealous in the work, then it's something we can't let go.
It's something our heart is in it. It's something our whole
energy is consumed into it. We're zealous. Well, pardon the
illustration, but here we have it, the zeal of the Lord of Hosts. You see, his whole energy and
concern and desire is bound up in performing this thing. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts
will perform this. What is he zealous for then?
Well, firstly, he's zealous for his glory. He has a zeal for
his glory. Our God is a jealous God. The God that many people like
to think of is not really the God of the Bible. You see, God
is, it's true, a God of love. God is a God of compassion, a
God of mercy, long-suffering and faithful. But God is also
a God of purity and of holiness and of justice. And God will
not give his glory to any other. He is a jealous God and He is
jealous for His glory. And He is zealous that that glory
might be manifest and He might receive the praise that is due
because of that glory. You see, He is the sovereign
creator of all things, of all things in the world. in the animal kingdom, in the
animal world, in humanity, in the universe, and yes, of all
spiritual beings, of the angels, and of the devil and the demons.
The Lord is the sovereign creator of all things, and therefore
he cannot give his glory to another, for he would be thereby giving
his glory to his own creation. alone must receive the glory. He will not give it to another. Isaiah tells us further on in
chapter 42, I am the Lord, that is my name. My glory will I not
give to another, neither my praise to graven images. I will not give my glory to another. He is jealous for that glory,
and he is zealous to work that others might give him the praise
due to his name. Be still, he says through the
psalmist, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among
the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth,
be still and know that I am God. You see, the Lord would work
that we might be brought to be still and to realise He is God. And in realising that, exalt
Him and glorify Him to see His work. Because when God works,
then it brings glory to His name. and when we see it and recognize
it, and when we are thankful for it, God's work, then it brings
glory to His name. He is zealous for His glory. He is determined. And He has
always been determined that there would be a company of angels
and of men and women of mankind that would glorify him, that
would honor him, that would praise him because of who he is, because
of what he does, because of his attributes, because of his glory.
And he is determined that there would be that place of heaven
and that there would be a company who glorified him. Great Almighty
God. and he is zealous and he is fully
engaged to bring that to pass, to bring that day so that the
company worship him for who he is. He is zealous then for his glory. God is also zealous for the salvation
of his people. for the salvation of his people. And it is, of course, through
the salvation of his people that that company will be brought
together to glory, to worship him as they should. He is zealous, the zeal of the
Lord, the energy of the Lord, the desire of the Lord. is in
this direction that his people might be saved. This isn't just
a vague interest. This isn't just something that
is a vague concern. This is a zealousness. And when we consider that glorious
truth, as we were thinking a little bit this morning, and I'm sorry
if I repeat myself, but when we consider the vastness of eternity,
And we think that the Lord has always been and always will be. And yet we think that the Lord
has looked upon this little world and has looked upon sinful human
beings in that world who have done nothing to earn any notice. And the only thing they deserve
is his anger and his wrath for their sin. And He has come to
you, if we know the Lord this evening. He's come to you when
there's the whole mass of humanity, when there's the whole company
of human beings, of men which have lived since the creation
and will live. And that company, and He's looked
on you and He's looked on me, the great eternal God. has looked
on you. And he's looked and seen, well
what has he seen as he looks on us? Well surely he sees a
weak people, he sees a little people, he sees a finite people,
he sees an undeserving people, and he sees a sinful people.
