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Good evening to everyone. You 
can turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 9. Last Lord's Day evening, Pastor 
Butler for the Lord's Supper Sermon was preaching regarding 
Christ in the Old Testament. The fact that the Old Testament 
isn't Christless, but is much rather Christ-full, and the intention 
of the giving of the Revelation in the Old Testament is to make 
known the will of God and the promised Messiah, that one who 
would come, the hero born of woman who would crush the serpent 
with his heel, that one is coming. Revelation, building upon Revelation 
to that time, the fullness of the times when the Christ would 
come. and give his life for guilty sinners. And one of the passages 
he alluded to is Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. We're going to look at that passage, 
Isaiah's child of promise, not Isaiah's child, not a child that 
Isaiah would be the father of. but rather that one who would 
be given by God and be born of a virgin in due time to give 
His life for guilty sinners. We'll read Isaiah 9 beginning 
in verse 1 and finishing at verse 7. The Word of God. Nevertheless, 
the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at 
first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land 
of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her by the 
way of the sea beyond the Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles. The 
people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those 
who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a 
light has shined. You have multiplied the nation 
and increased its joy. they rejoice before you, according 
to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the 
spoil. For you have broken the yoke 
of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his 
oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every warrior's sandal from 
the noisy battle and garments rolled in blood will be used 
for burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given, And the government will be upon His shoulder, 
and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting 
Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government 
and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and 
over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment 
and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the 
Lord of hosts will perform this. Amen. Well, let us again pray. 
Heavenly Father, we thank you now. We can gather for the preaching 
of your Word. We would ask yet again that you 
would be with us. Help us, Lord God, by your Spirit 
to have our minds illuminated, that we might know in a greater 
way your revelation, that we might learn from Spirit and Word 
this evening. We might leave this place equipped 
to go into a week, that we might conduct ourselves unto your glory. 
and unto that manner which is worthy of the gospel of grace, 
we would pray that you would just help us now, that you would 
be honored, that Christ would be praised, and Lord God, that 
we would leave singing the praises of amazing grace. We pray in 
Christ's precious name. Amen. Around the time of Christmas 
we sing, and not that we should be limited to that time of year, 
but we sing a hymn, O Come, O Come, All Ye Faithful. Actually, that's 
not the hymn I was going for. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. That's 
the one I was searching for. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. That 
hymn is replete with Isaianic prophecy, with Isaiah's promises 
of this Son that would be born, who would redeem the sons of 
men, who would be that One who would give His life for guilty 
sinners. And we'll have occasion, perhaps, just to refer to that 
hymn later. But Isaiah 9 is much at the heart 
and center. The theology of it, the promise, 
the prophecy of Isaiah 9.6 is undergirding that hymn and hymns 
of the like. And it's rich with Christ, it's 
rich with promise, but we ought not to immediately jump to the 
New Covenant, the New Testament fulfillment and reality of it, 
without considering it in its context. In the context here, 
judgment is coming via Assyria. Judgment is coming upon God's 
covenant people by virtue of or for the reason of their covenantal 
disobedience. Judgment is coming upon covenant 
disobedient Israel. And notice the language of chapter 
8. If you're still in Isaiah there, 
notice, if you back up a little bit to Isaiah 8, notice in verse 
7, Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them the 
waters of the river, strong and mighty, the King of Assyria and 
all His glory. He will go up over all His channels 
and go over all His banks. He will pass through Judah. He 
will overflow and pass over. He will reach up to the neck, 
and the stretching out of His wings will fill the breadth of 
your land, O Emmanuel. Be shattered, O you peoples, 
and be broken in pieces. Give ear, all you from far countries. Gird yourselves, but be broken 
in pieces. Gird yourselves, but be broken 
in pieces. Take counsel together, but it 
will come to nothing. Speak the Word, but it will not 
stand, for God is with us." You see, the announcement is coming. 
