Each time that we read and study
the law of God, it does serve its purpose to
remind us how impossible it is for men to keep it. It's actually very simple, just
as simple as that which the Lord told Adam in the garden not to
do. It wasn't anything complicated
about it, was there? But the performance of it is
another thing. It was not in the heart of Adam
to be obedient to the Lord. It is not in the hearts of men
by nature to obey the commandments of God, even though they be set
before us, and even though by the grace of God we be given
a mind and heart to know that these things are true and believe
that they are true. But yet at the same time, The
law, the scripture says, is weak in the flesh. And certainly any
man who has ever been acquainted with his own flesh would confess
that there is an impossibility set before men in the keeping
of the law. And if it was not that Jesus
Christ did keep it in our behalf, we would be done for. I mean, we wouldn't have any
hope whatsoever if we didn't have the expectation that Christ
has kept the law in every jot and tittle. He never failed in
one iota of it. He said He came to do it, and
He did it as a perfect man. And upon that rests all of our
hope. When men look at the law and
they take some comfort in it and say, well, you know, I've
done a pretty good job, I've done all these things from my
youth up, like the rich young ruler, that's a dangerous place
to be in it. I mean, that's a terrible place
to be. But there's plenty of people
that believe right today. I would venture to say there's
a number of people. I'm talking about church-going
people, that if you ask them, If they kept the law, they would
say, yeah, they kept the law. They'd do it. That's because
number one, they don't understand the law and they don't understand
the corruption that's in their own heart. Because the man that
knows those two things, he knows good and well he doesn't keep
the law. He can't do it. Okay, so we're going to look
at Psalm 2. This is one of my favorite psalms. I receive a blessing in reading
it, Psalm 2, and the psalmist begins with an incredulous question. You know, sometimes questions
are asked and we kind of know what the answer is. And then
sometimes a question is asked and we ask it in such a way to
say, well, how on earth could it not be true? Or why would
men do such a thing? And that's how he begins this
psalm. He says here, why do the heathen
rage and the people imagine a vain thing? And then he's going to
describe that 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. He that sitteth in the heaven
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 hath said unto me, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee. 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. 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. Now why do the heathen rage and
the people imagine the vain thing? How foolish such a thing is. You know, it makes no sense really
from a human standpoint why it would be that men would go against
the very power that will destroy them. It makes no sense. I mean, it's not like it's in
doubt as to whether or not this will occur. It's what the psalmist
is saying. He said, it is an absolute fact
that you are going to be destroyed. It's like, here's an atomic bomb. If you pull this trigger here
on this atomic bomb, you are going to blow up. And men, in
their rebellion against God, pull that trigger. I mean, that's
exactly the picture that it is. And so the psalmist says, why
do they do that? Why do the heathen rage and the
people imagine the vain thing? Now, we know actually the answer
to that, don't we? I mean, the answer is because
of the corruption that's in men's hearts by nature, because they
are in rebellion against God. So we know what the answer is.
But nonetheless, We ask the question, what in the world are they thinking
of? Why do they do that? You know,
sometimes you look at some of these videos and things on YouTube
and stuff of people doing dumb stuff. And you ask yourself the
question, what on earth did they do that for? They knew what was
going to happen, but they went ahead and did it anyway. And so, you know, we can look
back on our own lives. and see things in our own life
where we've done exactly the same thing. We look back and
we say, why did we do that? I mean, we knew what was going
to happen, but we went ahead and did it anyway. And so why
do the heathen rage and the people imagine the vain thing? Then
he says what it is they do. The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
His anointed. Now, you see, the nations of
the earth all conspire against the Lord, do they not? I mean,
men will band together to do anything but this one thing. Nations of the earth will come
together for a multitude of causes, but this one thing they will
never come together for, and that is to bow down and worship
the Lord. It will never happen. because
it is not in man to do so. The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
His anointed." Now this is exactly what the Pharisees did, the nation
of Israel, did they not? They said, we will not have this
man to rule over us. They went to Pilate. They said, we do not want any
king but Caesar. We'll take Caesar rather than
we'll have this man. And that's the way the world
is. See, the world will worship at the footstool of any God except
this One who is the Anointed of the Lord. Because you see,
just like Brother Al set forth their force this morning very
ably as we looked at that Commandment of the Lord, thou shalt not worship
any graven image. You shall not do it. You don't
need to make one. You don't need to do it. But
men in the earth believe that they've got a better idea. And
men are always coming up, just like Constantine, with a better
plan, a better way to do it. I mean, that's what really modern
religion is just the culmination of man's better plan, is it not?
