Well, good morning. Get set up here. If you would open your Bibles
with me to begin our service to Isaiah chapter 8. Isaiah chapter 8. As you're turning, let me remind
you, our sister Peggy Wooten is scheduled to have surgery
this Thursday. We want to remember her in prayer. And this Wednesday,
Elder Eric Floyd is going to be preaching for us. I have various
appointments all week in an effort not to overdo it as everybody
tells me don't do. Eric is willing to help out and
preach for us Wednesday night. I look forward to sitting and
listening with everyone else. Alright, Isaiah chapter 8. We're
going to begin our reading in verse 11. Read down through part of chapter
9. For the Lord spake thus to me
with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in
the way of this people, saying, Say ye not a confederacy to all
them to whom this people shall say a confederacy? Neither fear
ye their fear, nor be afraid. In this way he's saying, don't
you join with these idolaters. Don't you make a compromise to
fit in with this false religion around you. But, verse 13, sanctify
the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your fear. Let him
be your dread. And he should be for a sanctuary,
but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to
both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble
and fall and be broken and be snared and be taken. Bind up
the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I'll wait upon
the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob. And
I will look for him. 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 Mount Zion. You know,
people say the days of signs and wonders are over. No, they're
not. You want to see a sign? You want
to see a wonder? Look who the Lord saves. Look
how the Lord saves Sam. That's what he's saying here.
Verse 19. And when they shall say unto
you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and under wizards
that peep and that mutter, should not a people seek unto their
God for the living to the dead, to the law and to the testimony?
If they speak not according to this word, it is because there
is no light in them. And they shall pass through it,
hardly, but stead and hungry. And it shall come to pass that
when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves and curse
their king and their God and look upward. And they shall look
unto the earth, And behold, all they're going to see there is
trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, and they shall be
driven to darkness. Nevertheless, the dimness shall
not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly
afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and
afterward did no more grievously afflict her by the way of the
sea beyond Jordan and 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 and harvest, 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 oppressors in the day of Midian.
For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments
rolled in blood, and this shall be with burning. and fuel a fire. Now where is this great deliverance
going to come from? Where is this light going to
come from to the people? Where is it that they should
look and not compromise the gospel? Here he is, verse 6. 4. Here's
why all this is going to happen. Here's how God's going to deliver
His people from darkness and battle and idolatry. 4. Unto
us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. The government
shall be upon His shoulder. And his name should be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government
and peace, there should 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." And we'll end our reading there.
Let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven,
holy and reverent, is your matchless name. And Father, we bow before
you this morning, a humble people. We bow. We bow begging for mercy
and grace. We bow. begging that you send
your spirit upon us this morning and enable us to worship thee.
We bow, seeking a word from thee. Lord, I pray in this hour that
you would send your spirit and enable me to rightly divide the
word of truth. Enable me to preach Christ in
such simplicity, in such clarity, that thy people would see you,
run to him, Rest in him, find our joy, peace, and satisfaction
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, we bow, begging you
to send your spirit upon this entire congregation this morning,
that you would give each one a hearing ear, a heart to believe,
a heart to believe the Lord Jesus Christ, to turn from our idolatry,
to turn from our works of the flesh, and to trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ, him and him alone. And Father, we bow to thankful
people. Oh, how thankful we are for your mercy and your grace
to your people. How you've saved them by your
grace. You sent your gospel and given
a heart to believe. And made so many faithful, faithful
people. Faithful because they've seen
Christ. Faithful to follow him. Faithful
to his gospel. Father, how we thank you. We
bow thanking you for the many, many, many blessings, how richly
you have blessed this congregation. Father, we're thankful. Pray
your continued blessing be upon us, especially how we thank you
for the spiritual blessings you've given us in our Lord Jesus Christ.
You've given us everything in him. Father, we're so thankful.
And we bow before you a needy people. Father, this trouble
that's in our world right now, this plague that's among us,
this spiritual and the political division that's so rampant in
the day. Father, we pray you deliver us,
that you would send relief quickly if it could be thy will. Preserve
and protect us, we pray. And Father, for those who are
in a time of trouble, we pray for them. We pray for Peg as
she's facing this surgery, that you would Give healing. Use this as an instrument to
heal her and give her rest from this pain, suffering. And Father,
others who need you especially, the bereaved, the heartbroken,
those who are going through tests and uncertainty, Father, we pray. We pray you'd comfort, that you'd
heal, that you'd be among your people. But Father, with all
these things we ask, forgive us for our much asking, our much
speaking. Enable us to bless Thy holy name.
