Earlier in the week we listened in as Pastor Josh Bevan spoke to us on resting in the sovereignty of God.  Below, you will find the sermon outline that was used for that sermon.

Text: Psalm 2:1-12

Introduction:

  • We live in some uncertain times in America.
    • We have seen things over this past year and a half that we have really never seen before.
    • I’m sure you feel the same way – but I have never found such a difficulty finding resources, media, or news that I feel I can trust.
    • You find yourself have some serious and legitimate questions and then you read someone asking those questions and they get censored and removed.
      • Why are we not allowed to ask questions in this country anymore?
    • If you wonder why certain things are happening in the world, you have a right to questions them.
      • THE GREAT evil of Marxism is alive and well and has been working both overtly and covertly to overthrow this nation, and it is real, and it has come.
        • Why over the past year could we not leave our homes but riots were allowed to go on?
        • Why are our forefathers being desecrated, monuments torn down, etc? What is really behind that?
        • Why did Church’s have to shut down, but liquor stores were allowed to remain open?
        • What is behind the division, the greatest government takeover of personal freedoms we have seen; why businesses cannot find people to work; as the government continues to print and send money out so people don’t have to work.
      • One thing is certain in this county and that is our world is filled with uncertainties.
      • The Bible is clear that the world will become worse and worse until the Lord returns:
        • 2 Timothy 3:1 — 1; This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
          • Perilous (Gr. chalepos) – fierce, dangerous, savage; the same word is used to speak of the demon possessed man in Matthew 8:28 – whom the Bible describes as exceeding fierce.
        • Perilous also speaks of these times as being “hard to bear, difficult to deal with, painful, grievous times”.
        • There was a day when Christianity had what you might consider, “home field advantage”; when business shut down on Sundays b/c it was the Lord’s day; when society had a general reverence for God and the Bible, but that day is long over, we are now on enemy turf, and the crowd is growing more and more hostile.
          • 2 Timothy 3:12–13 — 12; Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 13; But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
            • Persecution will come and evil men will get worse; they will deceive others because they are deceived.
  • Today can be very challenging for pastors – we have dealt with shutdowns –
    • There were many challenges that pastors had to navigate through that Covid 19 brought – and no matter what you did – someone was offended.
    • Covid created unique challenges with hospital visits, funerals, weddings, going livestream – then how hard do you push people to be at Church when they have other health issues – or if they watch to much CNN.
  • I don’t think things will get easier for Christians and pastors – the pressure will be turned up.
    • New legislation such as the Equality Act is going to cause incredible pressure on Church’s and pastors.
      • Laws protecting LGBTQ as though it were a race issue.
      • Bathrooms across the country being opened up to transgender students and people.
      • America is now making sin legal, and righteousness illegal.
    • I have preached a 3 week series entitled, “The Church in Babylon” – Sunday I preached a sermon entitled, “Dare to be a Daniel” – I believe we must call the people in our Churches to draw a line in the sand and stand firm on our convictions.
    • We need to purpose in our heart to obey God no matter the cost.
    • Our people are looking for leadership and direction – and if we don’t give them guidance, they will find it somewhere.
    • As Pastors – I know it is challenging – but ask yourself this – if you don’t address the issues that people are facing, if you don’t give them a biblical perspective and framework on how to navigate some of the most challenging issues we have faced in this country – where else will they go to find answers?
      • Sheep need a shepherd to guide them.
      • We need to give guidance to navigate these perilous times for people.
    • One of the current issues is a vaccine mandate.
      • I have about 20% of people in our Church in the medical field and military that if they don’t get the vaccine they will lose their job and military position.
        • This is a massive, life changing decision and if you don’t speak to it, they will have to address this on their own.
      • In the midst of many challenges we face these days, this morning I want to preach on what I believe can and should be the foundation of what causes a believer to live in peace, no matter how unsettled the world can be.
        • How a Pastor and Church can live with hope, courage, and certainty, no matter how challenging and hopeless things may seem.
      • The single greatest truth for every Christian to know in times of worldly uncertainties, the pillow that you can rest your head upon, the Rock that you can trust in to sustain you in times of storms is what is known as the Sovereignty of God.
      • “Sovereign” – can be defined as “supreme rule, supreme power to govern”.
        • In relation to God it refers to God as be the Supreme ruler over all. God is the one who is ultimately in control and whose purposes will ultimately be fulfilled to perfection.
