Chapter 2, and I'll read the first eight verses. First letter of Peter, chapter 2, from verse 1 to verse 8. The Apostle says this, Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby if so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious to whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious you also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ wherefore also it is contained in the scripture from Isaiah 28 I think behold I lay in Zion the chief cornerstone elect precious and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded unto you therefore which believe he is precious but unto them which be disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed the same is made the head of the corner and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient whereunto also they were appointed and now a few verses from the letter to the Hebrews just a few pages before letter to the Hebrews and starting to read at verse 8 chapter 12 and starting to read at verse 18 Hebrews chapter 12 and starting to read at the 18th verse to the end. You are not come unto the mounts that might be touched and that burned with fire nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore For they could not endure that which was commanded, and if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear in quake. But you are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the author, mediator of the new covenants, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. see that you refuse not him that speaks for if they escape not who refused him that spake on earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven whose voice then shook the earth but now he has promised saying yet once more i shake not the earth only but also heaven and this word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made that those things which are which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore, are we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved? Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire." Well, they can have all their modern hymns and I'll stick with Mr. Watts, I think. I much enjoy the way he writes. Psalm chapter 2. The second psalm we're looking at again this evening, Psalm 2. For those who were not here last time, I started looking at Psalm 2 and I said it divided into four. We looked at the first three verses last time I was here, and tonight we're looking at verses 4, 5, and 6. God willing, we should continue in the new year to complete the psalm. But I'll read it through again, it's a short 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 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 sword his pleasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings, be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. kiss the son lest he be angry and he perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little blessed are all they that put their trust in him as I say tonight I want to look at verses four five and six the second section in this psalm four five and six he that sitteth in the heaven shall laugh the Lord shall have them in derision then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sword his pleasure yet or and have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. Psalm 2 verses 4, 5 and 6. Just to remind you, I tried to introduce this psalm last time by saying how important it was. It's quoted in the New Testament and it's certainly quoted there as a psalm which is what we call messianic. That is to say, it's a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, even the psalm itself I read just now, verse 7, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. I do not know what else, who else that could be speaking of but the Lord Jesus Christ. But it's quoted in the New Testament as messianic. So it's a prophecy of Christ. It had relevance for David in his own time. But David was a prophet and he was writing of things far more important than his own experience. And that leads me to go on to say something about its importance. And I said this. It really, to my mind, explains where we are today. If I'm right that this is a messianic psalm, that this speaks and was quoted in the New Testament by the early church as applying to their day. They quoted this psalm and they said this is happening now. Taking their counsel, taking their understanding, then this must be the explanation of where we are. There's got to be some explanation for the mess we're in, my friend. We're in a mess. We were talking about it at tea time. I don't know if you think about it. I'm sure you do. The world, our particular nation, is in a mess. And there's got to be a reason for it. And there is one. And I believe it's largely written out here. And there's a solution to it, too. And that's here. Well, you can't have it more important than that, can you? Mr. Brown will be studying his economic papers tonight. Well, he's the son of the man, so I hope he's got a Bible. Perhaps he might like to read Psalm 2 before he goes to bed and have a think. Does this say anything to me? Am I in this? If he's in any doubt, I'll give him my phone number and I'll talk to him. Yes, it has relevance to you, Mr. Brown. Oh, yes. Be ye wise, O kings of the earth. That's what it says in my book here. Be wise now, therefore, ye kings. Be instructed, you leaders and judges of the people. Oh yes, this has got something to say to us all right. I also made the point, and I'll be very brief, historically, It's very important because it's been instrumental in God's providence. A man called Andrew Fuller looked at this psalm and saw what it was teaching here and he wrote a book as a result of it which still has a large effect in the Church of Christ for good. Now last time I looked at the first three verses. and the writer here, the psalmist writes here he opens out with the problem and it is the raging and rebellion of the people against God now I can't go over that again because we must get on to this passage now but that is