Even Though Princes Plot Evil

“Deal bountifully with your servant,

    that I may live and keep your word.

Open my eyes, that I may behold

    wondrous things out of your law.

I am a sojourner on the earth;

    hide not your commandments from me!

My soul is consumed with longing

    for your rules at all times.

You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,

    who wander from your commandments.

Take away from me scorn and contempt,

    for I have kept your testimonies.

Even though princes sit plotting against me,

    your servant will meditate on your statutes.

Your testimonies are my delight;

    they are my counselors.” (Psalms 119:17-24 ESV)

The psalmist loved the Lord, he loved the word of the Lord, he longed for God’s commandments, and he desired to obey them, and that was his practice. But there were others (including princes) who were the insolent, the “accursed ones” who did not love the Lord, and who did not hunger after his word and after righteousness, but who wandered from God’s laws. And they treated the psalmist with scorn and contempt. And they plotted evil against the man of God. Yet he remained steadfast in his walk of faith.

And Jesus Christ and his New Testament apostles warned us that if we follow Jesus Christ with our lives, if our lives are surrendered to him to do his will, to walk in his ways, and in his truth and righteousness, that we will be hated and persecuted as Jesus was hated and persecuted. Especially if we are those who are proclaiming publicly the truth of the gospel of Christ, and if we are dispelling the fruitless deeds of darkness, as we all should be doing, we are going to be rejected, even by others who profess Jesus as Lord.

And it is important that we understand that our enemies may exist in greater proportion among those who profess faith in Jesus Christ than they will from those who make no profession of faith in the Lord. Why? Because so many of them have bought into a cheapened and altered “gospel” message which does not demand death to sin and walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands, but which teaches that a mere profession of faith guarantees us forgiveness of all sins and the promise of heaven when we die.

And many of them are being trained to reject anyone who is teaching that genuine faith which saves requires that, by the grace of God, we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands. It is kind of like the whole “conspiracy theory” tag that they put on anyone who says anything contrary to the “official narrative” shared by the government or by the news media. If we teach the truth of the gospel, we are being tagged as teachers of “works salvation” or as “negative” or as “legalists.”

This is the reality of the world in which we now live where so many now have embraced an altered and cheapened gospel message and an altered character of God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – and an altered character of the church, the body of Christ, i.e. those of genuine God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in the Lord Jesus. “The church” has largely been turned into businesses being marketed to the world and so they alter the truth to make it more appealing and acceptable to human flesh.

And so many pastors of “churches” are following the teachings and marketing schemes of other human beings over the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles which should be taught in their appropriate context. And so it appears that the majority of the people, at least here in America, are not receiving biblical Jesus into their lives, nor the biblical gospel into their lives. Many are just giving lip service to the Lord and they then look to the Lord to be good to them regardless of how they treat him, in return.

And so if you are one who is standing on the truth of the gospel, and so you are teaching the critical nature of self-denial and of dying to sin daily and of walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands, in practice, and if you are, thus, refuting the lies of the enemy which are being taught as biblical truth, and you are dispelling the notion that we can just “pray a prayer” and now we are “saved” for eternity, regardless of how we live, then you should expect to be hated, rejected, and cast aside, even by other “Christians.”

And that will be a hard life to live, and often a lonely one, too, because you don’t have very many friends or supporters or encouragers, because you don’t say all the things that most people want to hear, which makes them feel good. But you say what the people need to hear for them to have genuine faith which saves, and for them to have genuine hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And that is the ultimate of love, to tell people the truth that saves instead of the lies which make them feel good.

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 17:14; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]

Mighty in Power

An Original Work / June 17, 2019

Jesus, our Savior, reigneth forever;

Mighty in power, His name we honor.

He’s our refuge from all evil.

God our righteous, He’s our fill.

He satisfies us with all His blessings.

We magnify Him. Our praise to Him sing.

Glory and honor, praise to the Father,

Perfect in wisdom, He is our vision.

He delivered us from all sin

So, in Christ, we’d be forgiven.

He purifies us. His love will guide us.

He is beside us, holy and righteous.

Our Holy Spirit, comfort in sorrow,

Strength in our weakness, hope for tomorrow.

He gives courage to be bold in

Witnessing for Jesus Christ.

He teaches all things about our Savior.

New life in Jesus, we found His favor. 

https://vimeo.com/343126112