The following sermon was preached at Christ Reformed Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If you are interested in our church or would like more information about us, you can visit us online at ChristReformedChurchTulsa.org. If you have your Bibles today, turn with me to Psalm chapter 2. Psalm chapter 2. We're going to be here today instead of Joel. I wanted to take at least one more week to do some more studying on the book of Joel, on some things that I've been looking at, but I wanted us to do or study Psalm 2 today for a couple of reasons. One, it goes along with what we're going to be looking at in Joel chapter 3. But also, I thought we would look at this psalm because it is a great psalm to look at, especially as we enter into a new year and who knows what's before us but the Lord. And I think it's a great reminder of who is king, king over all the earth, and king over our lives, and who we ought to submit ourselves to as king. So, let's begin reading in Psalm 2, beginning in verse 1. Verse 1 says this, Why did the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds him in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, You are my son, and today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way. For his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Let's pray. Father, as we come to you, we ask, Lord, that you would give us insight to this passage. We pray, Lord, that you would give us ears to hear and eyes to see all that is before us. And, Lord, I pray that we would see Christ high and lifted up as the true anointed one, as the King of kings and Lord of lords. And I pray, Lord, that if there's anyone here that is living outside of Christ's will and His rule and living in rebellion to Him, I pray that, Lord, this passage would be a wake-up call to realize that, Lord, it is impossible to plot in vain against You, because that's what it is. It is vain, because, Lord, You will call every deed and every action into account And Lord, you have set your Anointed One up to be King of Kings. And Lord, I pray that all who are outside of Christ today would take refuge in Christ. And I pray, Lord, for all of those who are Christian here, I pray that this passage would be a reminder to us of the great comfort and the great hope that we have, that Lord, though this world looks like it is out of control and Tyrants are reigning, and Lord, evil people seem to be getting away with the things that they are planning and scheming. Lord, I pray that it would be a great reminder to us of who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and who is truly the Sovereign One, and who is truly going to bring all things into account and make them right. And Lord, I pray that we would set our hope upon this. And I pray also, Lord, that we would live our lives in the light of your will and your kingship. Lord, we ask all of these things in Jesus's holy name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Jonathan Edwards in the 1700s said this, pride is God's most stubborn enemy. We know that it was pride, according to Isaiah 14, 12 through 14, that led to the rebellion of Satan against God. With that rebellion came also the rebellion there in the garden. We know that in the early times of the Bible, in Genesis chapter Three, we know that Adam and Eve both rebelled against God. They sided with a serpent, hoping to become like God, knowing good and evil, and so they rebelled against God and plunged the entire race into, entire humanity into sin. And so, therefore, men have been rebelling against God ever since. That is what the natural heart does. It is at enmity towards God, and it rebels against the Lord. In response to this rebellion, though, we have a promise given to us, though, in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 that says this, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you, that is, the serpent, on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. And we know from that passage of Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 that that was God's promise that Christ would come and He would put an end to the vain plots, the stubbornness, the rebellion. He would put an end to all of those things and He would reign in triumphant victory over his enemies. And we know that that reign was realized when he overcame the grave, when he overcame that last enemy, death. And he rose from the grave, and he ascended to the right hand of the Father, where he rules and reigns. But we know that there's coming a day, as we'll see in Joel chapter 3, and we see elsewhere in Scripture, that God has set up a day to judge the world in righteousness by this one man, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as we come to Psalm 2, we are reminded of this very thing. We're reminded of it, and as we come to this passage, we find many great truths in it concerning who Christ is, and what he has done, and what he is going to do. And so as we look at this passage, though, I want us to remember that this passage is not alone. It comes on the heels of Psalm chapter 1. And in Psalm chapter 1, we find that there is the blessed man, the righteous man, the one who has looked unto Christ for salvation, and that person is a man who follows God's law. His heart now is obedient to God. He has yielded his life over to Christ. And He submits to His rule and to His reign. But then we have at the end of chapter 1, we also have the wicked. And the wicked are not so. They do not submit to God's law. They do not... follow Christ. Instead, they go on living wickedly. But as we know, the Lord's way is righteous, and the way of the wicked will perish. But here in chapter 2 of Psalm, we think of those two things when we come to this Psalm, because he speaks of the nations and the peoples raging and plotting in vain, and the kings of the earth setting themselves against the Lord and against His anointed. And we know the anointed one here is Christ. He is the one who is the fulfillment of that promise that God made to David in 2 Samuel 7, verses 5-16, when he promised David that he would establish for his people peace from their enemies, and that there would be a king upon the throne, and that throne would last forever. 