[0:00] We thank you Lord for the gift we have, indeed the gift we've just seen of these young friends of ours, these boys and the girls who attend Sunday school.
[0:15] Help us truly to remember them, help us truly to be thankful for them, that they come to this place. That they're brought out by parents and grandparents and brought out by those who love them to hear the word.
[0:30] We thank you Lord that even in their young days they seem to be so engaged with you and with your word. That their understanding seems to be growing at a real pace. Lord we thank you for that.
[0:40] We again ask you to bless the Sunday school teachers Lord for the hard work that goes into preparing the lessons and to running the Sunday school. We give you praise for the teachers of this congregation of many years ago.
[0:54] Those who are still with us in worship here Lord and are part of our congregation. Who have been engaged in Sunday school work over many, many years. We thank you Lord for their service over the many years ago and the fruit that that bears just now.
[1:09] As we pray for our boys and girls we come before you just now as a congregation. Come before you a holy and living God. We confess just now that at times we are so aware that we have nothing to bring.
[1:23] We are so aware even today that we come before a God who is holy, holy, holy. And in our lives and our minds and our actions that we are not. We are not holy.
[1:34] We do things and we say things and we act in ways that are so unholy. We bring just now our dirt. We bring just now the backsliding and the dirtiness of our minds and our hearts, our actions and our lives.
[1:49] We come just now before you confessing we are creatures made from the dust itself. And we are so aware of that. We're so aware of that. But there is nothing we can bring before you.
[2:00] There is nothing we can say before your holy presence. There is no way as it were we can convince you to love us. But we come just now not trying to convince.
[2:13] Not trying to plead a holiness that we do not have. But we come just now as those who are made from the dust. Who have nothing in and of ourselves. We come just now as those who in Christ are known.
[2:28] Who in Christ and his finished work we have our full hope if we know him this day. Who in the perfect life of obedience. Who in that death and his resurrection.
[2:42] Who in his continual life we find all our hope. All our peace. All our joy. We come just now as your people here today. As a gathering of those here who know and who love Jesus.
[2:53] Help us to for this short time have our minds focused on what it is we are doing here. We are here today to be in your presence. We are here today to sing your praises.
[3:07] We are here today to hear from your word. To be fed by it. To grow in our knowledge of it. And our knowledge of you. Our love of it. And our love of you.
[3:18] Help us to put into practice what it is we hear today. Help us never to be here just searching for pure knowledge. But help us instead to be searching for knowledge we can then apply in our own lives.
[3:31] Apply in our own witnessing. Apply as we seek to grow in our knowledge and our care and our love for our saviour. We thank you just now for our friends here today.
[3:44] Those who as of yet cannot say that they know nor love Jesus. But who attend this place. Who come week after week. Who have come perhaps for many years if not many decades now.
[3:56] Lord we know that they are here because you have brought them here. We ask that they would know our love for them. Our care for them. But more importantly than that. They would know that there is a God who has made them and who knows them.
[4:09] Who has provided for them in Jesus. A means of salvation. The only way whereby they can be saved. The Lord Jesus Christ. His perfect life.
[4:22] His total complete work on that cross. So we can know that all who come to him. Can know true and eternal and real forgiveness of sin.
[4:39] We pray just now that truth would be known. Not just in our congregation here. It would be known across this whole community. We pray once more for this community.
[4:50] At this time of year especially. As we see that there is so much need in this place. There is so much gospel need. There are so many homes here. Who have no idea.
[5:02] Of even the basics of the gospel. Who have no idea as to the danger they are in. As to the danger they are heading towards. As to the hell that is awaiting them. As we pray for these households just now.
[5:14] We pray just now for those who are close to us. Those who we know. And those who we love in this community. Those who we have close connections to. And who as of yet show no interest for their souls.
[5:28] Who show no care about themselves. Who have no interest in getting to know who Jesus is. Lord we ask that you would work in their lives. You would bring them to awareness of themselves.
[5:40] And awareness of their needs. And show them perhaps through the witness of your people. As we said to the boys and girls. Help us to point them towards Jesus. We don't pray that so that we'd have more pews filled in this congregation or next door.
[5:56] We pray that for their eternal souls. That you would be glorified as they come to know and come to love you. Help us to be salt and to be light in this place.
[6:08] Remind us of our duty. Every one of us. As witnesses. As ambassadors. As disciples sent out to serve you in this place. We pray just now for our own homes.
[6:21] Our own close family. For any who are on our minds just now. Who as of yet have no gospel care. We bring them before the throne just now. That throne of grace.
[6:33] We bring them just now. These many names in our minds. These faces which flash before us. Those we have perhaps spent years pleading at the cross for.
[6:43] Those we spent just now in our minds. We plead for them as they come once more to us. And we see once more. And our week has gone by. Where they've shown no interest.
[6:55] And we bring them before you. Those that we feel so helpless to save. For we know that we can save none. Not one. Not our closest.
[7:07] Not our most loved. For we bring them to you. We cannot save. But you do. We cannot revive them from the dead of their souls.
