Special

And so we're gonna read the word of the Lord.

Here we go. Psalm two. I hope you have it open before you either on your phone or a physical Bible. Why do the nations conspire and the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers bound together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, 'Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.' The Lord scoffs at them.

He rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain. I will proclaim the Lord's decree. He said to me, You are my son. Today I become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.

You'll break them with a rod of iron, you will dash them to pieces like a pottery. Therefore, you kings, be wise, be warned you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate His rule with trembling. Kiss His son or he will be angry, and your way will lead you to destruction, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed, happily graced and enriched, if you like.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Let's pray, please. Take a moment. So much excitement, maybe there's even tiredness, so much in our minds and hearts. We've got to look away from ourselves.

Father, you love your son, and you raised him from the dead, he who died on the cross for us to take away our sins and Your judgment on our sins. And You have raised Him and exalted Him, and today Your Son reigns in heaven forever and forever. Lord Jesus, you rule over our lives as king. How glad we are of you. There is no one like you.

No one as glorious as you. Oh, pour out your spirit upon us now. And spirit, we thank you that you love Jesus way more than we could even imagine. And you've written all about Jesus in your truth and you preserved it for us and given it to us as a gift. So Lord we don't want the opinions of a man, we want you in your word.

Let it be a means of grace to us in Jesus name. Amen. So I don't know if you've been to Verona. Anybody been to Verona? Oh, one or two?

Anybody been under the balcony where Juliet definitely stood and Romeo stood underneath? Yes? Well, I have too. Did Shakespeare write it? I don't know.

You can have a whole conversation about that. What's the problem? It's an appalling story, isn't it really? Two warring families who hated each other, full of bad history and grudges, and the two lovers, from one from each family if you don't know the story, end up dying. And it's a lovely play.

Who millions of people have been to see it. Very unfair Verona, I think. Someone asks us which human family we belong to. There's only two possibilities. We either belong to the wicked family or we belong to the righteous family.

And there is no connection apart from the fact that they are human. And Psalm one tells us that the main reason for no spiritual connection is seen in how God and His Word is viewed. The wicked live against God, and the righteous love God and meditate, muse on, mutter God's Word. Psalm two shows us the very different ways those two families view life in this world. And the dividing line amongst humanity is God the King.

We either believe that life is serving God the King, or we believe that rebelling against God the King is the way to live. So Psalm two. Four things to say this morning. Number one, the universal human problem in verses one to three. Let's read verses one and two.

Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers band together against the Lord and against His anointed King, saying. We'll see what they say in a minute. So what do we encounter straight off in Psalm two, which is probably more a sermon than a song? We encounter the whole world raging in anger about God and against God.

David, the Old Testament anointed king, was there to save Israel from the nations, and Israel was to be a witness for God to those nations. That God is King, and He is to be worshipped and obeyed. But this is our world too. As you know that the New Testament, or if you don't it does, it tells us that this universal hatred of God and Jesus was displayed when Jesus the King, the Anointed One, was crucified by the world leaders of His day. The world leaders of His day voted to murderously get rid of God and His King.

And that was us as well. We have to say that. We have to understand that. If we understand our hearts at all, we understand that. Why were we confessing sin as Tom led us?

Because we recognize there is something in us that is still against God and still against His Word and still against His rule. And my life and your life, if you're a Christian, has sometimes been trying to get rid of Jesus and what He says. So we understand this. But what is the root reason for such a history of wanting to get rid of God? After all, it's His world.

He made it. He has given us life. He has given us everything that we need for life, and He is good. Why do you want to get rid of God? Look at verse three.

Let us break their chains and throw off their shekels. The world sees God's will as restrictive and it craves selfish freedom or autonomy. Autonomy is the right to do what we decide, and it means getting rid of God and getting rid of His will. We are the king of our own life. And when you come into the New Testament, you discover that humanity hates God the King in whose world we live because it detests the loving rule of Christ his King over our lives.

