In our consideration of the prophets,
we'll look at this verse first, Acts 10, 34. This is the Apostle Peter preaching
the Gospel. A man named Cornelius had prayed
for that very thing, that God would send a word of grace to
him and the ones that he loved. And the angel appeared to Cornelius
and said, God's answered your prayer. Send for Peter. And Peter
came, and Cornelius fell down at his feet when he got there.
And Peter said, don't do that. Get up off your knees and let's
go worship the Lord together." And that's what they did. They
went in Cornelius' house and Peter opened his mouth and said,
"'Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons,
but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness
is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto
the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is
Lord of all. That word, I say you know, which
was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee
after the baptism which John preached." Peter said, I'm not
telling you something you hadn't heard before. You know this is
the truth. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good. and healing all that were oppressed
of the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of
all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in
Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree, him God raised
up the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people,
but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even unto us, who did
eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he
commanded us to preach unto the people. To testify that it is
he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and
dead in other words the Lord Jesus Christ He said told us
to go tell everybody that he's the one God has promised from
the beginning He's the Christ. He's the anointed. He's that
bread that came down from heaven. He's exactly who he said he was.
And that's what Peter's doing right now. And while Peter, and
look at verse 43, he commanded, 42, he commanded us to preach
that it was he, and then verse 43, to him, give all the prophets
witness, all of them. Peter said, the Lord Jesus told
us to preach him. and his prophets have been preaching
since the beginning to him give all the prophets witness that
through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission
of sins they killed him and hanged him on a tree and God raised
him up and that's God's lamb that died on that tree you believe
on him and your sins are gone that's the message that Peter
preached and he said the prophets have been preaching this from
the start to him give all the prophets witness this is Those
prophets preached of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was not born
until hundreds of years after they gave witness. How did they
do that? How could they possibly do that?
Turn to Isaiah chapter six. Listen to the testimony of Isaiah
here. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted
up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims,
each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face,
and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and
said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. And then said I, woe is me, for I am undone, because
I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord
of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims
unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken
with the tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth
and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity
is taken away, and thy sin purged. The coal was from the altar where
the burnt offering was sacrificed, where the blood dripped down
upon those coals. And the angel said, When that
touches, when the blood is applied, your sins are gone. Same message.
How did Isaiah prophesy of him? He said, I saw the Lord. Remember
that the word prophet means spokesman. Christ said to his disciples
after his resurrection, you'll recall in the book of Acts, just
before he ascended, you shall be witnesses of me. The kingdom
of God is not a private thing. And he said, these things weren't
done in a corner, Paul said. You don't hide a light under
a bushel, you let it shine. And that's what all of God's
prophets have done, all of his preachers have done, all of the
types and ceremonies, even the law itself sets forth Christ.
God has been shining that light since the world began, and he
still shines it tonight. You shall be witnesses of me.
And you can't witness of one you haven't seen or heard. You
can't remember somebody that you don't know when we have the
Lord's table. He said, remember me this way. Well, if you know
him, you can remember him. If not, you can't. There's the
There's the only guideline for who comes to the table. If you
know him, you can come. But if not, you can't remember
him. We know Christ by faith. These men saw him personally. They had a vision of the Lord
Jesus Christ, Isaiah did, but many saw him. Judas walked with
him for three years, at least, and learned from him, heard his
very voice, and perished and went to hell. It's not about
that, is it? We'd thank God if he gave us some kind of a physical
revelation of himself. But we have a more sure word
of prophecy than that. We've got the witness of the
prophets. We've got the witness of God's word. We've got his
written revelation. And we know him, not because
we've seen him with these eyes, but because he's revealed himself
to our hearts. And that's how we're able to
give witness of him. We know him by written revelation.
This is an HIM book. And we, by God's grace, he's
given us an understanding. He's revealed to us the truth
of this book. And then we know him by the testimony of his spokesman.
God, Paul told Timothy, teach faithful men that'll be able
to teach others also. And that's how I learned the
gospel from somebody and I'm teaching it. And some of you
are teaching it to your children and by God's grace, if he reveals
it to them. Maybe someday they'll be teaching
others, but God's always got a witness, always has. And we
know by the testimony of his spokesman. And by the Holy Ghost,
we know the Lord Jesus Christ, don't we? Christ said to his
disciples before he died and ascended, he said, the Holy Ghost
will take the things of mine and show them to you. And he
graciously does that. So all these various ways, he
speaks to us by his son. Now, all through the book of
Isaiah, turn back to Isaiah chapter one, all through the book of
the prophecy of Isaiah, we see the Lord Jesus Christ set forth.