[7:19] But you can. It is our job to point. To show. In our lives. In our words. In our actions. That the truth.
[7:29] And the beauty. Of our risen saviour. Takes away the sins. Of all his people. Help us to find once more. The beauty of that saviour. We pray just now.
[7:39] For your people here. Pray for any here. Who have lost that sense of awe. Who have lost that sense of wonder. That sense of beauty.
[7:51] As we think about our saviour. Who have grown cold. Perhaps. In their first love for him. We ask you would. Renew that. And rekindle that first love.
[8:02] It would burn bright once more. We pray just now. For our friends. And our brothers and sisters. Next door. We pray for them. In their time of vacancy. If it's your will. Lord we ask you would.
[8:14] Give them one. Soon. Who would lead them. And guide them. We pray for the wider gospel cause. In North Tulsa. We aren't praying. So our own pews will be filled.
[8:24] We aren't seeking the glory. Of this ministry. Or the glory of the free church. We're seeking. Your glory. We ask that you would have your people. In this place. We ask you would see.
[8:35] Days of renewal. And days of refreshing. We'd see both buildings begin. As it were. To fill up. That's your will. Fill up with those. Searching for answers.
[8:46] Those in great trouble. For their souls. Until these days come. Help us to serve you faithfully. We ask. Help us to be faithful servants.
[8:56] In the small things. As it were. Until you bless us. With greater things. We pray just now. Pray for our local leadership. Pray for the council.
[9:08] Pray Lord. For our local government. We pray also for government. Over us. In Holyrood. And in Westminster. Pray also for our king. As your word instructs us to do.
[9:18] To pray for all those. In worldly leadership. Over us. We pray Lord. For wisdom. And for guidance. For them. To lead us well. As a nation. And as a group of nations.
[9:29] We pray. We also pray. Primarily. For themselves. As men. We pray for them. That they. Would come to know Jesus. For themselves.
[9:40] And come and serve him. As king. And come and serve him. As ruler of their lives. Until we see these days. Help us to be faithful. Help us to be faithful servants.
[9:52] In the portion. With which you've given us. We pray for all the. Ideas. And plans. That we are seeking. To bring forward. To bring the gospel.
[10:02] To as many people. In this community. As possible. As we heard last week. Last Thursday. Unless you are in it. It is all done in vain. Unless you are building.
[10:13] The house. Unless you are watching over. The city. Watching over this village. Then we have no hope. And we have no help. But we know that you are. Building your kingdom here.
[10:24] You are building. As it were of a house. And you are watching over. The city. You are watching over. North Tulsa. But this place belongs to you. It's all yours.
[10:35] There is no person. No home. No area. No part of the land. Of this place. That is beyond. Your sovereign power. Help us to understand that.
[10:47] And to find our hope in that. We thank you for ourselves. As a congregation. We thank you for unity. You have given us. And the peace you have given us. We give you praise. For the recent visitation.
[10:58] Of the Conquennial Committee. We give you praise Lord. For a successful visit. We give you praise Lord. For a report. That has seen it out togetherness.
[11:09] A report that has noted. The gospel work being done. That has noted. The brotherly and sisterly nature. The family nature. Of this congregation.
[11:19] Lord we ask you. Continue that in our presence. We know that if you're not in it. And if you're not with us. Then we will fall apart. And do so quickly. We pray Lord. For all of the gospel plans.
[11:31] Of this place. The plans to help our own people grow. The plans for discipleship. The plans to help us grow. As Christians. We pray also Lord.
[11:41] For the plans to reach out. To this congregation. To reach out. To this wider area. With the good news. That is a saviour. Who brings hope. Who brings life.
[11:52] To all who come to him. Give us wisdom. Help us as it were. To be as wise as serpents. But as gentle. As doves. Help our conduct.
[12:03] To be becoming of those. Who are saved. And who are loved. Help us. To be zealous. Yes. But to be careful. Help us. To be full of the joy of the Lord.
[12:14] But to be circumspect. In how we live our lives. Keep us Lord. We ask. There are many dangers in this world. We ask especially. In these days. For protection.
[12:25] From all the attacks. Of the evil one. As we. Acknowledge that he is working. In this place also. And as your word goes out. That he is seeking.
[12:36] To devour any and everyone. Who hears it. He is seeking to disrupt. And distress. And distract. Your people. We ask for protection. From him. And ongoing protection.
[12:47] For your people. That we would be equipped. Of all the armour. You have given us. To withstand. The fiery arrows. He sends. Give us wisdom. We ask. Help us.
[12:57] We pray. Ask all these things. Confessing our sin. Before you. Acknowledging that we. Ourselves. Have said. And done. And thought. Things. Which are so against. Our holy nature.
[13:08] So against. The holy nature. Of our holy God. We come just now. Confessing. No righteousness. In ourselves. But all the righteousness. Found in Jesus. In his name.
[13:20] And for his sake. We ask these many things. Amen. Let's read. In Isaiah. Chapter 9. We're carrying on. The short series.
