807. God’s Message to the Nations

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The school was founded in 1927 by the evangelist Dr. Bob Jones Senior's intent was to make a school where Christ would be the center of everything, so he established daily chapel services today. That tradition continues with fervent biblical preaching from the University Chapel platform today on The Daily Platform or continuing a study series entitled return of the King which is a study of the second coming of Christ. Today's message will be preached by Dr. Mark Minnick, pastor of Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina real privilege to have the opportunity of participating in this series so grateful to Dr. Pettit for the invitation this series. As you know deals with a area of theology that is massive and that is the area of eschatology and I was first really impressed with how massive it is a graduate class here. It was taught by one of the most beloved members of our Bible and seminary faculty for many many decades. Dr. Stuart Custer who went to be with the Lord two years ago, one of his most anticipated seminary classes was on New Testament eschatology, and when you went into that class. The very first day he informed you that in the New Testament alone there are some 1500 prophetic versus and then he announced to you that he would be discussing every single one of those verses and that you would be required to know the interpretation for his tests. These were in the days of course when he took notes with the Panama pencil. I still have my very thick file folder of all those little microscopic notes that I took in that class. So when you're dealing with something that is so broad it's tremendously helpful to be able to find a passage or two in Scripture, in which God condenses the fundamental components of that down to something that's really manageable and we have a passage like that in our Old Testament that I'd like to invite you to open your Bibles to this morning it's in the book of Psalms and I will remind us as we turn in Psalms that this book that is the believers primary devotional book in the Bible isn't just devotional but it's actually the Old Testament book New Testament authors quote most frequently in confirming New Testament theology and the passage were going to be looking at this morning second song is one of the band rock passages when it comes to this area of Scripture theology the area of eschatology.

What I like to do this morning.

For the sake of time is just take it stanza by stanza without reading the entirety of it first and I don't have it up on that PowerPoint so you have to reference in your own copy of Scripture that we are going to look at some cross referencing on the PowerPoint this morning. This first stanza consists of three verses and they concern something called the nation's reading why he then that is the Hebrew word going game and it's translated elsewhere in Old Testament Gentiles and nations. Why do the nations rage and the people. Imagine a vain thing and then it goes on and narrows to the heads of state among the nations, the kings of the earth, and the rulers tells us that there taking counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, and what they say in their conferences though they don't put it in these words, their policy proposals amount to exactly this in divine viewpoint. They are conferring in order to break there. That is the Lord's, and his annoyance to break there hands asunder and cast away their cords from us that I want to raise the question.

First of all, this morning as to who and what these nations are and I take you back to the very beginning. This is the last verse of the 10th chapter of Genesis in the chapter just preceding this are the flood chapters after the flood.

There is no and his three sons in the 10th chapter tells us of the descendents of Noah sons, Shem Ham Japheth, their descendents, these are the families the last verse of that chapter says of the sons of Noah after their generations in their nations and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood. There are some 70 families in that chapter.

Today there are 195 recognized nations. That is what this Psalm is referring to these nations wasn't saying that they're dealing passage says that they are ranging and imagining this is divine viewpoint from God's viewpoint those national entities, particularly as concentrated in their governing officers their kings their heads of state their Parliament we would say for our country or Senate or House of Representatives executive branch legal branch from divine viewpoint. They are raging against God and against his anointed, who is that that word translated anointed is the Hebrew word machine Jack and in English we say that how that is the word Messiah there raging against the Lord and against his Messiah and what are they imagining in their rage.

God summarizes all in just one verse their imagination is that they can cast off God's moral restraints on them to break Diane's asunder. How far are they willing to go with that.

The next chapter of Genesis records for us that these people groups banded together as you know, to build great power God looked at it and this is what he said the people is one that all have one language and I will take your attention down to the end of the verse and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do and those of us in this room.

Of course, sewer over a half-century old, that sounds ancient but 50, 60, 70 years of age in this country we today are confronted with things nearly every day in the headlines that would've been difficult for us in our youth to ever imagine with the public policy in this country today. In other words, if you will just stop and think of illustrations of this divorce and remarriage loss freedom to abort a baby.

The marriage of people of the same gender from divine viewpoint. These are the nations attempting to free themselves from God's moral bonds and they do it in the laws and policies that they propose now the next stanza of this all gives to us the response of God. Verse four he that sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision.

