In his sermon, 'The Government that Always Gets Bigger,' Peter Allison discusses the biblical perspective on government, emphasizing that all government rests on Christ's shoulders. He articulates that Jesus Christ holds ultimate authority over all creation, both seen and unseen, and that this divine government is eternal and ever-expanding. The sermon explores the Hebrew concept of 'shalom,' signifying total blessing and peace, which encompasses spiritual, physical, and communal well-being. This peace is rooted in judgment and justice, the foundation of Christ's kingdom. Through various biblical references, including Isaiah 9:6-7, the sermon illustrates how Christ's government brings about a progressive increase in peace and righteousness across the world. The sermon reassures believers of Christ’s ultimate sovereignty and encourages them to rest in His governance, trusting that all burdens and challenges can be cast upon Him. The message concludes with a call to recognize the ongoing and ultimate victory of Christ's kingdom, urging believers to live boldly in the light of this truth.

Amen. We have this afternoon a letter from Said as he gives us an update on the situation at the church in Iran. So I thought it's very fitting with our, with what we heard last week. This is an updated version, he's just come back from Iran here in the last, well just a month or two ago. And also a nice introduction or preparation for our look at church history that we hope to do with Lord willing.

So hope Lord willing next week to have a to begin that series with a look at the biblical mandate for for church history and And then I hope to have an outline of where we're going with that too as well at that time. We're praying for the evangelists in the denomination this week. Todd Adams has some rather big news going on in his life. He's in California at Indio. When he sent this, his mother was in hospice and he said days or hours from going home to her savior Jesus Christ and I believe she departed last night.

So that, yeah, that's prayer for peaceful transitions. We can remember him in that. He said he's facing a few, but he also asks for God's grace in their family. He said, I'm finding myself so weary of illness and of death. His wife died last winter.

He said he's facing a couple physical challenges with some basal cell carcinomas. But he and Mary are planning to be married next month in Elizabeth Colorado Reformation Church. Neither of them are from there, but that's where they are meeting to get married because both of them are rather scattered out, scattered around. So that's where they're gonna get married, Lord willing, and so we thank the Lord for that. And if that sounds fast, there's actually a very good and Amazing story behind that as well.

Then they will be going to the model, he and Mary will be going to the Madeline Islands in September, which is a place that he has long ministered there and they have many meetings planned there and then he'll be ministering at a church in Maine. He also asked prayer for a number of very heavy counseling matters before him. So please remember Todd. And then Michael Elliott mentions specifically July 18. I believe that is this week, this Saturday.

So is there a parade, perversion parade in downtown Omaha? And so they asked prayer for their planned they planned to attend the youth rally the night before about about 5 p.m. Central Time and last year the you know they were there were they faced a fair bit of aggression at this youth rally and the Omaha police were, in his words, less than helpful. So I pray for that outreach and pray for them to be able to connect with these people and minister to them. One of the more effective outreaches that manages to I think bypass the anger as in filling many of these people, maybe all of them, is simply an acknowledgement or confession to them that they've been failed by their parental generation.

That approach has opened up many people to being willing to talk. Any other prayer requests this morning. Yes Rochelle. Five years ago, his son was killed in a suicide. And this kid, one of the guys, one of my last children, was found dead, you know, almost cannot be released from the condition.

He was addicted to fentanyl, meth, they tried to help her upon multiple times, helping another friend to help her. But that lifestyle is, you know, most of us are pretty well protected and insulated, but they're on. Knowing the people like that. It's very heart breaking. Yes.

There's one more daughter, and she's an alcoholic, and I know that. So, it's just, just pray for her. Pray for them. Pray for her. And that's just my thought.

It's just my thought. My thought. My thought of them. My thought. I think we need to be more aware of what's not in global dog-dust.

There are so many different things that we need to do. And that's just my thought. Yes. Yes. Thank you.

For sure. Yeah, there are. Any other prayer requests? Sita. Any other prayer requests?

Sita. Okay. Okay. Yes. Okay.

Yes. Yeah. Sarah comes home Monday. Any other prayer requests? Steve?

Okay. Okay. All right then. There are no other matters or announcements. Let us prepare our hearts and our bodies to worship our Savior Jesus Christ.

Jehovah rains. The nations tremble. He dwells between the cherubim. The earth shakes. Jehovah is great in Zion.

And He is high above all the peoples. Praise His great and awesome name. He is holy. Exalt Jehovah our God. And worship at His footstool.

He is holy. He has answered the prophets of old. He was to them the God who forgives, though he took vengeance on their deeds. Exalt Jehovah our God and worship at his holy hill for Jehovah our God is holy. Beloved saints who have obtained like precious faith by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ. Please turn to Psalm 146a and let us stand to sing as we begin our praise, as we make a joyful shout to Jehovah God. 146A. I will praise the Lord forever, please my God, through all my days. Please, my God, do all my days Lord, contrasted with the princess Much of them do I not see When the ice-crust falls, the beverage When he lies, his thoughts will perish, Every day, day, and minute, day.

