If you would please open to Isaiah chapter nine. Well, speaking of Christmas hymns, perhaps you're familiar with the Christmas hymn, who is he in yonder stall at whose feet the shepherds fall? Who is he in deep distress fasting in the wilderness? My message this morning seeks to answer these questions and to do so from an Old Testament prophetic point of view. Isaiah chapter 9 and verses 6 and 7. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the 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 justice from henceforth even forever, The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you so much for the birth of the Savior. We thank you for the Christmas holiday that is that annual reminder to us of the incarnation, the eternally preexistent Son of God, taking on human flesh, and dwelling among us, walking with fallen humanity, sinners, though He Himself was without sin, perfect in all of His ways. And yet He was accused and tried and crucified to hang on that cross to be our Savior. And Lord, I pray that You will speak to us in this hour as we look into Your Word, as meditate upon the Savior, on his full identity, and look into these titles that are given to him from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, writing and speaking under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We pray, Lord, as we look into your word, that we would cherish it, that we would marvel at what you've done, that we would rejoice together and that we would praise and worship the King of Kings. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. The whole Bible points to Jesus. All of the Old Testament prophets, even the writings of Moses, point forward to Jesus. In the New Testament, of course, those Gospels that we have in our Bibles, they're all about Jesus. And those New Testament epistles, they also fill in the theological understanding of just who Jesus is, that He is the Savior and the Lord. And so as we think upon that babe that was lying in a manger that first Christmas morn, what we come to realize is that He is the fulfillment of this prophecy that we're looking at today. He's the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. Indeed, he is the fulfillment of every messianic prophecy because, of course, he is the promised Messiah. Now, Isaiah prophesies here, unto us a son is born. And of course, Jesus is that son. But let's not skip over those words unto us. Of course, this is looked at from the point of view of the Jewish people. And so we come to understand through the scriptures that Jesus, the Messiah that was to come, the son to be born, would in fact be a descendant of Abraham, of the Jewish people. And more specifically, we're told in the scriptures that he would be the son of David, a descendant of David. And yet, as we look at that babe that was born in that manger that day, we understand that, yes, he was the son of Mary, but he was not the son of Joseph. No, indeed, he was the son of God, the son of God incarnate. And so he is the son that is to be born of us. And this being born refers, of course, to his incarnation that he took on human flesh, the eternally preexisting son of God became a man, took on flesh. Indeed we sing at Christmastime, Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord, late in time behold him come, offspring of the virgin's womb, veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity, pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel. And so we sing about it, we proclaim it, because that's what the scriptures teach. We understand that He is the Son of God who took on human flesh, the Son of God incarnate, a Son born unto us. And Isaiah further prophesies here, unto us a Son is given. You ever stop to think about what that verb implies? There is the gift and there is the giver. The gift is the son. He is the gift. Who is the giver? It's the father. God the father. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God the Father gave the Son. God the Father is the giver, the Son is the gift. And it's remarkable to think about it as we reflect upon the mysteries of the Godhead, of the triune God, the Father, giving the Son, sending the Son, giving to the Son the ministry of redemption, giving Him a human body so that that body could be nailed to a cross to accomplish redemption for fallen humanity. It's a marvelous thing to consider. The Father giving the Son. And we understand that the giving of the Son by the Father is the ultimate expression of the love of God. God is love. And God gave His Son. as an expression of his love to sinners. What great love God has for us, that he would give so great a gift for people so unworthy of that gift. And of course, that's the nature of a gift, isn't it? We can't earn a gift. You don't earn a gift. It's given to you freely. without strings. And so it is with God the Father giving the Son. And all we have to do is put our faith in Him to receive that gift. It's like faith reaches out with the hands to receive that gift from God. It's the gift of the Son, the gift of eternal life through that Son. So God demonstrated His love for the human race by giving His only begotten Son to redeem those fallen sinners. To redeem those who put their faith in Him. And Jesus paid that price of redemption for us. So the Father gave the Son and the Son gave His life to redeem us. So that we would not perish in the flames of hell but that we might have eternal life with God in heaven. So Jesus is the child to be born. He is the son that is given. And Isaiah further states, the government shall be on his shoulders. Now, this word government in the Old Testament context really refers to the dominion of a king, a kingdom, if you will. Indeed, the