Kiss The Son

Well, we have a very special Sunday today. Rami Halasa, our missionary to Jordan, is with us. He made a short trip to the United States, and we're very glad that he could take the time to spend with us. Rami pastors a congregation in Jordan. He's also involved in training and mentoring men for pastoral ministry. He's been a leader that's been instrumental in planting churches throughout the Middle East as well as North Africa.

He's a leader in getting Christian literature published in that part of the world. And in the meantime, he got a Ph.D. from Harvard in studies in the Koran. So it's not like he's not busy or anything, I would say. I met him or we met him in 2016 I believe 2016 or 2017 at the fire midwest regional conference which was hosted by us that year and so this guy comes walking in and you know he says yeah I was in Washington DC and I was looking for like-minded churches and this wherever church it was said well there's a fire conference in LaRue Ohio and so he found us and that's how we met this former camel veterinarian who serves the Lord in in Jordan he and Rachel and their three children moved to Jordan in 2021 to begin their ministry there and so we're really glad to have him here.

Let me just mention that after our meal together we'll have a time where we can ask Rami all kinds of questions. You can find out more about him. So I really encourage you to stay for that. So Rami, we're looking forward to your ministry of the word. It's good to have you here. Good morning.

Praise the Lord for another day that we come as a church to worship him and learn from his word. I bring to you greetings from our church in Jordan, Resurrection Baptist Church, a small church that we planted a few years ago that is a light in the midst of darkness. in an area of more than 600,000 people with no witness to Christ whatsoever. We try to be faithful to the Lord and we try to proclaim Him and only Him, crucified, buried and risen for our salvation.

For our edification this morning, I pray that the Lord will speak to us from Psalm 2. Let's open our Bibles to Psalm 2. And just keep in mind, this is my first English sermon since 2019. So have some patience with me, and I pray that you understand my accent. If you don't, I can recommend some YouTube channels you can listen to for... Psalm 2, we will read the whole psalm, Lord willing.

Thank you. why do the nations rage and the peoples meditate on a vain thing the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against Yahweh and against his anointed saying let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us he who sits in the heavens laughs the Lord mocks them then he speaks to them in his anger that terrifies them in his fury saying but as for me I have installed my king upon Zion my holy mountain I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh he said to me you are my son, today I have begotten you ask of me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your position you shall break them with a rod of iron you shall shatter them like a potter's vessel so now O kings show insight take warning O judges of the earth serve Yahweh with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the sun lest he become angry and you perish in the way for his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are you all who take refuge in him. Amen and amen.

Let's pray. Our Father, we come this morning because of the work of Christ, because of what he has done and accomplished on the cross, because of the justification that we have in him, because we have been declared righteous because of his work. God we come before you as redeemed people I pray that you speak into our hearts not through the wisdom of man but through your all sufficient infallible word God I pray that you speak into our souls that we all again be shaped in the image of Christ our bride and our savior in whom we have life and life in eternal.

I pray that, God, in your name. Amen. Amen. Brothers and sisters, as we enter the book of Psalms, we do not step into it randomly. Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 form a gate of two sides Psalm 1 and let keep our Bibles open Psalm 1 welcomes us with a comparison Sitting before us, two ways of life. On one side stands the righteous man who delights in the law of Yahweh and lives in a life shaped by communion with God.

That is the person who Psalm 1 calls blessed. On the other hand, it stands the wicked man, a man who rejects God and he rejects his law, his instruction, and walks a path that leads to judgment. Psalm 1 is not a comparison between a good Christian and not so much good Christian. It's a comparison between a Christian and non-Christian, between a godly man and the person who rejects God.

Psalm 1 shows us the contrast by describing the blessings of righteous life and the condemnation of a sinner's life. The righteous dwells on God and his word in Psalm 1. But the wicked being confronted with a larger reality of Psalm 2. If you are a Christian, you can dwell in Psalm 1. but if you have not truly encountered Christ yet I invite you to come with me to Psalm 2 Psalm 2 where rebellion against God and against his anointed one meets the unshakable rule of heaven Psalm 2 does not begin with a gentle scene it does not begin with a blessing it does not start with a call for blessings as we see in Psalm 1 Psalm 2 begins with noise with a coup and with a war.

