In this sermon, the speaker focuses on Psalm 46 and its spiritual application. The speaker highlights verse 4, which mentions a river that brings gladness to the city of God. The message emphasizes that God is always present and ready to help, especially in the darkest times. The speaker also mentions verse 8, which talks about the enemy's reproach, and relates it to personal struggles and challenges. The sermon concludes by emphasizing the fulfillment of God's kingdom on earth and the fear of the Lord among the nations.

...and be glad in it. Hello again everyone, this is Chip Brogdon coming to you with another edition of our weekly webcast. I'm streaming online at www.watchman.net, and this week is very special because it's the final message in our series on the Messianic Psalms, and boy do I have a lot of material to cover with you today, so we'll get right into the Word. If you would turn in your Bible to Psalm 102, the topic of today's discussion on the Psalms will be the return of Christ. And if you'll recall throughout this series, we began with the incarnation of Christ, Jesus becoming flesh and becoming the Son of Man, living on the earth. And then we discussed the crucifixion of Christ, the death of Christ, His being raised from the dead, His ascension, and His seating in the heavenly places. And now we've traced it all the way through, and we're going to look at now the return of Christ. And here we find some of the greatest riches. I've really saved the best for last for you, and you're going to be pretty amazed, I think, when you see the clarity of what the Scriptures have to say concerning the return of Jesus, the Scriptures being this book of Psalms, the Psalms that discuss the return of Christ and His being established as the King of kings and the Lord of lords here on the earth. His Word is already settled in heaven. It's here on the earth that Jesus says that you pray for the kingdom to come, for the will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. And you'll be amazed, as I was when I began to study the Psalms very intently over a year ago, to find all the passages of Scripture that refer specifically to Jesus and His kingdom ruling and reigning here on the earth. Now, I know that that is already fulfilled in a certain sense, but there is a very literal fulfillment, not just a spiritual application and not just working in a remnant, not just working in the church, but the actual, visible, tangible kingdom of God with Christ ruling and reigning here on the earth, as opposed to the secret kingdom which indwells all of us. Psalms is referring to that time in the history of the earth when Jesus Christ Himself will personally come and rule and reign. And that's an exciting thing to contemplate. The kingdom is within us, that is true. And there is also an outward manifestation, an outward revealing of that kingdom that is going to be seen in this earth. Whether you are a saint or a sinner, whether you're inside the kingdom or outside the kingdom, every eye will see Him. And that is going to be an exciting time. If you've ever read the book of Revelation, you know that there is a spiritual as well as a physical and literal application to this kingdom, which is on the way. And so it is here. It has already arrived at the same time it is coming. So we're looking forward to that day. And I think it'll be clear when we see in the book of Psalms that while we are looking forward to it, we can participate in and enjoy it and see the fruits of that kingdom in our own life. Personally, today is the day of salvation. And if Jesus is Lord today, then He is the king of your kingdom and He is ruling and reigning and preeminent in your life. That is meant to be a parable to the rest of the world of what they can expect when Jesus comes to personally rule and reign over the nations and kingdoms of this world. Well, I could talk about it and use up all my 30 minutes or we can just go ahead and jump into the word of God. So let's do that right now in Psalms 102. But let's go to the Lord in prayer first and ask Him to bless this time together. Thank you, Father, for the privilege of coming together and studying your word. And I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would open our eyes and be our teacher, reveal these truths to us so that we can see Jesus in the Psalms and we can see that kingdom of God, which has already arrived and is already living in our hearts, but also is coming in a more fuller sense, in a more revelatory sense to be manifest in this earth. Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, Lord. And let us see that in these Psalms so that we can cooperate with it and pray and be adjusted to your purpose and to your will and to your kingdom, which is in us as well as around us and is here presently as well as on the way towards an even greater revealing and manifestation. So again, Lord, thank you for this time and for everyone who's listening and bless the ministry of your word to us in Jesus name. Amen and amen. Psalm 102, we're talking about the return of Christ. And so I believe Psalm 102 sets up the framework or sets the parameter for a time in which the Lord himself is going to personally return to the earth. And there's so many other scriptures that support this. We don't even have time to go through all of them. We're just going to focus on the Psalms today. Now, it's easy to look backwards in events that have already occurred