This sermon from Psalms 2 delves into the question of why nations rage against God and His anointed. It emphasizes the need for individuals to fully surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ, acknowledging the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome any opposition. The message calls for believers to stand as lights in a darkened world, living within the boundaries of God's kingdom and not compromising with evil. It warns of the increasing persecution of Christians globally and the importance of being radically obedient to God in these challenging times.

Psalm 2, please, if you'll turn there with me, Psalm 2. I have a message the Lord's put on my heart called, Why do the nations rage? Why do the nations rage? Now, Father, in Jesus' name, I thank you, Lord, for strength. I thank you, God, for a river of life that you promised that will flow from our inward parts when we have fully turned to you. I thank you for light in a darkened time. I thank you for life when death seems to be abounding. Oh, God, I thank you for hope in an era of such hopelessness. Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you for a commission that you placed on my life and every life that's here. Those that are hearing my voice this day and in the future, Lord, you've given us a commission to stand as lights and lampposts for you, God, in this generation, showing men and women the way to eternal life. May God give us grace and strength. Help me today to share this word. Help our hearts to hear it, all of us, Lord, that your kingdom may come and your will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. Lord, we thank you for this. Thank you for the touch of heaven in this sanctuary today in Jesus' name. Psalm 2, why do the nations rage? Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure. Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the Lord has said to me. You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. Now, therefore, be wise, O kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in him. Now, the author of this particular psalm is not listed, but the Jews always have believed that it was King David that wrote this psalm, and most scholars who study this because of the style of writing and the themes of it believe also that it was King David that wrote this psalm. And in it, David asks, if it is him, he asks a question, and in different translations it says it this way, why do the nations conspire? What is this grand conspiracy forming in the world today or in the world of David? But this is a future psalm. It's a messianic psalm. It speaks of Christ. That is not even disputable. But David asks the question, why do the nations conspire? Why are the nations so angry? Why are the nations in such an uproar? Why do the nations rebel? Why are the people of the nations in such tumultuous agitation? And in the second part of verse one, he says, trying to accomplish something which can never be accomplished. What is the source of this agitation? Now, David saw firsthand the futility of rage confronting the spirit of God, of that human condition that was sown into humanity in the Garden of Eden by the devil himself. He sowed his character into humanity. You have to understand that. He rebelled in heaven and then down into the Garden of Eden. And the first, our parents, your parents and mine, Adam and Eve, Satan succeeded in sowing a characteristic DNA of his character into humanity, which was, you can be your own God. You can be a judge of what is good and what is evil. You do not need the boundaries which God has set in society. You do not need to listen. You do not need to obey. You have a mind. You have a spirit. You can use that. And you yourself, in yourself, can be as God is. You can determine right from wrong and ultimately create in your mind and in your own heart your own utopian end, which humanity is so want to do. But David saw the fruitlessness of this rage in humanity when confronting the spirit of God. When he was only a teenager, a lion rose up against him. Now, a lion is described in the Bible as the fiercest among beasts on the earth that does not turn back for anything, is afraid of nothing. And when this lion rose against him, just as a stripling of a teenage boy, the spirit of God came upon him. And he saw that when the spirit of God is inhabiting a person or a place, even the strongest among beasts is no match for the spirit of God. David says he took that lion, he took him by the mane underneath his chin and slew him. I want to see that when I get to heaven. I want to see how God did that. And also as a boy, when a bear rose against him, and a bear, of course, is known to be famous for defending its own interests. And when a bear rose, and they say there's nothing as fierce as a bear that's defending its own cubs. And when a bear rose against him, the same thing happened. The spirit of God came upon him. And no matter how something of this world rises to defend its interests, when it is confronted by the spirit of God, it has no power to stand. David stood again as a young boy against Goliath, who represented the strongest among men, the best that humanity can produce. Nine or ten feet tall and probably weighing four or five hundred pounds, muscle from head to toe, scorning and taunting the armies of the living God only to see a young boy head into the valley with no armor, only five stones and a sling and confidence in God and a touch