The Supremacy of Christ

Perhaps we could turn back to Hebrews chapter 7, please, just for a verse, just to link something together. Hebrews chapter 7, please. Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 4, Now consider how great this man was.

Now consider how great this man was. Now that, of course, is relation to Melchizedek, but we're going to relate it to the Lord Jesus. Isaiah, please, in chapter 9. Most of us here are very familiar with these words.

Isaiah chapter number 9. Isaiah chapter 9, please, and verse number 6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Now we do trust that God will bless the reading of his precious word. Our brother Scott has brought before us the grand, the glorious subject of the rapture, and it should indeed thrill our souls to know that Jesus is indeed coming again. And that is a wonderful truth that has been brought before us, but we are going to spend all eternity with our Lord.

And so we need just to get a little ministry of Christ and just consider how great this man is, how great our Lord Jesus is. And what's my exercise is to think just for a few moments with us this afternoon on the supremacy of Christ, the supremacy of Christ. We find it in particularly brought out here in Isaiah chapter number nine.

First of all, I want us to consider that there are no policies that he cannot shoulder. The government shall be upon his shoulder. Oh, you see, our government back home at the moment, they're having great difficulty being able to shoulder any policies whatsoever.

In fact, the last time that I read, which was about two weeks ago, they had withdrawn another one of their laws. So far, that means 18 promises that they've made, 18 laws enacted, 18 laws pulled back because they are not popular. They cannot shoulder them.

They cannot carry them. They do not have the authority, the weight, the power. But our Lord Jesus Christ, it says the government shall be upon his shoulder.

I don't know. I think Mr. Trump has a lot more going for him than what the popular media would like us to think. But maybe he is having a little bit of difficulty with Iran.

And maybe he is trying to negotiate things to make things a little bit easier. But the Lord Jesus doesn't need to worry about negotiations with other countries. The Lord Jesus doesn't need to worry about this country and that country.

He can carry all government policies upon his shoulder. Now, I'll never forget when I was a young believer, and somebody brought this to our attention, that when it comes to your and my salvation, the Lord Jesus goes out after us as the good shepherd. And when he finds that lost sheep, he places it upon his shoulders.

There's where we were this morning, the eternal security of the saint. You are upon both shoulders. But when it comes to the government of this world, when it comes to all the policies of this world, the Lord Jesus just needs one shoulder.

That is how great our Lord Jesus is. And whether it's over in our country, the problem with Brexit, or whether it's here, and whether that little country just north of you is going to become the 51st state of the United States, or whether it might be that that little country just a little bit across to the east of you called Greenland is going to become America land or whatever, well, I tell you, you don't need to worry too much. Because the Lord Jesus, the government is upon his shoulder.

Well, you see, when he comes for his own, then the whole of the prophetic calendar is going to start again and roll in one continuous wave. As first of all, that great tribulation comes. And then right at the end of that, the Lord roars out of Zion.

And he comes and his feet touch the Mount of Olives. It cleaves in two from the north to the south and the east to the west. And the Lord Jesus sets up that universal worldwide millennial reign.

Oh, you see, there are no policies that he cannot shoulder. But then there is no person that he cannot surpass. You see, he has this unique title, Wonderful.

Wonderful. Now, if we go back just a little bit in time, three and a half decades, that's 35 years, and my wife was here, and you spoke to my wife to be, and you said, tell us about Robert. Tell us about your husband to be.

Oh, well, she say, he's tall and he's got blue eyes. And he's good looking and he's dashing. And he's just, he's just wonderful.

Oh, you see, that's what she would have said in the bloom of new love. If she was here today and you went up and you said, Karen, after 35 years or thereabouts of marriage, would you like to say something about your husband? She'd say, well, he's the most untidy person I've ever come across. You want to see his study, papers here, books there, magazines there.

I never know where I can find anything, but he seems to know where it all is. And when he goes away, I go in and I tidy it all away. And I put the books on the bookshelves and I put the magazines here and I put the papers in a pile there.

And then he complains because he can't find anything. Oh, you see, that would be her perception of me then and now. But the Lord Jesus, he's wonderful in his greatness.

What title does he have? Psalm 24, the King of Glory. Can you think of a greater title than that? Our King is going to come later on this month. He's just sent me as a little forerunner here just to get things going, you know, but he's going to come to visit the United States of America no doubt he'll be feted and feasted in Washington and maybe one or two other places, but you could never call him the King of Glory.