He sees a people who can do nothing right. He sees a people who are
walking in rebellion. He sees a people who are crying
out in anger, we won't let that man to reign over us. He sees
a people reveling and delighting in sin. He sees a people with
no concern for eternity and no concern for glory. A people with
no concern to know the Lord, to know his ways, to know his
truth, to know his person, to know his character. That's what
he sees. when he looks on us. And yet
the zeal of the Lord of hosts is so strong and so intense that
he looks upon sinners like that who are dead in trespasses and
sins, and his heart burns in love for them. His heart is full
of love for them. In his little world, in his little
space of time, the zeal of the Lord of hosts for the salvation
of his people. For he has always planned, there
has never been a day when it has not been his desire that
his people would be with him in glory, that his people would
see him in his glory. The zeal of the Lord of hosts. You see, this is an amazing and
tremendous thought, that the Lord God would look upon us At
work we run a program called Restorative Justice, you may
have come across it. And the idea of it is so that
victims of crime contact, one way or another, the offender
of that crime. And they, in many cases, write
to them and say what the impact of the theft or the burglary
or the assault or what may have been had on them. The idea is
so that the offender has some idea of the wider implications
and the impact that their crime has had on the individual, on
their family, on society at large. But that can sometimes move on
and it's encouraged if both parties feel able to do it to a meeting
face-to-face. And sometimes there is this face-to-face
meeting. to try and explain and to try
and bring the offender to realise what crime really brings. And you see, that is incredibly
hard. Most people, I think really the
majority of victims, find that impossible to do. There's a small
number who are able to do it. It's very hard. But you see,
I wonder how many of those people do it because they're so angry.
They want to get back at the person. They want them to understand. They want to take them and shake
them and make them understand something of the horror they've
brought into their lives. They're full of anger. I wonder
if any actually have any love, any concern for the life of the
person they're talking to and how they've spiraled into a life
of crime. I wonder if there's any love
there. But you see, imagine if we were in that position this
evening and we felt able to go and see someone, perhaps in prison,
who had done us great wrong, who had harmed us or who had
stolen something from us or had assaulted us outside and had
affected our life so that we would never forget it. It would
always be with us. And we went to see them and we
were told, you must love that person. Well, as Christians,
we should. But you must love that person.
You must have a real concern for that person. You must do
them good. You must provide for them. You
must care for them. Well, that would be very hard,
wouldn't it? That'd be very hard to do. But what if then we were
told, well, actually what you must do is take their place. You must swap chairs. You must
let them go free. And you must serve the sentence
instead. You would say, how unjust, how unkind, how unfair. Why should I do that? I'm the
victim, not the offender. Do you understand anything of
what the Lord has done? He, as it were, has received
the insults and the hatred of sinful man. And yet not only
did he look upon them and love them, but he looked upon them
and said, I will take their place. I will stand in their place and
I will suffer on their behalf because he is so zealous for
the salvation of his people, because he is so determined that
they would be washed and cleansed and forgiven and with him. the zeal of the Lord of Hosts
for His glory and for the salvation of His people. Here then is this
zeal. But you see, we read in the previous
verses then, moving on in verses 6 and 7, we read of that zeal
in action. That zeal in action. It brings something to pass. It does something. You see, and
this is why it is zeal. It is not just interest or concern. It's something which actually
acts and performs something. And this is what it has performed.
Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And this is where we see the
real love and work and grace of God. It's here. That one has
come from glory to this earth. That God, almighty and holy,
the creator of the heavens and the earth, our Father, has come. And has come to live in this
sinful, filthy world. And has come to live amongst
rebellious and filthy sinners. a child is born. And when we come then to Christmas
time, and we remember that child, and we have the images in our
mind of the stable and of the manger, and we sing the carols
and we read the familiar portions, may we be able to remember that
there is the very Son of God, there is the Saviour, there is
the Creator of the heavens and the earth, as we sang this morning. His shoulders held up heaven
and earth, while Mary held up him. A child is born. Here we have the teaching of
the humanity of Christ. Humanity. He came to be a child. He came to be a real child. You
see, there was a real birth, a real crying, breathing child. Who would grow through the weeks
and months and years to crawl and to walk and to develop speech
and to be able to do things like any child grows and develops?
A normal, in that sense, child is born. A real child. Looking at him, there was nothing
unusual. You see, the shepherds, by faith,
saw something else. The wise men, by faith, saw something
else, but it was by faith. He didn't look any different
from any other child. A child is born. Isn't this a
tremendous thought that God Almighty was willing to be a child, a
baby, a man, to become humanity, when all that humanity represented
was sin? That is where humanity was, fallen
in Adam and dead in trespasses and sins, and yet he comes to
identify with that humanity. He comes to be a real man, a
real child. What humiliation. What humiliation
from glory to Golgotha, from glory to the manger. Humiliation of Christ. Unto us
a child is born. But it's a wonderful truth, isn't
it? that Christ is a real man. Christ is able to identify with
you and me. Christ is able to represent you
and me because he is one of us in the sense that he is a real,
true man. A child is born. The zeal of
the Lord of Hosts will perform this. It's his concern for his
glory and for his people that he is willing to be a child.