He who has the power to take up, As his help is really best, As the Lord has made the earth and heaven, And the ocean and the sea, And the sea and the sea, And the ocean and the sea, And the ocean and the sea, to see. May give everything within them. He is faithful, God's in me. They will always find their justice. All is made from those who press.

Of the world. So, this wiser in genius, that they once no more releases to the Bible or this site, those no longer will let go. He released them from by the Lord his sight. Those bound on the normal level, he released them from their pride. Of the Lord, a daughter righteous, he protects those raised to sway.

Of the free and the home of the brave? Lord, you'll fly forevermore Through the leprechaun's Hallelujah, we obey the Lord Let us pray. Almighty Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning as broken people, naked, hungry, homeless, helpless, powerless. We praise and thank you that we come to you, the God of life, the God who heals, the God who binds up and restores, the one who loves without fail, who has loved from all eternity, the one who rules with justice and righteousness, the one who establishes peace, the one who feeds the hungry and sets the prisoners free, brings liberty to those in chains and delivers us from the darkness and brings us into light and gives to us the privilege as we are now coming to your throne of grace to obtain mercy, to find help in our time of need. We thank you, Father, for your great love, your boundless love, for your righteous rule, for your providence that oversees all things, for the great salvation that you have given to us through Jesus Christ, And that it is not us that has to reach out and take it from you, for we cannot.

We are dead, we are broken by our sin. We thank you that you in your mercy save us. That you've died for us. And we bless your name this morning as your redeemed people, knowing that every good and perfect thing that we have is your gift. And we bless your name and praise you.

As the God of peace, the God who is loved, the God who brings life and healing, the God who rides the heavens to help us, who has who has put your everlasting arms underneath us. It is, Father, to you that we bow this morning and offer all of our praise and adoration. Please receive it through Jesus Christ. And may the words of our mouth this morning and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you through Jesus Christ name we bring this request. Amen.

Our confession of faith continues from the Westminster Confession concerning our worship and who it is due to. Let us confess responsibly. Religious Worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and to Him alone, not to angels, saints, or any other creature. And to all, not without a mediator, nor in the mediation of any other, but of Christ alone. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels intruding into those things which he has not seen seen.

Then Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. And I felt like this need to worship Him, but He said to me, See that you do not do that. I am the will of the servant and of the brethren who have testimony of Jesus. Worship God. And Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life.

No man comes to the Father except through me. All judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father who sent him. Our scripture reading is Judges Chapter 16. We conclude the story, the account of Samson's judgment, Samson's judging of Israel, the 20 years that he did it.

Samson who is remembered in Hebrews 11 as someone who acted in faith. Hear God's word. Judges 16, now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there and went into her. And when the Gazites were told Samson has come here, they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night saying, In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him.

And Samson lay low till midnight, then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate and of the city and the two gate posts, pulled them up bar and all, put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah, and the lords of the Philistines came to her and said to her, Entice him and find out where his strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him, and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver." So Delilah said to Samson, Please tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be bound to afflict you. And Samson said to her, They bind me with seven fresh bow-strings, not yet dried, that I shall become weak and be like any other man. So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bow-strings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them. Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room.

And she said to them, The Philistines are upon you, Sampson, But he broke the bow-strings as the strand of yarn breaks when it touches the fire, so the secret of his strength was not known. Then Delilah said to Samson, Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now please tell me what you may be bound with. So he said to her, if they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man. Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to them, The Philistines are upon you, Samson, and men relying in wait staying in the room, but he broke them off his arms like a thread.

Delilah said to Samson, Until now you have mocked me and told me lies, tell me what you may be bound with. And he said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom. So she wove it tightly with the baton of the loom and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the baton and the web from the loom. Then she said to him, How can you say I love you when your heart is not with me?

You have mocked me these three times and have not told me where your great strength lies. And it came to pass When she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him so that his soul was vexed to death That he told her all his heart and he said to her no razor has ever come upon my head For I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb If I am shaven then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man." When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart. So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.

And she said, The Philistines are upon you, Sampson. So he awoke from his sleep and said, I will go out as before at other times and shake myself free. But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza, and they bound him with bronze fetters and he became a grinder in the prison. However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.

Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice. And they said, Our God has delivered into our hands Samson our enemy. And when the people saw him they praised their God, for they said, Our God has delivered into our hands our enemy, the destroyer of our land, and the one who multiplied our dead. So it happened when their hearts were merry that they said, Call for Samson, that he may perform for us. So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them.

And they stationed him between the pillars. Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, Let me feel the pillars which support the temple so that I can lean on them. Now The temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed. Then Samson called to the Lord saying, O Lord God, remember me, I pray.

Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes." And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple. And he braced himself against them, the one on his right and the other on his left. Then Sampson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.

And his brothers and all his father's household came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zora and Eshtehol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years. May these commandments be our delight, even when trouble and anguish overtake us. Proverbs has much to say about the way of the strange woman and it's a warning to not even go near her house. And Samson has spent his life going near and you see this progression as he is slowly worn down and the first time it's both strings ropes but then the third time he gets closer to the truth with his hair, taking his hair, the seven locks, into the web of Elum.

