We turn to Luke chapter 2, and then to the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 9, and let's stand to hear the word read. Luke chapter 2. Familiar words, glorious words. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. The census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed's wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, An angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling claws, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. So it was when the angels had gone from them into heaven, that the shepherd said to one another, let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which are told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. Now to Isaiah chapter 9. This evening, this will be the focus of the preaching of the Word, verses 6 and 7 of Isaiah chapter 9, the reverse of this morning, preaching from Luke, and with an Old Testament reading from Isaiah, tonight the other way around, here looking at the prophecy instead of the fulfillment and the preaching of the Word. Nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterwards more heavily oppressed her, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan and 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. Four, 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. And this is the Word of the Living God. And let's pray together. Lord our God, now as we again come to your Word, we pray for the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit. That you, Spirit of the Living God, would help us to hear, understand, believe, and live by the Word that we hear. opening to us new vistas of your glory and lifting up before us Jesus Christ as our hope, the object of our faith, our confidence, our Savior. We pray help us in these ways as we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. So we turn to Isaiah chapter 9, continuing today our study of the incarnation of Jesus Christ from the scriptures. We'll be looking in particular at verses 6 and 7. But before we do that, you know my pattern. Before we do that, we need to get situated a little bit to understand the flow of the book of Isaiah, to get a little bit of context. Before we do that, let me ask you a question. Why do you think it is that people don't, won't, will not believe in Jesus Christ? There's a strange thing about our natural condition. That God offers us eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He who believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And that the bent of our natural, fallen human condition is to somehow say, no. I don't want that. It's a tragic thing about the human condition. For God, in giving us His Son, has given us His very best. Only goodness. and the goodness that we so desperately need for salvation and for everlasting life and for daily life. He's given us His Son and He could give nothing better. Why is it that someone would then say, no? No to Jesus Christ, a good and gracious and gentle King. Well, it's exactly that. It's because to come to Him means to confess Him as a king, as a ruler. To come to Him means then to also confess yourself as a needy sinner that can't save yourself. It requires self-denial. It requires submission to His rule. The call of the gospel is for proud, self-willed, stubborn, rebellious sinners. to kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way. To come to Christ is to come to Him, acknowledging your sin, and Him as the only Savior, but at the same time, it is to cast yourself before Him, to fall on your knees and worship the King of kings, the Lord of glory, the Son of God, and to say, not my will, but your will be done. Jesus Christ is the King of kings. He calls for everything, for your life. But the Christian has learned that this call to submission is also the call to the best kind of life. To be wholly submitted to Jesus Christ, to have Him as our Savior, but also as our Teacher and as our King, to have Him as He is offered in the Gospel in all of His offices, In other words, to have Jesus as your Savior from sinners is in no way antithetical to or better than to have Him as your King. As a matter of fact, in salvation, we receive the whole Christ in all of His offices. They are all good. However, because of our rebellious tendency, it's not always easy to remember this. I can think of you children. One of the ways You children are reminded of the rule of Jesus Christ in your life is through your parents. They may tell you what to do, and you may chafe under it. You may not want to do that. Then what Jesus, the King on the throne, is asking you to do is to submit to your parents, even as you submit to him. Or how about if we are under a harsh and heavy-handed rule in another place, in our government, in our nation? It's hard to submit, but then we have to read Romans 13 that the governor is Christ's minister for our good and that he's ruling as a king or in the church. All of us under elders without exception. Sometimes when the rubber hits the road, the idea of Jesus as our king becomes harder to accept and live by. Isaiah chapter 9 presents Jesus Christ to us, the Messiah, as our King. A great King, a glorious King. We're going to look at that in verses 6 and 7. We're going to try and get there as we go through the first chapters quickly to get up to speed on the book. The presentation and promise of Jesus Christ as a great and glorious king. The king described as this way, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. He will sit upon the throne of David. He will have a kingdom. The increase of his government, there will be no end. He will order and establish it. The whole text is pulsing with kingship, royal language of a royal ruler. Well, why is it here? Well, Isaiah was ministering, to get your bearings in the book, Isaiah was ministering, if you go to chapter