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All right, Isaiah chapter number nine. You all could follow along silently while I read. Isaiah chapter nine, starting verse number one, the Bible reads, 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 in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them as the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation and not increased the joy. They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor as in the day of Midian. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood. But this shall be with burning and fuel of fire, 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. 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 forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, the bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones. The sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore, the Lord shall set up the adversaries of reason against him and join his enemies together. The Syrians before and the Philistines behind, and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For the people turneth not unto him that smited them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. Therefore, the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush in one day. The ancient and honorable, he is the head. And the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed. Therefore, the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows. For everyone is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burneth as the fire. It shall devour the briars and thorns and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire. No man shall spare his brother, and he shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry. And he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied. They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. Manasseh, Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh, and they together shall be against Judah. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for providing us with your words, for preserving them perfectly for us today, to study, to learn from, and to live by. Lord, I ask that you would please illuminate us this evening. I pray that you would help me to be able to preach with clarity, clarity of mind, and clarity of speech, and that you would just use me to expound on your words and to give the proper teaching to your Lord. And I pray that you would please help all of us to learn tonight and to grow and to be able to pay attention and be able to just learn all the things that you can teach us tonight. Lord, we love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, Isaiah chapter 9, very famous passage. Now, before we even get started with verse number 1, this chapter division here is kind of in the middle of a thought. So we're going to go back to chapter number 8. And if you remember from last week in chapter 8, we already saw some prophecies of Jesus Christ. Those prophecies are going to continue. And to kind of help get us the context of starting in verse number 1, we need to just finish off chapter 8 again to refresh our minds and to see what we're looking at here. We're just going to go a couple of verses back in chapter 8. Look at verse number 21. The Bible says, and they shall pass through it hardly bested and hungry. And it shall come to pass that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves and curse their King and their God and look upward. And they shall look under the earth and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish. And they shall be driven to darkness And so the end of chapter 8 here as it continues into chapter 9, we see that people are blaming everyone else but themselves. There's judgment coming upon the people of Israel and the people of Judah. And they're looking up. They're hungry. And they're hungry, it says in verse 21. They're going to fret themselves. They curse their King. So they're cursing their leadership, their political leadership. And then they're cursing God. They're blaming everybody. It's God's fault. It's the King's fault. It's whoever's in charge of us. It's not my fault. But it is the people of the land that were doing the wickedness. They're the ones that the reason why the judgment is coming on them anyways is that they shall look unto the earth and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish. And they shall be driven to darkness. And when people aren't willing to recognize their sins, when people aren't willing to acknowledge their faults and see where they're wrong, that's going to start turning into a pretty dark place. And obviously, the darkness there is not talking about physically. It's not talking about, oh, there's been clouds and overcast skies for a long time. No, the darkness is talking about spiritual darkness. It's a time of spiritual darkness, dimness of anguish, driven to darkness. Then we're going to pick up here now in verse number nine because it's going to compare now this darkness with the previous darkness. Verse number one, the Bible 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 in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness now, he's referring to this darkness. He's referring to this people. And now we're getting into the prophecy. And we're going to finish reading verse number two, and then we're going to get into Matthew chapter four because this is expounded upon a little bit in Matthew four what this prophecy is talking about. Verse two says, the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. So let's turn to Matthew chapter four to see what this is really talking about. He's talking about the land that's been afflicted. And it's become dark. And the people that walked in darkness, the Bible says here, they've seen a great light. Let's see this verse, this passage, quoted now in Matthew four, look at verse number 12. The Bible says, now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee. And in verse one of Isaiah 9, it is talking about Zebulun, Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations. So he's going to Galilee, just the same exact places that were referenced here. And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the seacoast and the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness saw great light. And to them which sat in the region in shadow of death, light is sprung up. From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So obviously, what we're seeing here is this reference to Jesus Christ. Now, the light that's being shined in darkness, what do you think that light is? You've got a people cursing God. You've got a people not repentant. You've got a people that are in darkness. And Jesus is going forth now, and he's going forth with his disciples into the land of Zebulun, into the land of Naphtali, and going through. And what is Jesus doing in his ministry? He's preaching the gospel. I mean, the Bible teaches over and over again that we as believers are not supposed to keep our light hidden as like underneath a bushel, but we're supposed to let our light shine forth. And the light, that glorious light, is the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's not just the light of righteousness. It's not just a light of right living and doing good, which those are a good thing to do. But literally going through and shining this light in the darkness, he's talking about preaching the gospel. And this is what is being prophesied that's going to happen in Isaiah chapter 8, saying, hey, this place is getting dark, and people are cursing God. People are blaming the king. They're not looking at themselves. But you know what? The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them have the light shine. Let's go back to Isaiah 9, verse number 3. I have a lot to go through