Let us open our Bibles again
today to the prophecy of Isaiah. Isaiah, I want to begin our reading
in verse 19 of chapter 8 and read through verse 7 of chapter
9. Isaiah chapter 8 and verse 19. And when they shall say unto
you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards
that peep and that mutter, should not a people seek unto their
God for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony,
if they speak not according to this word, it is because there
is no light in them. and they shall pass through it
hardly, be stead and hungry, and it shall come to pass that
when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, now notice
this, and curse their king and their God, and look upward, and
they shall look unto the earth, and behold trouble and darkness,
dimness of anguish, and they shall be driven to darkness nevertheless. What a word. What a word to call
our attention once again to the amazing, marvelous grace of God. To a people, we read here, who
curse their God and look toward the earth. Nevertheless. Nevertheless, the dimness shall
not be such as was in her vexation. when at the first he lightly
afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and
afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the
sea beyond Jordan and Galilee of the nations. The people that
walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell
in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light
shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation,
and not increase the joy, they joy before thee according to
the joy and harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the
spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke
of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his
oppressor, as in the days of Midian. For every battle of the
warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood,
but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. 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 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." In these verses, an event is
foretold by the prophet Isaiah, an event which would be the cause
of great joy. The greatness of the joy is described
Typically, in Old Testament terms, if you notice in verse 3, we're
told, and I hope you have a Bible that has a marginal reading,
because if you do, we read thou hast multiplied the nation and,
and then there's a number there, and it should be his, and his
joy increase, or he, him, increase the joy. They joy before thee
according to the joy and harvest, and as men rejoice when they
divide the spoil. Isaiah speaks of an event that
would cause great joy. It's described, as I said, in
these Old Testament terms, It's described as they that joy in
harvest. They joy before thee according
to the joy in harvest. You have to remember that this
was an agricultural society, that is Israel, Judah. And after a man had plowed his
field planted his crop and trusted God to send the rain and the
sunshine, and then there's a crop, there's a harvest, and it's harvested
and brought into their barns, harvest home. It's a time of
celebration, a time of great joy. And then it's also described,
this event, as the time when men divide the spoil, when men
are preparing to go into battle. There's confusion. There's anxiety,
no doubt, and fear. But then, when the battle is
over and won, the spoil is divided. There's great joy. And that's
the way this event is pictured to us here in Isaiah's prophecy. There's coming an event that
will cause great joy. And what is that event that he's
speaking of? Well, he tells us in verse 6. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
born into this world, the shepherds announced, or the angels rather,
announced to the shepherds, fear not, for I bring you glad tidings
of great joy which shall be to all people. We use the word incarnation. Incarnation. I know that you
understand that word, but let me remind us again of what it
means. For unto us a son is given. In the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God, and the word was God, and the word
became flesh. I like that so much in the Spanish
translation. En el principio era el verbo. Y el verbo era con Dios. Y el verbo era Dios. Aquel verbo fue hecho carne. Carne. Incarnation. The incarnation
of Christ. The Son of God became flesh. The Son of God, we must remember,
is equal with the Father. He's one person in the Godhead. There's Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. And everything that is true of
the Father and of the Holy Spirit is true of the Son. He is eternal,
as the Father is eternal. He is omniscient, as the Father
is omniscient. He's omnipresent. as the Father
is omnipresent, He's omnipotent as the Father is omnipotent,
and He is immutable as the Father is immutable. God so loved the
world that He gave His Son. So the prophet tells us, unto
us a Son is given. God the Father gave His Son,
sent His Son, to be the propitiation for our sins. Unto us a child
is born. We know that the angel announced
to Mary that she would bring forth a son. How can this be,
seeing that I have not known a man? The power of the high
shall overshadow thee. Therefore, that holy thing which
shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Unto us a son is given. Unto
us a child is born. An event so great that it brings
great joy to the people of God. Well, I have four questions I
want us to consider. First, we might ask, to whom? To whom would this be a cause
of great joy? We know that the birth of Christ
was not a cause of great joy for many. When those wise men
came to Jerusalem and asked, where is he that is born King
of the Jews? That didn't cause Herod any joy. And by his order, it brought
great sorrow there among the people because he commanded that
all of the male children below three years of age be destroyed
in that vicinity of Bethlehem. It didn't cause the religious
leaders great joy. But notice in our text who it
does cause great joy. If you notice in verse 2, the
people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They
that dwell in the land of the shadow of death. They that dwell
in the land of the shadow of death. I want you to hold your
place here, but look with me to Luke in the New Testament.