2 Samuel 10 and 11 says, I will raise up your offspring after you. This is what God spoke to King David, and he said, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom, and he shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. That's 2 Samuel 7 and verses 12 through 13. And so here when we come to Psalm 2, it's no doubt that King David is speaking of the Son. He is speaking of the one whom God has anointed, the one who would be the fulfillment of that promise that God had made to David. And so we need to keep those things in mind as we study this passage together. So let's begin in light of those things by looking at verses 1 through 3. Here we see, in light of the kingship of Christ, the rebellions of the nations and the vain thing that it is for them to plot in vain. It says this, Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth, they set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart, and cast away their cords from us. This is what the nations do. This is what the peoples do. The kings of the earth, they are not submitted to the Lord. Instead, they are in open rebellion against the Lord. I remember there was a Southern Baptist pastor many years ago that I heard say, people are longing for the assurance that God is a God of love. And, no, people are not doing that. People are rebelling against God. They want nothing to do with God. They don't care about God. They hate God, and that is what we see here in verses 1 through 3. In fact, the Apostle Paul says of those who are outside of Christ, in Philippians 3, 18 and 19, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, their end is destruction, their God is their belly, and they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things. And this is why the psalmist describes the world like he does here. They are doing these very things. The nations are raging, the peoples are plotting in vain, and the kings of the earth, they set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed. They did that In David's day, they went and plotted against God's anointed kings, but ultimately, they rebel against King Jesus, the only true king, and that's what we need to realize here. We find this all throughout the pages of scripture, that this is what mankind does. Man does not submit to God's law, and indeed, he cannot apart from a work of God in his life. In Psalm 4 and verse 25, we find that this psalm is quoted and speaks of this very thing, of how the people plot in vain, and the nations, they rage. But yet God has established His King. God has established His King, and no one is going to overcome this King. And that's why he refers later on in Psalm 2 and tells us that we are to find refuge in him, that we are to go to him and kiss the sun lest he be angry in the way and we perish. Well, in light of that, when we come to the New Testament, we find a continual attack on David's throne. There was always the nations coming up against God's people. They hated God's people. They hated the kings of Israel and so forth. But when we come to Matthew chapter 1, we find what Psalm 2 is speaking of also happens in Matthew 1. There we have the genealogy in Matthew 1. We find that Christ was in the line of David. And throughout the Gospels, we find that Christ was the long-awaited Messiah, the one that God spoke of in that Davidic covenant, who would fulfill 2 Samuel 7, those promises that God made to David. Yet, as we know, just as they plotted and they raged against the Lord's anointed kings, they plotted against Christ. Acts 4 24-28. We've read in quoting Psalm 2, 1 through 3, it says, and speaking of Christ, they lifted up their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them? Who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were together against the Lord and against his anointed. For truly in this city, there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." That passage there in Acts chapter 4 indicates and proves to us that Psalm 2 is about Christ. And he says there in light of them coming against Christ and crucifying him on a cross that the nations and the peoples and the kings of the earth, all of those were just like Herod, and Pontius Pilate, and the Gentiles, and the people of Israel. They hated Christ. They wanted nothing to do with Christ. And so, I think this flies in the face of what we often hear in our day, so much of the modern message today, It says that people are basically good. They're basically good, and we just need to give them the right things, and they'll come to God, manipulate them a little bit, do this and do that, and they will come. They're searching