Judgment is inevitable. Assyria, here He says, the Lord 
announces the King of Assyria in all His glory. They're coming 
to judge according to the curses of the covenant. And in what 
should people hope then? Where does the hope come? On 
the heels of the announcement of the inevitability of judgment 
from on high, where is the hope to come? Well, generally, it 
comes, no doubt, in their God, because we notice in Isaiah 8, 
verse 13, the Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow. Let Him 
be your fear, and let Him be your dread. He will be as a sanctuary, 
but a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense to both the 
houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem." Notice it goes on to say, "'Bind up the testimony, 
seal the law among My disciples, and I will wait on the Lord who 
hides His face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in 
Him. Assyria is coming. Righteous judgment from God is 
coming by virtue of that nation that He will raise up to be a 
tool in His sovereign hand. But you will find hope in Yahweh. You will find hope in God. Not only in God, of course, but 
also in God's Word. Verse 19, And when they say to 
you, Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and 
mutter, should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the 
dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony, 
if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there 
is no light in them. They are to find hope in their 
God and hope in the Word of God. And notice in verses 1 to 2 of 
chapter 9, with regards to this darkness that is punctured by 
a coming light, We're advancing to verse 6 of Isaiah 9, but notice 
in verse 1 of Isaiah 9, just to rehearse this again, Nevertheless, 
the gloom that is upon Israel, the gloom that is upon the covenant 
people, will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at 
first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land 
of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her. By the 
way of the sea beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles, the 
people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those 
who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a 
light has shined. If we were to fast forward to 
the book of Matthew, Matthew, who brings forth a lot of Isaiah 
into his Gospel. But if we were to fast forward 
to the book of Matthew, we would find Matthew going to this very 
verse when he's rehearsing the narrative concerning Jesus Christ 
our Lord. And he says with regards to the 
coming of Christ into this world and His earthly ministry, he 
says, upon them a light has shined. He cites Isaiah 9, 1 and 2, and 
he says that Jesus Christ is that light that punctures the 
darkness. Where is the hope in the face of this Assyrian captivity? Where is the hope in the face 
of this judgment from on high that comes by way of this King 
of Assyria? It doesn't come in the might 
of men. It doesn't come in earthly princes. It doesn't come in valiant 
armies and men that are strong in their military prowess. But 
it comes in this one in verse 6. Notice that there is a 4 in 
verse 6 of Isaiah 9. Everything that preceded it up 
through verse 5, and then 4, the reason for this. The reason behind, or the very 
weight and the power of this light that comes to puncture 
the darkness is found in what I'm about to say. For unto us 
a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the 
government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful 
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. What 
a wonderful thing. You know, it rubs against human 
wisdom, doesn't it? We would think that the answer 
to the darkness of an earthly leader raised up by God to bring 
the curses of the covenant, we would think that the answer to 
the doom and the gloom of this judgment would perhaps be a human 
valiant one that would come with military and physical prowess, 
wielding a physical sword and dashing to pieces the enemies 
of Israel. We come to verse 6 and we find 
that it is a child born. It's a son that's given. And 
this is the stuff that cheers the Christian heart. We want 
to look at four things, Lord willing and time willing. Those 
four things are these with regards to this hero that is set forth 
as the answer to the doom and the gloom that is coming. We 
want to look at his humble beginning, his royal commission, his divine 
majesty, and his perfect happiness. Notice His humble beginning. 