      • It is important to understand that someone is sovereign – either man is sovereign or God is sovereign. What I mean by that is someone is in control. Either we are in control or God is in control.
      • Someone is at the driver seat of all things. Someone rules – and there will be no greater truth that your soul can cling to – than the truth that God is in control; that He is sovereign; that He rules over all. That His kingdom will come, and His ultimate will is going to be accomplished. That nothing and no one can thwart God. He wins; and because He wins, we win.
        • Psalm 115:3 — But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
        • Psalm 135:6 — 6; Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. Psalm 29:10; Isaiah 46:9–10,14:24)
        • After God humbled Nebuchadnezzar, he learned this, and said:
          • Daniel 4:35 — 35; And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
        • Ephesians 1:11 — 11; In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
  • People ask – If God is in Sovereign control, why then is there pain, suffering, hardships, those who blaspheme God and do evil? Why are there evil rulers?
  • Because in God’s Sovereignty He has also allowed for what’s known as human volition. God has given man freedom to make the decision to obey or disobey Him. To love or hate Him. To serve God or reject God.
    • Deuteronomy 30:19; I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
      • Isaiah 65:2; Matt 23:37
    • Though man is given freedom, God will ultimately bring to pass His perfect will and no one will be able to stop His will from coming to pass.
      • Also – Because God is Sovereign and though God does not produce sin, He has allowed sin to be produced.
        • There is God’s perfect will and His permissive will. He calls men to repent, but not all repent. He stretched out His arm of salvation to the world, but many reject.
        • But as Christians – even in the midst of the evils of this world we can have peace knowing that God can and will bring great good even out of the bad.
        • One of the greatest mysteries that we see in Scripture as well as in life is how God’s sovereignty intermingles with man. How man as free moral agents live on this earth, who oppose God, who can hate God, who seek to overthrow God, yet even in their wickedness, God turns all things to work toward His own glorious purposes.
          • Judas Iscariot is an example of this: He hated Christ, sold Him out, and betrayed Christ; yet in His wicked betrayal, God used that to bring about His will.
            • Judas was both predestined to do what he did, but he also chose to betray Christ.
          • God’s sovereignty is so supreme, that He turns the evil of this world to bring to pass His own glorious purposes.
        • Just consider – the greatest earthly injustice and the greatest evil the world ever committed was to condemn and crucify the perfect Son of God – and yet through that most evil atrocity, God produced the greatest good that has ever happened on earth.
      • I have had people ask me often – If God could stop sin, why didn’t He?
        • Many extended answers could be given – but just consider that if God did not allow sin, then there would be no understanding of salvation.
          • We only experience the incredible glory of forgiveness because of sin.
          • It is only because we know sin, do we know what grace and mercy are.
          • The glories of the cross put God on display.
          • You say – But sin has cost me so much in life!
            • Has sin cost you more than it cost God?
          • The things on earth we do not understand, we are called to trust God for, and what a blessing to have such a great God to trust the uncertainties of life with!
        • Today we will examine Psalm 2 – which speaks of God’s Divine rule.
        • This second psalm is referred to as the second Psalm in Acts 13:33.
          • Acts 13:33 — 33; God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee (Ps. 2:7).
        • Psalm 2 is spoken of in the NT as being authored by David;
          • Acts 4:25 — 25; Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
            • How amazing is that; that God speaks His Word by the mouth of men. Here is again the validation that this book is not man’s Word, rather it is God’s Word; it is God’s message.
              • 1 Thessalonians 2:13 — 13; For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
            • Psalm 2 is quoted at least 7 times in the NT and is the first of what are known as the Messianic Psalms – as it makes prophetic references to Christ. We know this Psalm speaks of Christ because when it is quoted in the NT it always refers to Christ.
              • Here the Psalm focuses on Christ’s Sovereign Lordship and His right to both rule and demand obedience from all the inhabitants of the earth.
            • There are 4 divisions in this chapter we will look at this morning:
            • This is an amazing chapter that is literally a conversation among the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in regards to a sinful world that is defiant against God.
  1. The Voice of Defiance from the World – v. 1-3
    1. In this trinitarian discussion in Psalm 2 – the first person of the Godhead to speak is the Holy Spirit: Read v.1-3
    2. 1-3 speak of the rebellion of humanity against God; mankind is seen here as those who seek to remove God’s authority over them so that they may be sovereign, that they may be in control, that they may be judge.
