“Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
‘Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.’
“He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
‘As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.’
“I will tell of the decree:
The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
“Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers 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,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him” [1]
“The more things change, the more they remain the same,” states an old saw that each of us has heard. Undoubtedly at times we are each dazed by the change we witness taking place about us. This is especially true for those of us who follow the Saviour. The song writer pleaded,
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me. [2]
We say we are unable to keep pace with our changing world; however, that can’t be true. Some things never change. The mercies of the Lord never change. Jeremiah testified,
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end.”
[LAMENTATIONS 3:22]
God does not change! James, the brother of our Lord, encourages us when he writes, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” [JAMES 1:17]. These words are in keeping with the Lord’s testimony through the ancient prophet, Malachi: “I the LORD do not change” [MALACHI 3:6a].
And just as the Lord does not change, so sin never changes. Sin is still sinful, bringing death and ensuring ruin of all it touches. Wickedness is still set in opposition to righteousness. And at the last, all sin must be judged by the Righteous Judge Who does not change. Those who are sinful, those who are still bound by their own sinful condition, must know that they shall give an account to the Judge of all the earth.
So, what will happen in the earth? What is this world coming to? I don’t profess to be able to foresee the future—I would never presume to promote myself as a prognosticator. I can, however, read the Word of God, that Word which warns mankind against presuming against God Who is righteous. Because I read the warning that the Lord has given, I am compelled to warn those who hear me. I know that the Lord “commands all people everywhere to repent because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man Whom He has appointed” [ACTS 17:30b-31a].
The prospects for this world are actually dismal. Though the Lord created a perfect world, sin entered into the world, despoiling God’s perfect creation. Death was introduced through the sin of our first parents, and death has ruled over this world ever since. People imagine that we will move toward ever greater perfection, but we know in our hearts that despite all the technological advances we have witnessed, the statistics on death remain pretty amazing—one out of one die.
Decay and ruin are assured for every gleaming tower erected in our great cities. The shiny new automobile purchased this year will wear out and in but a few years be consigned to the junkyard. The fine house we built will require constant maintenance until one day it can be repaired no longer. Then, it will be torn down and replaced with something else. The latest fashions with which we dress ourselves will be shortly superseded, necessitating a new wardrobe if we are to keep up with the latest fashion. The kitchen appliances we thought we had to have will wear out and require replacement far sooner than we imagined. Some things really don’t change all that much.
Long years ago the Psalmist told us clearly the way things would go in the earth. The picture David presented is not particularly appealing to any who are living for this dying world, but his assessment is tragically accurate. Rebellion against the Living God will continue, growing more pronounced, as the world moves inexorably toward a final end. God patiently waits in the heavens until it is time for Him to act. Then, at a time of His own choosing, He will act, bringing an end to the rebellion and the final destruction of a world that has become utterly corrupt.
REBELLION IN THE EARTH
“Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
‘Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.’”
[PSALM 2:1-3]
I have often wished I was able to be upbeat whenever I speak of mankind, and especially of our vaunted prowess as a society. I have wished I could find positive aspects concerning the society in which I live. Technologically, we are living at a point in time that is more advanced than anything the earth has ever witnessed. Morally, we are intent on exalting every deviance imaginable. We appear determined to exceed even the corruption of Sodom and Gomorrah in our present culture. There seems to be no point at which our present culture will stop as we descend into a moral morass, a quagmire of immorality. We are incapable of acting righteously as our world transforms everything good and noble into that which is twisted and corrupt. Like Israel of old, we call evil good and good evil, embrace darkness as light and convince ourselves that bitter is sweet [see ISAIAH 5:20].
These past two years have made the opening verses of our text real and relevant to those of us now living in this fallen world. We who follow Christ have witnessed what our fathers could never have imagined. Who could have believed that Canadians would actually witness pastors being arrested—and jailed—for the “crime” of holding a service of worship? And yet, this has happened not once, but on repeated occasions in multiple jurisdictions within the Dominion of Canada. Who could have imagined that political leaders would ever assume they had the right to imprison God’s servants for declaring to their own congregation the grace of God and the goodness of the Saviour?
