In this sermon, the speaker discusses a four-part drama that is prophesied by David in the Bible. The first part of the drama involves the kings of the earth raging against God and His anointed, seeking to remove the influence of the word of God from society. However, this is only for a short season. The second part of the drama involves Jesus responding to the rage of the kings and the Father speaking a powerful message, declaring that His son will be acknowledged as king in every nation and that He will act against the kings of the earth. The speaker emphasizes that we are currently in a crossroads in human history and that we are entering a sober and critical time.

Second Psalm is one of the most relevant and descriptive passages in the Bible for what's happening in this hour of history. I'm going to say that again. In this very short passage of Scripture, King David, by the spirit of prophecy, he described, I believe what is happening in this very hour that's going to escalate into the full conflict that David prophesied, the full crisis that he describes here, but also the fullness of the glory of God being released in the nations. I believe that we're in a very sober season in America. There is a crisis that's in the land that's escalating quickly. I believe that we're in a season actually in human history and we're entering a new hour. Very, very sober time. I believe we're at a crossroads and in the next few years things will change dramatically, many ways negatively, some ways positively in the sense of the gospel going forth in greater clarity and power. David prophesied of a great conflict. He prophesied of a great crisis that would culminate with the return of the Lord. I'm going to identify four different aspects of the crisis. Spend a little bit of time on each one of them. Look at paragraph A. By revelation or by the Holy Spirit, it's what I mean, David prophesied. There was coming a time that around across the whole earth, the top leaders of society would take a public, bold, fierce stand against Jesus and his truth. Very alarming prophecy. David described a storyline, if you will, a drama that will unfold and I believe that that drama is escalating both positively and negatively in this very hour of history. He talked about the world leaders being enraged, not just opposing but raging, angry, mobilizing or utilizing the fullness of their resources of the state to come against Jesus and his truth. We're not in that place yet but it is clearly escalating. I would say in the last five years things according to how David prophesied have taken many steps forward in a negative sense but also in the positive sense that we'll look at in just a moment. Paragraph B. It was Charles Spurgeon who had the famous preacher of the 1800s in the city of London, Charles Spurgeon. He described Psalm 2 in a way that he compared it to a theater in London where a great drama and a play was being enacted on the world stage. He described it as a four, as a drama with four acts. So I want you just to get the feel of this Psalm before we look at a few of the points in more detail. Then we'll develop the crisis just a little bit. We won't have time tonight to fully develop that on the final night of the conference. I'm going to do a part two to this. You know what David prophesied John the Apostle elaborates on in the book of Revelation. John the Apostle quotes David in Psalm 2 and he elaborates on the crisis that David prophesied. But let's look at the four-part drama. Each part, imagine a great drama, a great play. The kings of the earth, they have three verses. They come on the stage, the curtain opens. For three verses, David describes their rage against God, against his Christ, the anointed, the Messiah. What the rulers of society want to do according to David, they want to remove the influence of the Word of God out of society and away from culture entirely. That's their goal. You can see that trend escalating right now. Many of the kings but also the rulers of society, which are not the kings, the leaders in industry and business and sports and media, they're taking a bold stand, challenging the truth of the Word of God, wanting to remove the influence of the Word of God out of culture entirely. That's what their design is according to David. Now the leaders aren't there yet but that's where it's going. The curtain closes, opens up again, scene two of the great drama. The father now answers the kings of the earth. The father speaks a very powerful message which we need to receive and lay hold of and identify with and stand with the message that the father gives. And the three verses, verse four to six, he tells the kings of the earth, your plans will come to nothing for I've already determined that my son will be acknowledged as king in every nation of the earth and I'm going to speak and move and act against you and I will break your powers so you will not be able to resist my king effectively. They will for a season but only for a short season. The curtain of the drama closes, opens again, third scene, Jesus comes on the stage. Again this is Charles Spurgeon's rendition comparing it to the great theaters in London in his day. Jesus now, he has three verses and he responds to the father and he responds to the rage of the kings of the earth against him. Curtain closes, opens up again, now King David comes on the stage. He gets three verses. Everybody gets three verses. King David says to the kings, oh kings, it's foolish what you're doing. You'll never succeed. Give yourself to God, serve him with all of your might. Serve him in the fear of God for he's a mighty king. You'll never ever resist him successfully. Yield to him now. Now the reason this drama is so important to understand, because it helps us to interpret the crisis that's unfolding in our nation right now. Beloved, that crisis is escalating rapidly. It's not it's not gonna mellow out and go