ISAIAH 9
OPENS WITH A WELL KNOWN AND WELL REFERENCED PROPHECY GOD GIVES ISAIAH.
AFTER THE LAST FEW PROPHECIES THAT SPEAK OF DARK DAYS AHEAD FOR THE DISOBEDIENT ISRAEL...
ALMIGHTY GOD NOW GIVES ISRAEL A PROPHECY OF HOPE.
AND THAT HOPE IS?
A CHILD OF HOPE SHALL BE BORN...THIS IS THE PROPHECY OF THE BIRTH OF THEIR MESSIAH, OUR OWN PRECIOUS JESUS CHRIST.
SO ONCE AGAIN, ALMIGHTY GOD GIVES THE GOOD NEWS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, WHICH IS AFFIRMED AND CONFIRMED IN THE NEW.
ONCE AGAIN, FOR THOSE WHO SAY I BELIEVE THE OLD TESTAMENT, BUT NOT THE NEW TESTAMENT.
HERE IT IS.
THE COMING OF JESUS CHRIST FORETOLD BY ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF TO ISAIAH.
Verses 1-2 tells us a day of light for the northern tribes.
"Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at first He lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in 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."
NEVERTHELESS THE GLOOM..."THE GLOOM"...carries over from Isaiah 8, where Isaiah warned Judah about the coming invasion from Assyria.
REMEMBER Isaiah 8:22 says, "Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness." The invasion of the Assyrians would be TERRIBLE for the Jewish people, ESPECIALLY for the northern regions of the Promised Land, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.
AND IN THIS CONTEXT, the promise of Isaiah 9:1 is all the MORE PRECIOUS because THE GLOOM will not be upon her who is distressed.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
THE BIBLE AND HISTORY TELLS US...The northern regions of the Promised Land - around the Sea of Galilee (Galilee of the Gentiles) - were MOST SEVERELY ravaged when the Assyrians invaded from the north. The promise is that this land, once seemingly lightly esteemed by the LORD, will one day have a SPECIAL BLESSING FROM ALMIGHTY GOD.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light … upon them a light has shined...REMEMBER the NORTHERN TRIBES are the FIRST TO SUFFER from the Assyrian invasions, so in God's mercy, they will be THE FIRST to SEE the HOPE...THE LIGHT...of the Messiah, OUR OWN JESUS CHRIST.
AND DID YOU KNOW...Matthew 4:13-16 quotes this passage as clearly fulfilled in the Galilean ministry of Jesus. Since the majority of Jesus' ministry took place in this NORTHERN area of Israel, around the Sea of Galilee, God certainly did have a special blessing for this once lightly esteemed land, AMEN?!
Verses 3-5 tells us of Joy in the Messiah's deliverance and victory.
"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."
You HAVE MULTIPLIED the nation and INCREASED ITS JOY.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
The ministry of the Messiah would BRING joy and gladness to Israel.
AND REMEMBER IN MATTHEW 9:14-15, JESUS SAYS, His ministry was like having a wedding party. "They will rejoice according to the time of harvest, the time when the hard work has paid off and the bounty comes off."
They WILL rejoice as men rejoice when they divide the spoil, with a celebration of victory, as in the locker room of a championship team.
As in the day of MIDIAN...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
This refers to Gideon's great victory over Midian in Judges 7. As wonderfully complete, joyous, and victorious as Gideon's victory over Midian was, this is the same kind of victory the Messiah WILL enjoy and give.
And the victory IS complete.
The reference to EVERY WARRIOR'S sandal … garments rolled in blood, will be used for burning and fuel of fire...MEANS THE BATTLE IS OVER. This is what they did in that day AFTER the battle was finished and you had won!
EACH OF THESE PROMISES....the reference to GREAT joy, the BREAKING of the yoke of his burden and the rod of his oppressor, and the complete victory over all enemies has spiritual application to Jesus' work in our lives. These things are ours in Jesus, AMEN?!
SOME HAVE SAID IF THESE THINGS REFERENCE JESUS...
WHEN IS JESUS SAD, WORRIED, OR AFRAID?
WHEN DOES JESUS GROAN UNDER THE YOKE OF HIS BURDEN?
WHEN DOES JESUS FEEL THE STING OF THE ROD OF HIS OPPRESSOR?
THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT TELL US THAT JESUS FACED, ALL THOSE THINGS BEFORE HIS DEATH ON CALVARY, AMEN?
JESUS CHRIST WOULD AND DID SUFFER THEM FOR YOU AND I, FOR ALL OF MANKIND. FOR THOSE WHO WOULD LOVE HIM, AS WELL THOSE WHO WOULD REJECT, CURSE, SPIT ON HIM, AND DISMISS HIM TOO, AMEN?
The RISEN, GLORIFIED, ASCENDED Jesus NOW experiences NONE of these things, and THE GOOD NEWS is...
EPHESIANS 2:6 says, "He has raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
ROMANS 8:37 says, "We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."
THOSE WHO KNOW, LOVE, AND CALL JESUS CHRIST LORD, SAVIOR, & FRIEND...WE SHARE IN HIS VICTORY, AMEN?
DO WE UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS VERSE?
THERE ARE THOSE THAT SAY...
I DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT THE NEW TESTAMENT SAYS.
I DO NOT BELIEVE JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF ALMIGHTY GOD.
I DO BELIEVE HE WAS A NICE GENTLE MAN, A TEACHER...BUT GOD WOULD NEVER ALLOW HIS SON TO SUFFER & TO DIE.
THEY SAY A REAL GOD COULD NOT DIE, RIGHT?
BUT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD TELLS MANKIND, ISRAEL, & US IN THE OLD TESTAMENT WHO THE HOPE IS, & WHAT JESUS WILL FACE, WHAT HE WILL ENDURE, YET THE VICTORY IS ALREADY ASSURED, AMEN?!
VERSE 6 tells us the glory of the Messiah who will reign.
"For 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."
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given...
AND DO YOU NOTICE, ALMIGHTY HAS ISAIAH USE REPETITION TO THE HEBREWS TO EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE POINT.
The Child IS born... the Son IS given.
AND DID YOU CATCH IT?
RIGHT HERE, AT THE SAME TIME, WE RECOGNIZE THE HAND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE SPECIFIC WORDING...
For unto us a Child is born...This glorious prophecy of the birth of Messiah reminds Israel that the victory-bringing Messiah would be A MAN.
WHAT DO I MEAN BY THAT?
THERE ARE THOSE WHO, THEN AND NOW, TAUGHT AND THEORIZED THAT THE MESSIAH COULD HAVE BEEN AN ANGEL.
OR THAT The Messiah could have been God WITHOUT humanity.
But in reality, NEITHER OF THOSE THEORIES OR BELIEFS OR OPTIONS COULD HAVE OR WOULD HAVE qualified THOSE IDEAS the Messiah OR TO BE WHAT JESUS REALLY IS...HE IS OUR SAVIOR AND OUR HIGH PRIEST, AMEN?
THE CHILD HAD TO BE BORN...THAT IS WHY THE EMPHASIS ON "BE BORN"...IS OFTENTIMES REPEATED HERE AND OTHER PLACES IN THE BIBLE....
WHY?
BECAUSE ALMIGHTY GOD KNEW THERE WOULD BE THOSE WHO CHOSE TO SAY JESUS WAS AN ANGEL, OR A MESSENGER FROM GOD, NOT THE SON OF GOD, BORN AND MADE FLESH IN A REAL HUMAN MAN.
ALMIGHTY GOD ANSWERS THE QUESTION RIGHT HERE...THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEFORE MANY OF THESE "THEORIES AND IDEAS" EVER BEGAN...HOW COOL IS THAT?
What an amazing mystery, AMEN?
I MEAN THINK ABOUT IT, THERE IS NOTHING MORE WEAK, MORE HELPLESS, MORE DEPENDENT ON OTHERS THAN A CHILD, AMEN?
THEORETICALLY...JESUS CHRIST COULD HAVE JUST APPEARED, COME AS A FULLY GROWN MAN, COULD HAVE BEEN CREATED AS AN ADULT, EVEN AS ADAM WAS CREATED.
BUT JUST AS PHILIPPIANS 2:7 tells us..but for Jesus to FULLY INDENTIFY WITH HUMANITY, and to display in His life the servant nature that is in God, made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
IN OTHER WORDS, IF JESUS HAD TO BE AND WAS TO BE THE PERFECT, PURE, SINLESS SACRIFICIAL OFFERING FOR ALL OF MANKIND, THAT WOULD SATISFY ALMIGHTY GOD...
