For the Advent season, I will be doing a series on the different descriptions or names given to the Messiah in Isaiah 9, verse 6. 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. But before we consider this verse as a way of introduction, we will first study the first five verses of Isaiah chapter 9, which will be our text. this morning. As we study our text, it is important to understand the context in which Prophet Isaiah wrote it. And so what I'm going to do now is give you a brief historical background of our passage. First, we're going to look at the political context. Second, the economic context, and then moral or spiritual context, and then the social context. And then, from there, we're going to see the gospel in Isaiah's vision, in those five verses. And then at the end, I'm going to draw at least four lessons from this study. So that's our structure as we go through this passage. So first of all, let's look at the political context. And as we consider the political context of our passage, what we see is disorder, chaos. You need to remember that during this time, Israel was a vassal state of Assyria. This means Israel was under the control of the Assyrian Empire. And as a vassal state, Israel, yes, retained some degree of autonomy, but Israel was required to pay tribute or taxes to Assyria and pledge allegiance to Assyria. And Israel had to do this in exchange for protection and to avoid military conflict. However, there was a plan among God's people, among the people of Israel, to rebel against Assyria. And so what Israel did Israel joined forces with Syria. Don't get confused. Assyria, now Syria. So Israel joined forces with Syria against Assyria. And Israel and Syria wanted Judah to join their alliance against Assyria. Because remember too, during this time, the United Kingdom of Israel split, was divided already. In the north, you have Israel, the northern kingdom. And then in the south, you have Judah, the southern kingdom, or the kingdom of Judah. So, the northern kingdom, Israel, was under the control of Assyria. But they didn't want that, because they had to pay tribute, taxes, who would want that? And so Israel had this idea, well, I'm going to join forces with Syria and together we'll fight Assyria. But I think that's not enough. We need to invite, we need to ask Judah in the south to join us. So three against one. But Judah refused. Judah would not want to join their alliance. In fact, Judah under King Ahaz made a political compromise with Assyria. And so the result was this. Assyria defeated and invaded both Israel and Syria. So that was the political context. Now, how about the economic context? Political context, we see disorder or chaos. Economic context, we see distress. Why? Because both Israel and Judah were suffering financially. Their constant engagement in war and conflict created financial instability. Their warfare led to economic problems and distress. It literally drained their resources. And you know that very well. Whenever there is a war, there is a financial or economic problem. Moral, spiritual context. Well, we see decay. We see decline. We see moral decline and spiritual decay. There was idolatry and apostasy throughout the land of Israel in the north and Judah in the south. And this really plagued these both kingdoms. Imagine having political and even spiritual leaders that are morally corrupt. Now, social context, we see division just between the two kingdoms. There was no unity. Now you need to realize that Israel and Judah were part of the original God's covenant people, the unified kingdom of David. It's like a church split into two. Among God's people, there is no unity. Both kingdoms were frightened because of the threat of invasion by the Assyrians. And so, in summary, the condition of God's covenant people at this time was very ugly. And boys and girls, if you were to paint a picture of God's people during this time, You would see in that picture the following descriptions. Disorder, chaos, distress, unrest, decay, corruption, disunity, conflict, or in one word, What we see is darkness. Darkness. In fact, that's what we have in the very last verse of Isaiah chapter 8, before we even come to chapter 9. Why don't we read that verse? Because it's right there. Isaiah 8 verse 22. And this will provide a context for the next Verses, look at verse 22, Isaiah chapter 8. And they shall look unto the earth, and behold, trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, and they, referring to God's covenant people, shall be driven, to what? To darkness. So there was darkness. But in chapter 9, in the midst of this darkness, prophet Isaiah sees a vision of hope. Look at verse 1. So we'll quickly go through the first five verses of Isaiah chapter 9 before I give the lessons drawn from this meditation. Look at verse 1. Nevertheless! So just previously in verse 22, Isaiah talks about darkness. That's the very description that we see in both kingdoms. Darkness. Nevertheless, Isaiah says, or but, he's making a contrast here, the dimness shall not be such as was in her, or in Israel's vexation or distress, When at the first, he, referring to God, lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. Now, in this verse, Isaiah is recalling the event in 2 Kings chapter 15 verse 29, in which the king of Assyria invaded Israel and deported many Israelites to Assyria. And as we know, this happened as God's punishment for Israel's covenant unfaithfulness because of Israel's idolatry and rebellion and disobedience. And the result of this deportation or invasion was distress and anguish. And that's what we read in verse 9. But according to Isaiah's vision, God will bring an end to his people's distress. Here in verse 1, Prophet Isaiah assures God's people that their anguish would not last forever. The time will come that there will be no more gloom. No more dimness, no more darkness. And then verse 2, look at verse 2. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. God's covenant people, yes, were living in utter darkness, spiritual darkness, politically, economically, socially, morally, but Isaiah sees a great light shining! There is hope! There is hope in the midst of this darkness! And here's the gospel light that dispels the spiritual darkness that we see in the land of Israel. This light gives hope to those who are in darkness. And then verse 3, verse 3. Please look at your Bible as I read it. I would really want you to read it. Verse 3, Thou hast multiplied the nation and not increased the joy They joy according to the joy in harvest. Or they rejoice according to the joy in harvest. And as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. What's the point here? Well, the point is this, listen carefully please. God's people will greatly rejoice because of this light that we have in verse 2. In Isaiah's vision, God's people are rejoicing like a farmer rejoicing in his bountiful harvest and like a soldier rejoicing in his victory in the battle so there is great joy in verse 3 and then verse 4 And verse 5, For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. This refers to Gideon's victory over the Midianites in Judges chapter 7, if you remember. And then verse 5, 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." What's the point of verses 4 and 5? Well, here, God's people will experience victory over their enemies. Like Gideon experiencing victory over Midian. And God is going to break this yoke This yoke which speaks of slavery, because as I said, during this time, God's covenant people were under the power of the Assyrian Empire. Isaiah says, in his vision, someday, this yoke, this slavery, will be broken. The oppressor's rod will be smashed into pieces. There is victory in verses 4 and 5. And so in summary, I'm going to summarize now my thoughts here. What we have in the first five verses of Isaiah chapter 9 is good news. This is the gospel. The gospel in Isaiah's vision. In verse 1, we see a We see great peace. There will be great peace, no more gloom for those in anguish. In verse 2, there will be a great light that dispels darkness. In verse 3, there will be rejoicing. Like a farmer rejoicing in his bountiful harvest, or a soldier in his victory over his enemies. In verses 4 and 5, there will be a great victory over enemies. Like Gideon, experiencing victory over Midian. There will be deliverance. Now, what can we learn from this? I'll give you four, as I promised. Here's the first one, if you're jotting down. The ground of the Gospel. Because like what I said, what we have in the first five verses of Isaiah chapter 9 is the Gospel. The ground, the basis of the Gospel in those verses is Christ. Is Christ. Why did I say that? I will explain why. Listen to this, after announcing all the good news, all the spiritual blessings in verses 1 through 5, Isaiah says in verse 6, 4, you see that? 4! We often quote this, boys and girls, you probably memorize this. 4. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. Now, we really pay attention to that preposition 4, which is so critical in verse 6, in understanding the context. For unto us, we even sing it, right? For unto us a child is born. Now, for, what's the relevance of that preposition for? Well, that preposition for refers to the previous verses. What Isaiah, don't miss it now, listen carefully, what Isaiah is saying is this. Here's the reason for all the goodness or all the spiritual blessings that I have mentioned or prophesied in verses 1 through 5. For or because, because unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And as we know, Isaiah here is talking about the birth of the only begotten Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is because of this Son that we have this good news. In other words, that preposition 4 explains the ground or basis of every blessing mentioned in the previous verses. Verse 1 talks about Peace. There is peace. Why? Here's the answer. For unto us a child is born. Because unto us a child is born. Verse 2 talks about this light, this hope, this bright hope. Why do we have this bright hope in the midst of this great darkness? The answer is found in verse 6. 4. Unto us a child is born because of this child. Verse 3 talks about this great rejoicing, great, great joy. Why there will be great rejoicing among God's people someday? We have the answer in verse 6. 4. Because unto us a child is born. Verses 4 and 5 talk about great victory over our enemies, or deliverance from sin and Satan. Why? Why are we going to experience great victory? For, because unto us a child is born. And so that preposition, for, underscores or emphasizes the centrality of the Lord Jesus Christ in every spiritual blessing that we have in the Gospel. In short, the ground of all these unspeakable blessings that we have in the first five verses is this child. is this child, who is now sitting at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Without this child, without this Son, the Son of God, there will be no peace, there will be no joy, there will be no hope, there will be no victory. That's the message that we have here. What does it mean to you and me? What it means? Without Jesus, You will never experience true peace. If this morning you are here and you don't have this child, you don't have the Son of God as your Lord and Savior, then don't expect to experience true peace. You are the most miserable person inside this sanctuary. If you don't have this child, your life is hopeless. You don't have hope. Because hope is only and can only be found in this child, the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, one of the problems during the time of Prophet Isaiah, was that both these kingdoms, the kingdom of Israel in the north and the kingdom of Judah in the south, they put their trust in chariots, in princes, in kings, not in God. Where do you put your hope? Where do you put your hope? Do you have joy this morning Again, don't expect to