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[0:00] Well, good morning. Good to see all of you. We're having a good Christmas season thus far, and we'll continue to do so as the month progresses. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

[0:18] What a great line. Last final line to sing as we come into our text this morning. We're going to be in Psalm chapter 2 as we just read with Josh.

[0:31] And what Psalm chapter 2 is going to do for us this morning is it is going to speak to us in power and in might and in awe of a king.

[0:47] But also in that might, that power, and that awe, what this psalm does is it teaches us, shepherds us, to find peace and comfort and tranquility in the presence of that all-powerful king.

[1:05] And the reason that we need peace and comfort and tranquility is because this psalm largely speaks to what we've all known and come to know as fear.

[1:20] Fear is all around. Fear is a natural experience of living in a broken world where things are not as they should be. Citizens of the Middle East and all sides right now live in fear of what surrounding powers may choose to do.

[1:37] Citizens living in authoritarian countries right now live in perpetual fear of their own rulers and kings. We have our own things to fear here in America as well. We've got car-sized drones flying around the country that no one wants to take credit for or explain right now.

[1:54] We're about to have a new president sit on the throne in Washington. Every time a new president is sworn in, this elicits fear from some. Peace for others. Whispers of nuclear wars being teased across the globe at a level that has not occurred since the Cold War era.

[2:11] For the persecuted church, let's consider them for a moment, there exists a fear for Christians that their own government, their own rulers, their own kings, would come after them and kill them for what they believe.

[2:26] Whatever form it may come, fear is all around. Specifically, as you've hopefully noticed, fear of what those in power may or may not do with their power.

[2:40] That is the context of Psalm 2. Psalm 2 is all about power. Authority. We're going to see that as we work through it together.

[2:53] So what is a text on power and authority? A psalm that's predictive, royal. It's teaching us of a reality that is to come. What could it possibly teach us about fear and the antidote to fear?

[3:07] Well, the coming of Christ to earth is what answers this question. Psalm 2 hints at this. So I'm excited to work through this with us. But in order to address an antidote to fear, especially fear of those who have power, what they might do with it, we have to ask ourselves, what does true power really look like?

[3:29] Or perhaps, where does true power lie? Is it in the show of force? Does power lie in political influence? Does power lie in money? Does it lie in physical prowess and might?

[3:44] Well, let's look to Psalm 2. Hopefully we're going to be able to answer that question and find a place for our fear to be made at rest this morning. So first what we're going to do is we're going to look at verses 1 to 3.

[3:57] And I want to just break down the psalm for us quickly, especially for you note-takers. This psalm is laid out in four stanzas. Super simple, super helpful. All four stanzas are made up of three verses.

[4:08] You're going to see the first stanza is going to be 1 to 3, then 4 to 6, then 7 to 9, and then finally 10 to 12. Really nice, easy way to follow along. Four sections, and we will deal with this text in those four sections.

[4:21] But the first section I've entitled, The Futility of Earthly Powers, verses 1 to 3. Let's read that together. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

[4:34] 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.

[4:46] Right from the opening words of Psalm 2, we have the word rage. The next, plot.

[5:01] And then next, counsel together. Burst bonds apart. Cast away cords. We are thrown into the midst of a situation, a scenario that's filled with strife.

[5:16] But what is the strife that we see in these first opening verses? And who is it between? We all know what it's like to be in a strife-ridden relationship or tension with someone else.

[5:27] Maybe it's a family member, a friend. Maybe it's a people group. Maybe it's another class of people in your own country or society. But strife is something that we're all familiar with.

[5:38] And when we read these first three verses, we should immediately see there's a tension here. But what's the tension? The text is potentially describing three scenes across time.

[5:53] This is why the Psalms are such a majestic, beautiful thing. Because in the Psalms we see stories of the past, what was a reality of the situation now and the way that I'm reacting to it.

[6:08] But also in the Psalms we often see pictures of the future, what will be. And in this opening section of Psalm 2, we see three different scenarios that a text is potentially speaking to.

