precious name now we're turning again to the book of Isaiah and the chapter 9 Isaiah chapter 9 we were here last Lord's Day We thought about that verse in chapter 7, verse 14. Wherefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. And then we read a little bit more about the coming Messiah in chapter 9. We'll read the verses again from verse 1. Nevertheless, The dimness shall not be as such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Nathphali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea beyond Jordan in the Galilee of the nations. 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 and harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, and the rod of his oppressor, as in the days 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, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, 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 with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. And so he did in the coming of Christ into the world. Amen, and we'll end our reading there. Let's pray and let's seek the Lord, that the Lord will give you a word even today. Loving Father, we pray with the psalmist, that thou wilt grant us understanding. We pray that thou wilt open to us the book of God. Lord, grant an understanding and a will. And Lord, a mind that is receptive to thy word. Remove all our prejudices. Lord, as we come to the scripture, Lord, grant your Father Grant, Lord, thy spirit to be the great teacher. Open now mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. What is more wonderful but seeing Christ? We praise thee for the one who is the wonderful counsellor, and we pray that thou will counsel us from thy word today. Bless now these our souls and our gathering together may be crowned with a sense of the divine presence. We offer prayer in the name of Christ our Savior. Now last Lord's Day we began looking at this text in Isaiah chapter 9 and the verse number 6 and verse 7. A text that clearly presents to us the characteristics and the qualities of the Messiah who would step in to history. Last Lord's Day we beheld the Christ of Christmas and as we did so we thought about Christianity in the words For unto us a child is born. We thought about Christ's deity in the words, Unto us a son is given. We thought about Christ's authority in the words, And the government shall be upon his shoulder. And we thought about Christ's sympathy in the words, And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor. Well, we are returning again to this great text in Isaiah chapter 9 to consider and then to conclude our studies as we think about the Lord Jesus Christ. So no better way could we end 2020 in this way, by meditating upon the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. With all that has occurred in this year and all of the uncertainty that lies before us in 2021, it is good for us to focus again our hearts and our minds upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the sum and who is the substance of our faith and of the faith in an ever-changing world. We need a never-changing Christ. And this is who we meet in Isaiah chapter 9 in the verse 6 and 7, a never-changing Christ. We come to the fifth truth that is presented then in these words of Isaiah 9 verse 6 and 7 concerning the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to think today about Christ's supremacy. Christ's supremacy. Now I note that whenever the prophet Isaiah speaks of the Messiah here, he does not speak of him as a mighty God, but rather he uses the definite article the, there he is described as the mighty God, above all And beyond all the false gods in this world, there is the mighty God who rules and reigns supreme over all. Now you need to remember that whenever Isaiah wrote these words, he was writing these words within the context of both the Egyptian and the Assyrians being in great power at that particular time. And we note from history that in the nations of Assyria and of Egypt that they give their gods great names as well. One Assyrian king was called the Great King, the King Unrivaled, the Protector of the Just, the Noble This was the name that was given to one particular Assyrian king. However, Isaiah ascribes greatness and therefore supremacy to the Son of God, the Messiah, by declaring that He is the mighty God. He is a God with no equal. He is a God with no rival. There is none like Him. and he reigns supreme over all. The term used here within the verse is the term El, the El Jehovah or the hell God, the strong God. It comes from that root word strength. And so we could literally translate this title of the Lord Jesus Christ as the strong one or as the strong God, as the almighty God. This is how we could speak of him in this particular text. Now in many of God's works, And in many of God's acts, we see the supremacy of the Son of God. There are many. We think of his supremacy in the work of judgment. We think of him there at the time of Moses and the children of Israel's enslavement in the land of Egypt, and how each of the plagues were sent by God. And each plague was an attack on the Egyptian God. God of the flies, the God of the sun, the God of the water. These were all attacks by Jehovah to prove that he was supreme over all their false gods. But there are two works that we see the supremacy of Christ to be preeminently found and those two works will come as no surprise to you. I think first of all of the work of creation. You know there are many gifted individuals in this world when it comes to the manufacturing of goods, the production of art, the construction of structures and monuments and buildings, but each manufacturer, architects, engineer and builder, they will take an object that already exists and they will then employ that particular object to make something else, something different. You think of an artist, they'll take paint that already exists and they'll put it onto a canvas. A builder will take mortar, something that exists in bricks