[0:00] The same intimations as the morning, I said in the morning, just ignore basically all the dates on the sheet, everyone seems to be wrong somehow. The main thing to note is a week today, the in-house communion service is, so please to make note of that.
[0:14] Thursday we have a meeting in the Kirk Session, the meeting in the Hall is always premiering. After that, the Kirk Session, then officially the session will be open on Saturday at 7pm and here on Sunday 11.30 and 6pm.
[0:34] Just a reminder this week we are praying for Reverend Israel and also the Holiday Club in Helensboro. I was just here this morning with Reverend Israel, he's one of the names I'm trying to get, we can maybe do a fellowship with him, an online fellowship using the screen in the hall.
[0:52] There's ways and means and trying to wrangle a time when that man is not doing something on an evening. Trying to get a fellowship with him and hear from himself about the work he's doing.
[1:03] We're here to carry on the public worship of God. First of all, in the Sing Psalms and Psalm 24. Sing Psalms, Psalm 24.
[1:15] That's on page 28. Sing Psalms, Psalm 24. On page 28. We can sing verses 1 down to verse 7.
[1:28] Psalm 24, verses 1 down to verse 7. The world and all in it are God's, all people of the earth. For it was founded by the Lord upon the seas beneath.
[1:39] Who may ascend the hill of God, who may ascend the hill of God, or in his temple stand. The one who shuns false gods and lies, who's pure in heart and hand. Psalm 24, verses 1 to 7.
[1:51] To God's praise. The world and all in it are God's, all people of the earth.
[2:09] Joyful sermon, O God's, all people of the earth. Joyful sermon, O God's, all people of the earth. Guide the hill upon the seas beneath.
[2:25] Let the rainILY sing the hill upon the seas beneath. Christ of humans, what happens, what if we're called in the里? I around the sea beneath. PHONS 5.
[2:36] Ц mission is the красотως Mormonism that 61 through draw. Your Lord and all in it are God's, all people of the sea貌. The Lord and all in it are God's, all people of the sea beneath. the sand, the more efficient of thoughts and lies, history in heart and heart.
[3:02] He was my favorite The cross that I am And all this Savior is That's how it comes For Jacob's God Get ready, save your grace You shall get his breath On your hands You don't be open wide So may the King of Glory come
[4:08] Forever to abide Let's join together in a word of prayer Let's pray Thank you Lord for this continued time of worship We thank you that as we worship you just now That our words just join in with our worship From this morning And in one day We have a great privilege of joining together Twice to worship you Marking In effect was the start and the end of the day The reminder for us That all our lives And all the days of our lives Are to be points of worship Whether at home Making our lives Whether at places of work Places of study In the village And every single day Is a new chance to wake up And to serve you In whatever capacity you've placed us in Those of us who are at work still
[5:10] Help us to serve you In doing the work to our best ability To making use of the intellect Making use of the skills Making use of the wisdom Making use of all that we are For your glory For those who are in study We pray the same For those who are retired We pray Lord That the years will be used well The years of rest from work But we're sure not rest from everything else These years will be used well And used for your glory Knowing that every single day We have is a gift from you We thank you for the chance Once more to gather We thank you for this day This day you've set aside The reminder that this is a day You made for your people That Sabbath was made for man Not man for the Sabbath Help us then to enjoy This set aside day Help us to enjoy And enjoy this day of rest Knowing it's a day you've given us A good gift for us
[6:10] To make full use of To enjoy gathering together As sons and daughters To enjoy coming around your word To enjoy worshipping your name Publicly and privately To enjoy the beauty and glory of nature To enjoy your goodness towards us In all the manifold ways we see it We pray just now Lord For Christians across our nation And across our world Who often do not enjoy a Sabbath Who often are living in lives So full of turmoil And so full of chaos Who have so much burden And so much responsibility That they find no time to rest Lord we ask you to look after them And keep them Especially just now for Brothers and sisters Who are suffering Those suffering physical illness We ask Lord you would Comfort them Enable them to seek out The help necessary And to make full use of it Brothers and sisters
[7:12] Suffering mental illness They would see past the Society of shame And the stigma attached And they would recognise the fact That we live in a fallen world Where illness of body And illness of mind are one And neither one of us We are all liable of suffering From one or the other Or for both Lord we ask then for wisdom Ask for ourselves also For wisdom In how we deal with Brothers and sisters How we come alongside them How we love them In a way that is honouring to you That is beneficial to them Page now Lord For those of our number Who are not here this evening And not here today Page now for those Who are still away on holiday Those who are enjoying This summer break Lord we ask you Bless them And encourage them And enjoy their time of rest Pray for those away From us For our various reasons Health reasons And our work commitments Lord you know the full story We ask Lord you also Bless them
