November 30, 2025 • 33 mins
Jason Sterling November 30, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin
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SPEAKER_00 (00:47):
If you have a copy of God's word, turn with me to
Isaiah chapter 9 this morning.
Isaiah chapter 9.
And if you have a Bible open,please or have a Bible, please
keep it open this morning.
If you don't have a Bible,you'll see some pew Bibles in
the window seals around thechurch.
And I would encourage you totake that as a gift.
(01:09):
If you don't have a Bible, we'dlove for it to be a gift from
us.
But if you don't have a copy ofthe Bible, you'll see it in your
bulletin, and it'll also be onthe screen behind me in a
moment.
But this marks the beginning ofAdvent.
And if that term is unfamiliarto you, Advent just simply means
(01:30):
anticipation.
We are anticipating what iscoming.
And the church calendar marksthe four Sundays before
Christmas as the season ofAdvent.
And it's a season ofpreparation.
It's a season where we rememberGod performing a miracle in
(01:51):
coming to earth in the person ofJesus Christ in order to rescue
us.
So that's what we'll becelebrating in the coming weeks.
And in the Old Testament, oneprophet whose writings perhaps
shaped that anticipation morethan any other was the prophet
Isaiah.
(02:11):
Isaiah, the book of Isaiah, is areally big book in the Old
Testament.
He lived about 700 years beforeJesus was born.
In this Advent season, we'regoing to look at chapter 9, but
especially we're going to focusin on Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6.
And we're going to, over thenext four weeks, look at the
(02:33):
four names that are given God'scoming Messiah.
So over the next four weeks,today we'll start with Wonderful
Counselor.
Next week we'll look at mightyGod, everlasting Father, and
then Prince of Peace.
With that in mind, if you have acopy of God's word, uh follow
along with me as I read.
(02:53):
Again, it'll be behind me and inthe bulletin as well.
This is the word of the Lord.
But there will be no gloom forher who was in anguish.
In the former time he broughtinto contempt the land of
Zebulun and the land ofNaphtali.
But in the later time he wasmade glorious, made glorious the
way of the sea, the land beyondthe Jordan, Galilee of the
(03:16):
nations.
The people who walked indarkness have seen a great
light.
Those who dwelt in a land ofdeep darkness, on them has light
shone.
You have multiplied the nation,you have increased its joy.
They rejoice before you as withjoy at the harvest, as they are
glad when they divide the spoil.
(03:38):
For the yoke of his burden andthe staff for his shoulder, the
rod of his oppressor, you havebroken as on the day of Midian,
for every boot of the trampingwarrior in battle tumult, and
every garment rolled in bloodwill be burned as fuel for the
fire.
For to us a child is born, to usa son is given, and the
(04:02):
government shall be upon hisshoulder, and his name shall be
called wonderful counselor,mighty God, everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of hisgovernment and of peace there
will be no end on the throne ofDavid and over his kingdom to
establish it and to uphold itwith justice and with
(04:26):
righteousness.
From this time forth andforevermore, the zeal of the
Lord of hosts will do this.
This is God's word.
Let's pray, bow with me, and I'mgoing to ask the Holy Spirit to
come and help us with thehearing of the word, but also
the teaching and preaching ofthe word this morning.
Please pray with me.
(04:51):
Father, would you remind us thismorning that no matter where we
come and what we bring into thisroom, whether it's skepticism
and doubt on as to whether weeven believe this is true, or
(05:12):
whether we bring worry andanxiety and stress or grief,
perhaps excitement and joy andhope wherever we find ourselves.
There are many different storiesthis morning represented here.
I pray that you would convinceus that you move towards us and
(05:35):
not away from us.
All of us need the hope and thejoy and the peace of Christmas.
And so come, Lord.
You have brought us here.
It is not an accident that we'rehere on this morning to hear
this word.
And so we're asking that youwould teach us.
(05:55):
Be with the one who teaches.
Give me humble boldness.
But also as those listening,would you make them alert and
attentive?
And I pray that you would workand that we would encounter the
Lord Jesus Christ, the wonderfulcounselor, this morning.
It's in his name we pray.
(06:16):
Amen.
I'm sure you've noticed this,but it seems like uh every year,
and this has been happening forsome time, that the Christmas
decorations seem to go upearlier and earlier.
Uh it seems like now you walkinto a store in October and they
are displaying Christmas items.
(06:37):
Neighborhood lights have oftenalready up by this time, and we
might joke about uh or havestrong opinions on the timing in
which one should decorate forChristmas, but I think there's
something deeper that's actuallygoing on.
People are searching forsomething.
(07:00):
We live in a world that isincreasingly chaotic, it is
confusing, it is overwhelming,and we are drawn to the joy and
the warmth and the promise andthe lights and the hope and the
peace that Christmas represents.
(07:22):
There's something in us that islonging for what Christmas
brings, and the hope and the joyand the peace, a sense of
direction and a sense of clarityin the midst of life's
confusion.
And we're all bombarded, aren'twe, with a lot of information.
(07:43):
We have information coming at usat every direction, and yet it
hasn't really helped.
We are more confused than everabout what to do, where to go,
and how to live.