JESUS HAD TO BECOME LIKE MAN.
JESUS HAD TO BE BORN.
JESUS HAD TO GROW UP.
JESUS HAD TO, IN HIS BODY, IN HIS FLESH, HAVE THE SAME LIMITATIONS, THE SAME TEMPTATIONS, THE SAME TRIALS THAT ARE COMMON TO ALL MAN.
YET NOTTT SIN, NOT FAIL, NOT FALTER.
HE HAD TO BE A PERFECT MAN...IN ORDER TO BE A WORTHY SACRIFICIAL LAMB THAT WOULD TAKE AWAY ALL OF THE SINS OF MANKIND, AMEN?
Unto us a Son IS GIVEN...ONCE AGAIN, GOD KNEW THERE WOULD BE THOSE ONE DAY WHO WOULD SAY OR TEACH THAT JESUS WAS A WOMAN...THAT ALMIGHTY GOD WAS A WOMAN. THERE WOULD BE THOSE WHO TEACH THAT JESUS WAS COMMANDED TO GIVE UP HIS LIFE...INSTEAD OF THE TRUTH, AND THAT BEING THAT HE WILLINGLY OFFERED UP HIS LIFE FOR LOST MANKIND.
RIGHT HERE...LONG BEFORE THESE THEORIES, IDEOLOGIES, OR TEACHINGS REARED ITS HEAD...ALMIGHTY GOD ANSWERED IT!
This Child WOULD BE MALE, HE WOULD BE A MAN, BUT FAR MORE THAN JUST ANY MAN.
He WOULD BE, WAS, AND EVER SHALL ALSO BE the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Godhead, AMEN?
THERE ARE THOSE WHO ONCE AGAIN, THEORIZE, THAT THE MESSIAH DID NOT HAVE TO BE AND/OR WAS NOT GOD IN HUMAN FLESH.
THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY....He might have been a sinless angel, or merely a perfect man like Adam.
But in reality, ONCE AGAIN NEITHER OF THOSE THEORIES/IDEOLOGIES would have QUALIFIED the Messiah to be OUR Saviour and High Priest as Jesus was. The Son had TO BE GIVEN TO THIS WORLD BY ALMIGHTY GOD.
What glorious truth! We needed a perfect, infinite Being to offer a perfect, infinite atonement for our sins.
AS ISAIAH 7:14 SAYS, We needed IMMANUEL, God is WITH us.
The Child could be born, because the humanity of Jesus had a STARTING POINT.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
JESUS CHRIST HAS ALWAYS BEEN. HE WAS IN THE BEGINNING, HE WAS/IS THE GREAT I AM. HE WAS/IS/EVER SHALL BE PART OF THE TRIUNE GOD.
THERE ARE THOSE WHO TEACH/BELEIVE THAT IN THE BEGINNING WAS JUST GOD...SINGULARLY. THAT JESUS WAS LATER CREATED. BUT THE BIBLE TELLS US JESUS DID NOT JUST APPEAR NOR WAS HE CREATED BY ALMIGHTY GOD JUST BEFORE THE MANAGER BIRTH IN BETHLEHEM, AMEN?
AND IN ORDER TO SAVE MANKIND...JESUS CHRIST NEEDED TO ADD HUMANITY TO HIS DEITY.
The Son HAD to be given, because the Second Person of the Trinity is eternal, and existed forever as the Son, even before adding humanity to His deity, AMEN?
We rejoice in the Holy Spirit's guidance OF EVERY WORD GIVEN TO ISAIAH, AMEN?
Jesus, the Messiah, is fully God and fully man. There was a time when the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, added humanity to His deity. He NEVER became LESS TRIUNE God, as some wrongly teach and theorize. He ADDED A HUMAN NATURE to His divine nature, and so became one person with two distinct natures, functioning together in perfect harmony, AMEN?
I MEAN THINK ABOUT IT, SOME SAY JESUS WAS BORN UNKNOWING OF WHO HE WAS. THEY SAY JESUS HAD TO BE TAUGHT BY LIMITED MAN....RABBIS...AND STUDY AND COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE THAT HE WAS THE SON OF GOD.
THAT HE HAD TO COME INTO THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHO HE WAS...AND SORRY BUT THAT IS RIDICULOUS.
