Well, I want you to turn back
again to Jeremiah chapter 33 this week. As I say, I hadn't
intended to stay this long here, but I saw things in verse 16,
which we looked at last week, and initially I had included
the next two verses as well, but it was clearly far too much.
I'm very glad, given that last week's message was a good 40
minutes, you're very glad that I didn't attempt to carry on
and do the following two verses as well. But that's what I want
to do. I want to continue this week. We saw last week about
Christ and his bride, the church. In verse 16, the name with which
she shall be called, she, the church, she, Jerusalem, picturing
the church of God, shall be called with his name. She shall be called
with his name, and his name, the Lord, our righteousness.
What is she called? The Lord, our righteousness.
She's taken his name. She's given the righteousness
that we must have to see the eternal God. Well, in the following
two verses, it talks about a king and a priest. So verse 17, a
king. In verse 17, we read this, for
thus saith the Lord, David shall never want a man to sit upon
the throne of the house of Israel. There'll always be one. He'll
never want a man to sit upon the throne of Israel. That's
what the next verse says. Having seen about Christ being
the husband of his people, giving his people his name of the Lord
our righteousness, we're then given this assurance, David shall
never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel. How is that fulfilled? It certainly hasn't been fulfilled
physically in Israel. After the captivity and Jeremiah
is all about them going into captivity, into Babylon. After
the captivity, there was no king in Jerusalem in the line of David. Oh, there were those that came
and ruled, you know, there were the Herods and all of those other
puppet kings, but there was never one in the line of David. Jeconiah,
who was the king at the time of the captivity, died childless
in captivity. Zerubbabel, who came along at
the end of the captivity, do you remember we saw in Ezra and
Nehemiah, and the prophecies of Zechariah, and I forget where
else, but anyway, we saw there, when they were rebuilding the
temple going back to Jerusalem, and Zerubbabel was the one who
was a picture of Christ, who was in the line of David's household. He was one of David's descendants.
He was the rightful heir, but he was never actually crowned
king. It was never fulfilled in physical Israel. That prophecy
was never fulfilled. Remember what I said last week
about how do we interpret these prophecies of Israel returning
to Jerusalem? How do we interpret them? And
we saw from the Council of Jerusalem that we interpret them of the
church. We're perfectly apostolically
authorized to interpret them in that way. It was never fulfilled
in a physical sense. But the people of God, the house
of Israel, the church of Christ, is promised a king. And promised
a king forever. Promised a king forever. What
sort of a king is the people of God promised? That's what
I want to look at this morning. And I hope, you know, always,
when you preach, you often think you're dealing with subjects
which are so sublime and yet your feet are so firmly cemented
to the ground you know in this earth and so I trust that God
will give you something to encourage you what sort of a king do we
have as the people of God as the Israel of God as it is today
you see the kings of the earth worldly governments are all imperfect
There are some that are better than others, but the fact of
the matter is that they're all imperfect because of sin, because
they're composed of sinners. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 8, 1
Samuel chapter 8 and verse 11. First Samuel chapter 8 and verse
11. The people wanted a king. They
thought they were losing battles with the Philistines because
unlike the Philistines, they didn't have a king. Give us a
king, then we'll start winning things. You know, just put one
leader in place. And God said to Samuel, tell
them this, this will be the manner of king that shall reign over
you. He'll be a sinner. He will take your sons and appoint
them for himself, for his chariots to be his horsemen. He'll make
them his soldiers, and some shall run before his chariots. He'll
take your sons off you, and he'll appoint him captains over thousands
and captains over fifties, and will set them to ear his ground,
to sow seed in his ground. to reap his harvest, to make
him rich, basically. He'll use them as instruments
of war, and instruments for his chariots. And he'll take your
daughters as well, to be confectionaries, to be his bakers, to be the people
that look after his household, to be cooks, to be bakers. He
will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards,
even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he'll
take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give
to his off... he'll tax you. You want a government? He'll tax you. Oh yes, nothing
more certain is there. Death and taxes. He'll tax you. He'll take all of these things.