away. It's gonna come to a full rage of the kings against the Lord. Much of what the Holy Spirit is saying and doing, according to David in Psalm 2, much of what the Spirit is saying and doing, the church is not celebrating. Matter of fact, I don't mean all the church, but I mean a good portion of the church. But they're actually resisting it. They're taking their stand with the kings of the earth who are resisting the leadership of Jesus. So as we read Psalm 2, we understand that this resistance is futile. This resistance will not succeed. David calls on the people to serve God on God's terms. A lot of people are using Jesus' language. A lot of people using Bible verses. A lot of people are using kingdom language, but they're redefining it. They're leaving out key components of the Spirit of Truth. They're wanting to play it safe. They're wanting the kings of the earth and the leaders of society to applaud them. But they want their ministries to grow. They want things to go well. They're hoping the crisis will pass. They're posturing themselves and let's be silent now and let's not take a stand on the issues. They're gonna pass. Eventually everything will work out. King David tells us, no, it's gonna get more intense. It's not gonna pass. It's not the hour for silence. It's not the time to side with the popular statements in culture and kind of resist the stigma of taking a stand with the Lord against what's happening in the culture. Romans number 3. Let's look at this now just a little bit. The kings of the earth. They get three verses. We have great insight into what's going on. They may not fully understand where this is going, but we do by the Spirit of prophecy. We understand where it's going. David said in verse 1, he said, why do the nations rage? They're angry. Why do the people plot a vain thing? The people of the nations. Specifically, verse 2, the kings of the earth, they set themselves and the rulers of society, they meet together and counsel and plan something together. They have plans against the Lord, against the God of Israel, and against his Christ, his anointed. Now you know the word Christ, anointed, Messiah is the same word. They're planning against the anointed one. The Christ, the Messiah, again interchangeable words. Here's their strategy. Here's their plan. Let us break God's bonds off of us. They're talking about the Word of God. They're talking about the declarations and the commands and the standards and the ways of God. Let's break them off of us and let's not be in bondage to God anymore. Let us cast God's cords away from us. God's Word to them was like bondage and cords that enslaved them. Let's read this thing again. We'll look at a few of the phrases here and then we'll move on to the next scene. The Father's response. That's really what I'm focused more on is the Father's response. Verse 1, let's read it again. The nations are raging. Beloved, right now the nations are just declaring their position. Many voices in the culture are declaring their position. That's contrary to the position of Scripture. And right now there's a, it's criticism. It's pretty mild. I mean, embarrassing a little bit. People draw back. They don't like the stigma, the criticism. But the reason we care about Psalm 2 and what it says, it's got to go far beyond criticism. Right now a lot of believers are intimidated by the stand that the leaders of culture are taking against the Christ. Many in the church are echoing the stand of these leaders. They don't know the Bible. They're biblically illiterate. They have language, Jesus. They know how to say grace. They know how to say kingdom of God. They don't know the details. I mean even the broad strokes of what the Bible says. So the voices of the culture seem convincing. Many people in the church are confused or a little bit bewildered. We don't know exactly what to believe. A lot of ministries are siding with the popular sentiments of culture. They don't want to bear the stigma. They want their ministries to grow. They think, well we'll just bide our time, be silent. We won't address the real issues. We'll just keep it positive. We don't want people upset. David said, I want you to know, this thing's going to come to a full rage. It's got to escalate beyond the opinion of sports figures, movie stars, famous singers, famous actors, political leaders. It's got to go beyond their opinions. That's where it's at now and I tell you those opinions have escalated in such strength of boldness against the Lord in the last five years. I've been a pastor for 40 years now and what I've witnessed in the last five years is, I mean it is alarming where the culture is going. Where the church is echoing agreement with the leaders of culture. They want to keep the crowds. The people want to keep it happy. David says, don't you understand? It's not going away. They're going to get more intense. They're going to take a bolder stand. It's going to go beyond their opinions that has a little stigma and criticism. They're going to use the power of the state eventually to enforce their ways. The days are coming where if a mom and dad tells their five-year-old child there's only one way of salvation, it'll be considered a crime. They tell their child homosexual marriage is contrary to the Word of God. The Bible calls it a sin. They'll actually go to jail for it. More and more ministries are getting more and more silent. The voices of culture are getting louder and louder. I mean there's millions that are standing faithful, but there's millions that are yielding right now in the church. This is an hour for us to determine. This is a full-on crisis. And those of you that are in your 20s and younger, you can't maybe fully appreciate the escalation, the speed of which this is increasing. Like those of us that might have a 40-year-plus point of view looking back. I mean the escalation is so intense. I mean the phenomenon in the