REMEMBER WHEN MARY, PREGNANT WITH JESUS, CAME TO SEE THE ELDERLY PREGNANT ELIZABETH, THE MOTHER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, AND WHEN MARY WALKED IN BEFORE SHE EVER TOLD ELIZABETH WHAT HAD HAPPENED, GOD TOLD ELIZABETH, & THE BABY STIRRED UNDER MARY'S HEART, AS WELL JOHN LEPT WITH JOY WITHIN ELIZABETH'S WOMB.
THAT TELLS ME THAT JESUS CHRIST KNEW IN THE WOMB, WHO HE WAS.
YES, HIS BODY HAD TO GROW.
YES HE HAD TO LEARN TO WALK WITHIN THE LIMITED CONFINES OF A NEW BODY.
YES HE LEARNED TO TALK.
BUT HE ALWAYS IN HIS HEART, MIND, AND SPIRIT KNEW WHO HE WAS, AMEN?.
AND IMAGINE, JUST IMAGINE, HOW STRONG HE HAD TO BE EVEN AS A CHILD, TO RESTRAIN HIS DEITY. I MEAN THINK ABOUT IT, WHEN THE DISCIPLES SAW THE TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS, WHEN JOHN SAW JESUS IN HEAVEN, THEY HIT THEIR KNEES IN THE POWER AND MAJESTY AND PURE LIGHT OF HIM, AMEN?
AND REMEMBER TO, IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, THOSE WHO SAID YOU ARE THAT CARPENTER'S SON, IN DISBELIEF, AS A SNEER, AND DOUBTING. AND THEY SAID OF HIM THAT HE WAS UNREMARKABLE...HE APPEARED ORDINARY, AN ORDINARY CHILD...HOW AMAZINGLY POWERFUL, STRONG, & SELF-POSSESSED DID JESUS HAVE TO BE TO LAY DOWN AND RESTRAIN, AND CLOAK WHO HE REALLY WAS...AND HE DID SO EVEN AS A CHILD, AMEN?
AND THINK ABOUT THIS AS WELL....
That Jesus is BOTH God and man, SO THIS IS JUST ANOTHER CONFIRMATION OF GENESIS 1:26...THAT TELLS US THAT man REALLY IS MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
AND IT PROVES THAT PERFECT HUMANITY IS MORE COMPATIBLE WITH DEITY THAN WE IMAGINE, AMEN?
THIS SAYS AND PROVES THAT OUR PROBLEM AS MANKIND IS NOT IN OUR HUMANITY, BUT OUR FALLENNESS.
To say "I'm only human" is wrong, because Jesus WAS FULLY human yet PERFECT..
It is more accurate to say, "I'm only fallen."
But remember that the humanity that Jesus added to His Divine nature was not the sinful humanity we commonly know, but the perfect humanity of Adam and Eve before the fall, AMEN?
Acts 7:55-56 & 1 Timothy 2:5 CONFIRMS Jesus remains a man eternally. He did NOT relinquish His humanity on His ascension; but He is now a man in a resurrection body, as we will one day have.
THERE ARE THOSE WHO TEACH/BELIEVE, WE WILL JUST BE SUPERNATURAL PERFECT SPIRITS WITHOUT FORM OR BODIES ONCE WE GET TO HEAVEN, BUT THOSE WHO SAY THIS, TEACH THIS, FORGET THAT JESUS IN HIS RESURRECTED BODY WAS A PERFECT BODY. HUNDREDS SAW HIM, TOUCHED HIM, ATE WITH HIM, DRANK WITH HIM, WALKED WITH HIM...AFTER HIS RESURRECTION...
SO WE CAN KNOW THAT OUR PERFECT IMMORTAL STATE, WILL BE PERFECT IMMORTAL BODIES, WE WILL HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST. BUT WE WILL NO LONGER HAVE THE LIMITATIONS OR NEEDS OF FALLEN/MORTAL HUMANITY.
WE WILL DRINK, WE WILL EAT, BUT WE WILL DO SO FOR PLEASURE AND FELLOWSHIP AND CELEBRATION. WE WILL NOT NEED TO EAT, DRINK, SLEEP TO SUSTAIN OURSELVES, AMEN.
AND WE WILL BE IMBUED WITH ALL THINGS THAT JESUS DID. REMEMBER APPEARING IN A ROOM TO THE DISCIPLES WHERE THE DOORS AND WINDOWS WERE SHUT AND LOCKED.