Verse 1 starts with the rage of the nations. The text shows us that peoples meditate on this rebellion against God. Kings and rulers coordinate together and they say, according to scripture, take counsel together. They do not stumble into rebellion. They counsel together. They look arms.

They sharpen their language against God. And the target of this anger is not merely a human leader, but rather the Lord and his anointed one. Then Psalm 2 quickly presses on a question that is never far from the surface in any generation. Who is really in charge? Who is really in charge? Psalm 2 helps us to interpret reality.

It teaches us to see the disorder of history from the throne room of God. Dear Saints, the way we view reality matters. The way we view reality matters the most when our life becomes chaotic. It matters not only for how we read the Word, but for how we endure spiritually. Mature Christians can still struggle with fear that their lives are under the skin.

But we can be tempted toward a prayerless life, especially when word feels too loud. We can still slide into a cold, calculating faith that trusts God in theory but trembles in practice. Psalm 2 speaks to all of that with a steady clarity. When your life is uncertain, when you are afraid, when the future is not clear, that's when Psalm 2 comes handy. That's when Psalm 2 speaks into your life.

Because it shows us three movements that we need to hear together today. And for those who take notes, those are the three points that we will address today. the human rebellion, the heavenly throne, and the urgent summon. The human rebellion, the heavenly throne, and the urgent summon. And as we move, I pray that you would ask God, ask the Spirit of God to do what only He can do, to expose the subtle places where we still cast off God's cords, to re-anchor us in the reign of Christ, and to renew in us the fear of the Lord that is filled with joy.

To give us a true biblical understanding of reality, of a reality built on God's revelation of the unseen. So let's start together by looking at the first point, the human rebellion. Psalm 2 opens with a question that is not looking for an answer. It's a rhetorical question, Yet, a question that exposes insanity. It starts with, why do the nations rage and the peoples meditate on a vain thing?

Listen, when you ask a rhetorical question, the question itself is part of the answer. It's part of the message. The text is showing us that rebellion against God is not only wicked, but it's unreasonable at best. It is the creature trying to overthrow the creator. Notice the language here. The nation's rage.

And the word rage carries a sense of restless agitation. A boiling hostility that does not simply disagree but resent. And for the peoples, they are meditating. Which is the same kind of word used in Psalm 1 for the righteous man who dwells on Yahweh's law. The righteous meditate on God's law, and the unrighteous, the sinners, they meditate on how to reject God.

Here the mind of those nations is also an active and rehearsing, but it's rehearsing in emptiness. Rebellion is not only emotional it practiced it a plan it repeated until what is vain feels sensible This means that human mind does not become neutral when it refuses God, it becomes busy in growing hostility against Him. Then the psalm narrows in on leadership.

It's not only people, but also the leaders, the kings, the rulers of the earth together. As they think that they are immovable, as if they are stable, as if their position is permanent. They say together, take counsel together against Yahweh and against the anointed one. The people of the earth rebel against God and against his Christ. then the verse verse 3 goes further not only to describe the rebellion and its object but also the heart of this rebellion the true reason it says in verse 3 let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us this is what fallen humanity believes about God God's rule feels like fetters His word feels like chains holiness feels like constraint.

The serpent's ancient lie lives on. Freedom is found by throwing off God. The nations which represent our fallen humanity since the time of Adam until today reject and refuse God and His rule. Within the New Testament, as we read earlier today, The New Testament recognizes this psalm directly, and it applies it on the time of Jesus. In Acts 4.25, which we read earlier, it says in verse 27, For truly in this city they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.