We have more access to theexperts and to podcasts.
We have more opinions, and yet,more than any other generation
(08:09):
in history, perhaps, we arestill asking the same old
questions.
Who can I actually trust?
Where can real wisdom be found?
Who is going to guide me throughthe chaos?
Who is going to get me throughthis life?
(08:30):
And where do I turn?
And here's what's remarkablethat is Isaiah chapter 9.
That is what's going on inIsaiah's day.
They are asking the exact samequestion.
God's people are dealing withchaos and darkness and
confusion, and their king, Ahaz,has shut the doors on the
(08:53):
temple.
There is idolatry at everycorner, and the people are
looking for guidance.
They're looking for guidance inall the wrong places.
And so, what does God do?
He gives them Christmas, hegives them hope.
(09:15):
God promises in that context tosend a child, his son, a light
who would dispel the darkness, achild whose name is Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, and Prince
of Peace.
(09:35):
This morning, three things Iwant us to see, three headings
in Isaiah chapter nine.
The problem, secondly, thepromise, lastly, the person.
The problem, the promise, theperson.
That's where we're headed.
We'll take those in turn.
Let's look at our first heading,the problem.
(09:56):
Look at verse one.
If you have your Bible open,this is where I want you to look
at some context with me.
Verse 1 and chapter 9 beginswith, but so that connects it to
what has gone before.
And if you look in Isaiahchapter 9 or 8, verses 19
through 22, God's people arelooking for guidance.
They're looking for guidanceeverywhere except from God.
(10:22):
They're consulting mediums andspiritists and the dead,
anything but the living God.
And where does that lead?
Well, it leads the same placethat leads us.
Look at verse 22.
When they look to the earth,look at these words here:
distress, darkness, gloom,anguish, thick darkness.
(10:48):
And then look at chapter 9,verses 1 and 2.
Here's the contrast.
But there will be no gloom forher, who was in anguish.
The people who have walked indarkness have seen a light.
Those who've dwelt in deepdarkness, on them has light
shined.
In the Bible, darkness is aboutlostness.
(11:09):
It's about confusion andknowing, not knowing.
Think about being in a darkroom, not knowing which way to
go, not which direction that youshould go.
And look at verse or chapter 8again.
Notice where they're looking.
They're looking down here.
They're looking horizontallyrather than looking vertically
(11:33):
up to God.
And it leads to darkness.
And then in chapter 9, somethingchanges.
On them has light shined.
Think about a light shiningdown.
It's not from within thedarkness, it is upon the
darkness.
It's coming from the outside,it's coming from above.
(11:56):
How often, think about it, let'sput ourselves in this context
here.
And we might say this is amillion miles away, but how
often is our knee-jerk reactionto look to the experts?
Or to say, I need a book, or tosay, I need, I need more
(12:21):
education.
That's what we need.
That is what's going to fix ourproblem.
Or I need a better medicine.
Or we need better health care.
Or we need, you know, maybe theproblem, politics, that's the
problem.
And if we just had the rightpolitics and the right political
system, everything would workout perfectly for us.
(12:43):
Or we look to technology or toAI.
And we know things are dark, butoftentimes we do the exact same
thing.
We focus down here in order tofix ourselves.
And in order to fix the world.
(13:12):
Listen, those things are not badthings.
Will those benefit you?
Yes.
Will they benefit our society?
Yes.
But the Bible is exposingsomething here in us.
And that is that we have acounsel-seeking problem.
That we look everywhere forcounsel except to the one who
(13:36):
actually has it.
Think about Proverbs 3.
Maybe you're familiar with thisverse.
Trust the Lord with all yourheart and what?
Lean not on your ownunderstanding.
But that is exactly what we do,isn't it?
The issue is not lack of data.
We are drowning in data.
(13:59):
The issue is that we trust firstourselves.
Maybe you're familiar with itwas in 2023, the Titan capsule.
Remember that little submarinecapsule that was going down to
explore the Titanic and onlyheld five people?
(14:20):
And it ended in tragedy.
The thing actually, the capsuleactually imploded, killing all
five passengers.
But even more haunting is thatthe capsule was designed so that
it could only be unsealed fromthe outside.
And so even if it would havesurfaced, the passengers could
(14:41):
not have opened it from theinside.
Their only hope was a rescuefrom the outside, a rescue from
above.
And tragically, that rescuenever came.
Friends, that's our story, too.
(15:02):
That's what the Bible says aboutus spiritually.
That we are hopeless andhelpless, that we need rescue,
and it will never come frominside of us.
It comes from the outside.
We cannot save ourselves.
We're trapped in darkness, theBible says, descending, unable
to open the door.
(15:23):
But God shine the light down.
Look at verse two again.
On them has light shone.
Not from within the darknessagain, upon it, from above, the
rescue comes in Christmas.
At just the right time, God tookon flesh and came into the world
(15:49):
in order to rescue his people.
Ephesians 2 puts it this way (15:52):
we are dead in our sins, without
hope, but God, rich in mercy,made us alive in Christ Jesus.
I think about this every yeararound Christmas.
Uh, we have made Christmas to bea very sentimental season.
(16:14):
And it is.