[6:19] Here's the first one. These first three verses may have described the antagonism of the heathen nations against Israel. God's chosen people during the time of David and the kings.

[6:31] Look, it says this, why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth all get together and say, hey, let's take down God and his anointed.

[6:43] It's very possible when the Lord penned this through his spirit that the intention was that for those who read this in ancient day Israel, they would see it and say, yes, we identify with this.

[6:55] The nations of the world hate us. And that's backed up in the history of Israel that we see. We see clearly that nations and kings of the earth come together often to come against Israel and her God, Yahweh.

[7:10] In the Old Testament, this happens all the time. Against Joshua, against David, the kings of the earth come together because they realize that God, Yahweh, the one that split the Red Sea, that delivered them into the promised land, that God we have heard of.

[7:30] And the only chance we have is to come together against this nation and this God. Happens all the time in Israel's history. So perhaps the Lord is simply saying to Israel through this psalm, hey, you're right.

[7:43] The people want to come up against you. Or maybe here's another scenario that might be equally true. Secondly, this text outlines the specific environment that the Messiah, the long-awaited promised Messiah that we saw back in 2 Samuel 7 a few weeks ago, this is the specific environment that that Messiah would enter into and encounter.

[8:03] namely, that the kings of the earth would plot against this promised Messiah to afflict Him and to stop Him from establishing His reign.

[8:16] This is where I want to draw your attention to the word anointed. Specifically, this group of rulers and kings has come together to plot, to scheme.

[8:30] But who is it against exactly? Is it specifically the Lord's people? Not necessarily. Is it specifically even God Himself?

[8:44] Partially. But I'm going to guide our attention to the fact that I believe that Psalm 2, verses 1-3 is primarily predicting the kings of the earth that reigned and ruled at the time that the Messiah came, Jesus, to attack Him.

[9:05] We know that because of this word here, and against His anointed. The Lord prophetically is speaking through this Psalm to say, there is an anointed, holy one, set-apart person that I'm going to raise up who's going to come into the world.

[9:24] And when He does, the kings of the earth will see this true promised one King that I've sent and they will plot against Him. Did this happen?

[9:37] Yes. At the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the very reason we celebrate Christmas, to remember the coming of Jesus, the promised, long-awaited King, when He came to earth, before He could speak, still a baby, capable of nothing other than being loved and nurtured by His mother.

[9:58] Even in that innocent situation that Jesus entered into, we see the nations and the peoples plot in vain, the kings of the earth setting themselves against an infant.

[10:12] Where? Well, soon after Jesus was born, King Herod committed infant genocide, as we read about in Luke, in an effort to kill this baby, promised king.

[10:28] Herod himself, filled with fear over the potential, at this point, a rumor, a gossip he's hearing from the Jewish people that there's going to be a baby born in your region who will be the king over all kings.

[10:46] That was enough to make Herod enraged with fear and antagonism to the point where he committed genocide to try and kill this baby.

[10:59] So yes, the kings of the earth are setting themselves against God's anointed if we take this to be Jesus, but furthermore, not just Herod who committed this infant genocide to try and kill this baby Jesus.

[11:12] We see as Jesus grows up in wisdom and in stature as the scriptures say, he begins to do miracles, to teach, to love people, and to advance the kingdom of God here on earth for the good of us all and the glory of his father.

[11:26] And as he does that, what happens? Well, we see a whole other group of kings rise up to try and take him down. Jewish rulers like the Pharisees, kings of a sort over Israel at that time, conspiring with Roman rulers like Pilate and Herod Antipas to see Jesus crucified.

[11:52] Yes, Psalm 1 to 3 is very much predicting the very enemies that would come up and rise against Jesus to kill him, God's anointed.