the cause of our trouble you know you can start talking about subprimes this and underfed this and economic that and climate change there and all the way you can do a lot of little things like that my friends but they're what we call symptoms the cause The cause, I say, is in the heart of man. Man has defied God. That's what we saw last time. Perhaps I should say this now. A lot of people don't believe what I'm saying. They think it's claptrap. I fully respect them. They have a perfect right to believe what they want to believe. But I believe this. Now, I don't know about you, but this is what I believe. I don't know what they believe. Some of the things they tell me sound very much like crap trap myself. They believe it all came out of chance and some bit of slime somewhere. I don't know. Well, they're welcome to that kind of belief. For me, I believe that the nations are raging against God. I see it around me. I see it written in scripture. And they don't want anything to do with God, and they don't want God to restrain them. Now tonight we're looking at 4, 5 and 6 and I don't know whether to call this God's reaction to this. I'm rather hesitant about that and I'll explain. God's reaction. God does not react. See I don't want to give the impression that poor old God is waiting there sitting for something to happen. Not at all. I don't mean to convey that. But God is pleased in his word as he is very forcibly here pleased to speak as though he were a man. For example, here, he that sitteth. Or, he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. These are human words, aren't they? We understand what sitting means, we understand what laughing means. The Lord shall have them in derision, he shall mock them. Well, we understand that. Then he shall speak. Well, speaking is another word. Wrath, vex them, trouble them, and so on. So God is speaking as a man here. He's willing to do that for us so that we can have some comprehension. We've been singing these hymns about God dwells in invisible whatever it is, in darkness and mysteries and all that, but God He's a spirit, he's not a man like us. We should teach our children the Catholicism, God is a spirit and has not a body like man. Well, that's true. So he doesn't laugh and sit and speak, but that's the way he describes himself. Therefore I may use my phrase, God's reaction. The picture here, you see, the first three verses is of the sea, the raging sea, the tumultuous sea, humanity. Raging. They're raging against one another. But they're raging against God. They're raging against one another like in every continent, I would say. It would not surprise me tomorrow morning to hear on the news that some young person has been knifed even during the hours that lie ahead in the rest of this day. It won't surprise me to hear of so many other thousands being murdered in the Congo. I won't be surprised they're raging against one another but the two troubled sea raging away and of course they're raging against God that's what we saw last time now what does God do about it? I say again I'm hesitant to use that kind of phrase as though God is reacting to man but let me put it that way what does God do about it? but he's not walking up and down biting his finger nails my friend Don't think me blasphemous. He's not in a frantic panic, wondering what to do next. He's not frightened by these men. He doesn't mind what Mr Dawkins says in his books. He doesn't trouble what theories they come up with. How do I know that? He that shitteth in them. He's not walking up and down, frightened, pacing, wondering what to do next. Let's go on the internet and have a look. What should we do? Nah, nah. He that sitteth. All is supremely serene in heaven. If I may use the picture of the sea again. On the surface of the sea is a raging torrent. And as you get near the coast, all the sand and the mire and the rocks and the pebbles and all the rest of it getting sucked up in. But down deep in the sea, all is still and all is calm. Was it Cousteau, was it? Go on, peek out. The man who died recently, I heard the obituary on the radio. He and two men, he and another man, they went to the deepest parts of the ocean, the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, deeper than the Everest, miles down into the sea. And all is serene down there, stark. But the currents and the tides are up there. That's the picture I see here. I look at man, And it's like headless chickens to me. Just chaos. But I preach for a God tonight and I can say that my God, the one I preach for, is seated. It's not really seated. The NIV has it enthroned. Because God hasn't got a tuck-in-the-ape-me-soft-chair to sit on. He's got a throne. What is this telling me? Man may rage, but God rules. Well, what's in His first hymn again? They dash against the shore. I preach to you from this pulpit, Psalm 31. Our times are in His hand. Not a sparrow can fall to the ground, but what your Heavenly Father, says Christ, knows. What I'm saying tonight, my friend, chaos reigns on the earth, and men's hearts are failing them for fear. Make no mistake about it, the people in the know know. Whatever they're telling you on the telly tomorrow, they know that things are in a desperate condition, and they don't know what to do next. They talk about the levers of power, but they're breaking off in their hands. But my God still sits and reigns. And he sits in the heavens, above it all. He's not caught up in their raging torrents. He's not bamboozled by their theories. And then we come to a little section here which I dare say you do not, well, very rarely ever hear preached. It's a picture of God that is forgotten, even in Calvinistic Baptist churches. The modern hymn books won't have the Lord Jehovah reigns and royal state maintains, his head with awful glory is crowned. Oh no, it's all about the loving Jesus and repeating it over and over again. But tonight my text is this, he that sitteth in the heavens He's not frightened by these great men in their universities writing