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Amen, Psalm 46, the Bible reads in verse 1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. This is the theme of this Psalm, God being our refuge. A little bit later in the chapter, if you jump down to verse number 7, the Bible reads, the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge, Selah. And then at the last verse, verse 11, the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge, Selah. So when we see something like that repeated in the book of Psalms, it's sort of like a chorus because you have to remember, in the book of Psalms, these are actually songs that were sung. This was a song book for the children of Israel, obviously it's divinely inspired scripture but it was also what they would sing. And so it has a lot of things in it that are characteristics of music. So it has a chorus sometimes that will be repeated and that kind of gives us the theme of the Psalm. First of all, the first words of the Psalm in verse 1 are God is our refuge and then the chorus is that the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge, Selah. Now when it says Selah, at the end of verse 7 and the end of verse 11, no one is 100% sure what that means. And this is partially why the King James Bible translators just left that untranslated. You know, they just brought that directly from Hebrew into English without translating it because the exact meaning of that is uncertain but it's probably some kind of a musical notation and most likely from the study that I've done, I think the thing that makes the most sense is that it's a pause because a lot of poetry will have a pause built into it, letting you know to stop there, just kind of a break in the Psalm. And so that's probably what that is but nobody really knows 100% for sure which is why it hasn't been translated into English. So the theme is God being our refuge. Now what does it mean to be a refuge? Basically it's saying God is our fortress, our defense, our tower, our refuge, that when the storms of life would batter us or when an enemy would invade and attack us, basically we would flee into the Lord as our refuge. He would protect us, He would defend us, He would surround us and keep us safe. That's the idea here behind this Psalm. That says in verse 1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. That's an interesting way of saying that because it'd be enough to just say that He's present. How can you be very present? You're either there or you're not, right? So when the Bible says He's a very present help, it's just emphasizing just how present He is. I mean He's just right there. So He is not a God that's a far off, He is a God that's right at hand and no matter where we go, no matter what's happening in our life, He's always just right there. He's not a distant God that's unconcerned with our lives. The Bible says the very hairs of our head are numbered. So God knows the hairs of our head, God knows every single thought that is in our mind, everything in our heart the Bible says. He counts every thought and He gathers every tear that we shed into a bottle, the Bible says. So God is a very present help in trouble. We should never think to ourselves, you know, I'm in trouble, God's not around, where is He? He's right there all the time, very present. The Bible says in verse number 2, therefore because of that, will not we fear, though the earth be removed, basically the though there, we would in our modern vernacular probably say although. So He's saying we will not fear, although the earth be removed, though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. He's saying even if that happened, we're not going to be afraid. Now that'd be pretty scary, wouldn't it? I mean stop and think about this and you might think to yourself, well, you know, that's just kind of a wild poetic statement, this could never happen. This can happen and it will happen. You know, when you study the book of Revelation, it's clear that in the end times the Bible talks about mountains being leveled and it talks about islands being removed and so forth and you might just think to yourself, it's poetic. And here's the thing, a lot of things in the Bible are poetic and a lot of things that you think are poetic, sometimes they end up later actually being literally fulfilled. If you think about the prophecies about Jesus Christ's first coming, right? When Jesus Christ was going to come in Bethlehem's manger and you have these prophecies from Isaiah that get quoted in the book of Luke and elsewhere where it says, you know, every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill made low, right? So you have these type of prophetic announcements and we look at what actually happened when Jesus Christ came the first time and it's not like literal mountains were flattened or valleys, you know, were lifted up or elevated. That didn't happen literally, did it? It didn't happen physically. So obviously there's a spiritual interpretation when it says, you know, every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill made low. The idea is that basically proud, arrogant people are brought down and that's actually spelled out in the book of Luke, chapters one and two when these kind of quotes come up and when these things are talked about. So you know, you have prideful, arrogant people or just powerful people, important people being brought down and Jesus Christ did that. And then we have other humble and meek people being lifted up, right, and exalted from their humble status. So that's what the interpretation would be spiritually when we talk about Jesus Christ coming because of the fact that in many ways he's a great equalizer because the ground is level at the foot of the cross and when we come into the assembly, it doesn't matter whether we have a gold ring and goodly apparel or whether we're a poor man in vile raiment, we're all on the same level, right? Every valley exalted, every mountain made low and so that's a spiritual application. But when you study the book of Revelation at Christ's second coming, literally mountains will be brought down, valleys will be exalted, islands will disappear under the sea. There's going to be a cataclysmic restructuring of some of the parts of this earth. I'm not saying it's literally going to happen to