Forgive us for Christ's sake, we pray. Amen. This is my father's world And
to my listening ears All nature sings and round me rings The
music of the spheres This is my father's world I rest me in
the thought Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas Hence the wonder's
wrought This is my father's world The birds their carols raise
The morning light, the lily white Declare their Maker's praise
This is my Father's world He shines in all that's fair In
the rustling grass I hear him pass He speaks to me everywhere
This is my father's world Oh, let me ne'er forget seems off so strong God is the
ruler yet this is my father's world the battle is Jesus who died shall be satisfied
and earth and heaven be one. Thank you, Brady. It's so good to have
you home. We can't be reminded of this too much, can we? This
is my Father's world. This thing hadn't gone off the
rails. It's still our Father's world. Open your Bibles with
me again to Isaiah chapter 9. I've titled the message this morning,
His Name is Wonderful. I took my title from the phrase
you see in the middle of verse 6, and His name shall be called
Wonderful. Scripture gives us many different
names of the Lord, doesn't it? They call Him Savior. The angel
said, you call Him Jesus. You call His name Jesus, for
He shall save His people from their sins. He's called our rock. He's called the bread. He's called
the living water. He's called the King. King of
kings and Lord of lords. Those are all His names because
that's who He is. You know, the names of the Lord
tell us what the Lord is like. It's not just a random name somebody
picked for Him. These things tell us about the
character of the Lord. He's so wonderful, He has to
have many different names to describe His character, His glory. And Isaiah says His name should
be called Wonderful, because everything about Him, everything
about Christ is wonderful. Every attribute, every characteristic
of the Lord Jesus Christ is wonderful. And that's what this prophecy
of Christ in verses six through seven tell us. And that's why
I want us to look at, phrase by phrase, to see how wonderful
Christ our Savior is. Now I pray that the Lord will
let you and me this morning see how wonderful He is so that we
can't stay away from Him, so that we're drawn to Him. Here's
the first thing. Christ is wonderful in His person.
He is the God-man. Verse 6, Isaiah says, For unto
us a child is born, and unto us a son is given. Now the Lord
Jesus Christ is a real man. Isaiah says, For unto us a child
is born. A real human child is going to
be born in Bethlehem. And I love how Isaiah writes
this. 700 years before Christ was born
in Bethlehem, Isaiah says Christ is born. In Isaiah 53, he talks
about everything in the past tense. He talks about everything
in the past tense there 700 years before Christ was born. That's
how sure salvation in Christ is. The Lord Jesus was born with
a real human body and soul. That's important for you and
me to understand. This is a real man. He's an actual real man. You see, Here's why that's important.
Man sinned. Adam, the first man, he sinned
in the garden. Well, by man came sin. By man
came death on the whole human race. Let me show you that in
Romans chapter 5. By man came sin and death. By Adam, the first man. Romans
chapter 5 and verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men, for, or in, that all have sinned." All sinned in Adam. Every human being, every son
of Adam sinned in Adam because he was our representative. Now
sin came by man. Righteousness has to come by
another man. There's got to be a man to accomplish it. Disobedience
came by one man. Obedience has to come by another
man. Since death came by one man, life's got to come by another
man. And that other man is the second
Adam. The second Adam. The Lord Jesus Christ who came
in the flesh. Born as the Son of Mary. Born
as a real human being. Sin did come by one man. Righteousness
did come by another man. Let me show you that in Romans
5, beginning in verse 15. But not as the offense, so also
is the free gift. For if through the offense of
one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by
grace which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to
condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man's offense,
Death reigned by one, much more, they which receive abundance
of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so,
by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life. By one man came sin, by a second
man, a second Adam, he brings life, he brings righteousness.