their books and coming up with all their theories. He's not worried about that great bang thing in Switzerland. Funny enough, it went wrong the first day, didn't it? But he's not worried about what they're going to discover. For he that sitteth in heaven shall laugh. He shall mock them. The Lord shall have them in derision. We won't live to see it, my friend. but in a hundred years time if there's still a hundred years time the people around there will be thinking oh you know those people in 2000 and whatever it was eight they were thinking this and they were writing that we know well that's old hat now but this sovereign god will still be the same their theory shall come and they shall go these men shall rise the kingdoms wax and wane the old moon there i see it getting bigger The other day I saw it as a little curve, now it's a bit bigger. It'll soon be whacking great big, but then it'll be going, gone. But my God reigns supreme. He shall have them in derision. These men do not realize that their breath is in God's hand. And one day He shall call it from them, and they shall have to come and stand before Him. the Lord shall have them in derision. Again, this is not popular today. Then he shall speak unto them in his wrath. Oh, I didn't know God was a God of anger. We don't mind man being angry. Man can rage against God. Because the view we have of God today is largely taken up with the idea that he's some glorious Father Christmas, some big giant sugar daddy who's always handing out all the time goodies and sweets to cheer us all up. This is a picture foreign to the scriptures. I could probably turn to a host of scriptures to show you. The Psalms and Job and many other places, the greatness and the majesty and the glory of God, the folly of resisting him. God is a God of anger. I noticed, and I've pointed out to you before, that the apostle, when he desires in Romans to set out the clearest statement in the Bible on the gospel, begins with this very thing, for the wrath of God is revealed. I didn't preach today, is it? And he shall vex them in his sore displeasure. God is going to call men to account for this now now up to now my friend I've been talking in the third person haven't I? I've been talking about the nations and men and them and they but my friend I'm caught up in this as well and so are you I was born of a man And my father was born of a man. And he was born of a man, right back to Adam. And the root trouble of this is in Genesis chapter 3. That's where the original rebellion started. That's where it came from. And it's passed on all the human race since, and I'm part of it. What I'm trying to say is, my friend, it's not them. I've talked about Mr. Brown, and I mean it. I could talk about President Bush and all these other chaps, the great men. But my friend, it's not just the great men, it's people like me and you. The natural man, I read in Romans and in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, the natural man and the natural heart is endlessly against God. I read in the Gospels it says we will not have this man to reign over us. I read that Jesus says in John 5 in verse 40, you will not come to me that you might have life. This is the constant chorus of scripture. That men in their natural state will have nothing to do with God. They will raise their fist against him. I read to you from Hebrews 12 tonight, see that you refuse not him that speaks. People do refuse, don't they? And what is the reaction to that? Well, apparently, according to our preachers today, God forever stands with open arms and is most willing all the time and will never say, oh dear, dear, not at all, my friend. It is true that God stands willing to save sinners. But if you've never read in the book of Proverbs, chapter 1, you may read it for yourself and find it. In verses 24 and on, you will find this. Wisdom speaking, it's a prophecy of Christ again, Proverbs chapter 1 verse 24. Wisdom says this, I've been calling to you, O man, I've been calling to you and you wouldn't listen to me. The time will come, he says, when you call to me and I won't listen to you. Now I'm no prophet. I'm no prophet. I cannot say when these things are going to come. They may have already come, I don't know. But all I know is the God I speak for is not a God who stands idly there, impotent, doesn't know what to do next. He still stands offering His mercy in the gospel. I believe it and I preach it. But I also know that He stands willing and able to bring all men to account. And I say to you, it must be a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a God who, in the face of all these raging men and women, they frighten me to death some of them, but they don't frighten God. He sits supremely over them. He controls them. They won't live a day or an hour or a minute or a second longer than He wills. And one day they shall have to appear before Him. And what will it be to hear a laughing God? I don't want to hear a laughing God. I don't want to bring him to the place where he derides me and he vexes me and he brings me into his wrath. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. Our God is a consuming fire. These are texts of scripture I'm quoting at random. What I'm saying, my friend, is this. I said to you when I started this psalm, although the fourth sermon will be the last three verses, 10, 11 and 12, I have no doubt, even if I don't prepare to, I have no doubt that every sermon I shall come to those last three verses. What else can I do? For the psalmist is not willing just to tell me, just to tell me the wrath of God. he counsels me at the end be wise now therefore you kings now i refer that to mr brown just now i refer it to you my friend i prefer it to myself have i got this wisdom have i ever sought this god and served this god and feared this god verse 11 verse 12 particularly have i ever kissed the sun embraced him i chose that him deliberately just now i try and use the hymns carefully in psalm number 52 newton's hymn One glance of thine