for God. No, they're not. They hate God. They want nothing to do with God, and if there's anything that shows human depravity, it is verses 1 through 3. Although they know God, and they know that He is eternal, know that He is powerful by the things in which He is made, they still plot in rebellion against His rule and His reign. Every man throughout history has done this. Every man, every woman, every child who has ever lived are evil, and this verse proves it. People don't naturally want God in their lives. They want nothing to do with God. They want to go and live their life, and they don't want God in any way, shape, or form. And if they could kill God, they would. In fact, we would kill God if it were not for the grace of God in our lives and transforming our lives. We are just like these people that are mentioned here, but only by the grace of God are we not. When you and I look at verses 1 through 3, we dare not look at this verse and say, how could they do this? Because as I said, if it was not for the grace of God, we would do the same things. Our natural response to God is one of hostility. Romans 8, 7 says, for the mind is set on the flesh, is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law, and indeed, it cannot. That's what we're like outside of Christ. We want to cast off restraint just like they did, and that is the issue in Psalm 2, 1 through 3. The goal of the rebellion is lordship. Who's going to be lord? Is it going to be the Lord's anointed, or will it be the people? But the people say in verse 3, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. Burst away these bonds or these chains and cast away these cords. And it calls to mind the idea of a yoke of a cart or a plow that was placed upon the neck of an animal. They want to throw it off. They don't want any part of it. Here not only are the chains and the cords rejected, but they are thrown off. The kingdoms of this earth are by nature opposed to God's rule. And I don't think that we have to look very far to see that, even in our day. Just read the headlines. Look at what our politicians do and their policies and what they want to implement. Look at how people live. Look at the things in which they are engaged in. They hate God. They want nothing to do with God. They oppose Christ's rule over their life. But why? Why would they do this? This senseless rebellion that they plot against the Lord and His anointed. In verse 1, we see that it is just that. It is senseless rebellion against the Lord. All that they are doing is in vain. They're not going to get away with it. For example, that's why in verse one we see the question, why? Why do they do this? Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointing, saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. It is such a vain thing because the Lord is king over all. He's the sovereign Lord over everything that exists. The One who made the sun and the moon, you want to go up against Him? You think you can defeat Him? You think you can dethrone Him? It is a fool's errand to do such a thing. It is a foolish thing. And that's why the psalmist asked the question, why? He recognizes how ridiculous this is. He recognizes how futile it is for anyone to try to live a life apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. which is why he asked the question, why? The irony of it all, he knows that, as verse four points out, that he is the Lord, and the Lord, what does he do? He sits in the heavens and he laughs, verse four, and it is the Lord's anointed who will, as we read on in verse nine, will dash into pieces these people like a potter's vessel. They have no way of going up against the Lord. Vain it is to do such a thing. Vain. What is vanity? You think of the ocean. It just comes one wave after another, and what does it accomplish? Nothing. It just keeps coming in over and over, and nothing changes. That is how it is with these people. It's a senseless thing. It's nothing but noise, and it accomplishes nothing. to set yourself against the Lord. Now, why is it pointless and vain for the whole world to kick against the Lord and his established king? Well, to answer that question, we go down to verse 4 through 6. Here we see God's response to the rebellion. It says, He who sits in the heavens, he laughs. The Lord holds them in derision, and He will speak to them in His wrath and terrify them in His fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. In verse 4, the scene shifts. No longer is the psalmist speaking of what is going on on earth, but now he is speaking about what is going on in heaven. And here in heaven we see the Lord, He is laughing, mocking these evil men and their futile efforts to cast off, restrain, cast off all of the Lordship of Christ in their life. He laughs at it all, all of this rebellion. He doesn't laugh in the sense that he finds it comical in like, he joins in with them and thinks it's some kind of big game, but he knows how futile it is. He knows how vain it is and how foolish it is for them to act this way. Psalm 37, 13 tells us, the Lord laughs at the wicked for he sees that his day is coming. We have spoken of man's day when man rebels against God, but God is going to have His day on that final day when He calls into account every careless word, every deed, every thought that has set itself up against the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be a day of reckoning