If a man is what he ought to
be, what he is responsible to be
in his home, in his life, nothing in human relationships is stronger,
more comforting, more steady, more abiding than a father. A father. A father sets the course
of the family. A father is the stable influence
in the family. A father provides for his family,
no matter what it costs him. He'll protect his family, no
matter what it costs him. He watches over his children
and his wife takes care of them. They can lean on him. They can
trust him. Few are such men in this world. But if a man is what he ought
to be in his household, the most stable, comforting, reliable
person and relationship there is, is that of a father. How
wonderful then. for you and I to read in this
book that the name of our blessed Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is the everlasting Father. The everlasting Father. You'll find my text in the ninth
chapter of Isaiah's gospel at verse six. 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 complex person of
our Lord Jesus is a mystery no man can comprehend, let alone
explain. In this one verse of Holy Scripture,
the prophet of God declares that our Lord Jesus is a child and
a counselor, a prince and a king, a son and the everlasting father. And there are no contradictions.
Isaiah is not here giving us a riddle or speaking a paradox. Rather, he is declaring the great
mystery of godliness. God manifest in the flesh. With all of these names by which
the prophet says our savior is called, he is telling us who
the man who is God, Jesus Christ is. Though he came into the world
as an infant, he is himself the infinite God. Though he was a
man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, he is the mighty
God. though the world has been divided
because of him, divided around him ever since he made his first
public appearance teaching in the temple. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
that one around whom all the world has been divided for 2,000
years, he's the Prince of Peace. And though he is from eternity,
the Son given to redeem his people, he is the everlasting Father. C.H. Spurgeon commenting on this
verse of scripture made this observation. So deep is the mystery
of the person of our Lord that he must reveal himself to us
or we shall never know him. He is not discovered by research
nor discerned by reason. Flesh and blood has not revealed
him to us. He is known to us only as he
reveals himself to us. No man makes him known to you.
He is known to you only as he reveals himself. The apostle
Paul said, when it pleased God, he revealed his son in me. Another
disciple asked the question, Lord, how is it that thou would
manifest thyself unto us and not into the world? We can't
know the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot know the Savior. We
cannot know God except God himself by special divine revelation
makes himself known to us. He does this by his spirit and
by his word and in no other way. Our Lord said to his disciples,
the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things
to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. Our Lord comes by the power of
His Spirit and convinces us of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment, thereby making Himself known to us, taking the things
of God and revealing them to us, causing the mind of the Spirit
to be conveyed to us in the new birth and by His grace. Christ
is the light, but only he can give you light. He is the door,
but only he can open the door. He is the way, but he alone can
put you in the way. He is the truth, but he alone
can make you to know truth. Christ is life, but he alone
can give life. Christ is the one we must see,
but he alone can give you eyes to see. Yes, we must look to
him if we would live, but he alone can cause the blind to
see. If we would know the Savior,
he must make himself known to us. Let us therefore, if we truly
desire to understand that most excellent of all things, if we
would understand Christ crucified, let us ask the Lord himself to
be our teacher. Every time you open this book
to read it, and I encourage you to read all you can, ask God
to show you Christ crucified in the book. Ask God to speak
to you by his word. Ask God to make himself known
to you by his word. May he give us grace that like
Mary, we may sit at our Savior's feet and learn of him. Oh, to know Him who is life eternal. His name shall be called the
everlasting Father. What does God the Holy Ghost
intend for us to understand by this revelation He gives of our
Savior? That's the only matter of importance.
What does God, the Holy Ghost, intend for us to understand by
this name that's given to our Redeemer? This is the name of
our Savior. He is called because this is
what He is, the everlasting Father. Let it be established clearly
in your mind as you read the Scriptures, and always read the
Scripture in context with all of Scripture. Always read scripture
in context with all of scripture. Let me give you an illustration
of what I'm saying and then I'll make the statement. Several years
ago, I had a missionary, we were still living over in Junction
City, who was going around some of the gospel churches and trying
to raise some support while still hanging on to our Armenian relationships. And he and his wife had been
in our house for several days And I had been talking to him
particularly about that which is the most vital of all gospel
doctrines, limited atonement. And he, his wife and Shelby were
over in the kitchen, piddling around doing something, getting
things for us to eat or drink, I don't know what they were doing.
