The NXR Podcast - June 19, 2022


SUNDAY SERMON - Christ Shall Break The Wicked With A Rod Of Iron - Psalm 2

Topics
meditating on God's law neutrality is a myth regenerate hearts
Hosted by
Joel Webbon Harrison Smith Antonio Griffith Dale Partridge Wewsley Todd Calvin Robinson
Mentioned
King David Jesus Christ John Locke Nebuchadnezzar Kiss Matthew Henry Doug Wilson John Adams Athanasius Augustine Emmanuel Messiah Blessed James Paul
QUESTIONS - Is It Effeminate For Men To Play Video Games？ DAILY TRUTH - How Are We To Worship？

Episode Stats


Length

55 minutes

Words per minute

147.45

Word count

8,247

Sentence count

502

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Toxicity

15

sentences flagged

Hate speech

36

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode, Pastor Ken delivers a special message called "Thank You For Who You Are" from Ephesians 2:10-14. God bless you as you listen to this message and remember that you are the head of all things!

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00 Hey guys, real quick, before we get started, I have a small request.
00:00:03 If you've been blessed by our content and you like this show,
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00:00:18 Our text again is Psalm chapter 2. God's Word says this,
00:00:22 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
00:00:25 The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
00:00:33 Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.
00:00:37 He who sits in the heavens laughs.
00:00:40 The Lord holds them in derision.
00:00:42 Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying,
00:00:47 As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.
00:00:52 I will tell of the decree, the Lord said to me.
00:00:54 You are my son. Today I have begotten you.
00:00:59 Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. 0.92
00:01:05 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like the potter's vessel.
00:01:10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. 0.94
00:01:15 Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.
00:01:19 Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.
00:01:26 Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
00:01:29 This is the word of the Lord.
00:01:31 All right, please be seated and join me as I pray.
00:01:35 Father, we thank you for your word.
00:01:36 And Father, I pray that indeed, through the preaching of your word, that your people would arrive at a greater knowledge of who you are,
00:01:43 of what you've done and what it is that you require of us as a proper response.
00:01:50 God, I pray that you would equip us now by the power of your spirit
00:01:53 with spiritual eyes to see, spiritual ears to hear,
00:01:57 new hearts that are softened and malleable and receptive to your truth.
00:02:02 And Father, we ask that you would be glorified in the preaching of your word.
00:02:08 God, we thank you for who you are.
00:02:10 We thank you for what you've done.
00:02:12 We thank you not only for your work, of course, in redemption through the person and work of your son, Jesus Christ,
00:02:17 but we thank you for your work even in creation, that you are a universal creator.
00:02:23 Your word does not teach universal fatherhood.
00:02:26 You are the father of only those who have union with your son, Christ,
00:02:30 who have been adopted by the Holy Spirit by grace through faith.
00:02:33 But you are a universal creator.
00:02:36 And you also teach in your word universal neighborhood,
00:02:39 that only those who are joined with Christ are our brothers or sisters in Christ,
00:02:45 but all people created in your image are our neighbors.
00:02:49 And so, Father, we recognize that your word has commandments.
00:02:55 It has repercussions.
00:02:56 It has precepts and expectations for the people of God.
00:03:01 But not only that, your word has expectations and commandments, requirements for all men.
00:03:07 Because although you are only the father of those who have faith in Jesus Christ,
00:03:11 you are the creator of all men.
00:03:13 And as the creator, you maintain rights and privileges as God.
00:03:18 All men are commanded to love you with all their heart, their soul, and their mind.
00:03:25 And all men are commanded to love their neighbor as themselves.
00:03:30 Lord, let us not buy into the temptation to think that when it comes to our unbelieving neighbor,
00:03:36 that your law has no expectation,
00:03:39 that your law has no commands over them.
00:03:43 Your law is given to all people,
00:03:46 not just believers, not just your people,
00:03:49 but all people, for all have been created by you.
00:03:52 You are their God.
00:03:55 You are the Lord of all the earth,
00:03:57 whether we recognize that lordship or not.
00:04:01 So Father, I thank you for these men and women
00:04:03 and children today.
00:04:04 I thank you for those who have recognized by grace your lordship overall.
00:04:10 We thank you that Christ is not merely the head of the church,
00:04:13 but that he is, according to Ephesians and Colossians, the head of all things.
00:04:19 We thank you that he is now presently seated at your right hand, Father,
00:04:23 and that he is ruling and reigning,
00:04:26 and that one by one his enemies are being made a footstool for his feet.
00:04:31 We thank you for Jesus, the lamb who was slain for the forgiveness of sins.
00:04:37 But we thank you also for Jesus, the lion who reigns in glory and in power and majesty and in triumph.
00:04:46 Father, we pray that we would see these things and rejoice in them.
00:04:50 that we would be glad, that there would be a healthy fear of you,
00:04:57 a righteous trembling, but a joyful trembling,
00:05:01 a trembling with gladness as we see the rule and reign of Christ in your word today.
00:05:08 We pray that you would bless all these things for our good and for your glory.
00:05:13 In Jesus' name, amen.
00:05:16 As a way of a background for our text today, Psalm chapter 2,
00:05:20 I've written your notes the following. Psalm chapter 2 fits together in an interesting way
00:05:25 with Psalm chapter 1 that we saw last Lord's Day in order to introduce the book of Psalms as a whole.
00:05:31 In Psalm chapter 1, if you remember, the righteous man is described as the one who meditates on God's
00:05:37 law. Meditates on God's law. That is, he thinks deeply and he thinks biblically about the law
00:05:44 of God. In Psalm chapter two, the wicked are the ones who meditate. There's the same kind of
00:05:50 language. The wicked are the ones who they are thinking deeply. They are meditating. The word
