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Treasures and pleasures!

(Thomas Watson, “God is His People’s Great Reward!“)

“I am your exceeding great reward.” Genesis 15:1

God Himself is His people’s reward! In what way is God the reward of His people?

God is a satisfying reward. God is a whole ocean of blessedness, so that the soul, while it is bathing in it, cries out in a divine ecstasy, “I have enough!” Here is fullness–but no excess.…

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Treasures and pleasures!

(Thomas Watson, “God is His People’s Great Reward!“)

“I am your exceeding great reward.” Genesis 15:1

God Himself is His people’s reward! In what way is God the reward of His people?

God is a satisfying reward. God is a whole ocean of blessedness, so that the soul, while it is bathing in it, cries out in a divine ecstasy, “I have enough!” Here is fullness–but no excess. Psalm 17:15, “I shall be satisfied when I awake with Your likeness.” That is–when I awake out of the sleep of death, having my soul embellished with the illustrious beams of Your glory–I shall be satisfied. In God there is not only sufficiency–but redundancy; not only the fullness of the vessel–but the fullness of the fountain! In God, this Ark of blessedness, are all good things to be found. Therefore Jacob, having God for his reward, could say, “I have enough!” or, as it is in the original, “I have all!” Genesis 33:11. God is all marrow and fatness. He is such an plenteous reward as exceeds our very faith. If the Queen of Sheba’s heart fainted when she saw all King Solomon’s glory–what would it have done to have beheld the astonishing and magnificent reward which God bestows upon His favorites!

God is a suitable reward. The soul, being spiritual, must have something comparable and suitable to make it happy–and that is God. Light is no more suitable to the eye, nor melody to the ear–than God is to the soul. He pours spiritual blessings into the soul, Ephesians 1:3. He . . . enriches it with grace, feasts it with His love, and crowns it with heavenly glory!

God is a pleasant reward. He is the quintessence of delight! He is all beauty and love! To be feeding upon thoughts of God is delicious. Psalm 104:34, “My meditation on Him shall be sweet.” It is delightful to the bee to suck the flower. Just so, by holy musing, to suck out some of the sweetness in God, carries a secret delight in it. To have a prospect of God only by faith is pleasant. 1 Peter 1:8, “In whom believing, you rejoice.” Then what will the joy of vision be–when we shall have a clear, personal sight of Him–and be laid in the bosom of divine love! What a delicious reward will God be in Heaven! This will be better felt–than expressed. The godly, entering upon their celestial reward, are said to enter into the joy of their Lord, Matthew 25:21. Oh, amazing! The saints enter into God’s own joy! They have not only the joy which God bestows–but the joy which God enjoys!

God is a transcendent reward. The artist, going to paint the picture of Helena, not being able to draw her beauty–drew her face covered with a veil. Just so, when we speak of God’s excellencies–we must draw a veil. He is so super-eminent a reward, that we cannot set Him forth in all His luster and magnificence. Put the whole world in scale with Him–and it is as if you should weigh a feather compared to a mountain of gold. God is far better than all other things put together! He is better than the world–and better than Heaven! He is the original cause of all good things. Nothing is sweet without Him. He perfumes and sanctifies our comforts!

God being an infinite reward, there can be no defect or scantiness in it. There is no lack in that which is infinite. Some may ask, “Is God sufficient for every individual saint?” Yes! If the sun, which is but a finite creature, disperses its light to the universe–then much more God, who is infinite, distributes glory to the whole number of the elect. As every person enjoys the whole sun to himself–so every believer possesses the whole God to himself. The Lord has land enough to give all His heirs. Throw a thousand buckets into the sea–and there is water enough in the sea to fill them. Just so, though there are millions of saints and angels–there is enough in God to fill them. God is an infinite reward, and though He is continually giving out of His fullness to others–yet He has not the less. His glory is imparted–not impaired. It is a distribution, without a diminution.

God is an honorable reward. Honor is the height of men’s ambition. Aristotle calls it the greatest of blessings. What greater dignity than to be taken up into communion with the God of glory, and to possess a kingdom with Him, bespangled with light, and seated with Christ upon His throne, above all the visible orbs!