one in verse one, during the reign of the following kings, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. This is nearer the end of Judah before it's carried off into captivity. The Northern Kingdom would be carried away in 722 B.C., about 20 years after the start of Isaiah's ministry. So he's ministering. About 20 years later, Assyria will sweep away the Northern Kingdom. And that's important to keep in mind in this text because the Southern Kingdom, Judah, would have had a front row seat to see and watch and understand and even taste some of the bitterness of what it means to be carried away into captivity under a world power. In other words, this is what happened right on their doorstep. But Judah, even though they're in serious moral decline, even though they're seeing these things, rather, they still continue to be in a spiritual tailspin, a corkscrew downward into darkness. We're going to get into that in a moment. They have two recurring spiritual problems. And they are the following, if they are purporting to worship God, if they are saying we are worshiping God, God's not interested in their worship anymore. What purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me, says the Lord? I have had enough of burnt offerings of ram and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls or lambs or goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this from your hand? to trample before my courts. Bring no more futile sacrifices. I will hide my eyes from you." They were bringing the fruit of their lips, later Isaiah would say, in cold, dead, formal worship, but their hearts were far from God. That's if they made it to the temple. Or they were just flat-out idol worshipers. Chapter 2 and verse 8. Actually, a matter of fact, in this period, it's just a big mix of both problems. Their land is also full of idols. They worship the work of their own hands. This is the house of Jacob. There is no end to their treasures. Their land is also full of horses, no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols. They worship the work of their own hands, which your own fingers have made. People bow down. Each man humbles himself before an idol. Later on, Isaiah would point out with irony the futility of this spiritual state, that you'd take a tree down, you'd cut it up, you'd carve half of it and prop it up to be your idol, bound out to it, say, this is my God, and the other half you burn in the fire. This was the spiritual state of Israel while they were watching their brothers and sisters being carried off for the same sins. Isaiah then is sent to warn Israel, warn Judah rather, to call out their sins. The book opens with that kind of prophetic call, the hard-to-hear prophetic call. Hear, O heavens, give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. Chapters 1 through 5 counts the sins of Israel. Chapter 6, the call of Isaiah to be the prophet, to preach to these people, and his ministry would be one of salvation, but also judgment. So the big picture then is that there's a slow descent of Judah and Zion, not far behind the Northern Kingdom. Descent into the same sins, the same idolatry, the same offenses before God. They just missed the Assyrian threat. It comes across their doorstep. We'll see in verse eight, it actually, they feel some of the pain of Assyria. They kind of remind me of somebody, someone addicted to Tobacco has a close relative die of lung cancer and they can't break the addiction even watching the pain of someone suffer right before them. It's kind of like Judah is right now in this period that Isaiah is preaching to them. They can't let go of the addiction to sin. They just can't let it go. And as they hang on and they hang on, they're going to suffer the same fate. And they just can't seem to be able to let go of the habit of spiritual rebellion. And we get into chapter 8 here. This is how they're described. They are described as those who are addicted to their sins. Listen to the description of the sins in Judah at this time. 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. The Israelites, what's happening in chapter eight actually, is that the Assyrians take away the northern kingdom, but they come hard even into Judah, and Judah feels some of the power of the Assyrian Empire, though they don't take him captive. And while they are in that distress, they are looking for answers from wizards and mediums, sorcerers, instead of God. And Isaiah has to say, why don't you turn to the Word? They refuse to repent. They continue in their way. Finally, by the end of the book, Babylon is the one who is prophesied to carry them away. So there's this slow descent in Isaiah, but at the same time, Isaiah is full of promises. Promises that even though Babylon will finally come, they'll miss the Assyrian threat. Babylon, however, will come and they will be disciplined, but God will bring them back. One of the great wonders of the book of Isaiah is that the name of the king who will bring them back, Cyrus, is mentioned by name. Some people think that this is a too hard of a thing for God and the inspiration of the scriptures, but it is not. A new Zion will rise. It'll be filled with inhabitants from many nations. Isaiah 56, it'll be filled with the glory of God. God himself will bring restoration after captivity. And these themes are pulsing in the book of Isaiah. You think of Isaiah chapter 66. that they will be brought back to the land, and it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, that from one Sabbath to another, the final vision of the book is that all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord, that the new Zion will be filled with the nations, chapter 56, chapter 66, better than ever, more glorious than ever, that there's a coming restoration between after the discipline. That there'll be a renewed