And of course, we're not going to enter into a study of the
entire book verse by verse. We're just going to look at some,
some highlights tonight, but Isaiah begins his testimony.
Here in chapter one, as the Bible itself begins, with the fallen
state of man. And we saw this recently, I believe
on a Sunday morning. In chapter one, we are pictured
here as lepers. From the sole of our foot to
the crown of our head, there's no soundness in us. And this
is the nation of Israel that he describes in this chapter.
In verse six, there is where I just quoted from, wounds and
bruises and putrefying sores that have not been closed nor
bound up, neither mollified, with ointment. These are not
the so-called heathen that he's talking to. These are the people
of God in an earthly sense. These are those who had every
outward advantage, the scriptures and the prophets and all the
types and pictures and the law. And so even the elect of God
by nature are this way. We're in this condition before
God. David was one of God's elect and he said, in sin did my mother
conceive me. We're wretched and vile in the
sight of God. And then in verse nine, look at verse nine. Even
while pronouncing the vileness and inability of the people to
please God, the doctrine of election shines forth here in this chapter
as a beacon of hope. Look at it in verse nine. Except
the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant. We should
have been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? God rained judgment down upon
them. He took his one servant, his one chosen, his one very
small remnant out, and then he sent fire down upon those cities
and put them in hell where they belonged. And the prophet Isaiah
here says, unless God had left us, had chosen us, unless he
had a small remnant that he chose out of this world, out of this
nation, even Israel, even the earthly nation of Israel, there's
a remnant that shall be saved, a remnant that God has chosen.
And so we have the doctrine of election so beautiful in the
hope that it gives to sin. The doctrine of election, this
religious world looks at it as a, despises the truth of it and
sees it as unfair. It's the only hope a sinner has.
Except God choose a remnant, we're all going to be judged
by God and put in hell where we belong, all of us. And so
we rejoice in that glimpse of the beautiful truth of God's
electing grace. Even in this language that's
so graphically descriptive of our wicked, vile state before
God. And then, though our sin is scarlet
and crimson, as it's shown to be in chapter one, we are called
by Christ. to reason with him concerning
how they can be made as white as snow. Look at verse 18, chapter
one. Come now. Do I quote this every
time I preach? Good, because I've never heard
a more gracious word. Have you? Come now and let us
reason together, saith the Lord. Though you're like my prophet
just described in this chapter, vile and wretched in my sight,
you'll be as white as snow when I get done with you. In his sight,
we always have been. And now he's going to tell us
about it. He said to come and I'm going to tell you, I'm going
to reason with you concerning what I've done for you in eternity. Oh, and then in chapter two,
and look over at chapter two, this is the word of Isaiah, the
son of Amos concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And he said, look
at verse two, it shall come to pass in the last days that the
mountain of the Lord's house shall be established. This is
God's church. We're promised that God will
establish his church like a great city, like a great city that's
called here the city of God, the mountain of the Lord's house.
It'll be established in the top of the mountains in a mighty
refuge and shall be exalted above the hill and all nations will
flow unto it. Isn't that the truth? Out of
every kindred, tribe, nation, and tongue under heaven. God's
elect, what did he say? Give up north, don't hold back
south, east and west. I'll call my people from every
corner of the earth and they'll flow into this house, God's house,
his church. This is the establishment of
his church in this world. And out of all the nations will
flow to his house. And we're told that his word
shall go forth from there. If you read on, and again, we
won't look through all of it, but his word, that's one of the
thing that distinguishes this house. The word of God shall
go forth from there and that he will teach us of his ways. It's not, is that not what he
does in his church? He said, take my yoke upon you
and learn of me, learn of me. He'll teach us of his ways. And
so we're encouraged there in chapter two and then look at
chapter three. One verse only we'll look at
in chapter three. He makes this sweeping declaration. He said, say verse 10 to the
righteous, it shall be well with him for they shall eat of the
fruit of their doings, but woe unto the wicked. Verse 11, it
shall be ill with him for the reward of his hands shall be
given him. In this one verse, we're reminded
to take refuge in him whose very name is the Lord, our right.
