Turn your Bibles to Isaiah chapter
9. And this is a familiar passage
of Scripture that is read this time of year. And actually it
bears reading many times during the year. Isaiah chapter 9. Actually in the 8th chapter,
toward the end of the 8th chapter, And in the chapter 9, Isaiah
has been led of the Spirit of God to speak to Israel and Judah
concerning her iniquities and her sinfulness. It was a day
of religious error and God was sending judgments to Israel. It was not only a day of religious
error and darkness, it was a day of great moral darkness. Immorality reigned. Immorality and idolatry, those
are the two things that kind of testified against the people
of Israel, especially during the days of King Ahaz. King Ahaz
was the father of King Hezekiah. Thankfully, King Hezekiah of
Judah was a good king and he undid a lot that his father had
done, a lot of the evil, the idolatrous statutes and things
that his father Ahaz had brought in to the land of Judah. It was a vile day. People weren't listening to the
Word of God. They were seeking out other voices. Voices of error. Voices of false
religion. God has addressed those issues
toward the end of the 8th chapter and then he gets into the 9th
chapter and he begins to set forth some good news, some gospel,
good gospel news that came from heaven. As I think about the
days in which Isaiah spoke and prophesied, the days that he
wrote, there's certainly quite a bit of parallel that parallels
our day as far as moral darkness. This is a day of moral darkness,
and we're all very much aware of that. We read about it. We
hear about it. It is indeed all around us, but
even more so, there's another kind of darkness that is even
more troubling to the people of God, and that's religious
darkness. And you know, and I know, that we're deep into religious
darkness in this day. It isn't that men are irreligious. Oh, there are some people who
are irreligious, but there are a lot of people who are filled
with religion But it's a religion of error. You see, in this world,
there are really just two religions. There's the religion of God,
the religion of Christ Jesus, and there's the religion of Antichrist. That's really the only two that
exist. The religion of grace, Salvation
by grace alone. Grace in the beginning, grace
in the middle, and grace in the end. Salvation that is absolutely,
totally dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ and His work of
redemption. There's that message. And then
there's the other message, that is, there is a salvation. Men say that you do something
to get it. Now, you may not have a big part
in it, but you have some portion of it that is your responsibility.
Well, that's a salvation of works. And really, throughout the world,
those are the only two religions that exist. The religion of Jesus
Christ and the religion of Antichrist. And so, having addressed that
in the last section of Isaiah chapter 8, the Lord then begins
to speak some good news. I've actually given this message
the title, Good News from Heaven. Good news from heaven. Could
you use some good news this morning? Everybody likes good news. Good
news, Proverbs 25, 25, this is what the words of Solomon were,
as cold waters to a thirsty soul. So is good news from a far country. I bring you good news from a
far country this morning. Good news from heaven. It's good
news from God. It isn't a good news that began
with me. And it isn't a good news that
began with any man. It's God's good news. It's good news that God Himself
has set forth. And it's good news that really
goes back before the world even began. It's the good news of
God's everlasting grace. to fallen sons and daughters
of Adam. Now it isn't good news to every
fallen son and daughter of Adam, but it is good news to those
within the fallen race of Adam who are made aware by the grace
of God of their awful state before God naturally. These are the
elect of God. These are the sheep of the shepherd.
And we have some good news. Oh, there is moral darkness. Listen, there is moral darkness
within us. Within us. And we're all born
in religious darkness. We're all born in error. We're
all born thinking, if I do something for God, God will do something
for me. That's the way we're raised up.
But, my friends, that is absolutely wrong. In this matter of the
salvation of the soul, it is all of God. The book of God says
salvation is of the Lord and of Him only. And our God has
given to us really good news. And as we begin to discover,
by the leadership of the Spirit of God, something of our evil,
something of our sinfulness, something of our total depravity,
it will be good news. It will be good news from Heaven
to us that this matter of the salvation of the soul is all
of God. Because you see, there is such
a thing as utter inability, the utter inability of the sinner
to do anything to make things right between us and a holy God. Utter inability. Do what you
will. Listen, we ought to be good people
outwardly. There's no question about that.
But no matter what you do, no matter how you act, no matter
what you might try to think, no matter what words you might
endeavor to speak, there's nothing you can do to make yourself right
with God. You see, of ourselves, everything
is wrong between us and God. It's our fault. We fell in Adam. And not only is the transgression
of Adam imputed to us, but we're also guilty by individual personal
sins. And we're all sinners before
God. All of us. From me, to you, to those in
the nursery, we're all fallen sons and daughters of Adam. We've lost all spiritual ability. We died in Adam's fall. And everything about us, as we
look at us, the vile human heart, not the heart that beats within
us, we're talking about the very innermost being of man. And our
imaginations, our minds, our thoughts, everything about us
is set in opposition to God. And God's will is the furthest
thing from our minds. We are a self-centered people. And you know that. We're all
self-centered. And the glory of God and the
glory of Christ Jesus, we might give it a passing thought, but
that's about it. Every facet of our being has
been affected by sin. You know that and I know that.