You can see He is gradually being broken down and worn away until he finally tells her, really this enemy, this one who brings death to him, the truth about where his strength comes from. His final prayer is that he might take vengeance on the Philistines for his eyes. He doesn't pray for the glory of God or the honor of his name as David prays, But he is God's judge. He is the judge that God established over Israel. And as God's judge, he was God's minister of wrath on those who do evil.

It was his calling to bring vengeance on those who do evil. And he does. These people have mocked God and God is not willing to allow them to go unpunished. So he allows Samson in his final act to bring his God's vengeance on him and the the number that he killed in his death is greater than the number that he killed in his entire life. That's an amazing statement.

He is said to have killed a number of people, hundreds and hundreds and on different occasions of Philistines. So there must have been a lot of people here, it doesn't say, it doesn't say, it doesn't give a number, but there had to be several thousands that are killed. It illustrates very clearly that it is not Samson's strength. The Lord was able to take this blind man who was a prisoner and through him to execute more people than Samson did in his strength, which also of course is from the Lord. But it shows once again that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness, in our weakness.

And as he has shown many times, many times in our lives and many times in the scriptures, he doesn't need us. He's perfectly able to do all his will without any help from us. But he does call us and he does in his mercy use us. Well let us go to the Lord with our prayers of confession of our sins and our petitions. Heavenly Father, you have given to us this day, this Sabbath day, this first day of the week, and commanded us to rest in it and to regard it as Holy.

And indeed it is the only part of our calendar that is not marked by the celestial bodies as the day and the month and the year are. But it is marked by your word, your commandment to us to set apart one day, to follow your example of resting from your work when you had completed it. When you had completed your work of creation, you're called us to rest and now when you have completed your work of redemption and rising from the dead you now command us to rest from our work. In that, Lord, you demonstrate your propriety over us, our time, and the use of it. We ask your forgiveness where we have rejected this ownership, where we have sought to use this day for our own pleasure, to go our own way, to do our own thing.

We pray, Father, that You would grant Your forgiveness and Your cleansing. Lord, may we remember this day that the love of God is that your commandments are not burdensome, but a delight to us. They are not an infringement upon us, but a delight. Your yoke is easy, your burden is light. And we ask the Lord that we may continually use this day as a thermometer of our spiritual temperature, of our commitment to you, of our desire for you, of our yearning to be in your house, of our yearning to be in fellowship and communion with you.

We ask Lord your forgiveness for the coldness of our heart for the times that we especially on this day, have felt restricted or bound. Father, we know that this is the voice of our sinful nature, the lust of our flesh crying out within us. And we ask for your grace, for your strength to mortify our flesh and all of its lusts which are passing away. We ask your Lord forgiveness whereas parents, as elders, As leaders, we have through our own commands and through the authority that you have given, have made it more difficult for others to honor this day as well. Lord, may it be our delight to rest from our labor today to worship you in the beauty of holiness, to enter into fellowship and communion with you in prayer, to feed upon your word, which is life and healing.

And Father, where these words have become old to us or dry, we ask your forgiveness and for the oil of your Holy Spirit to renew the flame within us, to renew our zeal for you, for your kingdom. Lord, we Remember your gracious and wonderful promises to those who honor this day that even the eunuchs become as green trees, as fruitful boughs, that you will rebuild the waste places. Father, your promise to those who turn their foot away from doing their own pleasure on your day and call the Sabbath of delight and the Holy Day, your Holy Day, honorable and honor you and not go our own ways or find our own pleasure or speak our own words that you will cause us to ride on the high hills of the earth and that you will feed us with the heritage of the fathers of the faith. Father, may your word and your promises be more real and carry more weight with us than all the pleasures of sin and of this age and all the promises that the world might make to us. Father, we pray for your church in Iran, especially remember the martyrs there over this administration.

Over this administration, the pastors especially that have been killed for Arasto Sayah, for Bahram Tafti, Hussein Soudman and all of their families Lord, the families of these men. We pray that you would comfort them and that even though some of these have been many years ago, yet Lord that loss remains. We pray that you would raise up many many men and shepherds in their place to lead your people, to shepherd your flock, to... We pray that through these chains and these martyrdoms that your church there Lord may be strengthened and made emboldened to testify to the faith, to your grace. We ask for a Said and thank you that you have brought him safely home and we pray that you would enable him to bless that church, to minister to them more this year, to return and bring comfort and encouragement, to bring needed resources.

We pray for this land that has lost so much, has seen the terrible devastation of their homes, of their incomes, of their economy. Lord, may your church rise up in this time as and be a beacon of light, of hope, of truth. May you open many hearts to your word in this And may this land that has for so many decades now lived in great darkness and under great oppression May you heal and restore We pray that you're bringing an end to this war in the warmongering. We ask for Todd, Lord, who has labored in many, many countries to bring your gospel, to bring your peace. We pray that you would bring peace to him now and in the deaths in his life, his wife and his mother.

