But they will downstairs. Open your Bibles, if you would, please, to that very famous portion on every Christmas card selection that you have before you, Isaiah chapter nine. Isaiah chapter nine. I was in the car this morning driving with my wife next to me and, uh, thinking and meditating on some scriptures and what would the Lord have, uh, me to share? Sometimes it's quite simple during the week, the Lord burdens you and you have a message. Sometimes it isn't so simple, and, um, and this morning at the Lord's Supper, when our brother was sharing this portion or mentioned this portion, some thoughts came to my mind, and I thought, well, this is where the Lord wants us to be this morning, and I trust that is true, and that the Spirit would take the word of God and bless it to our hearts. Chapter nine of Isaiah and verse six. 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. It's been said, and rightfully so, that the world right now is occupied with gifts. Not so much with the giving, except we know it's an obligation. Somebody's going to give us one, so we might as well buy them one and figure out who is and anticipate that, and so many people are going in debt, and it really is a terrible time. Um, tonight we're going to talk, Lord willing, on, on the message of Christmas to the believer's heart as far as the gift-giving aspect, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, as also mentioned this morning, gave himself, and he left us an example that the greatest gift that we can give is ourselves. That's what is pleasing to the Lord. But this morning, you know, we can get many gifts, and we can get gifts that we, uh, forget about. We can get gifts that don't mean much. Even right now, if I said to you, think about where you're going to get your gifts from this year, some of you would think, oh please, not from that person. Some of you would probably say, well, oh, well, I can't wait for that person. My mom's with the Lord now, so I can say this. She knows my heart. But, um, my mom, I remember a few years ago when my mom, who was a great knitter, decided that every year she would pick one of us out, having seven kids, we'd all get one of those handmade knitted gifts. It would be our year. And we didn't look at it that way. We didn't say, oh, it's my year. We'd say, oh, it's your year, you know, it's your year this year. And because, you know, you'd get a sweater and one arm would be four feet long, the other one would be three feet long, and you'd roll this side up and this one wouldn't, and, you know, they were lovely things, but the gifts, you know, sometimes we just don't get a gift that we really can use. Sometimes we don't give a- get a gift we don't really appreciate. And, you know, that can be true of, of the Lord Jesus. It can be true not of him, but of us towards him. In other words, we can become so familiar with it that, with him, that we don't really appreciate him, and this is a good time for us as believers to sit down and realize, as we should do all along, and even at the Lord's Supper, especially when we remember Him, and that, um, what a marvelous gift, the greatest gift that you could ever get. And maybe if you're here this morning and you haven't received the Lord Jesus Christ by faith as a gift, this could be a help to you. And for those of us that have, just to look again at the greatness of the gift that the Father gave us when he gave us his Son. Now, in the, uh, background, in the context of this, and we don't want to spend much time on it, but realize this, unto us, the us there really in the context is who? He's talking to Israel, right? And the us in the context really would be Israel. In the chapter, and then chapter eight ends with a great darkness. It says in verse twenty two, they shall look upon the earth, look onto the earth, and behold trouble and darkness and dimness of anguish, and they shall be driven to darkness. Nevertheless, and that nevertheless is the grace of God entering in. Wherever there's judgment, there's always grace. Where- where- whenever God moves in judgment, there'll always be grace. And when you stop and think about it, the practic- the practical principles of the Word of God, uh, sometimes are just so important. For instance, when we think of the John the Baptist, and we think of those prophecies in the Old Testament of, of one coming before the Lord, remember this, what is the principle there? Well, before he comes and he appears in judgment, he will always send somebody with a message and always send somebody to, to warn and to forewarn, and, and the grace of God is always such that nevertheless, there's always a nevertheless. But then he says in verse, um, um, uh, verse t- two of chapter nine, that the people that walk in darkness have seen a great light, and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. And then he tells them that the greatness is this, unto us, unto us, verse six, a child is born. You know, the world is looking for a person. It's been said that, and rightfully so. They don't know who they're looking for. And by the way, the world as a whole will pick the wrong person again first. It's just the way that it is. But the world is looking for a person. Now, let me just make some very practical and very elemental principles that we can all go by. Here is a dark time in human history, if you read in the context of it, and yet in the midst of the darkness, there's light. It's amazing for us, for me to think how many times I've thought and even heard it said to me, well, when things get better and the circumstances get better, I'll talk to people about the Lord. Well, you know, that's wrong, because when the light is the dark, excuse me, when the environment is the