Let's go to our Lord in prayer. Our Holy Father, we earnestly ask of you as we return to your word, as we reopen your word, Lord, we pray that you will grant us the grace by the power of the Holy Spirit to hear your word today, Lord, effectually. to respond to it in a righteous and faithful way, a way, Lord, that honors you. We pray, therefore, Holy Father, that according to your promise, as your word goes forth this Lord's Day, this Sabbath morning, that it will not return to you void. Even as you have said, it will accomplish the purpose for which it has been sent. And we believe you and trust you for the fulfillment of this promise, since all the promises of God are yes and amen in Jesus Christ, our Lord. In his name, these things we ask, amen. I invite you to take the word of God and let's turn to Isaiah. Isaiah chapter nine. Isaiah chapter nine. We'll start reading in verse one and read through verse seven. One through seven of Isaiah chapter nine. But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the latter time, he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation. You have increased its joy. They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tolment and every garment rolled in blood would be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God. Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, of the increase of His government and of peace, there will be no end. On the throne of David and over His kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts. will do this. And so reads the infallible, the inerrant, the all sufficient word of the living God. This morning, we return to our present very brief series in Isaiah chapter seven through nine, where we'll be concluding our study, which is landing us in the most familiar part of this entire portion of Isaiah's prophetic book, It is in chapter 9 verses 1-7. Contextually speaking, the opening words in chapter 9 verse 1 are following what has just preceded it in chapter 8 verses 21-22. In those closing verses of chapter 8, God's judgment is spelled out for the majority in Judah who refuse to believe God's word and thereby despise it. by turning to mediums and necromancers as their guides for the coming disaster. But the consequences for such rebellion and unbelief, we are told, will be distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, as they are thrust into thick darkness, both tangibly and spiritually. Isaiah chapter eight, therefore, leaves us in the despair of darkness, which God's judgment will bring on both the northern and southern kingdoms of His covenant people. First, by the Assyrians, and then second, by the 70 year captivity in Babylon. But on the heels of this certain and terrifying judgment God is bringing, Isaiah chapter nine gives us a redemptive hope. In fact, the darkness of judgment which Isaiah eight promises is met in chapter nine with what Isaiah describes as a great light. Indeed, it is a great light that will be seen and from it will come forth an eternal salvation. This is because the great light which Isaiah is describing is not a thing, but a person who is a special child that will be born. Indeed, the child is a son that will be given, who is of course the Christ, the son of the living God. And it is this messianic revelation in Isaiah chapter nine, which is the centerpiece of these first seven verses, which our attention will be fixed. Three things I want us to see from this passage concerning what the coming of God's eternal son brings as the Christ of the living God. First, there is the light Christ brings. Second, there is the joy Christ brings. And then third, there is the salvation Christ brings. To begin with, let's notice first the light, the light Christ brings. Isaiah chapter nine, verse one opens up with a conjunction of contrast in comparison to the judgment promised back in chapter eight, verses 22 and 23. But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. But in contrast to what was just spoken, there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In other words, the gloom of anguish and thick darkness proceeding as consequence of God's judgment will not be permanent. God will honor the land again. Thus Isaiah prophesies, in the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the latter time, he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. When speaking here of Zebulun and Eptili, these lands are referring to the two northern tribes west of the Jordan, which when Assyria invaded, they were the first two tribes of Israel to be devastated and depopulated. This is because they were the most geographically remote lands from Judah and thereby nearest to the foreign countries, which made them subject to greater heathen influences. This is why in verse two, we read that the people walked in darkness. They walked in darkness. The fact that they walked in darkness bespeaks of their whole existence. It was darkness within, darkness without. It was ignorance, distress, misery, and sin. And by the invasion of Assyria, this darkness in Zebulun and Naphtali only intensified. But here's the most amazing thing. Isaiah tells us that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has light shown." Clearly when Isaiah penned these words, no such light was shining in Zebulun or Naphtali. In fact, no Jews contemporary to Isaiah's day and time would be so visited by such a light. This is because what Isaiah is speaking to would not occur until 750 years in the future. Yet because this is a prophetic word from the Lord himself, spoken through his prophet, Isaiah speaks of this great light with such vividness and certainty, it's as if the light has already dawned. Look at the way Isaiah words this. On them, light has shown, not will show, but has shown, has shown. But this light, as I've just said, would not come to Zebulun and Nephtyli till 750 years in the future. This is because what Isaiah is prophesying and thus pointing to is the coming of the Messiah. It is concerning the first advent of God's eternal son, Christ Jesus, our Lord. And in Matthew chapter four, verses 12 through 17, we read the very