And he said to me, he said, he said, brother Don, I would be
persuaded that limited atonement is true if it weren't for just
three or four scriptures to get me some trouble. And I said,
what? He said, I would be persuaded
that limited atonement is true, but there are three or four scriptures
to give me trouble. And I called him by name, and I said, you're
lying to me. By that time, I got the attention of everybody. His
wife turned around shocked, and he looked at me shocked. I said,
I can give you more than three or four scriptures taken out
of their context, understood apart from the whole context
of scripture that will cause you trouble with the doctrine
of the Trinity. I can give you more than three or four scriptures
that would cause you trouble with regard to God's sovereign
election. But the whole of scripture teaches these things. And wherever
the scripture explains these things, they're explained exactly
as we proclaim them. So you're lying to me. That's
not your problem. Your problem is you're wanting
to hang on to both sides of the fence. That's your problem. We
interpret Scripture by the totality of Scripture in the context of
Scripture. And wherever the Scriptures teach
a subject, that's where we go to find the teaching of Scripture
on that subject. In this passage of Scripture,
God the Holy Spirit is not describing the relation of God the Son to
the other persons of the triune God. The prophet is not here
talking about the character of Christ as God. He's talking about
the character of Christ as the incarnate God-man in his mediatorial
messianic offices. He's describing Christ's mediatorial
relationship to his people. It's essential that we understand
this. Isaiah is not talking about the doctrine of the Trinity.
He's not confusing the three persons of the eternal Godhead.
There are, as John plainly states in 1 John 5, 7, three persons
in the Holy Trinity. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Ghost, and these three persons are one. We worship
one God in the triunity of his holy being. We don't worship
God revealed by three different names. We don't worship three
different gods. We worship one God in three persons. But here in Isaiah, the prophet
of God is giving us a prophecy concerning the incarnation of
the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's describing the
relation of the incarnate God-man to you and I who walk upon this
earth. His name shall be called Wonderful. His name shall be called Counselor. His name shall be called the
Mighty God. This man, his name, shall be
called the Everlasting Father, because that's what he is. In
his mediatorial character, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second
person of the Holy Trinity, is the Everlasting Father. In this
name, given to and properly worn by our Savior, there is an abundance
of instruction and consolation for all who have ears to hear. Our text easily divides itself
into three parts. First, let me talk to you about
the fact that the Lord Jesus is everlasting. And second, the
Son of God is a father to his elect. And third, our divine
savior is the everlasting father. All right, here's the first thing.
I want to remind you of the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ, who
came into this world in our flesh, who lived in time in our nature,
who died upon the cursed tree at Calvary, who rose from the
grave on the third day, who ascended into heaven and took his seat
yonder at the right hand of the majesty on high. He is everlasting. He is the everlasting Father. He is our everlasting mediator,
our everlasting Savior. We sing our Savior's praise with
David. Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. This is a theme of joy to our
hearts, if ever we get any understanding of it at all. That one who is
our Savior is everlasting. Everlasting. He is the same yesterday
and today and forever. Everlasting. I tried to introduce
the message by the comparison of the stability and delight
and blessedness of any child who has a father, a real father. Doesn't matter whether the child
is six years old or 16 years old or 60 years old. If the father
is what he ought to be, He is stable right there. He's the
same. He hadn't changed. He hadn't
changed. So you can look to him. He can
look to him. He can rest him. I can go to
my dad for counsel. I can go to my dad. He'll guide
me in the right way. His counsel is right. He'll do
me right. Hear me now. Jesus Christ is
my everlasting Father. He's the same yesterday and today
and forever. He who is God is unchanging and
unchangeable, the immutable God. And he who is God, my Savior,
is the everlasting Father. Let every ransom sinner rejoice
in him whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting,
that one which is and was and is to come. But what does that
mean? When Isaiah declares that Christ
is everlasting, he means for us to understand these four things,
I'm sure. Maybe much, much more, but at
least these four things. Our Lord Jesus Christ, as our
Lord Jesus, is from everlasting. He has no origin. He has no beginning. He always was. In his priesthood,
we're told by the writer of the book of Hebrews, he's like Melchizedek,
without father, without mother, without descent, having neither
beginning of days nor end of life. What a description of the
God, man, our Savior. But pastor, didn't he at one
time have a body prepared for him in the womb of the virgin?