of the Holy Spirit. And David knew that not even that which is the strongest among men has enough power to stand against the spirit of God when God's anointing is upon a people. And lastly, when David made a mistake in his life and he went to a place he shouldn't have gone. And because of it, an enemy army came in and captivated his family and his children and the families and children of those that were traveling with him. And when he decided to go back to prayer, that's why it's so important for you and I to pray now. I can't overstate the importance of prayer right now. David, he had been traveling by his own ingenuity. He'd been winning battles by his own strength. He had been doing things he shouldn't do. And he found himself on the wrong side of history as it was at that moment. But when he called for the garment of prayer and began to seek God one more time, the spirit of God came upon him. And though vastly outnumbered by this enemy army that had come in and half of the men with him were too weak to even cross over into the battle. And so his army was, and you see that throughout history, lest we should exalt ourselves, God will often diminish us to the point where as we sang today, only God could do this. And we know it in our heart. Only God could win this battle. And he went in and fought that entire army that were rejoicing over having captivated his family. And by the spirit of God upon him and the men that traveled with him, they vanquished that entire army, reclaimed their families for the living God. And not one of them was lost. Praise be to God. David knew these things. He knew this power of the Holy Spirit. He knew that God is, and there is none beside him. He understood when he looked into the heavens, he said, when I consider the works of your hands, the moon, the stars, the heavens that you have created, what is man that they aren't mindful of him. David understood the majesty, the might, the marvelous power and character of God. And he understood the mercy of God that he would come upon a people and associate with us in our weakness, our trials, our difficulties, our flaws, and our faults, and even call us his own. And he was perplexed by it. But the kings of the earth have always been enraged against it. That seed of Satan that is sown into humanity, that seed that cried out as Christ stood before Pilate, that seed that got into a religious crowd, that seed that was deeply embedded in Rome, both people who considered themselves sacred and secular were there, all with one voice, all united away with this man. We will not have this man to reign over us. Crucify him, away with him. We don't mind him feeding us. We don't mind him healing us. We don't mind him catching fish for us. We don't mind him walking on the water and showing us, but we will not have him reign over us. We will not live inside the boundaries of his kingdom. For we in ourselves are as God is, and we have the right to determine our own boundaries, our own destiny, our own sense of right and wrong, and how perverted that can become in this world. Just recently, we saw up to 500,000 women marching in Washington, and they had signs, they had placards in their hands. Listen, I'm not here to discuss the cause. I'm here to discuss what I saw. I saw something that should cause this world to tremble. I saw that which was vile written on cards. I saw and heard speakers that are vile standing up, and women with their daughters in their hand, their young girls in their hand, declaring this to be good when it's evil. There's no way you can declare evil to be good. And I see this, yes, Psalm 2, verses 2 and 3 says, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us break their bonds and pieces. Let us cast away their cords from us. David saw that both God and the people who represent him on the earth are viewed by many as an impediment to those who have bought into this ultimate lie that man can govern his own life. He can be his own God. He can establish his own boundaries, if any at all. And in the end, declare all of it good. You see, that's how we live in a society today that will fight to save the prairie chicken or the river smelt, but kill their children in their womb and call all of it good. The only impediment to this misguided journey we're now on, in fact, is God and his people who stand in stark contrast, showing this generation the truth that there is, in fact, a God. There is, in fact, something called sin. Jesus said, when the conqueror has come, when the Holy Spirit has come to you, he will convict this world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. There is something called sin. It is what happens to people when we transgress the boundaries that God has established in this world, and the wages of sin is still death. It still pays the same paycheck it has always paid. You cannot reverse it. You cannot change it. You cannot take what is wrong and suddenly call it right and expect a reward at the end of this journey for it. The soul that sins shall die, the scripture says. Sin separates from God not just in time, but forever, forever, forever. I want you to think, those that are hearing my voice today, that practice in your life, that thing that is evil, but you're calling it good, that thing that you will not lay down, is it worth forsaking heaven and opening the gates of hell to your soul for eternity? Is it worth it? Think it through. Think it hard. Think about it deeply, because