Isaiah chapter nine, the ninth
chapter of Isaiah. My message this morning will
be on the subject, His Name, His Name. And I want to read
first of all verse two. 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." When I was eighteen, nineteen,
in the early part of my twentieth year, I was on a ship in the
Pacific Ocean, an LST. I was a signalman on that ship,
and I used to stand watches at night on the conning tower. I always dreaded the twelve-to-four
watch. That was right in the middle
of the night, midnight till four in the morning. And occasionally
the boy who was on the eight-to-twelve watch would come down and wake
me up a few minutes before twelve. It was my time to stand watch.
And when I woke up, I'd find that little ship just rolling
and tossing, and I knew that we were in a storm. And you'd
have to hold on to the bunk to put your clothes on, and then
put your foul weather gear on, and then climb up the ladder
and out the hatch and step onto the deck of the ship, hanging
on for your life because it was rolling and tossing. And then
climb the other ladder up to the top of the ship and stand
up there, throughout that dark four hours on watch. Lightning
flashing, thunder rolling, the heavy rain falling, the waves
tossing the ship about, huge white caps would break over the
entire deck of the ship, not a star to be seen, nothing but
darkness. You'd stand there holding on
to that conning tower as that little ship would roll and you'd
wonder if the wrath of the elements would ever cease, if you'd ever
see the morning, then after a while, way off in the distance, you
can see about fourteen miles on the ocean, in the daytime
about fourteen, at night about ten miles to the horizon, but
you'd see way off there on the horizon a break in the clouds,
and you'd see the moon shining, and you'd know that in a few
moments the weather would calm down, and then the sea would
be at peace. I thought about that when I read
verse 2 of Isaiah 9. The people that walk in darkness,
that are tossed about on the terrible sea of fear and wrath,
have seen a great light. And they that dwell in the land
of the shadow of death, with fear all about them, and wrath
all about them, and trials all about them. Upon them hath the
light shined. Now what is this light? What is this light? We have seen
a light. Upon them hath the light shined. When the prophet wrote this text,
about him was the prophetic thunder of God's wrath. about him the
dark clouds of God's judgment, about him the heavy hand of sin,
about him the lightning of divine vengeance. And he saw a light.
He saw a light. He saw a bright spot. It was
the one bright spot in the darkness. It was the one bright spot amid
all of the wrath and judgment and vengeance that surrounded
him. and he wrote of it in verse six,
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the
government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. With Simeon of old, we can look
into the face of this child, of this son, and we can say,
Now, Lord, let us thy servant depart in peace. Mine eyes have
seen that light. Mine eyes have seen that bright
spot. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
for his name, his name shall be called Wonderful. I want us to look at each of
these names in my message today. Wonderful, his name shall be
called Wonderful. His name shall be called Counselor. His name shall be called the
Mighty God. His name shall be called the
Everlasting Father. His name shall be called the
Prince of Peace. And our Lord Jesus Christ, who
is our bright and morning star, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
our Son of Righteousness, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our
redemption, is called wonderful. Why is he called wonderful? Well,
he's called wonderful for three reasons. First of all, he's called
wonderful for what he was in the past. He is called wonderful
for what he is in the present. He is called wonderful for what
he will be in the future. Now I love to sit under a tree
out in the yard and listen to a humble, wise old man tell about
his life and experiences. Do you? I'm not talking about
just foolish rambling. I'm talking about occasionally
we have the privilege of sitting out under a tree with an old
white-haired man who has good sense and good judgment and a
humble spirit, and let him unfold for you the things that's happened
in his life down through the years. The days after the Civil
War, the days of Reconstruction, the days of the turn of the century. My dad used to tell me about
the late 1890s and early 1900s, and I enjoyed listening to the
making of this nation, the forming of the states, and then World
War I, and then the Great Depression. But I like to sit under a tree
and listen to an old, wise, humble old man talk about what has happened
in his 60, 70, 80, or 90 years of life. But then What is the life of an old man
compared to that tree under which we sit? That tree was a shelter for his
father. That tree was a shelter for his
father's father. That tree not only saw the Reconstruction,
but that tree saw the Civil War. That tree saw Lincoln ride by. That tree saw Washington as well. That tree saw not just the saving
of the nation, but the very formation of the nation. That tree saw
the early settlers who settled this country for civilization.
