Please open in your scriptures to Psalm 2 once again. That portion of the Old Testament that we just read together. Psalm chapter 2. What we see there is that there is indeed a raging war against God recorded for us in Psalm 2. Psalm 2 happens to be a messianic psalm. There are several of them. A messianic psalm meaning that it speaks of the coming Messiah. And you see that throughout the verses here. My emphasis this morning, however, is not going to be so much on the messianic nature of the psalm, but rather I want you to see in the first four verses that there is certainly a battle brewing. I came across this chart this week, a chart that speaks of what Americans think about the 50 states in the Union. This guy's account has 3,000 subscribers who answered this question. What is your least favorite state? What is your least favorite state? And you'll notice that all the blue, dark blue states hate California. The red states, California, Alaska, Hawaii, That's New Mexico, Oklahoma, all hate Texas. Now what I find very interesting is that the dark green states hate Florida. Florida hates Florida. Let's go back up here where we are. The yellow states. hate New Jersey. Delaware, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania are all yellow. They hate New Jersey. Now here's what I think is the most telling of all in this chart. I don't know that you can see the key down here, but New Jersey hates all the other 49 states. Not a scientific survey, but 3,000 people answered. And it's so telling, isn't it? Welcome to New Jersey. Our world seems to be always embroiled in some sort of animosity, a constant animosity. People brewing, people fighting, people demanding People conspiring, whether you're talking about political parties or neighbors or co-workers. It is so common, it has become the norm. The people locking horns and conspiring against each other. Now, conspiracies do abound, I think. Conspiracies do abound. There are many. I'm one of those guys that, for some absurd reason, I enjoy watching programs that speak about conspiracies. Conspiracies that conceal the real truth, things like Bigfoot, does he exist? Have you seen the latest footage? Google it. What is the real source of UFOs? Oh, there's always something on that. I don't believe them, I just enjoy watching them. I don't know why. The identity of the Loch Ness Monster. How about all those empty FEMA camps? What a conspiracy that is. And the JFK assassination. I could watch that over and over. I don't know why I enjoy watching those, but I do. And these programs always end without any conclusive information. They never tell you exactly. They always end leaving you hanging. The hunters of the Abominable Snowman, this time they were stopped because the Sherpas blocked the way. The Loch Ness Lucy actually ends up being a floating log in the lake. It wasn't a monster after all this time. Spontaneous human combustion ends up was not so spontaneous after all. Those alien implants people are speaking about are actually parasites, probably, from the Amazon River. And these programs always tend to end with some sort of ominous music. Music that leaves us wondering what's going to happen next. One day the truth is going to be revealed, but it's probably going to be too late. And those programs come on again and again and again. I don't believe too much in many of these conspiracies because I'm of the opinion that if there's three, four, five people out there who know the truth, the only way that you're going to keep the truth from coming out is by getting rid of four of them. Because where people exist and have knowledge, they tend to talk. So I'm not too much, I don't find these conspiracies to be very credible, let's put it that way. But there are conspiracies out there. And in Psalm chapter two, or Psalm two, verses one through four, we see a conspiracy. And as I was reading earlier this week, I came across an article, an old article, that spoke about this very conspiracy, and it took me through the history of the church to show the depth of this conspiracy. Let's take a look once again at Psalm 2, verses 1, 2, 3, and 4. Here we see the conspiracy, and this conspiracy is against God. 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 anointed saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. When I say conspiracy, I'm not talking about a secret, covert plan to do something evil against the gates of heaven. That's not what I'm talking about. When I say conspiracy, I'm simply talking about a generic, ongoing, malicious plotting against God in order to undo the work that God has done and in order to shackle the Church of God. That conspiracy exists. a constant effort to bind the Church of God and work against Jesus Christ. And Psalm 2, in these four verses, especially in the first three, we see that this conspiracy exists. Verse four tells us how God responds. He laughs at the conspiracy. In other words, he looks and says, really? That's the best that you got? He laughs and holds them in derision. We do not have to wonder whether or not there is a conspiracy against the Church of Christ. We don't have to wonder because the Bible here tells us there is. Universally and even throughout all of church history, kings of this