So, Isaiah chapter 55, and we'll read from verse one. This
is God who is speaking. Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters, that's another word for the gospel,
come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye,
buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for
that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth
not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto
me here, and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have
given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander
of the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation
that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run
unto thee. because of the Lord thy God,
and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. Seek
ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is
near. Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the
rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not
thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and
bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall
not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which
I please, and it shall prosper in the things whereto I sent
it. For ye shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace,
and the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you
into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their
hands. Instead of the thorn shall come
up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the
myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an
everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Amen. May God bless to us this reading
from his word. The Lord Jesus Christ takes many
names in scripture. And these names come to us from
the Old Testament and the New Testament, each one describing
some peculiar aspect of the Lord's role and his character. each one contributing to the
overall comprehensive revelation of the glory and purpose of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that we can draw numerous
names from both Testaments, of course, points to the common
salvation that we share with the Old Testament saints and
the New Testament saints. Those from the time before the
Lord Jesus Christ came were saved by the same saviour, by the same
salvation, by the same work as those who were saved after the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have this common salvation
that blesses and benefits all the Lord's elect. We have forgiveness. because of Christ's blood. As
the Old Testament saints had forgiveness with God because
of the blood that Christ would shed, we have been made righteousness
by the righteousness of God predicated upon the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ, whether that sacrifice was looked forward to by faith
or reflected upon by faith. We are all justified in the sight
of God based upon that sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And some of
the most beautiful names of our precious Lord Jesus Christ are
supplied to us by Isaiah as we have read here in Isaiah 55. And also we find that throughout
the book of Isaiah, Isaiah has constantly got an eye to the
Lord Jesus Christ and to the names by which he may be known
and the names by which he may be described. And particularly
I want to draw your attention to another portion of Isaiah
where he speaks about the incarnation and when he speaks about the
Lord Jesus Christ in words like these. His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. And these are not merely names
that the Lord Jesus Christ takes, because as we dwell upon these
and meditate and think upon them, we discover that they are names,
yes, but they are also descriptions. They are portrayals of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And just as someone takes a sketch
pad and perhaps a piece of charcoal or a pencil and draws a portrait,
we see a lightness of the Lord Jesus Christ in these names that
he is given. So that when the Lord Jesus Christ
is called wonderful and counsellor, we see him to be those things. He is a wonderful counsellor. The New Testament speaks of the
Lord Jesus Christ as a prophet. And there we see that prophetic
ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ revealing to his people, revealing
to the church in the gospel, the wonder of the counsel and
the wisdom of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we see
Isaiah's phrase of the Lord Jesus Christ as the mighty God, here
we see him in all of his power, in all of his might. This is
vested in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when the Lord Jesus Christ
came at the time of the incarnation, any who looked upon him, be they
relatives, be they friends, be they the shepherds who came out
of the fields and looked upon that little child in the manger,
they would not have thought to themselves, my, what a great
and powerful individual this is. But this child was indeed
the mighty God. This was the incarnation of God
in human flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
everlasting Father to his little children. He is the Prince of
Peace to calm our fears, to end our war, to reconcile our persons
to God. This is the child who is born. This is the son who is given. So when we read in Isaiah 9 verse
6, because that's where these verses come from, For 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
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. We are seeing in this person
Jesus Christ All of these characteristics bound up together in one glorious
manifestation, in one revelation of the incarnation of God amongst
us for the salvation of his people, his Old Testament people, his
New Testament people, and all of those whose trust and faith
have been placed upon him ever since. This is our God. But did you notice something
else that I mentioned there from this verse 6 of Isaiah chapter
9? Did you notice that it said,
of this God, of this wonderful counsellor, this mighty God,
this everlasting Father, this Prince of Peace, did you notice
that it said, the government shall be upon his shoulder? This is no less true than all
these other features that Isaiah was able to lay at the feet of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want just to touch upon
that for a moment or two with you this morning. Do you imagine
that it is men who govern and control and rule this earth? Do you imagine that it is women
who organize and arrange and ordain the things that come to