00:05:56 that we find in the text is they're plotting, they're planning, they're strategizing, but it's
00:06:01 the same Hebrew word as meditating. They are thinking, conspiring. However, for the wicked,
00:06:08 what they meditate on is not the law of God and how they can surrender to God, how they can submit
00:06:13 to God's will, how they can be obedient and pleasing to God, but rather they, the wicked,
00:06:18 are meditating on how to cast off the law of God, on how to break apart God's bonds,
00:06:28 God's rights, God's lordship over all men as a creator of all things. So the righteous in Psalm
00:06:36 chapter 1 is a meditating man. He meditates night and day, day and night, because he delights in
00:06:43 law of God. I spoke about that last week. I said it's not just a begrudging obligation. It's not
00:06:49 that he simply meditates on the law of God day and night because he has to, because it's right
00:06:55 to. But the wonderful thing about our God is that which is right for man is also that which is good
00:07:02 for man. That which makes man holy is also that which makes man happy. And so he delights. He is
00:07:10 the blessed man. He's a righteous man, but he's a blessed man. That is, he is a happy man. He is
00:07:16 happy in God and therefore happy in God's law, which is merely a reflection of who God is. And
00:07:24 because he's happy in God and therefore happy in the law of God, he cannot help. Certainly there
00:07:30 are times where discipline might get him through valleys, dry seasons, but by and large, it is his
00:07:37 happiness in God and his delight therefore in the law of God that causes him to meditate to think
00:07:43 deeply upon God's law day and night. It's important for us to recognize when it comes again to
00:07:48 Christian meditation it's not the emptying of the mind and the full surrender to our feelings but
00:07:54 rather Christian meditation is rational. It's filled with great mental discipline. It is not to empty
00:08:02 the mind of all rational thought but rather to feast the mind and focus the mind on substance
00:08:08 on content namely the word of God so the Christian man is he's thinking deeply upon the word of God
00:08:15 and I believe that sadly this is a lost practice in the church today we have plenty of Christians
00:08:21 those who profess Christ who barely read the word of God and then we have those who who have a
00:08:27 regular time, a regular rhythm developed over years, perhaps even decades, so they've been
00:08:32 walking with God, and they read the law of God, they read the Word of God day and night, they read
00:08:38 God's Word regularly. But to read God's law, to read God's Word, is not synonymous with meditating
00:08:45 on God's Word. We might even go further. Some Christians would boast, perhaps, of not only
00:08:51 their daily quiet time, they might call it their daily time in the Word, reading the Word, but some
00:08:56 Christians would even memorize the Word, which is a very biblical and wonderful practice for
00:09:01 Christians to commit themselves to. They would not only read the Word of God, they would memorize
00:09:05 the Word of God. But memorizing the Word of God is still not yet arriving at meditating upon the
00:09:11 Word of God day and night. Now, memorizing the Word of God is very helpful for meditation because
00:09:17 it allows us throughout our day, without having a literal open Bible before us, to think deeply upon
00:09:23 the Word of God, which we've committed to our memory.
00:09:26 But there are many Christians who read the Word of God
00:09:28 and even memorize the Word of God, 0.89
00:09:31 but they do not meditate on the Word of God.
00:09:34 In short, many Christians today are not thinking Christians.
00:09:39 The church is absent of serious thought.
00:09:45 The church is a place of feeling and emotion,
00:09:49 but not deep and profound thought about the word of God.
00:09:54 To meditate on God's law day and night
00:09:56 is to think deeply about the law of God.
00:09:59 Why is it holy?
00:10:00 Why is it righteous?
00:10:02 Why is it good?
00:10:03 Why is a man who delights in the law of God a blessed man?
00:10:07 What is it about the law of God that works in the world?
00:10:10 We live in God's world
00:10:11 and God has rules for his world that we live in.
00:10:15 And they work.
00:10:16 Why does it work?
00:10:17 thinking deeply, meditating upon the law of God.
00:10:21 Why is this righteous and why is this wicked
00:10:23 and how can I delight more in this
00:10:26 and what are the implications
00:10:27 and the practical applications of God's law?
00:10:32 If a society were to obey God's law in this way,
00:10:35 what would it mean?
00:10:36 What are those things at the level of politics even?
00:10:39 The things that, not just in the home or the church,
00:10:42 but in the civil realm that are outside of the law of God
00:10:45 that are causing our nation to crumble.
00:10:47 This is to meditate upon the law of God.
00:10:50 It is to think deeply upon God's law.
00:10:53 And what we see in our text today, Psalm chapter 2, is the exact reverse.
00:10:58 We see the same word to plot, to think, to dwell, to meditate.
00:11:03 Except now we see the meditation of the wicked.
00:11:08 And again, recognize the word meditate.
00:11:10 It's not that mantra meditation, pagan meditation that we see in our culture today.
00:11:17 that we've seen even seep into Christian churches today.
00:11:21 It's not mantra pagan meditation that seeks to empty the mind
00:11:25 and somehow become one with the God of the universe,
00:11:27 to be one with everything so that we might be one with the God who created everything.
00:11:32 Mantra meditation, in a nutshell, is this.
00:11:35 It seeks the experience of being one with God.
00:11:38 Christian meditation seeks the experience of knowing God.
00:11:42 In Christian meditation, thinking deeply upon God's word day and night,
00:11:46 We seek to know God.
00:11:49 Mantra meditation seeks in an idolatrous fashion
00:11:51 to elevate man in such a way that he becomes,
00:11:54 he finds himself on an equal plane with God.
00:11:57 He becomes a contemporary of God.
00:12:01 But it's idolatrous. 0.97
00:12:03 It's pagan. 1.00
00:12:04 It's not Christian.
00:12:05 And notice in Psalm chapter 2, 1.00
00:12:07 the meditation that we find is plotting the wicked plot. 0.53
00:12:10 It's the same kind of meditation as Christian meditation. 0.98
00:12:13 They're simply plotting, meditating, thinking deeply about the wrong things. 0.94