We've got a better way. I mean, we know how to get folks
saved. We can figure out a better way.
We don't want to go out there and be telling them what the
Bible says, that the Lord is the one that saves people, because
if you go out and tell them that, we won't be able to get them
saved. But we can get them saved. Now
how foolish is that? If we believe what the Lord said,
and what the Lord said is that He is the Savior of sinners,
And is there any other way that a man can be saved than if the
Lord saves him? Not that I can understand or
comprehend, but yet men come up with a better way. Oh, don't
tell folks that. Don't tell folks that unless
the Lord saves them they won't be saved. You've got to tell
them that they can do something. You've got to tell them what
they can do and how they can do it and when they can do it.
And how that the Lord is just waiting for him to do something
so that he can do something. See, that's how men think. Men
always have a better plan than that way which the Lord has set.
The rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
His Anointed. The Jews and the Romans hated each other. But
the Jews and the Romans came together to do one thing, did
they not? That was in their mind to destroy
Christ. Now they didn't succeed in that
because all of that was according to the ordained purpose of God,
but that was nonetheless their purpose in that. They said, let
us break their bands asunder and cast their cords away from
us. We don't want Him ruling over us. We'll take anything
other than that. And then we see what the Lord
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh." Now sometimes you'll
hear people talk about they believe God has a sense of humor. I don't
like to get involved in such discussions of that because that's
a foolish discussion in my estimation to attribute to the Lord human
characteristics. Now humor doesn't exist except
that the Lord gave it. I mean, there would be no such
thing as laughing at something if the Lord didn't ordain that
such be the case. That's a fact. But when the Scripture
says that he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, it's
not talking about a humorous situation, is it? It's talking
about the fact that he is mockingly looking at these people in the
foolishness of their way. Just like this psalmist began. Why? The Lord shall laugh at them.
You know, you have all seen, and of course
in the Three Stooges, I used to be a real fan of the Three
Stooges, and one of the things that Moe would do to Curly was
that he would put his hand on top of his head And then Curley
would try to be hitting him, but Moe would be holding him
at an arm's length and his arms wouldn't reach him. Now I think
of that when I think of this picture right here. The Lord
shall laugh. That's just like that. He's just got his head
on God's hand. He's not going to hurt him at
all. He shall have him in derision. He shall mock them when their
fear cometh. Then shall he speak. unto them in His wrath, and vexed
them in His sore displeasure." Now, we know that the Lord hardened
Pharaoh's heart. Scripture plainly tells us the
Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. But yet, the Lord spoke to them
in His wrath and He vexed him in His sore displeasure. He demonstrated
His displeasure in Pharaoh. Just like he does in the reprobate. What's the purpose of the reprobate? You know, it is so that the Lord
might demonstrate, number one, His mercy and grace in the salvation
of the elect. You see, the reprobates serve
as a contrast to those whom the Lord loved. Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. Now, we wouldn't see the nature
of the love of God for Jacob if we did not see and understand
the nature of his hatred of Esau. And so is this consideration
here when we think of those whom the Lord shall vex in His wrath
and speak to them in His wrath and vex them in His sore displeasure. Now, what is the source of his
displeasure? Is it just that He delights in
the destruction of worms? No. The Scripture says the Lord
has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Now what does
that mean? It says here that He laughs at them. So when the
Scripture says that the Lord has no pleasure in the death
of him that died, that man turned to Him and lived. So you see,
there is the consideration the Lord does not destroy men just
because He delights in destroying men. He delights in destroying
men in order that He might magnify the glory of His Son. And so the destruction of the
wicked is not just simply done on a whim, but it is done for
a purpose. And it is done, as he says here,
to magnify the glory of Jesus Christ, because the Lord will
vex men in His sore displeasure, because He says, I will set yet,
He says, yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. He
has set the King upon the holy hill of Zion. He is not waiting
for Him to be King, but He has made Him the King. And because
He is the King of Zion, because He is that One who rules and
reigns in majesty, the Lord will vex in His displeasure any who
should fight against Him, any who should come against Him.
