Isaiah chapter 9. Consider this well this morning, my dear friends. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That has not yet happened, but it will. It is more certain to happen than was the sun's rising this morning to take place. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Then, the Kingdom of Christ will be recognized, will be clearly known as having been established. Until that time, the Kingdom of Christ is very present and is developing and is growing. And here and there, individuals are being brought into that Kingdom and are recognizing the reality of it, the certainty of it, and are coming to embrace the One who is its King, even Christ Himself. And if you have not yet bowed the knee unto Jesus Christ in faith, believing that He is the one and only One who can bring you into that kingdom, the one and only One who can deliver you from the kingdom of darkness and of wrath and of eternal damnation. If you have not trusted in Christ, this is the time to do so. Even today, as we consider that kingdom of Christ, perhaps never perceived to you or rarely contemplated to this date, but sure, present among men, and ever expanding and growing one day to the point that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he's Lord. As Jesus began his public ministry, John the Baptist went about announcing the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Then and there, it was at hand. As Christ ministered, he could say to those he ministered among, the kingdom of God is among you for Christ, its king, was there. As He hung upon the cross and the thief bled and died beside Him, the thief suddenly recognized that Christ was a King with a Kingdom and said to Him, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom. And on that very instant, Jesus said to him, Today Thou shalt be with Me in Paradise. He opened the Kingdom of Heaven to that one. even as the prophet Isaiah had prophesied in the 21st chapter of that one unto whom the keys of the kingdom would be given. There on Calvary, Christ used them, admitting that thief. So we consider today the kingdom of Christ which these two verses from Isaiah chapter 9 verses 6 and 7 tell us of and assure us that indeed it will achieve every objective that is before it. It will indeed be established irrefutably, indisputably, without any rivals ever to challenge it. And so we've read already in the call to worship from verse number six of Isaiah chapter nine, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Isaiah the prophet is speaking to the people of Israel whose nation is troubled and they know that it is troubled. A nation that is accustomed to the usual way of warfare. garments, blood soaked from the battle, destruction and defeat. And in the midst of these things, the prophet says, but unto us a child is born. He speaks prophetically concerning The birth of Christ that would yet take place centuries in the future, but would be the assurance of a triumph. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. In other words, it is not simply the birth of a child. It is in addition that the birth of that child is also the giving of a son. A woman will bear a child, but God in that will give a son. And the government shall be upon his shoulder." And I urge you to notice that the sequence of things being stated in this verse would suggest to us that the government is upon his shoulder at the moment of his birth. Not some future speculative time out there in the future that the government will be upon his shoulder, but no. Unto us a child is born. Though he speaks prophetically, it is so certain he speaks as if it's past tense. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. And he there proclaims the coming birth of Christ. And he speaks of what his kingdom will be in this and in the following verse. So I want us to consider two points this morning. The first being Christ's majesty foretold by the prophet. That's first number six. And then Christ's majesty, in fact, displayed at his birth. The majesty of Christ the King foretold by the prophet. First of all, he speaks of the exclusive authority. of this king. The government shall be upon his shoulder. One person, it is saying, will shoulder the responsibility of this government, which is in fact the government of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ. The responsibility for governing is a great responsibility. No nations last very long because those who would aspire for the responsibility tend rather to aspire for the glory they attach to the responsibility rather than to the responsibility themselves. Have we not become rather accustomed to governmental leaders who do not take their responsibility but want to, as we say, kick the can down the street a little further? Well, the government shall be upon his shoulder. Christ will be the sole bearer of the rule, the responsibility. In addition to that, his ability to rule is set before us. And then what do we see his ability to rule? Well again, verse number six, in this, his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Now, Wonderful and Counselor, have you ever known a ruler to whom those two descriptions can be supplied? What ruler that you've known in your lifetime would you describe with those two words, wonderful counselor? Well, you've got the point. The answer is clear. But this one, this king will be a king of whom all creation can cry, wonderful counselor. And in fact, the Scriptures have already shown that to us in as much as the psalmist wrote, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Show to me the One who designed and engineered simply the human hand with all of its muscles and tendons and bones and joints which has the capacity to respond to a message from the brain that says, grasp, or fan, or withdraw. Show to me the One who designed all of