Faith in and love for Christ,
Psalm 2. This begins the first three verses
with another real description, reality check, of man by nature
in an unregenerate state. And it shows how that if God
were to leave salvation up to us, in our spiritual death and
depravity, none of us would choose or come to Christ. The question is asked, and this
is not for information, this is a rhetorical question. Why
do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? And then
he says, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers
take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointing,
not in favor of, not for Him, but against Him. And it says,
let us, and here's what they say. This is the heathen talking,
the people in our rebellion. Let us break their bands asunder
and cast away their cords from us. Now the heathen, sometimes
that word is translated in other translations as nations. and
then the people. And they describe all people
by nature, Jew and Gentile. In fact, some commentators say
the heathen refers to the Gentile heathen. And a heathen, what
is a heathen? We use that term sometimes, you
know, jokingly. A heathen is one who is opposed
to the truth. It's an unbeliever. It's a rebellious
person. And so he's talking about an
assembly here of rebellion against God, against his Christ, his
anointed. Some commentators say the people
describe the Jews. And so it's lumping the Jews
and the Gentiles together. And if you look over in Acts
chapter four, that makes sense when in this portion here where
The church is praying, the apostles are praying for boldness to preach
the gospel against such opposition. And look at verse 25. Well, let's
go back to verse 23. Let's read these verses. Acts
4, 23. And being let go, in other words,
they were let go when they were arrested. They went to their
own company, to other believers, and reported all that the chief
priests and elders had said unto them. And when they had heard
that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord. Now this
is the apostles leading the people there, the believers there, collectively
with one accord, and said, Lord God, or Lord thou art God, which
has made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them
is, who by the mouth of thy servant
David." So we know now that David was the human instrument that
wrote Psalm 2. Thy servant David has said, why
did the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus,
whom thou hast anointed, both Herod Pontius Pilate with the
Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together." In opposition
to the gospel. In opposition to Christ. And
he says in verse 28, this sets it all in motion. in context
of the sovereignty of God, for to do whatsoever thy hand and
thy counsel determined before to be done." Quoted from this
Psalm. That word back here in Psalm
2, translated rage, often describes a gathering together. In my concordance
in my Bible, the word rage is also translated tumultuously
assemble. So it's an assembly like a mob
that's ready to do business, ready to do action in opposition
to something they hate. And so it's for the purposes
of hurting or killing the enemy. Then he says, to imagine a vain
thing. Well, that describes how this
angry mob futilely planned to kill God. Now they didn't believe
that Jesus of Nazareth was God. But that's the futility of their
purposes. And it's a vain thing. But now
think about it. The heathen raging, the people
imagining a vain thing. What does that describe but all
false religion? Every person, every group, the
majority if you will, who imagined salvation in any other way but
God's grace through Christ. That's a vain thing. And why
do they rage so much against God's Christ, God's anointed? Think about what it says here.
The kings of the earth set themselves, the rulers. And then over in
Acts chapter four, it virtually tells us that every one of us
by nature And I think it's important that we realize that these verses
do describe all of us by nature. It's kind of like Romans chapter
3 in verse 10, I think it is, where it says, there's none righteous,
no, not one. There's none that doeth good.
There's none that seeketh after God. That's all of us by nature,
as we're fallen in Adam, born spiritually dead in trespasses
and sins, totally depraved. and against the Anointed One
of God, that's the Messiah, opposing the Father. And what we learn
here is this, if you oppose the Lord Jesus Christ, you oppose
God the Father. We see today this movement called
Jews and Christians together, worshiping together, praying
together, and some of the popular false prophets of Christianity
are buying into that. I saw one meeting they had in
Washington, D.C. several years ago where they
were standing up on a stage with Jewish rabbis and they were praying
together and one of the main false preachers of Christianity
led in prayer and he didn't even mention the name of Jesus Christ.
He called on God the Father. And what he's saying there is
that, well, we don't believe the same gospel, but we worship
the same God. Well, that's a lie. If you oppose
Jesus Christ as the only way of righteousness before God,
you oppose the Father. And if you oppose God the Father,
you oppose Christ. He and the Father are one. He
said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to
the Father but by me. And this raging, why is it such a turn-off to the natural
man? Well, you know, we know that. If God has brought us to repentance
from dead works, we know exactly what's so hateful for them. John
3, verses 19 and 20, that light is coming to the world and men
love darkness and hate the light because it exposes their deeds,
their works, what they highly esteem as being evil. Only one
way of righteousness before God, and that's the imputed righteousness
of Christ, which we have nothing to do with as far as working
it. It's imputed to us. We receive it by God-given faith.