specific fulfillment of this prophetic word in Isaiah chapter nine, verses one and two. This is what Matthew says to us. Matthew chapter four, 12 through 17. Now, when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee And leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled." And then here Matthew quotes, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned." Then Matthew says in the narrative, from that time, Jesus began to preach, saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So for the lands of Zebulun in Naphtali, God promised something far greater than political freedom or economic stability following centuries of devastation by foreign powers. Their greatest need had nothing to do with securing their lands for monetary security of any kind. Their greatest problem was that they lived in spiritual darkness. due to their enslavement to sin, no different than any sinners who populate any corner of this world. So what God promises through his prophet is that a day will come for these people when in the midst of their spiritual darkness, a great light will dawn, dispelling the darkness incurred by their sin and guilt. And this great light is none other than Christ the Lord. and the blessings he brings wherever he goes. What is most significant, however, from both an historical and cultural standpoint, is that when Christ took up residence in Galilee and began his messianic work there, we need to understand it was in the most despised and contemptuous regions in all of Israel. In all of Israel. The Galileans were not the sophisticated, educated, prosperous, and ethnically pure Jews of Jerusalem. They were not that at all. Instead, they were a motley crew of Jews and Gentiles that would be considered in our own vernacular as trailer park trash. That's who they were. And yet this is where the eternal son of God, the promised Messiah, the savior of the world, would first unveil his great light to great sinners, not to the elite of Jerusalem, but to the nobodies of Galilee. That's where Jesus first went. Commenting on this redemptive fact, Old Testament scholar E.J. Young wrote the following. In place of the darkness of calamity, the people saw the light of peace and blessedness. In place of the darkness of death, the light of life. In place of the darkness of ignorance, the light of knowledge. In place of the darkness of sin, the light of salvation. Salvation in its widest sense had shined upon these people, a complete reversal of their condition had occurred. This is the light Christ brings. But then in the second place, we now notice the joy that Christ brings, the joy. With the advent of Christ comes redemption, not just for the Jews, but for Gentiles also. Thus the opening words of verse three assert a marvel of redemption where the Lord has multiplied the nation. What was in Isaiah's day, a mere remnant of believers will see an enlargement of saints added in time and for eternity, which the Apostle John reports in Revelation 7-9 is a number which no man can even count from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. But with such an innumerable host of believers in Christ comes a joy inexpressible and full of glory. It is a joy described in two different ways metaphorically by Isaiah. On the one hand, it is like the joy of harvesters at the completion of their harvest. On the other hand, it is like the joy of soldiers dividing their spoil following a great victory. Point of these metaphors is how complete, how satisfying, how sufficient the joy is, which comes by way of Christ's redeeming work, saving not a few, but many, not just among the Jews, but out of all the nations of the earth. But the overt expression of this joy is to whom it is directed. Isaiah underscores the fact that all the redeemed of Christ will rejoice before you. All the redeemed of Christ will rejoice before you, you being the Lord. This is telling us that the highest form, the highest form of true joy for the people of God is not in what we get from Christ, but it is in Christ himself. It's not what we get from Christ, but it is in Christ himself. We see this again from Revelation 7 and verse 9, where all the redeemed of Christ are standing before the throne and before the Lamb, crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. Understand the direction of our praise on the last great day when all the redeemed are there before the throne of God, the direction of our praise is in the giver and not his gifts. It's in the giver, not his gifts. But while we set our joy in Christ for the glory of who he is, which is, as I said, that's the highest form of our joy as Christians, that doesn't mean that we look past or we ignore what He has actually done for us. There's much to be celebrated in the work Christ has accomplished to save His people from their sins. And so in verses four and five, reasons are given for the exceeding joy expressed in Christ our Lord. And this is emphasized by what is the causal particle, that is the word translated for, which opens both of these verses, verses four and five. Verse four begins with, for the yoke of his burden and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. And then verse five, for every boot of the tramping warrior in battle torment and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. Let's understand what we're being told here. In the first place, God's people rejoice in the freedom Christ gives by his redeeming work, where the yoke and the staff and the rod of our spiritual slavery is shattered once and for all. In fact, this bondage is broken as on the day of Midian, as on the day of Midian. And what is that referring to? Well, this is recalling God's great deliverance he gave to Gideon and his puny little band of soldiers from the enormous army of the Midianites as recorded in Judges 6-8. The point of this memory in this context is that in the same way all the glory went to God for Gideon's deliverance from the Midianites, so it will be in far greater measure for every sinner liberated by Christ. No one but the Lord our God will get the praise for our freedom from sin's