    3. As God looks upon the world, it is filled with sinful rebellious people/nations that want to cast off God’s authority over them.
    4. Psalm 2 starts with a question concerning the rebellion of man: “Why do the heathen rage”
      1. The word for “Heathen” here speaks of “nations; people”;
      2. What do they do? (V.1)
        1. 1 – They “rage” – they are in an uproar; the nations are tumultuous, there is a commotion among the nations.
        2. They “imagine a vain thing” – “imagine” – plotting/meditating; “a vain thing”
          1. God likens their schemes and plots as “vain” or “empty and fruitless”.
          2. All the worlds plots and plans against God, to remove and destroy Him is vanity. They cannot destroy or escape from God. they are living in an illusion to do so.
  • What are they raging and plotting about? – v. 2
    1. “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying. (3) Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us”
      1. “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together…”
      2. It is interesting how the kings/rulers who fight against each other are brought into unity when they fight against the Lord.
        1. Pilate and Herod hated each other, but Luke 23 says how they became friends through the trial of the Lord.
      3. “set themselves…take counsel together…”
        1. Set themselves – this is a stance against God; they have taken a position against God;
        2. They also “take counsel together” against God.
          1. Matthew 12:14 — 14; Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.
          2. This is repeated over and over throughout Matthew’s Gospel (Matt. 26:3-4, 59, 27:1)
        3. “against the LORD” – against YWVW – Jehovah
        4. “against his anointed” – Heb – mashiyach – “Messiah” – which means “the Anointed One”; the NT Word for “mishiyach is “Christos” where we get the word “Christ”.
          1. That is why the Lord’s name is “Jesus Christ” – Jesus Messiah; He is God’s anointed one.
        5. What do they want to do?
          1. 3 – “Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.”
            1. The cords/bands speak of God’s authority over man; and His love are the bands that draw man to Himself;
              1. Hosea 11:4a — 4; I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: ….”
            2. God in His love gave us His eternal perfect truth that will free us from sin and blindness (Acts 26:18).
            3. But in response to God’s love and truth, man responds in absolute defiance here and cries out to have these bands broken and cords cast away.
              1. Luke 19:14 — But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
              2. Even as Jesus said, “Father forgive them they know not what they do” they continued hurling insults and blasphemies; nothing could win them over! (Prov. 1:20-23)
            4. How much this world has wanted to thrust God’s Word and God’s Will out! They do not want God to reign over them.
              1. This rebellious spirit is seen by men like Jeremy Rifkin, who is the best-selling author of seventeen books, an advisor to the European Union for the past decade, and one who has been influential in shaping public policy in the United States by testifying before numerous congressional committees said,
                1. “We no longer feel ourselves to be guests in someone else’s home and therefore obliged to make our behavior conform with a set of preexisting cosmic rules. It is our creation now. We make the rules. We establish parameters of reality. We create the world, and because we do we no longer feel beholden to outside forces. We no longer have to justify our behavior, for we are now the architects of the universe. We are responsible to nothing outside ourselves, so we are the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever.” (Jeremy Rifkin, “Algeny”, 1983 P. 244)
              2. Man created evolution as an attempt to rid themselves of the God of the Bible, and that is really the purpose of evolution.
            5. Charles Darwin’s biographers said of him, “Darwin was determined to escape from a personal God at all costs.” (Robert E. D. Clark, Darwin: Before and After (Chicago: Moody Press, 1967), p. 89.), “because of some violent prejudice against God”10, and that “His life was one long attempt to escape from the church and to escape from God.” Clark and Bales, Why Scientists Accept Evolution, p. 40 citing Life and Letters, Vol. 1, p. 282.
              • Creation teaches that God created man in His image; evolution teaches man creates God in his image.
                1. Evolution lets man “make up” their own god; they get to make a god that suites them.
                2. The gods allowed by evolution are private, subjective, and artificial. They bother no one and make no absolute ethical demands. However, the God of the Bible is the Creator, Sustainer, Savior, and Judge. All are responsible to him. He has an agenda that conflicts with that of sinful humans. For man to be created in the image of God is very awesome. For God to be created in the image of man is very comfortable.12
                3. Evolution was then devised to explain away the God of the Bible, not because evolutionists really believed a Creator was unnecessary to explain how things began, but because they did not want the God of Scripture as their Judge
                4. As evolutionary scientist Sir Julian Huxley said, “[I suppose the reason] we all jumped at the Origin [Origin of Species] was because the idea of God interfered with our sexual mores.”13
  1. In 1932 a book was written by a devout atheist by the name of Aldous Huxly entitled, “A Brave new World”; in it, Huxley wrote about the future of the west in which he saw the West one day being taken captive by totalitarianism.
