Introduction:
How to Be OK with the Government:
(Ecclesiastes 8:2-15)
- Change your Theology . (Eccl 8:2-7)
Basic Theology of Government:
- Government is Established by God.
Romans 13:1 - Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
- Government is established by God to Deter Sin .
- Proper submission to authority is an act of Faith .
Proverbs 21:1 - The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.
Matthew 10:16 - Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
- Change your Perspective . (Eccl 8:8)
- Change your Expectations . (Eccl 8:9-14)
- Change your Focus . (Eccl 8:15)
Isaiah 9:6 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder...
Isaiah 9:7 - Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:50-00:55
Open your Bibles with me please to the book of Ecclesiastes in chapter 8.
00:58-01:05
The title of today's message is "Can I trust the government?" [audience member] Woo!
01:07-01:07
[laughter]
01:08-01:11
Hang on a second. Have I preached this one before?
01:14-01:15
Because you got way ahead of me.
01:16-01:19
All right, yeah, I guess that's it, right?
01:20-01:21
You're loved, I'll see you next week.
01:26-01:28
Not always that easy, is it?
01:30-01:34
Nothing controversial to talk about today, just politics.
01:36-01:40
I really messed this up because I wanted Pastor Taylor to preach this message.
01:41-01:43
This one is all yours.
01:46-01:53
But at Harvest Bible Chapel, Bible is our middle name, and we go where the text goes.
01:55-01:55
So here we go.
01:57-02:16
Let's talk about the government, let's talk about politics, because it's the source of some of the most emotionally charged and divisive issues, even for Christian - no, especially for Christians, right?
02:17-02:33
We are all over the place when it comes to politics. Like, you know, we can talk about...let's talk about voting. You know, every time it comes up, it's, "What do we do? What do we do? Do we vote for the lesser of two evils? Is it right to vote for somebody if they're evil at all? What about this guy?
02:34-02:44
He belongs to this party that nobody's ever heard of, but his beliefs kind of align with mine. He doesn't have a chance. Do I just waste my vote on him and Does voting even really matter?
02:48-02:50
What about laws regarding abortion?
02:52-02:58
You're like, "Oh, Pastor Jeff, you heard that Roe v. Wade was overturned, right?" I'm like, "You really think that's the end of it?
02:58-02:58
Really?
02:59-03:00
Come on.
03:01-03:12
I was born on a Tuesday, but it wasn't last Tuesday." You know, and all these legal talks about who should go into which bathroom, and we got the war in Ukraine, and the United States involvement with that.
03:12-03:18
And then we got inflation and we got COVID mandates and we got, how about this one?
03:20-03:22
This student loan forgiveness thing.
03:24-03:26
How are we feeling about that, ladies and gentlemen?
03:29-03:36
You know, I worked like four or five jobs in college, including pastoring a church.
03:37-03:44
and I had to take some loans, which I paid off, and now I have the pleasure of paying off other people's?
03:47-03:48
I'm not bitter at all.
03:49-03:51
(audience laughing) I'm not bitter at all.
03:52-03:53
Thanks for pointing that out, Jay.
03:54-03:55
(audience laughing)
03:57-03:59
I could go on, but I'm not going to.
04:00-04:10
But the point is this, all of these issues regarding politics and government and leadership and authority, it has consumed us.
04:12-04:20
And for some people, it's all day on Fox News, and other people, it's all day on CNN, and other people, it's all day on Twitter.
04:21-04:32
And I have literally watched very close friendships end, because somebody in the friendship believes something differently about politics.
04:33-04:37
I can't believe you would support or vote for that guy, this friendship is over.
04:38-04:38
I've seen it.
04:41-04:54
The question as we are consuming this stuff all week and then we come into worship and we turn to God's word, the question is, how do I live as a Christian in this culture?
04:57-04:59
How can I obey wicked rulers?
05:00-05:05
And I look at all this stuff happening in the government and I'm like, how can I be okay with this?
05:06-05:08
Well, we have options, right?
05:08-05:09
We have options.
05:09-05:12
One option that a lot of people take is just despair.
05:13-05:15
Some people, they just live in despair mode.
05:16-05:25
And it's all over, and they're, "Oh, I can't believe it, and this guy in office now, or this guy voted in, and everything's so bad." It's just constant despair mode.
05:25-05:26
You have that option.
05:29-05:33
Another option is to bury your head in the sand, right?
05:33-05:34
I know people that are like, you know what?