[12:04] But there's actually a third potential scene that Psalm 1 to 3 could even be describing and it's one that's far off for the future even for us here today. And the third potential scene that this beautiful prophetic psalm could be speaking to is the time in which Jesus Christ, King of kings, Lord of lords, reigning forevermore, returns to earth and the kings and nations of the world in the book of Revelation symbolized as the nation of Babylon which is a symbol of all of the evil universal kingdoms and systems of the world from all time coming together to form one giant world kingdom that is ruled by the powers of darkness, Babylon as it's said in Revelation, that kingdom comes against Jesus to try and take him down.

[12:58] As we know in Revelation, how does that story go? It's not even a battle. Perhaps the beginning of Psalm 2 could even be speaking of that great cosmic battle that one day will be over in a whimper.

[13:17] All we know is this. Psalm 2, 1, 2, and 3 is clearly teaching us something. And that something is this. That the powers of the earth as strong as they may seem now or someday or even way into the future when we see that Babylon rising up symbolically against Jesus and even literally the kingdoms of the world and the kings of the world, here's the truth.

[13:46] they hate God and they hate Jesus. Why? Well, we're going to see that in verse 4, 5, and 6.

[13:58] But they are feudal powers. So let's move on to verse 4 to 6 now. We're going to see the sovereign God respond to this threat.

[14:10] Quote, unquote. Here's what it says. Verse 4. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them 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.

[14:27] And now we see the Lord of the universe, Yahweh, in all of his splendor and glory and majesty, in a picture of a heavenly throne, the Lord sits atop the world, overlooks all things, and sets his sights specifically on this little tribe of wimpy kings that say, We're coming after you, God, and we're going to take you down.

[14:52] You can't hold us down anymore. You can't oppress us. That's why it says bonds and cords in verse 3. They view God as oppressive to them. And this is the reality of what sin does to us.

[15:04] Just as it did to Adam and Eve back in that garden, sin convinces us that we are not in need of God, but that instead God is actually perhaps in need of us, that salvation lies from within, not from without, that we can be the kings of our own universe and bring, manifest our own destiny on the world.

[15:21] That's what sin does. And when that happens, all of a sudden, God becomes the antagonist in our story, not the protagonist. God, you're oppressing me.

[15:33] That's what these kings thought. And here's what God responds with. In heaven, with laughter. And this laughter is not a cheap laughter.

[15:44] It's not a sarcastic laughter. It's not a trivial laughter. It's a laughter that we should see is actually completely understandable. And here's why.

[16:00] When we were kids, my mom got us something for Christmas one year. And I grew up in a massive family of seven kids, and there was this massive, big, like, four foot by four foot glass box.

[16:12] And in this glass box was an ant farm. And my mom filled it up. She loves animals. We had dogs. We had every sort of animal you could imagine. Snakes, gerbils, running through the house.

[16:24] And all of a sudden, she brings in and gets for Christmas a massive ant farm. And my dad loved that. He did not. We set this thing up in the biggest room that we did our schooling in and all of our games and stuff.

[16:36] And we just sat there watching as we poured the ants in the top. And they slowly, over the course of a week, began to build these beautiful, elaborate tunnels. If you've ever had an ant farm, you know what I'm talking about.

[16:46] If you don't, never had an ant farm, you can imagine. You see through the glass all the tunnels and the little cavities and the little places where they burrow and make their little dens and work their whole little system out.

[16:58] And we would watch. It's like, wow, this is so cool. But verse 4 to 6 is kind of like this. Imagine that those ants decided to put their tiny minds together and organize a coup against us, the ant farmers.

[17:16] This is what would be known in the world of sports as a no contest forfeit. No game is played. No scores are recorded. Simply one side is declared a winner.

[17:27] It's over. And here's what the picture is in verse 4 to 6. It's like the ants of the world looking up at the ant farmer and saying, you're going down and we're going to come get you.

[17:40] And the ant farmer looks down at the ants and says, this is hilarious. Listen to their little voices as they speak up to me telling me, with all their threats, they're going to take me down.

[17:53] If you think that's a ridiculous example, it is because it's actually worse than that. The ants have a better chance against the ant farmer than the kings of the earth have against the God of the universe. That's the truth of the matter.

