Psalm 1, you know, that's a messianic prophecy. Did you know that? And Psalm 1 and Psalm 1 and 2 are like the gateway to like the pillars of the whole of the Psalms. Think about that and read that. Memorize it. I memorized it when I was real little. And that's a great, great chapter to memorize. This morning, we're going to be looking at Isaiah chapter 9, and it's a very, very prominent, very popular passage for this time of year, but I think we're going to see some different things this morning, Lord willing. And we're going to be reading Isaiah chapter 9, verses 1 through 7. So if you're there, you can turn into your scriptures, your Bible here, we're going to be reading. And we'll just ask the Lord to walk with us and to bless us as we go forward this morning. Isaiah chapter 9. Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulon 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 increased 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 a warrior is with confused noise, and garments roll in blood, but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. Look at how the literary style changes a little here, a lot. 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 to 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. Let's pray. Our Lord and our God, bless these words through our hearts that we might not sin against Thee. And Lord, and we can see one of endless, wonderful names of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray, Lord, that we will taste and see that the Lord is good through this. In the name of Jesus Christ, guide and direct us this morning, we pray. Amen. The title of the message in your bulletin, or you could see that was also sent out over the internet, is dimness shall not be as such. What does that mean? That's kind of an abstract term, perhaps maybe not fully understandable, but I thought it made a wonderful, a great title for a message, that the dimness shall not be as such. We see here that Isaiah has the job that would be not much different than today, speaking to godless deaf and blind people who refuse to listen. But I should say, with a prophetic however, the dimness of Israel shall not be such, that there will be those that will listen. as was in her vexation and her idol worship, that Israel had turned away from the one that delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptian tyrannical death camp. And Moses at the time was the physical presence. He was a type of a Christ. He was a messenger, a Messiah for the people, but not the anointed one of God to be the savior of the world. We know that a type of Christ, a Christ, is a messenger and gives a message. And what a job Moses did and how much he loved the Lord. if we go back to chapter 8, we see that this is kind of sadly a preamble, a sad state of circumstances, and sadly it's a preamble of the state of Israel as in Zebulon and in the land of Naphtali. And look at the last couple few verses, I'm going to read them, that really actually are a lead-in to these first seven verses in chapter nine. Isaiah chapter eight, verse 20 says 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 and curse their king and their God and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth, and behold trouble and darkness." There's this word again, dimness of anguish. And they shall be driven to darkness. So, the way to bring the title of this message together is, will the dimness remain? I love the fact that Isaiah uses the word dimness. He doesn't say that the light has been put out, that it has been vanquished, that there's a dimness, and that we need to get that dimness bright again, so that our lights will so shine for the Lord. So what is happening here? As was in the days of Moses, darkness was horrible. From the dark days of the murder of the firstborn Israelite males, they were being forced to have bricks with no straw, The Israelite families were separated, there were these ferocious plagues, and we see that there was trouble, that there was darkness, and it was very bad. But there's always a hope that all through Scriptures, there always was verses that there will be a light that will so shine, a light of the world. Think you know where I'm going with that. Just start thinking about John 8 a little bit. Start thinking and you'll see where I'm going with that. John 8, verse 12, actually. Psalm 112 verse 4 says, Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. He is gracious and full of compassion and righteousness. Even at the evening time there shall be light. You go to Zechariah chapter 14 verse 7. But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night, but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light. In the worst times throughout history, God's people have always found a way to allay or to relieve and balance their trials and troubles through encouragement of light promised by Jehovah Jireh, who is the great provider of all things, and perhaps even in the most sorrowful states, the Christian can find rejoicing. As sorrowful as we can get and as hard as the trials hit us and they are all different in our lives They hit us hard you have them and it's kind of a little difficult as an elder standing up there because I know a lot of them Many call me. Many text me for prayer. We talk and we pray. And you know, it weighs heavily on your shoulders. And you pray and you ask the Lord. When you see people going through hardships, that's the sorrow that the pastor or the elder bears. But I do see rejoicing through that sorrow because there is a light. There's a light. And that's so important. We see here that perhaps even sorrow, there's always rejoicing. Paul, who did such a wonderful job showing us how the godly contentment is great gain, and he writes these verses while he's chained in prison. Pastor Coleman has been talking about, even sorrowful, but yet always rejoicing. Perhaps troubled all around, but there's rejoicing. 