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I want to look at verse number six where the Bible reads, Rondo as a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, of the increase of his government and peace. There shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even forever the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this. And the evening sermon title I have is Why the Son is Important. Why the Son is Important. And in Isaiah chapter number nine verse six, we have a pretty well-known verse here that's describing a prophecy of a coming child that's going to be born, of a coming son. And we know that's prophetic of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's undoubtedly about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's giving a lot of descriptions of who he is and what he's going to be like. But in order to understand Isaiah nine six very well, I believe you have to understand the surrounding context of the book of Isaiah. And so I want to kind of just go through a little bit here of the book of Isaiah and try to help us understand and unpack some of this truth and some of this information. Now the book of Isaiah is very deep. There's a lot of prophecy that's constantly being mentioned throughout every single chapter. And in fact, if you look at the New Testament, you'll see this phrase many times that says Isaiah saith. And Isaiah in the New Testament is Isaiah. And there's so many prophecies from Isaiah about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's just a carried theme throughout the entire book of Isaiah. But it makes a lot of sense in the sense of the timing of it and what Isaiah is preaching about. Go back to chapter six in your Bible, chapter number six, and let's look at verse number 11. Now, Isaiah six is really famous because it's where, uh, you know, Isaiah sees the Lord, he sees his, his train, he sees him there and he talks about unclean lips and they put a live coal on his mouth, on his tongue, and they're telling him to preach and to prophesy. But the purpose of the prophesying is kind of mentioned here in verse number 11. It says, then said, I Lord, how long? And he answered until the cities be wasted without inhabitant and the houses without man and the land be utterly desolate and Lord have removed men far away and there'd be a great forsaking in the midst of the land, but yet it shall be a 10th and it shall return and shall be eaten as a teal tree and as an Oak whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves. So the Holy seed shall be the substance thereof. Now in Isaiah chapter number six, he's telling them, uh, the Lord's telling Isaiah that he's going to preach against Jerusalem and he's going to say, Hey, they're not going to want to hear it. They're not going to be interested in the message. And he kind of says, how long? And he's saying, well, until it's completely desolated until it's just completely gone. That's how long you're going to, this message is going to have to be preached. And so in Isaiah chapter number six, it's highlighting the destruction of Jerusalem. What's going to happen in the future. Now Jerusalem has not been destroyed yet, and it's going to happen, you know, maybe like a hundred years or so if you look kind of at a timeline, but it's going to happen. It's been pronounced in chapter number seven and verse number one, it says, and it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that reason, the king of Syria and Pekah, the son of Amaliah, king of Israel went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. Now this is important because we have two other guys, two other kings, and they're going to come and they're going to try and attack Jerusalem. Now the prophecy of Isaiah has just been that Jerusalem is going to be destroyed, that it's going to be wiped out, it's going to be utterly desolate. So whenever these guys are coming to attack it, God wants to make it clear that these guys are not the ones that are going to destroy it. It's going to be destroyed, but it's going to be destroyed by the Chaldeans, by the Babylonians. It's not going to be by reason, it's not going to be by Pekah, it's not going to be by the children of Israel, it's going to be by somebody else. And if we look at verse number eight, it says, for the head of Samaria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is reason, and within three and five years, three score and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. It says in verse number nine, and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Ramaliah. Son, if ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. So God's saying, hey, these two guys that are coming up and attacking you, they're not going to be the ones that defeat you, they're not going to be the ones that destroy you, in fact, pretty soon they're going to be wiped off the face of the map. So we have the destruction of Israel prophesied here in Isaiah chapter number seven. Now look at verse number 11, it says, ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, ask it either in the depth or in the height above, but Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. So God even gives a proclamation unto Ahaz, which he's a wicked king if you study the Bible, but God's trying to say, hey, I'm going to give you a sign that these two guys are not going to be the ones to wipe you out. They're not going to be the ones to destroy you. And so he's going to give them a sign and it says in verse number 14, therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign, behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. Now if you know the New Testament at all, this probably rings a lot of bells, like in the book of Matthew chapter number one, the Bible talks about a virgin conceiving and bringing forth a son whose name is Immanuel, which is being interpreted God with us as what the Bible says. So we know that right here, this is a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the thing about prophecies that we have to understand is a lot of times they still have a present day application. Even though it's picturing the Lord Jesus Christ and even though when we read this, it kind of signals a lot of light bulbs in our head about the New Testament, it's still that application here and the application here was the fact that in just a very short period of time, these two guys are going to be destroyed, is basically what he's signifying. He's saying by the time it's going to take for a virgin to end up conceiving and then giving birth to this child and then it says in verse number 15, butter and honey shall he eat that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good, before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that thou pour shall be forsaken of both her kings. So he's saying, you know, we can just throw out a number here, maybe three, four years. He's just saying in the period of about three or four years before that time, these two guys, they're going to be forsaken of both these kings. Both these kings are going to be wiped off the face of the map and that's going to be a sign to you that they're not going to be the ones to destroy them, to destroy you as Jerusalem. So Jerusalem is going to be destroyed, but he's saying Israel is going to be