We ask Lord for your comfort. May his, may he, Lord, experience in his grief your healing presence and the comfort and the hope of the resurrection. We pray for your healing for his body and his needs. We ask that you would protect him. And we pray for your blessing on this upcoming marriage and their ministry together.

May you give them many more years of fruitful labor and for their visit to the Lamondiland Islands Lord may you renew his friendships and relationships with people there may you open many doors with unbelievers to testify to the grace of God. May he be an encouragement to the saints that are there as well, and may they be an encouragement to him. We pray for this ministry in Omaha that Michael is organizing. We ask that you would protect them. We ask that you would give them a voice, an opening, an opportunity to reach many people.

We pray that you would subdue the anger of these who have been so grievously sinned against and do not even understand the source and the root of their anger. We pray Father that your gospel might come to them and that you might use this witness. Father we pray for Rochelle and her family and her brother David especially. In this time of loss again, we ask that you may sustain him, comfort him, uphold him. We pray that you might set your peace upon him and that in the midst of this great affliction may He be able to turn to you, to find communion with you, to find comfort, for you are the God of all comfort, to find hope for you are our hope.

And we ask Lord for your mercy to his daughter. We pray that you might deliver her from this bondage even as you have delivered every other person who is in you. We ask for those that are traveling This week we pray for your protection on them but also Lord your blessing on prospering of their mission, of their desire to witness and bring the gospel to relatives. We ask that this might happen. We ask that you would arrange this by divine appointment.

We ask Lord this morning for all those that are not well, for your healing, for Sonia, for Michaela, Alyssa, and any others that this morning are in need of healing, in need of your hand upon them. Lord, may you provide for them those means that you've ordained. May you bless those means. We ask this also for the souls of loved ones that do not know you, that are yet in their sins, and we pray for your mercy to them, that it We pray that you would continue to provide opportunities and occasions to share the gospel with them. For Julia, for Ryan, Salters, for Ava, and others, Lord, in our families we ask For your blessing And for your work through your word We pray all these things through in the strong and precious name of our Lord and of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen. Hymn 551. To the history with me. For I have filled this silence by saying, or said it free, I am the heavenly love. Be my soul the goal in thee.

But may thy whole life rest as my sin, and come from thee. When thy Spirit come from thee, When thy earth's transgressions, When thou who gavest me, The world upon this sea, In times we know our dear, The whelming blood shall reach, And our hearts will rise to fear. My heart is blinded by fear. In me, the Lord I cry, in the savings he from you. Let's all the lights of Asia my heart is blinded by fear.

And some from God's salvation my heart is blinded. For the Lord shall see and teach me the way that thou shalt go. And with my eye upon thee, my counsel may be known. In the world. Let me in my unmoving heart, so that I may understand, in the good service of healing, to be my wise man.

The sorrows of the wicked Our scripture reading is Isaiah chapter 9. I'll just read today the verses 6 and 7. Hear God's Word. 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. 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 and the righteousness of his testimonies is everlasting May He give us understanding. Heavenly Father, please open Your Word to us. Open our hearts to receive it, minds to understand it, our feet to obey it. And sanctify, please sanctify my sinful lips that through this vessel of clay, the riches of your grace and the truth of your word may come to us this morning through Jesus Christ.

Amen. Well, this past May, a lady in Trinidad, Texas, just up the road a little ways posted the following public service announcement on her Facebook account. Quote, we are receiving reports of possible water quality issues, including concerns about bacteria and unsafe conditions. We take these reports very seriously and are currently verifying the information. If your water is discolored, has sediment odor, or if you or your family have experienced illness you believe may be related, please reach out." End of quote.

Well, the police showed up at her house a few days or weeks later and arrested her on felony charges of inciting a public panic. Now thankfully, a grand jury refused to indict her. But in 2020, six years ago, Aldato and Leda Dinar de de Nardi of Sao Paulo began educating their 15 and 11 year old daughters by the name of Alice and Lorena at their house. And in April of 2026, a couple months ago, a Brazilian court sentenced this loving father and mother to 50 days in prison for home education. This is in spite of a court appointed, nonetheless, educational psychologists finding no neglect whatsoever.

The girls themselves described a very structured daily routine involving the study of multiple languages, playing the piano at a very high level and reading dozens of books every year. The mother held degrees in mathematics. Thousands of pages of documentation were submitted demonstrating their above average academic progress. But the court found that the parents curriculum omitted state mandated lessons on gender ideology and failed to affirm certain popular music genres that their 15-year-old daughter found morally objectionable. And all of this, both of these things, the court interpreted as evidence of, quote, cultural isolation and using their daughters as pawns in an ideological struggle.

Actually, that court was somewhat right on that point. Well, these kinds of shocking stories make the mantras for smaller government very popular in some Christian and libertarian circles. And these desires are good in the right context. But Isaiah calls us to a very different view of government. A biblical view of government that subsumes all other governments.