05:35-05:36
I never watch the news.
05:37-05:39
Like, hey, did you hear about the student loan thing?
05:39-05:40
Like, what student loan thing?
05:40-05:42
I never watch the news.
05:42-05:43
You don't watch the news at all?
05:43-05:46
Nope, it's too depressing, it's too stressful.
05:46-05:47
I don't watch the news.
05:48-05:51
You have that option, I suppose.
05:52-05:55
And some people go the complete other end, don't they?
05:56-05:58
Viva la revolucion, right?
06:00-06:05
And we're gonna fight, we're gonna rise up, We're gonna burn it down.
06:08-06:57
It's gonna be like another revolution man. What if I told you that the right answer in response to government and all of this stuff, what if I told you the right answer is none of the above? Like you're gonna have to sell me on that and like well that's why I'm here today. So on your outline, look, I'm not going to persuade you to any political party or candidate or ideal or philosophy. There's one goal I have today and if you'll tune in with me for a few minutes, you will leave saying, you know what, even though I don't like what's going on, I'm okay with this. So on your outline, very simply, how how to be okay with the government.
06:59-07:15
There are going to be people leaving here and there are going to be people after this stream is over, turning it off, and there's going to be a huge weight lifted off of you because you're going to be able to say, you know what, nothing's changed in the government, but I've changed and I'm okay with what's happening.
07:16-07:17
You ready?
07:17-07:18
Here's how to be okay with the government.
07:19-07:20
Step one, you're gonna change your theology.
07:22-07:23
You gotta change your theology.
07:23-07:24
Look at verse two.
07:27-07:41
Solomon says, "I say, keep the king's command because of God's oath to him." Now this whole chunk is very hard Hebrew to translate and interpret.
07:42-07:55
Some of your Bibles, instead of saying, "keep the king's command because of God's oath to him," some of your Bibles might say, "keep the king's command for the sake of your oath And you're like, which is it?
07:56-07:56
Which is it?
07:56-07:56
Which is it?
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It doesn't matter.
07:57-08:03
In either case, Solomon's saying, you need to obey the king because of God, right?
08:04-08:06
You need to obey the king because of God.
08:07-08:16
And the implication of him even telling us this command is that sometimes it's not always pleasant to obey, right?
08:16-08:17
That's why he's bringing it up.
08:18-08:21
Sometimes it's not always pleasant to obey the government.
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Right? Like jury duty, or zoning regulations, or, oh, I don't know, paying your taxes.
08:35-08:40
It's not always pleasant or easy to obey.
08:41-08:52
So before we look at everything else he's telling us, I want to give you very, very quickly a basic theology of government, because some of you need to change your theology.
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Here's a basic theology of government.
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Write these three things down.
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This is all under number one, change your theology.
09:01-09:04
Basic theology of government, letter A, government is established by God.
09:06-09:08
Government is established by God.
09:10-09:13
New Testament, it's a parallel passage.
09:13-09:16
Paul teaches the same stuff that Solomon teaches here.
09:17-09:28
But he says, Romans 13, one, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
09:29-09:30
So whose idea was government?
09:33-09:38
Some of you said that very reluctantly, but look, God is not ashamed of what he said.
09:38-09:40
We are not ashamed of what God said.
09:40-09:42
So I'm gonna give you another run at that 'cause he's listening.
09:45-09:46
Who established government?
09:48-09:48
God did.
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God established government.
09:51-09:52
That was his idea.
09:52-09:53
You're like, why?
09:53-09:58
Well, letter B, government is established by God to deter sin.
09:59-10:01
Listen, this is the purpose of government.
10:03-10:05
Government is to be a sin deterrent.
10:07-10:07
Why?
10:08-10:17
Because God knows if there was no government, if there was no penalty for doing something wrong, what kind of a culture would we live in?
10:20-10:21
"You have something that I want?
10:21-10:29
I will shoot you and take it." And then the next guy, he sees what I now have and he wants it, he will shoot me and he will take it.
10:29-10:29
Why?
10:32-10:33
Because what are the repercussions?
10:35-10:41
What's stopping me from stealing or killing or lying or cheating or driving my car anywhere I want it?
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The government is meant to deter sin, and God knew that, and God established government because He knew without that, this world would be just nothing but a dumpster fire all the time.
10:56-11:01
And by the way, do you know the first law God instituted that man was to enforce upon man?
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Do you know what it was?
