Looking Back - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

"It would be easy to show that at our present rate of progress the kingdom of this world never could become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. Indeed, many in the Church are giving up the idea of it except on the occasion of the advent of Christ, which, as it chimes in with our own idleness, is likely to be a popular doctrine. I myself believe that King Jesus will reign, and the idols be utterly abolished; but I expect the same power which turned the world upside down once will still continue to do it. The Holy Ghost would never suffer the imputation to rest upon His holy name that He was not able to convert the world."

~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon (Quoted in David Chilton's Paradise Restored which can be read here)

Joy To The World

An email has been circulating concerning the great hymn "Joy To The World" and Christmas. I couldn't believe what I was reading. Someone was really suggesting that it was wrong that we sing "Joy To The World" to celebrate the birth of Christ. The person who wrote the email actually said "the song is better suited for acknowledging the Second Coming of Christ when he truly will Rule the World”. That philosophy or theology or eschatology is not only disgusting, it is destructive. The email went on to say "next time you hear the song, think of the glorious time when Christ will return..." That is just pathetic. "Joy to the World" is a perfect song to celebrate the incarnation; it's a wonderful song to commemorate the blessed and glorious birth of our King.

When Christ came and took on human flesh in the form of a baby He was beginning His once-and-for-all accomplishment of redemption. There was His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension to the throne of Heaven and His sending of His Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The first coming of Christ, not the Second, was successfully intended to enthrone Him as King. As Zechariah's prophecy made crystal clear: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days." (Luke 1:68-75)

He came as a child to deliver His people from their enemies. Believe it or not, we actually have enemies who hate us. We don't have to wait for the Second Coming. We celebrate the birth of Christ who is "the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." His birth marked the beginning of His enthronement. He now reigns as King of Kings and He "he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet." (1 Cor 15:25) Joy to the world the Lord IS come. We do not have to wait till He comes again. He has already gained the victory. He is coming again for His bride but only after all enemies have been put under His feet.

Christmas is a celebration of the incarnation. It is a celebration of the embodiment of the Second Person of the Trinity. Those of us who have a postmillennial view of eschatology (an optimistic view of the future of the world) can celebrate all the more. We can truly sing that He now "rules the world with truth and grace..." He is seated on the throne right now and "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." (Rev 11:15) We have a greater desire and more of a hope to see the embodiment of the kingdom in time and in history. Christ taking on flesh was the beginning of Christ taking on the world. This Christmas, let's remember that He reigns and He has all dominion and power and authority. Merry Christmas!

R. J. Rushdoony wrote this: "One of the most important prophecies concerning the birth of our Lord is in Isaiah 9:6–7. Christ, eight centuries before His coming, is hailed as the “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace,” and it is declared that “the government shall be upon his shoulder.” This is the first great declaration concerning Christ and all government: the ultimate and absolute government of all things shall belong to Christ. The second great declaration is that “[o]f the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” Christ, coming into a sinful and rebellious world to establish His dominion as Lord and Savior, will in the face of all enmity and warfare increase His power, government, and peace."

Looking Back - R. J. Rushdoony

"So you don’t like problems, troubles, and frustrations? Join the babies; you will have lots of company. And buy yourself a pacifier and go to bed. Get out of the way. The rest of us have work to do."

~ R. J. Rushdoony

Classic Rousas John Rushdoony

Kingdom Victory or Sinking Ship?

The ascension of Jesus was not a vacation. Christ ascended up to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father far above all rule and authority and power and dominion (Eph 1:22). He must reign until all enemies are under His feet and the last enemy that will be destroyed is death (1 Cor 15:25-26). He is more than a Saviour on a cross. He is the resurrected King on a throne.