every single mountain and every single valley, but in the case of the spiritual application, obviously, you know, everyone is equal spiritually before God regardless of their financial status or social status or whatever. But in the end times, the Bible talks about the mountains being removed. It talks about the islands fleeing away and not being found. Now here's the thing. Even if you talk to a scientist, they will tell you this is quite possible because of plate tectonics, right? Who remembers in school learning about plate tectonics? This was a big thing when I was in school. It seemed like they talked a lot about it. I don't know if it was because it was a newer, you know, they'd basically gotten more knowledge of it recently. They'd kind of learned more about it. They're kind of excited about newer cutting edge findings in that area. But it seemed like science class just really talked a lot about plate tectonics. So we learned a lot about this growing up. And you know, if you study the plate tectonics, you know, you'll find that basically, you know, parts of the earth are kind of getting sucked into the mantle slowly and recycled and new stuff's coming out and plates are shifting and everything like that. And here's the thing. When Christ returns, it's not going to be business as usual on this earth physically or geologically speaking because of the fact there are going to be some cataclysmic things going on. There are going to be all kinds of earthquakes. And the Bible says there are going to be earthquakes greater than any earthquake that has ever existed on this planet. So if there are going to be earthquakes greater than any earthquake we've ever seen, and obviously earthquakes are directly related to plate tectonics, I'm telling you, these things could happen where mountains literally could go into the sea and where the earth would be removed, you know, where portions of the land are just gone and so forth. So the Bible is saying here, we will not fear, in verse 2, although the earth, though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. You see, when we get to the end times and we see these things begin to come to pass, if we're right with God, if we understand scripture, we're not going to be afraid. We're going to be thrilled. We're going to be rejoicing. Because when those kind of cataclysmic signs begin to take place, we know that our redemption is nigh even at the doors, even at the doors. Because if you remember, the sea and waves roaring, the earthquake, sun and moon being darkened, signs in the heavens, this is the stuff that happens when Christ is just right about to return, like the day of, you know, when you're just pretty much right there. Because if you study the events of the tribulation, most of the events of the tribulation, if not all of the events of the tribulation, are not really supernatural events, quote unquote. Because if we study the first seal, the second seal, the third seal, the fourth seal, the fifth seal, none of these are these huge supernatural earth-shaking events that we see in the trumpets and vials. When we look at the trumpets and vials, when God's pouring out his wrath, then yeah, of course, you have all kinds of just wild things happening physically on this earth. And many of those things are going to be supernatural things. I do believe that man will come up with a natural explanation and try to explain them away, and try to say, no, folks, this is normal, you know, we can explain this. But there are going to be supernatural things happening at that point. But that's not the tribulation. That's God's wrath. See, when we're studying the end times, we've got to differentiate between the tribulation, which comes before the sun and moon are darkened, and then when the sun and moon are darkened, then you have the wrath of God poured out thereafter. So where does this happen, this earth being removed and mountains being carried into the midst of the sea? You know, the earliest possibility of anything like that happening would be really just right at that opening of the sixth seal, is where you'd see that kind of activity, like the sixth seal. And obviously, you're going to see this more dramatically later in the trumpets and vials. You'll see even more of this and more dramatic. But since he's talking about us as saved Christians, you know, we can apply this to the point where we'd actually be there. We're not going to fear, right? When we see the sun and moon darkened, we're not going to freak out. We're going to say, we're going to look up, the Bible says, because our redemption draw at night. We're going to be excited. We've made it to the finish line. We've arrived at the second coming of Christ. So that's going to be a glorious day. We will not fear though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Verse three, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. And again, these type of signs will occur according to Luke 21 at the end of the tribulation, the waves and the sea roaring and the Bible teaches that there will be, you know, tidal waves and all the things that are associated with great earthquakes. Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof, we're not going to be afraid. And later in the Psalm, he explains a little bit why we're not going to be afraid. But then there's a pause, right? Because we decided that that's probably what sea law means most likely. But whatever it means, it definitely acts as a punctuation between different phases in a Psalm. If you study it throughout Psalms, it's definitely some kind of a break there. Some people have said it means repeat. You know, either way that would make a new section, right? But let's say it's a pause or whatever it is. So we pause there and that's a perfect place for a pause as you're reading this because you have this image of the mountains being removed and the mountains being cast into the sea, the waters roaring and swelling and the mountains shaking. I mean, you know, you kind of got to pause and you take that in. And then he says, there is a river. Now isn't that an interesting transition because we just talked about water. So we're talking about just giant tsunami, type of tsunami that would just come crashing in and destroy a city. Just obviously this is going to be on biblical proportions when these