[8:12] And bring them back to us In safety Thank you Lord For the great privilege We have this evening And once more Of worshipping you As we come to worship Help us to be fully Cognizant of what we are doing For at this very moment As sons and daughters And as friends Gathering with us We are drawing before The living God The only true God At this very moment We are doing An act of worship An act of service In all our words Spoken and unspoken Our thoughts In all our words Of song As we read your word As we later Look into the Understanding of your word As we meet publicly And meet clearly As a set aside people This is our act Of service towards you This is our act Of worship And we know From your word That you receive The worship of your people You receive it Because of the finished work Of our saviour Who has made us clean Who has cleansed us
[9:12] From all sin Who has cleansed us From the wrath Of sin The punishment of sin So that we right now Can stand before you And acknowledge That although we are Often poor examples Of your people We are your people Nonetheless And you will lose Not a single one Of your own people Help us Lord Then this evening To understand As we come around Your word We come around A word that is Living and true And there are many Parts of your word That are a mystery To us And many parts Of your word Which may forever Remain a mystery To us In various ways We give you praise For that It reminds us And it humbles us That we are Created creatures Trying to understand The work and the mind Of a creator Who is eternal Keep us Lord From the evil one We ask just now Keep us in our own conduct Our own lives Keep us away From our own flesh Our own sin Of which we give No blame to the evil one For We are responsible We know For our own actions
[10:13] Our own activities Keep us Lord Far from our own desires Keep us far As it were From the old man The old woman Keep us far From the old ways Of life But with that On top of that Lord We also ask Keep the evil one Away from us As he sends his fiery darts Into our hearts We acknowledge At times It can feel So debilitating Perhaps ancient sins Are brought back To mind Perhaps old ways Are brought back Into our understanding Old wrongs We committed Even old wrongs Committed To us By others The enemy Has his tactics And he knows us All too well He has seen humanity From his start And he watches us All the time Help us Lord Then to make sure We give no foothold For his advances We understand As you tell us So clearly He is like that Prowling lion Roaming to and through
[11:14] Seeking Whom he may devour Lord We ask he would find No place in our congregation No place in our own lives As he seeks to distress And distract The Lord's people From the worship We are doing this evening Keep us far from him Pray just now Lord For those who are number Who are engaging In ongoing spiritual warfare Pray Lord For strength And for wisdom And the reminder That we take all these things In prayer Back to you Knowing that we have In glory A king and a conqueror Who has stepped Completely Downthroden The head of the serpent The victory Has been won Victory Eternal victory Is assured There are a few battles Left to wage But the end is known By all Including the evil one Help us Lord And remind us Of your promises Towards us For goodness Towards us Of your loving kindness Towards your people Pray once more For the upcoming week Pray just now Lord You bless your word
[12:14] As it goes out This evening Also ask you Bless your word As it goes out We pray on Thursday And this coming Communion weekend Thank you Lord For the privilege we have Of being able to meet together As brothers and sisters Around your word As we heard this morning To share In that simple meal That simple meal That is a memorial for us But also a simple meal That is more than a memorial Not just a bare memorial But one that provides us Spiritual nourishment Lord we ask then You'd provide that for us We'd be cognisant of it We'd be aware of it That it's good for us To gather together We pray once more For any brothers or sisters Who are on the fence As it were On coming forward You give them the confidence Even just to come For a conversation And barring that Lord Give them the confidence To make that To move forward And to join Their fellow brothers And sisters at the table Although again We leave that With you We pray once more Lord For our brothers and sisters
[13:15] Next door Pray for them As they worship you This very moment We pray for whoever May be leading them Just now Pray Lord for all their supply You'd give them the words Of your own word to say And you'd do so in spirit And in truth We pray for their time of vacancy As hard as it is We pray Lord You'd give them strength To keep on going We thank you Many ways We are in a village Where the gospel is known In many homes But help us not to rest Until the gospel is known In every single home Give us Lord We ask The eyes To see every single Gospel sharing opportunity You give us To make the most of it We would see your name Glorified and known From the Glen to Gary Every single home Every single family Every single individual Man, woman and child We come to know And come to hear And come to be told About the danger Of our souls But also Come to be told About the glorious hope That is found in Jesus Until we see These days of glory