Oh, you see, I've had the privilege of being in Buckingham Palace and I think we saw everything that was worth seeing and the bits that were open to the public after maybe a couple of hours. And then we went out into the gift shop where you buy all your little trinkets and everything else and it was great to see. But the Lord Jesus in his greatness, he's the King of Glory.

Wonderful. What about his grace? Well, we go to Isaiah 53 for that one. What's that title there unique to him? Man of Sorrow.

Oh, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. What grace is this that the Lord Jesus has displayed to you and me, dear child of God. He's wonderful.

What about his gladness? Well, I think we go to Matthew chapter 1 for that one. Emmanuel, God with us. Oh, aren't you thankful that divine feet have trod upon this sin-cursed earth? Aren't you thankful that the Son of God condescended down through those myriad ranks of adoring angels to be found in fashion as a man? Emmanuel, God with us.

That should bring gladness and joy to every soul here who is saved by the grace of God. Wonderful. No person that he cannot surpass.

What about his gentleness? Well, I think every one of us at some time or other, we've just needed the gentleness of Christ. Sometimes the saints, you know, sometimes we can be very hard. Sometimes we can be very cutting.

Sometimes we can be very caustic and critical. What's that wonderful title that's given to the Lord Jesus that we might consider a little bit in the gospel later on? I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

You never see a good shepherd waving his stick there, his crook at the sheep. You never see a good shepherd with his size 14 giving one of the preachers a good boot because he's parked his car inadvisedly in the wrong place. You always see the good shepherd moving in gentleness and compassion.

Oh, the Lord Jesus, he is indeed wonderful. No person that he cannot surpass. You just think about some of the great people of history.

Well, I don't know over here whether you could quote any of Franklin D Roosevelt's speeches given during the war, but there's a good number of people, even a lot younger than me, that could quote an awful lot of Churchill's speeches given during the war. He just was able to use the English language. We were hearing about the English language and grammar.

Well, Churchill could just pull together little phrases and he could just put a little flex on something. Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few. Oh, when he went to his old school in Harrow when he was asked to give them a talk and an encouragement, he gave one of the shortest speeches he'd ever given.

I think I can more or less quote it verbatim. Never give up. Never, never give up.

In anything, great or small, never, never, ever give up. And he sat down. What a speech! Hey, that's pretty good for the conference, mind you, isn't it? Those of you who feel that you just want to bow the head and give up, but what was Churchill just a mere man? A politician? A good one.

Let's just come over here. Well, President John F Kennedy was a pretty good man for giving speeches. He had one or two good speeches.

You'll remember at his inauguration, well, not all of you, but some of you will remember at his inauguration, ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country. Well, he was one who could give speeches. And yet, isn't it amazing that the Lord Jesus can take so few words and bring in such profound truth? I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Oh, there is no person he cannot surpass because he is wonderful. I thought not only no policies he cannot shoulder, no person he cannot surpass, I thought there was no problem that he cannot solve.

He's counsellor, counsellor. You got problems? I doubt that there's a person here without a problem or two. Probably a problem aplenty.

And you don't know which way to turn. Where do you go to? I'm told over here that this past week was the time when you have to send in your tax forms and all the rest. Well, with us, it's the end of January.

We've got to have them all submitted by the 31st of January with the payment. And I tell you, when you sign that cheque to pay the government the taxes that you owe, and you're £35,969, something like that, for six months, you have to pay the government for the tax. All right, I'm only just, you know, it wasn't quite that much.

But you know, problems aplenty. And you're thinking, oh, how am I going to manage this? How are we going to manage the finances? The cost of fuel is going up. The cost of vehicles is going up.

How am I going to manage in my business? How is the business I work for going to cope? How are we going to cope with the children? What about the grandchildren? There's one who is called counsellor. And what does James tell us? If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. You lack wisdom.

You need a little bit of help, a little bit of counsel. You know, after COVID, I read an article and it said that there was a great need for more psychiatrists. In fact, some psychiatrists were so burdened that they needed a psychiatrist themselves to unburden themselves onto.