[13:30] We started last week. Last week. We saw the people. Of Jesus. And now. In Isaiah. Chapter 9. We see. One of the prophecies. About Jesus. Isaiah 9.
[13:41] That's on page. 536. Of the church. Bibles. Page. 536. Isaiah 9.
[13:57] Let's hear. The word. Of God. But there will be. No gloom. For her. Who was in anguish. In the former time.
[14:07] He brought. Into contempt. The land of Zebulun. The land of Naphtali. But in the latter time. He has made glorious. The way of the sea. The land. Beyond the Jordan.
[14:18] The Galilee. Of the nations. The people. Who walked. In darkness. Have seen. That great light. Those who dwelt. In a land. Of deep darkness. On them. Has light shone.
[14:30] You have multiplied. The nation. You have increased. Its joy. They rejoice. Before you. As with joy. At the harvest. As they are glad. When they divide.
[14:40] The spoil. For the yoke. Of his burden. And the staff. For his shoulder. The rod. Of his oppressor. You have broken. As on the day. Of Midian. For every boot.
[14:52] Of the tramping. Warrior. In battle. Tumult. And every garment. Rolled in blood. Will be burned. As fuel. Through the fire. For to us. A child is born. To us. A son is given.
[15:03] And the government. Shall be upon his shoulder. And his name. Shall be called. Wonderful counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting father. Prince of peace.
[15:14] Of the increase. Of his government. And of peace. There will be. No end. On the throne. Of David. And over his kingdom. To establish it. And to uphold it. Of justice.
[15:25] And of righteousness. From this time. Forth. And forevermore. That the zeal. Of the Lord. Of hosts. Will do this. The Lord. Has sent a word. Against Jacob.
[15:36] And it will fall. On Israel. And all the people. Will know. Ephraim. And inhabitants. Of Samaria. Who say. In pride. And an arrogance. Of heart. The bricks.
[15:46] Have fallen. But we will build. With dressed stones. The sycamores. Have been cut down. But we will put cedars. In their place. But the Lord. Raises the adversaries.
[15:57] Of resin. Against him. And stirs up. His enemies. The Syrians. On the east. And the Philistines. On the west. Devour Israel. With open mouth. For all this.
[16:08] His anger. Has not turned away. And his hand. Is stretched. Out still. The people. Do not turn. To him. Who struck them. They inquire. Of the Lord.
[16:18] Of hosts. So the Lord. Cut off. From Israel. Head. And tail. Palm branch. And reed. In one day. The elder. And honoured man. Is the head.
[16:29] And the prophet. Who teaches. Lies. Is the tail. Those who guide. This people. Have been leading. Them astray. And those who are guided. By them. Are swallowed up.
[16:40] Therefore. The Lord. Does not rejoice. Over their young men. And has no compassion. On their fatherless. And widows. For everyone. Is godless. And an evildoer. And every mouth.
[16:51] Speaks folly. For all his anger. Has not turned away. And his hand. Is stretched out still. For wickedness. Burns like a fire. It consumes.
[17:02] Briars. And thorns. It kindles. The thickets. Of the forest. And they roll upward. In a column of smoke. Through the wrath. Over wrath. Of the Lord. Of hosts.
[17:12] The land is scorched. And the people. Like fuel. For the fire. No one spares another. They slice meat. On the right. But are still hungry. They devour on the left. But are not satisfied.
[17:23] Each devours. The flesh. With his own arm. Manasseh. Devours Ephraim. And Ephraim. Devours Manasseh. Together. They're against Judah. For all this. His anger.
[17:34] Has not turned away. And his hand. Is stretched out. Still. Amen. And give praise to God. For his holy. And his. Perfect. Word. We can again sing.
[17:44] From Psalm 45. This time. In the sing psalms. Sing psalms. In Psalm 45. The first version.
[17:59] Sing psalms. Psalm 45. That's on page 57. Psalm 45. In sing psalms.
[18:10] Page 57. We can sing. Verses 5. Down to verse 9. Singing first of all. Of the king. Of our saviour. And then at the end. Of course. Talking about the church.
[18:22] Psalm 45. Verse 5. Let your sharp arrows. Pierce the hearts. Of those who hate the king. And all the nations of the earth. Into subjection bring. Your royal throne.
[18:33] O God. Will last throughout eternity. Your kingdom's sceptre. Will be one. Of truth. And equity. Psalm 45. Verses 5 to 9. God's praise. Let your sharp arrows.
[18:51] To your sharp arrows. Of those who hate the king. And all the nations of the earth.
[19:09] And all the nations of the holy. And all the nations of the Hawaiian throne.
[19:23] ��sta Hogies. Oh Oh Oh
[20:47] Code The royal bride in thine is gold, a pure champion right hand.
[21:12] It's a short time to run back to the chapter we read, Isaiah chapter 9. Isaiah 9, taking of course that well-known verse, especially of course at this time of year, verse 6.
