Unto Us He Is

If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to Isaiah chapter 9.

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

! Isaiah chapter 9.

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

That's so good, I wouldn't even need to preach.

We could just go home, but we're not.

When I was a kid, I didn't get a whole lot in the mail.

But there were two exciting things that came in the mail every year.

The most exciting thing that came in the mail was a department store catalog.

Now, I'm not sure about part of this,

but I think that Alexander's on Pleasantburg Drive used to have one.

I think we got one.

I'm seeing some shagings of their heads.

And man, they had a killer toy section.

And I loved it.

But I know that we got a Sears and Roebuck catalog.

Now, let me explain.

If you call it Sears and Roebuck, you're old, okay?

The time I came around, it was Sears on Stone Avenue.

And they had dropped the Roebuck.

But I always knew when I was talking to old people,

they'd say, we're going to Sears and Roebuck.

And I'm like, who's Roebuck?

But Sears was the place.

And man, they had a catalog.

And I would get that catalog and turn to the back of it that came close to Christmas time.

And I'd get that catalog and circle all the toys.

I mean, if you wanted to know what I needed for Christmas,

just go check out the Sears catalog, you know?

Because you knew what that was.

It was fabulous.

And the second most exciting thing that ever came,

and I don't know if it came in the mail or they left it on the doorstep,

but that was the phone book.

And every year we'd get a phone book.

And I loved the phone book because it proved I existed.

We were real.

And when you've got a name like I've got,

you wonder if it's even going to be in there.

And if you are, can you even find it?

Will they spell it right?

Well, they send you a bill.

Old Mama Bell sends you a bill every month.

They knew how to spell your name.

They got it right every time.

But you get the phone book.

Now, since I've been back in Pickens,

I think I've got one phone book.

And I don't know if that was because the people before me had a home phone,

and I just stayed on the line.

And I don't know if they just every now and then go,

hey, I think we'll send out some phone books.

And that thing was minuscule.

I mean, it was tiny because it has home phone numbers in it,

and nobody has home phones anymore.

Now, if you do, you're not a nobody.

I don't mean that.

But I'm just saying, not many people have a home phone anymore at all.

And so the reality is we don't get them.

But listen, there were no cell phones.

Now, some of you are shocked.

There were no cell phones in those days, okay?

So if you had a phone, it was either sitting on a table

or it was sitting on a wall, one or the other,

and your number was in the phone book.

That is unless you paid to have it unlisted.

And if you paid to have it unlisted, you were either very important

or you just didn't like people, one or the other.

I mean, just one way or the other.

But on the front page of that phone book was the number for the police,

the number for the fire, the number for the ambulance, medical treatment.

And in case of emergency, you either had to go find that book

or a lot of people, they didn't have Post-its in those days,

but a lot of people would make them a Post-it.

They'd take a piece of paper, write down the police number,

write down the fire number.

You got to have the city police, the county police, fire,

write all that down and tape it on a wall beside their phone.

There was a lot of that going on in people's homes, you know?

But if you didn't know, you better know where the phone book was

because if you had emergency, you had to go look up that number.

Now, some of you all are looking at me like, he's lost it.

It's a different world.

And the rest of you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Today, if you need anything, just call 911.

They started trying to create that number before I was even born,

but it didn't come around until after I was grown.

But now all calls to 911 go to the same dispatch service

that then sends it where it needs to go.

And the needs that come in are interesting, to say the least.

But someone has summarized those calls

into four different type of calls that they get.

Some call for guidance.

They just don't know what to do.

There's a situation.

They just don't know what to do, and they won't guide it.

So they call 911.

Other people call because they can't help themselves.

They're in a situation where they need somebody with greater power

than they have to take care of something, and so they call 911.

Then there are calls of, for lack of a better term, relational collapse.

I mean, it may be a domestic disturbance.

It may be a child worried about a child,

or maybe somebody's ran away and they've been gone too long,

or walked away and been gone too long,

or we're concerned about somebody's safety,

and so we call, or custody crisis, and those types,

all those things.

They get those kind of calls, ugly calls, okay?

And then other calls come because of chaos.

There's just confusion and panic,

and they just need peace.

Now, we hadn't been here long when we woke up one morning,

I mean, woke up one evening after we went to bed,

to carbon monoxide detectors going off, okay?

We had two of them, and both of them were going off,

and they were going off in stereo,

so it was like it was reverberating.

And the first thought that I have,

if a fire alarm goes off,

is just wave at it a little while,

and it'll go off, you know?

It's kind of what my thought is.

What do you do with a carbon monoxide detector?

How do you handle that?

