Please turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 19. 2 Chronicles chapter 19, beginning in verse 1. May the Most High God open our minds and our hearts to His Word. And Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. And Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. Nevertheless there are good things found in thee. in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God. And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem, and he went out again through the people from Beersheba to Mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers. And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city. and said to the judges, Take heed what ye do, for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Take heed, and do it. For there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts, Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites and of the priests and of the chief of the fathers of Israel for the judgment of the Lord and for controversies when they returned to Jerusalem. And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord faithfully and with a perfect heart. And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments? Ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the Lord, and so wrath come upon you. and upon your brethren. This do, and ye shall not trespass. And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord, and Zebediah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah for all the king's matters. Also, the Levite shall be officers before you. Deal courageously and the Lord shall be with the good. We come now to the fifth part of my defense for our study, our present investigation of the books of the Chronicles. When I got started I didn't expect my apology for this study to run so long. Nevertheless, I do hope and trust that it has been an edifying investigation. There are timely reasons to study the books of the Chronicles, and primarily my focus has been upon the kingship of Christ and its practical manifestation in the world of Ultimately, this very common Christian doctrine of the kingship of Christ has to come to some kind of practical application and manifestation. Currently, we live in a season of great unrest and upheaval. We are rudderless. You have almost as many different opinions as you have people, and there's very little in the way of common thought, common direction, agreement. We desperately need the unifying influence of the mind of the king. Over the past couple of weeks we've been looking at the kingship of Christ over the church and some of the particular things that are taught in Chronicles about the practical manifestation of this kingship. Almost all Christian people will acknowledge in the general that Christ is king over his church. But as we analyze the particulars of church government and worship, rather than following the headship and direction of the king, what we have found is that the churches and almost every particular congregation is simply taking its own way. The government of Christ as instituted in the Bible is largely set aside Christian people feel altogether free to set up a government according to their own liking, according to their own pleasure. And if they do that with respect to government, how much more so with respect to worship. Our king has told us how he is to be approached in his court, and nevertheless we will do what pleases us. He says that he will be approached on his own terms, and yet we make bold to approach him according to ours. We saw a particular manifestation of this in the service song. This is such a lively and such an important issue in Christian worship at the present day. I would encourage you to go back and listen to that last sermon if you have not done so. Well, if what we have just done has been challenging work, we are out of the frying pan and into the fire. You see, almost all Christians already agree that Christ is king in his church, but today we come to another jewel in Christ's crown. He is also king over the nations of the earth. He is king in the political realm. So if almost all American Christians will agree that he's king in church, even though there's very little agreement over the practical manifestation of that, There is almost universal denial that Christ is king over the nations and that they ought to acknowledge his kingship and yield to his word and to his law. And this is one of the reasons, one of the great reasons, perhaps the great reason for the crisis of this present hour. Going back to our first founding as a nation, America chose a secular government. Sometimes Christians protest. A lot of ink has been spilled that almost all of the men in our constitutional Congress were Christians and so on. I actually have no intention to dispute those points, but the point at issue is not where they man of faith and personal piety, the question is, did they set up a secular government or not? And the simple fact of the matter is that they did. The evils of a secular government, when yet the sincere Christian men are yet at the helm, The evils will be muted to some degree. But what happens when unbelieving people take the reins of a secular government? And what we find now is a government that is broken loose from morality, broken loose from the government of God. The question, it's interesting when you think about what's happening in the political sphere, there's very little discussion of what is right and wrong. Almost all of the discussions are pragmatic discussions. So you might have a Democrat saying we should raise taxes for such and such reasons. pragmatic argumentation. You might have a Republican saying, we need to lower taxes for these reasons. And almost always that's pragmatic. But what you never hear anybody arguing about would be the ethics of taxation. If we grant that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords has given governments the right and authority to tax, nevertheless, Those same governments aren't given the rights to tax in an unlimited way or to steal or rob the populace. And yet somebody reasoning about the