00:12:19 What I mean by that is in Psalm chapter 2, the wicked, they're not practicing mantra meditation.
00:12:25 They're not emptying their minds.
00:12:27 They're not just sitting and trying to somehow work themselves into a transcendental state to become one with everything.
00:12:33 No, it's focused energy.
00:12:36 They're taking every single brain cell God's given them
00:12:40 and working it against the God who gave them that intellectual prowess.
00:12:45 The wicked are thinking deeply.
00:12:47 The problem is that they are thinking deeply about precisely the opposite thing
00:12:52 that the righteous are thinking about.
00:12:53 The righteous are thinking about the law of God,
00:12:57 its holiness, its rightness, if you will, but also its goodness.
00:13:02 The righteous are meditating day and night, thinking deeply upon the law of God,
00:13:06 how it is both right and how it is good.
00:13:09 How the law of God, when obeyed by man, causes him to be not only a righteous man,
00:13:14 but also the blessed man, a holy man and a happy man.
00:13:18 That's what the righteous are committing their thoughts to.
00:13:22 That's the type of meditation that the righteous are practicing.
00:13:25 Deep thought about the law of God, its goodness and its holiness,
00:13:29 and how submission to God's law,
00:13:33 further surrendering to God's lordship in all things is wonderful.
00:13:38 That's the meditation, the profound thought of the Christian. 0.83
00:13:43 The meditation of the wicked is precisely, again, the opposite. 0.93
00:13:47 It is thinking how, in what way,
00:13:50 they could somehow sever the bonds, the lordship,
00:13:53 the rights of God over them as creator.
00:13:56 How can we get out, out from underneath?
00:13:59 restraint by the law of God. They see the law of God as wicked and perverse and harmful to their
00:14:08 own good, as a giant hindrance to their own godless agenda. How can we somehow remove ourselves from
00:14:19 underneath the sovereign rule of God and the extension of his lordship and law? How can we
00:14:27 somehow find freedom from this restraint underneath the commands of God. So the righteous,
00:14:36 they plot, they think, they meditate on the goodness of God's law. The wicked plot and think
00:14:42 and meditate on the way that God's law is somehow a hindrance to their true joy and happiness and
00:14:52 how they could somehow get away from it.
00:14:54 How they can somehow sever the bonds of God's kingly rule over them.
00:15:03 And yet, we see God's response.
00:15:07 God is not frantic.
00:15:10 He's not concerned.
00:15:12 He's not worried.
00:15:15 He who sits in the heavens laughs and holds them in derision.
00:15:22 Going on in your notes, underneath background, I've written this.
00:15:26 Psalm chapter 2 is structured as a dramatic presentation of sorts.
00:15:31 And it's presented in three distinct acts.
00:15:35 Act number 1 is verses 1 through 3, where we see that the nations have chosen to rebel against God.
00:15:42 They have conspired against His rule and reign.
00:15:45 act chapter 2 verses 4 through 9 we see that God remains sovereign and has a predetermined plan to
00:15:51 judge man's rebellion God has a strategy God has his own way of dealing with the rebellion
00:16:00 the plotting the planning of the wicked then in act chapter act 3 verses 10 through 12 of our text
00:16:10 we see the absolute necessity for every man to submit to God while there is still time.
00:16:17 I use the word necessity, but perhaps the better word would be this, urgency.
00:16:23 That there is an urgency to kiss the Son, that is, the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
00:16:29 He who rules the nations with an iron scepter, to kiss the Son lest He be angry.
00:16:36 For His wrath is quickly kindled.
00:16:40 And we'll speak about that in a moment because that seems to fly in the face of what we know about the anger of God.
00:16:46 That he is slow to anger.
00:16:48 So I'll go into more detail with that particular point in Act 3 of our text, verses 10 through 12 toward the end.
00:16:56 Act 1, verses 1 through 3.
00:16:59 I've written this in your notes.
00:17:01 To understand this psalm, we must realize that on one level, it particularly applies to King David.
00:17:07 The schemes of these rulers against the Lord and his anointed are rooted in a time in David's reign
00:17:13 when many of the surrounding nations sought to rebel against Israel, David's kingship.
00:17:21 David, the Lord's anointed king over his people Israel, writes this psalm
00:17:28 to show the folly of rebellion against God's anointed king
00:17:32 because of the promises God had made to that king.
00:17:36 Thus, on one level, these first three verses refer to those rebel kings
00:17:41 and their attempts to shake off David's rule over them.
00:17:45 However, Psalm chapter 2 goes far beyond David's experience.
00:17:49 It is ultimately fulfilled only in God's true anointed, the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:17:55 Thus, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
00:17:58 David wrote this psalm not only about himself,
00:18:00 but in a deeper and much more complete way about the Messiah, Jesus.
00:18:07 Just as these kings rebelled against King David,
00:18:10 so all men have rebelled against King Jesus.
00:18:14 Verses 1 through 3 of our text, let me read them once more so they're fresh in our mind.
00:18:19 The word says this,
00:18:20 Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain?
00:18:24 The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together
00:18:28 against the Lord and against His anointed,
00:18:31 saying, let us burst their bonds apart
00:18:33 and cast away their cords from us.
00:18:37 The nations surrounding David at the time,
00:18:40 they're saying, how can we somehow
00:18:41 be independent from Israel?
00:18:44 We don't want to pay homage
00:18:46 to King David in Israel. 0.83
00:18:49 We don't want to owe them anything.
00:18:51 How can we cast off our obligation
00:18:54 to this great king and this great nation?
00:18:57 And so, too, all men conspire, they meditate, they plot, how can I somehow remove any sense
00:19:04 of obligation or dependency on King Jesus? 0.82
00:19:09 How can I somehow become independent from God?
00:19:13 How can I somehow become autonomous?
00:19:17 See, again, the comparison between Psalm 1, the righteous man who meditates day and night
00:19:23 on the law of God, and Psalm 2, the wicked who plot in vain.
00:19:27 how they can somehow get out from underneath the law of God,
00:19:30 the comparison is striking.
