Let us turn to God's Word and
I want to turn to the portion we were looking at last Thursday
evening. We'll read then in Isaiah chapter
9 and reading the first seven verses. This familiar portion
in the book of the Prophet Isaiah chapter 9 and reading from verse
1. Nevertheless the dimness shall
not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first she elightly
afflicted the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, and
afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the
sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations. The people that
walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell
in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light
shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation,
and not increased the joy, They joy before thee according to
the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the
spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden and the staff
of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every battle of the warrior
is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood, but this shall
be with burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, 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,
and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth
even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this. Last Thursday we did look at
the opening words in verse 6. I know we've looked at this verse
on previous occasions, but I remarked on how it had been much on my
mind since the arrival, the birth of little Oscar Connolly. So we thought
on these words, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And in particular,
we thought, of course, of the one who is spoken of here, the
Messiah, and we considered something of his humiliation in terms of
the incarnation. unto us a child is born unto
us a son is given the child born that the son given the son of
course being the eternal son of God we read of him there in Philippians
2 being in the form of God he thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man. And so, what was conceived there
in the womb of the Virgin Mary, that human nature was to be joined
to the eternal Son of God. The child is born, but the Son
is given. What humiliation! but then also
we went on to say something with regards to the humiliation which
we see evident in the work that he comes to accomplish ultimately
of course he must die he must be crucified we went on then
to look at those words that follow that the government shall be
upon his shoulder or he must bear the cross and He must hang
upon that cross. Being found in fashion as a man,
He humbles Himself and becomes obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. Well, having looked at those
words last time, I thought we might just finish our consideration
of the verse tonight by looking at the remaining part where we
really have the exaltation We see the humiliation in the circumstances
of his birth and in his death, but then we're told that his
name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. God has highly exalted
him and given him a name which is above every name we're told,
that in the name of Jesus every He is to bow every tongue, confess
things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth, to acknowledge
that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And so thinking of His name,
the exaltation that we see in the name, or the names we should
say. And of course the name is very
significant when we come to the Word of God. And we're reminded
of that previously in chapter 8, where we have mention of the
child that is to be born unto the prophet's wife. And the name,
the strange name that's given to this child, Meher Shalal Ashbaz,
the opening four verses there, and we see that the name is part
of the message of the Prophets. The literal meaning, as it's
given to us in the margin of the name, is in making speed
to the spoil, he hasteneth the prey. And in the context, and
we did say a little about the context last time, in the context
really here we have much description of that terrible judgment that
God visited upon the children of Israel. It was after the division
of the kingdom. There's Israel in the north with
Samaria as its capital. There's Judah in the south, still
having Jerusalem as the capital. But much conflict, alas, between
Israel and Judah. And Israel entering into alliance
with the Syrians even against Judah. And God's judgments are
very much spoken of. The whole of chapter 8, really,
is a description of the judgment of God. And then, when we come
to chapter 9, we've had the first seven verses, but the remainder
of the chapter, from verse 8, is a continuation of those judgments
that are going to come upon the people, particularly that judgment
that will fall upon the kingdom of Israel in chapter 8, and there
at verse 9. Here they are associating, entering
into alliance with Syria. God says, Associate yourselves,
O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces. And give ear,
all ye of far countries, and gird yourselves, and ye shall
be broken in pieces. and gird yourselves, and ye shall
be broken in pieces." All their machinations, all their alliances
will really be fruitless and in vain. And so, when we come
over to the latter part of this ninth chapter, again, we read
of terrible judgments. Verse 8, the Lord sent a word
unto Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And what is the
word? It's a word of destruction. Verse
12, the Syrians before, the Philistines behind, and they shall devour
Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not
turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. The Assyrians. It was the Assyrians
who were going to come and the Assyrians would fall upon Israel
in the north and Israel and Syria would fall and the Assyrians
would move south they'd come also into Judah and we read of
these terrible armies as they advance there in chapter 8 verse
7 now therefore behold the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters
of the river strong and many even the king of Assyria and
all His glory, and He shall come up over all His channels, and
go over all His banks, and He shall pass through Judah, He
shall overflow, and go over, He shall reach even to the neck,
and to the stretching out of His wings. shall fill the breadth of thy
land, O Immanuel." As those countries to the north of Judah fall so
the Assyrians will also proceed further south. But there will
be a very real deliverance for Judah. The Assyrians will not
be successful though they descend southward and fall upon the little