2 Corinthians 6, 8 we read, we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. Even rejoicing in times of sorrow, horror, loss, and persecution, the Lord is there. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 10, we read, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making rich, as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. It's a wonderful comfort and circumstances to know that there is a light. And as we're looking at right now at these first two verses, we're going to look at what is the dimness? How is that light going to be turned on? And why Zebulun and Naphtali? Why those two tribes are talked about first? That's very important to understand why and how it looks so dark and dim all the way till you get to verse 6. You can see how Isaiah, I believe, what I'd like to say off the record here, I'd like to say that we need to think like Isaiah right now. Think like him. What did the Lord tell him to do? What is the office of a prophet? Pastor Olson has told us for years. What is the office of a prophet? To give bad news, basically. There are oracles of weal, there are oracles of woe, and here Isaiah has been told to do a job to give this news, but what did the Lord tell him? Do it, but they're not going to listen. And you can hear a little angst kind of like in his writing here. And he's talking about the wickedness of Israel and how they've gone and done so many horrible things. But is it over? Of course not. It's not over. There is a light. It's a wonderful comfort to us. And Isaiah, he breaks as well in chapter 45, verse 7, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. And he forms the light and he puts it up against the darkness. Jehovah Elohim the great creator and judge of this world has appointed to both their bounds and set the light against the darkness in Genesis chapter 1 for where we read and God saw the light that it was good and God divided the light from the darkness and Isn't it incredible when you speak on a spiritual level? how the how the light always overtakes the darkness darkness has no chance to overtake the light and There are three things that are promised here. First of all, we're going to be looking here at verse 1, and it goes right into verses 2 and 3. First of all, there are three promises that are given here to the people of the Lord that point vicariously to the ultimate grace of the gospel, which is a wonderful hope, a light given to the saints in the dark days. I can say right now as we look around us and as we hear the prayer requests, we see the updates from the missionaries, especially in Nigeria, what's going out in certain areas of our country that have really been taken over by Muslim forces, we're living in dark days. We have freedoms now, we do not have liberty. Don't think you have liberty, you don't. Stop paying your ground run at your house and see if you have Liberty. That's not Liberty. That's freedom We're on a bit like being on a chain and I hate to sound negative But that's the way it was for Israel when the Lord levied them when they weren't listening people in America are not listening They're not listening, they're not standing up, and we need to encourage them to do that. But there may be sorrow, but in a Christian's life amongst sorrow, once again we can find rejoicing shall be present, and there's three major promises here. We see here in verse 3, and then we'll backtrack to verse 1 here in a minute, of a glorious light. There is a promise of a glorious light, that dimness shall not be as such, that the dark times of the Babylonian captivity and the servitude of the Persian Empire will be lifted from Israel. and they will go back to Jerusalem again and be able to worship. These were dark days for the nation in the times of Isaiah. And we read in Revelation 2, verse 4, "'Nevertheless, I have someone against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.'" Doesn't that sound familiar? We see what's going on around us in our country, and many have lost their first love. We need to get him back. 2 Kings 10.32, we read, In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short. And Haziel, who was one of the most powerful of the kings of Syria, from Aram, ruling from 843 BC to 796 BC, and he was actually appointed and anointed by Elijah himself. He was an officer of Benedad. He worked in concert with Tiglath-Pileser, where the first two tribes to fall were Zebulun and Naphtali. And that's why Isaiah is bringing this up. Look at the detail. Look at what he knows. They were so vile and so wicked, Zebulun and Naphtali, all the things that the Lord told them not to do from Moses and said, You are my people, you will not marry these pagan nations, you will not murder your babies and offer them up as sacrifices to Moloch. You're not going to worship gods that are made from men's hands. You're not to do that. And they were doing everything. And the worst