I'd like to read at the outset
here this morning the first four verses. The first four verses
of 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. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Everything that I have to say
today, I believe that Every fiber of human nature is against it. I believe that there is a tremendous
amount of oppression that comes to any man, to any soul that
would attempt to preach or to believe what I'm going to preach
to you today. I'm sure that many of you have
considered it, and many of you suspect it, But I want you today,
and even if you know what I'm preaching and know what I'm saying
to you and are able to comprehend it, able to understand it, I
want you to consider it with me today because I believe that
this is of tremendous importance And I believe you'll have a little
better view of why it is that we're here, why it is that God
has been pleased to raise up this testimony and this witness
in this city. And I hope today that the Lord
will give you hearing ears and receptive hearts that you might
be able to hear for eternity. I wish that I could have had
somebody that would have expounded this psalm to me many years ago. It would have helped me understand
a great deal of the conflicts and a great deal of the trials
and the troubles that I've had in this world trying to preach
a whole gospel. And so you listen carefully this
morning at what we have to say. I'd like to say that since the
creation of the world, Since the time of the creation, there
has been a conspiracy to get rid of the sovereign, almighty,
reigning God. There's been a conspiracy to
rid ourselves of the God of the Bible. We see in the first verse
here, why do the heathen, and the heathen here are the nations,
why do the nations rage and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the Europe set themselves and the rulers The rulers, and
we know that the rulers are not only the political rulers, the
social rulers, but also the religious rulers of this world. All these,
in their various positions, they take counsel together. They call
together bodies of men and they take counsel together, and this
is against the Lord and against His anointed saying, let us break
their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. Now, beloved, we're living in
a time when I believe it's very clear, very evident. It has been
so, as we said, since the conspiracy began. But we know that the idea
of the day is, let God be. but don't let him be the sovereign,
almighty, reigning, ruling God that he is. Now this is what
I'm saying, that man will not let him be the sovereign God,
the reigning, the almighty God that the scriptures declare him
to be. Now that does not mean that he's
not that kind of a God, but it just simply means that men will
not allow, they will not, they desire not that he be their God,
that he rule over them. Now, the Godhood of God is a
subject that we ought to know something about. When I talk
about the Godhood of God, I just simply mean by that that God
is God, that He's the God that the
Scripture reveals. He's the God that the Word of
God pictures to us. And sovereignty and deity are
inseparable. If God is God, then He must be
a sovereign. He must be King. He must be Lord
of all. Now to be God, He must be Almighty. Can you picture a God that is
not Almighty? Can you picture a God that is
unable to do what He purposed to do? The Bible says, Known
unto God are all of His works from the beginning of the world.
Can you picture a God who is not omniscient? A God who does
not know? what is going to happen? A God
who has not a purpose? A God who has not a way planned
and mapped out for the ages? Can you picture a God who is
not powerful enough to bring to pass His will and His decrees? My friend, I know nothing about
a God who is not almighty. I know nothing about a God who
is not all-knowing. I know nothing about a God who
is not able to fulfill His purpose and His will. Now this is a vain
thing, this is folly indeed, for the multitudes, for the nations
to gather themselves together, for rulers and those that are
in high positions to get counsel and come together and say we're
against the Lord, and were against the Lord's anointing, and let
us break their bands of thunder and cast away their cords from
us. Can't you just picture the multitudes
as they rage against the Lord and as they would desire to break
His Word, as they would desire to destroy His commandments and
His truth, as they would desire that all of His shackles and
all of that which the Lord would place upon them, all of the restrictions
and the truths of the Word of God, as they are preached to
them and as they come to the nations, they say, no God for
us. We will not have this God reign
over us. And they want to break His bands
and they want to cast away the cords of the Lord from them.
