Thy People Shall Be Willing

“And after these things he went forth and saw a publican named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him.”

— Luke 5:27-28

“Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power…”

— Psalm 110:3

In Luke chapter 5, the Good Shepherd leaves the ninety and nine astonished by a miraculous act of healing to go find a single publican. The Spirit does not come to as a reward. Levi was a publican, also known as a tax collector. This means that he was a thief, an extortioner, and covenant-breaker who was willing to afflict his brethren for personal gain. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit [1].

If salvation were a reward no one would get it. If we had to earn our salvation we wouldn’t, because we can’t. Instead it says, Not by works of rightouesness which we have done, but according ot his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost [2].

On the day of His power, he makes us willing like Levi to drop everything and follow Jesus. Levi gives no objection or excuses as to why he is too busy to drop his stop counting his money and follow the Savior. So what’s your excuse? What’s my excuse?!

When Peter was called to apostleship earlier in the same gospel narrative, he fell down before Jesus and said, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord [3].

Yes, there are some prayers God won’t answer! How fortunate for us that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance [4]! Our sin, our rebellion, our refusal or inability to “cooperate with grace” will not overrule God’s sovereign decree. Our despair and the accuser of the brethren reminds us of our sin and unworthiness. Our despair can say, Depart from me I am sinful! But our God has said, I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee [5].

Scriptures

1John 3:8

2Titus 3:5

3Luke 5:8

4Rom 11:29

5Josh 1:5

Population Control

“Now there arose up a new king over Egypt,

which knew not Joseph.

 And he said unto his people,

Behold, the people of the children of Israel

are more and mightier than we:

Come on, let us deal wisely with them:

 lest they multiply and it come to pass, that,

when there falleth out any war,

they join also unto our enemies,

and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land…

But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.

And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.

— Exodus 1:8-12

There is no new thing under the sun [1]. Here we see a primitive attempt at population control and eugenics long before Darwin. Invoking wisdom, the king of Egypt became a fool and made God his enemy. Affliction purified and multiplied the visible Old Covenant church to the point that Pharaoh decides to resort to infanticide to curb the swelling population of the Hebrews. God returned this bloody edict onto Egypt’s own head in the final plague – death to every firstborn male in the land of Egypt from the richest to the poorest and even their livestock as well.

Image Credit: Microsoft Bing Image Creator

We should be instructed and warned from the Exodus account not to enact any law or edict that calls for the murder of anyone, especially children and the pre-born. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men [2], but he takes special concern for the most vulnerable in society who lack any other source of protection – the widows, foreigners, and the fatherless. God says to the people from Sinai:

Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him:

for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.

If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me,

I will surely hear their cry: And my wrath shall wax hot,

and I will kill you with the sword;

and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless [3].

We also know that this concern for children and the fatherless extends to the preborn because God’s law requires life for life [4] when someone’s actions injure a pregnant woman and cause her to miscarry and the child dies.

China is reaping the whirlwind for its decades of forced abortion and sterilizations that occurred under the “one-child policy.” There is a huge imbalance in the ratio of females to males and its population is now in free-fall. If world war or global famine do not break the Chi-com regime, population collapse will. “In the multitude of people is the king’s honour: but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.” — Proverbs 14:28

China certainly is not the only country with a demographic problem. Birthrates are falling all over the world due to many cultural and biological factors - the chiefest of which is rejection of a Biblical moral code and social contract. We should be skeptical of the narrative that children are burdensome to the environment or that there is a “right” number of children to have. Our business when it comes to these things should be that life is sacred and children are a blessing. Male, female, young, or old all are made in the image of God.

Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,

and ye perish from the way,

when his wrath is kindled but a little.”

— Psalm 2:10-12

Scriptures:

1 Ecc 1:9

2Rom 1:18

3Ex 22:21-24

4Ex 21:23

Why do the Wicked Prosper?

Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? 

Jeramiah 12:1

The short answer is, this is not for us to understand. However, it could certainly be understood better if we’d only search the Word.

All of humanity was made in the image of God and also died with Adam in the Garden of Eden. The Garden is where Adam and Eve became as gods, to know good and evil [1], and this unique consciousness, passed down to us from them, is the thing that separates humans from the rest of creation.

This means humanity, even the very best and “innocent” of us, is fallen, dead in Adam, and is in need of reconciliation to the Creator. God chooses who will be saved from this death and appoints a time for this to occur, be it at birth or death or anything in between, [2] and these are the ones who have obtained everlasting life. But many will remain dead and will experience the second death [3] according to God’s sovereign will.    

So why do the wicked prosper? Look to the Lord.

In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing...

Eccl 7:15

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God

Eccl 8:12-13

These verses seem to contradict each other, but really, they tell us that both the righteous and the wicked belong to God and both are subject to varying measures of blessings and torments in this physical realm. But understand that earth is not the final destination.

The kingdom of heaven is not a physical place or a temple made with hands [4]. It is not a church building nor does it consist of treasures we lay up on the earth. Though these things be beautiful to our eyes, and though we enjoy them while we live, they do not follow us into eternity. Of course, we pray that God would provide us with an adequate portion in this life and that his many blessings would be upon us [5], but our true home is heavenly Jerusalem, and to understand this, is to be saved. Our days here are entirely vanity except we be called into communion with the Creator through Christ the Son [6].

The wicked on the other hand, only have this earth because they have been rendered incapable of apprehending eternity and laying hold of eternal life [7]. And though their days sometimes be prolonged and filled with riches and pleasures, their lives are but shadows, and there can be no rest for them.

If you are currently living your life with no conception of anything beyond the material world, then consider that God the creator entered this earthy realm through the Son Jesus Christ, to bear the burden of your sins. If you sense that you are hopelessly fallen and imperfect, but that God made a path to raise you up from this, then acknowledge your sin and confess it to Him. Call on the name of Jesus Christ and ask that his blood be counted to you as an atonement for sin.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 

Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 

For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Psalm 32:1-5

[1] Gen 3:5

[2] 1 Cor 15:22

[3] Rev 2:11

[4] Acts 17:24

[5] WSC 104:

Q. 104. What do we pray for in the fourth petition?

A. In the fourth petition, which is, Give us this day our daily bread, we pray that of God’s

free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy his

blessing with them.

[6] Jn 6:37

[7] Ex 4:11