In 1 Kings chapter 4 and verse
1 we read this clear statement. So King Solomon was king over
all Israel. So King Solomon was king over
all Israel. Throughout the rest of the chapter
we read of his kingdom and his rule and his great wisdom. and how all people came to him
to hear the wisdom of Solomon from all kings of the earth which
had heard of his wisdom. There was none like him in all
the earth, none so powerful, none so great, none so wise. King Solomon was king over all
Israel. He reigned, and he reigned mightily,
and he reigned in great wisdom. In this he is presented unto
us in scriptures as a picture, as a figure of that King that
reigns over all. Of the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords, our Lord Jesus Christ. What a comfort it is
for the believer to know that his King reigns over all. That he is King over all Israel. and that there is no wisdom like
unto the wisdom of God in Jesus Christ. He is the King of kings,
the Lord of lords. Oh, what a comfort to know in
this world, in our pathway, in the trials that come upon us,
in the darkness of this world, that He reigns over all. That God in Christ is King, is
Sovereign over all. That He reigns over every event,
over every trial, over every circumstance, over every kingdom
and country, over the entire world. throughout history, in
time and in eternity. He reigns. He is king over all. Firstly, he reigns not only over
Israel, but over the whole world. Christ is the king of this entire
world throughout all time. He reigns over every event, every
people, all history, every individual. He reigns. Oh to know this. Oh to know this as a reality. and to confess it and to believe
it, that He reigns, that He's sovereign, that He's in control.
When we look at events in the world, when we see things come
to pass, when we see how the wicked prosper, when we see the
tragedy that comes about in this world, when we see the tumult
and hear the storms, when we hear the roar of the lion, going
about seeking whom he may devour. When we see the wicked prosper,
it is easy to forget that all is well. Christ reigns and everything
is proceeding according to his purpose, his will, his timing,
exactly as he plans it. All is well. All works together
for good. All works together for His glory. All is going exactly as He plans. All is according to His mighty
wisdom. I ought to be given faith to
look up unto Him and to trust that He reigns, that He is King
over all. This is made clear in the 47th
Psalm. where we read, O clap your hands,
all ye people. Shout unto God with his voice
of triumph. For the Lord Most High is terrible. He is a great king over all the
earth. He shall subdue the people under
us and the nations under our feet. He shall choose our inheritance
for us, the excellency of Jacob, whom he loved. Selah. God is
gone up with a shout. The Lord with the sound of a
trumpet. Sing praises to God. Sing praises. Sing praises unto our King. Sing
praises. For God is the King of all the
earth. Sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen.
God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness. The princes of
the people are gathered together. Even the people of the God of
Abraham. For the shields of the earth
belong unto God. He is greatly exalted. Yes, He is the King over all
the earth. There is nothing in this world
outside of his control. And there is no man, no woman,
no child in this earth who can defy him. It's a great comfort if you know
God. It's a great comfort if you're
one of his children to know that he rules. But if we know him
not, there's great despair in not knowing. The events of life,
the storms of life around us are outside of our control. To
whom do we turn? Alas, such is the nature of sin
within us, such is the blindness in man by nature, that there's
a folly, a foolishness about us that lives as though we are
in control. That presumes upon each day coming
to us. That presumes upon our health
continuing. That presumes that things will
go on as they have done. How many live as though they
will wake up each morning and things will be the same. How
we presume that what we had yesterday we will have tomorrow. and that
what will come about is that which we decide upon or that
which we choose, we'll go here, we'll go there, we'll do this,
we'll do that, we will prosper if we put our hand to it. What
utter foolishness! And how often people are brought
to see this foolishness when things go awry. We presume upon this especially
when we're young and then our dreams are broken. Our ambitions
lay in tatters. What we sought after doesn't
come to be. And how we despair when we see
our health taken away from us, when we age, when loved ones
are taken away from us, when trouble comes our way. Or how
many fall into despair when they see the pointlessness as it were
of life when they cannot see a purpose to it when they see
their days going by and the years going by and them getting older
and they don't know where they're heading or why how many despair
how many are lost without wisdom how many fall into vices to amuse
themselves to quench their sorrows to distract them. How we're drunken
by entertainment, how we're drunken by so many things to distract
us from the misery that is in our lives. How many are overcome
by despair, by depression. How often we hear of those who
die young, their life taken away from them. who take their own
lives in despair because they know not God and they know not where they're
headed. And what tragedy to pass from this world into eternity
with no answer, no confidence and no hope for eternity to come
and to be faced with Almighty God. to whom we're answerable. Yes, there is a God who rules. And oh, to know it. Oh, that
God should open our eyes to see and leave us not to ourselves
and our own wisdom. For left to ourselves, we head
for destruction. For this God that reigns over
this world reigns also in judgment and in wisdom and in righteousness. The kings of the earth, the people
of the earth knew of Solomon's great wisdom. But even his wisdom
pales as nothing in comparison to the great wisdom of Almighty
God. Yes, this God reigns. He is a
just God and a Saviour. He reigns over all men in righteousness
and in justice, and unto Him we are accountable. As Paul makes
plain in Romans chapters 1 to 3, we're all accountable. He will judge us according to
the secrets of our heart, according to our deeds, according to our
works. Have we lived righteously before
a holy God? Have we sought His will each
and every day? Have we bowed down before Him? Have we loved our neighbour as
ourselves? Have we loved God with all our
heart? We haven't begun to. When faced with God's holy law,
we are guilty of breaking every one. Thou shalt have no other
gods before me. We have a multitude of gods before
whom we bow down. We love this and we love that.