earth have plotted against God and his church. And even now, and for always until Christ comes back and takes his full reign over this world, people, governments, and institutions are going to fight against Christ and his church. Why are we surprised? Take as a case in point what we see in John chapter 18. There we see two men, King Herod in the days of Christ and Pontius Pilate, the governor, the Roman governor in that region of Israel. They formed an alliance, a conspiracy. Two enemies became friends. Friends for a day. Where enmity once prevailed, now they've come together and they've formed an alliance against Jesus Christ. Why? To serve their own purposes. For their own good. They conspired to wage war on Jesus Christ. In fact, what they tried to do together was they tried to stop Jesus Christ by putting him on the cross. Instead, they were working against themselves when they thought they were doing themselves a great favor. Look at what we read in Acts chapter 2, verse 23. In Acts chapter 2, verse 23, I'll read it to you. Peter is preaching, and he looks to that audience of people who had just recently witnessed the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the awful death of Christ on the cross at Golgotha. And Peter says, He, Jesus Christ, was handed over by God's set plan and foreknowledge. And you, by the hands of the lawless, put him, Jesus Christ, to death by nailing him to the cross. And there we see the knowledge and the will of God coupled with the choice and volition of man. And how God, and only God can do this, bring the two together. so that it serves to fulfill God's purpose. Isn't that amazing? They made an alliance. They conspired against God only to find themselves falling right into the purpose and plan of God. There are two kinds of conspiracies in this world. There's a conspiracy on a human level. There's a conspiracy on a spiritual level. On the human level, what we see is, just as I mentioned, Howard and Pilate, Men joined together, men with men, nations with nations, to form some sort of unlawful alliance. We see this sort of alliance throughout history, but more recently, very commonly, we see it in the Middle East, where people just join together, not because they love each other or care for each other, but because it's to their advantage to come together. And the result in the Middle East is a constant battle after battle after battle as one group launches missiles into another's territory and so on and so on. Constant threat of war because of these alliances. Constant. The other conspiracy is a spiritual conspiracy. A conspiracy at a spiritual level. Turn with me to the epistle of 1 John chapter 5 and look at verse 19. 1 John 5.19. Now John is writing in a context in which the church has already been very well established. However, there are false teachings now, not just trickling in, but streaming into the church. And so John reminds the people of the early church of this reality. There is a conspiracy against God and his church. Look at what he writes. He says, we know that we are from God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. We know that we who are in Christ, we are from God. At one point earlier, he says we were not, but now we are. We are from God. However, there is a group who is not from God. Instead, they belong to the evil one. And what does the evil one do? The evil one conspires against God. That's why he's evil. There is us and there is them. A conspiracy against God and against the people of God, that is to say, his church. that originates in the spiritual realm, the spirit world. Look, my friends, the spirit world does exist. And if you know Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are to be engaged in the spiritual warfare. Now, not only Christians are facing spiritual warfare, the difference is that the Christian can actually be victorious. But there is a spirit world, there is spiritual warfare happening around us, and I realize that in our day and culture, there is so much emphasis on the otherness of life, that there is a spirit world, that people use expressions like I'm very spiritual, and I hear of all kinds of spiritual phenomenon. But it's always in a positive. What I am amazed is that though there is so much talk about the spirit world in our culture, Most people are dead to the reality of the dangers of this spiritual warfare. It is indeed warfare. It is not all positive, and dare I say, most of it is not when you encounter it outside of the Word of God. It is potent, and some of it will be in your face and frightening, but most of it will be subtle and nearly passive. and it becomes the norm of our day and we don't recognize it as spiritual warfare. But it exists. And you struggle with it, often not even realizing that there's a spirit world out there that is trying to influence you and grab hold of you and make you develop habits that are not good, to make you apathetic to the things of God, to the church of God, Spiritual warfare that you can actually yawn your way through because it seems so subtle and so ineffective. And yet, little by little, it has a stranglehold around your soul. Spiritual conspiracy causes human conspiracy against Christ. It begins in the spiritual world And it