destroyed first. Israel is going to be wiped off the face of the map and in fact, not even that long from now. Okay. And if we just keep on reading in this chapter, he says in verse number 14, I'm sorry, we already read verse number 14, but go, go to chapter number eight and look at verse number two. It says, and I took unto me, faithful witnesses to record Uriah, the priest and Zechariah, the son of Jeremiah. And I went under the prophetess and she can see it and bear a son. Then said the Lord to me, call his name, mayor shall hash baths for before the child shall have knowledge to cry. My father and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. So he's kind of giving this pronouncement in chapter number seven, that there's going to be this child. And then we see Isaiah has this child mayor, how a shallow mayor shallow hash baths. Okay. And say that 10 times real fast, right? And um, before this child's going to be, you know, basically walking around and saying mom and dad and doing all these things, these guys that have been coming against them, reason and Pekah, they're going to end up being destroyed by the king of Assyria. Okay. Now when you study the Bible and you look at second Kings and Chronicles, you can actually follow this kind of historical story that the king of Assyria is going to come through the land of Jerusalem. And he's going to wipe out the inhabitants of Samaria. He's going to take many cities captive and take them with him and Damascus. Now it says in verse number 14, it says, and each I'll be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. So again, he's basically signifying that both Jerusalem, the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel is going to be destroyed. They're not going to get it. Now that's kind of the main surface that this, the prophecy of this is how they're going to all reject the gospel. They're going to all reject the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to be a stone of stumbling for them and a rock of offense. And then we see in chapter nine, let's look at verse number one. It says, nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea beyond Jordan and Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death upon them had the light shine. So he's saying, hey, these people are going to be greatly afflicted. They're going to basically be in darkness at this point. I mean, when the kingdom of Syria comes and just wipes you guys out and you're no longer the nation of Israel, that's darkness. But he's prophesying of the fact that, hey, there will be a point when you're going to have great light. When was that point? When the Lord Jesus Christ is in Galilee. That's going to be the prophecy that we have in Matthew. But again, we keep getting this significance. And why is this significant? Well, we have to just think about this. All the way up to this point, what has been the focus of the Bible? It's been the nation of Israel. It's been God's people. It's been the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah and it's God's people. It's the apple of his eye. It's the one who's in his blessing. And he's pronouncing the fact that they're both going to be destroyed, wiped off the face of the map and no longer even people. That's pretty strong what's being signified. But while he's preaching this, while we have all these proclamations, we keep having prophecy of this light that's going to come, of this child that's going to be born, of Emmanuel, of these things signifying, hey, there's still some significance here. There's still some major event that's going to happen. And then we have here in verse number six, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder. So while all of these nations are going to be forsaken and they're going to be destroyed and their rulers are going to be destroyed physically, there is going to be a ruler that's going to come in the future. And guess how long he's going to last forever. His government is going to be forever. He's going to be established for forever. So even though Israel is going to be taken away, even though Jerusalem is going to be taken away, at some point they will have a child that's born who's going to become the ruler, who's going to become the governor. And guess how long he's going to govern forever, everlasting. He's going to have an everlasting kingdom. There's going to be no end of his kingdom. So it's just pointing to the fact that, hey, God's realizing I'm going to take away what you have now, but it's going to come back at some point in the future and you're going to be there forever. Look at chapter number 10 and let's say in chapter nine, I want to look at verse 14 again. Verse 14 just like popular at every single chapter, right? Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush in one day. So he clearly says that Israel is going to finally become destroyed. It's going to be completely wiped off the face of the map. And in fact, we see that in the Bible. Keep your finger and go to second Kings chapter number 16, second Kings chapter number 16. Let's just find, let's just find this in our Bible and see what the Bible has to say about it. I think this just helps when you kind of lay a little bit of a foundation of the context before we understand what Isaiah nine, six is even saying, but it says in second Kings chapter number 16, look at verse number five. The Bible says, then reason King of Syria and Pekah, the son of Amaliah King of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war and they besieged a has, but could not overcome him. Now isn't that what we read earlier and saying, Hey, these two guys are coming to attack them, but they couldn't, they couldn't quite overcome in Jerusalem. Now look at verse number seven. So he has sent messengers to get Tiglath-Pileser, King of Assyria saying, I am thy servant and thy son come up and save me out of the hand of the King of Syria and out of the hand of the King of Israel, which rise up against me. And he has took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the King's house and sent it for a present to the King of Assyria. And the King of Assyria hearkened unto him for the King of Assyria went up against Damascus and took it and carried the people of it captive to occur and slew reason. And King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser, King of Assyria and saw an altar that was at Damascus and King Ahaz sent to Urijah, the priest of fashion of the altar and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. So we see Ahaz actually ends up hiring the King of Assyria and just the King of Assyria comes up and he destroys, you know, Damascus. He destroys reason in this chapter. Look at verse number 18, okay? Look at verse number 18. I'm sorry, chapter 17, go to verse 6. Go to chapter 17, verse 6. Now this is the first time the King of Assyria comes and wipes out these guys. But that happens again in chapter 17, verse 6, it says, in the ninth year of Hoshea, the King of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away into Assyria and placed them in Halab and in Habor by the river of Gozen and the cities of the Medes. Now Pekah was the King of Israel at that time, but he ends up getting, you know, wiped out by the King of Assyria, decimated and he has a conspiracy, his