In other words, the rage of Psalm 2 found its sharpest expression at Calvary. the word rage against Yahweh's anointed and yet even the rage served the saving purpose of God this shows us that all this psalm was written by David and addresses partially a historical moment during his reign it finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ Jesus himself it is written by David but fully lived on the cross of Golgotha. The leaders maneuvered. Witnesses were gathered.

Trials were staged and the crowd's voice became a chant, crucify him, crucify him. Herod and Pilate, Gentiles and the people of Israel found a common cause in rejecting God's anointed one. And when the shout rose, we have no king but Caesar. When that shout was said, it was Psalm 2-3 in living color. It was being lived all over again. The human heart choosing any rule and any ruler except the son's rule.

So then, brothers and sisters, do not underestimate the deceitfulness of sin. Psalm 2 is not a psalm about analyzing governments. It's a psalm for examining the heart. Ask yourself with honesty, when have you treated God's commands as cords? I'm not looking for people to raise their hands and answer. Just answer it in your own heart.

When have you treated God's commands as cords? When have you filled irritation at the boundaries of Scripture? When have you wanted Christ as Savior but rejected him as king and lord. Listen, the Christ who saves is the Christ who also rules. Your rejection of Christ's lordship is a rejection of his saviorhood. If you see even a trace of that spirit in yourself, do not manage it.

Just go ahead and repent of it. Bring it to the light before God and do it with hope, do it with despair, because the gospel does not begin with our submission. It begins with God's mercy toward rebels. The anointed king, whom the world opposed, did not come first with a rod of iron in his hand, but with nails in his hands. He bore wrath for sinners. He purchased forgiveness for the very people who once said, in a thousand ways, We will not have you rule over us.

When obedience feels costly, when holiness in a sinful world feels impossible, remember this, Christ's yoke is not cruel. He is a king who gives himself for his people. Ask him for help, because apart from him, we can do absolutely nothing. Trust that the Spirit is able to reshape your desires so that what once felt like fetters becomes freedom. Now, having shown us the noise of the earth in Psalm 2, the psalmer immediately lifts our eyes to heaven.

He's taking us from the earthly realm into a heavenly realm. learn. In verse 2 he says, he who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord mocks them. This is not a laughter of indifference brothers and sisters it a laughter of sovereignty The text is showing us that God is never reacting as though the outcome is uncertain He sits He is enthroned He is not pacing.

He is not wringing his hands, not searching for options. His kingship is not threatened by human rebellion. The psalm then turns from laughter to speech. then he speaks to them in his anger and terrifies them in his fury God's patience is real God's patience is real but it's not weakness see here there comes the then in verse 3 then he speaks what a terrifying word then comes a moment then comes a time when God answers rebellion not with more warnings not with grace but with terrifying reality God answers and what he answers he's not answering with a stronger army or a clever policy like the rulers of this world he answers with a king God's answer to the human rebellion is a king in verse 6 he says but as for me I have installed my king upon Zion my holy mountain notice the contrast here the nations say let us but God says but as for me human rebellion is a loud proposal God's decree is the final decision Zion is the hill of God's choosing becomes the stage where God's kingship is displayed on earth note here the old covenant God's promise is not to establish a royal son of David on Israel God's promise is to establish a royal son of David on Israel but Psalm 2 goes further It makes not only a covenant on Israel, but a universal claim.

Ask for me. Ask of me and I will surely give you not only Israel, but the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your position. This means the reign of Christ is not some fragile hope. It's a pledged inheritance. Not only over Israel, but over the whole world. The nations that rage are the nations that the Father gives.

The nations that rebel against God are the nations that will submit under him. Then verse 9 shows that the Messiah's kingship includes judgment. His patience is not a permission to sin. His mercy is not surrender. There is a day when opposition of God will be broken, not negotiated. Psalm 2 will not be left unfinished.

God will reign over the nations. Track with me, brothers and sisters, the transition from the first point to the second. If a human rebellion is furious and futile, then we must learn to live from the throne, not from the ground. The laughter of God is meant to recenter you. Don't look at the governments, at the political situation and say, there is nothing we can do.