The will, the will is enslaved. The will is in bondage. And Satan
holds all of us captive at his will. We're captives. We've been
taken prisoner by the enemy. and we have no ability to free
ourselves. The liberation of the soul by
the sinner is an utter impossibility. It can't be done. We're in an
awful dilemma. Do you understand that? If you
ever are made by the Spirit of God to understand that, then
the gospel of the Lord Jesus will indeed be good news from
heaven. That salvation is all of grace. and all of Christ Jesus. The
Lord, after setting forth the moral darkness in the days of
Isaiah and the religious darkness of those days, then He begins
to set forth some good news. And here's the good news. Isaiah
chapter 9 and verse 6, And it speaks, the prophet of God speaks
as though it was already done. For in the mind and purpose of
God was done. If God is purposed to do it,
count it as done. Isaiah 9 and verse 6, 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. And he says 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. How do we know
that this is all going to be done? The zeal of the Lord of
hosts will perform it. God is zealous to do this. He's zealous to do this. Understand
this, when it comes to the salvation of His chosen people, God is
zealous to do this. It's as though God is saying,
I'm anxious to do this. This is God's greatest work.
This is the work that lay upon the heart of God from all eternity. This is the work of all works.
This is the work that will bring Him the greatest glory. Oh, I
know the heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament,
His handiwork, it's magnificent. And I know God reigns in providence. He brings all things to pass
according to His own will. Among the armies of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth, none can stay his hand
or say a name, what doest thou? He rules in all things and that
brings him glory. But his greatest glory is in
the salvation of sinners. The Lord is zealous to bring
all of this to pass. He's zealous for this because
He loves His elect with an everlasting love. He has given to us the
gift of His Son, the unspeakable gift. The Lord Jesus Himself
entered into this world 2,000 years ago and grew up and He
died in order to be the propitiation for our sins. That's a big long
word that just means the satisfaction of divine justice. Well, who sent Him? God sent
Him. Well, in what way did God send
Him? In a way of being zealous to
do it. He was anxious to do it. And
you know, our Lord Jesus, He was zealous. He was zealous to
lay down His life. for the ransom price of His people. The Scripture says when He was
in this world, He set His face like a flint. He has always looked
to Calvary's cross. Even from old eternity, when
He chose a people unto salvation, when the Father did and gave
those people to His Son to be our everlasting surety, the Son
of God set His sights on the cross. That's where He would
do the work of redemption. That's where the work of reconciliation
would take place. That's where He would bring in
everlasting righteousness. That's where He would make things
right between us and God by the bloody death, His bloody death
on the cross. From old eternity, He looked
to Calvary. When He came into this world,
He was still looking to Calvary. Along the way, especially toward
the end of his public ministry, his disciples said to him, don't
go to Jerusalem. Oh Lord, don't go to Jerusalem.
They're waiting for you there. Your enemies are there. They
want to kill you. But he set his face like a flint. He said, the Son of Man must
be lifted up. He must die. I must give my life
a ransom for many. He was zealous about it. Zealous
about it. Judas, as you know, betrayed
him for thirty pieces of silver. He said to the enemies, he said,
whoever I kiss, that's the one you want. Our Lord Jesus had
spent the night praying Judas leads a band of soldiers and
temple policemen against the Lord Jesus Christ. They go and
find him in the garden. Judas didn't have to identify
him. The Savior identified himself.
He said, who you looking for? They said, Jesus of Nazareth.
He said, I am. And when he said, I am, they
all fell backwards. Who is this? Who is this? This son that is given, this
child that's born. Who is this? He's the great I
Am. He's the great I Am. He's the
I Am who spoke to Moses out of the bush that burned, but it
wasn't consumed. He's the great I Am, the everlasting
covenant God who never changes. He's Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
today, and forever. That's who He is. He said, I
am. They all fell backwards. Oh,
what authority. What power. They got up and dusted
their clothes off. He said, I said, who are you
looking for? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. He said, if you
seek me, let these go their way. You see, it cannot be that the
shepherd and the sheep should both perish, should both die. He said, let the sheep go. That's
what He said to divine justice. Take me, let these go. That's what redemption's all
about. That's what reconciliation is all about. That's what substitution
is all about. That's what the sacrifice of
Jesus Christ is all about. Justice took Him and we go free. Isn't that good news from heaven?
