All right, good morning, everyone.
I guess not everybody went to Florida
this weekend like they did the last couple years. Half the church
went. So let's turn to Luke 19. Luke 19, I'd like to read...
start reading in verses... I'd like to just read a few verses
here just to get our hearts warmed up. So, in Luke 19, verse 12,
we have Jesus giving a parable and he says, "...he said, therefore,
a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for
himself a kingdom and to return." And he called his 10 servants
and delivered them 10 pounds and said, occupy till I come.
Occupy till I return again. But his citizens hated him and
sent a message after him saying, we will not have this man to
reign over us. And I would like us to keep that
in mind because that statement is really the answer to the question
that will soon be asked. So let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we ask that you would be
pleased to speak to us this morning. Lord, please speak to all your
people through all your gospel preachers throughout the world
this morning. Lord, please bless the messages
brought by Todd and Chris in Orlando. Please bless that conference. Father, please raise up Christ,
magnify him before our eyes. Lord, please give us ears to
hear this morning and this evening. Lord, please comfort us in all
our trials that you send. Lord, send them to cause us to
look to you and to trust all the more in your son. In Christ's
name, amen. So let's turn to Psalm 2. Psalm 2 verse 1, here's the question. Why do the heathen rage? Why do the heathen rage? The
question isn't even, do the heathen rage? It's already an established
fact, if you will, that every heathen rages. And this isn't
so much a feeling as it is an action. In the heart of every
heathen, There is an active raging against God. There's a vehement
seething, boiling over, ready to break forth if not constrained
rage, and it's directed towards one person, the sovereign Lord
Jesus Christ. This question really destroys
atheism, doesn't it? Because it presupposes that within
the mind of every heathen is the knowledge of God, and within
his heart is a rage towards that God that he knows nothing about.
I heard a message a while back by Greg Umquist in which he had
He was mentioning his grandson who was probably four, five,
six years old at the time. And his grandson came up to him
one day and he said, Granddad, I hate, I hate hating God. I hate hating God, and probably
10 years ago that I heard that message, but I think the reason
that I remember it is because what struck me so much was that
that little child had more understanding of his own depraved heart than
numerous learned scholars and theologians have of their own
heart. Evidently, the Lord had revealed
to that babe that his own, some degree of his own depraved nature. I believe it was Spurgeon who
once said, to not hate the false is to not love the true. And
I'll tell you what, every believer hates that God that he used to
believe in. And that's a strong word, hate.
But that really is how strongly the believer feels about, you
know, that God that I used to believe in, the God who loved
everybody and wanted to save everybody, that God was really
nothing more than Satan himself. And I hate that God. And my friends,
I think that's a distinguishing factor, a distinguishing characteristic
of God's saints. You show me a man who thinks
he's always loved God, and I'll show you a man who hates God
right this instant. So what begins in the heart as
a rage towards God then enters into the mind as vain thoughts.
Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?
the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against his anointed." Turn with me to
Psalm 21. Matt read this last Wednesday
and there was a verse in here that I just thought I had to
mention. It was just too good. to leave
out. Verse 10, Their fruit shalt thou
destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children
of men. For they intended evil against
thee. They imagined a mischievous device
which they are not able to perform. And what we've all imagined in
our heart is killing God. We would kill God if we could,
but he says they are not able to perform it. And it's true
that our sins have nailed Christ to the tree. What was intended
as evil in our hearts, the Lord meant it for good. I'd like us
to turn to Acts 4. These first two verses of Psalm
2 are quoted in Acts 4. verse 24 and when they heard that they
lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said Lord
thou art God which has made heaven and earth and the sea and all
that in them is who by the mouth of of 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 gathered together
against the Lord and against his Christ for of a truth against
thy holy child Jesus whom thou has appointed both Herod and
Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were
gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. Now, this was evil on our part to
crucify Christ, but it was good on the Lord's part. And in the cause against Christ,
enemies become friends. The Scriptures say in another
place that Herod and Pontius Pilate, though they were enemies,
they became friends when they conspired against Christ. Turn back with me to Psalm 2. What begins in the heart as a
rage then enters into the mind as thoughts. The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
his anointed saying. Then they become words. Let us
break their bands asunder and cast their cords, cast away their
cords from us. Let us be free to commit all
manner of sin, more sin and more abomination than we already do.