The promise of blessing in these two verses that we read, Isaiah 9, 6, and 7, is first of all that the government, and that's an important distinction, the government rests on Christ's shoulders. And secondly, there will be no end to the increase of this government and of peace. No end forever to the increase in peace. There's nothing small about this government. There's nothing temporary and nothing limited about this government that Isaiah speaks of here.

First of all, the burden of government. The burden of government in its totality rests upon the shoulders of Jesus Christ. The government, the government will be upon his shoulder. See, the government in that sense does not reside in Austin. That's the home of the Texas government, but not the government.

The government doesn't reside in Washington, DC, or any other capital in the world. The government of Texas and these nations of all the nations of the world are but one little tiny, tiny, tiny aspect of the government. You see God has given all authority and all power in heaven and earth to this one, this Emmanuel, this child, the son, his son. And He carries the responsibility of the government of everything that exists, seen and unseen, physical and spiritual. He governs the created universe.

He commands the wind and the waves. And when He says, be still, they obey. He commands the sun and the moon. And when He says stop, they stop. They stop as long as He commands them to stop.

He gives life to everything that has life and he gives light to everything that is not in darkness. He's the property owner of the entire earth to order it and arrange it as he sees fit. He turns barren deserts into fertile meadows. He turns fertile meadows into barren deserts. He closed the lilies.

He raises the mountains. He feeds the animals. He heals the diseases of His people, He reigns over every king and every people group in the world, He installs kings and raises up nations and brings other nations down so they cease to exist because he is the ruler of the kings of the earth. He is the ruler now of the kings of the earth. The government rests on his shoulders.

He took the proudest and most powerful king in all of the ancient world and made him live in an open field getting wet with the dew and eating grass like an ox. He is sovereign. He's sovereign over everything in the entire universe. All authority in heaven and in earth has been given to the son, Jesus Christ. That God has given all authority to the sun is one more in in confirmation of his deity because God will not give his glory or his power, his dominion that belongs to him to any other.

Isaiah 42 says, I am the Lord, that is my name. I am Jehovah, that is my name. And you know, Jehovah is this One that is, that exists, that is, that will be, and that was. I am Jehovah, that is my name and my glory, I will not give to another. So for him to give all power and glory and authority to Christ is to confirm Him as God.

So because the government rests upon His shoulders and all authority has been given to Him, everyone who exercises any authority is accountable to him for the use of that authority. Because any authority that anyone has has to come from him. Because he's the one who has it all. Remember, at one point during Jesus hearing with Pilate in John 19, Pilate says to him, you know, Jesus wasn't answering him and he said, You aren't speaking to me. Don't you know I have power, I have authority to crucify you or power to release you.

I have authority over your life and you're not talking to me. And Jesus standing there, just picture this, He's standing there in chains with blood pouring down his face, a crown of thorns that's been thrust on top of it. Having had his back beaten into a bloody pulp with a Roman scourge, stands there in that condition and says to Pilate, You could have no power, no authority at all against me unless it had be given to you from above. That the government rests upon Christ's shoulders means that he and he alone is the head of the church. It's not the General Assembly, it's not the elders, it's not the ecumenical councils, it's not even the pope.

It's Christ that is the head of his church and He alone is that has magisterial authority All that the and all that he's given to those who there are under his under shepherds is a ministerial authority, the authority to simply declare what He has said, to declare what He has written. Ephesians 1.20 says that God seated Christ at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. So it's happening now and it goes on forever. That's what Isaiah said. And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him, who fills all in all.

But here's the wonderful truth that also comes to us because He is the head and because the government rests upon His shoulders. Because the government rests on His shoulders, we can rest in him. And that should be a cause for great relief. The burden of government is on his shoulders, not on ours. That means we don't have to be anxious about anything.

We can bring all our needs to His feet at the throne of grace and let Him bear those burdens. He bore the load of all of our sin is in His own body on the cross. And that same love and divine power that bore the unmitigated wrath of God, it calls for us to cast our burdens upon him as well. There is no burden that's too great for him. None.

His shoulders are able to bear any load that you or I could ever cast upon him. And he calls us, come unto me, all you that are heavy laden in that labor, and I will give you rest because he will carry those burdens and so Peter says in in first Peter five humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Acknowledge that we cannot carry carry these burns we are not able to. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time, but also casting all your cares upon him for he cares for you. Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you.

He never permits the righteous to be moved. So we don't need to fear anything. We don't need to bear any of these burdens, whether that's the defeat of the United States in military, the collapse of our economy, or even death itself, even the death of our country because the government of every sphere of life rests on his shoulders And he will work all things not only for his own glory, but also for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. The father has made the son, the son that Isaiah says has been given to us. He's made him the head and the resting place of the church.

So what is the purpose of this government? Well the purpose of this government, Isaiah says, is the increase of Peace to all eternity. The increase of peace. Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end. The increase of his government and peace means the total defeat of all of his enemies in every corner of the globe and the establishment of God's peace, his shalom throughout the world.