[21:30] This most famous verse of prophecy, Isaiah 9 verse 6. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. Last week we started this very short series and we saw the people of Jesus.
[21:46] We saw the genealogy of Jesus. We covered four, looking at the four of the women mentioned in that chapter. And we saw that showed us in brief that the people of Jesus were made up of every size and shape, every type of person.
[22:06] Every personality you can imagine. Again, there's good and there's bad and there's pretty awful and there's really awful on that list of names in Jesus' genealogy.
[22:18] To remind us that he was fully human. But also to remind us that as fully God, he has come to save all types of people. Those who think they're good and those who know they're not.
[22:30] And those who look like they're beyond saving. Here this week we go right back. And we're now going back to the day of Isaiah. And we're seeing today just one of the prophecies that would speak about the coming Saviour.
[22:47] Now when we say the prophecies about the coming Messiah, there are at least, and this is a low estimate, there are at least 350 clear prophecies.
[23:04] Clearly fulfilled prophecies. 351. 10 could be a chance maybe. 30, 50 you could say is pure chance.
[23:14] Even that's a push. But 351. Now that's just the clear prophecies. We're not including any or many of the Messianic Psalms there.
[23:26] Psalm 45 clearly speaks about Jesus. We're not touching that. But of the prophecies, there's 350 clear prophecies about Jesus, about the coming Messiah in the Old Testament.
[23:39] What he would be like. What he would do. But of course more clearly than that, what his name would be. Where he would be born. The exact nature of his travel around his area at the time and everything.
[23:53] It's all there. There's a whole year long or 10 year long series in these prophecies alone. But today just one of these prophecies. One of the most simple but glorious, beautiful prophecies we have of what the coming Messiah is going to be like.
[24:13] As we have in verse 6 here. In verse 6 we can break it into two simple sections. As we see that the person of the Messiah. What he would be like.
[24:25] And then the role of the Messiah. What he would do. So what was he like? Or what would he be? Or who would he be? And then who or what would he do?
[24:40] First of all, his person. Just taking it section by section. Again, in this one verse we have a full breakdown of the full theology of who our Saviour is.
[24:53] We could spend weeks on this verse. Indeed, some have. Some have made a whole very long series out of this verse. But just a brief overview for ourselves today.
[25:04] Section by section. First of all, the person of the Messiah. For to us a child is born. For us. Or who are the us there?
[25:17] Isaiah, of course, is speaking on behalf of Israel. As you read on in chapter 9, you see the evil of the day. An evil world where brother turns against brother.
[25:31] Verse 21 shows us the full nature of the sin. And Manasseh devours Ephraim. Ephraim devours Manasseh. We're together against Judah. The image here in the rest of this chapter.
[25:47] It's one of rebellion. It's one of oppression. It's one of great sin and great backsliding. And chapter 9 reminds us and it shows us the awful world we live in today.
[25:57] Nothing's changed, has it? From Isaiah's day to our day. Five minutes online. Five minutes in the news. Five minutes open any newspaper of the last week. Bloodshed.
[26:10] Pain. Lying. Cheating. Sin. Misery. Agony. Just the worst of the worst. And it's going on all the time.
[26:22] Privately our own lives. Our own sin. Those we've sinned against. Those who have sinned against us. Our own family hurts. Community hurts.
[26:33] Our wider country. The poverty and the pain. And so on and so on and so on. Nothing's changed. And into the disaster of this day.
[26:44] Into the pain and misery of this time. Isaiah is told. To speak. Of one. Who be born.
[26:56] For to us a child is born. For us. Eternally planned. It's not as if.
[27:07] The Messiah just appeared one day. Not just. It so happened. Jesus was born. At that time for him. No. He was born at the precise time.
[27:20] In a precise way. As all the other prophecies predicted. Bethlehem. And to a virgin. And all the levels of prophecy. About this man. This small child born.
[27:34] For us. For us. Eternally planned. Eternally planned. That. That deity. That God. Would.
[27:44] Take on. Human flesh. And be born. As a child. In the manger. Why? For us. For us. You'll see folks.
[27:56] Perhaps. Sometimes. Discussing. Could God. Not have saved. People. In a different way. Surely. God is God. Surely. It didn't require.
[28:07] His son. To come. And be born. Surely. It didn't require. The full incarnation. Surely. It didn't. It didn't require. All the levels. That Jesus went through. Of suffering.
[28:18] And misery. Could God. Not just say. Be forgiven. And everything's done. If you want. A deeper delve. Into that. John Murray. His.
[28:30] Glorious. Book. I suppose. Books. His writings. He deals with that. We can chat with that. If you want. Privately. But. The answer is. No.
[28:43] This is the way. It had to be done. God. God. God. Had. To. Take on.
[28:53] Human flesh. The son. The eternal son. The eternal second person. Of the Godhead. Had to be born. Had to enter into this world. Had to become.
[29:05] Like us. In all ways. In order that he would live a perfect life. In order that the sinless one. Would be known. And be seen. And take on the full sin. Of all his sinful people.