Let us remove all restraint and become our own gods. But do you kings think it so
easy a thing to cast away God's decrees and to remove yourself
from under the thumb of His will? To these monarch rebels, these
raging heathen king, the yoke of Christ is indeed heavy. They
hear, they look upon, the heathen look upon God's grace and they
see shackles instead of liberty. They hear of God's sovereignty
and they think bondage. They think, well if God is sovereign
and he can do whatever he wants, then we're just nothing but robots. I really don't care what God's
sovereignty makes us. If it makes us robots or puppets
of God, I'm just fine with that. But if we try to make God any
less sovereign, we're in the wrong and not God. When they
learn of election, they believe it to be their own damnation. You mean God has chosen some
and passed by others? Well, I guess that means I'm
damned because He hasn't chosen me. When they hear of God's preserving
power, his saving grace they think that gives someone a license
for immoral living well you just believe it if you can't do anything
to damn yourself for to save yourself and and god's just gonna
save you only by his grace then then you can live however you
want i'd believe i'd wish i could live however i wanted if i could
live however i wanted i would never send again But the unbeliever
believes that if they could live however they want, they would
just sin as much as they could, sin more than they already do.
You see, they don't want Christ to reign over them. So what is
God's response to all this, to all this raging and this raving? Verse four, I just, I love this. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. He's at peace. He's serene. He's
just sitting on his throne. He makes no motions to rise up
and to squash this rebellion. You know, an earthly kingdom
If it's experiencing rebellion, it needs to squash it immediately
unless it gets out of hand. But God is so in control, and
we are so without control, He can just let this go as long
as He pleases. And one day, He's going to squash
it, one day. If anyone ever asks you, does
God laugh? Does God laugh? You can just
point them to this verse and say, yes, He laughs at our futile
attempts to overthrow His throne. He laughs at our puny attempts
to usurp His kingdom. Turn with me to Proverbs 1. This is the only other time that
I know of in the scriptures where it states that God laughs. Proverbs 1 verse 25, but you
have set at naught all my counsel and would none of my reproof.
I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh,
when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as
a whirlwind. When distress and anguish cometh
upon you, then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer.
They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. For that
they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
they would none of my counsel. They despised all of my reproof. The gospel is counsel to sinners. And I can't think of anything
more evil than to hear this good news, to hear that God saves
by His grace. You know, the Pharisees rejected,
it was said they rejected the counsel of God against themselves. And what an evil thing that is.
It's scary. If you reject God's counsel,
You're a sinner, and you need to look to Christ. Flee to Christ
right now. Say, I don't need that. And you
just walk away. Well, He's going to laugh at
you when you reject His counsel. And you said that not, you did
not choose the fear of the Lord I can't think of anything scarier
than the mocking, scorning laughter of a God at a sinner who's rejected
His counsel. And by God's grace, all of God's
saints have received His counsel. Thank the Lord. Back to Psalm
2. This psalm contains some sobering
statements, but it's a glorious psalm and it's one of my favorites.
Here's another sobering statement, verse 5. Then shall he speak
unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons,
and in your name perform many wonderful works? Then shall he
speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you. What
is more displeasing to the Lord than for a sinner to stand before
him and proclaim his own works? That has to be a stench in his
nostrils. I had rather say with David as
he did in Psalm 40, I will proclaim thy wonderful works. And what
is more vexing to every sinner who is king in his own mind and
ruler of his own heart than this, verse 6, yet have I set my king
upon my holy hill of Zion. Yet, despite, despite all your
ravings and your ragings and your rebellions, I've set my
king. You've set yourselves against
me, but I've set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. This is
God's king and Christ gets all His authority from the Father
Himself, this world and its inhabitants may disown His authority. But
the Father says, I own it. I've committed all judgment unto
him, and I've given him to be the head over all the church
of which this holy hill of Zion is a type. The father has established
him as king, and whatever the plots of hell and earth are to
the contrary, Christ reigns by his father's ordination. God's
anointed has been appointed, and he won't be disappointed. Now, in verses 7 through 9, we're
made privy. This is beautiful right here. We're made privy to what the
Father declares to the Son. I don't know of another place
in scriptures where we have this. Before the world began, I will
declare the decree the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son,
This day have I begotten thee. as if it wasn't enough to see
God's Christ set before them. The father makes an official
formal decree saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased. Here we see God's anointed stepping
forth, declaring his rights of sovereignty. You heathen kings