But now listen, this second man, he can't be born of the seed
of Adam. If he is born of the seed of Adam, he would have been
partaker in Adam's sin, just like you and me. If he had been
born of the seed of Adam, that would have meant Adam was his
representative, and he would have been in Adam when Adam sinned,
and he would have received Adam's sin nature, just like you and
me. If he was born of Adam's seed,
but the man who would bring righteousness by obeying God's law, he can't
be of the seed of Adam. He must be of the seed of woman.
Just like God told Adam and Eve in the garden, there's one coming,
not of the seed of Adam, but of the seed of the woman. That's
why Isaiah says unto us, a son is given. Now the child, the
man, he's born, wasn't he? He's born. He never existed before.
He's born. But the son, who has eternally
existed, he's given. He's given. The son's not born.
He's not born like he's brand new. He's eternal. was given. The Lord Jesus Christ was born
a real man. He's a real man. Yet He is also
God. He is God. He was born as a baby
boy who never existed before, but He came as the eternal Son
of God. That's a mystery. And that's
not just a mystery that confuses us, it's a mystery that's wonderful. It's wonderful. Christ is wonderful
in his nature that he is both God and man. Brother Richardson
used to say, he's as much God as if he were not man. And he's
as much man as if he were not God. That's a mystery, but it's
so. In verse six, Isaiah says, this
baby who's going to be born is the mighty God. He is this baby. This man is also the mighty God
because he is God. The apostle Paul said, that's
a mystery. That's a great mystery that God was manifest in the
flesh. But it sure is wonderful. Oh,
if God lets us see Christ, that's wonderful. You think about this. This is wonderful. This is mysterious.
Only God could be this. The Lord Jesus was a real man. He was a real baby. Mary's baby boy was completely
dependent upon her to take care of him. Completely dependent
upon her. But Mary was completely dependent on that baby to give
her the strength and the ability to take care of him. Think of
that. Mary's baby boy was completely and utterly dependent on the
milk in Mary's breast. He had a nurse just like every
other baby. Yet Mary was dependent on that
baby to give her the milk to feed him. He is God. And I can tell you why that's
so important. This man, the second man, he must be God so he can
be holy. Only God can obey the law. Only
God can be righteous. Only God can put away sin. He
is God. The Lord Jesus Christ is God,
but he's also got to be a real man. God can't be our representative. He doesn't have the same nature
as us. He's got to be a real man in our nature without sin
so that he can be our representative. He's got to be a real man so
he can be the sacrifice for our sin. An animal can't be our sacrifice,
it doesn't have the same nature. God can't be our sacrifice, it
doesn't have the same nature. It's got to be a real man. So
you know what God did? He did something mysterious.
He came as a man, as a real man, to be the second Adam, the second
man, to be the second representative man who would undo for his people
everything that Adam did to him. That's why he came as a man.
Only a man could do it. I'm telling you, it is wonderful. that God could become a real
man in order to redeem sinful men and women like you and me. That's wonderful. That's wonderful. Only the God-man has the power
to save sinners. Only the God-man has the power
to cleanse from sin. Only the God-man could be the
perfect representative and the perfect sacrifice for sinners.
And you think the sacrifice he made, how far, how far the Son
of God had to sink to become a man. I've heard it said, we
try to comprehend in our mind, how far did the Son of God go
down to become a man? I've heard the comparison, well,
it's like a man, like one of us becoming a maggot. You know
those maggots you saw up there? One of us become one of them.
That's an insult to maggots everywhere. An insult to maggots everywhere.
The Son of God had to sink to become just like one of His creatures
of the dust. And He did it to save His people
from their sins. This is what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians
8 verse 9. He said, you know, you know,
you who believe, you have seen Christ, you know the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor. that ye through His poverty might
be made rich, might be made like Him. Oh, that's God's wonderful,
wonderful grace. God's Son was given as a free
gift. He came as a free gift to bring
God's grace to sinners and to save us from mercy. He's wonderful
in His person. He's the only one who can save. Number two, Christ is wonderful
as ruler over everything. Just like Brady just sung to
us, this is our Father's world. He's ruler over everything. Isaiah
says the government shall be upon His shoulder. This is what
that means. All responsibility for ruling
over every person, over every event, over everything in creation,
the responsibility for that is all placed upon the Lord Jesus
Christ. Everything depends on Him. It all is on His shoulder. The
Lord Jesus Christ, tell you what that means. He's the ruler. That
means He's the Sovereign. He's the King over all. He saves
whom He will, when He will, how He will. Now I ask you, what
else would God in human flesh be other than King of Kings? What else would God in human
flesh be other than the Sovereign Savior? He showed through His
earthly ministry, His miracles, the things that He said. He's
God over all. He rules over everything. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the sovereign potentate, the sovereign ruler
over everything, over everyone. And he has to be. He's king,
isn't he? Well, how else would he come
to this earth but king? The angel said he's born king.