part about it that infuriated Him? They were doing it in the name of God, saying they were doing it for Him. Sacra sank. That's what they were doing. And Isaiah calls it out, and he says, You've done these things, and it's very, very serious. But there's a light. He subjected Syria, as he did, and Palestine to his rule and merged kingdoms. And here's what happened to Zebulon and Naphtali. The Assyrian conquest took over, divided both of those godly Israelite nations into three districts. And guess what one of them became? Galilee. Think of what happened to the Gentiles in Galilee and how Galilee was so pagan all these years. And the light comes to Zebulun and Naphtali. Look at the ministry of Jesus and how much time He spent in Zebulun and Naphtali, which was the Sea of Galilee, at the ports there. Look at all the times that He preached out on the Sea of Galilee, and it was like an amphitheater where thousands of people gathered on the shores and all through the mountains and listened to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by Jesus Christ Himself. The light came, didn't it? We know that. Well, we see in 2 Kings 15, 29 talks about what happened here. In the days of Pekah, king of Israel, came Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, and took Eshan, and Belbeth-Makkah, and Genoa, and Kadesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. The Lord warned him, didn't he? You know you want to really do you want to be going this and there's so many wonderful places to read read the first five chapters of Deuteronomy Moses begged the people to not worship false idols, but he told them what was going to happen if he did if that happened He told him what the what the Lord was going to do to him and here it is here It's playing it out right here, but the light is coming Truly this light is sweet. Israel for some time now had been without a true God, without a teaching priest, and there was not peace." Oh, does that sound familiar? How many churches do not have a teaching priest today or a pastor that will give them the truth? We talked this morning about this podcast a couple weeks ago that came out where the proclamation was made by a very prominent Christian that's out there saying that he believes now that there is no eternal torment, that only eternal destruction is annihilationism and that's what it is now and basically that's what we're seeing and one of the statements that was made very, very profoundly with the preachers are not talking about hell. Well, I'm here, whatever I am, what my position is, hell is real and it's eternal torment. You're not annihilated. It's eternal destruction where the worm dieth not in Isaiah 66, 24 and Mark 9, 48. That is real. And that true light is who we count on. Remember, at the time in the life of Isaiah, not only was Isaiah going through this rough time, do you realize that there were a lot of prominent prophets in his day? What about during his day, also Amos, Hosea, Micah, Joel, and Obadiah, to name just a few of the prophets, they were there doing the very same job where people would not listen. They weren't listening and saying, trust in Christ, trust in the Lord. And basically, all of a sudden, they're giving these messianic prophecies. And we're looking, we're looking basically at this verse, we'll go to verse six, but there will be a prophet sui gaineris in the Latin means a prophet that is in a class all by himself, a prophet par excellence, the very one that Moses said, you better listen to him and hearken unto him. That's the first promise was of a glorious light. The second promise, number two here in verse three, of a glorious increase and a universal joy arising from it. And this verse is directed to how Jehovah has increased the nation of Israel. That is the strength of a nation when the nation bows down and worships its God. And I love the Bible verse. I have it on my phone. I think it's Psalm 73, 18. Until I entered into the sanctuary of the Lord. Does anybody know it? then understood I their end." You want prophecy? Do you want to understand the end of the wicked and not be part of that? Think about that verse, worshipping the Lord. The promise is that He will increase the strength of a nation when God is worshipped in spirit and in truth, the way He commands us to worship Him. Remember how King David, in his lament, he prayed in Psalm 51.18, Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. then shall thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness. And we need to remember that. The second promise is strength of a nation is of a glorious increase and a universal joy. Measuring a great nation is calculated in number and industry. Look at the strength of Israel during the reign of King Uzziah, the days of David and Solomon, and the great numbers of armies with incredible inestimable wealth by Jehovah. It is God that increases the nations and sets up His government and a light to judge it. In Job 23 we read, He increases the nations and destroys them. He enlarges the nations and straightens them again. Great nations like America once had a bounding joy with gratitude to the Lord God that lifted them up. And look at what George Washington, our greatest president we ever had. He says, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits and humbly to implore his protections and favors. What better statement could a president ever make? Look at the war that they