kind of waves and earthquakes happen. So, you know, you're thinking about all this water that's destructive water, right? The destructive water that would rip things apart, break cities apart. The mountains are being moved into the sea. So we see the destructive water and then there's this pause and then all of a sudden there's a river. And this is a totally different image. This is the image of a peaceful river. So while the world is experiencing all this destructive water, there's a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high. Now, go ahead and keep your finger there, but go to Revelation chapter 22. Revelation chapter 22. Of course, Revelation chapter 22 is a significant chapter because it's the last chapter in the Bible. And whenever, you know, we think about the first chapter, the last chapter. Basically, these are the chapters that people are going to read the most. They're the chapters that stand out in our minds. So God really packed these chapters with a lot of great, important information, right? So Revelation chapter 22, what's the subject of Revelation 22? Verse number one, it says, and he showed me a pure river. So the subject is a river, right? This is where the chapter starts. This is where the subject of the chapter is introduced. You could think of other places to break this chapter because of the fact that verse number, you know, six, for example, is a stopping place. Verse seven or, you know, you could jump in in verse, you know, I don't know, anywhere. The point is, you know, I believe that the chapter starts here for a reason. It's kind of the theme of the chapter here. It's an important point because it comes up later because verse one says, he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. But then if we jump down to verse 17, it says, and the Spirit and the bride say come, and let him that heareth say come, and let him that is the thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. This is the final invitation to be saved in the Bible, the final plea to get saved begging the reader to take the water of life freely, inviting the reader to be saved. And so it's interesting that the chapter starts in verse one with there's a river of the water of life. And then the chapter ends with pleading you to take of the water of life. And then even if you just go back one chapter to chapter 21 and look at verse number, where is it? It's verse nine, but it's not. Verse six, and he said unto me, it is done. I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is the thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. So as we get down to the end of the Bible, this is something that's clearly being emphasized, right? Chapter 21, I'm going to give him of the water of life freely. Chapter 22, when we're describing the new heaven and the new earth, he doesn't tell us much, but he tells us about that river of the water of life. And then when we get to the end, he pleads us to take the water of life. So with that in mind, thinking about that, go back to Psalm 46, and we understand what is this river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God. What is that river the streams whereof make us? It's salvation, right? This is the water of life, the water that springs up into everlasting life. What did Jesus tell the woman at the well? He told her that he would give her of the water where she would drink thereof and she'd never thirst again, right? Why? Because you only have to get saved one time. Once you've drunk of the water of life, once you've been saved, you'll never thirst again. You're saved forever. You're saved eternally. There's nothing you'd ever do to lose your salvation because Jesus taught again in John chapter 7 that the Holy Spirit, when he would be given, would basically spring up into a well of everlasting life, springing out of our hearts. I remember there was a song we used to sing when we were in Sunday school as kids. I've got a river of life flowing out of me. Who sang that song when you were growing up? Yeah, lots of people. So you know, that's the idea here is salvation, eternal life, the water of life. That is the river that makes glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Mosiah. So what is the river that makes the city glad? It's talking about salvation. It's talking about eternal life through Jesus Christ. It's talking about the Holy Spirit. Now the city of God, let's get a cross reference on the city of God. Go to Psalm 87. Psalm 87 mentions the city of God. Go to Psalm 87. And of course we're talking about Zion, right? Now when the book of Psalms is being written, they're going to apply this to Jerusalem, right? But in the New Testament, we notice that there's a differentiation made between Jerusalem that now is, Galatians chapter 4, which is in bondage with her children, which is Hagar, which is the old covenant, and then there's Jerusalem, which is from above, which is free. Our citizenship is the heavenly Jerusalem, the new Jerusalem. Nothing could be clearer, but yet today they're independent fundamental Baptists. They're looking at the physical current Jerusalem that now is, and they're saying, that's the city of God right there. They're saying, hey, that's where our citizenship is. We're citizens of wrong. We're not citizens of that place. That place is in bondage with their children. The children of that physical city are in bondage. They're not saved. Okay. And by the way, the river of salvation is not flowing through that city. That is one of the most unsaved places that you could go. You know, if you went to that city, the citizens there, the inhabitants there are less than 1% claiming the name of Christ in that area. Okay. Because Israel is not a Christian nation, not even close, and in fact, in many ways it's hostile toward Christianity. So that river dried up a long time ago. Now that river is flowing well in many other places in this world. You say, well, what's the physical city now? You know, where's the headquarters for the gospel? Where's the headquarters for Christianity? Here's the thing. It's a spiritual headquarters located in heaven. It's not a physical city. You cannot search this earth looking for God's capital city on this earth because God's capital city is the new Jerusalem which comes down, which comes down from God out of heaven. And so the new Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem, that's where our citizenship is. And you say, well, that's not very satisfying for me because I want something that I can see, that I can physically, well, then you lack faith. See, those that have faith, they're not demanding some physical, I want a physical city. Well, you know what? Here's the physical city that you get. It's Phoenix, Arizona, and it's a great city. Amen? So that's enough for me. But look at Psalm 87, and it says in verse 1, His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. So He's saying, you know, look, in all the places that you could live in Israel, in Judah, in Judea, out of all those places, you know, the best place to live is in Jerusalem. This is what the author is basically saying, right? God loves Jerusalem. God loves Zion more than He loves, you know, the other geographical locations of the nation. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God, Selah. And that's the term that brought us over here, right? From Psalm 46, we were brought over because we were talking about the river flowing through the city of God. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me. Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia. And what's he naming here? He's naming impressive places. So these are impressive places. I mean, Babylon at the time that this was written is an impressive place, right? Tyre and Zion are impressive places, Philistia, Ethiopia. These are basically, you know, powerful places, impressive places, important places, places that people have heard of. You know, it's not like people are saying, where's that? I mean, people know about these places in that region. He says, this man at the end of verse four was born there. And again, we're going to get this chorus coming up. He says, this man was born there, and of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her, and the highest himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count when he writeth up the people that this man was born there. So we see that the triple repetition of that idea, Selah. As well the singers, as the players on instruments shall be there, all my springs are in thee. So we come back to the idea of the water, right? The water of life, the spring of everlasting life, springing up. So what's it saying here? He's basically saying, look, there's all these impressive places, you know, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, all these important places, Ethiopia. And he's saying, you know, somebody might basically brag about, hey, I'm from there, right? Like, I was born there. Now what do you think would be a cool city that would have kind of a coolness factor? This is not a trick question. What city would have a coolness factor where you'd say, hey, I was born there? New York City? What's wrong with you? New York City? No, I'm just kidding. No, but that's true though. A lot of people, that would be a coolness. A lot of people in America might look at those kind of cities like LA, New York, San Francisco, right? Well, here's the thing. One time I had somebody tell me, hey, I was born in Nineveh. I mean, I thought that was pretty cool to be born in Nineveh, right? What other city can you think of that would have kind of a coolness factor of being born there? Besides Tempe. I mean, that's too obvious. Honolulu? Like, I was born in Hawaii. Yeah, that seems cool, right? You know? Or, you know, maybe just ancient cities of the past. I was born in Rome. You know, I was born in Athens or, you know, I'm from, you name the city, right? Just places that have a coolness factor. Basically, what this psalm is saying here is that the ultimate coolness factor is, hey, I was born in Jerusalem. He's saying basically that's cooler than. And again, let's get the context. We're not talking about 2020. We're talking about back then. The coolness factor of I was born in Zion is greater than being born anywhere else. That's why he's saying this man was born there. And people are going to say that, and it's going to mean something. It's going to be like, wow. You know, that's where you were born. Now stop and think about this. You know, this and that man was born in her. This man was born there. And when the Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people that this man was born there. Folks, don't look at this with the carnal eyes of the Zionists. The carnal eyes of those who are trying to just take us back into the Old Testament under the Old Covenant, who want to throw out the book of Galatians and want to idolize a group of Christ-rejecting people in the Middle East. Don't look at it with those eyes. Look at it through the eyes of the New Testament, right? Look, these Old Testament scriptures were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. These psalms are more relevant to us than they were the day they were written. They don't get outdated. They actually get more relevant. We get more out of them than the children of Israel got back then. Nothing could be clearer. And so, if we look at this through the right lens, what's the city? The real city is the heavenly Jerusalem. What does it mean to be born there? It's to be born again. See if you're saved, you're a citizen of that seed. That's where you were born spiritually. That's your spiritual birthplace, right? You're a child of God. You're a citizen of Israel. The Bible actually uses that term in Ephesians 2. It says you're a fellow citizen of Israel. Ephesians chapter 2 is clear. And we see that the great city where you're born there, the springs are there. This is talking about the heavenly Jerusalem. And God loves that city more than any other city. And stop and think about this, taking pride in a physical location makes no sense in light of Psalm 87, does it? See Babylon, New York doesn't seem that cool anymore. And here's the thing, if you go around being so proud and bragging that you're from New York, you know what you're showing, you don't understand this Psalm. Because where you ought to be bragging about is the fact that you're saved. Bragging about the fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins. Bragging about the fact that you're an ambassador for Christ because anything else is a joke compared to that. And look, today people are really, really into being