servant ends up slaying him, Hosea or Hosea or whatever, and Hosea ends up getting wiped out by a second King of Assyria, Shalmaneser, and at this point, Israel is just completely gone. But to give you a refresher, Isaiah chapter 6 is saying, hey, the destruction of Jerusalem. Isaiah chapter 7 is saying the destruction of Israel. Isaiah chapter number 8 is saying the destruction of both. Isaiah chapter 9 re-emphasizes the destruction of Israel, okay? Isaiah chapter number 10, he's kind of just giving a lot of information about why a nation will be destroyed and these kind of wicked people, but it says in verse number 12, wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord has performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria and the glory of his high looks. For he saith, by the strength of my hand I have done it and by my wisdom, for I am prudent and I have removed the bounds of the people and have robbed their treasures and have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. So we see that the King of Assyria, he's going to eventually get punished too, and it's just like, he's a lot like Nebuchadnezzar in a sense of what? He comes in, he's kind of wiping out the children of Israel, and he thinks he's so great and so powerful, but it's God that kind of gave him that ability to even do that, and he's going to end up getting punished severely too. Look at chapter number 11 verse 14. It says in chapter 11 verse 14, but they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west, they shall spoil them of the east together, they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall obey them. Now eventually the children of Israel are going to return back to the land after the captivity of Nebuchadnezzar, and even these heathen nations, they're going to end up obeying them. Verse number 16, and there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. So he's saying just like how when we came out of Egypt and we kind of inherited the promised land, that's going to happen again in the future in a sense, where we're going to all return from the captivity, and they're literally coming back from all nations. They were scattered into all nations, and they're going to have a remnant come back out of all nations into the land of Jerusalem, but it's no longer going to be divided nation of the northern kingdom of Israel and southern kingdom of Judah, but rather they're going to all kind of be together once again. And there's a lot of prophecy here of the millennial reign of Christ and how when Jesus Christ returns, we're going to all rule and reign with him, and he'll set up his kingdom. Says in chapter number 12, I'm not going to read it for sake of time, but it's basically just joy. It's just joy that's going to happen. So we kind of get a big picture here, and then you get to chapter 13 and the rest of a lot of Isaiah. It's just burdens of a lot of other people. A lot of other nations are going to be punished and other things are going to happen. But from Isaiah chapter 6 to Isaiah chapter number 12, you kind of get this chronology of what's going to be happening to the children of Israel, the things that they're going to be going through, and we see all these different prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ and his inevitable return or the inevitable coming. So if we go back to Isaiah chapter number 9 and we look at verse number 6, now that we kind of have some semblance of a context here, it says, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. So these are a lot of descriptors of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the things that's kind of a false view of the Jews, of the Pharisees, is they thought when Jesus Christ first came, he was going to set up a physical nation. He was going to come and he was going to take over the Romans and they were going to set up a powerful nation and they're just going to rule and reign. They're looking for the antichrist, okay? And that's why they're still looking for an antichrist is because that's what they picture the Messiah as being, is a physical savior. They were ignorant of the fact that the Bible teaches he must needs first suffer, okay? So this prophecy is actually of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. It's his second coming that we're looking towards in the future. So with that in mind, how long is he going to rule and reign for? Forever, right? Now that's why he's going to be called Wonderful. You know, when you think of a leader or a ruler, which it's really hard for us to do in America today, but if you actually had a really great leader or a really great ruler, you would say, this guy is wonderful, right? I mean, wouldn't that be a description that you could possibly give if you had a great ruler like the Lord Jesus Christ, who's going to actually do everything that this book says? I mean, that'd be wonderful. That'd be wonderful to put the facts to death. That would be wonderful for everybody to be punished according to the law. It'd be wonderful if someone stole from you, they have to pay four or five fold back. That sounds, I'm like steal all, I won't even lock my doors. Come on. You know, like that's, that's great. Hey, I have more stuff you can steal. You know, someone comes to rob you and you're just like, have it all, you know, just let me keep loading you up. Why? Because the law is wonderful, you know, and again, it also says that he's going to be called a counselor. What's a counselor? One that gives you advice, gives you instruction. Now there's no counsel against the Lord. Go to Proverbs chapter number eight, Proverbs chapter number eight. The Lord is wonderful in counsel as well. If you go backwards to Proverbs chapter number eight, now Proverbs chapter eight's an interesting proverb. It really has wisdom personified. Okay. It gives a lot of attributes of wisdom and at the beginning of the chapter, it personifies wisdom specifically as a female, but there's a transition in the chapter where it's not talking about wisdom anymore. It's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ specifically. Okay. And in Proverbs chapter eight, look at verse number 14, it says, counsel is mine and sound wisdom. I am understanding. I have strength. By me kings reign and princes decree justice. By me princes rule and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. Hey, there's no power but that which is of God, right? It says in verse 17, I love them that love me. I thought he loved everybody. All they that hate me love death is what the Bible says. He says, I love them that love me and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honor are with me, yea durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea than fine gold and my revenue than choice silver. I lead in the way of righteousness and the midst of the paths of judgment that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance and I will fill their treasures. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made the earth nor the fields nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he repaired the heavens, I was there. When he set a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth. Now up to this point interestingly enough if you kind of just stuck with the story line Mormons believe what I just read. I talked to a Mormon, not all of them I don't know but you know they all have different stories, but I talked to a Mormon about the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm saying you know the Bible teaches that he's from everlasting, like he's outside of time. And I've heard them say yeah, yeah he's outside of time. But they'll say this, there was a point in which he came into existence. Outside of time, however that works. And what we read is it's talking about him being brought forth didn't we? We saw that it was him being brought forth but the thing we have to understand is Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God outside of time. But there is no origin, he's always existed, he's always been the son, there's always been the father. And we're going to read, it says in verse number 30, then I was by him as one brought up with him and I was daily as the light rejoicing always before him. He's saying hey, I'm always with this guy, it's always the father and the son. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. The son's always been with the father. There was no point in when the son did not exist or the father was not the father. What a weird doctrine that is. But we have the Lord Jesus Christ, he's with the father and he says I am counsel. It makes a lot of sense to call the son, hey, counselor. Why? He's the word of God. What counsel can you get that trumps this book? There's none. There's no knowledge, there's no wisdom, there's no instruction outside this book. Look, the creator of everything is the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the one with the father. He gives us all of this information. So obviously when he's ruling, that sounds great. I like the guy that's ruling that knows everything about it. Hey, he's the creator, he's the one that made it, he knows all about it and he's going to give us advice. His advice is always going to be right. His guidance is always going to be right. He knows everything. He's the beginning from the ending. Go back to Isaiah chapter number nine. So we're kind of getting a semblance of what's being taught here in Isaiah chapter number nine. He's wonderful, he's the counselor, then after that, the mighty God. Now there's a few ways we can even look at this phrase, but obviously we know that Jesus is God. Jesus is the deity. He's in fact the almighty. Keep your finger and go to Revelation chapter number one. Even if you were to look at it from a perspective of just ruler, because God could potentially just mean ruler in a sense, he's the mighty ruler. He's the one that's going to be in charge. He's the one that's going to govern. The Bible even says that the devil is the God of this world. What does that mean? He's just the one that has some level of authority, some kind of charge over this world. Obviously he's not truly God. Obviously he's not deity, but he is in some sense the ruler of this world, right? And it talks about powers and rulers and the darkness of this world. So God, even if you meant it in a ruler sense, Jesus is both. Jesus is both the deity and Jesus is the ruler when he's in charge, okay? But it says in Revelation chapter one, look at verse number six, and he has made his kings and priests unto God and his father to him be glory and dominion forever and ever amen. Behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all kindred of the earth shall well because of him even so amen. Says in verse eight, I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come, notice this, the almighty. So the Lord Jesus Christ, he's the almighty. He's the mighty God. The son that comes unto us, he's the one that's going to be in charge. Now go back to Isaiah chapter nine. So we've been kind of having a general context. It's all kind of fitting together very well. And we see the next phrase in Isaiah chapter nine six is the everlasting father. Now for the sake of time, let's skip this one for a second and just do the next one. It says the prince of peace. Now prince, whenever I was young and I'd watch a lot of movies like Aladdin, you know, prince was always just the son of a king, you know, but a prince in the Bible simply could be interchanged with the word ruler or someone that's in charge or someone that's ruling in some kind of a sense or a governor. And we see that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to be a ruler of peace. He's going to be the prince of peace. Whenever he's in charge, it's peaceful. There's no wars. He's going to squash that like, you know, you wouldn't believe. There's not going to be any problems. He's going to take care of everything. It's going to be a time of great enjoyment, of no war and stripe and conflict, just peace. Doesn't that just sound good? Isn't that what everybody says, you know, whenever they have the contest for Miss America or whatever? She's like, you know, I just want world peace. It's like, hey, it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how you get that, right? But here we have that he's going to be the prince of peace. And for sake of time, I'm not going to have you go back and read Revelation chapter number one, but it tells us that he's going to be the ruler. I'll just read for you. It says in Revelation chapter one, verse five, and from Jesus Christ was the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins and our own blood. So Jesus Christ is the prince of the kings of the earth, meaning what? He's in charge of all the kings of the earth. He's the king of kings. He's the Lord of lords. He's the one that's in charge. So if we've looked at the context so far, what has it been pointing to? Well, it's wrapped in the fact that we're talking about the government, right? It says in verse number six, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And when the government's upon his shoulder, what's going to be happening? It's wonderful. He's going to be given his great counsel, right? He's the mighty God. He's the prince of peace. Now, do you have another phrase? The everlasting father. Now some people want to take this one phrase and turn it into the weirdest context ever. Have we mentioned anything about like who God is in this chapter or the specifics of the deity of God, like what the Godhead looks like? Have we mentioned the Holy Ghost? Have we mentioned the specific distinctions of the Trinity, the Father, the Son? Like none of that's in view here. It has nothing to do with the context. Yet there's whole denominations, oneness Pentecostals, who would believe that Jesus Christ is literally God the Father, that there is no Trinity, that that's just a man-made construction. And this is usually their crowning verse. People that deny the Trinity, their crowning verse is Isaiah 9-6. Yet I guarantee you they have no idea what the context is. I guarantee you if I said, hey, what's Isaiah 9 about? God's the Father and Jesus is the Father. That's not the context of Isaiah chapter 9. It's the fact that all of Israel and Judah are going to be destroyed and wiped out, yet God's prophesying the fact that, hey, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to still rule and reign over Jerusalem and he's going to be the everlasting father. Now what does that mean though? What does it mean to be the everlasting father? Now