It shall be well with the righteous." Well, how can I be one of those?
Paul said, there is none righteous, no, not one. Is there no hope
then? No, there is one who is called the Lord, our righteousness.
And by his grace, through faith in him, we're holy and spotless
in the sight of God. There is no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus. And it shall be well with us,
not because of what we've done, but because of what he did on
our behalf. And then chapter four, and like
I said, we're just skipping over through the chapters here. Cross
is referred to here in chapter four as the branch of the Lord. The branch of the Lord that shall
be beautiful and glorious. This is a short chapter. Look
at verse two. In that day shall the branch
of the Lord be beautiful and glorious. And the fruit of the
earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped
of Israel. There's your remnant. God's gonna
judge earthly Israel. The nation of Israel won't be
saved, but his spiritual Israel will. They will escape because
of his grace, just like Lot escaped from Sodom. And we're told here
that this branch that's beautiful and glorious, we're comforted
in that because of him, even though we're as vile as we're
described in chapter one, Look at verse four in chapter four. When the Lord shall have washed
away the filth of the daughters of Zion and shall have purged
the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of
judgment and by the spirit of burning, we're comforted in that
because of this righteous, beautiful, glorious branch, we will be holy
and safe in this city. Verse three, he that remaineth
in Jerusalem shall be called holy, even everyone that is written
among the living in Jerusalem. How's he gonna do that? He's
gonna wash our filth away, verse four. That's how he's gonna do
it. As John said in Revelation, he loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own blood. And he's pictured there in chapter
four. He'll be a tabernacle unto us,
it says in the latter part of the chapter, and a place of refuge. And then in chapter 5, in chapter
5, this is a much longer chapter and we won't spend a lot of time
on it, but in chapter 5, if you want to read it later, the nation
of Israel is pictured as a vineyard that was by God given everything
that a vineyard, that a garden could possibly need in order
to bring forth fruit. In the early part of the chapter,
he says, I fenced it. I gathered out the stones thereof,
you know, when you're plowing, you run into a big rock, you
throw it out. You know, that's not part of my garden. I'm, I'm,
I'm, I'm tilling this soil and we're making it ready, you know,
to plant the seed. And if you run into a rock, it's
got to go. Planted it with the choices,
Savannah built a tower in the midst of it and made a wine press.
He did everything for them. And what happened? Oh, now verse
three, Oh, inhabitants of Jerusalem. And men of Judah, I pray you,
judge betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more
to my vineyard? What could God have done more
that would have caused us to honor him, that would have caused
us to bless his name? What more could he do? He sent
his son to be the propitiation for our sin. What more could
God have done? Wherefore, the end of verse four,
when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it
forth wild grapes. Why? When I looked to it to bless
me, to honor me, to produce fruit for me, why did it bring forth
wild grapes? I looked up that word wild grapes.
You know what it means literally? Stinking things. That's what
we bring forth. God gives us every blessing.