[18:06] Every single king, nation, or other force that ever declares war against God pleads no contest immediately. To God, mankind rising up to face him is like ants who have no hope.

[18:21] And in all of his power and his might, he laughs in the face of a threat to his sovereignty. And so here's what the Lord does in verse 5. This is a very sobering verse, but appropriate. The text says, he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury.

[18:38] Wow. It's a sobering image and not one that we should take lightly. But here's what it means. It means this, that God will defend his honor and demonstrate his sole claim to the throne of all power and authority against those who rise up against him.

[18:57] And the reality is in God's kingdom that anyone that rises up to try and take his throne must be put down and defeated. And verse 4 to 6 teach us very clearly that the Lord is aware of those who are against him and in his justice and in his absolute might and power it is within his will to rightly put them down.

[19:27] Now, I want us to notice verse 6 which says this, as for me I have set my king on Zion my holy hill.

[19:39] And here's why verse 6 is so important to understanding the response of the sovereign God to these wimpy kings that think they can rise up against him. God says I will speak to you in wrath I will terrify you with fury but then he says in verse 6 I will set my king upon the highest mountain Mount Zion a picture of that great universal spiritual mountain that exceeds all others.

[20:06] In other words this is what the Lord is saying I will speak to you and deal with you through my divine king. What does that mean? It means that the Lord has a plan for yes even taking down the kings and powers of the world.

[20:29] And where we see a lot in the Old Testament the Lord sometimes sends strikes of fire and lightning he sends calamity on the land to judge the wicked people of the kings of the world.

[20:42] Here he says this here's what I'm going to do I'm going to show you my power my fury through the king who I've sat on my holy hill. Well who is that king?

[20:53] We have to answer that question which leads us right into the next section of the scriptures. So let's look with verse 7 and 9 which talks about the conquering king arriving.

[21:03] Here's what we see it says this I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me you are my son 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.

[21:25] The Lord promises to deal with the false kings and powers of the world but how does he promise to do that? He promises to do that through his one begotten son.

[21:40] Now the word begotten here refers to Jesus being chosen sent to earth and blessed to take the throne of God's kingdom.

[21:51] Just like a king would look to his son to pass on the lineage of royalty and the keys of the kingdom the scepter of rule the crown of righteousness that would pass on to the next generation.

[22:07] This term begot does not imply that Jesus was created at that moment or that God decided I need a king I guess we'll just make another God.

[22:18] No, no, no. What it's saying is the son before all time pre-incarnate Jesus reigns and rules supremely with his father sitting with him in all majesty and at a moment in time the Lord said the time is complete it's time for you to go to earth to be my king.

[22:40] That's what begot means here. To choose Jesus to send him and to bless him as the next king over the earth and over the world.

[22:52] And we see this in Jesus' baptism. When Jesus is baptized a voice comes down from heaven the father speaking with pleasure towards his son and here's what the father says to the son in that moment this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

[23:11] In other words that's the father in that moment almost coronating Jesus to be that king. He is qualified he's ready and he is loved by me.

[23:25] So verse 7 the Lord says you are my son and I have begotten you today. And this is where Christmas picks up.

[23:36] This is where we as a church and as families and as individuals come together to worship Jesus. Because he is the one sent by God he's loved by God and he is the coming king given the keys to the kingdom and all authority on earth and beyond.

[23:57] And when he comes to us as a baby the response that we are to have in our hearts is one of acceptance joy and anticipation.

[24:09] because the Lord has told us in ages past in Psalm 2 and other many texts that the Lord would set his king on his holy hill to reign and rule forever to put down the forces of evil to put down the forces of darkness that rule in abusive power.

[24:29] And the Lord says here he is he's my son that I love. And then we see in verse 8 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.

[24:46] Now here's what's so cool it's not just that the Lord is going to send his son and he's going to appear and he's going to go and do all the great things Jesus did but actually there's a plan for this king to ascend to that throne and this forever established himself king over all power.