won. Look at how he was a real president. He was in that boat. I've crossed that Delaware River in the winter many times. I'm going to tell you something. I wouldn't have wanted to be in one of those little boats. There he was standing. There's all these paintings. I mean, he was in the boat with his men, trusting the Lord for a victory. And look what the Lord did. Can we say that America is truly happy now? Well, try to drive on 695. Is everyone happy? Oh, yes, I'll let you in. You're coming on the off ramp. I'll pull over to the side. You can come in and I'll just sit there and wait for you. Or you're driving a little bit slow. Oh, I'll back off of you. I'll get five car lanes because I know you have something important to go. So people are nuts just on the road alone. I mean, that's just that's just like a psycho circus out there. And boy, when my kids all got the license, I pray from every day because there's so many nuts out there and they're just nasty people and nasty. Are people happy? That's just one of many. I mean, look at what you see on television, on the news, with all the people that are just so angry. Look at it. Can we say that America is truly happy now? Even with a president who is undeniable trying to make America great, there is such manifest dissension. Why? It has lost its first love by stealing from its people, aborting millions of innocent babies, and empowering those given up unto vile affections, as Paul wrote in Romans 1, verse 26 and 27, for even though women did change their natural use into that which is against nature, and likewise also to men, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was me." That's not obedience to God. That's a country that's in really bad turmoil that allows the worst holocaust we've ever seen in the world by aborting its babies. 63 million babies. And here we see, leading up to verse 6, The same problems that America has now were the same problems that Israel had. They were doing the same things. Obedience to God brings gladness to a nation. Look at Psalm 96, verse 11 through 13. Let the heavens rejoice. And let the earth be glad. Let the sea roar in the fullness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein. Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord, for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth. Thank the Lord for truth. What does Psalm 23 23 say by the truth and sell it not also wisdom understanding and instruction That's the second promise strength of a nation Here's the third one verse four four verses four and five and I love doing this expository of a glorious liberty and enlargement And it mentions the Midianites What a great story we went over that in the Wednesday night prayer meeting Gideon. I Can you imagine Gideon scratching his head? 30,000 men, take 30,000 men. Nah, the Lord told Gideon, you don't need 30,000 men. Lord, I probably need 60,000 men. I'll bet I need 120,000 men. He didn't say that, but I'll bet that's what he was thinking. Nope, you don't need 30,000 men. I'll give you 300. What? Midianites, there's thousands of them, and they're nasty. They're murderers. They offer their children up for sacrifices, by the way, and they're a very bloodthirsty people. Nope, 300. You know what the Lord was telling them? I don't even need you. I don't need you. I don't need you. Go down to the river, drink, lap up the water in your hand, do all of that. I don't need you. I can say the word and you're obliterated. But he said, I'm going to give you the grace to go do this, because when you see what I can do with 300 people, then maybe you'll believe me. And remember how Gideon trotted down and he heard those two men, the soldiers that were down there, he went and he overheard them, and they were talking how scared they were that the Lord was going to crush them? And it's exactly what happened. Isn't that incredible? And so Midian comes up in these verses. I love that. I think it's a real good teaching lesson. As the Midianites defeated Gideon, I mean, was defeated by Gideon, as the Lord also defeated the Amalekites, the Philistines, the Romans, and the 8th Regiment of foot soldiers in the British Army during the American War for Independence with a burning fuel of fire, Jehovah Neside, the God of banners, he makes his armies great. Do you see how in verses 4 and 5 He talks about warriors and how the Lord will stand behind them and He'll strengthen the nation? We see here in 1 Chronicles 29.11, Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty. For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all. Christ has set at liberty His people from the wicked one, the ultimate enemy. That's the ultimate defeat. See, we have a problem in our country that people think that Jesus Christ is actually in a war with Satan and they're going back and forth like two boxers or something. No. He's already overcome the wicked one. He says in John 16, I send the Holy Spirit because the prince of darkness has already been judged. The determining factor is done. Satan has already been vanquished. He just doesn't know it yet. John 16.33, These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. He's saying, I've overcome Satan. He has freed us. And here is that light. A Savior was born. was brought a light into the world, I am the light of the world." Christ is that light of the world, as we go from verse 5 to verse 6. And the Old Testament is saturated with