I invite you to turn in your Bibles with me to Isaiah chapter nine. Isaiah chapter nine, if you're using the Bibles in the seats, you should find that on page 573. We're in a series here at Springs Reformed Church where we're looking for Christ in the Old Testament. We're doing that because he tells us, especially in Luke 24, that it's all about him. And this is a continuation, but a change from where we would be. We're ready for Deuteronomy, just going one chapter in each book. But it was my intention to preach this last Lord's Day, and the Lord intervened with a stomach virus. I had thought about just skipping it, and one of my elders said, I think you should preach it. So we're in Isaiah 9, and we're looking for Christ, because he tells us he's there. I've suggested to the congregation six ways that we might look for Christ. It's a little bit easy to remember, at least for me. Two of the ways start with P, two of them start with T, and two of them start with C. So the two P's are progress and promises. Along with promises, I think prophecy is often a way that we see Christ, and that fits into the category of things promised about Him. The two Ts are types and themes, and we see themes certainly in this text, and then the two Cs are compare and contrast. So we're looking for Christ. We're looking for Him because He says that He's there, and this is one of the easy texts. Before I read, just a comment. Many of you will be familiar with George Frederick Condell. a German composer, primarily a composer of operas in London. He was invited in 1741 to direct a work in Ireland at a charity performance. He decided that he would write a new oratorio that came to be called The Messiah. This two and a half hour musical presentation was composed in about 24 days. Most of the text of this piece is from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter. And it debuted in Dublin in April of 1742, and just under a year later, it debuted in London in March of 1743. There's a legend that King George II stood during the Hallelujah Chorus. It's not a well-documented fact, so it may or may not have happened. But nevertheless, after a somewhat modest opening, this piece came to be one of the best known musical arrangements. Sadly, it's often performed by secular musicians who have no interest in the word of God or in the Messiah, except perhaps their next gig. That's not a new problem, because apparently when it was performed in London, that was a concern by many, that the professional musicians who were performing were not churchmen and churchwomen. Why do I mention that? Well, you probably are aware that some of the text of our text is included in that musical performance, and it's a magnificent performance. Many of you have heard it. Some of you have perhaps sung it or played it. But far more magnificent than that musical performance is the child who is introduced here in our text. And so listen to the word of God, Isaiah chapter nine, verses one through seven. This is the very word of the very God. 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 the land of deep darkness, on them has light shown. 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 tumult and every garment rolled in blood will 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. Having heard from God and his word, please join me in your hearts as I lead us in prayer. God, would you open our eyes that we would behold wonderful things from your word. Would you show us Christ? And would you show us ourselves and how we are to respond? We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. My first exhortation to you as we consider the text before us is to rejoice in rescue from darkness. Rejoice in rescue from darkness. What the prophet Isaiah announces is that a great light has dawned. A great light has dawned. The beginning of Isaiah's prophecy is during the time of Judah's King Ahaz, who was one of the most wicked kings of Judah. You can read about him in 2 Kings 16 and following. Israel and Judah, the divided kingdom, were at war. And Israel, Ahaz has asked Assyria to come and defend them against Israel. And Assyria does, and eventually takes Israel, the northern kingdom, into captivity for their sins. And yet Assyria herself continues to plague Judah. The people were walking in darkness. As you read the first several chapters of Isaiah, he repeats that theme over and over. He urges them in chapter two, come, let us walk in the light. In chapter five, he says there will be darkness and distress. Light will be obscured by clouds. And just previous to this in chapter eight, he speaks of the darkness, the distress, the gloom of affliction. the thick darkness into which God's people will be driven. And yet, even as this northern region of Israel is plagued and plagues, God continues to work. And suddenly, as in the beginning, God said, let there be light. And there was light. Darkness is often in the scripture a picture of unbelief, a picture of rejection of God as the source of the light. And so I ask the question, have you been rescued from the darkness? You see, the difficulty is that in your unbelief, and I hope none of you are in that state. But there are a lot more of you here than are normally here on a Lord's Day morning. And I know you came to be taught of the Lord. And so I hope that you have been rescued from the darkness. I hope that you are not still in your unbelief. The difficulty is that when you're in darkness, you don't know that you're in darkness. Someone who has