whole of Isaiah's prophecy points forward to the Messiah King who is to come, looking at it from the Old Testament perspective. And the prophet Daniel elaborates on this messianic figure. I'll just read for you Daniel chapter 7, verse 13 and 14. I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him," and here's our word, dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people and nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. And so the Holy Spirit speaking through the prophet Daniel gives us a little more insight into this Messiah who is to come. He is the Messiah King. And His dominion would be entire and eternal, an everlasting dominion. a kingdom that will not be destroyed ever. This is the Messiah King who's prophesied in the Old Testament. So who is he in yonder stall at whose feet the shepherds fall? Tis the Lord, the King of glory. Tis the Lord. Oh, wondrous story. At his feet we humbly fall, crown him, crown him Lord of all. He's the Lord. He's the Lord. Now, as we think about His dominion, His kingdom, His government, if you will, then we come back to Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6 and 7. Let's look at verse 7, because this verse here gives four characteristics of the Messiah's kingdom. First of all, we see here that it is limitless. Verse 7 begins, of the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no end." No end in the sense that there are no boundaries to his dominion. His dominion is over all the earth. Indeed, he is the ruler of the universe. So there's no bounds to his dominion. He will reign over all. And this is really important for us to understand. And as we fit this into eschatology, we come to understand that the day is coming when Christ will return to this earth in His second advent, and He will establish His kingdom on the earth, and He will reign on the earth for a thousand years. But even so, during that time, while Satan is bound, it's going to be shown that people still have a heart of rebellion. And at the end of that thousand years, he's going to quell all rebellion forever, and there'll be a new heaven and a new earth, and he will reign forever and ever and ever and ever. So his kingdom is limitless. We also learn that his kingdom is just. It's full of justice. We're told here he will establish it with judgment and with justice. It will be established and upheld with perfect justice. Perfect justice. This is something sorely lacking in the day in which we live. There is great injustice in this world because we live in a world of fallen sinners that is dominated by Satan himself. And so there is injustice in this world. But in the reign of this coming King, the Messiah King, there will not be any injustice. He will reign in justice. He will reign in righteousness. He will always do what is right. He is the righteous King. He has the righteousness of Almighty God. He's the Son of God and the Messiah. And he will reign in righteousness. And we also see here that his kingdom is unending. From henceforth, even forever, it says in verse 7. From henceforth, even forever. Boy, that's a refreshing thing to consider. Because when Jesus reigns, it will be forever. No enemy can come and assail his throne. None can oppose him. He will reign forever and ever, and we will reign with him. It's remarkable to consider the fact that we will be in the kingdom of the Savior forever. What a marvelous thought. And so we have four characteristics of the kingdom of this King of Glory. It's limitless, it's just, it's righteous, it's unending. It's a remarkable kingdom, unlike any other kingdom that has ever been on this earth. Because the king of this kingdom is unlike any other king on this earth. And so the child to be born, and the son to be given, and this king who will have this dominion is the just and righteous king of kings and Lord of lords, who will reign over all the earth and he will do so forever, this is the child born, that babe Jesus, destined to occupy the throne of David and to reign forever. And I really just am struck by how verse 7 ends here. As if you needed to Impress this upon our hearts any more securely. Look at that last phrase. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. You get a sense here of the divine determination to accomplish the divine plan of redemption. Even in the Old Testament era, hundreds of years before Christ would come, God was determined to accomplish redemption. He had predetermined in his secret counsels and then revealed it through the prophets that he would send a Messiah. And of course, Jesus came in fulfillment of all of that. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform it. This is God's determination to accomplish His plan of redemption. It's accomplished by the zeal, in the Hebrew it would be Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord of the heavenly hosts. It will be accomplished. So as we look at this prophecy, here's what we realize. Jesus is the King that is prophesied in this passage. And our response to this truth ought to be that we worship Him as our King. We bow before Him and serve Him as our King. That is the human response. And you may ask, what is the name of this King? Well, I'm glad you asked because it's right here in this passage, isn't it? One commentator, Herbert Lockyer, says Isaiah gives us a, quote, galaxy of names. But what's really remarkable is despite the fact that there is a list of titles given here in Isaiah 9, 6, the prophet uses not the plural names, but the singular name. Did you notice that? And his name shall be called. Why is that? Well, I think it's to emphasize the fact that all of these titles, as diverse as they are, and as magnificent as they are, they all