Well, I'm thankful to the Lord I can be back here today. Look upon the faces of my brothers and sisters. Let's bow and ask God to bless his word. Our Father, we bow in Jesus' name. We have lifted our hearts in song to sing of Christ, the Savior, who's come into the world. And Lord, we want to meditate upon that truth once again. We just pray that you will bless us, thrill our soul, and exalt Christ the Savior in our love, in our thoughts, in our life, and in all that we do each day. We praise you, thank you for Christ the Savior. Bless your word to our hearts, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Open your Bibles with me in Isaiah chapter nine in verse six. This is a very well-known verse of scripture. And if you read this and you think about what you are seeing here, the Lord has loaded this verse, he has packed this verse with a multitude of deep truths, all in one very short space. Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. Of course, this is prophetic. This was a prophecy purely pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. And Isaiah says, 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. Certainly these are deep truths. I mean, he says here a human child is called God. That's deep. Amazing things of Christ are foretold in this verse. It's a complex picture, but wonderful. And you know, this is one of those verses, really, if you stop and think and you try to meditate on it phrase by phrase, you're ready to take your shoes off. This is holy ground. seeing the Lord Jesus Christ as he is foretold here, and certainly we must bow and worship when we see him in these verses. And I'm only gonna try to take one title out of this, and it will be the next to the last title there in the verse, the Everlasting Father. We don't think about this title of the Lord Jesus Christ nearly as often as we do the others. E.J. Young wrote an excellent commentary on the book of Isaiah. He goes through this verse and on all these titles, these names of Christ, he writes pages until he gets to the Everlasting Father. And then he writes a couple of lines. And then he goes on again to write pages on the Prince of Peace. It's the same in the other commentaries. This is one of the more difficult titles of Christ, isn't it? It sounds odd. Even Spurgeon said he did not feel capable of expounding this name of the Lord. He said it's too deep. He said his message when he preached on this title would not be gold and silver, it would just be a simple loaf of bread and a few small fish and he would be asking the Lord to bless it and to distribute it because he only could give a meager teaching on it. And I would be silly to think I could do any more than these men. But there is truth here that we need to appreciate. To appreciate this prophecy, As the Lord has given to us, it's anything in the Old Testament, it's always helpful and necessary to examine the background. Let's do that first. Let's think about the background, the context of where this verse is given to us. You know, after King David, King Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided in two, right? Those of you who know your Old Testament history are very familiar with that. Many here may not know all of those details. The northern kingdom there, which was typically in the Old Testament called Israel, never had a godly king. It was always given to idolatry, unbelief, and sin abounded. The southern kingdom, which was typically called Judah, had many godly kings and yet the nation didn't always follow their godly kings and still idolatry was even common there. But at this time in history when this is given, this is not one of those moments when they have a godly king, this is Ahaz. Ahaz the unbeliever, Ahaz the idolater. both kingdoms at this time in Israel's history. Sin abounded, idolatry abounded, unbelief abounded, and God's hand was heavy on the nation, the people of Israel, and there was war, there was death, people were taken captive, there was hunger, there was suffering, there was fear. This was a dark day in Israel's history. And even so, at that time, God spoke very mercifully to Ahaz, the unbelieving king. Look in Isaiah, let's back up, Isaiah 7, the first part of verse 4, Isaiah 7 and verse 4, and the Lord says to Isaiah, speak to King Ahaz, and he says, and say to him, take heed and be quiet, fear not, neither be faint hearted. The Lord has given encouraging words to Ahaz here. The Lord says, fear not, be quiet. He's speaking very patiently and mercifully with Ahaz. He tells him in verse seven, he says, thus says the Lord God, it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. He's referring to the council, the conspiracy of the enemies of Israel. And what the Lord is telling Ahaz here is the evil council of your enemies will not stand. They will not be successful. The last part of verse eight, the Lord tells Ahaz, he says that in five years Ephraim shall be broken and it shall not be a people. He says, your enemies, Ahaz, your enemies will be broken. But then he makes this interesting statement in verse nine. Let's just read the second half of the verse. He says, if you will not believe Ahaz, surely ye shall not be established. He says, I'm giving you words of encouragement. Your enemy will not stand, and their counsel will not succeed. But even so, even though that is the case, if you do not believe my word, you, and he says ye, meaning the nation Judah, shall not be established. He says you will perish if you don't believe my word, even though your enemies will not be successful. And then very mercifully and very patiently, the Lord says to unbelieving Ahaz in verse 11, he says, do this, ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God. Ahaz, the unbeliever, ask me a sign to see that these things that I am telling you are true. Ask a sign. Ask it either in the depth or in the height above. God's telling that to this unbeliever. Just ask for a sign. I will show you. Ahaz, the rebel, the unbeliever, in verse 12 said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. No matter what God says, he's not going to do it. He's the rebel at heart. And so he refused. It was at this time in the nation of Israel, this time in the nation of Judah, this time under King Ahaz that God gave, verse 14, he says, therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Well-known verse that we read at this time of year. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign, even though you won't ask, Ahaz. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and ye shall call his name Immanuel. God gives a sign, and it's a glorious sign, and it's a sign of great blessing. We don't fully capture the understanding of this verse many times because we only think of it in the New Testament context of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. But this was also assigned to Ahaz. And that word that is translated virgin had dual meaning to it in a way that it could be fulfilled naturally in that day and be assigned to Ahaz and yet much A much greater fulfillment was yet to come in the future regarding the birth of Jesus Christ, born to a virgin, and both would be fulfilled. And it was a sign to Ahaz, and it is a sign to us likewise, and the glorious fulfillment in the birth of Jesus Christ. Now, Ahaz lived to see the sign in his day as it was fulfilled. But if you look over in 2 Kings, you found that he made an alliance with Assyria so he could fight against his enemies. He did not believe the sign. And he did perish. So, because of their faithlessness, both the king and the nation and all within the nation who would not believe consequences came to them. Well, look at them in verses 21 of chapter eight, verses 21 and 22. This is what's coming because of your lack of faith. and they shall pass through it hardly bested. You don't know what that means, do you? Hard pressed. And they shall pass through it hardly bested, hard-pressed and hungry. And it shall come to pass that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves and curse their king and their God and look upward. That is the heart of rebellious, unbelieving Israel. And he says, you shall be hard-pressed, you shall be hungry, you'll fret, you'll curse the king and God and look upward, but look upward in defiance. You could see a fist raised there if you think of that. And he says in verse 22, And they shall look unto the earth, but behold, they can look unto the earth and hoping they will find hope looking around them. But he says, And behold, what do they find when they look to the earth? Trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, and they shall be driven to darkness. That's what would come upon them. It was bad enough already. And he says, this is what's yet to come because of your faithlessness, Israel, because of your faithlessness, Ahaz. That takes your breath away. The hopelessness, the darkness that they could look forward to. Now, you know, Isaiah lived in the midst of this, and he was not exempt to the suffering that occurred in the nation. When there was hunger, Isaiah was hungry too. He felt the consequences, even though he wasn't an unbeliever with Ahaz and the others, he suffered with the nation. And so in the midst of this, the Lord speaks mercifully to Isaiah also. Look at what the Lord tells Isaiah in chapter 8, verses 11 to 13. Isaiah says, Isaiah 8, 11 to 13, for the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand. and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people. Don't be faithless, Isaiah. Don't give up, don't lose hope. Say ye not a confederacy to all them to whom this people say a confederacy. Don't look at the enemies and cave. He says, neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Don't be afraid and fear like the nation does. But do this, Isaiah, sanctify the Lord of hosts himself. Set God apart as high and holy in your own heart, Isaiah, God says. Let him be your fear and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary, a holy place of protection. That's what I will be to you if you fear me. But for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both houses, of Israel. That was what would come upon Israel and what would come upon Isaiah. Protection in the darkest hour. What was Isaiah's reaction to this? We look at here in verse 17 and see what Isaiah says. What does he respond to the Lord? Very different from Ahaz. Isaiah says, I will wait upon the Lord. I will cling patiently to the Lord in this darkest hour, in the darkest of affliction. I will cling patiently to the Lord. I will wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look to him. Here's words of faith that we see in Isaiah in this day of darkness. And so the Lord did sustain him. Now we know the heart and the nature of a believer. Isaiah, the fellow believers that were also in the nation, they would look on the judgment around them and they would lament. They would grieve for what they were seeing. It's not nearly as bad for us here in this day, but we see judgment and we see affliction and the fruit of sin. And we look and we grieve, don't we? If we know the Lord, certainly Isaiah would do the same. And Isaiah would have thought, Lord, you teach me to trust. I trust you. But you know, looking around him, and seeing the suffering and seeing the consequence of sin. He had to think in his mind, reasoning in his mind, I see all the suffering, you promised blessing, and you teach me to trust, and I do trust you, but it's difficult, Lord, because I only see destruction. And certainly he would have, like I hope we do, said, Lord, you are God, is there no