enslavement. In the second place, God's people rejoice in the peace Christ gives by his redeeming work, a peace not between nations, but between God and man. This in fact was centerpiece in all the joyful announcement the angels gave to the shepherds of Christ's birth when they exclaimed, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased." Adding layers to this peace, Romans 5 and verse 1 speaks of it directly as peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And in Ephesians 2 and verse 14, we're told that Christ Himself is our peace. So with the advent of Christ comes a peace that is so thorough and complete Isaiah compares it to the total abolition of war when all the implements of battle will be burned as fuel for the fire. This then is the joy that Christ brings. With the coming of the Messiah, his redemption will reach the nations wherein freedom from sin and peace with God will be among the many reasons God's people will rejoice before the Lord. But lastly, we now notice the salvation Christ brings. The salvation Christ brings. The salvation Christ brings is supernatural. All of you here know that, but I'm going to say it anyway. We need to hear it again and again. The salvation Christ brings is supernatural. It is out of this world because it is not from this world. It is not what a mere human could do and accomplish for fallen humanity. This is why the climax of this messianic revelation in Isaiah 9, 1-7 fixes its greatest attention on the truth of who the Messiah really is. And even further, since verse six begins with that causal particle for, we have in both verses six through seven, not only another reason for rejoicing before the Lord, but the culminating, decisive and pivotal reason God's people cannot help but burst forth in exhilarating praise to our great eternal God. Look at what the text says. For to us, A child is born. To us, a son is given. Here is the explanation for everything promised in verses one through five. A child is born. A son is given. But here's the question, is he like any other child or son? The answer to this question is actually the burden of what remains in verses six and seven. First of all, we see what he is like by the fact that he is a ruler, a king, a sovereign. All the responsibility, every task, every decision of the government which the Messiah brings shall be upon his shoulder and no other. His shoulder and no other. Listen. Jesus Christ will not have a court of advisors. He will not have a cabinet of secretaries bearing the weight of his rule. No, the full weight of the government shall rest on his shoulders alone. Moreover, the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end. His dominion will be everlasting. Furthermore, it is an eternal dominion, promised and fulfilled by the covenant God made with David in 2 Samuel chapter seven. So Isaiah tells us that the Messiah will take the throne of David to establish and uphold his kingdom. Second of all, we see what he is like by the names he has given which are indicative of both his character and the work he is sent to do. And so we read in verse six, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. When we think of the Messiah, when we think of Jesus Christ our Lord, we should think in these terms. We should think in these terms. First Christ our Lord is the wonderful counselor, or it can be even better rendered a wonder of a counselor. A wonder of a counselor. The term wonderful comes from a Hebrew word, wherein the root of this term is exclusively used of those things that only God can do. Thus the word wonderful, what does that imply? It's implying deity. It is implying deity. This child born, this son given, is none other than God incarnate. But in this immediate context, Christ is called Wonderful Counselor. So then the instruction Christ gives, the wisdom he imparts, is that which comes only from God. Indeed, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ, as Colossians 2 and verse 3 affirms, because, as Colossians 2 and verse 9 says, in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Secondly, Christ our Lord is the mighty God or, it can be rendered, He is the warrior God. He is the warrior God. If we had any doubt as to the divine implication of Wonderful Counselor, this second identification of Christ lays it all to rest. But what is the point of this descriptive of our Lord? What is being stressed here about Jesus? It is stressing to us as his people that the protection he gives us in our weakness is not merely, listen, it's not merely better than we can do, it is incomparable to what we can do. Not just better than we can do, it's incomparable to what we can do. This is because it is the protection of God omnipotent. God omnipresent, immutable, holy, and just. It is further the protection of God infinite. Thus, there is no limit, no boundary, no measure where Christ cannot reach us to hold, sustain, provide, and care for us in the most dire of times. Thirdly, Christ our Lord is called Everlasting Father, or rendered this way, Father of Eternity. Father of Eternity. Now, what's inferred here is that the Messiah will image forth a father-like manner in his kingship as he exercises care and concern on behalf of his people. But our Lord Jesus is not father-like every once in a while, but at all times, even for eternity. His compassion, kindness, and gentleness in how he treats us is unceasing, unchanging, and unlike anything sinful man could possibly give. Fourthly, Christ our Lord is the Prince of Peace. What exactly does that descriptive mean? Well, I will quote Dale Ralph Davis's commentary on it, because I frankly cannot improve on this. And it's a lengthy quote, so I'll go slow, pay close attention, because this is very, very, very rich, very rich for our understanding. Dr. Davis wrote, we can easily mislead ourselves here. Isaiah is not speaking of inner peace as we in the psychological West often do. He means a peace in this nasty world. Verses four and five supply the context. He means peace in a world of oppression, war, and combat. And to bring peace in such a world is no namby-pamby affair. Such