[14:15] Help us to be faithful Servants with the day Of the day of small things You've given us And to return to you Not what you've given us But to increase it Day by day Forgive us Lord Once more we ask then For these sins We bring all these things To the cross We find We find An empty cross Because we worship Right now A saviour At your right hand Ascended Glorified Our ever reigning Ever ruling Ever sovereign king In his name And for his sake We ask you Many things Amen We've got two readings In God's word The first reading In the book of Hebrews Hebrews And chapter 1 That's on page 941 Page 941 Hebrews chapter 1 On page 941 First of all Hebrews Then we can turn
[15:16] To the book of Psalms Hebrews chapter 1 Long ago And at many times And in many ways God spoke to our fathers By the prophets But in these last days He has spoken to us By his son Whom he appointed The heir of all things Through whom also He created the world He is The radiance Of the glory of God And the exact imprint Of his nature And he upholds The universe By the word Of his power After making Purification For sins He sat down At the right hand Of majesty on high Having become As much superior To angels As the name He has inherited Is more excellent Than theirs For to which For to which of the angels Did God ever say You are my son Today I have begotten you Or again I will be to him
[16:16] A father And he shall be to me A son And again When he brings The firstborn Into the world He says Let all God's angels Worship him Of the angels He says He makes his angels Winds And his ministers A flame of fire But of the sun He says Your throne O God Is forever And ever The scepter Of uprightness Is the scepter Of your kingdom You have loved Righteousness And hated wickedness Therefore God Your God Has anointed you With the oil Of gladness Beyond your companions And you Lord Laid the foundation Of the earth In the beginning And the heavens Of the work Of your hands They will perish But you remain They will all wear out Like a garment Like a robe You will roll them up Like a garment They will be changed But you are the same And your years Will have no end And to which of the angels Has he ever said Sit at my right hand
[17:18] Until I make your enemies A footstool For your feet Are they not All ministering spirits Sent out to serve For the sake of those Who are to inherit salvation Now turning to the book of Psalms And Psalm 2 Carrying on Our two week series Looking at Psalm 1 And Psalm 2 The book of Psalms And Psalm 2 Page 418 Just for getting there quickly The book of Psalms And Psalm 2 Page 418 Why do the nations rage And the peoples plot in vain The kings of the earth Set themselves And rulers Take counsel together Against the Lord And his anointed Saying Let us burst Their bonds apart And cast away Their cords from us He who sits in heaven In the heavens laughs And the Lord Holds them in derision Then he will speak to them
[18:20] In his wrath And terrify them In his fury Saying As for me I have set my king On Zion My holy hill I will tell of the decree The Lord said to me You are my son Today I have begotten you Ask of me And I will make the nations Your heritage And the ends of the earth Your possession You shall break them With a rod of iron And dash them in pieces Like a potter's vessel Now therefore O kings Be wise Be warned O rulers Of the earth Serve the Lord With fear And rejoice With trembling Kiss the son Lest he be angry And you perish In the way For his wrath Is quickly kindled Blessed are all Who take refuge In him Amen And good praise to God For his holy And his perfect word Let's now sing From the same psalm In the Scottish Psalter Psalm 2 The psalm we just read
[19:21] Scottish Psalter Psalm 2 Often it's good for us To sing In The psalm we just read You often hear different things And pick up different things The Scottish Psalter Psalm 2 You can sing first of all Verses 1 Down to verse 7 Why rage the heathen And vain things Why do the people mind Kings of the earth To set themselves And princes are combined To plot against the Lord His anointed Saying thus Let us asunder Break their bands And cast their cords From us Psalm 2 Verses 1 Down to verse 7 To God's praise Why do the people mind Why do the people mind Why do the people mind
[20:27] It's only ever To send their souls like Christmas time online.
[20:45] To go on to his, the Lord of the years, the Lord of the years upon his name in us.
[21:04] Let us know the Lord of the years upon his name.
[21:23] The Lord of the years shall not, the Lord shall score them all.
[21:42] Then shall he still to the end of the day when he has a child.
[22:02] Yet not the sun be night of hell.
[22:13] To be my King, my Lord of the years. Now on the side, my glory is my God and King, my Lord of the years.
[22:42] The cure be me, I will be there.