He gives us this earth and all of its bounty. We've been eating
his food and drinking his water all these years and there's still
plenty. We're not gonna run out until he dries it up. He's given
us everything, hasn't He? He's given us no excuse, Romans
chapter 1, to blaspheme His holy name. And yet, instead of bringing
forth fruit unto Him by nature, instead of honoring Him, instead
of thanking Him for all that He's done, we bring forth a stinking
thing. And that's the nation of Israel,
the earthly nation of Israel, even those most highly blessed
of God in this world. So God said He would take the
hedge down. And later in these verses in
chapter five, he said, I'm going to take the hedge down and I'm
going to let it be consumed and go to waste. It's not worth tending
anymore. What a picture this is. Unless
God reserves for himself a remnant, according to the election of
his almighty grace, every earthly advantage will prove ineffectual
and vain to us. God has got to do a work on the
heart. We're not going to produce any
fruit by nature. We're just not. No matter how kind and generous
God is, He's going to have to do a work in your heart, or you're
going to bring forth stinking things unto Him. And that's the
clear message of chapter 5. But in the middle of all of that,
look at verse 13. We have this glorious promise. because they have no knowledge,
and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up
with thirst. Therefore hell hath enlarged
herself, and opened her mouth without measure, and their glory,
and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoices shall
descend into it. This he called them my people,
this is his earthly people Israel. And the mean man shall be brought
down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, And the eyes of the
lofty shall be humbled, but the Lord of hosts shall be exalted
in judgment. And God that is holy shall be
sanctified in righteousness. The Lord's going to be exalted
in the midst. And then shall the lambs feed
after their manner. He's got his little lamb among
these ones bringing forth stinking things. God has his sheep and
he'll be exalted and they'll feed. Now chapter six. Chapter six is where Isaiah tells,
as we read a while ago, of seeing the Lord. And the first description
that he gives us of the Lord Jesus Christ is what? You see
it there in chapter six? I saw the Lord. Well, what was
it? Describe it to us what you saw, Isaiah. Well, he was sitting
upon a throne high. high and lift it up. This is
why his prophets as Isaiah is doing here and why his preachers
now and why all of the witnesses that wrote the New Testament
and all of his preachers today preach the sovereign grace of
God in Christ because Christ is witnessed by Isaiah and every
other prophet and every other preacher and every writer of
scripture as the sovereign, effectual Redeemer. He is the King of Glory. And if you're going to see Him,
you're going to see Him like that. If you've seen something
else, if you've seen a pitiful Jesus that's waiting on things
to happen and wanting to do things that He can't do, you haven't
seen the same one that Isaiah saw. He's just not the same one. If you see this one, you'll see
Him the same way Isaiah did. If you don't know the Sovereign
Christ, you don't know Christ. God the Father has highly exalted
Him and given Him a name which is above every name. And one
day every one of us are going to bow to Him. That's who we're
talking about. That's who we're talking about. And as the Sovereign
Creator, it is said that without Him was not anything made that
was made. He is the Sovereign Creator of
all things. Paul asked this question in Romans. That's a rhetorical question
because the obvious answer is no, you better not. No, you better
not. Christ is the sovereign creator. He sits upon that throne where
Isaiah saw him. And John saw him on that same
throne and heard a song being sung by those that were around
about that throne. And it goes like this. Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou
hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were
created. We're talking about the king
of creation. And then as the sovereign God
of providence who holds the stars in his hand, and causes all of
the planets and moons and everything. This earth, He upholds it by
the word of His power. By Him, all things consist, Paul
told the Colossians. The sovereign God of providence,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And as such, He brings all things
to pass exactly as He has eternally purposed on this earth and everywhere
in His universe. Nebuchadnezzar said in Daniel
4.35, He do it according to His will. In the army, of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? You can't stop him
from doing what he's purposed to do, nor can you even question
him. You don't have the authority
to do so. And this great sovereign declares
in Isaiah 48 9, remember the former things of old, for I'm
God and there's none else. I am God, and there's none like
me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times
the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand,
and I will do all my pleasure. God wants to do something and
can't do it? Different God, because this one does everything he wants
to do, everything, just like he wants to do it, with whom
he wants to do it, when he wants to do it. He said, I'll call
a ravenous bird from the east, and it'll come and do what I
tell it to do. And I'll call the man that executeth my counsel
from a far country." Both humans and every other creature are
under his sovereign control. Even the winds and the waves
obey his voice. What manner of man is this? He
said, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it. I'll also do it. As the sovereign
redeemer, he speaks in John chapter 10. Let's turn over there. He's
the sovereign creator. of this universe and everything
in it, everybody. He's the sovereign God of all
providence and purpose. And in John chapter 10, he reveals
himself as the sovereign redeemer of sinners. Look at verse 11.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Now, religion says that when
he did that, he did the best he could. He did everything he
could do. And now it's up to the sinner to do something. Let's
see if that's what he says about himself. I've given my life for
the sheep as the good shepherd, but he that is in hireling and
not the shepherd whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth
them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he's
in hireling and careth not for the sheep. I'm the good shepherd
and know my sheep. and am known of mine. As the
Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. And I lay down
my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring. I must bring. Is he gonna do his best to bring
them? He said, I got to bring them. I got to bring them. I
give my life for them. And they shall hear my voice,
and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth
my father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take
it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power, authority to lay
it down, and I have authority to take it again. This commandment
have I received of my father, the sovereign redeemer. He wasn't
a victim. He made his soul an offering
for my sin. He laid his life down deliberately,
willingly. Voluntarily in order to save
me there was a division therefore again among the jews for these
sayings and many of them said he hath a devil and is mad why
hear you him others said these are not the words of him that
hath a devil can a devil open the eyes of the blind and it
was at jerusalem the feast of the dedication and it was winter
and jesus walked in the temple in solomon's porch then came
the jews round about him and said unto him how long Dost thou
make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. And Jesus answered them, I told
you, and you believed not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not, because
you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me. He's already said, I lay
down my life for my sheep. What's the result of that? He
just did his best, and we'll see what happens? Verse 28, I
give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
When the Son makes you free, you're free indeed. When He gives
life, you have life. God hath given unto us eternal
life, and this life's in His Son. And He said, I give unto
them eternal life, it's mine to give. He said, as the Father
quickeneth whom He will, so the Son hath authority to give life
to whosoever He will. And He said, I gave it to them.