He's born king because that's who he is. The father has given
everything into the hand of his son to dispose of as he will,
as he will. He can save or He can damn. He
can make the sun shine, He can make it rain. He can make it
still, He can make the wind blow. He can send a famine, He can
send a bounty. It's all up to Him. The Father
has given all judgment into the hand of the Son. Because the
Son is the ruler. Now I tell you how that affects
you and me. That means this poor little Jesus, Henry you say this
poor little Jesus boy, He's not in our hands to do with as we
will. We're in the hands of the Lord
Jesus. And He will do with you and me as He will. He'll do with
me and mine as He will. Me and my wife. Me and my children.
Me and my loved ones. He'll do with us as He will.
And whatever He does is right. It's right because He did it.
The righteous, holy God, can't do anything wrong, can He? Everything
He does is right. And that lets His people in times
of great sorrow, great difficulty, great pain, darkness of the night. Say, I don't understand what's
going on, but his name is wonderful. This ruling that he's doing with
me right now, that's wonderful, that's wonderful. And where does
that leave us? He's a sovereign, doing with
us as he will now. Where does that leave you and
me? Tell you where it better leave, it better not find us
arguing now. They better not find us mad about that. You want
to pick a fight with God? Tell you where it better find
us. At His feet, begging for mercy. That's where it better find us.
It leaves us crying, Lord, have mercy on me. You're going to
show mercy to somebody. Lord, have mercy on me. Lord,
accept me for Christ's sake. See me in Christ. We cry to Him
begging Him. It leaves us as mercy beggars.
I'm telling you, a beggar with no hope Now, a beggar, a beggar. Is it wrong to give beggars some
money to help them out? No. Is it wrong for God to pass
them by and not give them any? God said it's right. He said
it's right. It leaves us begging Him for mercy, because He has
every right, He has every power to make us whole if He will. Lord, if You will, You make me
clean. If You will, You can save me.
If You will, You can make me righteous. if you will. He has
that right because He's the Son. He's the Son of the Father. The
further He has every right because He purchased it. He purchased
it with His blood that He shed on Calvary Street. Now it's important
we see this. Oh, it's so important we see
Christ is God. He's holy. He's just. He's the
King. He rules over us. It's so important
that we see that because I'm telling you, Nobody will beg
for mercy. Nobody will ever beg for mercy
unless they see the Sovereign. The Sovereign. He does as He
pleases. And nothing we can do will obligate
Him to have to do something for us. Isn't that right? Just poor
Lord Jesus, you're a preacher, begging you to accept Him. Begging
you to let Him do this side or the other. You're not going to
beg that guy. He's begging you, isn't He? Oh, but if we see He's
the Sovereign, who can do with us as He will. Only then will
we beg Him for mercy. And no one can rest in a Savior.
I mean, this Savior I hear preached today, just save you if you let
Him, save you if you help Him. Nobody can rest in a Savior. And by rest, I mean completely
rest. Completely stop our works, trying
to add to our salvation, add to our righteousness. Stopping
all of our works, trying to make God happy with us so He'll accept
us because of what we've done. I mean, completely leave all
the work up to Him, unless we know He's the Sovereign over
all. Now, if He's Sovereign over all,
then He cannot fail. He cannot fail. And that's what
enables us to rest in Him. Oh, that's wonderful, isn't it?
He's wonderful. He's ruler over everything. He's
a sovereign potentate. And thirdly, Isaiah says, the
name of Christ is wonderful. Because everything about Him
is wonderful. And everything He does is wonderful.
Look back at Psalm chapter 40. Everything, all of His works
that He does are wonderful. His works of redemption are wonderful. Look here at Psalm 40 verse 5.