00:19:33 Because autonomy literally means man's law.
00:19:38 Autonomy speaks about law.
00:19:41 It is in direct contrast to, for instance, theonomy.
00:19:46 Theonomy is God's law.
00:19:49 Now, obviously, in the church history and theology,
00:19:53 there are multiple expressions of theonomy.
00:19:57 Some I would disagree with.
00:19:59 Some, I think, are profound and have been dismissed by the church today,
00:20:04 and I think mostly because of the fear of man and cowardice.
00:20:07 At the end of the day, theonomy simply means God's law.
00:20:10 And given the choice between God's law and autonomy, man's law, I choose God's law.
00:20:16 We see man's law.
00:20:17 We see it legislated.
00:20:19 We see it in action.
00:20:21 Man's law leads to the death of 60 million children murdered in their mother's womb in the last 48 years.
00:20:27 I'll take God's law.
00:20:29 I like what Doug Wilson says
00:20:31 in terms of imposing morality
00:20:33 through legislation, through law.
00:20:36 At the end of the day,
00:20:38 all law is, is the imposing of morality.
00:20:42 It's either the abortion doctor 0.97
00:20:44 and the mother imposing their morality 0.91
00:20:46 on the child,
00:20:48 ending in their death and murder,
00:20:50 or it's imposing God's law
00:20:54 and morality on the abortion doctor and the mother, 0.62
00:20:58 namely your murderers,
00:21:00 and guilty for the penalty of a murderer.
00:21:04 At the end of the day, all we ever do is impose our morality. 0.96
00:21:09 So to buy in, I think Christians, we cave far too quickly. 0.87
00:21:14 Secularism has gone unchecked in our nation for a long time, 0.98
00:21:18 and I think part of it is because Christians have surrendered on certain points. 0.71
00:21:23 We've surrendered at the point of God's law, theonomy.
00:21:27 We've surrendered at the point of two-kingdom theology. 0.89
00:21:32 It's just about the church, the home in the church,
00:21:36 or the lordship of Jesus on the lordship issue.
00:21:40 We say, well, Jesus is lord of what?
00:21:41 My heart.
00:21:43 No, he's not.
00:21:46 Jesus' lordship, his rule, his reign, his dominion,
00:21:48 it goes a lot further than your precious little heart.
00:21:52 He is the Lord of your heart, but he's also the Lord of all.
00:21:57 And Jesus is not content to be quarantined in his kingdom to the realm of your little heart.
00:22:06 Jesus is Lord of all.
00:22:08 And you'll either bless him or curse him.
00:22:11 You'll either love him or hate him.
00:22:13 But Jesus is your Lord, whether you admit his lordship or not.
00:22:18 and so this idea that jesus is lord of all that we're living in god's world in the father's world
00:22:25 and he has set his anointed one on zion his holy hill he has elevated him to the highest place
00:22:33 that anyone could ever be at the right hand of the father in the ascension he has crowned him
00:22:39 with many diadems with all honor all splendor all majesty and that jesus christ is currently
00:22:45 ruling and reigning and he is not merely the head of your family or the head of the church
00:22:50 he is the head of all things the church has missed this and so we acquiesce we surrender
00:22:58 valuable ground we say well i yeah i don't want a christian nation because i know that would be
00:23:05 imposing what other nation do you want neutrality is a myth neutrality is a myth so we can look to
00:23:13 Christian nations and we can see what we should consider a bug rather than the feature. We can
00:23:21 see the crusades. We can look to Christian nations. We can see weaknesses. We can see glaring failures 1.00
00:23:28 where things went wrong. But we can see from God's word how that was deterring from the law of God
00:23:35 rather than fulfilling it. It was a bug, not a feature. But at some point, Christians need to
00:23:40 call secularism to account. 0.97
00:23:45 Because it was not 0.98
00:23:46 Christianity that 0.81
00:23:48 brought about the Holocaust. 1.00
00:23:51 Christianity is not responsible
00:23:52 for Mao. Christianity
00:23:54 is not responsible for what's currently going
00:23:56 on in China. Christianity is not 0.90
00:23:58 responsible for abortion.
00:24:01 So at the end of the day, whatever 0.57
00:24:02 worldview you have, there is
00:24:04 an allegiance. Christ says
00:24:06 you're either for me or against
00:24:08 me. 0.98
00:24:10 There is no neutrality, and this is another area, an important area that Christians have surrendered. 0.99
00:24:20 Oh, well, we don't want a Christian to say, because that wouldn't be fair, so let's have a neutral one. 0.99
00:24:26 There's no such thing. 1.00
00:24:28 There's no such thing.
00:24:30 Neutrality is a myth.
00:24:31 Every single person is radically influenced by their own presuppositions about the world.
00:24:38 What do you believe?
00:24:40 Politics is downstream of culture and morality.
00:24:44 Morality and culture ultimately is downstream from theology.
00:24:49 What do you believe about God?
00:24:52 And in light of that, what do you believe about man?
00:24:54 The reason why our nation has so many checks and balances in its government,
00:24:59 which currently right now rulers are plotting, how can we cast off restraint?
00:25:06 Exactly our text. We see the fulfillment of it even now.
00:25:09 How can we cast off the Constitution?
00:25:12 Now, the Constitution is not a one-to-one ratio of the law of God,
00:25:16 but it was written by men who acknowledged the law of God.
00:25:20 That's not to say that none of these men had wrong views,
00:25:24 and some of them were perhaps even heretics.
00:25:27 But at the end of the day, the work that we have with civil freedom
00:25:30 and checks and balances and free speech and all these kinds of things,
00:25:34 a lot of it comes from ultimately John Locke.
00:25:37 And John Locke was influenced by guys like John Adams.
00:25:40 And ultimately, you trace it down and down and down.
00:25:43 It really works its way back to all the way to Athanasius and to Augustine,
00:25:47 which ultimately gets all the way back to Paul, meaning the Holy Spirit, God.
00:25:53 That's where it comes from.
00:25:55 But why does freedom of speech, for instance, come from God?
00:25:59 Because James tells us that the law of God is the law of liberty.
00:26:04 See, the law of God is the only place where true freedom is found.
00:26:12 Freedom is not a free for all.
00:26:16 True freedom is not the ability to do whatever you want.
00:26:19 True freedom is the ability to obey the law of God.
00:26:23 See, the wicked think they're free.