Because so many people were coming to them with so many problems after COVID. Oh, dear child of God, we have one who has this unique, wonderful, marvellous title of counsellor. And we can come to him, as Brother Scott said yesterday, anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

I was telling the children in Waterloo years ago before mobile phones, I tend to often pray when I'm driving the car. People now see me stopped at traffic lights, they just think you're on the hands-free. Those days, we didn't have hands-free.

My wife was my girlfriend, and I decided I'd just get on the right side of her. And I'd been up in Edinburgh, and I'd brought her a giant Winnie the Pooh. She collected teddy bears.

And I brought this giant Winnie the Pooh. I had all my equipment in the car. And so I just put this Winnie the Pooh on the passenger seat next to me.

Put the seatbelt round it. And I'm at a set of traffic lights, and I'm praying. And I just happened to notice these people, you'd call it a suburban, we'd call it a people carrier, came up alongside me at the traffic lights.

And I just happened to glance across, and they were all staring in. Because I was speaking to myself. Well, I wasn't.

They just saw me, and they thought I was speaking to this cuddly thing. And as they drove off, the wife in the passenger seat just put her hand up to her. And, I dear child of God, listen.

You have unlimited access to one who knows all about your problems, and has the power to draw near and to meet those problems. There is no problem that he cannot solve. What a savior.

But not only that, I noticed too that there is no power he cannot subdue. He's the mighty God. The mighty God.

You see, you find that when you come to Mark's gospel. You find in Mark's gospel, and I think it's chapter 5, he has power over the demons. And he has power over the deep.

And he has power over death. And there is no power on earth that he cannot subdue. You see, those two on the road to Emmaus, somebody was mentioning them yesterday in the ministry, and the Lord Jesus, it says, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

Oh, I tell you, all the hosts of China, all the hosts of Kim Jong-un, all the hosts of Vladimir Putin, they wouldn't have stood a chance stopping those two people on that walk, on that road to Emmaus, when Jesus drew near and went with them. There is no power on earth that he cannot subdue. You're worried about what's going to happen in Ukraine and with Mr. Putin.

You're worried what's going to be the next great thing that's going to happen down in the Middle East. Maybe there's some of you even worried about the next move that your president will make. Well, just leave him in the hands of God.

Because there is no power that our Lord Jesus cannot subdue. Encourage yourself in knowing this, that he is indeed the mighty God. You see, that power was manifest.

We thought about it this morning, didn't we? In the Bible reading, because he rose from the dead. What power was known when Christ rose from the dead? When he brought Lazarus out of the tomb, he said to them, roll ye away the stone. He doesn't do what he expects us to do.

He expects us to do what we can do, and he will do the mighty power. But when it came to his resurrection, the stone was rolled away to show he'd already risen. What mighty power is his, or there is no power that he cannot subdue.

Just take that to heart, dear child of God, today in the conference. I notice not only no policies he cannot shoulder, no person he cannot surpass, no problem he cannot solve, no power he cannot subdue, but he's the everlasting Father. There's no period he does not span.

Yesterday in the children's meeting, we did a little object lesson on Mount Rushmore. And we decided we'd go to the beginning of the history of this nation. That's the first of those four faces.

I pointed out to the children that there's room for two other faces to be added onto that mountain at some time. Whether one of your presidents wants to have their face added on, I have no idea. But there's room for two more anyway on Mount Rushmore.

But the history of your nation, George Washington. But when we come to John's gospel chapter one, what's it say? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Oh, you see, he goes right the way back to the beginningless beginning.

Here's one who's the everlasting Father. Now, we have a dear brother in Scotland by the name of Colin Hutchinson. And many, many, many years ago, I heard him speaking.

And he gave me a little hint when I pray that I've never forgotten. He said, when I get on my knees, he said, I just stop just for a minute or two before I even open my mouth in prayer. And I just consider the one into whose presence I'm coming.

He said, I think this is the God of Adam. This is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon. He's the everlasting Father.

And you and I can come into his presence. I don't know if you've ever called up the White House. Give it a go sometime.

Say, could I speak to Mr. Trump? We've got a brother in our meeting. He went to Trump Towers a number of years ago. And he bought Mr. Trump's book on business management.

In fact, he bought two. And as he was at the checkout, he said, I don't suppose Mr. Trump's in, is he? And the lady said, well, she says, you need to speak to the man down by the elevator there. He'll know.

