The above title comes from Psalm 2 and looks at the question why is it that some get so enraged against God. The Psalm then goes on to declare the sovereignty of God - that when puny man shakes his fist at God He simply laughs at them.
However, the question remains - why do people get so angry at God? There may be various reasons; perhaps they have had some bad experiences in life and feel bitter, which is understandable. The Psalmist, though, does not seem to be addressing this kind of situation but rather one where people are determined to show rebellion against God because they hate Him, and they hate His laws. This is particularly so with atheists - they write books and website blogs railing against God. If God doesn't exist why are they getting so angry at Him, why waste so much time and effort, and even money, opposing God? If He doesn't exist then they can simply put the subject out of their minds and carry on with their lives. I have even come across people who read the Bible for the sole purpose of rubbishing it and exposing it's alleged errors, (of course, there are no errors in the Bible, but we'll save that for the next blog!).
I would suggest 2 reasons for such irrational behaviour:
Firstly, because God has written His laws on their consciences and they know that they are sinners in His sight. Maybe this is why they get angry at Christians who simply offer them Gospel leaflets, or Bible posters that declare the truth of Psalm 14 v 1 (look it up).
Secondly, because God has written eternity on their hearts - and now we are getting to the real problem as far as they are concerned. Deep down they know that there is a coming judgement day when they will give account to God, and that everyone of us will spend eternity in Heaven or in Hell. Because they know they are not right with God, and that (unless they repent) they will end up in the Lake of Fire, they are seeking to convince themselves that there is no God. They are desperately trying to persuade their consciences, and whoever will listen, that there is nothing to worry about when they die.
What should be our response to this? Having been abused by atheists, both on the streets and on the Internet, I have come to the conclusion that our response should be threefold:
1) Declare the Gospel without any watering down. They say they don't believe the Bible but that is no excuse for us to hold back from declaring it's inerrant truths.
2) Answer their questions honestly, if you can get a word in edge ways!
3) Pray earnestly that God will be pleased to grant them repentance unto life and release them from their bondage to Satan.
I would close by encouraging you with the following words of the Saviour "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out" John 6 v 37. If God is drawing an atheist ( or anybody for that matter) to a knowledge of Himself, then that person will come, he/she will repent and accept Jesus as their personal Saviour.
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Alyosha - the Baptist
During the dark days of communist rule, in what was then known as the Soviet Union, many people were put into labour/concentration camps simply for voicing opinions or beliefs that the regime didn't like. The vast majority of these victims of repression were unknown to us in the free west but a few were very well known indeed - perhaps the most renowned being Alexander Solzenhitsyn. He was a writer who had voiced unwelcome views and was sent to a labour camp. Afterwards he wrote of his experiences in the classic work - "The Gulag Archipelago". Due to it's size (it was 3 volumes long) I never attempted it but I did read his second most famous book "A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich" - which was much smaller!
This book outlined a typical day in one of these dreadful places. Of course, names had to be changed but it was a factual account of what conditions were like and so on. One of the characters mentioned was Alyosha - the Baptist. He had been put away for preaching the Gospel and he had managed to smuggle in a New Testament. He used to hide it in his bedding and would read it every day before the "wake up call" sounded out for the day to begin.
Had Alyosha been caught by the guards he would have been in trouble - big time, but he was willing to run the risk. The question is why? One would have thought that being incarcerated in such a place it would be wise and prudent to follow the rules and keep one's head down. Yet this man was willing to risk a severe penalty just to read a book! Again the question is asked - why?
The answer is simple - the Bible, of which the New testament is a part, is no ordinary book. The Bible is God's infallible word to us. All that He has to say to us is contained within it's pages. The Holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, the need for God's forgiveness, the sacrifice of Christ for our sins, the eternal penalty for the impenitent, and encouragements/directions for the believers are all there in this wonderful work. It is for this reason that Alyosha was willing to risk so much to read just a few pages of this precious word - it strengthened him for the rigours of the day ahead.