00:26:26 But the wicked, according to Christ, are the ones who are actually enslaved.
00:26:29 To what?
00:26:30 Rather than in obligation surrender to God's law as master, the wicked are enslaved to sin.
00:26:38 Their lust, their passions, the evil desires of their heart.
00:26:43 They think they're free, but they're not.
00:26:45 Because true freedom is not the ability to sin as the wicked think it is.
00:26:52 True freedom is the ability, the freedom to obey.
00:26:56 if any man is in Christ
00:26:59 he is a new creation 1.00
00:27:00 and who the son sets free
00:27:03 is free indeed
00:27:05 free to obey
00:27:07 free to kiss the son
00:27:09 while there's still time
00:27:10 lest he be angry
00:27:11 free to surrender to his good
00:27:14 and righteous and kind rule
00:27:17 that's the freedom
00:27:19 the true freedom
00:27:21 that the word of God speaks of
00:27:24 and that's the freedom that Christians
00:27:25 should love. And that freedom only comes from a Christian worldview. That freedom ultimately
00:27:32 only comes from regenerate hearts. But those of us who by God's grace are regenerate, we should
00:27:39 take what God has done in our hearts and seek for his lordship and his goodness to expand and advance
00:27:46 in all the earth. We're called to disciple the nations. We're called to disciple not just
00:27:52 individuals but nations and i think the problem is that many of us have just not simply followed
00:28:00 the train of logic to its final destination when it comes to the great commission go therefore and
00:28:07 make disciples of all nations baptizing them into the name of the father and of the son and of the
00:28:12 holy spirit and we always forget this last part and teaching them to obey all my commands so the
00:28:19 Great Commission that every evangelical would agree on, it involves not merely conversions and
00:28:26 baptisms, but discipleship. And the beauty of the Great Commission is that Jesus, whom all authority
00:28:32 is his, when he gives the Great Commission, he does not leave the task of defining discipleship
00:28:40 up to you and I. He defines it for us. What does it mean to make disciples? Teaching them to obey
00:28:48 all my commands,
00:28:51 teaching them my law
00:28:52 and requiring obedience
00:28:57 to my law.
00:28:59 Now think about that.
00:29:00 If we are to fulfill
00:29:02 the Great Commission,
00:29:03 it involves discipling the nations.
00:29:06 And what does it mean
00:29:07 to disciple the nations?
00:29:09 It means teaching them
00:29:10 to obey all the commandments
00:29:11 of Jesus.
00:29:13 So what's the practical conclusion? 0.98
00:29:16 Christian nations
00:29:18 Christian legislation 0.98
00:29:21 see the reason why we don't like theonomy
00:29:24 or the reason why we don't like the idea of a Christian nation
00:29:26 the reason we don't like these
00:29:27 it's because at the end of the day
00:29:29 we don't believe that the Great Commission is viable
00:29:32 at the end of the day
00:29:35 we don't think it'll work
00:29:36 but what's so important for us
00:29:40 to cross-reference
00:29:42 to connect together
00:29:43 two particular texts
00:29:44 is the Great Commission
00:29:45 which I've just explained
00:29:48 but also where Christ says
00:29:51 I will build my church
00:29:54 and the gates of hell
00:29:56 will not prevail against it.
00:29:58 You guys have heard me say before
00:29:59 I'll say it once more
00:30:01 the gates of hell
00:30:03 are not an offensive weapon.
00:30:06 Jesus doesn't say
00:30:07 I will defend my church
00:30:10 I will protect my church
00:30:13 I will make sure, ensure that my church survives
00:30:17 and the battering ram of hell will not prevail.
00:30:23 But that's what we think.
00:30:25 But that's not what Jesus said.
00:30:27 So we think that the church is on the ropes
00:30:29 and Jesus has promised that we'll be able to go all 10 rounds
00:30:34 and make the bell without ultimately going unconscious
00:30:37 and being humiliated in defeat.
00:30:40 but at the end of the day we're still going to lose
00:30:43 we're just going to be able to barely stand
00:30:48 to the end of the match
00:30:49 but that's not what Jesus says
00:30:51 Jesus says not I will protect my church or salvage my church
00:30:55 or ensure its survival
00:30:57 and the battering rams of hell will not prevail against it
00:31:00 rather it's the very reverse language
00:31:03 Jesus says I will build, advance, expand my church
00:31:08 The church is on the offense, and the defense, the gates of hell, will not be able to stand up.
00:31:15 Hell can't make all ten rounds, because Jesus is ultimately the boxer in the ring,
00:31:21 and the church is his right and left arm. 0.90
00:31:26 The church is the battering ram being used by Christ Jesus, the true champion, the true boxer, the true warrior,
00:31:34 and hell won't be able to last.
00:31:36 hell ultimately will go down for the count so if we believe that jesus will build his church
00:31:45 it will advance and nothing even the power of hell no scheme of man no power of hell will be able to
00:31:53 ultimately resist the expansion advancement and building of christ's church and then we take that
00:32:01 And we simply ask the question, how does Christ build his church?
00:32:06 And cross-reference over to the Great Commission,
00:32:08 go and disciple the nations by baptizing them into the name of the triune God
00:32:13 and teaching them about my law and their obligation of obedience to my law.
00:32:21 Then what's the logical?
00:32:24 Certainly it's biblical, and we could spend lots of time on that, 1.00
00:32:26 but merely logical conclusion, Christian nations.
00:32:31 Christian legislation, Christian laws.
00:32:35 And it's not crazy.
00:32:38 We used to have the Ten Commandments,
00:32:40 I believe we still do,
00:32:42 on the courthouse.
00:32:44 Has that been removed?
00:32:46 Anybody know?
00:32:47 It's still there.
00:32:48 Ten Commandments on the courthouse.
00:32:50 Why?
00:32:51 Because it's God's law or man's law.
00:32:55 Theonomy, which needs to be carefully defined,
00:32:58 you can get a little bit crazy with it,
00:33:00 but theonomy or autonomy.
00:33:03 And my point all the way back to our text
00:33:05 in the first three verses is this.
00:33:07 Autonomy, man's law,
00:33:10 the way we often use the word autonomy,
00:33:12 and it's a correct use of the word,
00:33:13 is talking about independence, individualism.
00:33:17 I'm autonomous, meaning what?
00:33:19 I'm not dependent on anyone
00:33:21 and I'm not underneath the restraint
00:33:23 or the commands or the rule of anyone.