ethics of taxation would be such a strange animal on a political debate stage that almost no one would know what to do with such a person. That's not how they've designed any of their arguments. It's something that's not even entered into their thoughts. So the question of taxation largely becomes what's going to work, what's going to result in prosperity, ultimately considered rather than, before we start seeking practical solutions, we first have to ask the question, What's right? What are the limits? It would be very much like if you can imagine if I'm having a household financial difficulty. Within the realm of the ethical, there's a lot of possible solutions. I could try to find another job with more money. I could try to find ways to cut my spending. I could take a second job and so on. Those are solutions within the realm of the ethical, but no one would excuse me if I decided to solve my financial problem by climbing in my neighbor's window and stealing his TV. It is a remedy for a financial problem, but it's not one that is pleasing to Christ. It's not within the realm of the ethical. Our government does not feel any such limitations or inhibitions and it's a frightening thing and even before we feel the force of it, it is formally political tyranny. When the government can do whatever it has the power to do, irrespective of morality, the tyranny is already present. And we certainly want government to be limited and self-limiting so much better if they have awareness that they have a king over them to whom they must give an account. even if there's no earthly power that can inhibit their authority. It's when they limit themselves that the people become free and safe. So we're left with a question. Can the government do just whatever it wants or maybe whatever the people will support? or is the government limited by Christ and His law? And if I might put it somewhat pointedly and provocatively, is Jesus Christ the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Prince of the kings of the earth, or not? This is the question that is in front of us. And with this in view, turn with me to Psalm 2, Of course, this would have been written probably almost 500 years before the Chronicler wrote, but it would have been written within the history. It is written by David and his reflections upon Messiah's government of the nations of the earth. So again, turn with me to Psalm 2. We will begin reading in verse 1. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. I have now been long enough with the scriptures and with these ideas to be amazed. Frequently Old Testament teaching concerning civil government is simply dismissed. They will just say, well, that has to do with Israel's theocracy, but the nations of the earth are not treated in the same way. Of course, God was the king of Israel, but God's kingship with respect to the other nations is somehow not recognized or acknowledged by these thinkers. But I want you to notice this psalm. Look at verse 1. It's not Israel and it's not Israel's government that is exclusively in view. Notice here it's asked why the heathen and the people imagine a vain thing if we needed further definition of who's in view in verse 2 they are further described as the kings of the earth and the rulers so this is not just Israel if you if you look at those four descriptors this is not this is not just Israel this is these are the the peoples of the earth I want you also to notice that they are portrayed as being in rebellion, not just against any God or the gods that they acknowledge. If you've got a decent English translation, you'll see in verse two that LORD is in all capital letters. That's the divine name Jehovah, Jehovah, and his anointed in Hebrew, quite literally, is the Messiah. So here, the nations of the earth are portrayed as being in rebellion against the true God, against Israel's God, and not just Israel's God, but also against Messiah. Now, this is something to consider and something important to think about. Can you rebel against someone to whom you owe no subjection, to whom you are not subordinate? Right? Rebellion presupposes that there's actually a subjection, a subordination, and they are in rebellion against this. They do not like the limitations of his government, of his law, and so they want to break his bands and cast his cords away. I want you to take a step back and try to imagine what a massive problem this is. And for small creatures of the dust, such as ourselves, this is simply too much for us. I want you to think about worldly politics as they are right now. If the United States of America and say Russia and China should all agree to do something in the world, is there an earthly power that could stop them? I mean, That is formidable. That's about as formidable as it gets in this world's realm. And the rebellion here is portrayed as being that kind of thing. You might say that the kings of the earth have entered into a grand conspiracy against the high king of heaven and against his anointed one. Is this any threat to the Most High God? Verse 4. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. If you look at verse 4, this rebellion is no threat to the Almighty. They rebel. Perhaps they think that they have the power to succeed in their rebellion and it provokes nothing more from him than laughter. But it's not the laughter of mirth. In that very next clause, we see that this is a laughter of derision. He thinks nothing of their rebellion. It is no threat to him. And far from being any kind of laughter of mirth, when he speaks to them in verse five, he speaks to them in wrath. And so they know that they are subject, and yet they refuse to be. And now God is going to speak into the situation, verse 6. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. So one of the tools that the kings of the earth have always used to rebel, an intellectual tool if you will, they try to convince themselves that there is no God. They suppress the light of nature that's in them in that regard. But God then tells them what is real. They can pretend as if Christ is not king, but he himself, the Most High God, has set his king upon Zion's hill. The decree is declared. Messiah is God's son. And all he has to do is ask And God will give him everything, even the heathen, for his inheritance to the uttermost parts of the earth. And once again, this is an indication that this doesn't just have to do with Israel or Israelite government. And interestingly enough, if we were to then raise the question, well, has Jesus asked the Father for the uttermost parts of the earth? The Great Commission really leaves us in without any question. In preface to that, Jesus says that all the authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth. And because all earthly authority actually belongs to him, he can authorize a global mission, go into all the world preaching the gospel, teach the nations. But the question could be raised. Think of his apostles, ministers, and missionaries ever since. What if the governments of the earth tell us no? Jesus, the prince of the kings of the earth, nevertheless has said yes. So if the governments say no, but Christ says yes, when the missionaries go in preaching the gospel, it's the governments that are in rebellion and not his missionaries. So here we have the promise of the uttermost parts of the earth, and those that will not bow willingly will nevertheless genuflect, having had their knees smashed with a rod of iron. This is what's true. This is what's real. And beginning in verse 10, we then have the practical application of these theological truths. Verse 10, Be wise now therefore, O ye kings, be instructed, ye judges of the earth. So once again, note this is not just about Israel. This is about all of the governments of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. So I want you to notice here that the governments of the earth are called upon to serve not just any God, they are called upon to serve the Lord. Once again, in all caps in verse 11, they're called upon to serve him with fear. It's an interesting thing, right? This is a little bit different than government with the people, by the people, for the people, and so on. This is government that's being called upon to serve the Lord. So it is the Lord that's giving the commands and Government is implementing the Lord's commands for the well-being of the people. It's a very different model. And they're called upon to do it in fear and in trembling, recognizing that they have an authority over them to whom they must give an account. So even if no other earthly power can bring them to heal, nevertheless, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords will hold them accountable. So they're called upon to serve Jehovah? And then they are called upon in verse 12 to kiss the sun. So here the Messiah is brought back into view as the king that has been set on Zion's hill. And they are called upon to kiss him. This is the way that I want to say ancient peoples, but it does still continue in some places around the world. This is one of the ways that people would show fealty. It's a sign of submission and subjection. But it's also a sign of love. It's an acknowledgement that Christ is King and that we are happy that it is so. And then the consequences are given both negatively and positively. Kiss the son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. So here there is a call to kiss the sun, and if that is refused, his anger is going to be provoked. And there is no country mighty enough to withstand him. If his wrath is kindled even a little, your mighty nation will tumble like a house of cards. So that's the negative consequence for refusal. But positively, if a nation kisses the sun and trusts him, blessed are all they that put their trust in him. So a special blessing is proclaimed for those nations that acknowledge his kingship in loyalty, faith, and love. Interestingly enough, We have to bring this to an application. Our nation, hopefully our hearts have not become alienated to our nation, our kinsmen, according to the flesh. And if we really love, then we must bring this to its practical application because everything is at stake. Think about this psalm and the matrix of things that it is presented. The United States of America is among the nations of the earth. So where are we? Are we to be found among those in the first three verses? that are rebelling and are ultimately going to have our knees broken with the rod of iron, verse 9? Are we going to be shattered, scattered, and perishing when his wrath is kindled, verse 12? Or are we to be found among those that are wise and instructed placing their trust in the King, even our King Jesus. What's it going to be? When we turn our attention to the Chronicles, Well, let me just back up for a second. So hopefully you're starting to see that quite literally everything is at stake and we come to the root of the disease of our nation. As long as we continue to subsist as a secular government run by unbelieving people, we will be numbered and reckoned among the beastly kingdoms of the earth. See Daniel chapter 7. We will never have peace, harmony, health, prosperity, until we pledge our allegiance to King Jesus and submit ourselves to his government and yield obedience to his righteous requirements. It is only when he is with us and guiding us and ultimately blessing us that we will be blessed indeed with a blessing that adds no sorrow. But as long as we continue in rebellion, we might have some sometimes that are better than others. But ultimately, this is that one path to national ruin. There isn't anyone that refuses the sun. There isn't any nation that refuses to kiss the sun that does so with impunity. And so when we come to the Chronicles, not only do we get that great theme, but as soon as we have this principle in mind that the Old Testament and what it teaches about civil government cannot simply be dismissed, but that we are being taught things that you might even say that the King is teaching us things about what it is to administrate good government, good civil government. It's only then that we begin to reap the lessons from