  2. What is totalitarianism?
    1. It is a system of government in which the state has all the control, and the people have virtually no authority.
    2. This system has no middle class – it simply has 2 parties, the ones in power, and the ones under control of that power.
  • It is a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)
    1. Do you find it interesting that over the past few years our nations constitution has been assaulted and our founding fathers are also being assaulted. You need to understand this is not accidental, this intentional.
    2. Our government recognizes its controls have been limited by something called the “constitution”.
    3. Currently – the progressives in our nations are trying to rewrite history – they are proclaiming how evil of a nation we are – how wicked and terrible our founding fathers were. These voices are anti-capitalism, they are anti-Christianity; they are anti-God.
      1. These are voices that are from the Marxist ideology. Marxism which is what produces socialism and communism – are always opposed to God; because in those systems – the government takes the place of God.
      2. America is the only nation where our freedoms do not come from the governing authorities – our freedoms come from God.
        1. The Preamble to the Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
        2. Abraham Lincoln called the preamble: “a rebuke and a stumbling-block to tyranny and oppression.”
      3. In the book Huxley wrote about what the future would be like in such a system.
    4. Then another devout atheist by the name of George Orwell wrote 1984 which was also a dystopian novel that looked at the future.
  1. What is interesting is listen to what these 2 atheists say would need to happen for totalitarianism to take over:
    1. They speak of totalitarian rule as basically the absolute political & social slavery of everyone.
    2. We look back in America’s history and see the evil of what is known as “chattel slavery” – which is when one person owns another person. Political slavery is when the government owns everyone – but what is important to know – the outcome is identical in both.
    3. In America we see huge movements against chattel slavery – which by the way:
      1. 13million slaves were captured and sold between the 14th-19th century – something we all agree was evil and vile; but they are trying to undermine all the good in America’s history because of slavery – when at the same time today there are 40million slaves worldwide – the majority of which are in India and Africa – and no one raises a voice.
    4. In America people are crying out about the past – while they are willingly rushing headlong into becoming slaves of the state and the end is exactly the same – Someone owns you, controls you, and you give up your freedoms.
  2. Listen to a list of 7 elements these men spoke of that would produce this:
    1. You need a crises – as that is what will put freedom in danger – a crises will be what will increase the governments control over the people. The bigger the crises the more control the government gets.
      1. Secondly, the collective is more important than the individual. The greater good is the good of society, not your good. “We don’t care what you want or what you think, we’ve got to stop global warming. We don’t care what your freedoms are, the things that you desire and you want, you can’t say that; you can’t believe that; you can’t do that.” Because the collective is far more important than the individual. “The advance of the LGBTQ is far more important on the social side for the good of society than anything you think about that.” So the collective dominates the individual. Everybody is forced into the collective.
    2. You need to have some kind of mass psychosis that makes everyone afraid – perhaps like a pandemic, a plague; elevate the severity of it beyond measure; this will cause people to surrender their freedoms out of fear. Continue to elevate it and people will continue to surrender their freedoms.
  • Control all the information; only let people hear what you want them to hear and censor anything you don’t want them to hear. Orwell wrote of Big Brother who would control the information – he saw a nightmarish future in which the state would have surveillance and control over everyone. The slogan, “ignorance becomes strength’ was a slogan and guiding principle of the mainstream media and education. Certain books would be banned, dissent would be banned, and critical thought would be banned.
    1. Are we seeing that in America? We have seen more censorship in the last year then I have ever seen in my life.
    2. We are fed a one-sided narrative.
    3. Critical thinking is not allowed.
  1. Both also speak of the way you can control society is through pleasure.
    1. Give unrestricted lust and pleasure to everyone. Total hedonism.
      1. 2 Timothy 3:4 — 4; Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
    2. Have no boundaries on any sexual behavior; people have total sexual freedom to fulfill any lusts they have. Get the people drunk with pleasure.
  2. Fill them up with mindless accessible, irrelevant nonstop entertainment. Let them live in a fantasy world so they don’ have to think. – kids spend 6-9 hours on media/devices.