00:33:27 See, that's what man's law is all about.
00:33:31 Autonomy, man's law, it's all about independence.
00:33:34 It's all about plotting, meditating, thinking, conspiring.
00:33:39 How can I cast off the bonds of God?
00:33:44 So the righteous man, Psalm chapter 1, he meditates day and night.
00:33:48 He doesn't just read the word.
00:33:49 He doesn't just memorize the word, but he meditates.
00:33:51 He thinks on the law of God, its rightness and its goodness.
00:33:56 He is the righteous man, but also the happy man, the blessed man.
00:34:01 And he is thinking, how can I further submit myself, commit myself to God's good rule?
00:34:08 The wicked man conversely meditates.
00:34:11 He is thinking deeply about God, about God's law, and how he can somehow get out from underneath it.
00:34:17 How he can somehow cut the bonds, sever the cords, somehow find autonomy.
00:34:24 Man's law, man's independence.
00:34:29 So how does God respond?
00:34:32 Verses 4 through 9 of our text, in Act 2, I've written this in your notes,
00:34:37 God has a calm assurance in the midst of man's rebellion.
00:34:41 Verse 4 of our text reveals that God does not even bother to get up from his throne.
00:34:46 He who sits in the heavens laughs, and the Lord holds them in derision.
00:34:53 This certainty does not mean that God finds man's rebellion
00:34:56 and its devastating results to be comical.
00:35:00 The laughter of God here does not reflect God taking delight or pleasure in man's rebellion.
00:35:06 For Ezekiel chapter 33 verse 11 says,
00:35:08 God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, much less his wicked deeds,
00:35:13 but not even the death of the wicked, which is what he deserves,
00:35:17 but rather that the wicked should turn from his way and live.
00:35:22 God's laughter in our text is not meant to reflect
00:35:24 God's taking pleasure in man's rebellion.
00:35:27 But rather, it's meant to reflect the laughter of God,
00:35:31 the sheer folly and futility of man's rebellion.
00:35:37 It's like a father telling his two-year-old son,
00:35:42 no, you cannot have a fourth cookie.
00:35:48 You only got three because mom was gone. 0.99
00:35:51 and I'm a bit of a sucker. 0.92
00:35:54 But we have to draw the line somewhere. 0.96
00:35:56 There's got to be some law and order in this house,
00:35:59 and as for me and my house,
00:36:01 we shall have no more than three cookies.
00:36:03 A fourth cookie is just, it's off limits.
00:36:05 It's out of the question.
00:36:07 And suppose, imagine with me,
00:36:10 that that toddler's response is just this unsanctified rebellion,
00:36:16 and it begins to hit at the father's knees
00:36:19 because they only come up about two feet high.
00:36:21 now the father might find himself
00:36:24 chuckling a bit
00:36:27 but if he's a good father
00:36:29 hopefully if he's a good father
00:36:30 this wouldn't even take place
00:36:32 the idea of a child
00:36:35 hitting their parent when they tell them no
00:36:37 hopefully there's been already
00:36:38 even in the first two years of that child's life
00:36:40 enough discipline to where this wouldn't even happen
00:36:43 but let's say it does
00:36:44 let's say for some reason it's a one off event
00:36:47 it's never happened before
00:36:48 the father has been faithful to discipline the child
00:36:50 and somehow the child just had a crazy idea.
00:36:55 Or those three cookies have just really just drawn out
00:36:59 the full depths of total depravity in that child's heart.
00:37:02 One way or the other, let's imagine the child is hitting the father's knees,
00:37:07 striking and punching and blowing at the father's knees,
00:37:09 and the father chuckles.
00:37:11 If it's a sanctified, holy, Christian father,
00:37:13 he is not relishing or taking pleasure in the rebellion of the child,
00:37:20 Laughing with a sense of joy.
00:37:22 I love that my child, when being told no by one of the chief earthly authorities in this child's life,
00:37:31 instinctively responds with physical aggression.
00:37:35 I love that.
00:37:35 And it just makes me laugh.
00:37:37 I just take so much pleasure in my child's rebellion.
00:37:40 No.
00:37:40 No, the laughter of the father in that moment, it would reflect not taking pleasure in the child's rebellion,
00:37:47 but rather it would reflect the sheer futility of the child's attempt
00:37:53 to physically overpower the father and get their way.
00:37:57 That's what it reflects.
00:37:59 And so too, he who sits in the heavens laughs.
00:38:02 This laughter is a holy laughter, not a wicked laughter, God forbid,
00:38:07 that would relish in pleasure at the wicked, their deeds,
00:38:12 But rather, it merely reflects the futility and the folly of the wicked attempting in any way to somehow get the upper hand against God Almighty.
00:38:33 God's laughter in our text is not meant to reflect the taking pleasure in man's rebellion, but rather the absolute folly and futility of man's rebellion.
00:38:41 God removes kings and establishes kings.
00:38:44 Daniel chapter 2 verse 21.
00:38:46 The mighty Nebuchadnezzar even, the greatest ruler on earth in his day,
00:38:51 grew proud and attributed his greatness to himself.
00:38:54 But God humbled him by afflicting his mind with insanity
00:38:57 so that he lived in the fields and ate grass like a beast
00:39:01 until he learned, and this is what Nebuchadnezzar says
00:39:05 when he's finally restored to his right state of mind.
00:39:08 The Most High is a ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever he wishes.
00:39:16 Daniel 4, verse 25.
00:39:18 See, God not only has a calm assurance in the midst of man's rebellion,
00:39:22 but he also has, our chapter tells us,
00:39:28 a predetermined plan for dealing with man's rebellion,
00:39:33 which we see in verses 7 through 9.
00:39:36 See, God's predetermined plan for dealing with man's rebellion,
00:39:40 it's ultimately found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
00:39:44 God sent his son into the world to pay the penalty for man's rebellion,
00:39:48 according to John 3.16, Galatians 4.4.
00:39:52 And Jesus died according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God
00:39:57 at the hands of godless, wicked men.
00:40:00 Acts 2.23, Acts 4.27-28.
00:40:05 And God raised this Jesus up from the dead and he ascended to heaven where he is now waiting to return.
00:40:13 Jesus Christ will return bodily to this earth in power and glory to rescue all his people and to crush all his opposition.
00:40:22 John describes this vision of the Lord Jesus in that great day in Revelation chapter 19, verse 15 through 16, which says this.
