Let's turn to the 9th chapter
of the Gospel of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 9. You'll find my text in verses
6 and 7, Isaiah chapter 9. 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. This is my savior. This is my
God. This is he in whom I trust. This is the Christ upon whom
I rest the weight of my immortal soul. This is the one I want
you to know, to trust, to worship, and to love. In the beginning
of this chapter, Isaiah told us of a time of great spiritual
darkness, a time of divine judgment upon the nation of Israel. He
told us that God would send blindness to the nation and that that apostate
nation would be cut off and left in desolation. But the Lord God
promised his elect remnant that for them, this time of great
judgment would be a time of great mercy. Upon them, God promised
to pour out his superabundant saving grace. In verse two, he
promised that he would give light to those who sit in darkness.
When God comes to save sinners, he gives them light so that faith
in Christ is walking in the light. It's not a leap in the dark.
It's walking in the light of divine revelation, the light
that God himself has caused to shine in your hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. In verse 2, or verse 3 rather,
he promised that he would, when he comes in great grace, multiply
and increase the number of his people. It may not appear to
be so, but the Lord God daily adds to His church such as should
be saved. Throughout the world, the Lord
God is saving His people exactly according to His purpose. And
then in that same third verse, He promised that He would give
joy unspeakable to His elect. Joy of one who reaps a full harvest,
though he did no labor in sowing the harvest. The joy of one who
has all the spoils of war, though he himself was not involved in
the warfare. It is the joy of pure free grace,
of victory won by Christ Jesus the Lord. Then in verse four,
the prophet tells us that God promises, when he comes in judgment
upon the apostate and in grace upon his elect, he will give
liberty to those who have long been held in bondage, causing
them to enjoy the blessed glorious liberty of the sons of God by
faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. And then in the fifth verse,
he tells us that he would give us victory. victory over all
things through his grace. Though God threatens wrath against
the ungodly, though he will by no means clear the guilty, though
he has sworn the soul that sinneth it shall die, God Almighty in
wrath remembers mercy. In judgment, he promises great
mercy to all who hear his voice and trust him. But how can these
promises be fulfilled? How can God do these things that
he said? All the great comprehensive promises
of grace, those promises of salvation and eternal life could only be
fulfilled in one way. The only way God could do these
things for sinners like you and me is by God sending his son
into the world in human flesh. There's no other way for salvation
to come. In Isaiah 9, 6, and 7, Isaiah
proclaims to us that God would fulfill his word, this word of
grace, by sending his own dear son into the world by the incarnation,
virgin birth, extraordinary character, and glorious exaltation of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's look at these two verses
together. And let me give you four things relating to our Lord
Jesus Christ by which he is identified as our Savior, by which he is
identified as the Christ of God. The heathen said to Moses, their
rock is not like our rock. And it's true. That one on whom
they trust is not at all as he whom we trust. The Christ of
this religious world, the false Christ that men have raised up,
are not at all like the Christ of God. This is he whose name
is wonderful. This is he by whose name we are
saved. And here Isaiah shows us our
Savior's name, describing his glorious character as the Christ
of God. Our text begins with a prophecy
of the incarnation and virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder. There's no question about the
fact that Isaiah is here elaborating upon the prophecy he gave in
chapter 7 and verse 14 if you want to look at it. Behold a
virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel. For a virgin to conceive, something
miraculous must take place. That which was conceived in Mary's
virgin womb was conception by God the Holy Ghost, so that God
the Holy Spirit came upon her and formed the holy humanity
of our Lord Jesus Christ in her womb, preparing a body for God
the Son to come into the world and accomplish the salvation
of his people. He's telling us that in order
for God to save us, God himself must come into the world in human
flesh. somehow God must become one of
us or we could never be saved. In this opening sentence God's
prophet tells us three things about the Messiah, the Christ,
the Savior he would send. First he speaks of our Savior's
great humanity, for unto us a child is born. Behold the humiliation
of our Redeemer. Though he comes born king of
Israel, to reign king forever, he's born into this world as
a little child. And in his state of humiliation,
our Lord Jesus Christ was as helpless as any other baby. He depended upon the nourishment
of his mother's breast like any other child. His body was warmed
by the blankets she wrapped around him. He was in the care of her
hands. A child was born, a real human
child, a real baby in all things like ourselves. Our Savior must
be a man like us, one touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
Because he came to suffer the wrath of God and die in our stead,
he assumed a nature, our nature, capable of suffering and death. In order to save us, he must
suffer and die. In order to suffer and die, God