And the main evidence, and we must understand it, is the cross. Christ was sent in love to rescue us from our wickedness of living against God. The King of love was smashed on the cross partly by human beings against God, but God, as we will see in a moment, being for human beings and loving us immensely. But we need to also understand in this point, it is utterly futile to live against God and His Word. It is futile.

Saying God is bad and He is a liar, we must stay away from God and love ourselves as God, that is futile. That is the silliest position that you could ever adopt in living your life. As we will see. But how many see today still Bible truth and the Gospel Good News as chains and ropes that we have to break free from, when in reality, the good moral laws of God, 10 of them, are there to protect us and to free us and to help us flourish. Universal human problem.

Whatever the culture today makes no difference, the root problem is that we are against God and we're against His Word. And ultimately, are against the King He has sent for us. And God can't stop it, can He? I mean, He can't. The control lies with us, doesn't it?

Yes, it does. We've got the numbers. We've got the power. We've got the technology. You know.

All the nations agree. Well, more or less. They don't know they agree, but they do agree. We've got the morality maybe. We've got the steps to order our life and to save ourselves.

God can't stop that. Point number two, verses four to six. I didn't check what time I'm supposed to finish. So, you know, if somebody waves at me, I'll know I'm way over time. Okay?

But we've heard the world speaking against God and his king. And now the Lord speaks, and it is disturbingly loud, which I want you to know is for our good. The one enthroned verses four to six. The one enthroned in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them.

He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath saying, I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain. Well, the installing of a king on Zion, it's a mountain near Jerusalem, that would be David. So that's the Old Testament reference. But we know as we will see in a moment, it is clearly greater than that. It has to do with Jesus.

Well, we need to be strengthened and stabilized to live righteous lives as God's righteous family, made righteous through Jesus, not made righteous because we've earned it. And for that you need a robust view of God. Somebody offered me coffee at Egbeth Community Church the other day, and I said, no. Thank you. And he said, oh, that was rather robust.

I thought, well, that was just my natural no. See, I don't have a chance, do I? But we need a robust view of God. And I think often the churches that I'm sometimes seeing have weak views on God. God is the king who reigns eternally and cannot be overthrown by human rebellion, and he laughs in derision at puny ridiculousness.

Well, we're enjoying watching Ludwig. I don't know if you've been watching Ludwig. David Mitchell as John Taylor. And he has a phrase, doesn't he? That's just ridiculous.

Well, here is God, and he's looking at humanity raging against him, snorting in rage, by the way. Hebrew makes that clear, and he just says, that's ridiculous. Well, you would need to be very sure of yourself, wouldn't you, to go against the world and all its impressive power. So what is God doing here? He's holding up a mirror.

This is the age of selfies. Well, fine. Here's the most gigantic selfie that there is. And God took it. He snorts with anger because he is saying, well, have a look at yourselves as humanity.

Now, I was watching people go past on the road this morning and they looked rather nice people and you know they were walking about, riding their bikes, you know, getting on a bus and all that kind of stuff. Looked rather nice people, they're quite pleasant. They were chatty and laughing and but let us be clear, my friends. They have absolutely no time for Jesus. And so God holds up a mirror and says, I want you to look into it.

You'll see me raging, but I'm only raging at your raging. And that's the kindness of God. Do you have a friend who will really tell you the truth? You maybe got something on your lip in in in in in company. You need somebody to tell you.

You can't see it. There's all the room leaving it. You say that, oh, dear. That looks not too. But you have a friend who tells you.

God is our friend. Though he's against what we're saying in regard to him, he's our friend. He holds up a mirror, but he also does something else in this. Humanity cannot overcome God in anger. It's great, isn't it?

I love the text. God shouts in greater anger at the world and terrifies them in his wrath. It's a perfectly balanced anger. He hasn't lost control. He's fully in control.

But God gets angry about what He loves. And He loves Himself. And He loves us because He loves Himself, because He knows that we are best. He is best for us. A relationship with Him is what we all need for flourishing.