They want to rebel against the God of the Bible. Now those who
have been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, those
who love Him, those who have come into a saving relationship
with Him, those who know Him in truth, They love the Godhood
of God, and they love the Lordship of Christ, and they'll bow their
knee in submission and surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. But we're living in a world today
where it's evident on every side that rebellion is not yet been
put down, and the conspiracy is in high gear. Let us break
the bands asunder, and let us cast away the cords of the Almighty
from us. We'll let Him be God, but we
will not allow Him to be our God, and we will not allow Him
to rule over us. He can stay in the heavens, and
He can light the lamps of heaven at night. I mean, He can put
the stars out, He can change the seasons, but He better not
mess with us! and run our lives and try to
interfere with our daily lives and our daily activities. We
don't want him coming here and having anything to do with us. Let us throw off the rule. We will not have this man to
rule over us. He will not be our sovereign
ruling king. We'll have nothing to do with
it. Let us cast away His cords from us. It is God goodbye. The word's out. The word of the
rebellious nations and the rebels of our day is a goodbye God. That's the word. We don't want
Him interfering with anything that's going on in our lives. Now this thing started a long
time ago. This thing started with Lucifer.
And if you want to turn to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 14, let me read
here a few verses to you, and you'll see where this thing got
its beginning. Isaiah 14, and I want to read
verse 12 through 14. How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the
ground, which did weaken the nations? For thou hast said in
thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount
of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High
God. Now, beloved, this is rebellion.
I'll break his bands. I'll pass away his cords. Let
God be God. But I will be like God. I am going to be equal with God. That's exactly, exactly what
Lucifer said. I'm going to be just like God.
I'm going to be God myself. I'm going to be God, and the
Scripture calls Him the God of this world in that men and women
who are in a state of nature, born in a state of rebellion
against God, are in His clutches. And Satan is the God of this
world as we know it, as far as men who are in a state of rebellion
against God. Now then, rebellion continued
on. This conspiracy to get rid of
God or to take God down and to bring ourselves up, it continued
on to Adam and Eve. What was it that Satan or the
serpent said to Eve in Genesis 3, 1 through 6? If you were to
turn there in your Bibles, Genesis 3, 1 through 6. Now the serpent
was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord
God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of
it, neither shall ye touch it. lest ye die. And the serpent
said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth
know that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall
be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Now this is what he said, God
doth know That in the day that you eat thereof, your eyes are
going to be opened, and ye shall be as God's, knowing good and
evil. And you know the rest of the
story. You know exactly what happened. The woman, she took
of the fruit she ate thereof, and she gave to her husband,
and he ate thereof. And you know the rest of the
story. They said, let God vote and let him tell us what to do,
but we have a right to vote too, and we want to eat of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil. And their intention was
to throw off He is towards goodbye God. We'll run this thing and
we know as much about it as you do. And you go on back to heaven
and stay out of our affairs and we'll run the world. We'll be
God and we'll let you be God, but we're going to be gods too.
We're going to be little gods. And we're going to run this show
like we want to. Well, the rebellion, my friend,
went on, and the conspiracy went on. And my, how we find it manifested
at Calvary. And you turn in your Bibles,
if you will, to the book of Luke chapter 23. The book of Luke
chapter 23. We find this conspiracy being
perpetuated down through the years. And when the Lord Jesus
Christ was on this earth at the time that they brought him before
Pilate. We find this right here in Luke
chapter 23. And before I begin to read a
little here, I'd like to ask you, what was the charge that
was against the Lord Jesus Christ here at the time when he was
brought by the soldiers before Pilate. And in what character
was the Lord Jesus Christ brought before Pilate? When they took
him here and brought him before Pilate, what was the charge? What was the character in which
he was brought? Well, he said he was a king. Now listen to it. And the whole
multitude of them arose and led him into Pilate, and they began
to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation
and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself,
in verse 2, is Christ a king. He himself is Christ the King. And Pilate asked him, saying,