Christ is coming soon. Christ is coming back for his church. Of righteousness. You see, there's only one king. Christ himself said, of righteousness, because I go to my father. In other words, there's only one king. There's only one ruler in this world. There's only one who has the right to declare something good and evil, and there's only one who can declare you and I good. Praise be to God. It's Jesus Christ who sits at the right hand of God. He is the only king. And of judgment, because Satan and those who adhere to his worldview are already under the judgment of God. Judgment. There is a day. We don't hear much about it in the church anymore, do we? Judgment. Everything is about getting a better car and having a nicer job and how to roll a better boat, how to have a great life. But this world is judged, and the people of this world are already under judgment. There's only one king left that can show them mercy. There's only one king. It doesn't matter about the other kings. It doesn't matter. Vladimir Putin can't show anybody mercy. The emperor of China can't show anybody mercy. The president of the United States can't show anybody mercy. No king. No king can declare anybody clean or virtuous or right in the sight of God. There's only one king. His name is Jesus Christ. Praise be to God. Psalm 2, verse 7 says, I will declare the decree. This is God now speaking to David. The Lord has said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I'll give you the nations for your inheritance, the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. Jesus came as a lamb the first time, but when he comes back, he's coming back as a lion. He came as a savior, but he returns as a judge and as a warrior. And if you don't believe it, read the book of Revelation. The enemies of God, the Bible says, their blood will reach up to the horse's bridles on the day of his return. When he comes back and says enough of this perversion of right and wrong, enough of sin running rampant throughout the world, it's over. The kingdom of God has come in righteousness and in truth. Praise be to God. Jesus told his followers, you and I clearly, let me just read it to you from John chapter 15, verses 18 to 22. If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. That's why the Bible says, beware when the world speaks well of you. But because you are not of the world and I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things it will do to you for my namesake, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. And again, in Matthew chapter 24, verses six to nine of the last days, Jesus said, you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you'd be not troubled. All these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. In the original translation, it means ethnic culture will rise against ethnic culture. There will be famines, pestilences, earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of trials. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you. And you will be hated of all nations for my namesake. And then many will be offended and betray one another and shall hate one another. Recent studies and reports now indicate that we might be entering the time of the most intense worldwide persecution of Christians in the history of this world. Do you understand that? When we talk about persecution, many people think back to Rome. They think back of the post Roman days. There's all kinds of things in history, but never ever in history has there been a persecution such as is arising today. That tells me more than anything else. We're at the threshold of Christ's return. The Bible speaks of a lawlessness and unspeakable evil lawlessness that's going to break out in countries, in cities, among people, this world is going to become vile. We're seeing that around us now. Evil is becoming good. Good is becoming evil. The World Evangelical Alliance tells us in a recent report that over 200 million Christians are being denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith in the world today. Countless thousands, perhaps in the hundreds of thousands are now paying for their faith in blood and imprisonment. It's happening now, folks, not tomorrow, not maybe next year. It's happening now. As I speak, people are in jail. People are being tortured. People are being put to death. People are on trial for standing up for Jesus Christ, for believing in God. How ironic is that? The one faith on the earth that preaches harmony among all men, the one place that talks about unity, love, forgiveness, gentleness, reaching out, being kind, is now under assault by a world that considers itself good, but the Bible describes and declares to be evil. In America, the season of casual and mixed Christianity is quickly coming to an end. Many will be offended and will betray one another and will hate one another. Many. I think about how evil can get mixed up in worship. When Adam and Eve sinned, after their sin they had two sons, Cain and Abel, and both these men built an altar and both worshipped what they believed to be God. They worshipped the God they knew to be God in a form of worship that they believed to be acceptable. But one brother, Abel, his worship was accepted by God and Cain's worship was not. You see, Cain is the type of a person today who says, I will worship God. I will worship Jesus, but on my terms, not on his. I'll come into God's house and I'll sing the songs and I'll clap my hands. I'll