Why Wait?

Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?

These are the words of a wicked king of Israel, Jehoram, spoken in 2 Kings 6. We advise our readers to read the chapter to see the provocations Jehoram was under; Samaria was under siege, the people were starving, and he had just discovered a disgusting case of cannibalism. Everything seemed desperate. So he spoke these words.

We are today in the Church often tempted to say the same. Thank God that these words are in the Bible, even if they are the product of unbelief. But Jehoram was an idolater, a member of a doomed house upon whom the judgement of God would surely come. If we are Christians our situation is quite different, for we have many great and precious promises from God. Christ has promised to build His Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The unbelieving king had reason to wait for God, for God had delivered his land before. God had brought Israel out of Egypt, and had driven out the Canaanites before them. He asked 'What should I wait for the Lord any longer?' and he was answered.

2 Kings 7.1: Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
2: Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

We are tempted to limit God as the lord on whose hand the king leaned did. But God CAN make windows in heaven if He so chooses, and pour out His spirit upon the Church. The Church has, as Chesterton said,

'Five times in the history of Europe the church has appeared to go to the dogs, and each time it was the dog that died!'

How shall we apply these words personally?

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8.28)

We know. How do we know? Do we know it merely intellectually? No! the Christian knows it by experience, as Israel knew God's protection. Not that He keeps us from suffering and trials, but that He keeps us in them, and uses them for our good.

Isaiah 43.1: But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
2: When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
3: For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
4: Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
5: Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
6: I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
7: Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Note the "When". Thou shalt pass through the fire and the waters, but God will be with thee in all these things, and that is enough. This evil is of the Lord, therefore we ought to wait for Him.

Begone unbelief, my Savior is near,
And for my relief will surely appear:
By prayer let me wrestle, and He wilt perform,
With Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm.

Though dark be my way, since He is my Guide,
’Tis mine to obey, ’tis His to provide;
Though cisterns be broken, and creatures all fail,
The Word He has spoken shall surely prevail.

His love in time past forbids me to think
He’ll leave me at last in trouble to sink;
Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review,
Confirms His good pleasure to help me quite through.

Determined to save, He watched o’er my path,
When Satan’s blind slave, I sported with death;
And can He have taught me to trust in His Name,
And thus far have brought me, to put me to shame?

Why should I complain of want or distress,
Temptation or pain? He told me no less:
The heirs of salvation, I know from His Word,
Through much tribulation must follow their Lord.

How bitter that cup, no heart can conceive,
Which He drank quite up, that sinners might live!
His way was much rougher, and darker than mine;
Did Jesus thus suffer, and shall I repine?

Since all that I meet shall work for my good,
The bitter is sweet, the medicine is food;
Though painful at present, wilt cease before long,
And then, O! how pleasant, the conqueror’s song!

God's Judgements in the City

We wrote on Saturday about the dangers of viewing natural disasters as special judgements of God, rather than as God's voice to all who hear of them warning of the wrath to come. But we do believe that God judges the nations. We have seen in the United Kingdom recently an increase in violent crime, and laws passed that undermine the family, the basic unit of society. Are we calling down judgement upon ourselves? Yes, undoubtedly we are. But there is something worse here. These are not merely events that call for God's judgement, it is our opinion that they are themselves the Judgement of God.
We recall earlier this year, when we were preaching in London, standing in a room in the manse of a London church and looking out at the city. These words welled in our heart: "O London, London, thou who wert exalted unto heaven, how art thou cast down into the pit?"

London, the city of the Puritans, the city of Wesley and of Whitefield, of Huntington and Hart, of Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones, is now full of all manner of wickedness. But it is not London alone. It is the whole of the United Kingdom.

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

So it proves. We are seeing Roman 1.18-32 fulfilled before our eyes. As the nations that descended from Noah forsook God, so our nation has done the same.

18: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19: Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20: For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22: Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23: And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24: Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26: For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28: And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29: Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30: Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31: Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

And our American brothers should not be complacent. A wise minister has told us that he sees in America today the United Kingdom fifty years ago. What then shall we do? Let us give God no rest, let us repent of our sins and turn to Him, for He is gracious and will not leave the desolate to mourn.

The voice in the Wind and the Earthquake

We have just been treated in the UK to the John Hagee and John McCain thing. While some of what Hagee was criticised for was simply historic protestant beliefs that the Church of Rome is apostate as a body, what most shocked many of us was his statement that New Orleans was wrecked by hurricane Katrina because of the sin of the city. Well, certainly all those who died in the disaster were sinners, but that is because all men are sinners, "For all have sinned."
And what about those killed by Cyclone Nargis in Burma, or by the earthquake in China? Did the cyclone hit Burma because of the wickedness of the nation? or were those who perished in Sichuan Province being judged for their government's oppression of their fellow-citizens?
What saith the Scriptures? We read in Luke 13:

[1] There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
[2] And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
[3] I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
[4] Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
[5] I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Do we see our Lord's point here? Yes, the earthquake and the wind are the voice of God's judgement, but they are not special judgements that have come upon those who have died because of their great sin, they are merely the in-breaking, as it were, of the wrath that is to come upon the earth, when the Judge of all shall come, and we all shall appear before the judgement-seat of Christ. So, as we look upon those terrible scenes of devastation, let us hear not a voice condemning only those who died, but let us hear that voice that sounded in Galilee, and that is now loud as the sound of many waters: "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." We do not want self-satisfied preachers gloating in the judgements that they suppose others have suffered for their sins, but men who know the plague of their own hearts, and feel the corruption within, who must look to Christ every moment for cleansing.
What, then, is the answer? How shall we escape in that great day? The Prophet Isaiah speaks: "a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." What mighty man is this? It is "the Man Christ Jesus", who is also "Over all, the ever-blessed God."

He is my Refuge in each deep distress;
The Lord my strength and glorious righteousness;
Through floods and flames He leads me safely on,
And daily makes His sovereign goodness known. (William Gadsby)

Here is the message to us. This world is passing, but Christ abides for ever. O that we could hold this world with a loose hand and be ready to drop into eternity at His voice.

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Can you say that, reader? Do you want Christ to abide with you? Unless you do, you will face judgement for your sins, and who shall abide the Day of His coming?