00:40:31 And from his mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it he may smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.
00:40:41 And he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty.
00:40:46 And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
00:40:55 Jesus is the true anointed.
00:40:58 God has set him up.
00:41:01 on His holy mountain.
00:41:03 He rules, He reigns,
00:41:06 and He who came as the Lamb to die 0.79
00:41:09 will return as the Lion to conquer.
00:41:15 And what I want you to see,
00:41:17 we don't have enough time,
00:41:18 I've spent too much time on other things,
00:41:19 but I want you to see very briefly,
00:41:22 God, He's sitting in the heavens,
00:41:24 He has a calm demeanor, a calm posture,
00:41:27 He's not concerned, He's not threatened,
00:41:30 And as man conspires on earth, the kings and counselors of the world joining forces,
00:41:36 thinking about how they can somehow gain autonomy, man's law and man's independence
00:41:41 from God's universal creatorship and his holy law and rule.
00:41:46 As all this is happening, God is at peace with himself.
00:41:50 He is not concerned, but not only does he possess this calm posture
00:41:55 to where he sits in heaven and laughs at man's futility,
00:41:59 but he has a predetermined plan for dealing with it.
00:42:03 And notice this, the way that God Almighty deals with his opposition,
00:42:10 conspiring to overcome him, conspiring to gain the upper hand,
00:42:15 the precise way that God ultimately deals with the plots of the wicked against him
00:42:21 is by using the wicked themselves as key players in their own destruction.
00:42:30 Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 4, we see that God is the one
00:42:34 who predestined that Jesus would die at the hands of wicked men.
00:42:42 These men attempting ultimately to cast off the rule of God
00:42:48 are actually putting in the final nail into their own coffin.
00:42:56 Even Satan, not just men of this earth,
00:42:59 but principalities, powers, cosmic, spiritual.
00:43:06 Satan himself, thinking that he somehow had gained the upper hand
00:43:10 at the death of Jesus, relishing in the thought that he had somehow won,
00:43:15 not realizing that he actually sealed his own doom and demise.
00:43:22 So it's not only that God has a calm disposition,
00:43:25 and it's not only that God possesses a predetermined plan for dealing with man's rebellion,
00:43:29 but God in his infinite wisdom uses his own opposition to defeat themselves.
00:43:39 That's our God.
00:43:41 That's why he sits in the heavens and laughs.
00:43:44 He doesn't bother to get up to squash his opposition
00:43:46 because he's so infinitely wise,
00:43:49 he has predetermined that his opposition will squash itself.
00:43:54 That they actually will be the ones who fulfill God's ultimate plan
00:43:59 in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
00:44:02 And then Christ himself will return in glory,
00:44:06 King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
00:44:09 Act 3, verses 10 through 12.
00:44:11 I've written this in your notes.
00:44:12 It is not just the proud kings of David's day who have rebelled against the Lord and His anointed.
00:44:18 All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
00:44:21 Romans chapter 3 verse 23 says,
00:44:24 We have all in our own way fulfilled verse 3 of our text.
00:44:28 We have all said towards God,
00:44:30 Let us tear His fetters apart and cast away His cords from us.
00:44:35 The only time in all of history where God took on flesh and made Himself vulnerable,
00:44:40 where we could actually touch him.
00:44:45 Humanity seized as an opportunity to kill the Lord of glory.
00:44:50 By the way that Jesus is often described in churches today,
00:44:54 you would think that everyone would welcome this Messiah
00:44:56 who came to save us from our sins.
00:45:00 However, the issue is not salvation.
00:45:02 The issue is lordship.
00:45:04 The Lord's anointed is not merely the lamb who saves,
00:45:07 but the lion who will reign.
00:45:08 If not by our own willful submission now, then by our forced submission when he returns.
00:45:16 Jesus does not live to serve our will.
00:45:19 We were created to serve his will.
00:45:22 And one day every knee shall bow either by joyful submission or by force.
00:45:28 The late great Puritan Matthew Henry says it like this.
00:45:31 Those who will not bow shall break.
00:45:34 see the one time that jesus really did come to earth the second member of the trinity the son
00:45:42 of god god incarnate god in the flesh the one time that god he who sits in the heavens
00:45:49 actually came down to earth and did make himself vulnerable did make himself accessible
00:45:57 For example, humanity sees that opportunity to kill him, to crucify the Lord of glory.
00:46:10 See, the reality of our sin, of humanity's sin, is that at the end of the day, we don't want in our own fallen nature, apart from the grace of God, apart from being made a new creation in Christ Jesus by grace through faith in him, apart from that, we don't desire God.
00:46:27 we're not looking
00:46:30 God if you were just closer to me
00:46:32 Emmanuel, God with us
00:46:33 if you were just closer, more accessible
00:46:36 I would cherish you
00:46:38 no, there is a time in history
00:46:40 where God made himself close and accessible
00:46:42 and humanity used it to drive nails
00:46:45 through his hands and feet
00:46:47 humanity used it as a moment to praise him
00:46:51 but sarcastically
00:46:52 by putting a crown of thorns on his head 0.90
00:46:55 dripping blood down his face.
00:47:02 See, if you doubt the sinfulness of man,
00:47:05 look to the cross.
00:47:07 There we see the one opportunity
00:47:10 for man to truly cherish God.
00:47:13 And instead,
00:47:15 we crucify the Lord of glory.
00:47:19 But if you doubt the love of God
00:47:22 for man in his sin,
00:47:24 look to the cross.
00:47:28 See, we see that man was so sinful
00:47:30 that Jesus had to die,
00:47:32 but we also see
00:47:33 that you and I, God's elect,
00:47:37 were so loved that Jesus was willing to die.
00:47:41 The Father, who loved the world,
00:47:44 so loved the world,
00:47:46 sent His Son to die.
00:47:51 We see the sinfulness of man.
00:47:54 We see the justice of God, what he requires in order to atone for sin.
00:47:58 That the wages of sin is death.
00:48:01 But we also see the love of God.
00:48:03 The sinfulness of man, the justice and holiness of God,