[25:03] and that plan is the gospel. It's that Jesus would come to fulfill all the scriptures and unlike all the kings of the earth that are coronated with a crown or with a scepter or with a rod or with literal keys to a kingdom to the castle to the universe here's how this king is coronated by death by a mocking crown of thorns placed on his head and it says here that through this coronation through the gospel which is implied in verse 7, 8, and 9 that the Lord will take his begotten son and lovingly freely put him on a cross to die to save the people whom the Lord also loves but not just that he would die we know how the story goes

[26:07] Psalm 2 is all about the victory of Jesus Christ over the powers of the world and even over the spiritual powers that we cannot see but still exist and all of that happens comes to its climax in the resurrection of Jesus not just that he was killed by the kings of the earth who actually in some ways do counsel against Christ his anointed and do come against him and do actually kill him so they have some power but here's the reality of the gospel is that we rejoice in the cross and that it forgives us of our sin it takes our punishment away and gives us free access to God in newness of relationship made right before him in holiness but not only that we rejoice brothers and sisters in the resurrection of Christ in that when he rises from dead he puts the final seal the stamp of salvation on all of us because death the very power that sought to kill him and keep him down was unable

[27:22] Pilate Herod and beyond their rule that led to the trial and accusatory death and crucifixion of Jesus Christ did not accomplish what it sought out to do because Jesus rises from dead defeats them in their power but not only the kings of the earth not just the power of the kings of the earth but also Jesus conquers the spiritual powers that reign and rule the very spiritual powers that want us separated from God that want our souls to be cast forever away from God Jesus conquers even that this is why in Luke 24 Jesus the resurrected Lord he's alive forevermore again he's appearing to people on earth here's what he says in Luke 24 then he said to them these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the

[28:28] Psalms must be fulfilled including Psalm 2 then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and he said thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance of the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem you are witnesses of these things and behold I am sending the promise of my father upon you and don't miss this last line but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high Jesus just said I have fulfilled all of the scriptures through my gospel and now that I have resurrected it's finished the work is complete it's done death is defeated you have no longer any reason to fear whether they be earthly rulers who could kill our bodies could end our lives here on earth or they be the far worse spiritual rulers that actually have the power to pull us away from God and send us to an eternal hell here's what Jesus is saying to them

[29:40] I have done it all I've completed the task the gospel is now finished and made available to all which is why he said it should be proclaimed but then he says this verse 49 again but stay in the city till you are clothed with power from on high in other words this is what Jesus is saying I am the conquering king and those who follow me also conquer the power that Jesus has is the same power that we receive that's what the Holy Spirit does for us when you believe in Christ you turn from your sin and trust in him fully for all salvation the Holy Spirit enters and indwells our hearts and when that happens we are in that moment sealed for an eternity unto God toward salvation meaning that the powers of death and darkness have no hold over us that when we die if we die on a car crash from this very place that the spirit within us pleads the righteousness of Christ seals us forever and in that moment we bypass that second death the eternal death and go straight to God in all glory that's the power we receive the resurrection power that Jesus gave us by first himself going to death and resurrection we receive that but not only that

[31:07] Jesus isn't just speaking of that he's also speaking of a different power as well a power to conquer sin and a power to conquer the forces of evil even here on the earth now what we see is this great story that we'll put up on the screen now Luke 24 outlines that Jesus gives up his position of power this is what the conquering king does for you gives up his position of power which we call condescension he comes humbly to earth as a baby which we call incarnation he submits over to the will of earthly power crucifixion he rises from death and victory over all earthly and evil powers resurrection goes to the right hand of the father to rule in power ascension and then sends his spirit to indwell and empower his followers

