Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Old Testament Lesson just read, from Isaiah 45. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Our text is an amazing thing. It was written by Isaiah at least 150 years before this Cyrus, king of the Medes and Persians, had come to power. The text creates a dilemma for modern Bible scholars and reveals the cynicism of many of these experts. If Isaiah wrote these things, it was by inspiration of God – the result of supernatural revelation. Cynics – those who don’t believe this is possible – suggest that Isaiah could not have written this text.
- The same cynicism is evident in the question posed to Jesus by the Pharisees and the Herodians. Their plotting never took into consideration that Jesus, the Son of God, knew all things – including their malice in asking the question.
- Cynicism comes about not merely because of ignorance. Cynicism toward God, the Only True and Living God, also becomes ingrained by a succession of decisions to disregard Him, to ignore the evidence of what He is doing for us, to question or reject His Word and those whom He sends to speak it to us.
- God’s Word, spoken to a man 150 years prior to his coming to power, was for the benefit of His people living at the time, the children of Israel. It was also recorded for our benefit – so that we might understand the reality of “GOD’S RULE OVER ALL” things, all history, all politics, the entire cosmos.
- The cynical will dismiss this Word of God, and the reality. I pray that each of us will internalize the reality through faith in God and trust in His Word. For there is great comfort for God’s people of all times and generations and all circumstances if we know and believe “GOD’S RULE OVER ALL THINGS.” First, it is clear that
I. God Orders All Politics For The Good Of His People – So That Even Caesar Is To Be Given His Due
Text: “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him, and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed. I will go before you and level the exalted places. I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron. . . . For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel My chosen, I call you by your name.”
Gospel Lesson: “Jesus said to them, ‘Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the thing that are God’s.”
Statement: The cynic thinks that world politics, the status of nations, and battles and warfare are dictated only by what can be seen, only by what human logic dictates. God is not even a consideration in his calculations. We tend to be influenced – in how we see the world, humanity, and human ambition – by this same general cynicism. God informs us differently in this Word to Cyrus and to us. He urges us to realize and understand that He remains in charge – and always for the sake of His dear people of faith.
Application: There are hundreds of arguments that are pressed against this reality – that God is in control. And there are many untoward things that we are aware of in those who govern – their weaknesses, their ignorance, their selfishness and pride, and even their evils. These things were quite apparent in the Caesars of the Roman Empire. Still, God was in control – over Caesar, over Herod, over Pontius Pilate – and shortly before His crucifixion by the Roman government, the Son of God said: “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” But He added to His answer what is even more critical for every human being: “and render unto God the things that are God’s.”
The huge comfort in all of this is that we needn’t kill ourselves trying to change things, or fear the consequences of the incompetence of those who are in power. We do not go along with the evils of our time, but we do render honor, respect, taxes, and whatever else is required of us to our earthly rulers, knowing that God is always ordering politics for the good of His people, for us!
Transition: And God makes clear in our text that:
II. God Equips All People To Do His Bidding And To Accomplish His Purposes
A. This Includes All Earthly Governments
Text: “Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him. . . . I will go before you and level the exalted places. . . . that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. I equip you though you do not know Me.”
B. It Also Includes The Church And The Ministry Of God’s Word, The Gospel
Epistle Lesson: “We know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in Word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. . . . You became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the Word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere.”
Statement: This does not mean that we sit around and give up involvement in earthly political affairs or in the ministry of the gospel through the church. Just the opposite – that regardless of how we perceive ourselves, God has prepared and equipped each of us for a godly life in our vocation, and corporately as a congregation. For as the apostle wrote: “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, for good works which He has foreordained for us to be walking in.”
Application: What this does mean is that we can focus on process – on the good works we are doing, and not worry about the outcome, for this is in God’s hands. Nor do we need to worry about some kind of corporate guilt in connection with what evil authorities are doing – unless we are complicit in it. It is as the apostle testified: “God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.” God will judge and dispatch the nations – for the sake of His people, His will, His predetermined plan for humanity and creation.
Transition: And all of this takes place, including the revelations of His Word in Holy Scripture so that:
III. All People May Know Him – The Only God
Text: “I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God. I equip you, though you do not know Me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides Me. I am the LORD and there is no other.””
A. God Alone Forms Light And Darkness
Text: “I form light and create darkness.”
B. God Alone Makes Well-Being And Calamity
Text: “I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD Who does all these things.”
C. And He Has Given All People Jesus, Our Savior, Who Is The Greatest Gift Of Enabling And Equipping – And Who Saves Us From The Wrath To Come
Epistle: [Of the believers] “you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead, Jesus Who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
Statement: This is what the cynics reject – because they do not know Him, the Lord, the only True and Living God. Nonetheless, even the cynics and unbelievers fulfill His good and gracious will. Sadly, they do not embrace His greatest desire, that “all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth,” that all people, from one end of the earth to the other, may know that He is God, and that He is our Redeemer. The cynics reject this great love of God.
Application: You also have turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God. You also wait for His Son from heaven. You also have been delivered by Jesus from the wrath to come. You are chosen by God, and He calls you by name. You are precious to Him, and He also prepares and equips you to fulfill His purposes. He works in us both to will and do of His good pleasure.
Conclusion: So let us rejoice in “GOD’S RULE OVER ALL.” Let us cast off all cynicism, doubt, and unbelief, and rejoice in God, the only True and Living God. Let us take up our tasks with joy and confidence, focusing on the process and performance, and leaving the results in God’s hands, knowing that He does everything for the sake, the benefit, the blessedness of His people.
Thanks and praise be to God forever! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.