I send out this article, centred upon a text which is most suitable when Ulster is marking that day when God in His mercy granted a victory to the forces of William of Orange which providentially, secured for Ulster Protestants the freedom to worship in accordance with the Word of God.
I have to say that sadly, the day will be marked by many Orangemen crowding into public houses, many of which are owned by Irish republicans, in total ignorance of what it was happened on July 12th 1690 or the true significance of that event! They will have carried banners with Scripture texts and some lodges are even led by one of its members carrying a copy of the Bible as they march in the procession.
But grievingly such symbolism is meaningless to so many Orangemen!
We have surely witnessed the the foundations of our gospel heritage being eroded and destroyed by a departure within the main Protestant denominations
Sincerely in Christ’s name,
Ivan Foster
The only answer to a distressing situation
“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3.
The circumstances in which “the foundations” of true religion are deemed to be destroyed in a land is set forth in the Psalm.
1. When the believer is as a helpless bird being hunted, as was David in the days of this Psalm. In a day of apostasy the Christian is counted of little value, afforded little honour and deemed an easy target. David’s words to Saul as the king hunted him, are worth repeating. “Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains,” 1 Samuel 26:20.
Nothing is more despised than is the witness of the gospel today. It is for this reason political organisations such as the Democratic Unionist Party seek to cast off the cloak of ‘the old-time religion’ it once was happy to wear because it is now deemed a liability and costing them votes!
2. When the wicked feel that they are free to target the upright. “For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart,” verse 2.
Sadly it is not just the wicked but foolish and blinded professing Christians who ‘shoot’ lies and false criticisms at those who are ‘correct’ in their denunciations of the sins of this age. They whisper and seek to conceal their false and defamatory statements from those they target for they know in their hearts that there is no substance to their allegations!
It is in such circumstances that it may be seen that the ‘foundation, support, stay’ (Hebrew) of true and holy religion has come under attack and ‘been pulled down’.
Is that not the state of affairs today?
Outside the ‘Church’, the most ungodly notions of men have become the legitimised practice of the nations, endorsed by governments and the leaders of apostate Christendom!
Inside the ‘Church’, there is a striving to ‘ape’ the world and many who claim to be the servants of God promote, defend and seek to justify such wicked behaviour. The singing of modern ‘songs’ which come from the worldly-minded professing Christians are deemed much more suitable and honouring of God than those written of old — in the days of revival and of displays of God’s saving power — by holy men and woman whose hearts were filled with a desire to honour and glorify the God of Holy Scripture.
The words of such hymns are in harmony with God’s Word and sung to tunes which are pleasing to the soul and utterly unworldly!
Furthermore, in the pulpits today the preaching is shallow and barren of any real and courageous application of God’s denunciations of the wickedness of the latter days on display all around.
I. THE QUESTION ASKED HERE CLEARLY IMPLIES THAT IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES THE RIGHTEOUS ARE REQUIRED TO ‘DO’ SOMETHING!
1. I think that there is here a suggestion that the answer to the question is not readily perceived by many. All too many may be heard to to say, ‘What can we do?’
Surely such a question denotes ignorance of God’s Word for therein is revealed to us what we must do whenever such circumstances come upon us. The Christian is not left without counsel and guidance and if they feel lost it is because they have not been paying attention to God’s ‘map’, His Word.
2. What the righteous are required to do is certainly not to wring their hands in helpless despair! I am sure that there was virtue in the action of Moses and his companions in the face of the terrible wickedness that broke out in the camp of Israel as recorded in Numbers 25:6. “And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,” Numbers 25:6.
However, we are assertively told that it was the actions of Phinehas which saved the day! “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel,” Numbers 25:10-13.
Am I wrong in saying that it appears that many good people today lament at the state of religion in their congregation but remain silent and inactive? I think I am correct.
Such inactivity merely aids and encourages the departure from God that is taking place. I cannot but believe that if more who felt that dear Dr Paisley was taking a wrong step back in 2006-7 had boldly spoken out then, and supported the few who did, rather than remaining silent in the face of the many fawning voices of those more interested in ‘feathering their own nests’ than upholding the truth of God, he might have been preserved from the costly folly that resulted from that wrong decision of aligning himself and his party with Sinn Fein/IRA. The subsequent decline within the Free Presbyterian Church may have also been avoided.
