It's not surprising that there
should be a war of the world and of the enemy against our
Lord, but the worst enemy sometime are those within the church who
some are also waging a war against our blessed Lord. But let's read
our text and then we'll see where we are going. Psalm chapter 2. 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 saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast
away their cords from us. In other words, let's break out
of their control and away. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall
he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the
Lord has said unto me. Thou art my son this day, have
I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will 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 with a potter's
vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye
kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the
earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and
rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,
and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in him. Alright, in Acts chapter 4 and
verse 27 and verse 28. After early persecution in the
church, we read this, verse 27. for of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pilate and the
Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to
do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to
be done. Maybe I should have read verse
26. the kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered
together against the Lord and against his Christ. Now the subject
may seem to be a puzzling one when we speak of the matter of
a war and particularly of a war against the very Holy one of
God if so then remember that not all wars are fought with
guns and swords and planes and ships and bombs and such like
Invading nation against nation. Not always. Is that the way of
a war? You know, we've seen a few wars
in our day They call them wars in our generation and lifetime. We had the example the war on
poverty and millions were spent, and it did no good. Then we had
the war on drugs, and millions were spent, and millions were
corrupted, and I guess they're worse than ever. Then we had
the war on illiteracy, and that didn't work out too well anyhow. But this morning, I'm speaking
of a different war. of a war against the holy and
anointed one of God. Jesus Christ, if you please,
the Lord's anointed, as he is called again and again in the
scripture. Our first text being the second
psalm, which will then take us to the passage in Acts chapter
four. We've already read a part of
it. where, and this is important,
this text in Psalm chapter two is applied unto the Lord Jesus
Christ in the fourth chapter of the book of Acts. It is applied
by the apostle Peter. It is applied by John and by
the other and a company of those disciples in that day and in
that time of those that they saw that were gathered together
against the Lord and against his anointing. And in verse 26
and verse 27, against thy holy child, Jesus, whom thou hast
anointed. But first of all, let's look
at the second Psalm, for that's where we read and began. And the first question to raise
is whether the psalm is strictly Davidic, whether the psalm pertains
strictly and only unto David, that it only concerns him and
his life and his kingship and his reign and his kingdom or
whether the psalm is also messianic in large or in part. We can see
already that Acts 4, 25 through verse 8 applies it to the Lord
Jesus Christ and not to David, the king of Israel. We can see
that this passage in Psalms chapter 2 falls among those passages
of the Old Testament Scripture which is capable of a two-fold
application, a primary and a secondary, as many of the scriptures are. One man named Loth I never heard
of him, expressed it this way as literal and as allegorical,
that things may be applied in those two ways. Or to the literal
David and the spiritual David, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I think you see that again in
the 89th Psalm, and you see it quite at length. First, let's
take a look at the literal message or meaning of the passage. For we take it to concern David
that God made him king, God put him upon the throne of Israel
and put him over the people in spite of all of the opposition
and all the hatred that he faced in that endeavor. And though
he was opposed as being the king of Israel, yet God set him up
and made it come to pass. Now, I like a footnote that I
found in the new Geneva Bible King James Version, and that
to the effect that the second psalm integrates the two great
kingship, the human and the divine, the type and the antitype, David
the type, Christ the antitype, that the experiences and the
kingship of David were typical of the divine counterpart, the
Lord Jesus Christ himself. Both of them were chosen, both
of them were anointed by God to be king over their kingdom,
and both of them met with very strong opposition during their
reign and in incarnation. And yet, in spite of that, God
made both of them kings and frustrated all opposition that raised up
against them. According to that Psalm, God
laughs at the feeble attempts of those who joined themselves
together in confederate against God's king and against God's
anointed and against God's son. And so, as the case with Psalm
chapter 89. that are things that apply both
to David as well as unto Christ. Now, on the other hand, there
are things that are only applicable to the Messiah and can only be
applied and attributed unto him in these passages of the scripture,
such as verse 7 in the text that we read in the 2nd Psalm, Thou
