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[0:00] Now take your Bibles, dear people, and open them to Isaiah chapter 9.

[0:16] I said that's where we would be this morning, and indeed that's where we're going to be, though it'll take a little time to kind of set up this passage before we get to it, and so don't get impatient.

[0:29] Just find Isaiah chapter 9, verse 1, and we'll get to it here in just a moment. What I'm doing throughout this month is preaching sermons based upon select prophecies of Isaiah.

[0:43] And these are, of course, prophecies that relate to the birth of Christ, and they're beloved prophecies for us.

[0:54] Of course, here this morning they are well-known prophecies, not anything that I'm going to share with you from the book of Isaiah is going to be strange or new to us.

[1:06] That is the prophecies themselves. Because, although what I want to do with these prophecies might take us into some areas in the book of Isaiah, and really into some areas in the life of Israel that are unknown to many of us.

[1:24] Because my desire is that we would take these prophecies and understand the setting from which these prophecies were given. That we could understand a little bit about the history, and what was going on in the life of Israel then, that has implications for us today, and understand the prophecies in the fuller sense.

[1:50] Alright, now, as you might remember if you were here last Sunday, I mentioned that it was a dark time for God's people. Very dark. It was a dark time out of which these prophecies were given.

[2:02] A dark time for God's people who lived far removed from our day to day. In fact, we're talking about God's people who lived 700 plus years before the birth of Christ.

[2:15] That's a long time ago. And so what was going on in the life of Israel, or God's chosen people at this time? Well, the nation of Israel, and that's how we normally understand them, the Jews, Israel, the nation was divided.

[2:35] It was divided into two kingdoms. I mentioned this a little bit last week. The northern kingdom went by the name of Israel.

[2:45] They were called Israel, and they had their capital city in Samaria. The southern kingdom, known as Judah, had as their capital city the holy city, Jerusalem.

[3:00] Alright, so you had the northern kingdom, the southern kingdom, a divided kingdom. And so it was a dark time just in that fact. But now, Israel, that again is the northern kingdom, ruled by a murderous dictator, Pekah.

[3:17] The Bible identifies him, at least it does once, and then from then on, it refers to him as the son of Romalia. Won't even mention his name. He was a wicked guy. Kind of an interloper.

[3:28] He didn't belong on the throne of Israel. But anyway, Israel, the northern kingdom, and Pekah form an alliance with the pagan nation Syria.

[3:41] Syria is ruled by the pagan king Pekah. Alright, so, these two come together, form an alliance, and they have now threatened Judah, that's the southern kingdom, to terrorize them and to conquer them.

[3:56] Alright, that's what the Bible says. And then in Isaiah chapter 8, and made reference to this last week as well, there is the superpower of the devil, today, Assyria.

[4:09] Alright, Assyria. And with their king, Tiglath-Pileser, he's sitting on the throne in the capital city of Assyria, that famous city, Nineveh.

[4:20] Alright, so he comes to the stage here, to the story. And Isaiah has already prophesied in chapter 7 that they, that is Assyria, would be coming.

[4:33] He announced that in a prophecy, and, by the way, they do come, eventually. They do come, invading, first of all, and conquering Syria, and then invading and conquering Israel, and now they are knocking at the door of Judah, and Judah at this time is being ruled by a, a wicked king, an idolatrous king by the name of Ahaz.

[4:58] Alright, mentioned him last week as well. Alright, so it's a dark time. Dark. Divided kingdom, pagan alliances, and now the threat of invasion, and, and all that.

[5:13] It's a dark time. And yet, I would say to you that it is clear from the Bible that God Himself has placed His people here.

[5:24] That God Himself has brought this darkness to His people. And why? Because the darkness, darkness, really exists in the heart of the people. It's not an external thing, not on the outside, as frightful as it is, as dark as it may seem, but the darkness is on the inside.

[5:46] Because God's people have turned their hearts from Him. From Yahweh God, the one true God. They have rejected His word. They have rebelled against His rifle authority.