darkest, then the light is the brightest, no matter how dim it is. And we need to realize we live in difficult times. We live in perilous times. We live in dark times, really, very dark. Look around. The darkness intellectually, the darkness morally, spiritually, in the, in the world, in the country in which we live, it's permeating everything in the day and age which we live in. And the only answer for this day and age is a person. It's the Lord Jesus himself. He is the only answer. And when we're thinking about giving gifts, don't forget this, that the greatest gift that you can give at this time of the year is the Lord Jesus and the opportunities to do so. The opportunities when the fa- family is gathered to make sure that we present him, and the opportunities at school or at work or wherever we go to make sure to turn this time back into the focus of why exactly did the Lord come? Why are we singing Christmas carols? I use the illustration many times to people, especially in a school environment, because we have different levels of authorities depending on different levels of trouble. Now, if somebody in the security department gets involved and can take care of the problem, then the problem isn't too great. But if they have to then go to, say, let's say the principal, then we know this, the problem's even greater. And if the principal has to take that person to the police officers that we have on our campus, then we know the problem is even greater. And if, you know, we had to get the mayor involved, what if it had to go to the president? You know, I speak foolishly, but what I'm trying to illustrate is this. The level of the problem always has to go to the higher authority. Now, if that is true, think about man's problem when God had to become involved. That man's problem is way beyond him or her. It is beyond our human understanding and capabilities to address the problem or to even find the remedy for the problem, and that's why this has to be the greatest gift that has ever been presented. That is the gift of this son, this child that is born, and this son that is given. And we're not going to spend a lot of time on that aspect. We know this, that when he says a child is born, that speaks of his humanity, and unto us a son is given, that speaks of him and his pre-existence, and the son is given. And then somebody has said rightfully that that little word end could contain two thousand or more years, couldn't it? Because we know this, that, uh, that the Lord Jesus, well, that was almost, well, it was two thousand years ago. But I don't want to look at that today, and I don't want to look at even the context about Israel, and I don't want to look about the darkness. I want to look at the names. Excuse me, the name that is expressed in the different words here. Notice the word name on his name. All he is is expressed in a name. All we are is expressed in our name. In the Bible, we say the word name. It m- it is the expression of that, that person. And these names speak great things to us. It says this, wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Now, I've spoken on this portion right here to the youth group. I think it was about five or six years ago when they had a gathering at Christmas time, and one of the things I did to illustrate this verse was I got one of those little Leatherman tools. You know what the Leatherman tool is, right? It's one of those little tools that has a screwdriver, a flathead, has a, it has like eight different tools, and now I think you get about twenty of them. You get spoons, knives, you can get everything, and I had it all folded up. It was a nice little, little one that you could put on your keychain. It wasn't very practical, but it was cute, and I think Perry even won that thing or somehow got it that year as a gift, and he thought that was the greatest thing going. You know why? Because that one gift in itself could do so many different things. And I started thinking, you know, think of the Lord Jesus, who the Lord Jesus is to us, and all of the things that he means to us. And that's what this verse really is expressing, and I just want to look rather briefly at it, and because this verse, verse six, speaks to us of all that the Lord Jesus is for us as we live day to day. All that it is. The first is the phrase this, wonderful, wonderful. And, and that's, that's an important word to understand. If you were to take your concordance and go through the Psalms, you'll find verses like, open thou mine eyes that I might behold wondrous things recorded in thy law. And then you go on to find out, well, what is that word wondrous? What wondrous things are recorded? You know, today, if you talk to people who profess to be Christians, that could be many different things. It could be the miracles, it could be things I could have, it could be, I mean, just many different. What does it mean, wondrous things? And then the psalmist goes on to say this, only thou doest wondrous things. So that wondrous things in the Bible are those things which only he can do. That's why his name is called Wonderful. That this, this speaks to the uniqueness of the gift. He inspires wonder, he inspires awe, a- and when people met him, they were never the same. You, you know, it just, it's, it speaks to the, to the fact that, that in our lives, the Lord Jesus, it, it makes our life, there should be no dullness to the Christian life, really. And yet we do have such great times of dullness, don't we? Now, I'm not saying that every more, every day you should have a burning bush, because Moses didn't have a burning bush every day. I'm not saying that the, that the Christian life can't at times be very mundane, and I mean, Paul even said, do whatsoever