Dr. Bob Senior, who founded the school said your arm is too short to box with God. You probably have seen a father with a small child and the boy wants to box and he's fiercely pummeling the air that just has his hand on the boy's forehead boy can't even begin to reach that when we see something like that.

It's humorous, but when this verse says that he that sits in the heavens shall laugh God is not laughing because he takes this as being something that is humorous. This is a derisive laugh. God is holding them and ridicule at the thought that they actually could throw off all of his restraint and you see that when you go to the fifth verse because it says that he's going to speak to them in his wrath and God's message to the nations from the time of the Tower of Babel from the time that he scattered them in the earth, and he built into the race that he built into the geography of a scattering of them.

He built in these divisions in Christ and the church. There is a unity, but the will of God before people come together in that unity is that to a certain degree, they remain nationalized and separate. Why is that because if they get together. There's no stopping what they'll try to do so.

God has one message for them and the messages in the final verse of that stanza. I have sat my king on my holy hill of Zion and the message.

In essence, is that there is but one ruler, and all the earth can locate him. He is identified here in terms of the geography of his installation. I have said or I have installed some of the translations render it or some of the render it.

I have anointed him on my holy hill of cyan and you know, of course, when you look at the Old Testament Scriptures that cyan is a particular city in the earth, and even more specifically, after Solomon built his temple on the amount of that city that temple spot known today as the temple mount. You can envision it in your mind by the dome of the rock that great golden edifice that is the top of the Temple Mount. Here's a here's a space that's 35 acres.

That's about 24 football fields as acreage smaller than the campus of University but it is the most disputed piece of territory on the globe today and God says there is but one king, and he's installed there. That's how you know him. When you find now the third stanza, Psalm is the speech of that king in the seventh verse of the song begins this way I will declare the decree. The Lord hath said unto me the words you got a speaker here and he's declaring what the Lord said to him, the rebellion is against the Lord and his machine. Jack the Lord says I've installed my king and now the next speaker in the Psalm says yes and I'll tell you what the Lord said to me. The Lord said to me you are my son and today I have begotten you ever read that verse a little confused by the ever wondered if that's actually a reference to Jesus Christ Jesus the Messiah.

If he's the speaker.

But God says to him, I begotten you.

That sounds as if he was a created being is real important that we understand that phrase and has a lot to do with her understanding the eschatology this passage in the big picture and that's really the point of the message this morning, I was asked to do something.

That's the big picture. What's the whole plan in the midst of this whole history of the raging nations from the Tower of Babel right up to the present and right through the end when the king comes back what's the plan well. It includes this year my son, today I begotten you. One of those words mean they are two passages in the book of acts, balloon here now for a moment. There are two passages in the book of acts that are necessary to understand in order to properly interpret that passage in the first of those passages is in the fourth chapter of acts, and this is after the apostles have generously as you just mentioned this Peter is used of the Lord to raise this lame man at the gate beautiful at the Temple Mount and they preach to the people, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. They have been arrested and all the chief officials passage tells us the rulers of Israel Annas and Caiaphas and all the kindred of the high priest all the elders they gather together they meet with Peter and John to hear them.

They command not to speak anymore in the name of Jesus or preach anymore. His name and that's when you have Peter's famous response.

Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you are under God you judge and the rulers threatened them. These are the same rulers who just crucified Christ.

The rulers threatened them and Peter and John the back of their own company, the Bible says that they pray in their prayer is scripturally informed and this is how they pray by the mouth of your servant David, you have said those words there quoting the first two verses of Psalm two and then they go on and they say this the truth against your holy child Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, their heads of state hear the Gentiles. Here's Herod he's a ruler.

Pontius Pilate has a ruler and the people of Israel he comes into his own is on the receiving leader and the people reserve their all gathered together, and they gather together to do whatever God's hand and counsel have determined before to be done now. What had God's counsel determined before to be done well go back to it. The kings of the earth stood up. The rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ and the early church understands that that verse was fulfilled when Herod Pontius Pilate the Gentiles and Israel all gathered together against God's holy child Jesus in the anointed one, or they do. Acts 13. This is the apostle Paul preaching at Antioch, the Presidio, some years later and he to close the second song and it really picks up the storyline for Max for though they found no cause of death in him, yet they desired Pilate that he should be slain, and when they had filled fulfilled all that was written of him.

