title this morning. Unto Us. And then I would turn that as a question to you. Is it unto you that this child was born? Is it unto you that this Son is given? Is it unto you that this Governor governs, rules, and reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Is He your wonderful Counselor? Is He your mighty God personally? Is He your everlasting Father? And is He your Prince of Peace? I want to try to answer that this morning, but maybe a bit unusual, we're going to look at the first five verses instead of the next two verses, 6 and 7, as we look at unto us. Now, why are we looking at this subject the day after what we call the Christmas holiday? Well, because probably you were so busy you didn't give much thought to it. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I'm misjudging. It is a busy time of year. Also, it's not a message for a particular season. If you were a Jew in the Old Testament, you would wake up every morning. You would go to work. You would eat your lunch. You would converse with friends with one thought on your mind. Who is this son and this child that's coming? Everything you hoped in would be pinned on the text of Isaiah 9, 6, and 7. In fact, Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1.10 that, "...of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come to you, searching of what and what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which is in them did signify, when it before testified the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should come." That tells us that when Isaiah wrote these words, somebody might have asked him, Isaiah, what did you just write? He would say, I'm not really sure. The Bible is a dual authorship. God wrote it, and Isaiah wrote it. And Isaiah wrote exactly what God wanted him to write, but they both wrote this passage. God being the source, Isaiah being the pen. So the people looked at the text that was delivered to Israel and said, what does this mean? But they knew, unto us, Isaiah includes himself. When this son comes, when this child comes about, When this governor comes, then the fulfillment of all their hopes and dreams would be met in that child. Simeon, when he raised that child up in Luke chapter 2 and said, Lord, now let us thy servant depart in peace. For now mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people alike to like the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. The word prepared means to get everything ready. Now you think about that in the last month. Think about all you did to get everything ready for yesterday. Whatever you did. The food, the cooking, if there were any gifts given. All that was done in preparation. Now think about God for a moment. He got everything ready before the foundation of the world. when he planned the whole counsel of God. From Genesis 1-1 to Malachi 4 in the last verse, everything in the entire Old Testament is pointing to that babe in the manger. God got everything ready. That is staggering! in biblical history and secular history as they collide together what God has done to bring about a singular event for unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder. So it's very relevant. I don't care what the month, what the day, what the season. Everything's hanging on this one son and this one child. Is he unto you this morning? What we read in this text. So we're going to consider four things under this heading unto us. Four things. First, the light dawning. Secondly, joy increasing. Thirdly, captives delivered. And fourthly, victory accomplished. Victory accomplished. First, in verse 1. Isaiah 9, verse 1. Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as it was in her vexation. The word dimness is gloom, darkness. when 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." Now God had done this initially through Assyria, And the land of Zebulon and Naphtali is mentioned because they're the northern two tribes of the northern extreme of Israel. So when the northern enemy came in, they came first to Zebulon and Naphtali. And what did that mean? They got the worst and the first of the tyranny, the oppression, the captivity. Then in verse 2, the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." Now the word shined and the word light mean daybreak or dawn. So if this sun is to you, then the light is dawned. The light is dawned. The word dawn, of course, means that period of time when the sun rises. There's the daybreak or the dawn. It also means a period of time which is considered favorable. Now with both definitions, what precedes the dawn, whether it's a period of time favorable or the sunrise, is darkness. Darkness. The people walked, lived, and they sat in great darkness. Now the darkness in the context is in two ways. Externally, from Isaiah chapter 8, as Brother Aaron read, it was trouble, distress, vexation, darkness. So their circumstances were very dark because Assyria was coming in to invade. But more importantly, that was because something internal, according to Isaiah chapter 8. To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, there is no light in them. So there's a darkness external that the people were sitting in, walking in, living in, but that was owing to the darkness internal. If we speak not according to this law and this testimony, there is zero light inside of the person. Now how does that give us hope this morning? Because unto us, a child is born, unto us a son is given. And you may have heard verse 2 before because in Matthew chapter 4, Matthew applies this prophecy to that babe in a manger who's now a man. When he hears that John the Baptist is put in prison, immediately Jesus gets his cue. He goes to Capernaum and to Zebulon and Naphtali. And then the prophecies quoted, Isaiah 9, 1 and 2. He went there specifically, Matthew says, to fulfill this prophecy. And then he began to preach