11:03-11:04
It was the death penalty.
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Was it Genesis 9.6?
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You can look that up.
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That was the first man-to-man, man-enforced law.
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If somebody kills someone, you are to take their life.
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That was the first law that God established we are to enforce on each other.
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Letter C.
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You've got to change your theology, man.
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Listen, Letter C. Proper submission to authority is an act of faith.
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I want you to hear Solomon out here as we go through the text.
11:37-11:38
We have to lay the groundwork here.
11:38-12:04
submission to authority is an act of faith. In other words, trusting God's authority is trusting God's providence. And you're like, "Hang on, you just said at the beginning, Pastor Jeff, and I'd like to remind you that the government is corrupt." And I would say, "You mean like Egypt was in the days of Moses?
12:06-12:09
Do you mean like Babylon in the days of Daniel?
12:10-12:10
Like that?
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Do you mean like Rome?
12:14-12:17
You know, Herod and Pilate, you know, under the days of Jesus?
12:20-12:22
Or do you mean like Rome in the days of Paul?
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I could go on.
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But you see, corruption in government is nothing new.
12:30-12:41
I have to ask you, with Moses and Daniel and Jesus and Paul, was God at work in these cases in spite of, or maybe even through, a corrupt government?
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He was.
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Proverbs 21.1 says this, "The king's heart is a stream of water "in the hand of the Lord.
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"He turns it wherever he will." That verse says a lot, but the main point is this, that even under a corrupt government, God is sovereign, and we still have to believe that, and we still have to trust Him.
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You see, our submitting to the government, it's not about the worthiness of the government, it's about our trust in God.
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Don't leave.
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Look at verse three.
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He says, "Do not be hasty to go from his presence.
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Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases." Okay, that first phrase, when he says, "Do not be hasty to go from his presence," that's a Hebrew figure of speech.
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It's about disloyalty.
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It's like, you know, picturing like the king giving a decree or a law, and you just turn around and walk away like, "Heh heh heh, enough for me." You're showing disloyalty towards the government.
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That's the picture there.
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And then he says, "Don't take your stand on an evil cause." That's pretty obvious, right?
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Don't persist in breaking the law.
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Right?
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So when the government is in the wrong, which has happened on occasion, it's easy.
14:25-14:33
It's easy to turn away, but it's also super easy to get vocal against the government, right?
14:33-16:14
And that's exactly who Solomon addresses in verse four, when he says, "For the word of the King is supreme, and who may say to him, 'What are you doing?'" So look, we are clearly called be submissive to the government. We are clearly called to obey the government. But here's the question. What do we do when we can't? Now look at verses 5 through 7. This is so important. He says, "Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble lies heavy on him. For he does not know what it is to be, for who can tell him how it will be?" You see, he's calling for wisdom here. And the truth is, when it comes to government, a wise person wants to obey. You see, if you're sitting government says, "I'm not doing it. I'm doing whatever I want to do." That's not wise at all. But sometimes, as Solomon points out here, it's not always easy to know how and when to obey when the government is wicked. See, I think that's what he's talking about in verse 6 when he talks about man's trouble lies heavy on him.
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I mean, if obedience was "Yeah, no problem.
16:20-16:34
Just tell me what to do and I'll do it." But sometimes the trouble's heavy on us because maybe obedience to the government wouldn't be a right thing in God's eyes.
16:38-16:39
So what do we do?
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What do we do?
16:43-17:02
Well, you know, Jesus said, Matthew 10, verse 16, one of my favorite verses, he said to his disciples, "Behold, I'm sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves." Now stop there for a second.
17:02-17:03
I wish that was opposite.
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I wish Jesus huddled the disciples together, like, "Listen up, boys, you are wolves, and you are heading out in the sheep, "and you are going to mow them down.
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"So stay hungry, boys." That's what I wish he said.
17:21-17:22
That's not what he said.
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He said, "We are the sheep, "and we are in the midst of wolves." So obviously he's saying you're vulnerable to attack, right, that's what he's saying.
17:34-17:37
But look what he says next, using the animal metaphors.
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He says, "So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." You're like, "Well, why is that so significant?" Because if you keep reading, the context is very clearly about how to deal with government.
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He says, "The government's going to come after Jesus' people.
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They're going to hate you.
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You're going to be dragged before kings and rulers." The context is obeying a wicked government or being brought before a government that's persecuting Jesus' people.