I love Christmas.
It's fun, there's lots of joy,there's lots of uh life.
But if you really think aboutit, it is jarring because it
confronts the wisdom of theworld.
Christmas says our condition isso grim and we are so desperate
(16:39):
that God had to come Himselfinto the world in order to
rescue us.
And I say that, and I'm gonnakeep saying that, because if we
don't get that and you don'tunderstand what who you are and
what Jesus has had to do, Adventwill never make sense.
(17:00):
Christmas will never make yousing and bring you deep and
lasting joy.
That's the problem.
Secondly, let's look at thepromise.
Look at verse three, and we'regonna walk through these verses.
There's gonna be some contenthere, but I want you to
understand these verses.
So please look at your bulletinor your Bible.
(17:21):
Look at verse three.
God promises deep lasting joy,the kind of joy that overflows
like a farmer celebrating aftera great harvest, or like a
warrior dividing the plunderwhen the battle has finally been
won.
And again, this is not justabout happiness, this is a
complete reversal of thedarkness, of the suffering.
(17:43):
Look at verses four and five.
Let's see how total thisdeliverance will be.
The yoke that has pressed downon their shoulders is shattered.
The rod of the oppressor whichhas beaten them is broken, and
the boots of the marching enemyand the blood-soaked garments of
(18:03):
war, all of those things will bethrown into the fire as fuel.
And notice that little phrase,the day of Midian.
Perhaps you're familiar with theBible story in Judges 7 of
Gideon.
Remember, God takes his armydown and reduces it from 32,000
(18:24):
to 300.
Why would God do that?
To remind us that it's not aboutus.
To remind us that it is God whogives the victory.
That God, it belongs to him.
(18:44):
And so this is a picture inthose verses three through five
of a comprehensive, permanentdeliverance.
And then the question is, okay,how does God go about doing this
impossible thing?
Look at verse six.
Through a child.
(19:07):
For to us, a child is born, tous, a son is given.
Let me let's work out thatphrase.
Those two phrases are prettyamazing.
A child is born, fully human, ason is given, fully divine, born
from below, given from above.
(19:31):
And notice the language here.
It's crucial.
To us, a child is born.
To us, a son is given.
The point is, friends, Christmasis not earned.
It's a gift, it's not a rewardfor you being righteous.
(19:54):
It is something that's given.
And it is something to bereceived.
And remember, I love the contextbecause I think it gives us such
hope.
It's not the promise is not forthe good people.
The people who have it alltogether, remember the context,
verse 8.
They're consulting mediums andspiritus, and they're walking in
(20:17):
darkness, they're turning awayfrom the word, they're under
judgment, they're worshipingidols.
And yet it says, To us, to them,the idolaters and the rebels,
God promises a child.
The point is Christianity isgrace from beginning to end.
(20:43):
And then notice verse six alsosays the government shall be on
his shoulder.
And so this child will rule.
Verse 7, where and how?
Well, keep reading, the throneof David.
Again, original audience here,that would have been hopeful but
(21:05):
also heartbreaking.
Because God had promised Davidwas going to have an eternal
throne.
But then when they look atIsaiah's day and Ahaz and all
the kings who are a completemess and utter failures, they're
starting to lose hope.
And the promise looksimpossible.
(21:26):
But God, God says this child isgoing to reign on David's throne
with perfect justice and perfectrighteousness, and not for a
four-year political cycle.
From this time forth toforevermore.
(21:47):
It will never be overthrown.
Overthrown.
Look at verse 6 again.
Look at what it's actuallyclaiming.
Think about this.
I think we can just read pastthe Christmas story and read
read past things like this.
A child, a baby, will have thegovernment on his shoulder.
(22:08):
And this child is called mightyGod.
And it isn't just a good teacheror wise sage.
This God himself is enteringinto the darkness to rescue us.
This would have soundedimpossible.
God coming down first, not as awarrior, but as a vulnerable
(22:31):
child to meet us where we are inBethlehem, Bethlehem, to poverty
and to weakness, to the humanexperience.
And this government will crushevery oppressor and end the war.
And all of that will be on theshoulder of an infant.
(22:53):
And then the question is how howcan God promise something like
this?
Something this audacious.
Well, because it depends on Him.
Look at verse seven.
Your zeal will do that.
No.
(23:15):
The zeal of the Lord of hostswill do this.
Not your spiritual fervor, notour church's zeal, God's zeal.
And I think this is reallyamazing.
Your rescue and your salvationis something God is zealous
(23:37):
about.
He is passionate about.
What we cannot earn and do, Godgives.
And so then the question is (23:56):
who is this child?
Well, we see the four names.
We're going to look at wonderfulcounselor this morning in the
last point, the person.
Wonderful counselor, look atverse 6.
The literal translation would bea wonder of a counselor or a
(24:17):
miracle counselor.
And so the word wonder is whatthe Old Testament writers often
use to talk about miracles.
The miracles that God wouldperform when he delivered his
people from Egypt, when he wasparting the Red Sea, when he was
striking judgments on Pharaoh.
(24:38):
And so, in calling the Messiah awonderful counselor, Isaiah is
not saying, here's a great guythat has exceptional gifts and
he does really well at what hedoes, and he's going to give you
really good advice.