God is an everlasting reward. Mortality is the flaw of all earthly things. But God is an eternal reward. Eternity cannot be measured by years nor ages. Eternity makes glory, weighty. Psalm 48:14, “This God is our God forever and ever!” Oh, saints of God, your praying and repenting are but for a while–but your reward is forever! As long as God is God, He will be rewarding you! Hosea 2:19, “I will betroth you unto Me forever.” God marries Himself to His people, and this admits of no divorce. God’s love for His elect is as unchangeable as His love for Christ! “God is my portion forever!” Psalm 73:26. This portion cannot be spent–because it is infinite; nor can it be lost–because it is eternal.

In God are treasures which can never be emptied–and pleasures which can never be ended!

“You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand!” Psalm 16:11

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My God! the eternal pit has closed upon them forever!

(Edward D. Griffin, “The Watchman” 1839)

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from Me.” Ezekiel 33:7

Standing on my watch-tower I am commanded that if I see anything of evil coming, to give warning. I solemnly declare that I plainly see evil approaching; I see a storm…

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My God! the eternal pit has closed upon them forever!

(Edward D. Griffin, “The Watchman” 1839)

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from Me.” Ezekiel 33:7

Standing on my watch-tower I am commanded that if I see anything of evil coming, to give warning. I solemnly declare that I plainly see evil approaching; I see a storm collecting in the heavens; I perceive the commotion of the troubled elements; I hear the roar of a distant wind–heaven and earth seem mingled in the conflict–and I cry to those for whom I watch, “A storm! A storm! Get into the Ark–or you are swept away!”

Oh! what is it I see next? I see a world convulsed and falling to ruins–the sea burning like oil–nations rising from under ground–the sun falling–the damned in chains before the judgment bar of God, and some of my poor hearers among them! I see them cast from the battlements of the judgment scene! My God! the eternal pit has closed upon them forever!

“Say to them: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?” Ezekiel 33:11

There has been too much trifling with Jehovah!

(Archibald Brown, “Amen, O Lord!” 1894)

“Then I answered and said: Amen, O Lord!” Jeremiah 11:5 [Or, So be it, O Lord.]

Perhaps there is a secret contention going on between you and God. God has spoken to you–but thus far there has not been Jeremiah’s response of ‘Amen, O Lord.’

Here you have the one response which a man of God must ever make to the…

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A man may be most religious--and yet be most ungodly!

A man may be most religious–and yet be most ungodly!

(Archibald Brown, “The Ungodly and Their End!” 1874)

“The ungodly are not so–but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” Psalm 1:4-5

The ungodly–who are they?

I know full well who are uppermost in your minds. I no sooner mentioned…

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There has been too much trifling with Jehovah!

(Archibald Brown, “Amen, O Lord!” 1894)

“Then I answered and said: Amen, O Lord!” Jeremiah 11:5 [Or, So be it, O Lord.]

Perhaps there is a secret contention going on between you and God. God has spoken to you–but thus far there has not been Jeremiah’s response of ‘Amen, O Lord.’

Here you have the one response which a man of God must ever make to the words of God. When God says anything to him, there is nothing left for him but to bow the head and say, ‘Amen, O Lord–so be it!’

This response is the only one that suits a creature’s lip. When God speaks–there is nothing left for man but to hear. When God decrees–there is nothing for man to do but acquiesce. When Jehovah gives a command–what is there left for His creature to do but obey? Any other word than ‘Amen’ springs from rebellion. Any other response to the word of Jehovah, simply tells of a heart that wars with God.

It is not for men to judge God’s words, far less to amend them. If it pleases Jehovah to say anything, no matter how stern, how dreadful, or how searching–there is only one position for man: that is to bow his head and say, ‘Amen, O Lord.’

‘Oh,’ says one, in the proud spirit of our times, ‘you are making a bold bid for your God this morning.’

I am. The sovereignty of God needs to be brought to the front. There has been too much trifling with Jehovah! Man needs to have the peacock’s feathers plucked out of his cap, and be taught that he is a poor little nothing, and that for God to speak to him at all is infinite condescension, and that for him to say anything else than ‘Amen’ is boundless impudence!