Art thou king of the Jews? And he answered him and said,
Thou sayest. Thou sayest. Well, when they
took him down to the soldiers' hall in Matthew chapter 27 and
28, or Matthew chapter 27 and verse 28, if you would turn back
there. It says, and they stripped him
and put on him a scarlet robe. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, here
He was, these soldiers, they stripped Him of His garment and
they put on Him a kingly garment, a scarlet robe. And when they
had plaited the crown of thorns, they put it upon His head. Well,
they mocked him and they ridiculed him and said, well, if he's a
king, then he needs a crown. And so they planted this crown
of thorns and they put it upon his head. Now, and he said, if
he's a king, then he needs also a scepter. So they put here,
as it says, and a reed they put in his right hand. And they bowed
the knee before him, and they mocked him, saying, Hail, King
of the Jews. Well, beloved, this is exactly
what happened here. They mocked the Lord Jesus Christ. They ridiculed him in the office
and in the character of a king. He is king, but not to these
people. He was indeed king, but he was
born to be king. But not to these people. Now
they hate his kingship. They hate his lordship. They
hate his sovereignty. So they mocked him and they ridiculed
him in that character. Here they are bowing before him
and mocking him saying, Hail, King of the Jews. So they said,
Well, now he has on a robe, a crown, a scepter. Now we'll just bow. We'll worship him. They mocked
him beloved. They mocked him He was king and
yet they mocked him now the world market down hates Jesus Christ
the king and in verse 37 of this same Matthew 27 it says and they
said over his head His accusation written this is Jesus the king
of the Jews now then This was what was written, Jesus, King
of the Jews. Now Pilate had said before this,
he said, shall I crucify your king? And they said, we have
no king but Caesar. We don't have any king. This
man is not our king. We will not bow in reality and
sincerity. We will not bow to him or to
his lordship. We really are our own God. We really are our own God. We
just listen to our own consciences. We just do our own thing. We just do our own will. What
they were actually saying is we are rebels and we continue
the conspiracy that has been from the beginning and that is
to cast off his bands and to cast off his cords asunder and
not have this man to rule and to reign over us. Now then, those
who know Him and love Him, the Bible says that His yoke is easy
and His burden is light. Now beloved, if a man knows the
Lord Jesus Christ, if he's been redeemed by the blood of Christ,
if the Spirit of God has come in power and regeneration and
has converted that man's soul, Then that man, he willingly bows
his knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and he's glad to have
the Lord Jesus to be a ruler over his life. But I'll tell
you what, when men and women have not been brought by the
power of the Spirit of God to bow their knee, and whenever
they've not laid down, and there's many around that we know of,
have never laid down their shotgun and their knives, and they're
in rebellion, a state of rebellion against God today. And they'll
not submit themselves to the Word of God, the truth of the
Word of God, and they'll not bow their knee to His Lordship. And I'll tell you, that unless
the flag of peace goes up in your soul and unless it's planted
in your heart and this rebellion is broken and put down, I want
to tell you this, there's coming a time when God Almighty is going
to pour out His wrath upon you and it'll be an endless wrath
that you must bear for all eternity. Those who rebel against God,
and we'll have more to say about that in a few minutes, but they'll
certainly suffer the vengeance of God and the vexation of God
for all eternity. Jesus Christ, listen to me, is
no man's Savior unless he is that man's Lord. Have you bowed
your knee? You say, well, I know Him as
my Savior. But are you thumbing your nose
at Him every day? Are you living in rebellion against
Him? Will you not bow to the principles
of His Word? Will you not trust His gospel
and the truths of His gospel? What is your state this morning? Where do you stand? I'll tell
you that He's no man's Savior unless He is your Lord. He must be your Lord. If thou
shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe
in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. Did you get that? If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord. You must confess
Him in His true character. He's Lord. And that, my friend,
is what every knee and every tongue shall confess in that
day when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back and brings the world
into judgment, is they must confess with knee-bowed, knee-bent, that
Jesus Christ is Lord of lords and king of kings. Well, the conspiracy goes on.
It started with Lucifer over there, and when he was cast out
of heaven, it went on through Adam and Eve, who said, let God
be God, but we've got a right to be God too. And there at Calvary,
at Calvary, My friend, we just discussed it, but listen to me
this morning. I want to get to something here.
