And again, our text will be Psalm 2. Psalm 2. Let me begin by asking, what is wrong with this world? What is wrong with this world? And why doesn't it appear that God is doing anything about it?

Do you ever feel that way? Do you ever look around at all of the chaos and all of the wickedness in our society and feel like evil is winning? Like wickedness is triumphing, like we are losing ground. Last month was pride month. There were pride flags all over.

I can remember driving the kids to school one day and one of them asked me why. Why does God allow this to go on? And it's a good question. I think we're honest. All of us feel that sometimes.

Why? Why is God allowing it to appear that wicked is winning? We have this temptation, but I think that this temptation comes particularly when we lose perspective of the big picture. When we forget the end of the story. Sometimes we can look at the little piece of the puzzle that's in front of us right now in this particular moment and begin to feel overwhelmed, to feel deflated, to feel defeated.

But when we begin to feel this way, what we need to do is take a step back. We need to take our eyes off the little tiny piece that we have and instead fix our gaze on the big picture. To fix our eyes upon the throne of God and to remember what he has said to us. We need to step back and remember that Christ is on his throne and that there is no one, no one, no one who can unseat him. His rule and reign is sure.

His kingdom is forever. And He will rule over the nations. And this is the message of Psalm 2. While the world may rage and rebel against God, God has already seated Christ upon the throne. And he will ultimately crush the world's rebellion and he will ultimately rule over the nations.

He will reign forever and ever. And again, there is nothing that the world can do to stop this. All of their raging is in vain. Christ is on the throne. We must remember that.

And again, this Psalm reminds us of this truth. This is the message that we see in the Psalm this evening. So if you would follow along with me, as I read once again, Psalm 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 heaven shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision, then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure.

Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the Lord hath said unto me, that were at my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shall break them with a rod of iron. Thou shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Be wise now, therefore, O kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.

And we will look at this psalm in four parts. First we'll see the rage of the nations in verses 1 to 3. Second we will see the Lord's response in verses four to six. Third, we will see the Lord's decree in verses seven to nine. And then we'll see the counsel given in verses 10 to 12.

So the rage of the nations, the Lord's response, the Lord's decree, and then the counsel given. So let's begin by considering the rage of the nations in verses one to three. And here the Psalm is to, the New Testament tells us is King David writes here, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 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. And here in this opening three verses, David is telling us something very important, a very important fact, a very important fact about the world that we live in, Something that I think we often forget and that is this, that we live in a world that is at war.

We live in a war zone, but this is it's not a war between nations. Plenty of those have happened, plenty of those will continue to happen, but no, there's a greater war. There's a war between this world and its creator, a war between the kings of the earth and God. And This war is a civil war. It's a rebellion.

God, in His grace and mercy, created this world. And He created it to be a good world. And He made a beautiful world, a world full of wonder. And then He created us. He created mankind.

And He gave us this earth to be our home. Not because He had to, but because He wanted to, because He desired to. And He created us in His own image, and He created us to rule over this earth, to have dominion over this earth. He gave us everything that we needed. He created us to be His people.

And as we saw this morning, He created us to enjoy Him, to enjoy His blessings, and to live under His good rule and reign. And this was life as it was meant to be. Just imagine for a moment what this world would be like, Even if you say you don't believe in God, right? Look at the decline of morality around us, okay? What do you think this world would be like if everybody lived their lives according to scripture?

Would it not be a better world? God's rule and reign is good. It is good. It's what is good for us. It's what's best for us.

His rule and reign was the way that life was meant to be. And it had we continue to obey Him and to serve Him, there would be no sadness. There would be no disease. There would be no death. There would be no war.

There would be no evil. Just the blessedness that comes from being God's people, living in his place and being under his good rule and reign. God blessed us with so much, but this wasn't enough for us Because mankind believed the lie that our lives would be better without God. That God's good rule and reign was actually shackles holding us back from something better. We believe this.

We got what is called, it's Elsa syndrome, right? No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I'm free. And mankind believed this. So we've rebelled against God.

Beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden, but then continuing on down to this very day. Unregenerate mankind, the world is at war with its creator. It's at war with its God. And here in Psalm 1 verses 1 to 3, King David, again who's the author of this Psalm, peeks into the enemy camp, into the camp of the rebels. And there he describes to us both their aim, their goal, what they're trying to accomplish, as well as describes the activity, what they're doing to try to accomplish that goal.

And so we see here, first of all, their goal, their aim of their rebellion, we see it in verse 3. They say, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. Again, the world sees God's rule and reign as bondage, as shackles, as something that's holding them back. And they believe they could just be done with God. If they could throw off his rule and reign, then everything would be just wonderful.

Isn't this exactly what John Lennon sang in Imagine? Imagine there's no God, everything would be great. What it? Is it? The world sure has been trying to get on without God for the last 40 or 50 years.

Has the world gotten better or worse? This is the same folly that we see illustrated for us in the parable of the prodigal son. You remember the story of the prodigal son? He felt that he could just get away from his father, get out from underneath his father's house, out from underneath his father's authority, then he could live the life that he always wanted to live. He could have everything he ever dreamed of if he could just get away with that, get away from old dad.

But then after setting off on his own and leaving his father's house, it doesn't take long before he realizes his folly. He realizes the mistake that he's made. He realizes that life out there, away from his father, is miserable. That even the servants in his father's house have it better than he does. He realizes that true blessedness was found in the Father's house and being in a right relationship with his father and living under his father's authority And this is the same truth that we saw this morning in Psalm 1 That the key to true blessedness the key to true joy the tree key to true contentment the true Peace the truth of it is not found in something out there.

The world is always promising us it's out there. It's not found out there. It's not found in life apart from God, but rather true blessedness is found in being God's people and living under his good rule and reign. Yet the world has not learned this lesson. Instead of seeing God's rule and reign as bonds of love and blessing, they see them as a burdensome yoke.

It says Spurgeon describes, he says, "'To a graceless neck, the yoke of Christ is intolerable, "'but to the safe sinner, it is easy in light. The world sees the Lord's rule and reign as an intolerable burden. So they're seeking to free themselves of it. This is their aim, this is their goal. But next we see here that David describes to us the activity of this rebellious world, what they're doing to try to accomplish this goal of overthrowing God's ring.

And specifically, he gives us four things here, four activities that the world is doing. First, he says that they rage against God. That is that they are agitated, they are restless, they are angry, they are rabid. And this agitation, this restlessness, This anger, this rage is directed towards God and it's directed towards his anointed. And anointed, it means Christ, right?

It's directed towards God and it's directed toward his Christ. The world hates God and it hates his anointed. And because it hates God, and because it hates his anointed, because it hates his Christ, they hate God's people as well. They hate the church. Jesus tells us this in John 15, John 15, 18 to 20.

There he says, if the world hates you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own, but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. Therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you." So we see here that the world rages against God.

They rage against his anointed. And because they rage against God and rage against his anointed, they also rage against his people. Second David tells us here that not only do they rage against God, but they also imagine a vain thing. They imagine a vain thing. That is, they are planning, they are plotting something that is impossible.

They're seeking to overthrow God. They're seeking to overthrow the creator and sustainer of the universe. They're seeking to sever themselves from the almighty, the all powerful God who not only gave them life, but on whom they wholly depend for every single thing. I mean think about it, we can't even breathe apart from God's grace. Every beat of our heart is due to God's grace.

The food we eat, the water that we drink, every good thing that we have, every good thing that we enjoy it's because of God's grace Yet the kings of earth here desire they are bent on severing themselves from God on overthrowing his rule and reign And the folly and absurdity of this revolt is emphasized here in the fact that David describes their activity by using a series of questions. Because the question why at the beginning of verse 1 doesn't just apply to the first clause here, right? But rather it applies to the four following clauses, right? In other words, you could paraphrase verses one to three like this. Why do the heathen rage and why do the people imagine a vain thing?