  3. Make drugs available to everyone because drugged people, or drunk people, are harmless.
    1. In America – you have the illegal drug market, and the legal drug market.
    2. Drug our kids….
      1. Ask – how many blood tests did they do?
    3. The way government supported agencies say you get off drugs is with drugs; people stay addicted to synthetic drugs.
  • Finally – if you want to control people – isolate them from each other. Isolation will allow you to control the whole – because you limit them from the ability to form strength to oppose you.
    1. Never in history have we isolated healthy people – only sick people are put in isolation.
  1. That is a pretty interesting thing to see how that a couple of atheists came up with that process for a government to turn into a totalitarian system in which people surrendered their freedom out of fear, false information, how they were enticed with pleasures, they were drugged, truth was censored, people were isolated; and the majority fell in line.
    1. We watching this unfold before our very eyes.
  2. About the time of our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2000 years prior: (a quote President Ronald Reagan even referred to)
  3. “A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.”
  4. “The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
    1. From bondage to spiritual faith (1760-1769)– Turning to God
    2. From spiritual faith to great courage (1770-1783) – the faith and courage of the puritans and early American settlers was incredible!
  • From courage to liberty (1784-1865)– America became the land of the free and home of the brave
  1. From liberty to abundance (1866-1969) – never has a nation exploded in greatness so quickly as America did
  2. From abundance to complacency – 1970-1989
    1. the sense of entitlement
    2. People were asking not what I can do for others, but what they owe me.
  3. From complacency to apathy;
    1. Accepts no responsibility – blames others, refuses to be held accountable.
  • From apathy to dependence – surrendered rights/freedoms, reliance on others to care for you.
  • From dependence back into bondage – Loss of freedoms – what was surrendered will be lost.
  1. 244 years ago on July 4th, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress declaring that the 13 American colonies regarded themselves no longer part of the British Empire, but rather a new nation, the United States of America.
    1. Freedom is a joy and privilege we all share today; we have the great blessing of partaking in something that many people never have, and that is freedom.
  2. America was born in a struggle for spiritual freedom;
    1. Those who came to America had strong convictions as to what they believed; there was a push against the tyranny of England and its suppressive Catholic hold.
    2. The reformation that was happening in England was pushing those of genuine faith to a place where they could have freedom to worship God. The pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock sought for freedom.
  • That is why in the First Amendment to the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” [in other words, there would be no state-supported church, as in Britain], Religion was not to be forced upon the people by the government. Nor could the Gov’t stop people from the free exercise of their religion.
  1. Our founding fathers wrote those words so American’s could have freedom “of” religion; but today in America, so many don’t want freedom “of” religion, but freedom “from” religion.
  1. During the corona virus, leaders around this country said Churches must close and in places like New York, Mayor De Blasio – threatened to permanently close churches and synagogues who did not follow his orders.
    1. In other words, this mayor, along with many others in America, just stepped over the constitutional to take freedoms away.
    2. At the same time, they kept their liquor stores open and planned parenthood abortion clinics open as they were deemed “necessary”; but your constitutional freedom to assemble for Church was not.
  2. This wasn’t just in New York – In the City of Greenville Mississippi for example: the Mayor Errick Simmons and the city council, not only would not allow in person services, but also put a ban on drive-in church services, despite the congregation remaining within their cars for the entirety of the service – where they would tune in to the service from their car radio – through a radio Transmitter
    1. as many as 25 drivers were issued $500 fines for attending the service. That means the congregation were issued a total of more than $12,000 in fines – and the pastor was threatened to be put in jail.
      1. The elderly pastor Scott of the Temple Baptits Church said, “If it means going to jail and if it takes that for me to keep preaching, I’ll be glad to go to jail.”
    2. Benjamin Franklin once said: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
  • 1-3 speak then of man’s rebellion against God; how does God respond to man’s rebellion? What does God do in response?
  1. The voice of Derision from the Father – v. 4-6
  • 4 – “he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.”
    1. How does God respond to this kind of rebellion and defiance?
    2. How does God answer this blasphemous attack against Him?
    3. 4 – “he that setteth in the heavens shall laugh”
      1. The Holy Spirit declares to us that God laughs.
      2. The violent opposition of the world doesn’t cause God anxiety or worry – rather God sits in perfect omnipotent glory and from His throne He laughts at man’s raging opposition.
  • Why does God laugh?
