We will start our Bible study tonight.
Let's open our hymn book on page 449.
449, Dwelling in Beulah.
Page 449, Dwelling in Beulah.
We will sing the four verses.
On the first verse, ready, sing.
Far away the noise of strife
Upon my ear is calling
Then I know the sings of the
Peace set on every hand
Thou the parentings of earth
In faith to me are calling
None of these shall move me
From Beulah
I'm living on the mountain
Underneath a cloudless rhyme
I'm thinking at the mountain
That never shall run dry
Oh yes, I'm feasting on the manna
From a mountain full of supply
I'm dwelling in Beulah
On verse 3
Far below the storm of love
Upon the word it's beating
The sands of men in battle
The enemy we stand
Safe on my winning
Along the spur we drink
Nothing then can reach me
This Beulah land
I'm living on the mountain
Underneath a cloudless rhyme
I'm thinking at the mountain
That never shall run dry
Oh yes, I'm feasting on the manna
From a mountain full of supply
For I am dwelling in Beulah
On the earth
Let the stormy breeze of thunder
Brighten another me
I am safely sheltered
In Beulah's hand
Here the sun is always shining
Here the sun can't harm me
I am safe forever
In Beulah on the chorus
I'm living on the mountain
Underneath a cloudless rhyme
I'm thinking at the mountain
That never shall run dry
Oh yes, I'm feasting on the manna
From a mountain full of supply
For I am dwelling in Beulah
Viewing in the words of God
I see him on temptation
Hearing now his voice
I see the way he planned
Dwelling in the Spirit here
I learn the full salvation
Gathering light aric
In Beulah land
I'm living on the mountain
Underneath a cloudless rhyme
I'm thinking at the mountain
That never shall run dry
Oh yes, I'm feasting on the manna
From a mountain full of supply
For I am dwelling in Beulah
Okay, we will pray, let's pray
Our Heavenly Father, once again we thank you
That this is the last Wednesday for this month of January
Thank you and we praise you tonight, guide us in our worship service and singing
In Jesus' name, Amen
Song 409, Song 409
The fire is on
On the first verse
Ready, sing
The fire is on, the trumpets on his wing
The pride to warm is heard afar and near
The Lord of hosts is marching on to victory
The triumph of will Christ soon appear
The fire is on, all Christian soldiers
They face to face in stern array
With armor gleaming and colors streaming
The right and wrong engage today
The fire is on, but being aware
We've been strong in his final path
If God be for us, his banner o'er us
We'll sing the victor's song and on the second
The fire is on, all Russian soldiers
Raving through the noble lead
The victim will assure
No Bible on the armor that has given
You any strength forever will endure
The fire is on, all Christian soldiers
They face to face in stern array
With armor gleaming and colors streaming
The right and wrong engage today
The fire is on, but being aware
We've been strong in his final path
If God be for us, his banner o'er us
We'll sing the victor's song and on the last
The fire is leading on to certain victory
The power of promise land
The earth is gone
His glorious name
In every land shall honor me
The war will bring
The dawn of peace is done
The fire is on, all Christian soldiers
They face to face in stern array
With armor gleaming and colors streaming
The right and wrong engage today
The fire is on, but being aware
We've been strong in his final path
If God be for us, his banner o'er us
We'll sing the victor's song and on the last
Turn to the next page, we have our service times listed
Sunday at 10am, and then our 1130 service on Sundays
Wednesday evening is our Wednesday night service at 7pm
I don't know if you guys remember, but the last Sunday of the month
We're planning to do the book of Psalms instead of the book of John
The book of Psalms is extremely long, tons of chapters
I don't want to have a 150 week series
We're going to be in Psalms 2 tonight instead of the book of John
There are so many times listed there
Saturday afternoon meeting at 2pm at the Tropical Hub restaurant
Sunday afternoon at the Resolve Monument
We're meeting at 2.30 for soul winning
Praise report for 2019
We have 2254 salvations
Last Sunday morning attendance is 140
Last week soul winners over 100
We have our family integrated church
Which means children and infants are welcome during the services
Remember no eating during the services
Maintain a professional atmosphere
And keep the children from running and rockhousing
Before and after the services
We have our 31 day Bible reading challenge that we have started
So if you haven't started reading yet
This is your last grace day
Which means no more free days
I'm excited about it
I think it's great
Everyone at church is reading the Bible together
We're all learning new things
It's a great time, it's very important our personal growth
This is something we're going to do every single year here
Because reading the Bible there's nothing more important than that
We have our salvation boot camp series
We just finished that on Sunday
We're going to be starting a new series this Sunday
A dissolver of doubts series
Starting on February 3rd
And it's going to be a 5 week series I believe
At least 5 sermons
We have our January challenge for Bible memorization
And so you have till this coming Sunday
Where you're able to quote someone
So you can do it tonight or you can do it on Sunday
But it's got to be someone who's not in your family
It's word for word perfect
My wife already finished it
I have it in English but my challenge was Tagalog
So I'm running out of time
But it has definitely helped me though
I've got some verses memorized in Tagalog
I'm understanding them so I don't know that I'll get through it
But I'll do my best
However much you memorize, even if you didn't finish it
It still helped you learn those verses better
If you start a challenge and you don't finish it
You did better than if you didn't start it at all
So it's not in vain if you don't fully finish it
We have our 2019 minute admission trip
Our results were 2009 saved
And next year is going to be even better
It's going to be exciting
I think we'll even have more people here for next year's event
Everyone loved their time here
Our special announcement we talked about on Sunday
Was our new church building
So we officially signed the lease
And the goal is February 17th
And they're doing all the maintenance which is great
That saves us a lot of money
And it's a great deal, it's a big space
The area looks like it's great for soul winning
And so I think that we're going to have a short meeting after tonight's service
I have a list of things we're going to get prepared
Before February 17th
We'll probably also have it on Sunday's bus
And some people aren't able to come tonight
And I think what we're probably going to do is
I know my wife and I will be at the building the day before opening
To make sure everything's ready to go
And try to get everything as organized as possible
Because we want to just be
Hit the ground running for the first service
So anyone's welcome to join us
Obviously we'll have a better idea of what's left to do
Once we get closer
I mean, it's a mess right now
So it's just kind of like a bunch of
Basura everywhere
There's tearing down the walls and everything
But it's going to look good in a couple weeks, I promise you that
So we're excited about that
It's right near the Manggahan High School
And I believe we sent out the address
But we'll definitely send that out
Make sure everyone knows how to get there
Birthdays and anniversaries for January
And you can see my son's birthday was just
Was it yesterday? Is that two days ago?
