Unto Us a Son Is Given — Isaiah 9

0:00 Our God and our father, we're thankful for the fact that the Lord from heaven came down and was born as a baby in Bethlehem. And he came for one purpose. As he grew older in his earthly years, he was facing the cross. And while he was a child that was born in Bethlehem, he was the son that was given from eternity. Father, we praise him.

0:42 We worship him. We ask for thy help as we open thy word this morning. For we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Turn please to Matthew chapter one.

1:11 Matthew chapter one and verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly or privately. But while we thought about these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

2:00 And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying, behold the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. Then Joseph being roused from sleep did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son and he called his name Jesus. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, the old wise men came from the East from the East came to Jerusalem. A story that's well known I'm sure to everyone, and yet a story that we never tire of hearing the fact that God sent his son to be the savior of the world.

3:18 In verse 21, you shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. Jesus means Jehovah is salvation. We realize that we all were born and live as sinners. And a holy God in heaven cannot allow sin to enter heaven that's not forgiven. And the message of the birth of Christ, which the world has twisted entirely into a time of putting the focus on everything but Christ, because the Lord Jesus Christ is still rejected.

5:01 Today we rejoice in the fact that he is our savior, that he has done the work of redemption in the most agonizing and shameful way on the cross. We read that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. We got a letter from Jaeb Nicholson yesterday. And Jay's an interesting brother and he does a lot of personal evangelism.

5:48 And he was saying that at this time of the year people are more receptive to listening to Jesus coming. So he says we take John three sixteen and we break it down. Four points. God loved. Second point, so he gave.

6:15 Third point, I believe. Fourth point, so I have. That's really the truth of John three sixteen. God loves so he gave. I believe so I have.

6:37 And so we're so thankful for the fact that God so loved the world that he gave his only son, his only begotten son. The son that was with him from eternal ages that never had a beginning. Eternity never had a beginning. God the father, God the son, and God the holy spirit never had a beginning. And it's incomprehensible sometimes for so many in the world today.

7:12 We're thankful for the truth of that. And as we think of the other name that's given here, because Matthew is quoting from Isaiah, Isaiah chapter seven and verse 14 and verse 23 he says, behold the virgin shall be with child and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. Now Emmanuel is not really a proper name like Jesus would be. Emmanuel describes a condition, God with us. God living on the earth.

8:02 God walking on the earth in the person of his son. The son of God displaying the love of the God the Father and God the Son, God the Holy Spirit as he was stretched out on the cross of Calvary, nailed upon Golgotha's tree, bruised and bleeding. Who was he? Scorners tell him to come down, to claim a kingdom and a crown, but he was the lamb of God. The son of God became the lamb of God, and we're so thankful that so many in the room have that relationship.

8:54 That's the only relationship that matters for eternity. Have you trusted Christ as your savior? Do you know that when he suffered on the cross he was paid the penalty for sin? But it requires a personal response. It requires someone that says, God, I'm a sinner, but I'll accept the work of Jesus Christ, your son, for my sins because I want to spend eternity with you.

10:58 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 with justice. From that time forward, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. And what I really wanna do is focus on verse six. For unto us a child is born.

11:32 Isaiah seven and fourteen tells us that was a sign, and we've talked about the child born in Bethlehem. For unto us a son is given. That's not the sign. That's the gift. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

11:58 And those first two phrases, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, refers to when the Lord Jesus came into the world when he was born. That's what we call the first advent. The rest of that verse and verse seven is still future for describing his second advent. Not the names necessarily, but the other, particularly verse seven. And the government will be upon his shoulders in verse six.

12:43 For the Lord Jesus is coming back again, and he's not coming back as a baby. He's not coming back to suffer. He's coming back to reign. He'll come back after the great tribulation is over. The battle of Armageddon is fought.