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"So what do we do, Jesus?" He said, "You've got to be innocent, but you've got to be wise at the same time." And I think that's exactly what Solomon is saying here.
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You've got to be innocent, but you've got to be wise.
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Being a flagrant rebel is not innocent because you're disobeying God's command to submit to the government.
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But, just going along with the wickedness of the government because "I don't know what to do, that's not wise. So the question that we as Christians have to constantly be wrestling with in the face of a wicked government is, "How can I be innocent and wise at the same time?" Let me give you an example. As I said, you haven't heard the end of abortion. You happening right now actually but there's going to be more laws and legal discussion and you have options you could burn down abortion clinics which I do not recommend you can spend every resource on trying to get laws passed to make abortion illegal and I don't recommend that either because neither Either one of those options are gonna get you anywhere.
19:40-19:41
Really.
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Like, well then how do you, how can you be like a serpent and a dove in this situation?
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Do you know who figured that out?
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Places like Choices Pregnancy Services.
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They figured that out.
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Because here you have an organization that says, oh, you wanna make laws protecting abortion.
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You know what we'll do?
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We'll go after the hearts of those considering abortion.
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We'll offer free pregnancy tests.
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We'll offer ultrasounds, which very often makes a mother change her mind about getting the abortion.
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You see places like choices, no laws are broken, but they're fighting the real issue head on.
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You see that?
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They're innocent and wise at the same time.
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So if you're all fussed up about the government, you gotta change your theology, all right?
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Just take a step back and say, you know what?
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This whole idea of government, it was God's idea.
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And I understand, no matter how corrupt, I understand why God instituted government.
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So change your theology.
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Number two, change your perspective.
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You gotta change your perspective.
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Like, yeah, I hear what you're saying, Pastor Jeff, The government is so corrupt, and it's not getting any better, have you noticed?
21:09-21:11
It's just getting worse and worse and worse.
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It's just not getting any better.
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I'm like, "That's okay.
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I'm not going to be around here forever." Neither are you.
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Look at verse 8.
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He says, "No man has the power to retain the Spirit or power over the day of death.
21:30-21:39
There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it." In other words, the government isn't the ultimate authority.
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The government doesn't have the final word.
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They don't control everything.
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And so often as we've seen in Ecclesiastes, Solomon, he's searching for the meaning of life and he has to necessarily talk about death.
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And he's coming back to that again.
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And here in this context, he's showing us who still ultimately holds the authority.
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Like yeah, government is powerful.
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They don't control everything.
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You got to change your perspective.
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You got to take a step back and you got to look at the big picture.
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This is how things are now, but this is not how things will always be.
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And as Solomon points out, their wickedness isn't going to save them and it's not going to prolong their lives indefinitely either. So I can just say, "You know what? I'm okay with government because it's temporary. Because I'm temporary. But I'm permanently a citizen of heaven. And if you change your perspective, you look at the long view, you can say, "Hey, you know what?
22:59-23:01
I can be okay with the government.
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I'll be okay with the government." Change your theology, change your perspective. Number three, you've got to change your expectations.
23:12-23:27
You've got to change your expectations. And somebody at this point in the sermon is like, I hear what you're saying, Pastor Jeff, but look, as a believer in Jesus Christ and seeing all of this corruption in the government, you're telling me I have to be okay with that.
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How can I be okay with that?
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You have to change your expectations.
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Look at verse 9.
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He says, "All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun when man has power over man to his hurt." You might be shocked to hear this, but oftentimes people in authority abuse their power.
23:56-24:12
In studying for this rather, I was trying to understand some things about government and the application of wickedness and those things, and I found a really helpful thing here that helped me really keep things straight in my own head.
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Maybe this will help you.
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But there was explained, you know, under capitalism, man exploits man.
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But under communism, that's like reverse, man.
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You see?
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(congregation laughing)
24:33-24:33
Doesn't that make sense?
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I know, right?
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It's profound.
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The point is this, all governments do evil.
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Like, well where does the evil come from?
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Well, government itself is not evil.
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We already said that's from God.
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Evil comes from fallen man within government.
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As we remind ourselves often here, hey, hey, hey, hey.
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People who don't know Jesus act like people who don't know Jesus.
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are gonna act like sinners, right?
25:16-25:21
So, what should we expect when sinful people run the government?
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Solomon delves into that.
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He gives us some examples, right?
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Look at verse 10.
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He says, here's some examples of wickedness, injustice.