Many, many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works, which thou
hast done. And thy thoughts, even God's
thoughts to us are wonderful, thy thoughts, which are to us
for it. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee. If I would declare and speak of them, there more
than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering thou didst
not desire. Mine ear hast thou opened. This
is talking about the bond slave, how they would bore that ear.
And everybody would know this big old hoop earring hung into
him. This is a bond slave. He's not here a slave He's working
off of dad. He's not a slave here because
he's there unwillingly. No, he's there willingly. This
is the bond slave. Learn offering and sin offering.
Hast thou not required? Then said I. Lo, I come. Oh, I come. I come. The son's
born. The baby's born. The man's born.
The son has come. Oh, he's come. I come. I come
in the volume of the book. It's written of me. I delight
to do thy will. Oh my God. Yea, thy law is written
within my heart. He's a man, but he's got a perfect,
holy nature, a holy heart. And here's what he's done. He
preached righteousness in the great congregation. Though I've
not restrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I've not hid thy
righteousness, thy righteousness within my heart. I've declared
thy faithfulness and thy salvation. I've not concealed thy loving
kindness and thy truth from the great congregation. This is Christ. the willing servant of the Father.
This is Christ our sacrifice. This is not an animal sacrifice.
This is a sacrifice of the Holy Lamb of God. This is Christ our
righteousness. This is Christ our prophet who
tells us everything about God. Oh, He's wonderful. We never
would have been saved. We never would have known how
it is God saves sinners if Christ hadn't come and revealed it.
We see that in Him. Then look at Psalm 119. Psalm
119. Verse 129, the testimonies. Everything Christ tells us is
wonderful. All those gracious words that
dripped from his lips are wonderful words, wonderful. Psalm 119,
verse 129. Thy testimonies are wonderful. Therefore doth my soul keep them.
The entrance of thy words, the entrance of that testimony giveth
light. It giveth understanding. to the
simple. Christ was sent to earth to testify
to men and tell us who God is. To tell us how God saves sinners. To tell us where righteousness
and salvation are found. And that's wonderful. It's so
wonderful that He gives light to the simple. To the simple
sinner. He comes to give light. Light
in the darkness is wonderful. And we never would have known.
We never would have known. Unless Christ came to tell us.
He came to testify. Salvation is by grace. It's not
by works. Now quit your works and rest
in me. That's wonderful. He came to testify that salvation
is by Christ's obedience. Not ours, but it's in Him. Oh,
that's wonderful. That's wonderful news. If God
has showed you, you can't keep the law. You need somebody to
keep it for you. Christ is wonderful. In His grace, His grace was given
to the worst of sinners. He never had a harsh word for
a needy sinner. He had harsh words for the self-righteous,
but never a sinner. He never had a harsh word for
someone coming begging Him for mercy. Maybe He'd have mercy on me.
Maybe He'd have mercy on you if you came begging the same
way, you reckon? His wonderful and His love for sinners. Really and truly, Christ is the
only one who can love sinners. God can love sinners. We love those people who are
nice to us. We say we love sinners. Really and truly. Let's be honest.
We love those that love us. We love those people who are
nice to us. I know the believer. We care for sinners. We want
the Lord to save sinners. That's all we pray for. The only
Christ could truly love sinners. And He showed His great love
for sinners that He'd suffer and die for sinners. Oh, that's
wonderful. That's wonderful. Christ is wonderful
in His perfect life. He is our righteousness in His
perfection. That's wonderful. Christ is wonderful
in His death. He died as the substitute for
sinners. And in His death, He satisfied
the justice of God and blotted out the sin of His elect. Everyone
for whom He died, their sins blotted out. And He showed it
by how wonderful He is in His resurrection. His resurrection
three days later is proof positive. His death justified everybody
for whom He died. Oh, it's wonderful. The name
of Christ is wonderful. Look at Acts chapter 4. You have
this quoted to you often, but I think it's good for us to turn
and read these. I want you to see this. The name of Christ
is so wonderful that we have salvation simply by knowing and
trusting that precious name, that wonderful name. Luke Peter
says in Acts chapter 4, verse 12. Neither is there salvation in
any other. Don't look anywhere else, there's
not salvation in any other, for there's none other name. under
heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved." If God teaches
us that name, if we know that name of Christ, we must be saved. Must be. Oh, He's wonderful.