[29:16] It had to be that way. There is no other way of doing it. That is a way. That God is most glorified. That is a way. That his people.
[29:27] Will be saved. And it means. That in salvation. There is a personal reality. He was sent. To. Us. He came down.
[29:38] For. Us. The beauty of it. Mixed with the horror of it. The horror of the physical suffering. Of our saviour.
[29:49] And the mental anguish. And the spiritual. Reality of the suffering. Of which we have no understanding. Whatsoever. It had to happen that way.
[30:00] And it means. We have a saviour. We can relate to. One who is like us. In all ways. Apart from sin. The full range. Of human experience.
[30:11] We will see that. In a second. In order to give us. Free and. Undeserved grace. Towards his people.
[30:22] For to us. We have a personal saviour. For to us. A child is born. A child had to be born.
[30:33] For us. Again. In his full humanity. Jesus was born. He learned. And he grew. Physically. Mentally.
[30:44] As we covered. In the Bible study. I was brought up. As a. A great segue. A great. Discussion. Side discussion. In the Bible study. I'm pleased to come along. We'll have it once a month.
[30:55] There's. Plenty of seats left. In the manse. For more folks. To come along. We can try to do that. Just. Just phone. Or grab me. And we can order more books. But. In the Bible study. We talked.
[31:05] About the fact. That. We see in scripture. That Jesus grew. He grew. In stature. Before God. And man. That we covered up before. He grew. In understanding. He grew. In wisdom. As scripture tells us.
[31:17] Why? Because he's human. He was fully human. He was born. As a normal baby. There's a discussion. It sounds silly.
[31:28] But it's actually. Really important. The question. Sometimes. Asked. Or discussed. With Jesus. As he was learning. His trade. From Joseph. Did he make mistakes. Whilst building.
[31:39] Or doing his carpentry work. Well he was human. He had to learn. He was a normal man. In all ways. Apart from sin.
[31:51] He had the full. As it were. Emotional range. Of humanity. He felt. As we feel. He saw things. At times. As we see them. He felt. All the pains.
[32:01] At times. Sometimes. Of course. The happiness. And the joy. That we feel. But he also had the full. Experiential range. He was born as man. He lived with his parents.
[32:13] He grew up. He. He. He. He moved. He walked. He talked. He ate. He drank. He had the full. Human experience. A child.
[32:24] Was born. A real. Child. Like. In us. Like us. In every way. Of course. Apart from. Sin. But it's a child.
[32:39] Who is. Yes. Fully human. But of course. Also. He is fully God. And Janangus. Professor Janangus. Would often. Just blow our minds.
[32:51] In the Greek. Classes. We had with him. He would remind us. That as Jesus was there. In the manger. Fully human. There.
[33:02] Crying. And wanting. His mother. And wanting. Affection. And wanting. Protecting. By his parents. As every child does. He's there as a small baby. Born in a manky's table.
[33:14] Born in an animal area. Of the house. At least. Born in a place. That's grim. And dirty. And stings of animals. You can imagine yourself. Born to that. As we heard last week.
[33:25] A poor young girl. And her husband. Who's had a hard time of it. Baby Jesus. Fully human.
[33:36] Yes. But also fully God. Still. Still. Sustaining. The whole of creation. Through his eternal power. That is the mystery. That is the beauty.
[33:47] That is the glory. Of our saviour. He's a child. Yes. But still in full control. Of all reality. Yes. He has laid aside. As it were. The evidence.
[33:58] Of his glory. To become human. He laid aside. The full splendour. Of his glory. But he didn't lose. Any of the glory.
[34:10] He didn't lose. Any of the power. He's laid aside. For him to be like us. And always. Always. Dear friends.
[34:24] We see our saviour. Clothed in. Eternal glory. The second person of the Godhead. And all that meant. With full power.
[34:38] And he is born. Helpless. Born normal. He's born. He's there crying. He's a child born.
[34:48] Needing feeding. Needing changing. Needing cleaning. Growing. Learning. A child is born. A saviour who is fully human.
[35:02] For to us a child is born. To us a son is given. To us a son is given. And here we see the change take place in the wording of these verses.
[35:16] Of this verse. Yes he's a child born. But he's also a son given. Now in one sense you can take that. Of course it's good enough language.
[35:28] A child was given to us. A son was given to us. But we see there's more going on here isn't there. There's a strange phrase to use. If it's just repeating the same thing again.
[35:39] No. This is progressing what's being said. A child is born yes. But a son has been given. Here we see the deity of our saviour.
[35:54] Romans 8. Verse 32. To I believe. For he did not spare his own son. He who did not spare his own son. But what? But gave him for us.
[36:10] Here we see the saviour come to his people. Born to his people. Here we see the one who is obedient to the father.
[36:23] Who in the courts of eternity. And we use language here. We can't begin to understand. But to put a human understanding to it as best we can. In the courts of eternity.
[36:35] Father, son and spirit. We see the plan of salvation. The father would send his son. Eternally begotten son.