For unto us, a child is born. Unto us, a Son is given. He is a child. He doesn't come 
down from heaven upon a chariot of clouds. He doesn't descend 
upon a winged steed and come with the valiance of an outward 
and external and superficial show of glory and might. But 
rather, He is a child born, for unto us a child is born. This 
is building upon previous revelation. This is building upon the disclosure 
from on high of this hero that would come. We look back, of 
course, at Genesis 3.15, no doubt that one who would be born of 
a woman who would crush the head of the serpent and be bruised 
in the process. But notice in Isaiah chapter 
7. This is building upon the Immanuel 
prophecy that Isaiah has already spoken. O come, O come, Immanuel. The 
Old Testament saints had hearts of expectation. That song, O 
Come, O Come, Emmanuel, is in effect sung from the vantage 
point of an Old Testament saint longing for the coming of the 
consolation of Israel, longing for the coming of the hope of 
Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, we 
rehearse, we almost project ourselves back, if you will, to the vantage 
point of the remnant in Israel. who know that divine chastisement 
is coming, not only chastisement, divine wrath and judgment. The 
remnant is there, and they hear this prophecy, and we along with 
them sing, O come, O come, Emmanuel. And that's the stuff of Isaiah 
7, beginning in verse 13. Notice, then He said, Hear now, 
O house of David, it is a small thing for you to weary men, But 
will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will 
give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive 
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Matthew adds 
in his birth narrative, which is translated, God with us. We 
have this wonderful promise given by Isaiah here in Isaiah 7, no 
doubt already building upon the revelation of Genesis 3.15, that 
hero that would be born of a woman, and we come to Isaiah 9.6, for 
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. I think we 
can look at this passage, brethren, and we can see something of a 
reality. This is an evidence for, if you 
will, or an argument for the divine inspiration of the Holy 
Scriptures. For would we concoct a story 
of a hero that is a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in 
a manger, who is the victor and the hero of Israel? We wouldn't 
pen that into a tale if we were trying to build a religion and 
deceive men and, you know, sort of concoct some sort of a story 
to gain followers to ourselves. What we would do is say that 
we wandered alone into a desert and found a book in the ground. 
What we would do is we'd say that we were in a cave and the 
angel Gabriel came to us and gave us words of revelation. 
We would concoct nonsensical stories that perhaps would be 
marked by valiance and victory and all those sorts of things, 
but we would not come up with, our human minds, this child born, 
this son given. It's an evidence of divine inspiration. What a story, what a true narrative, 
what a glorious reality, this one given. He does not come with 
the pomp and the prominence of some sort of heavenly divine 
figure upon a chariot of clouds. a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, 
lying in a manger. He is a child. Notice as well, 
He is given to us. This is under His humble beginning. 
He's given to us. The language is, for unto us 
a child is born, unto us a son is given. It's the language of 
a gift, brethren. The language of a gift. The language 
of this having gift character is absolutely clear. What is 
this blessing that comes to the gloom and the darkness? The people 
who walked in darkness. Those who dwelt in the land of 
the shadow of death. What is the gift? What is the 
divine blessing that comes to puncture, to enter that darkness 
and cast away the gloom? Cast away that darkness. It is 
this child born, this son given. He's a gift. Our Lord Jesus Christ 
is a gift. This is the language of John 
in John 3.16, isn't it? For God so loved the world that 
He gave. His only begotten Son. Never 
skip past the language of gave and just think of it as some 
sort of mechanical divine sending. For God so loved the world that 
He gave. It's a divine gift that comes from amazing grace, eternal 
loving kindness of the triune God. It is a gift. This is interesting 
language in Romans 5, you can turn there, with regards to the 
language of gift. What's going on in Romans 5? 
The Apostle Paul is comparing the two Adams. The first Adam 
who brought death and sin and damnation, and the second Adam 
who brings life to all those who believe in him. First Adam, 
by his disobedience, brought sin to all his progeny. The second 
Adam, by the perfection of his righteousness, by the perfection 
of his obedience, brings life to the many who are found in 
him. But notice the language of gift associated in verse 15. This is Romans 5, verse 15. But 
the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's 
offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift 
by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that 
which came through the one who sinned, for the judgment which 
came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came 
from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense 
death reign through the one, much more those who receive abundance 
of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the 
one Jesus Christ. You see, it just strengthens 
the argument here. that justification is by faith 
alone. And that the righteousness which 
avails with God is not our own, but it is an alien and a foreign 
righteousness, the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received 
by faith alone. Why? Because it's a gift. The 
language is here that righteousness is a gift that God gives us. 