been blind from birth cannot tell the difference between darkness and light. And God tells us that those who walk around in the darkness do not know that they are in the darkness. The only way to be rescued from darkness is to see the light of the gospel. And Matthew, many of the gospel writers tell us that this great light, a great light that you and I need from God is Jesus. Matthew writes about this as Jesus begins his public ministry in Matthew chapter four. The first part of that chapter, Jesus defeats the devil. And then he comes and begins his public ministry to rescue those who have been defeated by the evil one. Matthew quotes from Isaiah 9. This people walking in darkness have seen a great light. And Jesus began his public ministry in the northern part of the land of Israel, a land that was not held in high regard. You'll remember that one said about Jesus, can anything good come from Nazareth? But here in the northern parts of the nation of Israel, a light had dawned, and Jesus began to preach, saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And the only way to be rescued from darkness is to repent and believe and come in to the kingdom of heaven. There's a hint here in this Galilee of the Gentiles that the gospel is for more than merely the at that point unbelieving Jews. It is to go to the nations. And so the first step, if you're still in the darkness, is to acknowledge that you're in the darkness, to repent of your sin, to believe in the work of Jesus Christ, For He alone can give you escape from the kingdom of sin and death. And you might say, and some of us who have been rescued from that darkness can recall when we were saying, it's not that easy. And you would be right. In fact, to escape from darkness requires a miraculous escape from the oppressor. And Isaiah tells us about that miraculous escape from the oppressor. The nation under oppression would be enlarged. The nation under oppression would have increased joy. Why? How can that be? Because God granted escape. God said, don't call on Assyria. They're not going to save you. Call on me. I will grant a miraculous escape as in the day of Midian. Many of you, again, who know your Bibles know that reference. Gideon, a reluctant judge in the land of Israel during the time of the judges, finally heeded God's call and went with an army of 32,000 to fight against the host of the Midianites. And God said, that's too many. And God pared down his army. and pared down his army and pared down his army until there were 300. And Midian, the host of Midian, was defeated. by the shining of 300 trumpets, the breaking of 300 jars, the shouting that the victory is of the Lord and of Gideon, and God routed the Midianites. And so Isaiah calls the people to look back to that miraculous escape from the oppressor and say God will continue to do that. God will rescue Judah from Israel something that they could not do on their own. And again, that darkness, which often speaks of the unbelief, rescue from that darkness requires a miraculous escape by the hand of God. You cannot do it. I cannot do it. If you know that escape, you know that God did it, that Christ did it. Jesus talks to His disciples about the difficulty of a rich man entering the kingdom of heaven. And you'll remember He gives that humorous and odd illustration. He says it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. And Jesus' disciples wisely said, then who can be saved? And Jesus said, what is impossible with men is possible with God. You can no more save yourself than a literal camel could go through the literal eye of a needle. But what is impossible with men is possible with God. If you have been rescued from the oppressor, from the evil one, from Satan, who from the beginning has sought to destroy the people of God, you know that God did what you could not do. And so rejoice in God's rescue. And if you are still in darkness, if you are not sure that you have been rescued from darkness, if you are not sure that you are in the kingdom of heaven, If any of you young people that are here for CY are not sure, I urge you to talk to me or to one of our elders or to one of the leadership team in the CY and they can direct you as well. Cry out to the light of the world and ask God to do the impossible and rescue you and bring you to faith and repentance. We're called here to rejoice in rescue from darkness. We're given the encouraging picture that a great light has dawned, that a miraculous escape from the oppressor has been wrought. And it's been wrought by a child. A child was born who is the eternal son. Who is this child about whom Isaiah writes? Who is it in Isaiah's day? For often Old Testament prophecies speak partly of one or something at the current time and of some future time, someone else. And there's a lot of uncertainty about who this child is, who it was in Isaiah's day. Some think, perhaps, Isaiah's second son, introduced in the beginning of chapter eight with a very catching name, Meher Shalol Hazbaz. You'd have to spell that a few times. Others think, perhaps, Ahaz's son, the most wicked king, in God's kindness, gave birth to Hezekiah, who was a good king. The reality is we simply don't know who the particular historic child was. And many commentators on Isaiah who deny the supernatural say that Isaiah could not have written this text because it's clearly about Jesus who didn't exist in Isaiah's day. It is clearly about Jesus, but it was written by Isaiah. as the Holy Spirit carried him, so that what he wrote was not the word of men, but the very word of God. And he introduces this child to us. And there's a fascinating parallel at the beginning of the introduction in verse 6. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. A child was to be born. And we're told in Luke chapter 2, that Mary gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. A child was born, but a son was given, a son who was not born. God, the eternal son, was given as a child to be born. Most of the debates at the time of Jesus' earthly existence had to do with whether or not he was merely a man. Most of the debates over the person and work of Christ in church history have had to do with the person and nature of Jesus Christ. One of the ancient creeds, the Nicene Creed, says this, I believe in the one Lord Jesus Christ. The only begotten Son of God, born from the Father before all ages, eternally begotten is what they're saying. God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father through Him were all things made. For to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given. And notice that Isaiah proclaims to us, to us, when that child was born, the angels announced to the shepherds, to you, to you has been born this day a savior who is Messiah, the Lord, to us, to you, this child is born. Will you have this child who was born? Will you have this Son who was given? Will you have this Savior who is Messiah, Lord? I wonder how many have sung of this Messiah in Handel's oratorio, who've been enthralled by the musical composition and yet who say, we do not want this man to rule over us. How many have been in church in the last few weeks? Because they're CEO churchgoers, Christmas and Easter only. And they nod and agree on the outside, but inside they're full of darkness and death. But we need not be concerned just about them. What about you? Has this child been born for you? Will you have this Jesus? And if you will have this Jesus, then know this child by name. Know this child by name. I wonder if there's someone here, you don't have to raise your hands, but I wonder if there's someone here, maybe it's Johnny and Sarah, that's two someones, who could name all of the kids who are here for this retreat. Maybe not. I know that some of your names I've learned only to forget in the 48, less than 48 hours since I learned them. Names are important. Names identify who we are. They sometimes describe our character. And this child who is to be born, this son who is to be given had a name. And you and I need to know this child by name. And his name is given by Isaiah in four pairs, four couplets. You could fill out the outline, probably from memory, but let's consider his name together. The first is that he's wonderful counselor. The King James Version, and Handel's Messiah notwithstanding, it's better translated wonderful counselor, not wonderful counselor. Certainly they're both true, but they're true as a couplet, and that seems to fit with the pairing of all of the others. Are you or have you ever struggled in your life, and you need someone to help you know what to do? This child is the wonderful counselor. We might say the amazing advisor the miraculous instructor. And for you who are in Christ and perhaps struggling, and we all struggle at times, this wonderful counselor is given for you, is given for us. And for us, it's not Christ in the flesh as it was for those who lived when he was on this earth, walking in the land of the Galilee of the Gentiles, the light shining in the darkness. But for us, it is his promised Holy Spirit. God, the Holy Spirit, who is given by Jesus and he's given to his disciples to be their counselor, who will guide them into all truth. This wonderful counselor is yours if you are in Christ. I try, as I have opportunity in various situations, to be a good counselor. And other Christians are probably far better counselors than I am, but this child, this child has a name and a character of wonderful counselor. And he will counsel those who are his. He will counsel you by the Holy Spirit, And the Holy Spirit may use men in preaching the Word of God. May use families as they gather together in family worship. May use your own reading of the scripture in private worship. May use your conversations together as you seek to encourage one another daily as long as it is called today. But the counseling work of Christ himself will be going on and you will be built up in him. This wonderful counselor is given to us, is given to you who will receive him by faith. The second name given to him is Mighty God. A hero warrior who is also divine. Not merely a hero warrior, though often that's what we want and that's what we need, a hero warrior who will fight our battles for us. And yet at times, a mere human hero warrior is not enough. Some of you men who are fathers have probably at various times tried to be, for your family, hero warriors. And it may be that you've often been able to do that well, but you certainly know there have been times when you thought, I need someone more than me. And it's this child who was born who is mighty God. you and I can go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning because God, this mighty God, never sleeps. I heard one of the talks yesterday in which you were encouraged by the speaker to get enough sleep. Sometimes we don't get enough sleep because we think, well, there's too many things I need to deal with. Well, guess what? There's a mighty God who will deal with it for you, and so you can go to sleep. and