the coming of the Messiah, who is the light of the world, who will be the fruition and the object of this great gospel. The Israelites were not left unto themselves to travel blindly. They had a cosmic tour guide back when they were brought out of Egypt. What was it that brought them out of Egypt in the middle of the pitch dark? Did Moses have LED lights on his crooks and his staff that he had batteries in, with lithium batteries? No. There was a pillar of cloud by night and by day. There was a pillar by fire. Remember that? Exodus chapter 13, verse 21, it says, And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night. Psalm 27 1, though he's the light of salvation, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Everything, everything that goes on, no matter what in life, no matter how hard it gets and as dark as it gets, you have a light and that light will never leave you alone. I think that's just incredible. You know what King David said? You read Psalm 119? He said, the times when I was the least alone is when I am alone, because I'm worshiping and I'm talking to my Lord. He said, I worship the Lord seven times a day. He said, that is when I'm the least alone. He loved being by himself so he could get away from everybody and all the humble jumble of the world and everything and just sit and praise the Lord and talk to him. You ever do that? Try it. Just start talking to him. Pray, have your own perfect honorable time of prayer in your prayer closet like the Lord says, but when you're having a talk, just talk. Reverently, in the name of Jesus Christ. He's asking us to do that. Isaiah 60, 20 says, Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. So you go to these first five verses, and oh, does it seem so dark. It just seems so devastating. Here, verse 4, Thou hast broken the yoke of His burden and the staff of His shoulder, the rod of His oppressor. And we see the Lord is going to break the backs of the enemies, but every battle of the war, it's confusing noise, it's road and blood, there's burning, there's fuel of fire. But, the apostolic therefore, if you want to call it that, That is a great word in the Bible, by the way. Whenever you see the word but, that is a good word because it always means something's gonna change and it'll be a necessary conclusion. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Okay, so we got, we're kind of pulling out of the gloom and doom here a little bit, but unto us a child is born. Christ's imminent return, He comes as the true light. Zechariah 14.6-7 says, And it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear nor dark, but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night, but it shall come to pass that evening time it shall be light. It is incredible that in the worst days that we can have, there is always a light. For unto us a child is born, You know, the world stood still when a little seemingly insignificant cartoon was proposed by Peanuts writer Charles M. Schultz. Atheists and liberals fought it tooth and nail, but Linus took center stage 60 years ago as of December 9th, 2025. That would be December 9th, 1965, where the little cartoon was not supposed to go on. It wasn't supposed to go. There were other cartoons and many other things. And so they did everything they could to squash that little cartoon. And then as of December 9th, 1965, somehow it went with a $70,000 to $90,000 budget. It went on that evening for 25 minutes and over 45 million people tuned in and listened to the gospel of Jesus Christ read from the King James Bible from little Linus. How the Lord could speak through that? Amen. You see that? Praise the Lord. People heard the gospel. It said that that show for the whole period of time was only second to Bonanza. I don't know how much gospel Bonanza has, but it didn't have that. They came out with these cards a few years ago. I loved them. I can't find them anymore. But you know those cards that you open it up and it makes a noise? You know, it's got a little thing? And it has Linus on the front with his blanket and his crook and his staff and he reads Luke 2 from the King James Bible, those verses. That's what the card's about. I love it. It aired for 25 minutes for over 45 million viewers. Luke 2.11, for unto you is born this day in the city of David Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was an angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill and toward men. And so I'm running out of time here, but that brings up the big question. You know where I stand on it. Should we celebrate Christmas? Well, I'm not a big fan of the word Christmas because it means Christ's Eucharist. I don't like that. Take that away. And I love what John MacArthur said. You use that time of year to show people that Christ came and you use it to spread the gospel. The tree has lights on it that emanate the lights from the heavenly host of angels. There are gifts emanating from the wise men and we use them in the right way. That's what we do. And I believe it brings a warmth that time of year that really does show if you're bold enough and if you have that strength and courage in you, you turn that into a way to give people the gospel. That's what we do. So here's the names. Here are the names in verse 6. 