must assume our nature, a nature capable of suffering, of enduring
pain, of feeling pain, and of death. And because he came to
redeem men, not angels, he took on him the seed of Abraham, his
elect, his covenant people, his promised seed, and he passed
by the angels. One of the marvelous declarations
of God's sovereignty, as the scriptures often do, just stated
almost in passing, as if it was something that anybody ought
to understand. We're told in Hebrews chapter
two, verily, he took not on him the nature of angels. The angels
fell, but there was no mercies for them. They're left and held
in chains of darkness until the day of judgment in the great
day. But he took on him, that is he took hold of the seed of
Abraham. He came here to redeem and save
his people. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, how that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor. He who is rich in all the glory
of eternal Godhead. We can't begin to grasp that. Though he was rich, Yet for your
sakes, he became poor, the very poorest of men, made sin for
us, emptied himself, made himself of no reputation, came here as
a servant and humbled himself still as a servant and humbled
himself again and was made sin for us that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. And then second Isaiah speaks
of the deity of our dear Savior. Unto us a son is given. Now as the son of man, Christ
is a child born. But as the son of God, he is
a son given. Very important, very important.
God the Holy Spirit wrote scripture in precise words for specific
reasons. knowing full well as he, the
omniscient God knew, that there would come Antichrist set up
in Rome in the form of papacy and would declare that Mary is
the mother of God. And so equating Mary with godhood
and that form of idolatry rampant through the world these past
2,000 years is horrid. Mary was not and is not the mother
of God. God has no mother. Mary was the
one through whom God was pleased to send his son in human flesh. And so by Mary's virgin womb,
God gave us his son, the eternal son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, this little child born
of Mary is himself God, the eternal son. The second person of the
Holy Trinity, God in our nature. Our Savior must be both God and
man in one glorious person. For God could not suffer and
die and man could never satisfy. But the God-man both suffered
and died and satisfied the wrath and justice of God for us. This is the great mystery of
godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles,
believed on in the world, and received up into glory. And this
is the great mystery of grace. This child born was and is the
Son of God given unto us. given specifically unto us. Man had broken God's law. Man
must repair it. But this man's obedience to the
law would be of no value and no benefit to anyone were he
not also God. Man sinned and man must die,
but this man's death could not benefit anyone were he not also
the infinite God. You see, it is his deity, his
Godhead, his Godhood that gives merit and efficacy, infinite
merit and infinite efficacy to everything he does as the man. Christ Jesus, our Savior, is
the gift of God's love to us. Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation
for our sins, that we might live through him. He is the Son given. given to
us in the covenant of grace before the world was, in whom we were
blessed with all spiritual blessings in Him. He is that Son given
in the incarnation. That Son of God given into the
hands of the law and justice of God, smitten by God for us. That Son who is given to us in
the new birth. The new birth is nothing less
than God giving us His Son in us. Putting His Son in us by
His Spirit. and he is the son given to us
in heaven's glory. No wonder the apostle Paul said,
he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? The Lord God in the gift of his
son has given us everything he is. And in giving us his son, Merle
Hart, the Lord God has given you everything he has, everything. He withholds nothing for he's
given us his son. And then the third thing Isaiah
tells us here is about our savior's dominion and his government,
the government shall be upon his shoulder. Remember, Isaiah
is talking about Christ as the mediator, the incarnate God,
man, our redeemer. And it tells us that as the result
of our mediator's obedience to God the Father, as our surety,
our representative, our substitute, our savior, the government shall
be upon his shoulder. This was the reward of his redemptive
accomplishments. It tells us our Lord did in John
16, when the spirit of truth has come, he will convince you
of righteousness. because I go to my Father. I'm
going back to my Father, having fulfilled everything I was sent
here to fulfill by my Father, and if I had not fulfilled it
all, I could not go back to my Father. The Spirit of God comes
in giving life and faith and convinces heaven-born sinners
that Jesus Christ, the man, has fulfilled everything he came
here to accomplish as our mediator. But what government is this that
he's talking about? It's the government of all creation,
the government of all providence, the government of all men, the
government of all creatures, the government of all time, the
government of his church and his kingdom, the government of
all grace. Everything rests upon his shoulders. Oh, behold, the broad shoulders
of our great Savior. He has on his shoulders all government
of all things forever, and he bears it all well. Our Savior's
character is then described second. Here in this marvelous prophecy,
we read of our Savior's amazing character as our Savior. and
his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God. Lest I forget to do so, you might
ought to write down somewhere a better translation of that.