It's always best to compare scripture with scripture. But this verse here in Isaiah
9 tells us that it is to them that dwell in the land of the
shadow of death. I want you to look here in Luke
chapter 1, beginning in verse 76. And these are the words of
the father of John the Baptist. And we are told that he was filled
with the Holy Spirit, that these words were given to him. He's prophesied. We won't read
all of his prophecy, but beginning in verse 76, and he says, And
thou, child, speaking of his son, John the Baptist, shalt
be called the prophet of the highest. He was the last of the
Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist. Thou shalt be called
the prophet of the highest. And here's the reason. And our
Lord said there's none born of woman greater than John the Baptist. Here's the reason. For thou shalt
go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give
knowledge of salvation unto, now notice this, his people. You see what I'm saying? The
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, God sending His Son into this
world, was not a cause of great joy to everyone, even today. People hear about His birth and
think nothing of it. People, the world has commercialized
the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I tell you folks, to His
people, His people, What great joy when we think about and consider
and meditate on the fact that unto us a son is given, unto
us a child is born. To give knowledge of salvation
unto his people by the remission of their sins through the tender
mercy of our God. Aren't you thankful that God
is a merciful God? The prophet Micah said, to whom
shalt thou be compared? And then he names three things
about God. He's a God of truth, he's a God
of mercy, and he's a God who pardoneth iniquity. There's no
other God, and there's surely no God like our God, like Jehovah. through the tender mercy of our
God, whereby the day spring, the day spring, the amen, the
bright and shining star, the day star from on high hath visited
us. You know, when you're looking
for the dawning of the light, and there's that day star, Lord
Jesus Christ came into a darkened world, my friends, and He is
the light of the world. To give light to them that sit
in darkness, here it is, and in the shadow of death. That's
what we read, wasn't it, in Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 3. To whom
would this be a cause of great joy? To His people. to those
that sat in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way
of peace. Peace with God, the way we may
have peace with God. All right, turn back with me
to chapter 9 of Isaiah. So the first question we might
ask, to whom would this be a cause of great joy? And it is, of course,
to his people. to those who by nature, when
we come into this world, sit in the shadow of death. Second,
why is this the cause of great joy? Notice in verse four, why
is this the cause of great joy? For thou hast broken the yoke
of his burden. Thou hast broken the yoke of
his burden. The staff of his shoulder. the
rod of his oppressor, as in the days of Midian. We see here what
this God-man, the son given, the child born, this God-man,
we see what he has accomplished. First of all, he broke the yoke
of his burden. Did you ever hear that song,
He Touched Me? He touched me, shackled, shackled
with a heavy burden, cumbered with a load of care. Shackled
means to be chained, doesn't it? Chained to a heavy burden. He broke the yoke of his burden. Three things about this yoke.
The yoke of our burden that he broke was the power of sin. People think of sin and sins,
but my friend, sin is powerful. It's powerful. The Lord Jesus Christ one day
told a group of religious people. He said this, whosoever That's
all inclusive, isn't it? Whosoever committed sin is a
servant of sin. And that word servant literally
means slave. Whosoever committed sin is a
slave of sin. When we think of slavery, we
think of a master, masters. And sin is a master. We are born into sin. Whosoever
committeth sin... Is there anyone here today who
would be so brazen and so dead in trespasses and sins that you
would deny that, yes, you have been guilty of committing sin? I don't think so. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ said,
Whosoever committeth sin is a servant, the slave of sin. But then he
said, but if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. The Son of God, he broke the
yoke of our burden, sin, the burden of sin, the penalty of
sin. He paid the penalty for our sins,
the power of sin. When we come into this world,
we walk according according to the course of this world, under
the prince of the power of the air, which is Satan. In another
place, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke about this burden, this
power of Satan. He was casting out demons one
day, the Lord Jesus Christ was. And some people said, well, he's
casting out those demons by the devil. That's the power he has,
it's the power of the devil. And the Lord Jesus Christ said
this, that in order to cast a demon out, a person has to be more
powerful than Satan. And then he likens to all men,
as we come into this world, we're under Satan's control. Satan