It doesn't come from within. It comes from without. God accounting 
us, crediting us as righteous by virtue of the gracious gifting 
of the righteousness of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Getting 
back to Isaiah then, unto us a child is born, unto us a Son 
is given. His humble beginning is that 
He is a child and that He is given to us, but notice well, 
Christ comes by virtue of a voluntary condescension on His own part 
as well. Language of Galatians. You see, 
we have the language in the Bible that the Father gives the Son 
to us. We have the reality that with 
respect to His divinity, Christ Jesus gives Himself, and respect 
to His humanity, gives Himself upon the cross. But Christ gives 
himself, Galatians 1.4 and Galatians 2.20. He is a gift to us. It's quite the thing that we 
have here if we consider that only three chapters earlier, 
this child that's born, this son that's given is the one that 
Isaiah sees high and lifted up, the lofty one in the temple. When he uses that language, the 
train of his robe filling the temple. Couple a couple positions 
on that if we preached on that a while back But that could mean 
that Isaiah is seeing this vision of God manifesting himself after 
the manner of men it's a an accommodation to show Isaiah the glory of God 
and he sees a Divine a divine kingly finger figure it's there 
Yahweh disclosing himself and he sees this one with the train 
of his robe filling the temple and Another interpretation is 
that it's just the hem of His garment that's filling the temple. Why? Because He's so glorious. 
He's so immense. He's so majestic that only the 
smallest hem of a robe fills the temple. He reveals Himself 
in such a way that Isaiah can only behold a piece of garment 
filling the temple. We fast forward to Isaiah 9, 
6, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, that 
one whose hem of the robe filled the temple is now a babe wrapped 
in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. We need to move on 
to his royal commission, but before we do that, one application 
at this point is to count your blessings. Count your blessings. Jesus Christ is a gift to us. 
There's an old bedtime song. I don't know where it first originated. It's from the 1950s. The first 
person I knew to sing it was Bing Crosby, but it might have 
preceded him. But the song says, when you're 
worried and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead 
of sheep and you'll fall asleep counting your blessings. It's 
good instruction from being there. Count your blessings instead 
of sheep. I remember making this mistake 
as a father. One of my daughters, Marissa, couldn't get to sleep 
one night, and I said, why don't you try counting sheep? And I 
left, and she called me back, and I went back into the room, 
and I'm like, what's the problem? And she's like, well, I tried 
counting sheep, but they keep hitting the fence. I thought 
that was quite clever and funny. But you see, getting back to 
higher and sacred things, we're to count our blessings. And what 
is the highest of those blessings but a son given? This child that 
was born. This Christ who came into the 
world to give His life for guilty sinners. When we pray, children, 
adults, when we pray, we are definitely to rehearse everything. 
God, out of His infinite bounty, blesses us with gift upon gift. 
To go to God in prayer and thank Him for food and for drink and 
for air in our lungs, for health, being able to walk and being 
able to use all four limbs as an absolute blessing. We have 
so much to be thankful for, but the chief of all those blessings 
is this hope of Israel. this child born, this Son given, 
this One who would give His life for sinners. Count your blessings 
instead of sheep and set as the chief of blessing in your heart 
this Son given, this Child born. Notice His royal commission. 