[5:58] And the last verse of chapter 8, and I haven't had you turned there, but you can at least look back there. Last verse of chapter 8 describes the darkness that had overtaken God's chosen people.

[6:09] The Bible says in verse 22, then they will look to the earth and see trouble and darkness, gloom, of anguish, and they will be driven into darkness.

[6:24] And this is what Isaiah says. And this is God doing this. But what I want us to see is this primarily, hope shines in the darkness.

[6:38] That's what we need to get, ultimately, from all that is said here this morning, all that we glean from not only the passages I'm going to allude to in Isaiah, but especially Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6, which we'll get to in a moment.

[6:55] Darkness, yes, but hope shines in the darkness. And this hope is Jesus.

[7:06] It's Jesus. Now, of course, God's people in that day did not know Him by that name. Of course. But Isaiah did prophesy His coming. He did.

[7:18] Jesus, the Messiah, is the hope of those groping in the darkness. Spiritually. And Jesus is the shining light that comes out of the darkness.

[7:34] Now, this, as we saw last Sunday, is the sovereign promise of God. That's what we saw in chapter 7. And we're going to see it again here in chapter 9.

[7:45] That this shining out of the darkness is the sovereign promise of God. And it's given to certain people, by the way. It's given to the remnant. And who are they?

[7:57] This remnant. Well, look around. You see the remnant. We're right here. Now, in the immediate sense, the remnant is talking about the people of Israel that are part of God's people who are standing firm in their faith.

[8:14] Those people who are trusting God, Yahweh God, and who are trusting His promise that one day the Messiah would come. Alright? The remnant. And it represents all of us here, too.

[8:28] Those of us who have trusted Christ. Alright, now, we learn here that Isaiah had two sons. Alright? I mentioned one of them last week. And God gave the two sons of Isaiah unique names.

[8:42] Do you remember? I mentioned this last week in Isaiah 8.18. Isaiah said, The Lord has given me these sons to be signs and wonders in Israel.

[8:53] Alright? So, their names are significant. And we saw the first son when we looked at chapter 7 last week and his name was Shirjashub. Shirjashub.

[9:03] And his name means a remnant will return. And this is significant because Isaiah with his son Shirjashub under the direction of God. Isaiah and his son are standing there before King Ahaz, the wicked king of Judah.

[9:19] And he issues this incredible promise to them. A promise from God. And basically the promise is this. That the blessings of the Most High God shall one day come out of the house of David.

[9:33] and he will be the way to holiness, the way to God. That is, this is Jesus. Of course, he's promising. This is the promise that Isaiah gave to Ahaz but not really to Ahaz per se because Ahaz was an unbeliever.

[9:48] He was not of the quote remnant, not of the faithful. And it's the promise he gives to Ahaz or through Ahaz to the remnant and that promise includes us today as well.

[10:00] Now, to prove the promise what does God do? Well, he gives them a sign. Remember? This is the proof of the promise that the promise is true.

[10:12] That the promise is something you can bank on. You can count on. And what is the sign? He says, A virgin will conceive, have a son and he shall be called Emmanuel, God with us.

[10:29] Now, this is what we saw last week. Alright? Now, again, as I said last week, the promise is to the remnant. It's to the remnant, the faithful. And the promise is that hope is to those in every age, every generation of man who will put their faith in God's Savior and follow Him.

[10:51] and His name, of course, is Jesus. Jesus. But now, as we move into chapter 8, we find that Isaiah has a second son. And God chose His name as well because both of His sons are to be signs.

[11:06] And He tells Isaiah in chapter 8, verse 1, to write the name of this second boy on a large scroll, a large piece of parchment.

[11:17] And there's a reason for that because the name's a doozy. It is Meher Shalal Hashbaz. What a name. If you thought the other name was interesting, this one is even more interesting.

[11:31] And what a name. Can you imagine as parents about to have a child and you get out the book, you know, that has all the names in it and you're looking for just that perfect name and you're going along through the A's and the B's and the C's and you don't find a name there you like and then you finally get to the M's along toward the beginning of the M's and your wife says, here it is.