apply to the one and same individual. And that's remarkable. All of this is said about one person, the Son of God incarnate. And so what we wanna do this morning is really focus in And look at these titles that are given to the prophet under inspiration. Titles that come to us in our English Bibles kind of in pairs of words. And so that's the way I'm going to take them this morning. So the first pair of words we have here is Wonderful Counselor. Now, in many Bibles, there's a comma between those terms and you can take them separately and many have throughout the years. Others have taken them together because if you look at the pattern of the verse, it does seem that these titles come in word pairs. But either way, we can zoom in and focus on each of these words and get some insights into the nature of this coming king. First, we see that he is wonderful. He is wonderful. I think it's important to remind ourselves in the day in which we live and the culture in which we live, that the wonder of Christmas is not found in the festivities of the season. We have a lot of Christmas traditions in our country. You probably have Christmas traditions in your own family, certain things we do, certain things we look forward to. You know, maybe it's that certain favorite Christmas cookie you like to bake. In my case, I like to eat. So, you know, you have traditions and that's, those are good things. There's nothing wrong with those traditions unless they become the main thing. And when those things become the main thing, then we have lost our way. For you see, the wonder of Christmas is not found in those things. The wonder of Christmas is found in the Christ of Christmas. And what we see is that He is wonderful. He is wonderful. This word wonder is used throughout the Bible to refer to things that cause people to be in awe and amazement. The prophets worked wonders. God worked wonders. And so people respond to those wonders in amazement. We might call this the wow factor of the divine. Everything about God wows us. It should wow us. His power, His glory, His miracles, His wisdom, His holiness, His love, His mercy, everything about God should wow us and indeed it pegs the wow meter for us. And so what we learn is this King to come, He is wonderful. As we come to know Him, we will respond with awe. We will marvel. We will be fascinated. by the person of Jesus Christ. He's wonderful. And he's a counselor. Now this term, as it's used in the Old Testament, is referring to those who would give wise counsel. These are people of great wisdom and discernment and insight upon whom kings would rely. They would bring in their counselors, their the people that would advise them, the royal advisors. That's kind of how this term is used. And those advisors would give sound advice on all matters that might be brought before them. Now, Isaiah specifically mentions here that it is the counsel of this king that will be wonderful. People will marvel at the counsel, at the wisdom that comes out of his mouth. And indeed, we saw this to be the case. Even as a child, Luke reports in Luke 2 verse 40, speaking of Jesus, and the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. So even the boy Jesus was filled with wisdom, with counsel wise beyond his years, Remember when Jesus was 12 years old, Mary and Joseph accidentally left him behind in Jerusalem? I won't ask for a show of hand of how many parents have left your kids behind somewhere. Okay, we have our own story of that. We left Stephen behind at a church one time, we drove off, but we didn't get far and we realized, hey, wait a minute, we're one head short in this van, let's turn around. So I can't imagine Mary and Joseph's anxiety as they had traveled a day's journey away and they had to turn around and go back. And it took them three days of searching to find Jesus. And on the third day they found him. And he was reasoning with the rabbis. And here's what Luke says in Luke 2, 47, and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers. There's that wonderment, that awe, that astonishment, that such wisdom would come out of the mouth of a 12-year-old boy. Later in his ministry, Jesus compared his own wisdom to the wisdom of Solomon. Remember when he did that? Luke 11, 31, Jesus speaking, the queen of the south shall rise up in judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them. For she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, a greater than Solomon is here. Someone of greater wisdom than the wisest man who ever lived, the Lord Jesus Christ. For he is the Son of God, he is all wise. It's remarkable to us. it should cause us to wander, to be in awe. The fact is that Jesus' wisdom and counsel far exceeds the wisdom and counsel of any other human being because he's God, because of his deity. His counsel is wonderfully divine, divine counsel. Among all the wise counsel that Jesus gave when he walked this earth, in his earthly ministry, he said this in Matthew 11, 28. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Here is Jesus' counsel to lost sinners. Come to him. Come to him. Become one of his disciples. That yoke that you bear as a disciple of Christ is actually light compared to that burden of sin that you're carrying. So cast that burden of sin off of your shoulders and onto Christ because he died to pay for that sin. And take his yoke upon you. Become one of his disciples. Such wise counsel. If only lost sinners would heed that counsel, they would find what? Rest for their souls. What an offer. So Jesus is the king prophesied here in Isaiah 9, 6. He's the wonderful counselor. That's the first title we see. Next title we see here, the mighty God. The mighty God. Now the word mighty that's used here is a particular Hebrew word that means mighty in the sense of a valiant warrior, that kind of might. The term used is often used in reference to elite soldiers in an army. The elite of the elite, if you will, who had proven themselves valiant in battle. Brave men, brave soldiers who could be relied upon to do the most challenging of tasks in warfare. These were the champions on the battlefield. Even Goliath of the Philistines is referred to as a champion, and there it uses this Hebrew term, champion. And so this king, this child to be born, the son that is given, this king is mighty, mighty, powerful, full of might, valiant. He's the champion of champions. So he's mighty. And then this just really strikes us, doesn't it? And it should. He's God. He's God. This is an undeniable and indisputable declaration of deity. This Messiah King is no mere human being. He's God. God in flesh. So here is the great truth concerning the child that is to be born and the son that is to be given. He is the son of God incarnate. Colossians 2.9 says, in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He's not half God and half man. He's fully God and fully man. and He is the one and only true God. There aren't three gods. There is one God, the God of the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament. He's that God. It's just there are three persons in that one God, and this boggles our mind to consider But He is the one and only true God for Isaiah says later on in chapter 45 verse 22, this is the God speaking, look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else. There are no other gods. There's only one God, one true God. It's the triune God. If we think about Jesus' earthly ministry, Jesus said many things that confirm the fact that he is God. And he did many things that confirm the fact that he is God. Let me just cite some of the things that he said. When he told the paralytic that this man's sins were forgiven him, The Jewish religious leaders rightly observed, quote, who can forgive sins but God alone. Jesus had the power to forgive sin. You know what that means, since only God can forgive sin, then Jesus is God. Second example. There was a lawyer who came to question Jesus, and he couldn't even get beyond the greeting with Jesus. He came up to Jesus and greeted him, and you remember what he said? Good teacher? Jesus stopped him right there. He said, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Is Jesus the good teacher? Yes. Is there anyone good except God alone? No. What does that mean? Jesus is God. Let me give a third example. When the Jewish leaders came to Jesus and demanded, they wanted to know, quote, if you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus responds to them, and then he concludes at the end of his response by saying, I and my father are one. And those Jewish religious leaders knew what he meant by that. They took up stones to stone him for blasphemy because he was claiming to be God. Jesus is God. And as we put these terms together, he is the mighty God. This should erase any doubt that anyone would have concerning the true identity of this Messiah King. He is God. He's the mighty God. He's the mighty God of the Old Testament. He's the mighty God of the New Testament. He's the mighty God, period. There is but one true being in the universe that can be called the mighty God, and that is, of course, God himself. In Deuteronomy 10, 17, it says, For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible, that means awesome, which regardeth not persons he's impartial, nor taketh reward he can't be brought. He is the mighty God. And that's who this Messiah King would be. There have been many, a good many, mighty warriors throughout human history. And there are many mighty angels in heaven But there's only one mighty God. And Jesus is God. He is this mighty God. He is El Gibor in the Hebrew. He is the mighty God. Let there be no question that the one true creator God who conquers every enemy and saves his people is Jesus Christ. God the Son. So He is the mighty God. What a wonderful title that is given to the Lord Jesus. Third title we have here in Isaiah 9, 6. And this boggles our minds. He's the everlasting Father. Of all the titles in this list, this one seems most paradoxical to us. If he's the child to be born, how can he be the father? If he is the son that is given, how can he be the everlasting father? Well, what I'd like to do is stop and consider each of these terms, everlasting and father, and then put them together and just see how they really do fit the Lord Jesus. First, he is everlasting. Of course, everlasting refers to his eternality, forever and ever in both directions of time. In fact, he transcends time. You might say he's the inventor of time. He's outside of time. He's everlasting. He is without beginning and without end. You know, one of the other great messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, Micah 5.2. where God is addressing the small village of Bethlehem where Jesus is to be born. Micah 5, two, out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. It boggles our mind to consider the fact. that this messianic king that is prophesied in the Old Testament is eternal. Of course, that ties into the fact that he is God. He's eternal. And he is unchangeable throughout that eternal existence. The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 13.8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Aren't you glad you know a Savior who you can count on? He doesn't change on a whim. We can count on Him. He's the same throughout all eternity, everlasting. But here's the one that really challenges us. He is father. Father here stresses the paternal nature of this king. He is loving and caring as a father. He chastens in love as a father chastens. He gives good gifts to his children as a father gives gifts to his children. But the term here also speaks of the role of a progenitor. When used with respect to God himself, it is tied to the fact that he is the creator God. He is the beginning of all things. He is the originator of life. Let me give you some verses that back that up. Malachi chapter two, verse 10. Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? Isaiah 64, 8. But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father. We are the clay, and Thou our potter, and we all are the work of Thy hand. So He's created us. He has formed us. And then, of course, we come to John, and I'd like you to turn over to John chapter 1. We'll look at a couple passages here in John. John chapter 1. Someday, I want to come back and do a series in the Gospel of John. We've done a series in Luke, and you've got Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the synoptic gospels, synoptic, they're very similar. They all fit together and tell the narrative. You come to the Gospel of John, and it tells a story from a different perspective. And it's a valuable perspective. And it's remarkable how the book begins. John chapter 1 and verse 1. And this is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word. You'll notice that word Word is capitalized. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. And him was life, and the life was the light of men. And so this is speaking of the Lord Jesus, the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus. He was the Word with God. He was God. This was really a strong declaration again of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what we see here is that he was involved in creation. It's marvelous that the Bible kind of starts out and it will tell, say, the story of creation, but it doesn't give us all the details that we're going to learn later on in the Bible. And here's one of them, that the Word, the pre-incarnate Christ, was involved in creation. He is, in fact, Creator. And in that sense, He is our Father. He is our Creator. He is the source of life. both physical life and, of course, spiritual life. And so he is Father. So let's return again to the paradox. If Jesus is the child who was born and the son who is given, how is he the everlasting Father? Well, we're touching really here on the mysteries of the Trinity, aren't we? on the fact that there is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and somehow there's three in one and one in three. We can't explain that. But Jesus himself emphasizes it. If you'll turn over to John chapter 14. We'll begin in verse 5. I want to read from verse 5 down to verse 11. John 14. This is Jesus now interacting with his disciples. Thomas says unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest. How can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me. If he had known me, ye should have known my father also. And from henceforth ye know him and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. You ever felt like, Philip, you know, open your mouth, put the foot right in? Actually, it created an opportunity for Jesus to say what he says next. Verse nine, Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that has seen me has seen the Father, And how saith thou then, show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works' sake. What do we have to do when we encounter this paradoxical doctrine of the Trinity? What does Jesus say we have to do? We have to believe. I mean, it just takes faith to accept what God is revealing to us about his own nature, that he's the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And you really can't completely separate them. Jesus is saying, the Father's in me and I'm in the Father. You know, don't try to draw some line and separate us. You can't do that. So can the Messiah King, the Lord Jesus Christ, be the everlasting Father? Yes. Just believe it. Just believe it. We can't understand it with our finite minds. We can't explain it, but we can accept it by faith. And that's what the Lord Jesus wants us to do. Well, let's go back. We have one more title to consider from Isaiah 9, 6. The last one here in verse 6 is the title, The Prince of Peace. He is the prince. The term prince here refers to a leader of high rank and authority. This Hebrew word can be used in various contexts. For example, in a military context, it can refer to a captain or a commander, a general, if you will. In a political context, it may refer to a governor or magistrate. It's somebody in a high position of authority. He is the prince. Now we have that revealed to us here in Isaiah that he's a prince. And then add to that what the prophet Daniel says. He attaches to this term a messianic expectation in Daniel chapter 9 and verse 25. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the prince shall be seven weeks and three score in two weeks. Sometime we'll have to do a series in the book of Daniel and understand what those weeks are all referring to, but it's pointing forward to the coming of the Messiah King, of course, a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. And what we learn here is that he's Messiah the Prince. This is a title given to him. He has authority. He has power. He is of a high rank. He is, in fact, God. So he's the prince and his kingdom is peace. The prince of whom Isaiah prophesies is to be the prince of peace. This is the familiar Hebrew word Shalom. That word means a lot more than just a nation being at peace and not being at war. It's a lot more than that. It really applies on the individual citizen level, if you will, the citizens of the nation having not only a situation where they're dwelling in peace nationally, but they have inner peace and harmony in their hearts and lives as well. That's shalom. So it means total peace, inner peace, as well as circumstantial peace. And what we see here in Isaiah's prophecy in verse 7, it tells us of the increase of his government and peace. There shall be no end. There will be peace, shalom peace, in the kingdom of the Messiah. And so it is that when Jesus was born, The heavenly host proclaimed, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Why would they give such a proclamation? Because the Prince of Peace had come, that's why. Just before Jesus went to the cross, he said to his disciples, peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. He could say that to them because he's the Prince of Peace. I mentioned that Jesus said that right before he went to the cross. And speaking of the cross, what we learn is the great accomplishment of the Prince of Peace is the peace that he brokers between fallen sinners and Almighty God. Theologically, we're taught this by the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 5 and verse 1. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who brokers peace. He is the one who redeemed us and paid the price so that God, the righteous judge, could look upon us through the blood of Christ and accept us as sinners saved by grace. We are justified by faith, justified and reconciled to God through faith in what Jesus did in dying on the cross. Yes, he was born to die. He took on human flesh that it might be nailed to the cross. This is our Savior. This is our Prince of Peace who has restored peace between us and God. So Jesus is the King that is prophesied by Isaiah 9, 6, and 7. And our response is to worship him as our King, to see him as the wonderful counselor and to receive readily into our hearts all the counsel and wisdom that he gives, all the teachings of Christ and his moral example as well. He is our wonderful counselor. He is the mighty God. Let us exalt him to that position that he is full deity, in him the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells. He's the everlasting Father, eternal and paternal. And He is the Prince of Peace. And so the question each person must answer today, everyone who's here, everyone who's listening or watching, the question, the big question is, is He your King? Is He your King? Have you acted on his wonderful counsel by coming to him? Do you honor him and worship him as the son of God incarnate and the second person of the Trinity? Are you under his rulership as your prince? Do you serve him as your king? If you've never come to the place where you have yielded to Jesus as your King, as your Lord, you can do that today. The invitation of the Gospel is open today and every day to anyone who would come by faith and receive Christ as this promised Messiah, this Messianic King, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, would see Him as their Savior, who has brokered peace between fallen sinners and Almighty God. And for the many who are here today who know Jesus as your King, as your Lord, the exhortation is clear. Let us honor Him and serve Him and worship Him as King, King of your life, King of your life. I'd like to close with this passionate appeal. It was given by Walter A. Meyer, a preacher of the last century, and it's really just a passionate appeal to embrace Christ as King. Quoting now, I appeal to you who have never learned the marvelous joy of life that comes when the benediction of Christ's peace is pronounced upon your sin-free soul. To you who do not know this peace because you do not show it. To you who, although you may by all appearances kneel at the manger, nevertheless harbor thoughts of hatred and envy against your fellow men. To you young people who live in strife and discord with your own fathers and mothers. To you husbands and wives who are permitting the rancor of selfishness and dissatisfaction to mar the beauty of a happy Christian home. to you who professionally promote misunderstanding and bigotry in the lives of men. I appeal to you and beseech you, in the name of Jesus Christ, do not let this day draw to its completion without coming to the Christ child in spirit and in truth, without asking him for the forgiveness of these sore and besetting evils, without receiving from Him this priceless, peerless peace of soul and mind. Thus and thus alone can Christmas be to you what it should be and what, pray God, it will be, the birthday of Christ, the Prince of Peace, not only in Bethlehem, but also in your innermost heart. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank You For this tremendous prophecy of the prophet Isaiah, as he proclaims this under inspiration, these are divine titles given to the Messiah King. The child to be born, the son to be given, the one who will reign over his dominion forever. All of these titles referring, of course, to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, your Son, whom you gave, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. Lord, we pray for that one who has never really taken that step of faith to believe in Christ and accept Him as their Savior and allow Him to be their Lord. I pray for that one, that two, might be watching or listening. May they come to that point where they pray the sinner's prayer, where they admit to you that they're a sinner in need of a Savior, and they say to you, I believe that Jesus is that Savior. And Lord, I pray for all of us who know Christ May we in a new and fresh way serve and worship Him as our King, the Messiah King. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.