A Sermon on Isaiah 9:6
A Son is Born; a Son is Given
Originally preached Dec. 25, 1964
Scripture
6For 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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Sermon Description
Can God and His promises be trusted? Christmas affirms that they can. In this sermon on Isaiah 9:6 titled “A Son is Born, a Son is Given,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaches in this text that Christians must think more highly of the gift of Christ they are given from the Father. A gift tells about the one who gives as well as the one who receives. When Christians consider the greatness of God giving His Son, they understand three things. First, they must make much of God and not only Christ; the giver is as great as the gift. Second, they must be in very great need if they are given so costly a gift. Finally, their response must be one of amazement, gratitude, and praise. God loves so much that He gave the greatest gift that could be given. Christians should hold fast to that when they struggle to trust God’s promises. Christmas is the guarantee that they can trust God’s goodness.
Sermon Breakdown
- The sermon begins by focusing on gift giving during Christmas time. Dr. Lloyd-Jones notes that mankind consciously helps bring out the importance of Christmas by giving gifts to one another.
- Dr. Lloyd-Jones then transitions to discuss God's gift to the world - the birth of Jesus Christ. The Bible refers to Jesus as God's gift in Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given."
- Dr. Lloyd-Jones examines the gift itself - the baby Jesus born in a manger. At first sight, it seems like a small, helpless gift but it is actually God's only begotten Son. The circumstances of Jesus's birth were very humble, surprising and not what we would expect.
- We must look closely at the gift to see its glory and wonder. Jesus, though born a baby in a manger, is the eternal Son of God. This is the "unspeakable gift" referred to in 2 Corinthians 9:15.
- The gift tells us much about the giver, God the Father. We must never forget that God gave his only Son. The gift shows us God's love, grace, purpose and truthfulness.
- Before creation, God planned to give this gift. He fulfilled His promise when the "fullness of time had come." The timing of Jesus's birth was perfect.
- God's promises and word are always true. We can trust in His promises and look to the future with confidence because God is unchangeable.
- The gift also tells us about ourselves and tests our reaction. Do we see our need for the gift? Do we realize the immense cost of the gift? Do we understand all that the gift provides - salvation, reconciliation, new life, adoption, an eternal inheritance?
- At first sight the gift seems small but it holds infinite worth. God gave his ultimate gift at the greatest cost.
- The sermon ends with a prayer that we would be filled with gratitude, amazement and praise for God's unspeakable gift.
Sermon Q&A
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Sermon Questions: "Unto Us a Child is Born"
What does Isaiah 9:6 "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given" emphasize about Christmas?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, this verse emphasizes the most important aspect of Christmas - that it is God's gift to mankind. The text reminds us that Christmas is fundamentally about God giving His Son to the world. While modern Christmas customs involve people giving gifts to one another, these practices merely reflect in a small way the original and greatest gift that was given on the first Christmas.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones describe the surprising nature of God's gift?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out that God's gift was surprising in that it came in a completely unexpected form. The world expects God to demonstrate greatness through displays of power, grandeur, and authority. Instead, God's greatest gift came as a helpless baby born in humble circumstances - in a small town (Bethlehem rather than Jerusalem), to an ordinary mother, laid in a manger, amid poverty (they could only afford to offer turtle doves, not lambs). This unexpected presentation of God's gift makes Christmas all the more marvelous.
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones mean when he calls Christ "God's unspeakable gift"?
He references Paul's words in describing Christ as God's "unspeakable gift" because it is beyond human language to adequately describe. This gift is unspeakable because even God Himself couldn't give a greater gift than His only begotten Son. As Lloyd-Jones states with reverence, "God has done something which even he himself cannot excel." It represents the supreme gift - God giving what was most precious to Him, His eternal Son who had been with Him from all eternity.
According to the sermon, what does God's gift tell us about the Giver?
The gift reveals several things about God: - His love and grace - He gave not as a reward or in return for anything we've done, but purely out of grace to those who deserved punishment - His purpose - God planned this gift "before the foundation of the world" - His timing - He sent Christ "when the fullness of the times was come" - His truthfulness - Christmas demonstrates God keeps His promises, as He had promised a Messiah throughout the Old Testament
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones suggest we should test our reaction to God's gift?
He offers several questions for self-examination: 1. Is it what you had expected from God? 2. Is it what you would have preferred above everything else? 3. Do you appreciate the true value of the gift? 4. Do you see your need for this gift? 5. Do you realize the cost of this gift to the Father and Son? 6. Do you understand what this gift provides - deliverance from punishment, reconciliation with God, adoption as His children, and eternal life?
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones mean when he says "the gift tests the recipient"?
Lloyd-Jones argues that our response to God's gift reveals much about ourselves. Like the merchant who recognized the value of the pearl or the man who found treasure in a field, our ability to appreciate Christ's worth exposes our spiritual condition. If we don't see our need for Christ, we won't value Him. Our appreciation (or lack thereof) of God's gift tells more about us than it does about the gift itself.
What did it cost God to give this gift according to the sermon?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones describes the immense cost to the Trinity. For the Father, it meant sending His beloved Son from their eternal fellowship into a world of "sin and shame and darkness and squalor and evil." For the Son, it meant leaving His equality with God, the glory of heaven, to be born as a helpless baby in a stable, ultimately facing "the cross, the shame, the dereliction, the agony." The sermon emphasizes this self-humiliation and sacrifice as an extraordinary cost.
Old Testament
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.