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There Shall Be War - Part 1

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• So Exodus chapter 5. The title of the message is "There Shall Be War." I want you to notice this from Exodus chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, and I think you'll understand the title. Exodus chapter 5, verse 1: "And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." When we hear the word "war," we have to understand it is such a simple word.

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• And so easily pronounced, and yet it conveys all of the horror, destruction, and death that can be imagined. And whenever we hear the word "war," we immediately imagine bombed-out buildings, families that are either killed or divided, economies destroyed, as well as the worst possible scenario in every sphere of life. But have you ever stopped to ask yourself or to consider why there are wars? Have you ever stopped and asked why men seek to fight and kill and destroy each other?

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• The answer is very simple. There are wars, and men seek to fight and to kill and destroy each other simply because they are unwilling to submit to and be in subjection to the sovereign God of heaven and earth. They just simply refuse to be ruled by Him. They refuse to submit to His law, and they refuse to worship Him alone. They deny His sovereignty in order that they may establish their own sovereignty. And they refuse His law that they may try to establish their own laws.

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• I want to point out the fact that when our Lord is fully and completely, or has fully and completely, established His kingdom, there will be no more war. There will be no more fighting. I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, Revelation chapter 11, and then we're going to the book of Isaiah. But look in Revelation 11 and verse 15 as you hold Exodus chapter 5. In Revelation 11 and verse 15, the Bible says this:

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• "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." Note, if you would, "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." If you will turn back to Isaiah chapter 2 and look, if you would please, at verse 4. Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 4. In this passage, speaking of our Lord's rule and reign, the Bible says this: "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people:

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• and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." So when our Lord's kingdom is fully and finally established, there will be no more fighting. There will be no more war. You don't have to turn there, but I'll quote it in Micah, chapter 4 and verse 3. There is a similar passage where the Bible says, "And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." So when our Lord then fully and finally establishes His kingdom, there will be no more war. However, until He fully manifests His kingdom, there shall be war.

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• And truthfully, the truth is there shall be all manner of wars. There will be spiritual wars, cultural wars, political wars, physical wars. The reason is because fallen man is in rebellion to God and His law.

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• Now, I want you to listen to this. First of all, fallen man fights against God. Secondly, God fights against fallen men. In Revelation 17 and verse 14, the Bible says this concerning fallen men: "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful." So, yes, men fight against God. Moreover, God fights against fallen men, because the Bible says in Exodus 17 and verse 16, "For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." Now you say, "Wait a minute, if God's going to have war with Amalek from generation to generation, does not God ever win this war?"

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• Well, of course He does. And Amalek basically has been destroyed out from under heaven, that is physical Amalek. But you have to remember something about Amalek. Amalek was the grandson of Esau. And like Esau, he despised spiritual things. Amalek is a type of the flesh. Because you remember how Esau minded the things of the flesh and not the things of God. He despised his birthright. And the flesh despises the things of God. If you will turn in your Bible, hold in Exodus chapter 5, to the book of Galatians chapter 5 and look at verse 17, you'll understand how the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. In Galatians chapter 5 and verse 17, the Word of God says this: "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." So the Bible says the flesh lusteth or wars against the Spirit, and the Spirit wars against the flesh, and the Spirit and the flesh are contrary the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would, obviously.

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• There is a war going on in our lives even now. Our flesh desires one thing, and our spirit desires something else. For instance, I could ask you, if you are a genuine child of God, would you not like right now, in this life, to be able to live without sinning against Christ anymore? Sure you would want that. But your flesh doesn't want that. Your flesh wants whatever is going to please and satisfy it. Moreover, the truth of the matter is God also fights against all false gods.