What is his shalom? His shalom is a is his total blessing. And I couldn't I can't begin to communicate just how total that blessing is. It's totality. It affects every area of our life.

It amounts to the full reversal of all the effects of sin on the created order in every one of them. That's what His peace is. Total blessing. The basic meaning of the word, the Hebrew word shalom is completeness or intactness of anything and of everything. Completeness, intactness.

Shalom is the healthiness or the completeness or the intactness of our spirit, of our physical bodies, of our communities, of our nation, of our world, of the entire created order. That's how God's blessing, the blessing that he commanded Aaron to put on his his people is it's his peace may his peace rest upon you. It's a total blessing. This peace Restores our relationship with God. It's the first thing it does.

When Adam sinned, he lost communion with God and came under his wrath and curse. When Christ brings his shalom, he restores that relationship and he removes that curse. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul told the Ephesians in Ephesians two, for he himself, that is Christ, is our peace, having abolished in his flesh the entity and reconciled us to God through the cross, thereby putting to death the entity.

And he came and preached peace to us, for through him we have access by one spirit to the Father. And this peace that Christ is. Like Rochelle said, it's Christ that is the peace. It's it's knowing him. He is our peace.

This peace is the foundation from which Everything flows. Peace brings this peace affects our inner life, our conscience and our mind. We are having peace with God. We are no longer under condemnation. Our emotions which are also fallen can experience peace.

As we cast our burdens on Him, right, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guards our hearts and our minds. The wicked, on the other hand, the Bible says have no peace. They are like the troubled sea always tossing and turning. They may they may give the appearance of peace. They may say they have peace, but the Bible says otherwise.

They don't. Their mind is continually tossing. They're always troubled, never at rest. If they lack money, They worry about having money. If they have money, they worry about losing their money.

And this has come out even in court testimony. They're very wealthy. They worry as much about losing their money as the poor worry about getting their money and meeting their bills. Because the wicked have no peace. Isaiah 57 says, God says, I create the fruit of the lips.

Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near, says the Lord, and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God to the wicked. So thirdly, God's peace brings health and life to our physical bodies, not just our spiritual relationship, our mind, but our physical bodies. That's encompassed in this word shalom.

When the Shunammite woman was running to Elisha because her son had died, Remember the son that Elisha had promised to her when he asked her what she wanted. Elisha saw her coming and he sent his servant Gehazi to run and meet her and ask, is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your son? That word well is shalom.

He's asking her, is it Shalom with you? Are you sound in mind and body? Is your husband intact in mind and body and your son? Is he well? Does he have Shalom?

Because he God's Shalom peace extends to our physical bodies And this peace culminates in the full restoration of our physical body at the resurrection where every curse, every effect of sin is removed. And we are made perfectly blessed to the full enjoying of God to all eternity with intact bodies, whole bodies, complete, restored to everything that they were and more. God's Shalom blesses our family life. It blesses marriage. The bride is described in the Song of Solomon as one who has found peace, wellness and wholeness.

God's shalom extends to the whole family and brings peace to intergenerational relationships. Jeremiah 31 describes the effect of this peace. And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and afflict, So I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. And in those days they shall no more say, the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge. No more.

Intergenerational peace. Psalm 128 connects the peace that comes to those who fear the Lord with blessing within the family and seeing our children's children. Psalm 128 says, the Lord bless you out of Zion and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes, may you see your children's children peace on Israel. Peace Seeing one's children's children.

When Genesis closes out, it has this one comment about Joseph. Joseph, the one who was sold by his own brothers as a slave into Egypt, who spent years in prison. Unjustly. It's one who had known great, great conflict, intergenerational conflict and within his own family be sold into slavery by them. This is what it says, that he saw Ephraim's children to the third generation, and Manasseh's grandchildren were raised on his knee.

That means he saw his great-grandchildren. They were raised on his knee. That's a picture of God restoring peace to a family. God's peace also extends to blessing our labor and to blessing the land. They are part of God's covenant blessing.

Leviticus 26 describes the result that shalom, God's peace, has on our labor and on the land itself. Says your threshing shall last till the time of vintage and your vintage shall last till the time of sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land in safety. I will give peace in the land, shalom. And you shall lie down and none will make you afraid, and I will rid the land of evil beasts.

Now, that's what is a wild beast, that evil beast that just as brothers said had killed their brother. A land on which God's peace rests is a land which is read even of evil beasts. I will make a covenant of peace with them, God says in Ezekiel 34, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land. They will dwell in safety in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. God's peace causes our labor to be fruitful.

It makes the land productive and it brings prosperity to our communities. Zechariah 8 says, But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in former days, says the Lord of hosts, for the seed will be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the ground shall give her increase and the heavens shall give their due. I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all of these. That's God's peace on on our labor and on the land itself being fruitful. But God's peace, six, we also his shalom restores our community life from our next door neighbors to international relations.

The blessing in Leviticus 26 that we just read extends to international peace. Verse six continues, the sword will not go through your land. You will chase your enemies and they will fall by the sword before you. Nations will be made to be at peace with one another. Civil governments.

