Prince of Peace - Part 1
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Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
A man was shown a red glass bottle and asked what he thought was in the bottle.
He replied in succession, “Wine? Brandy? Whiskey?”
When told it was full of milk, he could not believe it until he saw the milk poured out.
What he hadn’t known, of course, was that the bottle was made of red glass, and its redness hid the color of the milk it contained.
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So it was and is with the Lord’s humanity.
Men saw him tired, hungry, suffering, weeping, and thought He was only man.
He was made in the likeness of men, yet He ever is God over all, blessed forever.
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So, please turn your Bibles to Isaiah.
We will be conducting our study in Chapter 9 and focusing on verses 6 and 7.
Our message this morning is called, “Prince of Peace - Part 1”
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As you are finding your place in God’s Word, I want to share that we will be focusing on on the person of Jesus Christ...
He was prophesied...
The one and only promised Messiah...
He is the God-Man...
Fully God and Fully human...
Our Lord and Savior...
Who voluntarily came down to our world...
To save His people who couldn’t save themselves...
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He is the the Prince of Peace!
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Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
6 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.
7 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 with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Son Sent Down
1) The Son Sent Down
Verse 6 (a): For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
This Child that is being talked about in this verse...
This Son who will be given to us...
Is none other that Jesus Christ who is the Son of God.
This is the Messiah who was sent down from Heaven in order to take the punishment meant for His people.
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We know this because of the unique description that will follow in the second half of the verse and the following verse...
All of which we will cover today.
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However, before we look to those sections of our passage...
We should look to the other passages in Scripture that talk about the birth of our Lord and Savior.
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So look with me at Micah 5:2 which says:
2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
No one else fits this inscription other than Jesus.
For Jesus was born in Bethlehem...
Jesus’s announcement of His coming was prophesied right after the Fall of Man as it says in Genesis 3:15:
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
And on top of that Jesus is from an eternity past just like the Ancient of Day because Jesus is God and has no beginning.
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Additionally, Isaiah 7:14 reveals that Jesus will be of virgin birth when it says:
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
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Jesus is the King of Kings who is in the line of David....
In fact, the reference to the “government” in our passage is about how the Son will rule the nations of the world.
This is seen in Revelation 19:15 which says:
15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
All these passages and many more contained in Scripture...
All throughout the Old and New Testament...
They all point to one person...
And no one in all of history can be described in this manner except Jesus Christ.
But that is not all.
Our passage we are studying further shows that this text is about Jesus when it presents His four unique titles.
And this takes us to our next point.
2) The Son Will Be Called
2) The Son Will Be Called
Verse 6 (b): And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
In his commentary on Isaiah as part of the New American Commentary set, Gary V. Smith provides detailed definitions of the four titles given to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
So let’s look at some of those definitions (specifically on the first two titles) to get a better understanding of this text.
Smith says:
“‘Wonderful Counselor’ combines the idea of doing something ‘wonderful, extraordinary, miraculous’ (peleʾ in Ancient Greek) with the skill of ‘giving wise advice, making plans, counsel.’
This suggests that this son’s life will somehow exhibit ‘miraculous acts of God’ employed in the sphere of wise planning or decision-making.
Since God is the source of all miraculous events and his plans are the wisest counsel to follow, God will work in and through this son to demonstrate his extraordinary wisdom to plan wonderful miraculous things.
These unspecified wonderful plans will be the subject of later revelation.”
So, the term “Wonderful Counselor" is in reference to how Jesus will implement divine wisdom in preforming His earthly ministry.
Keep in mind the role of a counselor...
They are to provide wisdom.
So, Jesus the coming King mentioned in our passage will possess divine wisdom beyond anything this earth has to offer.
This was perfectly illustrated when we read the record of Jesus’ ministry in the four Gospels.
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Regarding the next title Smith says:
“The second dual name ‘Mighty God’ (ʾēl gibbôr in Ancient Greek) includes a divine name similar to the name Ezekiel (God will be my strength).
If one supplies a verb, the name might mean, ‘God is mighty’ or ‘God is a mighty warrior.’
By itself, this name does not automatically mean that this son is a divine person, because many names include the name of God in them.
But the later use of this same name to describe God himself in Isaiah 10:21 demands that this son be identified with God in a very close manner.
No other person ever has God’s name...
And God is never called Moses, Abram, David, or Jeremiah, so there must be something very special about this son that causes him to have God’s name.”
So, this term “Mighty God” is a reference to Jesus as a warrior and the one and only God who protects His people.
Look with me at Deuteronomy 10:17:
17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.
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The third title for our Lord is the term “Eternal Father” which is not about the Trinitarian title “Father” that we use for our Heavenly Father...
We don’t want to make that mistake...
This instead is a title for the Messiah who is the Son of God.
Calling Him “Father” is meant to portray Him as a king.
It is about how the Messiah will be a Father to His people eternally.
The Reformation Study Bible has this to say about this phrase:
“The coming King possesses divine eternity: He is from ancient times, and He will not need a successor to follow in His footsteps.
Ancient kings often referred to themselves as the fathers of their subjects.
This name reveals the divine, eternal care that the coming King will have for His people.”
We see this in how the Lord disciplines us.
Look to Psalm 103:13:
13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
And look at Proverbs 3:12 that says:
12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
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Finally, the term “Prince of Peace” is about how the government or kingdom of Jesus will make peace among the nations of the world in the future.