art my son this day have I begotten you. And then in verse 8 again,
the promise of the heathen, the promise of the nation, that they
will be brought under and in subjection under the Lord's anointed
so that he hath, as it were, a universal dominion over the
life and the heart of men. Then again in verse 12, where
he again, Is called the son thou art my son We dare not miss the
time that this psalm is quoted in the New Testament not only
quoted but applied unto the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah in
that God calls him my son and you'll see that in in Matthew
3 and verse 17, and again in Matthew 17 and verse 5, this
is my beloved son. Thou hast said, thou art my son
in the second Psalm. And in Acts 4, 25 through verse
28, that Psalms 2 verse 1 and 2 had their fulfillment
and they had it in what one called quote in the Confederate hostility
of Israel and the Gentiles against Jesus the Holy Servant of God
unquote and over in Acts 13 verse And verse 33, Paul quotes from
the 2nd Psalm, and he applies it directly unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, concerning the subject before
us now, the war against Christ, our own Jesus. Here is a quote
from C.H. Spurgeon, and as you know, that
was quite a time ago. He said this about the 2nd Psalm,
quote, We have in the first three verses of Psalm 2 a description
of the hatred of human nature against the Christ of God, unquote. And we see that this animosity
is not localized. It is widespread indeed. This animosity, this enmity against
our Lord crosses all social and ethnic and national boundaries,
whatever they might be. So we know the two things here
in this passage of the scripture. Number one, the participators
in the conspiracy. Who are they that are joined
together in conspiracy against our Lord? Well, their name. They
are the heathen, they are the people, They are the kings of
the earth. They are the rulers. In Acts
4.27, name some of them by name. Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles,
the people of Israel are specifically named out as being against our
Lord. Then we ask the question, secondly,
what is their common name? What aim have they in this conspiracy
against the Christ of God? Well, in Psalms 2 and verse 3,
we read it. To free themselves of all restraint,
to have nothing to do with this man as having any authority over
them, and to cast away from themselves every unwanted prohibition that
grates upon their flesh. They desire, as in Jeremiah chapter
5 and verse 5, to break the yoke and burst the bonds that the
Lord might have upon them. And you know, it's strange. We
did it too. but they regard even righteous
laws as a heavy and an unjust yoke about their neck. Not only the laws of King David,
but the holy ordinances of God, His righteous laws, and they
are righteous in every degree. As John Gill wrote, such do regard
God's laws and ordinances and truths as if they were heavy
chains and shackles bound about them. And even though God's law
is holy, it is just, it is good, as Paul said in Romans 7 and
verse 12. And even though Christ's yoke
is easy and it is light, Matthew 11 and verse 30, to the wicked,
they're like heavy chain and burden and bricks about their
ankles and loads cast down upon their shoulder, as if these laws
of God usurped their liberty, which they strongly resent as
being an infringement upon their personal choice and liberty. they hate thou shalt not of God
how they hate when God said thou shalt not they chief and they
jumped and they kick like a bullet unaccustomed to the yoke when
the laws of God are brought into their hearing. There was an old-timer
named John Trapp, well described such as are in our text, that
they are resolved to run riot and lawless, end quote, and therefore
They slander the sweet laws of Christ as being bonds and thick
cards which they equate unto slavery." Now do we need to emphasize
again that these are not the feeling These are not the sentiments
of the righteous, of the saints of God, of the people of God,
and of the Christian. These are those thoughts and
words that proceed out of the mind and the mouth of the unregenerate. And even if they are not vocalized
in words, yet they are the thoughts of the heart and the mind. For
the carnal mind is enmity against the law of God, is not subject
to it, neither indeed can it be. Romans chapter 8 and verse
7. Now this is strong language,
and the charges are strong indeed. It expresses their strong hostility
against God, actuated by the mind of the flesh, the unregenerate
mind, and the object, if you will, of their enmity is the
law of God, which is a reflection of the holy character of God. And this law shapes those and
offends those who live under the power of the depraved flesh. Another man, John Murray, wrote
on Romans 8 and verse 7, enmity towards God is the actuating
principle of the mind of the flesh. And non-subjection to
the divine law is the way in which this enmity against God
manifests itself. We will not have this man to
reign over us. Looking again at the second psalm,
that like Ruth we might not miss anything, but glean every corner
of the field. Notice verse one, the people
imagine a vain thing. Notice number two, they take
counsel together. Now in verse one, that word imagine
there that we see the margin is meditate. They meditate taking
counsel together. Some versions have it plot or
devise. They plot or devise or meditate
or take counsel. Let's see the meaning of the
word in the opening of verse 1. Why? Why do they do this? Why do the heathen imagine a
