The Politically Incorrect Guide To God's War On The Wicked | Voddie Baucham

you have your bibles with you open them to psalm number two psalm 2. when we look at this war between god and the nations this war between god and sinful men the psalmist writes why do the nations rage and the prophets or the peoples plot in vain the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the lord and against his anointed one saying let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us he who sits in the heavens laughs the lord holds them in derision then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury saying as for me i have set my king on zion my holy hill i will tell of the decree the lord said to me you are my son today i have begotten you ask of me and i will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel now therefore o kings be wise be warned o rulers of the earth serve the lord with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled blessed are those who take refuge in him this is a beautiful psalm there are four stanzas of three verses each it's incredibly symmetrical and there is a a progression here that is very clear but the question is what does this old testament text what does this psalm from the songbook of israel have to do with a militant and triumphant church well i'm glad you asked in order to answer this question we mean to need to remember something that we looked at on last night we talked about peter's words in first peter too but you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light once you were not a people but now you are god's people once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy that is who we are and it's significant to keep in mind that that's who we are in order to understand the significance of this psalm as it relates to us as the church we are the people of god we are a chosen race and a royal priesthood and a holy nation we are a people for god's own possession and it's because that's who we are that this relates to us when the nations rage against god it's not as though they can ascend his holy hill and fight with him when the nations rage against god it's not as though they can lay hold of him the old folks used to say your arms are too short to box with god how do the nations fight god the answer is they can't fight god per se so what they do is they fight god's people they go to war with the church if you are at war with god who is a spirit and doesn't have a body like men all the catechized children said amen then what do you do you go to war with those who represent him you go to war with those who speak his words you go to war with those who bear the marks of identifying with him and we see this do we not we see this war spiritually and ideologically we we see it even in our own surroundings and when i talk about this i'm not talking about in in atheistic nations that were at war with the idea of christianity that that's not what i mean i i don't mean in islamic nations that are obviously at war with the idea of christianity or hindu nations or buddhist nations i'm talking about in the christian west we're seeing this war beginning to rage as the biblical understanding of manhood and womanhood and human sexuality is referred to in legislation as mythology we are at war our mission is also a direct affront to man's quest for independence and his own sovereignty was our mission jesus gave it to us he says all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me there's problem number one man is seeking after authority and there's none to be found because it all belongs to christ go therefore make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and of the holy spirit teaching them to observe all that i've commanded you and behold i am with you always even to the end of the age he doesn't just say go and and baptize people and bring people into the church where they do church things and leave it there no he says go and baptize them in the name of the father son and the holy spirit and then teach them to observe teach who the nations teach them that they don't get to call their own shots teach them that there is a god in zion and that they have an obligation to bow before him and to obey him and when we do that it's clear to see why psalm 2 would be relevant to a militant and triumphant church let's look at these four movements in the psalm again each of them three verses this perfect symmetry in the first three verses we see that sinful man is at war with god sinful man is at war with god and if you don't believe this you are incredibly naive if you think that sinful man can just coexist with god if you think that that sinful man can just wink and nod and and watch god's people go and do and be who they are and proclaim the gospel and win and gain ground and be okay with it you are sorely mistaken look at those first three verses again why do the nations raged and the people's plot in vain the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the lord and against his anointed saying let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us we don't want them to control us it's like a child looking up defiantly and saying you're not the boss of me nations rage people's plot kings set themselves rulers take counsel together there is a sense in which the whole world and yes it is the whole world the whole world outside of this people of god is at war with god notice the word picture here that there's a picture of the peoples of the world assembling against god amassing their armies if you will against god preparing all the fire power they have to go to war against god and actually believing that if enough of them amass that they can stamp him out this would have been significant for the nation of israel as they thought about that tiny strip of land that has been fought over for generation after generation after generation fighting with the philistines and the assyrians and the babylonians and again and again and again nations amassing against the people of god in this case however the armies are finite men coming to fight against god himself this is a fool's errand because it's not possible to win their armies have no chance nevertheless they amass for war we see it all the time don't we you you look at people's lives and sometimes i look at people's lives and i watch them war with god and you just want to look at him and say stay down man but why why does sinful man insist on warring with god as crazy as that sounds john gives us a glimpse in john 3 19 this is the judgment the light has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil they can't help it love darkness and they're infuriated by light by anything that exposes their darkness and they are enemies of god ephesians chapter two verses one through three we know these verses don't we and you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and we're by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind enemies of god children of wrath who love the darkness and hate the light and therefore all we can do is continue to go to war with god it's kind of like the classic story about the frog in the you scorpion know this story scorpion's trying to get across the river and he needs some help he talks to the frog and says man why don't you give me a ride the frog says i'm not gonna do that you'll sting me and kill us both said no i won't do that i gotta get to the other side just give a brother a ride i promise halfway across the frog feels the sting in his back and before he succumbs and sings he looks up to the scorpion and says but why to which the scorpion responds it's just my nature that's