His government brings divine peace to the whole earth and this is talking about after He comes back and restores everything.
Isaiah focuses on this reality in Isaiah 11:1–9 when he says:
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
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Now that we have defined the four titles given to our Lord...
Let’s look at out third and final point.
3) The Son’s Kingdom
3) The Son’s Kingdom
Verse 7: 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 with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
The term “throne of David” is about how Jesus will be the rightful heir to David’s throne...
But not just that...
Jesus will inherit all the promises of the Davidic Covenant.
Luke 1:32–33 says this about the Son of God:
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Jesus is not just the rightful heir to the throne of David...
He is also the final King...
The Kin of Kings...
And His kingdom will never collapse like the kingdoms of men...
His Kingdom is greater then Babylon...
His Kingdom is greater then the Greek Empire...
His Kingdom is greater then the Roman Empire...
His Kingdom is greater then any current or future empire...
For His kingdom will never end.
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There is no one else like our Lord, Church!
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What makes Jesus’ Kingdom so great is that it is a Kingdom of peace...
For He is the Prince of Peace.
Babylon....
Greece...
Rome...
Fill in the blank...
Every nation establishes itself with brute force and violence...
But Jesus...
Our Prince of Peace...
His kingdom is defined by the sacrifice of His life for His enemies at Calvary...
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The Expository Bible Commentary on Isaiah says this helpful note:
“Since the beginning of chapter 7, the prophet has been making the most amazing disclosures in the name of the Lord; and these have come to a great climax in these two verses.
The reader is likely to echo the wondering awe of the mother of this child and cry out, ‘how will this be?’.
The prophet anticipated such a question in the closing sentence of this oracle.
In fact, both the advent of the Messiah and the blessing of his people, the remnant of Israel, are guaranteed by the zeal of the Lord.”
So, the phrase “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this” means that God 100% guarantees that He Himself will fulfill this promise.
It will not depend on any human power or decisions.
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
As this message comes to a close, I want to share this:
The story is told of Shah Abbis, a Persian monarch who loved his people very much.
To know and understand them better, he would mingle with his subjects in various disguises.
One day he went as a poor man to the public baths and in a tiny cellar sat beside the fireman who tended the furnace.
When it was mealtime the monarch shared his coarse food and talked to his lonely subject as a friend.
Again and again he visited and the man grew to love him.
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One day the Shah told him he was the monarch, expecting the man to ask some gift from him.
But the fireman sat gazing at his ruler with love and wonder and at last spoke,
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“You left your palace and your glory to sit with me in this dark place,...
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To eat of my coarse food,...
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To care whether my heart is glad or sorry.
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On others you may bestow rich presents,...
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But to me you have given yourself,...
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And it only remains for me to pray that you never withdraw the gift of your friendship.”
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This beautiful story reminds us that Christ, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas, left the glories of heaven in order to share Himself with us.
That gift of His love and friendship will never be withdrawn from us.
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He chose to be our friend...
And our Lord...
And our Savior forever.
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So, as we are left in awe of the amazing person of Jesus Christ...
We must not forget...
He is the Prince of Peace...
And He is more than able to restore peace between you and the Heavenly Father...
You see...
When God created the world...
He made it perfect...
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He created us in His image...
He gave us life...
Gave us purpose...
We had it all...
And we thanked God for His goodness by disobeying Him...
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Adam and Eve...
The first man and woman...
Our ancestors...
Ignored the commands of our God because we wanted to be “gods” of our own...
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God warned us...
To disobey Him is to sin...
And to sin is to commit high treason against the one and only Holy God...
That sin comes with a price...
Death...
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God in His infinite mercy did not kill hem on the spot...
That what they deserved...
None of us would exist...
But He is patient with us...
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Adam and Eve would eventually die but not before populating the earth.
And since that time sin entered the world...
And by the curse of sin ever person dies.
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Are we not all sinners?
Humanity had no hope to save itself...
Except that is for the promised Messiah who would defeat death and crush Satan’s head.
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This is what Christmas is all about.
The Father sending His Son to save His people...
To be saved from...
The wrath of God.
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You see Church...
God makes no exceptions...
Sin must be punished...
God’s wrath must come upon those who sin...
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So, every one of us deserves eternal Hellfire.
But Jesus...
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But Jesus made a way!
He would come into this twisted and broken world...
He would come as a vulnerable baby...
He would come as 100% God but He also came and 100% human.
He breathed the same air you and I breathe...
He hungered...
He thirst...
He wept...
He bruised...
He blooded...
Just like you and me.
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Jesus stepped in out place...
He took the punishment meant for us...
He died on that cruel cross nearly 2,000 years ago.
He did this for anyone who will repent of their wicked ways...
Believe in Him...
Trust Him...
Surrender to Him...
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For this is the only way to make peace with the Heavenly Father.
There are no other options.
As Romans 5:1 says:
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And John 20:31:
31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
We can be confident in the fact that Jesus is the only way for His story never ended at Calvary or a cold tomb.
Three days after His gave His life on the cross...
Jesus rose from the dead...
A sign that His work on the cross was accepted by the Father...
He later ascended into Heaven...
But He will return...
This time as the Judge of this world.
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So, do not delay.
If you are still at war with God stop fighting your losing battle.
Surrender to the Prince of Peace...
For only through Him is eternal life found.
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To God be all the glory.
Amen.
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Please join us for one more song from the Praise Band.