tonight, and I'm going to try to go through as quickly as possible. I might have to skip over a few things for sake of time, because there's one particular passage, the most famous passage, Isaiah 9, 6, that I'm going to spend quite a bit of time on in just a few minutes here, because it's extremely important. I want to give a proper explanation on that verse, just so that there is clarity for everybody here, since relatively recently there's been people who have been spreading confusion on this issue. But let's keep reading. Verse number 3, the Bible reads, Dallas multiplied the nation and not increased the joy. They joy before thee according to the joy and harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. This is the, I think this is continuing with this prophecy of Jesus Christ, who's shining the light, being one who breaks the yoke of his burden. His yoke is easy. And your burden is light. And carrying around that sin burden, and that sin punishment of death and hell, and trying to obey the law to get to be saved, or anything like that, that's a big burden. It's big, because no one can carry that burden. We're not capable of being able to live perfectly to avoid hell, because we're all sinners. And you have that burden. Every sinner has that burden hanging over their head, but the moment you get saved, when you receive the light, when you see the light, when the light is preached unto you, and you receive that, that burden is lifted off your shoulders. So what a great burden that is that's lifted. What a great feeling it is to have that yoke and that burden removed from you, because you've received salvation. It says, for thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood. But this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. Verse 6, 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. Now, obviously, this is a reference to Jesus Christ. Widely accepted in Christianity, I think, everywhere. If you can't accept this as being a prophecy of Jesus Christ, then you shouldn't even call yourself a Christian, because I haven't heard of anyone disputing this passage at all on the prophetical nature of it, talking about Jesus Christ being the child that's born, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. Now, an interesting fact here, the word government is not found in scripture very many times. The word government is actually only found four times in the Bible. Twice in this chapter is the word government used. Once in chapter 22 of Isaiah, and I'm going to get there a little bit later, so just keep that in mind, which is also a reference with Jesus Christ. But the reason I'm bringing all this up is because the other place that it talks about this out of these three times in Isaiah, it's brought up once in 2 Peter chapter 2 that talks about how reprobates despise government. They despise government. And people say, well, I don't really like the government, right? Well, that's not the same thing. That's not the same government that it's talking about. Now, on the one hand, you can say, yes, it is. Reprobates, I think, they don't like being governed at all, but they also like to use government and use the power, like big bullies, to try to silence everyone else. But the government, they really don't like, and the one they really despise, it's not the human government. It's Jesus's government. It's the government that comes from God. It's the law that comes from the Lord. That's what the reprobate despises. And when it says they despise government, it's talking about God governing their lives, because they're wicked, sinful people that want to have nothing to do with the law of the Lord. I thought it's kind of interesting. Out of the four times mentioned, the three times is literally referring to Jesus being the head of the government. And then the last time is talking about reprobates. Again, in 2 Peter 2, for the sake of time, I'm not going to turn there and read that for you. If you know the passage, you know what I'm talking about. They despise government. Let's get into these names, though, now. And we're going to go through all these names referring to Jesus Christ. And I want to point out here that all of these names and all these titles, what I'm going to be touching on today is the concept of the Trinity, because I'm going to focus, lastly, on the Everlasting Father. It's going to be the last one that we go through. And I'm going to fully debunk the oneness interpretation of this passage, trying to say that when the Bible says here, the Everlasting Father is literally talking about Jesus Christ being God the Father. And that is completely false. It's a false understanding, a false interpretation of this passage. I'm not going to get into all of the proofs from the New Testament on the Trinity itself. I preach entire sermon on that, but I do want to cover this one passage and explain what it fully means. We have plenty of passages in New Testament that fully give us a lot of detail. I'll cover a little bit, but not a whole lot, on the relationship of God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit being three in one. Now, we don't have lots of information clearly given in the Old Testament about that fact about God, about who He is. You can see it. It's there, definitely, in scripture. But it's harder. If you only had the Old Testament to read, it would be a lot harder to figure out that nature, the tri-unile nature of God, just from Old Testament scriptures. I mean, the New Testament gives so much light on the Old Testament and reveals so much more information that a lot of people didn't have previously. And that one specifically is huge. And it makes sense that it wasn't fully revealed until then anyways, because that's when Jesus Christ came on this earth. That's when Jesus Christ was born and was here and the coming Savior. I think one of the things that we're seeing here is that the child that's going to be born is deity, is God in the flesh. These titles that we're seeing here, Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace, is referring to the fact that God is going to be born as a man. I mean, that's a pretty solid prophecy right there telling us who is expected to come. And the fact that the Jews will never believe that God was going to manifest Himself in the flesh, because you didn't believe the Bible. You didn't even understand the prophecy because you were never saved. You didn't believe in the Lord. You're still trusting in your works. And that's why, because you have blinders on, you weren't able to understand Isaiah 9.6. That's literally prophesying God being born to become the ruler. Now, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself because I want to apply each one of these titles or these names that says His name shall be called. So all of these various names being ascribed to Jesus Christ, we're going to look just real briefly at some other passages, some other scriptures, about each one of these titles and how they apply to Jesus Christ. Obviously, they do. We know that they do. But I want to kind of quickly go through some of these. Turn, if you would, to Matthew 21. I'm going to read from Psalm 40, verse 5. I'm just going to deal with that first one. His name shall be called Wonderful. The Bible says in Psalm 40, verse 5, many, O Lord, my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done. And thy thoughts which are to us-ward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. And before I even continue on, I just want to make mention of this, too, is that God and three persons, each of the three persons of God share attributes. So it's not like these attributes are only specific to Jesus Christ. I think, in fact, that all of these attributes are applicable 100% to all of the three persons of the