you do, whether eat or drink, those are two things that are pretty simple and mundane, do all to the glory of God. But listen, the, the Christian life, when you get up in the, I don't believe the Apostle Paul got up in the morning and said, oh no, another day. Oh no, I've got to do this. Oh no, I've got to go there. And to be quite frank, that's what we do sometimes. I mean, even on the Lord's Day morning, I'll think like this morning, the alarm went off, you know, about five thirty, quarter to six, and I thought, oh Lord, please. I mean, I'm just being honest. It was just, Lord, can I call in sick? You know, do I, do we have to go? You know, but, but then you start to realize, and you know, it can be reflected by the wrong words. Well, where were you, where are you going Sunday? Well, I have to go here and speak. No, you don't. You want to go. It should be exciting. I believe the Apostle Paul jumped out of bed and he every morning said, wow, that I may know him, that I may know him. Something's going to happen today that's going to cause awe and wonder and be awe inspiring. He's, and the point is this, that he would reveal himself in a very special way that day. And, and we can pray that every morning. Lord, reveal yourself to me today in a very special way, some way that I've never ever saw before. And that makes life very exciting. That makes the circumstances of life not dull. Do you think the disciples believed that every day was dull for them? Can you imagine them? Stop and think about all the experiences they saw. Oh, can you imagine talking, I wonder what's going to happen today? Do you think you will have another withered man? No, no, I think we're going to cast the nets on the other side again, and and they're going to be busting, and no, maybe the Lord will be walking out, maybe he'll calm the storm, or maybe he'll raise the de- Can you imagine every day what it must have, you know, what it must have been like for those disciples walking with the Lord Jesus. And that's the way we should look at life too, because we have this gift. His name is Wonderful. And there are things that only he can do. And I believe this, that's why sometimes in our walk with the Lord, we fall into circumstances that are beyond us. Why? So that he only alone could work and get the glory, because sometimes we're too busy to stop and give him the glory for everything. I mean, think about it. Paul told the Corinthians, what does a person have except they've received it from the Lord? But yet we live like we deserve it, we live like it's ours, we don't see the Lord in very much. Our lives can become very dull. Lord, help us to see every day as an opportunity to see the Lord Jesus do something unique, something very wonderful. You know, when we speak of, uh, wonderful, we mentioned it this morning, but a little bit in, in Judges chapter thirteen. You know, in Judges chapter thirteen, Samson's parents, remember the angel of the Lord appeared to his mother, and then the father said, oh, the angel of the Lord, and then finally the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and he said, what is your name? What is your name? And he said to him, why do you asking my name, seeing that is in King James, it says, in some translations, secret, but it's actually the same word wonderful as this. Seeing it is wonderful. My name is wonderful. And then it goes on in the next word, he says this, counselor. Remember that verse in Romans chapter eleven? I believe it's verse thirty four when he says, who has known the mind of God, who has been his counselor? His counselor. And this, it has to do with being a guide. It has to do with the decisions of life. And you know, from the time you get up till the time you go to bed, there are many decisions, some less important, some you don't even think about, like, uh, sometimes I don't think about it. What am I going to wear today? Sometimes that's a big trauma for somebody, but we have one decision after another. I remember reading an article on how many decisions on an average a person makes during the day. They're beyond understanding when you start to think about how many decisions you make, and how James tells us we're to seek the Lord's mind and say, if the Lord wills, we will do such and such. I mean, we have a counselor, a counselor. We, we have the ability to make proper decisions in life. This is marvelous, really, when you think about it. Let me give you an illustration. Um, about a month ago, I had to make a visit to, uh, to the, uh, the veterans Hospital in Salem, Virginia, which is on the other side of Roanoke, Virginia. And I didn't know really how to get there. I had an idea. I know where Salem was. I know where the chapel in, in, in Roanoke is anyway. And so my wife got on MapQuest, and she made a nice little map for me, and then even a second map when I, that isolated and showed me where the hospital was. And so I, it says on my form, make sure you're there an hour before your appointment. If you're not there an hour before your appointment, it'll be cancelled. I'm thinking, why an hour before? That's a government job, you know, hurry up, get there, wait. And, uh, I got to Roanoke. I was well on time. I was fifteen minutes before the hour before, and I was about five minutes away according to my map, and I made my turn getting off the main road, and the next thing I know, ten minutes later, I realized something was wrong. I wasn't seeing the right streets, and then I realized there was no north or south, and I didn't have it properly oriented, so for my direction. So by the time I got it around, I found where I was going, I head in the right direction, I found another problem, and I started to realize that now I know why they said