Don't look at your situation from the ground. Look at it from the throne of heaven. When you see instability in your life, do not let it redirect you. Do not let outrage become your daily liturgy. Do not let fear set your schedule. You belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

The Father has installed his King and no human council can uninstall him. The Son of God rules and will rule. this also guards us from two opposite spiritual dangers one danger is despair the slow surrender that says my sin is far too long the lie that my life is ruined and there is nothing I can do Psalm 2 forbids that if nations are not beyond Christ's claim then neither your situation. If the nations are his inheritance, so are you.

Do not allow despair look you into its dungeon. Call for your king and father for help. We all know the story of the pilgrim progress. We all know when a Christian was caught in the dungeon of despair. You know, he was stuck there probably the most from any other place that he was in. But the thing that got him out from that dungeon was God's promises.

Do not let your situation lock you in the dungeon of despair. Remember God and remember that he is in charge and his promises are true and amen. The other spiritual danger is arrogance. the harsh spirit that forgets grace. Psalm 2 does not produce gloating saints, it produces confident saints. Saints who will plead with sinners because the king who will one day shatter rebellion is the same king who now commands repentance and offers refuge.

You have not been saved by your own You have not been saved by what you are able to do. So you absolutely have nothing to be arrogant for. It is all by grace. And because of that, you remember that the one who saves you is the same one who will carry you through this life. So let this psalm shape your prayers. Pray with confidence for the spread of the gospel because the Father has promised the Son the ends of the earth.

Pray for the persecuted believers because their king sits in heaven and is not mocked forever. Pray for your own obedience because to resist Christ is always vain, even when it wears religious clothing. I have been once told that people everywhere in the world are away from God. Some people that are away from God with their sin and immorality and other people are away from God with their religious and religion.

I pray that none of us will look like a Christian, will behave like a Christian, but deep inside has not met with our saving Savior. When you feel weak, remember that Christ's reign is not only future. He reigns now. He reigns for his church. He reigns to keep you, to sanctify you, to correct you, and to bring you home. He does not call you to white-knuckled faithfulness.

He supplies what he commands. He gives his spirit, and the spirit makes the reign of Christ not merely true, but strengthening. now having declared the nation rebellion and God's rule the psalm transitioning into the only acceptable response verse 10 so now after you have sinned so now after you have lived your life away from God after you have rebelled against God and remember brothers and sisters our sin is not a mistake Our sin is not something light. Our sin is an active rebellion against God.

Once a Puritan said that every time you sin, you look into the Holy One with disrespect. So now after we have realized the depth of our sin, and after we saw Christ who reigns and who sits on his throne the answer is given in verse 10 so now after those two realities have been given out so now O kings show insight take warning O judges of the earth it does not beg for a response God summons the response the psalm calls people to have insight wisdom and warning you who think that you are wise show your wisdom Yet this wisdom has one acceptable manifestation Serve Yahweh with fear and rejoice with trembling. Notice this strange pairing.

Fear and joy. Rejoicing and trembling. The God of this psalm is not a tame deity. He is not a sentimental projection. He is holy. This means true worship is not casual and it's not miserable.

It is a reverent gladness, a joy that knows it stands before a majesty. Then verse 12 brings the summons into its sharpest, sharpest point. Kiss the son lest he become angry. Kiss or kissing is the sign of surrender and loyalty. It is not suggestion to admire the son from distance. It is a command to bow before him.

There is urgency here. Kiss or otherwise reject. You either worship Christ as Lord or reject him. and if the later, then his wrath may soon be kindled. There are only two acceptable responses, either to accept and bow before him and kiss the son or reject and rebel against him. The time to response is not endless and the outcome is not ambiguous. There are only two ways in the psalm, Perishing in the way or refuge in the Son.

And those who take refuge in the Son are blessed. In the same verse, verse 12. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him. The Son which began with raging ends with blessing. That's not because God overlooks the rebellion. but because God provides the refuge. The only safe place from the wrath of the king is in the king.