We worship this and we worship that. We worship ourselves and
our own will and our own wisdom. Thou shalt not kill. How often
we slay and murder with our hearts. How angry we are against our
fellow man. How angry we are with those that
cross our path and prevent us doing what we would do. How covetous
we are. How adulterous we are by nature.
When faced with God's righteousness, we are utterly guilty. And God
rules. He reigns in righteousness and
before him we must give an answer. Before him we must bow the knee. Before him, either in time or
in eternity, we will be brought to acknowledge that he reigns,
to know that he is the king, to bow the knee before him. As
we see in Philippians 2, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted
him and given him a name which is above every name that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things
in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. There will come a day when we
will bow because he is the King of all. Oh how wise he is, how
wise this king is. What a contrast there is between
his wisdom and man's wisdom. Man thinks he's in control, man
thinks he can live righteously by his own strength, man thinks
he can make decisions. In religion man thinks that by
his own works he can attain unto glory or that by his own decision
he can decide to follow God. And he's utterly deluded because
throughout him, inside and outside, he is but a sinner. All that
he thinks, all that he says, all that he does is but sin.
There's no good in man, there's no good in us. We are utterly
without wisdom. But this righteous holy God is
wise in all he does. is wise in how he judges, is
wise in how he rules, and is wise in how he saves. Paul speaks often of the wisdom
of God in contrast with the foolishness of man in his epistle to the
Corinthians, 1 Corinthians. We preach Christ crucified unto
the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness.
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. For ye see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
And base things of the world and things which are despised
have God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to naught
things that are. that no flesh should glory in
his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that gloryeth,
let him glory in the Lord. It's made unto us wisdom. God's ways are not our ways.
Man approves of the great. Man loves the mighty. Man exalts
those with power in themselves. But God has chosen to save the
weak, the foolish, the base, those
who are despised in the world, those that the world rejects,
those that are cast out. God has looked upon in mercy
and in grace. and says, I will save you. He
passes by the mighty. He saves the poor in spirit. Where are you? Where are you
before this king? Are you exalting yourself with
your great wisdom, your great power, your great riches? All
that you have, all that you glory in, or has God taught you through
his gospel that you are nothing nothing but sin and you have
nothing to glory in but to come before him and seek his mercy
and glory in his salvation and his son alone yes he reigns in
wisdom and he reigns in salvation if he's brought you there He's
brought you there for a reason. If He's broken you, if He's brought
you down low, if He's brought you to see what your sin is,
what yourself is, if He's brought you to an end of yourself, an
end of your strength, an end of your wisdom, then He's brought
you there for a reason. He's brought you down low in
order that He might show you mercy. Has He brought you there? Has he brought you to the point
where Jonah was brought, having fleed from God's presence, having
sought to go his own way, and having come upon destruction,
cast out of the ship, drowning, swallowed up, spat out upon the
seashore, having been brought to nothing? and yet delivered
by God's grace. Jonah cried out, salvation is
of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. He
had no part to play in it. All that Jonah had done was against
God. He ran from God, he fled from
God, he thought he'd get away. And God sought him. And God brought
him down. And God swallowed him up. And
God delivered him. Are you fleeing from God's presence? Are you fleeing from the reign
of this king and his kingdom? Are you seeking another place,
another kingdom, another king? If you're his, he'll pursue you. He'll bring you down. He'll teach
you what you are. And then he'll save you. He reigns
in salvation. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief, Paul says. I came not
to call the righteous, but sinners unto repentance. He came to save. He came not to condemn, but to
save. Salvation is His work, a work
of grace from start to finish. God in eternity past decreed
it. He determined it. He entered
into an everlasting, eternal covenant. Father, Son and Spirit
agreed to save a people. A people chosen of God the Father
from all eternity, laid upon the heart of His Son. Christ
the Son of God agreed in covenant to come into this world, to take
upon himself humanity, to be made a man, born a man, with
real human flesh and a real human soul, to suffer and live as a
man. To come into a world of darkness
and hate and sin and be rejected of all. He came unto Israel. He was Israel's king, the king
of the Jews, and they cast him out. They rejected him. They
mocked him. They despised him. And in the
end, they crucified him and led him away to die. And they put a sign over his
head saying, this is Jesus, the king of the Jews. The Jews hated
that sign, for they said, he said he's the king of the Jews,
but Pilate, in God's providence, under God's rule, had written
what he wrote. God put the words there. This
is Jesus, the king of the Jews. He reigns. And at that point,
nailed to the cross, at his lowest place, where men
would look on and despise and say, there he is, crucified,
dead, in weakness, rejected, despised. Look at him now. In that point of humility, Christ
reigned. This is exactly where He came. This is exactly why He came,
for which He came. He came to offer Himself as a
sacrifice for sinners. He came to die. Men did not rule
over Him. No man took Him and nailed Him
to the tree except He purposed that they should. They were doing
what He purposed. They were not ruling over Him. They had not claimed a victory.