American. But you know, it's way more important to be a Christian than American. You know, instead of glory, you know, him that glories, let him glory in the Lord. So you know, I'm not going to identify with my fellow Americans who are heathen more than with another nationality who's in Christ. I mean if someone's of another nationality but they're in Christ, let's say the Canadian is in Christ. Let's say the Mexican is in Christ. You know what, that's who I'm going to identify more with, the Christian Canadian and the Christian Mexican than the heathen American. Do you see what I'm saying? So we want to make sure that we have our allegiance lined up where it belongs on the people of God and on the church and on Jesus Christ and on the word of God. And not get all tribal about our physical nationality or ethnicity. Don't get tribal, or even within the United States, you don't want to get tribal within the United States of, you know, well, you know, I'm Texan and whatever, it's just like, get over yourself. Well, I'm from the south, I'm from the north, California, whatever, you know. And look, obviously California is the best place to be from, but, but, or Arizona, those are the two best places, but you know what, that's meaningless, that's a joke. Because the real important thing is Zion. And I'm not talking about the fake Zion, I'm talking about the real Zion, right? Being in Christ, that's the city of God, right? And we're all citizens, citizens of the city of God if we're saved. And that river is what makes us glad. Go back to Psalm 46. So look, when you're studying scripture in the Old Testament, always, always Christianize it, always. That's the right way to read the Bible. If you're not Christianizing the Old Testament, you're doing it wrong. You're not reading it right. If you don't see Christ on every page, you're wrong. And the one who takes any Old Testament scripture and just takes it to the cross and finds a way to put a New Testament spin on it, you know what? That's the right way to read the Bible. And today, that method of studying the Bible is being demonized today in academic institutions, and it's being demonized even in the IFB where they'll try to sometimes say, hey, you know, you can't just make everything a messianic passage. It's like, oh yeah, watch me, watch me because I'm going to. You know, these replacement theology guys, they tend to spiritualize everything. Yeah, you better know we do. You bunch of carnal false teachers, yeah, we spiritualize it because we're not carnal like you. That's why we make it spirit. What does it mean to spiritualize? Make it spiritual. Sounds like the right way to read the Bible. Folks, the Old Testament is pointing us to Christ and give all the prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. Look, this section of psalms were in the 40s, you know, 44, 45, 46. I mean, these are some of the best psalms to me personally. I mean, these are some of the psalms that I like the most. Imagine how gutted of meaning these psalms would be if you're just like salivating over the physical city of Jerusalem while you're reading these. There's a river that makes glad. And then you're like, you go there, and it's like a brown river. I mean, Paul, how glad did that water make us like this? It's like a brown, you know, we have the Jordan River. It's like a brown puddle. I mean, and that's what you're gonna get excited about. That's what you're excited about, huh? You know, I'm excited about being saved. I'm excited about Jesus. I'm excited about the Holy Ghost. I'm excited about salvation. I'm not excited about some war-torn, messed up, apartheid city with a brown river in it. It's not that cool, folks. But the New Testament's very cool. And so we see here that in Psalm 46, you get a lot more meaning when you start tying in Revelation and you start tying in the Gospel of John and you start tying in the Book of Luke. Then it just comes alive. And then you wonder, how did people even read this in the Old Testament? They didn't even know what it was about. They saw through a glass that was so dark, and we see face to face. I mean, here, it's right there, right? Jumps off the page. Verse 4 of Psalm 46, there is a river the streams were of shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. Now the tabernacle, you know, tabernacle means basically shelter, tent, dwelling place. And when it says the tabernacles of the Most High, the emphasis is that God dwells there. God lodges there. And that's why it says in the next verse, God is in the midst of her, right? So that's why that flows of saying, you know, the tabernacles of God and God is in the midst of her. And because God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved. God shall help her in that right early. So the city of Jerusalem, that's the literal Old Testament context. Because God is in the midst, she shall not be moved, right? God's going to help her in that right early. So when the enemy comes, when they're threatened, they know that they're safe, because God's their refuge, the Lord's the refuge. But okay, now let's apply this to us. You know what? God dwells in us. We have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. That city is in our hearts. And the river that runs through it is that river of life springing up unto everlasting life of the fact that we're indwelled by the Holy Spirit. And so because God dwells in us, because the Lord's tabernacle is with men, because we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we shall not be moved. We shall not be moved, and God shall help us in that right early. Boy, isn't it great to have these promises and apply them to ourselves instead of just pinning them on someone else? Hey, every promise in the book is mine, every chapter, every verse, every line. And so this chapter is relevant to us. That's why God commands us in the New Testament to sing psalms. Because these have a New Testament relevance, don't they? So he says, God shall help her in that right early. Verse 6, the heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice, the earth melted. Now this is some great end time stuff too, again. Because he says here, you know, the heathen raged. Well, doesn't that bring to mind a very end times passage? What's the passage? All right, several people said it, but they