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. That's the first one. A is Wonderful. both God and man. His love is the wonder of angels and glorified saints. Essence of the gospel is our Lord's birth, life, death, resurrection, and His ascension. His ministry was nothing but wonderful. Isaiah 29, 14, back to Isaiah again. Look at all the wonderful prophecies here in Isaiah. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work amongst this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder. For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prude men shall be hid." Well, Paul comes back in 1 Corinthians 1, verses 18-32, and he says, where's the wise? Where's the scribe? Where's the wisdom of the world? All that's going to be vanquished. It's out there in the schools. These poor kids, what they're listening and what they've got to go through. Even in community college, you're required to take a diversity course. What a waste of money. Total waste of money. And they've got to learn about all this stuff about evolution and all this stuff that defies God. It's so horrible. But what does it say here? That's all going to be vanquished. The wisdom of God will prevail. That's A, is wonderful. B, Counselor. His next name is Counselor. Only Christ could be the deified Counselor with the spirit of counsel. He is ultimately acquainted with God's counsel for eternity. It is by our Lord Jesus Christ that Jehovah Elohim grants us counsel. And if you are a Christian, you should be so thankful that he opened up his counsel to us. You know when you're having a rough time, don't you want somebody to sit down and counsel you and pray with you and maybe hold your hand and just make you feel better? Don't you as a child, don't you love being counseled by your mother or father and have counsel, maybe a good pastor to sit down and pray with them, have somebody to turn to? We have a wonderful counselor. Isn't that incredible? That name's here. A counselor. Psalm 16 verse 7 says, I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel. My reigns also instruct Me in the night seasons. Christ transferred that counsel to the Spirit of counsel after He ascended on the right hand of the throne. Isaiah 11, 2 teaches us, And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." Look at all these incredible names of the Holy Spirit. Don't underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit. I'll tell you what, the first two parts of the Trinity, the first office of God the Father and the second office of God the Son, they hold that third office up so high that the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit is an unpardonable sin. That's how high it is. And we have a real problem in this world today, the Pope calling himself the Vicar of Christ, because he's not the Vicar of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the Vicar of Christ, and that's a problem. That's blasphemy in my opinion. To take the place of the Holy Spirit and to do the work of the Holy Spirit, to try to do that, which you cannot possibly do that, but to try to do it, that's blasphemy. Counselor. He grants us counsel to repent, receive salvation, reading Scripture, and even in our work He counsels us. He counsels us in our marriages, how to teach our children, how to counsel others. He teaches us how to counsel those that are hurting. Is that part of your ministry as a Christian? Are we like Christians on our little reservations and we just worry about ourselves all the time? No, a real Christian wants to spread that gospel and help others that are hurting. That's A. A is wonderful. B is Counselor. C, the mighty God. He's a powerful warrior and will accomplish all power over Satan and this world. He walked through crowds that would have killed him. He raised the dead over and over again and he never officiated a funeral. And look at the response to John's disciples when questioning Christ's messiahship, and he shows how mighty he is, the mighty God. And he asked, do we look for another? Wow, what a powerful state in Matthew 11, 3-4. Well, what about John? The John's disciples says, is this Messiah, or do we look for another? Look at the brilliant words, the brilliant, beautiful response of our Lord. What does He say? He says here, the blind, in Matthew 11, 5, the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. That is a mighty God. What a beautiful man who spoke. Even the old scribes of the Pharisees says, no man speaks like this man. He speaks with such authority, how mighty he is. Look at this. This is the only time you're going to be hearing Him called this specifically and directly. Letter D. Everlasting Father. The Father of Eternity. That's the name. Everlasting Father. He's the Father of returning. He is God. One with the Father from everlasting to everlasting. Father of the great work of redemption. Father of wisdom. And this is the only passage bearing this incredible name. No man is to be called Father in the ranks of priesthood, pastorate, elder, or deacon. No spiritual leader is to be called father. Don't you ever look at a Catholic priest and call him father. Don't ever do it. The only name that was given on a different approach is your earthly father can be called that because he is an extension of the work of God. But don't you ever call any, don't you ever call an elder, a pastor, don't ever call him father. Oh, why? Everybody does it that's not in scripture. Oh, it's not Matthew chapter 23 verse 9 and call no man your father upon the earth for one is your father which is in heaven That's what we listen