world, a new heavens and a new earth. That language comes from Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 65. That even though there will be discipline, it's coming, there will be a restoration greater than they could imagine. And the key to all of this in the book, the running key to this is a single figure, the agent of restoration who is the Messiah. If you read carefully, he's everywhere. This morning we read chapter seven and verse 14. There's a promise to Ahaz that God would have mercy on them. And the sign of the promise was, behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. In chapter 9, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government will be upon his shoulder. In chapter 11, there shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. In other words, when the stump of Jesse, it looks like there's nothing left, a shoot will come up. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon this one, upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. If you get chapter 42, we're jumping way to the end of the book, or the third part of the book, you have the servant of the Lord, you have the suffering servant, you have the resurrection of the servant, you have the servant preaching the message of good news, good tidings, you have the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah. You have the resurrection of Jesus. You have the judgments of the nations by the hand of the servant. And then the restoration of Zion all flows out of this one singular figure whose footsteps, as it were, are across every page of the book of Isaiah. Who will preach and suffer and rise again and judge the earth. Now Isaiah chapter nine. We're going to study this figure from this particular text, Messiah Promise in Isaiah 9, verses 6 and 7. The immediate context is this. Ahaz is king. Ahaz is a very, very bad king. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, 2 Kings chapter 16. He did not follow in the ways of his father David. He worshipped idols. He offered one of his children in a fire to an idol. Killed his own son. Caused his son to pass through the fire. 2 Kings 16. He's a wicked man. The Syrians and Israel unite against Judah because they're interested in taking over the land. He is in a panic. He has us in a panic. Again, 2 Kings 16. He deserves absolute sudden destruction from the hand of the Lord. He's a wicked man. As a matter of fact, at the end of this narrative, even when he's not destroyed, the way he escapes this problem, he makes an alliance with Assyria. And it's in this period of his life when God promises at the beginning of chapter seven, you're in danger because the king of Israel and the king of Syria is going to come and take over your land. I'm going to deliver you, God says. This is remarkable grace. And ask for a sign. And when he doesn't ask for a sign, that's when we have the prophecy of the virgin that will conceive and bear a son. And then God goes on to warn him that if he makes this wrong alliance, which kings weren't supposed to do, they would be judged. He goes ahead with the alliance with Assyria anyways. God responds with judgment. But Judah will not fall completely. God's answer to Ahaz's sinful reliance on a foreign power instead of God, even in the face of promised mercy and a promised deliverer, is that Assyria would not take Judah captive, but they would move in as an army and destroy and make a wreckage of Judah. They would feel the pain, they would not be carried away. They would suffer greatly. And that leads the nation into the thick darkness at the end of chapter 8. When they say to you, this is the darkness, when they say to you, seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter, should not a people seek their God? Isaiah is saying, why are you looking for wizards and mediums, sorcerers, to get you out of this mess with Assyria? Shouldn't you seek your God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living, go to the law and to the testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, it's because there's no light in them. They will pass through it, the suffering, hard pressed and hungry, and it shall happen when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God and look upward. And then they will look to the earth and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish, and they will be driven into darkness. So under Ahaz, Because of his alliance with Assyria, God brings judgment. The judgment is described as thick darkness. What do you think will happen next? Isaiah chapter 9 says, but, nevertheless, God will cause the light of His grace to shine again on you. And that's where we pick it up. Isaiah says, this is what happens if you're led by a wicked king, He will lead you into the thick darkness of sin, and you will be in trouble, gloom, darkness, anguish, driven into darkness, spiritual suffering, physical suffering under the heavy hand of God. But chapter 9 opens with this remarkable promise, the sunrise of the grace of God. By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, galley of the Gentiles, the people who walked in that darkness, the darkness we just talked about, the discipline of God, They have seen a great light. Those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, increased its joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy of the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. You broke the yoke of his burden, the staff of his oppressor, the rod of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. Chapter nine opens with a king and a people who deserve annihilation and destruction, suddenly receiving light, glory, goodness, victory, and peace. And this is really what the gospel is. This is the gospel. You deserve, because of your foolishness, and I deserve, because our alliances are looking to all the