And the government will be upon His shoulder. The government 
will be upon His shoulder. What does that mean? Some have 
taken that to mean that Not that the government will be upon his 
shoulder, that he'll be given a royal commission, that he will 
be the one who has dignity and rule, but rather that externally 
an opposing government will be a burden upon him. In the case 
of the life and times of Christ, the unbelieving Jews in the Roman 
Empire. The view is that that government, 
those two conspiring, the kings of the earth and the Psalm 2 
conspirators are oppressing this one who is born, this one who 
is born and who grows and who is ultimately crucified upon 
Calvary's tree under the lawless hands of his opposers. That's 
sort of the idea that some would give to it. Some even would say 
that it's a reference to the cross. The government will be 
upon His shoulder. I don't know where they get government 
being crossed, but Christ carried the cross upon His shoulder. That's not what Isaiah is intending 
to set forth here, but rather, it seems clear in the context 
that this means Christ has a royal dignity in His office and associated 
rule. Notice the language used in Isaiah 
22 with regards to this same thing. Isaiah 22. When you get to Isaiah 22, you 
can turn to verse 22. The key of the house of David 
I will lay on his shoulder, so he shall open and no one shall 
shut, and he shall shut and no one shall open. John the Revelator 
in Revelations 3 picks this up with regards to Christ Jesus 
himself. The idea has to do with something 
that bedecked an earthly ruler around the shoulders that was 
a sign of rule and functioned as an implement of rule. That 
particular verse is in the hymn that I was speaking about, O 
Come, O Come, Emmanuel. You might recognize this language 
with regards to what we just said in this particular hymn. O come, thou Key of David, come, 
and open wide our heavenly home. Make safe the way that leads 
on high, and close the path to misery. You see, the key of David 
was being used here in Isaiah 22.22 with reference to the government 
that would be upon the shoulder of this child born, this son 
given. He has a royal dignity. He has 
associated rule that comes with one who has royal dignity. And the vindication of that interpretation 
comes in the very next verse. Verse 7, of the increase of His 
government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of 
David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with 
judgment and justice, from that time forward, even forever, the 
zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. This child born, 
this son given, is also a king. It's beautiful, isn't it, as 
Christians to think of our Lord Jesus Christ as king. Jesus Christ 
thought of Himself this way, didn't He? Don't you love that 
scene as He's on the day of His crucifixion before Pilate? And 
Pilate's thinking himself to be quite the fellow. And Christ 
has already gone through the garden sorrow. He's already been 
in the garden of Gethsemane. He's already cried out to the 
Father. Father, if it is possible, let 
this cup of wrath pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but 
Thine be done. He's already gone through that 
in this earthly pilot, this earthly governor. is questioning him. We find in verse 34 of John 18, 
Jesus answered him, Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did 
others tell you this concerning me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? 
Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to 
me. What have you done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is 
not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, 
My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to 
the Jews. But now My kingdom is not from here. Pilate therefore 
said to Him, Are You a king then? Jesus answered, You say rightly 
that I am a king. Hopefully, not that this is anything 
that I can bind your consciences with, but hopefully your heart 
swells with warm affections for this Christ, and feelings of 
even victory. When you read these words, Jesus 
answered, you say rightly that I am a king. Notice what he says 
next, for this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come 
into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone 
who is of the truth hears my voice. You say rightly that I 
am a king. Glorious Savior, glorious redeeming 
king. What sort of application can 
we take from this? Well, before we get to that, 
we ought to rehearse what this kingship means. Largely, no doubt, 
this means that the Lord Jesus Christ has sovereign rule and 
kingship over all things. Largely speaking, what do we 
read in our Bibles concerning this child that's born, this 
son that is given? We read that the nations of this 
world have become the nations of our God and of His Christ. 
Wow. You see, that's encouragement 
to our hearts in the face of such political and social madness. We can look upon a world that 
seems to want to burn itself, and we don't need to just abandon 
ourselves to anxiety and worry and loss, but we can know for 
a certainty that this one is king, that this one has sovereign 
and divine commission, that this one is the ruler of the nations, 
Revelation says. Not only is He the Ruler and 
the King and the Sovereign over all things, but He is specifically 
Ruler over all things for the church. Our Confession has a 
wonderful paragraph in chapter 8 of Christ the Mediator, rehearsing 
the very things, bringing together biblical data to highlight the 
reality of this glorious One. And it reads this way, It pleased 
God in His eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, 
His only begotten Son, according to the covenant made between 
them both, to be the mediator between God and man, the prophet, 
priest, and king, head and Savior of the church, and heir of all 
things, and judge of the world. Unto whom He did from all eternity 
give a people to be His seed, and to be by Him in time redeemed, 
called, justified, sanctified, and glorified." You see that 
there? He's king. head and Savior of the church, 
heir of all things. What confidence we have as Christians 
to have such a glorious and certain truth in the Savior. That is 
the application, that when we are tempted to worry and become 
anxious because of the world burning itself, we have the King 
of kings and the Lord of lords. rules and reigns over all things. 