last five years of the gay agenda taking center stage in the conversation of our culture. This was unthinkable ten years ago. There were whispers ten years ago. Explosion of pornography in the last five years. I mean it's been going pornography a long time, but I mean the explosion of the last five years. Where this will be in ten years is a moral crisis in our nation beyond anything we can imagine. And then ten years after that, and ten years after that if the Lord tarries, and heaven's not silent. Father has very strong feelings about what the leaders of culture are saying in defiance of his son the king and of his word. The father has very strong feelings about how many in the church are echoing the popular sentiments of culture. The preachers that are telling lies about the Word of God to keep it popular, keep it positive. The young people that don't have a biblical foundation that are seduced by the lies. Thinking that the things they feel must be the standard of truth. For they feel it so it must be true. Their feelings are real, but they're not based on truth. Many of them that are crying out in the culture today in our nation. It's a full-on crisis, not to mention the continuing of the slaughter of children in their mother's womb. I mean well over 50 million babies slaughtered in their mother's womb, applauded by the culture. The leaders, those in the church. We have the Lou Engels that are raising their voice, praise the Lord. We have others. Much of the church, they don't want to take on these issues. Want to keep it quiet. God's watching. Beloved, how many more murders in the mother's womb before God says enough? It is perilous. It is a crisis beyond what some of you can comprehend. The pornified society that's escalating. The many many other things that are taking place. I'm talking about the moral darkness right now. I'm not even talking yet, I'll mention in a minute, the financial crisis that's right around the corner far beyond 2008. There is a financial crisis looming over this nation and the nations of the earth. That this financial crisis will create a state, a context for violence in the street beyond anything we could imagine. A lot of believers are very disconnected with the crisis that's looming. The Lord says I want my shepherds speak the truth. I don't want them to tell lies anymore. I don't want them silent anymore. I want them to speak in love and tenderness but speak clearly. Financial crisis, is it too far down the road? But I tell you by prayer, crying out to the Lord, this thing can be set back a few decades. It really can. This isn't done right now. Things are in the balance right now. But the tide of moral darkness is increasing so fast. The Lord has things to say about this. A lot of the shepherds are telling lies about the grace of God. They're telling lies about the nature of Jesus, about the way the kingdom functions and operates. They're siding with the popular voice of culture, imagining that this unholy momentum is going to continue. Beloved, the unholy momentum will be cut short. The Lord will break in in time. And he tells them, let's look here in verse 1. The nations are raging. That's where it's going. The rage is not there yet. Right now, again, they're speaking their opinions. But eventually they'll use the power of the state to criminalize standing for the truth. Again, you won't be able to tell your five-year-old children in the days to come, whoever. There's only one way of salvation. They'll say you can't do that to a child. You can't tell the truth about the moral perversion going on. You can't tell the truth about what the Bible says about the gay agenda and the truth about the kingdom of God. You can't say that. Those days aren't here, but they'll be here in a minute, minus God intervening. And beloved, there's always a miracle waiting to happen. The church is in that the nations in the balance of the church. We look at the political leaders, say it's them. Beloved, it's the people of God. If my people who call out to my name, if my people will repent, if my people will come in agreement with me, I'll heal the land. It's people like you and me. But there's so many voices today in the church. Many voices say, hey, things are going good. Other voices, great trouble is coming. Others, great revival is coming. And actually, it's there is great trouble and there is great revival. Both of those are true. The revival is coming in context to great trouble. David says here in verse 1, the people plot a vain thing. Beloved, it's vanity. It's gonna come to nothing. The kings of the earth, they may get a few decades out of it. I don't know. They may appear to win for a few years, meaning a few decades or maybe more, maybe less. But after they, after that, it will be, it will fail. It's vain, will come to nothing. Verse 2, the kings of the earth, they'll use their political authority. They'll use their political favor. And again, many, many leaders in the kingdom of God, they're going, well, I want the favor of the king. I want the favor of the business leaders. I want the rich and the famous to grace our assembly and give us credibility. We don't want to offend them. The rulers, again, the rulers speak of more than just government officials. I believe the rulers speak of the leaders of society. Verse 3, they say, let us break their bonds. That means God's bonds. They see the Word of God as slavery. They see the moral standards of Jesus's leadership as slavery that is hindering their human potential, hindering and interrupting the dignity and the equality of humans. They say, let's take the Word of God, the bonds that enslave us. Let's cast them away. Let's break them. Let's show God who's in control. Let's cast their cords away. So verse 3 is talking about removing the influence of the Word of God out of culture, out of society. Beloved, the church is echoing these sentiments more and more. Not this direct, not