It's a humble privilege, and I mean that, to be here. To be able to stand and preach to God's children, ones he died for. What a privilege and what a responsibility. I'm glad to be here, and the Lord has blessed you. He's blessed you with a beautiful facility. But you know whether we have little or much, we are greatly blessed. We are greatly blessed of God. I think the greatest blessing that the Lord can give to any of His children is a growth in grace and a knowledge of Christ continually. That we can grow in grace and knowledge of Him until He takes us home. Until we are ripe for the picking and ready to go home. Now, I know all things are providential. You know, we have a habit sometimes to say, well, that was providential. Well, what's not? I mean, everything is. But Brother Gabe read about the Lord, our King. And then we sang the song, The Lord is King. And I had prayed before coming here that the Lord would give me a message that I could exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I wanted to do. I just wanted to come here and brag and exalt him. And so I'm gonna talk to you tonight about Kiss the King. This is all about the king tonight. I'm gonna talk about our king. That's all right, isn't it? We have a king. We live, and I realize this, I live and we live under a theocracy. The Lord Jesus Christ reigns right now. I'm not shook up, I'm not worried about the way things are going on the political landscape. My Lord is King and it's going exactly as He purposed it to go. He rules, He rules, everything that moves, everything that has an existence. The Lord Jesus Christ is ruling it. He's directing it. How can you not sleep tonight? How can you not sleep? How can you not go to bed and lay your head down in comfort, knowing that your King is King of glory, King of the universe, God's King, set upon Zion, God's holy hill of Zion. Now turn to Psalm 2. Psalm 2. I want us to look at this Psalm briefly as we can, but I pray the Lord will enable me and Bruce to preach above ourselves tonight to honor and glorify, magnify our God and our King. Now the first verse there asks a question. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? Why do the nations rage? This shows that the whole world is against our Lord. Our Lord said in John chapter seven, he said, the world hateth me because I testify of it that its deeds are evil. And he says the world, he's not talking about China, North Korea, he's talking about the whole world, he's talking about America also. Apart from a few people whom the Lord has saved in this country, this country hates Jesus Christ. This country hates God. If this country could, it would get rid of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They keep all this other garbage, But they would get rid of this gospel we preach. But God has a people in this country. And this country doesn't realize it, but this country is this country because he has a people in it. And he's blessing it for their sake. Everything, that sun that shined today, shined for you. The rain that comes on your garden and that comes on the garden of the unjust, it comes for you, it's for you. Everything that God sends into this world is for his elect. It's for their blessing. The ungodly get to share in it. They get to share in it. But it's for you. It's for you. But listen here. Why do the heathens rage? Why do the nations stand against the Lord? What do they have the rage about? God is holy. What's wrong with that? God is just. What's wrong with that? God is love. It says God is love. God is merciful. God is gracious. What's wrong with that? God is God. What's wrong with that? God gives men the air they breathe. It is his food they eat. And yet they rage against him. They rage against the Lord Jesus Christ. The question is, why do they rage like the ocean in a storm? And here's the first reason why. Because the natural mind is enmity against God. There's only one man who loved God always, from birth. The Lord Jesus Christ, he loved God always. Nobody else. Nobody else. Everybody else is born with an enmity against God. And no matter how blessed a man is, his mind is still enmity against God. He'll call it luck before he'll ever give God the praise for it. That's that enmity coming out. That's that enmity. And then secondly, man is born dead in trespasses and sins. He's spiritually dead. You know, when we talk about the fall in the garden, and Adam fell, but it was more than a fall, because you can get up from a fall. You tell somebody somebody fell, they think you can get up. He died. In Adam, it says, all died. When sin entered, death entered. It was more than just a fall, it was a death. It was a spiritual death. We have not the life of God in us by nature. We don't have that at all. By nature, listen, God is spirit, man is flesh. God is light, man is darkness. God is truth, man is a lie. God is on a whole other level than we are. You know, there's the life of animals, there's the plant life, then there's human life, and then there's God who is life. He's life. And then thirdly, it doesn't matter if a man is rich or poor, educated or uneducated, he despises God's way of salvation, the way of grace, the way of Christ and Him crucified. He despises that by nature. It says in the Scriptures that our