And he is willing to go through, as it were, the stages of development,
finally to the cross. A child is born. And then we have the other side.
And to us, a son is given. A son is given. You see, here was no ordinary
birth. Now it was, in one sense, you
may think you've just contradicted yourself, it was an ordinary
birth in one sense, but in another sense it was extraordinary, wasn't
it? There's never been a birth like
it and there will never be one since. Because we believe in
the virgin birth. He was the Son of God. A son is given. And I think these
words are instructive, aren't they? A son is given. You see,
it's as if the gift was there before. He's given into the world. Here we see the eternal state
of Christ. The son is given. Yes, he's a
child. He's a real man. But the Son
of God is given. He's given. humanity and the
deity of Christ is here. Wonder of wonders that through
the Virgin God Almighty has come and God Almighty has come so
that the real man Jesus Christ might be perfect and pure and
sinless, that the real man, Jesus Christ, might show forth the
truth of God to preach it with all authority, that the real
man might show forth the power of God in his miracles, in his
teaching, and in his healings, and that the real man might be
able to bear the sins of others. You and I cannot bear the sins
of any other. We bear our own sins, don't we?
We die because of our own sins. And if we were left and we fell
into hell, we did so because of our own sins. I cannot bear
your sins and you cannot bear mine. I bear my own. Only one
can bear the sins of another. That is a sinless one who doesn't
have his own sin. God, a son, is given. The son of God is given. And
he's given his own, his only begotten son, his beloved son.
How wonderful. How glorious a child is born
and a son is given, and he's given for us. Unto us a child
is born. Unto us a son is given. And this
means sinners. This means wretched, filthy,
hell-deserving and dead sinners. To us a son is born. This is
a tremendous truth, the zeal of the Lord of hosts, the love
of his people has brought this to pass for you and for me, for
sinners. Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given, the government shall be upon his shoulders. He will rule, he will rule over
his people. He will rule over his church
with authority, but also with a reign of love. He will rule
over us in the sense that He will implant His law within us. You see, we still sin, don't
we? When the Lord calls us, we do not live a perfect life. But
the Lord makes us aware of sin. And He, as it were, implants
the law in our hearts in the sense that now we hate to sin
against that law. It's within us. We realise it
offends God. We're pained by it. He rules over us in that sense,
but he rules with a heart of love. The great king of kings,
we thought on Friday, didn't we, about David as the king from
Bethlehem, who ruled over his people with love. Well, Christ
is the same, who rules over his people. The government will be
on his shoulder, he will bear it, and he will bear that burden,
but he will rule in authority and in love as well. and then
his names. Those of you children here who
were in Sunday school this morning, we thought of two names, didn't
we, of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first one was the obvious
one, Jesus, for he shall save his people. And the other one
was Emmanuel, God with us. And I mentioned, you may remember,
there are many names of the Lord mentioned in the Bible, though
these were just two of them. Well, here we have some more.
His name shall be called wonderful, wonderful. He is wonderful. You see, he is wonderful in what
he does, in his work and in his power. He is wonderful in who
he very is. It's his name, it's his identity,
is wonderful. Isn't there any occasion, I'm
trying to remember the moment when someone asked the Lord his
name and he said, how can I tell thee thy name for it is secret? Isn't it when the angel appeared
to Manoah and his wife? He said, it is secret. And I
believe the translation could also have been, it is wonderful.