God warned them. This is what human government
is like. And it is. You know, ideally,
what would we want? Ideally, we would want benign
dictatorship because we do need law and order as we live in this
land. Isn't it good that, generally
speaking, when you're driving your car in this country, unless
you drive your car near Dover and people forget when they cross
over, but when you drive your car in this country, you can
pretty much rely on the guy coming the other way to stick to his
side of the road and you stick to your side of the road. If
it was a free-for-all, it wouldn't be like that. It wouldn't. There'd
be chaos. We need defence. We need our
country to be defended. You know, what's the most vital
– I don't want to get on a political soapbox this morning – but what's
the most vital social service? Well, the defence of the land
and the rule of law and order. It's far more important than
anything else you know. You ask the majority of this country
and they say, oh, the NHS. No, it's not. Not if you haven't
got the rule of law. We need government. We need good
government. And look at the way that good
government makes a difference, you know, in the wake of the
death of Nelson Mandela. There is genuinely, I agree with
this, I'm not saying the man was without fault, but he did
things that were genuinely good. as civil government goes in reconciliation,
you've genuinely did some good things. We need government, we
need that sort of thing. As people in this world, we're
in this world, we're not of this world as believers, God's word
tells us. You're in the world, you live
in the world, you're not of it. But God's Word tells us to be
good citizens of this world. God's Word tells us to obey civil
rulers despite their weaknesses. It tells us to abide by the laws,
even when we disagree with those laws. God's Word tells us obey
the law. He says by Paul in Romans 13.1,
the powers that be are ordained of God. And why should we obey
them? Because we know this, that we
have a heavenly king who is the most benign dictator to his people
and who, him even, rules over all of these worldly leaders.
Because as Proverbs 21 verse 1 tells us, the king's heart
The heart of the rulers of your society is in the hand of the
Lord. So don't rise up in rebellion
because of faith. No, no, no. True religion, the
truth of Christ, the true gospel is not a religion of rebellion
against civil order and civil government, not at all. Jesus
said, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of
this world, then would my servants fight, but they don't because
it isn't. We don't rise up and fight, not like some religions
want to destroy society, we don't. We don't do that. Pilate asked
the Lord Jesus Christ, are you a king then? Jesus said effectively,
yes. He said to the crowd outside,
shall I release to you the king of the Jews? And of course they
cried no, release Barabbas to us. Jesus is the king of his
people. Our glorious Lord Jesus Christ
is the king of his people. Our glorious Lord Jesus Christ
is this man whom God has appointed to sit upon the throne of the
house of Israel forever. He's in the line of David. in
the line of David according to the flesh, but he is also the
one that God has enthroned upon the throne of the house of Israel.
He's the king of his people. He is the king of the kingdom
of God. What sort of a king do God's
people have? First of all, and it's very obvious,
he is a king who is God. He is a king who is a ruler,
a leader, a defender of his people, who is God, who is utterly sovereign,
who is utterly without rival. None can stay his hand. None
can say unto him, what are you doing? He is the one in whom
all power resides. Look at Isaiah, chapter nine,
verses six and seven. And of course in the time of
year that we're at, this is a collection of verses that will be trotted
out again and again in no end of nine lessons and carols and
singing of Handel's Messiah and so on and so forth. I wonder
how many hearing it or being involved in the singing of it
stop for one minute to think about what is really being revealed
and given to us here. For unto us a child is born. a man is coming, a child is going
to be born. You know, there's this little
baby boy on the front row. You know, there is a man wrapped
up in a little package. And the older ones, there are
men wrapped up in little packages growing up. A child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the
government shall be on his shoulder. The government of the universe
shall be on his shoulder. He upholds the government of
the universe. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor. Look who he is. He's the mighty
God. He's the everlasting Father. He's the Prince of Peace. What
about his government? Of the increase of his government
and peace, there shall be no end. It is perpetual. Upon the
throne of David, there it is again. the throne of David for
his people and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish
it with judgment and justice from henceforth even forever.
