Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world, so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church, located in Kernersville, North Carolina. Isaiah chapter nine, just two verses this morning. You say, "Well, this sounds a little bit like a Christmas message." Well, I understand that, and it's not that we haven't dealt with this passage many times, but in context of this particular series on the King is coming today, our subject is His.
Kingdom. We have talked about how God promised David that He would establish His kingdom, and not only that, that through David's lineage, that God would establish His own kingdom. We talked about obviously that the kingdom began to split. Israel's on the north, Judah's on the south, and we talked about how it had forty-two kings and one really bad Nana queen, if we remember talking about that. And we come to Isaiah chapter nine, and I want us to look at this prophecy in light of what we've been talking about.
This is another just piece of education for you. We're here to teach you, and we're not just here to Always just try to motivate you. We're definitely not here to manipulate you. We are here to give you God's word. I want you to look at verse six, Isaiah chapter nine.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government. Notice it starts off right away, alluding to him as king, 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, of the increase. Here we go again. 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. How do I know that this is going to happen? I mean, Jesus hadn't come yet. Doesn't even really say his name.
Well, we're talking about Jesus. We're talking about the Messiah. Notice the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this. That is an exclamation point. This has been prophesied.
This is going to happen. Let's pray, Lord. We love you. Thank you for all you've done. We worship you this morning through the preaching of your word.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Let me just say, first off, in these two verses, let me just highlight something real quick. Notice the first time we use the word "His," speaking of the Messiah that is to come. Notice what it says first: His shoulder.
Then it says His name. Then it says His government. Then it says His peace. The increase of His government and peace. His government, His peace, and notice last: His kingdom.
Isaiah chapter nine falls in an interesting time, and here's what was going on. There was political pollution. And there was moral decay in what we call the kingdom of Judah. Obviously, we know the the kingdom split, and here is Judah. The prophecies in this chapter are significant.
Here's why: because in the middle of political pollution and moral decay, we are given here judgment, but hope. And by the way, you get to know your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Even in judgment, there is hope. He judges us because He loves us, but we have hope because He will not leave us nor forsake us. During the time that Isaiah prophesied, the kingdom of Judah was facing a threat from the Assyrians.
They had already defeated Israel and and taken Israel captive.
So they have this threat looming upon them, and not only a threat from outward. They had a problem on the inward. The people of Judah were in fear of being invaded, of being destructed, and and and having a takeover and captivity and all those things. But there was also widespread corruption and injustice among their political leaders. Not only that, Judah had a spiritual.
Problem.
So here you have your political people are polluted and corrupt. But the problem is that the people were living in spiritual and moral decay. Am I talking about America or not? Where we have politics are corrupt. I hate to break it to you.
I don't want to discourage you. It might be the first time some of you have heard this, but politics can be corrupt. But the problem with me and I see is not necessarily the politics of this country. The problem is, is that God's people are living in spiritual decay. That's exactly what was going on here.
And here's the man of God, through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, trying to give a message. To these people, yes, they were going to face judgment. You know why? Because they had turned their backs on God. But also, they were going to have hope because God loved them.
And I want you to understand that you and I, there is judgment, and because God loves us, He chastens us. But there is always hope because He loves you, and He'll never leave you nor forsake you.
So in chapter nine, verses one through five, we have the judgment that's coming, but then in chapter six through seven, we have the hope of the Messiah that would come.
So that's what we're dealing with. In chapter nine, verses six and seven, the hope that the Messiah would come, and how the Messiah would reign on the throne.
So we're going to take this familiar passage, and let me give it to you as a description of the King of Kings that you and I serve, and the King of Kings that is coming back. I believe very, very soon. Are you ready for it? Say Amen. Notice number one.
I want you to see this. We see Jesus as the wonderful Counselor.
Now, what's interesting about this word "wonderful"? It is capitalized.
Now, you'll notice later in this passage. I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but later in this passage it says the mighty God, but mighty is not capitalized. It's a description. But we have here wonderful, comma. Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Now, here's what's interesting about this is that wonderful because it's capitalized means it is His name. And by the way, I don't know about you, I have found out He is very wonderful.
So he is wonderful, but it is not just a name in this passage. It is also a description of every one of his characteristics.