that is coming. That is why He laughs here, because it is mere foolish for people to think that they can throw off the Lord's reign, the Lord of all the earth. If we read Isaiah 40 and 22, we see why this rebellion is so laughable. Isaiah 40, 22 tells us, it is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants are like grasshoppers who stretch out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. The inhabitants are like grasshoppers, and he whom they are trying to rebel against sits on the circle of the earth. Now, I don't know if you've ever been in an airplane, but when you go up in a plane and you look down upon this world, everything is put into its proper perspective. We look like a Lilliputian world. We're very small and tiny. It's funny how guys will walk around all buffed up and they think they're strong and they're all this and a bag of chips, but yet when you get in a plane, you see how big they really are. They are nothing. They are specks in light of even this universe. Just in the scope of this world, if you compare just the earth to these men, They look like, it looks like they live in Whoville, if you've ever seen Horton Hears a Who. The little people that nobody could see, that's what we are like, and yet they boast, and they use their mouths to speak of great things that they have accomplished. We are nothing compared to the one who has made the sun, and made the moon, and made the universe, and all that is there. the one who sits above the circle of the earth. We are nothing. We are like grasshoppers in comparison to Him. And how foolish it is, how futile it is to throw off His divine restraint in our life. And that is why God laughs when we seek to rebel against Christ. It's a foolish thing. It's a foolish thing, and we know that the Lord will release His fury. Then falling on the heels of God's laughter, we see the words, and actions of the Lord. He not only laughs, but in verses 5 and 6, it says, He will speak to them in His wrath and terrify them in His fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. Do you think you're going to undermine God's decree? Do you think you're going to undermine what God has said, what He has put in place? Do you think you're going to overturn that? You will not overturn it. You will be terrified in His fury, in His wrath. It will be poured out upon you if you rebel against the Lord Jesus Christ. Nahum 1, 2-3 says the Lord is jealous and an avenging God. He's jealous for His name. He's jealous for His people. He's jealous for His Word. But the Lord is a jealous and a venging God. The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He keeps wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm and the clouds or the dust of His feet. The Lord, in His majestic holiness, will not share His glory with another. God's Word will come to pass, and God, from before the foundations of the world were laid, He set His Son upon that throne. He knew that He was going to set His Son up as the Anointed One. That is what we need to keep in mind lest we try to rebel against the Lord. But that is what people do. They rebel and they think for some reason God is not angry at them. They think that God is pleased with them and God owes them something. But what God owes them is wrath. What God owes them is to terrify them in His fury. We see this even in Romans 118, for the wrath of God is, that is present tense, revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Not only does God's wrath presently abide upon people who rebel against the Lord, but it's also, as we see here, there's an eschatological wrath, there's a wrath to come, a wrath that will come on that day. When He is revealed, God will punish the nations. God promises wrath for all of those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords of their life. Hebrews 10, 26 and 29, that's why we see, for if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment. and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse of a punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God? If you cast off the Lord Jesus Christ, and you try to live apart from Him, and you try to even maybe establish your own righteousness apart from Him, God will punish you. He has warned this throughout the pages of Scripture in Psalm 2, Hebrews 10, and many other places. The world may rebel against the Lord and reject His anointed one, the Lord Jesus Christ, but the plans of the wicked, they will be thwarted. They will come to an end, and His King will be established. And anyone who seeks to live apart from His Lordship and His and his kingship over their life, they will not go unpunished. Nothing will overthrow the sovereign Lord of the universe. Now we come to chapter 2 and verses 7 and 9, and we see the decree concerning the Lord's anointed. He says, he says, I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, you are my son and today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. In verses 7 and 9, we see a reminder of the Lord's promise to establish the kingdom on earth through that Davidic king. God's promised David that there would be one on the throne, and it would be an everlasting throne. It would be an established throne. And here the Lord has done it. The Lord has decreed who his anointed will be. You are my son, and today I have begotten you. He has chosen Christ to be that very King, to be the one whom the Lord has set up, and