Yes, yes, yes. But his person has more to do
with just, more to do with things than just his body. He is the
everlasting father of a chosen race. That one who stood forth
in eternity. A time before time began, if
I can use such redundant language. Before ever there was time, in
eternity, Christ Jesus stood forth as our mediator and assumed
total responsibility for all his people. Total responsibility. Total responsibility. Can you get hold of that? Total
responsibility so that everything required of me in time. Everything messed up by me in
time. everything that I fell up in
time. All my sin, all my depravity,
all my corruption, the Lord Jesus, my everlasting Father, stood
forth in eternity and said, I'll take that. That's my responsibility. I'll make it good. I'll make
up for it. I'll pay his debt. Ere the blue
heavens were stretched abroad, from everlasting was the word.
With God he was, the word was God and must divinely be adored. What does this mean? He loved
us with an everlasting love. He chose us in everlasting grace. He predestinated us to an everlasting
inheritance. He redeemed us from everlasting
with his own precious blood as the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Brother Don, I just, I can't
understand that. I've tried my best to make this
clear to you. You can't understand it. Who
can comprehend the incomprehensible God? Who can comprehend eternity? Who can comprehend the works
of God? We read what God says in his
word and say, wow, that's my God! That's my Savior, and we
bow and worship him. I recall some years ago, it's
been a while back now, back when I was considerably stronger,
taller, and heavier, and I went to grandparent's day with my
grandson when he was in preschool. And I happened to be the biggest
fellow there, I usually was. And there's another fellow standing
right beside me, nice old fellow. And Will looked at his buddy
and he said, I guess he was four years old, he said, you his grandpa? And he said, yeah, and he just
looked at me. And he said, that's my grandpa. And the fellow understood
Will's gestures. He said, yeah, he's a lot bigger
than me. And Will said, yes, sir. I expect
he could whip me, too. And Will just smiled. Oh, listen
to me. Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, is
my everlasting Father. God give me grace to look to
him like my small grandchild looked to me when he's three
or four years old. He'll take care of everything.
I don't have anything to be worried about. He's my grandpa. He's
with me. Christ Jesus, the child born,
the son given is from everlasting. Turn over to Colossians 1. Let
me show you. Colossians 1. It's hard to pick up at any place
in the first chapter of Colossians and begin reading and then end
somewhere before we get to the end, because it's all taken up
with the greatness and glory and grace of God in Christ. But
let's pick up in verse 12. Give thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness. and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son. Now let me tell you who he is,
in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sin, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature, for by him were all things created. that
are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before
all things. And by Him, all things consist. Now, this is what Paul said.
He said, Jesus Christ The everlasting Father is that one who's before
all things, who made all things, who holds everything together.