So he is a wonderful counselor. He is a wonderful mighty God. He is a wonderful Prince of Peace. He is a wonderful everlasting Father. Everybody, with me, say Amen.
So we see here this description of the King that is coming as hope. For a nation under judgment, Jesus as the wonderful Counselor. Look at verse six: For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor.
So, what does this mean, preacher? It means that the Messiah that is being prophesied here, which we know as Jesus Christ, that is coming. Notice he would possess divine wisdom. And divine guidance. Can I ask you something?
What does a counselor do? Maybe John and Karen could answer that. What does a counselor do? Can I make it very simple for you? A counselor is someone that guides with advice, with knowledge, hopefully.
With the truth, a counselor is somebody that guides, somebody that is giving you guidance through advice, through knowledge. And hopefully, obviously, through the truth, Jesus here is the wonderful counselor. It means Jesus is the ultimate counselor that is guiding us in truth. That means if you don't get it from Jesus, you're not getting truth.
Okay, so let me give you a verse, and I'm going to show you how Old Testament prophecy and New Testament principle. Let me show you how they merge into something where it really makes both passages come alive. You know this passage, John chapter 14 and verse 6. Look at this verse: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Now let me just stop right there. He's going to leave the verse up there. What does this mean? Notice here the the correlation with Jesus being the wonderful Counselor. Jesus gives you the way.
Jesus gives you the truth. Jesus gives you the life. He guides you to life by showing you the way, and he shows you the way through the truth. Of His Word, which leads to life.
Now let me go even more specific.
So that means our wonderful Counselor is the way, the truth, and the life. He guides us, but where is He guiding us? Look at this verse. I don't know if you've ever seen it, like you should. No man cometh where unto the Father.
Jesus says, "But by me, do you get this? Jesus is our wonderful counselor. He is guiding us. Where is he guiding us? He's guiding us to the Father." And the way you and I get to the Father that we couldn't get to Him before because of our sin, because of our guilt, because of what we've done.
Jesus, our wonderful Counselor, prophesied, came, and He showed us the way. He showed us the truth. He offered us life, and He has guided us, and constantly guiding us to the Father.
So Jesus is the way to find truth in your life. The ultimate reason Jesus guides is to lead us to the Father. Jesus in salvation, dying on the cross, paying for our sins. What did He do? Look at me.
He allowed us to once again have fellowship with the Father. He brought the holiness of God and the love of God. He merged it together because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that's what allows us to come to the Father. Everybody got it.
So our King came to lead us, to guide us to the Father. Let me just say this: Some of you here today, you might not realize it, but Jesus is counseling you. You might not realize it, but it's as if you're sitting right here in your seat, and it's as if Jesus has taken the seat right in front of you and turned it around, and He's sitting there facing you. And right here, even in this room this morning, your wonderful counselor is trying to guide you to the Father. It's called salvation.
It's called you understanding you're a sinner, that Jesus died on the cross for you. God came to earth in flesh to pay for man's sin and allow man now to be connected back with the Father through salvation. He is guiding you. That's what we call conviction. It's that little thing inside of you that's just.
Always a little bit uncomfortable at church, and always a little bit uncomfortable during preaching. It's Jesus counseling you; He's guiding you with the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus, as our wonderful counselor. Number two, this passage says that the king, that the government's going to be on his shoulder, so he's king. We know that.
And of his government there shall be no end.
So he's king. We see him as a wonderful counselor. Second, we see Jesus as the mighty God.
Now look at verse six. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God.
Now, this term "mighty God" emphasizes the divinity and the power of the Messiah that is being here prophesied. It means that the Messiah would be divine; he's God, but that the Messiah would also be powerful. He's a mighty God. But notice the verse closely; it does not say "wonderful Counselor." A mighty God. It says, "Wonderful Counselor, the mighty God." That means He's God.
Do you understand? All the way in Isaiah chapter nine, we are told here that the Messiah Jesus would be all God and He would be all man, because it said unto us, "A child would be born, human." Unto us, a Son would be given. Have you ever thought about the phrase?