vain thing? This is written by one from the
standpoint of one who is acquainted with and is a servant of Jehovah
and one who delights in every way in the law of the Lord, in
the law of God. So that the why, the question
why, is an expression of astonishment, if we may believe it. Why? For
what? Unto what end? Wherefore? Are they involved in all of it? Now the astonishment is understood
by what is said in the end of verse 1. Because it is a vain
thing that they have imagined. It is a vain thing that they
have plotted. The Psalmist said that their
scheme is but an empty delusion that they shall not be able to
bring to fruition. He is convinced of the sure failure
of their scheme to overthrow the Almighty and to throw down
Christ and to prevent him the exercise of his kingship and
of his lordship. No more can they break God's
rule over them than Nimrod and all of his cohorts could build
a tower in the heaven for God threw it down. This is to be
seen by the response of God to their devising in verse 4. He that sits in the heavens shall
act. Look again at Psalm 37, 13, not
now, and Proverbs 1 and verse 26. The Lord shall have them
in derision. to mock at them, to scoff at
them, to deride them, and to laugh them to scorn for their
silly, feeble instrument to throw off the rule of God. Verse five,
God will rebuke them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Now let's not lose sight of the
ones who are the objects of their animosity. the Lord, Jehovah,
and his anointed. And his anointed is not just
David, who is a kingly type of the Messiah. But let's move our
focus now to that New Testament passage in Acts chapter 4 and
verse 25 through verse 28, where the disciples show that the ultimate
object of the Second Psalm was the Christ of God. The object
of their animosity is the Lord. As in Acts chapter 4, And verse
26, against the Lord and against his Christ, against Jehovah the
Father and against his anointed one. Verse 27 again said, against
thy holy child Jesus whom thou has anointed. Now we look at
the word child here in this passage in the book of Acts. is not confined,
not to be confined, to only a very young child or to a babe or to
an infant because this word is over 20 times in the New Testament
and is most often translated servant. you'll find it translated
servant instead of child. Also child, children, maid, maiden,
men, servants, and son. This word is translated in the
New Testament and yes by young man. In fact, It looks like the
same word in Acts chapter 4 and verse 25, thy servant David. So let's settle on the description
used to depict the Lord Jesus Christ and to show the heinous
nature and crime against him in the second Psalm and Acts
chapter 4. Let's do so by broadening out
a bit on the other places. He is designated here as the
Lord's anointed. You'll see that again in Luke
chapter 4 and verse 18. Psalm 2-2, anointed. Acts 10 38 God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth. Now anointing amounted to an
appointment and commission or a consecration of one unto a
duty or office or servant. And the more sacred was the anointing
when God is the anointing one, the one doing the anointing.
For example, we read in 1 Samuel chapter 18 how reluctant no I
don't think it's chapter 18 but first Samuel how reluctant David
was to harm Saul now Saul was a wicked man he was an open enemy
of David and a detriment unto the nation at that time so why
1 Samuel 15 and 17, the Lord anointed Saul king over Israel. And in 1 Samuel chapter 24, David
stayed his men from harming Saul when he found him asleep in the
cave, because Saul was the Lord's anointed." 1 Samuel 26 verse
9, David said to Abishah, destroy him not, for who can stretch
forth his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? Even though he had turned out
to be a bad king, he was the one that God had anointed for
that office. But a confederation, a very wicked
person, did conspire against the Lord's anointed, I'm talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ, to oppose him, to stop his kingship,
and even to put him unto death. One of the first attempts made
against the holy child Jesus is recorded in Matthew, the second
chapter. The culprit here, of course,
was King Herod. Hearing that one was born who
was to be king of the Jew, in the second verse, and listen
to the third verse of that chapter, when Herod the king heard, he
was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. That one had been born
to be the king of the Jew. Perhaps it was the word king
of the Jew that stirred up the animosity of that old wicked
king that rattled at the evil king Herod and caused him to
do what he did. Would this king of the Jew perhaps
be a rival unto Herod to seek to usurp his throne and take
away his place and kingdom. Herod hatched a plot to locate
the young lad where he was under the pretense of desiring that
he might worship him and honor him in the eighth verse and would
make the Magi his unwitting accomplices in locating this child Jesus. Herod's true intention as revealed
Matthew 2 in verse 13 for Herod will seek the young child's life
to destroy him Unquote but being foiled by the providence of God
from finding the one called the king of the Jew Then feeling
betrayed and mocked by the wise men Herod in verse 16 did a very
gruesome violent thing He ordered all children under the age of
two years to be killed in and around the city of Jerusalem. It was a bloody, bloody massacre
indeed. And in verse 17 and 18, even
this atrocious act by him fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah. And that's very interesting.