even say amen to the preacher, but it's all on my terms. I will bring to that altar what I want to bring to that altar and I will be either the full ruler of my own life while worshipping or a co-ruler with Christ. I will determine in my heart what is good and what is evil. And sad to say, there's a lot of people like that today, even in the house of God who are at a place of worship like this today, but not really surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ. You honestly can't say he's your king. You honestly can't lay claim to living within the boundaries of his kingdom. You've taken something that's evil and you've called it good. And so what will bring about this division, may I apologize? You know, the Bible speaks on the days of lawlessness, a great falling away is going to take place. It's a people that were so close to salvation, so close. They sat where God's word was being preached. They were so close. They had at least some kind of an understanding of the word of God. They were so close, but they just could not escape the boundaries of their own stubbornness and declared something or some things that God clearly said you can't do. Paul said, don't be deceived if you're a drunkard, a reviler, a fornicator, a hater. None of these people will inherit the kingdom of Christ and of God. Those that belong to Christ have a new nature. You have a new heart. Like, am I just an aberration or what? When I came to Christ, I suddenly wanted to walk within the boundaries of what he says is right. And I declared my own boundaries to be null and void. The former things that I said were good. I recognized when I read in his word, they were no longer good. And I wasn't going to try to make them good. I wasn't going to justify wrong anymore and call it right. You see what will divide in the house of God in the last days is that people will have no oil. They'll have no strength. They'll have no light. Oil brings light. They will have no ability. They will just kind of be swept away by the conversation, by the division, by the hatred. They'll find themselves marching in parades they shouldn't be in. They'll have no power. It's like somebody that just falls into a river and the river is faster than their ability to swim because they've lived in the flesh and they've survived by their own reasonings. They've crafted their own Christ even. Then when this world starts going in its hell bent direction against God, they'll have no power to stand against it. That's where the division will come. And they will start hating those that do. They will find themselves on the side that they've always actually been on, but they just didn't know that they were on that side still. You see, I know how hard this sounds. But if I didn't care about your eternal soul, I wouldn't bother preaching to you like this. Jesus said in these last days, when all these things begin to arise in the world, that many false prophets will arise and many will be deceived. The deception's already there. They will just be seeking out voices that concur with their opinions, their boundaries, their sense of right and wrong that they've crafted and created in their own hearts. They'll be open to these voices because just like the kings of the earth, they have not bent their knee to the lordship of Jesus Christ. And there will be this internal rage eventually against God and against his people. You know, there are people sitting here saying, pastor, that would never be me. I could never find myself in a position of rage against God or his people. If you're not living in truth, my brother, my sister, you don't know what you're capable of doing. When Jesus was healing, when Jesus was raising the dead, when he was feeding the multitudes, if you would have turned to that crowd and say, do you think any of you are going to be in a crowd soon yelling, crucify him? They would have looked at it. Never, never. Not me. No. It's only when he called them to something, he called them to a kingdom, to a place to which their hearts, they couldn't possibly agree with it, that they found themselves among the multitudes saying, away with this man. He will not reign over me. As a pastor in this church, I've had this sad experience of seeing people who are once front row people, jumping, dancing, weeping, clapping, crying, and go off into some of the most horrific behaviors because they simply would not call it what it is. They justified, I have to do this, you see, because I have to make a living. I had a man one time meet me backstage here and he said, I love this church. I love the worship in this church. Oh, I just, I love everything about this church. I've been here for two years. It's, it's just the most incredible place I've ever been. And then he said, but, but God knows what I have to do. And that kind of put a red flag up. And I said to him, God knows what? He said, well, God knows I have to pay the rent. God knows I have to make a living. God doesn't want me out on the streets. I said, what is it that you're doing that God knows? And somehow you believe that God approves of. He said, well, I'm a homosexual prostitute. God knows. God knows. What I need to do to pay the bills. God knows in the house, worshiping, clapping, singing the songs of Zion, weeping hot tears in the presence of God. You see, we're so capable of calling evil, good, calling good, evil. We belong to a kingdom of forgiveness and we are ambassadors of that forgiveness, but