Trinity, to the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, all wonderful. They're all counselors. They're all the mighty God. And in the sense here, the everlasting Father, I'm going to cover that more in depth, and the Prince of Peace. These are all peace, wonderful, all these things completely are engulfed in God in general, without even trying to separate the one Lord, the one God, into the three persons. And we really don't see that very much in the Old Testament anyway. So this passage is not a passage trying to teach on the tri-unal aspect of God. Because what the one has been a cause we're going to do, they're going to turn to us and say, see, look, the everlasting Father, that means Jesus is the Father, that Jesus is God the Father. And that's not at all what this passage is trying to teach. It's not the context of it. It has nothing to do with that. But again, I'm getting too far ahead of myself here. So the Bible says, you're in Matthew 21. Psalm 40 said that, many, O Lord, my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done. Wonderful. Can you describe anything that Jesus did that's not wonderful? It's a wonder, all the things that he did. It's very wonderful. He did a lot of wonderful works. He healed people. He raised the dead. He did so many wonderful things on this earth. Of course, it should be pretty easy to see that that applies to him. Matthew 21, verse 15 says, and when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, talking about Jesus Christ, the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple saying, Hosanna to the son of David, they were sore displeased. So we have the Bible recording there. Jesus was doing wonderful things. The fact that Jesus is a counselor, turn to John chapter 1. In Isaiah 11, I'm going to preach on this more in a couple of weeks by Isaiah 11, verse 1. I'm going to read this. He's called a counselor. Bible says, Isaiah 11, 1, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge of the fear of the Lord. And that's another reference to the coming of Jesus Christ. A rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Very clearly talking about Jesus Christ being prophesied to come and that he was going to have the spirit of counsel, the spirit of wisdom and understanding. You need wisdom and understanding to be a good counselor. Because what does a counselor do? They give advice. They know they have discretion. They're able to counsel, hey, we should do this and not do this. And I also want to point out that all of these attributes are someone that would be in a position of leadership or running a kingdom that's going to have a government on their shoulders. Because all these attributes, these names, have to do with the fact that Jesus is going to have the government upon his shoulder. Because again, that's a context of Isaiah 9.6. John 1.4 says, in him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. Verse 9 says, that was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. So yeah, he's a good counselor. I mean, he's the light. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And being the way, being a light shining in darkness, of course, he's a good counselor. The mighty God is the next one we're going to look at. And if you want to follow along, you could turn to Genesis chapter 49. But I want to make a point here, too, and with most of these references. The mighty God is no different than God Almighty. You run into Jehovah's Witnesses, and you try to show them, well, look, Jesus, I mean, he's God, right? It says right here, he's the mighty God. How could you say that? Well, you know, he's the mighty God, but he's not Almighty. And that's what they like to say. Like, that's their great proof. I'm sure plenty of you have had this experience talking to Jehovah's Witnesses. And that's because they don't believe in just one God. And in their false version of the Bible, which is, by the way, when you go out soul winning, have a Bible. Don't rely on, I've heard of people, like, where they just want to say, oh, get your Bible, and I'm going to show you from your Bible. Don't do that. Don't do that. I've heard that. I've seen it, where people are just like, oh, I want them to feel more comfortable. Like, look, you bring the word of God. You show them what the Bible says. Don't let them go get their false perversion of the Bible and then try to show them how to be saved out of that. Because if you've got a FJW or JFW, a false Jehovah's Witness, Jehovah's False Witness, they're going to bring you a New World Translation. And if you try to show them that Jesus is God from John 1-1, you're going to have a problem trying to prove it to them out of their scripture, out of their Bible. Because the Bible says in John 1-1, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God, their translation says in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was a God. That one letter, a, makes all the difference in the world. Well, was he a God, or was he God? See, they believe in God, that, oh, there's gods, many, and lords, many, because they don't understand. That's talking about devils. When the Bible says there's gods, many, and lords, many, yeah, there are a lot of gods. They're not real gods. A lot of people call them gods. The gods that people worship are actually devils. No, Jesus is the mighty God, which is the same as God almighty. It doesn't matter. It's the same type of attribute being given there. But I'm going to show that to you, too, from how the scripture uses it interchangeably. So I'm not just saying that. You can even see, just by looking at the Bible, Genesis 49, verse 22, the Bible says, Joseph is a fruitful bile, even a fruitful bile by a well, whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him. But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. So there is the mighty God of Jacob. The mighty God of Jacob, who is that? Jehovah's Witnesses. Who's that talking about? Hopefully you're going to say, well, that's Jehovah. It's God, absolutely. So then the son that's given, being called the mighty God, oh, but it's not the mighty God of Jacob? Are you kidding me? How many mighty gods are there? The mighty God of Jacob from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel. Who's that? Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty. It's all referring to the same thing here, the mighty God of Jacob, the God of thy father, who shall help me, and by the Almighty. Who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breast, and of the womb. So we're seeing the mighty God and the Almighty. It's the same person. It's the same God being talked about in this passage. Mighty, almighty, doesn't matter. Deuteronomy 7, verse 21 says, thou shalt not be affrighted at them. Turn, if you would, to Jeremiah 32. Deuteronomy 7, 21 says, thou shalt not be affrighted at them, for the Lord thy God is among you. The Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible. The mighty God. So you're going to tell me that these names, these attributes being assigned to God, the mighty God. Oh, but this isn't talking about the same mighty God in Isaiah 9, 6, Jehovah's Witness. Really? Psalm 50, verse 1 says, the mighty God, the mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Jeremiah 32 is where you should be. Verse 17, the Bible says, our Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm. And there is nothing too hard for thee. Thou shallest love in kindness unto thousands and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them. The great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts is his name. Whose name is the mighty God? The Lord of hosts. And who's being born? The child that's to be born, and the government shall be upon his shoulders? The mighty God. You say, Pastor Burson, so