And so, what do you wave?

And you can't see it, and you can't taste it,

and you don't know,

and you just grow real tired thinking about what it is.

You know, that's what carbon monoxide does to you.

So I couldn't ignore it,

even though I wanted to go to bed.

I had to do something.

So what did I do?

I called 911, and I called them apologetically, you know?

I'm sorry to bother you,

but we got carbon monoxide detectors going off,

and if it was one of them,

if my family would have let me,

which they probably wouldn't have,

I probably would have unplugged it and went back to bed,

but it was two of them,

and so it was a different matter.

So they said, no, we'll come, you know?

It was about this time of year,

and so they, and it was cold outside,

and so they came,

and they had a detector.

The firemen came,

and they had a detector,

and they walked in the house,

and yeah,

so you got some things going on.

It's not bad,

but you got some things going on.

They went down in our basement,

our utility basement,

and they walked around,

and they went,

oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,

you got a problem.

You need to go outside,

and I said,

it's cold outside.

They said,

no, you need to go outside.

You need to get out of here.

So I said,

Lord, I hope I filled up the car.

So we went out

and sat in the car for a little while,

and they brought in a fan,

a big fan,

and he told the guy with the fan,

he said,

don't put it in front of that Christmas tree.

You'll blow it out the door.

Thank God they didn't do that.

That would have been interesting,

but anyway,

they put that fan down

and blew that through the house.

I don't know,

for quite a while.

They hung out a long time,

and then they said,

all right, yeah, all right,

and we figured out

what was the problem,

and we had to get some things worked on

and all that stuff,

but we worked out all that stuff,

and they said,

I think you'll be all right.

Crack a window,

and so we cracked some windows

and went to bed freezing,

but it was scary.

I mean,

it was just,

it was kind of chaotic.

We just didn't know.

Didn't know what the deal was,

and didn't know how to handle it.

That's a 911 call.

They're used to that kind of stuff,

so it seems like

that every emergency call

that is made

is a search for

someone who knows,

someone who's able,

someone who cares,

or someone who can bring order.

Well,

I know somebody

who can handle all that,

and the prophet Isaiah

spoke of him

700 years

before he came

as a babe

in a manger.

Jesus came to us,

and what a blessing we have,

and it's worth celebrating

this Christmas.

Isaiah chapter 9,

Isaiah 9:6

verse 6 says,

For to us

a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government

shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name

shall be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father,

I pray this morning

that you'll help us

not only to enjoy

the babe in a manger

and what all

that Christmas means,

but God,

I also hope

that you'll allow us

to see the Savior

and how you're involved

in our lives

and what you are for us

and help us

to respond in obedience

as you speak to us.

In Jesus' name,

amen.

If you are in search

of one who knows,

we have in Christ

a wonder

of a counselor.

That is literally

what it says.

And when it's translated

wonderful,

what does it mean

by wonderful?

Well, the word there

for wonderful

in Hebrew

is Pele.

Much like the soccer star

of, I guess,

the 70s,

one of the great ones,

is pronounced

and transliterated

in the same way

as that old soccer star,

but it means

marvelous

beyond human expectation,

something

that only

God

can do,

something we can't explain.

It is a word

that is used

in the Hebrew.

It is reserved

for the holy things

that God

can do.

And he is

truly wonderful.

I mean,

everything about him

is full of wonder.

He was born

like no other

from a virgin.

He lived

like no other.

He was sinless.

He knows

like no other.

He's all-knowing.

He is able

like no other.

He has all power.

He loves

like no other.

He actually

is love.

He died

like no other.

He is

he was innocent.

He rose again

like no other,

unprompted,

unassisted,

independently.

He rose.

And he gave

victory like no other

because his victory

is consuming

and eternal.

It is

the wonder

of the God-man.

Not 50%

God,

50% man,

but 100% God

and 100% man.

He is

beyond our

understanding,

beyond our

comprehension,

more than we

can imagine.

He was brought

into the world

by a woman,

yet he formed

her in her

mother's womb.

He was laid

in a manger,

yet the tree

that made

the manger

came from

wood that

existed because

he spoke it

into being.

a star

marked

his arrival,

yet he's

the one

that flung

the stars

into their

places.

And we're

not even out

of the manger

yet,

folks.

I'm telling

you,

our God

is amazing.

Yet it says

he came to

the earth

as to be

our counselor.

Wouldn't it

be nice to

be able to

go to a

counselor that

knew all

things?

I know

one.

I mean,

wouldn't it

be great to

go to a

counselor that

knew our

problems before

we even spoke

them?

I know

one.