He will give the nations to His Son. All things will be subjected to Him. Did we not learn about this in Hebrews chapter 1 and 2? If you will, go there for just a second with me. In Hebrews chapter 1 and 2, these very words that we hear in this passage are referred to as Christ. For example, we'll just start reading in verse 8 of chapter 1. But of the Son he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. If we were to go back up to verse 5, we would see that it is talking about Christ. For to which of the angels did God ever say, You are my son, today I have begotten you? It is speaking of the deity and the kingship, the sovereignty of Christ there in Hebrews chapter 1, which is what we learn about here in Psalm chapter 2. And so, we find in this passage of Scripture that He is going to rule over all, and in Hebrews 2 we find that very thing. Remember, He was made lower than the angels for a little while, and God crowned Him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under His feet, verse 8. That's Hebrews 2 and verse 8. Now, in putting everything in subjection to Him, He left nothing outside of His control. And at present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him. I mean, when Biden, the illegitimate president, is our president, and doing all the stuff he is doing, and you've got all of these other crooked politicians and world leaders, it looks like things aren't in subjection to Christ. But yet, the author of Hebrews said, at the present we do not yet see everything in subjection to him, but we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God he may taste death for everyone. It's going to happen. There's coming a day when we will see this fully, that everything will be in subjection under his feet. The last enemy, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, to be destroyed is death. There's coming a resurrection. He's already defeated death, but there's coming a resurrection for all of those who are in Christ. Every enemy of Christ will come under His rule and under His reign. Philippians 2 tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. That is who Christ is, and God has decreed it, and it will come to pass. It is like a check you can take to the bank any time of the day, and it's good. God has told us this is what will happen, and it will happen. God will carry out His plan. Now we go to verse 8. We see that he has declared who will be king, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Quoted in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 5, which is reference to Christ. And he says in verse 8, ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. the ends of the earth, your possession, because the Father loved the Son. He's given everything to Him, all things He will inherit. That's why John 3.35 says, He has given all things into His hand. David could indeed be called the king of Israel, But this is the true king, the one who is going to be the fulfillment. David died, but Christ will be king forever, and he will carry out those promises that God has made. Christ's universal rule is a promise that God has made. As far back as the Garden of Eden, when he said that he would crush the serpent's head the one who led the world in rebellion, Genesis 3, that one, the seed of Eve, would rise up, the seed of the woman, and he would crush, he would rule, and he would reign, and he would bring all of those wrongs and make them right. He would punish the wicked. And it was God's promise to Abraham. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and kings would come from him. Genesis 17, 5-7. He would be the Father of many nations and kings would come from Him. The Father of many nations, the Gentiles come in, they come in under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He is that true King. He's the promise and the fulfillment of that promise that He made to David. that His kingdom would be forever, 2 Samuel 7 and verse 16. And all of this, all of these promises that God made in Genesis 3.15 all the way back to Abraham in Genesis 17 and 2 Samuel 7 and all the rest, Christ is the fulfillment of those promises. God will bring it about. The universal rule of the kingdom under David, it wasn't universal, it wasn't even, it was not complete. David didn't rule over all, but Christ, we know, under his rule, under his reign, he will rule over all. the rule of the Messiah, the Lord's anointing, and it will be fully realized on that day when he comes back and he takes it by force. The first time he came, he came to seek and to save that which is lost, but the second time that he comes, He will come to break the nations with a rod of iron. Verse 9 says, You shall break them with a rod of iron. God will give him the nations. He will break them with a rod of iron and dash them into pieces like a potter's vessel. There will be some like the nations, the people, the kings, and the rulers that we find in verses 1 through 3 who will try to usurp this kingdom. They will come together and wage war against God's King, yet the Lord's anointed Christ will bring everything under His authority. He will have them come, but they will not win. They will not overpower Him, and they will not overtake Him. He will break them with a rod of iron and dash them into pieces like a potter's vessel. And likewise, we know there will come a time, as 1 Corinthians says, In 1 Corinthians 15, 24, and 25, it says, Now, as