He's the one who holds it all together. Now here's the second
thing. Our Lord Jesus, who was from everlasting, is now. He is right now, our God, our
Savior, the everlasting Father. He once died, thank God He did. He was once buried, bless His
name, He was. He once rose from the dead, indeed
He did, and He is now. Here is the foundation of our
comfort in all things. Our Savior said, because I live,
ye shall live also. The years, thy years are throughout
all generations, the psalmist said. Of old thou hast laid the
foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of thy
hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure. Yea, all of
them shall wax old like a garment. As the vesture shalt thou change
them, and they shall be changed. But thou, thou art the same. and thy years shall have no end. I serve a risen Savior. He's
in the world today. I know that he is living, whatever
men may say. I see his head of mercy. I hear
his voice of cheer. And just the time I need him, he's always near. He lives, he
lives! Christ Jesus lives today, the
everlasting Father. Third, this name is given to
our Savior, to declare to us that as he was from everlasting,
so he is now, and so he shall always be. He's the Ancient of Days, but
he has the dew of youth on his brow. When the burning sun grows dim
with age, when the stars of heaven cease to shine, when the earth
melts with a fervent heat, our Lord Jesus shall yet be the everlasting
Father. And fourth, because He's everlasting,
I go back to what I said a moment ago, our Savior is immutable,
the same yesterday and today and forever. We draw living waters
from this deep well. Christ, the everlasting one,
never changes. He's unchangeable in all his
attributes, in all his offices, in all his grace, in all his
purpose, in all his power, unchangeable in his willingness to save, comfort,
forgive, protect, and crown his people. and he's unchangeable
in all his works. For all his works, are you with
me now? All his works as our mediator
and redeemer were finished from the foundation of the world. I'm just now beginning to get
to enjoy that. And I've been reading it for a long time. His
works were finished from the foundation of the world. From
the time he struck hands with the father before time was and
assumed total responsibility for us. The work was done, the
lamb slayed, his people redeemed, justified, sanctified and glorified
in him. This name, the Everlasting Father,
might be translated the Father of Eternity. Some translate it
that way, and it can accurately be translated that way. The Lord
Jesus preeminently possesses eternity. He's the Father of
Eternity. He's not the Child of Eternity,
but the Father of Eternity. Eternity didn't give birth to
him. He gave birth to eternity. We're talking about the infinite
God in the highest possible sense. Isaiah declares that our Lord
Jesus is everlasting. The everlasting father, the father
of eternity, who lives forever to save his redeemed, to care
for his elect, to comfort his people, and he invites us urges
us, pleads with us, bidding us constantly to come to Him. He
said, here, I've told you who I am. I've told you what I've
done. I've told you I've taken care
of everything. Now, come to me, come to me. Let us therefore
come boldly to the throne of grace. Come with confidence. to the everlasting father who
sits on the throne. Come boldly that you may obtain
mercy and find just exactly the grace you need in time of need. All right, look at our text again.
The prophet declares that the son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ,
is a father to his elect. We rejoice to know that this
one who is our father is everlasting, the everlasting father. But the
sweetness of the text is the fact that Christ is everlasting
as a father to his people. Christ is father to us in these
five ways. I'll be very brief, but I want
you to get them. First, he's the legal representative of his
family. The father, I don't care what
the laws of Kentucky say or the laws of the United States say
or what laws in any other place says, the father is the head
of the house. He is the legal, moral, spiritual
representative of his house. He's the head of his house. It's
his responsibility to behave as such. Our society has perverted
everything, but the scriptures do not tell us that we fail in
our Mother Eve. We fell in father Adam and we
arose in our everlasting father, the Lord Jesus Christ. We died
in Adam. We live in Christ, the everlasting
father. He represented us before God
in his surety ship engagements before the world began. God looked
to him alone for everything. Whoever the world was, if that
doesn't sail your boat, I don't know what will. God doesn't look
to you for anything. God doesn't depend on you for
anything. God looks to Christ for everything. He's our surety and God requires
righteousness. Our representative live before
God as the head of the family in righteousness. God requires
satisfaction. Our representative died under
the curse of the law, satisfying divine justice. The Lord Jesus
Christ, in his resurrection and exaltation, took possession of
heaven as our forerunner, as a representative for his family.