That's not what Isaiah issaying.
This is a statement that thecounselor will be a miracle
(24:59):
counselor.
That his counsel will be beyondany counsel that you would get
and can get from an ordinaryhuman being.
This is human or this issupernatural wisdom, divine
wisdom, wonderful wisdom.
(25:21):
And again, I this needs to besaid again.
We are drowning in information.
Everyone has a strategy for yourlife.
But even the best human counsel,think of even the best counselor
you know and the best wisestperson you know is fallible.
(25:44):
Even the wisest person doesn'tsee the future.
They can't see into your heartand know you completely.
They cannot guarantee that whatthey are telling you will
actually work.
We desperately need someone, dowe not, whose wisdom is
absolute, who is completelytrustworthy.
(26:11):
And that is what God promises inverse six.
A counselor whose wisdom ismiraculous and supernatural and
who is always right.
And we hear the word counselorand we immediately think
therapist office.
(26:31):
But in the ancient world, acounselor was ultimately
supposed to be the king whowould counsel the people.
A counselor was someone, though,who you could trust and follow,
who you knew was going to lookout for you and care for you,
someone that you could look upto and do life with, shoulder to
(26:53):
shoulder.
In fact, if you look atProverbs, think about the book
of Proverbs, the relationshipyou'll see between a wise
counselor and the one beingcounseled is often a
parent-child relationship.
The counselor was like a parent,wise and experienced and caring.
And the one being counseled likea child, humble and attentive
(27:18):
and needy and willing, notdistant or transactional, but it
was life on life, walking withsomeone who embodied godliness
and godly living.
Think about Proverbs again, theopening nine chapters.
You can go read it.
And here's the picture.
(27:40):
It is the context of a dadcounseling his son in wisdom.
And you know what he does as hetrains his son in wisdom?
He doesn't set him down in aclassroom.
It's never, hey son, sit downand let me lecture you for 45
minutes.
That's what we do.
(28:01):
Now the Proverbs is much morelike two people walking together
through the normal day.
A father and son walking througha village.
And the father training the sonthrough what he sees.
And he'll look over and he'llpoint out the marketplace and
he'll say, son, let me talk toyou about money.
(28:25):
Let me talk to you aboutgenerosity.
Let me talk to you about workand laziness.
Or he'll be walking and he'llpoint and he'll say, You see
that house there?
Or do you see that tavern?
Let me talk to you about whatI've learned about self-control.
And so it's shoulder toshoulder.
(28:46):
It is, let me show and tell you,it is the never-ending field
trip with someone you know whoreally loves you and cares about
you.
And scholars have often pointedout that that sounds a whole lot
like the way the Apostle Johnintroduces Jesus to us at the
(29:11):
beginning of John in Johnchapter one.
In the beginning was the word,and the word was with God, and
the word was God, and the wordcame down to walk with us and to
dwell with us and to be with us.
John is telling us that wisdomis not just an idea anymore,
(29:34):
that wisdom is actually aperson, a person with a name.
Jesus, who came down in theflesh.
That is the staggering claim ofChristmas.
In Christ are all the hiddentreasures and wisdom and
knowledge, not some wisdom, butall wisdom.
(29:57):
And remember 1 Corinthians,Christ is the power, the apostle
Paul says, and wisdom of God.
And so do you see the claim?
Jesus doesn't just give wisdom.
Jesus is wisdom.
(30:18):
Jesus doesn't just say, hey,look, there's the way.
Go go go for it.
No, Jesus says, I am the way.
Jesus doesn't just say, hey, letme teach you something about
truth.
No, he is the truth.
A wonderful counselor is notjust a philosophy to study, a
(30:43):
system to master.
He is a person to Know.
And here's what that means forus today.
You want to be wise, it's notjust more information that you
need.
Wisdom in the Bible iscovenantal.
(31:03):
You want to be wise?
You have to relate to a person.
It's a relationship with JesusChrist, the miracle counselor,
God in the flesh, the heart andthe mind of God that's given to
you and gives you his spirit towalk shoulder to shoulder with
(31:25):
you through this life.
And we relate to him by walkingwith him.
He's a parent.
We are his children.
We share with him and we seekhim and we follow him and we
trust him.
And you trust his wisdomespecially, especially when it
(31:50):
contradicts your wisdom.
Because he's always right.
You see, the invitation thismorning is to come to a person,
to come to the wonderfulcounselor.
And the good news is you do nothave to clean yourself up before
(32:11):
you come.
He says, come on, wherever youfind yourself.
Because here's the thing (32:18):
it's not a one-time thing.
It is walking with Jesus everysingle day, shoulder to
shoulder, learning from him,from his word, because in Jesus
are hidden all the treasures ofwisdom and knowledge.
(32:38):
And so will you come thismorning to the wonderful
counselor?
Come to Jesus.
That's an invitation.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you for your zealfor rescuing your people.
(32:59):
Forgive us for leaning on ourown understanding.
And Holy Spirit, would you helpus this Christmas season to come
to Jesus?
And I pray that we would trustHis wisdom and His counsel.
