December, 1941
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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but' this One is the Lord from heaven. His name shall be called Wonderful .because of what He has done. He has given Himself a ransom for us all. He has taken our Sin Upon Himself and has offered Himself without spot to God to obtain eternal redemptions for us. He alone js the Lamb, of God that taketh away the sin of the -world. When we “Stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene,” and mdrvel at His love for its, who were but condemned sinners, we .bow in adoration of our wonder ful Lord ■_ . ' . His name shall be called Wonderful ! because of-what He is doing for us con stantly. He was raised for our justifica tion. He ever lives to make intercession for us. He is our Advocate with the Father. He is our constant Companion, our ever-present Lord. He is the Victor over death, the Conqueror of the world, ,the Deliverer of -the believer, our Hope and our Victory. We worship Him. His name is truly called Wonderful. The Revelation of God to Us His name shall be called Counselor, because He brings the knowledge of God to us. Apart from Him no man can know God. None Other has seen the Father (John 6:46). ■NO man krtoweth who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him (Lk. 10:22), And this is eternal life, to know God and to know His Son (John 17:3). When this blessing has become ours, when we know the Father because we know the Son (John 14:7-9), we wor- shipfully ascribe to our Lord Jesus the title of Counselor. His name shall, be called Counselor because He is our, Guide even unto death. His promise is that if we. follow Him we shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. When He puts forth His sheep, He goes before them. He leads them in a plain path. He re veals thp Will of God to us and enables us to fulfill it. Never was there another Counselor comparable to Him. His name shall be called the mighty God because even in His humiliation He is the Lord of hosts. He is glorious in His lowliness, invincible in His meek ness, triumphant in. His death. Jesus of
Nazareth is no mere man. He is the Lord of glory. His glorious majesty is evident in His deepest humiliation. Thomas expressed the full significance of this title when he worshiped Christ as his Lord and his God. His'name shàll be called the everlast ing Father because He is changeless and timeless. He is the same yesterday, to day, and forever: Because He is the everlasting Father, He is sufficient to meet all human need in all ages. We need forgiveness, and He provides it through His vicarious death. We need strength and courage. He provides them through His changeless- omnipotence. We need comfort and life. He supplies them because He lives. ,We need the com panionship of'the Lord. He supplies it because He is with us always, even to the end of the age. We need the pros-1 pect of a world in which righteousness will reign. He gives us that prospect in the promise of His return. As He met. the needs of men in the first century, He meets them today. When we experi ence His sufficiency to supply our need, we bow in adoration before Him. His name shall be called the Prince of Peace because He has made peace through the blood of His cross. He im plants that peace within individual hearts when they are reconciled to God through Him. The énmity of unbelief and sin is eradicated by, the Lord Jésus when we receive Him as our Saviour. Thousands of people throughout the world could rise up and give testimony to “ the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,” His name shall be called the Prince of Peace because He will bring peace to this world when He returns to earth and assumes the throne of David. Even as we see the world ravaged by war, we lift up our heads in eager expectation because we know that the day of our re demption draweth nigh. The hope of His coming prevents pessimism in these dark days. It shines as a light in a squalid place. , His name shall be like perfume poured out. It is the sweetest name, the incom parable name. Having discovered the preciousness of the Lord, let us take His name upon our lips in fervent adoration.
“His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God,. The ever lasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6). B HIS GREAT TEXT is more than the ages, the prophet Isaiah saw the coming of the Lord. He was led by the Spirit o f God to predict that coming. “Unto us a child is bom, unto us a son is given.” As this truth gripped his heart, Isaiah wrote the above declara tion as his hymn of praise. As long as we generalize about the Lord Jesus, we are mere theorists — not worshipers. When we discover that the Child was born UNTO US, that the Son was given UNTO US, our hearts are stirred to worship our Lord. - If we will think of Him as our personal Saviour and Lord, if we will remember that all of the love of God as revealed in Christ is for our personal salvation, we will worship Him who has redeemed us. Isaiah’s hymn of praise will become our very own. Praise to a Personal Saviour God has given to our Lord Jesus the name that is above every name. This is a part of His exaltation (cf. Phil. 2:9). If we are in fellowship with God, we will likewise exalt the name of our Lord. To us, His name will indeed be called Won derful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Each title in this great text is ascribed to the Lord Jesus because of something that the believer discovers in Him. His name shall be called Wonderful because He is the Son of God. In its root meaning, the Hebrew word for “Wonderful” here means to separate, to distinguish. We call our Lord Jesus Wonderful because He is separate, dis tinct, different from all others who have ever lived on this earth. He is the Creator; all others are creatures. He is from above; all others are from beneath. He is without sin; all others abound in sin. He is the Redeemer; ail others are needing redemption. We are of the earth, * Pastor , First Presbyterian Church. .
a .prophecy. It is also the adora tion offered to the Lord by a be lieving heart. Looking down through
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