Lord was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And then it says here in verse 2, and the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, here's what they did, they set themselves, determined to kill Him. What did he do that was worth killing him over? He said, I've done one work, I've done a good work among you, and you seek to kill me. They sought to kill him. We see all this happening in the Gospels. This is a prophecy here in this verse of how he would be retreated, be received and treated. It says in Acts 4.26, the kings of the earth stood up. And the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ. But you know what they did? They did exactly what God determined to be done. That's exactly what happened to the Lord Jesus Christ. It was not a mob out of control, it was a mob under His control. It was a mob under His control. When they came out to get Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, And he asked them who they was looking for. And he said, I am. And they fell backwards. He had to help them get up and finish the job. He had full control of that mob. And he had to give them the strength to finish the job, to do what was determined to be done. And here's what the kings and rulers wanted to do. It hasn't changed. We see this in this country right now. Let us break their bands, their restraints, asunder and cast away their cords from us. Break their authority. Break their restraints. Don't we see this in this country? No restraints? They want no restraints. Break their authority. Break their control over them. They want that power. Man, by nature, wants that power that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Alone. No restraints, no punishment is what they want, and they want to take that from Him, and they want to use it. They want to use it. But notice a pattern of rebellion here. They rage, they imagine, they set themselves, they take counsel, and they say, let us break. Let us break their bands. Now how is God going to deal with this? How is God going to deal with this? This rage, this animosity, this enmity, this hatred of this world, how is He going to deal with it? Well it says in verse 4, He that sitteth in the heaven shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Here's God's response, He shall laugh. How laughable, now listen, how laughable is it when a man or all men or all demons or Satan tried to dethrone God? Satan said, I'm gonna exalt my throne above God, I'm gonna be God. And what happened? He got cast out. Adam did the same thing. He was gonna be God. What happened? He got cast out. He got cast out. God said, he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. And notice God's position. He's not wringing his hands. He's not wringing, he's not trying to think, now what am I going to do? You know, Calvary, Calvary is not a rescue attempt on the human race. It's a redemption of a people. God redeemed a multitude of sinners no man could number, or nobody be saved. Nobody be saved. Here's his position. He sitteth. He sitteth. At rest. He's at rest. Undisturbed. God is undisturbed. He's not wringing his hands. He's not concerned. He sitteth. You know why he sitteth? It's under control. It's not out of hand. You know, you wring your hands. I was in business for a number of years. You wring your hands when it's out of control and you don't know what's going to happen the next day. God's not a knee-jerk type of God. He's purposed to end from the beginning. It's exactly what He's done. He sitteth at rest, undisturbed. Heaven, which is God's throne, is not in turmoil. The earth is because of the wickedness of it, but not heaven. He's not in turmoil because of man's rebellion. When Adam rebelled against God, was there thunder and lightning? You know what happened? He said he heard the voice of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. It had already been taken care of. Christ the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. This matter's already taken care of. You know, it's not like he came into the garden and said, what happened? I didn't create you this way. Why did you do this? He just came into the garden and said, Adam, what are you? What are you? And for the first time, it's mentioned, Adam was afraid. And we've been afraid ever since. Unfounded fears. Sin. sin. He sitteth in the heavens. He's undisturbed. There's no weapon formed against God, against Christ, against this church that shall stand. The more you persecute the church, the bigger it grows. Isn't that what happened in the early church? The more it was persecuted, the greater it... I tell you what's dangerous is when Zion is at ease. That's what's dangerous. But when Zion is persecuted, that's when, those are birth pains. That's when she grows. She grows. And it says here, he'll have them in derision. I got this from Henry years ago, and I remembered it. But he'll mock at them, he'll mock them. God will let them set up their artillery, and he'll use it on themselves. And here's two examples. Pharaoh, he said, kill all the male children, kill every one of them. Well, Moses' mother didn't do that. She happened to believe God, and she put him in a basket. Moses raised up his own executioner. Moses raised up in Pharaoh's house, Israel's deliverer, and