One that

would,

we could

hide nothing

from,

and yet

still accepts

us as

we are?

I know

one.

One who

would be

thorough,

and one

who would

be just,

and one

who would

be honest,

and one

who would

be loving.

Thank God

I know

one.

And

scripture

tells us

how he

can understand

us.

It reassures

us again

and again

all over

scripture.

Isaiah

Isaiah 53:3

chapter 53

verse 3

says,

he was

despised and

rejected by

men, a

man of

sorrow and

acquainted with

grief as

one from

whom men

hid their

faces and

hide their

faces and

he was

despised and

we esteemed

him not.

You go to

the New

Testament and

the Hebrew

writer in

Hebrew 4

verse 15

says,

for we

don't have a

high priest

who's unable

to sympathize with

our weaknesses

but one

who in

every respect

has been

tempted as

we are

yet without

sin.

I understand

something about

that friend.

The reality

is he

understands our

circumstances.

promises.

I love what

1 John 1

9 says that

if we confess

our sins he's

faithful and

just to forgive

us of our

sins and

cleanse us

from all

unrighteousness

and what that

passage means

is so powerful

because I'm

thankful if he

was able but

not willing we'd

be in a mess.

and if he was

willing but not

able we'd be in

the same mess.

But scripture

says that he's

faithful and

just.

That means he's

willing and

able to

forgive us of

our sins and

then to cleanse us

from all

unrighteousness.

And I'll tell you

we get so good at

sinning that if we

go home and try to

write down every

sin that is in our

life and every sin

that we commit we're

going to miss some.

And that's why I

like the last phrase

in that passage.

Cleanses us from

all unrighteousness.

You see that's the

high priest that

goes on our behalf

understands our

circumstances and

has been there.

Don't ever think

well I'm in sin but

my sin's different.

It's justified.

Somehow nobody else

has ever experienced

this and mine's a

unique case and

somehow it's okay.

All of that is of

the evil one.

There's a Greek word

for that.

Baloney.

It's a bunch of

baloney.

It ain't true.

And the reality is

a sin's a sin and

thank God we serve a

savior that understands

us better than we

understand ourselves

and can sympathize

with our weaknesses

and in every respect

understands what we're

going through.

It don't stop there.

Psalm 34 verse 18

Psalms 34:18

says the Lord is

near to the broken

hearted and he saves

the crushed in spirit.

And then Jesus said

in Matthew 11, 28, 29

come to me all who

labor and are heavy

laden and I'll give you

rest.

Take my yoke upon you

and learn from me for I

am gentle and lowly in

heart and you will find

rest for your souls.

You know what a yoke is.

You put a pair of oxen in

a yoke and they will pull

the burden whatever it may

be.

And what he says is you

get yoked up with me.

My yoke is easy.

I'll take the weight.

I'll take the burden.

That term also is used

of those who sat under a

rabbi and took upon his

teaching and his

instruction and did what

he told them to do.

He took on the yoke of the

rabbi.

In the same way, if you'll

dedicate yourselves to

follow what the word of God

says, he'll guide you all

the way.

He'll make it easy along

the way.

We serve a wonderful God, a

wonder of a counselor in

Christ.

When we're in crisis or the

weight of life itself comes

upon us, we need somebody

who's able.

We need a mighty God.

I call it the God of all.

He is a mighty God.

The passage we looked at

last week in the first part

of this verse talks about a

royal son that would be

given and he'd take charge of

the government and he'd be

not only that but a

wonderful advisor and as we

just talked about, a

counselor.

Now how do we know that he

was talking about Christ and

not some earthly king?

Because you've got to be

careful with prophecy.

A lot of people are not

careful with prophecy and it

sells to write books about

prophecy.

People are enamored with

knowing what's going to

happen around the corner of

tomorrow because we don't

know what's going to happen

tomorrow.

So man, if somebody can tell

us and they can base it on

scripture, we'll buy it up and

eat it up, okay?

But we need to be careful with

prophecy because the reality is

when Isaiah spoke, he was

speaking to people that were

sitting before him when he

spoke.

And God gave him a message

for those people.

When Paul wrote the book of

Ephesians, you know who he

wrote it to?

He wrote it to the church of

Ephesus.

He didn't write it to us

directly.

He wrote it to the church of

Ephesus.

It helped us a lot to

understand what was going on

in Ephesus and understand how

they heard it.

And then as the seminary

professor told me years ago,

filter it through the first

audience and then understand

how it relates to you.

Now, through the power and the

inspiration of the Holy Spirit

and through the perfection of

scripture, it does relate to us.