makes its way into the physical world, so that before you know it, you are being impacted by it. The world lies under the sway of the wicked one, is what we see in 1 John 5. And the world remains in the hands of this wicked one. So every Christian needs to be equipped for spiritual warfare. Look, if you are caught snoozing, I assure you, you will be caught losing. It's that simple. Evidence of the conspiracy is seen here in Psalm 2. Psalm 2, verses 1, 2, 3, shows to us the evidence of the conspiracy. We see it also in the New Testament throughout, but let me just point out Luke chapter 6 to you. Luke chapter 6, verse 22 describes the reality of many Christians. Look at the conspiracy, how it plays out in our modern day lives. Luke 6, 22. Blessed are you when men hate you. Blessed are you when men ostracize you and insult you. Blessed are you when men scorn your name as being evil. Why? Because of your faith in the Son of Man. Because of your faith in Jesus Christ. If people can so readily see your faith in Christ, that out of hatred for God they scorn you, you are blessed. That means that you're actually reflecting Christ to your community, to the people around you. And because they hate Christ, they hate you. Now nobody wants to be hated. I know I don't like being hated. But I would rather be hated by those who hate Christ than to be loved by those who hate Christ. They will naturally hate me for my love of Christ. That's a good thing. Here's a better thing, that I would pray and share the gospel with them, to them, so that they would become lovers of God as well. The evidence of this conspiracy is noted here in Luke 6.22 in the fact that man has rejected Jesus Christ. In the fact that man has rejected truth. and therefore will hate anybody who embraces Christ and his truth. The product of spiritual conspiracy is really in the hearts of everyday men, of everyday children, of everyday women. In their hearts is the evidence that there's a conspiracy against our God. They are haters of Christ. They wage war against the Bible of God. And they ignore the truth of Jesus Christ. Now, some of them will ignore that truth very passionately. You might see them on the news, angered and raging. But most people are not passionate in their rage against Christ, in their hate of Christ. Most people are just passive. They hate Christ. And when you speak to them of the gospel, they say, oh, OK, well, look at the time. I better get going. Most people, in their hatred of Christ, are going to be very quiet. They're not going to swing their fist. They're not going to rage in anger. Their anger is going to be sedated, but raging nonetheless, but internalized. And they will simply dismiss God. This week I was asked to perform a funeral for someone I did not know. Always very difficult to perform a funeral for someone I had no knowledge of. But it is always an opportunity to bring comfort, consolation to people who are mourning. And I always bring the word of God to them. It's the only thing that will console them and give them hope. And so I did. And they were grateful. And as I was conveying the gospel, a couple of people just got up and walked out. Nobody threw anything at me. Nobody said, how dare you come while we're mourning and talk to me about what I should believe. They simply made their protest clear. They got up and walked out until I was done. a conspiracy against God. Not against me, I don't take it personally. But God does. You know, church history bears this out, that there is a definite, deep, well-established conspiracy against the Church of Christ, and it is raging against God. As we witness the endless struggle of the Church against the forces of darkness, against the flaming darts of the devil himself, the prince of the power of the air, when we witness these things happening, we can say, yes, there is a conspiracy, we are in a battle, that is the plight of the church until Christ takes his full reign. In fact, let me take you through church history, if I may. Let me just give to you certain aspects of the last 2,000 years of church history and show to you the conspiracy that has existed since the very get-go. During the first century, during the first century of the church, Thousands, thousands of Christians were martyred simply because they believed in Christ. Some were stoned to death. Some of them were martyred. They were killed by lions in the Colosseum. Others died by the gladiators in that same place. But the one that always strikes my mind are those who had to sit in the hot seat in the Colosseum. People were actually, Christians were actually taken and given the opportunity to deny Christ or continue to embrace Christ while sitting on a red hot cast iron chair. Why? Because there's a conspiracy against God. And again and again and again, if you read through Fox's book, Book of Martyrs, You'll see that people refused to deny Christ, no matter how big the lion was, no matter how strong the gladiator was, no matter how hot that chair was. They continued, and they died, and they woke up in the shores of heaven. But this was right at the very beginning of the Christian church. By the early 200s, corruption of the biblical truth was already very prevalent in the Church of Christ. As I