If God condescends to utter a command, am I to go and judge whether the Lord has a right to say it? Shall I take the word of Jehovah my Maker and weigh it in my scales–and bring up his thoughts to the paltry bar of my fallen reason–and enter my protest unless I can see a good reason for God speaking as He does?

When God promulgates a decree, He does not send it to man to be revised.

His claim is this, “I am Jehovah. I, the Lord, speak that which is right, and let man say: Amen, O Lord.”

We are living in the days of the deification of humanity. We hear so much about ‘the glory of humanity’, and ‘the triumphs of humanity’–that God has become little better than a very inferior deity who runs after man and tips His cap to him.

This is not the picture which God’s Book gives. God’s claim is this, “I am the Lord, and you are but the creatures of My hand. The brightest of My angels are but sparks struck off from the anvil of My creative omnipotence. When I speak, let men and angels be silent; or, if they must speak, let them say: Amen, O Lord!” This is the only the response that suits a creature’s lip.

If you can conceive of a being who is . . .

infinitely wise,

all-powerful,

infinitely righteous,

absolutely holy,

inflexibly just,

and all gathered up into boundless love–that is God.

If such a One speaks–then what is there left for me but to say, ‘Amen’? I am stark, raving mad, if I dare question the utterance of Infinite Wisdom. I am unutterably vile, if I can dare to criticize the utterance of Absolute Love. Idiocy must have taken hold of my brain and, alas! of my heart, if I would amend anything which His infinite holiness has declared. The very nature and character of God declare that the only response for man when God speaks, is ‘Amen, O Lord.’

Oh, for that grand attitude of resignation and submission to God, that bows before every word of God–whether it be a silver note of mercy from Heaven, or a thunder-clap of denunciation!

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A man may be most religious--and yet be most ungodly!

A man may be most religious–and yet be most ungodly!

(Archibald Brown, “The Ungodly and Their End!” 1874)

“The ungodly are not so–but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” Psalm 1:4-5

The ungodly–who are they?

I know full well who are uppermost in your minds. I no sooner mentioned the text, and spoke about the doom of the ungodly, than you began to think of the vile and the brutalized characters whose deeds of cruelty make up that shameful list of ‘crimes of violence’ now appearing in our papers day by day. And side by side with them, you doubtless thought of the drunkard, pouring down his throat the liquid fire to better qualify himself for the devil’s work! And you thought of brazen-faced harlotry and open immorality and of those who are steeped to the lips in sin–and of those who live, as they say, ‘for time–and let eternity look after itself’. These are the characters you pictured when we read the word ‘ungodly’. Well, you are right, they are ungodly.

But I am certain that all I have mentioned fail to compose one-tenth part of those who are legitimately to be included in the catalogue of the ungodly. Remember this: that a man may be ungodly, without being any of the characters that I have mentioned! An ungodly man is simply a man who tries to get through the world without God. It is not necessary for a man’s life to be a shame and a disgrace, for him to be ungodly. It is not necessary for him to be steeped in all sorts of vice, in order to be without God.

I will go further, and venture to assert that a man may be most moral–and yet most ungodly. While vile immorality has slain its thousands; a godless morality has slain its tens of thousands! And for one that is dragged down to perdition by the mill-stone of vice–there are hundreds who are taken in the meshes of the net of a Christless virtue. A man may be honest in all his transactions, pure in his language, chaste in his thoughts, an honorable man in all his business dealings–just the very one you would like to trade with–his word may be his bond, and all his actions fair–and yet come under the designation of the ungodly. It is with him, simply morality, skin deep; there has been nothing of regeneration within, without which it is impossible for a man to enter into the kingdom.

Look into his character, and you will find that he is ungodly in every part of his life. Inspect all his motives, and you will find that he never does a thing for God’s sake. There is no fear of God before his eyes; there is no reverence for God within his heart. He may be gentle, amiable, moral–a good sort of man as far as this world’s goodness is concerned. He would be all right, if a man could be all right without God–but he belongs to the ungodly.