yet. But the things that I'm hearing, God's servants say in this hour compared to 20 and 40 years ago is staggering to me. And they're trying to back it up with the Word of God. And there's enough people that want to avoid the stigma. They'll believe anything as long as there's a few verses laid out. They don't care if the verses are twisted and turned and out of context. They don't care if it's not the spirit of truth. There's a lot of folks that want, in the kingdom I'm talking about, that want to avoid the stigma so desperately and the pressure and the crisis that they'll say, we'll just find a way to agree with this. Now it sounds like I'm being negative, and I am. It's serious. Ten years from now, 20 years from now, things in this nation and in the earth, minus the invisible hand of God's mercy intervening because faithful witnesses of the truth are taking their place of authority and intercession. And how hard it is. If they'll take a stand, these things can be delayed. But beloved, I'm not seeing a large response. The numbers are growing. There's millions actually across the earth that are taking the stand. But there's many millions more in the church that are being silent and unconcerned by what's happening. I have good news. Not all the leaders of culture are buying into this. 2014, this last 12 months, I've had an unusual year of opportunity to sit with leaders in political positions, sat with a number of either senators, governors, congressmen, others that evolved in presidential cabinets. And they love God. And there's more and more of those happening. But the percentage is still very, very small. But they do exist. And they're increasing. I'm encouraged. I Governor Jindal, Louisiana, is calling a day of fasting and prayer on January 24th. Because of the crisis in America. Governor Perry, a few years back, called a day of fasting and prayer in Houston. Other born-again governors, they're troubled. Other congressmen, senators are taking a stand. Again, I'm encouraged. It's happening. There are godly men and women in some of these positions. The percentage is very small, but it may not take a large percent. Beloved, I don't want to just throw this thing to the wind and presumptuously say, well, let's just see what happens. I want to be involved. I want to be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. I don't want my silence to give any kind of affirmation to the lies that are entering into the church. God's very calling young people to be bold. To take a stand for truth. Again, tenderly. With humility. With love. Love as God defines love. Not as the humanistic culture. Right now, the love is God to many people. Humanistic love is their God. And they'll throw a little Jesus language in every now and then. But humanistic love is the God they're worshiping and serving. God says, no, it has to be love on my terms. I'm the God of love. Love is not God. I am the God who is love. And they're very different. Human sentiment is not the final word of what love is. But the written word of God, the God who is love. Well, paragraph B, they are opposing the truth about Jesus. They oppose his definitions of salvation. More and more of that is being echoed in the church under the name of scholarship and biblical literacy. And it's completely the opposite. They're opposing the truth about Jesus's definition of purity, love, justice. Using all the biblical terms, but with a different definition than what God gives. Don't be seduced by people who use biblical terms, but don't have the meaning the Bible gives in its real context, when the scriptures compared to the scripture with the spirit of truth on it. I'm going to say clearly, tenderly, but the emergence of the gay agenda as a central conversation in our culture is a very, very alarming reality to me. The values and the statements that are being promoted, that are being echoed by many in the church and outside the church. I love all human beings, regardless what their sexual orientation is. But God has clear definitions and standards of what love is. We have to line up with the Lord and with his Christ and not against him. Again, that's one issue. That's a serious one, because in a few moments from now, they'll be teaching the six-year-olds in first and second grade, third and fourth grade. They'll be teaching them the details of homosexuality as part of mandate by law in the curriculum. Where that will go in 10 and 20 years? Maybe not. The Lord says, I have my king sit on his holy hill. My people who are called by my name, by my name, they'll cry out to me. I could turn this thing around. When we look at the history of revival, we've seen tremendous moral darkness in society, and suddenly the Lord breaks in. But it's not a passive response from heaven. It's in response to the people of God taking their stand in the Word of God. Paragraph C, the Bible makes it clear. Before the Lord returns, godliness as well as sin will reach the highest, the greatest heights ever in history. Meaning before the Lord returns, sin will be in the culture, and a level of darkness and perversion like no time in history, but righteousness, godly lifestyles in the church beyond any other time in history. Someone says, is it getting worse or is it getting better? The light and the darkness are increasing together. Jesus said the wheat and the tares, the wheat being good, the tares being bad, they will mature together at the end of the age. Look what Daniel said. Daniel chapter 8 verse 23. It's talking about the generation the Lord returns. He says sin will reach its fullness. There's an hour of history where sin will reach heights unknown to human history. And I believe we are in that acceleration right now. It won't be the same in ten years as it was ten years ago. Things are accelerating. A king is going to arise in the days to come. This is a bad king. There's a good king that's going to be manifest in the nations. We'll