[22:53] The Lord of the years, the Lord of the years. The heart and the glory soundness here.
[23:13] The heart and the glory soundness here.
[23:24] Let's turn back to Psalm 2. Psalm 2. If you remember last week we began saying that, we'll look at Psalm 1 and Psalm 2.
[23:38] If you remember why we're doing this is these two Psalms, we called them, borrowing from plenty of our people, we called them the contents page of the book of Psalms.
[23:49] We said, we said, we remember that often in various translations, Psalm 1 and Psalm 2, at least in the Hebrew, were often, if not taken together, then there wasn't as much of a separation.
[24:03] There were just two sections, really, of one Psalm sometimes. Either way, quite clearly, these two Psalms are connected. And we saw last week in Psalm 1, we saw Psalm 1 teaches us all about what the Psalms will say.
[24:21] What it is to live a life that glorifies God, that honours God. What does the life of a believer look like? Or at least what should we as believers strive to look like?
[24:35] And now in Psalm 2, we see the God who has given us the Psalms. We see in Psalm 2 the reality that the Psalms will show us.
[24:47] That we are a people who hate God, but God rules, God reigns, and the Father has placed his Messiah, the Father has placed his Son to reign and to rule with him.
[25:04] And that's what we're looking at this evening. Just for a short time, just going through the verses as we have them. Just taking the sections as they come. First of all, verses 1 down to verse 3, we can see the raging of the nations.
[25:21] Then verses 4 down to verse 6, we see the Father as he speaks. Then verse 7 down to verse 9, the Son as he speaks.
[25:33] And then verse 10 to verse 12, we are spoken to. We are spoken to. So first of all then, the raging of the nations.
[25:45] Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? This is a question that is, it's not really a question that David is asking.
[25:57] We find in Acts, it's David who has written this psalm. In Acts chapter 2, I think it quotes it as David. This is a question that David is asking to make a point.
[26:09] David knows the answer to the question he asks. And every one of us knows the answer to the question that he is asking. And really, verses 1 and verse 2 down to verse 3, it takes in all of us.
[26:22] Yes, really, it's pointed towards the kings of the earth. But it also takes in the whole nations. The whole here of humanity is taken in.
[26:35] Perhaps we're being represented by our kings. The reality is the kings represent every single one of us. Every single one of us here fall into verse 1.
[26:49] Why do the peoples of the earth, why do we rage and rail and plot against God? You think, well, we don't.
[27:01] We don't. Where are we in North Tolstead? Who in North Tolstead is raging and railing and plotting against God? Well, we know in Scripture, Scripture is clear.
[27:13] Every single person in North Tolstead this evening, every single person to a man, woman and child, who as of yet does not know the Lord as God, does not worship Him as God, does not know Jesus as our King, they're still on the other side.
[27:30] You ever worship Him as King, or you plot against Him, you rage against Him. By your very life not worshipping Him, you are turning your back against Him and doing your own thing.
[27:42] See, last week, Psalm 1 is quite blunt. Psalm 2 is just as blunt, and it leaves us very little room to negotiate and to be too careful.
[27:53] Psalm 2 is blunt. Psalm 2 is clear. The nations here are every single individual who does not know, does not serve, and will not serve God as He ought to be served.
[28:06] And God, as He ought to be served, says, you worship the Son, you call Him Saviour, you call Him King, and that's how you worship God well. If we're not doing that, then we find ourselves here in verse 1 as part of this raging multitude of people.
[28:25] Interesting to note, the same word we have here in verse 1, it's the same word as we found in verse 2 of Psalm 1.
[28:37] Remember last week we saw that the person who is a good believer is one who meditates on the law, who meditates on the things of God, day and night.
[28:49] The root word there for meditate, it's the exact same root word as we have here for plot. In other words, the same energy, the good man, the same energy that the believer uses to think about the things of God, the same level of thought.
[29:09] We're told here that the nations, that those who are against God, use the same level of energy to think against Him, to plot against Him. And that's true.
[29:20] That's true. Because every day we have, every single moment we have in life where we're not serving our God or walking after our God, we're walking away from Him.
[29:32] We're turning our backs on Him. We're rebelling against Him. And it shows you that the mind God has given us, that same mind in verse 2 of chapter 1, of Psalm 1, is used to glorify God.
[29:49] And the same word, the same mind, is used then, in verse 1 of Psalm 2, to plot against God, to rail against Him, to blaspheme, to turn away from Him.