kingdom of Judah. as we see in verse 10 there in
chapter 8 take counsel together and ye shall come to know speak
the word and ye shall not stand for God is with us or Emmanuel
that's how the words are rendered at the end of verse 8 here he
is stretching out his wings filling the breadth of thy land O Emmanuel
but he's not going to prevail against Judah God is with us
Emmanuel. And here then we have brought
in the idea, the thoughts of him who was to come in the fullness
of the time when God would send forth his Son. And so in the
midst of these verses in chapter 8 and the end of chapter 9 that
are speaking so much of awful judgments and calamities that
come upon the people, we have this passage that speaks so plainly
of the Christ it's a prophecy as we said last time it's a prophecy
that has its fulfillment of course in the New Testament and I was
struck reading whilst we were away I took a little volume of
the sermons of an old Scots minister John Love and I was struck by
what he said a sentence in one of his sermons, and he makes
this particular point. He says here in this chapter,
chapter 9 and verses 1 to 7, we see how the great truth of
the incarnation of Christ is proclaimed in ancient prophecy
as a seal to all other deliverances. There was deliverance for Judah,
and here is the seal of all the deliverances that ever we might
read of in the Old Testament Scriptures. They are all sealed
in what God would do in the fullness of the time, that greatest of
all the deliverances that God would grant to His true spiritual
Israel. And the significance then of
the The names that we have here in the latter part of the sixth
verse, the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ, he humbles
himself as God, he becomes a very real man and then as a man he
humbles himself and is obedient to the death of the cross and
there is the great deliverance for God's spiritual people. Now, You'll see that there's
a five-fold name at the end of this sixth verse. His name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. Five names. It's interesting
because Alexander Cruden, in his famous Concordance, has a
list of the names that are given to Christ in the Scriptures.
And Cruden reckons there are 200 names. And he gives all of
them. If you've got Cruden's concordance,
you'll find it there in the back of the concordance. 200 names
in Scripture that are applied to the Lord Jesus. Well, here
we have a five-fold name, but I don't want to just look at
each of the names. I just want to divide what I say into some
three headings this evening. First of all, to say something
with regards to the person. of the Lord Jesus, then to say
something with regards to the purpose of God in these things,
and then we'll finish up by considering Christ as that one who is eventually
spoken of as the Prince of Peace. First of all, the person. And what is the first name that
we have here in the text? His name shall be called Wonderful. Wonderful. Oh, his person is
wonderful. The word that we have here, rendered
wonderful, literally means surpassing, extraordinary. And that's true, is it not, with
regards to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Great is the
mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. What a mystery, what a wonder
is that. The person of the Lord Jesus,
as we've said much in times past, concerning his person, we know
that he is a real man. And he was born, of course, as
a man-child. Unto us a child is born. And his human nature was very
real. He knew what it was to feel wearied. He sits down at the well at Sychar
as he's passing through Samaria because he was tired. He knew
what it was to feel physical tiredness, obviously, he was
weary. He knew real emotion. He is moved at the grave of his
friend Lazarus when he sees his sisters in all their sorrow,
and Jesus wept, we're told. We have not a high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows
all our sinless infirmities. He was tempted in all points
like as we are yet without sin. He was a real man. He was crucified
through weakness. We have that remarkable statement
there in 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 4. He could die. In the sense, of course, his
human nature was an immortal human nature. He couldn't die
because there was no sin in him. And yet he did die. And he dies
by a voluntary sacrifice. He was a real man. He was a sinless
man. And that sinlessness in no sense
diminishes the reality of his human nature. Some people say,
oh well it's human to sin. It is not human to sin. It is
not human to sin. God made man. And God made man
upright. And God made man in his own image
and after his own likeness. And God is without any sin. God
made man upright. They sought out many inventions. And our sin, of course, it's
that awful intruder. Our first parents fell and sin
comes down all the generations of men. Who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean? Not one, not one. Oh how he is the only one really
that remains sinless. Adam and Eve of course created
sinless but Adam and Eve fell. And all those who are descended
from them by natural generation are born dead in trespasses and
sins. But what do we read in the previous 7th chapter? That great promise in verse 14. The Lord himself shall give you
a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. And we're told how the virgin
conceived there in the New Testament in Luke 1, how the angel says
to Mary, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, the power of
the highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy
thing. that shall be born of thee shall
be called the Son of God. That holy thing, that sinless
soul that was Christ, that sinless body that was the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's a real man, He's a sinless
man, but then also we see here, He's not only called Wonderful,
He's also called the Mighty God. He's the Mighty God. and he is
never anything less than the mighty God even in the state
of his humiliation as a man that's a remarkable thing to even begin
to comprehend no less almighty at his birth and on his throne
supreme his shoulders held up heaven and earth when Mary held
up him always the government was upon his shoulders he upholds
all things by the word of his power, he's God's he's God's
and how how does the description continue in verse 7 this is his
exaltation 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. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this. Oh, He is man, but He's also
God. He is the God-man. And we're familiar, I'm sure,
with the language of some of those ancient creeds of the church. There's the Apostles' Creed.