He's been put at the right hand of God where He ever lives, yes, 
to make intercession for His people, but also to lower His 
boot upon His enemies. It's glorious. Those Christians 
were being dragged away to death by Pliny the Younger for not 
bending a knee and worshiping the image of Trajan. And they 
wouldn't curse Christ. I like to think that they were 
singing that hymn to Christ as to God, because they knew He 
was ruling King. They knew that the nations of 
this world had been given to our God and to His Christ. Notice as well His divine majesty. We're back in Isaiah 9 now. Notice 
His divine majesty. For unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder, 
and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting 
Father, Prince of Peace. Hopefully you read that. And 
again, brethren, as Christians, these are the sorts of passages, 
I mean, I'm sure we can gain much by a reading of genealogies. 
That's the inspired Word of God. There are those texts, aren't 
there, where our eyes land upon them and our hearts are to be 
warmed by the weight and the majesty of the things here, in 
this case, ascribed to this child born and this son given. His 
name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting 
Father, Prince of Peace." Notice first, divine purpose and wisdom. 
He's called Wonderful Counselor. Note that this name and this 
reality, this authority, this reputation of this Child Born 
and Son Given is to evoke wonder. He's Wonderful Counselor. We 
are to marvel. at the wisdom and the divine 
majesty of this one. You ever come across in your 
Bibles the language, and I know we've done this before, but it's 
a good reminder, whenever you come across the language of behold 
or lo in your Bibles, Those are God's way through His 
prophets, through His human instruments, through those whom He superintends, 
to bring attention, to marvel at something. Lo, I am with you 
always, even to the end of the age. To marvel at those things. Here, by this name, Wonderful 
Counselor, we're to be brought to a place of wonder. the wisdom 
and the majesty of this Lord Jesus Christ. He executes an 
eternal purpose. His wisdom and His counsel stretches 
back into eternity. He's a wonderful counselor. He 
doesn't just come into this world empty of a purpose, as if He 
rolls about from day to day. reacting and interacting and 
seeing what happens and devising plans as He goes along. No, He 
comes after, Paul tells us in Ephesians 3.11, an eternal purpose. There is an eternal purpose. 
The infinite and divine wisdom that we have in our Christ is 
seen in this name. Wonderful Counselor. With Him, 
our wisdom and counsel, Job says. inundated by these, you know, 
these bad physicians, his friends that are seeking to give him 
advice, and he goes, wait a minute, I'm paraphrasing. With God, our 
wisdom and counsel, he has understanding. Here we have that. This Christ 
is wonderful counselor, and we're to avail of his counsel because 
therein is true wisdom. Paul in his letter to the Colossians 
says that God has bestowed upon Christ the fullness of wisdom 
and knowledge beyond even measure. We come to our Christ and there 
we find good counsel. You see, this is juxtaposed, 
if you will, to verse 10 of chapter 8. Take counsel together, but 
it will come to nothing, the text says. Assyria is coming. Let's bring ourselves together. Let's take counsel together. 
Let's, as wise men, boast in our wisdom, Jeremiah 9, and see 
if we can answer this opposition. Well, no, it is absolutely inevitable, 
and the only hope is this One who alone has counsel, who is 
Wonderful Counselor. Notice His divine power. He is 
Mighty God. He is Wonderful Counselor. He 
is Mighty God. His unmitigated deity is therein 
ascribed and set forth. Pastor Butler last week noted 
that the Jehovah's Witnesses will come to this passage and 
they'll say, well, you see, Jesus isn't truly God because it says 
mighty God, it doesn't say almighty God. Again, A, we have a problem 
with polytheism, like Jim said last time, but also, notice the 
language in Deuteronomy. Just a couple verses that ascribe 
the word mighty to Yahweh of Israel. You can turn to Deuteronomy 
7. Deuteronomy 7 verse 8. Notice what we find there. But 
because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath 
which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out 
with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage 
from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt." Verse 19 of the same 
chapter. Notice, "...the great trials 
which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand 
and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you 
out, Notice as well in Deuteronomy 10.17, Deuteronomy 10.17, For 
the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great 
God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes 
a bribe. Notice the language there again, 
God of gods, Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome. If that isn't enough of an argument, 
no doubt we couldn't exhaust the rest of the text in the Old 
Testament leading up to this point, but Isaiah himself, notice 
in Isaiah chapter 10, only a chapter later, in Isaiah 10, in verse 
21, the remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob to the mighty 
God, and as well in verse 34. He will cut down the thickets 
of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty 
One." So it's a silly argument, of course, to say, well, Mighty 
God isn't as high and lofty as Almighty God. It's the same thing. It's the same divine glory. Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. of one's substance, power, and 
eternity, having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided. Wonderful counselor, mighty God. 