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• Do you remember Isaiah 42 and verse 8 where He said, "I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." Have you ever stopped to think that it was by war that God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt? I want you to look. Hold Exodus chapter 5, but turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 4 and look at verse 34. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 34. I want you to notice the word "war" in this verse. Deuteronomy 4, verse 34: "Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?" So it was by an act of war that God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. The truth of the matter is this: when God was fighting against Pharaoh, which we just read about in Exodus chapter 5, when God was fighting against Pharaoh and the Egyptians,

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• it was not just Pharaoh and the Egyptians that God was fighting against. For instance, look in your Bibles, Exodus chapter 12 and verse 12. Exodus 12 and verse 12. Look, if you would, specifically at what the Bible says. Exodus 12 and verse 12, God says: "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord." So when God warred against Pharaoh and the Egyptians, it was not just simply Pharaoh and the Egyptians that He was fighting against, but also the gods of Egypt. You have to remember that God is immutable. God does not change.

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• He fought against all those that were against Him in times past, and He still fights against those who are against Him today. The Pharaohs and the false gods of our time are no different from the Pharaoh and the false gods of Egypt. They're one and the same. And the truth of the matter is, the Pharaohs and the false gods of our day and time will be consumed and destroyed just like those were in Egypt.

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• The world will eventually learn who is indeed the only true Potentate, the Lord of lords and God of gods and King of kings. And that is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 25 says this: "For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet." So Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning right now. And whether you recognize this or not, whether you acknowledge this or not, it is true. He is now subduing all of His enemies.

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• And I know what you're going to say. He has an awful long way to go because there's a lot of enemies, but just hang on. He must reign until He has subdued all of His enemies, and they shall be brought in subjection under His feet.

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• Now I want you to go back to Exodus chapter 5 because I want you to pay close attention to these two verses, because these two verses will be our text basically for the next two weeks as well. Now watch verse 1: "And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." If you're paying close attention, you're going to find that verse 2

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• is the foundation and the basis and the cause of all wars. Whether they're spiritual or physical, it doesn't matter. In verse 1, God issues a demand and a command: "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness." That's a demand. That's a command. And what was Pharaoh's response? "Who is the Lord, that I should let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go."

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• Here's the one point that I'm going to cover today. I want you to understand it. I want you to jot it down in your minds, in your heart, and on your paper. All rebellion in individuals and rulers stems from a refusal to acknowledge and to bow to God's absolute sovereignty.

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• Now, listen to that again. All rebellion in individuals and in rulers stems from a refusal to acknowledge and bow to God's absolute authority, His sovereign authority. God said, "Let my people go, that they may worship me." Pharaoh's attitude was just as clear when he said, "I don't know the Lord. I don't recognize Him. And I'm not about to obey Him." Well, let me ask you a question. Would you obey someone that you did not believe in?

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• And the answer is no. Why should you obey the law of a God that you do not even believe exists, or if He exists, according to your mind, He's impotent and can do absolutely nothing? Pharaoh expressed a principle that you and I need to lay hold upon right here. Listen carefully. Where there is no recognition of God's sovereignty, there will be no obedience to His commands. Where there is no recognition of God's sovereignty, there will be no obedience to His command. Do you realize

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• what we're discussing this morning, really and truly, are the basic questions of life? Who is sovereign? Who has the right? Who has the authority? Who has the jurisdiction to command? To whom must we submit? Who has the absolute right to dictate the terms of our life and to command us as to how we should live? When you understand that the answer to those questions is the sovereign God of heaven and earth, only then is there going to be peace in your life.

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• Do you remember Romans 5 and verse 1? Don't turn there. But here's what the Bible says: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." How can we have peace with God? We've ceased our fighting. We've ceased our rebellion. We've thrown down our weapons of warfare and we've bowed to Him and we've submitted to Him through the Lord Jesus Christ. However, until we answer those questions biblically and obey, there will be war. There will be war personally, individually, there will be war culturally, spiritually, economically, even in the physical realm.

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• But all wars, no matter what they are, stem from a failure to submit to and bow to God's absolute sovereignty. Let me show you how this worked out in the original sin. Go back in your Bibles to the book of Genesis, chapter 3, and let's read there the first seven verses. Look in Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3. Notice, if you would please, beginning there with verse 1. Genesis 3, verse 1:

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• "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons."