get there in a moment, and we know who he is. Look at 1st Timothy 4 says. Paul prophesied about the generation the Lord returns. He said the Spirit expressly says. When he says the Spirit expressly says, he means the Spirit of prophecy. The Holy Spirit is what he means, is emphasizing this word. What is it that the Holy Spirit's emphasizing to Paul in 1st Timothy 4? He said in the last days, believers will depart from the faith. The Holy Spirit emphasized this. Paul tell them, warn them, tell them it's not casual or neutral. It has serious consequences. There will be believers that will depart from the faith. They really will. I have a number of verses there. It's very very alarming. There's going to be a falling away before the Lord returns, but also a great harvest. There's going to be a great in-cathering of unbelieving God for a billion new souls, but at the time where a billion are coming in, multitudes are exiting and departing from the faith. So well, I'll just see what happens. No, no, no, no. We want to engage with him now. I don't want to wait for 10, 20, 30, 40 years. Again, it might go faster, might go slower. Nobody knows. I don't want to be a part of the problem by my silence. I don't want to echo the sentiments of deception that the culture is making popular. I want to be faithful, witness. I want to stand with truth. I want to contend for the greatness of the people of the body of Christ. Father, I mean beloved, I'm contending for your greatness. I'm not saying, oh no, it's really gonna get tough, so in that bed, it is gonna get tough, but I'm saying, listen, there's glorious things in store for you in your spiritual journey. It's gonna be great breakthroughs as well. The kingdom of God, the dark and the light are gonna escalate together, but look what Paul says here. The Spirit expressly says, he emphasizes, some will depart from the faith, and I believe the numbers will be vast. I don't believe it will be all, but the numbers will be vast, but the great harvest will come simultaneously. Look what he says, they will give heed to deceiving spirits. They're gonna pay attention to doctrines of demons. What are the doctrines of demons? Paul's not referring to, they're gonna just all wholesale buy into the occult. Doctrines of demons, I believe, are doctrines that obscure the truth, the essential truth of salvation, where people don't end up following the Lord or receiving the Lord according to the Spirit of truth. That is, in essence, what a doctrine of demon is. It's more than that, but that's what it's talking about. Doctrines of demons are entering into the church, obscuring the truths about Jesus, his commands, his claims, the nature of his salvation, who he is. Beloved, there's only one way of salvation. All paths don't lead to God. That is an absolute deception. It's not all the same. There's only one path. There's only one man who was innocent, who became sin and paid the price so that the guilty, you and I, could receive the free gift. Muhammad did not become sin for us and pay for the death. Buddha did not. None of the religions of the earth had a man that was innocent, took upon himself the guilt of the nations so that the guilty could have free salvation. All paths don't lead to God. There's only one path that leads to God. Only one. There's only one way. That's not elitism. That's because there's only one man that paid the debt. It's not about our religion better than others. It's about a man lived in perfection and paid the debt of sin. That's being debated by the scholars in a new fervor in our nation right now. The doctrine of demons. It's obscuring the truth. So look what it says. Look what Paul said in 1st Timothy 4. This was 2,000 years ago. Look at the very end. He said the days are coming where they're gonna forbid marriage. The day is coming where they're gonna outlaw marriage in parts of the earth. Outlaw marriage? What? Paul, are you sure? Yeah, the Holy Spirit said it. They're gonna outlaw marriage. That's where the darkness is going. Now, 10 years ago, you couldn't imagine what that verse meant. Today, they're already talking about outlawing marriage, making the institution of marriage obsolete because of the controversies. Paragraph D. Do you know that Jesus gave more warnings about deception than he did tribulation? The church is more worried or more fixated on the tribulation and Jesus was more focused on the deception that's going to be in the earth. We need to be more focused on the deception than how bad the tribulation. I don't mean the Great Tribulation. I mean the tribulation, just the crisis in the nations. But have no mistake, the rage is going to escalate. They will kill believers. I know they've been doing it through history. They've been, they're doing it in parts of the earth right now, but this is not going to be isolated situations. The day is coming where the kings of the earth, in their rage, will establish legislations where they will kill believers in the nations of the earth. They will see them as enemies of society, believers. They will say, see them as enemies of the people. This is an hour for you and I to decide. Are we going to go deep in the Lord and be faithful to truth for our own lives, for our children, our grandchildren? Are we going to just kind of see how it unfolds? Just kind of hope other people take a stand and that maybe the last minute we'll suddenly take a stand when it really gets intense. Beloved, it will never be easier than now to take a stand. The stigma is increasing rapidly. The stigma in the church for standing for the Jesus of the Bible, not the Jesus of the culture, the Jesus of the Bible. That's not the same Jesus. The Jesus of American culture and the Jesus of the Bible are not the same. A lot of people love Jesus, but what Jesus, which Jesus do they love? The Jesus in their own image or the Jesus of the Bible? Well, John saw this. Look at Revelation 19. He