Isn't He? He's wonderful. Words just can't even describe
it, how wonderful He is. He's wonderful. He's wonderful. I just keep repeating myself
so I can't find another way to drive this point home. Everything
about him is wonderful. That's why his name is wonderful.
Here's the fourth thing. Christ is wonderful as our counselor. Isaiah says his name should be
called counselor. Counselor. Now we think of a
counselor, two things come to my mind. First, a counselor.
One you go to to get some instruction, to get some advice, and we need
a good, wise counselor. In the garden, Satan came to
Eve, and he gave her some bad counsel, didn't he? He gave her
some bad counsel, evil counsel. And we've been in trouble ever
since. And every time man takes counsel
from his own nature, from the nature of those around him, you
know what he does? Peter told us. They take counsel together.
They both have the same evil, wicked, sinful nature, nature
of Adam. And they take counsel together. You know what they
do? They take counsel together against the Lord and against
His anointing. People in false religion, I'm
not just talking about back there when they crucified Christ. That
was a good illustration of it. I'm talking here in modern day
religion. They take counsel together to
come up with their doctrine. It can only be evil. They don't
take counsel from God's word. take counsel together and say,
this is what we'll believe. They write up their creed, you know,
this is what we'll preach. Doesn't matter if it flies in
the face of God's word, because they've taken counsel together.
It's evil. It's of Satan, that evil, wicked
nature we're born with. But Christ comes. He doesn't
leave his people to themselves. He doesn't leave his people to
their own counsel. Christ comes and he gives his people good
counsel, good counsel. Christ's counsel comes from that
one whose name is wisdom. His counsel is going to be wise,
isn't it? Job said, with Him, with God, is wisdom and strength. He hath counsel and understanding. Someone who has understanding,
someone whose name is wisdom, they can give you wise counsel,
can't they? Christ's name is wonderful. Remember that, now
wonderful, then all His counsels are wonderful. Wonderful. He
came to make known all the counsels of God. Now just listen to the
counsel. of our Lord Jesus. Things he
said. He said, come unto me that you
might have life. Come unto me and live. Come unto
me and drink the water of life. If you do that, you'll never
thirst again. Come unto me and eat. You'll
never be hungry again. Oh, look unto me and be ye saved
to all the ends of the earth. Look and live. That's good, wise
counseling. It's so wise, yet it's so simple.
Look and live. Then Christ is also, secondly,
our counsel in this way. You know, they call attorneys
counselor. He's our attorney. He's our advocate
before the Father. Look at 1 John chapter 2. This is what John said about
our counselor. John knew him well. John spent
three years being taught of him. John's the beloved apostle leaned
upon his breast at the table. John knows him. Look what he
says about him. Chapter 2, verse 1. My little children, John's addressing
this simple here. My little children, these things
write unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He
is the propitiation for our sins. And not for our sins only, but
also for the sins of the whole world. Christ is our counselor. He's our advocate. And this advocate,
this counselor, the only cases he'll ever take is a guilty person. He'll never take the case of
a person that doesn't think they've done too much wrong. They've
done some good things or done some bad things. He won't take
your case. The only case he'll take is the case of a guilty
person. And then our advocate makes all
of his guilty, sinful clients to be not guilty, to be found
innocent. before the bar of God's justice.
How did he do that? Did he get them off on a technicality?
No. Don't you hate it when criminals
get off on a technicality? Oh, I hate that. I hate that.
Did he get his people off by bribing the judge? No, he didn't
do that. No, the judge is holy, righteous. Our advocate is so great. He
takes the case of this guilty sinner and makes them to be actually
not guilty. How did he do that? By being
the propitiation. By being the sin covering. By
being the sacrifice for our sin. Our Advocate suffered and died
for His people to make them not guilty. To make them have no
sin. So that they can only be found
not guilty. Now that's wonderful, isn't it?
Oh, what a wonderful Advocate we have. Wonderful Counselor.
In fifth, Christ is wonderful in the Trinity of His person.
