The word of God that we read now is Isaiah chapter nine. Isaiah nine, we'll read the whole of that passage of scripture. Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by way of the sea beyond Jordan, in Galilee, of the nation. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation and not increased the joy. They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. Thou hast 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 battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood, but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. The Lord sent a word unto Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim, an inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, the bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones. The sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of reason against him and join his enemies together, the Syrians before and the Philistines behind, and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, Neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush in one day. The ancient and honorable, he is the head, and the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail. The leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed. For the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widow, for every one is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burneth as the fire, it shall devour the briars and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest. and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts as the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire, no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry, and he shall eat on the left hand and they shall not be satisfied. They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh Ephraim and Ephraim Manasseh, and they together shall be against Judah. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." Read God's word thus far, and now direct your attention to our text, which is verse six of this chapter. For unto us a child is born, and to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Prophet Isaiah, beloved, was prophesying to Judah prior to their captivity. That was a very dark time in the history of the people of God and of the Church of God in the Old Testament. You see that in the context here, the last verse of the previous chapter. They shall look unto the earth and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, and they shall be driven to darkness. Notice that also in verse 2 of chapter 9, the people that walk in darkness. This was the time when the nation had sunk into terrible apostasy. time when the kingdom of Judah was fast declining, and soon the judgment of God would come upon them. And Isaiah was sent to announce that judgment of God, and the people had heard that judgment. And over them, therefore, hung the darkness of the upcoming captivity in the land of Babylon. Severe judgment of God to punish the wicked and to chastise the righteous in the nation of Judah. Things were very dark. They seemed hopeless. In the midst of that, God brought to the remnant of his church and of his people a word of hope. That's noted, first of all, in verse 2 of this chapter. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light A ray of light, a ray of hope in the midst of the darkness and hopelessness that surrounded the nation of Judah and the people of God at that time. And then verse 4 as well, for thou hast broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. The yoke and the rod of the oppressor, the oppressor of the church and of the people of God, the Babylonians, would one day be broken by God and their captivity would end. They would, after 70 years as we know, return to the promised land. For that reason, though The days were dark, and the darkness of the judgment of God hung over them. On account of the word of God to them concerning their deliverance and their salvation, the people of God could rejoice. Verse 3, they joy. They joy according to the joy in harvest. and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. God did not forsake his church. God did not abandon the remnant of his people. He brought to them the gospel. He brought to them a gospel of comfort and a gospel of hope. He brought to them a word concerning a deliverance from Babylon that would typify their spiritual deliverance from their spiritual enemies, the devil and the world, death and hell. And the church of Christ was able to rejoice. And all of that would happen, and God would cause all of that to happen for them, and all of that would surely come to pass for them because of the Savior that God would send them as that Savior is described in the words of our text. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. As you look at the text, beloved, you'll notice that the text is a confession. The church itself confesses that this is who has been given to us and who has been born to us. It's the confession of the church. It's not the confession of the world. It's not the confession of the ungodly. Though the ungodly world around us may, especially at this time of year, sometimes speak of Jesus, speak of Christ, speak of the Child that is born, speak of the Son that is given, they do so only because they are attracted to the Son of God with the hope that through and because of him there may be peace on earth. And although men in general speak of him who is wonderful, who is counselor, who is the mighty God and the everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace, they are not interested in his peace. They are not interested in the peace that we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. They are not interested in peace that comes to us because of sin being forgiven. They simply want earthly peace. They want nothing, therefore, really to do with the truths concerning our Savior that are set forth in this text. because of which they cannot have peace. There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord, and because of which they cannot rejoice. There is no joy, no true joy amongst the