When He ascended into the clouds everyone was looking up into the sky for obvious reasons. But what I find very interesting is what happened when they were looking up… “And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?” (Acts 1:10-11)

Even though, to us, that might sound like a stupid question, I think the two men in white wanted to make a point loud and clear. It was as if they were saying, “Men of Galilee, he’ll be back—but, in the meantime, don’t you have something to do? Didn't He tell you to DO something?" Didn't he give you an assignment? You saw the plane leave now get out of the airport and get busy. Jesus will come back but in the meantime “occupy” or “engage in business" till He comes. (Luke 19:13)

The problem with staring into the clouds and being worried about being “Left Behind” is that you can’t see what’s happening on earth. As the saying goes, “you’re so heavenly minded your no earthly good.” Some might object and say “this world is only getting worse… all we can do is look up and hope that Jesus might come to rescue us at any moment.” That’s just like the guy who said “You don’t polish brass on a sinking ship.” The problem with that phrase is that it assumes two faulty things. First, that the world is nothing more than a “sinking ship”; second, that “occupying” or “engaging in business” or rebuilding would be nothing more than “polishing brass.”

We should not inwardly rejoice when we see crime on the rise and wars abounding and the family unit collapsing. We should not see our world falling apart as progress. We should not have as our goal the complete collapse of civilization, a sign that Jesus might come to rescue us at any moment. We need to be about our Father’s business. We should be taking dominion and advancing His Kingdom in the earth. Why do you stand looking into heaven? Look around; make a difference; get busy! Christians are not called to be mere survivors but more than conquerors.

Conservative Humanism or Rebuild?

In a sermon on Psalm 11 titled “Restoring the Foundations,” Joe Morecraft III says: “If we are going to win America back for our children, we must analyze and confront the critical issues before us as Christians and not simply as conservatives. Conservatism is impotent. Conservative humanism is as devastating to this republic as Liberal humanism —it just takes longer.”

Referring to the bad advice given to David by his friends —- that he should flee and not fight —Morecraft says they were… “…short-sighted, cowardly and despondent regarding their dangerous situation. They were not malicious enemies; they were cowardly friends, whose perspective was one of unbelief. Cowardice is always dangerous and deadly; and any advice to desert a post of duty is unwise and wicked.”

Morecraft also said: “So then, if the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? What should he do? What must he do?” Rebuild the foundations! Give all his life, resources and energy to the restoring of those foundations with the help of God. And for us today, this work must go on regardless of the difficulties, threats and set-backs.”

Slackers and Lighthouses

Prov 18:9 says, “Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.” Inactivity is equal to destruction. Inactivity is the evil twin brother of destruction. The problem, though, is that inactivity is hardly ever recognized as a sin because it is a sin of omission and there is no obvious evil act committed. Not working hard, according to Proverbs 18:9 is equal to sabotage and destructive behavior.

Many slackers spend all their time talking about how wicked the destroyers are. But, slackers are equal (twin brothers) to those destroyers. It is much easier to stand there or sit there and curse the darkness. It’s hard to actually build a lighthouse. Because building a lighthouse takes time, building a lighthouse takes commitment, building a lighthouse takes money, building a lighthouse takes dedication, building a lighthouse takes planning, building a lighthouse takes labor, building a lighthouse takes teamwork, building a lighthouse takes sweat, building a lighthouse takes frustration, building a lighthouse takes risk, building a lighthouse takes responsibility, building a lighthouse takes self-sacrifice. He who fails to build a lighthouse is equal to him who promotes the darkness.

Ecclesiastes 10:18 says, “If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks.” America’s walls are sagging and leaking. We can sit there and curse the sagging and the leaking. We can sit there and complain about the sagging and the leaking. We can sit there and protest about the sagging and the leaking. BUT – the rafters are sagging and the house is leaking because of our laziness, because of our complacency, because of our passivity, because of our inactivity. Prov 1:32 – “For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them” This verse is just like the verse I started with (Prov. 18:0) about the twin brothers. The complacency of fools destroys them. Complacency brings destruction.“Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.” Doing nothing destroys just as much as doing something destructive.