3. What is required in the day when the foundations are destroyed is a diligent rebuilding of them! Back in the 1960s, the foundations of true religion and its separation from worldliness, ecumenism and modern theology were, under God’s blessing, laid afresh.
Verses were then pressed upon the people of God such as: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Amos 3:3.
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper,” Psalm 1:1-3.
“I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked,” Psalm 26:4-5.
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty,” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, AV)
“For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them, . . . And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them,” Ephesians 5:5-7, 11.
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities,” Revelation 18:4-5.
It was with great joy and encouragement that I recently sat and listened to such verses referred to and applied to the situation in which Christians find themselves today. May there be a wholesale return to such preaching for thereby the foundations of true religion will be laid again amongst God’s people and a holy and God-honouring, soul-saving witness restored in Ulster.
II. IN THE VERSES WHICH IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW OUR TEXT THE LORD SHOWS HIMSELF READY AND WAITING TO HELP THOSE SEEKING TO REBUILD THE FOUNDATIONS
“The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth,” verses 4-5.
1. The Lord continues to rule and reign, irrespective of the activities of the wicked upon the earth! Hand-wringing despair and helplessness amongst Christians in a day of contention spring from the notion that God is no longer in control. That is the only explanation for such behaviour. Please recall Joshua and Caleb’s answer to the unbelieving response of the other spies and the people who believed their pathetic and evil report.
“And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night,” Numbers 13:27-14:1.
Note the hand-wringing and weeping and the unbelief that gave rise to it!
Only Joshua and Caleb amongst those spies believed that God was still on the throne and would give them victory over their enemies. Unbelief turned the people most viciously against God’s faithful servants.
“And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
But all the congregation bade stone them with stones,” Numbers 14:6-10.
That is the change wrought by unbelief amongst God’s people. They turned against faithful men and would have killed them, all because they ceased to believe that God was still on the throne and He rules and reigns amongst the nations of men!
2. The Lord sits upon His throne in heaven and awaits the cry for help from His people. David prayed for his fellow believers: “The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion,” Psalm 20:1-2.
Again, we are promised: “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me,” Psalm 50:15.
In the same spirit we read: “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation,” Psalm 91:14-16.
Such verses as these have been the means of reviving and restoring God’s people in the many ‘days of trouble’ which have come upon them. Adversity and tribulation (the meaning of trouble in these verses) have ever been the portion of God’s people in this world. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world,” John 16:33.
The fact that in 2024 there is still in this world a witness to biblical gospel truth is evidence enough that God IS ON THE THRONE and has delivered His people from the innumerable attempts of the devil to destroy them and the message of salvation!
That being so, we ought to get on our knees afresh and, as has been done in the past, cry unto the Lord. The Psalmist learned that lesson and acted upon it.
“LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation,” Psalm 85:1-7.
In Psalm 80, the Psalmist repeats the simple yet profound petition which should be taken up by us today and also repeatedly uttered in fervent prayer.
“Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved,” verses 3, 7, 19.
3. It is such cries from God’s people that will bring upon this wicked God-defying world God’s eternal wrath. “The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup,” Psalm 11:5-6.
Such will be the ultimate end of this conflict. The devil and his followers will not win but reap a terrible harvest for their wickedness. The cry in heaven is, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” Revelation 6:10.
IN WRATH REMEMBER MERCY
While praying for the overthrowing of the ‘foundation-destroyers’ we must in compassion also pray: “O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy,” Habakkuk 3:2. Sadly, there is many a ‘Lot’ in today’s Sodom and for such we must, like Abraham, pray.
We should pray remembering that all of us who profess faith in Christ were by nature lost and condemned sinners, deserving nothing but eternal damnation. Many of us were, as Paul reminded the Corinthians, ranked amongst the vilest of sinners.
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God,” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
Is this not what is needed today in order to rebuild the witness and work of God? Does this not answer the question that appears to perplex and puzzle some in the leadership of God’s witness today?
Let us cease from puzzling and quizzing and give ourselves to obeying God’s plain directives in His Word.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Friday 12th July 2024