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• Now, each of us is familiar with this passage. The serpent began by questioning God's word: "Yea, hath God said?" Anytime you begin to question the word of God, you're headed for problems and you're headed for trouble. I've heard people say, "Well, the Bible is not the word of God," or "the Bible is full of contradiction," or "the Bible is full of error." No, no. We're the ones that have

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• a lack of understanding and a lack of intelligence and a lack of spiritual discernment. Whenever you begin to question the scriptures, you're headed for trouble. Mark it down. But I want you to know the serpent not only questioned the word of God, he also questioned God's sovereign authority and God's right to command. Notice if you would, the serpent said in verse 4 to the woman, "Ye shall not surely die." Now, I know God said you were going to die, but that's not true. God has no authority to tell you that you're going to die.

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• This is what he's saying. Watch verse 5: "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Now, he's not only questioned God's Word, he's basically denying God's sovereignty. And here's what he's saying: God has no right to tell you that you're going to die. Here's the problem: God knows that if you eat this fruit, then you will be as gods.

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• That is, you will be equal to Him. And you will not need Him. You will not need His law or His authority or His word, for you will be your own gods and you can determine for yourself right and wrong. By the way, in verse 5, when he says, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil," the word "knowing" there has the force of the word "determining." You shall be as gods, determining good and evil. In other words, you don't need God to tell you what's right and wrong. You don't need God to tell you what's good and evil. You can make that decision and that determination for yourself.

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• So what the serpent is doing is he is casting dispersion and contempt upon God by indicating that God really knew better than to issue this command, that He really had no right to issue it, because all God was trying to do was to hold Adam and Eve back and keep them from developing their full potential. In other words, God is just an old meanie. He did not want any competition. So the serpent says then, you can become your own gods.

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• You can determine for yourself good and evil. You do not need God's authority to dictate to you. You can dictate for yourself. You can be sovereign. You can be a god. Do you realize the temptation back then is the same as it is today? The temptation today is to be your own god, to make your own law, and to do as you please. Rebellion is nothing less than a declaration of independence from God. That's all it is. Rebellion is nothing less than a declaration of independence from God and His law. Man denies God's sovereignty in order that he may establish his own.

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• Now, just stop and think about this for a moment. Do you realize there has to be a sovereign? There has to be an ultimate. There has to be an absolute. And if God is not that sovereign, if God is not that ultimate and that absolute, then who is left? Man. So obviously, man is denying God's sovereignty that he may establish his own sovereignty. He's denying God's law that he may endeavor to establish his own law.

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• But listen carefully, the creature can never become the Creator. Nor can that which is created become equal with the Creator. So the serpent's attack then was upon God's sovereign authority. His attack was upon God's right to rule His universe and His creatures as He saw fit. If God is not sovereign, if God is not the ultimate, if God is not the absolute, the question must be asked, why should we obey Him? Why should anyone obey Him?

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• And that's exactly what the serpent is saying to Eve. I want you to remember the principle that I'm trying to enunciate today, and that is this: Where there is no recognition of God's sovereign authority, there will be no obedience to His commands. What did Pharaoh say? "I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." The serpent had to deny God's sovereignty in order to seduce Adam and Eve into rebellion.

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• Have you ever thought about this? Had Adam and Eve continued to recognize God's sovereign authority, they would have never rebelled. They would have never sinned. So put it down like this: Obedience stems from the recognition of God's sovereign authority. Disobedience stems from the denial of God's sovereign authority. So when Moses went to Pharaoh and said, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go," Pharaoh's response

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• was normal and natural for an unconverted man. "I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." In other words, Pharaoh claimed to be God. He was exercising his godhood. And Pharaoh's attitude was this: I'm not going to recognize anyone over myself. And where there is no recognition of God's sovereign authority, there is no obedience.