wrong places for pleasure and salvation. darkness, destruction, and God's judgment. And this is the very language here that the Gospels pick up. Our Savior uses to describe his entrance in the glory of the new covenant with the light of the gospel. Jesus Christ himself is the light of the world. This is a Old Testament prophecy, even the first verses of the dawning of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is grace proclaimed to a nation led by a king who caused his son to pass through the fire. The response of God to the darkness is the promise of the sunrise of grace. But now let's go to 6 and 7. This kind of turnaround requires an agent, and the agent is described in verses 6 and 7. The 4 connects the sunrise of the grace of God and all the promises of deliverance in verses 1-5 against the backdrop of sin and rebellion. The 4 in verse 6, for unto us a child is born, tells us that all of the goodness, light, and glory of God's gracious deliverance of an unworthy people hinges upon this birth of a child. that everything that is of gospel goodness comes through these promises in verse six and seven. It connects the sunrise of the grace of God described after the darkness of verses one through five to the agent of the grace of God. It is the birth of the child that changes everything and the gift of a son. Now it's remarkable. This is the second time that God has made promises like this to a king like Ahaz. A virgin will conceive and bear a son. And now Ahaz, when you're in a mess of your own making, I'm going to send you a savior, a deliverer. The great hope of Israel. Disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus, are you the one or should we look for another? He's the one. This is speaking of the one, the child who would be born, the son who would be given. And the thing to learn right here is that salvation comes by the agency and activity of the Messiah. All the good blessings of God come through Jesus Christ. He is the mediator of the new covenant. He's the one who gives us grace, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Four, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Now again, this is fulfilled also in Luke chapter two, the passage we just read. The child who is born, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what's the character and identity of this son from the Old Testament? Skipping down later on into verse six, there are, I think rightly understood, four titles here under the heading, and his name will be called. And we have wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. The agency of the child and the son to be given is that by which salvation comes. But what is the nature, identity, and character of this child or this son? First of all, he's the wonderful counselor. And again, names in the scriptures are linked to character, destiny also, work. The first is wonderful counselor. What does that mean? It means he is the instructor in wisdom. And the word wonderful here in the Hebrew is a word that is often used to describe, most often used to describe in the Old Testament, almost exclusively actually, to describe the wonderful nature of God himself. It's the divine wonderful counselor who gives wisdom that only God can give. This son is the wonderful counselor who teaches and instructs in wisdom beyond natural human ability. He is the divine teacher. Then second title here, second name, or second part of his name, mighty God. And now deity is being ascribed to the child who was born and the son who was given. That he is none other than God himself. And this is why when we think more of Christ, We need to think of Him, as you heard this morning, as the one who is both God and man, and that He alone, salvation belongs to the Lord, and it comes in and through the one who is both God and man. He's the divine agent of salvation, light, and glory. Christ came, Paul writes, who is over all the eternally blessed God, Romans 9 and verse 5. God himself is this savior, and at the same time, he is this child who is born, the son who is given. The next phrase, everlasting father. Now this does not confuse the first and second persons of the Trinity, but rather this word for father is to describe something, the brackets that we haven't got to yet, but the context here is kingship. that he is the one who will sit on the throne of David forever. And as a father king supplies for, protects, rules and defends his people, this is the kind of king he is. A provider forever. a fatherly king. And then he's the Prince of Peace, the Prince of Shalom. And in Hebrew, the word peace does not just mean the absence of war, but it means the absence of war and the provision of prosperity and abundance. It's like the days of Solomon where everybody laid under his vine and fig tree and it was peace all around and silver was worthless because there was so much gold in the kingdom. It's that picture. He is the Prince of Shalom, the Prince of Peace. Now, what is his work? In one word, and this is now where we're really coming to kingship, his work is to govern. Two times, the brackets around the text, the brackets around the name, rather, are verse six and the third phrase, the government will be upon his shoulder, And then verse seven, of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. And all the rest of the language is the language of governance, of kingship and of rule. Except the last phrase, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. We'll get to that in a moment. But the name is surrounded by declarations of governance and the government will be upon his shoulder. The picture there I think it's Calvin who says, he's not going to be doing this with the tips of his fingers or only parts of his strength or energy, but rather he will carry the whole of the kingdom by his mighty power. This is a governance of