APPEARING HERE, THEN INSTANTLY VANISHING & APPEARING OTHER PLACES...WE TOO WILL HAVE ALL THOSE THINGS ONE SWEET DAY, WHEN WE ENTER HEAVEN AND RECEIVE OUR IMMORTAL ETERNAL BODIES, AMEN?
AND RIGHT HERE IS ANOTHER PROOF AND TRUTH TO CONSIDER AND REMEMBER...If Jesus were NOT fully man, He could NOT THEN HAVE STOOD IN THE PLACE of sinful man and be a PERFECT SUBSTITUTE for the punishment man deserves.
If JESUS were NOT FULLY God, His sacrifice would be INSUFFICIENT.
If JESUS is NOT FULLY God and FULLY MAN, we are lost in sin.
JOHN 3:16 says GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD...AND HE DID AND DOES...
HE DID NOT DO THINGS HALF WAY, HE DID NOT LEAVE OUT STEPS, HE MADE SURE HE GAVE HIS BEST, MORE PRECIOUS AND PRICELESS AND JESUS WILLINGLY & READILY OFFERED HIMSELF AS THE COMPLETE AND THE PERFECT SACRIFICE...TO INSURE WE COULD CHOOSE AND WE COULD BE SAVED, AMEN?
And the government WILL BE UPON His shoulder...ULTIMATELY WE KNOW THIS WILL BE PERFECTLY FULFILLED IN THE MILLENNIUM, THE 1000 YEAR REIGN OF JESUS ON THE EARTH, when Jesus Christ will rule the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
AS TOLD TO US IN...Revelation 20:4-6, Psalm 72, Isaiah 2:1-4, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 65:17-25, Zechariah 14:6-21.
AND WE KNOW THIS ULTIMATE fulfillment of THIS PROMISE is still waiting..IS STILL TO COME.
But we can still see the government … upon His shoulder in many ways. Gayle Erwin writes about the government God promises, both ultimately and right now:
"What might such a government look like? First of all, it would look like its king. Politicians of this day look for what they CAN GET from you. Jesus looks for what He CAN DO for you.
Leaders of this day surround themselves WITH servants. Jesus surrounds us with His servanthood.
Leaders of this day use their power to build THEIR empire. Jesus uses his power to wash our feet and make us clean and comfortable.
Leaders of this day trade their influence FOR money. God so loved that he gave …
Generals of this day need regular wars to keep their weapons and skills up to date and insure their own advancement. Jesus brings peace and rest to hearts.
The higher the plane of importance one reaches in this world, the more inaccessible he becomes. Jesus was Emanuel, "God with us."
Leaders of this day are desperate to be seen and heard. Jesus sought anonymity so He could be useful.
Obviously, Jesus is not in charge of the halls of Washington, London, Moscow, Baghdad, Paris or Bonn. So, how can we ever believe the "government will be upon His shoulders"?
Actually, His government shows its workings in wonderful ways. Whenever I see someone who miraculously leaves a life of drugs or alcohol and is restored to his family and work, I can see that he is now governed by God.
Whenever I see loving Christians gently caring for orphans and those rejected by family, I know I am watching people governed by God.
Whenever I see people eagerly learning the Bible and joyously praising, I know who the governor is.
Whenever I see people give up lucrative careers simply to go and share the Good News of Jesus, I know they are governed by God.
When I see pastors carefully teach and lead the flock God has given them, I know they are getting signals from the great King.
When I see people leave family to live and teach in distant lands because they love the people who have not heard, I know they are governed by God.
So, indeed, the government OF JESUS CHRIST IS NOW alive and working.
Often silently, mostly unseen. We can be and are, by choice, governed by God. Hope and joy and peace and rest cover its subjects. Justice, mercy and grace, amazingly coexist. I like this Kingdom. The borders are open. Come on in."
His name will be called...The idea IS NOT that these will be the LITERAL names of the Messiah. Instead, these are ASPECTS OF HIS CHARACTER, they describe WHO He is and WHAT He has come to do, AMEN?
LONGENECKER explains it well. He says, "In Semitic thought, a name does not just identify or distinguish a person, it expresses the very nature of his being."
The Messiah is Wonderful: The glory of who He is and what He has done for us should fill us WITH WONDER.