That tree stood when the savages were hunting their deer and their
antelope and their other animals with bows and arrows. That old
tree stood there when this man's great-great-grandfather was walking
upon the earth. But then, what is the life of
that tree compared to the soil in which it grows? That soil
has watched many generations of men and generations of trees
come and go. That soil was there when the
flood of Noah covered it. That soil was there when the
first man, thousands and thousands of years ago, walked on it. But
what is that saw compared with the life of an angel? An angel
who stood by in admiration and awe as God formed that saw and
separated it for the place of the oceans and spoke all these
things into being. But my friend, what are the angels
and what are their years compared to the sun? the Lord Jesus Christ. Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given. His name shall be called Wonderful. He saw the Father make the angels. For he said in John 17, 5, Glorify
me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. His name is
Wonderful. wonderful for what he was in
the past. And then he's called wonderful,
secondly, for what he is in the present. We talk about his past
glory, the glories of creation, and the glories of wisdom, and
the glories of power, and the glories of heaven, and the glories
of eternal existence, and the glories of perfect knowledge.
But I'd have to say that the present glory of Christ exceeds
his past glory. When I see him come down into
this world and wrap himself in human flesh and go to the cross
of Calvary and down to the wrath of God for our sins and be buried
and rise again on the third day for our justification, I see
him glorifying his love. herein is love, not that we loved
him, but that he loved us and gave himself a sacrifice for
our sins. And having loved his own, he
loved them to the end. He loved them even to the death
of the cross. Yes, his power and the manifestation
of his wisdom is seen in his past glory, but his love, his
love, is seen and revealed in his sacrifice for sinners. Greater love hath no man than
this, that he lay down his life for his friends. And in coming
to this earth, he glorifies not only his love, but he glorifies
his word. Turn to Deuteronomy 7. He glorifies
his love and his word. Deuteronomy 7, verse 7, says
this, The Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you
because you were more in number than any people. You were the
fewest of all people." Verse 8, Deuteronomy 7, "...but because
the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which
He swore to your fathers, He'll keep His word." I am the Lord, I change not. God will keep His word. Therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. And then He glorifies His law. See the Lord of glory. See the
Son of righteousness. See the King of kings and Lord
of lords, Him who is invisible and almighty and eternal and
omniscient and omnipresent. see him come down that dusty
slope of Jordan to be baptized of a man in a muddy river. And John looks at him, having
revealed unto him by the Spirit of God who this is, the majesty
of his person, the greatness of his power. And John says unto
him, Lord, I have need to be baptized of thee. Comest thou
unto me? And he looked at John and he
said, John, suffer it to be so, suffer it to be so, to fulfill
all righteousness. See him in his birth laid on
hay in a manger surrounded by cattle and shepherds, the King
of glory in human flesh, suffer it to be so. to fulfill all righteousness. See Him walking down a dusty
road with His disciples, touching the sick and the weary, making
the blind to see. Suffer it to be so, to fulfill
all righteousness. See Him in His hunger and in
His thirst and in His temptation, tried even by the devil whom
He created. Suffer it to be so, to fulfill
all righteousness. See Him standing there in the
garden His disciple Judas walks up to him and betrays him with
a kiss and calls him friend. Suffer it to be so to fulfill
all righteousness. See him sitting in the soldier's
hall, a crown of thorns pressed into his brow, a mocking robe
thrown about his beaten shoulders. See them pluck out his beard
and spit in his face and smite him with an open palm as they
mocked and ridiculed. Suffer it to be so. Suffer it
to be so, to fulfill all righteousness. See Him out there on that cross,
outside the city wall, lifted up between heaven and earth,
the people casting lots upon the ground for His garment, walking
about His cross, jeering and laughing and mocking and ridiculing,
and saying, You trusted in God, let's see if God will have you.
You say you're the Son of God, prove it, come down from the
cross, suffer it to be so. to fulfill all righteousness. And then in that dark hour, as
the sun refused to shine, and the veil in the temple was rent
in the mist, and as the rocks rumbled, and as the Father turned
his back, hear that piercing cry, My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? Suffer it to be so, to fulfill
all righteousness. And then down from that cross
they take the Lord of life. the Lord of life, even in death.
And they place him in a tomb, borrowed from another, and he's
laid in that tomb. They rolled a big stone in front
of the door and put the seal of the Roman government upon
that stone and stationed soldiers outside. Now he's dead, we're
through with him. He died in shame, he's buried
in shame. Suffer it to be so, to fulfill
all righteousness. Yes, He's wonderful in creation. He's wonderful in the wisdom
which He revealed in the making of the heavens and the earth.