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• Now, I'm working on two messages right now, and one of those messages I'm going to demonstrate how civil rulers are particularly inclined to idolatry. We must understand that many endeavor to play God and/or at least pretend to be God. Since they have a little power and a little authority, they endeavor to increase that power and increase that authority at the price of rebellion and tyranny. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 2. Psalm 2. I want you to understand this principle again that is very clearly evidenced in this passage. Psalm 2, let's read the first five verses and we're going to come back and make some statements concerning them. Psalm 2:

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• "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 hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." Let's read verse 8. He says to Christ, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." Let's stop there just for a moment. Notice if you would in verse 1, "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?" And then he goes a little bit further and he says, "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."

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• I want to give you a quote by Albert Barnes as he's talking about Psalm 2, and he says this: "In the first, that is Psalm 2:1-3, the conduct and purpose of the raging nations are described. They are in the deepest agitation, forming plans against Yahweh and his anointed one, and uniting their councils to break their bands asunder and to cast off their authority. That is, to prevent the establishment of the anointed one as king on the holy hill of Zion. The opening of this psalm is bold and abrupt. The psalmist looks out suddenly on the nations and sees them in violent commotion." What? He sees them in violent commotion, but I want you to understand the violence is directed primarily against God and His Christ.

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• Now, I want you to note the word "heathen" in verse 1. "Why do the heathen rage?"

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• Now, look at the next phrase: "and the people imagine a vain thing." Do you realize the word "heathen" in verse 1 and the word "people" in verse 1 are one and the same? It's the same Hebrew word. So the heathen or the people then would include all unconverted individuals, even those in Israel. So anyone then who imagines a vain thing against the Lord is considered a heathen. Now I want you to notice what these heathens do. They imagine. The word "imagine" here literally means that they meditate and they plan a vain thing.

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• What are they meditating upon? What are they planning? They're planning on overthrowing God and His sovereignty and subverting the establishment of Jesus Christ as King of kings and the establishment of His kingdom. Please understand this, and I know you do, but it is absolutely impossible to overthrow God. It's absolutely impossible to prevent the establishment of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. But this is what they're imagining.

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• What do you think Stalin imagined? Mao Zedong? Pol Pot? All of these heathen rulers. Idi Amin. What do you think they imagined? Do you think that they imagined killing 10 million people is going to somehow stop God and stop Christ and then establish their own kingdom? These men are dead. Christ is alive. Do you have any idea? Do you even contemplate that somehow the Bilderbergers and the Rockefellers and the Obamas and the Clintons and all these people, you think that they're somehow going to overthrow God and the kingdom of Christ? They're imagining a vain thing. It will not happen. It cannot happen.

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• There will be a one-world order, but it will not be theirs. It will belong to Jesus Christ.

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• Now, I want you to look. He says, "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?" What is all the raging? What is all the imagining? And what is this vain thing that they are doing? Well, look at it in verse 2: "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." So how do they attempt then to perform this vain thing that they have imagined? Well, they attempt to do it by breaking their bands asunder and casting away their cords from us. Let me explain that.

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• All it means is this: They do not like God's boundaries. They do not like God's limitations. They do not like God's restrictions He's placed upon them, and they are saying, "We will not consider them. We will ignore them. We will do our own thing. I don't care that God says, 'Thou shalt not.' I'll do it if I want to do it. I don't care that God says, 'He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.' I will not rule in the fear of God, and I'll do what I want to do." Thus, they're saying the way we're going to overthrow God and the way we're going to cease

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• and make stop the kingdom of Christ is by disobeying and by rebelling. Let me give you four things that Matthew Henry put in his commentary. And I thought this was very, very precise. Matthew Henry is explaining the opposition of the heathen to God and His Christ, and he says this, and I'm quoting: First, "It is the most spiteful and malicious opposition. They rage and fret, they gnash their teeth for vexation at the setting up of Christ's kingdom.

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• It creates in them the utmost uneasiness and fills them with indignation so that they have no enjoyment of themselves. Idolaters raged at the discovery of their folly. The chief priests and Pharisees at the eclipsing of their glory and the shaking of their usurped dominion. Those that did evil raged at the light." And so he says, first, it's the most spiteful and malicious opposition. Secondly, he says, "It is a deliberate and political opposition.