God, the Mighty One, God, the Mighty One, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. With these five names, our Savior,
teaches us who He is and what He does. With these five names,
we have the character of our God and Savior revealed. When
the scripture says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. This is precisely what the scripture
is talking about. His name is who He is. His name
identifies His character. His name tells us all about Him. And those who worship God, worship
God through this man who is the Christ of God, who's fulfilled
all these names in His person and work. You who know Him will
bear me witness that our Savior, the Lord Jesus, is wonderful,
wonderful. Brother Rex. read 1 Peter 1 to
us back in the office, and in his prayer, spoke of the wonder
of God's great grace. And when he got done, I said
to the men, everything about our God and his salvation is
wonderful, astonishingly wonderful. Everything about him is just
astonishing. Oh, Spirit of God, teach me. ever to think of God, His grace
and His salvation with astonishment and wonderful. Our Savior's name
is wonderful because He is wonderful in His person. as God and as
man. He's wonderful in all his works,
all his work of covenant surety ship, all his work of obedience,
all his work of righteousness, all his work of redemption, all
his work of intercession, all his work of dominion. He's wonderful. and he's wonderful in the accomplishments
he performed. The Lord Jesus Christ, having
loved his own, which were in the world, and loved them to
the end, has redeemed us with his precious blood, given us
life and peace, forgiveness and righteousness, justification
and sanctification, acceptance with God that can never vary
in any degree. and wonderful he is in his love. Love from everlasting to everlasting. Love that cannot be quenched. Love that can never be diminished. Love that can never be taken
away. Love that's effectual, bringing us at last to himself.
Our Savior is wonderful in all His grace, wonderful in His sacrificial
death, wonderful in His resurrection, wonderful in His exaltation,
wonderful He is in His intercession on our behalf. And oh, what will
it be when He comes in His glory in vengeance upon the reprobate
and unbelieving with all his glory, bringing his saints with
him in the wondrous work of his second coming. What shall it
be like when the Son of God descends from heaven in our flesh, in
his glory, fulfilling the very last deed put in his hands to
accomplish by our God as our Redeemer? His name is wonderful. And then his name is called Counselor.
Counselor. Back before ever the world was,
he stood in our stead before God and was our counselor, representing
us in the covenant of grace. In grace, he comes and gives
counsel to his people while we live in this world. Gives us
counsel by his spirit and by his word, saying to us, this
is the way, walk in it. Teaching us his way, his will,
his word. And he is our counselor at the
bar of God, interceding for us continually. Some have suggested
a compromise of God's law and justice. I've often heard preachers
say, I'm not concerned about anything. I have a friend in
court. Well, we have a friend in court, but it doesn't bend
God's justice. but rather he enters seeds for
us on the basis of justice. On the basis of justice satisfied,
ever spreading his wounds before the court of heaven, we have
an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ, the righteous,
and he is the propitiation for our sins. And then Isaiah tells
us that his name is called the mighty God. God, the mighty one. Jesus Christ is not a God. He is God the mighty one. Sometimes in scripture, angels
are called gods and civil magistrates, civil rulers are called gods,
but only in the sense that they are given authority by God to
govern things. Our Lord Jesus Christ is not
like that at all. Jesus Christ is himself God the
Mighty One. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That is, in
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God
was the Word. Though he assumed our nature,
he never ceased to be God the Mighty One. Though he died under
the wrath of God, satisfying divine justice is our substitute.