That's good news. It's like a cup of cold water
to a thirsty soul. He was zealous to die. Zealous
to die. When his disciples said, please
don't go, he said, I must go. I must go. Because you see, there
was no other way For man to be reconciled to God except this
way. The Lord of glory comes down
here. Born of a virgin. He's not in any way contaminated
by Adam's sin. Born of a virgin. He's the seed
of the woman. And he grows up. He lives a life
of obedience. Perfect, exact obedience. To
every law. Parental law. Civil law. Divine law. You name any law,
He kept it. He kept it. And then He voluntarily
went to the cross. Take me. Let these go. The Son of God. Ah, the zeal
of the Lord will accomplish this. Have you ever been zealous to
do something? Well, you have. You say, boy, I want to do this,
whatever project it is. You say, boy, I'm bound and determined
to do this. We're getting toward the first
of the year and people make New Year's resolutions. Oh, I'm zealous
to keep my resolution. I am going to lose that weight
this year. I am going to go on that diet
this year. I am going to draw up a budget
this year. We're zealous to do these things. Well, I'm five pounds heavier
this year than I was last year. But I was zealous to do it, but
I wasn't so successful. Let me tell you something. When
our God is zealous to do something, He will accomplish His purpose.
He has never set out to do anything and then failed to do it. You
see, Isaiah, the same man, he wrote of the Savior, he shall
not fail. Failure is, somebody said, failure
is not an option. It wasn't a possibility. It wasn't
a possibility with the Son of God. God can't fail. God is always
successful in what He sets out to do. And He set out to redeem
and save and reconcile and wash and make clean and make righteous
a chosen people. He shall not fail. His zeal will
bring it to pass. God's zealous about it. He's
zealous about it. Oh, this is good news. This is
the good news of the incarnation and virgin birth of our Lord
Jesus Christ right here in this text of Scripture. Notice he says in verse 6, For
unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given. Unto
us. We could just spend a lot of
time on that little two-letter word, us. Unto us. Us sinners? Did He come for us? For us rebels? For us who didn't
hardly give Him a thought? Would He enter into this world
of shame and ungodliness and walk with sinners? and then willingly
be led to die a death, an ignominious death, an awful death, a painful
death, and endure the wrath of a holy God? Would He do that
for us? Amazing love, Mr. Wesley wrote. How can it be that thou, my God,
should die for me? For us. For us. For us elect. For us the bride. For us the sheep. For us fallen
ones. For us. For in us a child is born. He
is born 2,000 years ago. He is born. Can't comprehend that. God manifests
in the flesh. He was born. There He lay in Mary's arms.
And she looked into His arms. She's looking into the faith
or she looked into this baby she's holding in her arms. She's
looking into the face of Emmanuel. God with us. A child is born. This is when His earthly existence,
His earthly nature began. Body and soul. Here He is. The Son of God. He's been prophesied
throughout the Old Testament. The seed of the woman. The seed
of the woman is coming. You know, 3,300 years before
this. 3,300 years, give or take a few. 3,300 years before this, Adam fell. And God Himself, our gracious
God, the Son of God, the Mediator, announced His coming. He announced
it to the tempter. And Adam and Eve heard, the seed
of the woman is coming. And He said to the serpent, he's
going to bruise your head, the seed of the woman is coming.
3,300 years before this, men and women
who were brought by grace to believe Messiah, to believe on
the Lord Jesus, they'd been looking for Him. And piece by piece,
God, through His prophets, gave out a little bit more information
along the way concerning this seed of the woman. And now Isaiah,
3300 years after Adam's fall, 3300 years after the Lord God
of glory said, the seed of the woman is coming, Isaiah now identifies
him as a child who will be born and a son who will be given. Isaiah identifies Him. He's the one who, the child born,
He's the Son given. As the Son of God, He wasn't
born. He's the everlasting God. As the Son, He was given by the
Father. And the government shall be upon
His shoulder. How can that be? I thought the
government's always been upon the shoulders of God. Well, it
has been. But as the God-man, He's going
to earn the right to bear the government. What government? Name any government. He has it
on His shoulders. It's on His shoulders. Name any
government. The governments of the world,
all the kings and the kingdoms and the nations of the earth,
they rise and they fall at His command. The governments of the
world. The government of providence. He controls all things. The government
of grace. He rules in the government of
grace. The government shall be upon His shoulders as a result
of finishing the work that the Father gave Him to do. This is
His reward, you see. This is the reward for his faithfulness
to do the work and finish the work that the Father gave him
to do. Save my people! And he did. And here's the reward. The government's upon his shoulders.