And so David went and he said to the man, I've just bought these. Mr. Trump in? Possible to? I says, I'll take them up. And so this man went up in the elevator and he came straight back down again without the books.

And David said to him, he says, where's my books? I paid for them. I says, Mr. Trump's going to bring them down in a minute. Down the elevator he came and he signed the books.

Your friend, Murray, and my friend met your president. Before he was president, of course. But you try and meet him now.

Just a common person. You try and get through. Can't do it.

You say, well, let's go back. Let's try. Let's try Mr. Biden.

Let's go back before him. And let's try Mr. Bush. And let's try, go back a bit before him.

And let's try Mr. Clinton. And let's try Mr. Obama. You wouldn't get through.

But here's one who spans the whole of eternity. No period he does not span. And we can come into his presence.

He's the one. Well, I don't know how you count ages here. We call them the Elizabethan and the Georgian and the Victorian.

And just after our kings and after our queens. Well, he's the God of Charles Spurgeon. We were listening to about him yesterday.

He's the God of John Wesley and George Whitefield. He's our God. He's the one you can speak to.

But I thought too that there's no prodigal he cannot save. Well, why not have a little gospel message in the middle of the conference, in the middle of the ministry? You see, it says, he's the Prince of Peace. That's where we started today, wasn't it? King of Salem, King of Peace.

Oh, if you're not saved, young person, older person. If you're not saved today in the conference, you can know one who has the title Prince of Peace. It's here in the word of God.

You know, what this world is looking for is peace. I noticed that they've started, they wanted to start tomorrow, I think, more peace talks. Tragedy apparently unfolded today down in Louisiana.

I think I noticed eight children, is it, that have been murdered down there just this morning or last night. What's this world want? Peace. What does Ukraine want? Peace, peace.

But the one person that they never asked to come to any of these peace meetings and peace conferences is the only one who bears that wonderful title that we've read here, Prince of Peace. Oh, you see, there is no prodigal he cannot save. It matters not how far you have wandered in sin.

It matters not how big a sinner you are, how small a sinner you are. It matters not your age. I want to tell you, there is enough in the work of Christ for you.

There's enough in the work of Christ to save the whole of Iowa. There's enough in the work of Christ to save every single soul that lives under those 50 stars that shine in old glory. Oh, take courage in that today, my dear friend.

If you're not saved, you can leave this conference different to the way that you came. You can leave knowing one who bears the title Prince of Peace. You say, as we're thinking about the supremacy of Christ, is there something else? Just one more thing.

There's no prophecy he cannot satisfy. You see, it says this, upon the throne of David. He fulfills all prophecy.

Now, when my wife and myself were married, we went on a honeymoon to Scotland. Very nice, very picturesque area. It was April.

And it was either snowing or raining for the two weeks. Snow or rain. There was a television there, which was quite entertaining, because they had on the Lone Ranger every morning at 11 o'clock.

And I grew up watching the Lone Ranger and hi-ho, tonto away. So that was one rainy morning anyway, every day that was sort of taken up watching the Lone Ranger. But then we decided we'd go out and we'd buy ourselves a jigsaw puzzle.

And not a very exciting way to spend your honeymoon, but there we are when it's cold and it's wet and it's snowy and icy. So we got a jigsaw puzzle. It was of a World War II Spitfire.

And we worked at this, and I've forgotten how many thousand pieces there were. And we finished it. But would you believe it, there was one piece missing.

One piece missing! Right in one of the RAF roundels, right in the middle of the Spitfire. Well, we got down on our hands and knees and we searched underneath the table, and we searched round about anywhere that we could possibly have gone. Could a piece have fallen into our pockets? Where was the missing piece? We never did find it.

But when it comes to prophecy, the missing piece of every piece of prophecy of the Word of God is Christ-shaped. And he fits it perfectly. And so when it comes to prophecy, as our brother Scott has taken us to, there is no prophecy that he does not satisfy.

Jesus is coming. Sing the glad word, coming for those he redeemed by his blood, coming to reign as the glorified Lord. Jesus is coming again.

Oh, today I beseech of everyone in the conference just to take hold of something of the greatness, the supremacy, the preeminence of Christ. Because he is wonderful, counsellor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. May our hearts be warmed and encouraged as we think of one where the scriptures say, there is no subject so glorious as he and no theme so affecting to us.