Kings. Will bring peace and public order. Micah four describes this race, which says God shall judge between many peoples and rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. We know that God's promises are yay and amen in Jesus Christ, the one to whom all authority has been given. We are instructed in Timothy to pray for civil magistrates And for all who are in authority that God may bring his shalom to our to our land so that we can live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. That's what that's what God says. We are to pray for in our land.

The. This shalom extends cosmically to the new heavens and the new earth, where in righteousness dwells. The foundation now of this government, the basis, what is what is it built upon? What is the. The means through which this government and this peace are brought to pass?

Remember, because it's a progressive thing of the increase of the government and peace there will be no end well it's established upon this government is established it rests on judgment and justice judgment and justice Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. Judgment is that Hebrew word means a legal decision. It's rightness, rightness in practice and in principle. It's the ability to govern our thinking and bring it into conformity to the word of God. Judgment.

The word is mishpat. It's one of the words that Proverbs speaks a lot about. It involves being able to govern our thinking and bring it into conformity of the word of God. It means to take dominion over our thinking And justice. That's the ability to sort through right and wrong and make correct decisions, correct ethical decisions in any circumstance.

Right actions and right attitudes. God comes speaking justice and righteousness as the divine judge. This judgment and justice are put together in a lot of places in scripture. They are the foundation of good rule, judgment and justice, the ability to make the right decision, decide between right and wrong in any context, any situation, the ability to take our thoughts and to be right in them. So this is the foundation of good government in the family and the church and in the state.

God said of Abraham in Genesis 18, for I have known him in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice, judgment and justice. Those same words. God's assessment of David's reign in Second Samuel eight and in and in Second Chronicles, first Chronicles is that he administered judgment and justice to all the people. That was David's. That was God's assessment of David's reign.

And this is the foundation, right? It's built of Christ's kingdom. It's built upon the throne of David. Jeremiah also prophesied about the coming branch in Jeremiah 23. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will raise to David a branch of righteousness.

A king shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and justice in the earth. In the earth. Psalm 89 says that righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Mercy and truth go before his face. This is the foundation on which this government is built, judgment and justice.

This is the means by which his kingdom is advanced. This is the means through which peace is brought. It's the means by which his shalom fills and transforms every facet of the earth and of our lives. See, it's not achieved through compromise with error. It's not achieved through accommodation with unbelief.

It's not achieved. This peace is not achieved in going along to get along. The peace that Jesus gives is not as the world gives. And he says that he's given us peace And that we can rest in that knowing that he has overcome the world. His his God's loving kindness is.

Is the principle of his rule. Paul says to the Jews, do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that it is the goodness of God that leads you to repentance? God's throne is established on judgment and justice. And what is the extent of his government? The extent of this government.

Every other government in the history of the world to this point in time has come and gone. All of the empires of the ancient world are gone. There in some cases are a few remnants left, a few ruins, broken down walls, some rocks here and there, They're gone. They've been destroyed. This is pictured in in Daniel.

Remember, Daniel sees his vision, this statue representing the ancient empires of the world, Rome, the Medo Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, the Babylonian Empire. This statue representing all these empires is smashed to dust and blown away by the stone cut without hands that grows to fill the whole earth. That's Christ's kingdom. It's from this time forth and forever. There's no end to it.

There will be no end of the increase of his government and peace. There will be No end. Shalom looks to the full confirmation, consummation of God's government, eternal life. His shalom is a foretaste of eternal life that we experience now, but it's only fully realized in the age to come. But it is forever progressing.

It's never ending. It's forever expanding in its influence. It's that little muster seed that grows to fill the whole earth. This is what God promised to David all the way back in in second Samuel seven. God promised this.

Made this covenant with David. He said, Your house and your kingdom will be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. This Davidic covenant is a is an everlasting covenant. It's one of the reasons We understand it to be a part, it is one administration of the covenant of grace.

But what is the certainty that this will happen? Isaiah says the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. The zeal of the Lord of hosts. Zeal is a very complex thing, complex idea. It speaks of very strong affection.

It means to jealously guard one person over another. A husband is jealous for the love of his wife. God speaks of his jealousy for his jealous love for his people. Speaks of his disposition to protect us, to favor us, as the apple of his eyes, his children. But God is also jealous or zealous for his own honor.

And he, as we've said, won't share that honor with anyone. That's the zeal of the Lord of Hosts that will perform this. Psalm 72, I'd like to close with that because it is a one of the more extended descriptions of Christ's government. There are many, many in Revelation, many in the Psalms, but this is one of them. This is this is a description of this government that Isaiah says is upon Christ's shoulders and will increase.

There'll be no end to its increase. Give your judgments, give the king your judgments, oh God, and your righteousness to the king's son. He will judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice. The mountains will bring peace to the people and the little hills by righteousness. He will bring justice to the poor of the people.

He will save the children of the needy. He will break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear you as long as the sun and moon endure. Throughout all generations, he shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, like showers that water the earth. In his days, the righteous shall flourish and abundance of peace until the moon is no more.

He shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before him. You see, Christ's kingdom isn't just from the river to the sea. It's from the river to the ends of the earth. His kingdom doesn't isn't over just some little piece of land in the Middle East.

His kingdom extends over the whole entire universe. That's what his saints inherit. Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before him and his enemies will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the Isles, meaning the nations, will bring presents. The king of Sheba and Siba will offer gifts.

Yea, all kings will fall down before him. All nations shall serve Him. For He will deliver the needy when He cries. The poor also, and Him who has no helper, He will spare the poor and the needy. He will save the souls of the needy.

He will redeem their life from oppression and violence. And precious shall be their blood in His sight. And He shall live. And the gold of Shiba will be given to him, and prayer will be made for him continually, and daily he shall be praised. There will be an abundance of grain on the earth.

On top of the mountains, its fruit shall wave like Lebanon, and those of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth. His name shall endure forever. His name shall continue as long as the sun. All men shall be blessed in him. All nations shall call him blessed.

And this is what we sing, you know, do you realize this is what we sing every Sunday? We end our service. Blessed be the Lord, Jehovah God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things and and be and blessed be his glorious name forever and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen. Amen.

Heavenly Father, we are so often discouraged by what we see around us. May help us Lord to open our eyes as you open the eyes of Elisha's servant that we might see that those who are with us are greater than those who are without. May we may open our eyes that we may see with spiritual understanding your present reign, your victory in history, as well as in eternity. We may see, Lord, the fingerprints of your righteous rule. As you bring justice to all those in vengeance upon all those who know not the gospel and do not obey you.

But you bring life and healing and peace to those who know you, who love you and keep your commandments. Help us, Father, to believe your word, to trust in your word, to make the decisions of our life according to your word, to remember that your word is true even if every that makes every single other person on earth a liar father we ask Lord that you would comfort us in our sorrow, that you would give to us a vision of your glory, of your presence, of your power, and enable us to walk with great boldness, to be bold as lions, knowing that we serve a mighty God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the one who holds the earth in your hands, and the one who works all things together for our good. We thank you Father for your word, for preserving it to us. We pray that you enable us to feed upon it this week through Jesus Christ we ask amen. Psalm 78b Now my mouth will see it by yourselves you hear.

My mouth will speak of you, the Lord that's made the cup of old. If we have listened to and know that thy own law is right. We offer children by them the pantalation now. The praises of the Lord is strength, the wonders he has done. His worthy adjudging of cave is law to his right hand.

Here she our fathers did come, and to see their children well. Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? To trust in God we call those who listen is come and it's here. And the need of their fathers were rebellious through and through. Who hate but not good write their hearts, nor run to us in truth.

So we think about this government that never stops growing. I'd like to go back to Ephesians 3 where Paul gives this doxology. Verse 20, now to him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us to him, to Christ, be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever amen this is true because Christ has died and rose again. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or even think, according to the power that now works in us. You come to the Lord's table, this table He promises to feed us, to give to us grace.

It is a means of grace, and it doesn't come because we ate, merely. It comes in the eating, but it comes by faith. And he is able to do exceedingly abundantly, above all that we can ask or even think. You think about the greatest thing that you ever thought to ask the Lord. You know, there are, you know, when a lot is asked, He asks of us.

But think of the greatest thing that you've ever asked the Lord for. This is saying God's God is saying I can do far more than you can even think to ask. Then you can even imagine. You're thinking too small. Our God is much greater.

Almighty Heavenly Father, we thank you for this cup and this bread that you have given to us. We ask that you would set them apart, that through them we may remember you, the one who through your death and through had defeated death, rising from the dead. You have trounced all enemies. You have trounced all enemies. You have crushed the head of the serpent, leaving it as a mere grease spot.

You are the mighty God, the one who can do beyond all that we can even think or ask. And so we ask that you might strengthen us at this table this morning. In part, your grace to us, which is life-giving, and your truth, sanctify us through them. We ask in Jesus' name, Amen. Our Lord Jesus Christ in the same night that he was betrayed took bread and having blessed it he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying take eat this is my body which is broken for you.

This do as often as you do it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show forth my death till I come again. He gave the cup to his disciples saying, this cup is a new covenant in my blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. All of you drink of it. I'd invite all those who are members of a Bible believing church and have made a public profession of faith in Christ to come and partake of this table.

Please come. The land is mine, as you may do so God, of the starless sea. In the city who makes God's law, with ocean and in light, and meditates upon that law, And I. And it's the world, it's my country. Stand by the river beside.

It's dead in place, bringing its word in shore. The way. The weakling the hand the driven shy the severed from the field lay. They shall not fail again with the chance or with the of the land. They shall walk the earth again with the just, for within the church will stand the Lord, with the heart of righteous hand, stand.

The Lord will guard the righteous hand. We're waiting to hear His might. The weight of sin far from God shall surely Receive the Lord's blessing. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. And blessed be this glorious name to all eternity. The whole earth let His glory fill, from henceforth let it be.