that. And then, having designed it, breathed into it the very life to function, and there's only one word that I can respond with. He is wonderful. That is the King. that will rule in the kingdom of whom Isaiah speaks. He can be called wonderful. None other can. Wonderful counselor. The word counselor certainly bespeaks wisdom. which is the very name given to Christ as the Apostle speaks of Christ being the wisdom of God, the power of God, the one who dispenses wisdom because He is its eternal embodiment and exhibition. And indeed, the wonder and wisdom of Christ will be exhibited in the kingdom which He is now establishing. And that exhibition will be complete and overwhelming when the fullness of the kingdom is brought about. That's His ability to rule and implement these things. The perfection of His kingdom is spoken of in this sixth verse. Notice what it says. the perfection of its development. It says in verse number seven, of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. Now, I would assume most of us gathering here would tend to be rather conservative politically, which means we do not like big government. And we recognize that the governments that have ruled over us do one thing superbly, and that is grow. They grow how they are adept at growth. The founders of our nation, having been influenced by a biblical worldview, recognized that the natural propensity of government is to be an ever-growing beast which must be restrained and put behind bars or it will overtake you and destroy you and enslave you. And so they established a constitution that was designed for the purpose of restraining and limiting government. We do not like enlarging government. But here is a government that will increase. And it will never cease to increase. He's saying of the increase of this government, there shall be no end. Now eventually, every human government brings about its own destruction by the abuse of those who run it, by the flaws that are built into it by its tyrants. But this government will be developing without any setbacks. Notice it says, of the increase of this government, there shall be no end. And so it's telling us that it is a government that will never decrease. It will only increase. We look at human history and world affairs and think to ourselves, as wickedness seems to abound, that it is in fact an encroachment upon the kingdom of truth and righteousness. But the fact of the matter is this. that this kingdom that Christ is establishing is not measured by human standards of measure and is not to be gauged by human analysis. Rather, this is the one who, through the assaults of his enemies against him, brings about the very establishment of his kingdom. one needn't think any further than the cross of Calvary where the King Himself was crucified to recognize that the crucifixion of Christ is the very bedrock and foundation of this great Kingdom that indeed the Kingdom of God then and there was being manifest in ways man would never perceive and in ways man can never, nay say, nor cancel. So is the advancing of the Kingdom of Christ that the uprising of wickedness around us, while we are indeed to lament it and to preach against it and to fight it, especially in our own hearts, is never to be looked upon as that which diminishes the kingdom of Christ, for what he's saying is that of the increase of his kingdom there shall be no end, which means there is no decrease to it at any time. There is never any lost territory. It is only progress and prosperity. This is the development of that kingdom. Perhaps some will recall several months ago when we spent some time in the prophet Daniel. As Daniel describes The kingdoms of this world depicted in the image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. And the feet of that image were dashed to pieces by a stone that was cut without hands, just a rough boulder from the mountains. And yet that stone, which destroyed all of human civilization and might and power, grew to fill the whole world. There, Daniel speaks of this very kingdom we're speaking of. As Christ is the stone cut without hands that came dashing against the Roman Empire. And when it struck, the empire was finished. Any empire, recall, that executes a man but cannot keep him Dead is an empire that's done for. And it might take three or four centuries for its decomposition to be realized, but certain it is. And thus, Christ's kingdom progresses there in Matthew 13. Jesus gave the parable of the mustard seed. The tiniest of all the seeds. And yet, when it's grown, it was a tree that filled the earth. He was describing with that illustration his own kingdom, beginning so small and unnoticed, and yet filling all in all, even as he does. Christ on Calvary would appear to have been utterly forsaken and alone. forsaken by God, forsaken certainly by his disciples, none remaining with him except a few women who had no power among men. And there was Nephilimus and Joseph of Arimathea. But he was utterly forsaken. And yet, on the day of Pentecost, as the Spirit of God came, the apostles were empowered. They, having re-identified with Christ, preached and 3,000 souls were saved. And not long after, another 2,000 were added to them. And within three centuries, the church that was established at Pentecost had overtaken the empire inasmuch as the emperor professed to be a Christian and made Christianity the religion of the empire. And though we could debate at length whether that was good or bad, whether Constantine was noble or wicked in what he was doing. Yet the fact is, the kingdom of God was expanding. The Gospel was being taken to the uttermost parts of the earth. The apostles went forth. And at this time in history, the Gospel of Christ has been taken to almost every portion of the world. And there is fruit. There are souls being saved. Every