How is it going to happen? The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this. God is determined. If God is
determined, nothing can thwart it, nothing can undo it, nothing
can frustrate his purposes. The promised son is coming to
take on flesh. And as we saw in verse 15, of
Jeremiah 33. He's coming, this branch of righteousness,
which is another name for him, is coming to grow up into David
to execute judgment and righteousness, to accomplish salvation, to make
satisfaction for broken justice for his people. He is the sovereign
of the universe and the government is on his shoulder. Think how
these things apply to you. You know, countless choirs will
be singing in Handel's Messiah. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given. And lovely music, and it makes
the hairs on the back of your neck tingle when you hear that
glorious music and those lovely words of scripture. How many
people think about this? What does it mean to you and
me this morning? That the government is on the
shoulder of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ who is the king
over his kingdom. Doesn't it calm every, every
anxiety? Doesn't it soothe every anxious
thought that our God is king? Our elder brother, our Lord Jesus
Christ is the king of the universe, the government is on his shoulder
and it's an everlasting and an always perpetually just rule
that he bears. Unlike the best worldly rulers,
our God is perfect in holiness. Our God sees all things. Our
God as king ordains the end from the beginning. How does he know
what's going to happen? He ordained what's going to happen. Unlike politicians, Prime Minister, many years ago,
in the 1950s, Harold Macmillan, had all sorts of plans for his
government. And a reporter, a young journalist, asked him in those
days, when everything was black and white and very, very clipped
accents, he asked him, Prime Minister, what things do you
think might upset your plans for this government? To which
Macmillan famously replied, events, dear boy, events. I've no idea
what's going to happen. Our God rules over all things. Our God is Lord of all things. Our King is not subject to events,
our God orders all things for the good of his people, for his
kingdom. Acts chapter 2 verse 36, Peter
is telling the people there that this Jesus whom you have crucified,
on the day of Pentecost he's telling them, this Jesus whom
you have crucified, God has made him Lord and Christ, he's Lord,
he's king, he's in charge, he's sovereign. He's on the right
hand of God as Stephen, the martyr, as they were picking up the stones
to throw at him, said, I see heaven open. And the Son of Man,
our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, where? Standing on the right
hand of God. He's there in heaven. This is
God, this is God who is our king. As Paul wrote to the, as Paul
said to the elders at Ephesus in Acts 20 verse 28, talking
about feeding the church of God, the church of God which he, God,
has purchased with his, God's own blood. The one who died and
shed his blood for us is God, very God, the very God. Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh. This is the doctrine, this is
the test of the truth, that our God, the promised Messiah, is
come in the flesh to save His people. He is God our Savior. He is His people's King, His
people's God. This is the mystery of godliness,
writes Paul to Timothy, that God was manifest in the flesh. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is
in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. He has made
Him known. God was manifest in the flesh. Our King, who is our Lord Jesus
Christ, are you the King of the Jews? Yes, you've rightly said.
He's the King of His people. Are you the King of the Jews?
Yes, He is. He is God, manifest in the flesh. Our King is God,
and therefore sovereign. There isn't any conflict for
us as believers in this world with civil government. None whatsoever. You know, in times past, preachers
of the gospel have found themselves in conflict with civil government
because always civil government has misunderstood. In the days
of John Bunyan, they chose to misunderstand what he was preaching
and what he was doing, and they locked him up in Bedford jail
for 12 years. You know, he found himself not
of his own choosing, but in conflict with civil government. No, we
don't fight. We don't line up and protest
even when we disagree. you know we use our democratic
powers of voting that we're given in this land and I would say
this it's only when we personally are being constrained by civil
powers to blatantly disobey God that we have to dig our heels
in and say thus far and no further. But you know there's all sorts
of things in the laws of this land. What are we going to do?