didn't say it with boldness. Psalm 2, right? I heard these little murmurs like, Psalm 2, Psalm 2. I heard a still small voice saying Psalm 2. So yes, Psalm 2, right? Psalm 2 is that great passage, and it deals with the second coming of Christ and Jesus ruling with a rod of iron, right? And what does it say? It starts out, 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, like the counsel on foreign relations, CFR, the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. Remember the end times, the 10 kings, right? They agree together, they may counsel together, and they are with the Antichrist. So we have the heathen raging and the people imagining the vain thing. What's the vain thing that they imagine? Casting off Christ's authority, casting off God's authority. And God, of course, just laughs at them and has them in derision in Psalm 2, right? So Psalm 2 is a pretty familiar passage. But it says here, the heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved. Now look, obviously, in a time of world war, which is what the end times are going to be, right, when that second seal is open and peace is taken from the earth and there's a great sword and there's world warfare going on, wars and rumors of wars, obviously, kingdoms are going to be moved, right? There are going to be powerful nations that are going to be brought down. There are going to be borders that are going to be changing. There are going to be balances of power shifting. Obviously there's going to be a major, major shift in the politics and in the different alliances and borders and countries. So when the heathen raged and the kingdoms were moved, right, that's end times, God's just up in heaven saying, oh man, you know, they've gotten so much power now. What am I going to do? They're taking over down there. How am I going to turn this thing around? How can I get this? He basically just utters his voice and the earth melts. Now is that what happens in the end times? Absolutely. Because look, when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them. So as soon as the kings have taken counsel together and you've got these alliances and you've got this one world government and you've got the one world religion and you've got the one world financial system and you've got the anti-Christ and they're saying peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, right? Sun and moon are darkened, sea and waves roaring, the trumpet sounds, the elect are gathered to be with Christ, and what form does that sudden destruction take? The sudden destruction that comes upon them, what form does it take? Well if you study the Bible, what happens when the seventh seal is opened? Fire and brimstone is rained from heaven. When the seventh seal is opened, right after that point, you have the angel take the censer and fill it with fire from the altar and cast it into the earth, and then the seven trumpets begin to sound. And when the first trumpet sounds, guess what the first trumpet is? Fire being rained from heaven. And this is described in 2 Peter chapter 3 when it talks about the day of the Lord coming as a thief in the night, putting it in the exact context of 1 Thessalonians 5, Matthew 24, etc. When it talks about it in 2 Peter 3, it talks about the day of the Lord coming as a thief in the night, and it talks about the elements melting with fervent heat, doesn't it? Talks about fire burning and melting and so forth. So again, this takes on a literal interpretation in the end times. Even though there's a lot of, you know, poetic and spiritual significance now, in the end times he's literally going to utter his voice and the earth's going to melt. And I'm not saying the whole thing's just going to melt and be gone or something. Okay, the Bible says the earth abideth forever, but what's going to happen is obviously things on the surface are going to melt, right? There's going to be intense heat and fire and there's going to be some serious melting going on. He uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. What's he saying? He's saying, look, that's who's with us. That's who's in you. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. He that is in the world can spend upward of three and a half years putting together his coalition, fighting battles, strategizing, building this whole structure of world government, and folks, the mystery of iniquity does already work. So not only does it take him over three and a half years to put this into play, he's already working toward that. The mystery of iniquity is already at work, folks. There's already a plan in the works for a new world order. There's already plans that are being carried out toward global currency, global religion, global, uh, everything. I mean that it's happening and it, and by the way, it didn't just start this year. It was happening in the eighties. It's happening in the seventies. It was happening right after World War II with the founding of the United Nations and the founding of Israel. All these things have been going on. So the devil just works at it and works at it and works at it and works at it. And then God just utters his voice and the earth melted. And you know what? He has the victory as fast as he wants it. Now he chooses, he chooses to drag it out for almost three and a half years. Why? Just to make, just to make the bad guys suffer. That's why. I mean, God could just snap his fingers and melt everything, but instead he drags it out because he's taking vengeance, he's taking revenge. And so he makes this earth suffer. He destroys them that have destroyed the earth, the Bible says. And so, you know, he drags that out. But folks, he utters his voice and the earth melts. And then a little bit less than three and a half years later when he comes on the white horse, again with the sword of his mouth, he just wipes out the enemy. He could have done that in the first place, but he drags it out to punish. So we see here that God, the one who can just basically snap his fingers and defeat the enemy, he's with us. How could you ever be afraid of anything? Once you realize that God is in you, once you realize that the Lord is your refuge, once you realize his power and how very present he is, how could you ever be afraid of anything again? He says, the Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge, Selah. Then