fallen man it's just his nature to be at war with god and it will always be his nature until the bitter end revelation 16 13 to 16 and i saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs speaking of frogs for they are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of god the almighty behold i'm coming like a thief blessed is the one who stays awake keeping his garments on that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed and they assembled them at the place that in hebrew is called armageddon sinful men go to war with god to the bitter end because it is in their very nature to do so but not only was this relevant to the nation of israel not only was this psalm a hymn that israel could sing and relate to but we know from the new testament writers that that israel didn't even have the full picture we didn't fully understand psalm 2 until the coming of christ listen to acts chapter 4 beginning of verse 26 the kings of the earth set themselves and rulers gathered together against the lord and against his anointed again quoting this psalm for truly in this city they were gathered together against your holy servant jesus whom you anointed both herod and pontius pilate along with the gentiles and the peoples of israel to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place that's not the only place where we see the new testament writers pointing to the fact that psalm 2 is about the lord jesus christ that ultimately in this war it is a war against god it is a war against christ and it is a war against the body of christ not only is that first movement pertinent this war between sinful man and god but but the second movement in this hymn is incredibly important as well because god responds but not the way you would think you you imagine the picture of massive armies amassing for war what's the response supposed to look like imagine it on a personal level two opponents face off and one puts up his hands what is the other going to do put up his hands yeah normally not here he who sits in the heavens laughs the lord holds them in derision then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury saying now please please don't miss this okay we start with the lord laughing which again is pretty terrifying i bring my armies and i'm ready to go to war i've got a huge army amassed and i'm ready to go to war you ready to fight are you laughing but then notice the second part then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury saying again what's the terrifying thing that god says to sinful man in his wrath he says i've set my king on zion my holy hill there it is that's the terrifying thing we bring massive armies we bring everything that man can think or imagine or invent to bring and we come to fight with god and he laughs and says my king's on zion and that's it and it's terrifying god is not threatened by the armies of men he laughs at them psalm 37 13 but the lord laughs at the wicked for he sees that his day is coming psalm 59 8 but you o lord laugh at them you hold all the nations in derision all of them rebellion of god remain against god it's folly because men will ultimately obey god either willingly or unwillingly there is no winning this war which is why god laughs and holds them in derision god is not threatened by sinful men psalm 46 10 be still and know that i am god i will be exalted among the nations i will be exalted in the earth he will be it is not optional there is no question this thing is not in doubt philippians 2 9 and 10. speaking of jesus therefore god has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that he is lord to the glory of god the father every knee every tongue it's not in doubt and yet it doesn't matter how loudly we proclaim this and how consistently we proclaim this sinful man believes that he can win and god laughs and god holds him in derision and all of this is accomplished and all of this will be accomplished by his king was on zion the contrast is stark not only the visual contrast the armies of the nations of the world gathering against god that's the picture coming to his holy hill and god saying you'll fight my king and just him and it's not that the king is somehow going to you know deploy some some weapon that that destroys all of these armies in a physical sense that that's not the picture because this battle is a spiritual battle but the way that the king on zion wins the war is ironic is the idea of god laughing and holding them in derision colossians 2 13-15 and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh god made alive together with him having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands this he set aside nailing it to the cross he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him it is the cross that's how the king wins this battle on zion it is through the cross paul says in first corinthians 1 18 for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of god it makes no sense we come to you to go to war with you and you win the war with us by your king dying on your hill that's exactly right verse 20 of that same chapter where is the one who is wise where is the scribe where is the debater of this age has not god made foolish the wisdom of the world as i said it's a fool's errand going to war with god not only is it a fool's errand because you cannot defeat god but it's a fool's errand because here you are going to war with the one who is actually your only hope reminds me of genesis 3 after the fall when god comes says adam where are you and adam responds with the most ridiculous answer imaginable i i i heard you coming so i ran and hid which immediately raises the question where does one run and hide from god it's not only foolish because you can't hide from god but it's foolish because at that moment after you've eaten you have one hope and one hope only and that is that god would be merciful to you so you're actually running and hiding from the only one who can save you and in this instance in psalm 2 the nations are actually amassing and going to war with the one who is their only hope again it's a fool's errand but it's appropriate because sinful man is a fool we need to be mindful of this because our tendency when we see the armies amassed against the church because that's the way that the world goes to war with god our knee-jerk reaction is to say well we just need to get a bigger army than they have how many times have we said this right some something goes awry and and all of a sudden you know the world is against us and it seems like it seems like we're losing ground it seems like they've been successful and we say something like well see they know how to organize for their cause if we just organized as well as they do if you can't say amen you ought to say ouch if we could just scheme like them then we could rule the day and we would have the big army and they would have to bow to us wrong answer our answer is the king who's on zion's hill that's our answer that's always been our answer and it will always be our answer the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they're powerful they destroy fortresses why would we trade them in again the weapons of their warfare cannot be successful against our god and against his anointed one so why when we think the battle is not going well for us why instead of us saying that our god is in control and whatever comes to pass does not threaten him why do we then say well maybe we should pick up their weapons and fight like them we only see that because we don't understand the third movement in this all and that is this that the reason that god smiles and holds them