is in control. And he's powerful. And we don't
have the power to free ourselves. We just don't have it. And so
first of all, he said, and he called Satan there, the strong
man. That the strong man, first of
all, has to be bound. And then those who are under
his control under his reign and rule may be loosed. It was at the cross, the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he crushed, he overcame the strong
man and bound him. He hath broken, as this verse
tells us, this son given, this child born. He has broken the
power of sin, the yoke, the burden upon us, the power of Satan and
the power of sin. And I tell you, the yoke of our
burden that he broke was the power of God's law. God's law
demanded absolute perfection. Here's the thing about God's
law. You know, man's law demands obedience. That's true. Thou
shalt not rob a bank. Well, if you rob a bank, they
can pretty well bring evidence against you. But God's law, it
not only deals with the act of robbing the bank, but the thought. You know, I think I could go
into that bank, and I could rob that bank. I could just fill
my pockets with money. You see, God's law, it doesn't
only forbid the act, but the very thought, the inclination,
the desire. Our Lord said, Thou hast heard,
thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto thee, Whosoever
shall look upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery
in his heart. It's not just the Acts. I believe
that Saul of Tarsus who became the Apostle Paul, I believe he
was fully convinced he had kept God's law perfectly until God
the Holy Spirit struck him in his heart. And he was made to
realize just the very beginning, the desire, the least desire
to do that, which is evil, is against God's holy law. And that law had us bound up
against the wall, if you please, and it said, pay me, pay me,
or suffer. You know what the Lord Jesus
Christ did? This is in Colossians chapter two. He took the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, bam, bam, bam, and nailed
it to his cross and took it away. That's the reason this is such
a cause of great joy to his people because he broke the yoke of
our burden. And notice here in the text,
if you will, here in Isaiah chapter 9, verse 4. For thou hast broken the yoke
of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, and the rod
of his oppressor. Now notice, as in the days of
Midian. The days of Midian. What does
that have reference to? It has reference to Gideon and
him fighting the Midianites. You remember how that started
off. Israel was in bondage and God appeared to Gideon and said
that he was a man of valor and he was hiding in a cave. The
Midianites, they would just wait until it was time to reap the
harvest and they'd come down into the land and take everything
and go home. God's going to deliver them through
Gideon. First of all, Gideon started
out, I believe it was with 32,000 men. God said, that's too many. That's too many. Why is that
too many? Because when you get the victory,
you're going to think it's your power that gives you the victory.
You're not going to praise me. You're going to praise yourself.
So Gideon, you tell anyone who wants to go home, Adios. And I think there was 20,000
who left. God said, that's still too many. That's still too many. And you
know, they whittled the army down to 300 against the great host, but all
to this end that God would get the glory. And you see, that's
what this means here. As in the day of Midian, the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, Him breaking the burden and delivering
His people, it is done in such a way that He gets all the glory. All the glory. And not only that,
but the defeat of Midian, it speaks about God getting the
glory, but the defeat was complete, complete, complete victory. The Lord Jesus Christ, by His
work, He finished the work. He completed the work which the
Father gave Him to do. And it was sudden. Remember how
they encircled, those 300 men encircled the Midianites and
they had their lamp and their pitcher and they broke their
pitcher and they just cried out, to serve the Lord and of Gideon. And the Midianites began to fight
themselves, right? God delivered his people. It
was sudden. And in one Death, the Lord Jesus
Christ has completely defeated the enemy of his people. He has
broke the yoke of bondage. Well, third, how are God's people
comforted by the remainder of verse six? These titles Well,
here are two ways that God's people are comforted by the remainder
of verse six. First of all, we are comforted
in knowing that the government is upon his shoulder. Notice
that's the first thing we're told, and the government shall
be upon his shoulder. This was symbolic. They would
lay a key upon the shoulder of a man who was becoming the ruler.
I'm not sure if that's where they got the practice of presenting
the keys to a city, to a person or not, but that's what it means
here in the scripture. It means when a man came to the
throne or came to some place of rulership, they would lay
a key upon his shoulder. Well, this verse tells us that
the government, the government, shall be upon his shoulder."