repentance for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Who is this light? Obviously, Who is this daybreak, the day dawning and the day star? Matthew says it is the Lord Jesus Christ. So he goes to this region, the first place of calamity and darkness and captivity would be the first place beyond Galilee of the Gentiles where the Lord Jesus Christ started his earthly ministry. Now what are the implications for us? This child, this son is the light of the world. Jesus would say in John 8 verse 12, I am the light of the world, whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Jesus presents himself as a lamp or a torch. He's the light of the world. He's the torch of the world. If you stay close to the torch, you never ever walk in darkness. But if you move away from the torch, then the darkness of the world encroaches. Darkness is a symbol of deception. The rulers of the darkness of this world are rulers of deception and lies. How then will you and I stay out of the darkness? Jesus says if you follow Him, you have the light, the illumination about life. Life with God, life in the world, life to be lived. Christ is the light. He's the Son. He's the child born that will illuminate and give light. The light about life. Have you ever played that game where you're blindfolded and there's an object put in front of you? And you're able to use all your senses to guess the object except for one. You're in the darkness. You can't see. Now you could use your hearing, but you probably couldn't hear anything. You could use your taste, but if it's not food, that won't do you any good. You really have one sense available to you. How does it feel? Right? You grab it, you rub it, and squeeze it. Now think about how many people in this world are walking through life just based on what they feel. Do you live that way? Then you're in utter darkness. How is it that your feelings have risen to the place of deity? That what you feel and what you want are the basis for how you live. How demented and distorted is that? Yet all of us come into the world without this light. And the hope of this light is that when he illuminates, when he shines, when he gives light inwardly, then he becomes the light of life outwardly so that we can see and know. And we bring our feelings, our subjective feelings under the rule of this sun. We bring our wills, our desires, our ideas. Do I really think I have an idea about life that's better than what the God of heaven can tell me? Is that the way you live your life that you can think you have a better idea about how to do marriage, about how to do family, about how to live your life than the eternal everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the mighty God, the Counselor, Which in the very word, His name expresses what? He's your guide. He's your counselor. Now why would you not receive His counsel? Because you think you are better at giving your own life counsel than the light of life. Yet it's sad to say we've all done that, haven't we? We all, from time to time, use our subjective feelings. What do I think is right? What do I feel is wrong? How do I feel I ought to live? Do I feel I'm this? Or is my identity that? The whole world is under the sway of the devil. Darkness. But what is this light unto you? Is He the light of the world? Are you following Jesus Christ? The aim of Him coming to Bethlehem is to be your guide, your counselor, your God, your Father, your everlasting Father, and your Prince of Peace, which means we need to come to the light. You see, He dispels the darkness that we're born in internally, doesn't He? Ephesians chapter 5 verse 8 doesn't say we just kind of were in darkness, but we were darkness. For you were sometimes darkness, now are you light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." This idea that there's some divine spark in man, there's some corner of light in his heart, there's something inside of him, that there's a little bit of light, if he can tap into that, he can come to Christ. No, you were darkness. There's no light there. Paul gives another description in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 17. He says, this I testify therefore in the Lord that you walk not as other Gentiles in the vanity of their minds. And how do they walk? Basically how they see life and how they feel, right? Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through, note the prepositions, through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their own heart, right? Understanding darkened. This is how unsaved people walk. This is how they live when they sit in darkness. Their understanding is darkened. And therefore they're estranged from eternal life. They're completely alienated from the life that is in God and His Son. Through ignorance because they don't know God. They don't know His supremacy, His value. They don't know Him as light. Why? Because of the blindness of the heart. That's kind of the root bottom level. When you take it all the way down, the blindness pervades the soul. And there's no way out of the darkness. You can't step out of the darkness and then step into the light. You are darkness. And then to cap it off, Jesus says, we loved darkness rather than light because our deeds are evil. It wasn't just being in the darkness. We just were darkness. We loved living, walking, and sitting in darkness. And then what happens? The light of the sun, the light of life dispels the darkness of the soul and he awakens us by his grace to the glory of who he is. This is not just a babe in a manger, is it? He enlightens us to all the wonderful things and descriptions of his name we find right here in two verses 6 and 7. And he becomes our governor. This child is not unto me, this son is not unto me unless I'm in the light of life and walking and following in the light of who he is. Which means there's something