It was a track of time
Then we have our prayer list for the week
And also quotable quotes
In order for a person to successfully
Successfully follow directions
The directions need to be clear
The directions within the Bible are very clear
So we only have ourselves to blame
If we fail at running a Christian race
And that's definitely true
And we have our offerings listed below
And I think that's it for announcements
So we'll have Brother Timothy release another song
Before we do the scripture reading
And if you want to donate tonight
Song 62
Saved by grace
Song 62
Saved by grace
Song 62 saved by grace on the first verse
On the first verse ready see
Someday the silver moon will break
And I know more as now shall see
But oh the joy when I shall wake
Within the palace of the King
And I shall see him face to face
And tell the story saved by grace
Someday my earthly house will fall
And I'll not tell how soon he'll be
But this I know my all in all
Has now a place in memory
And I shall see him face to face
And tell the story saved by grace
Someday my earthly house will fall
And I shall see him face to face
And tell the story saved by grace
And I shall see him face to face
And tell the story saved on the third place
Someday he'll face the golden sun
Beneath the rose he's hinted rest
My blessed Lord will say well done
And I shall enter into rest
And I shall see him face to face
And tell the story saved by grace
And I shall see him face to face
And tell the story saved by grace
Someday till then I'll watch and wait
While I'm a dream and burning bright
And when my Savior calls the name
My soul to him will take its flight
And I shall see him face to face
And tell the story saved by grace
And I shall see him face to face
And tell the story saved by grace
Please open your Bibles to the book of Psalms, Chapter 2.
Psalm 2. And as our custom, we'll be reading the whole chapter.
Psalm 2. Say Amen when you're there.
Amen.
Psalm 2, the Bible reads,
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath,
And vex them in his sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
I will declare the decree the Lord had said unto me,
Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.
The heathen for thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Thou shalt break them with the rod of iron,
Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings, be instructed,
Ye judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the sun, lest ye be angry,
And ye perish from the way, when its wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the Bible.
Please bless Brother Stuckey as he put your certain word in wisdom and truth.
May we have more wisdom and knowledge in your
message tonight, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Alright, we're here in Psalms chapter 2
and this is a very exciting chapter in the Word of God.
Before we get into the sermon, the first couple verses there in Psalms chapter 2
that's quoting the New Testament in Acts 4.
So turn to Acts 4 real quickly.
And so in Psalms chapter 2, it's your turn to Acts 4.
It says, Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord,
and against His anointed saying. Now if you go to Acts chapter 4,
verse number 24, the Bible reads,
Now it's a little bit different wording there from Psalms 2 verse 2 because in Acts chapter 4
it says the kings of the earth stood up and it said in Psalms 2,
The kings of the earth set themselves. But it says the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers
were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ.
For it were truth against thy holy child Jesus, who now is anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were gathered together, for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. Now turn back to Psalms 2.
And so in that mix, we saw in Acts chapter 4
you're seeing some people that are just really wicked, evil, reprobates
children of the devil, but you're also seeing people that are just your ordinary, unsaved people
that are mad against God. You know, in the world out there, there's people that are reprobates
that obviously hate God, but there's people that just don't like to hear the words of God. They don't like
what we're saying, they don't like God's word. And so in Psalms chapter 2 verse 1
when it says, Why do the heathen rage? It's not just talking about reprobates.
Heathen in the Bible represent unsaved people. The Bible says that Paul preached the gospel
to the heathen. Look, Paul was not spending his time preaching to a bunch of reprobates.
Paul was a wise guy. So Paul preached the gospel to the heathen
so a heathen is not necessarily an unsaved person. Now it could be
a reprobate, but most people out there that are unsaved are not reprobates.
And so it says, Why do the heathen rage? And heathen is representing
unsaved people. And it says, Why do the heathen rage? Now the word rage
basically means extreme or out of control anger.
You know, there's a phrase being a raging alcoholic or raging drunk
Who knows that phrase? Being a raging drunk? I don't know if that's common here. But basically
when somebody drinks, they just get out of control. They have no control
over their emotions and that's why people when they get drunk they get in fights all
the time. So rage is not simply talking about anger, but
it's an extreme anger. So these heathen, these unsaved
people are extremely angry. The Bible talks about
in the book of Solomon that jealousy is the rage of a man.
And what it's implying there in the Song of Solomon is that if his wife were to cheat on him
it talks about how he would be willing to kill somebody for that.
Because that's going to obviously make you extremely angry. Not just a little bit angry
you're going to be extremely angry obviously. And so rage is an
extreme anger. Then it says, Imagine a
vain thing. When you think about imagining
you think about kind of like daydreaming. Now when you sit around and daydream
you're usually thinking of foolish and vain thoughts and wasting your time.
I remember when I was a kid and I would dream about being in the NBA finals
or the World Cup finals. It's 1-1 in the
World Cup finals. Last minute I hit that game winning, get the game winning goal
or get that game winning shot in the NBA finals, game 7. And that's something
that kids do. They daydream about being someone famous. But that's something
when you become a man you put away childish things. That's not something when you get older you should be
worrying about just daydreaming. I mean if you have all that time in the world to daydream
just work another job. Rather than just sitting around thinking of foolish
things. Because it's only going to get you into trouble. It's not like you just sit around all day and just think about
how you become a better Christian. Usually when you have too much free time in your hand you imagine
vain things. You're wasting your time with foolishness.
And it says, Imagine a vain thing.
Now I thought of this and I posted this on Facebook so you guys might have seen that. But I posted this song
by John Lennon. John Lennon's most famous song who is
the lead of the Beatles was called Imagine. That's after he broke out of the Beatles.
And he had a very famous song called Imagine.
Now I'm going to actually read you the words from that song here. Because I'll tell you what the words
of this song are about as vain and stupid and
foolish as any song you're ever going to find. It's funny because this song is considered
like the most timeless rock song of all time. That's how they describe it.
The most timeless. Where basically no matter what time period you live in it's
such a great song. That's what they're saying. Well let's look at the lyrics to this
song. Imagine. And just decide for yourself when you hear these lyrics
to one of the greatest rock songs of all time whether or not these rock artists really love
God. It starts off like this. Imagine there's no heaven.
Boy that's a good start to a song isn't it? Imagine there's no
heaven. I mean if there's no heaven what's the point of our lives? We're spending all of our time
trying to lead people to heaven. Imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you
try. No hell below us. Above us only sky.
Imagine all the people living for today. You know what John Lennon's saying?
Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. Basically just live
it up in this life. Do whatever you want. Do drugs. Get drunk. Do whatever.
Whatever feels good. Whatever you like. That's what he's saying in this song.
Talk about a vain and foolish imagination. Imagine there's
no heaven. Why would you want to believe there's no heaven? But I guess if you're a wicked
person you obviously know you would never go to heaven. Even though they believe it's by their
works they know they would never go by their standards. So obviously you would want to believe that there's
no heaven or hell because if there's a God you've got to answer to that God. Then it says
imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for
and no religion too. Wow what a great. What a timeless
song. Right? And no religion too. Imagine
all the people living life in peace.