His word is the all important reality for life. And so here's the news, my friends. God cannot be shouted down or defeated. You know, you've you're sitting in your room and there's a whole pile of people come in to see you, and they're just there to put pressure on you in order to do what they want you to do. And And they think numbers are the way forward.

Ever had that experience? Not a pleasant experience, is it? Well, here is the entirety of humanity coming against God, shouty, ragey, lots of arguments, whatever they might be. And God just shouts back and says, you'll no doubt shout me. God doesn't cave in under pressure.

So as the righteous family, we can live in this world when we feel under pressure because God is not going to cave in. I wonder how we respond to that. If we swallowed a weak view of God that is not rooted in Scripture, we may feel a little bit embarrassed now. Oh, that's a hard truth. Can't teach the hard truths.

It's gotta be nice truths. Well, there are lovely truths in scripture, by the way, and this is still one of them. So we need to engage in meditative muttering of God's word and really grasp who he is. And God doesn't cave in. And indeed, as we see now, his response is to install his saving King.

Verse six, I've installed my King on Zion, my holy mountain. We know that the New Testament takes this and applies it to the Lord Jesus Christ. You've gone through Hebrews. Hebrews chapter one verse five tells us, quotes Psalm two verse seven I think with regard to Jesus and His uniqueness. And again in chapter five verse five, he quotes the same verse in relation to Christ the King who is the priest.

Acts chapter two, Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost really and truly shows us that all that happened to Jesus was really because of God. Yes, human beings doing their bad stuff, but listen to Acts chapter two twenty two. Fellow Israelites, listen to this. Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, signs, which God did among you through him as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge, and you with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. The unbelieving world that votes to get rid of Jesus can't get rid of Jesus because he's reigning forever and forever. So the arguments, the lifestyle choices, the ideas, the political policies, the cultural protections of land, or even religious power, or morality on our own terms never gets rid of Jesus. He's installed above us now. You believe that?

He's installed above us now. So how do you view the gospel this morning, Christian? How do you pray in the light of this? And how do we live in the light of our praying? In Acts chapter four, the church was banned from preaching the good news about Jesus to Jerusalem.

And Peter and the others went back to the church and they reported this and then they prayed to the Sovereign Lord and they interpreted what was going on at that time through Psalm two. It's Acts four twenty three-thirty one. Herod and Pontius Pilate and all the other leaders were only doing what God had already decided was going to happen. It was his way of putting his son on the throne. Do you understand it?

The unbelieving world assisted God in putting Jesus on His eternal throne. And in the light of that, they prayed to this sovereign Lord for boldness to go out and preach the gospel. And they were all filled with the Spirit, and they went out into Jerusalem, and they preached the good news of Jesus. God's strong response. Number three, God's amazing promise to His Son.

It's a decree, verses seven to nine, we get a report by the Lord Jesus about what the Father said to Him. It's a bit unexpected, really. God's just wrath against the nations, against universal humanity, And now there's a serious conversation between God and His Son. It comes in the form of a decree, a very serious promise, if you like. God tells the Son the outcome of His mission on the earth.

See, we're answering the questions here. God's plan for the rebellious world and His indestructible hope for you and for me. And God's saving plan wins, not human revolution. You may have children, and they ask you loads of things. They ask you for knowledge.

You might be able to impart it. In my case, limited. They ask you for stuff, even more limited. Oh, I wish I wasn't born into this family. It's all about Jesus and going to church.

I just want some food. Nobody ever said that. I that that is a total fabrication. Who wins? Who wins in the nations?

Who owns the earth? Whose glory will fill the earth? The sons. And all he has to do is ask. The Father was in the Son.

The Father was for the Son. Even as He died on the cross, He was for the Son. You just have to ask, Son, and I'll give you the nations. What's our hope for our world with all the evil in it, all the violence in it, all the injustice in it? It's Jesus Christ, the king, who reigns forever in the gospel.