pass? Do you think that it is men and
women who govern this world in which we live? No, it is the
Lord Jesus Christ. whom Isaiah declares is the governor,
because the government of this world and the government of the
kingdom of this world, as well as the kingdom of heaven, is
vested upon the shoulders of the Lord Jesus Christ. The government
shall be upon his shoulder. whether we are thinking of the
kingdom of heaven, whether we are thinking of Christ's reign
in his church, or whether we are thinking of the kingdoms
of this world, in the various ages of this world, in the respective
empires and kingdoms whether they be democracies or whether
they be autocracies, whether they be monarchies or whether
they be theocracies, it really doesn't matter what the organisation
of the kingdoms of men have been. Christ is the ruler and the governor
of all. This lovely little verse in Deuteronomy
chapter four and verse 39, it is coming to the conclusion of
the life of Moses, that wonderful, that great servant of God in
the Old Testament history of Israel. And Moses, coming to
the close of his life, to the close of his testimony, says
these words to Israel. He says, know therefore this
day, It's Deuteronomy 4, 39. Know therefore this day, and
consider it in thine heart, that the Lord, he is God in heaven
above and upon the earth beneath. There is none else. And that's the message that I
want to bring to us all this morning. These two aspects, if
you like, of what Moses says here to the people and to draw
upon and to build upon this revelation that Isaiah gives to us with
respect to the names and roles and responsibilities of the Lord
Jesus Christ. These two aspects, a present
knowledge in our mind that the Lord Jesus Christ is God in heaven
above and upon the earth beneath and there is none else. And an
ongoing consideration in our hearts of that same fact. And these two things, I believe,
should be bound and woven together. They complement one another.
It is not enough to hold these truths as true in our heads,
in a kind of theory or notion, without at the same time considering
them or meditating upon them in our heart. Because while we
may know them to be true, they also have an application and
a consequence. The heart is the seat of our
emotions and it's where our fears and our joys rise and fall. So we are being called by Moses
as he directs the Old Testament Jews to know this day and consider
in thine heart, know and consider that the Lord he is God in heaven
above and earth beneath. That we are to dwell and meditate
upon these truths. Now I I imagine that every believer
in sovereign grace is ready to testify to a belief in the sovereign
God. And I dare say we are all familiar
with the story of Nebuchadnezzar and the comments that he made
to Daniel. I want to read a couple of verses
to you from Daniel chapter 4. Just turn to Daniel chapter 4
with me, if you will, because I want to just touch upon it
a couple of times in the next few minutes. But I want to read
some verses from Daniel chapter 4 and verse 34. Verse 34 through
verse 37. So Daniel 34, 37 says, and at
the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven
and mine understanding returned unto me. Listen to these verses. And I blessed the Most High and
praised and honoured him. that liveth for ever, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation
to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing,
and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his
hand or say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time my reason returned
unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom mine honour and brightness
returned unto me. And my counsellors and my lords
sought unto me, and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent
majesty was added unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise
and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are
truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride
he is able to abase. Now these are extraordinary words
of a heathen king to be able to make. And yet this man, Nebuchadnezzar,
is such a suitable witness to this testimony that he bears
and scripture bears of the nature of our God. Because Nebuchadnezzar
was the greatest king of one of the greatest and most powerful
of the empires of history. He was a powerful man who reigned
long in Babylon. and he was over what we call
the Medes and the Persians. He was the apex, if you like,
of human glory. And yet, because of his pride
and his vanity, the Lord first foretold in a dream and then
afflicted him in reality with a madness according to the proper
interpretation of these words. And this man Nebuchadnezzar was
able to testify. Listen to what he says in Daniel
chapter 4 verse 17. This matter, that is the matter
of this madness that came upon him. Here's what he says of it. This matter is by the decree
of the watchers and the demand by the word of the holy ones. to the intent that the living
may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest
of men. Now, I don't want to dwell too
much upon the early part of that verse. The Watchers have been
suggested as being angels. I rather think that it's perhaps
the non-executive members of the Godhead, if you like, with
respect to the particular thing that happened here. as if it
were that the Father and the Son were watching over the Holy
Spirit's dealings with this man, or indeed the Father and the
Holy Spirit, if it was Christ who dealt with him. But the living
ones clearly are the Church. And what the King is here testifying
to in the revelation of this prophecy is that the living ones,
the Church, might know, that's you and I, might know that the
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. The Lord would have us know,
you and me today, that whoever is set up in the positions of
power, in the governments of the nations of this world, whoever
is set up in the decision-making places of the layers of government
in our world and in our nations and in our lands today is in
accordance with the will of God and according to the purpose
of God, and that they are caused to rise to those positions of
authority and decision-making and power, being purposefully
placed there for the accomplishment and fulfilment of the glory of
God. even though they may be the basest
of men and women. Let me give you a couple of examples
by which we see these things unfolding in the history of scripture.