We're living in a religious world, aren't we? And in today's religious
world, in the religion of our time and day, the Lord Jesus
Christ can heal the sick. He can feed the hungry. They're
glad to have him do that. But he's not going to be king
in religion. No, he's not. They will not permit
him to be king in his church. Well, I'm not stretching this. I want you to listen to me just
a moment. They use, that is the religious
world today, they use the same words that we use. Jesus, salvation,
blood, heaven and hell, the cross. They use the same words that
we do. And He can be, if you please,
the virgin son. And He can be the Son of God
in religion. And He can be without sin. That's
just fine. And we will preach Him that way,
they say. And He can heal the sick. And
He can die on a cross for our sins. And He can even rise from
the dead. And we will meet every Easter
Sunday morning at sunrise and talk about it and he can be our
even our personal Savior But he's not going to be sovereign
ruling Lord He's not going to be that how well you say well
preacher. How can you say that? What do
you what are you talking about? Well, let me ask some questions
Let me ask some questions and you listen to me carefully the
Jesus that is preached today. I The Jesus that's preached in
the city that we live in. The Jesus that is preached on
the television. The Jesus that's being preached
in our day. Does He have all power in heaven
and in earth? Does He have power over all flesh
that He might give eternal life to as many as the Lord's? He has the power to do what He
will, when He will, to whoever He will. The God of the Bible
I'm talking about, King Jesus. Well, I ask again, does He quicken
to life whom He will? The Jesus that's preached in
your church? Well, you say, well, no, he doesn't
quicken whom he will, he just quickens those that will let
him. Well, my friend, then he is no king. He is no king. You see, the King of kings and
the Lord of lords has the power over death, and he can quicken
whomsoever he will. He can make live whoever he will. He can speak the word, and a
man lives. And on resurrection morning,
he's going to speak the word. He spoke the word with Lazarus
who was in the tomb for four days. And the man came out. He said, Lazarus, come forth. And he did. He did. I'm talking
about King Jesus and the Jesus that we hear preached now. He
can't save anybody unless they let him. Well, we don't believe
that kind of stuff around here because the King has a people
and those people are made willing in the day of His power and they're
brought I told him by the effectual drawing of His Spirit. Does He work all things after
the counsel of His own will? I mean the Jesus that you hear
preached? The Bible says that He does.
The Bible says He worked up all things after the counsel of His
own will. Meaning that it's the will of
God that determines what God does. It's not the will of men. It's not the will of the Pope.
It's not the will of flesh. It's the will of God that determines
what He does. Well, you say, no, it's not that
way in our church, preacher. Not that way in our church. It's
not God's will in our church. It's our will in our church.
It's what we want. It's what we plan. It's our schemes
in our church. Well, then He's no king, then.
He's no king in your church. And I want to tell you this,
I'm going to have some things to say that's going to startle
you. But listen to me now. Listen to me. The Jesus that
you hear preached, does he elect his people? Does he elect his
people? Does he choose his own bride?
Does He? Does He call out His sheep? Why,
you say, no, preacher, we don't want no Jesus like that. I've
heard grown men, I've heard men with white hair say, if that's
true about the Jesus of the Bible, He's no Savior of mine. And I'll tell you that's pitiful.
