Month: October 2018

“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.” Psalm 2:1-6 ESV

All around us people reject God, and actually do everything in their power to come against all He stands for, and all that stand for Him. The world scoffs at Christians because they scoff at Jesus. “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but 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.’” John 15:19-20a.

Followers of Christ will not be left in shame at the coming of our glorious King.  One out one person will die.  Every day we get older and closer to the day we breathe our last.  Those who do not follow Christ, follow Satan headlong to the peril of death in hell.  God reaches His mighty hand and calls us to repent from the rebellion that mankind ensued even since the day Adam and Eve sinned.  Whoever doesn’t heed this warning, rejects God who not only is Creator but even Himself died that we would be free of our own unraveling.  If you are scoffing at him and there will be a day that He will scoff at you.  If you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior there will come a day when you will no longer be the object of contempt of ridicule… We will be joyful subjects of the glorious King. We get to hail Him and take part in His heavenly Kingdom.

As children of God, we don’t fear shouting our Father’s praises no matter how much the world tried to silence our song.  Christians are told to keep their faith to themselves.  We are being pressured to keep our religion in our hearts, our homes, and our pews.  No matter where God leads, we have a story to tell of our redemption and God’s work in our lives.  Even amidst the walls of a hospital at the end of our lives, or at the end of ourselves, believers can boldly proclaim Christ and look forward to our heavenly reward.  We were at one time walking in darkness, like the rest of the world—headed for hell! God saved us and he’s coming soon.  He is on His way! How could we possibly keep this a secret?! God has done, is doing, and will continue to do wonderful things through His people.  May we be excited to see His providences with eyes of faith, and to tell of them to all around us!

“The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” Psalm 1:4-6

The Bible repeatedly contrast the righteous with the wicked. I don’t believe God does this to merely condemn the wicked, but to warn us all, and show our great need for a Savior.  “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”(John 3:17-18) The bleak reality is that in our natural state we are all prone to wickedness.  The definition of wicked here does not refer to something kind of bad, but kind of cool.  The wicked are described as those who stand for all that goes against God and are morally bankrupt.  “Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness”(Psalms 52:7)  One characteristic of the wicked is they do not last, but are blown away like a wilted leaf.  They will not withstand judgment, but will ultimately perish.

We don’t need to look far to find examples of wickedness.  Right after the fall of humanity, the first son of Adam wickedly attacked his brother.  Why?  “Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.”(1John3:12) We cannot be quick to point our finger others.  Wickedness can be found in our hearts.  “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer 17:9)  All of us fall so short of living God’s way, because of sin.  We can’t possibly do enough “good” to achieve a right standing with God on our own.  We need to be rescued from our selves.  There is only one Savior who is able to save us from our wickedness—the Lord Jesus Christ.  He innocently died in our place to bear the punishment for our sins, was buried, and rose from the grave to give us His righteousness.

The righteous are now privileged to enjoy a restored relationship with the Father, and glory in Christ forever.  God knows the ways of the righteous.  He is intimated acquainted with those whom He has adopted as His own children to resemble His likeness.  “His footsteps are ordered by the Word of God, and not by the cunning and wicked devices of carnal men. It is a rich sign of inward grace when the outward walk is changed, and when ungodliness is put far from our actions.” Charles Spurgeon