I said, right now, we look at the headlines, and it doesn't seem like Christ is king, does it? Because it looks like these wicked people are getting away with all of these things, but They're not. God has appointed a time in which he will judge them. God has appointed a day in which Christ will come and he will judge the nations. The nations will be given to him and he will break them like pots, clay pots. And that's what we see here. And in light of that, we who are believers, we who are under the kingship and the lordship of Jesus Christ, we ought to rejoice. We ought to be looking for that day, because on that day we will be delivered from our enemies. From every enemy that has come against us, God will deliver us. And we'll see that in Joel chapter 3. God will come and restore the nations of Judah and Jerusalem. He will come and He will bless His people, all of those who have looked to Him. He will be their refuge on that day, that great day of judgment. there's a warning for those who are in rebellion right now. And that comes in verses 10 through 12. It says, now therefore, in light of all of these things, that's why the word therefore is there, it's referring back to all the things we've just learned, that God has decreed that Christ is his son, he has begotten him and the nations, he will make his heritage in the ends of the earth, he'll break them with a rod of iron and dash them into pieces, But now we find in verse 10, in light of these things, therefore, O kings, be wise, be warned, O rulers of the earth, be warned because this is what is going to happen. Verse 11, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Here we find in this passage in verses 10 through 12, an urgent warning. a warning for those now who are rebelling against the Lord, whether it be a king or the peoples or the nations. Christ is establishing His kingdom. He is establishing it. We see as He came into this earth and He began to cast out demons and do mighty miracles and so forth. We see the kingdom breaking in. That age, this world is coming to an end. His kingdom is being established. Even now He reigns in the hearts of men, even in this place. But one day it will be fully realized. And in light of that coming day, we are to be warned. We are to be warned, all the rulers of the earth, everyone, serve the Lord now. Serve Him with fear. Rejoice with trembling. This is an urgent call and an exhortation to take heed to this warning and turn to Christ now before it is too late. It doesn't just say that he's going to crush the nations and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. It does say that and he will do that. But notice the grace of God in this passage. The last part says, blessed are all who takes refuge in Him. There is a way to escape. Maybe you've rebelled against God and you've been living apart from Him, but if you will turn to Christ, if you will turn and kiss the Son, if you will pay homage to Him, He will forgive you. He is a forgiving King. He is a King that will wipe out all of your sins. He will wipe out all of your sins and remove the condemnation that is against you. Because this is a King who has died for His people. He has died upon the cross taking the wrath of God. that you might be forgiven, that you might be able to have your sins wiped away, and that you might become a child of God. He has done this, but for those who are outside of Christ, what a terrifying thing this will be. If the Son, if you stand before the Son as a rebel, if you stand before this King as one who has trampled his law and lived however you want, He will be angry, and you will perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. It will come, and it will come certain. You can bank on it. It will happen. But the Bible says in John 3, 36, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. What a terrifying thing it is to fall in the hands of the living God. Revelation 19 describes that day of fury. And I want you to listen to it as I read in verses 11 through 21. John said, Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and the one sitting is called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he judges, and he makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and his name And He has a name written that no one knows but Himself. He is clothed in a robe, dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is the Word of God. And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, His Word. And He will rule them with a rod of iron." There it is. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God, the Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He is a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw an archangel I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, come and gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet, who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, and the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. Today is the day of salvation. Do not wait until that day if you are outside of Christ, because you will not escape the wrath of the Almighty. You will not escape the wrath of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Paul, that's why he said, Today is the day of salvation. This is why right now it says in here, Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear. That is right now. Rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. You want