He never ceased to be God, the mighty one. God redeemed the
church with his own blood, we're told in Acts 20. Though he sits
in heaven today in a human body, the embodiment of the Godhead. That man in heaven is God, the
mighty one. Because he is God, the mighty
one. He's able to accomplish all He's
undertaken as our surety, our mediator, our substitute, and
our savior. God, the mighty one, in His obedience,
brought in everlasting righteousness for His people. God, the mighty
one, by his sacrifice when he was made sin, put away our sins
forever so that they're taken away and God remembers them no
more. God, the mighty one, is able
to save unto the uttermost all them that come to God by him. And then the prophet tells us
that our Lord Jesus Christ is the everlasting father. No, Isaiah
was not confused about the persons of the Godhead or the doctrine
of the Trinity. This prophet wrote by divine
inspiration, and his words are precisely accurate. The Lord
Jesus Christ, the God-man, our Savior, is the father of his
spiritual seed, the church. He is the father of an everlasting
age. He is the father of the world
to come, and he is the everlasting father. How can we refer to him
as the everlasting father? We are born of his spirit. Being
born again, we have his nature, made partakers of the divine
nature. We wear his name. We're under
his care. We live upon his provisions and
we shall possess his inheritance. And then he's called the Prince
of Peace. The prince, the only one by whom
peace comes. Our politicians take the nations
to war. And they say, we're trying to
establish everlasting peace and none ever has been able to do
it, not by any means. But this man is the Prince by
whom peace comes. He purchased peace for us with
God. He comes in grace promising peace
to his people. He said, my peace give I unto
you. And he causes his people to live
in peace, performing peace in us. Peace with God so that we
have consciences at peace with God being redeemed. Peace with
God, being taught to believe God, bowing to his will in all
things, loving God as he is. Aren't you thankful God's who
he is? Aren't you thankful for everything you know about God?
Oh, what peace we have believing God. And the Lord Jesus gives
peace to his people living in this world. So that wherever
the Prince of Peace rules, that means if he rules in my heart
or yours, if he rules in my house or yours, if he rules in this
congregation or another, wherever he rules his people, there's
peace. And the more willingly and fully
we submit to his rule, the greater our peace will be. Let me try
again to help you and help myself. Our Lord Jesus said, come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you
rest. And he follows that with another
statement, the very next phrase. Take my yoke upon you, for my
yoke is easy and my burden is light, and you shall find rest
unto your souls. We have difficulty and turmoil. Our hearts are uneasy. We're
not at rest. only because we kick against
God. As soon as you quit kicking against
God, whatever it is he's doing in you and with you, the sooner
you bow down and slip under his yoke, the sooner you find that
his yoke is easy and his burden is light. And the more willingly
and more fully you do so, the greater your peace shall be.