13:06 He's defeated the armies of the world, and he'll reign as the prince of peace for a thousand years, and then go into the eternal state. As we think of the fact that there's five different names given for us of the savior, the son of God. And I realize that there are some versions that put wonderful counselor together using wonderful as an adjective. And he is wonderful, but that's not the force of this verse. And this verse wonderful is a noun, it's not an adjective.

14:38 And in that chapter, Manoah and his wife, the parents of Samson. An angel of the Lord appears to his wife and tells her that even though she's barren, she's going to have a son. And that son will be a Nazarite, And he tells her how the son is to live. And she tells her husband Manoah, and he prays to God and says, let me see that man. Let me hear from his voice.

15:18 And in grace, the angel of the Lord who is really the Lord Jesus Christ in earthly form as an old testament theopony, comes again. And he said... When Noah says to him, are you the man that talked to my wife? He says, yes. Well, how are we supposed to raise this son that's been promised to us?

15:42 The angel of the Lord says, just the way I told your wife. And he repeats it. And he says, well, we want to show hospitality to you. We're going to have a kid, we're going to have a meal. The angel of the Lord says, I will not eat, but you can offer that offering to God because all offerings are to God.

16:10 And so as that goat is burning on the altar, when Noah says to the angel of the Lord, well, what is your name? And the answer comes back, why are you asking my name? Seeing it is wonderful. The mystery of the deity of Christ is truly wonderful. And there's a hymn, thou art the everlasting word.

16:53 And the fourth verse of the... That hymn goes, but the high mysteries of his name and angels grasp transcend. It's beyond it. The father only glorious claim the son can comprehend. And this is the one that we worship on Sunday mornings.

17:18 But we also worship him during the week daily. And the more time we spend during the week worshiping privately in our homes or spare moments of the day, the better our worship will be Sunday mornings. You know, worship at the breaking of bread is not a spectator event. We're not sitting in bleachers watching others perform. Worship is a responsibility.

18:02 Worship isn't a spiritual gift. Worship is the outpouring of a heart that's overwhelmed with the person of Christ and what he has done, and all that he means to us, and all that he means to the Father. It's not about what we've done during the week, it's about what he has done. From eternity past to eternity future, but the glories of our risen Savior, our Lord. We are responsible to come prepared to worship, but it starts at home and starts during the week.

19:14 How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the lord or who has become his counselor? Now some of the practical applications, and as we go through these names, if I haven't said it before, I want to have this both be a devotional time and a time of practical application for the way we live today. And the application for that, if you turn please to Psalms thirty two and eight. Psalms thirty two and eight says, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.

20:14 I will guide you with my eye. Now these are... That's a threefold principles of a good teacher. I will instruct you. We all know what that is, that's the instruction given.

20:36 I will teach you. I'm going to use that as a hands on watching of someone repeat back. Or in the case of a craft, to do the work, to watch it, to make sure that the student has understood and is capable of doing it. But then I will guide you. I will guide or counsel you.

21:09 And this is what the Lord is doing in our lives. We get the instruction from the word of God. The Holy Spirit takes and teaches us. He's the teacher. He says, the Lord said he would teach us all things, and then guide and counsel.

21:37 You know there's one verse that we've had is a kind of a key verse for life and for our marriage. And I know a number of you as well have already chosen this verse. Proverbs three, five and six. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths.

22:11 Now sometimes we have to wait. Guidance doesn't always come immediately. We wish it did. But sometimes we have to wait. And you know, you have to wait quite a while.

22:29 A couple of times when we were looking for a different home, we were praying for a year or a year and a half until the Lord just led us to the right place. And so, in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. But he's also the mighty God, omnipotent deity, the all powerful. As he says in Revelation one and eight, the almighty. And in John chapter one, the first four verses, It says, for in him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible.

23:39 I'm sorry I got mixed up a little bit with Colossians one and a couple of phrases in that. One of the things about speaking is you always have more material than you can have time, and so you have to start chopping and cutting. And I got a little twisted up there, I'm sorry. The eternal God, and he is God. It says the word was with God and the word was God from eternity.