We're going to close here in a few moments, but think about 
this for a second with regards to the language of child-born, 
son-given. You know, when we fast forward 
to the actual birth narratives, when the babe is wrapped in swaddling 
cloths, lying in a manger, You know that the angels are still 
worshiping Him as God. Have you ever considered the 
passage there in Luke 2.14? Perhaps we might just skip past 
it and just perhaps think, okay, you know, that's just speaking 
about God in the abstract or perhaps just a reference to God 
the Father when it says, when the angels sing, glory to God 
in the highest. What do we read in Hebrews 1.6? 
When He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, let 
all the angels of God worship Him. When the angels are worshipping 
God in Luke 2.14, they're worshipping Christ. Let all the angels of 
God worship Him. This one is born in the city 
of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord, and the angels gather 
around and they worship Him, saying, Glory to God in the highest. What do we sing? Another hymn 
that we sing. Hark the herald angels sing. What? Glory to the 
newborn King. What's in the background there? 
Luke 2.14. Veiled in flesh, the Godhead 
see. Hail the incarnate deity. He 
is mighty God. He is everlasting Father. That speaks to, very quickly, 
divine headship or parenthood. It's not speaking about the persons 
of the Trinity. There's not some sort of contradiction 
there. It's not speaking of intra-Trinitarian 
relationships when it calls Christ. everlasting father. It could 
be speaking to the fact that he has a fatherly character. 
Psalm 103, God pities his people as a father pities his children. Could refer to the fact that 
he has a relation of spiritual parenthood to his people. He 
is the author and preserver of eternal life. Spurgeon, at this 
passage, calls Christ our spiritual parent. He gives us salvation 
and He sends His Spirit, applying the benefits of redemption to 
our souls. Perhaps, as Gil summarizes, He 
is a mediatorial head. We are the children and offspring 
given to Him in the everlasting covenant. He is the everlasting 
Father in that covenantal and mediatorial sense. Gil, rather, 
writes, Christ is the father or author as the law came by 
Moses and he was the father of the legal dispensation. Now, 
that isn't the way that dispensationalists use the word dispensation. He's 
contrasting Old Covenant to new covenant. He was the Father, 
Moses was, of the legal dispensation. Grace and truth are come by Christ, 
the Father and Author of the gospel dispensation. The doctrines 
of it are from Him, and the ordinances of it are by Him, and He is the 
Father of that state or world to come after the resurrection, 
the new Jerusalem church state, and also of the ultimate glory. And lastly, notice what we have. 
We have His perfect happiness. He is the Prince of Peace. I 
love this language. He's the Prince of Peace. When 
we say His perfect happiness, we're not meaning His, though 
He is perfectly happy. As God, He is undiminished in 
His beatitude, in His happiness, in His bliss. It doesn't ebb 
and flow. It doesn't wax and wane. Christ, 
according to His divinity, never sorrows or grieves. According 
to His humanity, He did in the days of His flesh sorrow and 
grieve. He was not marked by a perfect 
human happiness, but often had sorrow of soul, travail of soul. Now, though in His exalted glory, 
according to His humanity, He is perfectly happy. But what 
do we mean by perfect happiness? Well, the text says He is the 
Prince of Peace, that is, to us. He's the Prince of Peace. He is peace embodied, according 
to Ephesians 2.14. For He Himself is our peace. Have you ever thought of that? 