the word father, if you study your Bible, can have a lot of definitions. Don't get persuaded. Some people think that wine only means alcohol. That's foolish if you actually study what the Bible says. Some people think repentance only has one possible definition. Look, a lot of words have a lot of different possible definitions and we need to look at the Bible to figure out what the definition is. Now keep your finger and go to Genesis chapter 45. I'm going to show you how the word father can mean something more than just someone who begets a child because that's what we typically think of, right? We think of a father as just one who physically procures a child through relations of knowing a woman, okay? Whether they're married or not, technically you can still be a father, okay? And it says in Isaiah chapter, I'm sorry, in Genesis chapter 45, in context of Joseph, it says in verse number eight, so now it was not you that sent me hither, but God, and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. So in Genesis chapter 45, we have the Bible telling us that Joseph was made a father onto Pharaoh. Now how does that work? Does that mean that Joseph is literally Pharaoh's dad now? He's now coming home for Christmas, daddy. Hey, daddy, no. Father can have a lot of different connotations. In fact, you don't have to physically beget someone to be a father under them. Have you heard of adoption? You know, adoption is a wonderful thing in the context of some child being orphaned, having no one to look after them. They've been rejected of their physical parents and someone comes under them and is just a father to them. It's just playing that role is helping them. And in fact, sometimes, you know, there's mixed families and someone just has a child because their spouse had a child and they just become a father unto them. Or perhaps children, you know, have nobody that cares about them and they just have some older person come into their life and be a father to them. Now what would be being a father? Protecting them, guiding them, instructing them, parenting them, these type of attributes. What was Joseph like unto Pharaoh? He's one guiding him, giving him instruction, helping him, leading him, teaching him things, being a father and teaching him the word of God, instructing him how to preserve the nation, how to do these things. And in fact, Pharaoh had so much trust in Joseph, he said, only in the throne would I be greater than you. So they had to bow the knee to Joseph, a great picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the fact that only in the throne technically is the father greater than the son, isn't he? The son subjects himself unto the father in that sense. Now that's one way that you could interpret father. It has nothing to do with being physically begotten by somebody, okay? But go to Isaiah 22. I'm going to show you what I think that Isaiah 9-6 clearly means. And notice we're still in the same book of Isaiah 9-6, okay? We didn't go to like some random other book and try to get a weird interpretation. If we're going to stay in the same book and we're going to have the same word defined for us, I think that just makes a lot of sense. Rather than taking in the New Testament when it says God the father, a phrase that's never in view in the Old Testament, mind you. You know where you learn about God the father? From Jesus Christ, the son. The son comes and declares the father unto us, okay? So that's not in view. But what is in view is in Isaiah 22 when the father is clearly defined. It says in verse 20, and it shall come to pass in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and I will clothe him with thy robe and strengthen him with thy girdle and I will commit thy government into his hand and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Did you notice the Bible just told us what it's like to be a father here in this context? It's the governor. It's the ruler. It's saying, hey, this guy, I'm going to put him in charge of the government and he's going to be a father. He's not going to literally physically beget every single one of the children of Judah, okay, mind you. Secondly, he's not God the father. Just because someone's called the father doesn't make him God the father, okay? What is ridiculous doctrine that you would have? It says in verse number 22, and the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, that sounds familiar, so he shall open and none shall shut and he shall shut and none shall open. So notice we have the exact same descriptions. He's saying, hey, I'm going to put the government on this guy's shoulder. He's going to be the one in charge and he's going to be a father unto you all. So whenever it's calling Jesus Christ the father in Isaiah 9, 6, let me help you out with what that means. He's going to be the ruler. He's going to be the governor. Now, here's my question. How long is Jesus going to rule is going to be the governor? How about everlasting? Wouldn't it make sense to call him the everlasting father? Wow, that almost makes sense. That sounds like the Bible explaining to us exactly what that verse means. But then heretics, false prophets and teachers that don't believe the Bible, that aren't saved, they come to a verse like this and they just see red and it's like, oh, they're the father, oh, oh, they're the father, oh. Is that the context? If you have an interpretation to a particular verse and it doesn't fit the context, you're wrong. The Bible is not just like random, just bits of information just thrown together and stirred together and just like, oh, just randomly in the chapter of Isaiah, oh, God, Jesus is the father. What kind of a weird Bible are you reading? Why would Jesus come here and declare who he was and tell us all these things? But I have to go to Isaiah 9, 6 to discover the mystery that Jesus literally is the father. That's nonsense. The importance is the son. The importance of giving preeminence to the Lord Jesus Christ and the son and we're picturing the millennial reign of Christ. Now if Jesus Christ is the father as supposed, the millennial reign of Christ makes no sense. Why give Jesus Christ this rule and reign on the earth when he's not even anything different than the father? Why wouldn't the father just come down? Why are you giving significance to this man, the man Christ Jesus in their mind? It really just blasphemes the Bible. It makes no sense. If we look at chapter number 7, sandwiched all these five descriptors, it continues to make the same sense. It says of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. Wouldn't that just prop up the everlasting father even more? It says upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order and to establish it with just judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Now I've heard other interpretations of this verse and I'm not saying that it's impossible there's not another way to interpret this verse, but I think it's crystal clear what it's saying. I think when you look at the context and you study the word father, I mean we have another time where father is clearly defined for us in chapter number 22, but one thing that's not teaching no matter what you think is that Jesus is literally the father. Obviously there's a distinction between the father and