During the days of the Soviet Union many attempts were made by the communists to eradicate the Bible, these attempts failed. Despite 70 years of a deliberate policy to wipe out the Bible it remained, stood firm, caused many to believe in Jesus and today, it is still doing it's wonderful work - years after communism collapsed in Eastern Europe. This fact alone is proof that God is behind His word - but we'll save that for another blog article!
This book outlined a typical day in one of these dreadful places. Of course, names had to be changed but it was a factual account of what conditions were like and so on. One of the characters mentioned was Alyosha - the Baptist. He had been put away for preaching the Gospel and he had managed to smuggle in a New Testament. He used to hide it in his bedding and would read it every day before the "wake up call" sounded out for the day to begin.
Had Alyosha been caught by the guards he would have been in trouble - big time, but he was willing to run the risk. The question is why? One would have thought that being incarcerated in such a place it would be wise and prudent to follow the rules and keep one's head down. Yet this man was willing to risk a severe penalty just to read a book! Again the question is asked - why?
The answer is simple - the Bible, of which the New testament is a part, is no ordinary book. The Bible is God's infallible word to us. All that He has to say to us is contained within it's pages. The Holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, the need for God's forgiveness, the sacrifice of Christ for our sins, the eternal penalty for the impenitent, and encouragements/directions for the believers are all there in this wonderful work. It is for this reason that Alyosha was willing to risk so much to read just a few pages of this precious word - it strengthened him for the rigours of the day ahead.
During the days of the Soviet Union many attempts were made by the communists to eradicate the Bible, these attempts failed. Despite 70 years of a deliberate policy to wipe out the Bible it remained, stood firm, caused many to believe in Jesus and today, it is still doing it's wonderful work - years after communism collapsed in Eastern Europe. This fact alone is proof that God is behind His word - but we'll save that for another blog article!
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Free Speech Victory - Praise the Lord ! !
Readers of this blog will know that I have mentioned the issue of free speech a couple of times, with particular reference to the government's attempt to remove the "Free Speech clause" from the gay hate law. To put this in context I would remind readers that when the govt. passed the law forbidding the incitement of hatred against gays they allowed what became known as the "Waddington amendment". This basically stated that it was permissible under law to criticise homosexual behaviour. However in the current session of parliament the govt. has attempted to remove this protection thus making it easier for the Police to harass Evangelical Christians.
A great deal of lobbying was done by the Christian Institute and others to persuade parliament to defeat the govt. and this paid off today when the Justice Secretary - Jack Straw- finally came to his senses and accepted that the free speech clause was here to stay. This decision followed last night's defeat by the House of Lords on the matter.
This decision will come as a great relief to us and a wonderful answer to prayer. None of us wants the right to stir up hatred or violence against gays but we do insist upon our freedom to teach the truths of God's infallible word on all issues - this one being no exception. The Bible is crystal clear - homosexuality is an abomination, it is a perversion, and unrepentant homos will end up in Hell. However, the mercy and grace of God is such that if they truly repent of their vileness and accept Jesus as their personal Saviour then the "slate is wiped clean" and they will be saved. 1st Corinthians 6 v 9-11 is a good summary of the truth on this issue.
This victory is clearly of God who has manifested His power to preserve Gospel freedom. Several years ago when the govt. tried to make it illegal to criticise Islam they were defeated by one vote (the Prime Minister having gone home early because he thought that victory was "in the bag" but he reckoned without Divine intervention!). Today's victory has prompted me to remember the words of Psalm 126 v 3 "The Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are glad".
A great deal of lobbying was done by the Christian Institute and others to persuade parliament to defeat the govt. and this paid off today when the Justice Secretary - Jack Straw- finally came to his senses and accepted that the free speech clause was here to stay. This decision followed last night's defeat by the House of Lords on the matter.
This decision will come as a great relief to us and a wonderful answer to prayer. None of us wants the right to stir up hatred or violence against gays but we do insist upon our freedom to teach the truths of God's infallible word on all issues - this one being no exception. The Bible is crystal clear - homosexuality is an abomination, it is a perversion, and unrepentant homos will end up in Hell. However, the mercy and grace of God is such that if they truly repent of their vileness and accept Jesus as their personal Saviour then the "slate is wiped clean" and they will be saved. 1st Corinthians 6 v 9-11 is a good summary of the truth on this issue.