time a preacher stands and faithfully preaches the Scripture, it is an act of the progress of Christ's Kingdom. Every time a soul is saved from sin, another citizen is added to the Kingdom of God. This is a Kingdom that continues on. Its success is certain. We see that success indicated when it says, of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end." Have you ever known a government that truly brought about peace? What is peace? It's what everybody's fighting for, isn't it? And the kingdoms of this world have majored in nothing but war, but Christ's kingdom will be one of increase and peace that is endless. The success, there is a successful government, one that establishes peace that cannot be derailed. And in addition, there is the orderliness of that kingdom in order to order it and establish it, the text tells us, with judgment and justice. There is the righteousness of that kingdom to order and establish it with judgment. And there is the equity of that kingdom to order and establish it with judgment and with justice. He speaks here of the kingdom of God and its great perfection. And in all of these things, the perfection of the King is shown. And so we read earlier this morning at our time of prayer from Isaiah chapter 11, another prophecy. You might turn over just a page in the scripture to the 11th chapter of Isaiah, where the character of this kingdom is described. And indeed, you see in this description its success, its order, its righteousness, its equity and fairness. Look at verse 3 of Isaiah 11. This king shall be made of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins." And then it continues in v. 6, "...the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together, and the little child shall lead them." Can you imagine such a thing? Yesterday as my wife and I were driving past a cornfield somewhat obstructed from view by a fence row, I saw a flock of geese and they were acting unusually. Usually you see the geese just kind of lounging around in the cornfields, picking where they might find some kernels of corn that have dropped. But these had their necks stretched as high as they could and their heads high and were moving through the field in a way I had not seen, but a way that I knew meant alarm. And then I saw why. Here came a red fox tiptoeing along behind them. And that's what foxes do. You've seen them. I know no other way to describe their getting around than tiptoeing. And here he came quickly tiptoeing. He wasn't going to engage the geese. He knew that there were too many of them for him. But the point is this, the geese were troubled. They were alarmed. Everything about their posture was saying, warning, warning, warning, get out of harm's way. And that's just what they were doing. Can you imagine? Can you imagine a day when the carnivorous animal and the animal it feeds upon are in the same stall together enjoying one another's company and eating hay together, vegetarians. That's what it's describing here. It's describing a king who in fact will have the glorious power of opening up the skull of human nature and rewiring and reprogramming that nature. Not just human, but the animal kingdom as well. So that children can play with venomous serpents and there is no reason for concern. And so that the baby goat, the kid, can be in the presence of the beast that would otherwise rend it and devour it and there be no harm come to it." This is a kingdom that is super well ordered. A kingdom that is ruled by justice, equity, purity, righteousness. And we see as well that its duration is forevermore. It is a kingdom that will continue forever. And mind you, I don't understand what I'm going to say now. Maybe you say he doesn't understand what he's been saying. But indeed, I don't understand this. It is a kingdom that will forever be increasing. There will be no end to its increase, the kingdom of Christ. Well, We've spent enough time there. Let's go back again to chapter nine at verse number seven to consider further just what and how the majesty of the king of this kingdom was exhibited at Christ's birth. It says here in verse number seven that this child who is born, this son who is given will be upon the throne of David. So mind you, This one comes from Bethlehem, which is the city of David. And we know that from the various accounts given to us in the gospel. Bethlehem, the seedbed of kings. That's where King David came from. And so this one who will rule upon the throne of David must be also the seed of David. And so he comes from the city of David, Bethlehem. What do you know, that was foretold by the prophet Micah. And the leaders of Israel's religious life knew this and understood this so much so that when the wise men came looking for the one that was born King of the Jews, the religious scholars were consulted by King Herod and they said, look in Bethlehem, that's where the prophet said he would be born. And indeed, this king was born there. in the city of David according to the word of the prophets, according to the expectation of the religious leaders of Israel. Matthew and Luke both go at great length to describe how that he was in fact a descendant of King David, the greatest king Israel ever had. To this day, the people of Israel look with great wonder at that day past when David was their king. And for their flag they have the star of David. Well, it's upon his throne that this king will rule. And so, he was also heralded by angels when he came to earth. Did angels announce the birth of Donald Trump? Or of Caesar Augustus? or of Nebuchadnezzar or any other known world leader? Not at all. But this kingdom will be governed over by a perfect ruler whose perfection is exhibited in the manner by which he came into the world, an offspring of David, the seed of David, on the throne of David, and by the fact