we are so capable of harboring bitterness towards somebody else and calling it good. We're so capable of making wrong. Right. That's why at the end of the Psalm, David says now, therefore be wise. Oh, Kings be instructed judges of the earth. In other words, be wise. Those who are ruling their own kingdom, be wise. Those who have set themselves up as judges of what is right. And what is wrong serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling, kiss the son less to be angry. And you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled, but a little kiss the son, the context we don't quite understand in our language today, but when a King was conquered by another King back in these days, the former King who ruled his own kingdom would, if supposing that the King who conquered didn't kill him, he would come into the new King and he would come before the throne and he would bend his knee and take the new King's hand and kiss his hand and pledge his loyalty and say, from now on, all I have belongs to you. From now on, I will live within the boundaries of your kingdom. From now on, I will live in a manner that honors you and brings honor to your name and to your kingdom. From now on, what you say is wrong is wrong. And what you declare to be right is right. I pledge my future. I pledge my strength. I pledge my heart. I pledge my home. I pledge my resources. I pledge everything I am and have and ever will have to you and your kingdom. You are now the Lord and the master of my life, of my family, of all that I do, of every action that I make. Let me never disgrace you or live outside of the boundaries of what you have prescribed for my life and my future. That's what it means to kiss the sun. There's a lot of people in the house of God who have never bent the knee to the lordship of Jesus Christ. We come to the house of God for various reasons. We come because we're hurting, bruised, broken. I get that, and God gets it, and thank God for his mercy. We come because somebody invited us and there are promises of a new life. But ultimately, every one of us, in turn, are called to a point of making a decision to kiss the sun. I lay down the reins of my life, and I will not call good what you call evil. I will not call bitterness good if you call it evil. I will not call thievery necessary if you call it wrong. I will live in the boundaries of your kingdom. You see, that's why the heathen rage. That's what the kings of the earth and all who live under their judgment as well are rising against the lordship of Christ because it's quite simple. They don't want to live inside the boundaries of his kingdom. They don't want to open this book and say, these are the laws now that I must live by. I know I'm saved by grace, but there's an obligation to walk with the son of God and in the kingdom of God's son. But he finishes by saying, blessed are all those who put their trust in him. And that word blessed is phenomenal. When you look at it, it means guided on a straight path, prosperous as only God can prosper you, and successful as only God can grant success. Blessed in the New Testament means fully involved by God and fully satisfied. Blessed means having light on your path, having a voice before and behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it. Blessed is having a new nature, a new heart, a new character, seeing something ahead when people around you can only see darkness and gloom and clouds. Blessed is having a voice to bring people together when other voices are doing everything in their power to divide. Blessed is believing that somehow through my life, God is going to make a difference. Blessed is believing that by the spirit of God upon me, whether it's a lion or a bear or Goliath or an army, there is no power of hell that can stand against the spirit of God and survive. Blessed is believing that as we live within the boundaries of the kingdom of God, as we pledge our allegiance to Jesus Christ and to his truth, as his Holy Spirit comes upon us, blessed is believing though we might be smaller in numbers, we have the power to turn a nation back again to God. That's what blessed is. Praise be to God. I hope you understand the incredible power that belongs to the church of Jesus Christ. Assuming that we are the church of Jesus Christ, there is incredible power, incredible vision, incredible life. That's the original blessing that was given to Abraham. I will make you more than you are. I will give you more than you could ever possess. I will take you farther than you could ever go in your natural strength. I will so bless you that through you all the families of the world shall be blessed. That is the blessing of Abraham that became ours in Christ Jesus. And I don't know about you, but I'm not willing to live in any place that's less than the inheritance that God has for my life. Praise be to God. This is sober moment, folks. Christ is coming. Our cities are soon going to be in turmoil, worse than they are. You know that in your heart. You and I are going to be called to stand as lights in this darkened time. And we're going to be given authority and power in our prayer and the ability to win many to Christ, many who can still hear in this generation. By the grace of almighty God, we will. You and I are going to need strength. Many who are here today are already being persecuted at work, in the home. But folks, it's nothing compared to what's coming. Most of it is just