Why do the kings of earth set themselves against the Lord? And why do the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and is anointed? He's baffled by this. And David's questioning here, It's not out of surprise or out of fear, but rather out of utter astonishment that they would do something so remarkably foolish It's like when your child does something so unbelievable that you ask them something to the effect of what were you thinking? Right, that's what David's saying here.

Why? Why would you do this? This is absurd. This is foolish. This is suicidal what you're attempting to do.

It is impossible. And this is the sense of the psalmist's questioning here. Yet, despite the folly of this vain imagining, we see here that the third activity that psalmist ascribes to the world here is that they set themselves against the Lord and against his anointed. The kings of the earth rage against God. They foolishly imagine overthrowing God.

And now they set themselves against God and against his Christ. In other words, they're not just imagining overthrowing God, But they're committed to it. This is where they're going to take their stand if they do nothing else They're going to try to overthrow God It's what they want more what they want more than anything else. They're going to take their stand against God And then fourthly David says here that they take counsel together against the Lord and his anointed. They are angry.

They foolishly imagine overthrowing God. They're tempted to go ahead with their suicide mission. And now we see that they take counsel together. That is that they plot and conspire against God. And I think that this is something that is important for us to internalize.

Because the world is full of conspiracy theories, some more credible than others. That the moon landing was fake, that JAFK was killed by the CIA, that the earth is flat, so on, so on. But we see here that there is one conspiracy theory that we know is legitimate. And it's legitimate because the Bible tells us that it's true, that this is a fact. And this conspiracy theory, or conspiracy fact, it's not a theory, right?

This conspiracy is that this world is conspiring against God and against his anointed and against his people. And this world tries to undermine God's authority in Christ's reign, in our faith, in a variety of ways. But the primary way is through lies. Through lies. Through deception.

Through vain philosophies. Through deception, through vain philosophies, through the spirit of this age. And the church becomes worldly, not primarily through external acts, like what TV shows we watch or what music we listen to. That's not what necessarily makes us worldly. What makes us worldly is when our thinking, we begin to embrace the subtle lies of the world around us.

And they sneak into the church. Just to give you one example, God's word's clear on how we are supposed to raise our children, that we are to raise them in the fear and ammunition of the Lord, and that we are to discipline them. But we live in a day and age where they say, well, if you teach your children the Word of God, you're brainwashing them, You're programming them. And if you discipline them, then you're being cruel and unloving to them. And there's a lot of Christians that I've encountered that because of this, well, I'm going to let them make their own decision about God's word.

I don't want to brainwash them. Or I'm not going to discipline them. That would be unloving. I want to sit down. We're going to have a talk and I'm going to persuade them.

God's word is clear on how you raise children. But The world has told us something else, and we listen to the world instead of listening to God. Right, and there's a whole list of them we could go down. I'm not gonna do it now. We can talk about it after service if you want.

But we listen to the world, that's what makes us worldly. We embrace worldly ideas, That's what makes us worldly. The world conspires against God. It conspires against Christ and it conspires against his people. Be aware of that.

That's the world that we live in. And so we see here in verses 1 to 3 the truth about this world that we live in. We are living in a world that is at war, a world that is at rebellion against God, and a world that desires to overthrow God's rule. And all of the things in our culture and society that are upsetting to us as Christians are merely evidences, examples, proof of the world's rebellion. So when you see these things and they upset you, think Psalm 2.

This is evidence of the Lord's rebellion against the Lord. Every time you see a pride flag, rebellion against the Lord. That's what it is. Remember, let it remind you of the world in which we live. Next in verses four to six, the scene changes and David now takes us into God's camp, into his throne room.

So we can see the Lord's response to the world's rebellion. This is verses four to six. 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 sore displeasure.

Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. And the Lord's response here is rather unexpected We might well expect God to counter their rage with rage of his own We might expect him to immediately unleash his wrath and trample these would you be would be usurpers under his feet? After all, that's what we would do, isn't it? Right? Had we done something...