mentioned before, Gnosticism had made its way into the Church. And another religion called Manichaeanism, which combines Gnosticism with the Bible with Persian or Iranian folklore. Can you imagine the confusion that would be? And that had made its way into the Church. By the fourth century, the Western world became Christianized under Constantine, who became a Christian man, and now he wanted to make all of his empire Christian. Sounds good, right? But this did not happen without corruption. By the fourth century, the biblical canon, what we understand to be the 66 books of the Bible, that was already recognized. But heresies like Pelagianism had made its way into the church and had to be corrected. had to be rebuked again and again as people under Satan's sway infiltrated the Church of God, a conspiracy. By the Middle Ages, that's from the 5th century to the 15th century, for 1,000 years from without, there was the push by the Islamic nations to infiltrate the Christianized nations, to break down the Church of God. And so, crusade after crusade, seven times over, the Church battled against Islam. But the greater battle was not from without, the greater battle was from within. From within, during that same time, the Church became more and more politically powerful. And with that power came corruption. The church went from being the household of God to becoming a political powerhouse filled, filled with corruption. In fact, if you were to pick up a history, a church history book from this age, it would be a horror book. Filled with corruption. Christianity, you'll recall, was the religious practice of medieval Europe. Europe was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. The majority of the population at that time in that region were Christians. But if you were a Christian, it meant you were a Roman Catholic Christian. That was your only option. You see, Roman Catholicism came out of the New Testament church. It did not begin as a corrupt church. It was the New Testament church. Roman only because it was established in Rome. Catholic meaning universal. But what happened as the church became more and more powerful, it became more and more corrupt, and the church that we see in the New Testament no longer existed. as they took on heretical views. Eventually, that church split. The Roman Catholic Church in the West, the Eastern Orthodox Church in the East, but neither one of them identified salvation by grace alone, and they still don't. In the early 1500s, the Bible was translated into the common language, especially by a man named Tyndale. He was not alone. But men who were translating the scriptures into a language where people could actually read it and understand it, they were being arrested and charged with heresy, not by outsiders, but by the very people of the church, by the very leaders of the church, saying, you put God's word in a language where people could read it and understand it? Heretic. And they were burned alive at the stake. Thomas Hinton, a priest who had met with Tyndale in Europe, took two copies of the English translation of the Bible and hid it in his wagon, smuggled it back to England, was caught and burned at the stake alive as a heretic, a conspiracy. against the word of God, the church of God, against Christ himself. The 1500s, about 500 years ago, just a little bit over 500 years ago, brought about the Reformation. And the Reformation was actually an effort to try to reform what had become the corrupted church. Wanted to bring it back, reform it, reform it back into the biblical standard. But instead the church divided. as the conspiracy intensified and the church feared men more than they feared God. Now, the reformers persevered. They persisted. Some were martyred. Many were. Battles actually were waged against them because of their determination to go back to what the Bible says. Luther himself, the father of the Reformation, had to hide in the castle for many years under a pseudonym. He was passed off as being a knight, a retired knight, Sir So-and-So, just to stay alive. In the 1600s and the 1700s, Amazingly, biblical Christianity had actually grasped the conscience of people both in Europe as well as later then in the colonies here in the States. But unfortunately, then too, for many people, their faith became tainted. Tainted by man's need for power. tainted by a demand for more and more possessions, for more and more personal gain. And it was during this era that the Puritans surfaced as a refreshing voice in the midst of all of this corruption. A Dutch group determined to abide by the scriptures eventually made their way here to the colonies, or to what we call the states today. And greatly, due to them, the United States is what it is today because they took on biblical principles for family, for work, for government, for faith. We here today are by and large the byproduct, certainly of God's grace, but by and large the product of what the Puritans started. How refreshing it was when they came And from that age came some wonderful preachers and even temporary revivals in Europe as well as here in the colonies. It was during the 1700s that the first great awakening came about under the preaching of a man by the name of Jonathan Edwards in New