Some of you think that okay, well, this means that okay, that a child's coming and it's going to be a male child. Yes, absolutely. But have you ever thought it didn't say unto us a child shall be born and a son shall be born? It says when the Messiah comes, Jesus, that a child's going to be born. But don't forget that a son has been given.
He is the mighty God. That means the Messiah would be God. That proves the Trinity. That means somehow whoever this Messiah is going to be prophesied, it says he's a mighty God.
So that means that God the Father and God the Son are both God. Because if it was anyone else, it would have to say a mighty God, but as we look closely, it's the mighty God, and that goes all the way back to Genesis chapter one that we've already covered in this series. In the beginning, God—it's a—it's a—it's a plural. Let us make man in our image.
So that means that not only would a Messiah come, but that the Messiah would be God. The mighty God.
Now, let me ask you something. What does this mean? This is Old Testament proof that Jesus was God and Jesus was man. This is Old Testament proof that Jesus would have all power, but He would submit that power to the will of the Father, and He would allow sinful man to crucify Him on a cross. Why?
So that he could guide us to the Father. Number three, so we see Jesus as a wonderful Counselor. We see him as the Mighty God. Number three, we see Jesus as the Everlasting Father.
Now, let's not get confused here. You say, preacher. You say he's the Father, but we say that God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
So it's God the Father, but Jesus came to Earth. He's the Messiah. You're saying, preacher, he's the Wonderful Counselor, and and he.
So he's the Mighty God.
So it's God the Father, God the Son, but they're both God. But now it says he's the Everlasting Father.
So how can God the Son be the Father also?
Well, I want you to understand something. That this phrase "everlasting Father" doesn't mean that Jesus, God the Son, is the same person of God as God the Father. No, there are three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. What it's talking about here is that Jesus would give birth to a new creation. He is the Bible calls it this way.
He is the Firstborn among many. When you and I put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, guess what? We are now adopted as sons. We are put into the family of God, and Jesus is the one that did that. He is the notice this the everlasting Father.
What does this mean? First, it means His eternal nature. It means that He existed before, He exists now, and He will always exist. He is the everlasting Father. He didn't just become.
He's not going to end. He would have to be called the temporary father. If he had just been created, he would have to be the new father. But it says here that Jesus, the Messiah, when he comes, will be the everlasting father. That means he already exists before he even showed up on earth, and he never will have an end.
It means his eternal nature, but guess what? This also means when it says the everlasting Father. What did Father mean in Old Testament times? It meant protector and provider. That's what Father meant.
Listen to me. It means this: that Jesus will be your eternal protector and your eternal everlasting provider. Can I tell you what earthly kings do? Earthly kings make people serve them. Our King came to serve us.
Earthly kings want all the people's money and resources and tax to provide for them. Our King came to provide for us, and He has promised to eternally protect. And provide us the everlasting Father. Number four, we see Jesus as the Prince of Peace. Look at verse six: His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father.
The Prince of Peace, but notice here, if you'll see on the screen in verse seven, it says of the increase of His says government and peace.
So it means both.
So of the increase of His peace, there shall be no end.
So He is the Prince of Peace, and the peace He provides there will never be an end to.
So, preacher, what does that mean?
Well, this is speaking of Jesus in his authority and his nature. He is Prince, royal authority of peace. His nature, you see, Jesus came to bring peace. Look at me, folks. Do you understand that all the way from the first sin in the Garden of Eden, there had not been peace to mankind until Jesus rose from that grave?
Oh, there were days where people would feel peaceful, but there was no real peace. As soon as sin entered the picture, as soon as Adam and Eve sinned, peace was gone, and there is no hope, and there was no peace until Jesus came. He is the Prince of Peace. You say, why is that?
Well, I'm glad you asked. Let me show you this verse first, Romans chapter five. Look at verse one. Therefore, being justified by faith, that's us in salvation, we have peace.
So who do we get salvation through? Hello, Jesus. Right? Don't do this to me. I've been preaching the truth for 13 years.
Don't act like you don't know where we get salvation from. Who do we get salvation through? Jesus Christ.
Okay. Notice what it says. Therefore, being justified by faith, that's salvation. That's through Jesus. We have peace where with God.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, He's the Prince of Peace.
So, what does this mean? Notice first here this this this morning, afternoon, right in the middle, brunch, whatever you want to call it.