They were bringing about what He had purposed from eternity.
They were doing exactly as He wished them to. Yes, the Son wrought this salvation. He came to die. He went to that
place. He took upon Himself flesh. He took upon Himself the form
of a servant. He took upon Himself, when nailed
to that cross, the sins of His people. He was made sin. He offered Himself as a sacrifice. As the King of Israel, He went
to that cross as a priest that took a sacrifice. He went to
that cross as the sacrifice which was offered up He went to that
cross as a servant who did the Master's bidding. He went to
that cross as the Son of God who did all for the will of His
Father. He went to that cross as the
husband of His bride. He went to that cross as the
King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He was sovereign in all. At his lowest point, he was glorified
in offering himself up as a substitute for his people. He went into
the darkness as the light of God to deliver a people that
were lost in the darkness and bring them unto the light. He
wrought salvation. He bore the sins of his people.
The wrath of God was poured down upon him. He drunk the cup of
God's wrath to its dregs. He cried out in the end, it is
finished. And all that was necessary to
deliver his people had been accomplished. He reigned and laid in the grave. Having taken away sin, he conquered
death. And on the third day, he rose. He rose victorious. Having saved
his people, every one of them throughout all time, having saved
them, having taken away all their sin, all their depravity, having
brought in the righteousness of God for them, he reigned and
he ascended. and sat down by the right hand
of the Father, from whence he preaches his gospel, from that
day unto now, unto the end of time, to be applied by his Spirit
to every one the Father chose, for whom he died, and whom the
Spirit will call. Yes, salvation is of the Lord.
All of God in purpose, in execution, and in application, all of grace
from start to finish. It is finished, Christ said.
And now he reigns, preaching his gospel from on high, reigning
over all his church, sending forth his word by his spirit. Have we heard? Yes, he reigns
over the church. Fourthly, he reigns over the
church. He is the foundation of the church. He is its chief
cornerstone, as Ephesians 2 tells us. It's built upon him. And it's built upon the gospel
preached by his apostles. He is the head of his body, the
church. He is the vine on which we are
the branches that grow. He is the king in the midst of
his kingdom. He reigns over all, He reigns
over all His people, everyone for whom He died, everyone who
hears the Gospel, everyone who's given faith to believe, everyone
that's gathered into the Kingdom. He reigns over them all, throughout
all time, in every nation, in every tribe and country. He has
His people in the four corners of the earth. He's sending His
Gospel forth unto every one of them. He brings them to hear
effectually. He rules over every gathering
of His people. He is the center of those gatherings.
He is the purpose of those gatherings. They gather to worship Him. They
gather to look unto Him. He gives them faith to look and
to believe. And He preaches His gospel unto
them. He reigns in their worship, in their conduct, in their preaching
of the gospel. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation,
that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. Oh, this is a gospel
of the kingdom. A gospel of the king. Do you know him? He adds to his
church daily such as should be saved. Every day his gospel's
being preached. There is no point upon this world
where the sun is not shining 24 hours a day. There is a place
on this earth where the sun is shining and the gospel's being
preached. and everyone that he purposes
to save will hear, effectually hear. No matter how hard the
heart, no matter how rebellious, no matter how disinterested,
no matter how blind or deaf we may be, if we're his, we will
hear. If you're his, you will hear. For he reigns, he is king over
all Israel. He reigns also in Providence. He reigns over every event that
comes about. Every circumstance. Every pathway. No matter where we are, no matter
where we're going, He's reigning. He's ruling. He's brought it
to pass. And He will deliver. He provides
for His people. He provides their every need.