[11:53] Meher Shalal Hashbaz. That's the name. That's the name, the perfect name. Well, that may be funny, but remember, God named him.

[12:04] Alright. God didn't have a book that he was looking through and he didn't ask Isaiah and his dear sweet wife to look up a name, think up a name. God picked it himself.

[12:15] And he did so because the name was going to be a sign to his people, the people of Israel. And the sign, of course, is the meaning of the name and this boy's name means this.

[12:30] It means the spoil speeds and the prey hastens. Now, you know, you know you wouldn't pick that name for your son if you knew what it meant to begin with.

[12:45] But this is what it means. The spoil speeds and the prey hastens and the name in the name there is parallelism because you see both the spoil and the prey are references to the same group of people.

[13:00] They're references to God's people. And so then Meher Shalal Hashbaz is a prophecy of the coming panic and flight of the people in the face of invasion.

[13:15] That's what the name means. Remember, the Assyrian army is coming. The superpower of the day. They're coming to Judah and their spoil, that is, the people of God, will speed.

[13:33] That is, they're going to run. And the Assyrian army, they're marching on the land and their prey will hasten.

[13:45] That is, they will flee in sheer panic. And this is what the name means. Now, pay attention to this because we have to get this before we're ready to move into chapter 9 so that we can understand it fully and understand the basis for it and the surroundings around it.

[14:02] where Isaiah's first son's name is associated with the promise of God. That was last week. A promise given to the remnant.

[14:16] Isaiah's second son's name is associated with the promise of judgment. It's the promise of judgment, clearly. and it's given to the whole nation.

[14:28] The nation as a whole. And the judgment begins in Isaiah chapter 8 verse 6. Let me just read it to you. The Lord also spoke to me again saying, that's verse 5, inasmuch as these people refused the waters of Shiloh that flow softly, that is, they've refused me, and rather than follow me, they rejoice in resin that's the king of Syria and in Ramalia's sons, they wouldn't even mention him, Pekah, that's the king of Israel.

[15:03] Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them the waters of the river strong and mighty, the king of Assyria in all his glory. That is his entire army, all of his forces, they're coming.

[15:16] And he will go up over all his channels, that's kind of like a river, overflowing its banks and go over all his banks and he will pass through Judah, not just Israel, not just Syria, but Judah, and he will overflow and pass over and he will reach up to the neck.

[15:36] The neck is Jerusalem. By the way, I'll give you a heads up and I mentioned this last week, he will indeed overflow the banks and conquer nearly all of Judah except for Jerusalem.

[15:47] He gets right to the very city walls and of course God destroys his army there. But they don't know this yet. But he's going to get right up to the neck and the stretching out of his wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Emmanuel.

[16:05] That is your land. God with us. The Lord Jesus. Reference to Jesus. This is the judgment. This is what's coming.

[16:16] Judgment is to the unfaithful, the many, the unbelieving, but hope is to the remnant, the few, the faithful.

[16:30] Now, of course, even the faithful sometimes suffer in the dark times just right alongside with the unfaithful, don't they? We're not, God's people are not always spared from the darkness that comes, but the difference is the faithful will stand firm.

[16:48] The faithful stand in hope. The hope of God's promise. And listen to what God says to the remnant now in the verses that follow here.

[16:59] In fact, you can look there at verse 11. For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, that is the general population of God's people, saying, do not say conspiracy.

[17:14] They're conspiring against me concerning all that this people call a conspiracy. Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.

[17:26] The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow. Let Him be your fear. That is, let the Lord of hosts be your fear, not Assyria. Let Him be your dread.

[17:37] He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel. That's the northern and southern kingdoms. As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

[17:51] And many among them shall stumble, they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken. That is, to the remnant, the darkness. Yeah, it's coming. But do not fear.

[18:05] Do not fear the Assyrian army. Fear me. Keep on trusting me. See? These people trusted the hope God promised out of the darkness, the darkest of darkness of their time.