Who could have foreseen that a Christian congregation would be heavily fined by provincial authorities for the dreadful crime of meeting to worship the Risen Son of God? Who could have imagine that the faithful could be proscribed from meeting to worship, even while the populace was permitted to visit casinos, shop for cannabis, or purchase liquor if they were inclined to do so? We were permitted to indulge almost any vice without significant prohibition, but we were debarred from meeting to worship the Lord GOD. We could shop at the big box stores though restaurants and small businesses were shut down, all because of a manufactured virus unleashed on an unsuspecting world.
The nations raged and the peoples plotted in vain! The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers took counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed. Politicians let us know that our worship is not essential—they were in control. Like Pilate of old, they imagined they could sit in judgement over God. They would dictate when people worshipped, how they worshipped, and even who they worshipped. In the process they revealed themselves to be emperors without clothes and petty tyrants who were such fools that they would need to make up the rules as they went.
The events we experienced bring to mind persecutions that Baptist people suffered during the early days of the American Colonies. Go back in your mind to a period just prior to the American Declaration of Independence. Imagine yourself seated in the old courthouse at Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County, Virginia. See the king’s judges seated upon the bench, and the king’s attorney present so that he might aid in dealing justice to all offenders. Imagine that you are but one of the numerous spectators present to witness the trial of three ministers who are to be tried for no other offence than “preaching the Gospel of the Son of God,” contrary to the statute in the case provided, and consequently labelled disturbers of the peace.
Patrick Henry was one of the most influential advocates of basic God-given rights. He defended persecuted Baptists in colonial Virginia. The British Government and the federal Anglican Church were determined to stamp out Baptists forever. Baptists were fined, beaten, imprisoned, poisoned, and constantly under attack. Their services were regularly interrupted as snakes or hornet nests were thrown into their meetings. Baptismal services were routinely interrupted and both the pastors and those being baptised were held down under water until they nearly drowned.
The three pastors on trial (Lewis and Joseph Craig and Aaron Bledsoe) were arrested in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where they had been holding a meeting. The royal prosecutor had arraigned the preachers with all gravity, “For preaching the Gospel of the Son of God in Virginia.” Patrick Henry, who had heard of the imprisonment of these men, rode some sixty miles, from his home in Hanover County, to volunteer his services in their defence. As he entered the courtroom, the clerk was reading the indictment and the prosecuting attorney submitted a few words to conclude what he thought would be sufficient to convict the prisoners under ordinary circumstances.
The judges were about to pronounce the ordinary verdict expected in such cases, when Henry reached out his hand to receive the indictment. As he was reading the charges, Patrick Henry stood before the bar among the lawyers and made this speech: “May it please your worships: I think I heard read by the prosecutor as I entered this house the paper I now hold in my hand. If I have rightly understood, the king’s attorney of this colony has framed an indictment for the purpose of arraigning, and punishing by imprisonment, three inoffensive persons before the bar of this Count, for a crime of great magnitude as disturbers of the peace. May it please the Court, what did I hear read? Did I hear it distinctly, or was it a mistake of my own? Did I hear an expression as if a crime, that these men, whom your worships are about to try for a misdemeanor, are charged with what?” Continuing in a low, solemn tone, Henry read, “For preaching the Gospel of the Son of God!”
Pausing amidst the most profound silence and breathless astonishment of his hearers, he slowly waved the paper three times around his head, before lifting his hands and eyes to heaven, with extraordinary and impressive energy exclaimed, “Great God!” Mr. Henry resumed, “May it please your Worships: in a day like this, when truth is about to burst her fetters, when mankind are about to be raised to claim their natural and inalienable rights, when the yoke of oppression which has reached the wilderness of America, and the unnatural alliance of ecclesiastical and civil power is about to be dissevered—at such a period, when liberty—liberty of conscience—is about to wake from her slumberings, and inquire into the reason of such charges as I find exhibited here today in this indictment!”