powerful divine domination over all evil. The work of the son in a word is government. Now, what's our fine American instinct? When you say government, what do people say? Usually what? A lot of people. Bad. Government? Bad. Now what are two reasons for that? I can think of one good reason. I can think of one bad reason. The good reason is that wise men have figured out when you place hands into the power of sinful and corrupt people, that government can turn to be an awful thing of tyrannical cruelty. And so we have the principle of limited government. And there's wisdom in that. Great wisdom in that. The second reason why we recoil is not a good reason. The first one is a good reason, a wise reason. And that's because we are born by nature, what? Rebellious. We don't like government. We always think we would do a better job than other people are doing. And in our sinful nature, We think that we would do a better job than Christ. This is the nature of our rebellion, that we could take someone who is the wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, and the Prince of Shalom, peace, provision, prosperity, and safety, and we could think that we could do better. That's what the nations did. Psalm 2, why do the nations rage? The people plot a vain thing. The kings of the earth set themselves. The rulers take counsel together against the Lord and his anointed. Let us break their bonds in pieces. Let us cast their cords away from us. That's the wickedness of rebellion. But the text says that salvation comes, listen carefully, the good and powerful government of Jesus Christ. Now again, it's very clear, it's even intensified. The increase of his government and his peace, I said limited government. Salvation here is actually put in the terms of unlimited government. government that increases. 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. Here's the actions of government, ordering, establishing according to biblical principles of righteousness and of justice from that time forward, even forever. And here's echoes of the Davidic covenant that there will be a son, the father will have a son, a king who will be to him a son who will sit on the throne of David forever and rule equitably. And the scriptures teach that if you don't have a king like this, if you don't have this kind of good government, then you'll be lost forever. And what will happen? Well, the end of Judges. Twice in Judges. Actually, I think three or four times, but this phrase, twice in Judges. In those days, there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. apart from the good government of Jesus Christ, we would be lost, completely, in our own sins and rebellion. The King is a Savior. If you have, there's an old Latin phrase, such a King, such a people. Ahaz was the King here. The problem? Passing his kids through the fire. Israel, no surprise, they're looking for the sorcerers, the soothsayers, the wizards, instead of turning to the Word. Isaiah says, this is where your salvation will come from. One day, a child will be born. A son will be given. The government will be upon his shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end." The good governance of the Lord Jesus Christ brings salvation. Now, we already know what the New Testament fulfillment of Isaiah 9 is. We read it from Luke 2. But it's not a bad thing to hear how carefully The angels were listening in the Old Testament as they bring the news. We read it this morning from Luke chapter 1. Let me read it to you again. You shall call his name Jesus. You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son. That's Isaiah 7 14. And you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great. He will be called the son of the highest. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom. There will be no end. And then again, Luke chapter two, for there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And all the angels recognized who had been born. Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Isaiah 9 is the promise of the Father's gift of the Son. It's the promise that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. It's a promise. about the Father's zeal. Look at verse 7, the last phrase. His zeal to enthrone His Son over the nations, to exalt His Son. Psalm 2 again, that nations rage. The Lord sits in the heavens and He laughs. And he says, today you are my son. Today I have begotten you. You are my son. He says, ask me, I'll give you the nations for your inheritance, the ends of the earth for your possession. Psalm 110, rule in the midst of your enemies. Sit at my right hand. The eternal purposes of the father was to send the son to finish a work of salvation. and to exalt Him to be the King of kings and Lord of lords, and of the increase of His government there would be no end." This was the zeal of the Father, to lift up the name and the reputation of His Son as wonderful Counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, or to put it in New Testament language, Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, that every tongue should confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. This was the zeal of the Lord of hosts, to give a child and a son who would be the king. Some things to learn. Coming to Christ requires an internal, supernatural, Holy Spirit-worked change called regeneration. Psalm 2, verses 1 and following, the kings and nations and rulers, peoples, took counsel together against the Lord and His anointed. Let us burst their bonds, cast their cords from us. has to turn into kissing the son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way. And what is that a picture of? That is a picture of the worshiping believer at the feet of Jesus, acknowledging the extent of his majesty and glory as revealed in the scriptures. And with full faith in Him for the