Imagine you're at work and you get a friend a job, right? You give a good word to your friend and you give them a job and then the next thing you know your friend's trying to take your position by lying and conspiring against you. What's your first instinct? It's to get back at them, right? That's human nature.

But we see that God does something greater here. He doesn't immediately respond. Although he would be right and just if he did. He would be right and just if he just obliterated immediately all of those who were opposed to his rule and reign. But it's not what we see here.

The Lord is patient. The Lord is gracious. Instead, what we see here, instead of immediately responding by unleashing his anger and wrath, what we see here is that the Lord responds in two very unexpected ways. First, we see that he laughs and then he speaks, Right? So verse four, he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh.

The Lord shall have them in derision. The Lord's first response to the world's rebellion is that he laughs. He holds them in derision. That is he mocks, he scoffs at their puny rebellion, he's unfazed by it. And mark the difference here between the fervent activity of the rebellious world and the quiet dignity of the Lord's response.

They're raging, they're plotting, they're busy making their plans, they're busy doing everything that they possibly can to overthrow God's rule. And how does God respond? He remains on his throne, seated on his throne, and he laughs. He scoffs at their ridiculous attempt to unseat him. Mankind's rebellion against God is so ridiculous, so absurd that God doesn't even have to get up out of his seat.

Rather, he laughs at their irrational futility. And it is irrational to think of the world rebelling against God. Think about mankind's place in the big scheme of things. We are but specks on this planet that we call Earth. And then if you compare the Earth to the sun, the Earth is but a spec compared to the size of the sun.

And if you can compare our sun to the largest known star, which is UY Scutty, right? The sun is but a speck compared to UY Scutty. And then guess what? UY Scutty compared to the universe is but a speck. So we are less than a speck on a speck on a speck on a speck.

Yet we think we're going to overthrow the sovereign God? It's absurd. We are but dust. We are less than dust. And we think we're going to overthrow the good rule and reign of the sovereign God of the universe, the all-powerful, infinite and eternal God?

It's ridiculous. It's laughable. But then the second thing that we see the Lord do here is that he speaks and It's not so much the fact that he speaks that is surprising but rather that it's what he speaks that is surprising Because we might assume that after laughing at this ridiculous rebellion that then he would then speak to dispatch his armies to do away with these rebels. But this isn't what he does. It's not what he says.

Rather in verses 5 and 6, this is what he says. It says, then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Verse six, yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. And please note here that God's laughter does not mean that he's indifferent concerning man's rebellion. Because we see here that he is greatly displeased that he is angry at their rebellion and that his wrath has been aroused by their rebellion rebellion but instead of unleashing his wrath and anger upon his enemies immediately at this point at this time instead of that he speaks to them in his wrath.

He speaks to them and terrifies them in his fury. And what does he say? Again, verse six, "'Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.'" So get the picture. The nations are raging. They're rebelling against their creator.

They plot and conspire against him. And what's the Lord's response? He laughs and then says, "'I've already enthroned my king.'" "'I've already enthroned my king.'" And again, we see here a contrast between the activity of the Lord and the activity of this rebellious world. In verses one to three, the kings of the earth are talking about what they're going to do. Meanwhile, in verse six, God tells us what He's already done.

He's already installed His throne. They're saying, we're going to do this, we're going to do that. God says, I've already installed my king. The nations can rage and talk about what they're going to do. They can plot and plan to overthrow God.

Meanwhile, God has already placed his eternal king on the throne. He has already done that which his enemies are trying to prevent. As Spurgeon puts it, while they are proposing, he has disposed the matter. Jehovah's will is done, and man's will frets and raves in vain. The world can plot and shake their puny fist at their God all that they want, yet none of that changes the fact that God's anointed King is already seated upon the throne.

But then this raises a question doesn't it? Who is this king? Who is God's anointed? And this brings us to our third point, the Lord's decree, verses seven to nine. And note here that this is not David speaking in these verses, but rather the speaker's changed now.