behold my son in whom I'm well pleased. I've set him as king
over all the earth, whether you like it or not, whether you love
him, Whether or not you acknowledge it, He reigns over you. And verse 8, Ask of me, and I
will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thy possession. When I read this verse, I think
of a king and his son, the prince. And it's the prince's birthday. And the king says, ask of me
anything you want. The prince can have whatever
he wants. His dad is the king. And so the
prince who loves his father and wants only to please his father,
only asks for something that he knows the Father will be pleased
to give. So he asks, and the Father gives
it. And we learn that in John 6.37
that Christ says, All the Father giveth me will come to me. And in Psalm 2, we learn it's
because he asked. And the Father bade him to ask. Whether believer or unbeliever,
Christ gets all. The sheep and the goats. He reigns
over them all, but the sheep he calls brothers. And in verse
9, we see what he does with these
heathen rebels. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel. He's the potter and we're the
clay. And he can do with us whatever he wants. And this rod of iron
represents the severity of the punishment that will be meted
out on these rebellious pots. You thought to rebel against
me. Here is the consequence. The
Lord is going to dash these pots in pieces. That's his power,
he can dash them. But before he does, he's going
to give them some counsel. Verse 10, be wise now therefore,
O ye kings. Be instructed, you judges of
the earth. Be wise right now. You don't
delay, you flee to Christ right this instant. You cease your
raging and flee to Christ. Our God is a patient God. and
he's giving these rebellious kings some counsel. This is an
exhortation to be wise. Your warfare cannot succeed,
and your raging will not triumph or prevail. Exercise wisdom. It is right to trust in the Lord. Submit to His sovereignty. So
here, verse 11, here's what the wise do. They serve the Lord with fear.
They cease from serving themselves and their own vain, evil interests,
and they serve the Lord. In another place, we're told
that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All
the desire of God's saints is to serve the Lord. In Proverbs
1, we read that those who the Lord laughed at and mocked did
not choose the fear of the Lord. Serve the Lord with fear, and
rejoice with trembling. Trembling and rejoicing go hand
in hand. And I'm reminded of that woman
who had that issue of blood. And the scriptures say that fearing
and trembling, she came to Christ knowing what was done in her.
She came and she fell before Christ. The cause of her fearing
and trembling was knowing what was done in her, that she was
healed of her issue of blood. Likewise, when the Lord performs
a work of grace in the sinner's heart, knowing what was done
in him, he fears the Lord. It's grace. How does that hymn
go? It's grace that taught my heart
to fear and grace that my fears relieved. It's not threatenings,
it's not the law, it's not punishment that instills fear in God's saints,
but it's His grace. And you will only fear a God
who is all-powerful, a God who reigns over you. Here's the next
thing that the Lord says. Kiss the Son. Kiss the sun and
don't be ashamed. When David danced before the
ark, his wife saw that. When she saw it, she despised
him in her heart. And he said, I will be more base
and vile in my own eyes. And if you are despised of kissing
Christ, kiss him all the more. For he is our husband, and that's
what he desires. And what husband does not desire,
does not want to be kissed of his wife? To kiss the Son is
to embrace Him, and you'll only kiss the Son if He's first kissed
you in mercy. To kiss the Son is to trust in
Him for all your salvation. And I don't know if this is done
in these days and maybe other countries, but in old times,
subjects would kiss the ring of a king or some nobleman as
a sign of fealty and loyalty. And when we kiss the sun, it's
an acknowledgement that he reigns over us, that he's sovereign.
And more than just acknowledging, it's a show of love. I think
of Jonathan who was Saul's son, he was in line to be king next
after Saul, but he knew that the Lord had given David the
kingdom and he loved that and he wanted it that way. There
was no jealousy in his heart, he wanted David to be king and
every believer says, We will have this man to reign over us. We will have him to reign over
us. And we want nothing less than his complete reign and dominion
come Lord Jesus. Kiss the son lest he be angry
and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Turn back with me to Luke 19. I want to read the end of this
parable that we read at the beginning of this message. Luke 19 verse 27, But those mine
enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring
him hither and slay them. If the kindling of His wrath
but a little is enough for that to take place, how unimaginable
would it be when His wrath is kindled to the full. But God's
saints don't need to fear that. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save us from the wrath which is to come. And if you've by
His grace kissed the Son, and if you love God's King, And if
by His grace you've ceased from your rebelling, you have nothing
to fear. Now, I know the old man only
rages and it'll rage till the day we die and when we are finally
done with him. But in the new man, we humbly
bow to his sovereignty and we lovingly submit to Christ's reign. Back to Psalm 2. Kiss the Son lest He be angry,
and you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. If you trust
in Christ alone for all your salvation, and Christ is all
blessings, if you trust in Him for all forgiveness of sin, then
all the blessings are yours, my friend. That's it.