He's wonderful. But our Lord is more wonderful
in His love for sinners, in His sacrifice for the ungodly, in
bearing in His body our transgression and our iniquity. But then He's
called wonderful. Turn with me to Philippians,
chapter 2. He's called wonderful for what
he will be in the future. In Philippians 2, verse 6, the
Scripture says, "...who, being in the form of God, thought it
not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. He took upon him the form of
a servant. He was made in the likeness of
men, that he might be identified with any of us the lowest of
the low. And being in fashion, being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and in earth,
and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. He will be the eternal
delight of his Father. He will be the eternal object
of the saints' worship. He will be the judge of all men. One of these days every rebellious,
unbelieving son of will be astonished as he stands before the meek
and lowly Jesus, as he stands before the Christ of mercy, as
he stands before the Christ of grace, and hears Him say, Bind
him hand and foot, and cast him into hell, where the worm doth
not, and the fire is not quenched. Then secondly, Isaiah 9 verse
6. His name is called Wonderful.
Wonderful. Secondly, his name is called
Counselor. Now my friends, it was by a counselor
that this world was ruined. Satan disguised himself in the
serpent. and he counseled the woman, he
counseled her, to take the fruit of the forbidden tree. And because
of his bad counsel, because of his evil counsel, because of
this evil counselor, man has lost the truth, he has lost his
life, his spiritual life, and he has lost the way to God. He
listened to the wrong counselor. He listened to the wrong voice,
and today he's listening to the wrong voice. He always has listened
to the wrong voice. All men seek counsel, but they
seek counsel from the wrong person. And this foolish world needs
a wise counselor. That counselor is not the minister. That counselor is not the church.
The counselor that we need is not the old church fathers. The
counselor that we need is the one whose name is called counselor. If we're going to learn the truth,
we're going to have to listen to this other counselor. If we're
going to find the way back to God, we're going to have to listen
to this wise counselor. If we're going to receive life
again, we're going to have to listen to this counselor of life.
Now he is not only our counselor, he's God's counselor. Now turn
to Isaiah 40. Same book, Isaiah 40. Listen
to this. Now bear with me and listen carefully
to what I'm saying. His name is called Wonderful.
We understand that. Wonderful in the past. Wonderful
in the present. Our great high priest presenting
his sacrifice, his blood for our atonement. Wonderful in the
future. But his name is called Counselor,
and he's God's Counselor. Now listen. It asks this question
in Isaiah 40, 13. Who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord, or being his Counselor hath taught him? With whom took
he counsel? Who instructed him, and taught
him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and
showed to him the way of understanding? When God made all things, there
was no man there to counsel him, there was no angel there to counsel
him, but there was someone there with whom he took counsel. Because
when he made man in creation, he said, let us make man. Let us make man. There was a
divine counsel of deity when this world was made. God the
Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. He was the Father's
counselor. And then in Providence, listen
to Ephesians 1, in the first chapter of Ephesians, verse 11,
listen to this, "...in whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel." of his own will. There was a
counsel in this matter of redemption. There was a divine counsel in
this matter of a covenant. There was a counsel in this matter
of saving a people. And then, in Zechariah, I want
you to look hard at this verse here. Zechariah chapter 6, verse
13. Zechariah 6, 13. And this verse
of Scripture I must confess that I never have seen before in the
Word of God until yesterday, but I want you to listen to it.
Now all of you who are familiar with the Word of God know that
the Lord Jesus Christ in Zechariah 6, verse 12, is called the Branch. You see how it's capitalized,
Behold the man whose name is the Branch, verse 12. capital
B, capital R, capital A, capital N, capital C, capital H. That's
Christ, the Branch, whose name is the Branch. And he shall grow
up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord.
Even he shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear
the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and he
shall be a priest upon his throne. And the Council of Peace This
is what I saw, and the counsel of peace shall be between them
both, the Father and the Son, the counsel. Who hath been his
counselor? His name shall be called Wonderful. His name shall be called Counselor. What the Father did, the Son
did. What the Son did, the Holy Spirit did. The Father gave us
to the Son, and the Son accepted us and took the place as our
surety. The Son took the obligation of
our redemption and the Holy Spirit of our calling. And then turn
to Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews 6, verse 17. Listen to this. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the heavenly Counselor in creation, in providence, in
the way of peace, and then in Hebrews 6, verse 17. Listen to
this. God, willing abundantly to show
unto the heirs of promise, that's you and me, we are the heirs
of His promise. We're the heirs not only of His
heaven and of eternal life, but of His promise, of His faithfulness,
of His word, of His covenant. The immutability, the unchangeableness
of His counsel. What was decided in that eternal
counsel shall be fulfilled. What was decreed, what was purposed
in that eternal counsel shall be accomplished. What God determined
in that eternal counsel before the foundations of this world
shall be done. My counsel, God said, my counsel
shall stand. It's decided, it's determined.