to Christ is the everlasting father back to Isaiah 63 verse 16 Doubtless thou doubtless thou art our father Though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledge us not thou O Lord art our father our Redeemer our and thy name is from everlasting." Wow, boy, is that powerful. Number five, the last name here, the Prince of Peace. See, we have Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, now we have the Prince of Peace. As a king, He preserves, our Lord, He preserves the peace. He is our peace and His kingdom is ruled by goodness and peace. We were there at the precinct on Friday, so we go walking, and I forgot what was in the back. And one of the sergeants that was there had said her son had made a plaque for the police. We walked around and we talked about that. We were praying and we were talking about that, and she said that her son did it. And this is what it says in the back of the precinct. Matthew 5, 9, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. That's what it says on a Baltimore County police precinct in a big, beautiful, like a marble plaque. Blessed are the peacemakers. Where does our peace emanate? It doesn't come from our statehouse. We don't get peace from our statehouse. For a long time, we didn't get any peace out of the White House, and we're having a hard enough time now. We don't get peace from all of that. We don't get peace from the wisdom of this world. We don't get peace from false gods. Where does our peace emanate? from the government of our Emmanuel, God with us, who will procure and perpetuate peace among the nations of the world. Isaiah 2 chapter 4 says, And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Because he's going to stop all the wars, he's going to bring peace. So over and over we see that Paul, the apostle, when he greets the churches, many times he would give a benediction saying, grace and peace be unto you all. 2 Corinthians chapter 13, 11, Paul writes, finally, brethren, farewell, be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. What spiritual leader that people worship? They say the three most prominent people in the last several centuries, hundreds, I mean, 20 or 30 centuries, the most prominent people are Jesus, Napoleon, and Muhammad. I don't know how Muhammad ever got after Napoleon. I don't know where he got so great, but those are the three most prominent people. That's a poll that was taken. And Jesus is kind of thrown there as a prophet par mixtum, like a prophet amongst equals. That's not him. He's a prophet par excellence above all of that. Well, we see here that basically five important names in verse six, and we just did verse six. Look at that. The Prince of Peace. He's the Everlasting Father. Look at the wonderful names given him. And then to close up in verse seven of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. " First thing that I have to go to in Scripture when I think of the government, Christ being over the government, is Psalm 2. You see that session meeting that's before God that's everlasting. Psalm 2 verse 7 says, I will declare the decree the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now there, O ye kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. And we see here basically, All this leads to is the anointed Christ who is the Messiah. The anointed Christ. Synonymous with, and translating to Greek and Hebrew, Messiah. Messiah. A title given to Jesus. It was an old English Christ by 830, perhaps 675 from Latin Christos, from Greek Christos, the anointed. And it means to anoint, and here's what it ultimately means. Messias, it's a designation of Jesus as the Savior of the world. From the Latin, Messias. From the Greek, Messias. From the Aramaic, Semitic, Messiah. In Hebrew, Messiah. The anointed of the Lord. From Mesha, to anoint. It's the Hebrew equivalent of Christ. And it's the word rendered Christos. It's so important. He is an expected liberator or Savior of a captive people. attested to in the 1660s, relating His Messiahship, the character state, the office of Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of the world. And that's it. These first seven verses and how powerful they are. And I'm just scratching the surface or the essence of the doctrine that's in these verses. Look how important this is and how this links to Christ. And can you see where if the word Christmas was really a Christian word? If it was, it's not. It really isn't. But if it was, Can you see how we should be thinking about this every day, not just one time a year? Bob was right. There's a good chance, basically, it's actually very possible that actually the first advent of Jesus Christ was in the spring, when it got warmer. But you know, this time of year, it's a very warm time of year, and we think of this, but use this as an example. to your family. We pray often for unsaved loved ones here in the church. Use it as a way to reach out to them and to tell them, you know, there's so much about Christmas that has nothing to do with Christ and it's so sad. And with that, we'll finish with prayer. Our Lord and our God, we just thank thee and praise thee, Lord, for the book of Isaiah. Faithful humble little prophet that had such mighty mighty wonderful words to write down for us that thou inspired to us to Isaiah I Pray that thou would bless our families this week and watch over us and guide and direct us in the name of Jesus Christ We pray amen