After an extended pause, during which he again waved the indictment around his head, Mr. Henry continued, “May it please your worships: There are periods in the history of man, when corruption and depravity have so long debased the human character, that man sinks under the weight of the oppressor’s hand, and becomes his servile, his abject slave; he licks the hand that smites him; he bows in passive obedience to the mandates of the despot, and in this state of servility he receives his fetters of perpetual bondage. But may it please your worships, such a day has passed away! From that period when our fathers left the land of their nativity for settlement in these American wilds, for LIBERTY, for civil and religious liberty, for liberty of conscience, to worship their Creator according to their conceptions of Heaven’s revealed will; from the moment they placed foot on the American continent, and in the deeply imbedded forests sought an asylum from persecution and tyranny, from that moment despotism was crushed, her fetters of darkness were broken, and Heaven decreed that man should be free—free to worship God according to the Bible. Were it not for this, in vain have been the efforts and sacrifices of the colonists, in vain were all their sufferings and bloodshed to subjugate this new world, if we, their offspring, must still be oppressed and persecuted. But may it please your worships, permit me to inquire once more, for what are these men about to be tried? This paper says, ‘For preaching the Gospel of the Son of God?’ Great God! For preaching the Gospel of the Saviour to Adam’s fallen race. WHAT LAW HAVE THEY VIOLATED?!” [3]
The prosecuting attorney was shamed and appeared stunned, while the judge, in a tremulous voice, put an end to the scene which had become excessive, by declaring, “Sheriff, discharge those men.” When the Court recovered and the trial continued the prosecutor began a frenzied rant. The two Craig brothers and Bledsoe were condemned, but given a chance at freedom if they promised to quit preaching. The preachers rejected the offer and were marched off under guard to the jail. As they went through the streets of the town, the preachers sang, “Broad is the road that leads to death.”
Imagine yet again that same rider spurring his horse over miles of rough roads until he reaches a courthouse in a distant town. The rider leaps from his horse and runs into the courthouse where the court has already convened. As this man with flaming red hair strides into the courtroom, many recognise him as Patrick Henry. It appears that he is too late as the judge is already making his ruling, “I do hereby sentence thee to lie in jail until you rot.” Some applaud; others cry out in anger. The rider, however, moves at a leisurely pace in stark contrast to the ride he has just made. “My Lord,” he says, “I ask leave to address the court.” The judge recognises this man, and realises that it is wise to permit him to speak.
The man stands at the front of the room, addressing all who are present to witness the proceedings. The crowd hangs on his words. All present find they are in agreement with what he says, but Patrick Henry still has not told them where he stands on the issue before him. Then, at the height of his speech, he says one thing that everyone will remember: “Great God, gentlemen, a man in prison for preaching the Gospel of the Son of God!”
In yet another instance, the defendant was Jeremiah Moore, a Baptist preacher. Moore had been converted to the Baptist cause from the established Church of England in the late 1760’s. During the early years of his ministry he found that it was against the law to preach any doctrine that did not conform to the tenets of the Church of England. He was thrown in jail in Alexandria three times. While in jail awaiting trial, Moore would preach to huge crowds from the jail windows. It was on one of those occasions that he was defended by Patrick Henry. Jeremiah Moore was acquitted on this occasion. [4]
I don’t believe that national and provincial leaders are demonic; but I do believe that these same leaders often reveal their ignorance of the necessity for Christians to gather for worship. Many leaders have no respect for God or for His people; they demonstrated that lack of respect by closing churches while allowing casinos, cannabis outlets, and liquor outlets to operate. Politicians reveal their priorities through their decisions, and their priorities leave no room for worship of the Son of God. The priorities of politicians reflect the broad priorities of the whole of society. Contemporary society is not godly—it is godless. “Self” is enthroned over the heart of most citizens.
As they shut down the churches, the soothing voices of bureaucrats assured any who listened that Christians don’t need to go to church in order to pray. The appropriate response to such drivel is, “Well, duh!” Statements such as these reveal the abject ignorance of our leaders. How supposedly educated people could willingly expose their foolishness through such statements is a mystery. We who worship the Risen Saviour have been taught in the Word that our responsibility for gathering is for the purpose of building up one another, for comforting, and for encouraging [see 1 CORINTHIANS 14:3]. Followers of Christ are taught that we meet so we can unite in worship around the Lord’s Table, so we can receive the Apostles’ teaching, and in order to allow us to fellowship [see ACTS 2:42]. We who follow the Christ meet together to stir one another up to love and to good works, to encourage one another, and especially to look forward to the day when our Master shall return [see HEBREWS 10:24-25]. Though the church is the church even when it is not in meeting, it is in the meetings of the faithful that we truly fulfil the will of the Lord. Meeting as a congregation is not incidental to the Faith—it is integral!
