No Wonder They Call Him Wonderful

No Wonder They Call Him Wonderful

Isaiah 9:1–6 NKJV

Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian. For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

I. Historical Background - Isaiah's Day

When studying the book of Isaiah we find the children of Israel divided into two kingdoms;

We know that a kingdom divided will not stand.

So these two kingdoms eventually find themselves captured.

The kingdom of Israel gets captured by the Assyrians and the kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians.

The prophet Isaiah was called of God to prophecy to the kingdom of Judah.

He prophesied before the kingdom of Judah got captured by the Babylonians.

He warned Judah of the coming judgment (the terrible day of the Lord).

He preached to them to repent and walk away from wickedness.

(Isa 1:16 KJV) "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;"

(Isa 1:17 KJV) "Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."

(Isa 1:18 KJV) "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

(Isa 1:19 KJV) "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:"

(Isa 1:20 KJV) "But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."

He bewails their wickedness. (Murder, adultery, violence, social deterioration, rebellious rulers, drunkards, perversion, idolatry, crime in epidemic proportions)

He prophecies the calamities, oppression and punishment because of their wickedness, but they would not hear.

But in the midst of this gloomy prophecy, Isaiah prophecies about a better day.

In chapter 7 he begins to prophecy about the coming Messiah.

With glorious gladness Isaiah concludes this messianic prophecy with a comforting promise.

From the Living Bible:

(Isa 9:1 TLB) "Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair shall not go on forever. Though soon the land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be under God's contempt and judgment, yet in the future these very lands, Galilee and Northern Transjordan, where lies the road to the sea, will be filled with glory."

(Isa 9:2 TLB) "The people who walk in darkness shall see a great Light--a Light that will shine on all those who live in the land of the shadow of death."

(Isa 9:3 TLB) "For Israel will again be great, filled with joy like that of reapers when the harvest time has come, and like that of men dividing up the plunder they have won."

(Isa 9:4 TLB) "For God will break the chains that bind his people and the whip that scourges them, just as he did when he destroyed the vast host of the Midianites by Gideon's little band."

(Isa 9:5 TLB) "In that glorious day of peace there will no longer be the issuing of battle gear; no more the blood-stained uniforms of war; all such will be burned."

(Isa 9:6 TLB) "For unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given; and the government shall beupon his shoulder. These will be his royal titles: "Wonderful," "Counselor," "The Mighty God," "The Everlasting Father," "The Prince of Peace.""

His name shall be called "Wonderful" -- "Shall be" -- Future tense.

Out of all the things that this anointed prophet of God could have mentioned first (Prince of Peace, Great God, Awesome God, Holy God, Mighty God)

With passion, yet exhilarating excitement he chose the adjective that is uttered when the

soul of man is stimulated beyond description -- WONDERFUL!

Wonderful - here (in the Heb.) simply means great, marvelous, miraculous, wondrous.

Mr. Webster - That emotion which is excited by something new, strange, and extraordinary, or that arrests the attention by it's novelty, grandeur or inexplicableness.

This was a prophetic promise - it was to come to pass! One day people will call Him wonderful!

II. The Promise Fulfilled

Part of the promise of a child and son being given that was fulfilled in:

(Mat 1:21 KJV) "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."

1. It was a wonderful conception -- For Mary was conceived of the Holy Ghost.

2. It was a wonderful birth --

Luke 2:10–14 NKJV

Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

3. As a boy, Jesus was declared as Wonderful by the doctors of the law

(Luke 2:47 KJV) "And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers."

They called Him Wonderful because of His preaching and teaching.

(John 7:14 KJV) "Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught."

(John 7:15 KJV) "And the Jews marvelled..."

(John 7:46 KJV) "The officers answered, Never man spake like this man."

(Luke 4:36 KJV) "And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out."

(Luke 4:37 KJV) "And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about."

4. They referred to Him as Wonderful because of all the miracles that He performed.

(John 3:2 KJV) "The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him."

(Mat 4:23 KJV) "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people."

(Mat 4:24 KJV) "And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them."

(Mat 9:35 KJV) "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people."

The world that Jesus came to save was chaotic -- it was no Sunday School class

1. Diseases was rampant -- leprosy - handicaps

2. Taxes were a burden -- economic situation was not pleasant

3. Many were possessed with evil spirits

4. The government of that day was power hungry and corrupt

5. There were widows and fatherless children that no one could or wanted to support.

6. It was a perverse society - Adultery, fornication, homosexuality, sodomy

7. The religious system of that day was phony - full of men's traditions

It was very similar to the to our day

But Jesus came to minister to the their woes of this society. For He declared in:

Luke 4:18 NKJV

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

He is called wonderful because...