(33:19):
We need your help in Jesus'name.
Amen.
If you have a copy of God's word, turn with me to
Isaiah chapter 9 this morning.
Isaiah chapter 9.
And if you have a Bible open,please or have a Bible, please
keep it open this morning.
If you don't have a Bible,you'll see some pew Bibles in
the window seals around thechurch.
And I would encourage you totake that as a gift.
(01:09):
If you don't have a Bible, we'dlove for it to be a gift from
us.
But if you don't have a copy ofthe Bible, you'll see it in your
bulletin, and it'll also be onthe screen behind me in a
moment.
But this marks the beginning ofAdvent.
And if that term is unfamiliarto you, Advent just simply means
(01:30):
anticipation.
We are anticipating what iscoming.
And the church calendar marksthe four Sundays before
Christmas as the season ofAdvent.
And it's a season ofpreparation.
It's a season where we rememberGod performing a miracle in
(01:51):
coming to earth in the person ofJesus Christ in order to rescue
us.
So that's what we'll becelebrating in the coming weeks.
And in the Old Testament, oneprophet whose writings perhaps
shaped that anticipation morethan any other was the prophet
Isaiah.
(02:11):
Isaiah, the book of Isaiah, is areally big book in the Old
Testament.
He lived about 700 years beforeJesus was born.
In this Advent season, we'regoing to look at chapter 9, but
especially we're going to focusin on Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6.
And we're going to, over thenext four weeks, look at the
(02:33):
four names that are given God'scoming Messiah.
So over the next four weeks,today we'll start with Wonderful
Counselor.
Next week we'll look at mightyGod, everlasting Father, and
then Prince of Peace.
With that in mind, if you have acopy of God's word, uh follow
along with me as I read.
(02:53):
Again, it'll be behind me and inthe bulletin as well.
This is the word of the Lord.
But there will be no gloom forher who was in anguish.
In the former time he broughtinto contempt the land of
Zebulun and the land ofNaphtali.
But in the later time he wasmade glorious, made glorious the
way of the sea, the land beyondthe Jordan, Galilee of the
(03:16):
nations.
The people who walked indarkness have seen a great
light.
Those who dwelt in a land ofdeep darkness, on them has light
shone.
You have multiplied the nation,you have increased its joy.
They rejoice before you as withjoy at the harvest, as they are
glad when they divide the spoil.
(03:38):
For the yoke of his burden andthe staff for his shoulder, the
rod of his oppressor, you havebroken as on the day of Midian,
for every boot of the trampingwarrior in battle tumult, and
every garment rolled in bloodwill be burned as fuel for the
fire.
For to us a child is born, to usa son is given, and the
(04:02):
government shall be upon hisshoulder, and his name shall be
called wonderful counselor,mighty God, everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of hisgovernment and of peace there
will be no end on the throne ofDavid and over his kingdom to
establish it and to uphold itwith justice and with
(04:26):
righteousness.
From this time forth andforevermore, the zeal of the
Lord of hosts will do this.
This is God's word.
Let's pray, bow with me, and I'mgoing to ask the Holy Spirit to
come and help us with thehearing of the word, but also
the teaching and preaching ofthe word this morning.
Please pray with me.
(04:51):
Father, would you remind us thismorning that no matter where we
come and what we bring into thisroom, whether it's skepticism
and doubt on as to whether weeven believe this is true, or
(05:12):
whether we bring worry andanxiety and stress or grief,
perhaps excitement and joy andhope wherever we find ourselves.
There are many different storiesthis morning represented here.
I pray that you would convinceus that you move towards us and
(05:35):
not away from us.
All of us need the hope and thejoy and the peace of Christmas.
And so come, Lord.
You have brought us here.
It is not an accident that we'rehere on this morning to hear
this word.
And so we're asking that youwould teach us.
(05:55):
Be with the one who teaches.
Give me humble boldness.
But also as those listening,would you make them alert and
attentive?
And I pray that you would workand that we would encounter the
Lord Jesus Christ, the wonderfulcounselor, this morning.
It's in his name we pray.
(06:16):
Amen.
I'm sure you've noticed this,but it seems like uh every year,
and this has been happening forsome time, that the Christmas
decorations seem to go upearlier and earlier.
Uh it seems like now you walkinto a store in October and they
are displaying Christmas items.
(06:37):
Neighborhood lights have oftenalready up by this time, and we
might joke about uh or havestrong opinions on the timing in
which one should decorate forChristmas, but I think there's
something deeper that's actuallygoing on.
People are searching forsomething.
(07:00):
We live in a world that isincreasingly chaotic, it is
confusing, it is overwhelming,and we are drawn to the joy and
the warmth and the promise andthe lights and the hope and the
peace that Christmas represents.
(07:22):
There's something in us that islonging for what Christmas
brings, and the hope and the joyand the peace, a sense of
direction and a sense of clarityin the midst of life's
confusion.
And we're all bombarded, aren'twe, with a lot of information.
(07:43):
We have information coming at usat every direction, and yet it
hasn't really helped.
We are more confused than everabout what to do, where to go,
and how to live.
We have more access to theexperts and to podcasts.