[30:04] The nations are raging. They are totally and fully against God. And more specifically, we read, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, against Yahweh and His Anointed.
[30:21] The Lord, same word, there is Messiah, Mashiach, against Yahweh and His Messiah, saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast their cords away from us.
[30:36] Again, don't think, friends, for a second is easy to preach this. It really isn't. Again, we're blunt enough last week, even more blunt this week, but Scripture is clear, and God, God cares enough that He is honest when He deals with people.
[30:54] God is not in the business of trying to sugarcoat things when what is being said is detrimental to your soul now and your soul forever. And quite clearly, we're being told here there is no two ways about it.
[31:10] You're either on the Lord's side with the Messiah or you're still with the nations, as it were, setting yourself up against the Messiah.
[31:25] Hard to hear, hard to preach, but true, true. What do the nations say then? What's the chant of the nations in verse 3?
[31:38] The nations say, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.
[31:49] Our translations have chains there. It's the same illustration. Let us break off the chains of their leading us and cast away their restraints from us.
[32:03] In other words, we want to have our lives the way we want to have them. Yes, you made us. Yes, you sustain us. Yes, the whole world and universe is yours.
[32:15] But actually, actually, God, I want to live my life my way in my exact rules following the path I want to lead. And like the nations here, we find ourselves perhaps now becoming more aligned to these kings.
[32:33] And we wouldn't say it as bluntly perhaps as verse 3, but in our conduct in our lives, we are living in a way that says no to God and yes to us again and again.
[32:46] What's that look like? Well, think of the extreme ways. The extreme ways, of course, is living a life of open, public rebellion to God. that's clear.
[32:58] But for many who will come to a service of worship, that is not the case. At least not publicly. Perhaps privately, they may be living a life that is so far away from God. But very often, friends will attend a public worship service who will come this far.
[33:17] My friends, you are also saying the same thing in verse 3. And you aren't doing that by big public sin or big public rebellion. when the Lord says to come to Jesus and follow him and have him alone as God.
[33:31] And every time you say no, I won't. Every time you hear the gospel, it says come to Jesus and you say no, I won't. Then, quite sadly, you are saying the very words of verse 3.
[33:51] The nations are using the very breath that God gives them day by day to rebel against God. The very life God gives them the nations are using to fight back against him.
[34:06] And the world, it seems here, cries out to our creator who made them and who knows them, we do not want you. We do not want you.
[34:17] And we know this is true. And the Christians here know this is true. Why? Because we once said the same thing.
[34:28] Why, whether in words or in actions or in our various spirits, every single person here, every single one of us is either now actively living this way or once lived this way.
[34:40] You are either actively saying to God, now I want nothing to do with you. I will not come to Jesus. I will not come to your Messiah. I will not follow him. Or you're here this evening and once that was you.
[34:55] And now, on the other side, now, since the Messiah has, as it were, conquered your heart, since you bowed yourself down towards him, you can say, yeah.
[35:07] Perhaps I wasn't the worst of sinners in many ways. Publicly and privately I was fine as a good family man, a good mother, a good father, brother, sister, whatever else function we all have.
[35:19] You might think, well, I tried my best, I did well, but you know, and the Christians here know, that once upon a time there was a day we had no care for him, no love for him, and we thought to follow him was nothing more than restriction, nothing more than following some set of rules, than constraining ourselves down, when in reality is, for Christians here this evening, we know what freedom is, don't we?
[35:50] To live a life serving the King, the one who made us, the one who gave us breath. Again, you might say, well, I don't hate him.
[36:03] You're saying I hate Jesus, I certainly don't hate him. I respect him. I perhaps do family worship, I come from a lineage of people who respected him. I enjoy church, I enjoy God's word, I perhaps at times enjoy the preaching of God's word.
[36:18] I enjoy it all. You can't say I hate him because I don't hate him. And you see, we respect Jesus, you believe in Jesus, you believe all of it.
[36:32] But the question is, do you serve him? Do you serve him? Have you given, as it were, your life over to him? Because if the answer is no to that, no matter how much you love, perhaps, the thought of him, or the idea of him, or respect him, or respect his people, what does it matter?
[36:55] What does it matter at the end if you do not know him? We all hear, and if you engage with non-believers, with atheists, I should say, not non-believers, atheists, those who really hate God, those who will say, there's no God and I hate him, they will say and they'll think, especially folks of my generation, perhaps, it seems to be now anyway, Christians, you're just so confined, you're just so small-minded, you're just so chained to your church, your denomination, and so chained to your book, and so on, and so on.