I will make the nations your inheritance, the end of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron and you will dash them in pieces like pottery. Now we need to be clear. Jesus didn't become the son when he became a human being. He already was the Son.

The same creed is quite clear. He was with God, the eternal God, because He is the eternal God. He is God from God, light from light, true God from true God. That's where the Nicene Creed takes us first and then he says, He steps down for us, incarnated by the spirit in the womb of Mary. That's when he becomes the son as the king.

He came to save us, my friends. And do you see here by implication that King Jesus will save many people from the nations? He indeed, he indeed at this very moment is saving people from the nations. The nations will be his inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. Right at this moment, my friends, there are a multitude of people who that cannot be numbered are becoming followers of Jesus in the nations.

We may feel in the minority in the Western world, in Western UK. But the truth is, if you get our head, if we get our heads up and we look out properly and we see what's going on in the nations, we discover that King Jesus is saving his people. Amen. Just why you should always be interested in world mission, and I know you are. And I know there are many cultures represented in this room.

The very evidence that Jesus came saves people from different cultures. He's winning because he's won. But king Jesus is also returning to do universal justice. Verse nine, he will break them with a rod of iron. You will dash them to pieces like pottery.

The New Testament takes this up as His day of universal judgment. You see, my friends, you can't get away with a rebellion in God's world. We shout for justice in our world, don't we? We see somebody experiencing something wrong, and we want to step in and help them or deal with the injustice. And there's something right about that.

And where do we get that from? We get it from God, the ultimate one who is committed to justice. And so the king of the iron scepter is coming. Iron scepter. It's pretty iron, isn't it?

Iron's tough. What does he do? What does he do with the rebellion? He puts it down just like shattering pottery. It's as easy as that.

You would think the world in all its readiness would put up a better fight than that, but you see he's the glorious king. He's the victorious lord. This is not good news for rebels, is it? But it's good news for the righteous, made righteous through trusting in Jesus and being gifted his righteousness for our lives that covers our sin. So as we finish, what are we to do?

I hope I'm gonna finish in about three minutes' time. Well, maybe. You might be disappointed. Kiss God's Son. Look at verses 10 to 12.

Therefore, you kings, addressing the kings of the nations, be wise. Be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear. Celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss His Son or He will be angry, and your way will lead you to destruction, for His wrath can flare up in a moment.

Blessed, happily graced and enriched are all who take refuge in the Son or the King. Isn't that surprising? The call to this congregation, because you're hearing it, is not coming from me. It's coming from the Lord Jesus in heaven through His truth, by His Spirit, and He's coming to you and to me, and He is saying, Rebellious humanity. Come and be saved.

Yeah, you get a best friend. Yes, you get a shepherd that will help you in your daily life and make the decisions that you have to and also help you with the anguish and difficulties and depressions that come. But primarily Jesus wants to save us. That's why he was sent. So kiss the son.

Now, I didn't do a lot of researching on kissing. You'll be glad to know. What is kissing? I don't know. Okay, I think I do.

But to kiss a king in the ancient world meant to pay homage, to worship him, to surrender your life entirely to him, to be saved and to serve his purpose in single-minded devotion so that he got honored. That's kiss the sun. So as we finish, this morning, you might be a rebel that has never kissed the sun by faith. You've never entered the victory of Jesus. The victory of Jesus over sin and unbelief.

Well, one simple action in your seat this morning, Secure salvation from judgment into eternal life. Jesus has done it all for us, my friends. He entered our world as God in human flesh. He lived the perfect life of loving obedience to the Father. He always honored the Father.

He died for our sins on the cross. He took the just wrath on Himself. He is now risen and exalted, and He reigns as King forever. He will come to judge all people who reject His love. So, you need to be safe.

That's what my mother would say to us as we left the house to go wherever we were going. Be safe. Did your mom and dad say that to you? You say that to your friends? Be safe.

Well, be safe. Kiss the son. Receive his salvation. Surrender your life to him. Serve him with the rest of your life.