external that he's given us to walk by, right? The word of God. Thy word is a lamp unto thy feet and a light unto my path, the psalmist says. Now if the word is lamp and light and Jesus is lamp and light because he says I'm the light, I'm the lamp and the torch, then how do those two come together? Because when He illuminates us inwardly to the glory of the Gospel, He brings us to the Word of God, whereby it becomes lamp and light to each step I take, and to whether I'm on the right path or the wrong path. Because my subjective feelings are in no way, can in no way be the guide to whether I'm on the wrong path or the right path, or whether my foot should step here or there. But this Son is a reliable guide because He's God manifest in the flesh. He knows all. He has all wisdom. In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and therefore if He's unto you, you come under the light and you fight against every urge to live life on your own terms because it's still there isn't beloved? I mean, just this past week, you and I had to battle, if we're following Jesus at all, we had to battle the urge to live every day and take every step and choose every path according to my subjective desires. My desires are distorted, the Bible says. When the light comes on, Jesus has provided the book that will enlighten your every step. Not perfectly. We still take some wrong steps, but we're on the pathway that is right when we're following the light of life. Unto you is this child. Unto you is this son, if you're following Jesus Christ. Number two, not only the light dawning, we see the joy increasing. Verse three, 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. And some debate over the word not, whether it should be there or not. In some translations, probably most of them, this word is not found. And the argument is over the fact that in the Hebrew, the word not, and it can be expressed to him, before him, are just one letter difference in the Hebrew. So there's some debate as to which it should be. I try not to get into those debates. Secondly, the reason that they would say it's not there is because it goes on then to explain the joy which says God didn't increase, which seems like kind of a contradiction. But if you think in terms of the negative not, we ask the question, what kind of joy is He not increasing? Which I think then would get us on the right pathway to what He's saying. Now, in the immediate future, Israel would be multiplied after the captivity of Babylon. When they came back, there would be multiplication. But this is prefiguring according to the prophecy of verse 1 and 2 and 6 and 7 of the church day, the day we're living in. And when a nation's multiplied or increased, there's two essential elements, aren't there? At least in the ancient world, you'd probably agree with these two. First, there must be a good economy, right? According to the day of harvest, the economy in ancient Israel was hanging on harvest. Now, you and I don't know anything about harvest. We just got food down at Publix or wherever all week long. But not in a society like this. Harvest was outstanding. I mean, they had some methods of preservation, but not like us. They had no distribution channels. When harvest came, it was great joy. You need a good economy. Secondly, you need a powerful military to defend and to conquer. And what happens when a military conquers? Spoils are divided. That's usually three things. Gold, silver, garments and Joshua. Thou hast multiplied the nation, but not increased that kind of joy, because these are likened to something. See the joy is according to harvest, and as men rejoice. This son was not given. This child was not born. So that you could experience the joys of a great economy and a good military, although those are from the Lord, and rejoice and thank Him for it. That's not the point of the joy, but notice the wording, before you, according to the joy and harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. It's not that joy, although that joy sometimes attends this. The joy in multiplying the church of God in the gospel church era or age is the joy before God. That's the point of this joy that is increasing. Because every created joy you will ever experience will die with you, will it not? But this one will be ever ascending and increasing through eternity because it's before God. Now this was the point of the angels announcing to the shepherds abiding in the field watching over their flocks by night in Luke 2 after Jesus was born. They appeared to lowly shepherds and the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid. And you would have been too and I would have been also. And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, great joy, which will be to all people. For unto you this day in the city of David, unto you, unto us in the city of David is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Now this is a sign unto you, you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothing and lying in a manger. And then suddenly a great multitude of heaven began to praise God and say, glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, goodwill toward men. Now what is this good tidings of great joy? Well it's related to this son and this baby, this child, this governor. But the nature of this joy is connected to glory, the glory of God in the highest, and then, secondarily, will there be peace and good pleasure among men on earth. So the pinnacle of what Christ came to do was the glory of God in the highest, and then secondarily, you are in the picture. It's not about you, beloved, and it's certainly not about me. It's about the glory of God. This joy never happens and never increases unless God is glorified to the hilt or to the maximum. Because sin has belittled the glory of God to the max. Not His essential nature. Nothing can diminish God's