verbal, other than in some cases, maybe it's gone beyond that in your homes. We've been given only a window, only a season. The battle that's being fought in our streets, you have to understand something. It's taken on a lot of names, but the battle that's being fought in our streets is against the lordship of Jesus Christ. That is the battle that's being fought in our streets today. It's got all kinds of names. It's got all kinds of banners. We've got that is the battle. It's being fought by humanity that no longer want any boundaries to behavior and want to call it good. It goes right back to the garden of Eden. That is the battle. The only ones now that can make a difference is you and me, the church of Jesus Christ. We need strength to stand and not to compromise. This is a moment in history, whether it's upon us or just coming, when the trumpet is going to sound and the command is going to come, everybody's going to bow. When the band plays, you bow. You bow or we'll call you names. You bow or you're going to pay a price. We're going to need strength to stand all of us, all of us, myself, yourself. We are going to need strength to stand in this hour and work. And so I'm going to give an altar call in just a moment for people who need strength. You're already being persecuted. You are a believer in Christ. You do want to walk with God as best as you know how, but you need strength. I know God's going to give you strength, touch you anew and afresh. And secondly, listen to me carefully now on this. There's some people here this morning, you have an area in your life, which you know that you need to give Jesus the Lordship over. You can't keep on calling evil good. I don't care if you've got 90% good and 10% evil in your life. The devil only needs one foot in the door of your home to blind you completely. You have to walk with God as his light shines on your path from scripture. You have to walk in it. And there's a grace that covers you while you're learning. There's a grace that covers you, but there's a point when there's no longer an excuse. When you know what right is, you know what you need to do. Some people need to come to this altar this morning. Maybe you need to get down on one knee and kiss the hand of the son of God and say, Lord, of this area of my life, I declare you to be my Lord and my God, my savior. I will no longer call this good because you call it evil. And I will no longer will try to stretch the boundaries of your kingdom to where they don't really exist. I will live inside the boundaries of your word. And so for both groups of people, for those who just need strength in persecution right now in your workplace, your home, especially your community, you need strength to stand and not to compromise. And for those who just say, I have got to give this area of my life to Jesus Christ. And I've got to do it now. I urge you with all my heart because there is no protection outside of the boundaries of his kingdom. There's no protection from deception other than a heart that longs for truth. God promises you will not be deceived. Now, father, I thank you for allowing me to speak your word this day. I thank you for the willingness of your people to hear it. Lord, there's nothing that's been spoken today that we don't know, but we are capable of crafting a religion that when confronted with truth can rise up and rage against that truth. I pray for those who rose up in anger this morning and left God, get ahold of them for your kingdom sake, for their souls sake, God get ahold of them. And there's nothing that's been shared that isn't true. Would you help us Lord Jesus Christ. Would you help us Lord to do what we know is right. I thank you for it in Jesus name. We're going to stand. And as we do, if the Lord's calling you and spoken to your heart, come join me at this altar. And we're going to pray together and believe for a mighty touch of heaven, the balcony, go to either exit and the main sanctuary, just slip out in the annex. We'll wait for you. Come on over here from the annex. We'll wait for you. Join us at this altar. We're going to take a moment to pray together as a congregation in Jesus name. Thank you Lord. I have, I have known in my lifetime, the, uh, the touch of the spirit of God, you know, the story of this church. I've seen civil war stopped for a season in Nigeria. I've seen genocidal tendencies brought to an end in Burundi. I've seen poverty and violence brought to an end in Jamaica. I've just seen that no matter what the devil has built, the spirit of God, it's no match for the spirit of God. It's no match for any God gripped vessel. I'm not exceptional. I'm just like you are just like everybody at this altar. I'm not exceptional. I just, I went to an altar as a young believer in Christ and I agreed with God. I agreed that his words were true and mine weren't. His ways were higher than my ways. And if he said, if he said something was wrong, irrespective of how much in my heart I wanted to call it right, it was wrong because he said it was wrong. No matter how much I tried to justify it, it was wrong because he said it was wrong. I mean, when I was a young Christian, I got in a fight outside a bar with some motorcycle gang members when I was off duty as a few of us, and it ended up with somebody charged. It wasn't us. It was, and after coming to Christ, the Lord told me, find that guy you were fighting with and go and ask him for his forgiveness, for