blessing instead of curse? You want salvation instead of wrath? then kiss the Son. Submit to His Lordship. You see, there's people who will say that salvation is not, all you have to do is cry out to Him, ask Him to forgive you, and He doesn't have to be Lord over your life. He can just be your Savior, and then you can live however you want, basically. And that can come later, the Lordship process. No. The beginning of salvation is coming and submitting to King Jesus. It's laying down your arms, laying down your sin, and coming to Him, and trusting Him by faith to save you, and crying out for mercy that He would not kill you, that He would not throw your soul and body into hell for all eternity. and you submit to His Lordship. My sheep know Me, He says. And what do they do? They obey Me. They follow Me. They hear My voice and they follow Me. They're obedient. They're obedient because He's the King. And they follow Him. That is what it means to be a true follower of Christ. You can't live how you want to and think that you are saved. If you are a true Christian, you have come unto the Lordship of Jesus Christ, this King. And you have come to Him, and you have paid homage. You have bowed down to Him, and you have cried out for mercy. And He is a gracious King. He is a kind King. He is fierce, but He is good. He is gracious. He is kind. He is gentle. And for all of those who take refuge in Him, He will save them from that day of wrath. That's what we've been learning in Joel. Joel's telling them about the great day of the Lord when God will judge the world in righteousness. But he tells them that it's God, if they will come to Him, and they will look unto Him for salvation, He is gracious, He is merciful, He is steadfast in love, and He relents of disaster. It doesn't have to be this way. You are put before you two choices, life or death. You can live your life how you want to right now, what you think is just going to go on and everything is all about you, and come to an end and it be crushed under the weight of God's wrath, or you can come to Christ today and trust Him. and find a better way to live, which is under His rule and under His kingship. If you are not a Christian today, I urge you to do that, to cry out to God and live for Him and follow His ways rather than your own ways, because there is a coming day of wrath. And for everyone here today who is a Christian, who have fled to the sun that they might find salvation and find refuge, May you remind yourself of this passage of what a great hope we have. Don't grow discouraged this year as you read the headlines. And I can guarantee you, I'm not a prophet. I'm not the son of a prophet. I don't know the future. But I can tell you by living in this world and all that we see now, there's going to be headlines. And they may bring fear at times. They may bring discouragement and things like that. But remember who's king. Remember who's going to have the last say. Remember who's the one who is going to break the nations like a potter's vessel, who's going to break all of those filthy politicians who continue in rebellion against him. Remember who he is. Remember he is your king and you serve him and find your hope in Him that when He comes, you will be blessed. You will be blessed because you will see Him as He is, face to face. He will walk among us. He will be with us. He will never leave us, nor will He forsake us. and He will restore all things, and we will live with Him forever, and there will no more be filth. There will no more be sin, because the former things He will have taken away. No more crying, no more pain, none of that, because His kingdom will be established. So as we go forth into this year, remind yourself of this great truth, that Christ is King. The Lord has said to Him, You are My Son, today I have begotten You. He has set His King on Zion, His holy hill. He is King. No matter what the headlines say, He is King, and it will fully come to pass. We will see all things in subjection to Him. May you comfort yourself in those words. Let's pray. Father, as we come to You, We thank you, Lord, for these great truths concerning the fact that Christ is King. And Lord, what a vain thing it is, what a foolish thing it is to plot against your anointed. Lord, it is a foolish thing, and I pray today that if there's anybody here not living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, that you would bring conviction, that you would show them their sin and their rebellion and the danger in which they find themselves. And I pray, Lord, that they would come, that they would stop being rebels, that they would come and they would submit themselves to Christ, that they would cry out to you for mercy and grace, and I pray that they would find salvation. I pray that they would kiss the sun lest he be angry and they perish in the way. And Lord, for every believer here today, I pray that we would find our hope and our joy this year in the fact that Christ is King. And no matter what happens in this year, no matter what comes our way, may we comfort ourselves with these words. that Christ is King and He is King forever. And His rule and His reign will be forever and He will stomp out every bit of unrighteousness, every wicked and evildoer. He will do away with them. And Lord, we pray that Your kingdom would come and that You would come quickly. Lord, we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.