We have more opinions, and yet,more than any other generation
(08:09):
in history, perhaps, we arestill asking the same old
questions.
Who can I actually trust?
Where can real wisdom be found?
Who is going to guide me throughthe chaos?
Who is going to get me throughthis life?
(08:30):
And where do I turn?
And here's what's remarkablethat is Isaiah chapter 9.
That is what's going on inIsaiah's day.
They are asking the exact samequestion.
God's people are dealing withchaos and darkness and
confusion, and their king, Ahaz,has shut the doors on the
(08:53):
temple.
There is idolatry at everycorner, and the people are
looking for guidance.
They're looking for guidance inall the wrong places.
And so, what does God do?
He gives them Christmas, hegives them hope.
(09:15):
God promises in that context tosend a child, his son, a light
who would dispel the darkness, achild whose name is Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, and Prince
of Peace.
(09:35):
This morning, three things Iwant us to see, three headings
in Isaiah chapter nine.
The problem, secondly, thepromise, lastly, the person.
The problem, the promise, theperson.
That's where we're headed.
We'll take those in turn.
Let's look at our first heading,the problem.
(09:56):
Look at verse one.
If you have your Bible open,this is where I want you to look
at some context with me.
Verse 1 and chapter 9 beginswith, but so that connects it to
what has gone before.
And if you look in Isaiahchapter 9 or 8, verses 19
through 22, God's people arelooking for guidance.
They're looking for guidanceeverywhere except from God.
(10:22):
They're consulting mediums andspiritists and the dead,
anything but the living God.
And where does that lead?
Well, it leads the same placethat leads us.
Look at verse 22.
When they look to the earth,look at these words here:
distress, darkness, gloom,anguish, thick darkness.
(10:48):
And then look at chapter 9,verses 1 and 2.
Here's the contrast.
But there will be no gloom forher, who was in anguish.
The people who have walked indarkness have seen a light.
Those who've dwelt in deepdarkness, on them has light
shined.
In the Bible, darkness is aboutlostness.
(11:09):
It's about confusion andknowing, not knowing.
Think about being in a darkroom, not knowing which way to
go, not which direction that youshould go.
And look at verse or chapter 8again.
Notice where they're looking.
They're looking down here.
They're looking horizontallyrather than looking vertically
(11:33):
up to God.
And it leads to darkness.
And then in chapter 9, somethingchanges.
On them has light shined.
Think about a light shiningdown.
It's not from within thedarkness, it is upon the
darkness.
It's coming from the outside,it's coming from above.
(11:56):
How often, think about it, let'sput ourselves in this context
here.
And we might say this is amillion miles away, but how
often is our knee-jerk reactionto look to the experts?
Or to say, I need a book, or tosay, I need, I need more
(12:21):
education.
That's what we need.
That is what's going to fix ourproblem.
Or I need a better medicine.
Or we need better health care.
Or we need, you know, maybe theproblem, politics, that's the
problem.
And if we just had the rightpolitics and the right political
system, everything would workout perfectly for us.
(12:43):
Or we look to technology or toAI.
And we know things are dark, butoftentimes we do the exact same
thing.
We focus down here in order tofix ourselves.
And in order to fix the world.
(13:12):
Listen, those things are not badthings.
Will those benefit you?
Yes.
Will they benefit our society?
Yes.
But the Bible is exposingsomething here in us.
And that is that we have acounsel-seeking problem.
That we look everywhere forcounsel except to the one who
(13:36):
actually has it.
Think about Proverbs 3.
Maybe you're familiar with thisverse.
Trust the Lord with all yourheart and what?
Lean not on your ownunderstanding.
But that is exactly what we do,isn't it?
The issue is not lack of data.
We are drowning in data.
(13:59):
The issue is that we trust firstourselves.
Maybe you're familiar with itwas in 2023, the Titan capsule.
Remember that little submarinecapsule that was going down to
explore the Titanic and onlyheld five people?
(14:20):
And it ended in tragedy.
The thing actually, the capsuleactually imploded, killing all
five passengers.
But even more haunting is thatthe capsule was designed so that
it could only be unsealed fromthe outside.
And so even if it would havesurfaced, the passengers could
(14:41):
not have opened it from theinside.
Their only hope was a rescuefrom the outside, a rescue from
above.
And tragically, that rescuenever came.
Friends, that's our story, too.
(15:02):
That's what the Bible says aboutus spiritually.
That we are hopeless andhelpless, that we need rescue,
and it will never come frominside of us.
It comes from the outside.
We cannot save ourselves.
We're trapped in darkness, theBible says, descending, unable
to open the door.
(15:23):
But God shine the light down.
Look at verse two again.
On them has light shone.
Not from within the darknessagain, upon it, from above, the
rescue comes in Christmas.
At just the right time, God tookon flesh and came into the world
(15:49):
in order to rescue his people.
Ephesians 2 puts it this way (15:52):
we are dead in our sins, without
hope, but God, rich in mercy,made us alive in Christ Jesus.
I think about this every yeararound Christmas.
Uh, we have made Christmas to bea very sentimental season.
(16:14):
And it is.
I love Christmas.
It's fun, there's lots of joy,there's lots of uh life.