He will wake you up in the morning. And when you awake, you'll still be with Him. He's the one who is mighty God, gives strength to those who have no strength. Certainly you in your Christian life have at various times struggled and been aware of your weakness. and thought, I have no strength. How can I serve God as weak as I am? And he who gives strength to those who have no strength is this mighty God. And he will one day put all of his enemies under his feet. The book of the Revelation tells us that at the end, chapter 19. We're told that this one who has his name on his robe and on his thigh, King of kings and Lord of lords, and he will put all his enemies and all your enemies under his feet. I talked to one of you young people this weekend who acknowledged seeing sin in the world and being troubled, not in a pious, a holier-than-thou way, but just discouraged with the prevalence of sin. Remember, as you're discouraged with the prevalence of sin, that there is a mighty God, Jesus Christ, who will reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. This mighty God is given to us, is given to you. so that He is our God and our Savior. He is your God and your Savior. Know this child by name, wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father. It's a common word for father, nothing special about it. It just means someone who has children. And yet it's qualified by this everlasting word, this supernatural, everlasting, eternal condition. It's clearly a supernatural child who had no beginning and no end. One who the book of the Revelation identifies as the Alpha and the Omega, the first and last letter of the Greek alphabet, the beginning and the end. The one who was, and who is, and who is to come. The one who is eternal. And yet, as we read this, we might think Jesus isn't usually called Father. Normally, as we think of the Trinity, we have God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. So in what way is Jesus the everlasting Father? What we see in His earthly ministry, those of you who were here at Springs Reformed last Lord's Day evening, hearing the sermon about the paralyzed man whose friends lowered him through the roof to Jesus. And Jesus, seeing the faith of his friends, looked at the paralyzed man and said, son, your sins are forgiven. Just a few chapters later, Mark continues in his gospel account. He tells of Jesus who's going to raise the daughter of Jairus, first going to heal her, and then the word came that she had died, and he goes to raise her from the dead. And as he's going, a woman who'd been sick with an issue of blood, some kind of a bleeding problem for 12 years, had the faith to touch Jesus' garment, thinking, if I just touch his garment, I can be healed. And she did, and she was, and Jesus turned around in the crowd, and he said, who touched me? And his disciples said, well, there are people all around us. And he said, no, it's more than that. And he wasn't asking because he didn't know, he was asking because he wanted her to know what he knew. And she fell trembling at his feet and told him what had happened, and he said, daughter, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed. In the Lord's providence in our reading in Hebrews 2, we read about Jesus not being ashamed to call us brothers and then saying, Behold, I and the children God has given me. And so though it's unusual to identify Jesus as Father, it's not unheard of. He has a fatherly role as well as an older brother role. And He is the everlasting Father. And lastly, he's the Prince of Peace. As we seek to know this child by name, who's wonderful counselor, who's mighty God, who's everlasting father, he is also Prince of Peace. Elder John Logan prayed for our new government that will be established this month. Oh, that our rulers on this earth were rulers of peace. Not many are, but Jesus is. This promised child is Prince of Peace, or Peacely Prince. Jesus over and over told his disciples, I give you peace. And in fact, he qualified that as he was getting ready to go to the cross. He said, I don't give you peace as the world does, Don't let your hearts be troubled or be fearful. And then after he had died and been raised from the dead, he appeared at least three times. In some of those, perhaps in all of those, entering a room where the door was locked, where the disciples were hiding for fear of the Jews, and suddenly this supernatural Jesus was in their midst and said to them, peace to you, peace to you, peace to you. And Jesus is not merely peace in the abstract, but this Prince of Peace is given to us, and He is our peace. Paul writes to the Ephesians, In Christ Jesus, you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for He is our peace. And he has made both groups one and torn down the dividing wall of hostility. Paul speaking particularly about the hostility between Jew and Gentile. But there's a hostility between us and God that's even more important. And so we who have been justified by faith have peace with God through Jesus Christ. Perhaps you're in a relationship right now that's not at peace. Sometimes that happens in our relationships. And sometimes it's a struggle to just get to the point of a ceasefire, of a temporary truce. And what Christ is and offers is far more than that, an eternal peace, a peace that guards you and protects you, a peace that he gives to you who are his sons and his daughters by faith. So know this child by name. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. through His name, everyone who believes receives forgiveness of sins. He was given the name Jesus because He would save His people from their sins. He was given the name Emmanuel because He is God with us, and He has been exalted by God, and given the name that is above every name. And so know this child. Know Him by name. and knowing Him, submit to the rule of this reigning King. Submit to the rule of this reigning King, for all authority has been given to Him. All authority. Isaiah tells us that the government will be on His shoulders. And we see that all through the Scripture In the Psalms we're told of Jesus, the one who had been given the nations as an inheritance, the one who would reign until God made all his enemies his footstool. And so Jesus came to his disciples at the end of his earthly ministry and he reminded them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go. Paul writes in his summary of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15, that he will reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. And the revelation of John speaks of this one who had his name written, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. No authority, no ruler, no power in heaven or on earth higher than this one. His authority is over all. And his reign will never end. Those of you who are familiar with the book of Isaiah will remember chapter six when Isaiah was called to ministry. And it was in the year that King Uzziah, a good king, died. And there was great grief over the death of this good king. But this child who is to be born, this son who is to be given, his reign will never end. His government will increase forever. He will reign forever on the throne of his father, David. And think about the work of Christ since his earthly ministry. He chose 12 to be his apostles. And as the day of Pentecost dawned, there were 120 disciples gathered together in that upper room. And the end of that day, God added 3,000 more. 3,000 more. And not very many days later, 5,000, probably numbering the men. It's estimated, it's hard to know for sure, the count of Christians throughout history, but it's estimated in the early 1800s there were approximately 200 million Christians in the world. Again, it's only an estimate, but it's estimated in the early 1900s that there are approximately 600 million Christians in the world. And again, it's only an estimate, but it's estimated in the early 2000s that there are approximately 2.2 billion Christians in the world. Christians submitting to King Jesus, whose reign will never end. From 1800 to 2000, the world population increased by about six times. And the population of Christians estimated, of course, it could be inaccurate, but it increased about nine times. And so more are coming to Christ, it appears, in our day than are being born. no matter what the actual numbers, Jesus' kingdom will continue to grow. And if you might be in a situation or a circumstance where you feel like a lonely Christian, take heart and remember that there will be one day at the throne a vast multitude from every nation and tribe and people and language which no one can number. And they will submit with you. They are submitting with you to King Jesus. And when we think about this child and his reign, we must recognize that God has done this. God has done this. God has done this, God is doing this, and God will do this. It's a continuing process, but it's done by God. The end of verse seven, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. And some have wondered if that Lord of hosts is God, the Almighty Father, or if that Lord of hosts is Christ, the eternal King. And it could be either or both. You'll remember just before Jesus breathed his last, as he hung on the cross facing not merely the painful crucifixion of Romans. But the judgment by his father. For the sins of his people that he had taken upon himself willingly. And before he died, he said it. Is finished. It is finished, it is completed, the Lord of hosts has done this. The accomplishment of the rescue from darkness by this child whom we must know by name has been accomplished by God himself. As God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are working to this day, continuing to bring all things under the feet of Jesus. A child is born to us. A son is given to us. Do you know him? Do you know him by name? Do you bear his name, Christian? And are you submitting to King Jesus? I pray that it be so. Please pray with me. Our Father in heaven, we do rejoice in this child who was born, in this son who was given. Lord Jesus, we recognize your powerful name. And we cry out to you, our wonderful counselor, our mighty God, our everlasting Father, our Prince of Peace, be near to us, help us, strengthen us, and send us forth with your gospel. Having all authority given to you on heaven and on earth, you told your disciples, go into all the world. and make disciples of the nations, teaching them, baptizing them. Lord, we pray that you continue that work in us. We pray that we would see unbelievers that we know and love bowing the knee to King Jesus. We pray that we are in Christ, might come to him regularly for his counsel, for his help in our temptation, for his strengthening of us when we are powerless. for His peace in our own souls and in our relationships. And Lord, we acknowledge that You are the King of kings and Lord of lords, and we renew our promise to submit to You, to obey You because we love You, because You first loved us. And we pray all this in Jesus' name, amen.