That's pitiful. Men and women who won't bow their
knee and give Him the glory and give Him the praise and give
Him the honor that He deserves. They're involved in this conspiracy
and religion today are involved. The religious world as we know
it is involved in this conspiracy. Did he by his death conquer Satan
and all of his enemies? Did he effectually redeem those
he came to save? Did he accomplish his unchangeable
purpose at the cross? Did he? Well, they say no. Well, then he's no king. He's
no king. If he didn't conquer Satan and
all of his enemies, if he did not effectually redeem his people
when he died on the cross, and if he did not fulfill this unchangeable
purpose and decree of God from the foundation of the world,
then he's no king. He's no king. I won't worship
him. I won't worship him if he did
not do that. But he accomplished it. Can man
resist his will? Why you say, yes preacher, well
then he's no king. He's no king. Can men thwart
his plan and his purpose? God has a wonderful purpose. Christ has a wonderful plan for
men. Well can men thwart it? Well
you say, I'm sorry preacher, but they do up our way. Well
then he's no king up your way. He's no king up your way. He's
no king in your church. And therefore, who are you worshipping? Why you're worshipping a Jesus
that you've got your pocket knife out and a little hunk of wood
and you whittled him out and you're worshipping him just the
kind that you wanted. You've made him what you want
him to be. He's not the Jesus of the Bible. Can they defeat his call? Can
they resist his command? You say, well, yes. People are
doing it all the time. Well, he's no king then. He can
be whatever you want him to be, but he is no king. Kings rule! Kings are sovereign. Kings are powerful! And kings accomplish their purpose. Well, can one for whom he died
finally perish in hell? Can they? Well, you say, unfortunately,
preacher, they can. Well, then he's no king. He's
no king. I'm telling you, I declare this
morning that this conspiracy goes on. Look by God, we will
not have this man that the Bible pictures. We will not have him
as our king. We will not have him as our Lord. He will not be our Jesus. We'll get us another Jesus. And
we want another spirit that'll let us be what we want to be
and let us congratulate ourselves on what we accomplished. And
we just want a little bit of worship ourselves. We want to
be gods. We want to take him down off
of the throne and We want to get up there ourselves and if
we could get up there we'd take a butcher knife and stick it
in his back and kill him and cast him down off the throne.
We don't like God. We don't like a sovereign ruling
reigning God. Now that's the nature of men. That's the rebellious nature
of man. Did you ever get between a rock
and a hard place when you knew what you ought to do and what
you had to do, but yet you did not want to do it? And if you
could just throw off that whatever it was that was working in your
conscience, and if you could just get rid of it so that you
could just do what you good and well pleased, that's this conspiracy
is what that is. Just don't want to mind God,
and I don't want him to rule over me well Let's look back
in Psalms 2 Again, and I want to get to something here. That's
going to be a help to us all let's get down to verse 4 and
It says this he that sitteth in the heavens He's been watching
all of this He's been watching it all and he's been hearing
it all. He knows about the conspiracy and he sitteth in the heavens. It says he shall laugh. He that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them
in derision. Now then, it does not matter
who is involved in this conspiracy. this conspiracy to dethrone our
sovereign, almighty, eternal, infinite, immutable, reigning
Lord. It doesn't make any difference
if it's an archangel or if it's some puny preacher in Great Falls. It don't make any difference.
God laughs at him. He laughs. The Lord shall have them in derision. That means that he just goes
on and laughs at them and mocks them. They think, well, what
other absolute folly is this that people think they're going
to be able to cast off perpetually His cords and going to be able
to get out from under His sovereign power. It's His world. They're drinking His water. They're
wearing His clothes. They're breathing His air. But
they think they're going to cast off successfully His rule and
His reign. It's absolute following. You
can't do it. God is God and you've got to
stand up and notice it and take notice of it and bow to it. Now notice, it says he. Who is this he? That this is
talking about, well he is the he from whom all he's came. That's who it is. He is the first
He. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall live. He created the heavens and the
earth. The scripture says He killeth. and He maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave,
and He bringeth up. He maketh poor, and maketh rich. He bringeth low, and lifteth
up. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set
them among princesses, and to make them inherit the throne
of glory. For the pillars of the earth
are the Lord's. and He hath set the world upon
them. And then further, he will keep
the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness,
for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the
Lord shall be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall he thunder
upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt
the horn. of his anointed 1st Samuel 2
verses 6-10 is the reading there. Notice, he sitteth in the heavens. He's on a throne. He sits on
no precarious throne, nor borrows leave to be. He sits on a throne
in glory. And notice, if you will, that
he sits in the heavens. He is not there wringing his