the son. Now they're both God and obviously there's a lot of overlap there that we don't quite understand because they share all the same characteristics. They're both from everlasting. They're both the Almighty. They're both the King of kings and Lord of lords. They're both the Amen. They're both the beginning and the ending. They're both the Alpha and the Omega. They're both God. So obviously there's a lot of overlap there. Obviously there's only one God in the Bible. There's one God that we serve, but there is the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost and these three are comprised of one God. Now go to Psalms 2, Psalms 2 in your Bible. Now the title of my sermon was what? Why the Son is important. Why the Son is important. Well here's one reason, because without the Son the nation of Israel and Judah would have been wiped off and faced the map and never returned. You would have no more Israel and Judah. That's where the millennial reign of Christ is coming. Without the Son you have no millennial reign of Christ. Without the Son you have no everlasting Father. You have none of these descriptors. So it's so important because hey, we get to rule and reign with Christ one day. That sounds wonderful. That sounds great. And it says in Psalms chapter 2, it tells us all about that. Look at verse 6. Yet if I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion, I will declare the decree. The Lord has sent me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore you kings. Be instructed you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest he be angry and he perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. We put our faith and trust in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who saves us. And at some point he's going to be physically ruling and reigning on this earth. He did not come the first time to rule and reign. He did not come to be ministered unto. He came to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. The Son is very important. Now I have five quick reasons that I want to look at this. Go to 1 John chapter 4. Why the Son is so important, number one, is because without the Son you have the love of God destroyed. The love of God is signified by who the Son is. So it's important that we have this distinction of the Father and the Son and that they're different persons. Otherwise the Bible pictures love and that picture of love is destroyed. John 3.16, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but ever last life. The most famous verse in the Bible, my friend, is talking about a father giving up his son a picture of love that's beyond understanding. If I were to try to convince you to take the life of your child for someone on this earth, there's no way. It would be so hard to wrap our feelings and emotions about that. The fact that not only did he die for people that are good, he died for people like Bruce Turk. He died for these guys. You're going to tell me I'm going to sacrifice my child for those guys? I'm not that loving. I'm not that kind and merciful and gracious. God so loved the world. Verse John chapter number four, look at verse number nine, In this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Notice it doesn't say that God sent his word into the world. He just spoke something into the world. He sent his Son into the world. He told the Son to go into the world. The Son obeyed the Father in coming into the world. And notice this was the manifestation of the love of God. What does manifest make something obvious to make it appear? We see the manifestation of God's love is his Son coming. The fact that his Son would humble himself at the commandment of the Father and the Father is willing to sacrifice his Son says in verse ten, Here in his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. So why is the Son important? Because it's the picture of love. It is the ultimate picture of love. Those that hate Jesus Christ hate love. All they that hate me love death is what the Bible says. Look, when you blaspheme the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not just blaspheming a sky-feary's of hell. You're blaspheming the picture of love, what love truly is. We don't even know what love is. You know how we know what love is? Because of what the Bible tells us, of what Jesus did for us. That's how we learn what love is. He shows us what love is, and without the Son, you don't have this picture. Go to First Timothy chapter two, First Timothy chapter number two. Without the Son, we have no picture of love. We have no manifestation of the love of God. It says also in First Timothy chapter two, without the Son, we have no mediator. Now a mediator is not a meteor of one, but God is one, is what the Bible says. How can you mediate for yourself? I mean, if I have a conflict with you, and I say, hey, let's get some mediation here. We'll get Brother Jonathan Shelley, you know, to intercede on Pastor Shelley's behalf. You think I'm going to be a little biased? I'm just going to have to tell you right now, Pastor Shelley's right on everything. We need to just go with his plan, you know. I mean, how does that work? But we actually have a true mediator in the Bible. It says in First Timothy chapter number two, look at verse number three. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come under the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. We see that God the Father and us, we had enmity, and the only way we could fix that was through mediation of Jesus Christ. And you know, whenever he went in the mediation room and he looked at you, and he says, hey, what do we got? You got nothing. How about I just take care of everything, and I'll just reconcile you. And it's just like, great. And those that say, you know what? I got it. Jesus is like, have fun. God the Father is going to just send you into hell. You can either let me go to hell for you, or you can try it out and see how it works. But guess what? Jesus Christ came back. He has the keys of hell and death. And I'm glad that I have a mediator today. I'm glad I have somebody that's going to advocate for me. That's going to be my propitiation. Okay. Go to Hebrews chapter number eight, just to the right in your Bible, just a few pages, Hebrews chapter number eight. Look without the sun, we have no mediator. You can't have a mediator when it's just, quote, unquote, one person, all right? That doesn't actually, that doesn't work. It says in Hebrews chapter number eight, verse one, now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sun, we have such an high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. It's so weird to me. Why would God be sitting next to himself just to throw you off about being one person? Like this is, I just don't ever, I don't understand that point, all right? A minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle was the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices, wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law, who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle. For see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which is established upon better promises. So we have here, clearly articulated in the Bible, that there's a mediator of a better covenant. And all the things that they offered sacrifices