When the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world as that little
infant of whom Isaiah spoke, his name shall be Wonderful Counselor,
the Prince of Peace, the Almighty God, the Everlasting Father.
When the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, the ruler in
Israel was a man called Herod. A man of such wickedness. that
confronted with the risk of a challenger to his rule perpetrated what
became known as the slaughter of the infants. And Matthew chapter
two, verse 16 tells us that he slew all the children that were
in Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof." So not only Bethlehem
but all the towns and villages around about Bethlehem from the
age of two years old and under. Now the Bible does not tell us
how many infants that was but we are told that That was a prophecy that had
been made many years before with respect to the sadness that came
into the lives of the people at that time. Matthew chapter
2 verse 17 says this, Then, that is at the slaughter of the infants,
then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet,
saying, In Ramah was there a voice heard, lamentation and weeping
and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and would not
be comforted because they are not. So what is that telling
us? That is telling us that God gave
the role of governance to this man Herod and fulfilled this
prophecy that Jeremiah had made all those hundreds and hundreds
of years before and yet Herod was culpable for perpetrating
that terrible crime upon those infant children. This was not
God that was to blame, and yet God is the one who is given the
role and responsibility of raising Herod to that position, even
the basest of men. Again, another example, the Romans
ruled in Israel when the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. Had
the Jews been in charge, then the Lord would have been stoned
to death, as Stephen was and as Paul was. but the Lord Jesus
Christ must be hung on a tree. It had to be that he was hung
on a tree because cursed was everyone who hung on a tree.
Therefore Pilate had to be in charge. It had to be Rome and
so we see even the rise of nations is arranged and organised by
God so that Rome would be the dominant power with its crucifixion
means of execution at the time at which the Lord Jesus Christ
would come into his ministry and be crucified. And so world
history unfolds. Empires rise and fall. Kings ascend to thrones. Princes reign. Governors rule. And at every level, men and women
are placed in positions of authority and control under the governance
of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And those men and women may foolishly
suppose that they have some inherent right to their power, and they
might have all the pride and vanity that Nebuchadnezzar had. But it is God who rules, because
the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. Why does
God do this? Well, Isaiah 55 verse 8 told
us, Now why am I telling you all this this morning? For this
simple reason. I suspect that there are many
people today who are afraid about what is going on in the world
around about us. They are anxious about who has
power. They are concerned about what
might be happening in this world, about the decisions that are
being made, about the consequences of those decisions, about whether
there may be trouble. And it doesn't matter whether
you're red or whether you're blue, because no colour has the
monopoly on anxiety. and people fear for the future
and they fear what is going to happen to the country and to
the society and to the world and to our neighbourhoods. And
it might be to do with our health, it might be to do with economics,
it might be to do with politics, it might be to do with well-being
and employment and a whole host of other things. But there is
an anxiety at the moment. We were reflecting upon this
just in the last few days. We're growing older, but we've
never seen, we've never seen uncertainty like this in the
whole of our lives. I doubt if any of us have. And
is that anxiety, is that fear justified? Well, no, not if we trust the
Lord. Not if we, taking Moses' words
again, both know and consider in our hearts the true identity
of our sovereign Lord and His personal commitment to the salvation
of His people, the well-being of His children and the glory
of His name. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? What is happening is right. What is happening is in accordance
with the will of God. There will be no mistakes here.
Be the outcome what it may. On Wednesday morning, God will
still be on his throne and his kingdom will rule over all. Psalm 103 verse 19. You know, if this was the simple
testimony of Scripture, if this was all that we had to know and
consider in our hearts, then we've got enough reason here,
enough justification here to be calmed of our fears and to
have our doubts removed and lifted from us because our God is sovereign
and in control. And if it was simply the testimony
of Scripture that God had declared that to be so and we could have
the gift of considering it and reflecting upon it in our hearts,
that would be a blessing sufficient. but God has given us even more.