[37:42] And it's heartbreaking at times because you hear that, and not out of anger, but out of sadness, you want to say to them, you're so wrong, you're so wrong. The Christians here are receiving no fine will, but once, we perhaps shouted something like verse 3, we once said, I want nothing to do with the constraints of following you, I want nothing to do with being tied down to following the saviour and creator of this world, I want none of that.
[38:12] But now on the other side, as you realise, as he's made you his servant, you realise, when you said these things, you were not free, quite the opposite, you were following the other master, the prince of the power of the air, the one who's at work even today and the sons of disobedience, following the evil one, who will do anything and everything to keep you away from coming to Jesus, even this evening.
[38:41] the cry of the nations is, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.
[38:53] In reply to that, we see the father speaks. He who sits in heaven, verse 4, he who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord holds them in derision and then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify him in his fury saying, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.
[39:18] We see there is a place scripturally for healthy, holy mockery. As Christians we have to have our conversations as our season of salt were to be gentle and to be careful.
[39:32] When we come face to face with the false gods with the evil of this world, there is no harm and there is no sin in pointing out the evil, in pointing out the falseness.
[39:45] We see the prophets of God do it, do not again and again. As they laugh in Baal's face, as they laugh in the faces of the demons, as they present themselves as living gods, we see them all come to nothing as the living God, the true God, is brought to bear before them.
[40:03] As his words, as his power is shown, think of the gods of the Egyptians. In many sense, they were real gods as the evil one, as his people, as the demons work through the Egyptian gods to bring about real miracles or real tricks we could say.
[40:21] But not tricks, there's magic tricks, real things happened. The Egyptians didn't worship these gods because it might work. They worshiped these gods because these gods to a point gave them what they wanted.
[40:33] Why? Because they had real power. The enemy has real power. And to the real power of the enemy, the king of kings, the Lord, says what?
[40:49] He laughs. As he sees his created creatures rebelling against him, he laughs. As he sees the evil one try and work things together to thwart the plan of God, he laughs.
[41:06] Brother and sister, we find ourselves, I know, at times, despairing. We see the evil in the world. We see the sin in the world. We see our own nation engaging in ways that will lead us in a certain path away from our Lord.
[41:22] We see our government, at least previously, anyway, taking laws into parliament and creating bills that will lead to certain situations that will curtail the freedom of the gospel and so on and so on that will devalue human life and so on and so on.
[41:41] All these things taking place and we see we're undone. We live in such a sin-filled, death-filled world. Well, just for a second, we have to remind ourselves we worship and serve a God who sees it all and who mocks it for what it is, evil and nonsense.
[42:01] Evil and nonsense. The Lord knows his plan and the Lord knows his power. The Lord holds me in derision.
[42:13] Why? Because he says to them, he will speak to them in his wrath, as for me, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.
[42:27] That symbol there of God setting one on Zion, his holy hill, that place of authority, that place of God's power as aware, come to earth.
[42:38] And God reminds the so-called kings of this world that far above them, far above their reach, far above their power, he has set his king.
[42:52] And his king will rule, his king will reign. God is good. And the Lord always seems to allow a certain amount of latitude, so much space.
[43:11] But God will not be mocked forever. God is seen here in the carrying out of his perfect justice. God will have justice either in this world or in the world in the time to come, the judgment to come, I should say.
[43:28] There is no escaping his just wrath. And we see the Lord shows that in the terror of this king. He will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury.
[43:41] And what is so terrifying to the nations of this world, it's a reminder that there is a king who is over them. A king who is over them.
[43:55] You see that all the way through time. Every culture, every society where Christ is proclaimed. Now, many faiths are persecuted in the world. Think of China, we paid for China in the morning or it was the last week perhaps.
[44:08] And this morning it was. We talked about the 100 million Christians. Now, China persecutes a whole raft of different religions.
[44:19] They'll persecute anyone and anyone they feel like it seems at times. And we don't condone that and we think that is also a disaster and an evil thing to do. But foremost persecuted in the world and every single nation it is the gospel of Christ as those who hold to the gospel.
[44:38] Right from the start till now in every nation the gospel's preached it's seen as subversive. It's seen as dangerous. Our own history in our own nation think back to our own nation and you have brothers and sisters in fear of their lives not that long ago in Scotland itself for daring to preach the truth.