It's destined. Confirmed it by an oath that
by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to
lie, we might have a strong hope, a strong consolation, a strong
comfort. What are those two immutable
things? His counsel and his oath. Those are the two things. That
counsel between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. between both
of them. That counsel was determined.
All right, now he's the Father's counselor, but he is also our
counselor. For the Father said when the
Lord Jesus went with the disciples on that Mount of Transfiguration,
the Father spoke from heaven and said, This is my Son, hear
ye him. He's your counselor. You listen
to him. You listen to him. This is my
son. You listen to him. He's that prophet of whom Moses
wrote. Abraham saw my day and was glad. You listen to him. Not to your
church fathers, not even to your own heart, but you listen to
him. The disciples said to him, Lord,
show us the father. He said, Philip, Have I been
so long time with you and you don't know me? He that hath seen
me hath seen the Father. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him." Now back to
Isaiah 9. His name, His name shall be called
Wonderful. Wonderful. This is the light. His name shall be called Counselor. He was in that eternal counsel. He's the Father's counselor,
and He's my counselor. And then His name shall be called
the Mighty God, the Mighty God. Now listen, I don't need to prove
the deity of Jesus Christ. The Scripture says the Word declares
Him, declares Him. It says, he shall be called wonderful,
he shall be called counselor, he shall be called the mighty
God. Jesus Christ is God. And if he
is not God, now listen to me, if he is not God, these four
things are true. If he's not God, these four things
are indisputable truth. Number one, you and I are idolaters. We are idolaters, All who were
before us calling themselves Christians are idolaters, and
the disciples were idolaters. Because it matters not what a
man worships if the object of his worship is not God. He's
an idolater. If he worships the Word, the
written Word, he's an idolater. If he worships a stone idol,
he's an idolater. If he worships Mary, he's an
idolater. If he worships anything that's
not God, he's an idolater. We worship the Lord Jesus Christ,
don't we? Well, if he's not God, we are
idolaters. Now, secondly, now you think
about this as I say it. I don't mean to try to shock
you. I'm just trying to show you a truth. His name shall be
called the mighty God. If he's not God, we are idolaters. Secondly, if he's not God, if
Jesus Christ is not God, I would prefer Mohammed to Christ. If I had my choice, I'd take
Mohammed instead of Jesus Christ, if Christ is not God, for this
reason. The cry of the Mohammedan is this, there is but one God. and Mohammed is his prophet." Now, if Jesus Christ is not God,
he should have said, there is but one God and Jesus Christ
is his prophet. But he didn't say that. He said,
I and my Father are one. He didn't say that. He said,
he that has seen me has seen the Father. He didn't say that. He said, as the father hath life
in himself, so hath the son life in himself. So if he's not God,
we're not only idolaters, but we have a lesser man for our
Messiah than the Mohammedans because their prophet said, I'm
not God. There is but one God. I'm just
a prophet. Thirdly, if Jesus Christ is not
God, his death was deserved, his trial was true. For they
brought him before Pilate, charged with what? Blasphemy. And they
said, this man claims to be God, and therefore he must be crucified. Now if he's not God, they were
telling the truth. He deserves to be crucified.
And then fourthly, if Christ be not God, and I borrow the
words of the Apostle Paul, who said, if Christ be not risen,
our preaching is vain. And I say, if Christ be not God,
our preaching is vain, and you are yet in your sins. All right, look at the next statement.
His name shall be called Wonderful, His name shall be called Counselor,
His name shall be called the Mighty God. His name shall be
called the Everlasting Father. Now could I weary you with complete concentration at this
time? This is the most difficult part
of the message. His name shall be called the
Everlasting Father. And I answer that with this statement.