[32:08] Pentecost and then finally this one's not in Luke 24 but we know it Jesus comes again clothed in all power as the king of kings the second coming notice the theme of power throughout this gospel Jesus incarnates sweetly as a baby the picture of innocence not necessarily power entrusted to a flawed fallen man and woman to care for him to raise him that he as the conquering king would willingly give up his place at the father's right hand to die and suffer and rise again into newness of life what we see in psalm 7 to 9 or 2 7 to 9 is that the lord god of the heavens through this gospel begets his son to die on a cross to rise in newness of life and then to ascend back to him to receive his loving son back to seat him at his right hand which is a picture of power and authority and then to say this

[33:27] I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possessions and you will break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel Jesus conquers through his life his death and his resurrection and that same conquering king will return one day and once and for all conquer again all the forces of darkness which have already been completely rendered ineffective but in that last day we see in revelation the final conquering the final judgment and all that will exist for an eternity is Jesus Christ the slain lamb resurrected in the midst of power on that throne with king of kings and lord of lords tattooed on his thigh but not only Jesus our great deliverer our great conqueror not only Jesus listen to this but also us brothers and sisters

[34:28] Romans chapter 8 says this knowing all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us not just that we have a conquering king and can enjoy his wonderful victory forever but that the bible goes the next step and says no no not just that you serve a conquering king but that in following and identifying with the conquering king you too are made a conqueror what does that mean and how could that ever be true what does it mean to be a fellow conqueror through the love of Jesus Paul says means this that we share with him in overcoming death and enjoy the blessing of life forever you today now Christian are more powerful than death and evil itself that is what it means we're going to do a little exercise here that I think will be helpful turn with me keep a finger here but turn with me to Revelation to chapter 2 how much does Jesus believe that we are conquerors with him how real is that reality that we could consider ourselves fellow conquerors with Jesus but we're going to see it because Jesus in Revelation writes seven letters to seven literal churches and he speaks to each one of them and at the very end of the letter of all seven letters he says the same refrain to the one who conquers and we're going to read every one of these because I want it to sink into us that if we serve a conquering king as Christmas we celebrate the coming of a conquering king that we too are bestowed with the blessings and benefits of the conquering king so let's read together 2 verse 7

[36:27] I'm going to read this you follow along he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches to the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God to the church at Smyrna look at verse 11 he who has an ear to hear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches the one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death to the church at Pergamum look at verse 17 he who has an ear to hear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches to the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it to the church at Tyatira look at verse 26 and 27 the one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end to him I will give authority over the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron as when earthen pots are broken in pieces even as I myself have received authority from my father wait what did verse 9 of chapter 2 of the psalm say you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel that's about Jesus right

[37:34] Jesus is the one that breaks the nations and the powers with his rod of iron like clay pots that are smashed on the ground that's what Jesus does through his life death and resurrection right yes but also you know what Jesus just did he just told he just told the church at Tyatira you too have that scepter and you too reign and rule with me and you too will judge the nations and help me smash all those earthly powers we are conquerors church all through Jesus church of Sardis look at chapter 3 verse 5 the one who conquers will be clothed in white garments and I will never blot his name out from the book of life I will confess his name before my father and before his angels to the church of Philadelphia in verse 12 the one who conquers I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God never shall he go out of it and I will write on him my name of my God and the name of the city of my God the new Jerusalem which comes down out of God out of heaven and my own new name to the church of Laodicea the final one look at verse 21 the one who conquers

[38:41] I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne hopefully this gets it through to us that because we serve a conquering king we are conquering citizens like in the ancient day of battle the king would leave the city with his army and they would hug their loved ones maybe not knowing if they'd ever come back and they would go out to battle to fight the incoming army that threatens the safety and sanctity of the city and the king sacrificially goes out and fights the battle defeats the enemy army and comes back to his city and here's the reality of what happens in that scenario the king who the king alone wins the victory comes back to his city and what did the citizens enjoy they also enjoy the splendor and the victory of that battle and all of the blessings that come with it peace tranquility joy safety so too