We can NEVER REALLY look at Jesus, REALLY KNOW Him, and be bored.
JESUS CHRIST IS WONDERFUL and HE WILL AND DOES fill our hearts and minds with amazement!
AND GROGAN, REMINDS US OF THE JUDGES 13:18, WHICH IS A REFERENCE TO THE DEITY OF JESUS. "The word 'wonderful' has overtones of deity".
The Messiah IS OUR Counselor: Jesus is the One fit to guide our lives, and should be the Christian's immediate resource as a counselor. Jesus can help you with your problems. He may use the presence and the words of another Christian to do it, but Jesus IS our Counselor, AMEN?
CHARLES SPURGEON SAYS IT BEST OF THIS SCRIPTURE..."How we need Jesus as our Counselor! "It was by a Counsellor that this world was ruined. Did not Satan mask himself in the serpent, and counsel the woman with exceeding craftiness, that she should take unto herself of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, in the hope that thereby she should be as God? Was it not that evil counsel which provoked our mother to rebel against her Maker, and did it not as the effect of sin, bring death into this world with all its train of woe? Ah! beloved, it was meet that the world should have a Counsellor to restore it, if it had a Counsellor to destroy it."
SPURGEON SAYS IT BEST AGAIN..."Jesus is our Counselor in the sense that He sits in the High Counsel of the Godhead, and takes council with the Father and the Holy Spirit for our good. The High Counsel of the Godhead brought forth our salvation. "Hence you read in the book of Zechariah, if you turn to the sixth chapter and the thirteenth verse, this passage - 'The council of peace shall be between them both.' The Son of God with his Father and the Spirit, ordained the council of peace. Thus was it arranged. The Son must suffer, he must be the substitute, must bear his people's sins and be punished in their stead; the Father must accept the Son's substitution and allow his people to go free, because Christ had paid their debts. The Spirit of the living God must then cleanse the people whom the blood had pardoned, and so they must be accepted before the presence of God, even the Father. That was the result of the great council."
CHARLES SPURGEON SAYS OF The High Counsel of the Godhead guides our lives. "Remember, there is nothing that happens in your daily life, but what was first of all devised in eternity, and counselled by Jesus Christ for your good and in your behalf, that all things might work together for your lasting benefit and profit … Oh, how strange providence seems to you and to me! Does it not look like a zig-zag line, this way and that way, backward and forward, like the journeyings of the children of Israel in the wilderness? Ah! my brethren, but to God it is a straight line. Directly, God always goes to his object. And yet to us, he often seems to go round about … Let us learn to leave providence in the hand of the Counsellor."
CHARLES SPURGEON SAYS OF Jesus' counsel is necessary counsel. Jesus' counsel is faithful counsel, without any self-interest. Jesus' counsel is hearty counsel. It isn't detached and unemotional. Jesus' counsel is sweet counsel. "Christian, do you know what sweet counsel is? You have gone to your Master in the day of trouble, and in the secret of your chamber you have poured out your heart before him. You have laid your case before him, with all its difficulties, as Hezekiah did Rabshakeh's letter, and you have felt, that though Christ was not there in flesh and blood, yet he was there in spirit, and he counselled you. You felt that his was counsel that came from the very heart. But he was something better than that. There was such a sweetness coming with his counsel, such a radiance of love, such a fullness of fellowship, that you said, 'Oh that I were in trouble every day, if I might have such sweet counsel as this!' Christ is the Counsellor whom I desire to consult every hour, and I would that I could sit in his secret chamber all day and all night long, because to counsel with him is to have sweet counsel, hearty counsel, and wise counsel, all at the same time."
AND AGAIN CHARLES SPURGEON SAYS IT BEST..."Why, you may have a friend that talks very sweetly with you, and you will say, 'Well, he is a kind, good soul, but I really cannot trust his judgment.' You have another friend, who has a good deal of judgment, and yet you say of him, 'Certainly, he is a man of prudence above a great many, but I cannot find out his sympathy; I never get at his heart, if he were ever so rough and untutored, I would sooner have his heart without his prudence, than his prudence without his heart,' But we go to Christ, and we get wisdom; we get love, we get sympathy, we get everything that can possibly be wanted in a Counsellor."
The Messiah IS Mighty God...The God OF ALL creation and glory, the LORD who reigns in heaven, the One worthy of our worship and praise.