Go and protest outside Parliament? I don't think so. I don't think
that's the way of the scriptures, not at all. But if it came to
something blatant, like with Daniel in Babylon, and he's a
loyal servant of the king, there's none better there's no better
civil servant in the government of Babylon than Daniel, the prophet
Daniel, but The day comes when they set up an idol and they
say, everybody must bow to that idol. And if you don't, you're
thrown into the lion's den where you will certainly be destroyed.
And what does Daniel do? Thus far and no further. I cannot
do that. I cannot, I cannot blatantly
disobey what my God has told me not to do. Peter and John.
Peter and John, speaking, preaching, going to all the world and preach
the gospel. And the powers that be in Jerusalem say, you must
speak no longer in his name. And they say, you can tell us
what you like, but we know what God has told us. Thus far and
no further, we must speak in his name. So yes, there isn't
a conflict. There isn't a conflict with civil
government. But we have a king who is God, who is sovereign.
And then secondly, we have a king who is great. This is one of
the descriptions of him in scripture. We have a king who is great.
There are very few rulers to whom the title can be given great. Very few. There's the Greek one,
Alexander the Great. And he did everything he did
in his 20s and early 30s. He was dead by the time he was
about 34. He'd been killed. So he had his flaws. But he's
gone down in history as somebody utterly remarkable. Alexander
the Great. He was a great ruler who greatly
influenced his people. What things go with greatness
is victory and peace and safety and prosperity. Great. David
was a great ruler in Israel for those years at the height of
the kingdom. David was a great king. Psalm 47 verse 2. for the Lord
most high is terrible. He is a great king over all the
earth. Our God is great. He is the great
king. Psalm 48 verse 2. Mount Zion
is called the city of the great king. He is the great king of
his people. Psalm 95 and verse 3. For the Lord is a great God and
a great king above all gods. He is absolutely supreme. utterly supreme with none in
the same league Malachi 1 verse 14 where the people in Malachi
the last book of the Old Testament are thinking in their futility
that they can deceive God as so many do in religion today
they think they can deceive God and God says to them I am a great
king I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts. And in the
context, don't try to deceive me. He is a great king. Just
as David reigned benignly over Israel for many years of victory
and prosperity, so Christ is the great king of his people. But not just for a few years
as David was. Not just for a short time as
Alexander the Great was, but perpetually. A king perpetually. And that's the next point. His
kingdom is without end. Psalm 132 and verse 11, the Lord
hath sworn in truth unto David. He will not turn from it. If
God says he will not turn from it, he means ever. He will not
ever turn from it. Of the fruit of thy body will
I set upon, of the fruit of David, of a descendant of David, will
I set upon thy throne perpetually. Daniel chapter 7 verse 14, we
see there in the vision of Daniel, he sees the Son of Man in this
vision coming before the ancient of days. This is the Godhead
that he sees in that mystery. And there was given him, the
Son of Man, a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages
should serve him. This is your king. This is your
king. All, not on the sidelines, not
this sort of little splinter party that has no chance of ever
doing anything any good. No, he is the one who rules over
all people and nations and languages. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion which shall not pass away. Oh, it doesn't look like
that to me. There seems to be such chaos.
It's all in his hands. Every single thing. Verse 27
of that same chapter of Daniel. His kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom. Earthly governments come and
go. Some are bad, some are less bad. It's very difficult to say
any are particularly good. But the kingdom of our God and
Savior is perpetual. This is where we went to our
reading earlier on in the book of Luke where Gabriel announces
to Mary, this virgin, that she is to have a son. She will conceive a son miraculously
in her womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name
Jesus, the one who will save his people from their sins. He
shall be great. he shall be called the son of
the highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of his father David. Is that not exactly what verse
17 of Jeremiah 33 says? And he shall reign over the house
of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall
be no end. You know, we often think, oh,
this is such a nice state to be in. If only it would never
end, and yet it always does, and things move on. But the kingdom
of which, if you are in Christ, you are a citizen, has a king
who will reign unrivaled forever. There will never, ever be any
who can remove him from his position. In fact, we have the vision given
to us in Philippians 2, quoting Isaiah 45, that in the end of
all things, irrespective of what people think now, every knee
shall bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God and Father, that Jesus Christ is King perpetually. Then, Next,
he's king of the Jews. Are you the king of the Jews?