he didn't even know it. But here's another one, Haman. He said, I'm going to get Mordecai. I'm going to get that guy. I hate him. I hate him. He hated him because he was God's child. And he went out and he built a gallows. And he was just, man, he was like, oh, I'm going to watch him hang. And they hanged him from it. They hanged him from it. He will have them in derision. They'll dig a pit and guess who will fall into it? They will. God said they will. Then shall He speak. Now they have raged. They have raged and they have vented out their enmity, their animosity, their hatred on the King of Glory. God sent His Son. and humanity turned on him. Religious humanity and just pagan humanity. The whole world turned on him. But then he's going to speak. God's going to speak. Now it's his turn. It's his turn. And when he speaks, everybody else got shut up. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure, when men have played their games long enough God will speak. I assure you, sooner or later, God will speak. History has proven God will speak. He will speak. God will speak. And listen, that's all that God needs to do. Speak. God does not need to gather an army. He does not need to muster up an army. All he needs to do is speak one word. You know, the whole world is held in place by the word of His power. And all He needs to do is speak that same word, and He just crushed all of them. The battle is not yours, it's His. And all He needs to do is speak. He's speaking tonight in the gospel. Listen. Listen. Lord, let me listen. Even as I preach, let me listen. Let me listen to even what I'm saying. All he needs to do is speak. His word alone is enough to wipe out all his enemies. And listen, there is such a thing as wrath. There's such a thing as wrath. You know one time water was over this ground we're standing on? I was looking at a mountain, was driving down the road, and I don't know what it's called, it was pretty tall back this direction. You know the water was over that mountain? I think the water was like 20 feet over the highest mountain. This whole earth was flooded. And I believe that. I have God's word on that. Now God didn't flood them. Now listen, this may sound harsh, but God didn't kill every one of them because He loved them. He hated the workers of iniquity. That's the truth. That's the truth. What about Sodom and Gomorrah? God burnt them to the ground. He made an example out of them. We don't need 10,000 examples. He made one example. out of Sodom and Gomorrah. He'd burn it to the ground. But the greatest example of God's wrath is Calvary. He spared not his own son. What does it say about me? How wicked must I be? How evil must I be for such a one to have to come into such a place and die such a death in order to save me? What does that say about me? When I look at Calvary, I see God's wrath, I see God's justice, I see God's love concerning the people. I see that, but I also see how wretched I must be for Christ, the Son of God, to have to come into the flesh and die such a horrible death. God Almighty died under the penalty of His own law. My soul, my soul, what must I be? I can't even begin to comprehend how evil I am by nature. That is incomprehensible. Only Jesus Christ was able and is able to comprehend the very evil and death of sin. We can't go there. We can't go there. We have conviction of sin, but it's not like, believe me, every one of us is a lot worse than we think we are, a whole lot worse. Calvary, the greatest display of God's wrath and the greatest display of God's love at the same time. Yet, listen now, verse 6, yet have I set my king, my decree, I've ordained this. You see, the heathens have raged. They have said, let us cut their cords and bands asunder. Let us cut their restraints from us. And God said, I'll laugh, I'll have them in derision, but I set my king. This is done. This is done. It's past tense. It's done. I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. Man's rage cannot stop God's purpose. Christ is set as king forever. Now every king has a kingdom and his kingdom is Zion. Aren't you glad you're in the kingdom of God? You know, I live in two kingdoms. You live in two kingdoms if you believe the gospel. I live in this kingdom here in this world of men, but I live in the kingdom of God. And I'm far more concerned about the kingdom of God than I am about the kingdom of men. Because the kingdom of men is doomed. But the kingdom of God is an everlasting kingdom. It's a kingdom that has dominion forever and ever. His kingdom knows no boundaries. It knows no boundaries. And everyone in His Kingdom is born into it. There ain't no migrants. You're not going to migrate into the Kingdom of God. You're born into it. That's how you become a citizen. You're born into the Kingdom of God. He says here, He says here in verse 7, listen, I will declare the decree, this is the Lord Jesus speaking, the Lord has said to me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. You know, our Lord said this, as I hear, I speak. And he said, I declare the decree. The decree that was settled before the foundation of the world is what I speak and nothing else. This matter of the rule and the reign of the God-man mediator, Jesus Christ, was settled long, long, long, long, long