In my last post, Obedient Disobedience, Part 1: Pagan Riots, Persecution, and a Pinch of Incense I addressed the current state of the world and the impending danger that may “evangellies” will deny the Lordship of Christ to save their skin, comfort, livelihood, pride, et al. The post was meant to motivate action more than encourage emotions. This post is meant to encourage, though it might not seem so to many.
Mute Idols vs. The Sovereignty of God
Idolatry is tempting, because idols can be manipulated to align with the desires of the idolater. Psalm 135:15-18 points out the obvious worthlessness of idols.
“15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. 16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. 17 They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.”
The appeal of idols has nothing to do with their strength. Idolatry is attractive, because gods of silver and gold are meant serve the idolater, not the other way around. Idols require sacrifice. Give and take is part of the game. But, ultimately in the world if idolatry, the idolater gets to feel in control, and his wishes (not God’s) drive his worship.
We do not serve a God of idols.
In our Doctrine of God (Theology Proper) course we study God’s attributes as well as His decree (among other topics). One of the attributes we study is God’s sovereignty, specifically His sovereign will. God’s sovereignty of will along with His omnipotence means that what He purposes according to His perfect council, He accomplishes by His perfect power through His sovereign decree. Put simply: nothing happens that God does not want to happen.
You will recall Job’s suffering, his questions to God, and God’s lengthy rhetorical response. Job had lost everything but his life. God never tells Job why. He simply asks a series of questions meant to remind Job who he is talking to. After God refreshes Job’s memory about Who it was that laid the foundation of the earth, who hung the starts in the heavens, and who draws out leviathan with a hook, Job puts his hand over his mouth and acknowledges his own foolishness to speak back to the God of creation. Near the end of the book, Job acknowledges the following:
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
Mark that statement. Burn it into your memory. Rejoice over it. Repent for doubting it. We don’t serve manipulatable idols. We don’t sacrifice hoping we’ve done enough to appease idols. We rest in the knowledge that nothing can thwart the will of God.
God’s Sovereign Will and Good for Those Who Love HIm
Paul reiterates the good news of God’s sovereign will in his letter to the Ephesians, turning the focus specifically on the believing and God’s plan to save us.
“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”
Pay careful attention here. We (the believing) enjoy an inheritance in Christ, because we have been predestined by God, adopted as His children. That predestination is in accordance with the counsel of his will which cannot be thwarted (Job 42:2). Among other things, this means that the elect in Christ have no fear of losing that which is most precious to us, our salvation in Christ.
Paul develops this concept further in Romans 8.
“28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
Note that all things work together for the good of those who love God, those who are called according to His purpose. This harkens back to Ephesians 1:11 in which we are predestined according to the counsel of His will…which cannot be thwarted.
Then Paul lays out what is known as the “golden chain” of redemption. Those whom God knew before the foundation of the earth He predestined to be conformed into the image of Christ. The predestination is not merely for salvation, it is for Christlikeness. Thus, by God’s sovereign decree the predestined are called, the called are justified (declared righteous), and the justified are glorified (conformed to the image of Christ).
This means that the believer is guaranteed not just salvation in Christ but glorification in eternity. This is the context of God working all things together for our good. Our sanctification and ultimate glorification is the good that God is working all things for. Ultimately, this results in glory to God.
This means that everything that happens is perfectly in accord with God’s will to form us into the image of God. Everything that happens. Everything.
This is especially important to remember in times of tribulation.
Election fraud, wicked leaders, Persecution, and thanking God for all of it
It is tempting to turn to idolatry when suffering is immanent. Idols can be appeased. False gods can be reimagined for convenience. Not so with the God of creation. No one gives him counsel (Romans 11:34). He works all things according to the counsel of His will. Nothing happens unless He has commanded it (Lamentations 3:37-39).