experience true joy without this child. There is joy. Why? For unto us a child is born. Your money, your education, nothing in this world can give you true happiness. Paul can say this in Philippians 4 verse 4, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Remember when he wrote this, he was in jail, under house arrest, or in a Roman jail, and yet he could say this, Rejoice in the Lord always, because he knew that true joy would only be found in Christ. You will never experience victory over sin. Sin is too powerful for you to handle. You will never experience victory over Satan. Satan is too powerful for you to defeat. You are unmatched to Satan. Victory is found in this child. Maybe the yoke of sin is still weighing down on you. Maybe your addiction, or whatever struggle you have, whatever kind of yoke that you have right now, weighing you down, enslaving you. Well, only this child can give you freedom from that sin. See, the ground of the gospel is Christ, this child, this son that we have in verse 6. Which, by the way, I hope to elaborate in our second message this afternoon, the Lord willing, with God's help. Second, second lesson here. So first lesson, the ground of the gospel is Christ. Second, the gospel is our light or hope in this dark world. It is the Gospel that gives light and hope to this dim, gloomy, and depressing world. The Gospel is like the sun that provides light to earth. Now here in our text, Amid darkness, Isaiah is still focused on this great light, the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, yes, Isaiah is surrounded by conflict, by idolatry, wickedness, immorality, apostasy, But He keeps looking at this shining light. This is His source of comfort and hope and encouragement. Now needless to say, we live in a gloomy, depressing world. But we need not to focus on this gloom. But on the Gospel. On the Gospel light. Maybe this morning your life is characterized by darkness. Gloomy. You feel gloomy. You feel depressed. You're so down, discouraged, about to give up. Maybe you're saying, this is going to be my last Sunday in this church. After this, I don't want to go to church anymore. I don't want to serve the Lord anymore. You're so discouraged. Maybe there's no peace in your life right now. There's that constant conflict between you and your spouse. Constant conflict between you and your children. Constant conflict between you and someone at work. or maybe even here at church, there is no peace. There is no joy in your heart. Your heart is filled with sadness. And you can't even explain it. The yoke of sin weighs heavily on your life. because of your vices, because of your secret sin that robs you of joy. You call it secret sin, but you know very well that God sees it, God knows it. And you said, I don't want to do it anymore. Probably made that kind of resolution last year. I'm not going to do this. And then here comes again that sin. And you feel so weighed down. That yoke continues to press you down. And maybe one of the reasons why you are here this morning, but you're not enjoying worshipping the Lord. You're just here because, well, it's just the way it is. I grew up going to church. It's part of our tradition. This is our routine. Where else shall I go on Sunday? But you're not really enjoying worshipping the Lord. You're not excited about the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Well, I have good news for you. There is light in darkness. And Jesus is that light. John 1, verses 4 and 5, in Him was life. And the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness. And the darkness did not comprehend it. Isn't it ironic? And the light shines in the darkness. And the darkness did not comprehend it. Boys and girls, if it is totally dark here right now, absolutely dark, there is no light. And then, I just saw this. And then, I took this lamp. So bright, shining. If you don't see it, something is wrong with you. Something is wrong with you. But that's precisely what we see here in our passage. Well, at least here in John chapter 1. John is telling us, the light came into this world. In this dark, stricken, sin-stricken world. And yet people did not notice it. What's wrong? Well, because of spiritual blindness. And that's the problem. People, by nature, are spiritually blind. Unable to see and appreciate the gospel light. In fact, what did they do to this light? They broke it. They broke it. It is like me providing you this lamp, telling you, come, I can help you, I can guide you, so that you don't stumble, you don't fail as you walk out of this sanctuary, because it is dark right now. Instead of you saying, thank you pastor for that light, instead of appreciating that light, you actually grab that light from me, you took it out of me, and you smashed it! You broke it. That's what we did to this light. They broke the light. And that's the language that we have in the Lord's Supper. This body was broken for you. They broke the light. They broke the Lord Jesus Christ. They sent Him to the cross. And even at Calvary, this light, the Lord Jesus Christ experienced darkness. Darkness! Oh, so that we who are dark by nature, if we put our trust in Him, we'll experience light. Light. Jesus spoke to them again saying in John 8 verse 12, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." John 12, verse 46. I have come as a light into the world and whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness. Why abide in darkness? Who wants to live in darkness? Boys and girls. You don't want to live in darkness, do you? And that's why sometimes you get afraid. You want to go to mama's bed when it is dark. You're scared. Darkness by nature is ugly. We don't need to live in darkness, Jesus says, or abide in darkness, which implies that we are living in darkness by nature, when we can be in the light in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, my second lesson is this. The Gospel is our light, our hope in this dark world. Third, third lesson. The Gospel that we have in the first five verses of Isaiah chapter 9 will always fulfill its promise. The prophetic promise in verse 2 Isaiah 9 verse 2 came to pass around 600 years later. That prophecy was fulfilled. How do we know that? Well, I want you to go to Matthew chapter 4 and see the fulfillment of Isaiah 9 verse 2. Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4. And let us read verses 12 through 16. Matthew chapter 4. Verse 12, And when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabalun and Naphtalim. Why? Verse 14, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying and this is now Isaiah chapter 2 the land of Zebulun and the land of Nephthilim by the great way of the sea beyond Jordan Galilee of the Gentiles the people which sat in darkness saw great light and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up the gospel will always fulfill its promise and therefore the gospel is trustworthy You ask, how do I know that if I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, I will be saved? I know it because the gospel will not tell a lie. God fulfilled His promise more than 600 years ago. He did it. And I will challenge you, find, find prophecies, promises in the Bible that God has not fulfilled. Well, there are some, but He will fulfill them. The fact that He has fulfilled many of them already. And therefore we can trust God's promise. And so this morning, maybe you struggle with assurance, or you constantly struggle, maybe because of your upbringing. I don't know what it is. You keep struggling with assurance of faith. You keep questioning maybe God's promises. Is it really true? Is it really for me, baby? It's not for me. And maybe one of the reasons why even today you've been attending this church for many, many, many years now and still you cannot make a step to come forward and enjoy the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Well, I want you to think about this. Has God failed you? Has God ever failed you? Will He fail you? Is He not true to His Word? Does He not tell you, believe, and He will save you? Does He not promise that if you confess your sin, He is faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you from all your iniquities? Don't you believe that promise? What keeps you from believing that promise? What doubt do you have about that promise? Isn't it enough for you to know that God has kept His promises and continues to keep His promises? We see that here so clearly in Isaiah chapter 9. It was fulfilled. Amazing, amazing. Final lesson. The gospel is powerful. The gospel is powerful. We see that in verses 4 and 5. When God has broken the yoke of sin. You see, the gospel is so powerful that it can dispel the power of darkness. Boys and girls, you tell me. Which one is powerful? More powerful, darkness or light? If this is absolutely dark right now, this place, and you have a flashlight, a candle, which will prevail? Of course you know the answer. And what we have here is the gospel light. And God is saying, this gospel is able to change you. able to provide victory over sin just as what he did to Gideon. God granted Gideon victory over the Midianites. And mind you, remember that story in Judges chapter 7 verse 2, And the Lord said to Gideon, The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands. Lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, My own hand has saved Me. So don't take too many people with you. Because I want to show to them that it is not by your might that you will experience victory, but by the power of the gospel. And isn't it true? Yes, we are weak. Who is strong? I don't come to the Lord's table because I have strong faith. Far from it. In fact, I want to come because my faith is weak. I want it to be strengthened by the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ through the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Now, some of you think the other way around. Well, I can't come to the Lord's Supper because my faith is weak. No. I don't see my doctor because I'm strong. I see my doctor because I need help, because I'm weak. You come to Christ because you need Him, because of your weakness, your frailty. Bring all your frailties, your shortcomings to the gospel. Bring them all! And say, I am weak, but You are strong. Lord, I keep failing, Lord. I thank You for the Gospel, which has the power to transform my life, to change me, to defeat my enemy, my sin, and even myself, and Satan who keeps coming after me like a roaring lion to devour me. And so as we end this message, in conclusion, we see four beautiful, glorious things about the Gospel. First, the ground of the Gospel is Christ. Jesus is the Gospel. We have all these blessings for and to us, because unto us a child is born. Second, the Gospel is the light, our light in this dark world. He's our hope, our encouragement. Don't look at, yes, it's good to watch news, to be updated. I do that as a pastor. I need to. I have to. It's part of my work. I want to know what's going on, but not at the extent of just paying attention too much that you get depressed. No, I watch this and that. Okay, enough for me. Now I need to go back to the Gospel. Now I need to find comfort in Jesus Christ. Not in our Prime Minister. Not in the new President of the United States. No, no, no, no, no. I find my hope in Christ. Third, God is faithful. Or the Gospel is faithful to its promise because Jesus is faithful. And finally, the Gospel is powerful because Jesus is powerful. He is the Gospel. He can change you. He can change your unbelieving loved ones. And that's why keep sharing the Gospel with them. Let us pray. Lord, oh Lord, we thank you. for the glorious, wonderful Gospel that we have in Jesus Christ. Lord, we have heard the Gospel proclaimed to us. Now we're going to see it acted out in our very eyes, in front of us, as we come to the Lord's table. Lord, we thank you for that too. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.