All who oppose God’s people are enemies of God. From the beginning until today these enemies have made relentless attempts to defeat Christ and His church. We must not assume that things on earth are too bad for God of heaven to intervene and rescue us. We must avoid the mindset of how desolate and forsaken we are. God knows our propensity for discouragement. God sees the desperate conditions of His people. He knows their weaknesses and intervenes in response to their prayers.
There is great comfort for the Christian (Isaiah 63:1-6); God will pour out His wrath upon the enemies, and He will redeem his people from the enemy. We are not left to ourselves; we are not alone in our battle. Christ is in our camp. He is not just in our camp, He is our commander. Christ is not just our only hope; He is our best hope. He is righteous. He came to vindicate His righteousness, to defend and display His glory to the whole world, and to uphold the honor of His name. He came not only to save us, but ultimately to re-establish what sin has ruined.
But, what happens when God’s people disobey Him and rebel against Him? We see this happen in history where God had to discipline His people for their stiff-neck rebellion again and again. Israel acted disobediently, rejected the law, went after foreign gods, and grieved the Holy Spirit. God’s response towards them was to turn away and become their enemy fighting against them. Throughout history, scripture tells us that Israel was defeated not as a result of their enemies’ power or strength, but as a result of their rebellion against God. The might of their enemies didn’t matter when God was on their side, they always won.
What was true for the people of God on that day is still true today for us. Today, we are also in a danger of falling into the same situation, turning God away from us. There is a striking parallel between what has happened to Israel, and the condition in Canada today. We live in a society much like Israel: pluralistic pagan worship, suppression of the one true faith, violence and racism, killing babies, immorality, homosexuality, occult worship, astrology, and unbelief.
Our nation started gloriously at the beginning holding to the truth of God both privately and publicly. God was the center of every activity, even our anthem recognized God, churches were the hub of every community. The government, organizations, and schools operated based on the revealed standards of the scripture. That was the time of the beginning of Canada, but not anymore. We started drifting away from the divine authority of God. We removed God from every possible activity of life. We scratched God from our anthem, removed God from schools, from workplaces, communities, and public places. Divine standards were replaced by human opinions and ungodly principles and philosophies. As a nation, we have turned our back on God’s truth.
Today there is so much opposition for Christians in this country. Look at what’s happening around us today. We’ve been attacked by enemies in every direction. Media, government policies, immoral laws, wicked school curriculums, prosperity preaching… all coming against Christians from every direction. We feel that we are left to ourselves without any hope.
Our problem is not how strong our enemies are; our problem is not how powerful and mighty the people and organizations out there; our problem is not how strict the government and laws are against us. It is not how shrewdly the media is attacking us. Our problem is that we are tempted to act like the Israelites of Old. When we start acting like that, God will become our enemy and will turn against us. When we grieve the Spirit of God, He abandons us to our chosen course, and leaves us to a series of spiritual and temporal disasters. We know that if God is for us nobody can be against us. But, this is true also; If God is against us nobody can oppose Him either.
How can we escape from God’s judgment? There is only one way; repenting and returning to God. As the prophet Isiah said, “Give the LORD no rest [from your prayers] until he completes his work” (Is.62:7). Regardless of what’s happening on earth, Christ is still on the throne ruling the whole universe. No matter how dark or how miserable and seemingly hopeless the situation is, God is in control. Christ is consumed by a zeal for His church. It is redeemed by His own blood, and it is His precious possession. The Lord acted alone on the Cross and He will act alone when it comes to executing divine vengeance. He is for His people and not against them; in their trouble, He will lift them and carry them.
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