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He says, "Then I saw the wicked buried.
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They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things.
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This also is vanity.
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All right?
25:45-25:53
And I think in the context here, he has in mind some politician or something, but he's like, here's this funeral of a guy.
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Everybody knew he was wicked.
25:55-25:58
Like everybody knew he was, but he looked so holy when he went to church.
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I'm heading to the temple, I'm going to worship.
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Oh, he was so holy and righteous, but everybody knew what a dirtbag he was.
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And then he was praised at his funeral because nothing shines a halo like a funeral and everybody was praising the man up and down and I'm standing there going, that guy was garbage and now we're praising him.
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And he says, you got to expect such vanity.
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And another one, verse 11.
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He says, here's another example of injustice, immorality as it pertains to the government because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily.
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the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.
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Delays in justice encourage criminals to keep doing their thing.
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Technicalities release criminals.
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People are in jail awaiting trial for years after their crime is committed.
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And Solomon says that's a problem because it encourages more sin, right?
26:59-27:00
Think about it.
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If somebody murders someone, for example, and he's apprehended, and that day, he's immediately found guilty, 100%, no doubt, this man committed the crime, and they took him out that night and shot him on national TV, what do you think that's gonna communicate to other people that are thinking about harming someone?
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There would be so much less crime.
27:27-27:38
But that doesn't happen, because what we do is we take that guy and we put him in jail and we talk a whole lot about him for a few days, then we kind of forget about him.
27:40-27:50
So the person that might be thinking of doing a similar crime, maybe, oh, maybe I shouldn't because of what happened to this guy, but now nobody's talking about him, must not be that bad.
27:52-27:56
It shows us that evil is present in the government and you can expect such vanity.
27:59-28:03
So you're like, well, might as well be wicked then.
28:03-28:04
I mean, why not?
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Why not?
28:07-28:08
I'll tell you why not.
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Look at verse 12.
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"Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God because they fear before him." Oh, here it is, verse 13.
28:31-28:56
"But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God." In other words, for the guy that's still considering, you know what, I might as well just do whatever the heck I wanna do, because people get away with it, and the government stinks, and nobody cares.
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Solomon's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, that might be true, but God's watching.
28:59-29:10
Remember him? God's still watching. And you know what? You might get away with something once, or in Solomon's hypothetical here, you might get away with it a hundred times.
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And you're not gonna face God's judgment today.
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But it's coming. Right? You already talked about that in verse 8. It's coming.
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Verse 14, he says, "There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous." I said that this also is vanity.
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So much in life things seem backwards, don't they?
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You know, the sinner gets the promotion, gets the big bonus, gets everything seemingly handed to them.
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And the righteous, what do they get?
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The bad medical diagnosis, the car breaking down.
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You know, some of the best people I've ever known have had the worst things happen to them.
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And some of the worst people I've ever known seem to just flit through life carefree.
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And Solomon says, "You can expect such vanity." Oh, by the way, this is the gospel.
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Did you notice that?
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Do you know what the gospel is?
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Jesus Christ, the only righteous person to ever live, was treated like the wicked.
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When He was on that cross, He took our sin on Himself.
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And He was facing God's judgment as if He was wicked, even though He was righteous.
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And what was the result of the cross?
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was so that God could treat the wicked like we were righteous.
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That's what happened on the cross.
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God treated the righteous like the wicked, so that He could treat the wicked like the righteous.
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But, regarding the government, I can just tell you this, church.
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I'm not going to spaz when I see corruption, and lying, and injustice, and immorality.
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I'm not going to spaz about that, and neither will you, if you change your expectations.
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And finally, change your focus.
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Change your focus.
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You've got to change your theology, you've got to change your perspective, you've got to change your expectations.
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Finally, you've got to change your focus.
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Look at verse 15.
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It's like, what do you think about all this government and corruption and all of this, Solomon?
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Here it is.
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He says, "And I commend joy." That Hebrew word for commend is the same Hebrew word for praise.
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He's just like, "Yeah, joy!" What do you mean, Solomon?
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He says, "For man has no good thing under the sun, but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go well with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun." He says, "There's nothing better than to eat, drink and be joyful." And you're like, "Man, that sounds awfully fatalistic." No, far from it.
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What God has given, that's been the theme throughout, right?
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He's been saying this over and over.
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The theme of Ecclesiastes is you need to enjoy life from the hand of God.
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Contentment and satisfaction, living this God-centered life.