Because when the Lord Jesus Christ, that one upon whose shoulder
the government of heaven and earth falls, came into his kingdom,
he did so with purpose. and he did so with an end. And that is the gospel that we
have before us today. The Lord Jesus Christ has come
into this world to accomplish all things according to his will
to the end of the well-being of those whom his love has been
eternally placed upon. This is not some abstract set
of facts that we have been given as a revelation from God that
this is what he is going to do and this is what he is going
to accomplish and I want you to be reassured and comforted
in the fact of all these things. It would be sufficient were it
all we were given. But here's the glorious end of
these things, is that the purpose of God, the step-by-step accomplishment
of our God is to this end that we, whom he has loved, will be
eternally, everlastingly blessed and the object of his favour
and his kindness and his goodness. It is that that we are watching
unfolding before us and before our eyes in these days. And we
are to take that on board. He came to save His people from
their sins. He came to save those that had
been eternally elected to salvation by the purpose of God the Father. He came to provide for them an
everlasting inheritance. where they would reign, where
we would reign in righteousness with him as kings and priests,
eternally under the glory of his presence, receiving daily
from him the bounty of his care and his graciousness. And here we return to the verses
that we touched upon last week, that there is grace and there
is glory. Or as we said in Psalm 23, surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Now
that is to be laid hold upon, that little phrase of David right
now. In the days of this virus, in
the days of this election fervour, in the days of this economic
uncertainty, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days
of my life. And in addition, I shall dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. The Lord has come to bless his
people. He calls these people his sheep,
the flock of his pasture. And these people, these little
ones, this flock, He has eternally justified. He has adorned with
a righteousness which is acceptable to God. He has redeemed with
blood. He has surrounded with the arm
of his power such that none can touch nor harm us. And this is
the governance that he executes. This is the governance that he
applies in this world in which we live. No one can hurt us.
No one can harm us. No one can hinder the happiness
of this flock any more than the flames of the fire of Nebuchadnezzar
could harm Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Any more than the
The lions in the lion's den could bite Daniel during that night,
that long night that he spent in the lion's den. Christ's redeemed
flock are safe. We are secure and we shall possess
all things that are good. No good thing will he withhold
from them. We who have the Son, we who have
the Lord Jesus Christ have everything good, every good thing that our
hearts could desire. In Luke chapter 12, verse 32,
the Lord says, Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom. We are blessed sheep
to be in Christ's flock. We are not to fear, for the Father's
good pleasure is to give to us the kingdom. Blessed are the
meek, for they shall inherit the earth. And I just want to
say one thing more. When the purposes of our God
are fulfilled, when all that he has promised has been accomplished,
When Christ returns to make up his jewels, then we shall see
all things clearly. We may not see all these things
clearly right now, and that is the cause and the source of the
anxiety that we have in our hearts. Let us consider that the Lord
is on his throne. Psalm 37, verse 34 says, wait
on the Lord. and keep his way, and he shall
exalt thee to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off,
then thou shalt see it. Fear not, little flock, you're
not your own, you're bought with a price. Be not afraid what men
can do unto you. God is in control. It is your
father's good pleasure, his delight, his desire to give you the kingdom. Now, there are a lot of people
who are anxious about the outcome of an imminent election. They
think a few votes here or there in this state or in that state
might sway the result one way or another. Well, stop, stop. This election is already settled. Your father has already decided
the outcome of this election. And whatever way it goes as far
as we are concerned, it is merely a prelude to a much greater blessed
and happy result when we enter finally into the joy and the
pleasure of the Lord. We sometimes use the word perspective. Perspective is an interesting
word. It means to see through. It's to see through the smoke,
the fog, the trouble, the noise, the confusion that is in the
world today. To be able to see through it
is to have a perspective. The Lord's people have to have
this perspective, to see through the confusion of our moment and
to trust in the Lord. Fear ye not. Stand still and
see the salvation of the Lord. Moses said that to the children
of Israel as Pharaoh and all his hosts were charging down
upon them. If ever there was a justifiable
moment to be anxious, then it was at that time. Cornered, confused,
It seemed imminent death was all that they could have. And Moses says, fear you not,
stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. May the Lord give
us faith to believe, strength in this moment to stand still
and eyes to see his purposes being accomplished, that we might
know in our heads and consider in our hearts that the Lord,
He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath and there
is none else. Amen.