be there an hour early, uh, because that gives you time to make it on time for your appointment. And what had happened was they changed the name of the road that the veterans hospital was on, but they didn't change it in MapQuest. Now, it would have been a lot simpler with somebody at school that I was talking to just the day before, who had been there, said, I'll go with you the next day, and I'll travel with you. I've been there. I'll show you the way. Well, stop and think who is our counselor, the Lord Jesus. You know, yes, we have a Bible, but we have a living Lord to, to help us with the decisions of life. And don't say, well, you know, he doesn't know what I'm going through. Yes, he does. He has been tempted in all points as we have been tempted, yet without sin. We don't, we, see, we have a guide, we have a counselor, we have one that can, that can get us through the decisions of life, and he'll never, you know, the, the scripture teaches us that if we put our trust in him, we will never be ashamed. He, he, everything, everything he desires because God is love is, is based on love. He's, he's all wise. He knows what's best, and he is our counselor. I wonder how many times during the day we actually seek to make a decision. You see, we can have a great gift and never use it. We can have a great gift and leave it in the box and leave it in the, in the closet, and sometimes that's what we do when we walk with the Lord. That's why James says, be careful, say if the Lord wills, we will do such. Seek the Lord's mind, seek the Lord's will. He's given us a way to make those decisions and to be our counselor, and I think that's just a marvelous, marvelous thing. If you're here this morning and you're making decisions and they're not coming, uh, true or they're coming out well. I had a young lady say to me once about a year ago, she said, everything I do in my life turns out wrong. I said, well, you need a counselor, and we know where you can get one. You'll never have a problem if you let him make decisions for you. Now, wouldn't it be something if we had this awe-inspiring gift, and the gift could help us with the dullness and the decisions of life, but guess what? Could never have the power. So he says to him, the mighty God. This has to do with the demands of life. This has to do with the power, the power to provide. When I think of that, I think of just the epistle of the Philippians, don't you? In other words, he's sufficient. He is sufficient. I can do all things through strike, through Christ who it strengthens me, who enstrengthens me, who infuses me. He's our power. We can do all. He's a powerful God. You know, it was, uh, it was said by an author many years ago, and I've just mentioned it briefly, but the three attributes that we always need to understand about God, three of the many, are, is this, that God is all-wise, he knows what's best for you, that God is love, he wants what's best for you, but if he wasn't all-powerful, that's the third one, and he was inept, and he couldn't provide that, and we have to realize that our God is all-powerful. He's omniscient, he's omnipresent, he's powerful. Do you know what that means? That means that at this moment in your life, any circumstance that you have or that you're going through is best for you and is provided for you by, by God himself, through his wi- wisdom, by his love and his power. Now, I know sometimes that doesn't seem like it, but that's true. That is how wise our God is. Imagine living through life without that kind of power. It's no wonder. You know, at school, sometimes somebody will talk to me and I'll say, well, you become the standard then. Ask them why they do something. If somebody says, well, I don't believe in God, ask them, well, then what standard do you live by? What is your standard? If they don't believe in this, or whatever it is, some law or w- say, well, what standard do you live by? And then look at and say, you know what, that makes you the standard, and if you're the standard, that makes you God, and then you're in bad shape because you're the highest standard you have. If your only resource you have is you and you're the God, you're in bad shape, and that's why many people have problems today. But we don't have to live that way. We, we have a God who is all powerful. He's a mighty God, and the demands of life are nothing for our God. Do you realize that? They're nothing. The demands of our life are nothing for God. He- God will provide all of his, all that you need and all that, that you have to have as you travel through life. And then he goes on to say this, he says the, the, the everlasting Father, and I believe literally it's this, the Father of eternity, or the author of eternity, the one who authors eternity. He's eternal. This has to do with time, and it has to do with the dimensions of life. I mean, think about it. People today don't want to believe in eternal things. People want to believe today that, you know, when I die, that's the end of it, but the Bible doesn't teach us that. He said, before Abraham was, I am. He came out from the Father. The Father sent him, but he came. He's eternal. And you know, when, when God took that lump of clay and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, man too. Man too, man too. Yes, the body's gonna die, but listen, there will be a resurrection of the just and the unjust. And man doesn't want to think that way. I shared with you how, when I was in college, one of my friends, his brother was one of five people in a terrible head-on car accident, and he was the only one who lived. And I remember meeting him one day when I was searching to know God. I wasn't a Christian at the time, and I say- and I asked him, I said, what