forgiveness. Come on. You can only do that in God. I could have said, well, look, I'm a cop. He's a hell's angel. I mean, you know, you, you sort of missed something along the line here. No, Jesus said, no, I died for him. Just like I died for you. And he's as you're as guilty as he is. You had both fallen short of the glory of God. So just go find him and tell him, ask his forgiveness and tell him about, about who I am. You see, I would obey God, even though everything inside of me tries to justify the division, the distance and the wrong that was done. And there's all these reasons why, but reasons don't stand up against the word of God. God's word says, forgive as you have been forgiven, forgive. And I just started to obey him and the little things. And as I started to obey him, he started opening bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger doors. And today, by the way, is the launch of a national program across the country called a cry to the call to the nation. So what you heard this morning, for example, is going to be broadcast across the country in about maybe a month, month and a half from now. I've never opened a single door in my life through any kind of persuasion. I've never applied, never put out a resume because I don't really have one. I've just gone through the doors as God has opened them. And I made a choice to bend my knee to him and he became my king. And there's no point in fighting against God. You can't win. And so I'm inviting you as Christ invited me into this life where you make, you really do make a difference in your society. You really do. You really are given that which only God can give casual religion with all of its excuses is not going to win this moment in this nation. It's going to require people who are radically obedient to God. And God, of course, you know, the teaching we teach here, he has provided the grace, the strength, the covering. Everything is in him. Everything we need is in him. First time I read in the Bible where it says, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. I blurted out loud. Oh, yeah, that's right for easy for you to say. But I did it. Times were tough for us in the beginning, but it was really God began to point the finger inward and say, it's your selfishness. It's your anger. It's you that has caused this because you you are the covering over this home. And so when I took my eyes off of all the reasons and excuses and just started to obey God, the blessing of the Lord started to come in my home. There's just so many things. And so I encourage you with all my heart. Watch what God will do. Watch what God will do. Father, in Jesus name, Lord, we bend our knee. All of us, Lord, we bend our knee to you. You are God. We are not. Your word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. Your word is life. It's light. It's everything that we need for life and godliness. You have provided a covering to cover our sin and you've given us a pathway to know you in power and you've called us to be lights in our communities, our homes, our nation. And so, God, we bend the knee to you as your people. Lord, forgive us where we have tried to make evil good. Forgive us as your people, Lord, where we've called laziness dedication. Forgive us, Lord, for how casually we've handled the word of life. Give us the grace, Lord, to lay full hold of your kingdom because you said that we would be blessed. And so, God, we need your strength, Lord, because we face an incredible spiritual opposition in and we're not fighting against flesh and blood anywhere but against powers and principalities. But, Lord, we recognize and believe the lion, the bear, Goliath, no matter how big the army is, it's not big enough to fight against the spirit of God. And so, Lord, we come back to our weaponry, come back to where our strength is, and we ask you, Lord, lead us now. King Jesus, lead us. King Jesus, King Jesus, have mercy on this city, have mercy on America, have mercy on this nation, Lord. King Jesus, King Jesus, have a people that truly represent you in the power and glory of your kingdom. King Jesus, send us into the marketplace covered with the spirit of God, empowered by the spirit of God, standing in the power of God's Holy Spirit. Lord, let your kingdom come. Let your will be done here, now, in us as it is in heaven. God, give us this one thing. Give us the souls of the men, women, and children of this country, too numerous to count, Lord, in the days ahead, before the day of your vengeance, before the day where the judgment of this world comes. God, give us, give us, Lord, give us, men and women and children created in your image. Let that be our reward. Father, we thank you. I pray for an empowerment of the spirit on every person at this altar. God, young and old, rich and poor, it doesn't matter, educated, uneducated, it makes no difference at all. I ask for an empowerment of the Holy Spirit, that the words they speak would have strength and authority, that they would stand when others would cower, they would speak with wisdom that can only come from God, that every word that comes out of their mouth would carry the weight of God behind it. Father, I thank you, Lord. Give them the tenderness and the compassion of our Christ to fight for the souls of men, women, and children who are fighting against their own salvation. God, help us to make a difference, and we thank you for it with all our heart, in Jesus' name. Amen. Praise God.