we jump into verse eight, right, new phase after the Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. What is desolation? I mean, turning something into a wilderness, turning something into a desert, turning a desolate, just he, I mean, he can wipe things out. And it says, he maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth, he breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear and sunder, he burneth the chariot and the fire. Be still and know that I am God. Again, what's the Psalm about? He's trying to get us to realize, look, God is our refuge. Be still. What does it mean to be still? Be peaceful, calm down, relax, be quiet, shut off all the noise, shut off everything on the outside and just quietly, silently pause and reflect and know who God is and fear will be gone. How can, how can you fear anything? How can you worry about anything? How can you be stressed by, oh, I'm so stressed out, you know, COVID-19. Look, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. And so, you know, you might be worried right now about your job or, you know, I'm just afraid that when the 15th rolls around, it's not really going to go back to normal. But you know what, what, what good does it do to worry about that? I'm just afraid they're going to force vaccinate, vaccinate us. And so, you know, I just bought a copy of strategic relocation and I'm going to be heading out into the wilderness. Folks, this is where we belong right here. I'm not heading for the wilderness. I'm not trying to strategically relocate somewhere because I'm so scared about being nuked or, you know, a forced vaccination or look, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Amen. What does the Bible say? Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. So look, if that stuff happens, then we'll deal with it. Then we'll cross that bridge. We'll figure out what to do at that point. Okay. You know, but, but here's the thing, you know, it might never materialize. I don't believe that, that this city will ever get nuked until after we're gone. See Babylon USA for details, you know, I mean, watch, watch Babylon USA that folks that happens after God's wrath is born. We were long gone before that happens. Okay. I don't think this city is ever going to get nuked. I don't believe that we're going to be forced vaccinated. Now look, maybe I'm wrong and maybe they will try to force vaccinate, but you know what? I'm going to find a way out of it and you're going to find a way out of it, you know? And if we, and if there's just no way out of it and we can't find a way out of it, you know what? Then I'll just move somewhere else, but, but why would I sit and worry about that when I'm 99? I'm 99% that that's never going to happen and I'm going to stay right here. And you know, I believe I'm going to live and die right here. I believe I'm going to be buried in this city, right? Bury me out at Schnepp for a men out in, in a, what's that place called? Santan village. What's it called? Where's Schnepp farms? What's the town? Queen Creek. Yeah, that's right. I don't be buried in Queen Creek, Arizona. All right. So here's, here's the thing, folks. I plan to live and die and be buried here. I don't believe that it's ever going to get that bad here to where we have to leave or flee or something like that. Because here's the thing, Arizona is going to be the last state standing, if anything. Sorry, Texas, you know? Sorry New Hampshire free state project. This is the free state project right here. All right. So you know what? We're, we're going to be the last one standing, but you know what? The bottom line is though, there's no sense fixating and biting your fingernails and worrying and being scared of those, of those boogeymen because they may or may not materialize. And look, you say, well, I don't know. We ought to be worried. Well, are the mountains being cast into the sea yet? Because if so, that's good news for me. That'd be a blessing to find that out because that just means that Christ about to return. So, you know, don't, don't worry. Don't be scared. Don't fear. Be still and know that he is God. Okay. Don't worry about these things. Look, the devil shall cast some of you into prison. That's what the Bible says, right? The devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be pride or that you may be tried. He says, fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Be faithful unto death. I'll give you a crown of life. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Be still and know that he's God and whether it's your job that you're worried about, finances, if you're worried about our government, you're worried about what, what, what May 16th is going to hold or is this ever, is the lockdown ever going to end? Are we going to be wearing masks for the rest of our lives? You know, are we, are we never going to be able to travel or whatever? You know what? Whatever it is, I'm ready for whatever God puts on my plate, I'm going to eat it. So if that's what God has on the menu for the United States, bring it on. I don't care what it is. It's not my problem. And some people are a little frustrated with me right now for not being agitated right now. They don't like how peaceful I am. It's true. They're frustrated with me because I'm too peaceful for them. And you know, there's nothing more irritating than being around a peaceful person when you're all worked up. You know, I'm just like walking around like, like Buddha under the Lotus tree here. Just like, Hey, you know what, whatever. And but I'll tell you why. It's not because I'm Buddha under the Lotus tree, my friend. It's because of the fact that I've got the Prince of peace in my heart. It's because I make my requests made known unto God and the peace of God, which passes any understanding that Buddha ever had, which passes any understanding of any Hindu, Hey, I have the peace that passes all human understanding, ruling my heart and mind through Christ Jesus. So I'm just not worried. I'm not panicking about it because it doesn't matter to me. You say, well, how can you not care folks? I care about God's plan. I care about God's people. I care about being right with God. But you know what? Here's the thing. All things work together for good to them that love God. So everything that happens, I'm