ungodly. The text is the confession of the church. The text is the confession of the believer And because it is our confession, we are able to rejoice. In the midst of the darkness that surrounds us in this world, and in the depths of the darkness that we sometimes experience in our lives, God gives to us reason for joy. It might be difficult for many to rejoice on account of earthly things, but the Lord directs us to that which gives us the source of our joy. We rejoice because God has given to us his Son. We rejoice because of Him who is named in our text, wonderful, wonderful. That's the name upon which we focus our attention then as we consider this text under the theme, The Child Named Wonderful. And note concerning that the meaning, the reason, and the joy. What is immediately striking, beloved, concerning this Old Testament prophecy is that it was written as though it was already fulfilled. The text does not say, unto us a child will be born, unto us a son will be given, but a child is born, a son is given, and that was stated many, many centuries before it actually occurred. stated as though it is already an accomplished fact. And what that conveys and what God purposes to convey to us through that, and especially to convey to His people through that in the Old Testament, was the certainty of this happening. It was stated that way because it was so sure that this would take place. This was the will of God. God's will would be accomplished by God. Even though, therefore, the Church in the Old Testament, the remnant, the faithful, had to wait for this to actually happen, to come to reality, nevertheless they are given this word of hope already, they are comforted already, and they were already able to rejoice because the child is born. and the son is given already to them. We have, of course, the privilege of standing in history at a place where this has already taken place. It has already happened. It has been fulfilled. And so we're able to look back in history, and we're able to see clearly, as that is recorded for us in the Scriptures, we're able to see clearly who it is that was born, and who it is that was given. We're able to know by faith, in the Word of God, that the child that was given by God was not just any child. The child that God gave was the Messiah. The child that God gave was Jesus who would save His people from their sins. We're able to look back at the Word of God and to look at the Word of God by faith and to know that the Son that was given was not just any son, but this was the Son of God. This was God in our flesh that was given to us. We're able to look back and to know that He who was born and He who was given this child and this Son of which the text speaks is our Savior. And we're able to look back and to know that of all the gifts that God has given us, and there are countless gifts that God gives to us, the greatest gift is the gift of this child, the Son of God. The unspeakable gift, the indescribable gift that God has given us. Now the Son of God, who came as a child and who is referred to in our text, is also given in the words of our text various names. A list of them, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. That He has given those names does not mean that when the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth that He was specifically called by each of those names. We know He wasn't. Common names that were used by Him and in reference to Him were Jesus, Christ, Lord, Son of God. Son of man. The idea of these names as they are given us in this text and listed here is that these are names that were given by God to His Son, and therefore these are names that describe Him. These are names that reveal Him to us. They tell us certain truths about Him. God-given names that tell us who this person is. God-given names that tell us what this man, this son, this child is like. And God-given names that tell us and reveal to us what he will do, what he does. So that when he was on earth, He showed himself in his person and in all his work upon earth to be Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. The first mentioned name is Wonderful. mentioned first, because that's the most prominent position in the list of names. The literal meaning of that name, Wonderful, is miraculous. Miraculous. He is marvelous. He is extraordinary. He is given the name here in this text, Miracle. Miracle. And He is so great a miracle of God, so marvelous a miracle of God, such an extraordinary one that it is difficult for us to understand and to comprehend Him and to explain Him whom God has given to us. He whom God sent and the child and son that God gave is the wonder of all wonders, the miracle of all miracles, and not simply because he did many miracles, but because he is himself the miracle of God. Everything concerning him. And everything concerning God giving His Son to us is miraculous, is beyond our comprehension, is beyond us to fully understand and explain. The text itself indicates the richness of this name, wonderful or miracle. This name is first, as I said. This name is first because this is the main name set forth here in this text. All of the other names follow, and all of the other names further explain to us why He is wonderful, why He is the miracle of God. He is wonderful because He is the Counselor. He is wonderful because He is the Mighty God. He is wonderful because He is the Everlasting Father. He is wonderful because He is the Prince of Peace. We focus, however, on that first name. Wonderful. The miracle. the marvelous and the extraordinary wonder of God. And the question we ask is, why? Why is he wonderful? Why is he miraculous? Why is he the miracle of God? The Scripture itself answers that question for us. The New Testament Scriptures especially, showing clearly why Jesus Christ, the gift of God, the Child and the Son that He has given us, is the wonder of all wonders, the miracle of all miracles. Consider first, beloved, His coming into this world, that is, that God the Son came into this world. He who was fully divine, He