glory. He's unaffected by you and me. But we have fallen short of His glory. So for us to experience the joy like the time of harvest, the dividing of the spoils before God, God's glory must be secured, recovered in the highest. And that's why the angel said, good tidings of great joy. So what are the two words that we find there that will bring about this joy? He's a Savior, and He's what? A Sovereign. If this child is born unto you, and this Son is given to you, then He's not just your Savior, He's your Sovereign. Because He's a Governor. And as a Savior, He was your substitute for sin. The whole point of His coming was that He may bear your guilt as a substitute so that we could live before God. And what is the aim of living with God in the glory of God's presence? But before Thee, according to the joy and harvest, and as men rejoice in the dividing of the spoils. That kind of joy, now as a metaphor, is connected with God's glory. He's a Savior. But is He your Sovereign? Right? I've met very few people who are Christians that don't want to take Jesus as a Savior. But I suspect most of us struggle with taking Him as a Sovereign. A Sovereign is a King. And you know what a King does? He tells you everything to do. And there's the rub, isn't it? You don't like that, and there's something in me that doesn't like it either, right? We think we can be better kings of our own lives rather than this son and this child. And you just proved it this past week, didn't you? And I did too. How many times did I show in my nature, I didn't want to be under anybody's authority. I didn't want to listen to you. I don't want to listen to anybody. Perhaps I made some decisions. Perhaps my attitude was such that the very people God put in my life to give me counsel, to help me, I rejected it as if you have no right to tell me what to do. I tell you, He does. And He's not unto you as a son or a child unless you come under His Lordship. As the sovereign King. who tells you how to live your life. That song that we sing sometimes, O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie above the deep and dreamless sleep. The silent stars go by, yet in the dark streets shineth the everlasting light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. Now explain that to me. We talk about this joy of Jesus being our Savior and our Sovereign. How is it that hopes and fears get met in one person? You see, there's an intersect of every hope and dream you'll ever have in 2022 and every fear you ever have. It's like an intersection in traffic, right? When two roads come together, they meet and there's a point, they join. Or two lines on a piece of paper in mathematics where you draw the, you know, y-axis. See, I can't even say it. All that stuff I learned years ago. See, when those two lines intersect, there's a point, and at that point, there's one singular word that you can put there, or any synonym of that word, and it's called joy, right? Everything you hope for in 2022, you want to deliver on your joy. And every fear you have, every one of them is a threat to that joy. You're afraid either you won't get the joy you want in 2022 or somebody will take it away. Well friends, somebody will take it away. And death is that one last thing that will remove it. Except the joy that the angels announced to those lowly shepherds. Because Jesus says, my joy nobody takes from you. It's eternal. And His joy is full and complete. Now why would you opt to live your life thinking you, finite, darkened understanding, blindness of heart, fallible sinner that we are, could somehow determine what will make me happy, what will bring me joy? Would you rather the God of heaven who created You're wiring that seeks joy that He's a pretty reliable source to tell you. That's not where you're going to find it. Here's where you can find it. Oh Beloved, He's your Savior and He's your Sovereign. And we will reign with Him as kings and priests with God if He's reigning with you now as your King. With all of your imperfections and the ways that we still struggle and fall, yet can you awake each day and say, He's still my King. I still want to follow Him. I still rely on His Word. He is a reliable guide over my own distorted views of life, right? So beloved, increasing joy. The promise of increasing joy is what? For unto you a child is born. That's the whole basis of it. Because. How is it we can expect this? Because unto you a child is born. Because unto you a son is given. Because the government is resting on his mighty and strong shoulders. Right? Oh, may we not come to Christ. Even Jesus said, come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. So stop laboring as if you can get right with God. Somehow you've got the right views, the right way, the right ideas about life. Give it up and surrender. Right here, right now. This is a good time, isn't it? Today is the day of salvation. Why wait? Surrender. And what does He give you? Rest. Rest. And that leads me to the next point, which we're still on joy. Or actually, we'll go to the next point, which connects with joy. Captives liberated. Now see this in verse 4. Why is the joy increasing? Because you have broken the yoke of His burden, the staff of His shoulder, the rod of His oppressor, as in the day of Midian. Captives liberated. See, that's the joy, isn't it? There's a yoke which symbolizes in the Bible enslavement. Around the neck or chains. There's a staff on the shoulder and there's a rod of oppression. This is tyranny. When there's a tyrant, there's a ruler and he has absolute sway over you. The ruler has absolute sway over your person. The joy is because God, this child, this son, has broken the yoke of the burden. Again, in the more immediate future, Babylon's yoke would be broken, but the day we're living, we know we're talking about here the prophecy of this son and this child. Has