said, the kings of the earth, they're going to go beyond rage. Look at Revelation 19. John said, they're going to go beyond the rage that King David talked about. They're going to make war. They're going to have full-scale war against Jesus and his truth. Well, I spent a little bit too much time on that one, so I'll be briefer on the next one. The next one's really where my heart is. The burden of my heart tonight. Verse four to six. The rest of the psalm, we won't be able to take a look at really. Well, the kings of the earth are presented as raging. Again, the rage isn't there yet, but it's escalating rapidly. They want to remove the Word of God out of society. They want things, everything to be okay with everyone. Psalm 2, verse 4 to 6. Curtain closes. Now it opens again. The father's on the stage, so to speak. Again, using the picture of Charles Spurgeon of the great drama. The father says, well, let me tell you what I think about their plan. Beloved, when you understand what the father thinks, you don't have to be intimidated by the stigma that the kings and the rulers of society want to put on us. We don't need to be intimidated. We don't need to back away. We need to stand bold, because we want to stand with where the father stands. Well, let's read verse 4 to 6. King David says, speaking of the father, he that sits in the heavens shall laugh. He'll speak to the rulers of culture in his wrath. Whoa. And he will distress the kings and the rulers of the nations in his deep displeasure. He's very unhappy with what they're doing and saying. He's not casual. He's not neutral. He's very displeased. And here's the primary message of the father. I've set my king on my holy hill of Zion, because I've already determined I'm gonna manifest and magnify the kingship and authority of one man, and I'm gonna magnify and support his words, his claims. I'm gonna back him up so all the nations see the truth about his authority in my sight. My son's words and my son's position as king will prevail over all the nations. And not just at the time of the second coming. There's one generation in history where the Lord is going to pour out his spirit in such great power that the kingship of Jesus, his words, his claims, will have a declaration of power on them beyond any other time in history. A endorsement from heaven. Let's read verse 4 again. He that sits in the heavens laughs, while the kings are mobilizing society and the resources of the rulers under them, using media, using the military, using the power of a state, using public opinion. They're frantically mobilizing and plotting and planning to expose the truth that the Jesus of the Bible is not real. That it's a deception. The father says, I'm not even gonna stand. I'm gonna remain seated in heaven. And I look at them and I laugh at them. That they think that because they have the largest armies gathered in history, the largest finance, the largest public support in any group of kings in history, they think they can overthrow my word? The father laughs. This is terrifying laughter. When he laughs, this is the most terrifying laugh of history. One preacher called it. Look at verse 5. God the Father is gonna speak to them. He's gonna speak to them. They rage. They hate Jesus's claims to be king. They hate his claims of divinity. They hate his definitions of purity. They hate the father's merciful warnings of wrath. They hate the wrath of God. They hate it. Father says, I'm gonna speak to them in wrath. Now understand, when the father speaks to the kings and rulers of the earth in wrath, how's he gonna do that? Through the voice of the body of Christ. The most hated doctrine in the culture is the wrath of God. The Lord says, I'm gonna speak and I'm gonna use my people. They will say what I feel about what's going on in the culture. But Lord, don't you understand? Those kings and those rulers, they have the money. They can open doors. They can really cause pressure and embarrassment and criticism. The Lord says, no, I want to speak openly about how I feel about what they're saying. Where's the voices at that are making known God's displeasure? I tell you, there's a man out there, well there's many, many women out there, Franklin Graham. Oh, I love it. I read the stuff coming forth from from his ministry and the stand he is taking, the fearless stand. I look at him, I go, God, I love him. Beloved, we need to pray for those kind of men and women. We need to be them. Not just pray for them, but we need to pray for them. Yeah, but if we do that, the college ministry would be really upset and the leaders of the ministry and well, those other famous guys with big ministries, they don't say that. I mean, look at the crowds they have. Father says, I want to make known how I feel about what's happening. Verse six, but I've set my king on my holy hill. The Father's already decreed there's one man that will be king forever. Be king over all the earth, the king forever. God established him as king at the resurrection at the right hand of the Father and the Lord's going to show him as king at the second coming, but there's one generation leading up to the second coming where the kingship of Jesus will be proclaimed in power beyond any other generation leading up to that. This is the Father's agenda. This is his primary program to manifest the kingship of Jesus, the authority of his words. Beloved, we can't move Jesus's words and prevail against him. Well, but Jesus, he didn't really, you know, it's the after the cross. He said all that before the cross. All of this mumble jumble going on in the church today of deception. Don't be intimidated by it. Don't be silenced and intimidated by the voice of culture or even the echo of it in the church. David wants us to know what the Father thinks, so we'll know. Victory is assured. Victory is sure. The kings are plotting a vain thing, but beloved, there's gonna be an hour where God's