in derision is because the outcome was never in doubt the outcome was never in doubt it's not the church militant and hopefully triumphant amen it's not the church militant and lord willing triumphant now we will triumph in verse seven the the the king who's been identified on zion speaks i will tell of the decree the lord said to me you are my son today i have begotten you ask of me and i will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel there's the frightening word the reference here is again a reference to christ don't take my word for it hebrews chapter one verses three through five he is the radiance of the glory of god and the exact imprint of his nature and he upholds the universe by the power by the word of his power after making purifications for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs for to which of the angels did god ever say you are my son today i have begotten you or again i will beat to him a father and he shall beat to me a son in other words according to the author of hebrews as well psalm 2 is about jesus it finds its ultimate fulfillment fulfillment in the person and work of christ jesus presented himself as the messiah the son of god the nations are his birthright they are his inheritance and we are the means through which he claims this inheritance as we preach the gospel and men are saved as they're snatched out of the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light imagine again here's here's the picture the picture is that the armies of the world are amassed against god and against his anointed and here's the king on his holy hill and here's this massive army and as the gospel is preached by the people of god people lay down their weapons leave their post and run to the king on this hill that's how we fight that's how we fight that's the picture and let me just pause and say this this is what gives us confidence in evangelism and missions amen this is what gives us confidence because there's never a question and the outcome is never in doubt god will have his victory christ will have the fullness of the reward for which he died we can know that we can rest assured and we can preach the gospel in faith knowing that god will save his people through the foolishness of our preaching until we preach the gospel and press the cl the claims of christ in a hostile world but we also remind men of the judgment that is to come that is just as much our duty that that's that's what we do as the church militant we preach the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth and part of that truth is warning men of the coming judgment revelation 2 27 he will rule them with a rod of iron as when earthen pots are broken in pieces even as i myself have received authority from my father revelation 12 5 she gave birth to a male child one who was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron but her child was caught up to god and to his throne revelation 19 15. from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron he will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of god almighty we warn men of the judgment to come and that leaves us with the final movement and the final movement is this sinful man has only one hope and that is repentance that's it his repentance he he can't win the war with god his war with god will end in him being smashed by a rod of iron the nations that rage against god will bow before god and will be ruled by god so they have no hope of victory their only hope is repentance verses 10 through 12 that last movement now therefore because what we've seen here sinful man's going to war with god god laughs because the outcome is never in doubt therefore o kings be wise be warned o rulers of the earth serve the lord with fear and rejoice with trembling what a turn of phrase serve the lord with fear and rejoice with trembling what a beautiful picture our god is awesome and terrible and yet we rejoice in him i love the way c.s lewis captures this and in the narnia series speaking of aslan he's not a tame lion but he's good serve the lord with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled blessed are those who take refuge in him we begin in the exact opposite place or we end in the exact opposite place from where we began we we began with the nations raging and trying to to break themselves free from his bonds and we end with blessed are those who take refuge in him there's only two choices we can amass ourselves with the armies that are at war with god or we can take refuge in the king on this holy hill folks if god did not spare his beloved israel but instead allowed them to be defeated in battle and carried off into exile then we know his enemies will face sure and swift and unimaginable judgment and yet he calls them to repentance when you [Music] and i came to faith in christ this wasn't the picture it wasn't sinful man and the enemies of god arrayed against god ready to go to war with him and here is god and his anointed here is his king on zion on that holy hill and before the war breaks out he says wait stop there's someone who's neutral no you weren't neutral in this battle before you came to faith in christ you were driving a tank going to take the hill when the power of the gospel reached in and rescued you listen to this from kidner the final beatitude leaves no doubt of the grace that inspires the call of verses 10 and following what fear and pride interpret as bondage there in verse 3 is in fact security and bliss and there is no refuge from him only in him how many of us resisted coming to christ because we believed that we would be robbed of something that he wanted to take joy away from us that he wanted to take freedom and liberty away from us that he wanted to take rest and peace away from us only to come to faith in the lord jesus christ and look back on the men we were and say i thought he was going to take my liberty and i was actually a slave i thought he was going to take my peace and my rest and i was actually at war within and without i thought he was going to take my liberty and my freedom i thought he was going to take my joy but i was miserable before i found christ i didn't even know what joy was i was a fool on a fool's errand going to war for something that i could only get from the one that i was trying to destroy i'll end with this revelation 11 18 sort of sums it up for us the nations raged but your wrath came and the time for the dead to be judged and for rewarding your servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear your name both small and great and for destroying the destroyers of the earth the dust will settle the battle will be won and god will rescue and save his people through the person and work of his anointed one that king on zion's holy hill and he will utterly destroy his enemies and in both things he will be glorified be still and know that he is god he will be exalted among the nations he will be exalted in the earth amen

Channel: Founders Ministries

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Keywords: Founders Ministries, Tom Ascol, Founders, Reformed Theology, Theology, Reformed Baptist, Calvinism, Historic Baptist, Confessional Baptist, 1689 Confession, Church, Christianity, Reformed, Founders Ministries Podcast, Founders Ministry, Founders Conference, Voddie Baucham, Voddie Baucham Sermon, 2022 Founders Conference, Founders Conference 2022, militant and triumphant conference, militant and triumphant, militant and triumphant founders, voddie baucham founders conference

Id: XI04WJWG6nI

Length: 46min 33sec (2793 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 28 2022