[44:59] There is no king but Jesus. The earthly kings will have their day but Jesus reigns alone. That's a truth we hold on to. It's a truth in our society that is still so unpopular.
[45:12] It is what causes fury we see in these verses and causes chaos. The simple gospel truth today that there is no other king but Jesus. Yes we serve and yes we are subservient to the civil government.
[45:28] The Lord places the civil government over us and we understand that, we respect that, we pray for them. that does not mean for a second we agree with anything that they do.
[45:39] We don't have to. We pray for them, we show care and kindness towards them but we pray the Lord would have his way in our society, in our government and so on. it's a dangerous thing.
[45:53] It always was, it always will be to say there is no way to heaven but through Jesus. There is no way to heaven but through Jesus. He alone is the king.
[46:04] He alone is the one saviour of mankind. He alone is God's only anointed one. No other false prophet, no other man made nor demon made religion.
[46:15] It is Jesus and him alone that causes fury, causes fear in the psalm and it causes fury today. He has his king. He has set his king.
[46:30] Here we see the line of David was to prophetically show the greater king who was coming. That's what we read in Hebrews.
[46:40] You saw in Hebrews chapter 1 this psalm is quoted that gives us our scriptural backing to say this is a messianic psalm. This is a psalm that speaks about Jesus.
[46:52] That speaks about the Son of God. That's clear from the words of the psalm but the New Testament backs that up for us in several places. Hebrews chapter 1 being one of them.
[47:04] The Father has set his son. Now in verse 7 down to verse 9 the Son speaks. The Father sets the king on Zion.
[47:16] The Father has established his king and now we see the words of this king as the king speaks in verse 7. The king says I will tell I will tell of the decree the Lord in capital Yahweh said to me you are my son and today I have begotten you.
[47:33] Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break from the rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
[47:46] Here the whole perspective now shifts before again in verses 1 down to verse 2 I guess down to verse 3 we're being talked to then in verse 4 we see the Lord speaking verse 4 verse 5 now we see the Son speaking these are the words in verse 7 onwards of the second person of the Godhead reminding us of the power and the control he has over creation.
[48:18] for verse 7 itself we covered this partly last verse looking at the Trinity looking at how the Trinity is seen in the scripture and we took this verse where it said to us the Son says the Son recalls the Father says you are my Son today I have begotten you.
[48:45] There's two views on that I won't go into deep theology we covered it in Thursday but two views on that some will say this is what was said to our Saviour as he's born into the world others say this is talking of fact that we have a Saviour a Son of God who is eternally begotten of the Father either way it stands through you are my Son today I have begotten you the grammar we said in Thursday the grammar speaks to something that is continuous you are my Son our translations have this day and perhaps this day is more clear because this day is actually not this day it's just a general term by the way the reminder is given to us the Lord has his Messiah the Lord has his appointed King who is his Son and what has the Son been given verse 8 the Son has been given all the nations to be his all the nations all the people are his the whole world is his the whole universe is his we read in
[49:52] Hebrews all this world was made through the Son made for the Son it all now belongs to the Son and the Son will conquer his enemies to the ends of the earth he will have his people that is true in North Tulsa there were evidence of that for the Son as it were made contact into his own creation in that small small family in that small corner of the Middle East how many miles away and a few thousand years ago and here we are now in this tiny village in this small corner of Scotland how many thousands of miles away and thousands years later and here we worship a king who reigns and who rules in our midst the ends of the earth are his and although not every single people group has heard of
[50:55] Jesus we know that every single nation has every single nation every single country that we know of there is some evidence at least of God having his people there it's all his it's all his he will conquer the nations with his peace and salvation but also we see he will conquer the nations verse 9 you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel this is not Jesus meek and mild this is Jesus as conquering king and he is indeed we know a conquering king who reigns and who rules and here the end of psalm 1 is fleshed out for us remember last week we were reminded the way of the wicked will perish we'll hear that way of perishing is further fleshed out further explained to us the son comes to save and to seek and to save the lost he comes to save those who are abandoned he comes to save those who need salvation those who are sinners but make no mistake about it the day is coming and the day will come when he appears for the second time the first time he came at every moment he reigns and rules and his salvation is free and open to all who accept it but when he comes again when he comes again the world will see him in these verses in verses 8 down to verse 9 it's not