Pilate asked him. You've rightly said, was his
reply. He's the king of the universe
and all are subject to him, but he is especially the king of
his people. You know, if you're a member
of the people of God, you might be a citizen of the United Kingdom. You might be a citizen of the
United States. You might be a citizen of wherever.
You're listening to this. You might be a citizen of that
country. But if you're a child of God, you are also a citizen
of the Kingdom of God. You're a citizen of spiritual
Israel. You're a member of that society. Those who are Jews inwardly,
Not outwardly, Jews inwardly, as the scripture calls it. Those
who have the circumcision of the heart, and not just of the
flesh outwardly, in the new birth. The circumcision of the heart
is that conviction of repentance that comes. When we want to cut
away that sinful flesh, that sins, that part of us, that's
what it is to be circumcised in heart in the new birth. He
is king of his people, those people, those who are Jews inwardly. The Magi, the wise men as we
call them, Matthew 2 verse 2, came to Jerusalem saying, asking
the question, where is he that is born King of the Jews? Where
is the one that's been born? We've seen his star in the east.
We've seen the things about him. They weren't astrologers, not
at all. They weren't astrologers. They
weren't following some voodoo religion. They'd looked at the
books in the east, in the libraries. There must have been copies of
the book of Daniel and writings of the people that had gone into
captivity and they'd seen his star in when they were in the
east they'd seen it and they come looking where is he that
is born king of the Jews where is the one who has come to save
his people from their sins in Matthew 27 verse 11 again
Pilate asks are you the king of the Jews you rightly say says
Jesus he claimed it he claimed it rightly Yes, he's the king
of the Jews. Zechariah 9, verse 9. Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy king cometh unto
thee. Your king's coming. You people
of God, your king is coming. He is just. He is bringing justice. He is bringing satisfaction of
justice. He has salvation. He has salvation. He's your king. Yes, your king's
coming. But this isn't like a king usually
is, is it? He's lowly. He's riding upon
an ass. In this situation, at the end
of time in Revelation, he's sitting on a white stallion. That's the
picture of him. But here, when he comes as king
to Jerusalem, he's riding on an ass, and not even a grown-up
one, upon the colt, the foal of an ass. He's lowly. He's humble. And it's all fulfilled in Matthew
21, verse 5, in what we call Palm Sunday, in that week before
the Passover, when the Lamb of God, Christ our Passover, is
sacrificed for us. He's a king. He's just. He's bringing salvation. He's
a just God and a Savior, but he's lowly. He says, Matthew
11, 28, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. I am meek
and lowly of heart. He's not a tyrant. He's not a
tyrant king, not a tyrant ruler. It's like so many of this world's
rulers. He's sovereign. He's ruling. He rules in salvation. Think of this. people of God
think of this he is the one who rules in salvation in his prayer
to his father the night before he was crucified John 17 verse
2 he says as thou the father has given him the son power over
all flesh what's the power the father has given to the son over
all flesh what is the power that he's given that he should give
by the gift of grace eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. The father gave a people to the
son and the son has the power to give eternal life. How? By
the salvation that he accomplishes for them. By the redemption that
he purchases with his precious blood. This is our gracious king,
ruling in salvation, the king of his people. You're one of
his people by divine appointment. Do you realize that? If he's
brought you to believe the gospel of grace, you're one of his people
because the king, the king of his people, has brought you by
divine appointment before his throne. He's a gracious king. a gracious king. Isaiah 52 verse
7 talks about preaching. 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. This is what preachers should
do. Don't preach morality, preach salvation. Proclaim good tidings
of great things, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. This is it. Your king rules over
all things. We've been in situations where
people love to sing their charismatic songs. They love to wave their
arms in the air while they sing, thy God reigns, thy God reigns. It goes on and on and on, and
it gets louder and louder, and you just wonder, who of you,
which of you has got the faintest idea? You don't proclaim God
reigns with your voice in a charismatic meeting, swaying and singing
it. You proclaim God reigns in your own heart. You know it.