See there's this idea from the wicked world that we need to go for
peace. Right? Whenever they have those beauty contests at the end
everyone's always like I just want world peace. Right? Because that's what wins them
the crown. Wow what an intelligent statement you made. You want world peace.
But you know the reality is in the end times it's going to be world peace
for all of them against us. See it's not world peace for everyone.
They're all for every religion except what we believe. See the enemies of God are
always around those that love God. That's the truth. And it says
you know living life in peace. But you know what the Bible says the gospel of peace.
Man we've spread peace this past couple of weeks.
During the missions trip to over 2000 people that got saved.
It's a very peaceful message. But you know they choose to reject it. They choose to hate us.
Living life in peace. The reality is it's not living life in peace. It's living
life in sin. They want to basically have nobody criticize what they're doing.
That's why it says living life in peace. You may say that I'm a dreamer
but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us and the world will be
as one. The world will one day be as one. When Jesus Christ
is reigning and he has his rules. But the bottom line
is most people they don't like the God of the Bible. Then it says imagine no possessions.
I wonder if you can. No need for greed or hunger. A brotherhood of man.
Isn't it interesting to hear a millionaire talk about no
possessions. A guy who's got this big mansion. This huge house
talking about how no possessions. Let's just all equally share wealth. Yeah except for you
who has more money than all of us put together. I mean talk about
hypocrites. That's what you always see in politics. These politicians that say well let's just
all be equal. Except they're in that upper echelon of rich people
that don't have to ever worry about looking for food or working hard
to provide. Because they're rich. Talk about being a hypocrite. John Lennon.
A brotherhood of men. Imagine all the people sharing all the world.
You may say that I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll
join us and the world will live as one. You know what I think about this song?
This song, this timeless song is garbage. It's asura.
It deserves to be thrown away. It's absolute garbage.
But it does show that the Bible is timeless. Because in
Psalms 2, thousands of years before one of the most
famous songs, the most timeless song of all time was ever written
the Bible talks about people imagining vain things. And let me tell you
something. John Lennon. He wasn't just your ordinary, unsaved person. He was a wicked
devil. He was a bad person. And the message the Beatles were bringing across
yes it's this soft rock that was very evil. The message they were bringing across.
Now turn to Romans 1. Romans 1.
Now this ought to be a warning to us
as believers about just sitting around and
just daydreaming all day and just imagining things all day.
You think of David in the Bible who had too much free time on his hands. He ends up
committing adultery. Look we shouldn't be sitting around with nothing to do with our
times. We're just sitting around and daydreaming. It says
in Romans chapter 1 verse 21. Obviously I'd say all of us probably
know this chapter. We know what this chapter is about. But I want you to notice how it starts here.
Romans 1.21 before we see the downward spiral. Because though when they knew God
they glorified him not as God. Neither were thankful but became
vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart
was darkened. Do you see how it starts with just vain
imaginations? Look I don't want to have any attribute in similar
to these wicked reprobates. That's the first step to being a really wicked
person. Just having a vain imagination. Obviously as saved people we could never go
down the road that they go down. But I don't want to have a similar attribute to them.
I don't want to have a vain imagination. The Bible speaks against it. And if you go back
to Psalms 2. In Psalms chapter 2 when it talks about the
heathen raging and the people imagining a vain thing. It's talking about these unsaved
people raging angry against God and imagining
a vain thing. They don't like the God of the Bible. They don't like Jesus Christ.
But in Psalms chapter 2 verse 1 I want you to notice something.
It starts off with the word why. You see it's a
question in Psalms chapter 2 verse 1. Now it's kind of interesting because the Bible
doesn't really answer that question in Psalms chapter 2. Why do the
heathen rage? Why are these unsaved people so angry against God?
Why are they just sitting around imagining vain things like living a life where
there is no God, there's no heaven, there's no hell. Why is that? Well turn to
John 3 because it doesn't answer it in Psalms 2 but the Bible
does give the answer in John 3.
And in John chapter 3 verse 19 the Bible reads this.
This is the words of Jesus Christ. And this is the condemnation that light
is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light
because their deeds were evil. For everyone
that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light
lest his deeds should be reproved. You know what the Bible is saying in John 3?
What Jesus Christ is saying is these unsaved
people or people that don't want the God of the Bible, they love darkness.
They love sin. They don't want to be near the light and be reproved
for their wicked actions. That's why they hate the word of God. Because when you're
drunk the word of God is going to show you what you're doing is wrong. And
most people don't want to change. And so they get mad at the messengers because
we're presenting the same message that the Bible is presenting. They don't want to get near
the light. They hate the word of God. It's not just the Gospel that makes people
mad. I mean they don't like any of the words of the Bible. That's the
truth. These religions out there, look at Catholicism. I mean they
claim they base their beliefs on the Bible but are their beliefs anything like the Bible?
They're not basing anything on the Bible whatsoever. And so when we preach
against them and show what they're wrong about, we preach against the feasts of the Black Nazarene,
they get mad at us. Hey, it's not us. It's the words of God.
But because your deeds are evil, you don't want to come to the light.
And the sad reality is that is most people. Most
people do not like the God of the Bible. Most people do not like the words of the Bible.
It's hard for us to imagine this because when I got saved as an
18 year old, I was so happy to be saved. I had wanted to hear the Gospel.
And then I started to change my life. It took me time because nobody goes
from here to here overnight. It's a steady growth for all of us.
And honestly, in this room, all of us are at different stages. And that's
fine. We're not competing against one another. The goal is that we're all going upwards.
Obviously if you've been saved for 10, 20, 30 years,
if you've been sowing for a long time, you're probably going to have grown and learned a lot.
That's fine. When new people come here, we're patient with them. Because
it's going to take them time to learn these new things. They're going to come here with some problems and
it's going to take time to fix. And that's fine because they might have problems I don't have, but I still have
problems that I'm trying to work out.
Here in John chapter 3, what we see is the reason
why they're imagining vain things and why they're raging is because they don't
like the words of the Bible. That's the truth. Now turn to Galatians 5.
I mean, people seem to forget this, but when Jesus Christ was
alive, it's not like everybody loved him. You know, people have this
idea that if Jesus was around today, all these Christian religions, oh we
love the words of Jesus, we love Jesus Christ. No, you wouldn't.
It would be the same thing as it was 2,000 years ago. Because they don't like the words of
God. Look, religious people put Jesus to death.
They hated Jesus. That's the truth. Now yes, a lot of people came to listen
to him, but quite honestly, when you go to a church like this or Verity Baptist
Church in Sacramento, a lot of people find the preaching interesting and
they'll visit and they like most of the sermons. They love most
of the sermons, but then there's that one sermon they don't like. And you know what, then they
hate the church. Even people that are Savior like that. That's the reality.
Look, a lot of people are going to come here, they're like, man, this preaching's great, I've never heard anything like that.
Then there's the sermon that steps on their toes, and then they're out the door and they never
come back. You say, are we going to water down the message a little bit? No, we're not.
