We turn to the book of Isaiah this morning, Isaiah chapter 9, as we consider this morning a prophecy about the person, a prophecy about the person. We'll be reading this morning verses 1 through 6, concentrating our thoughts message on the sixth verse itself. Isaiah 9, 1 through 6, the breathed out, prophetic, fulfilled word of our Lord. But there will be no gloom for her who is 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 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, the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the trampling 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 Consular, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Thus far, the reading of God's Word. Let's again bow in prayer. Shall we pray? Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, it was to our hurting people that these words originally came. And it's to a hurting people, Father, that your word comes once again. But it's such a word of joy and it's such a familiar passage, Father. And we ask your blessing on its reading this morning. Also, we ask your blessing on Pastor Bob as he brings your word. Open our hearts and our minds, Father, that we will not be unchanged. But Father, you will work in us that we will be ever more conformed to the image of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. And it's in his precious name alone that we pray. Amen. And amen. His name to us. Those are our two points, main points of this morning, His name to us. Those are the two messages that are being conveyed to us in Isaiah 9, verse 6. His name and it's to us that this name and child has been given. First of all then, let's consider His name. We have to understand again the significance of a name in that day and that culture. It meant something. It wasn't just something that matched the number of syllables you needed to make it sound good with your last name. It wasn't just taking a name from a family member. tradition that oftentimes is done. It wasn't in protest in some way to Napoleon, demanding that you take a last name, and many of our Dutch Hollanders just treated it with disdain and laughter, and so it was not necessarily taken all that serious. That's why some of you have some pretty strange names, including our Van Manen name, from the moon. Makes one wonder what great-great-grandfather thought of Napoleon and what he was doing. But in the Old Testament, a name is assigned based upon character, that the name and being are somehow united together. You have a name, for example, like Abraham, the father of many nations. A name like Isaac, laughter. A name like Jacob, the supplanter, the trickster. All of which have something to do with their calling in life or their character. The title that is given to an individual describes something of their character, their nature, and their qualities. So when Isaiah here prophesies that his name shall be called, we're not just necessarily looking at titles. We're looking into something of the character. of the one who is going to be born, of the one who is going to be given. We're looking at the person, not so much as the name by which they will formally be called, as much as it is the way and manner in which they will live out their life. With that having been said, let me point out a second observation in regards to this. As you look at verse 6, note the singular that is used here. You say, what do you mean the singular? His name shall be called. See, it doesn't match, does it? It doesn't match because that which follows is multiple. His name shall be called. And then we have multiple listing. It's not names. In looking over various commentaries and various other resources, it's all the same. It's singular. Yet, the titles or the actual names that are identified by Isaiah are multiple, there's four. So the question is, why isn't it, and his names shall be? You shall know him as wonderful consular, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Why isn't it names? Well, herein, my friends, I believe lies part of what is missed so often. in this story, in this account of the coming of Christ at Bethlehem. You see, each of those phrases should remind us of something larger that is at work here. Think of the first one. Wonderful consular. His name shall be Wonderful Consular. As you think about that, you would think, now wait a minute. Is Jesus ever identified as the Wonderful Consular? Well, I'm sure you've heard because I've also preached them. Sermons about the fact that, well, wonderful consular can refer to the wisdom of God and therefore, you know, as we see in Proverbs, as we see in Ecclesiastes and Song of Psalms, as we see in the wisdom literature, there we see Christ portrayed to us. And that is true, certainly. I'm not denying that truth. But it seems kind of unusual because out of Jesus' mouth comes, and I will send you the consular. Jesus is the one who seems to say, the consular is the one who I am sending. who is going to come. And that term, consular, is who we use to describe one of the titles, one of the