he broken Your captivity. If He has, unto you the Son is given. Unto you the child is born. What does that mean in spiritual terms? Because that's what the New Testament tells us. Romans 6, 16. Know ye not, do you not know, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, slaves, captives, to obey, His servants you are? And here are the two masters, only two you can choose from. whether of sin that leads to death, eternal death, or obedience that's leading to righteousness. Don't misunderstand that one. It's not your obedience that gains it. It's the obedience of Christ and the gospel and His crucifixion, Romans 3. And then through His obedience being imputed, you're on the pathway of future righteousness In the new heavens and new earth where dwells righteousness through obedience under the Lordship of Christ. Now how do you obey sin unto death? Paul is very clear. You obey it in the lust thereof. Once again, when sin is your master leading to eternal death, it simply means one thing. Your entire life is shaped by what you want. You thought it was going to be something different, didn't you? Well, no, because I've said that three billion times, right? All this outside stuff, you know, the drunkenness and the drugs and the fornication, yes. But inside, what's the problem? I will live life exactly how I want to live it, even if it destroys me. That's obedience to eternal death. or sin to eternal death. Now, obedience to righteousness. What is that? We've been released from the dominion of sin, for sin shall not have dominion over you. We haven't been released from ever doing it again. We haven't been released from it being present in us. We know that both from Bible and our own experience. We've been released from the tyranny, the yoke, the staff, the rod of the tyrant called sin and the devil. We've been released from that tyrannical government and we've been placed now under the government of God, the Son. So verse 17 of Romans 6 says this, but God be thanked that you were captured by sin You were enslaved to the yoke, the staff, and the rod of the oppression, and the tyrant called the devil and sin. But God bethinked that you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine for which you were delivered to. And then being made free from sin, you're now captured for righteousness. Does that describe you? Would you tell anybody? What are you about? Well, I've been captured for righteousness. That's why the son's given. That's why the baby came. That's why the government's on his shoulder. That's why he has these wonderful names. The power of sin has been broken. Because he breaks that power. And he makes the foulest clean! You ever felt you were so foul? So dirty? So bad, there's no way that the blood of Christ could reach you. See, we need to change the way we think about that. His blood is too valuable, too precious, too glorious. But what? There is no foulness that it cannot cleanse. None. He breaks the power of cancelled sin. And He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest clean. Can you say this this morning? His blood availed for me. You need to answer that question, beloved. Not tomorrow, right here, right now. Because unto us a child is born, a son is given, and the government is not on your shoulders, friends. And it's certainly not on mine. You probably need to say amen to that, right? Isn't that good news? Not on my shoulders, it's on His. And they're massive. So quit trying to carry that burden. Bring it to Christ. He's meek and lowly. His yoke is easy. Christos, benevolent. and his burden is light. When he releases from the captivity, he says, your captivity is over, but wait a minute, you have another enslavement, another captivity, it's under me now, I'm meek and lowly, and I'm Christos, benevolent. What does that mean? A benevolent society is one that gives aid and support, non-profit. You see, beloved, this king is not a slave driver. He's not. In fact, He doesn't even need any slaves like that. He doesn't need you to work for Him. You know, the taskmasters in Egypt, they needed the Egyptians. If they didn't grind the straw and make the bricks, they're in trouble. Jesus does not need you to make any bricks for Him, friend. Give it up. He's benevolent. So it's not easy in the sense of, well, this is a walk in the park. It's easy because He carries you. He's the supporter. He's the aid. And therefore His burden is light. Is it a burden? Can we even call it a burden? No, because His commandments are not grievous, John says, not burdensome. He carries it. Prophecy of Isaiah 40. He shall carry His sheep. He shall bear them in His arms. The God of heaven. He shall carry. That's a wonderful image. The only reason you would not want that is because you're proud. And you think, I'll live my life the way I want to. I don't need anybody to carry me. Don't tell me what to do. That's sin to eternal death. come unto the meekness and lowliness of the Lamb, the Child, the Son, and experience the burden lifted, the oppression, the rod, the staff lifted, because He shoulders it. And if He shouldered it on Calvary, when He took your sins, will He not shoulder your circumstances day by day? Oh, He delights to do it. As in the day of Midian, what does that mean? That's Judges 7. That's the day of Gideon. It's a day of grace. How does God do this? Just divine grace. You don't work for Him. He doesn't hire you. He doesn't have a help wanted sign saying, I really need help here. He's the giver and the sustainer and the provider. And so as in the day of Gideon, what happened there? Well, you know, the 300 men God sent. I have to think about this every time. 31,700 men home. against 120,000 Midianites and said 300 will do. Why? Well, because I don't want anybody to say it was by their own hand that they got the victory. Somebody says, well, it was because they lapped water