You know it in there. Our God reigns in every situation. You know that your God reigns.
You know member of Zion, citizen of Zion. Your God reigns. You
have a king who is the king of his people perpetually. And then
finally, he's king of kings. He's the king of kings. he's
the king over all other kings there is no one superior to him
first timothy six fifteen talking of the lord jesus christ says
he's the blessed and only potentate the king of kings and lord of
lords listen to the description of our lord jesus christ who
only has immortality. There's only him that has immortality
in himself. There's only him who is life
in himself, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto.
Holiness. sinlessness, purity, shining
purity, from whom the angels of God, the seraphim and cherubim,
we read in Isaiah 6, shield their eyes, these holy sinless beings,
shield their eyes and cry, holy, holy, thrice holy, triune God,
thrice holy is the Lord, whom no man hath seen, as a man looks
upon another man, nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. What is it saying? They saw Jesus,
that's it. He manifested God. Show us the
Father, said Philip, and that will suffice us. No man has seen
God, the Father, at any time. Show us the Father and that will
suffice. Philip, have I been so long with you and you have
not seen me? He who has seen me has seen the Father. No man
has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son in the
bosom of the Father. He has made him known. What does
this mean to us as believers today? This is it. Apply it to
your heart. The one and only God the creator,
the sustainer, the judge, the savior of his people, this one
is the omnipotent king of the universe. Oh, wouldn't the crowds
be flocking? No, he's ordained it this way.
There's just us here and those who will listen subsequently
on the internet and the others in little groups like ours dotted
all around the world. who are the true Israel of God,
who truly worship Him in spirit, who come before Him and know
that the God who we worship is the omnipotent King of the universe,
that everything is in His control, not only now, but forever. And it's all ordered for salvation. Everything is ordered for salvation. This is it, He causes. When it
says this, it's not some glib throw-away statement. He causes
all things to work together for good to those that love God,
who are called according to His purpose. And what's the purpose?
His glory. That He ultimately shall be glorified. Look at the picture we're given
in Revelation. Revelation 17 and verse 14. The Lamb The swan, who is all-powerful,
is a lamb. There's no more meek and harmless
animal on the farm than a lamb, is there? I know a bit about
the country. I grew up in the country with
cattle in fields and all that sort of thing. And I know that
in the wrong situation, cattle in fields can be quite dangerous.
Every year, somebody gets trampled by cattle in a field. That can
be quite dangerous. But there's nothing, there's nothing as harmless
as a lamb they're just utterly harmless and yet this is the
picture in heaven the lamb the lamb of God shall overcome them
his enemies for he is Lord of Lords this lamb is Lord of Lords
and King of Kings and listen they that are with him they that
are with him that's his people they that are with him are called
with his name called by his gospel they're chosen by his father,
in him, before the foundation of the world. They're faithful.
How are they faithful? The Holy Spirit keeps them. He
keeps them faithful. They're faithful. Revelation
19, verse 6, I saw a great multitude. There don't seem to be many of
us do that. Ah, there's a multitude that no man can number. I saw
a great multitude saying, hallelujah, praise the Lord, praise God,
for the Lord God omnipotent, all powerful reigneth. In giving
his bride the name of the Lord our righteousness, as we saw
last week, he also assures us that he is king forever. Child
of God, you have nothing to fear, nothing at all. Whatever they
do to you, whatever they might do to you, nothing to fear. You
look at the testimony of the martyrs. Nothing to fear. He
is God. God our Father. Jesus our Savior. Jesus our brother. Jesus our
friend. As Paul says to the Romans, if
God be for us, as our King, who can be against us?