But if you really think aboutit, it is jarring because it
confronts the wisdom of theworld.
Christmas says our condition isso grim and we are so desperate
(16:39):
that God had to come Himselfinto the world in order to
rescue us.
And I say that, and I'm gonnakeep saying that, because if we
don't get that and you don'tunderstand what who you are and
what Jesus has had to do, Adventwill never make sense.
(17:00):
Christmas will never make yousing and bring you deep and
lasting joy.
That's the problem.
Secondly, let's look at thepromise.
Look at verse three, and we'regonna walk through these verses.
There's gonna be some contenthere, but I want you to
understand these verses.
So please look at your bulletinor your Bible.
(17:21):
Look at verse three.
God promises deep lasting joy,the kind of joy that overflows
like a farmer celebrating aftera great harvest, or like a
warrior dividing the plunderwhen the battle has finally been
won.
And again, this is not justabout happiness, this is a
complete reversal of thedarkness, of the suffering.
(17:43):
Look at verses four and five.
Let's see how total thisdeliverance will be.
The yoke that has pressed downon their shoulders is shattered.
The rod of the oppressor whichhas beaten them is broken, and
the boots of the marching enemyand the blood-soaked garments of
(18:03):
war, all of those things will bethrown into the fire as fuel.
And notice that little phrase,the day of Midian.
Perhaps you're familiar with theBible story in Judges 7 of
Gideon.
Remember, God takes his armydown and reduces it from 32,000
(18:24):
to 300.
Why would God do that?
To remind us that it's not aboutus.
To remind us that it is God whogives the victory.
That God, it belongs to him.
(18:44):
And so this is a picture inthose verses three through five
of a comprehensive, permanentdeliverance.
And then the question is, okay,how does God go about doing this
impossible thing?
Look at verse six.
Through a child.
(19:07):
For to us, a child is born, tous, a son is given.
Let me let's work out thatphrase.
Those two phrases are prettyamazing.
A child is born, fully human, ason is given, fully divine, born
from below, given from above.
(19:31):
And notice the language here.
It's crucial.
To us, a child is born.
To us, a son is given.
The point is, friends, Christmasis not earned.
It's a gift, it's not a rewardfor you being righteous.
(19:54):
It is something that's given.
And it is something to bereceived.
And remember, I love the contextbecause I think it gives us such
hope.
It's not the promise is not forthe good people.
The people who have it alltogether, remember the context,
verse 8.
They're consulting mediums andspiritus, and they're walking in
(20:17):
darkness, they're turning awayfrom the word, they're under
judgment, they're worshipingidols.
And yet it says, To us, to them,the idolaters and the rebels,
God promises a child.
The point is Christianity isgrace from beginning to end.
(20:43):
And then notice verse six alsosays the government shall be on
his shoulder.
And so this child will rule.
Verse 7, where and how?
Well, keep reading, the throneof David.
Again, original audience here,that would have been hopeful but
(21:05):
also heartbreaking.
Because God had promised Davidwas going to have an eternal
throne.
But then when they look atIsaiah's day and Ahaz and all
the kings who are a completemess and utter failures, they're
starting to lose hope.
And the promise looksimpossible.
(21:26):
But God, God says this child isgoing to reign on David's throne
with perfect justice and perfectrighteousness, and not for a
four-year political cycle.
From this time forth toforevermore.
(21:47):
It will never be overthrown.
Overthrown.
Look at verse 6 again.
Look at what it's actuallyclaiming.
Think about this.
I think we can just read pastthe Christmas story and read
read past things like this.
A child, a baby, will have thegovernment on his shoulder.
(22:08):
And this child is called mightyGod.
And it isn't just a good teacheror wise sage.
This God himself is enteringinto the darkness to rescue us.
This would have soundedimpossible.
God coming down first, not as awarrior, but as a vulnerable
(22:31):
child to meet us where we are inBethlehem, Bethlehem, to poverty
and to weakness, to the humanexperience.
And this government will crushevery oppressor and end the war.
And all of that will be on theshoulder of an infant.
(22:53):
And then the question is how howcan God promise something like
this?
Something this audacious.
Well, because it depends on Him.
Look at verse seven.
Your zeal will do that.
No.
(23:15):
The zeal of the Lord of hostswill do this.
Not your spiritual fervor, notour church's zeal, God's zeal.
And I think this is reallyamazing.
Your rescue and your salvationis something God is zealous
(23:37):
about.
He is passionate about.
What we cannot earn and do, Godgives.
And so then the question is (23:56):
who is this child?
Well, we see the four names.
We're going to look at wonderfulcounselor this morning in the
last point, the person.
Wonderful counselor, look atverse 6.
The literal translation would bea wonder of a counselor or a
(24:17):
miracle counselor.
And so the word wonder is whatthe Old Testament writers often
use to talk about miracles.
The miracles that God wouldperform when he delivered his
people from Egypt, when he wasparting the Red Sea, when he was
striking judgments on Pharaoh.
(24:38):
And so, in calling the Messiah awonderful counselor, Isaiah is
not saying, here's a great guythat has exceptional gifts and
he does really well at what hedoes, and he's going to give you
really good advice.