And when the apostles quoted this verse, they were praying
with the brethren, Lord, let us preach this gospel against
all this opposition, this hateful opposition. And look at verse
three again. The heathen crying out against
the Lord. They say, let us break their
bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. This shows you
the blindness of the natural man because the gospel, the good
news of salvation by God's free and sovereign grace through the
blood and righteousness of Christ is absolute freedom. But they don't see it that way.
They see it as bondage. Remember what the apostle wrote
in Galatians when he said, stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free. We're free now. If you're a believer, the truth
has set you free. And you remember how the Pharisees
responded to Christ on that issue. They said, well, we're not in
bondage to any man. They were in bondage to Rome.
They were in bondage to the law. They were tied up and they didn't
even see it. But now look at these next few
verses. Verse four, he that saideth in the heavens shall laugh. The
Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath, and he'll vex, he'll trouble them in his sore
displeasure. And he says, verse six, yet have
I set anointed my king upon my holy hill of Zion. Now what we
have here is a very different description of the God of all
grace as opposed to what false Christianity tries to make him
out to be. You know, false Christianity
sets up God as some kind of a frustrated old granddaddy who wants to save
everybody, but he either can't or he won't, and therefore he's
frustrated and sad and crying. I remember preachers in revivals
talking about Jesus looking over the banister of heaven, crying
and sobbing. My friend, that's not the God
of the Bible. Now there is a sadness when we think about those who
live their lives in unbelief and die in unbelief. There's
a sadness there for us. But God is not frustrated by
that. God, His purpose, His plan, His
work is not hindered by it at all. In fact, it says, He that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. Now, that's not portraying
God as some kind of a sadist or anything like that. But it's
a metaphorical way of talking about how Man's puny efforts
to overthrow the God of the universe are laughable. He holds them in derision. And
he says he'll speak to them in his wrath. The wrath of God abides
upon all those who live their lives in unbelief and die in
unbelief. The Bible says that. And we know
this, and this is amazing to us, this is what amazing grace
is all about. If it weren't for God's free
and sovereign grace and mercy in Christ, we too would be under
the wrath of God. And that wrath is God's just
judgment against all the sins that are imputed, all sinners
to whom sin is imputed, that's the way I wanna put it. If we die in unbelief, that means
that we die in our sins. And if we die in our sins, there's
nothing but death and hell. So, and nothing can stop it. Because God said He will speak
to them in His wrath, not in His grace, not in His love, not
in His mercy. And he'll vex them in his sore
displeasure. God's displeasure. You know the
Bible says without faith it's impossible to please God? You
might as well say it this way. Without Christ, it's impossible
to please God. So my friend, when we look at
these passages here, we can have a tear in our heart for those
who live and die in unbelief. But he's speaking about God's
vengeance, God's justice against those who consciously well-planned
efforts to overthrow the Lord of Glory and have their way. God's King. He says, and this
is so precious here, verse 6. Yet, even against all their opposition,
the opposition of all those who are listed in Acts chapter four,
I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. And he states that
emphatically. God's king here, who is that?
That's Christ in his mediatorial lordship. The Lord of glory who
accomplished the redemption of his people. Who put away our
sins by the sacrifice of himself. The Lord of glory who who established
righteousness, the scepter of righteousness. He established
it by his obedience unto death. Our sins having been imputed
to him, he died. His righteousness imputed to
us, we live. He's the king of glory. And his
mediatorial glory as the complete and successful savior of his
people, who are God's elect, his church, His sheep, His redeemed
run, represented by this phrase, the holy hill of Zion. That's
the church. That's the spiritual kingdom
of Christ, whom the Lord loves, whom He chose, whom He gave to
Christ before the foundation of the world and conditioned
all of our salvation upon Him. Thank God for it. Thank God we
have a mediator. Thank God we have a Savior. And
because we're no different by nature than the heathen that
rage and the people that imagine a vain thing. That's why I always
say, if God ever gave us what we deserve or what we've earned,
what would it be? It'd be his sore displeasure,
his wrath. But we're saved by God's grace,
amazing grace. through the blood and righteousness
of Christ, whose God manifests in the flesh. And that's what's
stated in this next verse. Look at verse 7. I will declare
the decree. Now he's going to talk about
salvation. In this one person, the Lord
Jesus Christ, based upon this one work, the offering of His
body on the cross, the redeeming work of Christ, And it's an issue
of a decree. It's not an afterthought. It's
not plan B. It's not God thinking up something
because He failed to do the first. And when was that decree made?