[36:48] Who would be sent down into creation. And the son out of his obedience to his beloved father. Out of love for his people. He came down. That's the glory of our saviour.
[37:01] One who is perfectly obedient. Who perfectly fulfills all the requirements of a holy righteous son. And one who loved his people enough.
[37:13] That he came to live. And to die. To rise again. And be raised again. For us. To eternally be man and God.
[37:26] Bearing as it were. The marks in his body of his love for us. That is our saviour. Again, just imagine. As best we can. And we can't. But an eternity.
[37:38] Before creation. Before creation. Before anything. There is no creation. There is nothing. There is God. One God and three persons.
[37:53] And we have Father and Son and Spirit. And we have our God. Perfect unity. Perfect fellowship. Perfect togetherness. And our words begin to fall a bit short here.
[38:05] Which we can't describe it. But a perfect eternal reality. Of perfect unity. And from that.
[38:17] From that perfection. The son. Steps down. And enters a world of dirt. Of dust.
[38:27] Of sin. Of pain. We can't imagine it. It's a well used. And often used illustration. But it works. We imagine.
[38:38] A prince. A king. Putting on clothes. Normal clothes. Throwing a hoodie on. And walking around our streets. It would be a shock to their system.
[38:49] I'm sure. Some parts of our country. If they became one of us. And lived for a month. As one of their subjects. Just think. Just think.
[39:00] The incomparable difference. Of our eternal saviour. Eternal glory. Stepping down. Into his own creation. Becoming part of it.
[39:11] Taking on. The full humanity. He took on. Being bound. As it were. Down to a body. And living life. As we live our lives.
[39:23] Yes. A son is born. But a son. Is also. Given. To a given son.
[39:33] He was given to Mary. Of course. The given son. He was given. To the people of Israel. The given son. Was given.
[39:45] Wider than that. Given to the Gentiles. Those who had come to believe. One day. And we are here. This day. As evidence of that. He is the son.
[39:56] Who was given. To us. Dear friend. Given for you. If you would come. And believe in him today. All the glory.
[40:09] And all the beauty. All the horror of it. Of the Christmas story. The beauty of it. Is so clear. But there is real horror too. Isn't there? When you think. Of the reality.
[40:19] Of God. Being born. And seeing. The world. And seeing. And feeling. And having to exist. In the sin. Of this broken world.
[40:31] Dear friend. That son. Was given. For me. And for you. Today. That is. The person. And briefly.
[40:43] We see. The role. Of the son. For as a child. Is born. To us. A son. Is given. What are the titles. Of this child. Of this son.
[40:53] What is his role. The government. Shall be upon. His shoulder. Or literally. Shoulders. It's the same.
[41:04] Same word there. What's the image there. Well this son. This child. He is born. To. Rule. He will be a ruler.
[41:14] And in fact. He will be. The ruler. Verse 7. Gives us that. Of the increase. Of his government. And of peace. It will be no end. It will be established.
[41:25] When. From this time. Forth. And forevermore. There is no end. To the rule. Of the son. No end. To the rule. Of this child. That tells us. This is not a prophecy.
[41:36] About any human king. And some will say that. That this verse. Is talking about. Hezekiah. Is talking about. Other human kings. There is a whole discussion. Around that. It can't be.
[41:47] There is no human king. Who reigned. Who reigned. And who ruled forever. It didn't happen. They all died. They all passed away. They all fell into sin. Most of them. Of this king. Of this ruler.
[41:58] There is no end. To his rule. Friends. Brothers and sisters. We worship a saviour. And we pray. You come to worship a saviour. Of whose kingdom. There is.
[42:09] No end. All things made through him. All things made for him. Again. That glorious. Beautiful verse. Colossians. He is before all things.
[42:21] And in him. All things. Hold together. He is before all things. He is eternal. And in him. All things.
[42:32] Hold together. He is in full. Sovereign control. Over all his creation. Not one person here today. Not one person in North Tolstice.
[42:42] Not one home. Not one single. As it were. Blade of grass. Is outside of his. Full control and power. He is. The ruler. Of all.
[42:53] Full government. Rests on his. Shoulders. He is. As it were. Full deity. With that. It means he is fully. In. Control.
[43:04] All rule. All authority. Belonged to him. How else. Is he. Then described. We then see the names. The titles.
[43:15] Given to him. He will be called. Wonderful. Counselor. Wonderful. Counselor. Of course. The kings of the day. This is a title.
[43:26] We know. Was given to the. The human kings of the day. The kings of the day. Were. Supposed to be. Counselors. In terms of that. They were supposed to be wise.
[43:38] To be able to judge well. To offer wise counsel. Of course. The kings had their own. Counselors. But the king himself. Was all supposed to be able to. To offer counsel. To offer wisdom.
[43:49] To offer. Clear. Thought. On issues. There is no. Truly wise. King. Apart from. This king here.
[44:01] This king here. Gives. Through wisdom. Every word. He says. Is true. Every word. He says. Is final. He is. The wonderful.