Because you know what, we have a room full of people that love the Lord, and this room full of people gets a lot of
people saved. And we might not have as many numbers as CCF or all these mega
churches out there, but you know what, that's fine. We're not competing against them. And if there's any competition,
we're winning. Because we have more people out there doing true soul winning every single week.
That's the reality. Now in Galatians 5, Galatians 5
verse 11, the Bible reads, And I, brethren, if I
yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution?
Then is the offense of the cross ceased.
Paul is saying that the message of the cross, the gospel of Jesus Christ,
it's an offense to people. People get angry about it.
Now why would people get angry at good news,
at good tidings, the gospel of peace? Why would they get angry about that?
Because when you tell people that salvation is not by works,
all of a sudden they no longer control how good they need to be. You see, most people
out there, they think that their works will get them to heaven.
There's hardly anybody out there who would say, you know what, I don't think I'm good enough to go to heaven.
Most people think they're good enough to go to heaven. It doesn't matter how bad they are.
I mean, they could come out of jail for whatever crime, they could have been a murderer,
but they think they're good enough. Why? Well, because someone over there is worse than them.
Everybody thinks they're good enough to earn their way to heaven, and they control the
bar on how good you need to be. But when we're preaching the gospel, we're taking away that bar.
And all of a sudden, they're not just barely good enough to crawl over.
All of a sudden we're saying, no, you're not good enough. And they get mad at that.
Now sadly, if they would just pay attention and listen
and be humble, they could get saved, and it would be good news to them.
But most people don't want to humble themselves. Most people will reject
salvation. We get a lot of people saved, but the truth is, most people out there,
even in the Philippines, are going to reject it. And you know, we talk to people,
we see lots of people get saved, but you have to realize that when people say they're not interested in hearing the
gospel, the chances of them actually getting saved would be very low.
Most people that are interested in hearing the gospel, they do get saved. Most
that don't want to hear it, they're not going to get saved. You say, well, how do you know that?
I preach the gospel to a lot of people that do not want to hear it. You know, when family members
or friends or whatever, or someone else's friend that I preach to, and they listen to
you out of obligation, and then all of a sudden you find out a couple days later they talk about
how you don't know anything about the Bible and you're wrong and everything like that. They say that to your friend. It's like, okay.
You know, that's happened to me many times. And so, you know what, if people
that don't want to hear the gospel, if they sit through and listen to the gospel,
they're probably not going to get saved. The people we talk to get saved because they're already
interested in it. They're humble enough. But most people that don't want to hear it, they wouldn't get saved if they
heard the gospel. Most people would reject it. It's an offensive message to them. Now turn to
Psalms 2.
And in Psalms chapter 2,
it says starting at the verse, the kings of the earth set
themselves. Remember in Acts chapter, I think it was 4, it says they stood up.
They set themselves in here. It says they're basically
preparing themselves to fight against God. They set themselves, they
stood up. They're preparing to fight against God. They've made a decision, we don't
like the God of the Bible. That's what it's saying. The kings of the earth, they set themselves.
And then it says, and the rulers take counsel
together. So these rulers, whether it's kings
or high level politicians, they take counsel
together. They're against the God of the Bible and they basically are planning out how
to destroy the God of the Bible. They don't like the God of the Bible. They don't like Jesus Christ.
They don't like his words. Isn't that what it was like with Pontius Pilate and Herod
and all those high level people? They planned out what they were going to do.
It wasn't an accident. They planned it out. They took counsel together
against God. Now when it talks about imagining,
like we saw in verse 1 in Psalms 2, often times in the Bible
when it talks about imagining, it talks about imagining mischief.
Now I don't have the time to go there, but if you look up mischief, every time it
appears in the Bible, it's talking about death. It talks about if
mischief happened to a woman with child and the fruit departed from her. It's talking about
the baby dying. Now 90% of the references to mischief
in the Bible, it's very clear it's referring to death or someone trying to kill
someone. Then the other 10%, you can't quite tell what it is, but since 90%
it's very clear that's what it's referring to. Now I know in today's world
we'll say, well so and so was a mischievous person. That's actually a really big insult
if you look at what the Bible says. Because you're basically saying they're like a murderer. That's pretty much what you're
saying. But if you look up mischief every time it appears in the Bible, it's talking about
something very evil. And so when it says they imagine mischief
many places in the Bible, they're basically planning out or daydreaming
about someone being killed. Now look, what's
interesting about this is, in verse 2 they're taking counsel together
they're planning what they're going to do. Now obviously murder is an
extremely wicked sin. I would hope that nobody in this room would ever do something like that.
But it's not just that if someone would do something like that, it's a whole
other level when you're open enough to talk to other people about how you want someone killed.
And that's what they did with Jesus Christ. They wanted to destroy him. They took counsel
of how to destroy him. That's even more wicked than just killing someone.
You're open enough that you're willing to talk about it with other people.
It's like, what in the world? But they hate the God of the Bible. When the words of God
are being presented, they didn't like Jesus Christ. The first sermon he preached
they wanted to throw him off a cliff. Now yeah there are people that like the message
there's a whole lot of people that hated the message. If he were around today
guess what? There's a whole lot of people that would hate that message. You say, how do you know that?
Look, Pastor Anderson's been banned from how many countries?
They don't like his message. Now a lot of people love the message.
A lot of people hate the message. And the people that are powerful
the rulers, the kings, they hate the message. And they're the ones making the rules.
They're the ones that ban you from the country. It would be the same thing today.
Now it's not just that
they're taking counsel together against the Lord. I want you to notice
also that it says, in against his anointed.
Now you can look up anoint every time in the Bible. What this is referring to here
it's talking about us that are saved. Basically they're not just taking counsel together against the Lord
but against his anointed as well. We have to realize we represent
Jesus Christ. We represent God. We're his messengers here on
earth. To present the good news. To preach what the Bible says. To believe what the Bible
says. To follow what the Bible says. And they're not just going to be mad
at Jesus. They're going to be mad at us as well. Why? It's the same message.
Look, if I preach a sermon against the LGBT
they're going to be mad at me. Why? It's the same message that's presented throughout the entire Bible.
The same things that Jesus preached against are things that I should preach against.
And if they got mad back then, they're going to be mad today as well.
That's why you see people like us, the world doesn't like people like us.
That's the reality. We're hated people.
It's very possible. I don't think we're at this point yet, but we could end up being the most hated church
in the Philippines. I would not be surprised if that takes place one day.
And that's why it's so important to have good fellowship with people that are like-minded.
That's why we come here. It's not just the word of God, but we love being around each other. Why?
Because we're a very small minority in this country of people that actually care about the
word of God and love the word of God. We get a lot of people saved, but it's not like most of them
come to this church. Most people that get saved, it's great we're going to see them
in heaven, but they're not going to be like us here on earth. Now we hope they
will. We pray about it. We work hard to create more people like us, but the reality
is most people are not going to like a church like this.