Okay. Notice first we have spiritual peace. That's the primary reason he came, to provide peace with God. Look at me. It doesn't.
Look at me, Kerbin. Look at me. It doesn't do you any good if you have peace with every person in this building and you don't have peace with God. I mean, you can be the most popular person in America, and that won't do you one thing for your eternity. Do you understand?
If you don't have peace with God, you don't have peace at all.
So he came. Being justified by faith, you and I have peace with God, and that came through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So I'm here to say today, dear friend, I don't care who you have peace with, and and you might think that everybody loves you, but dear friend, if you don't have peace with God, you don't have peace.
So the first thing you need in your life, let me tell you, oftentimes that's why there's so many struggles, interpersonally, relationships, job, life, everything. And the problem why there's no peace in your life is because there's no peace with God. He came to bring peace, first spiritual peace. That's peace with God. Second, He brings emotional peace.
You say, "What is that?" That's peace with circumstances. Look at me. When when Jesus is my King, there might be some things in my life that go wrong. There might be some things that happen in life that I don't like, that I don't understand, and they crush me, and they hurt me. Look at me.
But He's the Prince of Peace. Remember, he's my counselor. He guides me with the truth. It means this: that even when things go bad, I can still have his peace. You say, "How do you know that?" Because it says here that of his peace there shall be no what end.
So circumstances don't end it. Tragedy doesn't end it. It doesn't mean that you have to enjoy these things. It doesn't mean they don't hurt. It doesn't mean they don't devastate.
It doesn't mean you don't have issues and hard time and hurt and cry and all those things. But it means, in the middle of that, there is still this peace I have with God. He brings spiritual peace. He brings emotional peace. Thirdly, he brings mental peace.
This is peace with ourselves. I know people that have everything this world has to offer, and they don't have what peace. You ever seen these Hollywood people? You know they're they're the famous ones. Everybody hollering at them, screaming at them.
Must be great to have all the money and all the fame. They're killing themselves left and right, strung out on drugs. I mean, what is what is the whole Hollywood story? Success, go down, fail, come back, live through it, go down again. No peace, no peace.
Here's why: they don't have peace with God, and because of it, they don't have peace with themselves. Dear friend, you might be struggling today because you don't have peace with you. I'm here to tell you that our King is the Prince of Peace. Spiritual peace, emotional peace, mental peace, relational peace. Number four.
This is peace with others.
So, spiritual peace, peace with God. Emotional peace is peace with circumstances. Mental peace is peace with ourselves. I've never said peace more in one time in my life. Relational peace means I can have peace with others.
You say, "Well, preacher, does that mean I am always going to be at peace with people?" No. Boy, have I learned that. You can do everything you can try to do. You can't control another person, but I will tell you this: there are some people that there is so much turmoil in their life they don't have peace with anybody. And I am here to tell you: Look at me.
Even people that are mean to you, that do you wrong, God can still give you peace with them. I can even turn it this way: God can give you peace in spite of them. Relational peace. Notice, lastly, He gives eternal peace. It says a peace that never ends.
I don't know about you. That ought to excite you this morning. We're almost done. Look at John chapter fourteen, verse twenty-seven. Look at what Jesus says: "Peace I leave with you.
My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth. Give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be." Afraid? Do you understand why Jesus is the Prince of Peace? Because He gives you a peace that the world cannot give.
It's only through Him. Number five. Finally, we see Jesus as King. Look at verse seven of the increase of His government and peace. There shall be no end.
Notice 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. There is more given about him being king than any of the other character traits.
So let's dig into it real quickly, and we'll let you go today. You're looking hungry, or you're just mad. I don't know. I'm just going to assume you're hungry. I want you to notice, number one, he's the prophesied king.
Says the throne of David. Do you remember all the way back? The throne of David is the throne that the Messiah would sit on, and here we come all the way in Isaiah chapter nine, a long time before it ever takes place. We're told that he would sit on the throne of David, the prophesied king. But I want you to notice.
Secondly, he's the promised king, not just prophesied. But notice this. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Curtwood Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina.
You may also contact us by phone at three three six nine nine three five one nine two, or via the web at KerwinBaptistChurch dot com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you.