He provides their every practical, natural need. He provides their
food, their water, their homes, their clothing, their family,
their education, their work. He provides all our need. But
He provides all the spiritual need of His people. He preaches
unto them daily. He gives them faith to believe.
He leads them, He guides them, He gives them His Spirit, He
watches over them. There is nothing that they lack,
there is nothing of which they should fear. He is their King
in the midst of them. As Christ said, are not five
sparrows sold for two farthings and not one of them is forgotten
before God? But even the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. Fear not therefore, ye are of
more value than many sparrows. God knows us. He knows his children. He knows everything about them.
Even the hairs of our heads are numbered. He knows us inside
and out. He knows where we are and what
we're doing and what we're thinking and what we're feeling. He knows
every trial and every circumstance. He reigns, He reigns over providence. He's put us in these circumstances,
He's led us into them and He will lead us out of them. For
sixthly, He reigns over every trouble and every trial. He reigns over all the good things
as we see them and all the difficult and hard things as we see them.
He sends the trials, He sends the trouble in our pathway and
He sends them for our good. he's ruling them yet how easily
we doubt how easily we fear how easily the flesh comes to the
fore in the believer and he's cast down and he worries and
he worries what will come about how easily he turns to the left
hand and the right hand how easily he turns to his own wisdom how
easily he turns to his own effort to get himself out of trouble
when it's God that's brought these things about and it's under
Him that we should turn. For He's given them for our good
to lead us under Him, to bring us again once more unto Christ,
to look unto Him our Saviour, to look unto our King and cry
out unto Him, Lord have mercy upon me. Watch over me, help
me, lead me, guide me. For all these things He has sent
are for good. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. We know. For whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that sped not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long,
we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Yes, we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God. to them who are
the called according to his purpose. Do you know this? Do you know
it? He not only reigns over the things
that come upon us, he not only reigns over the troubles and
the trials, he's not only able to deliver us out of them, he
sends them. They're given to us for our good. He gives us this pathway to work
through because they're part of the all things that work together
for our good and His glory. We're in His hands. None can
condemn. It is Christ that died. No one can lay anything to the
charge of God's elect. It's God that justifies. We're
in His hands. He reigns. He reigns over all
things, all this world, all people. He reigns in justice, in wisdom. He reigns in righteousness. He
reigns in salvation. He reigns in His church. He reigns
in providence. He reigns in every trial and
trouble we're brought through. Does He reign in your heart and
your conscience? If you're a child of God, He
will. He will. This is what makes us different
from the world. He's our King. He's our Lord
and He's our Saviour. The believer will be brought
to know His reign inwardly. within the heart, in the conscience,
we will know he rules and we will love that he rules we will
love his sovereignty, we will love his power, we will love
his glory we will love his wisdom we will love that he reigns that
we're in his hands, that he doesn't leave anything to chance, he
doesn't leave anything to us, he doesn't leave things up to
us to decide. He reigns, he'll lead us aright,
he'll provide for us. We will know this, we will feel
it, we will believe it, we will rest in it. Do you? In the midst of trouble
do you rest in His mercy, in His grace, in His love, in His
rule, in His power, in His authority, in His reign as King over all.
Do you know His love? His love shed abroad in your
heart. Romans 5 tells us that His love
is shed abroad in our hearts. He gave Himself for sinners. He gave Himself for you, believer. He gave up everything to deliver
you because He loves you. He's your King. We love Him because
He first loved us. because he first loved us when
in our sin, when in the darkness, when in the depravity of sin,
when afar off he loved us and sought us and brought us unto
him. Oh the love of God, oh his grace,
oh his bountiful mercy and oh the joy of knowing this love
This salvation, this savior, this king, the joy of knowing
that he reigns in all things in time and eternity. The king
reigns. He reigns over all Israel. He
reigns. Do you know it? Turn to Revelation
chapter 19 where we read from verse 5 of the exaltation of
this king. And a voice came out of the throne,
saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear
him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honour to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife
have made herself ready. And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me,
Ripe, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are
the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship
him, and he said unto me, See thou do it not, I am thy fellow
servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus.
Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And I saw heaven opened, and
behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called
Faithful and True. and in righteousness he doth
judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in
heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean. out of his mouth goeth a sharp
sword that with it he should smite the nations and he shall
rule them with a rod of iron and he treadeth the winepress
of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God and he have on his
vesture and on his fire name written King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. He have on his vesture And on
his fire, name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Amen.