How can I tell you my name for it is wonderful? Well, here we
have it again. He shall be called wonderful. You see, he's wonderful in his
compassion. He's wonderful in his love. He's
wonderful in his humiliation from glory to earth. It's as
if we can hardly think of another word. He's wonderful in every
way. And the believer comes to see
this. When we know something of his love and of his presence
and of his goodness towards us and forgiveness of sins and help
through our lives, he's wonderful. And some people join, in the
translation, join these two together, and join as a wonderful counsellor. I'm no Greek, no Hebrew, rather,
linguist, and I don't know exactly how it should be, but you can
put it together as well. He is a wonderful counsellor.
He is wonderful in every essence. He's wonderful, just wonderful
all by itself, but he's also a wonderful counsellor. He is
the counsellor. Now, what is a counsellor? Well,
a counsellor is someone who cares. A counsellor is also someone
who has authority. And a counsellor is also someone
who we would consider to have wisdom, to be wise in their counsel. Wonderful counsellor. You see, he's wise. And he comes
to his people and he blesses them and guides them. And he
shows them the right way and he keeps them from a wrong way.
And he leads us and he directs us. And he's wise in the way
that he leads us ultimately to himself. He leads his people
so that they might see their sin. He leads his people that
they might come to true heartfelt repentance. He leads his people
that they might see him as their saviour. He's a wonderful counsellor. The Lord Jesus Christ, the zeal
of the Lord of hosts will perform this. The zeal for your and my
souls is that he has sent his Son who is wonderful, who is
counsellor, who is the mighty God. The mighty God who has come. The mighty God who is mighty
to save. Mighty God. You see, isn't it
wonderful these words were brought together? Yes, he's God, but
he's mighty God. who's come to save the worst
of sinners, who's come to lift up the very worst, because He
is mighty to save. The mighty God. The mighty God
has stepped into this sinful world and has taken interest
in us. He is the everlasting Father. Now, don't get this confused,
please. We believe in the Trinity. We believe in three persons in
one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And I don't believe here we are
reading, as it were, that the Father, the first person of the
Trinity, has come to earth in that sense. But Jesus Christ,
the everlasting Father, in a sense that he cares for his children,
that he has bought his children with his own blood, that we are
adopted into the family of God through Christ, and that he cares
as a father cares for his people. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord has compassion on them that fear him. It's in
that sense we have here the everlasting father. You see, those who are
in Christ know him as one who cares, as one who will provide
for them. as one who will listen to them
like a father should listen to his child, like one who will
bear with them when they are slow to learn. And you know,
one who will discipline them and will correct them when they've
wandered away into a wrong path. He is the everlasting Father. He cares. And he is the Prince
of Peace, the Prince of Peace. The angels sang, didn't they,
glory to God and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. What is
that peace that the Lord has brought through Christ? Well,
he didn't bring peace on earth in the sense that there are no
longer any wars, did he? Because there's plenty of wars
and always have been. He didn't bring peace on earth
in the sense that we all love each other, humanity lives in
perfect unity at all times, because there's nothing like that today.
So what is this peace? What is this peace that the Prince
has brought in? Well, it's peace. It's a higher
peace than an earthly peace, because it's peace between God
and man. It's peace between our souls
and the Holy God. It's peace being brought back
to God who we have been separated from because of our sin. It is,
as the Apostle describes in Corinthians, a reconciliation. God has, in
Christ, reconciled us to himself. That's the peace that the Prince
of Peace has brought. Reconciliation with God. And that peace with God brings
peace. to our hearts and to our souls,
when we know that the sin which separated us, that the sin which
God was so angry with has all been removed away by the Prince
of Peace, who has borne it himself and has brought peace into our
hearts again. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts
will perform this. The love for the souls of sinners
will perform this. That love will bring the Prince
of Peace. 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, to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth even forever. Here we have the
great encouragement that the increase of his government and
peace will continue. You see, the zeal of the Lord
of Hosts is performing this work still today. The zeal of the
Lord of Hosts is calling sinners today. The zeal of the Lord of
Hosts is bringing those whom He loves and always has loved
to repentance and faith today. Because the increase of the government
and peace will know no end. As the world remains, there is
hope for sinners. As the world remains, there is
hope for you and me. As the world remains, there is
hope for the lost beyond these walls. The increase shall know
no end, because the Prince of Peace is working still, because
the zeal of the Lord of Hosts is performing still. What does that mean for you and
me? This evening, do you feel lost? Do you feel that as everyone
else celebrates the events of Christmas, it's not for you?