We've already touched on this. Isaiah said, He is the mighty
God and the everlasting Father. Now, this Son who's given, He's
also the everlasting Father. His baby born, He is the mighty
God. The Son is the mighty God. The
Son is the everlasting Father. How can that be? Our Savior told
us in no uncertain terms, He said, I and my Father are one. The Son is the Father. This Savior,
the God-man, is both Son and Father. Now that's a mystery
of the Trinity. God is three persons, yet one
God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
All three are God. And we can't understand how that
can be so. I have no, there is, if you try to find the illustration
to illustrate the Trinity, you've fallen far short. There's no
earthly illustration to illustrate the Trinity because we can't
understand the three in one. Paul said this is a great mystery.
The mystery of godliness. That God would manifest in the
flesh. That's a great mystery. A mystery
we can't understand. But I tell you what, we do know
this much. We know this much. God saved us. He showed us who
Christ is. We do know this much. It takes
the whole Godhead to save sin. The Father, in His love for His
people, in His electing love, must choose a people, elect a
people to be saved. The Son must come and make those
people righteous. He must come and redeem those
people. And the Spirit must call those people to Christ. And when
He calls, this is not an ineffectual call. Now, this is the effectual
call of the Spirit. If the Spirit calls, He gives
those people faith to believe Christ and causes them to run
to Christ. They can't go anywhere else.
And we'll see more of this in a minute. But since the Son is
the everlasting Father, since the Son is God, Do you reckon He'll ever fail
in any of His purposes? If He does, it's not God. No,
God cannot fail in His purpose to redeem everybody that He came
to save. Well, that's wonderful. To a
needy sinner, that's wonderful. Even if we can't understand it.
And sixth, Christ is wonderful as the peace giver. Isaiah says
His name should be called the Prince of Peace. Now, the Lord
Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. He's the fountain of peace. He's the giver of peace. The
Lord Jesus Christ himself personally is our peace. He is our peace. The Lord Jesus Christ is a wonderful
savior who's born. He made peace with God through
his precious blood he shed on Calvary's tree. The blood of
Christ took away the sin that made God angry. God's not angry
anymore. God's at peace. because the blood
of Christ took away the sin that made him angry. He's at peace.
But this peace is a two-way street. The blood of Christ also makes
God's people to be at peace. The blood of Christ makes God's
people quit being angry with God. When the blood of Christ
is applied to their hearts, now they bow. Now they bow. Now they
surrender. When God the Holy Spirit applies
the blood of Christ, our hearts. We surrender. I'm telling you
this morning, you quit your fight with God. You quit your arguing
with God and surrender. Stack your arms and surrender. That'll happen when God the Holy
Spirit applies the blood of Christ. When God the Holy Spirit applies
the blood of Christ, that's what we call regeneration. He gives
a new heart, a new nature that makes us surrender to God, makes
us love God. Not hating, but loving. And we
have peace. We have peace. Not mad at God
anymore. There's peace. And that peace gives a calmness
of heart even though the flesh is hurting. Even in the storm
of trial where you feel like you're tossed every which way,
even in the storm of trial you feel like you're getting a blow
here, and a blow here, and a blow here, and a blow here, and a
blow here. Just keep getting blows just keep coming right
after another. But we have peace. All those blows hurt, but we
have peace. Peace of heart, peace of heart, knowing our God is
in control, our Father's in control. And that peace makes a person
to be a peaceable person, to be a peacemaker. Blessed are
the peacemakers. That's what God makes all of
his people, to be peacemakers. You know, I question, I seriously
question the profession of people who are always angry about everything. I mean, they just are angry about
everything. I know we're still in the flesh,
and we show that from time to time. I know, I've got a temper,
I know. I'm here talking about just a general lifestyle of just
being angry about everything, you know? Christ our Savior is the Prince
of Peace. Prince of Peace. His people aren't
going to stay that way. Christ's kingdom is a peaceable
kingdom. There's not feuding going on in Christ's kingdom
now. And so are the people. They're peaceable. They're going
to populate His kingdom. Believers follow after peace
with all men. Really, just try to get along
with all men. You know why God's children do
that? Because we follow the Prince in peace. That's why. And that
peace is wonderful, isn't it? To not be angry with God anymore.