Nicaean, the Athanasian, these great doctrinal statements. The Athanasian Creed says, concerning
the Lord Jesus, who although he be God and man, yet he is
not two but one Christ. One person. what they call, the
theologians call it the hypostatic union, he's one person and yet
in that one person two distinct natures, he is God, truly God
and yet he's also man and he's a real man, he is the God-man
or the wonder then of the person his name shall be called wonderful who
he is the mighty God, and yet he is a real man. But then another
truth that we see here when we consider his names, we see the
purpose of God. He has this name of Counselor.
He shall be called Counselor. He is party, of course, to all
the eternal councils of God, because God is One, Eru Yisrael, the
Lord our God is One Lord, God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
and when we think of God's counsels, when we think of God's decree,
it's the decree of the triune God, the three persons in the
Godhead, the eternal counsel, and then also of course when
we think of him as a counselor we think in terms of the of the
covenant the covenant of redemption, the covenant of grace we read
in Zechariah 6 and verse 13 the council of peace shall be between
them both there's a council of peace, there's a covenant of
redemption and we we see that unfolded in scripture and in
that counsel or covenant, he willingly becomes the servant
of God. Although as the Eternal Son he
is equal with the Father, equal with the Holy Spirit, yet in
the outworking of the covenant he becomes the Lord's servant.
Behold my servant whom I uphold, says God. Mine elect in whom
my soul delighteth. He is the first of all the elect. All the elect are chosen. in
him he is the covenant head of all his people in the covenant
he is there as he were to represent those that the father has given
to him and remember in the previous chapter we already made some
reference to that child that was born to the wife of the prophet,
Meir Shalal Ashbas, and the significance of the name, and what Isaiah
goes on to say later there in verse 18 of that chapter, he
says, Behold I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are
for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts
which dwelleth in Manziah. The name given to the child is
part of his message to Israel. I and the children whom the Lord
hath given me are for signs. Now, of course, the interesting
thing is that those words are taken up in the New Testament
in Hebrews chapter 2. They're quoted there by the Apostle,
verse 13. Behold I and the children which
God hath given me." Quoted by Paul in reference to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Christ is the one who really
is saying, Behold I and the children whom God hath given to me. In that sense, He is also the
Everlasting Father. And that's another name. He is
the Everlasting Father. We think of the language of the
Psalmist in Psalm 103, like as a father pitieth his children,
so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. He knoweth our frame,
he remembereth that we're dust. Who is that one who is able to
pity us? Who is that one who knows our
frame? In many ways it must be a reference there in the Psalm,
the Psalm is messianic, it's speaking of Christ. He knoweth
our frame, he's a real man, he's touched with the feeling of our
infirmities. he's our father he's our father
and that's the name therefore that is rightly given to him
here or in the covenant he's not only the head of his people
he's their father and he has all the tenderness of a father
towards his children but then we think when we think of him
as a counselor we can also think in terms of the words that he
speaks, the counsel that he gives here upon the earth. Remember
how he speaks to the Laodiceans. He addresses of course the seven
churches there in Revelation 2 and 3 and we have what he says
to the church at Laodicea, Revelation 3 and verse 18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold
tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich and white-raiment,
that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness
do not appear. Oh, what gracious words of counsel
and instruction! Never man spake like this man.
He says, The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and
they are life. What counsel he gives us! and
we are to wait upon Him in prayer and ask that He would direct
us in every part of our lives. We wait upon Him, we read His
word, we want the Lord to be our instructor, our counsellor.
