Who's running the government?

This past Lord's Day, I had the rich blessing of worshiping with the brethren at Covenant Baptist Church in Lumberton, NJ. I am thankful for the many kind brothers and sisters I met, plus the teaching was exactly what I needed for my encouragement and edification! The text for the AM preaching was the following, which I posted on my blog the prior Wednesday.

Isaiah 9
6 For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

You can listen to the sermon here. Here are my sermon notes:

1. The Government
- the government of God's nation- "rule" or "dominion"

1 Chronicles 29
10 Therefore David blessed the LORD before all the assembly; and David said:
Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness,
The power and the glory,
The victory and the majesty;
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours;
Yours is the kingdom, O LORD,
And You are exalted as head over all.
12 Both riches and honor come from You,
And You reign over all.
In Your hand is power and might;
In Your hand it is to make great
And to give strength to all.
13 “Now therefore, our God,
We thank You
And praise Your glorious name.
14 But who am I, and who are my people,
That we should be able to offer so willingly as this?
For all things come from You,
And of Your own we have given You.

- there is only one "superpower" since God rules over all!
- this is opposed to the "local gods" of history and of today
- we have "local gods" today when we know and believe our Bibles but do not love it or apply it to our entire lives, when we only take in as much Bible as we can tolerate- the world only wants the salt and pepper of religion and God to them means "Guaranteed Overnight Delivery"

Psalm 47:2- "For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth."

Psalm 83:18- "That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, are the
Most High over all the earth."

Psalm 103:19- "The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all."

Psalm 115:3- "But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases."

Psalm 135:6- "Whatever the LORD pleases He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places."

Daniel 4:35- "All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?'"

- the government is in the hands of God
- these times are testing our faith in this truth

2. The Governor
- continuity of government depends on a son

Psalm 72
1 Give the king Your judgments, O God,
And Your righteousness to the king’s Son.
2 He will judge Your people with righteousness,
And Your poor with justice.
3 The mountains will bring peace to the people,
And the little hills, by righteousness.
4 He will bring justice to the poor of the people;
He will save the children of the needy,
And will break in pieces the oppressor.
5 They shall fear You
As long as the sun and moon endure,
Throughout all generations.
6 He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing,
Like showers that water the earth.
7 In His days the righteous shall flourish,
And abundance of peace,
Until the moon is no more.
8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him,
And His enemies will lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles
Will bring presents;
The kings of Sheba and Seba
Will offer gifts.
11 Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him;
All nations shall serve Him.
12 For He will deliver the needy when he cries,
The poor also, and him who has no helper.
13 He will spare the poor and needy,
And will save the souls of the needy.
14 He will redeem their life from oppression and violence;
And precious shall be their blood in His sight.
15 And He shall live;
And the gold of Sheba will be given to Him;
Prayer also will be made for Him continually,
And daily He shall be praised.
16 There will be an abundance of grain in the earth,
On the top of the mountains;
Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon;
And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
17 His name shall endure forever;
His name shall continue as long as the sun.
And men shall be blessed in Him;
All nations shall call Him blessed.
18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel,
Who only does wondrous things!
19 And blessed be His glorious name forever!
And let the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.
20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

- the entire government is literally upon the back of the Son; it is the one truly "glorious burden"
- Christ's names tell of His qualifications to bear the world as His glorious burden
- Wonderful Counselor- He has no cabinet apart from the Trinity; we give no counsel to our Governor, but He counsels us by His Spirit
- Mighty God- He is God, through whom the world was created, and He worked miracles
- Everlasting Father- not that He is the Father, but He runs it in the spirit of a father
- Prince of Peace- He came preaching the gospel of peace and established His Kingdom

3. The Future
- verse 7- toward abundance and soundness
- means "in the direction of"- the spread of His Kingdom won't be automatic but in the progress of history over time
- we should never be discouraged by one event or one period of time- 1 Corinthians 15:24- "Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power."
- we don't have to fear because no government can get in the way of Christ's Kingdom- Matthew 28:18- "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."
- the early church, and we, must preach Christ as the living Savior and Prince of Life- Acts 2-3

4. The Promise
- that we have the power of the resurrection
- we see this power throughout church history: ex. the Reformation, growth through persecution
- Jesus' victory will be a landslide!
- He is called "the Lord of Hosts"- He has the majority
- He always has a remnant- Elijah was told God had 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal
- the zeal of the Lord- God will never give up on redeeming His chosen people from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation
- you can't argue with the cross, for it is the love and grace of God toward sinners