And so turn to Psalms 2. Let us notice what it
says in verse 3. Let us break their bands asunder.
Let us break their bands asunder. Now turn to 1 Samuel 10.
Now you hear preaching like this, it can put you in a negative mood.
Like, oh man, the world hates us. I'll be honest, I'm in a great mood today. I think since
we just found our building, this feeling of relief is gone. I'm excited about it. I think we all are.
I'm in a great mood. Reading this, I was like, hey,
I told my wife this is going to be a fun sermon to preach. I like this chapter.
Because we don't have to be worried about what the world is going to do to us. God is obviously going to protect us.
We're going to see that in this chapter. But here's what it says
in 1 Samuel 10. Remember the word bands asunder from Psalms 2 verse 3.
1 Samuel 10 verse 26. And Saul also went home to
Gibeah and there went with him a band of men whose heart God
had touched. It says a band of men. Basically it's a group
of men. Then notice what it says in verse 27.
But the children of Beliel said... Now who are the children of
Beliel or the children of Baal? It's talking about children of the
devil. It's not just unsaved people. These are children of the devil. Unsaved
reprobate. It's not just unsaved people. People that are bad
people. But the children of Beliel said how shall this man save us?
And they despised him and brought no presents but he held his peace.
And so you see that in 1 Samuel 10 they're trying to do the
same thing. You've got a group of people that love the Lord. They're serving King Saul.
And guess what? There's the children of Beliel that want to destroy him.
Now turn back to Psalms 2.
Look it's going to be the same thing in today's world. It's going to be the same thing in churches
as well. The reality is that what we believe
the devil hates. What we preach the devil hates. And the children of the devil
he's going to send them to try to destroy us. They're going to come from the inside. It's going to come from
the outside and come from the inside as well. Look we've seen that so many times at
this church already. We saw this before this church even started. They come
in. They try to come subtly. It's always nice when they're not very good at what they do.
It's like they're just kind of... I don't know. They're just
not the smartest. And they're not very good at what they do.
They make it kind of obvious. But the reality is that Judas Iscariot
was not so obvious. He came in and nobody was aware.
That's going to happen. I mean honestly even talking to
preachers in our movement. They've even said these last couple years
that the story of Judas now actually makes sense to them. Because they never actually
saw it in real life. In terms of people that you thought were these dedicated soul owners.
They love the Lord. They're there for years and years and years. Turns out they'd secretly
been trying to destroy the church from the inside for a long time.
I mean you think of the story of Judas. Jesus says it's Judas
and nobody gets it. Why? Because they never would have believed it was Judas.
And you say well Judas, why wasn't it obvious when you heard his Gospel presentation?
Because he had a very good Gospel presentation. Look you know I've been
so when he was Tyler Baker before. A week before everything happened. Back a year and a half
ago. He had one of the best Gospel presentations I've ever heard.
And I've heard a lot of people preach the Gospel. He had a very good one.
I mean I would have never guessed. I didn't really know him that well. But it's just like you know what
Judas, I'm sure he had an amazing Gospel presentation. I guarantee it.
And nobody thought it was him. That was like the last person they'd expect.
And in reality he was actually a really bad guy. It's going to happen with us
as well. People are going to come to this church. We can't let it get us down.
We just got to be ready for it. It's not a big deal. I mean we're going to be saved.
God protects us. It's not a big deal. It's just that the devil doesn't like what we're doing.
Which means that there's going to be a battle against us. That's just the way it is.
Go back to Psalms chapter 2. And I want you to notice this next thing where it says
Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their
cords from us. Cast away their cords from us.
Now a cord in the Bible is referring to a rope.
Now you've heard of the verse where it says a three-fold cord.
It's talking about a rope that has three strings woven together.
That's a really strong rope. It's very hard to break.
When it's talking about a cord, it's basically referring to a rope.
Now turn to Ecclesiastes 12.
Now
Ecclesiastes chapter 12
is one of the most interesting chapters in the Bible. It's a chapter
talking about your aging process. And it uses a lot of symbolic
language and metaphorical language. And there's a lot of deep things in
Ecclesiastes 12 which makes it very interesting. But the whole chapter is talking about
your aging process and when you get older. Being afraid of that which is high.
When you get older in life, they start being afraid of heights.
It talks about the aging process. And then it makes a statement in verse 6.
Remember it said in Psalms 2, cast away their cords.
In Ecclesiastes chapter 12, in verse 6 it says
forever the silver cord be loosed.
Wherever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher
be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Notice verse 7
then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return
unto God who gave it. You say what is it referring to in verse 7? What says
the dust shall return to the earth as it was? Remember we were made from the dust
of the ground. What it's saying in verse 7 is
for a saved person, their body goes back into the ground.
It says dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return. So it's saying basically you die.
This is a chapter about getting older. You die and then our spirit will go
to be with the Lord, us that are saved. We'll go up to heaven.
So it's basically talking about your body. First the body without the spirit is dead.
A body without a spirit is dead. So the body goes
to the dust of the ground, you die, and the spirit shall return unto the Lord who gave it.
Now notice in verse 7 though the very first word
it says then. Verse 7 is talking about dying.
In verse 7 the first word is then. Then is connecting
verse 6 with verse 7. Do you guys see that?
Verse 7 is talking about dying and then the first word is connecting
verse 6 and verse 7. So in verse 6 it's
describing dying as well. Now it's using very metaphorical
and symbolic language. Like I said this is a deep chapter. We talked on Sunday
about how there are some deep things in the Bible. Now in verse 6
the start of it mentions, or ever the silver
cord be loosed. Now actually pull out your
hymnal and turn to song number 62. Song number 62 in our hymnal.
And so there's a reason why we sung this song tonight because I knew we'd be turning
here. And it says the silver cord be loosed.
Now this is a reference to dying. Ever the silver cord
be loosed. Now let me pull out the hymnal. Actually I need a hymnal myself.
Still your hymnal. And in song number 62
notice the very start. Some day the
silver cord will break. I remember when I first heard this
song like a year and a half ago. I love this song. I think it's
an awesome song. I don't like singing it because it goes high pitched. It's very hard to sing. That's why brother Timothy sang it.
But it's a great song. But I was like what's it talking about
the silver cord? I had no idea. Remember that's what it said
in Ecclesiastes chapter 12. Now if you'll notice in Saved by Grace
it talks in the chorus is I shall see him face to face.
When are we going to see God face to face? After we die.
So the writer of this song understood
that some day the silver cord breaking or being loosed is in reference
to dying. They understood that. And so maybe
people back then Fanny Crosby maybe she knew more about the Bible than people do in today's
world. But you say well what is it talking about the silver cord? Well
I'll give you what my thoughts are. And this is not
2 plus 2 equals 4. I think we proved in Ecclesiastes 12 that
it's referencing death. But what exactly does it mean by the
silver cord? Now I went on Google about a year ago when I was preaching a sermon
on Ecclesiastes chapter 12. And what it said this was not
from I didn't want a Bible source. I just typed in what
does the silver cord mean? Honey do you mind?