hands, saying, I just wonder how I'm ever going to be able
to handle this. He sits in the heavens. and he's going to laugh, he is
laughing at the raging of the nations and as their council
convenes and they come against him and I, you know, sometimes
I hear about churches and how they just keep on these modernistic
churches that never read the Bible, they don't know the first
thing about the Word of God, they can't even spell the word
sin, and they know nothing about holiness, and they know nothing
about the gospel of redeeming grace, and they get together,
you know, and they change their bylaws, and they're always whittling
down their stem, and they're taking words out of the hymn
books, and they're always getting it, you know, down where they
can get God down a little further, and get man up a little bit,
until you see they've got this thing balanced out. But I want
to tell you, the God of the Bible is taking notice of it, even
though He's sitting, He's sitting in the heavens. Our God is in
the heavens. Somebody asked David, said, where's
your God? They showed him their gods, the
gods of silver and the gods of stone, and he said, where's your
gods? And David said, our God is in
the heavens. and he hath done whatsoever he
hath pleased. Back in the world, in Second
World War, old Hitler, when he was, he discovered something
and when he was making the V-5 and the V-12 buzz bombs and working
on an atomic bomb, I suppose, why, he discovered this. He said,
he made this statement, he who rules the sky will rule the world. Well, that's the reason, I suppose,
that the Russians are so afraid of Star Wars is because it's
true. It's true. But that, my friend,
is true a long time before Hitler ever said it. He who rules the
sky rules the world. Now listen, that's the God of
the Bible. He sitteth in the heavens. Daniel
4 says that he does according to his own will in the army of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand. He sits. And like I say, that
he's not wringing his hands about the situation that's going on
in this world. Calmly sits in the heavens. He has finished his work. Before
he went back, you know, to glory, before he ascended up into glory,
he said, it is finished. Notice, if you will, this scripture,
you might not be able to find it quickly, but it's Ecclesiastes
3, 14 and 15. It says, I know that whatsoever
God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it. nor
anything taken from it, and God doeth that men should fear before
him, that which hath been is now, and that which is to be
hath already been, and God requireth that which is past." That sounds
to me like a God that's got everything under control and got everything
right where he wants it. And this God is sitting in the
heavens. Now then, the only time that
we ever see God standing up, ever see Christ standing up since
his ascension is in the book of Acts chapter 7 verses 55 and
56. The time of the stoning of that
godly servant Stephen. And I don't know how to handle
this other than to say that they were working on the pupil of
God's eye. And in verse 55, and anybody
that messes with God's people has the king to deal with. Listen
to this, but he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly
into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on
the right hand of God. And said, behold, I see the heavens
open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Like I say, I don't know how
to handle it. All I know is that he gets mighty, mighty concerned
whenever his people are mistreated. It's the pupil of his eye, the
apple of his eye he calls his people. But yet the Lord is sitting
in the heavens waiting the time when he will deal with these
people. Now then, he's not laughing at
their sins because their sins are not humorous. He is angry
at their sins. He laughs at their opposition.
Worms of the dust, challenging the God of might and power. They're potsherds of the earth,
striving with the Creator. Shall the thing formed, Paul
said, say to him that formed him, why hast thou made me thus? Well, beloved, that's the cry
of the day. Men say, well, why did God do
this? Why did God do that? God's will is free. He can do
what he will with his own. This is God's world. And all
men are created by him and for him. And everything that happens
in this world is to fulfill the decree and the eternal purpose
and plan that He purposed and planned before the foundations
of this world was ever laid. Now then we get to verse 5 in
the text. Look at it. Then shall He speak
unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure,
trouble them in His sore displeasure. Then, he's in no hurry. Say,
why don't you do it now? Then, then, then the king shall
speak. He doesn't have to move or raise
a hand. Just speak. Just speak in his
wrath. Now, beloved, I don't know too
much about the wrath of God, and I suppose that you don't
either. Don't know a whole lot about
it except what the Word of God talks. But we talk about the
wrath of God, and we talk about it a great deal. But I'll tell
you, the people of Noah's day, they knew something about what
wrath is. They knew something about it
when the flood moved up to the highest tree on the highest mountain
and the last living thing sunk to the bottom, drowned, gurgling
and grasping for air. They knew something about the
wrath of God. And then Solomon Gamor, as they
ran from the fire and brimstone that fell down from God out of
heaven and consumed those cities of the plain, they knew something
about the wrath of God. And then there was the sons of
Korah who would not bow to the authority of Moses. They said,
well, God speaks to all of these people. They wouldn't bow to
the authority of Moses. And God opened up the earth and
the whole bunch of them went to hell with their shoes on.