why is it saying this? Doesn't this prove oneness then? Because it says the Lord of hosts. Isn't that the Father? Look, when the Bible says that word, that the Lord there, I would say probably the majority of times it's just referring to God. When you say God, God is inclusive of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. You could talk about God as one God without always having to differentiate which person of God that you're referring to, because usually it doesn't matter. You can't get too hyper focused on every single verse that's just referring to God. Because if you say, if God did this, hey, God worked in my life. If you said, God delivered me out of this sin. Well, was it the Holy Spirit? Or was it Jesus? Ha, ha, ha, tell me. Look, you can speak about God as one God, because God is one God. There's one Lord. And that's what the Bible does all throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament. Just refers to God. Now, we do get the extra understanding and teaching of the Trinity to help us understand more fully who God is. But you cannot look at every single verse to try to come to some conclusion on every single one like that. And that's where people get it wrong, is trying to just assume that this is, well, this is just referring to the Father. This is referring to the Father. You don't know that. Because it's not using that type of terminology. You're just saying the Lord. The Lord is referring to God. And even Jehovah's Witnesses get that wrong, because they only can see the Father as God. So they see Jehovah. They see the Lord. They just say the Father. Don't fall into their trap of just assuming that that's just the way it is, because that's the way that they read it. But even if they have a problem, then, reading it this way, because if anything, then they should believe in oneness, because the person that was born is the mighty God. And if you're going to say that's the Father, then at least they'd be ascribing deity to Christ. Their problem is they're not even describing deity at all. They'd still be wrong, but my point is when you say the mighty God is His name, you're not taking the name of God and naming someone who's not God. You all know that. I feel like I'm beating dead whores at this point, because it's so stupid. And I'll tell you this much, too. When we go out sowing, we love people who want to try to win them to Christ. But if they're not going to receive scripture, especially just plain as day scripture, you give them two admonitions, and you get out of there. Don't argue with these people, because they'll sit there and argue with you all day. Many of them will. Many of them will eat up your time and waste all your time, and they'll try to get you in these arguments and keep talking and talking and talking and talking. And then you end up missing out on someone next door that would get saved if you would just preach to them, because you're just spending all your stinking time trying to convince someone who can't even see the scripture that calls the Son being born Jesus Christ the mighty God and just can't accept that. And I'm sorry if you could look at scripture and just, I don't believe that. Well, then your heart's not right. I know you may have been brainwashed, but if you just can't accept what the scripture says, then there's not much I can do for you, because it's the word of God that's powerful. And if you refuse the word of God, none of your explanations are going to matter. When people could point at that book and just say, I don't believe that, move on. Move on. Don't think that your word's going to be more powerful than God's word. No point. So anyways, obviously we know Jesus is God. It says he's God. There's many other attributes we can turn to. I just wanted to point out how the mighty God is used also as a name for the Lord in the Old Testament, not just God Almighty, that they're used interchangeably. No difference there at all. Now I'm going to cover the name of the Prince of Peace. And let's see where I want you to turn. Turn to John 14. Turn to John, chapter 14. And I'm going out of order just by one, because I want to focus on the Everlasting Father as kind of a main point. The Prince of Peace is also ascribed to Jesus. John 16, verse 33, the Bible says, these things have I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. So of course, Jesus brings us peace. He breaks us at one with the Father. He makes us at one because of our sins, because of the sin atonement. He brings peace when there's disunity with God because of our sin, because of his pain for our sin, brings peace. He says, hey, there's tribulation that you're going to have in the world, but don't worry. I bring peace. You'll have tribulation in the world, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. Acts 10, 36 says, the word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. Romans 5, 1 says, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. John 14 is where I had to turn. Verse 27, the Bible says, peace I leave with you. Jesus speaking, peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. So these names being ascribed to Jesus Christ, obviously, they're well-deserved and very scriptural. Now, the everlasting Father, because people will say, well, if that doesn't mean that he's God the Father, then what does it mean? And I'm going to bring forward a couple of suggestions that are very legitimate, because it does need to be answered. People will say, they call that the smoking gun. Now, before I even get into this, when you have so many mountains, read the book of John. Read all the gospels. You can see the distinction between Jesus, the Son, and God the Father. God the Son and God the Father, so many distinctions in scripture. There's more distinctions between the two than there is the unity, versus saying that they're one. Now, both are true. But when you just start looking at Jesus praying to the Father and all these other things, you're going to see more that there is distinction. Now, we also know and see, and there's plenty of verses that talk about their unity, but the fact that Jesus is not the Father is evident all through. I mean, you turn to so many scriptures to show that that's just not true, that the Son is not the Father. And the Father is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Son, but they're God. And when you have one verse, and you say, I mean, it says it's the everlasting Father. Look, let's get it in context. Let's figure out what it means. Don't just assume it's all just Jesus. The Son must be the Father then, because it's not what that means. Now, I'll be honest. I used to think, quite a while back now, when I understood this passage, I never gave it a lot of thought, because it's so famous and you hear it a lot. It's actually one of those ones that you could not think about really what it means. For many people, John 3.16 is a good example of that. It's a verse that you hear all the time. Many people can quote it out so many, but how many people can quote that verse and still not really know what it means? You could hear it over and over again, but you never really give it the time to think about it. Say, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Wow, there's a lot of love right there, even just thinking about that, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. I mean, that inherently contains the gospel, that it's whosoever believeth in Him. It doesn't say anything about living a good life, getting rid of your sins. But this is what all these people believe, but they know that verse. And they say, oh, yeah, John 3.16, great verse. I believe that. And then oftentimes, I've had it where I've explained it, expounded on the people. Like, wow, they've been enlightened, because no matter how