Remember that when the early church prayed they said what they did. They did in fulfillment of what you would determine should be done. Paul saying the same thing.

They fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and they laid him in a sepulcher on pause right here so I take us back our minds to what God said in Genesis 11. If these people hang together. There will be nothing restrained from them, which they imagine to do and when you read that early on your Bible and you wonder will what would what would the nations come up with to do if they were able to have their way, and Psalm two says they would actually cast off the totality of the restraint of God and of his Messiah.

If you ask yourself how far would they be willing to go. You give it about a thousand years from when David wrote that Saul and what they will do is murder him. That is how far they will go when God said in Genesis 11 he was right. If they get together.

There's nothing that will restrain them, but the next verse says, but God raised him from the dead folks.

What you do if you have such animosity and hatred for someone that you murder him but what you do. If he comes back and that is exactly what this passage goes on and explains Paul says we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made under the father's God has fulfilled the same unto us, their children what promise did God make this such glad tidings and is fulfilled with the and that he raised Jesus up again like it's written in the second song and if you ask yourself where in the second Psalm doesn't have any reference at all to the resurrection. Look at that wine written in the second Psalm that our my son, this day I have begotten, the folks what is lately getting but a bringing to life when did God bring his Messiah to life after they murdered him. You can see that raised up Jesus. I begotten, the and that is the message that the anointed son has for all the nations of the world right through until the next verse, the next person Psalm two says this is the Messiah, he says the Lord said to me now you ask of me and I will give you all these nations for your inheritance, and he also said to me, and what you will do is you will break them with a rod of iron. That sounds severe, it will be severe. The says you will dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel in the fulfillment of that is something that Dr. Ormiston preached in the last message in this series, taking us right to Revelation 19. At the conclusion of the tribulation when this person returns and out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he will. Here's the fulfillment of folks when is that fulfilled when is Psalm two fulfilled when he rules them with a rod of iron.

When the king returns and the very next chapter in Revelation chapter 20 and for a thousand years. This King reigns in you and I want to remember this, the law of God must be vindicated to say that again the law of God must be vindicated.

The law of God is not a strange thing is not unduly harsh, even with all of its penalties for breaking those bands asunder the law of God is holy and righteous and good.

Can you imagine living in a world where the law of God is in force if necessary with an inflexible rod of iron with the law and all of its penalties is upheld. Think of the safety of a world like that. Think of the peace in a world like that and for all these centuries man has never been reconciled to the law of God she has never accepted it, even though it is in his conscience. The Bible tells us so.

In the view of man.

This is an unreasonable thing in the penalties of the law are unusually cruel. That's all gotta be vindicated. It was vindicated in the first place at the cross, but folks, it will be vindicated as good and righteous in bringing peace land for 10 centuries.

The king demonstrates this actually is the way things were asked is when the law of God is in force. That way, so that brings you to the very last stands of the Solomon were out of time, but the last stands of the Psalm is an invitation. It's actually a counsel to all the nations of the earth to be wise, to be instructed and this God against him. You've mounted this universal insurrection you need now to serve the Lord and when it comes to the sun.

You need to do what Samuel did when he anointed Saul and the Bible says he kissed Saul that was an act of homage and all the nations are told at the end of the song these things being the case, this being the plan. The fact that God himself laughs your Africa box with him wise and be instructed instead of following you need to bow down. You need to kiss the son, and blessed is everyone knows that and that us is the great commission that is Jesus saying after his resurrection, I have all authority in the heavens on the earth, you need to disciple all the nations, and you need to instruct them folks house ago you need to instruct them to keep all things whatsoever I have what's the next word whatsoever. I have what commanded somebody is in charge in Romans 10, nine, 10, says, and I want to leave this with any of you individually. If you will believe in your heart that God raised him like that after the nations did their worst God raised him. Do you believe that and if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is what what to say confess with your mouth that Jesus is if you will confess him to be Lord, then you will be saved from the distraction become. But apart from that many women will be broken for all eternity. Because this can will rain was for prayer loving heavenly father, thank you for our time. Thank you for your help us by the Ministry of years. To comprehend and to grasp for ourselves this message. The asking price precious name.

Amen. You been listening to a sermon preached at Bob Jones University by Dr. Mark Minnick, which is part of the study series about the second coming of Christ. Join us again tomorrow as we continue the series here on The Daily Platform