I'm telling you, they knew something about God's wrath. They knew
something about God's defects in His sore displeasure. Now then, look in verse 6. God's going to speak in verse
5. Then verse 6 he says yet have I set my king upon my holy hill
of Zion I've set my king my king. Well, what's the issue? Well,
it's gonna be It's gonna be who's king and the Lord said I've sent
my king He is a threefold king. He's the father's king and He's
the church's king And he's his enemy's king. He's a threefold
king and he is king by design. He is king by decree. He is king
by covenant. And he's king by death. He died
to be king. He bought the right to be everybody's
king. The king of his enemies as well
as the king of his church. He bought the right Well, how
did he get to be king, somebody said. Well, God said, I made
him king. He's my king. He's my king. Well, you can debate that if
you want to. You can argue about it. And you can rage if you want.
And you can stand up and stomp your feet. I mean, you can get
red in the face. And you can just simply go to
pieces and wring your hands. But I want to tell you this.
You can call your council together. And you can vote. if you want
to, but he's king. That's been settled, my friend.
It's not that men have made him king. He said, I set my king. God said, he's my king. And I
set him up. He's my king. I've set him on
the hill of my holiness. I'm telling you Jesus Christ
is king of the hill. He's king of the hill. He is
the king in the church. He's king of Zion's hill. God's holy hill. And that ought
to make us bow if we be the people of God to the Lordship of Christ
every day of our lives. He's king of the hill. God sent
him. and said he's king of Zion. Now
he's also king of peace. He bought peace with his own
blood, and he's the king of righteousness. He obeyed every jot and tittle
of the law of God and brought in everlasting righteousness. And when that righteousness is
imputed and accredited to the account of his people, they're
righteous. He is the king. He is the Lord,
our righteousness. He is the king. I'm glad. Aren't you? Aren't you glad that
he's king? I wouldn't have it any other
way. How's it with you? I mean, is that alright with
you for him to be king? Listen now. There's no debate
about it. Christ is king. He is supreme. He's sovereign king. He'll do
what he will, when he will, with who he will, and he'll not share
his glory with another. He is God's king. He's the king. and he'll not
share his glory. Now verse 8, it says, ask of
me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance
and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. I'm
talking about the king. Now who does the asking? Christ
does the asking. He can have anything he wants.
He can have anything he wants. The scripture says the father
loved the son and delivered all things into his hands. John 3
and 35. He delivered all things into
his hands. Now this is the gospel truth
and I want you to face it. If he wants you, he can have
you. Now I mean that. You say, well,
preacher, I've been fighting God all my life. Well, you might
just go right ahead, and you might just win a lot of skirmishes,
but God's going to win the battle. If He wants you, He'll have you. I remember that one preacher
that talked about this old woman that was sick, and she wouldn't
die because she had some relatives over in England, and she wasn't
going to die until they got here. And she said, God said, come
on. And she said, I ain't going.
All right, come on. And I ain't going. But I'll tell
you what, she died before they got here because God will have
His way. He's sovereign. And when God
says, I'll have you, He'll have you. He'll have you. This is
the gospel truth. Jesus Christ is not trying to
save anybody. I'm telling you the truth. He's
not trying to say that kings don't give invitations, they
give commands. Where the word of the king is,
the proverb says, where the word of the king is, there is power. There's power. And when God speaks,
He can draw. And if you're one of those that
said, I've been running from God, you better lay down quick. And you better just squat right
now, my friend, because God will have those that he wants to have! And he'll save everybody that
he pleases. Now then, He said, you go and
compel them to come in that my house may be full. He doesn't
offer invitations. He gives commands. Command. He has commanded you to repent
and to believe the gospel. He's no puppet king like Queen
Elizabeth. Ask of me and I shall give the
heathen thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth
thy possession. Ask. That's all he has to do
is ask. Turn, if you will, to John chapter
17. John chapter 17. I'll get done
here in a little while, but you just follow with me. John 17.