24:12 He created the universe, and the size of this universe is absolutely astounding. Someone has said, and there were a couple that were involved with studying the universe, the starry universe. And they said if you started off at the sun, New Year's morning, and as a speck of light went out, light traveling at the speed of a 186,000 miles a second, You'd reach the end of the universe of universes. 1,400,000,000 light years from now, you'd finally run out of universes. Staggering, staggering.

25:17 And he created it all by the word of his power, the mighty God. But what are the applications from this? I've listed four and there's many more. The first one is this god of such power and might is the one that controls our security. We have eternal security.

25:43 John 10 verse 28 through 30. The savior said, and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone pluck them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. The God that controls the universe, that created and controls, is the one with whom our eternal security is secure.

26:23 The second blessing is his guidance. We talked about that previously. The third one is his power. And so often we struggle because we don't have the strength, we don't have the wisdom, we don't have the means to sometimes solve what we're facing without the strength of the Lord. Is anything too hard for the Lord?

27:04 Was the question that the Lord said to Abraham when he was talking about the fact that Sodom and Gomorrah were going to be destroyed. The fourth one, and I was going to have you read this, but the time is going away, but write down if you can. Lamentations three verses 22 through 25. I'll just read them to you. It's our daily blessings, And if we could only focus on that, through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed because his compassions fail not.

27:50 They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul therefore I hope in him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. What a great Lord we have.

28:13 It is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. But you know there's another side to that. Because sometimes when we pray, God doesn't give us the request we're praying for. You know, I was reminded of that ten days ago tonight. I was at a memorial service for one of our neighbors.

29:28 He married the head cheerleader. And as we see him, they were showing some videos of his life later. And he was skiing, and he was on the beach with his family, and life was going well. But two years ago, he came down with cancer. And they showed two different clips of videos that he had addressed the church when he was speaking to them.

29:59 The first one was shortly after he came down with cancer. He looked fine, he looked normal. And he was speaking about the fact that he was battling cancer, but it was driving him closer to the Lord. The second clip was probably within the last two months of his life. He had lost his hair.

30:26 He had lost a tremendous amount of weight. His complexion was white, a pasty white instead of the ruddy complexion. But he was talking about how close he had come to the Lord during the time of his physical struggle. He was talking about the fact that one night his wife went to bed about eleven and their children were grown and out of the house. He said, I just sat down in my office.

30:58 I turned on the CD player, was listening to hymns, reading the bible, praying, meditating. He said I had a wonderful time. And this was, we were watching the video clip. He said, finally I figured, well it must be about midnight. I better go to bed.

31:23 He turned around and he looked at the clock behind him on the desk. It was 03:30 in the morning. For four and a half hours, Jim had been drawing his strength from the Lord, enjoying the Lord. And he said he didn't even want to go to bed then. But he said, 04:00 the next afternoon I crashed.

31:48 And he really did. But he had a tremendous testimony. One of the men that was speaking at the memorial service was a neighbor. And he talked about the fact that Jim used to have bible studies in their house. And as new neighbors, they had been invited and he and his wife came, they both trusted the Lord as a result of those bible studies.

32:15 And so God doesn't always answer the way we want, but he answers the way he is working his will. That church auditorium was packed with people he had worked with before, with neighbors, and I was talking to one of the neighbors that was actually I've been talking to her, she was standing in line ahead of me at the when we were waiting to go through to greet the family. I ran into her the next morning, actually it was late morning at Costco. I was coming out and she was coming in, we were talking for a minute. And I said that was a tremendous testimony of Jim's faith in God and the way God sustained him.

33:16 She said it was, and she isn't even a believer. But there was a testimony for the neighborhood and for those that he worked with at Rockwell. And so I just want to... Wow. The next one, the everlasting father.