You feel that as everyone else stands in wonder and worship
at the great Savior and the great Prince of Peace, you're only
in turmoil. You only have warfare in your soul. You can only feel
the judgment and the condemnation of God in your heart. There's
no Prince of Peace. There seems to be no joy. It
doesn't seem to mean anything for you. Maybe it's a blessing
for others, but the Lord's passed you by. The Lord won't have compassion
on you, the Lord wouldn't listen to you, the Lord has passed you
by. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
can perform this. The very power and the authority
and the wisdom and the love and the zealousness of the Lord can
perform that wonderful work which you need. O that we might all
know it, O that we might all be brought, that the increase
of his government might include us, that the increase of his
kingdom might include you and me. The increase of his government
and peace there shall be no end, and he will rule in justice to
establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth
even forever. Justice and judgment. You know, when we think about
those words, justice and judgment, often we think of them in a negative
sense. We look at them and we think of, like a courtroom, we
think of someone facing justice, someone facing the anger of the
authorities, someone facing punishment, judgment and justice. But you
see, judgment and justice is also positive, isn't it? You
see, if we stand before a courtroom and judgment and justice, as
it were, it goes through the motions and we're found innocent,
then we're very thankful for justice, aren't we? You know,
it's places in the world where they do not have justice that
we most fear, because the innocent are found guilty and the guilty
are let to go free. You're thankful for justice. The Lord's kingdom is just. In this sense is the positive
way of looking at it. When the Lord's people stand
at the judgment seat, as it were, in the courtroom before the Lord
as the judge, then the Lord will look at them through the Prince
of Peace. The Lord will look at them through
the wonderful counsellor, the mighty God and the everlasting
Father. He will see them through the child, through Christ. and
his justice will immediately acquit them. His justice will
immediately set them free because Christ has borne the punishment
instead. So his justice is a wonderful
thought for the Christian, that he will not lay the sins and
the charge at his own son and lay them on us again. they've
been dealt with and the work is finished. Why is it? Why is it that God would send
his son to be a child? Why is it that God would send
his son to be in a manger? Why is it that God would send
his son to the despised city of Nazareth? To the dirty streets
of Galilee? Why is it that God would send
the great king of kings to live a homeless and destitute life?
Why is it that the God would send his son to bear a cross
of shame, to shed his blood through nails and a spear? Why is it
the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this? Here is prophecy in Isaiah. Here
is prophecy. It must come to pass, Isaiah
is saying, The zeal of the Lord must bring it to pass. And we
know it did. And we look back and we read
the gospels and the accounts and we know it did come to pass.
The Lord was faithful to his word. The Lord was faithful to
his promise. The Lord was faithful to his
zeal for his glory and for his church. And he is faithful to
his promises today. And if we're a sorrowing sinner
tonight, and we are crying unto the Lord to know anything of
the blessing of the child that was born in Bethlehem this Christmas,
then he is faithful to his word this evening. He is faithful
to work still, to call, not the righteous. and not the proud,
but sinners to repentance. He is faithful to receive those
still who come unto him. He is faithful to hold them up
still when they feel they are falling. He is faithful to his
promise of justice. He is faithful. You see, the
zeal of the Lord of hosts perform this work. And if we, by his
grace, are looking to Christ this evening, And we are thankful
that he performed it. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts
will maintain your soul. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts
will keep you going and will bring you safely home. The zeal
of the Lord of Hosts will perform this. Well, are we then a sorrowing
sinner tonight? Here is the word which I hope
the Lord applies to us each with power. Unto us. not unto the righteous, not unto
the good, not unto the deserving, but unto us. A child is born. Unto us a son is given. And he has been born and he has
been given because God's heart has eternally burned with love. And it is eternal plan that he
would have us in glory and that he would make a way so that we
might be there. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this. May we be found this week particularly
looking to him and ever thankful that he kept this word and he
fulfilled it to the letter. Amen.