Christ'S Name Above Every Name
CHRIST'S NAME ABOVE EVERY NAME
And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. ISAIAH 9:6
HERE is held out the incomparable excellency of this Prince and Governor presented to us. "His name is called," so the original carries it. "One hath called his name," i. e. "His name is called, Wonderful," &c. The connection is, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, on whose shoulder the government is laid, and whose name is called, Wonderful," &c.; so that the scope of this latter part of the text is, to commend the Prince presented to us from his "name," which is here unfolded, to be "a name above every name."
DOCTRINE. The name of Christ by which he is called, is a name above every name, fit to commend him to the souls of poor sinners.
The name is that which follows in several parts here, viz.: "Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Many glorious names are used by the princes of the earth; but there is no name among them all like this. None so high and honourable, none so sweet and lovely, none so adapted to make the subjects happy. Consider here,
I. Who calls him by this name.
II. What his being called by it imports.
III. Lastly, Apply.
I. Who calls him by this name? And,
1. His Father has called him by this name, Phil. 2:9, "God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name." His Father best knows what he is, to give him a name expressive of his nature. And he has, by his spirit in the prophet, given him this glorious one. In effect he proclaimed it; Matt. 17:5, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
2. All his people call him by this name, flying to him in their first believing as such a one, and depending on him all along their course of life as such a one.
II. What does his being called by this name import?
1. That he really is what this name bears. God gives no empty titles, nor will empty titles answer the necessities of believers. As his name, so is his nature; the name truly expresses what he is.
2. He manifests himself to be what the name bears. What he is called, he is found to be in the experience of saints.
USE. Study the name of Christ, as represented in the word, so as your souls may be enamoured of him.