We will go one step further, and say that a man may be most religious–and yet be most ungodly. I can conceive of a man being a most talented preacher–and yet being ungodly. It may be that he has a natural liking and gift for speaking; and he may, perhaps, take a very great deal of interest in the increase of his denomination and the outward mechanism of his church–but for all that he is totally devoid of the life of God within his soul.

Oh, pass the question around, I beg you–you who have made profession of the Lord Jesus Christ for years. Have you got something more than the mere name to live? Are you yet–(oh, can it be?)–ungodly, though a professing Christian–ungodly though once immersed in the name of Christ–ungodly, though your life is almost a pattern for the very best of Christians? The question is, have you God or not? For my text is not about the immoral, the profane, or the criminal–but about those who, whatever else they have, possess not God.

“The ungodly are not so–but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” Psalm 1:4-5

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The Conditions of Discipleship | My Utmost For His Highest If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also….And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me….So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

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The Conditions of Discipleship | My Utmost For His Highest

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also….And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me….So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. —Luke 14:26-27, 33

If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted bondservant motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not truly devoted to Jesus Christ. No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him. We may admire, respect, and revere Him, but we cannot love Him on our own. The only One who truly loves the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and it is He who has “poured out in our hearts” the very “love of God” (Romans 5:5). Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.

The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous creativity. Consequently, a disciple is subject to the same charge that was leveled against Jesus Christ, namely, the charge of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent in His relationship to God, and a Christian must be consistent in his relationship to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to strict, unyielding doctrines. People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.

Source: The Conditions of Discipleship | My Utmost For His Highest

Our Unhealthy Preoccupation with Acceptance

One of the troubling, but nonetheless fascinating realizations of the moral revolution has been the number of professing Christians who deviate from traditional

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Our Unhealthy Preoccupation with Acceptance

One of the troubling, but nonetheless fascinating realizations of the moral revolution has been the number of professing Christians who deviate from traditional

One of the troubling, but nonetheless fascinating realizations of the moral revolution has been the number of professing Christians who deviate from traditional and clear biblical teaching on sexuality and gender. It seems like we steadily see new groups, leaders, and people come out of their theological closets to declare their support for such things as same-sex marriage. Myself, I’ve gotten quite a bit of feedback via this blog, social media, and even in person of people who try to persuade me away from being such a theological dinosaur.

OUR THIRST FOR RESPECTABILITY AND RELEVANCE

In thinking about this quite a bit over the last several months it occurs to me how gripped Americans, particularly religious Americans are by honor and acceptance. I live in Omaha, Nebraska. The slogan for the state is “Nebraska Nice”. Did you catch that? We are nice here. I grew up in Massachusetts. I am not going to say that people in New England are mean, but they are, in the words of Megamind “less nice”. We didn’t exactly take pride in our niceness. If someone complained about people being rude we would generally think you were a bit too sensitive. But here, if you say that Nebraskans are not nice it is like you said something about their mom. It is one of the worst things you can say to a native Nebraskan. It seems to me that one of the worst things you can say to American Christian, whether in academia, church leadership, the pew, or on the street, is to say that they either not relevant or not respectable. We seem to clamor for it with alarming intensity.

I believe it is this clamoring for relevance and respect that is and will draw people to embrace these progressive (and errant) views of sexuality, gender and marriage.

Wait, you say, “It is not a desire to be relevant or respectable but compassion and love.” I disagree. In biblical understanding love is always tied to God’s character because he himself is love. Love reflects God because God is love (1 Jn. 4:8). In particular, love is expressed by holiness, it is not contradicted by it. Therefore, to be loving and compassionate our words and actions must be governed by truth, by the Scriptures (Eph. 4:15).

Further, if it is not all about respectability, why do so many go to the “I don’t want to be on the wrong side of history” card? Respectability is absolutely the issue here. Sadly, this standard of being seen as respectable is the governor of so much of how people think and react.

ARE EVANGELICALS IMMUNE?

Evangelicals could read this and say, “Yeah, those liberals (theologically), they’ve been gone for a while anyway; no surprise. We’re Bible-believing evangelicals. This won’t happen to us.”