This victory is clearly of God who has manifested His power to preserve Gospel freedom. Several years ago when the govt. tried to make it illegal to criticise Islam they were defeated by one vote (the Prime Minister having gone home early because he thought that victory was "in the bag" but he reckoned without Divine intervention!). Today's victory has prompted me to remember the words of Psalm 126 v 3 "The Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are glad".
Friday, 6 November 2009
The invincible word
Just after writing my last post, which looked at the fact that some people try to suppress evangelism, my thoughts turned to the events of Acts chapter 12. As a brief recap this is what happened:
King Herod murdered James and put Peter in prison, no doubt intending to do the same to him. Here was a man who clearly had every intention of crushing evangelism and the spread of the Christian faith. However, he was thwarted - Peter was miraculously released, and Herod was struck down by God. Just after reading about his demise these words appear "....but the word of God grew and multiplied".
As I reflected on this I was brought to a wonderful realisation that, no matter how much the servants of the devil seek to stop evangelism God always has a way of getting His word out. What is sobering, however, is that God will bring down those who attempt to stop the spreading of that word. I have read about so many situations where those who have sought to do the devil's work by hindering Christian witness have been removed and God's word has gone out. I will give just one example. Some Christians went to a hotel in order to ask permission to leave Bibles for guests to read, "over my dead body!" said the manager; no way was he allowing Bibles in his hotel. A short while later one of the Christians had a phone call from the deputy manager begging him to come to the hotel and leave Bibles as the manager had had a heart attack! One acknowledges that even devout and godly Christians may have heart attacks but this incident was surely not just a random event. Needless to say the Bibles were taken along and God's word got through!
To be fair most non-Christians are tolerant people and will not seek to persecute Christians or hinder Christian witness. However, there seems to be an increasing number of unbelievers who will attempt to do both; their militancy can be intimidating. Despite this we need not fear - God is sovereign. As Psalm 68 v 1 says "Let God arise......His enemies be scattered". We are on the victory side, God will ensure that His word is spread, obstacles removed and His enemies are dealt with. One hopes that God, in His mercy, will deal with opponents by granting them repentance unto life and saving them like, eg, Saul who became Paul. However, it is a sobering thought that those who dare to stand in the way of evangelism are putting themselves against the Almighty and "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God". Hebrews 10 v 31.
King Herod murdered James and put Peter in prison, no doubt intending to do the same to him. Here was a man who clearly had every intention of crushing evangelism and the spread of the Christian faith. However, he was thwarted - Peter was miraculously released, and Herod was struck down by God. Just after reading about his demise these words appear "....but the word of God grew and multiplied".
As I reflected on this I was brought to a wonderful realisation that, no matter how much the servants of the devil seek to stop evangelism God always has a way of getting His word out. What is sobering, however, is that God will bring down those who attempt to stop the spreading of that word. I have read about so many situations where those who have sought to do the devil's work by hindering Christian witness have been removed and God's word has gone out. I will give just one example. Some Christians went to a hotel in order to ask permission to leave Bibles for guests to read, "over my dead body!" said the manager; no way was he allowing Bibles in his hotel. A short while later one of the Christians had a phone call from the deputy manager begging him to come to the hotel and leave Bibles as the manager had had a heart attack! One acknowledges that even devout and godly Christians may have heart attacks but this incident was surely not just a random event. Needless to say the Bibles were taken along and God's word got through!
To be fair most non-Christians are tolerant people and will not seek to persecute Christians or hinder Christian witness. However, there seems to be an increasing number of unbelievers who will attempt to do both; their militancy can be intimidating. Despite this we need not fear - God is sovereign. As Psalm 68 v 1 says "Let God arise......His enemies be scattered". We are on the victory side, God will ensure that His word is spread, obstacles removed and His enemies are dealt with. One hopes that God, in His mercy, will deal with opponents by granting them repentance unto life and saving them like, eg, Saul who became Paul. However, it is a sobering thought that those who dare to stand in the way of evangelism are putting themselves against the Almighty and "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God". Hebrews 10 v 31.
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