THINK ABOUT IT...Can there be a more straightforward declaration of the deity of JESUS CHRIST OUR MESSIAH?
Yet some groups (such as Jehovah's Witnesses) try to make a distinction between Mighty God and Almighty God. Scripturally, there is NO distinction, because BOTH titles are used of Jesus and Yahweh specifically. AND Almighty IS APPLIED to Jesus in Revelation 1:8, AMEN?
In Isaiah 10:21, the prophet uses the EXACT SAME PHRASE to refer to Yahweh: "The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God." Therefore, this is a clear statement of absolute deity, AMEN?
AND REMEMBER....JEREMIAH 17:5 CONFIRMS THIS..."And indeed, if Christ had not been God, it would have been unlawful to glory in him; for it is written, Cursed be he that trusteth in man."
ONCE AGAIN, CHARLES SPURGEON DOES NOT PULL HIS PUNCHES..."We extend the right hand of fellowship to all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth; but we cannot exchange our Christian greetings with those who deny him to be 'very God of very God.' And the reason is sometimes asked; for say our opponents, 'We are ready to give the right hand of fellowship to you, why don't you do so to us?' Our reply shall be given thus briefly: 'You have no right to complain of us, seeing that in this matter we stand on the defensive. When you declare yourselves to believe that Christ is not the Son of God, you may not be conscious of it, but you have charged us with one of the blackest sins in the entire catalogue of crime.' The Unitarians must, to be existent, charge the whole of us, who worship Christ, with being idolaters. Now idolatry is a sin of the most heinous character; it is not an offense against men it is true, but it is an intolerable offense against the majesty of God."
CHARLES SPURGEON AGAIN STATES THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH..."If Christ were not the Son of God, his death, so far from being a satisfaction for sin, was a death most richly and righteously deserved. The Sanhedrin before which He was tried was the recognized and authorized legislature of the country. He was brought before that Sanhedrin, charged with blasphemy, and it was upon that charge that they condemned him to die, because he made himself the Son of God."
The Messiah IS the Everlasting Father...The idea in these Hebrew words is that Jesus is the SOURCE AND/OR AUTHORITY of all eternity, that He IS the Creator Himself. It does not mean that Jesus Himself is the Person of the Father in the Trinity but that HE IS TRIUNE, AMEN?
The Messiah is the Prince of Peace: He is the One who makes peace, especially between God and man.
CALVIN STATES IT WONDERFULLY HERE OF THIS..."Whenever, in short, it appears to us that everything is in a ruinous condition, let us recall to our remembrance that Christ is called Wonderful, because he has inconceivable methods of assisting us, and because his power is far beyond what we are able to conceive. When we need counsel, let us remember that he is the Counselor. When we need strength, let us remember that he is Mighty and Strong. When new terrors spring up suddenly every instant, and when many deaths threaten us from various quarters, let us rely on that eternity of which he is with good reason called the Father, and by the same comfort let us learn to soothe all temporal distresses. When we are inwardly tossed by various tempests, and when Satan attempts to disturb our consciences, let us remember that Christ is The Prince of Peace, and that it is easy for him quickly to allay all our uneasy feelings. This will these titles confirm us more and more in the faith of Christ, and fortify us against Satan and against hell itself."
VERSE 7 tells us The glory of the Messiah's reign.
"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."
The reign of the Messiah will not last merely 1,000 years, though the millennium is a special aspect of His reign. There will be NO END to the reign of the Messiah, and He will rule for ALL eternity.
Upon the throne of David...Jesus will rule on David's throne, and over his kingdom (that is, David's kingdom - Israel). This is a fulfillment of God's great covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7.
SOME SAY...THIS IS ALL TOO IMPOSSIBLE AND/OR GOOD TO BE TRUE...but the zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. God -the LORD of all heavenly armies -has PROMISED to accomplish this word, and part of it has been accomplished already.
Jesus can be Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace for everyone now. One day, these offices will be imposed upon the world. For now, they are real for those who RECEIVE Jesus Christ into their hearts and lives to be their LORD, SAVIOR, AND FRIEND, AMEN?
NEXT WEEK WE WILL BEGIN AT ISAIAH 9:8-ISAIAH 10:4, WHICH BEGINS TO SPEAK OF THE THE COMING JUDGMENT on the Northern Kingdom of Israel.