and and interpret them through the Psalms, for instance, the crucifixion of Jesus. That's in Psalm 22. That's a very that that can very easily be interpreted. Now that we have the benefit of hindsight, we can go back in history and we see that being fulfilled. Hindsight is 2020. We're able to clearly see how how Psalm 22 applies to the crucifixion of Jesus. But at the time that was written looking forward, it was not that obvious, was it? So it sometimes you really don't see and appreciate the prophetic significance of something until the event has already happened. So up until this point, we have looked backwards and have shown you how Psalms have already come to pass. But now we're going to go to the next level and look at some Psalms that have yet to be fulfilled and see if we can't see the prophetic significance of these things before they come to pass. Now, a lot of people aren't going to see this, and that's fine. But I see it. And I believe if if the spirit can open my eyes to see it, he can open anyone's eyes and he'll open our eyes to see this and even greater things in the word of God, even though they've not come to pass yet. Remember, at some point in time, none of these Psalms have been fulfilled. But Jesus said all of them must be and all of them will be fulfilled. Everything written concerning him in Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must come to pass. Now, a lot of these have come to pass. Some of them have yet to be fulfilled. And today it's going to be really exciting because we're talking about Psalms that I believe apply to Jesus, but have yet to be fulfilled. And so let's get an example here. Psalm 102, verse one says, Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me in the day of my trouble. Now, what is this talking about? I believe, folks, this is talking about the time that we live in right now. It's a time of trouble. Now, if you want to to believe that there is a specific period of time in which the great tribulation will take place, I'm not going to debate that for or against. I'm not going to say yes, that's correct or no, that's not correct. I just don't think it's that critical to our understanding. What we need to know, the very least that we need to know, is that Jesus is returning. His kingdom is already here, but we are looking forward to a literal establishment of his kingdom and his purpose. And all of this is based on the fact that he said to pray along these lines, your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And since we have not seen it happen on earth as it is in heaven, we're still looking forward to the fulfillment of that. And so it is a day of trouble. That's what Psalm 102 talks about. It sets the stage for a period of time when Jesus says men's hearts will fail them for fear. And look at verse four, my heart is stricken and withered like grass so that I forget to eat my bread. That's a sign of the times that we're living in. And then verse six, I am like a pelican of the wilderness. I am like an owl of the desert. I lie awake. I am like a sparrow alone on the housetop. Now, King James, I think it says I've watched. New King James here says I lie awake. But that's a picture, folks, of the remnant. You've got a pelican in the wilderness. I'm talking today with many pelicans in the wilderness. You're in the wilderness. You're outside of organized religion. You are walking with the Lord in a deeper way, but it's outside the context of the established order of things. And spiritually, you're in a wilderness place. You're like an owl of the desert. And you're watching. And you're like a sparrow alone on the housetop. What are you doing? Watching. And then you've got verse eight, the enemy's reproaching you all day long. I mean, can anyone relate to the situation here in Psalm 102? I certainly can. But look at this. Verse 12, but you, O Lord, shall endure forever and the remembrance of your name to all generations. Verse 13, get this. You will arise and have mercy on Zion for the time to favor her. Yes, the set time has come. Praise the Lord. Now, what it's saying is I'm going through the roughest time of my life, but right in the midst of this, God is going to arise and will have mercy on Zion. And Zion is symbolic of the saints, particularly that hill in Jerusalem where the temple was. Now, you can apply that to literal Israel if you want to, but I think it's much more significant and much more life changing if you simply understand that Zion, Israel, all the promises of God towards Israel, they apply to the church as well as Israel. We're not discounting Israel, but I'm saying what God has in mind is a universal kingdom that is composed of spiritual Jews and spiritual Israel. Remember, Paul said that not everyone who says they're a Jew are really in fact Jews, that really a Jew is someone who is circumcised, not in their flesh, but in their heart. And he makes the point in Galatians that we need to be looking not to the Jerusalem that is from below, but to the Jerusalem that is from above. So we can get all into that. That's not really the point of bringing this Psalm out. That's something that we could study and talk about for a long time. I know a lot of people want to apply all these things to a political situation and a geographic situation, and I'm trying to interpret them with a spiritual application because I think it's more profound. And I think it includes all of that without disallowing