This is the anointed king himself speaking. The anointed king himself is declaring what the Lord decreed concerning himself. Verse seven, I will declare the decree the Lord has said unto me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shall Break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

So who is this anointed one of God? Who is this one that God calls his son? Who is the king that God has atthroned over the nations? And scripture does not leave us to guess as to the identity of who this psalm is speaking of because this psalm is quoted at least four times in the New Testament and Every time it's a direct reference to Jesus Christ Acts 13 verses 32 to 33 Acts 13 32 to 33 And we declare unto you glad tidings how that the promise which was made unto the fathers God has fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again. And it is also written in the second psalm, thou art my son, this day I have begotten thee.

So who is God's anointed king? Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1 verses 1 to 5. Hebrews 1 verses 1 to 5. God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets after these last days spoken unto us by his son whom he hath appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the worlds who being the brightness of his glory in the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

For unto which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee." Again, who is God's anointed king? It is Jesus Christ. Hebrews 5 5. Hebrews 5 5. So also Christ glorified, not himself to be made a high priest, but He that said unto him, Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee." Again, who's God's anointed?

Jesus Christ. And then perhaps the most pertinent example here in Acts chapter 4 verses 24 to 26. And the context here is that Peter and John had been arrested for preaching the truth about Jesus Christ. And after being released, they returned to the disciples And they told them what had happened and then it picks up here in verse 24 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 all that is in them Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast 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 the holy child Jesus whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand, that being God's hand, whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." So who's God's anointed King? Jesus Christ. And please don't miss this here, right, because the Apostles identify here that the culmination of the world's rebellion against God was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. When Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the Jews all conspired together to put Jesus Christ to death. But then as verse 28 says, even in this, even in all their plotting, even in all their conspiring, by crucifying Jesus Christ, they were ultimately doing what God had determined beforehand to be done.

They had sought to stop Christ from becoming the king, And in doing so, they unwittingly participated in his coronation. And in this, we once again see the futility of man's rebellion against God. Even when they think they've done something, when they've accomplished something, all they've accomplished is part of God's plan. So we have identified that Jesus Christ is the Lord's anointed, the Son of God, the divine King that this psalm is pointing us to. Now I want to make three quick observations.

First, this Scutro Decree speaks of the legitimacy of Christ. God says to him here, Thou art my son, this day I have begotten thee. And this is a reference and a fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant from 2 Samuel verse 7. There the Lord promised King David that from his line would come a forever king, a king who would rule and reign on David's throne forever. And that in that covenant in 2nd Samuel 7 14 the Lord says to the Messiah to the forever King He says this I will be his father and he shall be my son And here we see that Jesus who the New Testament clearly identifies as being the fulfillment of Psalm 2, is also the forever king promised in the Davidic Covenant.

So we see here the legitimacy of Christ. Second, we see here the scope of the Lord's reign. We see that He will rule over an international, worldwide kingdom. We see that he will rule over an international, worldwide kingdom. We see that he will rule over all nations, all nations.

Verse 8, ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thine possession. The nations rage and rebel now, but a time is quickly coming when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever." Revelation chapter 11 verse 15. Christ will rule over the nations. And then the third thing that we see here is the power of Christ's rule. Verse 9, the power of Christ's rule.

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. What happens when a rod of iron strikes a clay pot? It's dashed, it's smashed, it's completely destroyed. And this is the picture that we are given here to describe what is going to happen when the rebels, in verse one to three, meet the king who is described in verses seven to nine. What's going to happen when those who are in rebellion against God, What's going to happen to them when King Jesus returns?

When Christ comes back, they will be crushed. They will be destroyed. In fact, Revelation chapter 19 verses 14 to 16 uses this imagery of a rod of iron when it describes the return of Christ Revelation 19 14 to 16 in the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses Clothed and fine linen white and clean 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. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords." Now if you think all of this is harsh, that Christ is going to come back and crush his enemies.