[39:47] Jesus fights the battle he's the one that wins the war but we as his faithful citizens watch him come back to our city and we rejoice that he has done it for us so here's what we see last verse verse 12 this is amazing excuse me we'll start in verse 10 now therefore oh kings be wise be warned oh rulers of the earth serve the lord with fear and rejoice with trembling and then we have two applications first kiss the son talk about that in a minute lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled blessed are all who take refuge in him second application take refuge in Jesus let's deal with that first one kiss the son here's the conclusion the king's lab excuse me the king's plot we're going to go against

[40:52] God we're going to take down his anointed messiah the lord looks back down on the puny ants and says really you're going to take down my messiah well I'm going to set him on the highest hill and I'm going to beget him he's going to be my beloved son I'm going to send him down to conquer and then Jesus conquers the lord gives him the possessions of all the earth all the heritage of all the nations is the one true ruler of the world and now finally in verse 10 11 and 12 here's what we see now that Jesus is conquered now that he's the king forever now that the kings have been defeated there's one choice to be made kiss the son or face his wrath what does it mean to kiss the son kissing the son is a symbolic image of submission to a higher power meaning literally you see this throughout all movies and pop culture and media somebody submits to a king they kneel down and they kiss the ring and they kiss the hand right the same image here and the lord is in his mercy and grace speaking to those nations and those kings that think they have power and he's saying to them kiss the ring of my son and for us this means that we repent of our own attempts to exercise power and entrust ourselves over to the one who has total power even over death and sin and evil to those kings who refuse to kiss the son they will face his wrath they will face his justice but for you and I we have kissed the son amen and we will kiss him every day and loving reverent obedience and trust and love that this king who conquered the powers that think they're in charge that king that went to the cross rose from the grave for you that's the one we kiss we submit to him we lay at his feet and we say

[43:07] Jesus you've done it I am your follower I am your servant that's what kissing the son looks like every day to continue to repent of sin to continue to repent of that self-rule that we talked about a few weeks ago and continuing to entrust ourselves over to that conquering king but not only that we see the verse ends with this blessed are all who take refuge in him and I want to revisit the question we started with where does true power lie and the answer that we see from Psalm 2 and from the gospel is that true power actually lies in love that Jesus king of the world king of the universe dies for us conquers death for us as Paul said we are more than conquerors through him who loved us that Jesus demonstrated the most perfect love that could ever be demonstrated through his conquering of sin and death and this is what Jesus has given us life forever more and most importantly a place to take refuge in for life fear may grip us in life and even paralyze us but now through the victorious work of

[44:29] Jesus Christ it can never hold us down the phrase Jesus is on the throne that we often use is not just a colloquial saying of the church instead I want to suggest to us that that's a very real reality that should ground our hearts and bring assurance that no earthly or spiritual power will ever supplant king Jesus it is a truth Jesus on the throne that when believed grants peace serenity and confidence for us and this advent it's our privilege to confess together that we have been sent a king God's begotten son who will defeat all earthly power through his gospel and reign supreme over all things forever and ever whatever it is that you may fear this advent season whether it be rulers and their powers of the world or family matters or fear of loss or death whatever it is that we fear here's what we're told to do take refuge in the one who has conquered all take refuge in the one that has defeated fear that has reshaped our affections and has given us hope this advent season we celebrate our conquering king because we know what he does for us so let's say together I want to ask us to stand we receive the conquering king this christmas as he comes to us so this advent let us say together in perfect harmony come king jesus establish your rule and reign among us lord we thank you for being our conqueror we thank you for being our god and lord I pray now as we take your lord's supper!

[46:27]  that we'd see these elements lord we'd be reminded of your great gospel which saves us delivers us the lord also makes us conquerors lord I pray that as we take the the bread and the juice this morning we'd be reminded of your body and your blood to defeat sin but not only to defeat sin that we'd also remember lord that we too have the power to defeat sin in our own lives to confess it daily to you to be unburdened by our sin because of what jesus has done through his conquering gospel that we would move forward knowing that we're forgiven lord we love you and we thank you for being our conquering king amen