forgiveness of sins and full submission to Him as the King and Ruler of your life, you hold nothing back. For your heart of stone to be turned to a heart of flesh, Ezekiel 36. Unless a man is born again, what? He cannot see what? The Kingdom of God. He can't see that Jesus is the King. He can't see it. That's why Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. This is the only way for a sinner to come to Christ. Second thing is learn that being a Christian calls for submission. Look again at the first two titles or qualities here, Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God. It's the language of absolute and wise rule. It's the rule of God over you through the mediator, Jesus Christ, who himself is the God-man. As the Wonderful Counselor, that means he has all wisdom. He himself is the treasury of wisdom and knowledge. It's found in him. He's the eternal word. He's the revealer of the Father. And when you come to Him, you say, Lord, Your Word, Your way is the good way, the best way. I trust You. I submit my will to You. By Word and Spirit, He leads and rules you. By His officers in church, home, and state, He reminds you that He's sitting on the throne of heaven. You young people here, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, the government will be upon his shoulder. One of the ways he governs you, I said earlier, is through your parents. You trust him for forgiveness, but you also trust him when he rules you. And you say, Lord, give me the grace to submit. Being a Christian then calls for submission to Jesus Christ. You come to a king. Life under Christ, because of this, means the promise of unshakable present and future blessing. If you were to understand a king as the ancients understood a king... Again, we don't think of a king... The phrase everlasting father is perhaps the clearest one we can take from the name here. That phrase has the idea of a providing, protecting, shielding, sheltering, saving king. And because it's everlasting, that means the goal of all of that is eternal life. The good government of Jesus Christ brings us salvation. The good king teaches, provides, protects, and guides. And you should want this. If you can see something of the beauty and glory of Jesus Christ, you should submit to Him because He is the ruler. But He is a very good ruler. One who, every time He gives you a command or orders the details of your life, is not making any mistakes, but is setting out for you a path and teaching you the way that you should go to bring you to glory. And He never makes mistakes. He's the wonderful Counselor. He's the mighty God. He's the everlasting Father. He's the Prince of Peace, of Shalom, to give you abundance and prosperity and goodness. So the believer learns, we learn, to say, Lord, take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. To give ourselves unreservedly to the rule of the child who was born, the son who was given. Because you have to understand, the government of the son is the hope of Israel. Limited government, I said earlier, is good for sinful leaders, but look again at verse 7. The promise is an increase of his government and peace that has no end, there's no horizon. The kingdom will continue to grow in glory and goodness. Till one day it breaks, and all of its splendor at the last day, and we see our King face to face." Again, the language of Shalom. Think of Solomon, who in his wisdom built the city of Jerusalem, he fortified it, he built the temple, he brought the people to God, he brought peace and prosperity. The picture here for Israel is one greater than Solomon, and Isaiah's day is coming. And what did Jesus say? One greater than Solomon is here. The text teaches you simply to cling to, to submit to, to live happily under the government of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you for this gospel promise Chattelands of the Old Covenant. When we read it, and our hearts are filled with worship, that we have the privilege of an understanding of the scope of these promises far beyond what Israel could see. That then light dawned in the preaching of the Word, but now light has dawned in our Lord Jesus Christ in His victory at the cross and the resurrection and His ascension and the promise of His coming again on the clouds from glory. Lord, we pray, particularly this week, as we think on the incarnation, the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Lord, that our minds would move from the child born, the son given, from that first moment. Lord, to stand back and gaze upon the fullness of His life and glory. and the promise of His good government, His rule over us, that rule which subdues us to Himself, which rules and defends us, which conquers all His and our enemies and promises an entrance into the city of God, the new Jerusalem, to stand before His throne and to live in His presence and under your government, O triune God, now and forever. We pray that this grand view of our Savior would bring us to more close obedience and trust again this week. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. We'll sing, joy to the world, the Lord is come, a hymn which celebrates and exalts our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's stand together. Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing. Let heaven and nature sing. Let heaven and heaven and nature sing. Die to the earth, but save your race, and then let God fill the world. Repeat the sounding joy. Repeat the sounding joy. Repeat, repeat the sounding joy. Oh, Lord of sins, let sorrows grow. Your glory, bless her now. He comes to make His righteousness known, As the curse is drowned. As the curse is drowned. For as the curse is drowned. He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness, and wonders of His love, and wonders of His love, and wonders, wonders of His love. Oh.