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• They imagine or meditate, that is, they contrive means to suppress the rising interest of Christ's kingdom and are very confident of the success of their contrivances. They promise themselves that they shall run down religion and carry the day." So it's a deliberate and political opposition. Thirdly, "It is a resolute and obstinate opposition. They set themselves, set their faces as flint and their hearts as an adamant, in defiance of reason and conscience and all the terrors of the Lord, they are proud and daring like the Babel builders and will persist in their resolution come what will." And then fourthly, "It is a combined and confederate opposition.

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• They take counsel together to assist and animate one another in this unanimously, and they will push on the unholy war against the Messiah with the utmost vigor. And thereupon councils are called, cabals are formed, and all their wits are at work to find out ways and means for preventing the establishment of Christ's kingdom." Isn't that amazing? And yet, these four points are right here in Psalm 2.

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• It is indeed a most spiteful and malicious opposition. It is a deliberate and political opposition. It is a resolute and obstinate opposition. It is a combined and confederate opposition. If you would look in Psalm 83 and verse 5. Psalm 83 and verse 5. Look if you would what the Word of God says. Psalm 83 and verse 5. In fact, let's begin reading with verse 1. I want you to see it in the context. Psalm 83, verse 1:

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• "Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee."

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• It's that same thing as Psalm 2 and verse 1: "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together." It is a confederation of evil. By the way, we have that today in many, many areas and many spheres of life. There's a confederation of evil against Christ and against Christians and against the word of God. I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Acts chapter 4. I'm just carrying this point to its fruition because I want you to see that not only Herod and Pilate, but even the Jews attempted to overthrow the kingdom of Christ. Look in Acts chapter 4, and let's begin reading there at verse 24. Acts 4, verse 24:

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• After the disciples have been threatened and beaten, verse 24: "And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is." Now watch. That is a confession and acknowledgement of God's sovereignty. Verse 25, quoting now from Psalm 2: "Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ."

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• "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast 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." Note, Psalm 2 is specifically used in Acts 4 to refer to the rebellion against Jesus Christ and the establishment of His kingdom. Men fight against God.

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• Now let me ask you a question. Why would men fight against God? Why would men hate Christ? Why would men seek to stop the establishment of the kingdom of Jesus Christ? Well, let me answer those questions by asking you a question. Why would we invade Afghanistan? I will tell you. They have something we want. I just read an article. There are trillions of Federal Reserve notes of all kind of precious metals in Afghanistan, as well as oil and opium. There's something there that we want. Why would we invade Syria or Jordan? There's something there that we want. Why would we invade Iraq and Iran? There's something there that we want. It could be oil. It could be power. It could be empire, but the reason we do that is there's something there that we want, and if they don't want to give it to us, we're going to take it.

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• That's why there are wars. Remember, I told you, if you don't recognize God's sovereign authority, if you don't bow to His sovereign word, then there's going to be wars of all kinds. So why are they going to fight against the kingdom of Christ? Well, if you look in your Bibles to Luke chapter 20, you'll find out. Luke chapter 20. And let's begin reading there with verse 9, in fact. Yeah, verse 9 is sufficient. Look in Luke chapter 20, verse 9. You want to know why these kings and these rulers and the people, the heathen, are against the Christ and His kingdom? Watch Luke 20, verse 9: "Then began he to speak to the people this parable:

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• A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do?

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• I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours." Wow. "Let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours." Why do men hate Christ? And why do men fight against the establishment of His kingdom? The answer is because they want His kingdom. They want His power. They want His sovereignty. They want His kingship. They not only want, they not only wish to rule this world, they wish to rule the people in this world. Because if you're sovereign,

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• you have jurisdiction over everything and everyone. If you don't learn anything else today, learn this: If you deny God's sovereign authority, you will be disobedient and rebellious. Obedience stems only from recognition of and subjection to God's sovereign authority. Let me make some applications. The first one is this: God is sovereign, He must be obeyed. We must consider what I just said, that disobedience to God and His law is, in essence, a denial of His sovereignty. Men may fight against Him, they may deny Him, they may denigrate Him. But they cannot change the fact that He is God. And they cannot change the reality that He is sovereign. No amount of resistance will overthrow God and His Christ.