names we give to the Holy Spirit. Second on the list, mighty God. El. In the Hebrew, just El. As in Bethel, house of God. As in Israel, the people of God. as in El Shaddai, it is the title to refer to God, the true God of heaven and earth. It's not the title Yahweh, which describes God in a very personal character, in His relationship to His people. It is not the title Lord, which deals with His sovereignty over all things, His Lordship. It is simply the title God, to designate Him apart from all other. He is God and He is God alone. The one who is going to be born, the one who is going to be given, is the wonderful consular, the mighty God, the everlasting Father. How is that a title of Jesus? Especially when we consider the prayer of Jesus in John chapter 17 in which He addresses His Father. In which Jesus over and over and over again in the Gospels addresses His Father, a title that He never takes for Himself in the Gospels. But then we come to the easiest of the four, Prince of Peace, a title that indeed is given to Jesus. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2, verse 14, that he himself, that is, Jesus, is our peace. And so we see an easy connection. But when you step back from this, his name shall be called Wonderful Consular, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, This is not so much, you see, about just Jesus. To use old Shakespearean English, methinks that we often err by thinking too much of Trinity and not enough of unity. See, when it comes to this event, We become so divided by that Trinity. Who is it that's born in the manger of Bethlehem? It's Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God. Yes, that's true. Definitely. Underscore it. But that's not only who is born. That's not it. That which is born, that which is given, is the wonderful consular. is the everlasting Father, is the Prince of Peace, is mighty God. See, I just want you to stop this morning. In the weeks that come, we talk about the work of the Son and so on and what happens there. But this morning, I want you to catch the bigger picture of what is taking place here. The bigger picture that Isaiah already prophesied back in Isaiah chapter 7, 14. She shall give birth to Immanuel. Immanuel, El, God. God how? God with us. Not part of God, not a fraction of God. Not an element of God. Not one of the persons of God. Not the Son of God. God! What are we going to call Him? We're going to call Him Wonderful Counselor. We're going to call Him Everlasting Father. We're going to call Him Prince of Peace. Because He that is going to be given, He that is going to be born, is Mighty God! And the youth choir sang this morning the word of uncomprehendable. Talk about uncomprehendable. Mighty God? Mighty God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is born, is given? Yes. He is Emmanuel. God with us. Now note what Isaiah is saying. The one who goes by this name. The one in whose name is revealed his being as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This being. Verse six. For to us, a child is born. He's born. Drop out of the sky. When the time came, she gave birth to her firstborn son. She gave birth, mighty God born. Yes, mighty God, El himself. Born. Emmanuel. Not part. Not some. Not a little corner of God came. Mighty God. Wonderful Counselor. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace. That's His name. That's who He is. He is born. John 1.14 describes it this way. The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us. He didn't become spirit. He didn't become an aura. He didn't become a thought. He became flesh. This, pinch yourself, this, this is what mighty God became. became one of us. Hebrews tells us he was like us in every way with the exception of sin. Did you know Jesus had a birth weight? Did you know Jesus had a birth length? Yeah, just like those questions we asked today. Well, how big was she? How long was she? How long were the contractions? How long did labor take? All those questions. Because he was flesh. Like us in every way. Just stop and think about that. Let me ask you a question. Does that thought, does this idea deserve to be on the back burner of our theology? Is this something that, well, we really shouldn't make too much of? We really ought to downplay this. We really ought to center on the cross. My friends, there is no point in centering on the cross if we do not grasp who it is that is on that cross. If we downplay the significance of this event, we downplay the significance of the cross. This is not a lesser event in the scope of Scripture. This is part of the main event of Scripture, the revelation of God. God here is revealing to us the wonder and amazement we ought to have at this event. especially as we live in a growing secular world and society that has no grasp of this event, who don't even realize the historical reality of this event, who are more interested in their Black Friday events and their pictures with Santa than they are about the reality of what has happened here. Children who grow up in our