Christ is peace. Christ is... He Himself is our 
peace. This is the announcement of the prophet in Micah. That 
this one who is from everlasting, who will be a king, a ruler, 
to come from out of that littlest of the thousands of Judah, Bethlehem, 
this one will be peace. The text says, and he brings 
saving peace. He brings saving peace to us. You ever think about that language 
in Romans 5, 1, and meditate upon it? Therefore being justified 
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Talk about another gift. Peace with God through our Lord 
Jesus Christ. At once being at enmity. Him 
being angry with us rightly and perfectly, wholesome severity 
against the sons of disobedience. We though in sinful anger against 
Him, waving our sinful fists, the Father of lights. Christ 
comes and He brings peace between God and man. That again was the 
hymn of the angels. Glory to God in the highest, 
peace on earth and goodwill toward men. He brings saving peace. And we'll close with this acknowledgement. I want you to turn with me to 
Colossians, a passage that no doubt you're familiar with, but 
the means of peace. Again, an evidence of the divine 
inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures themselves are 
self-attesting to their divine origin because no man brings 
peace like this. No man concocts stories. of such 
a glorious way of bringing peace between God and men. In Colossians 
1.19 we read for it, "...pleased the Father that in Him all the 
fullness should dwell. And by Him," this is Christ of 
course, "...to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him whether 
things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through 
the blood of His cross." Imagine if you were there on that day. I'm not trying to encourage you 
to concoct any vain imaginings in your mind in violation of 
the second commandment, but imagine if you were there that day and 
you were one of the witnesses to this crucifixion. You wouldn't be thinking peace 
when you looked at that, would you? This bloody massacre on 
that Roman gibbet of execution, the cross of Golgotha, Would 
you be looking at that and saying, peace? Now, if you had been instructed 
after God and you were a believer, there would be something, of 
course, where you would know that this is the means by which 
the Messiah affects the salvation of His people, Isaiah 53. But 
looking upon that and thinking about it with just human minds 
for a second, we don't think peace when we look at the cross. 
We think, blood, we think execution, we think murder, we think all 
manner of physical travesty. But our Bibles come to us with 
the glory of the inspiration of God, and they disclose the 
reality that peace comes through the massacre at Calvary. Peace 
comes through that. Peace between God and men. Brethren, 
count your blessings. We have this Son given and this 
Child given, this Child born, this Son given. Count your blessings 
and don't be anxious. Christ is King and He has effected 
peace for us. You know, there's another aspect 
of that peace. There is that juridical peace 
that comes by virtue of justification, by the righteousness of Christ. 
But as well, have peace of mind. Peace of mind in Christ. Your 
guilt has been removed by the perfection of the saving work 
of that child born, that son given, that royally dignified 
one. You have peace of mind. When 
you sin, do not cast yourselves into a season of self-loathing. 
fly immediately to the fount that's opened up for sin and 
for uncleanness, who by His cross work has brought peace to the 
sons of men. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank You for Your Word. We rejoice in Your revelation 
to men. We thank You for this passage 
from so long ago. that discloses the glory of Christ 
and His being born of a woman, born under the law to redeem 
those under the curse of the law. We do pray that You would 
help us to rejoice in Him, that we would find in Him our all 
in all, that we would be anxious in nothing, because we know that 
we have that peace which surpasses all understanding. We have Christ 
Jesus as King. We have the reality of salvation 
by free and sovereign grace. And we pray that we would often 
come to You in prayer with thanksgiving, making known our gratitude for 
having gifted us with so great a gift. We do pray that you go 
with us into this week, that we might sing the praises of 
this Christ, that we might live according to His Gospel, and 
God, that we would return back again on the next Lord's Day, 
seeking to do all of this again, that we might continue to rejoice 
as a gathered church in the blessings of free and sovereign grace. 
And we pray in the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Amen.