    1. This is a mocking laughter at the futility of the rebellious efforts of the nations to overthrow God’s Sovereign plans.
    2. “the Lord shall have them in derision”
      1. Derision – speaks of laughing in mockery; this is God laughing in utter contempt of their rebellious schemes.
      2. When Christ hung on the cross, the rebellious Christ haters laughed and ridiculed the Lord; but here in heaven, the Sovereign God looks upon such rebellion, and as He sits in absolute authority He laughs at how foolish they are.
    3. Now this is not some kind of wrong action by God, He is not unloving/unkind; rather this is His response to those who have refused His love and kindness.
      1. This is what is left when rebellious man slaps away God’s loving grace in defiant sin; This is a righteous display by God of sovereign confidence in the face of a world who is fixated in their sin and rebellion.
    4. 5 – Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex (distress) them in his sore (deep) displeasure.”
      1. God’s laughter is mocking how foolish their defiance is against the hand of sovereignty; here we see His laughter turns to a wrathful response of righteous judgment against their sinfulness.
      2. Judgment will always come to those who live in defiance of God and His Word.
        1. Hebrews 10:31 — 31; It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
        2. The old British commentator Thomas Adams writes, “Oh, what are his frowns, if His smiles be so terrible!”
      3. Now in verse 6 – the Father speaks for the first time in this psalm: what does the Father say in response to man’s defiance against Jesus as being Lord?
      4. 6 – God’s Divine announcement – “I have set my king upon my holy hill Zion.”
        1. In the face of a world that hated and crucified Christ; in a world that has sought to silence the name of Christ; that has persecuted those who bear His name; The Father declares: “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.”
      5. Against all their challenges, against their desire to overthrow God’s plan, God here declares in His absolute authority that He will indeed set His king enthroned upon Jerusalem’s most notable hill of Zion.

We have looked at the defiant voice of man- the voice of the Father declaring derision;

  1. The Voice of Devotion by the Son – v. 7-9
    1. Here the voice of Christ comes out – the 2nd person of the Trinity comes into the conversation; these are some of the most often quoted verses in the NT; what does Christ say here?
    2. The Divine Decree
      1. V.7 – “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”
        1. Here Jesus speaks and the first thing the Messiah, the Christ of God says is, “I will declare the decree” – I will tell you what the Father decreed, pronounced, determined; then Jesus immediately begins to speak the Words the Father decreed – stating the Father’s Words “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten Thee.”
        2. How awesome is that! The Words of the Son are the Words of the Father. When the Messiah speaks His mouth declares the Words of the Father.
        3. That is why Jesus said in:
          1. John 7:16 — 16; Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
          2. John 8:28d — …. as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
          3. John 12:49 — 49; For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
        4. Jesus Christ is the Divine Ruler – this is seen in the statement by the Father: “This day have I begotten thee”
          1. This is not so much speaking of Christ’s incarnation, rather it is speaking of His deity.
          2. Jesus is the eternal God made flesh – this word “begotten” does not speak of his origin; rather His distinct eternal relationship with the Father – this is the first time this phrase is used in the Bible – that the Son is begotten of the Father; (John 3:16, 1 John 4:9).
  • In Hebrews 1 – Psalms 2 is ued to point to the fact that Jesus is God and greater than any angelic being.
    1. Hebrews 1:5–8 — 5; For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6; And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7; And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8; But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
  1. The Father’s response to the Son’s devotion:
    1. How does God the Father respond to the loving obedience of the Son?
    2. Psalm 2:8 — 8; Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”
      1. The Father is giving the Son the inhabitants of the earth as well as the entire earth as a love gift to the Son.
      2. In John 17 – about 6 times Jesus says that believers are “given” to him by the Father.
      3. After Jesus died and rose again, after He fulfilled the decree of the Father who sent Him to be the Savior of the world: Jesus declared:
        1. Matthew 28:18–20 — 18; And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power(authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19; Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
      4. It is why Jesus and the disciples declared – Repent – for the Kingdom of heaven in at hand.
        1. The King has come – and the Kingdom is available! You can now become part of God’s eternal kingdom!
        2. John 14:6 — 6; Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
      5. The Father declares the certainty of Christ’s victory over a defiant world:
        1. Psalm 2:9 — 9; Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
        2. The fulfillment of this is seen in Revelation 19 – at the 2nd coming of Christ – when all the saints of heaven come with Christ and He claims the earth.