In his glorious intercession, he yet pleads for us at the right
hand of the throne of the majesty on high and in the day of judgment. Oh, bless God in the day of judgment. Every man will be judged out
of the books according to that which he hath done, whether it
be good or evil, and the Lord God will call for me to stand
before him when the books are opened. Roland Hill one time
dreamed, he said, I dreamed that the end of time had come, the
world had been burned up, and judgment day had come, and the
books were opened. And I heard one called after
another before the bar of God, and suddenly I heard a thunderous
voice cry, roll and heal! And he said, I was terrified.
Silence. And the voice rang out again,
it peeled through the heavens, roll and heal! And he said, the
hair stood up on the back of my neck. Silence, as I stood
trembling before the throne. And the voice rang again, Roland
Hill. And one stood forth, the son
of God, and said, here's Roland Hill. Behold my hands and my
side. That's my representative. God
Almighty shall in the last day reward all his chosen according
to their works in the person of our representative, our everlasting
father, the Lord Jesus. Second, this term, the everlasting
father, speaks of our savior as the founder of this thing
called Christianity. George Washington, our first
father is called the father of the country. Jubal is called
in the scripture the father of musicians. Jabal the father of
nomads. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
father of Christianity, true Christianity. He's the father
of this gospel age. He's the father of all revealed
truth. And third, the father is the
one who gives life to his offspring. The son quickeneth whom he will. This gift of life is the gift
of God. It's given by Jesus Christ, the
Everlasting Father. The seed through which He conveys
life, planting life in the heart, is the Word of God by the power
of His Spirit. But the gift of life is Christ
Himself in you, and then forth. This name, the Everlasting Father,
applies to our Savior as the Father of the Everlasting Age. Again, some translations render
it just that way. The Father of the Everlasting
Age, Jesus Christ. is the father of this gospel
age and of all the ages to come forever and ever. He is that
one out of whom springs this thing called everlasting life,
everlasting glory. He is the father of it all, the
father has given the son preeminence. The triune God has put everything
in the son, the everlasting father. And our Lord Jesus is called
the everlasting father because he exercises all the office and
responsibility of a father to all his people. According to
ancient custom, In the absence of the father, the oldest son
in the family became responsible to exercise the father's office.
Indeed, according to God's law, when the father died, the father's
wife did not become the head of the house. The eldest son
became the head of the house. And the Father has put everything
in his Son, whom he calls my firstborn. And we have him as
our everlasting Father. Now, one more word. I want you
to rejoice in the fact that our divine Savior is everlasting. Everlasting, the everlasting
Father. He will never cease to be a father
to us. He will never relinquish or vacate
his offices as the father of an elect race. As you know, our
A daughter and son-in-law and grandchildren spent the weekend
with us. And Doug takes good care of his family. He's a great
father, a great husband, so thankful God gave him to us and gave him
to faith. But I'm something to that girl he can't ever be. I'm
her father. And I will never relinquish the
blessedness of that. or the responsibility of that,
God helping me. I'm her father. That means she
can look to me for anything. And it's hers. You know what
I'm talking about, don't you, Lindsay? Doesn't matter how good
that son-in-law is, he ain't father. Not to her. I'm her father. I'm her father. I'll take care
of things, no matter what it costs me. And I'll never give
a complaint. It's called father. Jesus Christ,
our Redeemer, is our everlasting father. No matter what we do,
no matter where we go, no matter how we mess up, He is our everlasting
father to provide for us, to care for us, to keep us, to protect
us, to secure us, to comfort us. He says, I will not leave
you comfortless. I will come to you. Who's your father? Who's your father? Well, my father,
We have Abraham, our father. I've got a good religious background.
You'll go to hell with it. Who's your father? You who believe
not, you're of your father, the devil, the father of lies from
the beginning. Who's your father? You see that
man sitting yonder? On the throne of the universe,
the throne of grace, that man who rules everything, that man
whose body was pierced for me, whose blood was shed for me,
that man who is God who redeemed the church with his own blood,
that's my father. I know it is because he's given
his spirit to me. causing me to trust Him. Oh,
may God do that for you. Give you faith in Jesus Christ
and send you home rejoicing in the arms of Christ, the everlasting
Father. Amen.