THE GLORY OF THE LORD JESUS
A Barrie Brown
Isaiah 9: 6
I have been carrying this verse for a little while, particularly in relation to the glories of the Lord Jesus. I thought it might be for our encouragement to consider the verse briefly, and to bring the application to the present time. Soon the time will come when the Lord Jesus will be received by the remnant of Israel and what a transformation will take place. It says at the beginning of John, when the Lord Jesus came in, “He came to his own, and his own received him not”, chap 1: 11. We know there were some that did receive Him, but this scripture says, “unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given”, and I think this applies to ourselves as believers, the Christian ‘us’. Think of the wonder of the Lord Jesus coming in; the language is choice, “unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given”. Think of the dignity of that! God said, “Thou art my Son; I this day have begotten thee”, (Ps 2: 7); the Lord’s sonship although foreknown, is presented in Scripture as belonging to the Lord Jesus in manhood.
I am just affected by this second clause of the verse; “and the government shall be upon his shoulder”. We recently had a prayer meeting where the brethren were very exercised that we should continue to be able to gather, and we besought the blessed God Himself as to the government. One of the things at the present time that has struck me is that that my prayers should be in earnest, and I should mean what I say. And I really felt the power in that meeting; we really besought that we should be able to gather, and I think the way was kept open to us at that time in God’s mercy. I have been thinking a little about the government at the moment, God being over all, but divine government is indirect; I suppose it is direct in relation to the saints and the assembly, but God is behind the scenes at the present time, and, in principle, secular government is of God. Another lesson at the present time is that, while we rightly feel some of the restrictions that are put upon us, the whole matter is certainly for my education. For example, I seek to learn to understand Romans 13 where Paul says: “Let every soul be subject to the authorities that are above him. For there is no authority except from God” (v 1), and “For rulers are not a terror to a good work”, (v 3), and so on. The Lord Himself said to Pilate, “Thou hadst no authority whatever against me if it were not given to thee from above”, John 19: 11. All this would encourage us to pray for the government. We might have our own opinion about things, but I think there is blessing in acknowledging and accepting government as set up by God. It might perhaps be of men, and all their failings and all these things; but then I was affected by this, a time soon to come: “the government shall be upon his shoulder”.
We do not need to look too far to consider who the “his” is; this is referring to the millennial day when government will be taken up directly by Christ, when righteousness will reign. What a wonderful time it will be; the Lord Jesus will deal with all the problems and trials of the present time. I carry an impression as to the millennial day; no doubt there is power in it, but I do not think in that sense there is effort; the power of the Person of the Lord Jesus is able to deal with all these things. We know that before it there will be a terrible time, spoken of as Jacob’s trouble, and tribulation coming soon upon this earth, and that would make us urgent in season and out of season in relation to our fellow men. But “the government shall be upon his shoulder”. I am sure the brethren remember that reference to the lost sheep that went astray, and the Lord Jesus says, in the parable, the sheep is found and put upon His shoulders (Luke 15: 5), so that when it comes to dealing with a soul all the strength and love of the Lord Jesus is involved. But one shoulder is enough here; how mighty the Lord Jesus is, and the government will soon be upon His shoulder!
Then we have the latter part of the verse, as to His Name, and again that must refer to the Lord Jesus. These titles that we know will be acknowledged in the millennium, particularly perhaps “Father of eternity”, but I think these are titles that we can know as to the Lord Jesus now, and we are often reminded that what will come out in the day of display is actually being worked out in secret here: in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, the knowledge of divine things. We can meditate by the Holy Spirit on some of these titles. It is one Name; it is very interesting. We can look at the individual titles that come into it.
The first one is, “Wonderful”, and I think we know the Lord Jesus is wonderful. He was wonderful when we first went to Him for refuge, to have Him as our Saviour; He was wonderful in His work on the cross and the shedding of His blood; wonderful as the One who gave the Holy Spirit. But He is still wonderful. The note refers to Judges 13: 18, where it says, “How is it that thou askest after my name, seeing it is wonderful?” It is a word that I perhaps have to stop myself using in relation to worldly things; I think really it is only applicable to divine Persons and applicable to divine things, but is He not wonderful to our hearts?
That seems to be the first point to prove, dear brethren, because if we prove that He is wonderful we will want to know Him as “Counsellor”, One who can draw alongside us and help us, perhaps with a touch of His priesthood, a touch of His blessed headship. We read recently in James as to the wisdom that comes from above (chap 3: 17), which would be resident in Jesus. The song of Solomon tells us of His head being “as the finest gold”, chap 5: 11. So we prove these things. Think of Solomon as the great type; nothing will be too hard for the Lord in that millennial day. We can prove that now! There is no diminution; outward circumstances do not hinder us; there is no less access to this “Counsellor”, to Him to whom no man has given counsel. The Lord Jesus is never at a loss. We should not just approach this Counsellor when we are at a loss; we should habitually go to Him as the Counsellor.
Then there is that reference to “Mighty God”. I think that would help us to be kept in a spirit of reverence. When the Lord Jesus comes in on a Lord’s day morning, as He does in His goodness, faithful to His promise; that is one of the first things, that we are in worship before Him as to the greatness of His Person.
And then He is “Father of Eternity”; the note is helpful, simply, ‘Father of the age’, note b. We do not want to confuse titles of divine Persons; this has been described as applying to the millennial day, as a man or a person might be described as the father of a country, giving character to that nation. Think of the character that the Lord Jesus will give to the millennial day. There is perhaps an illustration at the end of Luke. The Lord Jesus was at table with the two who had gone to Emmaüs, and He took the house-father’s place, and blessed; so there are fatherly traits and characters of care and love that we see in the Lord Jesus, and I am sure we are proving that at the present time.
And then this final and lovely clause, “Prince of Peace”; again it will mark that millennial day. I suppose the Prince might refer to the greatness of His Person, and too to the administration of peace; I think it is to the One who is characterised by peace, the One who dispenses peace, the One who has “made peace by the blood of his cross”, Col 1: 20. So these things will come out in a public way, acknowledged and wondered at by all those who believe, and wondered at by all, but I just felt that at this time when things perhaps seem very restricted when you look at a verse like this you see how wonderfully unrestricted divine things are.
Then you have, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end” (v 7); the One who came in, “unto us a child is born”: “Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end”. In a sense the millennial scene then merges into the eternal day when God will be all in all.
Maybe these few thoughts as to the Lord Jesus and His greatness will be for our encouragement. We had in the hymn, hymn 412, that the blessed Spirit loves to bring these things of Jesus to us. May we just be set forward and to look into this name of the blessed Lord Jesus.
May it be so for His Name’s sake.
Word in meeting for ministry in Linlithgow
3rd December 2020