Hold on. The evangelical church in the last generation has been marked by its preoccupation with being relevant. An entire movement has ben built around making Jesus and church seem relevant to outsiders. We have seen fad after fad come with intensity and go with a whisper only to become illustrations of silliness and obsolescence. The church-growth movement of yesterday and now the attractional church exists to overcome people’s perceptions that we are irrelevant. You could say, “But Erik, this was to win souls to Christ.” Probably was. No issue with this goal, my problem is with the hump they perceived that they needed to climb over in order to win souls. If the issue is relevance than you may be surprised at what you might do in order to be accepted. This is the oil that greases the skids of pragmatism in the church.

Evangelicals are absolutely vulnerable here if they do not have a firm grasp on the inspiration, inerrancy, infallibility, clarity, and preservation of Scripture. If the Bible is not our authority then it is just a matter of time until we will have to do what we have to do to be respected and relevant.

BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR CALLING?

Those who profess to follow Jesus need to remember what is inscribed on the threshold as someone comes into the Christian church. Jesus is quite clear in his call for and cost of discipleship:

“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

He is very clear here. He is not here speaking simply in terms of the ideal. No. He is speaking conditionally. If anyone would….then he must. The calling to discipleship is a call to deny self. This is not simply restricting yourself from eating sweets or something trivial but it is a repudiation of your own identity and a dissociation with self. It means that I no longer live for me but for Christ. He is my identity, Lord, and life. He is the model and motivation for all that I do. I am the servant he is the Lord. But that’s not all, we must take up our cross. Like the first this is not something trivial. In addition to a place of execution, the cross was a shameful public display of humiliation. To take up one’s cross is to embrace the shameful stigma of public rejection. Far from preserving one’s honor the cross is about dishonor. Finally, Jesus says “follow me”. This is to line up behind Jesus and follow him wherever he leads. Many may like the works of compassionate and care that Jesus performed but these things are connected to his ultimate compassion, which is Calvary. If they hated me…says Jesus, you can expect the same as you follow me (Jn. 15:18).

Put in these terms we can see how off we are when we as Christians clamor for respectability, relevance, honor, and acceptance. We follow Jesus after all.

We must see that we cannot deny the Bible’s clear teaching in the name of compassion and love without being unloving to God and unfaithful to our calling. It’s really this simple.

Here’s the beauty of it that too many forget: when you come to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord you come before the highest court of opinion. In Christ we are clothed with his record of obedience, his perfection, and given his holiness. God looks upon us and counts us righteous in Christ (Rom. 4:5; 5:1). Before the highest court imaginable God says “accepted”. Friends, when this coin drops for you then you will never barter away clear biblical teaching for a fleeting moment of acceptance.

Source: Our Unhealthy Preoccupation with Acceptance

Feeding Sheep, or Amusing Goats? Feeding Sheep, or Amusing Goats? (Charles Spurgeon) An evil is in the 'professed' camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most short-sighted Christian can hardly fail to notice it.

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Feeding Sheep, or Amusing Goats?

(Charles Spurgeon)

An evil is in the ‘professed’ camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most short-sighted Christian can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years this evil has developed at an alarming rate. It has worked like leaven, until the whole lump ferments!

The devil has seldom done a more clever thing, than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out the gospel, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony–then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses!

My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a Christian work, then why did not Christ speak of it? “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature–and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel.”

No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to Him. Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people–or because they confronted them? The ‘concert’ has no martyr roll.

Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all His apostles. What was the attitude of the apostolic Church to the world? “You are the salt of the world”–not the sugar candy; something the world will spit out–not swallow.

Had Jesus introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His teaching, He would have been more popular. When “many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him,” I do not hear Him say: “Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow; something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it! Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!”

No! Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them–but never sought to amuse them!

In vain will the epistles be searched to find any trace of the ‘gospel of amusement.’ Their message is, “Therefore, come out from them and separate yourselves from them… Don’t touch their filthy things…” Anything approaching amusement is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel, and employed no other weapon.

After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, “Lord, grant unto your servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are!”