And his name shall be called. Look up that word called. You
know what it also means? Proclaimed. His name shall be
proclaimed. We're still proclaiming His name
this morning. His name shall be proclaimed. Who is He? Jesus. Jesus. The Savior. Why, God has given him a name
above every name, that it's the name of Jesus. Every knee shall
bow and every tongue shall confess that he's Lord to the glory of
God the Father. God's given him a name. Neither
is there any name under heaven given among men, whereby we must
be saved, but his name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. His
name shall be proclaimed. Watch this. Wonderful. Wonderful. Amazing. Magnificent. It means extraordinary. Extraordinary. Oh, He is extraordinary. There is nobody like Him. There
is nobody like Him. His name should be called wonderful.
He is wonderful in His person. He is wonderful in His work.
He's wonderful in his attributes. And then he says, counselor. Look up the word counselor. The
root word means one who purposes, one who devises. Well, he's the
one who purposed everything. He's the one who devised all
things. He's the one who ordained all things and who's bringing
all things to pass. I received this week a very good
email from a man who wrote, and he asked me this question. He
said, does the Lord Jesus really rule over all things? Does He
really rule over all things? Oh yes. Oh yes. He not only rules
all things, He ordained all things over which He rules. He ordained
them all. You see, He purposed everything
way back in old eternity and now, during this era of what
we call time, He's bringing His purpose to fulfillment. That's
called providence. Providence. He's executing His
will. He's the counselor. While He
was our counselor in the covenant of grace, He stood for us. Our
mediator, our intercessor. Our spokesman. Aren't you glad
you have a spokesman before God? You have a mediator before God. And He's the counselor who teaches
us. He teaches us His will. Who is He? He's the mighty God. He's the mighty God. That word
mighty has the idea of a valiant, valiant champion. That's who
He is. He's our valiant champion. You
know, there's only once in the Bible, two or three verses where
the word champion is used. It's used with reference to Goliath.
He was the champion. He was the champion of the Philistines. Nobody ever beat him. Well, he
hadn't run into a David yet. He hadn't been hit in the forehead
with a stone slung from a slingshot yet. He was a valiant champion, but
he fell. But our valiant champion, he'll
never be defeated. He's the king of grace. The king
of grace. He is the victor. He is always
triumphant. He triumphed over death. He said,
I have the power to lay down my life and I have the power
to take it again. This commandment have I received
from my Father. He's a valiant champion. Who
is He? He's the mighty God. He's the
everlasting Father. Look at this. He's not only the
Son that's given, He's the everlasting Father. Isn't this amazing? He's
the Son and the Father. He's the Son and the Father!
Oh, the complexity! Oh, the complexity of this One,
the Lord Jesus Christ! Oh, the uniqueness of this One! And He's our Savior. He's our
Savior. He is the child that is born
for us. He's the Son that was given for
us. And He's the everlasting Father.
He gives us spiritual birth by His incorruptible seed, the Word
of God. He's our everlasting Father and
He's the Prince of Peace. He's the Prince of Peace. He
made our peace with the blood of His cross. I wonder if there's
somebody in here this morning or somebody who's watching on
the internet. You know, back years ago, you
said, well, I made my peace with God. I'd like to say to you,
my friend, you can't deal with God. God's a consuming fire. You've got to have somebody to
deal with God for you. And our Lord Jesus, He's the
Prince of Peace. He made our peace by the blood
of His cross. He's the Peacemaker. We just
rejoice in His peace. In the peace that's been made.
Can you rejoice in that peace that's been made? I do. I do. I know this time of year, people
are thinking about a baby and rightfully so. He's born, came
into this world. Unto us a child is born. We're
thankful for that. He's Emmanuel, God with us. But
I'll tell you, He grew up. He grew up and He saved His people
from their sins by substitutionary death. And this one ever reigns,
He's the Prince over all things. And He says in verse 7, 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, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."
Who is He? Who is this? I worked on this
pretty hard in my Sunday school class this morning, so for the
dozen people or so that was in there, I hope you don't mind
me repeating a little bit of this, but we talked about Emmanuel. He's God with us. He's always
been God with us. God with us in the flesh. God
with us when He died. God with us when He arose. God
with us by His Spirit. And He's God with us every day
of our lives. He said, I'll never leave you
and I'll never forsake you. Some of you in here this morning,
Live alone? But you're not alone, child of
God. Emmanuel is there. God is with
you. Now, when you go to work, He's
Emmanuel. God with us. God with you. When He died, He was God with
us. And He's God for us too. When
He arose, He is God with us. He went back to glory. He's God
with us. And I ended my Sunday School
class exactly the way I'm going to end this message. And one
of these days, we're going to die and leave this world. Then it's going to be us with
God. Us with God. Oh, what a blissful thought to
see the Lord Jesus face to face. The One who saved us by His grace. Ah, this is good news! is good news from heaven.