[18:22] They were trusting that. The remnant were doing so. And now here, here is where it intersects with us. The same hope the prophet Isaiah spoke of over 2,800 years ago, by the way, is the same hope that will lead you out of any darkness you may face.

[18:41] Same hope. And how do we know that? Well, now that gets us into chapter 9. Would you look at it? Verses 1 and 2. Nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed as when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali and afterward more heavily oppressed her by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan in the Galilee of the Gentiles.

[19:13] The people who walked in darkness, groped in darkness, literally, have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.

[19:29] Now folks, if any of you have any doubt in your minds that this is a reference to Jesus Christ, if you have any doubt in your mind about that, then you might want to check out Matthew chapter 4 verses 13 and following.

[19:45] We're not going to turn to it now. If you have any doubt that the prophet Isaiah is speaking of Jesus, that Jesus is the fulfillment of this, that those who are in the darkness, groping in the darkness, have seen a great light, if there's any doubt in your mind that that great light that shines out of the darkness is Jesus, then just check out Matthew chapter 4 verse 13 where God the Holy Spirit inspired Matthew the writer to quote this very passage I read, just read, and to quote it in reference to Jesus.

[20:22] It's Jesus. See, the light out of the darkness has a name. It's a real person. A real man who lived 2,000 years ago but also lives today and his name is Jesus Christ.

[20:41] And you can, or rather, he can be your hope. He can be your hope. And your light in the darkness if you will trust him and follow him.

[20:56] Now, that's all introduction to perhaps one of the most famous messianic prophecies in all of the Bible because the one of whom Isaiah speaks is the one who Isaiah says in chapter 7 would be born of a virgin and he's the one who Isaiah said would be called Emmanuel, God with us.

[21:19] And Matthew also quotes that as well. This is Jesus. And let's see how Isaiah describes him here in Isaiah chapter 9 and this is where we're going to focus for the rest of our time starting with verse 6.

[21:33] And here is that so familiar prophecy in Isaiah that we know, at least you ought to know, is a reference to Jesus. And Isaiah says, for unto us a child is born.

[21:47] unto us a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

[22:06] Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward even forever the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this, will accomplish this.

[22:26] There's the prophecy. Now let's just break this down real quickly this morning. Consider how Isaiah describes the Messiah, Christ.

[22:38] His name is Jesus. And let's consider first of all his fame. His fame. Or his famous birth.

[22:52] Verse 6 says, for unto us a child is born. I tell you, dear people, the birth of this child was the most famous birth of any child ever born among men.

[23:04] The birth of Jesus Christ. His birth was supernatural. Right? It was. It was supernatural. It was accomplished, that is, by a supernatural means.

[23:19] Isaiah prophesied of it and then Matthew tells us and Luke also confirms it to us and it's confirmed in other places in the Bible and by the way, we're going to be looking at this subject tonight and that is the virgin birth.

[23:32] We're talking about a supernatural birth. This is a famous birth. Whether a person believes it or not and you ought to believe it, everything in your Christianity depends upon it, that Jesus Christ be born of a virgin.

[23:48] In fact, everything about Him as Savior depends upon that. And so, His birth was famous. A birth not like no other. Accomplished by supernatural means.

[24:00] But also, announced by supernatural beings. Remember, it was announced by the angel Gabriel. Announced to Mary specifically.

[24:12] The angel Gabriel came, the archangel Gabriel came to Mary and announced the birth of the child that was in her womb. That child is of the Holy Spirit.

[24:23] That same angel came to Joseph to confirm to him and he was convinced. I tell you, this was a famous birth announced by supernatural beings, but not only Mary and Joseph, but also to the shepherds.

[24:37] Remember, they're out there tending their sheep, their flock by night and an angel appears and announces the birth of the Son of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[24:49] And then that heavenly host appears. This was a supernatural thing. Announced by supernatural beings. And not only accomplished by supernatural means and announced by supernatural beings, but accompanied by supernatural events.

[25:07] Just think about it. Again, those shepherds, that heavenly choir. I don't know what that might have been like. Remember, the Bible says that they trembled.