34:17 A father's responsibilities are to instruct the family, to train the children, and to provide for the family. God the son. In love and in tender compassion, instructs, he trains, and he provides. And as we have the focus on eternity, know, second Corinthians four verses seventeen and eighteen, and I've quoted these, used these verses in other messages. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

35:15 Well, do not look at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal. And the question is, what can we take from this life into heaven? You know, first Timothy six says, we brought nothing into the world, we can take nothing out. But I suggest to you there are at least four things we can take out.

35:46 Not temporary provisions or possessions, but the first thing we can take out is what we send ahead in financial giving to the Lord's work and workers. The second thing I believe we can take out is our labor for the Lord's people and for people in general. Our lives will be reviewed at the beam or the judgment seat for the believer, for rewards. What are we going in for, for self or for others? Will it be rewarded or is it selfish?

36:38 The third thing we can take out, I believe, is others that have trusted Christ, that we've been a link in their salvation by our witness. Speaking to others, sharing, living for others but then following up. The fourth thing I believe, and you may question this a bit. I believe we can take out an appreciation of the person of Christ through meditating, reading the word of God in prayer. I don't believe that everyone in heaven will have the same appreciation of the Lord in glory and for eternity.

37:42 Well, every believer will be there. But I believe some will have a greater appreciation of the person of Christ. And it has to start down here. Eternity. Time ends and then eternity.

38:08 But it's often been quoted, only one life will soon be past, and only what's done for Christ will last. But the last one, and I'm going to go through this quickly, is the prince of peace. The Lord's millennial reign of a thousand years. In Jeremiah twenty three and five, it says, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will raise to David a branch of righteousness, a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. You know, as we were singing that last Christmas chorus, joy to the world, that really is speaking of the Lord's millennial reign.

39:02 We use it for his birth, and maybe the first verse refers to it. But the second, third, and fourth verses are speaking about his reign as the prince of peace. And you know, how about peace in the believer's life? We know that the believer has peace with God. Romans five and one says, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

39:35 But peace with God is crucial for salvation. But how about the peace of God? Turn please just to Philippians four. I think this is such a crucial section for having peace in our lives today as believers. Verse six, be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, lest your requests be made known to God.

40:22 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The peace of God. The peace of God. Isaiah twenty six and three is a verse that I have to say both Audrey and I often will quote at night before you wake up in the middle of the night and you're trying to get back to sleep. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in you.

41:08 Perfect peace. Now, just as a brief recap, the person that's enjoying peace with God is someone that is living as follows. One, they're occupied in worship with the savior who loved them, still loves them, and died for them. Worship. Two, they're trusting in the Lord for wisdom and guidance.

41:46 Number three, they're depending upon the Lord to handle their struggles in life, to do what they cannot do. First Peter five and seven says, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. He cares. And what we can't do, we have to commit to him. The fourth point is there living a life focused on eternity as well as time in this life.

42:23 Holding earthly possessions loosely. The emphasis is loosely. They realize that they're only a steward of what God has given, and it's required in stewards to be found faithful, to be a good steward. Fifth point, they're not anxious about difficulties, but they take their needs and problems to God in a believing prayer with thanksgiving. And the emphasis is believing prayer.

43:09 Do you believe God's able to do it if he wants to? Is anything too hard for the Lord? We know it's not. If he can control the universe, he can control your problems and mine. But he wants to hear us acknowledge in worship and thanksgiving and supplication and intercession.

43:45 He wants to hear us. The prayer meeting is really the power meeting of an assembly. Wednesday night, we really could use a few more attendees. But you know, we're thankful. And I look upon Andy and Janelle, and they're out there with their...

44:09 All their kids. If they can make it with all their young children, we'd like to see a few more of you at the prayer meeting. It's really the powerhouse of an assembly. Much prayer, much power. Little prayer, little power.

44:34 I just say that kindly. But it's a burden on my heart. The worship meeting is a burden on my heart. The prayer meeting is a burden on my heart. And we just would ask the Lord to bless.