Peter says, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. how He so graciously then speaks
to us. And we remarked last week with regards
to the language here at the beginning of the verse, unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given. It's not in the future tense.
It doesn't speak of the child who is to be born. and the Son
who is to be given, but it's what's often referred to as the
prophetic perfect, future things being spoken of in Scripture
as though they were already accomplished, as though the Lord had already
done these very things. Or we read of Him, don't we,
later on in chapter 46, declaring the end from the beginning, And
from ancient times of things that are not yet done, say, my
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Oh, he does all his pleasure,
he accomplishes all that he has said as a counsellor. The certainty
of his words to us, all the promises of God in him, they're yay, they're
amen to God's glory by us. As mediator, as testator, he
has sealed everything by his blood. His testament is in force,
because the testator himself has died and sealed all the promises. Oh, what a counsellor is this
one then, the Lord Jesus, party to all the eternal purpose of
God. and who has come and accomplished
all God's good will and pleasure in the salvation of his people
and he is to us a counselor, a prophet, a teacher and then
finally we read of him as that one who is the Prince of Peace
and that surely reminds us of that work that he came ultimately
to accomplish to make peace through the blood of his cross. We in that state of enmity and
alienation reconciled by the blood of Christ. At his birth,
of course, the angels sang glory to God in the highest peace on
earth, goodwill toward men. And it's not a mere outward peace
that's being spoken of. There was an outward peace at
that time. the peace of Rome, the Pax Romana, the legionaries
of Rome ensuring stability, peace, politically, in every part of
the empire. It's speaking of a far greater
thing. It's speaking of the sinner being reconciled to God, enjoying
peace with God. It's interesting that verse in
Luke 2.14, and on earth, goodwill towards men, the way
it reads in the Authorised Version, of course, it's God's goodwill
towards men, but in the modern versions, it's often perverted. It's perverted to suggest that
it's placed towards men of goodwill. That's how it reads in the RSV,
and of course, the version that's now so popular, the ESV, is very
much based on the Revised Standard Version, they call it the English
Standard Version. I don't have the ESV but I have an old RSV
and it says on earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased
on earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased or peace
towards men of goodwill but it's not the goodwill of men that
the angels sing of it's glory to God in the highest on earth peace towards men, or
goodwill towards men. It's God's goodwill. It's God's
goodwill coming to those who are not deserving of the least
of God's favours. Oh, this is the peace that he
brings. He comes to reconcile those who are not in any sense
at peace with God. They're far off from God. We're
told, aren't we, there's not a just man upon the earth. that
doeth good, and sinneth not, or have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God. And what has Christ done? He's
borne that punishment that the sinner deserved. He's made peace
through the blood of His cross. He is that One who is the propitiation
for our sins, says John. Here in His love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation, to bear the punishment that was our just desert. nor
this man shall be the peace." The context there, of course,
as I thought to say, it is the Assyrians coming and overrunning
Israel in the north, the ten tribes scattered, never to be
restored, lost. And then the Assyrians coming
to the very gates of Jerusalem, filling the land. Filling the
land, as we see there in chapter 8 and verse 8, He shall pass
through Judah, He shall overflow and go over, He shall reach even
to the neck, and the stretching out of His wings shall fill the
breadth of thy land, O Emmanuel. But then we have that word in
Micah chapter 5 and verse 5, This man shall be the peace.
When the Assyrian comes into the land, that's what it says.
when the Assyrian comes into the land. And it's that promise,
you see. The great deliverance is that
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and every other deliverance that
we read of in Scripture is rooted in that. That's the point that
Scott's minister, John Love, I believe, was making in the
sermon I referred to at the beginning. Or this man, thou shalt call
his name Jesus. There's another name that's given
to him, of course, he is Jesus. Why? Because he shall save his
people from their sins. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, 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 and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth even forever. And I like that sentence at the
end of verse 7. God's zeal for the honor and
glory of His own name, the zeal of the Lord of hosts, will perform
this. That's our comfort. May the Lord
bless His Word to us tonight. We're going to sing as our second
praise of that piece. 594 omitting verses 7 and 8 and the
tune is Vienna 517 O my soul with wonder tell Jesus
has done all things well and through his atoning blood I have
settled peace with God 594 omitting verses 7 and 8 tune 517