Whose shoulder? The shoulder of this one who
is the son given, the child born. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. And this comforts God's people,
recognizing that he has all authority, both in heaven and in earth. And he uses his power. The Lord
Jesus Christ uses his power. Why do you think the church is
still here? Men, great men, I mean powerful men and armies and rulers
have done their very best to destroy the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Satan has done his best. The
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Why? Because the
government is upon his shoulder, because he is the one who is
in control. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. We've seen it in our day, some
of us here. We've seen men who were great
men, powerful men, end up in exile, losing all their power. Kingdoms
come and kingdoms go, but His kingdom continues on because
His kingdom is an eternal kingdom. He is sitting upon the throne
of David. His kingdom shall never come
to an end. And no weapon that is formed
against thee. Child of God, now listen. What's
comforting about this? The government is upon his shoulder. No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper. No weapon. Not without his permission. Men and devils may attempt to
snatch one of his sheep from his hand, and no doubt have,
but every one that the Father gave him is still in his hands,
and shall be. Satan himself cannot snatch one
of his sheep. Why? Because the government is
upon his shoulder. A lot of people say, well, he's
going to be king. No, my friends, he is king. It's always tickled me to see
these signs on church buildings that say, where Christ is Lord. Well, there's no place where
he's not Lord. He's Lord of all. King of kings. The government. Who's ruling
this world? He is. He is. And listen, all for the good
of His church. Everything that happens in Providence,
it's His Providence, somehow is all for the good of His church. He was given a people, He redeemed
those people, and He's calling out those people And my friends,
everything that happens in this world is somehow or other for
the good of His church, to the glory of His great name. Now notice Hurdley, wonderful. In each one of these titles,
we could take a whole message on them. Wonderful. What is not
wonderful? It'd be easier to tell you what
is not wonderful about him than to tell you all that is wonderful. His person, His person is wonderful. God-man, His work is wonderful. He glorified the Father. He finished
the work which He was sent to do. But my friends, when we think
of this, He's wonderful. When going through some trial,
when the winds, the storm is blowing against you, Notice that
he's wonderful because he has the ability to help you and his
help is unlimited and his power is beyond our capacity to even
conceive. To him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think. Greater than what
we're even able to think? Absolutely. Wonderful, wonderful. Counselor,
the wisdom, he is the wisdom of God. When we need counsel,
often not knowing what to do, which way to turn, we know that
he may give us counsel. In all thy ways acknowledge him. and he shall direct thy paths. The mighty God. What a comfort
and blessing to learn that while in ourselves we are perfect weakness. Weakness. And yet, as the Apostle
Paul said, we can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth
us. He's the mighty God. The eternal God is thy refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms. You know Jacob, Jacob was
a man, but he's also a name for all of God's children. Jacob
have I loved. So God has loved all of his children
with an eternal love. Jacob was chosen when Esau was
passed by. All of God's children are chosen
of God. So Jacob is a collective name,
if you please, for all of God's children, for you, for me. And
listen to what Moses said about Jacob, speaking of all of his
children. He said, he found him in a desert
land. Oh, I found the Lord. Well, he
wasn't lost. You found the Lord? Oh, no. He found you, if you've been
found. He found you. Here you were,
in a desert land, in a waste-howling wilderness. He found him. God found him. The Holy Spirit
finds God's elect wherever they're hiding. I think of that parable our Lord
gave of the lost sheep and the lost coin and the lost son. All of them were lost. The sheep
had wandered off, no telling where, but the shepherd found
him. The coin was lost in the house,
maybe in a church, I don't know, in a house. But the coin was
found. And the son was in the hog pen. But the son was found. He found
him. He found him. What'd he do, just
find him and leave him there? Oh, no. Oh, no. He found him. He led him about. All the way
my Savior leads me, what have I to ask beside? Let him about. He instructed
him. All of our days the Lord is teaching
us, isn't he? Instructing us. And oh, we're
slow learners. We're slow learners. But thank
God he continues to instruct us. And he kept him. And he kept
him as the apple of his eye. That's just, when something comes
at your eye, that's automatic, isn't it? When you just think
of yourself, God keeps you as the apple of his eye. And that's
not said only once in the scripture, it's said at least twice. God
keeps his people as the apple of his eye. He is the mighty
God. He's the everlasting Father.
You know, God's elect were given to Christ in that covenant as
His bride, as His sheep, as members of His body, and also as His
seed. He is the everlasting Father. And one day, and we read this
in In Hebrews, he will appear before the father and be able
to say, behold, I and the children which thou hast given me. Not one is going to be missing. You parents sometimes when your
children are up in their teenage years and they go out and stay
out later than what you would like You're home waiting for
him to come home, and when you hear that last one come in the
door, or see that last one come in the door, that's a good feeling,
isn't it? We're all home, we're all safe. The Lord Jesus Christ, he's not
going to lose one of his children. He's the everlasting Father.
And also, he's the Prince of Peace. when tempted and tossed
by the winds of this world, how quickly, how quickly He is able
to restore our peace if we just consider Him as the Prince of Peace. And here's
the last question. Was all this certain to take
place? Is this just pie in the sky,
Isaiah? It's just pie in the sky that
you're telling us about. Is all of this certain to take
place? Well, notice the last part of
verse 7. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this. The Lord of hosts. The Lord of
armies. This is His purpose. This is
His will. And who will disannul or frustrate
his purpose and his will? No, this is certain. And of course,
you and I, we live on this side of his incarnation. We know,
we know it took place. Let me close by asking this one
question. When you hear about the birth
of Christ, is that a source of joy to you? When you hear about
the birth of Christ, is that a source of joy to you? To meditate
and think about the fact that unto us a son is given, a child
is born, and he came into this world to redeem his people. The psalmist
of old said, blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, they
shall walk in the light of thy countenance. May the Lord bless
His word to all of us here this morning.