[44:12] Counselor. We come. To a messiah. We come. To a promised. Savior. Who is. The very embodiment. Of wisdom. He knows.
[44:22] All things. Why? Because he made. All things. There is nothing. Unknown to him. Now to his people. That's a great comfort. We come. To a. A saviour.
[44:32] Who is our. Counselor. Who knows us. We can come. And cry out to him. And ask him our questions. And share with him. Our burdens. Knowing he sees it. And he knows it.
[44:44] Friends. If you don't know Jesus. It's not. A pleasant thought. Is it? That you come. Before a saviour. A king. Who knows you. Who sees you.
[44:55] Who understands you. Better. Than you understand yourself. And you can hide things. From yourself. And hide things. From the world. You can pretend. You are righteous. All you want.
[45:05] But he sees it. And he knows. The reality. Of the situation. He is. The wonderful counselor. He knows it all. How else. Is he described.
[45:16] Whatever title does he have. Well he's called. Of course. Mighty God. Here's a clear sign. That this is no human king. Being. Prophesied here.
[45:27] There's no king. Who's going to be called. God. It's a. That's heresy. You wouldn't say that. They wouldn't write that. You would never teach. Or preach that. There's only one.
[45:37] Who would be called. Mighty God. It's this Messiah. We're covering. Of course. In the evenings. Some of the names of God. We aren't covering. This name. The name here. Is El.
[45:47] El. Gabor. El. Being God. And Gabor. Being mighty. Strong. Eternal. And strength. This son. Born to us. Is the one. Who is eternal.
[45:59] In his strength. He's not just. Close to his people. He is eternally. Powerful. To look after. And keep. And love. And protect.
[46:09] His people. He is. Mighty. God. Yes. A baby in a manger. Is small. And helpless. But as he lies there. He lies there. As El.
[46:20] Gabor. As mighty. God. That's the glory. Of the incarnation. That's the beauty. Of it. Counselor. Wise.
[46:30] Counselor. Mighty. God. Everlasting. Father. Now. This is a title. Of our Lord. Which has caused.
[46:41] At times. Some confusion. Understandably. For some. Who read this. Well. Is this not blurring the lines. Of the Trinity. A wee bit. You're saying. It's a son. But he's been called.
[46:52] Here. Everlasting. Father. Well. Again. The confusion. Makes sense. But. It's when you see. The. The context. His name.
[47:03] Shall be called. Then there's a list. These are the titles. Ascribed. To him. And for us. It helps us.
[47:14] To describe. To us. What our saviour. Is like. And it helps. To know. That this. Is a title. Given. Of course. To the kings. Of the day. It's not a strange.
[47:24] Unusual thing. Here. They were called. Counselors. They weren't called. God. In Israel. But they were. They were called. The father. The great father. The everlasting father.
[47:36] The powerful father. The kings. Of course. Weren't fathers. To all our subjects. But. It was understood. To be a title. They acted. As father. To their people.
[47:47] It makes sense. That way. Doesn't it? They were there. To look after the people. To provide the people. To protect the people. They were to be there. As fathers.
[47:59] Over them. In his role. As our king. Our saviour. He is. The everlasting father. He cares.
[48:10] For his people. For an everlasting love. He protects. His people. At times. He disciplines. His people. In love. Carefully. He provides.
[48:21] For his people. Eternally. He is. The perfect. Example. Of what a father. Should be. Towards his children. As king. He is.
[48:31] A perfect. Example. Of a fatherly. King. Who loves. And protects. Provides for. And cares. For. His people. And finally.
[48:44] With this. We can. Bring our time. To an end today. He is. The prince. Of peace. The coming saviour. Would be called.
[48:55] And be known. And be seen. As being. The prince. Of peace. As we said. In chapter 9. There is no peace. In the rest of this chapter. Is there?
[49:06] It is just darkness. And warfare. And anger. And just horror. Fire burning. And evil. To each other. And so on.
[49:17] And so on. It gets worse. And worse. As the chapter. Goes on. There is no peace. In this world. But. Closer to home. There is no peace. In ourselves. Is there?
[49:27] And I say this. And it is not a theory. This is. What. Everyone here knows. And. I can say with confidence. It is what everyone here knows. Because.
[49:38] Everyone here. Who is a Christian today. They will all say the same thing. We all have different stories. How we came to faith. Every one of us. Came to the Lord. Of the Lord. As I say. Precisely.
[49:48] Came to us. And saved us. In different ways. We have different stories to tell. Not one of our stories. Are the same. But every one of us. In one way or another.
[50:00] There was one day. We had no peace in this world. And then. With him. Now. We have. Peace. The simple story. Of every Christian.
[50:11] No peace. No hope. To peace. And sure. Hope. With this Messiah. With this child. Born.
[50:22] To human parents. With this child. Who is both God. And man. In his. Complete fullness. He is also. The prince of peace. And he brings peace.
[50:34] And we all know. The. Christmas story. We know. The proclamation. Of the angels. To the shepherds. But he brings peace. He brings peace.
