You will turn back with me to
Psalm 2. The title of the message is Jesus
the King. Jesus the King. The scriptures
reveal that there's one God. and that there's one Mediator
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. We know that he
is the only Mediator and we know that he is the perfect Mediator
between God and men because he is both God and man. He is the Son given. as prophesied
of in Isaiah chapter nine, he is the son given and the child
born. And as a mediator, he has three
offices to do his work of mediation, that is to reconcile men to God. He has three offices, he's prophet,
He's that prophet that was promised in Deuteronomy chapter 18. And he's priest. He's the one
who's offered that one sacrifice that satisfies God, shed his
blood to redeem his people. And he is king. And in the book
of Zechariah, he's presented to us as the king priest. He's
a king upon a throne, and yet he is the priest. This Psalm,
Psalm 2, speaks of him as king, God's king, God's king upon God's
holy hill of Zion. Now, I seldom preach from the
Psalms that I do not read Charles Spurgeon's comments on the particular
psalm in his book entitled The Treasury of David. It's an excellent
exposition of the psalms, The Treasury of David. And I read
his remarks and then he has a number of remarks by other preachers
and I'll just share this with you tonight. Several years ago,
Jim Groover, told me, he said, I want to get that book, The
Treasury of David. Jim did a lot of reading, a lot
of good reading, good reading, good books, but he was buying
his books off of Amazon. And when he told me he would
like to have this Treasury of David, I told him, I want to
get that for you, Jim. And I wanna show you where you
can buy books at a better price than you can get on Amazon. That
is religious books, good religious books. If you order them on Amazon,
you're gonna pay quite a bit more. But I told him, I said,
Jim, I don't think you would like that set of books. I have it in three volumes, that's
the way it's printed now. I think originally it was printed
in six volumes. I said, that is more, I think,
for pastors, preachers, those who teach the word of God. He
said, no, I want it. I want it. I said, okay. Okay,
so I ordered it and he took it and he read it. He read straight
through all three volumes. But I told him, I said, now Jim,
if you'll be very careful when you read, Spurgeon refers to
a man by the name of Pledger one time. One time, one psalm, he quotes
a man by the name of Pledger. I said, I don't know if you really
did read it, if you can find that name. And of course he did,
he found it. But like I said, I very seldom
ever preach from the Psalms that I do not read and consult that
good book. And in his exposition of Psalm
2, he divides the Psalm into four divisions, which is so natural. There are 12 verses in the Psalm,
and he divides it into four divisions, three verses in each. And that's
the way we will look at it, consider it tonight. First, man's enmity
against God is displayed in the first three verses. Man's enmity
against God is displayed. Why? 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 cards from us. Now, we have an inspired
commentary on those verses if you keep your places here, but
turn with me in the New Testament to the book of Acts, Acts chapter four. and see how
the apostles understood those three verses in Acts chapter
four and verse 24. The apostles had been arrested
in verse 23. It says, and being let go, they
went to their own company. and reported all that the chief
priest and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that,
they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said,
Lord, thou art God, which has made heaven and earth and the
sea, and by all that in them is, who by the mouth of thy servant
David has said, why did the heathen rage and the people imagine vain
things, The kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were
gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ for
of a truth against a holy child Jesus whom thou hast anointed
both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel were gathered together. for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done. In both of these
passages here in the Psalm and also there in Acts chapter four,
we see that man's enmity to God is universal. It's universal
and by that I mean the heathen. Why do the heathen rage? And of course the heathen would
be referring to the Gentiles. the Gentile nations, and the
people. The people, of course, would
refer to the nation of Israel. The Gentiles and the people,
universal enmity against God. Adam represented all men. There's
no nationality upon the face of the earth that is not descended
from Adam and Eve. He represented all men. And all men fell in him. None escaped the fall. And so
the scripture says the carnal mind is enmity against God. We see that the religious leaders
with the civil rulers gathered against the Lord and against
his Christ. When you consider the fact that
over 2,000 years ago, a man came into this world by the name of
Jesus, and he went about doing good. He fed the hungry. He opened the blind eyes. He
unstopped the deaf ears. He loosed the dumb tongues. He
cleansed the lepers. He just went about doing good.
The apostle Peter tells us in the book of Acts. That's what
he did. When he entered into his public ministry at his baptism
for the next three, three and a half years, he went about doing
good. And I think about the fact that
when John finished the gospel that bears his name, he said,
there are also many other things which Jesus did. The witch, if
they should be written every one, I suppose that even the
world itself could not contain the books that should be written.
What do you imagine he meant when he said by many other things,
many other things, many other acts of kindness, miracles to
help to relieve the poor and to do good unto men. And he not
one time Not one time ever worked a miracle for his own benefit.