The Lord will destroy them, and He will manifest His destruction,
not simply just so He can destroy people, but so that He might
show to men and angels that Jesus Christ is the King, and whoever
would dare to set themselves against this One who is the King
shall indeed be destroyed. He will vex them in his sore
displeasure. Yet have I set my King upon my
holy hill of Zion. Now the holy hill of Zion is
the place where the Lord pleased to dwell with His people. You
see, Zion, we've studied this before in time past, you might
have forgotten this, but Zion was a stronghold in Jerusalem
where David fought the Jebusites and got back the stronghold of
Zion. And it is a holy place in that
respect, and the Lord uses it as such, not the piece of ground,
Because as Brother Al said, a piece of ground cannot be holy. A piece
of ground is just an image. And that is what has happened
in the world. People are getting all worked up about Israel over
there in the Mideast and all of that stuff. That does not
mean anything. It is just a piece of dirt. But
the Lord will magnify Jesus Christ. He will glorify Him. And He says,
I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion. Now, Zion is synonymous
with the Kingdom of God. And the Lord said His Kingdom
is with men. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
the world to establish His Kingdom. He said, I will build my church,
my ecclesia, my gathering together. He says, I will build Zion, and
the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. So he is a king upon
this holy hill of Zion. Now something that is holy is
something that is set apart, is it not? I mean, when the Lord
told He said, Moses, take your shoes off your feet, for the
place whereon you stand is holy ground. Now was it holy because
there was something different about the ground? No, it was
because he was in the presence of God. And so that's what made
it holy. And that's what it is here when
it says, Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. This
is a place which is set apart unto the Lord. And as the people
of God are set apart unto the Lord, and He said, I have sent
my King and set Him in my holy hill of Zion, that is, my beloved
people. See, the Lord always identifies
with His people. That's who He came into the world
to redeem, is it not? He came to save His people from
their sins. And so when we read that the
Lord is the King on this holy hill of Zion, we know that He
has a specific place wherein He reigns and rules. Now some
of these big prophecy teachers will tell you, well, the Lord
is going to come back and He is going to set up a throne over
there, you know, at the end of the Mediterranean Sea, and He
is going to sit on the throne and He is going to rule there
for a thousand years. Well, they are too late. They
are too late. Because Christ is already set
as the King on His holy hill of Zion, and it is not over there
by the Mediterranean Sea. Dear brethren, the Lord dwells
with His people in the present time and He is the King in the
holy hill of Zion and all the nations of the earth are set
against it. See, the nations of this world
do not love the way of Christ. Now, we have been blessed to
live in a nation that predominantly has gotten its foundational truths
from the thoughts and teachings of men who predominantly were
believers in the truth of the Scriptures. Now, I don't think
anybody would deny that. I don't think even the atheists
and the people that don't like the things of God at all would
deny that that is the case. I mean, that's just the way that
it is. Now, some make a giant leap and
they say, well, that means then that the United States is a Christian
nation. No. Nations can't be Christian. And no government on the face
of the earth loves the way of Christ, because the Scripture
says here, the kings of the earth set themselves against the way
of the Lord. Now they like the things that
the Lord said that boosts them up and what not and goes their
way, but the Lord didn't ever make nations in the earth to
be Christians. He didn't come to save nations,
he came to save people. And so he didn't say that the
nations, there's going to be wars and rumors of wars as long
as men are in the world. Because that's just the nature
of nations. I mean, one nation is going to ultimately fight
against another nation. You put two of them here on earth,
I don't care how many you've got, you're going to have a bunch
of fighting going on because one's going to be wanting power.
And they talk about this one world government and stuff that's
coming on. I'd like to see how that's going
to ever be. I don't believe that could ever take place in this
world, this simple world. Can you imagine men ever coming
together? Now, the closest thing they could
ever come together and agree on would be not to have Christ
to rule over them. I agree with that. There is an
aspect of truth in that. But you can be sure that men
are going to fight against men until the end. Because somebody
is going to say, well, I don't like the way he did that. I'm
going to get me a group of people together and we're going to fight
against that. We don't like that deal. You know, we're going to
do something about it. And so that's just the nature of men.
It's the way of men. But this has nothing to do with
what the kingdom of Christ is about. For the Lord is the King
on the holy hill of Zion. He will declare the decree I
will declare the decree, the Lord hath said unto me, Thou
art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." Now, that's an interesting
word, the word begotten. We read in Scripture that Christ
is the only begotten Son of God. And we read it here, it says,
Have I begotten thee? Now what does that word mean?
Well, I believe it means this, and I think this is the purpose
of setting that forth, and this is the purpose of why the Scripture
says He is the only begotten Son of God. Now the Lord has
many sons. Scripture teaches us that. But
He has one Son who is begotten. Now what does it mean to be begotten?