And there is a message there,

but we need to understand that

when folks spoke hundreds of

years ago about what was to

come, are they talking about

what was coming in their day?

Are they talking about what was

coming in the next generation?

That's been many generations

ago.

Or were they talking about our

future?

It's fascinating how people deal

with that.

So it's very easy to look at

this passage and think,

Isaiah must be talking about a

king that's coming soon, you

know.

Well, this passage, this phrase

gives it away.

He's not talking about an

earthly king.

He's talking about a mighty

God.

It exposes the real issue.

It's not just a promise that a

king is coming, but that God

himself is incarnate.

The mighty God.

That word might is often used

when speaking of a fierce

warrior, unbeatable, one that

wins the battles.

We should never believe that we

can win our own battles on our

own.

The spiritual battles that we face

are beyond our strength and

beyond our ability.

The apostle Paul put it this way

in Ephesians 6 verse 12.

Ephesians 6:12

He said,

For we don't wrestle against flesh

and blood, but against the

rulers, against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers of this

present darkness, against the

spiritual forces of evil in the

heavenly places.

Folks, this is beyond us.

This is not a battle for us to

fight on our own.

And I'm thankful today that we

have a mighty God who's taken

upon our battles.

He's taken them upon himself and

won them.

And the question is, do we rely

upon him to have victory in our

lives?

Because some of us are fighting the

same battles that we've been

fighting since before we knew

Christ.

On January the 8th, 1815, there

were many skirmishes and smaller

territorial battles that the

Americans profoundly defeated the

British in the Battle of New

Orleans.

And it was the last chapter in the

war of 1812, or so it seemed.

What a chapter it was.

The British suffered 2,000

casualties in that battle.

The Americans suffered 71.

Thank you very much.

It seemed to be the tell-all.

But what those soldiers did not

know on that battlefield was that

the war was already over.

The treaty of Ghent had been signed

on Christmas Eve two weeks before

that ended the war.

And due to a lack of communication

in those days, the message did not

get out.

And hundreds died fighting a battle

that they didn't have to fight

because the war was already over.

Folks, when I read about that, I

think, how many Christians do the

same thing?

How many of us are fighting battles

that we don't have to fight?

We're continuing in hand-to-spirit

combat, trying to win battles.

When the war's over, we serve a

mighty God.

A mighty God that came to this earth

to live, to die, to rise again, to

claim us victory.

So fight no more.

Your mighty God has already run.

Just surrender to your mighty God.

He's claimed your victory.

When we're in a crisis or the weight

of life itself is upon us, we need

somebody to not only be mighty and

win the battles, but we also need

somebody who's able and somebody who

cares.

We need the Father of time, the

everlasting Father.

With the promise of Jesus came the

promise of the revelation of God the

Father, the Trinity of the Godhead.

It's hard for the finite man to

grasp.

However, it is well worth pondering.

God in one being in three distinct

persons.

The Father gives all authority to the

Son and bears witness to Him, as does

Jesus to Himself.

Yet the Son claims nothing for Himself.

He gives all glory to the Father who

has sent Him.

The Father glorifies the Son.

The Son glorifies the Father.

The Father and the Son defer to the

Holy Spirit, who in turn glorifies and

defers to the Father and the Son in the

oneness that is eternally dynamic and

inexhaustible.

It is an amazing wonder.

And if you tell me that you understand all

of that, you're lying.

Because it is beyond us.

We believe it by faith.

As the Word of God teaches us.

But the question is, if they're distinct, why

is Christ called the everlasting Father here?

Well, let the Word speak for itself.

Colossians 2 verse 9 and 10 says this,

Colossians 2:9

For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

In Him is Christ, by the way.

And you've been filled in Him who is the head of all rule

and authority.

Jesus Himself put it this way in John 14, 9.

He said, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

In John chapter 10 verse 30, He says, I and the Father are one.

John 10:30

The title Father means originator.

It means the source.

In other words, God is the source of all of eternity.

He's the Father of all time.

The origin of all existence.

If you look at the front of your Bible, you'll notice in the

beginning it says that God said, let us make man in our own

image.

In our own image.

Who's He talking to?

He's not speaking to the angels.

We're not made into the image of angels.

And I don't want to go down this rabbit hole, but we don't

become angels when we die.

So don't say God needed another angel when somebody that you

love dies.

Because you don't become angels.

You weren't an angel on earth.

You ain't going to be an angel in glory, you know.

He wasn't talking to the angels.

Was He speaking to the animals?

We're not made in the image of animals.

Some folks act like it, but we're not.

We're not made in the image of animals.

We're not made in the image of trees.