pierces all nature through. If you can see me, if what I know about myself is bad enough, what can you see? I haven't come to the end, and I must do because of time ago, I haven't come yet to the most important verse of my text tonight, and it's verse 6. What will Christ, what will God do about this sinful world? What will God do about this corruption, this ruin in Adam, and all the raging and the torrents of man against him? Well, he will speak to them in his wrath, he will vex them in his swordish pleasure, but supremely, verse 6, here is the prophecy. It's put in the past tense. That's often the way with prophecy, but it really was a prediction. I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. What is the supreme answer to all this chaos and rebellion and violence that we see, this lawlessness that we see in the world today? And when it comes, according to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, when it comes in the very end of the ages, When it comes with the man of sin revealed and all the world caught up in delusion, what will be the answer? It's found in one word. I told you this was an important song. I told you it explains the ruin we're in. But I told you it explains the solution. And the only solution is found in the one word. which is Christ. Christ. Surely that is what verse 6 is about. I have set my cane. My cane. Robert Mugabe. I don't know what you listen to on your news, but I've been listening this week. I've never heard such mealy mouth talking in my life. They're frightened to death of that man. They don't know how to speak to him. Oh, if we tell him off, he'll only get harder. We don't know what to do. Well, they're frantic about it. God isn't frantic about it. One day Mugabe has got to stand before Jesus Christ. Mugabe may laugh at him tonight, but the Lord shall have him in derision. I don't apologize for that. I think of all those hundreds and thousands of people suffering from famine and disease in Zimbabwe. Isn't it good that God will stand? You may say, well, why didn't it be now? I don't know. I can't explain everything, my friend. All I know is that God sees what's going on and will call it to account. I read to you 1 Peter chapter 2. I read to you Hebrews chapter 12 because it explains in New Testament terms what this verse says. We have come to Mount Zion. Hebrews chapter 12. I have set a stone in Zion. He who builds upon the stone is building upon a solid rock. But if they don't build upon the rock, what does it say? He shall crush them to powder. So what is the sermon tonight, my friend? It's ruin in the world and rebellion in the world. But I stand here to preach a God who sits supreme over it all, and supremely what he has done is to send his Son into the world. Now, in a few days, I expect you've already heard it, we should talk about the spirit of Christmas and all that. Do you know what the spirit of Christmas is? It is God sending his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. But, when he sends him into the world the second time, it will be to condemn the world. For, says Paul to the Athenians, God has appointed a day in which he will judge that world to the world by that man that he has ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he has raised him from the dead." Khrushchev, you know, years ago, I think I heard him say it, said, you know, he said, we have sent a rocket into space and we never found God, so we don't think he exists. No. One day, well, he's found out. for he's been met by this awful God. He knows now that God exists. Christ at the moment holds his power in. Next time we shall read of things like this. He shall break them with a rod of iron and he shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. At the moment, Christ is exalted to give repentance. He is there to take away all the sin that's brought this rebellion. His blood still stands to wash away sin from sinners and to give them peace with God. But a time is coming when those who have refused Him shall have to answer to Him. Therefore, the counsel must be verses 10, 11, and 12. Be wise now, therefore. Be instructed. Now is the time to bow the knee to God and recognize Him as the Sovereign Lord. Serve Him with fear, rejoice with trembling, to kiss the Son, to love Him, to believe Him, to cling to Him, to trust Him. Lest ye 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. We've been talking at tea time about men who don't know where to put their money. My friend, where are they going to put their souls? They can't trust Halifax with their money anymore. Where are they going to trust their souls? By all this say, where are you going to trust your soul, my friend? This is the God you have to deal with, and so do I. I've preached to you tonight, but one day God is going to preach to me One day he's going to call me to account. How am I going to stand before him? Do you agree with John Newton? That one stands between in garments dyed in blood. Is that your hope? It is mine. And if there is one in between with garments dyed in blood, if this son, this King on Holy Zion, holy, holy, yes, on Holy Zion is not my Redeemer, what hope have I got? But if Christ is my Redeemer, let us take comfort, my friend. Men's hearts are going to fail them for fear. You watch next year. People think it's bad now. Let a few more days pass. What refuge have we got, my friend? But if Christ is our King, He is sovereign. He is ruling all. If our trust is in Him, blessed, happy, secure are all they that put their trust in Him. Is there anything in here for you, my friend? Have you found anything tonight? Has it made you realize that this is the God you have to deal with? Have you dealt with Him in this way? You can't avoid Him. You can push Him off in this life. Next time we shall read what God said to His Son with what authority he came into the world, and what he will do with this world. I say again, verses 10, 11, and 12, now is the time to seek the Lord, while he may be found, and to call upon him while he is near.