the Old Testament. So turn with me again to 2 Chronicles chapter 19. This is where we started. I want to resume again with verse 4. I do not intend this as a detailed treatment. It won't be. This is just introductory and a little foretaste of the kind of work that we will do in Chronicles with respect to principles of good civil government. So verse 4, 2 Chronicles 19. And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem. And he went out again through the people from Beersheba to Mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers. So, first of all, I want you to see that what Jehoshaphat's doing here is what theologians call an approved example. Jehoshaphat is obviously being presented as something that a ruler should be. So his government is not religiously indifferent, but he is active on behalf of the true God, active in advancing the truth, active in spreading the true religion in the nation, right? So not a very American principle, but obviously one that is biblical and salutary. Verse five. And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, Take heed which ye do, for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment. So I want you to notice here that the civil government is being portrayed ultimately as God's government. I might even say it like this, that when civil government is administrated properly, it simply becomes an administration of God's government. So it's God's government, and it is just being implemented and applied by human functionaries, as it were. So it's God's government, And obviously, these judges are being reminded that they are accountable to the Lord for what they do. And that accountability is so very important, especially when there aren't other earthly powers to limit and discipline. But these judges are being reminded, you must You must do what God requires, right? So that's going to be moral government, and in this particular case, moral judgment. But if you jump the tracks, even if you have the power to do it in this world, nevertheless, you will be held accountable. We won't do it this morning, but go read Psalm 82. What's being discussed here is frightful. The judges are being brought face to face with the Most High God, who is sore provoked when the judges of the earth misrepresent Him by unjust judgment. Verse 7, Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you, take heed and do it. For there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons." Right, so very much as it was in in verse two, they're supposed to do what they do in the fear of the Lord. So that's again that they have the sense that God is there, He's present, He's watching, He's judging, and so they're to be watchful and careful in the things that they do. There's no iniquity with the Lord, no respect of persons, no taking of bribes, and so on. Some of these principles are huge in our day. I think that the word The noun justice has now been modified by the adjective social has actually transformed justice into no justice. When it comes to the administration of justice, there is not supposed to be respective persons, no respective advantaged class, disadvantaged class, nothing. In Exodus 23.3, Scripture actually says, and remember, much more frequently, because this would be a much more common problem, judges are admonished not to countenance the rich in their cause. But the Lord also says the same about the opposite. Exodus 23.3, neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. So neither rich nor poor are to receive any sort of favoritism. No advantaged or disadvantaged group is supposed to receive favoritism. In that regard, Justice is indeed supposed to be blind, and true justice is. So you get some principles of the administration of judgment that speak very loudly to some of our present ills. Let's continue in verse 8. Moreover, in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites and of the priests and of the chief of the fathers of Israel for the judgment of the Lord, and for controversies when they returned to Jerusalem. And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and with a perfect heart. So again, in our political life, we have liked to say that what's going on in say the personal lives of candidates is not important. Scripture says differently. As a matter of fact, not just what's going on in the personal life, but what's going on in the heart actually matters a lot in government. It might not be able to be assessed by other people, I mean, sometimes a personal life, an aspect of the personal life can be, but the heart and the framing of the heart is important for good government, fear of the Lord, faithfulness, a perfect heart, a whole and entire undivided heart, as it were. All of this is important for good government. 10. And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments? Ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the Lord. And so wrath come upon you and upon your brethren. this do, and ye shall not trespass." Some of you will have picked up in verse 10 that the judgment between blood and blood and so on, the oblique reference to Deuteronomy, but here we have an assertion that God's law is ultimately the standard with respect to government. Now verse 11, And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord, and Zebediah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king's matters. Also the Levite shall be officers unto you. Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good. So you should understand that the whole idea of a distinction between church and state and the matters that pertain to both, this is not an American invention or achievement. If we were to go back into our nation's immediate antecedents, This was common among several of the Reformed nations and the desire to apply it practically, and a lot of the thought that went into that was a distinctive achievement of the Scottish Church. But it wasn't new with the Church of Scotland either. In this matter, we see clearly that there is a distinction being made between the matters of the Lord and the matters of the King. A clear distinction between ecclesiastical and civil matters. So this will be one of the interesting things about the Book of Chronicles. The church and the state are distinct entities. So in that sense, that's familiar to us as Americans. But in the American model, they're both conceived of as functioning best if they ignore each other for the most part. That is not the Chronicler's view. The Chronicler's view is that they function best, distinct to be sure, but working cooperatively as two arms of Christ's government for the welfare of people. There's a lot that's involved in that concept, so this is simply an introduction to be sure. We can't dive into the matters with any kind of detail. Before we leave off this morning, I wanted to look at just one more Well, it's more than one text, but it's one more idea. But if you have understood what I've said already, this probably won't be surprising that the governments of the earth are called upon to consecrate themselves completely to the Lord and bind themselves to the Lord in covenant. There's a lot that can be said about this, but just some things to be said by way of introduction. So look with me at 2 Chronicles 13, beginning in verse 16, or rather just verse 16. So 2 Chronicles 23, verse 16. Jehoiada made a covenant between him and between all the people and between the king that they should be the Lord's people." Right, so here you have king and people and perhaps a reference to the priest and so it's a little difficult. We'll talk about this more when we get here but But at the very least, you've got the government and the people engaging covenantally to be the Lord's. No reason to flip here, but in the parallel passage in 2 Kings, chapter 11, verse 17, it says, And Jehoiah made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord's people. and between the king also and the people. So it's interesting that king and people were bound together by covenantal terms. So they're bound to the Lord in covenant, but they're also bound to one another in covenant, which strikes at the idea of any sort of absolute monarchical rule or government that can simply do whatever it wants. the government is going to be limited by the terms of the covenant as erected. So many precious principles here with respect to government and the foundations of establishing healthy government, government that is glorifying to God and a blessing to its people. And this kind of national covenanting between king and people and between the king and the people together with the Lord is not something that is portrayed as being unique to Israel. So one final passage. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 19. We will begin reading in verse 18. Isaiah chapter 19 beginning in verse 18. And in as much as this text has not yet received its consummate fulfillment, we are still looking forward to this day In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts. One shall be called the City of Destruction. In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. Here we get a clue that this prophecy is symbolic because of course there could be no rival altar to the Jerusalem temple. You should say no lawful rival altar to the Jerusalem temple in Egypt. That wouldn't be appropriate. And yet obviously this is being portrayed as a good thing. This is an indication that it is not a physical altar, but rather the true worship of God is being erected among the Gentiles as well, and even in the midst of a nation that historically had been a hostile nation to the people of God. Verse 20, there's also a pillar there, a monument to the true God. and it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a Saviour and a Great One, and he shall deliver them. "'And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, "'and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, "'and shall do sacrifice and oblation. "'Yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord and perform it.'" So here, notice that the Egyptians as a people, as a nation, are portrayed as entering into a common vow unto the Lord. longer discussion, but any vow Christianly conceived is a covenant. On the one hand, we are promising God that we are going to do something, but if we understand it in a gospel way, we are also laying hold of his gracious promise for the strength to do it. But here the Egyptians are portrayed as acting in a national capacity. 22. And the Lord shall smite Egypt, he shall smite and heal it, and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them and shall heal them. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians." So these are historically enemy nations to the north and the south, and they are, they're Gentiles, and famously they also battled back and forth through Palestine sometimes, and yet No battling now. Here we have the freedom of commerce, friendship, and kinship in the true religion. 24. In that day shall Israel be a third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land. 25. Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. Right, so here we have this portrait of covenanted nations, nations that have covenanted with the Lord and are now bound together, not just one, but a second and a third. So this national covenant is not something that Israel alone was to do, but something that the nations of the earth are called upon to do and portrayed positively here as doing when that fullness of time shall come. So what has been my purpose in all of this? What's the application or the payoff? Our nation has made a mistake at its foundational level. We have been called upon to kiss the sun. And in our constitution, our founding document, we refused to do that, refused to acknowledge his kingship and take his law as our law. We are in desperate need of instruction from him concerning good principles of healthy government. And yet his book, his book of instructions is closed and almost all of Christendom is convinced that it ought to be closed with respect to civil matters. May God grant us his blessing and his help so that his book with respect to civil matters might be opened again.