The Winning Side
Prairie Baptist Church – 8/30/09
P.M. Service
Text: Psalm 2
Key verse: Psalms 2:12 - Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
Premise: Encouragement should come in the fact that we are on the side of the King of kings and Lord of lords and that no matter what sinful man does, in the end, Christ will win for eternity.
The Introduction
In Warren Wiersbe’s Meet Yourself in the Psalms, he tells about a frontier town where a horse bolted and ran away with a wagon carrying a little boy. Seeing the child in danger, a young man risked his life to catch the horse and stop the wagon.
The child who was saved grew up to become a lawless man, and one day he stood before a judge to be sentenced for a serious crime. The prisoner recognized the judge as the man who, years before had saved his life; so he pled for mercy on the basis of that experience. But the words from the bench silenced his plea:
“Young man, then I was your savior; today I am your judge, and I must sentence you to be hanged.”
One day Jesus Christ will say to rebellious sinners, “During that long day of grace, I was the Savior, and I would have forgiven you. But today I am your Judge. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire!”
- Doug Van Essen, In Warren Wiersbe’s Meet Yourself in the Psalms -
This is a messianic Psalm, which means it is about Christ.
We have a glimpse of our King and Conqueror, Jesus Christ.
There are times when it seems like the whole world and those who are wicked prevail.
We find ourselves looking at the success of evil man and get discouraged.
God does not want us to fret about those who continually sin and flaunt their rebellion in the face of an Almighty God – Proverbs 24:19-20 - 19Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked; 20For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.
This Psalm speaks directly to the conflict of the ages and that, when you know Christ as Savior, you are on the winning side. We need to keep looking up and stay confident and motivated by what He tells us.
Body
1. The Attitude of the Rebellious – 2:1-3
A. In a book entitled Down to Earth, John Lawrence tells the story of a city that dared God to show Himself and paid a terrible price. It seems that the city of Messina, Sicily, was home to many wicked, irreligious people.
On December 25, 1908, a newspaper published in Messina printed a parody against God, daring Him to make Himself known by sending an earthquake.
Three days later, on December 28, the city and its surrounding district was devastated by a terrible quake that killed 84,000 people. Today in the Word, October, 1997, p. 25
B. The sinful nature of man detests a Holy God and His standards:
i. They become angry over the thought of the Messiah ruling over them (1)
ii. They believe there is strength in numbers (2a)
iii. Their rebellion is targeted against Jesus Christ (2b)
iv. They desire freedom from the Sovereignty of God (3)
v. Man can never destroy God - A medal was struck by Diocletian, which still remains, bearing this inscription, “The name of Christians being extinguished.” And in Spain two monumental pillars were raised on which were written the names of several Roman rulers and on the first pillar they were credited for “having extended the Roman Empire in the east and the west, and for having extinguished the name of Christians, who brought the Republic to ruin.” On the second column the same Roman rulers are listed with this inscription “for having adopted Galerius in the east, for having everywhere abolished the superstition of Christ, for having extended the worship of the gods.” As a modern writer observed: We have here a monument raised by paganism over the grave of its vanguished foe. Neither in Spain nor elsewhere can be pointed out the burial place of Christianity; it is not, living have no tomb. Charles Spurgeon
C. Our response to mankind is our ongoing commitment to God and encouragement in the following:
i. We have a mission (Christ’s mission is our ongoing mission) - Isaiah 61:1 – “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
ii. We have a promise - 1 Corinthians 15:57 – But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
iii. We have a strength - 1st John 5:4 - For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
iv. We have a comfort – the return of Christ – 1st Thessalonians 4:18 - Therefore comfort one another with these words. (see 1st Thess. 4:13-18)
2. The Action of God – 2:4-6
A. A little Scottish boy wouldn’t eat his prunes, so his mother sent him off to bed saying, "God is angry at you." Soon after the boy went to his room a violent storm broke out. Amidst flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, the mother looked into the boy’s room, worried that he would be terrified. When she opened the door she found him looking out the window muttering, "My, such a fuss to make over a few prunes."
B. God does not allow His King to be disgraced and overthrown:
i. God mocks their futile efforts [see verse 1 – vain thing] (4)
ii. God’s wrath will be felt by them (5)
a. Of 30 Roman emperors, governors of provinces, and others high in office, who distinguished themselves by their zeal and bitterness in persecuting the early Christians, one became speedily deranged after some atrocious cruelty, one was slain by his own son, one became blind, one was drowned, one was strangled, one died in a miserable captivity, two commited suicide, five were assassinated by their own people or servants, five others died the most miserable and excruciating deaths, several of them having an untold complication of diseases, and eight were killed in battle, or after being taken prisoner. Among these was Julian the apostate. In the days of his prosperity you said to have pointed his dagger to heaven defying the Son of God, whom he commonly call the Galilean. But when he was wounded in battle, he saw that all was over with him, and he gathered up his clotted blood and threw it into the air exclaiming, "Thou hast conquered, O Thou Galilean."
iii. God will establish His King (Jesus) and He will stand (6)
C. As man intensifies his disregard for God, we must intensify our desire for God:
i. Please God – 1st Thessalonians 4:1 - Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God;
ii. Trust God – Psalm 56:11 - In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
iii. Love God – Mark 12:30 - And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
iv. Serve God – Hebrews 12:8 - Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
3. The Authority of Christ – 2:7-9
A. When Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts, he was running hard for a second term in office. One day, after a busy morning chasing votes (and no lunch) he arrived at a church barbecue. It was late afternoon and Herter was famished.
As Herter moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line.
“Excuse me,” Governor Herter said, “do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?”
“Sorry,” the woman told him. “I’m supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person.”
“But I’m starved,” the governor said.
“Sorry,” the woman said again. “Only one to a customer.”
Governor Herter was a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this time he would throw a little weight around.
“Do you know who I am?” he said. “I am the governor of this state.”
“Do you know who I am?” the woman said. “I’m the lady in charge of the chicken. Move along, mister.” Bits & Pieces, May 28, 1992, Page 5-6
B. Christ’s threefold designations of His authority:
i. He is the Son of God (7)
ii. He is the Sovereign ruler of all (8)
iii. He is the Successful Conquering King of kings and Lord of lords (9)
C. We as believers have (because of the Sovereignty of our King):
i. A present peace – Psalm 5:11 - But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name be joyful in You.
ii. A future peace – Revelation 19:15 - Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
4. The Advantage of the Redeemed – 2:10-12
A. A young man had been promoted to an important position in his company. He’d never dreamed he’d be in such a position, much less at such a young age. So he went to see the venerable old timer in the company, and said, "Sir, I was wondering if you could give me some ADVICE." The old timer came back with just two words: "Right decisions!" The young man had hoped for a bit more than this, so he said, "Thank you, that’s really helpful, and I appreciate it, but could you be a little more SPECIFIC? HOW do I make right decisions?" The old man responded: "Experience." The young man said, "Well, that’s just the point of my being here. I don’t have the kind of experience I need. How do I GET it?" The old man replied: "WRONG decisions!"
B. Strong and wise advice given to man now:
i. Be wise (10a) – “Fools do that at last which wise men do at first.”
ii. Be instructed (10b)
iii. Serve (11a)
iv. Rejoice (11b)
v. Worship (12)
C. Our blessings come from:
i. Seeking as many souls for the kingdom as possible - 2nd Corinthians 5:18-20 - 18Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
ii. Trusting God for our strength alone - Isaiah 26:3-4 - 3Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 4Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
Conclusion:
Does it seem like the devil is winning sometimes?
Do you get discouraged when it seems like wrong triumphs so much?
What are you putting your trust in?
Whose side are you on?