And here we have the Lord Jesus asking here in John 17. Notice,
if you will, in verse 2, As thou hast given him power over all
flesh that he should give eternal life, to as many as thou hast
given him, and this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the
only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified
thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me
to do, and now, O Father, glorify thou me. with thine own self,
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Look
at verse 9, I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they Thine and then I
want us to look at verse 11 and now I'm no more in the world
But these are in the world and I come to the Holy Father keep
through thine own name Those who thou hast given me that they
may be one as we are Then I have a couple other verses here. I
want you to see verse 20 and Neither pray I for these alone, but for
them also which shall believe on me through their word. And
then we have verse 24. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me
before the foundation of the world. This is the prayer of
the king asking the father asking the father he said just ask of
me and he's asked He's prayed here for those that the Father
has given to Him. He's prayed for them. And they
most surely will be kept. They'll be saved, kept. And they'll
be at last given that eternal glory which the Lord Jesus Christ
had with the Father before the world began. Now, beloved, I'm
not preaching a doctrine. I'm preaching a person. Jesus
Christ is King. I'm preaching to Christ. who
cannot fail. I know that nobody can be in
hell for whom He died. His atonement must be effectual. He is the King and He cannot
fail. He cannot fail. Every one that's
blood-bought, every soul for whom He travailed on the cross,
every one of them must be in heaven. Well, that's all there
is to it as far as I'm concerned. You cannot defeat the King. You
can't do it. He's gonna win out. If you're
in opposition to Him, God will speak to you in wrath! You say,
well, preacher, I still don't know much about this wrath. Well,
call back to Noah's day and let them tell you about this wrath.
You say, well, I still don't know about that. Well, call back
to Sodom and Gomorrah. I don't know the area code, but
call back there. They'll tell you about the wrath
of God. They'll tell you about what it
means to be involved in this conspiracy against the God of
the Bible. They'll tell you about it. Call the sons of Korah and ask
them. I mean, they'll tell you what
it is. God don't slap people on the
wrist. No, he don't. He'll send them
to hell. God's chief complaint, let me
register this with you, against this fallen race is the treatment
of his beloved son. That's his chief complaint. I'm
going to illustrate it And then I'm closing. In Luke chapter
7, if you've got your Bible and want to turn there with me, in
Luke chapter 7, I want to read here just a little
bit. There was a Pharisee and he wanted the Lord Jesus to come
home with him and eat. And so he went into the Pharisee's
house and they sat down to the table and when they sat down
to the table getting ready to take of the meal, In verse 37,
there was a woman in the city and she was a sinner. And when
she knew that Jesus sat at meet in the Pharisee's house, she
brought an alabaster box of ointment and stood at his feet behind
him weeping and began to wash his feet with tears and did wipe
them with the hairs of her head and kissed his feet and anointed
them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee, which
had bitten him, saw it, he spake within himself, and saying, This
man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner
of this woman that touches him, for she is a sinner. Well, we
get the picture here, and when she came in, she weeped, and
she washed the master's feet with her tears, and she dried
the master's feet with the hairs of her head, Somebody said, well,
I guess she was weeping over her sin, and I suppose she was.
Somebody said, I'm sure she was weeping over her failures. No
question about that. Somebody said, well, I'm sure
she was weeping because she felt she had such great needs. I believe
I would agree with you on that. But I think also that she was
weeping over the treatment which our Lord had received at the
hands of this filthy Pharisee, this self-righteous Pharisee. When the Lord came in, it says
that he gave him no water for his feet in verse 44. And that
in verse 45, that he gave, you gave me no cast, Jesus said.
And then in verse 46, you gave me no oil to anoint my head.
But this woman came in and she's bathed my feet with her tears
and wiped them with the hairs of her head. She's not ceased
to kiss my feet and she's anointed my feet with ointment. I believe, beloved, that what
this picture's here, it pictures somebody who respects the King,
somebody who's in love, with the king. I don't know that I
love him like I will. I don't know that I love him
like I ought to. But I believe I do love him.