That's not what Isaiah issaying.
This is a statement that thecounselor will be a miracle
(24:59):
counselor.
That his counsel will be beyondany counsel that you would get
and can get from an ordinaryhuman being.
This is human or this issupernatural wisdom, divine
wisdom, wonderful wisdom.
(25:21):
And again, I this needs to besaid again.
We are drowning in information.
Everyone has a strategy for yourlife.
But even the best human counsel,think of even the best counselor
you know and the best wisestperson you know is fallible.
(25:44):
Even the wisest person doesn'tsee the future.
They can't see into your heartand know you completely.
They cannot guarantee that whatthey are telling you will
actually work.
We desperately need someone, dowe not, whose wisdom is
absolute, who is completelytrustworthy.
(26:11):
And that is what God promises inverse six.
A counselor whose wisdom ismiraculous and supernatural and
who is always right.
And we hear the word counselorand we immediately think
therapist office.
(26:31):
But in the ancient world, acounselor was ultimately
supposed to be the king whowould counsel the people.
A counselor was someone, though,who you could trust and follow,
who you knew was going to lookout for you and care for you,
someone that you could look upto and do life with, shoulder to
(26:53):
shoulder.
In fact, if you look atProverbs, think about the book
of Proverbs, the relationshipyou'll see between a wise
counselor and the one beingcounseled is often a
parent-child relationship.
The counselor was like a parent,wise and experienced and caring.
And the one being counseled likea child, humble and attentive
(27:18):
and needy and willing, notdistant or transactional, but it
was life on life, walking withsomeone who embodied godliness
and godly living.
Think about Proverbs again, theopening nine chapters.
You can go read it.
And here's the picture.
(27:40):
It is the context of a dadcounseling his son in wisdom.
And you know what he does as hetrains his son in wisdom?
He doesn't set him down in aclassroom.
It's never, hey son, sit downand let me lecture you for 45
minutes.
That's what we do.
(28:01):
Now the Proverbs is much morelike two people walking together
through the normal day.
A father and son walking througha village.
And the father training the sonthrough what he sees.
And he'll look over and he'llpoint out the marketplace and
he'll say, son, let me talk toyou about money.
(28:25):
Let me talk to you aboutgenerosity.
Let me talk to you about workand laziness.
Or he'll be walking and he'llpoint and he'll say, You see
that house there?
Or do you see that tavern?
Let me talk to you about whatI've learned about self-control.
And so it's shoulder toshoulder.
(28:46):
It is, let me show and tell you,it is the never-ending field
trip with someone you know whoreally loves you and cares about
you.
And scholars have often pointedout that that sounds a whole lot
like the way the Apostle Johnintroduces Jesus to us at the
(29:11):
beginning of John in Johnchapter one.
In the beginning was the word,and the word was with God, and
the word was God, and the wordcame down to walk with us and to
dwell with us and to be with us.
John is telling us that wisdomis not just an idea anymore,
(29:34):
that wisdom is actually aperson, a person with a name.
Jesus, who came down in theflesh.
That is the staggering claim ofChristmas.
In Christ are all the hiddentreasures and wisdom and
knowledge, not some wisdom, butall wisdom.
(29:57):
And remember 1 Corinthians,Christ is the power, the apostle
Paul says, and wisdom of God.
And so do you see the claim?
Jesus doesn't just give wisdom.
Jesus is wisdom.
(30:18):
Jesus doesn't just say, hey,look, there's the way.
Go go go for it.
No, Jesus says, I am the way.
Jesus doesn't just say, hey, letme teach you something about
truth.
No, he is the truth.
A wonderful counselor is notjust a philosophy to study, a
(30:43):
system to master.
He is a person to Know.
And here's what that means forus today.
You want to be wise, it's notjust more information that you
need.
Wisdom in the Bible iscovenantal.
(31:03):
You want to be wise?
You have to relate to a person.
It's a relationship with JesusChrist, the miracle counselor,
God in the flesh, the heart andthe mind of God that's given to
you and gives you his spirit towalk shoulder to shoulder with
(31:25):
you through this life.
And we relate to him by walkingwith him.
He's a parent.
We are his children.
We share with him and we seekhim and we follow him and we
trust him.
And you trust his wisdomespecially, especially when it
(31:50):
contradicts your wisdom.
Because he's always right.
You see, the invitation thismorning is to come to a person,
to come to the wonderfulcounselor.
And the good news is you do nothave to clean yourself up before
(32:11):
you come.
He says, come on, wherever youfind yourself.
Because here's the thing (32:18):
it's not a one-time thing.
It is walking with Jesus everysingle day, shoulder to
shoulder, learning from him,from his word, because in Jesus
are hidden all the treasures ofwisdom and knowledge.
(32:38):
And so will you come thismorning to the wonderful
counselor?
Come to Jesus.
That's an invitation.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you for your zealfor rescuing your people.
(32:59):
Forgive us for leaning on ourown understanding.
And Holy Spirit, would you helpus this Christmas season to come
to Jesus?
And I pray that we would trustHis wisdom and His counsel.
(33:19):
We need your help in Jesus'name.
Amen.
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