distressing of the nations is going to increase and increase and increase. As the voice of the culture against God increases, God's gonna raise up faithful witnesses and their voice will increase. The distressing of the nations will increase. The great harvest will increase. The purifying of the church through all of the crisis will increase. But if you don't know where this thing is going, in those broad terms of what I just described, think, well, I don't know. It'll just probably be the same as it was before. Beloved, things are changing dramatically even now in these days, right now, in these very years, right now. 2015 and 16 and 17 will set us on a trajectory in our nation very different than the years before. The Father says, I'm gonna speak from heaven. I'm gonna cause my church to stand. They'll bear the stigma and be purified in the stigma by standing with me. I'm gonna cause the distress to increase more and more. Well, I mentioned, talked to a number of leaders this year that know a whole lot more than I know about what's happening in the economy, what's happening in the political circles. Talk to one man, I'll leave him unnamed. I'll let him say what he wants to say when he wants to say it. About a month ago, I talked to him about maybe 10 hours in a two-day period. This man served in a face-to-face capacity with four US presidents, meaning he talked to them in person, not through three other leaders over him. Been involved in the political circles for 40 years plus. He was involved in the small discussions, I mean with a small number, in the coming down of the Berlin Wall, 1989. He was part of that. Involved in some significant interactions and negotiations with China, mainland China, the top leaders. He came and spent two days with me. He says, do you have any idea the crisis we're in right now and where this is going in five, two, three, four years? I said, well a little bit. He goes, I don't think you do. And again, now I'm gonna throw in a few of the others, some governors, some senators, congressmen that I've had the opportunity to talk to, and the alarming word that they're giving. There's one man that I'm referring to, he said it's far more serious than you understand. Let me give you an analogy. It's like a person is in debt in their personal life. So they get a MasterCard, you know, ten thousand dollar limit, and they are behind on their payments, so they use their ten thousand dollar MasterCard. They pay off, you know, they catch up, but now the ten thousand dollar MasterCard is full. Now they got to make payments on that. So they get a second MasterCard. They're paying their normal payments and the full MasterCard, they get a second one. Now it's full. They still haven't gained any ground. Now they get a third one, and a fourth one, and a fifth one. Beloved, I have news for you. There's no more MasterCards in America to bail us out. We're in a financial crisis. As a nation, the secular economists are saying it, many of them. The political leaders, not all of them, many of them are saying it. There isn't a bailout. This man was describing, he says, do you know what's going to happen when the entitlements are not giving in our cities? Does he have any idea? He goes, I was there when the Berlin Wall came down. I was there, and he named a number of other situations in the nations. Because I've seen violence at a level you can't imagine. 43% of Americans, 43% of Americans are paying the tax bill for the majority of the American. He goes, we're at the breaking point. There's no bailout. There is no way, but there is one answer, the invisible hand of God. But the church isn't even paying attention, hardly. Anyone that declares the crisis, well, they're just being negative. He goes, it's a crisis beyond anything you can imagine. You take the entitlements away from millions of people, the violence that will be in the streets will be far beyond anything the police can handle. I mean, the police force can only handle a small measure of the violence. He was describing, it took an hour or two. It was very alarming. He said, what do you think will happen? Not a economic setback like 2008, I mean a catastrophe. Way beyond a setback. There's not another bailout coming. There isn't another MasterCard to put our, to pay our debts on as a nation. They're all full, using that analogy. So what do you think is going to happen in the nations? American military has to draw back, surely because of finances and civil disturbance and turbulence in the nation. He goes, do you know how many wars will start in the nations of the earth when the US military pulls back? Because you know, can you even imagine? He gave me the number. It was a staggering number. And he gave the examples. He goes, the US military pulls back. Do you know what happened with Russia and Ukraine? You know what happened in Asia? You know what happened in East Africa, North Africa, West Africa? Do you know what happened in Latin America? If there is no US military involved in any way? I realize the US military, there's some pros and cons of some of the things that have happened. But he goes, the amount of wars that will break out in one week will be stunning and shocking to you. You know what happened to the world economy when that happens? He goes, you're a prayer guy, because that's why I came to visit you. He flew in. I've known of him and I've had a little time with him in the past, a little bit. He goes, there's only one answer that I know of. God breaking in and mercy. He goes, are you guys even aware of the situation we're in right now? Well, there's a crisis that I could take an hour and develop the distressing of the nations. Our nation is a minute away from a distress beyond anything you could imagine. When you compare it just to the last couple decades. Now a lot of folks, that's the big message. The father's distressing of the nations. I think that's one of the crisis. I