To not be angry with everybody you see anymore. Oh, that's wonderful. And then last, Christ is wonderful
in His success. This is the successful saving,
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 and to establish it with judgment and with justice
from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this. Now Isaiah says the increase
of his government and peace. This is what he means. He means
that the peace and the welfare of everyone who's in Christ's
dominion is perfect. We who believe on Christ dwell
in absolute perfect safety and perfect peace because our Savior,
He sits upon the throne of God, ruling everything in God's creation
to guarantee the salvation of His people. And some of you,
some of you were born to believing parents, and you're here, you've
been raised under the sound of this gospel. Eventually, God
gave you faith to believe it. Some of you were in false religion. Somehow, some way, seemingly,
like a random incident happened, and God crossed your path with
the gospel. You heard it, and you believed it. It flew in the
face of everything you used to believe before, but now you believe it.
How did it happen? Did it just so happen you were
born to a family, your parents believed God, brought you here
to the gospel? Is that just a random accident? Well, it's just a random
accident. You're in false religion, but
you heard the gospel and believed it. No, sir. That's Christ ruling
and reigning over everything in His dominion, sending the
Spirit to His people so they hear and believe. There's not
one person the Father gave Christ who can ever perish, ever. because Christ is the successful
Savior. There's not one person for whom Christ died can ever
perish because He is the successful Savior. Our salvation cannot
be lost if Christ is our Savior and our King. And our King. Nobody saved, nobody knows the
Lord if He's not their King to whom they bow. That salvation
cannot be lost forever because Christ, He sits on the throne
eternally. And that salvation, Isaiah says,
that Christ accomplished for His people is done in judgment
and justice. I'll tell you what that means.
It means God's justice is satisfied. God's judgment, His wrath against
sin is satisfied because Christ died for those people. When Christ
died for His people, He made it right for God to accept them. He made it right for them to
be found not guilty because He made them without sin. That's
wonderful. That's wonderful. God must accept
His people if Christ died for them and made them righteous.
They cannot perish. If all of salvation, now if any
of that salvation depends upon me, I'll be lost, I'll perish. But that salvation cannot be
lost if it all depends upon King Jesus because He's the successful
Savior. And how can you be so sure about
that? How can you be so sure of the salvation of our wonderful
Savior? How can you be so sure to make these statements that
cannot be contradicted? How can you be so sure? Isaiah
says, because the zeal of the Lord of hosts is going to perform
it. He's going to perform this salvation. Christ in His zeal,
in His zeal to please and honor His Father. With such a zeal,
he had such a zeal for his house, for the house of God, those people
that God has given. He was eaten up by it. In his
zeal to please and honor his Father, he performed a perfect
salvation. It consumed him. He had such
zeal to please his Father. He said, Father, not my will,
but Thy will be done. And he drank the cup of God's
wrath, the dregs of it. He drank it dry. He had such
zeal to please His Father. He willingly was made sin for
His people. He was willingly cut off from
His Father to receive nothing but wrath and justice from His
Father to put away the sin that made His Father angry. That's
such zeal it consumed Him. And Christ in His zeal, His love
for His people, His determination to save them from their sins
and to keep them safe forever, He had such zeal for His people.
He worked night and day. establishing their righteousness.
He turned his face like a flint to Jerusalem. I must save these
people who I love. I must have those people forever
with me in glory. And in his zeal, he sacrificed
himself for his people, that they would be with him in glory,
that they'd see him as he is in his glory, be with him where
he is forever. Oh, that's wonderful. He is wonderful in his success. saving His people from their
sins, honoring and satisfying His Father's justice. Oh, His
precious name. His precious name is wonderful.
Let's bow together. Father, how we thank You for
this blessed portion of Your Word that so clearly reveals
Christ our Savior Oh, how wonderful He is. Father, we thank You for
such a wonderful Savior, for such a wonderful gospel to preach
and to believe. Father, I beg of Thee that You'd
take Your Word and You'd send it forth in power to accomplish
Your purpose of redemption, to save the lost. How we beg that
You would send Your Word forth in power to bless the hearts
of your suffering people, to comfort us, to calm us, to know
that Christ our Savior is wonderful and everything He does is wonderful. Cause us to rest in Him. Give us no other hope. Give us
no other place to look except to Christ, our wonderful Savior. It's in His precious name We
pray in Your face. Amen.