Thus we see this war against Jesus began so soon as he became
incarnate. While he were yet a babe, a king
on the earth, Herod, stood up. against and took counsel against
the Lord's divine anointed. And he set himself against the
Messiah to destroy him even while he were yet a baby. And me thinks
that many of those who make up very much today of what we hear
as quote, baby Jesus. Soon we'll be hearing a lot about
baby Jesus. And the emphasis is put upon
the baby Jesus, the little bitty infant Jesus there in a manger. But me think sometimes that those
who speak so much of baby Jesus and wish him such a happy birthday
do not care at all, on the other hand, For the Lord who is sovereign
and has sovereign power who has authority over all flesh who
has been made Lord and Christ and Anointed over all be that
as it may after the death of Herod Matthew 2 in verse 19 Joseph
and Mary came and settled in Nazareth in Galilee Matthew 2,
23, and the Lord grew to manhood there, living in virtual obscurity
until the day or time of his revealing unto Israel. Now there's
one mention of the youth of our Lord in all of those years. that is at age 12, found in Luke's
gospel, chapter 2, verse 40 through 52, and that's the only other
glimpse that we have of the Lord from his early infancy until
he was revealed unto Israel. However, when the Lord began
his public ministry, when he began to publicly speak, the
Jews, and their religious leaders soon took up the war against
the Lord Jesus, determined that he must be done away, that he
must be put unto death. They contradicted him, they opposed
him, They called him a blasphemer. They labeled him a gluttonous
man. They said that he was mad and out of his mind. They said
he was a man possessed of a demon or an unclean spirit, among other
things that they said and did. And on several occasions, they
sought to kill him, kill him by their very own hands by stoning,
once by casting him off or over a cliff. And then finally, desperation. They secure, to secure the death
of the Lord, they go to the Gentile and they take him before Pilate
and the Roman government, which by the way the Jews so despised,
using the Romans law and power to finally kill the Prince of
Life, the Roman government. How desirous they were. How they wanted him gone. Well,
let's consider some things along this line. Number one, first,
before the Jewish Sanhedrin, the high court of the Jew, you
know, they accused the Lord blasphemy. They knew insurrection would
not stand in the court of the Jew so they accused him of blasphemy. They said he made himself equal
with God. He said that he was one with
God. They said this man said destroy
this temple and in three days I will build it up again. Wherefore
in the Sanhedrin Council The high priest declared him guilty
and that unto death, Matthew 26, 65 and 66. And this would
convince the Jews that he ought to die because he was a blasphemer,
he held up the law or put down the law of Moses and such like. Secondly, when they carried him
over before pirate, the Roman governor. Their hypocrisy begins
to show again. They do not accuse him there
of a religious crime, but of a civil and a political crime
and insurrection and therefore a threat to the government of
Caesar. Luke 23 and verse 2. And again they think this is
the best way to deal with him, to get Pilate to condemning to
death by calling him a challenge to the Roman authority, kingdom,
and the authority of Caesar and of Pilate and others. But Pilate,
a wily old man, knew that they had accused him and delivered
him from envy. He knew that it was a religious
question. He knew it was just a religious
fight among the Jew, Matthew 27, 18. Mark 15 and verse 10,
and they prevailed with Pilate, and our Lord, however, was put
to death. Now consider another aspect of
the war on Jesus, if you will, that the war against him continued
even after he was put to death. The Jewish zealot saw at his
hand there was a great war waged, a violent war waged against Christianity. venting his animosity against
the followers of Christ. He consented to the death of
Stephen, Acts chapter 8 verse 1. He breathed out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, Acts 9 and verse
1. He made havoc of the church,
Acts chapter 8 and verse 3. He persecuted the church of God
and wasted it, Galatians 1 and verse 13. In his blind and ignorant
zeal, he thought that he ought to do many things contrary to
the name of Jesus. Acts 26 and verse 9. And he did,
right up to his conversion. Yea, when the Lord took him on
the way to Damascus, He was venting his rage against that way and
against Christianity and had letters in his pocket to take
any that he found worshiping in that way. But Saul could not
get at Jesus, for he were back in heaven, so he wars against
Christ by persecuting and destroying his followers and those that
believed on him. He would put them to death who
committed the quote crime unquote of believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ. He had one intention in mind