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That's what brings meaning.
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So in other words, Solomon's saying, "Yes, God ordained the government.
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Yes, the government's often wicked because wicked people are running it.
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life isn't always fair, but that does not stop you from eating and drinking and being joyful and living life from the hand of God.
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Doesn't stop you. Here's what I mean.
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I remember living through, first of all, President Reagan. Now he's the first president I remember, okay I was a lot who was previous was that Ford okay I just Reagan was was Carter okay then Ford was before him see I don't remember because I was just a little baby but Reagan was the first president I remember right and then after Reagan was what Bush right and then Clinton and then Bush jr. Bush part to, electric boogaloo, whatever, the other George Bush, and then Obama, and then Trump, and now we have, hey listen, we can be okay with the government, easy, we can be okay with the government.
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I will start over.
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(audience laughing)
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Now, like I said, Reagan was the first president I remember, some of you go further back.
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And I'm not gonna ask for volunteers, don't shout it out.
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Some of you might have been alive during like, James K. Polk or whatever.
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(audience laughing)
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Millard Fillmore was the first president I remember.
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I'm just, I don't know, I'm just saying.
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Here's my point.
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under every president and whoever's next, we always could, and we will always be able to enjoy life from the hand of God.
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It hasn't mattered who's been in the White House.
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That hasn't affected the thing that God is doing in my life through Jesus Christ.
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The president can't stop that.
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Whoever's present, that can't affect my attitude towards my Christian walk and living life from the hand of God.
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People listen, you've got to change your focus because there are some people, and there are some people that are sitting here, or there are people that are watching this stream that are so wrapped up in politics, that's all they can focus on.
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And you see it in social media, both sides, all the memes, all the video links, all the, you know, check out this article about this politician and check out what this politician's son did, obsessively on this stuff all the time, constantly bashing the other party's candidate.
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And it's no wonder people are so anxious because they're just constantly in the midst of that, that storm that's going on.
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Whatever the scandal of the is, let me get on that.
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Let me censor schemes, let me, ah.
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Come on, man, you gotta change your focus.
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Take a step back and say, look, God is sovereign.
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And there is a much bigger picture.
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And sinners gonna act like sinners, but that doesn't, none of this has to affect the way that I live day by day.
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Change your focus.
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Can we end this message on a high note?
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Like a really high note?
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Because let's be honest, the Bible doesn't sugarcoat it, right?
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The Bible doesn't ignore it.
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The struggle's real.
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Someday, the government is going to be run by Jesus Christ.
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Isaiah 9.6, we spent like a whole Christmas on this one verse.
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It says, "For to us a child is born." It's a prophecy of the birth and ultimate ministry of Jesus, the Messiah, God in the flesh.
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"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given." Look at what he says about him.
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And the government shall be upon his shoulder." Like, what in the world does that mean?
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He tells us in the next verse.
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He says, "Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.
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On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore." You're like, "Is God serious about this?" The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
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In the meantime, the government is going to be run by sinful people.
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So what can we expect?
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In the meantime, we can still enjoy life from the hand of God.
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In the meantime, I can be okay with the government.
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Let's pray.
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Father in heaven, we thank you for the honest assessment of things that your word gives us.
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Things don't always work out the way we think they should.
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But Father, I pray that we get to that place of trusting your sovereignty.
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It doesn't matter who's in the White House.
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It doesn't matter who the prime minister or leader or dictator or whatever in any country.
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It doesn't matter.
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Because Jesus Christ is the sovereign one.
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And Father, we just cling to the glorious promise that someday we are going to be under a complete a completely corruption-free government.
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Because Jesus Christ is going to rightly have His place over this earth as Lord and King of all.
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In the meantime, as we enjoy life from Your hand, Father, let Jesus Christ be Lord and King over His citizens of heaven.
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Those of us who are called by His name, Father, those of us that have been born again, let us show the world what it's like to be citizens of heaven.
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Glorify Your name, Father.
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Help us all collectively as a church to take a deep breath, to step away from the ledge, say I'm okay with what's going on in the government because I trust the sovereignty of my God.
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In Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Ecclesiastes 8:2-15
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Has this passage / message changed the way you view the government? If so, how?
How consumed do you get into politics? Are you too concerned, or are you “checked out”?
To what degree do you believe Christians should get involved in political matters?
Breakout
Pray for one another. (I hope this discussion didn’t blow up your Small Group!)