It is no surprise that the false prophets of modern Christianity falsely prophesied a Trump re-election. They hoped against hope that a lecherous narcissist would defend Christians from an impending wave of persecution from child murderers. Instead of throwing their children into a Moloch furnace, these idolaters threw their testimonies into the dumpster fire of American politics and hoped the result would be safety and prosperity. Incidentally, the leftists did the same thing, hoping instead to retain their “wokeism” and praise of men by way of virtue signaling.
I am not here condemning the “vote for the lesser of two evils” crowd. Holding your nose and voting for the candidate you believe gives you the best chance to live peaceably with all men is one thing; laying aside God’s Law to call an adulterer or a child murderer “virtuous” is another. Looking to either for some form of salvation makes you an idolater.
There’s no question that the election was manipulated by fraud. A faithful Christian who believes that the testimony of 2-3 witnesses is enough to confirm a matter (Deut. 19:15) cannot ignore 900 affidavits, multiple anomalies, and videos showing unchecked vote counting. Christians that believe in the rule of law and the (see Romans 13) cannot ignore constitutional violations related to voting in multiple states. Libertarian Christians will also point out that third party candidates are blocked form debating by a bi-partisan (not non-partisan) committee designed to ensure that the choice is between two evils.
I’m not a Trump supporter, but I am an epistemologist. Let’s call a spade a spade. There was fraud.
I’m relatively confident there was fraud on all sides. I’m not sure we’ve had a fair election for a very long time. Can we expect anything else? Our country is run by wicked rulers who “frame injustice by statute” (Psalm 94:20). Do we really expect a group of officials who give hearty approval to child murder organizations or who brag about assaulting women to suddenly become judicious overseers when it comes to elections that control which one of them has power?
Further sobering is the reality that the aforementioned child murderers and election thieves now control world’s most powerful military along with domestic surveillance capabilities unlike anything afforded to tyrants in history. With their conveniently procured senate seats, they also have the ability to block filibusters and pretty much do as they like. Christian organizations see the Equality Act looming. The leftist machine’s corporate arm and it’s fresh affinity for censorship combined with the banking industry’s new proclivity to take away means of exchange on a whim sets the stage for persecution like you and I have never seen. I’m not going to lie. It’s going to be bad.
And yet, the faithful are called to rejoice.
Consider James’ admonition to the persecuted Church:
“2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
This is not a mere platitude. It isn’t some blind pretension. It is a command to count it joy when we suffer for Christ. Considering the reality of election fraud and the persecution that we are likely to face as a result of it, am I will to acknowledge that this like all things is occurring according to the perfect plan of God in adherence to His perfect counsel from before He spoke light into existence?
Am I willing to acknowledge, like Job, that the God who laid the foundations of the earth, hung the starts in the sky, and knows the number of hairs on my head allowed every election anomaly in November? Am I further willing to rejoice that His perfect plan is coming to fruition even as faithful Christians are fined for gathering to worship? Will I rejoice in tribulation as every executive order for religious protection is overturned in the coming days? Should the day come that we face financial ruin and even death for the cause of Christ, will I use my lungs to worship the God who gave me breath as my last one is taken away by the noose?
This may not be the encouraging post for which you were hoping. There is plenty of Scripture affirming God’s blessing, even His material blessing. Even now, I’m hoping that God providentially implements a eucatastrophe, closing the mouths of the lions, keeping us un-scorched from the flames, lifting us to prominence and lavishing us with material blessings. He’s done it before. He can do it again if He so decrees.
But, I know that He wants the greatest good for His children. And, that greatest good is that we be formed into the image of His Son. This requires cross-bearing. Historically it has meant martyrdom.
I’m not pretending I’m looking forward to suffering. I’m not. In fact, I am fearful of my flesh when real persecution is immanent. But, I can’t say that my heart doesn’t have a joyful ache to share in the joy of those who have suffered before us for Christ. There are many who have gone before us and who are even now joyfully suffering for the cause of Christ in Chinese re-education camps, in Iranian prisons, and in countless places unknown to us.
May we share in their joy.
May God prepare us for such a joyful act of worship.
“12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. ”
By the way, if you haven’t taken our Doctrine of God course, now is a good time.