When he was a hungered after 40 days of fasting, he could
have turned those stones into bread, but he didn't. He trusted
in God. Not one time of all the miracles. And John said, if they were all
recorded, I don't suppose the whole world could contain the
books, but he never wrote one miracle for himself. Why? Why was one who went about doing
good universally opposed, as the psalmist here says? There
can only be one answer. There can only be one answer
why men, the heathen raged, and the kings of the earth took counsel
against the Lord's anointed. Why? Because Man is a fallen
creature, the enmity that men have against God. I want to give you four reasons
why the gospel, when we think about the enmity that man has
for God, that simply means he's an enemy of God, an enemy of
God. I'll give you four reasons why
the gospel, apart from the grace of God, will, it is, and it will
always universally meet with man's enmity. The gospel of the
grace of God, it will always, always meet with man's enmity
apart from the work of God the Holy Spirit. Why is that? Here's four reasons. It offends
the pride of men, considering all men on the same level sinners
before God. Now that just offends the natural
man. And his enmity is quickly brought
out when he hears the word of God declare that there's no difference. There's none good, no not one. The pride of man. Number two,
he declares that there's only one way of salvation. We make
no allowances. I say we, we just repeat what
he said. That's all we do. He said, I
am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes unto the
Father but by me. And that's offensive to man of
heart. from the grace of God. Why? Because
we all want to make allowances for these other so-called religions, religions in which men do good
works, in which men are good, considered good by the world
standard. But God said there's none good,
no, not one. It demands a complete surrender
to Jesus as Lord. The gospel does. It demands a
complete surrender to Jesus as Lord. He said that we must deny
ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. Complete, absolute
surrender. And number four, it's free to
all who believe. Salvation is free. It's a free
gift of God. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And that offends man. Man wants to do something. He
wants to earn, pay his own way, contribute in some way. No! No. Salvation gives all the glory
to God. And that's very offensive. So
we see, first of all, in this psalm, man's enmity against God
displayed. Second, God's sovereignty is
displayed in verses four through six. God's sovereignty. He that
sitteth in the heavens. Who's that? That's God. That's God. 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 sordid pleasures. Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion. How empty and how vain. is man's attempts to defeat God's
will and God's purpose. The heathen say, let us break
their bands asunder and cast away their cards from us. We'll
be in charge. We'll be in control. Forget about
God. He that said it in the heavens
shall laugh. God's sovereignty. As I thought
about that, I thought about that verse in Isaiah chapter 45 and
verse 9, which says, woe unto him that striveth with his maker. Let the pot sherds strive with
the pot sherds of the earth. You know what a pot sherd is?
You take a clay pot and drop it and it busts into a million
pieces. One of those little pieces is
a pot sherd. And that's man. Let the potsherd
strive with the potsherd. But shall a man strive with his
maker? Shall the clay, that verse goes
on to say, shall the clay say to him that fashioned it, what
makest thou? Are thy work? He hath no hands. What does that mean? He hath
no hands. He hath no power. He hath no
wisdom. That's what man thinks. That's
what man says. He has no power. And we will
overthrow his purpose. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. Does vain, empty man really think
that he is able to overcome God's sovereign will? Spurgeon made these comments,
I like them. While they are proposing, he
has disposed the matter. While man is proposing, God has
disposed the matter. Jehovah's will is done, and so
man's will frets and fumes in vain. God's anointed is appointed. and shall not be disappointed."
God's anointed. His appointed, His anointed,
and shall not be disappointed. God sets His King upon His holy
hill of Zion. After our Lord's resurrection,
you remember, He said, all power was given unto me both in heaven
and in earth. He sets the God-man. This is
the thing that is so astounding here. As God, He has always sat
upon the throne and reigned, but the kingdom is turned over
to Him, the God-man. There's a man in glory. There's
a man upon the throne that is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He
is king. He is ruler. He reigns, the man
Christ Jesus, and He is upon God's holy hill
of Zion. What does that refer to? Well,
in Hebrews chapter 12, Mount Zion is named along with
these other things to picture the church, the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Remember in the scriptures, there's
many times two that have the same name. What do I mean? I
mean there's a Jerusalem that's over there in the land in the
Middle East, and there is a Jerusalem, a spiritual Jerusalem, which
is the city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. You've always got the material
that is a picture, the type many times of the real, the spiritual. And yes, in Jerusalem there was
a mountain called Mount Zion. And yes, in Jerusalem there was
a temple built there by Solomon. Yes, those are facts, those are
truths. But they represented Mount Zion,
that is the city of the living God, heaven. Yet have I set my
king upon my holy hill of Mount Zion. He is the ruler, the king
of his church, over his church. And every king has a kingdom.
You know, over the years, reading in the news, especially in Europe,
many of those countries had royal families. They had kings and
queens that ruled and then They were overthrown and they set
up governments, sometimes democracy, sometimes socialism. But those
people lived in exile. I always thought it was funny.