Before the foundation of the world. So we're talking about
a salvation here that was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began. God's sovereign purpose, His
sovereign will, His decree cannot be stopped. And He says, the
Lord has said unto me, thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
thee. That speaks of the deity of Christ.
It speaks of the humanity of Christ. It speaks of the work
of Christ. Thou art my Son. This also is
quoted in the New Testament. Quite often you'll find it, I
know in the book of Hebrews, in Acts 13.33, the Apostle Paul
quoted this when he preached in Antioch in reference to the
resurrection of Christ. It's quoted in Hebrews 1, verses
3-5, talking about Christ being declared the Son of God with
power. His Sonship, His Deity. Thou art my Son. He's the Son
of God. by nature, the second person
of the Trinity, co-equal with the Father and the Spirit in
every attribute of deity, and yet he was begotten. Now, that's
not talking about begotten as we were being born. The begotten here, I believe,
is, according to Acts 13.33 in Hebrews 1, it is his resurrection. He was begotten again. He's called
the first begotten from the dead. He was born out of death because
of the work that He accomplished. So this day have I begotten thee.
That's speaking of the success of the decree of God through
the Son of God incarnate. Christ accomplished the work. And so he says in verse eight,
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. Because of what Christ accomplished
on the cross in the salvation of his people, he is the ruler
of this universe in his mediatorial glory. Now, I've often said,
you know, people say, well, wasn't he already Lord? Well, in his
deity, he was always Lord, but this is speaking of his Lordship
as God manifest in the flesh who accomplished the work of
the salvation of his people. This is sitting at the right
hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession for us.
And what he's telling us, telling right here, that when all this
comes about and Christ comes back to judge this earth, there'll
be no place to hide for those who stand in opposition of him. There'll be nowhere to go. No
place on earth will shelter them. They'll be exposed completely
to the wrath of God. And he'll, in verse nine, he'll
break them with a rod of iron. He'll dash them in pieces like
a potter's vessel. In other words, he'll smash them
so much they won't be able to put them back together. And so here's the exhortation
of this psalm. Verse 10. Be wise now therefore,
O ye kings, Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Well, where
are you going to get this wisdom from? It's not going to come
from the natural man or in any way. Not even in what he thinks
are the good things that he says, because it's all always against
the Lord. Where's the wisdom of God to
be found in Christ? The glory of his person? The
power of his finished work? Christ is our wisdom. Think about that. How God can
be just and justify the ungodly. Now, whoever can answer that,
well, I'll put it to you this way. Whoever knows enough to
ask that question is close to wisdom. Whoever answers it is
wisdom. Well, where's the answer? In the person and work of Christ.
His glorious work, His powerful work, His righteousness. That's
how God can be just and justify the ungodly. Now who's going
to teach us that? Where are we going to find that
instruction? Man won't teach us that out of his own auspices. That teaching comes from God.
He uses men to relay the message, but it comes from God. He's the
teacher. And so what happens in verse
11, it says, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.
Serve the Lord with that respect and reverence that belongs to
Him and rejoice with trembling knowing that without Christ,
we have no hope. That's what that trembling means.
It doesn't mean that we're to be unsure of our salvation or
that we're to be afraid of God with terror. It means that we
understand this thing. We understand that to go before
God without Christ, without His righteousness, that's the worst
thing that could ever happen to an individual. That's eternal
damnation. So how do we get it? How does
God put us in this position? Kiss the Son. That's an act of
God-given faith. Back then, it was common that
they'd kiss each other on the cheek with a greeting. And it
was an act of love. Well, that's what this is. Believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Love the Lord. The Bible says,
if any man love not the Lord, he's anathema. He's under the
curse. And lest he be angry and you
perish from the way. The only way, the only way is
God's way. By His grace through the blood
and righteousness of Christ. And when His wrath is kindled
but a little. It doesn't take a lot. But look at how it ends. With
a beatitude. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in Him. And I want to make this point
very plain. Blessed are all those not just
who trust Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him, as
He's identified and distinguished in this book. You know, the Bible
teaches, and I've got this in your lesson, God judges the righteous
and God is angry with the wicked every day. Well, when God judges
the righteous, what is His judgment? Blessed. Well done. Come into the kingdom that's
been prepared for you. But he's angry with the wicked
every day. There's no love there, no mercy.
In fact, over in Psalm 5.5, it says this, The foolish shall
not stand in God's sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. There's no love from God outside
of Christ. And there's no faith true saving
faith, God-given faith, that's not in Christ. So kiss the sun. Believe in and love the Lord
Jesus Christ. Okay.