[25:19] With fear. And really, the English doesn't do it justice. They were literally shaking in their sandals. They didn't have boots on, but they were shaking. It was a fearful thing and a supernatural thing.

[25:33] Can you imagine? A heavenly choir singing glory to God in the highest and peace on earth among men of good will. Tremendous supernatural event taking place there.

[25:48] And then add to that this star that led the wise men to the place of Jesus' birth. This was no ordinary star. This was supernatural. Stars don't appear and then disappear and then appear again.

[26:00] Stars don't move and then stop over a location. This was a supernatural thing and it led the wise men to the place where Jesus was born. So, see, his fame, the fame of this birth, it was a threat to kings.

[26:16] Herod sought to kill him. But it was also a hope to the world. The shepherds worshipped him and the wise men opened up their treasures to him. Tremendous birth.

[26:28] What a famous birth. He was visited by the poor and the wealthy. He was visited by the humble and the exalted among men.

[26:40] He is God in human flesh. Born of a Jewish peasant girl. Son of a Jewish, poor Jewish carpenter. A menial laborer.

[26:51] He was born in a lowly stable and cradled in a feeding trough of all things. For unto us a child is born. His fame.

[27:05] But not only his fame, but I want you to see second as Isaiah describes him by way of prophecy. His shame. Not just his fame, but his shame.

[27:20] And we get this from the phrase unto us a son is... What's the word there? Given. Given.

[27:30] You say, this is just simply saying the same thing twice. Or saying the same thing a second time. No, it's not. This is something different. The light, this light shining out of the darkness is God the Son.

[27:45] So at the very least, this is a reference to his deity. Whereas the first phrase, is a reference to his humanity. A child is born. But in the second phrase, it's the Son is given.

[27:58] This is a reference to his deity, but it's more than that. Understand that this child is God. God the Son. Eternal God.

[28:11] The second member of the Holy Trinity. Glorious. Glorious. Beyond anything we could begin to comprehend. Glorious and holy.

[28:24] Completely holy. This is God the Son. That is, there was a time when the eternal Son of God added to his nature something. Humanity.

[28:37] And yet, he's still God. A very God. And he became a man. And we needed him to do that. We needed him to do that.

[28:48] We needed a perfect, infinite God to offer himself as a perfect, infinite sacrifice for our sins. We're absolutely dependent upon that.

[29:02] You see, the word given, this is why I emphasize the word given. The word given, as in a son is given, literally means delivered up.

[29:17] It means delivered up. It's the same idea, though different language, in John 3.16.

[29:30] Where the Bible says, and you know this verse by heart, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, his one and only Son, that whosoever believes or believeth, that's the old King James, I've memorized it in King James, whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

[29:59] There's death and life in that verse. And there's death and life in Isaiah's prophecy. Because Jesus, the one who would come, and now for us has come, was delivered up to death upon the cross, wasn't he?

[30:18] And those who trust him will be delivered up from sin and judgment, that is, from death. This is significant. Jesus delivered up from life to death for us so that we might be delivered up from death to life.

[30:43] That's what Jesus has done. His fame, His shame, not shameful, but His shame because God said that all who die upon a cross are shamed.

[31:04] But He endured the shame for us. His fame, His shame. And then there's a third thing. Consider His name. His name.

[31:16] And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting, or Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Now when Isaiah says that the Messiah will be named or will be called all of these things, He's not talking about name in the way that we use names and understand names today.

[31:37] Though it's alright to call Jesus Wonderful, you know, sometimes we'll do that and say, what are all the names of the Lord? And people say Wonderful, and Counselor, and Mighty God.

[31:47] And that's okay, but these are not names per se in that sense. In the Hebrew language and Hebrew thought, a name did not just identify or distinguish a person from some other person.

[32:00] The name expressed the nature and the character of the one named, the person. So, these names that are here listed, these names here describe who Jesus is.

[32:16] They describe who He is. His nature, His character. And more than that, they describe what He has come to do and did do and will do for all those who will trust Him.