like a dog. They were ready. How ready do you have to be to break a clay pot, hold up a torch and say, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon? And watch Midianites take their swords and kill one another. That takes no readiness. That's not the message of Gideon. The message is, the battle is the Lord's and the Lord gave the victory. It'll be as in the day of Midian that this happens, not in the day of your prowess and your strength. So just give it up. Give it up. Sometimes that's hard, isn't it? You just want to hang on. Let it go. Rest. Just take a deep breath. I give it to Jesus. Isn't that wonderful? As in the day of Midian. And then lastly. Victory accomplished. Verse 5. Because, these fours are telling us why. Because every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood. but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire." This is an unusual expression. The word battle could actually be translated sandal, the boot, the graves, they call them, of the soldier, which is part of the metal leading to the boot, of the warrior, the soldier that wore them with confused noise, like in the battle, this is what they're wearing, but at the end of the battle, after it's over, and some translations would say sandal here, or boot, after it's over, they gathered the shoes, and they gathered the garments that were rolled in blood, because that was not part of the spoils, you didn't want to keep a garment that was stained with blood, and it was nothing to do with it. They burned them. It was fuel for the fire. See, the imagery is battle done. all over. Victory complete. And when they gathered the sandals and took the garments for fuel for the fire, that was symbolic of conquering. How is all this going to happen? Because unto us, a child is born unto us a son a given and the government shall be upon his shoulders because he's the wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father the prince of peace the passion of the Lord of hosts shall perform this and no one will stop him no one The final victory this is prophesying of is our victory in Christ. There was a victory coming for Israel, but this is prefiguring the Son, the Child, the victory we have in Christ. Victory that's over the dominion of sin, but final victory over death itself. When every war instrument will be thrown in the fire, and there'll never be a war, even literally again, at the reign of Christ. Men still think they can try to bring peace. It will never happen. For how many 6,000 years there's been wars, rumors of wars, and they will continue. Until Christ appears at His second advent bodily. His bodily presence. And all war instruments will be burned. Signaling victory. Final victory. But beloved, that victory for us is today in some sense. No, we haven't reached that point where the final victory is no more war, no more sin, but we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. That means to vanquish beyond or a surpassing victory. It's not just victory. You are more than conquerors. You have vanquished beyond simply subduing the enemy. And what in all things are we more than conquerors in, Paul, in tribulation, in persecution, in famine, in nakedness, in distress, in peril, and sword? There's a war instrument. No, to the question, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Nada, nothing, no one. In all these things, the seven things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. How do we gain the victory today even though we are looking to the final victory that's already been secured for us? It's when the enemy of distress and persecution and famine and nakedness and sword and danger is subdued and made to serve the greater cause of this Son and this Child and this Governor. Because the victory is ours in Christ. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. That's bizarre, isn't it? How does sin get power from something so good called the law? You should be shouting, saying, what is he saying? You know, we read past that, it's like, that makes sense. No, it doesn't. How does something so bad get its strength from something so good? I did that because I'm out of breath. This is how. If sin were personified here today and you asked them the question, how is it that you derive such strength, you being so bad, from the law which is so good? You would say, well it's like this. Sin is the transgression of the law. So I exist because of that law. And that law keeps saying, you're a transgressor. You're a trespasser. So as long as that's true, I derive strength and the poison that's running through your veins, sin is injected in your goner. Well how does sin lose its strength if somehow, someway, some son or some child could write over that law satisfied? satisfied. How does your covetousness get satisfied? How does your lying, and your adultery, and your lust, and your pornography, and your sex, and your fornication, and your alcoholism, and your adultery, and all that get satisfied? That's impossible! Except for the son and the child who comes under the wrath of God. And it's as if he is all that for you. Sin has been stripped of its strength. Sin holds the law for its power. On the other hand, it's got the lever on the electric chair or the vial that says eternal death, ready to poke it in your veins at the time of death. But when he drives the needle, it shatters because of the son and the child. Final victory. And so what does Paul say? But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory. That was the word I wanted. You knew that. The victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Victory. Why? Because 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. It is no wonder Handel wrote Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever and ever, because He's King of kings and Lord of lords. And all the people said together, Amen. Let's pray.