People accepted the political dicta issued by bureaucrats in no small measure because the news media coalesced around a message of fear. We were fed, and to a stunning measure are still fed, a steady diet of “panic porn.” In a sort of risk averse fever, politicians and “health experts” decided that people gathering to worship constituted a clear and present danger. Our leaders didn’t believe that allowing people to congregate at Costco or Wal-Mart was dangerous, or at least they believe that such massed shopping expeditions are safer than people gathering for worship, though it is true that few shoppers at these big box stores sing, chant, play wind instruments, or shout! Even the Tokyo Olympics admonished those who sought to attend to avoid cheering. Those in attendance were admonished to be satisfied with feeling joy in their hearts! It doesn’t work that way for the faithful when we meet with the Risen Lord of Glory.
I don’t believe that the politico-bureaucratic decisions imposed on the populace were meant to be deliberately malicious, but they did reveal an inherent bias against God and against anything that would lend credence to His rightful reign over mankind. I don’t know that governmental leaders met in conference and wondered aloud how they might dishonour God and His people, however it is obvious from the regulations that have been imposed that these same leaders have scant respect for the idea that worship is important. Because they themselves aren’t known for worshipping, politicians couldn’t imagine that gathering with fellow worshippers to remember the sacrifice of Christ the Lord would be important to anyone. Because our leaders had no heart for God or for His presence, they are incapable of understanding how negatively their decisions would be viewed among the faithful. We’ve heard these leaders dismiss the concerns of those who worship the Living God by saying, “You don’t have to go to church to pray.” People don’t gather in church only to pray; we who follow the Risen Saviour gather in our church buildings so that we may encourage one another, so that we may equip one another for continued service to the Risen Saviour, and to unite in worshipping the Son of God. Politicians and bureaucrats consistently reveal what truly matters to them through the policies they create, and those policies leave no room for the Lord Jesus Christ.
LAUGHTER IN HEAVEN —
“He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
‘As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.’”
[PSALM 2:4-6]
Does God laugh? According to what is written in this Psalm, God does laugh! And we may be assured that His laughter is more cynical than it is amused, if the words that follow are taken seriously. I cannot help but believe that God finds the efforts of puny politicians pitiful, and He laughs at their puerile efforts to turn people from serving Him. Politicians demand that we show deference to every religion except for the Christian Faith or any worship in the Jewish tradition; yet, even “Christians” appear to be given a pass so long as they don’t take their professed Faith serious.
The Christians of this nation have put their faith in politicians, and we have received precisely what politicians can deliver—promises that are ignored after they are elected or distorted as those same politicians seek compromise with the remainder of the swamp creatures. Something happens to our neighbours who happen to get elected to Parliament; they drink the water in Ottawa and they forget those who look to them for leadership. It is as though they assume their positions and drink the waters of Lethe.
Parliamentarians are elected to care for the affairs of the nation. They are chosen to serve all the people, even those who may not favour the political party the parliamentarian represents. They are elected to make tough decisions that will advance the welfare of the nation. We expect our political leaders to be moral, to be honourable, to act with discretion as they care for matters that benefit all.
When those same politicians set themselves in opposition to righteousness, set themselves against God and His rule over the nation, then the puny efforts of those little individuals elicits laughter from the Lord GOD. Elsewhere, the Psalmist speaks as an individual, but his words surely apply to the faithful when he writes,
“Behold, they lie in wait for my life;
fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah
“Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
There they are, bellowing with their mouths
with swords in their lips—
for ‘Who,’ they think, ‘will hear us?’
“But you, O LORD, laugh at them;
you hold all the nations in derision.”
[PSALM 59:3-8]
Do not the leaders of the nation, those who are supposed to be wise, hear the warning which God issues when the Wise Man writes,
“Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.”
[PROVERBS 1:24-31]
CONQUEST OF THE REBELS —
“I will tell of the decree:
The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”
[PSALM 2:7-9]
There is no question of how the rebellion against the Righteous God will end. Every rebellion against the Living God has failed—every rebel heart has ultimately failed, just as every mass rebellion against the Lord has failed. At the last, God always wins and the rebels always lose. There is no rebellion that can ever succeed against the Living God. Those who imagine that they can resist God need to hear the sobering words which the Apostle has written. You will no doubt remember that Paul has warned, “Who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles” [ROMANS 9:20-24]?
We have a record of the first worldwide rebellion against the Living God that has been provided in the Book of Genesis. In the eleventh chapter of that book, we read, “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.’ And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth [GENESIS 11:1-9].
Imagine! The entire world united, thinking to topple God from His eternal throne. However, the effort failed in spectacular fashion. God simply confused the language of the people so that they were forced to segregate on a linguistic basis. People who had once been close colleagues were suddenly reduced to confused looks as their erstwhile friends spoke gibberish and they responded in kind.