My sheep, that's who I wanted to give it to, and I gave it
to them. And they're not ever gonna perish, and nobody can
pluck them out of my hand. Does that sound like a helpless
effort to you? This is my sovereign redeemer
that laid down his life for me, and because he did, I live in
him. Because he did, I'll never be
condemned. Because he did, I'm saved in every sense of the word.
the sovereign redeemer of sinners. When our Lord Jesus Christ commissioned
us to go into this world and preach, he did it this way. Listen
to me. Matthew 28, 18, Jesus came and
spake unto his disciples saying, now he's fixing to say in verse
19, go ye therefore and preach, teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.
But before he said that, he said this, all power is given unto
me. in heaven and in earth. Now go. Is that an encouragement to you?
Now go. And you teach. Teach them. Teach them what, Lord? All things
that I command you. Everything I taught. Everything
I taught you. And everything I told you to
teach. Teach them. I have all power in heaven and
earth, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of
the world. That's my sovereign redeemer
right there. Sending me out to tell everybody
he's the sovereign Redeemer all power Do you think for one second
that I would have any heart? To do what he commanded to do
in verse 19 if it were not for the two truths Revealed in verses
18 and at the end of verse 19. I have all power and I'm with
you always He didn't say I've done all I can do and now it's
up to you and I just hope somebody will believe on me All power
is here The Apostle Paul said, our sufficiency is of God. The Lord Jesus Christ said, without
me, you can do nothing. I don't want to do anything without
Him. Do you? By His grace, I don't want to do anything without Him,
even if I could. The sovereign, successful, omnipotent
Christ is still saving His people as we sit here tonight. He's
just letting us in on it. We're just in on it. Aren't you
glad to be in on it? He's saving His people from their
sins. Having redeemed them on Calvary,
He is now effectually and irresistibly calling them unto himself, all
of them, he said, they shall hear my voice and they'll come
to me. Without exception, in his good time, they'll hear as
the gospel is preached and they will come. He said, I must bring
them. I must. Aren't you glad it's in his hands?
The one who has all power. All right. Verse chapter seven,
back in Isaiah, he said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up.
You hadn't seen him any other way. I'll tell you that. Cause
that's where he is. He's on the throne. And just just briefly
look at Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14. Therefore, the Lord himself
shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son. And she'll call his name Immanuel.
We know what that word means, don't we? Because in the New
Testament it's interpreted and we're told it means God with
us. A virgin is gonna have a baby and she's gonna call his name
God with us. Paul taught Timothy thousands
of years later. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
Isaiah, all those hundreds, thousands, I guess a couple thousand years
ago. said God's gonna give you a sign, a virgin's gonna have
a baby boy, and it's gonna be God with us. God's gonna be manifest
in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up
into glory. That's who we're talking, we're
talking about the same one Isaiah gave witness to all those hundreds
of years ago. We're warned in Isaiah chapter
eight that God has revealed the truth concerning his son in a
book. This one to whom Isaiah gave witness and of whom is testified
by all the prophets, God hath revealed him in a book. And we're
told in this chapter eight, that if anybody speaks not according
to the prophecy of Isaiah, not according to the words of this
book, It's because there's no light in them. No light in them.