that angels announced He had come. And we cannot ignore the fact that when the writer of Hebrews was describing Christ's superiority to angels, a very important matter to be demonstrated to the Hebrew reader that Jesus of Nazareth indeed was superior to angels, The writer of Hebrews says that when Christ, the first begotten, entered the world, God said to the angels, let all the angels of God worship Him. This truly is a ruler who oversees a kingdom that is worldwide, but he is not an imperialist. He is a gracious, gracious king. He was visited, remember, by the wise men. We dealt with this a couple of Christmases ago. Who these wise men were, the Magi as they are referred to, we sang of them this morning. They came from the east, from ancient Persia, that region of the world. And there's strong reason to believe that these were part of a special religious class of nobility in that part of the world who had descended from the prophet Daniel as their founder. As Daniel, the prophet, survived several emperors, the nation that he was in falling prey to another, but him continuing in the new. And as a leader of the magicians you read of in the book of Daniel. Magicians. Not people that play little tricks with sleight of hand, but those who were a class of wise men and advisors to the king. And as these magicians, these wise men, increased in their generations, they became the ones by whom new kings were recognized and acknowledged and crowned. And so, generations after Daniel, hundreds of years, A group of them come to Israel, of all places, to see someone who was born king of the Jews. How did they know there would be a king of the Jews? Doubtless, Daniel's faithful testimony generations earlier input this very understanding within the religious class of the pagan land where he was living. And so they come and what was it that the wise men inquired? Have you stopped to think about that? They asked the question, where is he that is born King of the Jews? Have you thought on what they asked there? They did not say where is he that is born that is to be King of the Jews. They said, where is He that is born King of the Jews? They recognized that the One born was from His birth King. It was majesty in a manger as Christ Himself was born King of the Jews. Yea, King of Kings. There was never a moment that Christ was not King. One's recognition of His Kingship has nothing to do with the reality of His Kingship. He is King whether those who rebel against Him want to acknowledge it or not. On the cross, one thief recognized his Kingship and the other did not recognize it. But the failure to recognize His kingship had no bearing whatsoever upon the reality and fact of it. Christ is King, and His kingliness was exhibited so powerfully, yes, even by His being crowned with thorns. He was born King of the Jews. this kingdom which we've endeavored feebly to describe from the previous verse has as its king this child that was born who is also the son of God given upon whose shoulders the government rests and whose kingdom will be one of perfection and eternal perfect duration. And this is acknowledged by the wise men coming, the kingmakers, and saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? This is why Herod was so enraged and determined then and there to have the baby Jesus put to death. Because then and there, the wise men were proclaiming, there's another king! And Herod would have no other king than himself. And so he gives the decree that the baby boys in Bethlehem are to be killed. And having no idea at all what he is doing, by giving the decree he fulfills the Old Testament prophet concerning this king. Thereby validating his kingship. and demonstrating that He is indeed the One of whom the Old Testament prophet had spoken. Joseph learning that Herod, once the baby boy is killed, is warned of God by the wise men and he and Mary and Jesus flee to Egypt until Herod is dead. And that fleeing to Egypt prompted by Herod's insane decree fulfills another Old Testament Scripture. As Hosea said, out of Egypt have I called my son. And so, Pharaoh the mighty is made into the very servant of the babe in the manger. And he doesn't even realize it. Who is in charge? Who is ruling? Who is truly King of Jews? The one who is born King of the Jews. And why was he born in Bethlehem? You know why. Because several years earlier, a Roman emperor named Caesar, who had the name August added to his, for he knew himself to be August, Caesar Augustus, a guy that we would not even know existed were it not for William Shakespeare, And Luke, he would be one of the forgotten figures of human history. Oh yes, those who take an interest in ancient Roman history, they would know about him, but that's very few people. And for most people, he would be a name that they had to trudge past in an ancient history class, which they really didn't like to begin with. But thanks to William Shakespeare, the writing of Julius Caesar, and thanks to Luke, who records the birth of Christ, we happen to know that a guy named Caesar existed. Now what does an emperor, a king, concern himself with? Well, we've heard a lot about it in the past week, haven't we? A new tax code. Whether for good or ill, we have one. We'll see what it is. But that's what rulers do. How could I get my hands in your pockets? Deeper, deeper in your pockets. And so in order that Caesar Augustus might establish his own rule with greater might and fund his favorite projects, he's going to collect taxes. So he makes a decree that there has to be a census. Because you cannot tax people unless you know they exist. So you find out of their existence by way of a census. And that census requires that Mary and Joseph Return to Bethlehem where they can register because they are of the house and lineage of David and Bethlehem is the city of David that