[32:31] That's what these names do. And yet, I'm using the term names. I want you to know that the word in the text is named and it's singular.

[32:43] Not plural. Isaiah didn't say and His names will be. It's singular. And so, what follows is His name.

[32:57] Not names. And the idea is that Jesus is all of these things. Completely. And at the same time, He is always wonderful.

[33:14] And all that that word means and we'll get to that word in a minute. He is Counselor. Mighty God. He is always that. He is always Everlasting Father.

[33:24] He is always the Prince of Peace. and here's what we should get from this name. You should know Him, first of all, as the Sovereign, excuse me, the Supernatural One.

[33:43] We'll get to Sovereign here in a minute. You should know Him as the Supernatural One. He is wonderful. Wonderful. You say, well, yes, He is.

[33:54] He's just so wonderful. Not wonderful in that sense. I mean, He is in that sense, but that's not the idea behind the word. The word wonderful here means miracle. Supernatural.

[34:06] He is the miracle man in the truest sense of the word, in the unique sense of that word. He is the supernatural one.

[34:17] Judges 13, 18, and you don't need to turn to it, but there in that passage the angel has come to Manoah to announce the birth of his son and his son would be named Samson and you know that story, but it's not just a mere angel that has come.

[34:31] The Bible says it's the angel of the Lord and I believe that's the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. And how can I say that? Because Manoah asks what his name is and this is his answer.

[34:44] He says, why do you ask my name since it is wonderful? He's the supernatural one.

[34:56] Second, you should know him as the supervising one. He is counselor. Counselor.

[35:08] He is really wonderful counselor. I know in most of our English texts there's a comma after wonderful at least in the King James but really there's no comma there. In fact, there's no punctuation at all in the original text but it's not wonderful and then also counselor.

[35:24] It's wonderful counselor. That is, he's the supernatural counselor, supervising one. He is our advisor. He is our counselor. He's our guide.

[35:35] Psalm 37 and 23 a man's steps are established by the Lord and he takes pleasure in his counsel. That is, you do. A wise man does. Takes pleasure in his counsel.

[35:46] He is the supernatural one. He's the supervising one. And then third, he is the sovereign one. Mighty God.

[35:59] Mighty God. Literally, the word means one who is invincible. That's our God.

[36:10] That's our Jesus. The one who will defeat all our enemies. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 57, he said, thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[36:26] Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, do you get this prophecy of Isaiah? Do you understand? The people, he says there in verse 2, the people who walked, literally were groping in darkness, have seen a great light.

[36:42] those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined out of the darkness, a shining light.

[36:54] And who is he? He is the supernatural one. He's wonderful. He's the supervising one, counselor. He is the sovereign one, mighty God.

[37:07] And then he is also the sustaining one. He is everlasting father. Everlasting father, eternal father.

[37:20] He is everything a father should be to his children and forever. He's loving, he's strong, but tender, faithful, wise, provider, rewarder, protector, teacher, counselor.

[37:44] I'm sure there are many more we could name. He's the sustaining one. You can't make it without him. You can't make it.

[37:57] He's the everlasting father. And finally, he's the all satisfying one. Prince of peace. Prince of peace.

[38:08] peace. Jesus, you see, made peace with God for us when he died upon the cross. He made peace between us and God.

[38:23] Prior to the cross, without the cross, without my faith in the all sufficient atonement sacrifice for sin of Jesus Christ, before I put my faith in him, I was an enemy of God.

[38:43] And he made peace with his cross. Romans 5.1, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. There's no other peace but through him.

[38:57] Jesus made peace. Jesus gives his peace to us through faith. John 14.27, peace I leave with you.

[39:11] My peace I give to you. It's Jesus who gives peace. And I would add another, Jesus keeps us in his peace when we are in the valley, the valleys of life.

[39:26] Right? Oh, yes. Philippians 4.6, Paul said don't be anxious for anything or don't worry about anything, but in everything through prayer and petition and thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses every thought will guard your hearts.