ago. Way back there before anything was created. He was settled as King. Ain't nobody made Him King but God. He's King. And His decree will not change. And we see in the providence of God the unfolding of God's decree concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and His redemptive glory being completed. That's what's going on right now. You get up in the morning, you turn the news on, see what's going on. I tell you what you do, turn to the Word of God, see what's going on. Here's our textbook. Here's our textbook. God has revealed himself in here. You know, I have a great future. You know, every now and then, I go to a place up in Dunn, North Carolina. We go up there to plant up fitness, me and Vicki. And there's a house there that says, palm reading. Palm reading, you're gonna tell me my future. I've already been told my future. There'll be no more sorrow. There'll be no more tears. That's my future. I have a great future. In Ashland, written on the police cars, it says a proud past and a bright future. Well, I have a terrible past, but I have a bright future. I have a past I don't want to talk about, but I have a future I want to talk about. There'll be no more crying, no more sorrow, no more sin, no more temptation. Living on an earth wherein dwells righteousness, Can you imagine that? I think about that more and more often as I get older. And listen here, and I'm going to hurry up. He says here in verse 8, Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. Oh, I'm so glad he asked for us. You know he asked for me. Think about that. The Lord Jesus Christ said, Give me John Chapman. I can't put that into words. Give me John, give me Paul, give me Gabe, give me this, give me, and you know what? He did. He gave them to him. And here's what he gave him. He gave him all the promises that he promised in the covenant of grace. And you were it. You were it. You're his, and I can't imagine anybody would rejoice on me being their inheritance. I gave my mom and dad a headache. I did. So much so, they gave me a backside ache. But he rejoices over us. He said, I made you. I formed you. You're mine. And he asked for me personally. He didn't just say, well, I'll take this group. Everyone whom he saves, he asks for by name. I know my sheep by name. And he asks for you by name. Think about that. Before the creation of the world. Wow. I'm over my head. He said in John 17, Father, I pray for them, which thou hast given me. In another place he said, Father, I will. that they be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, they may behold my glory, which I had with you before the world was." And I get to see that. I was telling the church back home yesterday, I said, and this is so, I stand amazed, and it just hits me at times stronger than at others, I stand amazed that God saved me. God saved me? Do you know what that means? My soul, how can I not bow to him? How can I not say, Lord, what would you have me to do? What would you have me to do? Sweep the streets? Any of you think you have a menial job? No, it's the one he gave you. If he sent an angel down here to do it, I bet you that angel wouldn't complain. He wouldn't complain. They wouldn't complain. Listen here, remember this. God has forgiven you and given you everything you have for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. And then listen. He says, Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Every knee is going to bow. Every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. His reign is sure. And he will in time destroy all things that offend. Now, here's my advice to you. No, here's my word to you. Be wise now, therefore. Be wise. O ye kings, be ye instructed. O ye judges of the earth, be wise. You cannot take God on and win. Listen to his preacher. Listen to what I've said. Listen to what Bruce says and what the others say. Listen to your pastor here every week, listen. I wish I'd have done that when I was in school. The hardest thing to do is listen. Be wise now therefore and listen, listen to God, listen to the preacher, listen to his word, listen to his gospel and believe in him and bow and kiss the son. Kiss the son. God's long suffering but there's an end to his long suffering. Serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with, and rejoice with trembling. They go together. It's called worship. When you put those two together, that's called worship. One missing the other is not worship. It's presumption. And it all comes down to this, and I close. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish from the way Did you notice who said, lest he be angry, kiss the Son? Everybody is talking about sweet Jesus. Everybody wants to talk about Jesus. He loves and He says here He is going to be angry. You know there is coming a time when they are going to cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb? Kiss the Son, lest He be angry. You perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. Embracing, believe on Him, trusting. I tell you, if you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, I don't care if you beg like Lazarus at the rich man's gate, you're blessed. You're blessed beyond measure, blessed. Bow to Him, embrace Him, kiss Him now. Kiss him now while he is near. All right.