society not even knowing. Churches that give away to customs and traditions that have nothing to do with the reality of this. We all know, or at least by this time we ought to have it all figured out, that the whole thing of December 25 is all made up. Yes, that day is made up, but not the reality of God in the flesh. One day Paul is walking through the city of Athens, and he sees there an altar to the unknown God. I often wonder if Paul weighed options at this point as he's given access. to speak there on Mars Hill. If Paul thought, you know, should I call attention to that and condemn it? Should I say that what you do is horrible? Get that thing out of here. Or should I make use? You read Acts chapter 17 and what does Paul do? Paul calls attention to the very thing He doesn't pass it by. He doesn't look away from it. He calls the attention to it. Hey, you got an altar. You got an altar to an unknown God. Hey, let me use this as an opportunity to declare to you the truth. You observe this few weeks of time around the 25th of December? Let me take this opportunity to declare to you the truth. God became flesh. I find it interesting as well that when Elijah is going to do battle with Baal, we don't go to Jerusalem. We don't go to the ark. We don't go to the tabernacle. We go to Mount Carmel. And what is at Mount Carmel? an altar to Baal. And Elijah comes to him and says, let's do battle here. The altar of God is broken down. My friends, the true reality of Christmas is broken down. It lies in shambles in our society in the United States. It barely whispers any longer. Let's do battle on your turf. See, what do we do with Christmas? We bring the true message into a society that is captured with wrong traditions, wrong thoughts, wrong beliefs, neglect, and opposition. And the way to deal with it isn't to run away from it and pretend it isn't there. It's to go to the battlefield. That's what we do with Bethlehem Alive. My friends, on December 14 and 15, that gym, this sanctuary, is a battlefield to restore the reality of the historical fact. Emmanuel. God with us. But not only is he born, he is given. For to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given. We don't earn this. We don't deserve this. Mighty God, wonderful consular, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace being born. He is given. Not just to the Jews. Isaiah's already hinting at this. Where is this all going to be? Galilee. Of what? Of the nations. This is not a message for Jews. This is a message for sinners. For to us is not Isaiah saying, hey, to us Jews is gonna be given. No, it's Isaiah saying to us sinners. To us undeserving, sinful sinners. So the message of the angel to shepherds, outcast of society, for to you is born this day in the city of David. To you and I, sinners as we are, to us is born. For God so loved the world that he gave us his son. Therefore, Joseph, call his name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. I wouldn't use this illustration except for yesterday. I would have used it differently, but I think this one fits. I hold in my arms a four-pound, nine-ounce little girl yesterday. And the thought comes to me, this is not what Christmas is about. You say, what do you mean by that? It's not like God is like a man coming to his little infant children. That is way too small a comparison. See, stop and ask yourself, what does it mean that God Is that like the tallest, largest of the individuals here in our congregation became man? No. Is that like a Goliath, a nine-footer becoming man? No. This is the God who created the stars, billions of them, calls them each by name. This is the God who rules the entire universe, who is so incomprehensible, who is so immense. And for you ladies and women's Bible study, we on the earth are but this pit and prick in the universe. In the entire universe, earth is but a pinprick, if that. And upon this earth, here are you and I, six foot, seven foot tall, big people, huh? God became flesh. Not God. becoming a four pound nine ouncer, as impossible as that one could be. This is God. Created the earth in the span of six days. But it's added on the fourth day, and he made the stars also. Galaxies, miles. Stars so large they dwarf the size of the earth. God became flesh and dwelt amongst us. This is what Isaiah prophesied. This is what really happened in Bethlehem. This is what creates such awe in our minds that we cannot help but rejoice for our Savior our Redeemer, our Protector, our Deliverer, our Comforter, our Friend, the One who is coming again to take us to be with Him, is mighty God. Wonderful Consular, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. God's people say, Amen. Father, what an event took place in that stable of Bethlehem. It's not just a fable. It's not a myth. It's not a legend. It's historical reality. You, mighty God, came to us sinners to save us. for your glory and for your honor. May we, Father, be bold, courageous, joyful to proclaim the good news, the gospel. In Christ's name, God's people say, amen.