mercy? Would you give mercy? Jonathan Edwards' very famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, where he preached upon the wrath of God and hell. And he preached powerfully with the outpouring of the spirit. And in a day when it was certainly not common for people in the congregation to speak to the pastor, as he was preaching that sermon, the people in the congregation cried out, they raised their voice and said, but is there no mercy? Isaiah would have thought, Lord, is there no mercy? Do we not feel that for our own nation? Lord, is there no mercy? Lord, open hearts, draw sinners to Christ. Well, the Lord did have an answer for that thought, even though it's not written here. Here's what Isaiah saw, looking again at 822, says, they shall look unto the earth and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, and they shall be driven to darkness. Yes, he saw that darkness was coming and God said, darkness is coming. And then the next word we see in our Bible is this, nevertheless. You remember Ephesians chapter two, where he talks about sin and the consequences and he says, but God. Or Hebrews chapter two, where he speaks about the insufficiency of the human priesthood and he says, but we see Jesus. There's always these buts or a nevertheless in the scripture. And he says, darkness and trouble, dimness, darkness, anguish, nevertheless, God says, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun. And you can go on reading there and he says, yes, it'll be darkness, but it will not be like darkness you have. known. And what is he implying? What is he saying when he says that? He says, Isaiah, you're looking for hope. And Isaiah, there is hope. There is a change coming. It will not always be what you look around and see right now. We know that Isaiah 9, 1 and 2, That's cited in Matthew, that's pointing to Jesus Christ. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. That's the Lord Jesus Christ that's prophesied here in this passage. It is in this historical context of darkness and judgment that God gives us the glorious promise of Isaiah nine and verse six. For unto us, nevertheless, the darkness shall not be such. Why? For unto us a child is born. For unto us a son is given. That's why there is hope. That's why there is a change coming. That's why it will not be all darkness and dimness and suffering. This is for Isaiah, And this is for us, and it was to Ahaz if he would have believed it, unmistakable tidings of comfort and joy when all they could see was darkness. God says, unto us a son is born and a change is coming. the government shall be upon his shoulder. Not on Ahaz, the unbeliever, but it be upon this child, this son, and he, unlike Ahaz, his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. Change is coming, Isaiah. There is comfort and joy to be found, where? In the Lord Jesus Christ, who will be sent. The Lord Jesus Christ is all of these things. But let's look at the one title. The Lord Jesus Christ is the everlasting Father. Among all of these things. That sounds odd to us, doesn't it? We're used to son of man, son of God. But everlasting father, is Jesus Christ anywhere else in the scripture called a father? Is there a contradiction? Is it possible to be both a son and a father? Well, I am. Of course it's possible to be both a son and a father. It just describes a different relationship. To my father, I was a son. To my children, I am a father. It describes a different relationship. In his relationship within the Trinity, Christ is neither father nor spirit. He is the son, and that's an unchanging relationship. His name, his title, the Son of Man, seen in Daniel chapter seven and frequently throughout the New Testament, the famous name that Christ gave, or the favored name that Christ gave himself, it implies his humanity, the Son of Man. And we're accustomed to both of those titles. But the title Everlasting Father, Father, describes certain qualities in his relationship with us who are his redeemed. We are, scripture states, his children. And it is unto us alone the saved that he is a father. Only the saved know that relationship. We are his children. This is not the only scripture that declares this truth. Let's go to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, and we look at verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Jehovah God bruised Jesus Christ, the son. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, when his soul is made an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. What does that word seed mean? It means his offspring. His posterity, His descendants, because of His soul being made and offering for sin, He shall see His seed. He has children. Hebrews 2 and verse 13, the second part of the verse, Hebrews 2 and verse 13, It says, again, behold I and the children which God hath given me. God has given children to the Lord Jesus Christ. So here's two verses that point to Jesus Christ being a father to the redeemed. How is he a father? In what regard is he a father? Well, it is through him, through him, that we receive life. There in Isaiah 53 again. In verse eight, the statement was made, he was taken from prison and from judgment. Who shall declare his generation? Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ in his humanity, it says he is cut off and who shall declare his generation? In other words, did he have a natural posterity seed? No, he did not. He died young, he died unmarried and had no children. He had no natural offspring, no fleshly children. But we are well aware of all the teaching of Isaiah 53. And if you're not, you need to read this chapter when you get home because it tells all of the work of Christ to save sinners. And it says that he gave his life. Our sin was laid upon him, our iniquity, and he, bore our sin, and our chastisement was on Him, and the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. And when His stripes were healed, and you can go on and on through the chapter, and we see how that we are the spiritual children, not natural children. We are the spiritual children of the Lord Jesus Christ, because His soul has been made an offering for sin. Because it was made an offering for sin, He shall see His seed. Here we see the scripture plainly states, we are his children in that sense, thus he is our father in that sense, that he gives us life through his redeeming work. Look also in John 17 and verse two. In John chapter 17 and verse 2, Christ prays to the Father and he's the Father in heaven. He says, as thou hast given him, as you have given me power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Here Christ says that I give eternal life and I give eternal life to who? Those that you have given me. This is a perfect parallel, a precise parallel to what we read in Hebrews 2.13, where it says, I and the children, those who are given life, the children that you have given me. And here he says, I give eternal life to as many as thou hast given me. Christ is a life giver. He is a father. to a multitude. He is a father because he gives life, and in addition to that, Christ is a good and perfect father, far superior to what we could ever be, a father in the flesh, those of us who are fathers. He deals with us, Christ deals with us as the only other perfect father does. Read with me in Isaiah 63. Verses 15 and 16. Isaiah 63, 15 and 16 says, look down from heaven This is a prayer. Look down from heaven and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory. Where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? Are they restrained? Doubtless thou art our father. Though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not, thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer. Thy name is from everlasting. Now he looks to the Father in heaven when he addresses this prayer. And he describes qualities, characteristics of the Father in heaven. But when he is looking to heaven and speaking to the father, in light of what we saw in Isaiah 53 in verse 10, Christ is a father to his people. In light of Isaiah 53 10, it is impossible to limit these verses to the Trinitarian father. Christ is our father, as well as the first person of the Godhead. Every description of the Heavenly Father that we see in these verses here is unrestrained and everlasting in Jesus Christ toward us. All of these characteristics are superlative when we look at the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He says, look down from the habitation of thy holiness and thy glory. Is there any limitation to the holiness and glory in the Lord Jesus Christ? Where is thy zeal? Look at the ministry of Jesus Christ. Look at the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross. Look at the resurrection and ascension. Look at his intercession on our behalf today. And where is thy zeal? It is abundant in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thy strength abounds in Jesus Christ. The sounding of thy bowels, that's his compassion. It's unrestrained in the Lord Jesus Christ. And thy mercies, are they restrained? Absolutely not in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are all superlative in him toward us. All of these are evident in his ministry, his cross, his present intercession. The Lord Jesus Christ provides, he protects, he teaches, he loves, he comforts, he sympathizes. And I do use sympathize in place of empathize. He is our Redeemer, as the last of verse 16 says, and His is everlasting, as 16 says. He is our everlasting Father, abounding in all the perfect qualities of a father toward his children. The Lord Jesus is an everlasting Father to us. Many of you remember that I had surgery and radiation treatments for cancer, 2001. It was advanced cancer. And I was facing the possibility of death. When you face that, you think about a lot of different things. But right up there near the top of that list was this, my children. What will happen to my children? It was incredibly painful to imagine my children without a father. But Christ is an everlasting father. That's what the Lord says. Death can never touch him. Oh, it was a mercy that the Lord healed me, and my children did not face that life without a father. But we never even have to dream of that with the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is a never-lasting Father. Death cannot touch Him. Our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ is unbreakable. He changes not. He is immutable. And we need never fear life without His presence or His care. There can be no greater comfort for us. He will always be to us a perfect father. His love toward us has no end. His care over us has no end. His protection and provision have no end. He ever lives to take care of his children. For the lost in Isaiah's day, there was only darkness, hopelessness. And that's still true if you're lost and you remain in that condition. There's only darkness and hopelessness. But I'm here today to tell you what the Lord told Isaiah. He tells us, there is light, there is hope, there is peace because, because unto us a child was born. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is wonderful. He is the mighty counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace. Ahaz would not trust the promise and he was destroyed. Isaiah trusted the promise and he was saved What tidings of comfort and joy There is light Jesus lives and Jesus saves all who come to him in repentance and faith His soul was made an offering for sin for your sin that you might have a life. I unto us a son is given. Amen. Father, we ask you to bless your word once again. Open hearts, speak to us.