on this earth were a picture of the true tabernacle in heaven, and we have a high priest, that high priest is Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ is not a high priest unto himself, my friend, he's the high priest unto God. And he's the mediator to God, and he offers sacrifices unto God, not to himself. It's ridiculous. It's foolishness. It's nonsense. The importance of the sun. Without the sun, we would all be, you know, up a creek without a paddle, my friend. Who's going to offer those sacrifices? No one. When you look in Revelation chapter number four, there's this book with seals on it, and they're like, what's in the book? No man can open it. And they're all weeping. They're all, they're like, we can't open this book. But the line of the tribe of Judah, he can. He can take the book out of the hand of God, and he can open the seals, and he can tell us, because he's the beginning from the ending. Look, we need that mediator. You need a go-between between God the Father and us. That's the Lord Jesus Christ, the son, okay? Look at chapter nine, verse 11. But Christ being come and high priest, there's good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands. That is the saint out of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood. He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us, for of the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of heav'r, sprinkling of unclean, sanctified of the purifying of the flesh. How much more shall the blood of Christ, through the eternal spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Notice verse 15, and for this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament, there were all called, might receive, the promise of eternal inheritance. So notice that he's the mediator here of the New Testament, of the new covenant, sprinkled in his blood, as a sacrifice to God, so that we could be reconciled unto God. Why in the world do we need a mediator if he's one person? How does it work? We have this actual go-between. We have a literal mediator. It's not a facade. It's not a fake. It's not like, you know, hey, I'm mad at you, hey, I'm the mediator, you know, I'm the guy that's mad. No, you literally have the Father that's mad at you, and you literally have a mediator, the Son, and he's sitting at the right hand of God, constantly making mediation for us. Look at chapter 12, verse 24. Chapter 12, verse 24, and Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. So notice, Jesus is the mediator of that new covenant, and it's a better sacrifice than that which was of Abel, and Abel's sacrifice obviously pictured the Lord Jesus Christ. Go to 1 John chapter 2 again, 1 John chapter number 2. Without the Son, you have no mediator. You have no go-between. You know, you have no arbitrage. You have nobody to stand there and intercess for you, okay? You have no propitiation, but it says in 1 John chapter 2, verse 1, my little children, these things write unto you that ye sin not, and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. We have an advocate. What is an advocate? It's somebody that's on your team. They're on your side. They want things to go well for you. They're saying, hey, I know he sinned. I got it. I know he screwed up again today. My blood still covers it. Hey, Father, be merciful unto this guy. Remember what I did? I remember that crown of thorns that was shoved into my head. Remember all those stripes? I got it for him again and again and again. Why? Because grace always abounds. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid, but grace is going to still abound, and we still have this advocate with Jesus Christ, okay? Now, the Bible's telling us that we shouldn't sin. Didn't he start out saying don't sin? But he's saying even when you do, because we all will sin, we have that advocate. It says in verse 2, and he's the propitiation for our sins, and not for us only, but also for the sins of the whole world. What kind of schizophrenic is sitting here needing an advocate with himself? I'm just really mad at Jessie. Don't be mad at Jessie. Well, I'm just so mad though. I mean, like, what in the world? You have the Father and the Son, and the Son's a literal advocate for us to the Father, okay? It's not that hard to understand. Go if you would to 1 John chapter 5. Just flip the page. So number 1, without the Son, we don't have the picture of the love of God, okay? Number 2, we don't have the mediator. Number 3, we're denying the record that God gave of his Son if we don't have the Son, okay? It says in verse number 9, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God, which he has testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. Look, if you deny that the Son exists, you deny the record that God gave of his Son. You're calling him a liar. And if you don't have the Son, what does it say in verse number 12? He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. I would not want to sit here and deny the Trinity. Hey, if your God doesn't have the Son, let me give you some answers right here. You don't have life. And in fact, when you go back to chapter 2, what does it say when you don't have the Son? It says in verse number 22, who is a liar, but he that denyeth that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Antichrist that denyeth the Father and the Son. Back in the beginning, it was just a guy with his words, just hanging out. You don't have the Father or the Son then. You're an Antichrist. You're not saved. That's somebody to stay away from, like really far away from, okay? So why is the Son important? Well, we have the picture of love. We have the mediator. We have the record that God gave the Son, John 3.16. Okay. Also, go to Colossians chapter 1. Frankly, you're just literally blaspheming and destroying the existence of your Creator. Jesus Christ is the Creator. He's supposed to get the preeminence. When you say he doesn't even exist as a person, what kind of blasphemy is that? He's the guy that gave you life to sit there and talk badly about the Lord Jesus Christ. No man by the Spirit of God called Jesus Christ a curse is what the Bible says. These people that want to mock the Trinity, they're blaspheming Jesus. They're blaspheming the Son. The fact that he's always existed, the fact that he's the Creator. He's the Creator. He's the Redeemer. It says in verse number 13, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us in the kingdom of the dear Son. That's familiar. Weren't they in darkness in that other kingdom and then they saw a great light? You know what that kingdom is? The kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, my friend. It says in verse 14, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether it be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for him and he's before all things. And by him all things consist. How can you read verse 17 and tell me the Son hasn't always existed? He's before all things, my friend. He created all things. And whenever you start attacking who the Son is or when he came into existence, now you're blaspheming your own Creator. Says in verse 18, he's the head of the body, the church, who's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. So the Father, it pleased him for the Son to get all the preeminence. He