think the bigger crisis is the moral darkness. The portified society that is emerging. And all the implications of sexual perversion and breakdown of families. There's so many dominoes that go down from that. That is what concerns me more. The falling away of believers is a crisis beyond measure. A lot of folks say, well it's that economic and violence. That's the one. Let's talk about that one. That's real. That's real. That's a real crisis. But what about the distorted grace message and the polluting of the gospel message in truth that's in the church right now? Does that trouble anybody? No, I'm not asking you. I know it troubles you. You wouldn't be here. Beloved, that's very, very troubling. Multitudes falling away. The spirit of deception. Jesus talked more about deception than he did tribulation. We're more concerned with the distress in the tribulation. And again, I don't mean the great tribulation. I mean the tribulation of the nations. We're more concerned by the distress of the nations. He was more concerned by the spirit of deception being released into the culture of the church. John the Apostle saw that King. The Isle of Patmos. John saw that King that God the Father is going to manifest in his splendor. John fell like a dead man before that King. Revelation 1. When John saw the Jesus he knew so well. He saw him in his glory and his splendor. He fell like a dead man before him because he'd never seen the measure of the majesty and the glory of that King. That's who the Father is exalting. The kings of the earth are intimidating the church. But beloved, David said, oh kings of the earth, you better tremble before this King. This is the King with real power. This is the one you need to be afraid of, not the kings of the nations. In the book of Revelation, John describes Revelation 6, Revelation 16, Revelation 19. He describes when the little kings, the temporary kings of the nations, when they are face-to-face with the great eternal King, Christ Jesus, he describes what happens. And I tell you, beloved, when the Father says, my King, I've already determined his words, his authority, who he is, what he says, that will rule the day. And I'm very, very displeased by the voices that are not standing in unity with my King. And again, I'm contending for your greatness. Meaning I'm not just giving you a warning or certainly not a rebuke or it's not a whatever. I'm saying, do you know the drama? Do you know who it is you serve? Of course you do. In part, we do. Do you know how mighty he is and how troubled the Father is that the culture is standing against him? They'll even use his name, but they're changing what he says. There's a great, paragraph B, a great outpouring of the Spirit. Notice, in Joel chapter 2, that's what we're gonna look at a little bit on Wednesday night. The day of the Lord preachers and the outpouring of the Spirit, but notice in verse 31, the outpouring on all flesh. It's gonna happen before Jesus returns. There's not just an escalating of darkness, there's an outpouring of power. But the outpouring of power, it's not just on just anything. It's to magnify the truth, the truth, the truth about Jesus. The Jesus of the Bible, not the Jesus of our culture. Again, those are two different messages. Paragraph 7, the Father's gonna shake all the nations. All the nations are gonna be shaken. He's gonna shake them financially and the implications, like I said, of violence and disruption. But in the context of the trouble in history, when there's great trouble, I mean, when there's a great revival, almost always it's in context to tremendous darkness attending it and great crisis. They all go together. Paragraph C, God's looking for men and women that will be faithful witnesses. They won't draw back from the stigma. They're not reading the Bible to find out Bible verses to back up a life of compromise. They're reading Bible verses to be fascinated with the glory of the King that the kings of the nations will tremble before one day. I assure you they will tremble before Him. I want to tremble before Him now. I want to be in agreement with Him now. I don't want to let this thing unfold again. It may unfold 10, 20, 30 years. It may go faster and there may be a great revival break in and the thing is set back a few decades or longer or shorter. Nobody knows. But I know this. Look at paragraph C, the very end. The Father wants us to know His displeasure. He's not neutral about what's going on in the culture. He is not neutral about what's being said about His Son even in the church and what's not being said about His Son. He's not neutral that many in the church, I don't know what the percentage is, they hate the wrath of God. They don't see mercy and love in it. They have this idea that it's the God of the ancient days of Israel that, well, He's kind of different now. He's kind of caught up with our sophistication. He's different. Beloved, let me tell you one of the main characteristics of a false prophet. Look at Jeremiah 23. We'll bring this to an end in just a moment here. You know what one of the main definitions of a false prophet, and there's many of them in the church right now. I don't mean they're not born again. I don't mean they worship demons, go to seances, that's not what I'm talking about. But there's a spirit of deception on them while they're prophesying. They'll say some true things, but there's a spirit of deception on them. Here's what Jeremiah said, and the others prophets affirmed it. He said, they say, peace, peace, goodness, goodness, things are getting better, things are getting better, things are getting better. And he says that's all they say. He says they're lying. Things are gonna get rough, because I'm gonna speak from heaven about my deep feelings, about where my beloved church is, and I'm gonna give opportunity for multitudes to be purified, to stand with me, and to take a stand where they won't back away.