who was from all eternity, the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, took to Himself a human nature. and was born as a human. The Almighty Son of God lived as a man for a time amongst men, and He lived in a weak and a human nature. The everywhere present Son of God, the omnipresent One, lived within the limits of a human body. And that was true of the baby in Bethlehem, the baby in the manger in Bethlehem. He was, as to his person, the infinite, eternal, almighty, and everywhere present God. But there he lay in a manger, human and limited. And if you were to have seen him, there would have been no evidence that he was the infinite, eternal, and almighty and omnipresent God that was lying there in the manger. That's miraculous. That's inexplicable to us. God in our flesh. Son of God as a human. That's why he is named Wonderful, miraculous. Consider, too, that he was born of a virgin. That's unheard of. We would say that's a human impossibility. He was conceived in the womb of a woman without the involvement of a man. And we might add, because of the advances in medicine, without a doctor being involved. And he was conceived in that virgin and born from that virgin. And we say, that doesn't happen. That cannot happen. But it did happen. It was miraculous. We stand in awe of what God accomplished there. Conception through the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary and we confess that was a wonder work of God. That's why his name is wonderful, miraculous. And then we consider the work that he did for us. The wonderful, the miraculous work of being our substitute before God and under the wrath of God. He took on Himself all of our sin and all of our guilt. He took upon himself a load, a burden, an amount of sin and guilt that we cannot measure and that we cannot comprehend. And he suffered because of it all of his life long on this earth. He suffered for it from the very beginning of his life with his lowly birth. He suffered it throughout his lifetime as the one who was homeless. The foxes have dens, the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has not a place to lay his head. He had no place that he could call home. He suffered because he was hated. He suffered as the one who was mocked and despised by men and ostracized by them. Hated like no one else has ever been hated. And then he died because of the load of sin that he took upon himself. He died on the cross. He suffered the wrath of God. He experienced and extinguished for us the fires of hell. He faced terrible torments of soul, but thereby he attained salvation for us, obtained for us the favor of God and life eternal. That's miraculous. And think too in that connection of the wonderful work of causing us by His Spirit to receive all of those blessings of salvation. By the Spirit who works powerfully in every child of God to change our hard hearts into hearts of flesh. The work of regeneration which is at least as great as, according to the canons of Dort, remember, as great as God's work of creation of the universe. The work of faith that the Spirit works in our hearts so that we are turned from unbelief to belief, from rejection of God to trusting in God. from having no interest in Christ to embracing Christ as our Savior, and giving us life instead of death, pardon instead of punishment, peace instead of the hatred of God against us, joy instead of sorrow, comfort instead of misery, Hope instead of despair. Those are all works of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, and all explanations of why he is wonderful, miraculous. Stand before that reality and you say, how could someone take Al-Plai? How could there be someone who was able to take our place and able to suffer the wrath of God instead of us? And why would there be someone who is willing to do that? Willing to do that and to face all of that terrible, awful, heart-wrenching, soul-wrenching destroying, from an earthly point of view, punishment for sin and suffering for others who don't deserve it. Why would he be willing to become poor in order to make us rich? Why would he do that for us who are undeserving? and who have been undeserving from the very start of our life and existence, and who still are undeserving. That's all a wonder, a miracle. It's no wonder that his name is wonderful. And then, too, beloved, consider the fact, as the text clearly implies, that God gave him to us. Gave him to us sinners. The scriptures make clear that the people of God are wretched sinners. Adam was. God created him perfect. God established a relationship, a blessed relationship of covenant fellowship with Adam. But Adam chose the devil instead of God. David was a sinner. David was a man, as you know, who was a man after God's own heart, but he committed adultery and he committed murder. Peter was a wretched sinner. During Christ's last days, he confessed again and again his undying love and devotion to Jesus Christ. But just hours later, he denied him. Said three times, I know not of whom you speak. I know not the mayor. I have had nothing to do with him. And we are no different. We sin every day. We are guilty sinners before God. And yet God still gave the gift of his son. He did that to the nation of Judah. He has done that to us. He has given his son to those who have no right to receive his son. He has done that to those who have no right to any of the blessings that Christ has earned for us. And in giving us this child, this son, God has given to us that which was dearest to him, his own eternally beloved son. Why? Why did he bother to give him to you? and to me. Will you ever understand why God has done that? Will I? The love of God for us is too great for us to comprehend. His gift of his son is a marvel, a miracle, a wonder. No wonder that his name is wonderful. The context here refers to and speaks of the response of faith to all this, that in verse 3. Thou hast multiplied the nation and not increased the joy. They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. One thing we ought to note there, beloved, is when it