I asked what does the silver cord mean or what does it mean representing death? And so the answer
does not come from a Bible source or a Bible scholar or a
commentator. It was just like the secular world. And what they said the silver
cord represented was the metaphysical link between the physical
and the spiritual. Now I can't prove that's
what it's talking about but I think they're probably right that that's what it's referring to. The silver cord being
loose like the connection between your body and your spirit then your
body dies and your spirit goes to be with the Lord. That's probably I think what it's referring to
because that's what the secular world. Now it's not really a common phrase
in today's world that I know of. But the secular world looked at it
as basically the metaphysical link between the body and the spirit. That's
what the silver cord represents. Now I do know that silver cords representing dying.
I can't prove that to you 2 plus 2 equals 4. So this is just a thought. I don't have any other thoughts
because the Bible doesn't really mention this phrase but
you know more than here a few times. But it could be representing
the link between your body and spirit because we do know there's a body without the spirit is dead and
Ecclesiastes 12 is talking about your dust returned to the earth as it was and the
spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Now turn back to
Psalms 2.
And you say well what are the other things referring to? The golden
gold be broken or the pitcher be broken at the fountain. Look if I had the answer to all these things
then we'd preach a sermon on it. But I'm not really sure. It's a pretty deep
thing in the Bible. The Bible is interesting. There's a lot to learn. But it is referring
to death in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verses 6 and 7.
And I want you to notice what it says in Psalms 2 verse 3
though. And cast away their cords from us.
Now remember these are people that are angry against the world.
They have rage. They don't like the God of the Bible. It says let us break their bands of
thunder. They want to destroy churches like this. And then it says cast away their cords
from us. I believe when it says cast away their cords this isn't referencing
to killing. I think that's what they're saying. Cast away their cords from us.
Because we saw in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 that the cord can represent
someone dying. So I think basically it's saying they want them to die.
Now I don't know exactly what it means by cast away their cords other than
I believe it's referring to them wanting to kill us. You know people that hate the God of the Bible.
They hate the message we're presenting. But an image pops in my head
of basically where someone is climbing a rope or a cord like
up to a palace to the top of it. And basically right when you get near the top they
cast away that cord. And then you fall like 100 feet to your death. Now I'm not
saying that's what it's referring to. It might just be using you know symbolic language
to represent you know someone dying. I'm not really sure. That's kind of
the image I get from my head. I think it's because when I was a kid I watched movies like that. They climb up a mountain
they get to the top their hands just get to the top and then someone stomps on their hands
and they fall down. That's kind of the image I get in my head. That might be what it's saying
but I do think it's referencing you know them wanting to kill us. Because
let us break their bands asunder is pretty strong. And the next
statement is obviously really strong as well. And since the cord can represent dying I think that's
what it's referring to. Now let us look at Psalms chapter 2
verse 4. And this is what it says. He that sitteth in the
heaven shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in
derision. So I think what the Bible has just shown is they want to destroy us. They want to
break our bands asunder. They want to kill us. They want to cast away the cord from us.
They want us dead. They want to get rid of us. And then what is God's reaction?
He that sitteth in the heaven shall laugh.
Now why would God be laughing? You know the reason why he's laughing
is because he looks at the opponent that hates him and it's not much of an opponent.
He's like this is not hard for me to destroy them. It's not hard for
God to destroy these people that hate him. It would be like if I walked
into a ring with Manny Pacquiao and challenged him to a boxing match. He'd start laughing at
me. Right? Because he knows it's not much of a competition. That's the way
God looks at them. He's laughing at them because it's like you can hate me all day. You can
want to destroy me. You can want to kill me. You're not going to be able to do that. I mean he's
laughing at his opponent. It's a joke to him.
And then it says the Lord shall have them in derision.
Turn to Proverbs 1.
And in Proverbs chapter 1, I want you to notice a pretty similar
passage in the Bible. Starting in verse number 21 the Bible reads, Because I have called
and you refused. I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded. But you have said it not
all my counsel would none of my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity.
I will mock when your fear cometh. You think God
loves the people that he casts into hell? You think he loves these wicked reprobates?
He doesn't love them. Obviously he loved them at one time. He
died for them. He paid for their sins. But look, he doesn't love them anymore. He's going to laugh.
He's going to mock when their fear cometh. When they hated God
and now they're afraid of what's going to happen to them, he's going to mock them.
He's going to laugh at them. It's like, well you know what, you got what you deserved.
Now obviously when it comes to the people that hate us,
we have to put that in God's hands. But you have to realize that with
God laughing, look there's people that are really evil people here in the
Philippines that hate us. They hate our message. They want to destroy
all the soul running we do. They're bad people. They're working for the devil.
Whether they realize they're a deceiver, it doesn't change the fact they are a deceiver.
They've been deceived, but now they're deceiving whether they realize it or not. It doesn't
matter. They're against the God of the Bible. You know how God's reaction is to those people?
He's going to laugh at them. He's going to mock them when their fear comes. When they get cast into hell,
God's going to laugh at them. These people that hated God, God
doesn't love them anymore. And quite honestly when you look through the book of Psalms
because the first chapter we went through was Soul Wonders versus Children of the Devil.
This is a song book, but you know most of the Psalms are about really bad people.
That's what the book of Psalms is largely about. These really wicked and
evil people. Notice verse 27. When your fear
cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish
cometh upon you, then shall they call upon thee, but I will not answer.
They shall seek me early, but they shall not find you.
You know for some people it's just too late for them. You know you think of people like Richard
Dawkins who's like the biggest atheist in the world who mocks God.
I promise you people like that if they're drowning in the water
a lot of those people will just cry out and say God save me or help or whatever.
They hate the God of the Bible, but when they're worried they're going to cry out for help.
God's not going to help them out. It's like you're a wicked evil person that's
hated the God of the Bible and has led people to hell. Look at verse 29.
For that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear
of the Lord. They would none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof. Therefore
shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their
own devices. You think of someone like Haman in the Bible.
Haman wanted to kill Mordecai, didn't he? What ends up happening to Haman?
He ends up getting killed the exact same way he wanted Mordecai. Why? Haman was
a bad, wicked person. God saw what was happening and God protected him.
Turn back to Psalms 2.
In
Psalms 2, notice what it says in verse 5. Then shall he speak
unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Look, he's angry at them. He's speaking in his wrath. He's filled
with wrath for these people. God is very slow to anger.
But when he pours out that anger, man,
you better watch out. That's why we ought to have a healthy fear of God.
You can get away with your sin for a little while. You can get away with it maybe for a long while
but eventually God might say, you know what, that was your last chance, and lay down the hammer.