much they've heard it, they didn't really think about it. For me, Isaiah 9.6 was kind of one of those verses, just because you look at it, and it's clearly just talking about the deity of Christ. Great. So my understanding of it before was just that, well, it's the deity of Christ, these three are one. Therefore, when saying the everlasting Father, it's talking about Jesus, because these three are one. But that was a really inaccurate way of just kind of brushing it aside and not giving a good, proper explanation of it, because in a sense, if you follow that path, you're going to end up coming to the conclusion saying that, well, then he is the Father, right? And I never believed that Jesus was the Father, but I would kind of say the things that could easily lead you to think that to be true. And my understanding, I didn't dig into it deep enough to really care to think, what is this talking about here? But in any case, let's look at John 14, because John 14, I know you're already in that passage. We're going to see that Jesus is going to be called the everlasting Father here, but it's not referring to being God the Father. And John 14 does a good job of explaining to us that the Father is in Jesus, and Jesus is in the Father. But let's just read the passage first, and I'll get into it. Verse number 6. John 14, verse 6, the Bible says, Jesus saith on him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And we're going to continue to see this distinction, OK? You can't come unto the Father unless you go through Jesus Christ. If you had known me, you should have known my Father also, and from henceforth ye know him and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and how sayest thou then, show us the Father. Now, you say, well, then, Pastor Brozins, how could he even make this statement if he's not the Father? Because the Bible says that he's the express image of his person. They share the same attributes. He's still God in the flesh. So when you've seen Jesus, he's saying, you know, you've seen the Father, because he's the express image of his person. He looks just like him, and he shares all those same attributes. Now, look at what it says in verse 10, because he clarifies this even more. Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? So, and again, when we're talking about the, you know, I would say the complexity of God, like kind of inherently who God is and understanding the concept of three and one, there's going to be at some level or some point where we probably just aren't going to fully have, like, the perfect comprehension of the Father being in him and he in him. But we have this language of the separation, and he's talking about them as different. And we could see, you know, I could go on and on about, Jesus said, not my will, but die and be done, how they could have different wills, but all the same unity of being one. And he says, you know, the Father is in me, and I am in him. So he just got done saying, you know, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. But then he's saying, well, don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the work. So God is dwelling in him, and he's dwelling in the Father, but they're still distinct. So the Father dwelling in Christ and being with the Son, you can see the Father in the Son, since he's dwelling in him. And that's how he's explaining this. Like, how could you not see the Father in me? Because he dwells in me. He lives in me. He says, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very work's sake. Now, if he is the Father, he wouldn't say, believe me that I am in the Father. He'd say, believe me that I am the Father. And he never says that, ever, never, one time in scripture does Jesus ever say that he is the Father. The only thing that we have that would even be close to that is Isaiah 9.6, giving the name of everlasting Father to Jesus. But again, this isn't talking about the Godhead. This isn't talking about God the Father in Isaiah 9.6. This is just a title that's given to him that is associated with him being a ruler. And we'll get into that real soon. I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself. Turn to Romans chapter 4, Romans chapter 4. So understanding this, John 14, if you go to a multitude of other verses showing the distinction between God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, him saying, I'm in the Father, but he's not the Father, is very important. So how can Jesus be considered a father then? If he's called the everlasting Father. Well, there's multiple ways that you could be considered a father from scripture. And I'm going to show that to you and clearly see. So you're going to have many ways to interpret this. But I'm going to give you finally what I believe, because even though there may be many ways you can see this, I think there's one way that's right. That what it really means, just what does it mean? Romans 4, verse 11, the Bible says, here we're going to look at Abraham. Because Abraham is considered a father to all believers, to everyone of faith. He's considered a father. Now, is he your father? No, but he's called a father. He's called a father of faith. Look at Romans 4, verse 11, the Bible says, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being uncircumcised, is referring to Abraham. He received the sign of circumcision that he might be the father of all them that believe. Abraham received the sign of circumcision that he might be the father of all them that believe. Well, there's only, I mean, does that mean he's God the father? No. Does that mean he's Jesus Christ? No. But he's still being called a father. Now, he's not being called everlasting father. But is Jesus everlasting? Without father, without mother? Having neither beginning of days nor end of life? I think so. Though they be not circumcised, the righteousness might be imputed on them also. Verse 12, and the father of circumcision. So now he's called the father of circumcision. He's the father of all them that believe. He's the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. So he's not even the father of the physical seed. He's father of the spiritual seed is what he's referring to. Verse number 16, jump down to verse 16. The Bible says, therefore is of faith, that it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Galatians chapter 3, verse number 6, the Bible reads, even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. So if they're the children of Abraham, then Abraham's their father. And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed. So and they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. And then, of course, Romans 9. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 4. Romans 9, verse 6 says, not as though the word of God hath taken into effect, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. So many ways you can see how people can be a father, right? And how could Jesus not be considered a father, at least through the gospel, through salvation, right? People being saved. If Abraham can be counted as a father of faith, of those that believe, isn't it possible that Jesus Christ could too? It's a possibility. Now, I don't think that that's what the context is talking about, but we'll get to that. I'm just saying we could look at this and say, well, how could Jesus be called everlasting father if he's not God the father? Well, there's a good example. Abraham's called a father for a different reason than physically being a father. Paul is also considered a father. Philippians chapter 2, verse 22, the Bible says, but ye know the proof of him that as a son with the father he had served with me in the gospel. He's talking about Timotheus, that he served with him as a father with the son. Now, it doesn't say he was the father. It just says as a father and a son. But look at 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 14. The Bible reads, I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons, I warn you. So now he is calling these people his sons. For though ye have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. So he's talking to people. He's considered a son. And his son's saying, hey, follow me as you'd follow a father, because you're my sons. So follow me. Turn, if you would, to John chapter 8. And even just by being a follower or being like someone, you can be considered like being their father. The person that you're following can be considered the father. And being born of God, being a child of God, then God can be your father. And we know this. But look at what Jesus says in John 8, verse 37. The Bible reads, I know that you're Abraham's seed, but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, if ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. So he's ascribing the person who's really their father with the works that they're doing. Well, are you doing the works of your father? You're not doing the works of Abraham. You're not living like Abraham. You're not being or acting like Abraham. So how could you call Abraham your father? And he's saying, I know physically that you're a seed, like I know that. But you're not doing the works of Abraham, which means Abraham's not really your father. I mean, this is what he's telling his people. So if you're doing the works of Christ, if you're a disciple of Christ, if you're a Christian and following Jesus, then why couldn't Jesus be considered your father? You're doing the works of your father, right? Just as Jesus did the works of his father. It's just another way to look at this. How could he be called a father? Because he can be. Because there's many ways that you can be called a father and be known, and his name can be Everlasting Father, without being God the Father. Verse 40 says, but ye seek now to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God, this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they unto him, we be not born of fornication. We have one father, even God. Jesus said unto them, if God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. And then jumped on verse number 58, because this is what Jesus said. They got mad. Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. So you call Jesus a father in the sense of people following him and doing the works of him. And here, how about the everlasting part? I am. I am that I am. And we're born again. How about this? We're born again through the word of God. Isn't that the seed that needs to be sown? That brings that new life, and brings that new man, and brings that new creature in your heart that makes you a child of God? The word of God is the seed that's sown in your heart. Well, who is the word? In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God, and the word was God. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. So can we maybe call Jesus a father in that sense? I don't see why not. You can call Jesus the Holy Ghost and the God the Father father. They all have the same attribute in our salvation. They're all play a part in our salvation. They're all necessary, because it's all God, because God's necessary for our salvation. So when you're begotten, when you're born again, God is our Father, our spiritual Father. God. You mean God the Father? Yep. You mean God the Son? Yep. You mean God the Holy Ghost? Yep. God is our Father. So that same God that's born becomes a man. Jesus Christ can also be called an everlasting father without being the same as the other person, one of the other persons of the Trinity, God the Father. Does that make sense? Now, all of that said, to just give plenty of reasonable understandings or interpretations of this verse that are not just saying that Jesus Christ is God the Father, OK? But I think the reason for calling Jesus the everlasting Father is actually a lot simpler and is contained in the context of the verse itself and can be further proven with context from Isaiah 22. So you turn to Isaiah chapter 22. Now, all the titles given in Isaiah 9.6 are attributes that are associated with the government being upon his shoulders. Isaiah 9.6 says, unto us the child is born, unto us the son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. That verse doesn't stop there, right? But you've got a colon that says his name shall be called, and then it lists off those names. In literal context of what it's talking about here, it's talking about this ruler that's going to come. It's talking about the government being on his shoulders. And it gives these attributes wonderful, OK? A great ruler, a great king should be wonderful, right? They should have an attribute of being wonderful. Wow, what a wonderful king. They should have the attribute of being a counselor because they have wisdom and knowledge and knowing what should be done. They could provide the great counsel on, hey, you need to run this area like this. They're at the top, right? They're telling people what to do because every king in a large kingdom is going to have other people ruling underneath them. And they're going to be that counselor. And what a better counselor than Jesus Christ. But that position requires that skill, right, to be a great ruler, right? Wonderful counselor, the mighty God. Now, even just using the word God, oftentimes gods are referring to rulers, about not reviling the gods. And the concept of that God, it's actually, I think it's a lower definition of the word, too. I mean, generally, we understand God to be the supreme being. But the term is used for rulers also in the scripture, kind of loosely. But it's referring to them as being like gods multiple times. I've actually preached on that in the past. So wonderful counselor, mighty, I mean, being mighty, too, as a ruler, right? The mighty God, the mighty ruler, the mighty supreme. And God is a ruler. It's part of his name. That's part of being God, being a ruler, being almighty. The everlasting father, which, again, I'm going to show you here why this is tied in with being a ruler. And then the prince of peace. And even the word prince comes from the word principle or first, right? And prince in the scripture usually is actually referring to like a king. It's not just referring to the son of a king, which is kind of how we commonly know about how we think of the term prince. But prince is the first. He's the principle. So that next in line son is often referred to as a prince because he's first in line to be the next king. But when you read scripture, princes are the kings. You're referring to princes being kings. You may find also examples where it's the son, but in general, you see both. So being the prince, but then not just the prince, but the prince of peace. And we know that when Jesus Christ comes and rules, that there's going to be peace, right? Because he's going to rule perfectly. He's going to rule with a rod of iron. He's going to rule the way that things ought to be ruled. So having the government on his shoulders, wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace, are all attributes of a benevolent ruler. Those all are going to be tied together with that rule. Isaiah 22 is where I had you turn. Look at verse number 20. The Bible says, and it shall come to pass in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah. And I think that this is referring to another prophecy of Jesus Christ. But let's keep reading. You'll understand why. Verse 21, 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. So he's talking about someone who's got the government committed to his hand being a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And not only is this in context of the Bible, it's in the context of Isaiah. Really close to this, I mean, Isaiah 22, it's very clearly showing you that being a father is tied into, being a father to the nation is tied into having the government under your hands. And then in verse 22, this is, again, the reason why I think this is talking about Jesus. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his, what? Shoulder. So he shall open and none shall shut. And he shall shut and none shall open. I think we've heard references to that before. Who's able to do that? God. God's able to open the doors that no one can shut and shut the doors that no one can open. The government is on his shoulders. That is how he's a father. And it says that in verse, Isaiah, go back to Isaiah 9, because the next verse, verse 7, says of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. There shall be no end. His rules reign. There shall be no end, which is why he's the everlasting father. Because there's going to be no end. So he's a father to the nations. There shall be no end. Now we know that with the millennial reign of Christ, Jesus Christ is going to be sitting at the top even of the authority structure. With God the Father, where he's ruling and reigning, and he's going to give up that authority, that power back to the Father. But do you think that Jesus is not still going to continue to rule and reign? Of course he is. So he could still be continued, that everlasting father, because he's still going to be ruling and reigning. He may not be with the utmost power in the chain of God. But that's insignificant compared to all of us. He's still going to be ruling and reigning and still could be considered that everlasting father. I mean, hopefully that makes sense. I think this is the most clear understanding of why he's being referred to as the everlasting father. It perfectly fits in the context. It's all talking about the government. And we have Isaiah 22 literally calling someone being a father to the people that he's ruling over, because the government is on his shoulders. Pretty straightforward. Oh, man. That took longer than I was hoping it would to get through. But you know what? It's important. It is important to make sure that that's nailed down. Because here's what happens. I understand the way that you feel. Because I feel the same way sometimes when you've got someone where they're just hammering. Well, what about this verse, huh? And if you don't have an answer for it and you don't really fully understand it yourself, I'm not saying it's going to make you change your mind necessarily. And you shouldn't, especially if you have a preponderance of evidence. You know, look, I've got all these verses that are telling me why I believe what I believe. And I can't understand this one. But you know what? Sometimes those ones can really try to trip you up. And that shouldn't be the case. You should try not to let one verse trip you up. But it's also good to have a really good understanding of why it says what it says. And perfectly, when I figured this out, I was just like, that is absolutely right. I have no question, no doubt. I've heard explanations in the past. I've heard different things about this. But this is right. And I have no doubts about this whatsoever on this understanding of the scripture. I brought up those other reasons just to throw them out there. Because I think they're all legitimate. But this is the reason why it's called Everlasting Father. I would say hands down, no doubt about it. It fits perfectly in context to what it says. So I hope that if you had any questions or doubts about that, that this clears it up a little bit for you. Verse number eight, Isaiah 9, Bible reads, the Lord sent a word into Jacob. And it hath lighted upon Israel. There's so much more I wanted to say. But I'm going to get through. There's one more point I want to make. Verse number nine, and all the people shall know even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, the bricks are falling down, but we will build with hewn stones. The sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. So we had this great prophetical statements about them living in darkness. But then, hey, the light's coming. And basically, a son's going to be born. And he's going to bear the gun. There's this great news. So they're getting this element of hope being prophesied here. But now we're kind of going back to, but I mean, they're still wicked. So the message still hasn't ultimately changed for the people other than, hey, there's going to be light. It's going to be great in the future as being prophesied. But you've got these people, and it's talking about the stoutness and the pride of their heart, of Ephraim and Samaria. And it says, the bricks are falling down. Things have been destroyed, but we're going to build with hewn stones. The sycamores are cut down, but we're going to change them into cedars. So regardless of the destruction, they're just saying, hey, we're just going to build bigger and better things. Verse 11 says, therefore, the Lord shall set up the adversaries of reason against him and join his enemies together. So he's saying, because they have this attitude, because their spirit isn't broken, because they think, hey, we're just going to keep on rebuilding. Even though there's destruction has come, we're just going to build bigger and better things. And you know what? They've got this pride and the stoutness of heart. They haven't been brought low enough yet. They've already received, and God brought some darkness in, but it's not enough. They've got this pride and the stoutness of heart. Therefore, he's going to set up the adversaries of reason against him and join his enemies together, the Syrians before and the Philistines behind. And they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. So they're being chastised by God, and they're just not turning to God at all. And look, we need to get this right in our lives. When you start noticing the chastening of God, don't harden your heart, and don't let yourself continue to get lifted up with pride. Humble yourself before it gets worse. Because especially as a child of God, if you've got pride welling up and you start to get disciplined, you start to receive the punishment from the hand of God, it's going to be so much better for you. Receive that correction right away, and turn to God, and repent. Because he's not going to stop. And here's the thing. You understand this, too. If you don't have children, if you do have children, you probably already understand this. If you already have children and don't understand this, then listen up. Because as a parent, there's going to be times where you have to be stubborn. In order to raise your children right, your children can't break you. You need to break them. And there's times where your child's just going to defy, and they're going to have their own little pride heart going that they're going to do what they want to do, and you've got to say no. And the hammer's going to come down. And then if they still think that they're going to do what they're going to do, guess what? You've got to say no. And it may take a few times. And some children, and everyone's a little bit different, and some children are worse than others. And we've had our share of more difficult ones and less difficult ones. Some of them can be really easy. But some of them, I'm telling you what, you have to not back down. You have to just be consistent. And no, no, no. If you say something, that's the way it's going to be. And if they continue to rebel, then you're going to continue to discipline. And you know what? You're not going to withhold. You're not going to hold back. You're going to say, and for all this, his anger is not turned back. The hand better be stretched out