I told you our Savior's character is amazing, more than amazing,
astonishing. He is wonderful, counselor, the
mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Now look
at verse 7. Here Isaiah proclaims the glorious
exaltation of our dear Savior. It was hinted at earlier. Here
it's more fully described. 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. Isaiah is here
talking about the sovereign rule of Christ, the Messiah, the Prince
of Peace. As the exalted king and governor
of the universe, as the governor of his church and the governor
of his kingdom. The Lord God says concerning
him, I've set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. Turn to Acts
chapter two, Acts the second chapter. I want you to see this. Acts chapter two, verse 32. familiar with the prophecies
about David and his kingdom and him never lacking a man to sit
upon his throne. Well, if that prophecy is taken
to refer to David's literal throne and David's literal house, then
the prophecy has fallen to the ground and the Word of God is
worthless and meaningless because there has not been a king in
Israel for a long, long time. There's not been a man sitting
on a physical throne in Israel for a long, long time. But that's
talking about the millennial age, hogwash, hogwash. The prophet said he would never
like a man to sit on his throne. And that man is Jesus Christ
the Lord. God gave Christ, the son of David,
who is David's Lord, the throne and the reign of the universe
before the world was. And then when Christ had accomplished
redemption, he publicly gave him the glory he had with him
before the world was. And to demonstrate that fact,
He pours out His Spirit upon all flesh, as Joel said He would,
and thereby God testifies that Jesus Christ is the Christ, the
Messiah, the Son of David, seated upon David's throne, and this
is that millennial age. This is the age when Christ,
David's Son, David's Lord, sits upon His throne. Let's see if
the Scripture says so. Acts 2, verse 32. This Jesus
hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed
forth this which you now see and hear. For David is not ascended
into the heavens, David's body is in the grave. But he saith
himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, set thou on my right hand
until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God is God. hath made that same Jesus
whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ. This is David's son. This is David's Lord. He sits
upon the kingdom, reigning forever as Christ our King. Our Lord's
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. His government is a peaceful
rule. He rules in the hearts of men. He rules the hearts of his people,
not by law, not by rigor, but by love, so that everything he
does with us and for us, as he constrains us and compels us
and teaches us, is by the constraint of his love and the work of his
love in us and for us. He rules his people by the gospel,
by his word, so that being taught of God, being taught of the Spirit
of God, as he takes the things of God and shows them to us in
his word, he orders the affairs of our lives. And his rule is
established in the hearts of men by wisdom and justice. When Christ comes, the King,
and sets up his throne in your heart, He causes you to see the
wisdom of God in redemption. This will do. This meets all
the character of God and all the requirements of God and all
the prophecies of God. And he causes us to know the
justice of God in his grace. By Christ, by his obedience,
by his death, the obedience and death of a man who is God, God
satisfied. In him, everything that God requires,
God gives. Now, look at the last sentence
of our text. Isaiah here assures us of the
infallible security of God's sovereign purpose of grace in
Christ. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this. God himself, the infinite, eternal,
omnipotent, sovereign God of the universe, the triune Jehovah,
has undertaken to perform these things, and they cannot fail. God's zeal for his own name will
perform it. God's zeal for his people's good
will perform it. God's zeal for Christ's glory
will perform it. Jehovah's zeal. is his fervent
flaming love. Oh, I like that. The zeal of
the Lord of hosts is God's fervent burning love for his people,
for his own glory, for his own dear son, for the people chosen
of him from eternity. Everything the Queen of Sheba
said about Solomon may be rightly and more perfectly said concerning
Christ and his people. She said concerning Solomon,
blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set
thee on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel
forever. Therefore made he the king to
do judgment and justice. This is our God. This is our
Savior. This is that one whose name we
trust. The one by whose name you must
be saved. What does all this mean for us?
How do they apply to us? I'm talking to you about a Christ
you can safely trust. A Christ you can safely trust. If you expect someone to trust
you, You've got to win their trust. You've got to show them that
you're trustworthy. If you expect someone to trust
you, you've got to show yourself trustworthy to that person. Will
you hear me, child of God? Will you hear me, oh poor sinner? The Christ I know, my Savior,
is Christ you can trust. You can safely trust Him with
everything, with your soul, with your family, with your life,
with your possessions, with your time, with the world. You can confidently trust Him.
How we ought to admire such a Savior. how grateful we ought to be for
our Redeemer. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. And as his burning love is set
toward us and devoted to us, let the zeal of our hearts, the
burning love of our hearts be set toward him and devoted to
him. I pray daily Lord God, my Savior,
consecrate me today to you as you are consecrated to me. Devote me today to you as you
are devoted to me. And how we ought to rejoice in
his name, his character, this one we trust. This is my Savior. Oh, may God the Spirit be pleased
tonight to make him yours. As you take the bread and eat
the wine in remembrance of him, rejoice to know this is my Savior. God has made him so. Amen.