did you learn about that car accident? What did you learn about life through that? And he said, I learned this one thing, that when I die, my body is what's going to die. I still existed. And I thought, wow, that's interesting. But see, man doesn't want to acknowledge that because then, if you believe this, it's appointed unto man once to die, you have to finish the verse and say, and after this, the judgment. And we don't want that, so we want to cut that off and get rid of that. You're here this morning, you are appointed on to once to die, but after that, the judgment. After that, the judgment. Time will pass away. There'll be time no more. There'll be no more boundaries. And then it says this, the Prince of Peace, and this has to do with circumstances. This has to do with the disturbances of life. You get in your car, you say, well, you know, two and a half hours, Lord willing, we'll be in Richmond, and then the next thing you know, you have a flat tire. Oh, we have a gift. He's the Prince of Peace. Nothing ever shocks God. Nothing ever surprises the Lord. It surprises us, but it didn't surprise the Lord. Israel's rejection never surprised him. And sometimes people think, well, you know, the church is a byproduct. Is it? I don't read that in Ephesians. God wasn't up to say, oh, what did they do? They just crucified my son. I better do something. No. They- nothing happens in the disturbances in our life are opportunities. Opportunities, as we've said already, to know God, and opportunities in obeying to, to, to glorify God and to reveal God to people around us. Think about the quality of the gift that we have. We have a gift that meets all the needs of our life. Spiritual, physical, emotional, we have, we have everything that we need. When it says a son is given, realize this, everything we need is given in the gift of that son. I wonder if we really appreciate the gift that God has given us. Very expensive gift. You know, sometimes gifts, uh, can be inexpensive. Us men do sneaky things sometimes. We'll rewrap old gifts, you know, and we'll give them. You haven't done that? Well, I'll make a confession. There was one time I received a card from somebody close to me, and I turned around, scratched her name off with one single line, put my name under there, and put it in an envelope and gave it back. You know, sometimes we can do that. But, you know, sometimes the gifts that come the furthest, they cost so much. I think of the Lord Jesus. For though he was God, yet he thought it not a thing to be held on to, grasp. He made himself of no reputation. I think how marvelous, how marvelous. Let me close by just sharing with you a poem that I remember gluing into the back of my Bible years ago. It's written by F. W. Pitt, and it basically speaks about the gift that we've received in the Lord Jesus. The maker of the universe, as man for man became a curse, and all the claims of laws he made, unto the uttermost he paid. His holy fingers made the bough where grew the thorns that crowned his brow. The nails that pierced his hands were mined in secret places he designed. He made the forest whence there sprung the tree on which his body hung. He died upon a cross of wood, yet made the hill on which it stood. The sun which hid from him his face, by his decree was poised in space. The sky which darkened o'er his head, by him above the earth was spread. The spear that spilt his precious blood, was tempered in the fires of God. The grave in which his form was laid, was hewn in rocks his hands had made. The throne on which he now appears, was his from everlasting years. But a new glory crowns his brow, and every knee to him shall bow. What a marvelous gift we received in the gift of his son, and I hope this morning that by faith you've received that gift. You know, somebody asked me this week, why do they call it Christmas if it means Christ's death? And you know the answer is because Christ came to die. There's burnt offerings and sacrifices of sin, thou hast had no pleasure, but a body hast thou prepared. Our Father, we thank you and praise you again this morning for the gift of your Son. We say with the Apostle Paul, but thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. Who are we, and we've been reminded this morning in our worship, who are we, but to receive such a marvelous, wonderful gift, such a costly gift, such an expensive gift. But we're the recipients of this marvelous grace, unmerited, undeserved, for yet while we were sinners, Christ died for us. O our Father, may this gift never grow pale. May we never lose sight of the uniqueness of this gift, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father, we think of this time for, for many as a joyous time, but for many others it's not. It's a depressing time. We think of those without family, those going through problems, health, financial, physical, jobs, whatever they are. Keep us sensitive, Lord, to those around us, that we might share with them and give them the greatest gift that they possibly could have. The gift of your son. Father, may this truly be a time of blessedness for them as they pass from death onto life, from darkness into light. Father, make us sensitive. Father, make us this new year appreciate the person of the Lord Jesus. We talked very briefly of his different name. We pray that this year we too would appreciate him more and more every day, that we would allow the Spirit of God to take the things of Christ and make them real to us through the events and circumstances of life, through the study and meditation of the scriptures, whatever it is, that we, like the Apostle Paul, would say, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. Thank you, our Father, in Jesus' name.