And mutter to yourself by way of encouragement to faith. Verse 12 then. What does it say? Blessed are all who take refuge in him. What's a refuge?

It's a place of safety, isn't it? How safe, young person, do you really want to be? When you have anxiety and insecurity and you don't know your way through life and the world is saying to you, you've got to make this world a better place and it's all on you. Now we should make the world a better place. I'm not saying we shouldn't seek to be righteous and just in what we do.

Where's the place of safety? When you're on your own, when you're in solitude, when you feel a bit unsafe for no other reason than you feel unsafe, Where do you go? Because it's in solitude, isn't it? Where this really kicks, it's important to be amongst God's people. I love God's people.

It really important to be amongst God's people. We'll say more of that tonight. But in solitude, I used to think solitude was me in my private space. And occasionally, I'd invite Jesus in just as a kind of a, you know, conscience of Peter. Oh, true.

And then I realized I was in God's space. It wasn't mine. And I could invite Jesus in anytime. And he was always ready and willing to invade the space with himself. Kiss the son in faith today.

But if you're a Christian, you're part of the righteous people by faith, then keep on kissing the son. Are you kissing him? You think, well, that's a bit weird. I'm a man. We live under the victory of Jesus who has conquered sin, the world, and the devil.

Kiss the sun. Surrender your life in worship afresh. To your king, celebrate his rule with trembling and joy. Surrender your life to his lordship and serve him in daily life. There's no joy in that.

Lifestyle is more important. Money is more important. Funds more important. Sex is more important. You think?

I remember reading CS Lewis, not chronicle Narnia, the chronicle can't say it. You know what it is. Narnia. We got there to the boys. And I'd always wondered about Psalm 23 verse four.

Go with me. I'm nearly finished. After walking through the valley of the shadow of death and being sure that he is with us, then you come to this scene that says, you prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows. And you think, what?

And I always wondered about that. And good old C. S. Lewis helped me. I was reading it to the boys.

I I remember this. And and you get that little scene. Aslan has come. It's been winter all all the time, and now the thought is on, and the wicked witch is angry because her her sleigh isn't going too fast. And she comes across you know what she comes across?

You probably do. You're very smart. A set of animals. Father Christmas has come. He'd never come to Narnia.

Father Christmas had come, and they were having a feast celebrating the victory of Aslan and the goodness of it all. And that made sense for me of Psalm 23 verse four. We celebrate the victory of Jesus. That's what we're doing this this morning. Now I know the big celebration's coming, isn't it?

You thought authentic was brilliant, and it was. There's nothing compared with the celebration that's coming. You believe that? Oh. I have friends go to watch Everton football club, and they come home muttering, apart from Saturday, constant disappointment.

Well, wise up. So raise a glass, my friends. Raise a glass with me at this victory celebration of King Jesus this morning, because this is what this is. And say to ourselves and to one another, blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him, happily graced and enriched.

We are safe forever. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We look for the resurrection of the dead, my parents included, and the life of the world to come. Kiss the son.

Enter his victory today. Go on, young person, old person. Keep on kissing the sun and live in his victory in the midst of evil and wickedness and a world against us. Amen. Heavenly father, we're grateful for what we've seen in your word this morning.

We thank you that you have installed your king in Zion. We thank you that our Lord Jesus Christ risen from the dead has ascended to the throne above all thrones and that he will reign in glory forever. We pray that you would forgive our foolish rebellion. We're sorry for the ways in which we ignore or even despise the reign of King Jesus. Thank you that through his enormous kindness, he was willing to die for the very people who were rebelling against him.

And we thank you that now because of his grace, can sing a song of praise. And we pray that you would help us this morning as we've been encouraged to do whether for the very first time or for the thousandth time, we pray that we would bow before King Jesus and pay homage to him and kiss him and be pleased in him again. Help us to know the blessedness of taking refuge in the savior, both this morning and on into this week, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.