peace comes by force. One of my professors in grad school used to tell of a Jewish friend of his who had a classic definition of peace, the Hebrew shalom. His friend told him, shalom means we win, you lose. He was saying that peace presupposes victory. Indeed, it may be nearly synonymous with it. Do you recall what Gideon said to the men of Penuel when they refused to give Gideon and his men supplies so they could track down the rest of the Midianites? Gideon said in Judges 8 and verse 9, when I return in peace, I will rip down this tower. Did he mean he would return peacefully? Clearly not. He meant when I return in victory after crushing the rest of the Midianites, peace comes in the wake of victory when all opposition is taken out of the way. Prince of peace then does not mean that the prince is peaceful, but that he has power to bring and enforce peace, even in a world where many don't care to have it. Not a whole lot of Christians think that way. about Jesus as the Prince of Peace. So, this is what the child born, the son given will be called. This is what he'll be called. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. This is the character This is the nature, the way of Christ with his people. But what assurance does God give us that this child will be born and that this son will be given? How can we be so certain that the Messiah will come and be all that God is promising here for our salvation? Where is our certainty for this? The closing words of Isaiah 9, 7 say it all, look at it. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. What these concluding words said to the Jewish remnant in the eighth century was, despite how inconceivable and unbelievable this may seem to you, do not doubt it. It is not resting in the hands of fallen man to make this happen. It is all resting in the omnipotent God, the Lord of hosts, whose burning passion is to bring this to pass and he will do this. In 750 years, following this magnificent prophecy, in a very small Jewish backwater town called Bethlehem, God sent one of his angels to declare the unbelievable news to a gathering of shepherds, and by the way, they were nobodies too. So to a gathering of nobodies keeping watch over their flock in a nearby field, what did this angel say to these shepherds? What did he announce? Here's what he said. Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling claws and lying in a manger. And then joining this one angel, a mighty host of God's angelic beings gathered in the skies, giving praise to God, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among who? Among those with whom he is pleased. All those angels were Calvinist. So think about this, as bleak and hopeless as things look in Judah in 732 BC, God gave a promise. God gave a promise that no Assyrian army or Babylonian kingdom could ever upset or overturn. He was sending his eternal son into this world as the Christ, the Savior, the ruler and king of all kings, whose saving work will reach and rescue an innumerable host of sinners and whose dominion will reign forever. And what God promised through Isaiah in the eighth century has come to pass in real time, in real history, 2,000 years ago. And this, as I say after the fact, is why we celebrate Christmas. It's not a week past, so I'm gonna say this in a very relative way. This is why we celebrate Christmas. It's about this child who was born, this son who was given. It's about Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, who is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. If we miss this, if we miss this as Christians, as the church, every year at this time, this season, if we miss this, then we're no different than the pagans around us who celebrate only a season of family gatherings and warm festivities, which leave man in his sin without the only true hope there is, which is found in God's eternal son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. So may this annual season be for us as God's people, as believers in Christ, may it be for us a time of renewing our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus who did come to save his people from their sins and who will come again to usher in a new heaven and a new earth where sin's curse will no longer be found. That's why as Christians, we celebrate, we do what we do this time every year in our homes and in the churches where we gather. It is another way in which we point everyone, including ourselves, afresh to Christ Jesus our Lord. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father. We thank you. We thank you Lord in. And not a mere shallow kind of way. Parish such superficial gratitude like that, but Father, we thank you. From hearts that. Rejoice. In you, our great God, for who you are in your son. Who is our Savior, our Lord, our Redeemer? And in the Holy Spirit. The spirit of God, the spirit of Christ. But with a very particular accent this morning, Lord, on. Praising and exalting in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Today. Oh Father, we thank you for the. The assurance, the infallibility, the certainty. Of the fulfillment of all your promises. And there is no promise of yours. Greater. than that which we have seen this morning from Isaiah chapter nine. For this is the promise of our salvation. And this promise, Lord, we thank you, has been fulfilled in us individually, as by your grace you have brought us and drawn us to close with Christ our Lord. But we thank you, Father, that this promise has even a greater Eternal fulfillment, one that will climax when Jesus returns. And we are joined with him. Joined with him in perfected glory. Perfected in his image. Heavenly Father. Forgive us for how often we don't think enough. Of that blessed hope that is coming. But we pray that you will renew our minds today by the truth of your word to this end. That we rejoice not only in the first great advent of our Lord Jesus. But we keep on rejoicing. And the great hope and certainty of his second advent. For all of these things, father, we give you thanks. For the sake of our Lord Jesus and always and only in his name we pray, amen.