and they'll bring that together and then they will create an architectural, piece of art, as it were. We think of others that take bread or flour and they add yeast to it and they bring water and salt and they make bread with regard to those particular objects. And so what they're really doing is taking something that already exists to manipulate it, to use it to make another particular object. However, When the Son of God came to create the world, He did so by speaking all things into existence by the word of His power. There were no raw materials that he sourced and then he manipulated in order to create the created universe, but rather out of nothing, creato ex nihilo, the Latin term is creation out of nothing, all things came to be. Is that not evidence that he is the supreme God? In Colossians 1 verse 16 and 17 we read, For by him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities and powers. All things were created by him and for him. He is before all things. He existed before all things. And by him all things consist. Which one of us here today could make a blade of grass? Which one of us could speak a mountain range into existence? What false god do you know concerning the world's religions could fashion all that is found in the marine environment today, the coral reefs? Think of the wheels and the various animals, the fish, and all that exists within the marine environment. Which God among the gods of this world could create all of these things out of nothing? Who could create a functioning human being? There's none. Only one who is God supreme could take nothing. and make from it everything. And so we see the Son of God's supremacy in the work of creation. But the second work in which the supremacy of our God is seen is in the work of redemption. As magnificent as the work of creation is and God's creative power, His redemptive, His saving power is surely much greater and more magnificent still than His creative power. Later on in this book of Isaiah, The prophet will speak these words in Isaiah chapter 63 in the verse number 1, where we read, Who is he that cometh from Edom with thy garment from Bozrah, this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Mighty to save. This is the mighty God. We read of Him in Isaiah chapter 9. What does this mighty God do? Well, He saves. And how does He do so? He does so with His might, with His power. He will exercise His power within the human soul. He will raise that dead soul to new life. He will gift to that soul faith and repentance. He will create a new nature within the soul. He will dispense new life within that particular soul, and He will make that soul, once a child of Satan, now into a child of God. This takes the mighty God, the work of the mighty God, is that of redemption? Octavius Winslow wrote, the work of our salvation was a great, a stupendous work, demanding the utmost resources of infinity. None He said, but Jehovah could save. None but God could or would have embarked in this mighty, this perilous undertaking of rescuing the sinner, self-destroyed, guilty and invincibly doomed to everlasting punishment. But Jesus, Jesus Christ undertook and girded himself for the great work of redeeming mankind and his elect people unto himself. Think of it, our burden of sin required the great sin bearer to carry our sins away and such a one is found in Jesus Christ who is the mighty God, who but the Almighty. Think of it. Who but the Almighty could have been sustained under the sins of his elect people? Who but the Almighty could exhaust the curse? Who but the Almighty could have borne the condemnation? Who but the Almighty could have suffered the penalty? Who but the Almighty could have risen from the grave? Oh, salvation was a mighty work. But Jesus the Almighty was able to achieve it. I'm glad today that as I come to the end of this year, what a year it's been, I'm glad today that I know the mighty God of Isaiah 9 verse 6 is my God. This is my God. He has proven himself, surely in this year, to be the mighty God for us, his people. And today, thank God, he is the God of his people. And I marvel. I marvel then, as I think of this God as being my God, I marvel at the fact that there are those connected with this congregation and those who are beyond this congregation, and they know not this one. I asked you, how do you face life without knowing Him? With all of the troubles and all of the trials and all of the heartache and all of the disappointments, as well as all of the joys and all of the days of sunshine, how do you live life without knowing God? But here's a more serious question. How are you going to face death without knowing God? Without knowing Him savingly? Without this mighty God working on your behalf and bringing salvation into that very darkened soul of yours, how are you going to die without knowing Christ? Do you doubt His ability to save? Well, He is the mighty God. And He's mighty to save, we've read it, Isaiah 63 in the verse number 1. And so you need not doubt His ability to save you, even with all of your sin, even with all of your wickedness, even with all of your iniquity in the year that has passed, and all of your Christ rejection and spurning of the Spirit of God. I tell you, He's mighty to save, and He'll save you now. Now. He'll save you now. If you would only but come to Him. You know Christ loves to exercise His power in salvation. He loves doing it. It's His delight to make sinners His children. And so I pray that that power, that power to save would be exercised in that soul of yours and that you might find that He truly is mighty to save, that you'll find that to be so. And so we have, here in this thought, Christ's supremacy. He is over all, over all things. He reigns and He rules supreme. This is the Christ of Christmas. This is the one that the Virgin bore, the Son that the Virgin bore. This is Emmanuel. This is God with us. God with us. never leaving us, never forsaking us. This mighty one will bring us to