David came from. So they have to go back there to sign up for taxation. And what do you know while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. And Jesus is born in Bethlehem fulfilling the prophet Micah 5 2. by way of a decree of a Caesar Augustus who had no idea what he was doing when it comes to fulfilling the Old Testament decree by which once again the identity of Jesus Christ is established irrefutably. Who is really in charge? Who is truly the king? The king is the one in the manger. A star leads the wise men to Bethlehem. Yes, the astronomical phenomena are at his service. This is the true king. And the men of power in his day, the emperors, the kings, they simply become nothing more than historical calendar markers. You see, in that age, they did not have calendars like we do that count time BC and AD. They would mark the calendar in terms of who was ruling at this time or that time. By those means they would bring things together and it is only in that sense that we see Julius Caesar among the leaders of human history. It came to pass in those days that there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. Okay, that's the calendar marker by which we identify the time of Christ's birth. And it happens that his decree served establishing Christ's identity. This, you see, is a kingdom that is expanding, that is growing, that has dominion over all. And it is to be noted, if you'll turn with me to Luke chapter three, Luke the third chapter, an example of this very thing that we speak of, that in fact, The world's greatest and most powerful are merely the pawns by which the particulars of Christ's kingdom are brought into being and established. Thus, Christ is born at Bethlehem. Thus, He is taken to Egypt to escape murder by Herod. Thus, He is brought back from Egypt. Scriptures are fulfilled about the morning in Jerusalem over the killing of the babies. Well, all of these things are facilitated by men who thought themselves to be men of power, but in fact, in light of the kingdom of Christ, they were merely instruments by which its particulars were established. And you look at chapter 3 of John and notice how that is set forth in these first two verses. Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip, Tetrarch of Icaria, and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanus, and the Tetrarch of Apolline, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. Now did you catch what is put before us there? It's the list of all of the great men of the age. The great men. Caesar Tiberius ruling the world empire, the Roman Empire. And the underlings who answered to him, Herod and Pilate. It would be something like this, if we can just not to do irreverence to scripture or treat it carelessly but to try to get a little more sense of the context. Imagine it came to pass in the first year of the reign of Donald Trump when Larry Hogan was governor of Maryland and Barry Glassman executive of Harford County. And add a few more notables to that list that the word of God came to a nobody preacher living strangely out in the wilderness. That's what the passage is telling us. All of these great men of power and might and dominion, they are simply the calendar markers by which to identify this unknown son of a priest named John who wears camel's hair and a leather belt around his midst and eats wild honey and locusts and lives like a wild man in the wilderness. He's the one that matters. And the rest who were the great power brokers of His day, they were nobodies because John the Baptist was the announcer of the Kingdom that was coming. John the Baptist was sent to say, behold, the Kingdom of God is at hand! And to call men into that Kingdom by preaching righteousness. And as Christ appeared, John was there to announce that this is the King I'm not even worthy to loose the latchet of His sandal. Behold, more than a king, behold the Lamb of God." And so the kingdom of God came in Christ. And in the manger of Bethlehem was the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, who is today establishing a kingdom that will continue to increase without ever any diminishment, without ever cessation to its increase. It will continue increasing forever and ever. and all of its foes will be crushed in judgment of eternal wrath while all of its citizens are glorified in the presence of Christ the glorious King. And in which group are you found this morning? We are taught to pray, Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. His Kingdom comes by way of His will being done. So that that petition that we are taught to pray is an instruction unto us to live in submission to His will. And to desire above all else that His will be wrought in me. Thus, we are to sing King of my life, I crown Thee now. Thine shall the glory be." And it is for everyone ever living to recognize the King in the manger as the King of kings and to bow before Him in absolute submission and self-rejection, acknowledging Him as King. Join with that thief on the cross in the prayer, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom. The dying thief Rejoice to see that fountain in His day. And there may I, though vile as He, wash all my sins away. Let us all stand together as we pray. Almighty God and gracious Father, humble our hearts before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords that we might each acknowledge Him as King. May there be no soul present here today who carelessly imagines that he can bypass the Kingship of Christ. For indeed, we know that every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord, some in glory, others in judgment. May all present today know Christ in glory and bow the knee to him this hour. May thy kingdom come. May thy will be done on earth. as it is in heaven. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.