Now what we see there in the very beginning of the book is we see

the Godhead.

That Christ was in the beginning.

As John chapter 1 tells us, the Word was with God.

John 1 · chapter mention

The Word was God.

He's always been.

I mean, it may look like a manger born boy died on the cross and

is gone, but don't be deceived.

He died, but He rose again.

And He rules and He reigns as the everlasting Father.

He is forever God.

Forever present.

Forever sovereign.

And He'll never leave us.

He'll never forsake us.

He'll never let us down.

He'll never die.

He'll never disappear.

He is forever.

Forever.

And the promise of the manger is this, that the eternal Father is

so personal, so loving, so caring for you and for me that He

stepped down onto our level, into our time, through our world,

and in our flesh to make us eternally His.

And when you need someone who knows, you may say, nobody gets me.

You're wrong.

You're wrong.

When you need somebody that knows He's a wonder of a counselor.

Literally what it says, a wonder of a counselor.

When you need somebody who's able, He's a mighty God.

And when you need somebody who will never leave you, people will let you down.

Even when they try their best, they'll let you down.

He'll never let you down.

He's an everlasting Father.

All we need is found in the hope of Christ.

I heard about a hiker who was hiking in the mountains.

And he had a good map, and he had what he thought was a reliable compass.

But the compass apparently had been put in his pocket with other things,

and it had something else metal or magnetized, had magnetized the needle in the wrong direction.

Just a little bit, but in the wrong direction on that compass.

And so every time he checked it, it looked right.

It didn't act chaotic.

It looked right.

But every time he checked it, it looked right.

But it felt right.

The needle settled just like it was supposed to.

But it was always pointing in the wrong direction a little bit, just a little bit.

Now, I want you to understand something.

If a compass is supposed to point this way and instead points this way,

the average hiker in the mountains after an hour will be 1,000 feet from where he's supposed to be.

And this fellow had been doing it for hours and hours.

And thankfully, a ranger found him.

And when the ranger found him, he explained to him.

He said, your compass did not fail dramatically.

It was just off enough to take you far from where you needed to be.

And that's the way life is.

We follow our feelings.

We follow our instincts.

We follow our best guesses.

And sometimes they look right.

And sometimes they feel right.

And sometimes they seem right.

But they can lead us where we never intended to go.

And it does not have to be that way.

Because Jesus is a wonder of a counselor.

He knows the right path.

He is the mighty God.

He has the strength to rescue us.

He is the everlasting Father.

He walks with us and guides us all the way home.

And I can't wait next week to tell you for Christmas about the Prince of Peace.

He is our Christmas hope.

He is our life hope.

The gift of Christmas is Jesus.

And the hope that we have in this life is Jesus.

Unto us, he is exactly what we need.

And I'm thankful today that he's here for us.

If you've never surrendered your life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

You've never confessed your sins to him as I mentioned a little while ago.

You've never asked him to forgive you, to come into your life and to save you and to change you.

I want you to know, he'll meet you where you are if you'll surrender your life to him today.

He hears your prayer.

Lord, I need you to forgive me, to cleanse me, to change my life.

And from this day forward, I'll live my life to please you in all I do.

I won't do it perfectly.

But your word tells me that the Spirit of God will empower me to be what you would have me to be.

If you've never done that, I encourage you in a minute, we're going to stand and we're going to sing.

And you come and say, Pastor, I need to give my life to Christ.

Maybe you have done that, but you've never acknowledged it publicly.

You've never told him about it.

And Jesus, by his commission and by his example, tells us that the way that we tell other people to do it is through baptism.

If you've never been baptized as a believer, as we stand and sing in just a moment, you come and say,

Pastor, I'd love to join this church by baptism.

I want to publicly profess my faith as Scripture dictates for me to do.

We won't do that today.

We'll line it up later.

But you come today.

Maybe you're like the Stale family that went on earlier worship today that God drew to this church.

Maybe you say, I've been visiting here and I feel like God would have me to be a part of this church.

You come.

As we stand and say, you come and obey God in that.

Or maybe you're here today.

And you know you're a Christian.

And you know you've been baptized.

And you know you're where you're supposed to be.

But yet there's something in your life that ain't where it's supposed to be.

Whatever it is, he can handle it.

You may not be able to handle it.

I may not be able to handle it.

We may not be able to handle it.

He can handle it.

So give it to him.

Where you stand at this altar with a pastor praying for you.

However, give it to him today.

Lord Jesus, I love you.

Thank you for your word.

Thank you for the gift of Christ.

Help us to respond in obedience, God.

In Jesus' name, amen.