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• John Calvin said it like this. Listen carefully: "When we see Christ well nigh overwhelmed with the number and strength of His enemies, let us remember that they are making war against God, over whom they shall not prevail, and therefore their attempts, whatever they may be, and however increasing, will come to naught and be utterly ineffectual." And that's true. That's why they imagine a vain thing. And the word "vain" means that which is useless and worthless. Can you imagine all the planning, all the scheming, all the money, all the energy that has been exerted to stop Christ and His kingdom is all for naught? He cannot be stopped. For He is God. Secondly, His kingdom is the kingdom of God. Everyone and everything must ultimately bow.

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• And let me just quote, you know, this passage, Philippians 2: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

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• Men will acknowledge His sovereignty and His Lordship, either in salvation or damnation. But they will acknowledge it, for He is God. And until they acknowledge it, there shall be war. The war has ceased in our lives. We're not fighting against God. But the wicked are. War is inevitable in one way or the other. I want you to go back. I want to close today by sharing something with you that I came across that I thought was just absolutely beautiful.

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• Nahum Tate, listen to that name, Nahum Tate, who died in 1715, and Nicholas Brady, who died in 1736, wrote a new version of the Psalms in 1696. And these two men put Psalm 2 in a poem. So I want you to follow with me. There are 12 verses in Psalm 2. I'm going to take this verse by verse and I'm going to read to you how these two men wrote Psalm 2 in a poem. So here's verse 1. Look at verse 1.

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• "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?" Here it is: "With restless and ungoverned rage, why do the heathen storm? Why in such rash attempts engage, as they can ne'er perform?" Now verse 2. Watch verse 2: "The great in counsel and in might their various forces bring; against the Lord they all unite, on his anointed King." Now look at verse 3: "Must we submit to their commands?"

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• "Presumptuously they say, No, let us break their slavish bands, and cast their chains away." Verse 4: "But God who sits enthroned on high, and sees how they combine, does their conspiring stratify, and mocks their vain design." Verse 5: "Thick clouds of wrath divine shall break on his rebellious foes, and thus he will in thunder speak to all that dare oppose." Verse 6: "Though madly you may dispute my will, the king that I ordain, whose throne is fixed on Zion's hill, shall there securely reign." Verse 7: "Attend on earth while I declare God's uncontrolled decree."

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• "Thou art my Son, this day my heir have I begotten thee. Ask and receive thy full demands, thine shall the heathen be, the utmost limits of the land shall be possessed by thee." Verse 9: "Thy threatening scepter thou shalt shake, and crush them everywhere, as massive bars of iron break the potter's brittle ware." Verse 10: "Learn then ye princes, and give ear, you judges of the earth; worship the Lord with holy fear, rejoice with awful mirth." Verse 11: "Appease the Son with due respect, your timely homage pay, lest He revenge the bold neglect, incensed by your delay." Verse 12: "If but in part his anger rise, who can endure the flame? Then blessed are they whose hope relies on His most holy name." Isn't that amazing? Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go."

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• Wherever there is no recognition of God's sovereign authority, there will be no obedience. Where there is no recognition of God's sovereignty, where there is no obedience to God's commands, there shall be war. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to you this day. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. We thank you for the fact that thou art indeed the sovereign God of heaven and earth. And we bow before thee. We humble ourselves. We prostrate ourselves before thee and acknowledge thy greatness, thy majesty, thy authority, thy jurisdiction. And we rejoice with our Lord when He said in Matthew 28 and verse 18, "All authority in heaven and earth is given unto me." And we acknowledge that and we bow to Him and confess that He has the absolute right to command us and to dictate every area of our lives. Give us grace, Lord, that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T18:43:05Z