Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

This is the Sunday before Christmas and sweet time for us to be together for a few minutes as a church family.

As the day goes on for many people here and in other places sometimes all the stuff of Christmas interferes with worship, and especially worship on Christmas day in which we worship by celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ.

But it's not just the stuff, all of us have plenty of stuff, but what happens when we seemingly celebrate his birthday, it turns and it becomes something that is about us, and we don't give Him full recognition in worship that He deserves.

He is the only one worthy of worship.

It is a fact that Jesus came.

To appreciate it better, try to imagine for a moment what the world would be like if Jesus had not come.

Immediately certain words come into my mind, some of you might be thinking the same things as me.

So what would the world be like if Jesus had not come?

Despair, Darkness, Death, Depression, Destruction, Depravity.

You might think, yeah but we have that now and Jesus did come.

He came, but if He had not come, we would still have all those negative things but imagine the intensity of them in the vacuum of hopelessness.

That's what the world would be like.

I fully realize that there are those who deny Jesus in every way they deny Him. from whether He was virgin born, they deny His miracles, they deny His death, burial, and resurrection.

In some cases, they deny the very possibility of His existence.

But Jesus literally changes everything!

Instead of despair, there is hope, instead of darkness, there is light, instead of death, there is life.

Instead of depression, there is encouragement; instead of destruction, there is salvation; instead of depravity, there is purity.

Jesus came into this world.

Transition:

Many references of scripture would lead us into appropriate worship on this Sunday of celebration--and I hope in the next couple of days that there will be occasions where you read the Christmas story.

But this morning we're going to look at one popular passage.

It is a passage printed on some Christmas cards.

But it tells of the future of Jesus Christ as a result of His birth 2000 years ago this prophecy was made.

Every detail of the birth of Jesus, the Christ was intentional.

Nothing was left to chance-- the place of his birth, the manner of his birth, his mother, the date, the moment, the circumstances, the ruler of the kingdoms--those on the throne--nothing was outside the eternal plan and the Providence of YHWH.

And that encourages me and should all of us--it gives us great assurance that everything that took place was prophetically stated and fulfilled in the birth of Christ--nothing was accidental.

That then reassures us when we look at our lives and we look around us-- you can have complete and total confidence in all that God is doing.

So please look with me at Isaiah 9:6 at this very familiar verse.

On Christmas day we celebrate the only baby born of a virgin.

He is the one.

Born of a woman who is The Only God/Man.

He is the one who saves us from our sins.

He is the only one who can save us from our sins.

As we think about this celebration of the birthday, perhaps this would be a good time to ponder today what He left.

He left heavens glories and took on humanity so that He could save all who believe.

We do not have the capacity to understand all of the divine plans of YHWH, yet Isaiah 9:6 gives us some insights that we need so that we can give Him full worship today, and on Christmas day, which He deserves every day.

Scripture Reading:

Isa 9 6

As I read this passage, it is hard to miss the four compound names.

Those names identify the future of Jesus Christ and they give us insights about his nature and character and they impact us.

But we must pause to meditate upon them.

You notice first that Isaiah said, “a child is born for us; a son has been given... and His name is called...” In Hebrew, to be called literally means “to be.”

In other words, this Isaiah is telling us about the character, the attributes, and the works of Jesus, the Christ.

He is telling us who Jesus is!

When you read the book of Isaiah here in chapter 9, Isaiah is prophesying of One that is to come, and this is the end of a passage, and Isaiah has darkness and doom for Israel except for one thing: a Redeemer—our Redeemer!

That's what the world is looking for, a redeemer, they want a way out of darkness and doom.

And there is only one Redeemer for the world!

The only One worthy of worship.

These 4 compound names are literally from the standpoint of throne names.

They are the names of His royalty.

It's amazing when you think about that night when Jesus was born.

Mary wrapped him tightly in those clothes— I like the way one commentator described it: “it was literally royalty wrapped in rags.”

Baby Jesus.

And it was prophesied earlier that his name would be Jesus.

It says the name of Jesus is the name that is above every name.

Since one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father, these throne names are significant and appropriate.

A king rules.

Jesus is worthy of our worship and our adoration as we consider this prophecy that will ultimately be true in the millennial kingdom and then in the eternal kingdom, but it has many to our lives today and hope you'll see this and think about this throughout this week.

Transition:

What are His throne names?

Well first, He is the:

I. Wonderful Counselor

A counselor has the idea of Wisdom.

The idea is one whose plans, purposes, designs, and even His decrees for His people are marvelous.

In fact, some translations actually say: “marvelous Counselor.”

His wise counsel-- the scripture says so; especially Isaiah, Isaiah 11:2

Jeremiah 29:11

Isaiah 28:29

and then of course in the N.T. Rom 11:34

Of course, that's rhetorical because there is no one that is His counselor.

He is the Wonderful Counselor.

What that means is that Jesus is the only One who is qualified to lead the human race.

Now, a lot of people or government systems say they are capable and qualified but they ALWAYS FALL SHORT.

Only Jesus is qualified, in effect, it could be translated, “He is a wonder in council” or “a wonder of a counselor.”

Either way, we must follow His counsel to us.

And yes, He does counsel us even today.

Colossians 2:2-3

It's all in Him! Christ is a wonderful Counselor!

He has given us commands, principles, and laws written for us in His Word.

From those, we are to love Him, obey Him, serve Him, and sacrifice for Him.

All of us today need this Wonderful Counselor.

We constantly need His wisdom.

We constantly need what He has to offer for our doubts, for our difficulties, and for our decisions.

I’m struggling right now—I’m anxious, I’m worried, I’m depressed.

I can’t do this anymore!”

This is what Jesus is to be to us! “I need a counselor to fix me!

He is that wonder of a Counselor!

And while we MIGHT appreciate the council and the advice of godly people, it is His counsel that never fails!

What is His counsel?

His Word!

If you want counseling of the Highest quality, read and apply what is in your Bible.

Try different daily reading plans for reading through the scripture—there are plenty available!

You can read through the Bible chronologically, or some New Testament & Old Testament, or read through it with 5 different sections or you can read just the New Testament.

I'm trying to give you the opportunity now to read through scripture in a manner that you haven't read through before so choose a plan —many online options just by googling it— choose one that enables you to go through the scripture and read it.

When you do that you will know the council of the wonderful counselor.

In fact, there are even some out there for children— some of the key chapters of the Bible so parents could work through that with your children.

Transition:

Jesus is the wise wonderful counselor.

That's what Isaiah tells us.