[52:54] Jesus born in a manger it is not Jesus the small child needing his parents sustenance his parents help and love and care it is not Jesus growing up and learning how to be a boy it is not Jesus suffering in every single way it is not Jesus living in a life in this world of sin and destruction no when he comes again we see our king return back to collect his people and to bring justice to those who as of yet are not following him to come under his reign and his rule it ends thankfully it doesn't end with verse 9 the psalm ends we see with this final section this final just we section verses 10 to the end where we are spoken to the nations finally or the kings that were representing us are spoken to we can take this to ourselves and what are we told what are we told therefore kings be wise be warned rulers of the earth serve the
[54:14] Lord of fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled blessed are all who take refuge in him those who are much the kings and rulers humble before the Lord humble yourselves before the Lord those who think they are all powerful in this world remember and bear in mind he is over you and verse 11 can be summarized for us so simply can't it serve the Lord and rejoice in the Lord if you don't want verse 8 and verse 9 to be your lot and your future then take verse 11 to heart serve the Lord love the Lord rejoice in the Lord he is long suffering he is slow to wrath yes he is not mocked but also he is not easily provoked we praise him for that we are told if you want to be on the side of the king you serve
[55:25] Yahweh you serve him well you rejoice with him well you give your life over to him we see that further explained to us in verse 12 these three simple words which tell us how to live a life results in life forever with the son kiss the son kiss the son what does that mean of course we know and I'm sure we understand this but just to help us to come to a conclusion to kiss the son was to kiss the king here of course in the days of a psalmist this is this is how you showed your full allegiance to the king it's still in our culture today even recently and I could be wrong here but I'm pretty sure no it was our current king it's not shown on telly it's not recorded anywhere but I was reading but even now it's privy council when there's more members added to his privy council there was a council there was a privy council but even now at this moment there's privy councillors who weeks ago they kiss one of the rings on king charles's finger now whether they agree or not that's a different matter that's what's still done it's done today symbolically and this day it was not symbolic you did it because you were saying to the king my life is yours kiss the son friends that is the final instruction that sam gives us kiss the son in other words give yourself over to him if you want to live the way of a good man in chapter 1 then here in chapter 2 of psalm 2 remember kiss the son show to him that you truly believe he is over you that your life is his that your time is his that your heart is his if you do not you will perish in the way we praise
[57:28] God the psalm ends with that glorious and simple reminder it's almost out of place but it's there to remind us of a hope we have in our saviour blessed are all who take refuge in him through blessing through hope through salvation is found only in the son only in this king you will never impress him with your life he will never be good enough for him to accept you all he is asking for all he says is take refuge in him and know for certain you will face and see none who has said in verses eight down to verse nine instead you will find yourself as we heard last week like that tree planted by a river peace and safety and nourishment for all the days of your life and for all the days of eternity afterwards let's bow our heads in a word of prayer
[58:35] Lord we thank you for the gift once more of your word as we read and as we're reminded us to the both the majesty of our saviour but also the fear we find ourselves that holy fear as we're reminded of his power as we're reminded that he is God he is the second person of the godhead he is the eternal son who reigns and who rules that all he does is good that one day soon he will come and collect his people to himself that one day soon he will come and in victory he will lead us forth into glory we pray on that day of victory we will see everyone around us here with us in glory as friends forever for all time pray Lord that every single person here this evening would come to what it is to kiss the son to place themselves before you and to say you are God you are my saviour and my friend and my king and my life is yours we are
[59:39] Lord that would be the story that would be the case even this evening let's call these things in and through and for his precious name sake amen well we can conclude with the second half singing the second half of psalm 2 Scottish psalter psalm 2 Scottish psalter psalm 2 and verse 8 psalm 2 verses 8 to the end to God's praise love and love and sagt glory to arenaku and hope
[60:53] O such a night to thee, where his airs up close by.
[61:09] The child has heard, how empty alone, the fire of me may hold.
[61:28] How does the porter share thy joe, yet thou shem this as small?
[61:48] Now let our hands be wise, be told, ye touches of the air.
[62:08] Set for the pure and sea of each other, and will let your heart.
[62:29] indoor garden, in Mom's petEn specialival circulated. Glade garden, can you stand? Be known for the sake ofומ�en, His Passover childrenipped, as we see in here, In my sins of me In your sins All that I am sin The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ The love of God the Father And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Be with you now and forevermore Amen