No! They did not cease from preaching Christ. They had no time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They turned the world upside down–that is the only difference from today’s church.

Lastly, amusement fails to effect the end desired. Let the heavy-laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment had been God’s link in the chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer! The mission of amusement produces no converts!

The need of the hour for today’s ministry is earnest spirituality joined with Biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.

Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her, and bring us back to apostolic methods!

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Supreme Comfort - R.C. Sproul Jr.

Supreme Comfort – R.C. Sproul Jr.

Supreme Comfort Friday’s Supreme Court decision, though not much of a surprise, is distressing, disheartening and disgusting. Even the most adamant defender of so called “gay rights” ought to at least affirm that the decision is fundamentally flawed, driven by judicial overreach, and by any sane reading of the Constitution, unconstitutional. It has, nevertheless, been decided.

How state…

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The Grand Ballroom at Joliet Union Station Wedding | Jason + Lisa

The Grand Ballroom at Joliet Union Station in Joliet, Il

Jason + Lisa’s wedding at the Grand Ballroom at Joliet Union Station can be summed up with one word….stunning. We simply love this couple and had a wonderful time celebrating their wedding day with them. We hope you love their wedding pictures as much as we do! Congratulations Jason & Lisa! We pray you have many blessings in your…

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Supreme Comfort - R.C. Sproul Jr.

Supreme Comfort

Friday’s Supreme Court decision, though not much of a surprise, is distressing, disheartening and disgusting. Even the most adamant defender of so called “gay rights” ought to at least affirm that the decision is fundamentally flawed, driven by judicial overreach, and by any sane reading of the Constitution, unconstitutional. It has, nevertheless, been decided.

How state and local governments ought to respond is an important question. How local churches and the church as the church ought to respond is an important question. But today I would like to make some suggestions for believers as believers. What should we do? The same thing we do every day.

First, repent. Judgment begins with the house of God (I Peter 4:17) and make no mistake, this is judgment from God. Thus it is wise and prudent for us always in times of hard providence to examine our hearts, and to repent. Some, of course, will insist that we repent for not being sufficiently loving to those embracing unnatural lusts. And they would be right. But before we bow our heads, we better understand what it means to love those embracing gross and heinous sin. It means calling for their repentance, and proclaiming the assurance that the blood of Christ covers all the sins of those in Christ. Acceptance of sin is hatred of sinners. The cultural pressure to do just that will only increase. Will we love our enemies enough to call them to repentance or will we heal their wounds lightly by with soothing words that pave the road to hell?

Second, believe the gospel. One of the reasons we tend to cave to cultural pressure is that we crave cultural approval. Believing the gospel, however, reminds us first that we are much worse than mere homophobic haters. Whatever they charge us with, the truth is they only scratch the surface of what we truly are in ourselves. Their shrieking accusations should be drowned out by our simple cries, “Lord be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Believing the gospel, however, also reminds us that we already have the approval of the only One who really matters, and that that can never be taken away. Because of the perfect life, atoning death and vindicating resurrection of our Lord, we are the beloved adopted sons of God Most High. What is a bit of cultural derision, or even a great deal of actual persecution in light of that? All that we have that matters is already hidden with Him in the heavenly places.

Believing the gospel in turn reminds us that He is not merely in the heavenly places, but that having ascended, there He sits upon His throne. Our Savior is not just our King, but He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. None of what has happened is outside His control. The Supreme Court may have once again overturned the Constitution, but Satan has not seized the throne of Jesus. This too, as horrible as it is, is part and parcel of His perfect plan to bring all things under subjection, to smash our idols, and to wash away our every blot and blemish. Whatever the courts say about marriage, in the heavenly court the truly Supreme Judge tells us that we are His bride, and that He will never leave or forsake us.

Finally, believing the gospel means believing that He will come again to judge both the living and the dead. The Supreme Court is not the highest level of appeal, and their injustice will one day be turned to justice. This is not the end.

I, like most of you, am today distressed, disheartened, and disgusted. But I am also, every day, regenerated, redeemed, remade. And required to repent and believe the gospel.

Source: Supreme Comfort – R.C. Sproul Jr.

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