God is very slow to anger, but when he lets it out, man, he pours
it out. It's kind of funny because the big God of the Hindus,
Shiva, he's very quick to anger.
But then he isn't angry long at all.
That's the exact opposite of the God of the Bible. See, God is slow to anger, but when he pours out,
he comes down with a hammer. Shiva, the big God of the Hindus,
is very quick to anger, but then is no longer angry after
a short amount of time. Would you like someone like that as your spouse? They're always quick to anger.
What kind of a God are they serving? I mean, what a joke. But for people
to say, well, it's the same religion, Christianity as Hinduism, how is that the same religion?
That's the exact opposite God. People will tell us, well, you know, they all teach
God to be a good person. Wow. Yeah, it's the same thing, right?
No, it's the exact opposite of the nature of God. When it makes sense, it's going to be
the opposite. Why? Because people hate the God of the Bible, so they create a God in their own image
that's going to be the opposite of the God of the Bible.
Their God's quick to anger. They like that God of life because they're quick to anger.
So it makes them seem like they're a good person.
In Psalms 2, verse 6, Yet have I sent my king upon my holy hill
of Zion. I will declare the decree, the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art
my son, this day have I begotten me.
Now, what does it mean by this day have I begotten me?
Turn to Acts 13.
Now, one thing that you're seeing here, though, is the Son of God is mentioned in the Old Testament.
This is in Psalms chapter 2. And what did it say?
Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.
Look, He was the Son of God before He was born. So for people to say, well, He became
the Son of God when He was born, no, the Son of God is mentioned in Psalms chapter 2,
verse 7. The Son of God is already there. He's all throughout the Old Testament.
But it says in Acts chapter 13, verse 33,
God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He raised up Jesus again,
as it is also written in the second Psalm,
Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that He
raised Him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, He said unto this wise,
I will give you the short mercies of David.
So when it says, this day have I begotten thee, it's referring to when He rose again from the dead.
Okay, that's what we see in Psalms 2 and Acts 13.
But He didn't become the Son of God when He rose again. He didn't become the Son of God at His birth.
He was already the Son of God in Psalms chapter 2. He was already the Son of God at the very beginning,
because in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was made flesh and blood among us.
Look, if God sent His only begotten Son, that means
He was the Son before He was sent. Because He's sending His Son, which implies
He was the Son of God up in heaven before He was sent down to the earth.
That's what we see in the Bible. It's very obvious. Now, turn back to Psalms 2.
And in Psalms chapter 2, what we see is basically
people that hate the Lord. They hate the words of the Bible. They're going to hate us as well.
They hate His anointed. And what we see in Psalms chapter 2
is how to deal with these people. Notice what it says in verse 8. Look at the first three words.
Ask of me. Ask of me.
And I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thine possession.
What does God say in the first three words? Ask of me.
Basically it's saying, pray to me. Okay?
When it comes to these evil people that hate us, we can't do anything about it.
There's nothing we can do. We can't destroy them. We can't get rid of them.
They're going to be here until the day we die fighting against everything we do.
The only thing we can do is ask of God. That's what we've got to do.
When it comes to bad people coming into church, since they can be like Judas and people are not aware of them,
the best thing we can do is just ask of God to help us and guide our church.
And I believe He has, in terms of situations that have come up. But there are going to be situations.
And how do we deal with it? We ask of God.
And that's honestly how we should handle pretty much everything.
Whether it's an enemy that wants to kill you that hates God, or whether it's just a personal enemy,
just ask of God to deal with that situation.
And if God determines to lay down the hammer, He lays down the hammer.
But look, if God doesn't choose to lay down the hammer on them, then we don't lay down the hammer.
It's God's choice what He's going to do.
If God chooses to lay down the hammer, that's His choice.
Now turn to, well actually look at verse 9.
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Turn to Nahum chapter 2, Nahum chapter 2.
Now if God is dashing them in pieces,
look, God is not some weak, effeminate little sissy like you see in these paintings or these movies.
Like the Jesus movie and all these things where He's got long hair, He's really skinny.
No, it says He's dashing them in pieces.
That's a pretty hard stand God has taken.
Why? Because there are some people that God's not a fan of.
Notice what it says in Nahum chapter 2, starting at verse 1.
He that dashes in pieces is come up before thy face.
Who's been talking about dashing in pieces is referring to God.
God dashing in pieces.
That's what we saw in Psalms 2, that's what we see here in Nahum chapter 2.
He that dashes in pieces is come up before thy face.
Keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loin strong, fortify thy power mightily.
So basically God is saying to the enemy, keep the munition or ammunition.
He's talking about artillery, guns and things like that.
Keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loin strong, fortify thy power mightily.
Basically God is mocking His opponents.
He's basically saying you better be prepared.
He that dashes in pieces is come up before thy face.
And then He's telling His enemy, keep the munition, watch the way.
He's like, you better be ready.
God is basically mocking Him.
Notice what it says in verse 2.
For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob as the excellency of Israel.
For the emptiers have emptied them out and marred their vine branches.
So in verse 2, it talks about God turning away the excellency of Jacob as the excellency of Israel.
Look, if God was willing to turn away His own people, He'll certainly do it to people that He's not a fan of.
When it comes to the Ninevites, He's certainly going to lay down the hammer on them if He was willing to lay down the hammer on His own people.
Look, if God's willing to judge His people for sin, He's certainly going to judge these wicked people that hate us.
The vice gondas, the LGBT, these kings of the earth, the rulers.
If He's going to lay down the hammer on us and on countries that used to be godly countries,
He's going to lay down the hammer on people that really hate God.
Verse 3, the shield of His mighty men is made red.
The valiant men are in scarlet.
What is that referring to in verse 3?
It's referring to blood.
That's what it's referring to.
The shield of His mighty men is made red.
The valiant men are in scarlet. Why?
They're covered in blood.
God's using metaphorical language.
He's talking about red or scarlet.
He's talking about blood then.
The chariot shall be with flaming torches in the day of His preparation and the fir tree shall be terribly shaken.
Now you think of this story in the book of Nahum.
This is after the book of Jonah.
Remember God gave Nineveh another chance and Jonah preached to them and they did turn from their wickedness.
It's only two books later and now God is laying down the hammer.
Why?
Because God is very long suffering, God is very merciful, but eventually when He lays down the hammer,
He's going to bash them in pieces.
The shield of His mighty men is made red.
The valiant men are in scarlet.
He's referring to blood there.
When He lays down the hammer, He lays down the hammer.
Turn back to Psalms 2.
Now obviously if we're living godly, we don't really need to be afraid.
If we're living godly and obeying God's rules, we don't have to worry about God laying down the hammer in our lives.
But look, and I'm sure this situation is going to eventually come up where people come to a church like this, but they're living in major sin.
And they know what the Bible is saying, but they're choosing to live in major sin.