England. And through his preaching, through one particular sermon, one sermon, sinners in the hands of an angry God. A revival broke out that spread throughout all the colonies, changing the aroma of this young nation. Names like Wesley, Whitfield, Wilberforce, all these surfaced to the top as men who were doing great things for the kingdom of God. But there's a conspiracy. The devil's always fighting against the Church of God. At that same time, opposite philosophies prevailed as well, namely deism. Deism looks like Christianity, but it's not. Deism says, oh yes, the Bible speaks of Christ. Oh yes, the Bible speaks of God. However, God no longer cares about us. God created us and has walked away. Ben Franklin was a deist. who sat under the influence of Whitefield but told George Whitefield, I cannot believe what you are saying. And yet they were friends. Deism says that God is like a man who spins a top and then walks away and lets it spin by itself until it stops. The Bible tells us that that is not the God of the scriptures. Quite different. In fact, Psalm 2, verse 4, we're told, he who sits in the heavens last and the Lord holds them in derision, look at verse 9, you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. There's our hope that God is not the God of the deist. He has not abandoned us at all. He is very much with us. In the 1800s, the church was well established on both sides of the Atlantic. And men like Spurgeon, Moody, Warfield, all became prominent names as God's word went out from their pulpits, whether in Great Britain or here in the States. bringing about then in the 1800s a second great awakening, a second great spiritual revival. But because of this conspiracy there was also at the same time on the other end of the battle was a revival of spiritism and people flocked to the spirit world. Seances and the calling of spirits from the dead. It was during the 1800s that numerous cults began, some cults that still exist today, all began in the 1800s. And it was during the 1800s that the Word of God, instead of being understood to be the Word of God, it became suspect, which takes us then into the 1900s, closer to our time now. In the 1900s, modernism had actually clenched the mind of the Western world. However, the Bible became marginalized, put off to the side. Christ was reduced in the 1900s. And an all-out battle began to try to make the church impotent. The church had quite a lot of influence in people's day-to-day lives. And they decided, no, too much. Modernism came in and tried to make the church simply impotent. It was during the 1900s that some wonderful Bible teachers and preachers came about. There's a long list. People like C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, Machen, Tozer, Jones, Barnhouse, all these great preachers of the Word of God, defenders of the faith, people who kept the precepts of God at the forefront of culture. And it was during the 1900s that God moved within the church hundreds and hundreds of missionaries who went out and influenced the rest of the world with the gospel of Christ. But because the conspiracy is great, many churches during the 1900s flocked to a mainline status, ignoring the Bible as God's inspired world. And it was during this 1900s, not too long ago, some of you were there, that evolution crept in and became the science. of the land, replacing creation. Two world wars disheartened the world, depression deflated us, technology excited us, and the conspirators were able to persuade the nations that our hope is not in God, do not place your hope in God, rather place your hope in man, and humanism was created. Which leads us to today. Today we live in a postmodern society, And the conspirators have come up with a whole new arsenal. How are we going to fight against the Church of Christ now? They came up with the time bomb of existentialism. Existentialism is where we live today, and it says that, look, if you want truth, you have to create your own truth, because truth doesn't exist. You have to create it as you live. An arsenal of hedonism, which says you live for the moment. Live for the moment. Do as you please. Relativism, which says that no absolute truth exists. That's what we're battling against today. That's what the conspirators are doing against the Church of Christ now. The pursuit of earthly prosperity. and at the same time such a shallow spirituality. You see what the conspirators are doing? Liberal, anti-Christian, anti-ethical, morally neutral standards have become commonplace as the conspirators wage war against Christ and his church. And here we are in the battle. And sometimes we forget that the battle is even raging. The present day current events tells me how significant this battle is. This battle is so significant, these conspirators are so determined to wage war against Christ and his church, against you, that in these last 100 years around the world, more people have died as martyrs for Christ than the previous 2,000 years of the church combined. more in the last 100 years than all of church history combined. A determination to see the end of the Church of Jesus Christ. Worldwide, laws threaten to penalize Christians for speaking up in regards to what the Bible says, what they believe. And