Paul spoke similarly concerning the same gospel as he preached
it. And he said it this way, but though we are an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel than that which I've preached
to you. Let him be accursed. That's the message of chapter
eight, at least part of it. And then in chapter nine, and
we'll camp here for a little while and then be through. In
chapter nine, the Lord gave Isaiah a word that causes us to marvel
at the greatness of this mystery and at the grace of God that
has brought this to pass. Look at verse 6 of chapter 9. This prophecy is familiar to
you. What a light in darkness. What a glorious testimony unto
the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him give all the prophets
witness. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. Isaiah is not repeating himself
here. This ordinary child that's born, quote unquote ordinary,
just like any baby was born, was carried for nine months,
give or take, and was born into this world the same way you were
born into this world. But he's also a son that's given
by God. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. He's given to us. And the government,
still verse six, that word government there is rule and dominion. That's
what we just talked about it. The government shall be upon
his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful. Wonderful. That word means incomprehensible. Isn't that what Paul said? Oh,
the debt of the richest. both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God. He called the things of Christ, this gospel that we
preach, the unsearchable riches of Christ. That's what this word
expresses, wonderful. It's extraordinary, marvelous,
and all who know him will call him this, wonderful, the unsearchable
riches. When Manoah asked him in that
pre-incarnate revelation that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to
Manoah and his wife when he met with them in Judges 13, 17, Manoah
asked him, what's your name? What's your name? And he said
to Manoah, why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? And that word secret means wonderful,
incomprehensible, extraordinary. His name shall be called Counselor.
He's the one who said what we read a while ago. Come now and
let us reason together, saith the Lord. No man hath at any
time been his counselor, but he's the counselor of his sheep.
He says, come. The condescending grace of that,
that God would reason with a worm. He's the counselor. Oh God, the
Father spoke from heaven. Can you imagine what it would
have been like to have been there and said, this is my son, hear
him. He's the counselor of God. He's the mighty God. not just
God, the mighty God, the sovereign God, the one who calls the ravenous
bird from the east, and the one that executeth his judgment from
a far place. He doeth according to his will,
and he's mighty to save, mighty to save. This is the mighty God. And then, how interesting, Isaiah
said here, when he gave witness unto him, his name shall be called
the everlasting Father. Was it Philip that said to him,
show us the father? And he said, I've been walking
with you all this time, Philip, and you don't know who I am.
If you've seen me, you've seen the father. That's what Isaiah
is saying. I and my father are one, and
he shall be called the prince of peace. The prince of peace. In Colossians 1.19, Paul said,
it pleased the father that in him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross, it pleased God by him to reconcile all things
unto himself. He is the prince of peace, and
he made peace between this vile, wretched rebel born enmity against
God. Now I'm laying in his loving
arm. How? By his blood. He died for me.
And then verse seven, of his increase and of his government
and peace, these things he's been talking about, 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. There's no end to his government.
There's no end to this peace that he's made. Isaiah saw him
on the throne and John thousands of years later said, I saw a
throne in heaven and somebody was sitting on it and it was
the lamb of God. And he's the sovereign as we
sit here tonight, right now. He's sitting on the throne. I
can't see him with these eyes, don't need to. I've got his word
for it. I have a more sure word of prophecy.
And with eyes of faith, by his grace, I know where he is. I
know what he's done for me. I know why he did it. I know
who he is by his grace. I know where he is right now.
He's where he's always been. On the throne of glory, ruling
all things for his own glory and for the good of his elect.
The angel said in Acts 111, this same Jesus, which is taken up
from you into heaven, shall so come. He's the same yesterday,
today, and forever. There's no end to his rule, his
sovereign dominion. There's no end to the peace that
he made for us by his precious blood. The same one. who just
said to you, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
And look at that last phrase there in Isaiah 9. He has done all this without
your help. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. He's not waiting on anybody to
do anything anywhere. He has accomplished all things.
He has by himself purged my sin. He by himself satisfied God the
Father. He paid for my sins and He is
my righteousness by His righteous, holy, spotless life. He didn't
need anything from me. I needed everything from Him.
He paid a debt He didn't owe. And I owed a debt I couldn't
pay. And this sovereign King of glory and all grace paid it
for me. And I'm His forever. Isaiah gave
witness to Him. Paul gave witness to Him. We
give witness to Him. And by these means that the world
calls foolishness. He's still saving His people
from their sin. It's pleased Him to do that. Thank God it
has. Let's bow in prayer.