the Jordan of death, high, and thank God, he'll bring us right over glory itself, and over death's river, and then through the gates of heaven. I trust that that'll thrill your soul today, as Christ is the mighty God. And I know him. I know him. and he'll carry me through this year, the last days of it, and into next, and throughout the years and the decades of God will so well, and then he'll eventually, by his mighty power, he'll translate me into glory itself, and he'll make me his eternal possession. Having already done so, thank God, he will then bring me safely home to heaven. We have Christ's supremacy. But there's a sixth truth presented in these words concerning the Christ of God, and that is Christ's eternity. Christ's eternity. Isaiah speaks of the Messiah here in the verse 6 as the everlasting Father. The everlasting Father. Now, the Messiah is not here called Father by way of any confusion with God the Father. As far as the Godhead is concerned, the Messiah is not the Father, but He is the Son. And so when the Lord Jesus Christ is given the title here as the Everlasting Father, this title is not to be seen in respect to the Eternal Three, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is not taking the place of the Father. No, rather, this term being the Everlasting Father refers to Christ being the everlasting Father of His people. What does it say in Isaiah 53 verse 10? A chapter that is the Savior very much to the fore of our minds, that great messianic chapter. Isaiah 53 in the verse 10, we read these words, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, and shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Now I want you to notice that there is a seed being spoken of, an offspring. That's what the seed is, an offspring. The offspring of this one who would be the Lamb. who would be taken to the slaughter, the one upon whom the iniquities of his people would be laid, the one who would offer his soul as an offering for sin, there is a seed, there is an offspring produced as a result of his work upon the cross of Calvary. And therefore, in that way, Christ is our Father. He must be termed as the Father because we are his offspring. We are begotten of him. We are of the seed of Christ. But note the adjective. He is called the Everlasting Father. The Everlasting Father. And it is that word that points us to the eternity of Christ. This is the eternal Son in view. Everlasting, eternal. This is the eternal Son of God, because it would be wrong for you and I to think that Christ came into existence when He was born in Bethlehem. That's not biblically right. That's not biblically true. That's what the cults will say, many of them will say, the Jehovah Witnesses will say that, that Christ only came into existence when he came into this world as a baby in Bethlehem, but Christ existed prior to his birth, not in physical human flesh. No, that took the incarnation, but he still existed as a person, as a being, as an entity in eternity past. What did Jesus Christ say there in John chapter 8 and the verse 58? Verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. Before Abraham was, I am. He existed. In John chapter 1, in the verse 1 and 2 we read, 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. And who is this Word? Well, we only have to go down a number of verses to verse 14, and it says, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, only God the Son. took on flesh. The Word is the Son of God. He who is God was with God before the world was ever created. And so Christ existed prior to His coming into this world. He is as eternal as the Father and as eternal as the Son of God is. And we thank God for that. What can we derive then from this truth? What comfort is there for the child of God to think of Christ being the eternal Son of God? Well, do we not then draw the comfort that the salvation that is derived from Him that was purchased and procured and secured and now bestowed to us, we derive the comfort that that salvation is as eternal as His being is. We have come to possess what? Not life, eternal life. It's eternal life. And I give on to them eternal life, and they shall never perish. And not only that, but the love that we experience from Christ is eternal, and it is unchangeable as His very nature. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? You know, I took time the last number of weeks to prepare for this message, and I took The word everlasting started to trace it through the scriptures. You know, folks, I find tremendous comfort in all of the things that we find concerning Christ and what he has done for us associated with this word everlasting. I wonder, are you interested to hear it, or are you too tired? Too tired this morning, child of God, this afternoon, in the house of God? Did you prepare for God's house today? Are you interested? Do you want to hear it? Do you want to thrill your soul? Did you spend time in prayer today asking God that he would speak to your heart? This thought of God being the everlasting Father. Listen to these tremendous truths. Let it flow your soul, child of God. Don't sit dead and indifferent to spiritual things. Leave the world behind for a few moments. Get into the eternal. Get into the spiritual, child of God. You've been in the world all this week, indulging in the things of this world. Oh, that you be spiritually minded, that today it would thrill your soul. Listen, child of God, God has entered into an everlasting covenant with his people. According to Genesis 17, verse 7, This God has placed his everlasting arms under his people. Genesis 33 verse 27, this God is the one who in everlasting remembrance contemplates his people. According to Psalm 112 verse 6, this is the one who dispenses everlasting righteousness to his people. According to Psalm 119 in the verse 142, this is the God who is going to bring us into an everlasting kingdom. According to Psalm 145 verse 15, this is the one who will give everlasting strength