1. He healed a nobleman's son who was at the point of death - Wonderful!

2. When the bridegroom could not afford any more wine for his guests Jesus turned water to wine.

3. When the fishing industry of that day was suffering, they had toiled all night, Jesus miraculously supplies a great catch of fish -- men who worked to provide for a family

4. He healed one leper that cried for Him. He cleansed 10 hopeless lepers - one was made whole.

5. They brought to him one with palsy - Jesus commanded him to arise from his bed

6. He healed a man who had been ill for 38 long years

7. He touched a withered hand

8. When the disciples were about to go under, He stilled the tempest

9. Delivered a man from a legion of devils

10. His virtue healed a woman with an issue of blood for 12 long years

11. A father whose daughter of 12 years old had passed away.

12. He fed a hungry crowd of 5000 + with five loaves and two fishes (4000 +)

13. He delivered a Greek girl of an unclean spirit.

14. He miraculously touched a deaf and dumb man

15. He healed blind Bartimeaus -- who cried out to Him

16. He brought hope to a five-time divorcee

17. A mother who wept during the funeral procession of her son - Jesus touched the casket and the son was resurrected from the dead.

He was known as Wonderful for his greatest gift of all...His life.

1. For he suffered the death of a criminal for you and I.

A. We were the one to die, but he carried our sins to the cross

B. The prophet Isaiah put it in this fashion:

Isaiah 53:5 NKJV

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

2. He was whipped 39 times --

A. Doctors tell us there are 39 major categories of diseases from which all other diseases spring from. But he took care of every one of them.

For Isaiah also prophesied in chapter 53: "...and with his stripes we are healed."

But He is more Wonderful in that, on the third day after he died He rose again.Death could not keep him down.

But the promise of Him being Wonderful was not only for that generation.

The Word of God declares that:

Hebrews 13:8 NKJV

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

III. The Promise Is Unto You

Acts 2:39–40 NKJV

For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”

We are living in a perverse generation.

1. Where Fathers murder their own babies

2. Police are getting shot

3. Crime is at an all time high -

Crime is worse in the US than in any of the other 25 nations studied. America has the highest rate of rape, the second highest murder rate, the second highest robbery rate, the forth highest rate of motor vehicle theft.

4. Over 60 % of all marriages end up in divorce

5. About 20% of teenager girls are expected to have at least one baby by age 20.

6. About 20% of teenager girls will have at least one abortion by age 20

7. 51% of rapes victims are girls under 18 years of age.

8. T.V. has not cleaned up their act. They’ve gotten much worse!

9. Where politicians are immoral and liars.

10. One out of four American children is growing up in a single-parent household.

11. They predicting economic collapse

Today, you may find yourself entangle in the sorrow of this world.

1. You may be in a sour marriage -- divorce --

2. Your children only have one-parent

3. You may find yourself, hopeless, unloved, unwanted

4. You may be ensnared in the arena of drugs and alcohol.

5. You may have inner wounds of the past that won't quit hurting.

6. Maybe your expectations of life is just a big disillusion

7. Your aspirations have been a big let down.

Let me just testify of how wonderful he's been to some people that I know:

1. Some have been delivered from crack / cocaine

2. Alcohol

3. Jail

4. Broken homes have been put back together - kids said welcome back home dad with little arms around his neck.

5. Marriages have been on the rocks, but now romance has been restored

6. Confused teenagers have been divinely given a sound mind.

7. Children lives have been spared

8. Some have experience a healing of cancer

9. Some have been healed of asthma, Sugar diabetes, chronic high blood pressure

10. Students have made honor roll

11. I have been healed!

IV. Will You Also Call Him Wonderful?

You may want to experience the wondrous works of God. But how do I get started?

1. The way that deals with his people today is through His Spirit -- (Father - Son)

2. You need to receive the Spirit of God in your life -- it's the most wonderful feeling

in the world.

How do I receive the Spirit of God?

1. Repent of your sins --ask God to forgive of your sins

2. Worship him -- God love to be praised and worshipped

A. The more you praise and worship Him the closer he's going to get

B. God inhabits or lives in the praise of His people.

3. You will begin to feel his Spirit all over you.

4. You will notice that as you are worshipping that your tongue will try to speak strange words.

A. That is the Spirit of God trying to control your tongue.

B. Why the tongue? Because in the book of James, we are told that the tongue is the most unruly member we have in our bodies -- if the Spirit of God (For God is a Spirit) can control your most unruly member (the tongue) then you allowed Him to be enter in your heart to work on your behalf

C. It doesn't matter what it may be there is nothing to big for my God.