Well, remember who we're speaking of here. These are not people who are receiving him with open arms. These are people who are actively in rebellion against him, seeking to undo his rule and reign. And the time between now and then he is being patient, he is being gracious. As we'll see, he's extended them and offer an opportunity to turn, to avoid the destruction that they deserve.

Yet sadly, many will refuse. Many will decide that they'd rather be destroyed than to bow before Christ. Jesus could return at any moment. It could be now, it could be in the morning, it could be a year from now, it could be years from now. But when he returns, he will bring a swift end to all of those who continue in their foolish rebellion against him.

So to summarize, so far we've seen that we live in a world that's rebelled against God, that God has responded to this rebellion by laughing, right? And then by installing his King, his Son, his Christ, Jesus, on the throne, and that Jesus Christ will soon return and that when he does return He will crush mankind's foolish rebellion and he will rule over the nations The question now becomes What should we do about this? And David uses the last three verses of this Psalm to answer that question. Because here in verses 10 to 12, David gives counsel to all of those who are in rebellion against God. Verse 10, be wise.

Now therefore, O kings, be instructed, ye judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." Here David counsels the kings of the earth to wise up, to turn from their foolish rebellion. Instead of trying to overthrow King Jesus' rule, they should throw themselves upon his grace and mercy and submit to him. They should serve him with fear.

And why should they do this? Why should you do this? And David gives two answers to that, one positive and one negative. We see the negative reason at the beginning of verse 12. There David says, "'Kiss the son.'" That's a Sign of submission, by the way.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. In other words, the first reason that they should turn from their rebellion, the first reason that you should turn from your rebellion. It's because if you continue in your rebellion, you will perish. It is certain. You will not overthrow Christ.

If you continue in your rebellion, you will perish. You will face the wrath of God. You will face eternal destruction. So that's the first reason you should turn from your rebellion. The second one, it's a positive reason, a positive reason to submit to the son.

And we see this at the end of verse 12, Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. In the same way that all who continue in their rebellion will be destroyed, here we see that all who submit and put their trust in King Jesus will be blessed, Eternally blessed. So if you're here this evening, and you're still in rebellion against God, I plead with you, please take David's advice here in Psalm 2. Lay down your arms. Submit yourself to King Jesus.

Kiss him. Turn from your sin. Turn to faith in Jesus Christ. Repent and believe in him and escape the wrath that is to come. Partake of the eternal peace and blessedness that's found in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.

Turn, submit, find peace, find eternal life. But as we conclude, I want to quickly address those of us in the room have already turned from our rebellion, those of us who've already submitted to the good rule and reign of Jesus Christ. This psalm makes it clear that we live in a world that's in rebellion against God. And as long as we remain in this fallen world, we're in enemy occupied territory. Therefore, it should not surprise us when we see this world rage against God and against his good rule and reign.

God's Word tells us that we live in a world that's in rebellion against God. So we can expect that they're going to rebel against God. We ought not be disheartened by this or surprised by this. It just confirms the truth of God's Word. This is what God said.

But at the same time, we must also remember that all this world can do is rage and plot. That's it. They can pass laws, they can hold as many pride events as they want, they can persecute as many Christians as they want. But despite all their raging, despite all their plotting, Jesus Christ is still on the throne. He has still been given all authority.

He is still King. And one day they will all bow their knees before Him. And there is nothing, nothing, nothing that the world can do to stop the eternal reign of Jesus Christ. So as we began, if sometimes you look at the world and you're like, what in the world's going on? Why isn't God doing anything?

Remember, one, God told us that this is the world that we live in. Expect it. And two, remember that this is just a moment. Look at the end of the story. Look at what God said is going to happen.

Christ will rule over the nations. But at the same time, he's allowed a time, he's being patient, he's extending grace and he's entrusted the gospel to us so that we go out into the world, so that we go out to those who are rebels like we once were and take this offer of peace, Take this offer of pardon to them that they might come to faith, that they might find that the peace and the reconciliation, the blessedness in the eternal life that's in Jesus Christ.