Sins that will get you kicked out of church and they say, well nobody knows about it.
God hasn't laid down the hammer yet.
Look, He's going to lay down the hammer.
And that's one thing people don't understand because they don't see the hammer laid down immediately.
They kind of feel like, well I guess God's not that angry about me getting drunk last night.
But you start to do it regularly, and then eventually the hammer really gets laid down hard.
We have to remember God is long suffering, but you know what? You're going to reap what you sow as bleeps.
You better take heed to the book of Nahum in Psalms 2.
If He's going to destroy the enemy, He's also going to destroy us if we choose to break His rules and be disobedient.
It says in verse number 10,
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings.
Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Now I think that we would think of most kings as being wise at least by world standards.
Look, King Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible was a very smart person.
He wasn't an idiot. I'm sure he was a very intelligent man.
Now in today's world, it's a little bit different I think.
But even still in today's world, most leaders are very intelligent people.
There's a reason why they got to that position of power.
And you know what God says to them? Be wise.
What is He basically saying? Your worldly wisdom is nothing to me.
You might do well in a calculus class. You might do well in a physics class.
You might speak five languages, but it's still full of worldly wisdom.
It's not the wisdom of God. And God looks at them as being foolish. Why?
Because they imagine these vain and foolish thoughts. They are foolish.
And then He says, Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
You know, judges are the ones who basically make decrees and make rulings.
And He says to the judges who make decisions, hey, you need to be instructed.
He's basically saying, you know, you're not that smart. You're not that powerful.
I can destroy you like this.
Then it says in verse 11, Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.
And He's telling them, you know what? Yeah, we're supposed to serve God.
We need to do it with fear and rejoice with trembling.
Look, when we serve God, we come to a church like this, we read the Bible,
we do need to have fear of God.
And these wicked reprobates or these people that are unsaved people that don't like the words of the Bible,
they don't have any fear of God. They hate the Godly Bible.
You look at Pontius Pilate and Herod and all those people, they didn't have fear.
I mean, Pontius Pilate kind of was afraid.
But I mean, Herod and those other ones, they weren't afraid of God.
They were just trying to destroy Jesus, right?
The Bible tells us to serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.
Then it says in verse 12, Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and he perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.
See, God's very long suffering.
But if He just has a little bit of wrath, you better beware.
You could perish from just a little bit of wrath.
You look at countries. Right now, I guess it would depend on how you look at it,
but you know, you could say the United States might be the most wicked country in the world.
You say, well, how do you say that?
Well, for one, a million babies plus are aborted every year.
That's got to be near the top of the list of most aborted babies.
But not only that, they're the country that's the reason why all these other countries are messed up.
Why? Because everyone loves the United States of America.
They just pattern themselves off.
The music they listen to is the music of the United States.
I mean, we go to the Resolve Park when he hears, so lean beyond.
Now, we're like 25 years behind the time here, but it's still the music that's coming from the U.S.
Right? Now, has God really laid down the hammer on the U.S.?
I mean, not really that much yet, but look, it's going to come.
And when it comes, they're going to be completely destroyed.
You say, well, the United States would never be destroyed.
Well, yeah, Babylon was never going to be destroyed, right?
Because it was the most powerful nation of all time.
Greece was never going to be destroyed.
Rome was never going to be destroyed.
The U.S. will be destroyed one day.
Why? Because it's a wicked country.
And that doesn't mean that we're not wicked.
We have a lot of problems in this country as well.
But in terms of the most bloodshed, America starts wars with just about every country in the world.
You know, I used to joke.
I said, if I became the president of the U.S., the first thing I'd do is just start a war with Mexico.
And I used to joke about it.
Because that's what the U.S. does.
You listen to their candidates, and one of their big platforms is they're going to start a war here.
They're going to fix all these problems.
And it's like, yeah, you're just going to kill a bunch of innocent people.
Great job.
Has God laid down the hammer on them like he did to Nineveh?
Not yet.
It's going to come, though.
And it's the same in our lives.
God's willing to destroy a country like he did in the book of Nahum or world leaders.
If we become wicked, God will destroy us.
But notice what it says in verse 12.
Kiss the son lest he be angry, and he perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
What is that saying?
It's talking about people that believe on Jesus Christ.
Believing is synonymous with trusting, isn't it?
If you believe in something, we believe on Jesus.
We trust on Jesus to save us from our sins, that he did save us from our sins, that we're on our way to heaven.
And basically, you look at this chapter of people that hate the God of the Bible.
They want to destroy what we're doing.
They want to make our job difficult.
And I'm sure in the Philippines it's going to get more difficult as we have great results and more churches get started.
But the chapter ends on a very good note.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
So no matter how hard your life is getting, hey, God's promised to provide our food, our clothing.
God's going to be there to protect us.
We don't have to fear what man's going to do unto us.
If we are serving the Lord with fear, we don't have to worry what man's going to do to us.
Now, if we're going to choose to be wicked, try to just go out and commit some terrible sin.
Yeah, I've got to worry if I become a drug-out stealer what God's going to do to me.
But look, if I'm serving the Lord and going soloing and reading the Bible, look, we don't have to fear what man's going to do to us.
But we should always be in fear of God because if we choose to get wicked, he will lay down the hammer on us.
Let's close in the Word of Prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here tonight and just see this very exciting chapter in the Word of God, Psalms chapter 2.
A lot of great symbolic language, a lot of great things to learn, God.
And help us to remember this, that when times get tough in our lives, that we can always count on you.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
We have believed on Jesus Christ. We're saved and on our way to heaven.
We know that you're here to protect us, God.
And help us to always serve you and to love you and never forget the joy of serving you and loving you, God.
We ask you to be with us here. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
One quick reminder, after the song, we're just going to have a quick meeting.
You don't have to stick around if you don't want to.
We're just going to kind of look at the things that we need for the new building.
Just quickly go over them and see if people have thoughts and things like that.
So we'll have Brother Timothy lead us here in another song.
Psalm 355. Psalm 355. What a friend we have in Jesus.
Psalm 355. What a friend we have in Jesus.
On the first verse.
What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.
Oh, what gifts we offer for free. Oh, what needless pain we bear.
Oh, because we do not carry everything to God.
Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all us sorrows share?
Jesus loves our every weakness. Take it to the Lord the last.
A army weak and heavy laden. Come, for be the Lord of kin.
Precious sinners, kill our refuge. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
To thy breast, despise more safety. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In His arms He'll take and shield thee. Now they find us all as fair.
Amen. Brother J, did that in the word of prayer?
Father God in heaven, thank you for your words tonight.
Yes, it's like the Lord's house. It's very light in the morning.
Thank you, Lord, for the pastor's prayer and for the church's creation.
I'm all excited that each one of us in here will be able to take it to the Lord.
This is the opening of the Lord of rages.
Please take care of us as we go forth.
This is my prayer. Amen.