anyone. So at any rate, verse 13, you will arise and have mercy on Zion for the time to favor her. Yes, the set time has come for your servants take pleasure in her stones and show favor to her dust. Verse 15, so the nations shall fear the name of the Lord and all the kings of the earth, your glory. Now, see, here's a fulfillment of your kingdom. Come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. All the nation shall fear the name of the Lord and all the kings of the earth, your glory. Verse 16, for the Lord shall build up Zion. He shall appear in his glory. He shall appear in his glory. That's the return of Christ. Folks, he shall regard verse 17. He shall regard the prayer of the destitute and shall not despise their prayer. Well, praise the Lord. And then if you look down in verse 19, for I'm skipping around because I don't have time to read the entire psalm. I've got so many others. But verse 19, he looked down from the height of his sanctuary from heaven. The Lord viewed the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to release those appointed to death, to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, his praise in Jerusalem, when the peoples are gathered together. Hallelujah. When the peoples are gathered together and the kingdoms to serve the Lord. So praise God. We're talking about the Lord appearing. We are talking about the people being gathered together. And certainly you see that fulfillment in the New Testament, in the book of Revelation. And it doesn't really take a lot of brains to be able to connect Revelation to these psalms and see that God is moving forward with a purpose. And that purpose is going to culminate in the return of Jesus Christ, gathering the people, gathering his saints to be with him where he is and judging and ruling the nations. It is so plain that it almost seems redundant for me to go back and reference it. Because if you've ever read Revelation, you know that that is exactly how the Bible ends. It ends with Christ ruling and reigning from New Jerusalem with all the saints gathered together and all the nations being submitted to him because he is king of kings and he is Lord of lords. Now, if you look in verse 25 of Psalm 102, of old, you laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, they will all grow old like a garment, like a cloak. You will change them and they will be changed. But you are the same and your years will have no end. Now that is specifically referenced for us again in Hebrews chapter one, verses 10 through 12, Hebrews one, 10 through 12. Don't turn there. But if you turn to it later, Hebrews one, 10 through 12, you'll see this, these couple of verses here from Psalm 102 are being quoted in Hebrews one. And it specifically says concerning the son, he says, and so this is what it's talking about. You can apply it to Psalms 102 concerning the son. It is the son of God who is going to, to change this earth, change the heavens, roll them up like a garment, even though he will not change, he will change the earth. And that is, that is a, a symbolism. It's a prophetic way of saying that he is going to judge the earth. You can, you can see it in second Peter, and I would like you to turn over there because we need to pause and make sure that this is very clear. Second Peter chapter three, and this is going to explain this process of heaven and earth passing away. You remember Jesus himself said heaven and earth are going to pass away, but my word will never pass away. If you look in second Peter chapter three, beginning in verse 10, Peter tells us this, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness looking for and hastening the coming of the day of the Lord because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, and here's my point, not to discuss and get into a large debate about what that means. How will it happen? I'm really, I'm not into all of the last day's prophetic Bible prophecy analysis that you see so much of that people write books about. I think it's a distraction from God's purpose. We just, we don't need to get lost in the details. We need to, we need to have the big picture in mind and trust the details of God. But here's the point folks, verse 13, nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Praise the Lord. Now you see the fulfillment of this new heavens and this new earth in Revelation. If you would turn over to Revelation chapter 21 verse 1. If you haven't found it, just hit pause, look, look it up, but I've got to keep moving on. Revelation 21 verse 1. I've got more time, not enough time and too much to share. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. And I could go on and on, but I encourage you to read Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, because it tells you this, this final purpose, this, this, this is the fulfillment folks of your kingdom coming, your will be done. The fulfillment of all these prayers that we've been praying for God's purpose and God's will to be accomplished, his kingdom to be revealed and to be established in the earth, in the earth, see a new heaven and a new earth. You see new Jerusalem, not old Jerusalem, not the nation of Israel today, but you see a new heavens and a new earth with a new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. Why? Because the earthly is beyond repair folks. You cannot repair the earthly. It has to be destroyed along with everything else. And God's going to start