And that was to stamp out this new way like a fire, stamp it
out and put it out before it can burn any farther. Now this
war on the Lord Jesus Christ was picked up by Saul But then,
even with his conversion, as he found to his suffering, it
was not at an end. This war, I want to say two things. Number one, it continues to this
very day. It is not ended. And number two, it will continue
as long as the world shall stand and Christ is preached, age after
age, century after century. Even now, we see this war going
on and continuing from the progressive and the liberal media, still
from many Jews, Muslims, the ACLU, and worst of all, apostate
reverends inside of the churches. TV personalities and so forth
are gathered together against the Lord and against His anointed
to deny Him to be very God and the only Savior of the world
and of sinners. There is an escalating war on
Christianity in the last few years. Yet any war on Christianity
is at the same time a war against Christ. Any that war against
Christ also war against God. Any war against Christianity
The church, the Bible, or the gospel is a direct attack upon
Christ who has commissioned these things and brought them into
being. Just like an attack upon the
preacher or the truth is really an attack upon the truth. And I fear that we are nearing
the time when all mention of God and of Christ in anything
Christian will be mostly banned from public places. That any
acknowledgement of Christ will be anathema in public places
and in the public arena. The only place that he will be
exalted will be within the walls of small churches. Now, you may
say to me, hold on just a minute, preacher. You're wrong. You're
mistaken. Look at the megachurches. Look
at the thousands and thousands who gather together. See how
many Christian and how many believers there are and how many confess
and how many love Jesus and how many are turning to Jesus in
these means in this day. My answer to that, I gave last
Sunday, I believe it was, In most cases, it is indeed but
another Jesus. As Paul said, 2 Corinthians chapter
11 and verse 4. Another gospel, Galatians 1 verse
6 and verse 7. And he put it this way, another
gospel which is not another. It's not the true Christ and
it's not the true gospel that is being preached and heard in
so many places today. For example, I heard a talking
TV head say this, very popular one on cable, Christianity is
not a religion, it is a philosophy, unquote. And again, he called
Jesus a philosopher, And that chubby little lady on TV has
declared that right-wing Christianity is more dangerous than the Taliban. A woman official with Homeland
Security, she was head of it, said that people who believe
the Bible and go to church regularly and believe the Bible may be
terrorists. More and more, I hear the word
dangerous associated with biblical Christianity. They found these
clubs that they might use against us and these that are willing
to fight against the Lord. More and more, other religions
are favored and given the advance over Christianity. Now make a
prediction that we may soon see Sharia law allowed and practiced
in our country, in the legal system. If you don't know what
that is, it's the Muslim system of law. And they're pressing
it, and they've got it in places in Michigan. And look at France,
and look at England, and the great trouble that they have
with Sharia law and with Muslims. Now, the wicked consider righteousness
a dreadful thing. A severe restriction on them,
and the law of God they consider a heavy bondage. The yoke of
Christ they despise, and they cry in Job chapter 21, 14, and
15, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy way.
And we have to bring this to a close by making these applications. Number one, some who opposed
David being king, but God established him upon the throne and their
opposition came to nothing. Number two, the Jews repudiated
Jesus as their king, even putting him to death, sealing the tomb,
yet God raised him up, exalted him to highest glory, made him
Lord in Christ, Acts chapter 2 and verse 36, and the disciples
recognized that what the second Psalm said was fulfilled in what
was done to Christ, Acts 4, 27 and 28. Thirdly, as for those
making war on Christ even now, he has power over all flesh to
save or to damn whom he will. He will be their judge in the
final end. He will meet them at death. and
bring their works into judgment. God is not mocked. There is, you will notice, no
animosity against the liberal Jesus that's preached today. I brought that out recently.
There's no animosity against that liberal Jesus, for he's
on their side. Don't look at him as the eternal,
everlasting, divine son of God, but just as some kind of a person. Now, it is the biblical, the
biblical Jesus that they oppose. The Christ of Scripture, the
Son of God, very God, God and man, the only Redeemer, the Divine
One, the only Savior. That's the one that they oppose,
but the liberal Jesus is welcome, though there is not really a
liberal Jesus.