[39:51] Guard, by the way, that's the word prince. Guard. Keeper. steward.

[40:03] The peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. He makes peace, gives peace, keeps us in his peace, guarantees our peace for eternity.

[40:18] He's the prince of peace. The all satisfying one. So out of the darkness, a shining light. his fame born for us.

[40:34] His shame delivered up for us. His name, wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace, all for us.

[40:51] And then there's one more. His claim. And you'd better not miss this. His claim.

[41:02] You know, for the most part, the prophecy of Isaiah 9, 6, and 7 is so familiar to us that we fail to see its strangeness.

[41:15] It's rather strange, maybe even somewhat confusing. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And what about this child? What about this son?

[41:26] Well, Isaiah says the government, government will be upon his shoulder. Government. This is startling.

[41:38] It's startling to read what Isaiah says about this child who will be born. Look at it. Verse 7. Of the increase of his government and peace, that is, of his dominion, there will be no end.

[41:56] No end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.

[42:10] So we're not talking about an earthly kingdom, are we? And the zeal of the Lord of hosts will bring this about, will accomplish it.

[42:23] Now, this is what Christmas is ultimately about, and therefore what a lot of people miss. Not you, of course, I hope.

[42:36] What's Christmas about? The birth of the King of Kings. The birth, the physical birth of the King of Kings.

[42:47] This little baby boy born there in Bethlehem is King Jesus. We know that, don't we? This is his claim.

[43:01] His claim is not just to be a meek, mild little baby and all of his beauty, or a hard worker as a carpenter's son, or a great preacher or teacher.

[43:19] His claim is to a kingdom. He's King of Kings. And I think this highlights a really big problem with Christmas as it is celebrated by most people, even by those who should know better.

[43:38] Because in the first place, most people do not see a king in Bethlehem's baby. They don't see a king there. Yet, wise men from the east gave him gifts worthy of royalty.

[43:53] And what did they say? They said, where is he who has been born king? They were looking for a king. They saw a king in that baby and opened up their treasures worthy of a king.

[44:12] And you know, most do not see a king in Nazareth's carpenter. And yet, at his baptism, God the Father, the sovereign ruler of all the universe, spoke and he said, this is my son in whom I am well pleased.

[44:31] and most, by the way, do not see a king in Galilee's preacher and teacher. And yet, the great scholars and religious leaders of Jesus' day said, no man has ever spoken the way this man speaks.

[44:50] They said, he speaks as one having authority. He's king, Jesus. And even more importantly, most do not see a king in Calvary's Savior, do they?

[45:07] And yet, he stood before Pilate representing the king of his day, and he said to Pilate, you call me a king, and for that purpose I have come, and I was born, albeit my kingdom is not of this world.

[45:25] one day though, all will see King Jesus for who he really is. All will.

[45:37] For many, it will be too late. But we are called upon to bow to this king in this life.

[45:51] the only chance to bow to him as king, supreme ruler of your life, the only chance for that is now.

[46:04] One day all will see him that way. And when will they, by the way? When he appears. When he appears, that is his second coming. Paul says in 1 Timothy 6.15 that God will bring that about in his own timing.

[46:19] And he goes on to describe him. He says he is the blessed and only potentate, the king of kings and lord of lords who alone has immortality dwelling in the unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can see, this unapproachable light, to whom the honor and everlasting power, amen.

[46:42] That's Jesus. That's who he is. That's his claim. Kingship, lordship, is his rightful claim over all things and one day that will be revealed to all.

[46:59] And listen, dear souls, kingship and lordship is his rightful claim over you, your heart, your life. The kingdom he has laid claim to is a kingdom of light revealed out of the darkness and he invites you to be one of his royal, loyal subjects and you come to him through repentance and faith.

[47:39] Handel's hallelujah chorus has it right and should because Handel got it all out of scripture. He said, and he shall reign forever and ever and ever and ever hallelujah, hallelujah.

[47:59] that is praise the lord. Praise the lord. Thank you.