[50:46] To his people. There is only peace. Of course. To be found. In Jesus. You won't find it. Ever else. In this world. You won't find it. As you know yourselves.
[50:57] By looking. To yourselves. As you look to yourselves. For peace. You find. No peace. No lasting peace. Anyway. To the world. There is certainly no peace.
[51:08] Only by coming to Jesus. Who is Messiah. Who is the wonderful. Counselor. Who is mighty God. Who acts as everlasting father. Who is truly. The prince of peace.
[51:19] We find peace. Not just. In our lives. Day to day. But we find peace. More importantly. And more really. For our soul. Until you come to Jesus.
[51:35] You don't find. Ever do you. You don't ever find. True peace. For your soul. And you can't. Because. You know. That until you come.
[51:46] To Jesus. You know. That. That there is. No way. To help yourself. You know. That there is no way. To save yourself. Until you come.
[51:57] To the prince of peace. Who have seen. In this glorious verse. Who was born. And given. To you. My dear friends. Until you come. To know him. For yourself. You will find no peace.
[52:08] In this world. When you do come. To find him. And come. To know him. And come. To serve him. And come. To love him. You will come. To know peace. No.
[52:20] A simple peace. Not a passing peace. But instead. A peace. That of course. Passes all. Understanding. A peace. Of your soul. A peace. Of your mind. A peace.
[52:31] Of your eternity. Knowing. That you are safe. For all time. Love. For all time. Kept. For all time. By the one. Who promises to be. Mighty God.
[52:42] Who promises to be. Your counselor. Who promises to treat you. And love you. Like the perfect father. Until the end comes. And he takes you home. To be with himself. That is.
[52:53] Just a glimpse. As to the beauty. Of that child. Born into a manger. Into a feeding trough. A few thousand miles away. A few thousand years ago. That is the one.
[53:04] Who was born. To save. His people. So. It's about our heads now. A word of prayer. Lord we thank you. For the gift. Of your word. Once more. And even as we see.
[53:15] That throughout. The whole testament. You have. Clearly shown. And you indeed. Have over many. Centuries. Clearly showed. To your people. That a saviour. Was coming.
[53:26] A king. Was coming. A messiah. Was coming. Who would rescue. His people. Who would look after. His people. Who would bring. His people home. We thank you.
[53:36] That we now live. In a time. Where he has come. And as our people. Our brothers and sisters. Of old. As they look forward to him. We look back to him. And we know.
[53:47] That together. We look forward. To our future. When he comes back. To take us home. With himself. Until that day comes. We ask. We would all be found. Knowing him. And trusting in him.
[53:58] And loving him. And we pray once more. For our friends. Here today. Our truly loved friends. Who have come to this place. For many years. Who have sat under the word. For many years.
[54:09] But even. At this time of year. Perhaps. As we are reminded once more. As to the. Simple gospel. Of our incredible. Eternal saviour. To all who come to him.
[54:20] Asking for salvation. He will. In no wise. And in no way. Turn away. Nor cast away. Or we ask.
[54:30] The story. Of some. Even here today. Who have come to know. Jesus the first time. And to know. The Messiah. Sent for them. To be their king.
[54:42] Their counsellor. For everlasting father. To bring peace. Into their lives. And ask these things. Relying on his strength. And his power. Alone.
[54:53] Amen. Let's. Sing. To God's praise. To bring our time. To a conclusion. From. Sing. Psalms. Sing.
[55:05] Psalms. In Psalm 110. Sing. Psalms. Psalm 110. We've covered a psalm. At length.
[55:15] Before. Sing. Psalms. Psalm 110. Of course. It's a messianic psalm. That's on page. 149. That sings.
[55:26] And tells us. About Jesus. The Lord. Said to my Lord. Sit here. At my right hand. Until I make your foes. A stool. On which your feet. May stand.
[55:36] The Lord. Will make your reign. Extend from Zion's hill. With royal power. You'll rule among. Those who oppose. Your will. Psalm 110. To God's praise. The Lord.
[55:56] God's praise. Jesus. Se-said of my cup. Ashleigh XX ethnicity May your name extend from Zion's earth.
[56:36] With glory upon your Lord, your Lord, your Lord, your Lord, your Lord, your Lord, your Lord, when you give strength, your power, your people love to you.
[57:10] Adon my heaven holiness, your youth will come like dew, a change of being the heart.
[57:37] With stone and purple's blue, just like Matthew's day, pure hour, the peace for evermore.
[58:02] The Lord's name, the Lord's name, will never sing.
[58:20] He on his day, all crowns will guide, the King's good life.
[58:40] The King's good life will be, the King's good life will be, palabras of the King's good life. It has been great be, the King's good life will be, the King's good life will be.
[58:54] It has been great to watch. It has been great to watch. It has been great to ride on a hill To the north and the good life will be, God in this world divine, a pure beside the way, his heart will stop his time.
[59:30] And as we first, he will with joy lift up his head on high.
[59:50] In the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, both you now and forevermore. Amen.