says there, and not increase the joy, literally, it would be better for that to say, and to him increase the joy. The thrust of verse 3 is God has given to His church reason for joy, and the joy that is manifested by the saints of God on account of what God has done in giving us that child and that son who is wonderful is a joy that is compared to the joy in harvest. Very familiar with harvest. A small seed is put into the ground, one minute seed, and it produces an abundance of fruit. That in itself is a miracle. We have recently experienced that, and if you just compare the amount of seed that is put into the soil compared to the amount of harvest that God gives, then we rejoice, the farmer rejoices, at the miraculous increase and the great abundance that God has given. And that, the text says, is the kind of joy that we have at God's wonder work of salvation through Christ the wonder. God has provided us a miraculous abundance through Him. Nothing ordinary about it, nothing normal about it. And when once we realize and acknowledge and experience, as we do by faith, the abundance that God has given us, then we really cannot help but rejoice. Rejoice. at God's gift of this son and this child. So our joy at this time of year is on account of what God has done and given. The name wonderful, miraculous, itself is a reminder that this is His work and not man's work. Our focus is on what God has done. But there's more that indicates that, and that is God makes clear that it is His work by the timing of the giving of His Son. That's evident, first of all, in the passage itself and the announcement of this and the confession of this by his church in the Old Testament. God announced and God prophesied here through the prophet Isaiah the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ at a time when the church was in one of its darkest hour. The people walked in darkness at this time. The same was true when God actually sent the Lord Jesus Christ into this world. He was sent, he was born into this world at a time when the church was under the same circumstances as the church was in the Old Testament when this prophecy came. Those were dark times for Old Testament Judah when Isaiah spoke to them, and those dark times for the Old Testament church pointed ahead to the dark times that the New Testament church would be in when Christ would come. The 400 years of silence that led up to the birth of Christ. The 400 years where they never heard a word from God, and to the faithful remnant in the nation of Judah and in the church of that day, it seemed impossible that the Savior would still come, that He would still be born. The days were dark, and then God sent His Son. God often does that. He causes darkness to settle heavily upon His church and upon His people before He shines forth with the light of the gospel and breaks through with that light of the gospel. Many instances of that in Scripture. The flood. It seemed that the church was almost gone, eight souls, and that was it. And then God sent the flood and saved his church. The children of Israel in the land of Egypt, it seemed that they would never break free. everything hopeless from a human perspective. And then God sent the deliverer, Moses, and saved them. The children of Israel crossing the Red Sea, cornered by the pursuing hosts of the Egyptian army. Certain in their minds was that they were trapped and that they would be destroyed. And then God opened up the waters of the Red Sea and saved them. That's even how it can be in the church today. Many troubles. The future can seem to be hopeless to us. That's also how it will be for the church at the end of time, just before Christ returns even. Great tribulation, the church almost gone, almost destroyed in this world. God works that way to show that the salvation of the church and the salvation of the people of God and your salvation and mine is nothing of man. What can man do to deliver himself when things are so dark and so hopeless? What can man do to save himself from a world of wickedness if God did not send the flood to save them? What could man have done to deliver himself? What could the Israelites have done to deliver themselves from Egypt? If God did not come through Moses with those 10 plagues and destroy the enemy of the church and weaken them. God demonstrating very powerfully through that, that salvation is of the Lord. God's work and not the work of man. Salvation is a wonder, always, always a miracle. And that's why his son, the child that was born, is named Wonderful, the miracle. Our only hope is in him, and we need him who is wonderful. God has given him to us. That's whom God has given, that's whom God has sent, and therefore we can truly rejoice. That's our joy. Our joy at this time of year, and our joy always. We're not joyful because we're touched by the so-called Christmas spirit at this time of year. We don't rejoice because, well, now's the time of year where you're supposed to be joyful, so you better be joyful. Join in, join in. We're not joyful because we have so many earthly things to be happy about, but we rejoice because of this miracle of God. God giving his son, whose name is wonderful, the wonder of all wonders, because of whom and through whom we have been saved. So may that, beloved, then be the focus of and the reason for joy on our part. That's the key to being able to rejoice no matter what the circumstances of our lives are. May God give us the grace to do so and to have true joy and thanksgiving to God. Amen. Father in heaven, we are thankful to thee for thy gift of thyself to us, the wonder of all wonders, the miracle of all miracles, and that to undeserving sinners such as we. And thereby, and through this gospel, thou dost show us that we have reason for true joy in our hearts. We have been saved. We have been forgiven. We have been reconciled to the our God. We have been delivered from hell. We are the heirs of life eternal. Thanks be to Thee, O God, for the gift of Thy Son, the Child who was born, whose name is wonderful. In His name we pray, Amen.