just like, that's going to work together for good for me. Wow. Okay. Oh, what's in the news? Oh, murder Hornets. That's going to work together for my good folks. If the murder Hornets come through and wipe out all the honeybees, that's going to work together for good. The look to those that love God, well, what about people who don't love God next to him? If any man loved not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. That's what the Bible says. Folks. Anybody who doesn't love Christ is so doomed anyway, they're going to be stung by a Hornet every second in hell. Folks think about it. You think I'm worried about, you know, oh no, what if unsaved people get stung by murderous Hornets? You think I'm worried about that when they're going to burn in hell? Folks burning in hell is worse than getting stung by a Hornet. So if getting stung by a Hornet causes somebody to be humble and get saved, then I hope that every unsaved person gets stung by a Hornet. And you know what? Maybe even some saved people need to get stung by a Hornet just to help bring them a little closer to God. You know, because of the fact that some people are so backslidden right now that they need to sit on a nail or something and get excited about serving God again and get fired up about the things of God and start caring about their Bible and start caring about church and start caring about the things of God and not being obsessed with that which is carnal, then you know what? Bring on the Hornets, you know, if that's what it takes. Now look, I don't want to get stung by a Hornet, but you know what? If God wants me to get stung by a Hornet, you know, it's going to work together for good in my life. So then I'm just going to, you know, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not like Coyote Peterson, you know, where I'm, you know, doing it willingly, but folks, we need to be at peace about whatever comes our way and you know what? I cannot change our government. I can't change the banksters and politicians and the things that they're doing right now, you know, and I have a serenity to accept the things that I can't change, but you know, I'll tell you what I can change. I'll tell you what I can do. I can win people to Christ. I can call people to repentance. I can preach the word of God. I can edify the people of God. Those are the things I can do and I can win at those things. I can succeed. I can, you know, and so can you. You can do those things, right? You can be an influence for Christ. Now you really think that you're going to turn around the next political election and turn this into like Christ's kingdom on earth here? I mean, do you really think that that's going to happen? You really think that the next few elections are going to do anything like that? You know, we're, we're, we're just going to be lucky to end up with the lesser of two evils in these elections for Senate and Congress and president and everything else, but you know what? When it comes to the spiritual side, man, we can do some great things. You know, and, and what look, look, I, I feel like I've lived a really comfortable life and so have you. I don't care who you are in this room unless you just moved here from a third world country or something. You've probably lived a pretty comfortable life too. So you know, we don't really have anything to complain about and we need to be at peace with whatever God decides to send our way. I'm at peace with it. I've made peace with what, what, what's going to happen or might happen or well, you know what? And I'm just, I'm just, you know what? All I know is that today was a good day. You know what? I think tomorrow is going to be a good day too. In fact, I think every day for the rest of my life is going to be a good day. You know, as long as I love God, it's going to be good in some way, shape or form. Folks, this is the attitude that we, that we should strive for. I'm serious. This is what I'm preaching because this is the truth. And so peace, be still and know that he's God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Folks, that is God's program. God's program is not necessarily for all of your dreams and wishes to come true. God didn't just make this planet for you and he made this planet and it's all just this Disneyland on earth for you to reach all of your dreams. Now look, it's true that God will give you the desires of your heart and there've been many things that I've desired that God has given to me and I'm thankful for that. But God doesn't exist to serve me. I exist to serve God. So what's the end game from God's perspective? It's not Steven Anderson being glorified. It's not you being glorified. It's not me succeeding. It's not you succeeding. It is God being exalted among the heathen. It's God being exalted in the earth. That's the program. Hey, you just get on his side, trust under his wings, flee into his refuge, get behind his shield and stand in awe as he defeats the enemy and wins the victory for himself and his glory. You're just along for the ride. And thankfully, because God is so gracious and he didn't have to do this, because he's so gracious, he says, in fact, all things are going to work together for good since you love me. That's a great promise. That's power. It's another word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this Psalm, Lord. Thank you for being our refuge, Lord, and a very present help. Lord, there are a lot of things right now that have people upset and people are worried and scared. Lord, help us to have peace. Help us to continue to serve you. Help us to make you the priority in our lives. Lord, I pray that our church would do great things this year, Lord. And Lord, thank you for what we've already been able to accomplish, Lord, and a lot of our plans were ruined by flight cancellations and our plans were ruined by various shutdowns and lockdowns and different things, Lord. But we know that your plans weren't ruined. Only ours were ruined. And so, Lord, we just pray that you would help us to participate in your plans for 2020 to the fullest, Lord. Help us to get excited about your program and get on board with what you have in store, Lord. Guide us and direct us to your will, Lord, that we could allow you to be exalted. And Lord, give us peace on the journey, and in Jesus' name we pray.