Now the word literally means midwife. I mean, if you just
boil it down to its tenth degree, it just means a midwife. Okay? He has midwifed His Son. Now, that's given so men might
understand some things. Now, here's the deal with the
Lord Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God versus the
sons of God who are the sons of God, joint heirs with Christ,
but not begotten, but rather created. Now, there's a big difference
in being the created sons of God and being a begotten son
of God. Now we are created in the image
of God and I believe what that literally means. is that as you
read that context of that passage, and he goes on to say, as he
created man in his own image, and as man became in the image
of God, that is, to rule over this world. The Lord gave him
dominion over this world as a ruler in the same image as God was
the ruler over all things. Man was made in that image. He
is as a God. In fact, one of the psalmists
One of the Psalms says, year God. Because there is that sense
in teaching in the Scripture. But we are merely made in the
image of God. Whereas the Lord Jesus Christ
is God. He is begotten of God. That is,
He is the emanation of God. He is that one who can be seen
of God. The express image of God. That's
exactly right. He is the image of God. We are made in the image of God,
but He is the image of God. That means He is God. And so
that's what this means here when it says, this day have I begotten
thee. That is, He is God. He is that
One who sits on the throne of Zion. He is that One against
whom the heathen have raged. And you know, it is... Men lack
the abstract concept of God. I mean, a lot of people believe
in God, don't they? I mean, you could go around the
world and I'd say, you know, there's just a handful of people
that would say they don't believe in God. Now, everybody believes
in God of some kind. It may be multiple gods, but
they believe in higher powers. That's just a natural thing,
okay? But you see, that which men cannot
and will not believe is what it says here that this man Jesus
Christ is the begotten One of God. That's what the Pharisees
railed against, did they not? I mean, they were looking for
the Messiah. They wanted the Messiah to come, but when the
Messiah came, guess what? They didn't want Him. No, no.
Well, we were looking for something else. See, we wanted something
different. John the Baptist said, well,
Lord, this isn't working out like I figured it was going to.
Are you really the one that's supposed to come? Or is there
going to be another one coming? And so it is that men are not
satisfied with Christ. But Christ is satisfied with
His creation. Because everything is going along
just exactly like he has purposed for it to occur. He said, This
day have I begotten thee, ask of me, and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance, 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." Now, this is figurative language here wherein the Father
is speaking as of this one He has begotten, and He says, this
is My begotten Son, My only begotten Son, and He says to him, ask
of Me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance.
Now, is that not exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ has done
and what has taken place, that he has a people that were given
to him by the Father before the foundation of the world. When
he prayed in the garden, he says, I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me out of the
world. Thine they were, and thou hast
given them to me. And so we see here that he has
asked for the heathen. Because, dear brethren, what
were we apart from the grace of God? Every man born into the
world a heathen. Isn't nobody born into the world
believing? Falling down worshiping God? I mean, babies don't come
into the world believing in God. They come into the world believing
in you. I mean, hoping in you, expecting
in you, whatever. But babies don't believe. And babies are the heathen. All
of us are the heathen, apart from the grace of God. Now, if
you go out here in the community and start saying, you are a bunch
of heathens, boy, you will get somebody who will get mad at
you pretty quick. But dear brethren, except for
the grace of God, we are heathens. I mean all men born that way. But praise be unto God. There
is a people that have chosen in Christ from the foundation
of the world. He has asked, and they have been
given to Him. Now, I don't know exactly how
all that occurred. Somebody smarter than me will
have to figure all that out. I don't know. I'll leave it to
them. But I know this, that He has been given to heathen for
His inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession. The book of Revelation tells
us that there were men of every kindred, tribe, and tongue that
worshipped Him. He has possessed the earth. There
is nothing in the earth that does not belong to Him. He owns
the cattle on a thousand hills, and He owns the souls of those
people whom He has asked for and whom He has been given. They
belong to Him, and the earth is His possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's
vessel. The uttermost parts of the earth,
all of those who have set themselves against him shall be destroyed.
He gets back on to that very thing. But he shall break them
with a rod of iron. Now I think they are speaking
about the sons of God are broken with a rod of iron. The heathen
are broken with a rod of iron. What's the rod of iron that the
Lord uses to break the heathen? His Word. The Law of God. It's gone forth as a rod of iron. A rod of iron, that's something.
You know, I forget the people that were the ones that came
up with iron as weapons to use in war, but can you imagine when
You take a nation that had come up with iron swords and you've
got sticks and stuff, and you're going to go up against them,
what are you going to do? You know, you found out pretty
quick that they were going to dominate because the rod of iron
could not be broken by a stick. And that is what the Lord Jesus
comes with, a rod of iron. And He comes with the law of
God to break the hearts of His people and bring them into submission
unto Himself. If thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel, they are broken. You see, the Lord
breaks the nations. He breaks His people. Isn't that
what He said to He said, He that cast himself
on that stone shall be broken. But he upon whom that stone falls,
it shall be ground to powder. There won't be nothing left.