still so your children realize that if they're going to keep on doing wrong and keep on not acknowledging their sin and not acknowledging they did wrong, then the hand is going to keep on being stretched out still. Because that's the way that a father deals with his children. And that's the way that we ought to deal with our children. And this is the thing that gets God more angry. For all this, the people turn not onto him that smite at them. And kids, pay attention. When you're getting disciplined, you're getting punished, accept the correction. Make it easier on yourself. Because your parents, if they're doing what's right, they're not going to back down. They're going to keep on doing what needs to be done. Verse 14 says, therefore, so because they're not turning back to him, therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The ancient and honorable, he is the head. And the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err. And they that are led of them are destroyed. Before I continue any further, by the way, three times in this passage, the Bible says, for all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. So I mean, this is just happening over and over and over again with these people. And God's going to keep on going and going and going and not give up. But what we see is happening here, it says the ancient and honorable is at the head, like the head of the people, and those wicked false prophets that are just preaching lies. Oh, peace, peace. When there is no peace, the ones that are preaching for money, and they're making merchandise to the people, and they care about the people, and they're teaching lies, the Bible says, he is the tail. That's how God thinks about these people. The tail is at the rear end, that stinky rear end. That's where those people are, versus the ancient and honorable is at the head. But here's the thing, too. I think the reason why God's bringing this up, that they're at the tail and the ancient and honorable is at the head, because the next verse says, the leaders of this people cause them to err. They that are led of them are destroyed. You ever heard of the expression of the tail wagging the dog? And I think that's the influence of these wicked dogs being at the tail, where they would belong, just hey, in the back, not deserving anything, but they're wagging the dog. It's supposed to be the dog's wagging his tail, right? In control, in power, determining when his tail is going to go. So the expression of the tail wagging the dog is like, no, the tail's actually in charge, controlling the rest of the dog. And I think that's what we see here, is you've got these false prophets that are the tail and should have no influence. And they should be the ones being told what to do and get out of there. But they're having the power and influence over the head, over the honorable and the ancient men that are deceiving the rulers into going into wickedness and causing them to err. And false prophets could have a lot of influence. And they do. They have a lot of influence, even in our life. And they have a lot of influence on political leadership. And that's why they have their own judgment from God, the false prophets that we read about in Jude and 2 Peter chapter 2. Let's keep reading here, verse 17. Let me finish verse 16. For the leaders of these people cause them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed. Therefore, the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows. For everyone is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burneth as the fire. It shall devour the briars and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest. And they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire. No man shall spare his brother. What a remarkable way of expressing the wrath and destruction from the Lord. I mean, think about a fire. What's the fuel for a fire? Well, you throw sticks on there, whatever. That's what's burning. This and the people are going to be the fuel of the fire. People being those logs that are being burned. That conjures up a very frightening, and ought to be a frightening thought of the wrath of the Lord being poured out. No man shall spare his brother. But see, these people, they don't have the fear of the Lord. And then continuing with their curse, verse 20 says, and he shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry. So he's going to grab. He's going to get something with his right hand. But he's still going to be hungry. And he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied. So no matter what they do, no matter what they're getting, no matter how much food they have, they're still not going to be satisfied. They're going to be hungry. They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. Now again, this is being a little bit figurative, because it's not just talking about literally just chewing on your own arm. He describes Nasi and Ephraim, because Nasi and Ephraim are brothers, but they're also tribes in Israel. So this is describing now the fighting and the war that's going to go on between the two arms, left arm and right arm, Nasi and Ephraim. Nasi, Ephraim, Ephraim, and Nasi. And they together shall be against Judah. So they're going to be fighting against each other. And then there's going to be warring against Judah. And for all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. So lots of doom and gloom here at the end of Isaiah chapter 9. But there's that great hope right in the middle. And even for a dark nation, even for a dark country, and Jesus Christ was bringing forth that light. And that's what we need to do. In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, we need to go shine that light of the gospel and make sure that we're preaching the good news and preaching the gospel to a lost world and to a world that is increasingly becoming more dark. We need to bring forth that light and just trust in the Lord. And all of these curses, they're not coming on us. And that wrath being poured out, we don't need to worry about the wrath of God. Now we need to worry about chastisement. We need to worry about punishment. We need to not have a stiff neck, right? He that being often at the reproved hardeneth neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. And I'm not exactly quoting that word perfect. I apologize. But yeah, we don't want to get to the point of being often reproved but having that stiff neck and having that hard heart. Because you might just end up finding yourself destroyed. Is God just like, I'm done? Let's stay humble, soft hearts, and shining that light. Let's borrow that word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for your words, for all the great truths that we could learn from your word. God, I pray that you would please just help us to study, to show ourselves approved. And as we study, you would enlighten us that you would give us more understanding and wisdom and knowledge, Lord, and help us to shine forth that wisdom and that light into this world and to do the job that you've given us to do and not to hide that light, dear Lord. And I pray that you would just help us to combat bad doctrine and false doctrine and even damnable heresies, Lord. And that we wouldn't get too hung up on verses that we may not understand, but give it time. Because in due time, I know that when we're asking for wisdom, that you'll give it to all men who ask liberally. And I pray it is not, Lord. And we know that you'll do that for us, but it's in your timing and not in ours. And help us not to get too worried about what some false teacher has to say about a passage that we may not have full understanding of. But I just ask that you just help us to continue to understand and learn more. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.