They retained the name King, Queen, Prince, Princess, but
it was empty. They didn't have a kingdom. They'd
lost their kingdom. The Lord Jesus Christ is God's
King, and yes, He has a kingdom. And He said, My kingdom is not
of this world. My kingdom comes not by observation,
but He is God's King upon Mount Zion, that is, the church. These verses declare that the
Lord Jesus Christ is the Father's King, my King, the Church's King,
Mount Zion, and He is the King over all His enemies. God hath
highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every
name. In Revelation chapter 19 and
verse 16, we read, He hath on His vesture and on his thigh
a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Apostle
Paul said in his time he shall show who is the only potentate,
the only potentate, the only sovereign, the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to look at a place
in 1 Peter just a moment, 1 Peter chapter 3. Notice that at the very end of
verse 21, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who, that refers
to Jesus Christ, right? The antecedent of who, who has
gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and
authorities and powers being made subject unto him. King Jesus. He sets upon God's
throne. He reigns over His kingdom. Let's go back to the psalm. Here's
the third part. God's king declares the decree
and God responds. God's king, God has set His king
upon His holy hill of Zion and God's king declares the decree,
he declares the decree, and then God responds, the Father responds. I will, notice in verse seven,
I will declare the decree. Now, as I looked at this, it
seems like the decree may be broken down into two terms. two things contained in God's
eternal decree. Number one, the Messiah would
be manifested to be God's son. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said unto me, thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Now, in our Western society,
When we say, my son, we understand that that tells us that he is
younger, that I was first and he was second, my son. But in Eastern society, what
this tells us is not that the son came into being after the
Father already existed, but that the Son and the Father are of
the same essence. The same essence. In other words,
He is one with the Father. He's eternal as the Father is
eternal. This is the decree. Thou art
my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And then number two, here's
the decree. The Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ,
would ask for and be given the heathen. Now who did we say the
heathen are? The Gentile nations especially. That they would be given unto
him as his inheritance. Ask of me and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the
earth. for thy possession." When our
Lord rose from the dead, he commanded that his gospel be preached to
every creature. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. Whosoever believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. Whosoever believeth not shall
be damned. He asked for the heathen. And
I thought, is there a verse, is there a passage where we are
told that he asked his father for the Gentiles? Could it be
these two verses? When he prayed and said, father,
forgive them for they know not what they do. Those were Gentiles
as well as Jews involved in his crucifixion. Is that when he
asked for the heathen? Or could it be this request in
his high priestly prayer when he said, neither pray I for these
alone. Now those were Jews, right, his
disciples. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. And as these apostles went out,
After the day of Pentecost, on the day of Pentecost, and after
the day of Pentecost, preaching the gospel, he received the heathen
for his inheritance. Many, I was reading just recently
again, of the false gods that had their temples in the confines
of the Roman Empire. And according to history, many
of those temples were emptied, and the gospel was preached in
those temples, and God's people joined together to worship the
King of kings. Ask of me, and I will give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance. God responds. Now see this? God responds. In verse nine,
thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them
in pieces like a potter's vessel. I read a sermon on this text
by John Newton, and in it he gave three ways of how, when
men will not submit to the gospel, the golden scepter of grace,
he said, that he rules over them with a rod of iron. You say,
does he rule over his enemies? He rules over all things. Yes. He's king in his church. He rules
over his church. He rules over his people. He
sets up his throne in the heart of every believer and he reigns
in our lives, but he also reigns over the wicked and he reigns
with a rod of iron. Newton gave three ways that the
Lord reigns with a rod of iron. Let me give them to us. He rules
over them with a rod of iron by the certain connection between
sin and misery. The certain connection between
sin and misery. The way of the transgressor is
hard. You love your sin, well along
with it comes misery. Number two, he rules over them
by a rod of iron, by his power over their conscience. Arthur Ping said, a man's conscience
can be his best friend or his worst enemy. If his conscience is sprinkled
with the blood of Jesus Christ, It can be his best friend. But
if not, a man's conscience can be his worst enemy. He cannot
escape from his conscience. His conscience that tells him
when he has done wrong. And number three, he rules over
them with a rod of iron by giving them over to a hard heart. A hard heart. And he gave this
example. Pharaoh. The Egyptian monarch, Pharaoh.
At first, he could say to Moses, who is the Lord? That I should
obey his voice. Who is the Lord? This Jehovah
that you say you represent. Who said, let my people go. Who
is the Lord? that I should obey his voice.
And he was rebuked time after time after time, and he persisted
in his rebellion and his unbelief until he was destroyed in the
Red Sea. Destroyed with all of his armies.
He found out who the Lord is. Now the fourth part of the Psalm,
let's look back here to verses 10 through 12. Instruction is
given to all. I know it says to kings and priests,
but it has reference to all of us. We should all receive it.
The Proverbs said, he that being often reproved, hardeneth his
neck, shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. What
is the instruction? that God gives us here. Be wise
now, therefore, O you kings. Be instructed, you judges of
the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and
rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son lest he be angry
and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. What does it mean to kiss the
Son? It means to trust in Him. It means to submit to Him as
Lord. It's a symbol of submission. Many times, men would kiss the
sword or kiss the hand of the ruler, showing their submission. Serve the Lord. Serve the Lord
with fear. With fear. Scripture says the
fear of the Lord is what? It's to depart from evil. That's
the first thing we learn about the fear of the Lord. It's to
depart from evil. And the second thing, the fear
of the Lord is to hate evil. Serve the Lord with fear. Kiss
the Son. Submit to Him. Worship Him. Serve Him. Acknowledge Him. as your sovereign Lord. Recognize
him. Recognize him as your kinsman,
redeemer. Recognize him as the altogether
lovely one that he is. May the Lord bless this word
to each one of us tonight.