How complex is the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Almost
in the same breath the prophet calls him a son, a child, a counselor, and the everlasting
father. Now we know there's no contradiction
in the word of God. We know there's no contradiction. But it's a paradox, it's amazing. He who was an infant was at the
same time infinite. He who was a man of sorrows was
at the same time ruling over all. He who died on a cross at
the same time was life everlasting. And what this ought to teach
us is the necessity of a careful study and a right understanding
of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm going to preach tonight
on the subject, preaching to the head as well as the heart. Most preaching today appeals
to the emotions and to the feeling. Most preaching is a preaching
of excitement and zeal, and the cry to believe. Men don't know
what to believe. And therefore, we ought to give
a more careful study and ask God for a right understanding
of the person of Christ. He's not discerned by research,
but by revelation. I know that. He's the door, and
at the same time, He's the one that opens the door. Christ is the door, and yet the
scripture says, He openeth and no man shutteth. He shutteth
and no man openeth. Christ is the way, and yet He's
the guide. Christ is the lesson to be learned,
and yet He's the teacher. Christ is the sacrifice, and
yet Christ is the altar and the God to whom the sacrifice is
made. Now, our Lord is called here.
His name shall be called the Everlasting Father. Now, our
Lord's proper name in the Godhead is the Son. What I'm saying is
this. It's not enough just to run over
this and say His name is Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father. How can He be the Son and the
Father, too? The Father is not the Son. The
Son is not the Father. Though they are essentially and
eternally one God, yet still they are distinct persons, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For at His baptism, the
Father spake, This is my Son. They're not the same. They're
not the same. Christ said, I will pray the
Father. I, the Son, will pray the Father, and the Father will
send you the Holy Spirit, who is the Comforter. So the Word of God's not teaching
here that the Son of God is the Father. He's not. Our text indicates,
as in all the other names by which He's called, His relationship
to us. To us, he is wonderful. To us,
he is counselor. To us, he is the mighty God.
To us, he is the everlasting Father. To us, he is the Prince
of Peace. How is he a father to us? Two
or three ways. Listen. Number one, he is federally
a father. Now, Adam is the father of the
whole human race, right? He's the federal head of the
whole human race. That's what he's called in the
Word of God. In Adam, all men die. Adam was the federal head
of the whole natural human fleshly race. Even so, Jesus Christ is
the federal father of all believers. Hebrews 2, turn over there just
a moment. Hebrews chapter 2, listen to
this. He is the federal head of all
his people. He's the father. Hebrews 2, 13. Listen. And again, I will put
my trust in him. Verse 13, Hebrews 2. And again,
behold I and the children which God hath given me. Our Lord has
a children. He's the father to those children.
Federally their father. And then secondly, he is the
father in the sense that he's the founder. Abraham is called
the father of the faithful. Another man is called the father
of those that dwell in tents. He's not the daddy of the whole
bunch, but he's the father in that he's the founder of that
tribe. He's the father in the sense
that he's the founder of that vocation. He's the father of
the ironmakers. He's the father of the pipefitters. He's the father of the shipbuilders,
they say. He's the father of the faithful.
Even so, Christ is the father of Christianity in that He is
the author of it. He is the finisher of it. He's
the Alpha and Omega of it. He is the everlasting father
of every believer. And then thirdly, He is our father
in the sense of giving us life. Now you boys here today who are
not married are not fathers. I am a father because I've given
life to a son. And our Lord Jesus Christ is
called the Everlasting Father because he hath given us life. This is the record. God hath
given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. When Christ
comes in, life comes in. And in that sense, Christ is
our Father. The Word of God is perfect. And
Christ is seen and understood in the light of Christ. He reveals
himself. His name shall be called Wonderful. His name shall be called Counselor. His name shall be called the
Mighty God. His name shall be called the
Everlasting Father. And then in closing, His name
is the Prince of Peace. He is called the Prince of Peace,
real peace. Peace between God and the sinner,
for he hath made peace with God through his blood. The inmate
is put away. He is the author of peace between
the sinner and God. And then he's the author of peace
between the Jew and the Gentile. He has broken down that middle
wall of partition that separated us. He's the prince of peace
because he's the giver of peace. Putting away our sins, we can
now come boldly before the throne of God. And he has given us an
internal peace. And he will give us an eternal
peace. And he's called the Prince of
Peace because his kingdom is the kingdom of peace and his
subjects are peaceful men. Peaceful men. Our Father, we
pray that the message this morning will be used of Thy Holy Spirit
to glorify and magnify and exalt that name which is above every
name. that as we leave this place this
morning, we shall be praising the name of Him who is wonderful,
who is our counselor, who is the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, and the Prince of Peace. Unto Thyself, O Lord, get glory. Unto Thy name, eternal praise. For we ask it all in the name
which is above every name, the name in which we trust, the name
in which we hide, the name in which we find security and hope
and confidence and consolation, the name of our Lord and Savior.
Amen.