See, that's what the Lord destroys. But the people of God are broken
by the hand of the Lord in order that they might be restored.
because it is the purpose of God to do so. But in speaking
of the nations as those who have set themselves against the Lord,
the Lord has no problem with any nation. You know, ISIS is
just an aberration. It is just a temporary fixture.
And with all the terror and heartache and whatnot that they have caused
in the earth, the Lord has ordained their uprising and He has ordained
their downfall. He breaks them with a rod of
iron, just like the United States. Now, you know, we think a lot
of times that we are invincible. Do we not, as a nation? I mean,
we think of all the might and weapons and warfare and we are
going to have a big parade and show the world our weapons and
all that stuff. Brethren, that is nothing. When
the Lord gets ready to break a nation with a rod of iron,
they will be like those with sticks. And it doesn't matter
how many atomic bombs you've got, when the Lord gets ready
to bring a nation to its knees, He can do so. Just like He brought
Samson to his knees, He can bring the strong to their knees. And
our nation is no different than any other. Then he says, Be wise
now therefore, O ye kings. He's back on these nations. He's
saying, You've set yourself in opposition to this woman. He
says, You'd better stop and think about this. You'd better take
note of this. Be wise therefore, O kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the
earth. You'd better listen. See, that's
why we've been sent into the world to declare the truth of
God to the nations. The Lord said, go ye into all
nations, teaching them. We go into the world proclaiming
the truth of God that men might know what it is. Be wise therefore
now. Don't be foolish. Don't be as
those that raise the kings of the earth set themselves, the
rulers take counsel together. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the
earth. Serve the Lord with fear and
rejoice with trembling. Oh, that we might come and fall
at His feet. Oh, you see, this is what the
psalmist is saying. Don't be a fool. Don't rage against
this King because you cannot win this battle. You cannot prevail
against the power and might of Almighty God. It cannot happen. Serve the Lord with fear and
rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest He be angry. You see, the only hope for sinners
is to bow down before Jesus Christ. That's the only hope. Every man
is going to be destroyed who does not cling to Christ, who
does not flee to Christ for mercy. But oh, listen to what he said.
Kiss the son lest ye be angry and ye perish from the way when
his wrath is kindled but a little. See, the Lord doesn't have to
unleash His wrath upon men to destroy them in some great mighty
way. When His wrath is kindled but
a little, just the back of His hand, He
sweeps them away and they are nothing. The nations of the earth
are counted. One of the prophets said they
are like the dust of the balance, the drop of the bucket. All the
nations of the earth. Isn't that amazing? You've got the United Nations.
They meet every so often. I don't know how often they meet.
They might meet every day. I don't know. But they are meeting
up. And each one of these things, they are thinking about, oh,
what a great and mighty power we are and all of this. And the
Lord said it's like a drop in the bucket. See, when you dump
the water out of the bucket and there's a drop left in it, what
do you do with it? You don't worry about it. You
just throw the bucket down. Why? Because it doesn't make
any difference. The dust of the balance. A speck
of dust on the scales when you're weighing something out. I mean,
do you get the vacuum cleaner out and clean it off? No. It's
insignificant. That is what the Lord says. The
nations of the earth are insignificant before Him in His mighty power. But He says, 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. The bruised reed will he not
break, and the smoking flax will he not quench. until he brings
forth judgment unto victory. Oh, this great and mighty God, before whom the nations are as
nothing, is yet a God who is full of mercy and kindness to
all who call upon Him, to all who seek His face. to all that
see Him as that Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
He turns none away. He'll never destroy the man who's
bowed before Him in worship. He'll never destroy. But He'll
take him in His arms and He'll hold him as that one whom He
loves because that is the manifestation. of the Lord's love for His people
is that He gives them a broken heart and a contrite heart before
Him. And they rejoice when they read,
He sits as a whole King upon the holy hill of Zion. And that
is the thing that causes their heart to leap within them for
joy. Oh, thank God that He is the
King. I want to worship Him. I want
to fall down before Him. I want to give Him honor and
glory. Oh, let me not be numbered with those that rage against
Him. Let me not be found to be conspiring with the kings of
the earth against His way, but to be found following His way. Oh, that the Lord might give
us grace to be such a people. Kiss the Son lest He be angry,
and ye be perished from the way.