to the people of God. Isaiah chapter 26 verse 4, this is the one who fills his people with everlasting joy. according to Psalm 35 in the verse 10. This is the one who with everlasting kindness deals with his people according to Isaiah 55, 54 verse 8. This is the one who with an everlasting love loves his people, Jeremiah 31 verse 3. This is the one who gives everlasting life to his people, 2 Thessalonians to verse 16, this is the one who brings everlasting consolation to the children of God. This is, and these are the benefits that come down to us from the everlasting Father. Oh, that it would thrill our souls. Does it excite you? Or does the thought of one o'clock excite you? There's a seventh truth presented in these words in Isaiah chapter nine, verse six, concerning the Christ of God, namely Christ's serenity, or Christ's tranquility. In our text, the Lord Jesus Christ is given the title the Prince of Peace. Now this world knows nothing of this peace. the people who live in the world, they most certainly lack genuine and lasting peace, spiritual rebellion, anarchy, lawlessness, run riot throughout this entire world, but it would be into such a world that the Prince of Peace would come and procure peace between God and man. How did the Prince of Peace, how did the Savior become the great peacemaker? For that's what he became. He becomes the greatest of peacemakers between rebellious man and holy God. How did he do it? This is how he did it. He became the responsible party in the great controversy between God and man. That's how he did it. He becomes the great responsible party in the great controversy between God and man. He undertakes to render complete obedience to the law of God and to give full satisfaction to divine justice as the God-man. He's going to pay the sin debt to the full. He stands in the breach. He's a man who stands in the gap. He suffers as a man for men. One preacher put it like this, he placed one hand, the hand of his deity on God, and he placed the other hand, the hand of his humanity on man, so making peace. This coming of the Prince of Peace into the world was long spoken of even prior to Isaiah. The thought of a Prince of Peace coming to the world, this isn't the first reference to it. Do you remember whenever Abram returned from the battle, when he fought the kings of the city of Sodom? Who did he meet? Melchizedek. Now, great debate has been had with regard to who Melchizedek is. Many believe that he is a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. And being so, he is given the title King of where? Salem. What does Salem mean? Well, it means peace. Melchizedek was who? The king of peace. Hebrews chapter 7 and the verse number 2, Hebrews 7 and the verse number 2, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, speaking of Mechazedek, first being by interpretation king of righteousness and after that also king of Siloam, which is king of peace, without father, without mother. being descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually." These terms, they speak to us and they are applied to none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, and so who did Abraham meet? He met the King of Peace. Do you remember the deathbed of Jacob? Jacob calls his 12 sons together, and he speaks to Judah there in Genesis 49, in the verse 10. This is what he says about Judah. The scepter, because Judah would be the kingly tribe, shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come. And on to him. shall the gathering of the people be. The name Shiloh, this is a title given to Christ, means tranquil. The coming of the Messiah, the Messiah was going to be the peacemaker, bringing peace and tranquility into the rest of the soul. He would bring serenity, peace. Because the Son of God is the Prince of Peace, therefore it is his royal prerogative to dispense that peace to all that believe on him. The one who secured peace becomes then the bestower of peace. The peace that the child of God enjoys rests not upon their repentance, but upon the atoning work and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He is, what does the scripture say? He is our peace, this peace, a peace of the fullest, of the most satisfying kind, is a peace that man has never dreamed of. It is a peace that the world knows nothing about, and it is a peace that Paul says is a peace that passeth all understanding. I ask you today, are you on a quest for peace? Peace. peace of soul, peace of conscience, peace of heart. Has peace evaded you throughout your entire life? Well, let me then today introduce you to the Prince of peace, who came to make peace between God and men, and did so by the blood of his cross, and he will give you his peace, if today you would only repent of sin and trust alone in him for salvation. There is peace from God according to Romans 1 verse 7. There is peace with God according to Romans 5 verse 1. And then there is the peace of God according to Philippians 4 and the verse 7. What did the angels proclaim to the shepherds the night that Christ was born? Peace on earth, goodwill toward men. They were speaking about a very personal, a very individual application of God's peace that grows out of a first-hand knowledge of the Prince of Peace. Do you have a first-hand knowledge of the Prince of Peace? Is today the peace of God ruling in your soul? Isaiah said, there is no peace. saith my God to the wicked. But all the peace in the child of God's soul, peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above, sweep over my spirit. in fathomless bellows of love. There is a penultimate truth, we think now of Christ's royalty. Look at the verse 7. 