Years ago, Christian leaders were persuaded that they would conquer hearts, penetrating the world with the message of life in Christ the Lord. They believed that the Gospel of Christ would prevail over all the world and they would be the vanguard of the faithful marching to a victorious conquest of pagan hearts. They wrote songs of this expectation, such as “Jesus Shall Reign,” and “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains.” This was the post-millennial idea that we could bring in the reign of Christ.
Things have not turned out that way. To be sure, the message of Christ shall be heard in all the world, and it shall prevail. However, it will prevail because Christ Himself advances the message of life. Jesus testified, “This Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” [MATTHEW 24:14]. The question we should ask is when this will happen.
When Jesus made this prophecy, He followed up by pointing to the time this would happen. You will remember that the Master has taught His disciples of this when He said, “When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” [MATTHEW 24:15-31].
This present generation of redeemed saints await the gathering of all the saints to Christ in the air, just as Paul as promised. You will recall that the Apostle prophesied, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” [1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-17].
After gathering His redeemed saints out of this world, Christ will pour out on the unbelieving world the Great Tribulation of which we are forewarned in the Apocalypse. As those frightful and awesome judgements are poured out on the earth, the Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed, but it will not be the Christians of this era that are declaring the message of Christ the Lord! Those proclaiming the message of life will be those who come to faith during the days of that Great Tribulation.
The Revelator witnessed a vast crowd of those redeemed coming out of the Tribulation. He wrote, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen’” [REVELATION 7:9-12].
This great, universal advance of the Gospel of the Kingdom will be at the expense of the lives of those who dare look to the Christ. These believers in that day will conquer the antichrist, the false prophet, and Satan with their very lives. Therefore, it is said, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them” [REVELATION 12:10b-12a].
This great advance of the Gospel of the Kingdom will be led by a vast company of evangelists who will be gathered out of the tribes of Israel. At last, the ancient people whom the Lord chose for Himself will turn to Him in faith, and then will the prophecy of Zechariah be fulfilled, the prophecy in which God promises, “I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn” [ZECHARIAH 12:10]. There is coming a day in which the knowledge of Christ as Lord will permeate the world. Blessed day! May it come soon! Amen!
WARNING TO REBELLIOUS HEARTS —
“Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers 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,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”
[PSALM 2:10-12]
Because the Son of God is destined to reign, and because He will exact revenge against those who have set themselves in opposition to Him, how should people live at this time? The Psalmist urges those in authority to be wise. And in order to ensure that readers are equipped to recognise wisdom, the writer spells out what must be done. Show humility before the Lord—serve Him with fear and rejoice with trembling. Specifically, the Psalmist admonishes us to “Kiss the Son,” taking refuge in Him.
The admonition is as simple as placing faith in the Son of God, which, not so incidentally, is what we are taught repeatedly throughout the pages of the New Covenant. The Apostle Paul and his companion while advancing the Gospel admonished one man, saying, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” [ACTS 16:31a].
Elsewhere, Paul would write the words with which we have all become familiar. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Then, he makes sure that anyone reading those words will understand what is expected of them, when he writes, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [ROMANS 10:9-10, 13].
The Son of God gave His life for broken people. Now He invites all who are willing, to come that they may receive life and the forgiveness of sin so that each one may enjoy peace with God. The Son of God now invites you, saying, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” [MATTHEW 11:28-29]. This invitation is extended to each one today. Christ invites all who are lost to receive the love of God. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Henry F. Lyte, “Abide with Me”
[3] The account was reported by John M. Peck, published in the Baptist Memorial in 1845, and reproduced by D. C. Haynes in “The Baptist Denomination” in 1875. Cited by J. W. Porter, The World’s Debt to the Baptists (Roger Williams Heritage Archives, 1914) 84-89
[4] B. F. Riley, The Baptists in the Building of the Nation, (Roger Williams Heritage Archives, 1922) 95-96; cf. John Baptist Henry, “The Book, The Blood and The Blessed Hope!” https://johnbaptisthenry.blogspot.com/2010/11/patrick-henry.html, accessed 3 August 2021; cf. Timothy Fish, “Christians and Banned Books–Part 1,” http://timothyfish.com/Articles/Article.asp?ID=86, accessed 3 August 2021