all over with a new heavens, a new earth, a new Jerusalem where righteousness dwells. Who is our righteousness? Christ Jesus himself. It says God will be with them and he will be their God. They're not going to need any light because the light is Christ himself. It's all right there, folks. It's so plain. It is as plain as the bump on the end of your nose. Okay. So back to Psalm. Psalms 102 tells us of this appearing of the Lord and of his gathering the people together and then of this creation of a new heavens and a new earth because the old things are going to pass away. Now, and when does all this happen? It happens in the midst of a day of trouble, in a time when men's hearts are failing them for fear, in a time when people feel like that they are alone in the wilderness, in the desert, watching on the housetop. I tell you, folks, it's exciting when you read Psalm 102 in that perspective. But there is more. If you'll turn over to Psalm 96, just a couple of pages over, Psalm 96 verse 1. Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord. Bless his name. Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples. Now, see, I'm applying this. Sing the Lord a new song, a new song that goes along with a new heavens and a new earth and a new Jerusalem. This is not just to be applied now, it should be applied prophetically to that time of fulfillment when the Lord himself returns and he establishes his kingdom on the earth. Verse 4. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples. Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due his name. Look in, there's so much here, but look at verse 10. Say among the nations, the Lord reigns. The world also is firmly established. It shall not be moved. He shall judge the peoples righteously. Okay. So Peter says, we're looking forward to a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. And here again, it's saying the same thing in so many words. The world is firmly established. It shall not be moved. He shall judge the peoples righteously. Well, how will the world be firmly established? Because he's going to create a new one. It's going to be established. Christ is going to rule and to reign from new Jerusalem. And it will be a, it will, he will judge the peoples righteously. In other words, he will judge them according to the, the righteous, according to his own righteousness. And words fail me at this point to even describe to you what that is, but it's, it certainly has, has no resemblance at all to the way justice is being carried out in the earth today. Now, verse 11, let the heavens rejoice and let the earth to be glad. Let the sea roar and all its fullness. Let the field be joyful and all that is in it. And then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. Now, someone asked me one time, when I say that Christ is going to fill all things, do I mean that Christ is going to feel the rocks and the trees? And, and is that what I mean? Well, depending on how far you go with that, if you believe God is in everything, then certainly he's in plants and rocks and trees. The difference between that and pantheism is I don't worship a tree because God's in it. I worship God, but I still acknowledge the fact that the trees of the field can clap their hands. And if we don't praise him, the rocks will cry out and praise to him. Hallelujah. So let's not get funny with that. Let's just believe that, that Christ is going to fill all things. The heavens are going to rejoice. The earth will be glad right now. The earth, it says, is groaning and travailing in pain. But right here, when we see the fulfillment of God's kingdom and God's purpose, even the earth will be glad. The sea will roar and praise. The fields will be joyful. Everything that's in it will rejoice. The trees of the wood will rejoice before the Lord for he is coming for he is coming to judge. The earth says it twice. I mean, when you, when you say it twice, it's a, it has double impact, doesn't it? For he is coming. Verse 13. He is coming for he is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his truth. Praise the Lord. Now, if you're part of that kingdom, you've got nothing to fear. You're looking forward to it. You're praying for it. If you're not part of that kingdom, then that, that makes you afraid to think, well, he's going to come and judge the earth and oh, that's, that's going to leave me in a pretty bad spot. Well, go ahead and submit to him now. That's the whole point of the gospel. Go ahead and submit to his kingdom that he's coming. He's going to come and judge the earth and rule and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But if you'll give him your life today, he can go ahead and begin that process now. And it won't be such a fearful thing when it actually comes upon the rest of the earth. You can go ahead and be judged now, judge yourself and submit to that process. And, um, you know, everything, it's not as bad as all that. You just want to go ahead and submit to it now. Okay. Don't resist the Lord. Submit to the Lord. That's the whole point of the gospel is to prepare us for a kingdom. See, hallelujah. I just don't think I'm going to be able to finish in 30 minutes. Psalm 46 talks about in Psalm 46, verse four, there is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the most high. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall help her just at the break of dawn. See right just when things are at its darkest point at the end of the fourth watch in the darkest part of the night. And then then he comes. Then he rises up. Verse six, the nations raised, the kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice and the earth melted. Well, what is that? But fulfilled in revelation 22, where it talks about a river of life streaming forth from the throne of God and of the lamb. And, uh, it's not a river coming out of the physical Jerusalem in Israel today, folks. It is, it is the river of life. And this is what Psalm 46 is referring to. If you want something even more fascinating, look in Psalm 45. It is talking about the marriage supper of the lamb and the bride of Christ. And I, I just, there's just so much there. It would take another week or two to go through all of these. Uh, in Psalm 45, verse four, in your majesty, ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness. See, and it's talking about the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It's just wonderful. Psalm 76 is another Psalm for you to, uh, to study sometime. It's talking again about the majesty and the glory of this King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Verse one of Psalm 76 in Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel, in Salem, or in other words, in Jerusalem also is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion. And it talks about his, his glory and how he is awesome to the Kings of the earth. So that's another one. Psalm 76, Psalm 21 is another one. Psalm 93 is another one. Now a lot of people want to know, well, when is this going to happen? When is Jesus coming back? And folks, I have the answer for you. It's in Psalm 75. Let's read Psalm 75. I'm going to reveal to you in the closing minutes here, the exact moment when Jesus is going to return. Now, wouldn't you like to know that? In fact, I sent out a message or I'm going to send out a message letting everyone know that I have discovered in the book of Psalms, the exact moment of Christ's return. I hope that'll get people to tune in and listen and get excited about the Psalms and just get excited about God's word and God's kingdom and get excited about this Jesus whom we serve. Uh, but the answer I'm going to reveal right now is in Psalms 75. Let's read beginning in verse one. We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks for your wondrous works declare that your name is near. Verse two, when I, this is God speaking. When I choose the proper time, I will judge uprightly the earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved. I set up its pillars firmly. Praise the Lord. Now this is talking about the judgment. Just what we've been discussing. When Christ returns, his throne is established. His kingdom has arrived and is established in revelation 21, 22. And now we want to know when is that going to happen? God says, when I choose the proper time, that's when it's going to happen. He says, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons. Uh, and even the son of man, Jesus says, does it know? But God says, when I choose the proper time, now that's the new King James, uh, version of, of that. And I believe it's the most accurate translation because all the other translations pick up on that. When I choose the proper time, he is coming folks. And we need to get prepared and get aligned and get adjusted so that we can receive him and be ready and watch and pray so that we would be able to rule and reign with him in that new Jerusalem. We can begin to rule and reign with him now. That's, that's the whole point of the gospel is to go ahead and submit to his dealings with us, submit and acquiesce, recognize and confess his Lordship and his preeminence so that when he does come, when he does judge the earth, that we will be his kings and ambassadors of mercy and grace and love and power and glory. And that's exciting. And I want to extend that invitation to you. If you're not a Christian, if you've not been, uh, if you've not become a disciple of Jesus, or even if you've confessed Jesus as Lord, but, uh, you're not walking the narrow path. I, I encourage you and I exhort you to go ahead today, uh, confess your sins, submit yourself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, get into these Psalms here and get just a glimpse of what's coming down the road, get a glimpse of what's in store. And I believe when you really see Jesus and all of his preeminence and all of his glory, I believe you'll, you'll find that religion is very empty and it's a very poor substitute for the, the truth and the life and the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ himself. And having that relationship with him makes all the difference in the world. Well, I've got so much more to share, but we're just going to have to stop it right here and, and, and say that this will conclude our series of messages on the book of Psalms. I hope that I've inspired and challenged and encourage you to go through and dig out these gems of truth in the book of Psalms. It's such a huge book and so much wealth is there. And I have only just begun to tap the, the, the surface of these things. Uh, it's, it's a very rich, a very profound book, and I hope that you've enjoyed studying it with me as much as I've enjoyed studying it with you and, uh, getting down below into the depths of Christ and the glory and the majesty of his kingdom. Thank you so much for listening. God bless you. And we'll see you next time.