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. Mention is made of the throne of David. Mention is made of a kingdom. It very much refers to the kingship of Jesus Christ. Now the office of king is one of the offices that Christ executes as our Redeemer. All those who have been learning the shorter catechism should know that. Christ executeth the office of prophet, priest, and king as our Redeemer. And the catechism summarizes what Christ does as our king. Christ executeth the office of a king in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and all our enemies as Christ and as King. Christ the King first conquers us by grace and then cares for us by his guardian care. He rules over his people sovereignly. He defends his people perpetually. He guards us effectively. This is what he does as our King. Did you notice how the verses begin? They begin with a child. A child in a manger. But the verse and our text ends not with a child, but with a king. Not in a manger, but on a throne. A throne. Because that's where he is, child of God. He's on the throne. He's king of kings. He is lord of lords. And did you note the extent of Christ the king's reign? Note that it is an ever-increasing extent. It's an ever-increasing extent. His reign is ever-increasing. Verse 7, of the increase, note, underline the word, of the increase, not the decrease, not the decrease, child of God, of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. How many of God's people are discouraged? They're discouraged today because they think the kingdom of grace is a diminishing kingdom. Not! As I read the scriptures, I read that His kingdom is an ever increasing kingdom. Do you know whose kingdom is being diminished? Stephen's kingdom. The kingdom of darkness. Because every soul that is saved Ah, thank God is translated out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God's, dear son. His is an ever-increasing kingdom, child of God. Don't be sitting and getting discouraged. Christ's kingdom is advancing. Christ's kingdom is pushing onward. It is increasing, and such an increase is not achieved by human ingenuity. Rather His kingdom is increasing and is accomplished through the instrumentality of the preached word accompanied by the power of the Holy Ghost. His kingdom is an increasing one. Is Christ your King? Is He your King? Have you surrendered your life to Him? Is He reigning and ruling over all in your life? Have you submitted yourself to Him? Have you crowned Him as it were Lord of Lords? Has the kingdom of grace been established in that heart of yours? Is Christ enthroned? Is Christ enthroned? If not, then yield to Him today. And if so, then as your King, follow his royal edicts, and love as one who is in full subjection to him, seek the good of his kingdom, and advance that kingdom and its remit. How do we do that? By spreading abroad Christ's fame and Christ's name. Isaiah 9, verse 6 and 7 speaks of Christ's humanity, Christ's deity, Christ's authority, Christ's sympathy, Christ's supremacy, Christ's eternity, Christ's serenity or tranquility, Christ's royalty. But our text, one final brief thing, Christ's equity, Christ's equity. The term equity refers to a situation in which all are treated equally and fairly. We read in verse 7 that the Messiah's government is established, how? With judgment and with justice. And therefore, all justice and judgment meted out by Christ the King has a fairness, has an equity regarding it and to it. You know, many seek for justice in this world. And sadly, few ever get it. However, in Christ's kingdom, judgment and justice guides all that takes place therein. The Bible commentator Matthew Henry said, Christ's government shall be administered with prudence and equity. So as to answer the great end of government, which is the establishment of the kingdom, he shall order it and settle it with judgment and justice. Everything is and shall be well managed in the kingdom of Christ, and none of his subjects shall ever have cause to complain." Whatever God does is equitable, fair, right. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Of course he shall. And so whatever God does, whether in the Christians' losses, whether in the Christians' gains, whether in the Christians' crosses, He will do so with equity, with justice. And so, shall we question all that befalls us? in the closing days of 2020 and then the incoming year, if all that happens within the kingdom of grace is guided by God's unerring judgment and equitable justice, shall we question what God does? Brethren, sisters, in all things, joy or sadness, health or sickness, poverty or wealth, promotion or demotion, in all things, let us submit to God's equitable governance of our lives, believing that he doeth all things well. I trust that what I brought to your attention over these last number of Lord's days about the Christ of God will have been used by him to enlighten your mind and then to do something else, child of God, to inflame your heart. This is our God. This is the one I savingly know. Oh, may our hearts burn with love for Christ. May the Lord be pleased to bless the meditations of our hearts on these words for Christ's sake. Let's bow in prayer, please. We appreciate you listening. I trust that you'll meditate upon these things. Don't lose the comfort of them in coming days. May they be a blessing to your own soul. Loving Father, we thank thee for thy Son, Thine only begotten Son, the Son that Thou didst love, continues to love and shall love. We thank Thee for the Son of Thy right hand. What a God He is. He is the only God. He is the mighty God. He is the everlasting Father. He is the Prince of Peace. You thank me that his government knows no end. And all that happens within, oh God, that government is done so with fairness and equity. And therefore we submit to the purposes and plans of God as we leave an old year behind and welcome a new year. We pray that we may submit to Him in all things. Bless these dear people. We thank Thee for them. Encourage them in the Lord. Increase our hunger for the things of God in these days. May, O God, we apply now the word to our hearts. May it be applied by the Spirit and may it bear fruit in all of our lives. We offer prayer. In the name of Christ our Savior, Amen and Amen. May the Lord bless His word to our hearts.