wants the Son to have the preeminence, not Adam. Your stupid version of God makes Adam the first man. You know the Bible says Jesus is the first. He's the preeminence. He's been one always with him. The Lord possessed him in the beginning of his way. Look, I don't have time to go through every verse here, but we're looking at it. If you go to Revelation chapter 13, but even in Hebrews chapter number 7, the Bible talks about Melchizedek being made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually. So the Bible tells us that the Son of God abides continually. He's always existed. He has no descent nor beginning of days. He's just always been. He's the great I Am, and he's with the last. You'll see this phrase in the book of, I believe it's Isaiah, but he's like, I am the first and with the last. He is the first and the last, and he's with the last. He's the ancient of days. He's with the ancient of days. He's the King of Kings. He's with the King of Kings. He's God. He's with God. The Lord said unto my Lord. That's why in Matthew 22, he says, What think ye of Christ? And the Pharisees are like, Oh, he's the Son of David. And he's like, Then how come David and Spirit call him Lord? You know, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. It's like, How in the world do you have the Lord talking to the Lord if he's the Son of David? You idiot. He's saying that he's not just a physical descendant of David. He's the great I Am. If you do not believe that I am he, you shall die in your sins, is what the Bible says. Look at Revelation chapter 13, the last one I'm going to make. Why the Son is important is because you deny the impact of the Gospel. I mean, the Gospel is, in essence, the Son at the commandment of the Father, dying for the sins of the world, ransoming the world unto himself. And this Gospel is not a Gospel that was a Plan B, Sam Gipp. It's not like maybe it was going to happen or, Well, it didn't really work out. I've heard some people say weird stuff like, You know, the Old Testament, the Old Covenant was just in case, you know, it was really, it could have worked out, it's just the children of Israel failed. Look, the plan was always the Gospel. There was never like another plan or another version. You know, Galatians chapter number 3 makes it super clear that the law was added because of transgressions. Till the seed should come! It didn't say, Well, if they keep doing the Covenant, the seed's not going to come. No, the seed's always going to come. The Gospel's always going to happen. The Gospel's preached to Abraham before the law, my friend. It's all about the Gospel. The most important picture in time is the Gospel, is the death, burial, and resurrection. And without the Son, you have no death, burial, and resurrection. You have no Gospel. You have no plan like this. But from the, before the foundation of the world, we have the Lord Jesus Christ was ordained. Says in Revelation chapter 13, look at verse number 8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him. And this is not talking about Jesus Christ. If you think this is about Jesus Christ, you're just an idiot, okay? Whose names are not written in the book of life, of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, the latter part's about Jesus. The Lamb slain from, notice, the foundation. He's slain before the foundation of the world. Why? Because He's always existed. He wasn't a figment of God's imagination. He wasn't just a book sitting next to Him. He was the Son. Okay, my friend. The Son has always been with the Father. He's in the bosom of the Father. He came down here and declared who the Father was unto us. He had seen the Father. He's been with the Father for all of eternity. He didn't want to leave the Father. He proceeded and came from the Father, is what the Bible says. Now I want to go to one last place. Go to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter number 2. The Son is so important. Now look, I believe all day long He's the everlasting Father. But is He God the Father? No. Are they both Jehovah? Yeah. Are they both God? Yeah. Are they both, you know, the great I Am? Yeah. Okay. Is the Trinity in some ways something that's too wonderful for us to fully comprehend? Yeah. That doesn't bother me. It doesn't bother me that they're all God. It doesn't bother me that they're distinct. But whenever you start destroying who the Son is, when you start taking away from the fact that the Son's always existed or the impact that He has, you start destroying this book. This book is Jesus Christ, my friend. And we need to appreciate what He's done for us. Now this last point that I'm going to make, you know, it kind of blows my mind because I remember I talked to one of my roommates in college and he was an only child. And I would talk to him and I'd say, don't you wish that your parents had like had more children, had had more kids? And he said, nope. I'm glad that was an only child because I got all the attention, all the affection. And it was really selfish. Okay. Let me just say, it kind of blew my mind because I'm just thinking like, of course you'd want brethren. But you know, Jesus Christ, He's the Son of God. But you know what? He gave us power to become the sons of God, didn't He? And then, you know what that makes us with Jesus? Brethren. Isn't that amazing? That He would want to do that for us so that we could become in a sense, obviously we're not going to be equal to the Lord Jesus Christ, but we're both brethren and we get to inherit with Him and the inheritance that He has. It says in Hebrews chapter two verse 11, for both He that sanctified and they who are sanctified are all of one for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Oh, that's weird. How does that work out? Yeah, because He's the Son of God, my friend. And He's not ashamed to call us brethren. We're brethren with Him. Isn't that amazing? You know, the Lord Jesus Christ, He could have just had the whole world to Himself. He just threw us all in hell. He didn't have to go die on the cross for us. He wanted to. He wanted you to be His brother. He wanted you to be His sister. And notice, we're brethren. Why? Because we're all the sons of God. Notice there's God the Father, there's the Son, and we're brethren with the Son. And we're sons of God. Okay? Distinction. Look at verse number 14. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. What an amazing thing the Son of God is. I mean, I get excited that we get to go to heaven one day and we get to worship the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and not only did He save us from hell, we get to rule and reign with Him on this earth. We get to be with that wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And you say, how long? There should be no end. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for giving us your Son, the great picture of love. I pray that we would just have great admiration and respect unto the Son. Thank you so much for what the Son has given us. Thank you, the Lord Jesus Christ, for what you bless us with, for allowing us to be your brethren and to be reconciled unto God. And I just pray that every one of us would give honor and reverence to both the Father and the Son. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.