The only shelter from divine judgment is divine mercy. And that mercy is found in the son. Here the redemptive storyline comes into clear focus. The father warns of his wrath and the father provides the refuge. The son who came one time as a lamb to be sacrificed, one day will come back as a roaring lion to judge. The one who came to save will one day come to judge.

The one who came to call people for repentance, he will come and call them to stay away from him. The son receives the nations and the son receives sinners. At the cross, the son stood in the place of his people and bore what they deserved so that refuge would be real not imaginary And the Spirit applies this refuge by granting repentance and faith by bringing the heart to kiss the Son gladly, not merely to avoid punishment, but because the Son himself becomes so precious. dear saints the son does not leave us with a theory of history it presses us toward the decision of worship so then let the spirit search you with this question have you taken refuge in the son or have you only been near him for believers for those who have encountered Christ this is a call to renewed reverence and renewed joy.

When we say serve Yahweh with fear, that means let your worship have weight. Let your private prayers have humility. Let your obedience be more than a mere habit. And if you were a Christian fighting with sin, remember where power comes from. You do not kiss the Son in your own strength. You do not serve Him by willpower alone. you do all that by grace in union with Christ as the Spirit strengthens the inner man in you.

Keep near to the means of grace. Keep near to the means that God gives you. The word you hear, the prayers you pray, the church you belong to, the table where Christ feeds faith. Rejoice. Psalm 2 is a psalm of rejoice for those that they are in Christ. That you know that you have a refuge in Him.

When God, one day you will stand before Him and He will look at you, then He will go and look at the Son, He will look at you, He will look at the Son, He will say, I cannot tell them apart. Because you have been a new creature in Christ, you have been justified in Christ, you have worked Christ. God will look at you, He will only see His perfect Son. however for anyone for anyone who are still outside of Christ hear not the warning but hear the kindness that is woven into this warning this psalm is not only a threat to the nations it is also an invitation to the sinner do not wait for wrath to convince you do not wait until you perish in your own way kiss the son now yield to him take refuge in him the day is the day of salvation today the blessing at the end of the psalm is not for the strong but it is for the one who flees to him repent of your sins and confess Christ as Savior and Lord The refuge is not found in minimizing your sin but in fleeing to Christ The refuge is not found in minimizing your sin but in fleeing to Christ The refuge is not found in what you can do, but in what He has done.

The refuge is not found in your own works, but in the one acceptable work of Christ on the cross of Golgotha. The refuge is not found in anything, but in Christ and Christ alone. Turn from your own rebellion. Turn from your sin. Come under his lordship. Believe in him.

Repent of your sins. And he is waiting for you. His arms are wide open, calling you to come to him. May the installed king rule in our hearts by his word and spirit. and may we be with a trembling gladness take refuge in him until the day when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father Amen and Amen Let's pray Lord I pray that you give us the eyes to see our reality from your throne to remember that your reign and your reign is good Father I pray that you help us to shout for your son to be saved to take refuge in him to kiss the son unless we perish Father I pray that you grant anybody who is outside of you outside of your family this morning yet he's here or she's here Father I pray that you grant them repentance you grant them faith that they would come and believe in you God I pray that this morning will be a morning of salvation a morning of renewed love to you and renewed commitment to live for you to honor you to live our life in your refuge Father I pray that people will see your kindness in this song Yet they see the reality And the sinfulness of their sin That we all have fallen short of your glory And all our works of righteousness are like a dirty rag before you Filthy rag Lord Help us to love you Help us to take refuge in you Kiss the sun help us to be close to the means of grace God help us to prioritize coming to church to fellowship with the saints to reading of words, prayers Father I pray that we will rejoice in your law you will rejoice in your son you will rejoice in fellowship with you and the fellowship with the saints I pray that in the name of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him alone be all praise and glory in his church.

Amen and Amen.