the general mood of the culture, even here, is certainly to mock and marginalize people of Christian faith. But look at what Psalm 2.3 says. This is a paraphrase of what they believe. Come, let us break his chains, they say, and free ourselves from slavery to God. That's their quest. Which brings us to Isaiah chapter 8 as we draw this to an end. Isaiah chapter 8, if you begin to read at verse 11, Right on down to verse 17. It conveys to us that they knowingly and very maliciously are united against God. My friends, keep in mind that Satan does only what he is permitted to do. He will only do what God allows him to do. But never forget that he will do all that he is allowed to do. He is not innocuous. He is not to be trifled with. He is not one that you open the door just a little and hope that he's just gonna stick his nose in. No, he will make his way in. He will do all that he is allowed to do. Yes, he is on a chain, restrained by the will of God. The scriptures tell us to resist the devil and he will run away. He will flee. But why will he flee when you resist him? Is it because he's afraid of you? No, he's not afraid of you. Why will he flee? Is it because of your claim on the name of Jesus Christ? No. The reason he will flee is because God said, when that Christian resists you, you must run. from them. He will only do what God allows him to do. He will flee because God said he has to flee, but you must resist. Beware that you do not grow weary, and because of your tiredness you simply capitulate to those who are conspiring against God. In other words, my friends, do not give in, do not give up. Stand up for what you know to be true, stand up for Christ in you, stand up for his word, stand up for his church. Speak the truth in season and out of season. Yes, speak it in a loving way, speak it in a gentle way, but don't back down. Do not fear man more than you fear God. Love his word, love his church, love his truth. Daily. Keep in mind that in our democratic society, your vote matters. How you vote will help determine the outcome of the conspirators. Because God uses the human vote in his providence. Look at Proverbs chapter 29. Proverbs 29 and verse 12. It reads this way. If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked. meaning that our leaders will impact the course of our nation. Therefore, as people who profess Christ, vote, and vote according to biblical, not practical, standards. Vote according to biblical standards. Don't vote for the worse of two evils, or better yet, for the better of two evils. Vote for the one who best reflects the standards of God. Isaiah chapter 8 verse 12 reads this way, And do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. That is to say, don't be afraid of man. Do not feel overwhelmed when you see those things that are precious to you, those things that are dear to your heart, your love for Christ, your love for His word, your love for His church, Don't be in fear when you see those being attacked. Don't fear when what you value and what is a part of your convictions, your passions, come under the malicious scrutiny and are threatened. Do not fear men. Look at what Isaiah chapter 8 tells us. Turn there with me. Isaiah chapter 8, beginning at verse 12. Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, Him you shall honor as holy. Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. and he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and many shall stumble on it they shall fall and be broken they shall be snared and taken in other words God is in control fear him look at verse 17 I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob look and I will hope in him I will hope in Him." Let me read to you one more portion of Isaiah, chapter 54, verse 17. It reads this way, telling us that God is going to vindicate His people and reward them. He says, No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from Me, declares the Lord. There's your hope. Look, my friends, in Jesus Christ, all of our past is resolved. But in Jesus Christ, all of your future is secure. Okay? Whatever the headlines may read, these coming months, Keep in mind that our God reigns, our God is sovereign. He is not creating the future as he goes. Please understand that. Not only does he know the future, not only does he control the future, but God is actually orchestrating the future. And he will not leave you alone. He is by your side. Psalm 2, verse 9, speaking of God, of Christ. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. You can conspire against God, but understand you will lose in due time. God not only keeps his covenants, my friends, God is able to keep his covenants. My friends, These wonderful prophetic promises, I believe, ought to drive us to live for Christ, to see our souls sanctified by Him, and to be used for His service until He returns, knowing this, that we will answer to Him. Those who conspire against Him will answer to Him. And one day, one day, every, every knee will bow before God. Not just ours, theirs too, will bow to God. We will bow in honor and worship. They will bow in fear. Let God lead you. Let his promises give you hope as you fan the flame of passion for his word, for Christ himself, and for his church. Amen.