          1. Revelation 19:15 — 15; And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
        3. What a joy to hear the response of heaven to a world that rages against Him!
  1. The Voice of Decision by the Holy Spirit – v. 10-12
  • The world’s voice cries out in rage against God authority in v. 1-3 –
  • Then God laughs at the arrogance of these frail voices;
  • Then we see the Voice of the Messiah declaring His devotion to the Father’s divine decree; who in return rewards the Son with the earth and all its inhabitants;
  • now we will hear a final voice, the voice of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit – Who gives us a Voice of Decision.
    1. Here we see God in such grace offering the opportunity for repentance to those who have rebelled so severely against Him.
    2. 5 commands are given in these 3 verses
      1. “Be wise…Be instructed…(v.11) Serve the Lord with fear…rejoice with trembling…(v.12) Kiss the Son…”
        1. This is the Holy Spirit calling out to these sinners to repent and submit to God’s authority that cannot be usurped, and whose will cannot we thwarted.
      2. Here the great King offers grace and forgiveness to rebels – to kiss Him and not only be made at peace with God, but to actually become His very own children!
  • Here the enemies can become sons! What amazing grace is extended to the rebels of earth!
  1. 12 – The Holy Spirit is declaring – “What you do with the Son will determine what the Son will do with you”.
    1. “kiss” – was a sign of submission and homage to the King.
    2. If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus Christ – If you have never turned your will over to His will. To repent and turn from sin and turn to Christ; to love Him more than anyone or anything; Today you can!
  • The King is here and the Kingdom is available!
  1. Or reject Christ – be the lord of your own life, and you will “perish from the way” – you will be led into the wrong direction where you will perish – John 3:16
  2. What choice will you make today?
  3. Deuteronomy 30:15 — 15; See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
  • Deuteronomy 30:19 — 19; I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
  • Friend:
  • In the midst of a world that is becoming increasingly more sinful and broken, in a world that rages against God; today you can rest your heart and mind on the pillow of God’s Sovereignty; He is in control, no matter how out of control things may seem, God is still in control; and the defiance of the world will not usurp the will of God.
  • Recently I came across a great illustration that I believe we can all learn from.
  • “A pastor was on a long flight home which started very peaceful but ran into an incredible storm; first the seat belt sign came on, then the announcer said we will not be able to serve the meal at this time, a severe storm is ahead of us. Then all the sudden the storm broke; the plane was in the midst of severe thunder and lightening that lit up the sky; the plane was tossed like a cork on a celestial ocean; one momen lifted, then dropping as if to crash.
  • The passangers on the plane were filled with fear, some were visibly upset, others were praying, and the pastor confessed that he shared the fear and concern of those around him.
  • “Then, I suddenly the pastor said he saw a little girl. Apparently the storm meant nothing to her. She had tucked her feet beneath her as she sat on her seat; she was reading a book and everything within her small world was calm and orderly.
  • “Sometimes she closed her eyes, then she would read again; then she would straighten her legs, but worry and fear were not in her world. When the plane was being tossed and all the adults were scared half to death, she was incredibly at peace and unafraid. The minister could hardly believe his eyes.
  • When the plane finally reached its destination and the passangers quickly got off, he couldn’t help but to linger and speak to the little girl.
  • He asked her how in the midst of all the turbulence and chaos the plane went through in the storm, why she had not been afraid?
  • The child replied, “Cause my Daddy’s the pilot, and he’s taking me home.”
  • Today we can have peace and assurance knowing that our Father is the Pilot, and He is taking us home.
  • Psalm 16:8 — 8; I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

 

Resting in the Sovereignty of God

Text: Psalm 2:1-12

Introduction:

  • 2 Timothy 3:1
  • 2 Timothy 3:12–13
  • Psalm 115:1–3
  • Psalm 135:6
  • Daniel 4:35
  • Ephesians 1:11
  • Deuteronomy 30:19
  1. The Voice of Defiance from the World – v. 1-3
  • Matthew 12:14
  • Luke 19:14
  • 2 Timothy 3:4
  1. The voice of Derision from the Father – v. 4-6
  • Hebrews 10:31
  1. The Voice of Devotion by the Son – v. 7-9
  • John 7:16
  • John 12:49
  • Psalm 2:8
  • Psalm 2:9
  1. The Voice of Decision by the Holy Spirit – v. 10-12
  • Psalm 16:8