00:48:07 but also the mercy, the love and kindness of God.
00:48:11 All in the cross.
00:48:14 That's who man is, apart from saving grace.
00:48:19 Not indifferent toward God.
00:48:21 But Romans 8 says the mind of the sinful man is hostile toward God.
00:48:26 It is plotting, like our text today, how we can overcome God, how we can cast off his rule, 0.94
00:48:34 how we ultimately, if we could, if he did step down off his throne again and make himself vulnerable, how we could kill him.
00:48:42 That's the mind of man apart from the saving grace of God. 0.98
00:48:46 That's the heart of man, apart from the saving grace of God, 1.00
00:48:50 plotting, meditating how to beat him, to crush him, to destroy him, and ultimately to kill him. 0.78
00:49:00 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, 0.99
00:49:05 though for a good man one might possibly dare to die.
00:49:09 But God demonstrates his love for us in this,
00:49:11 while we were yet sinners.
00:49:14 not cute sinners
00:49:17 vile
00:49:18 not indifferent or uninterested 0.92
00:49:22 in God but hostile
00:49:24 at war with him in our hearts
00:49:26 and minds contemplating and
00:49:28 plotting in vain to destroy
00:49:30 him if we ever had
00:49:32 the chance but at that time
00:49:34 God sent
00:49:36 his son 0.99
00:49:37 to die 0.72
00:49:40 for us
00:49:41 because he loves
00:49:43 all his people.
00:49:48 The urgency of submitting to Christ
00:49:51 is expressed in verse 12 of our text
00:49:53 by the phrase,
00:49:54 his wrath is quickly kindled.
00:49:57 The first time Jesus came to earth,
00:49:59 he came in mercy in order to save.
00:50:00 The second time he comes to earth,
00:50:03 he will come in wrath in order to judge.
00:50:06 However, even if his coming is delayed,
00:50:09 we have no guarantee that we will be permitted
00:50:12 by God to draw another breath.
00:50:14 If you do not submit to Jesus Christ before you die,
00:50:17 you will face the wrath of His judgment for eternity,
00:50:20 according to Hebrews 9, verse 27.
00:50:23 The last line of Psalm 2, our text today,
00:50:26 is God's gracious invitation.
00:50:30 It says this,
00:50:31 Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
00:50:37 As we see the chaos in our world,
00:50:39 we can be truly happy and blessed
00:50:40 by taking refuge in our God.
00:50:42 The early church took refuge in God
00:50:44 by praying Psalm chapter 2
00:50:46 as they faced immense persecution.
00:50:49 In our troubled times,
00:50:50 when it looks as if the enemy might be winning,
00:50:53 we can do the same.
00:50:56 In conclusion, in short,
00:50:58 what I would say is this.
00:51:00 There are two options.
00:51:03 One works.
00:51:05 It's viable.
00:51:07 The other is futile.
00:51:09 It does not work.
00:51:10 it possesses no assurance and no hope for deliverance.
00:51:17 The two options are this.
00:51:18 You can attempt to hide from the Son,
00:51:22 but He will find you, 0.97
00:51:25 and He will break you and crush you with an iron rod. 0.72
00:51:29 You can attempt to hide from the Son.
00:51:33 Revelation speaks that these same kings of the earth
00:51:35 who conspired against the Holy One, the Anointed One,
00:51:39 that we see in Psalm chapter 2
00:51:41 are the same people who will run into the caves
00:51:43 and caverns of the mountains
00:51:45 to hide from the Lord of glory when he returns
00:51:47 and cry out for the very rocks to fall on them.
00:51:52 But there will be no place to run,
00:51:55 no place to hide.
00:51:57 So your two options are this.
00:51:58 You can try to hide from the sun.
00:52:03 Or, as the final verse of our text says,
00:52:06 you can hide in the sun.
00:52:09 the cleft and the rock,
00:52:12 the refuge, the strong tower,
00:52:16 the robes of righteousness that cover our iniquity and our sin.
00:52:21 You can kiss the son while there's still time.
00:52:26 His wrath is quickly kindled.
00:52:30 And yet at the same time, his forgiveness endures forever.
00:52:36 Kiss the son.
00:52:39 Don't hide from Jesus with the sin in your heart.
00:52:46 Don't hide from Jesus.
00:52:48 Run to and hide in Jesus.
00:52:55 He's our hiding place.
00:52:58 He's our refuge.
00:53:01 The only deliverer from the Son is the Son.
00:53:07 And today, by God's grace, we have been given the opportunity to bow by grace rather than break under his power on that final day.
00:53:22 So let's worship that.
00:53:25 Let me pray.
00:53:26 Father, we thank you for your word.
00:53:29 We thank you for Jesus, the lamb who died to take away the sin of the world.
00:53:36 And we also thank you that this Jesus is the lion who rules and reigns and has promised to return again.
00:53:45 Father, we pray for fresh grace in our lives to submit further and further to his lordship now.
00:53:54 with willing hearts,
00:53:59 not begrudgingly,
00:54:02 not out of mere joyless obligation,
00:54:07 but that we would be in our hearts
00:54:09 a growing glad submission
00:54:11 as we meditate more and more on your law,
00:54:15 the rightness of your law,
00:54:17 but the goodness of your law,
00:54:20 that what produces holiness
00:54:21 also produces happiness.
00:54:24 in our hearts and minds and lives.
00:54:27 Father, help us to see your love for us in Jesus.
00:54:30 Help us to see your wisdom,
00:54:33 that we live in your world.
00:54:34 You know what works.
00:54:36 You know what leads towards life and prosperity
00:54:40 and what ultimately only leads to death.
00:54:44 Help us to trust you.
00:54:46 For any of us who doubt whether or not you're really good,
00:54:50 whether or not you're just trying to force us to submit
00:54:53 for your own benefit
00:54:55 or whether or not you're really good toward us.
00:54:58 You've provided all the evidence we need.
00:55:02 You love the world so much
00:55:05 you sent your only son
00:55:07 to die for us at our worst.
00:55:10 What more proof of your goodness and kindness
00:55:13 could we possibly require?
00:55:16 Forgive us, Lord, for our unbelief.
00:55:20 Help us, Lord, to grow in faith.
00:55:23 And we thank you that we have confidence
00:55:26 that that has happened even today.
00:55:30 For faith comes by hearing
00:55:32 and hearing by the word of God.
00:55:36 Thanks so much for listening.
00:55:38 But real quick, before you go,
00:55:40 do us a small favor, take a moment
00:55:41 and leave us a five-star review
00:55:43 if you enjoyed the show.
00:55:45 This is undoubtedly the best way
00:55:47 that you can help us get this biblically faithful content
00:55:50 to as many people as possible.
00:55:52 Thanks so much.
00:55:53 You