When you meet one from a foreign country who speaks a language that you do not understand, you will rightly judge him to be a stranger. And when the child of God, who speaks the language of faith, which is the language of the Kingdom of Heaven, meets those who are citizens in the Kingdom of Darkness, they will appear to him to be strangers, even though they wear the same style of clothing, and have the same color of skin.
What is more, because the child of God walks by faith, he wants no part in the sinful pleasures that the unbeliever enjoys. And if his godly walk threatens those sinful pleasures, those of the Kingdom of Darkness will come up against these believers and try to get them out of the way.
David had that experience and in Psalm 54:3 wrote: "For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul; they have not set God before them,'' Our Psalter versification has it thus:
Strong foes against me rise,
Oppressors seek my soul,
Who set not God before their eyes,
Nor own His just control.
That is why in verse 1 he had written, "Save me, O God by Thy name and judge me by Thy strength.'' And for us today the question is whether there is that spiritual difference between us and the world. Do we go along with the world in their sinful pleasures of the flesh? Do they look strange to us, or are they our good friends? Are we strangers to them?
This is a serious matter today even more so than when David wrote these words. Not only is the world crowding into the church far more than in that day, but much in the church world today is joining with the forces of darkness. Even the language in the church sounds so often so much like that of the unbeliever. Satan with his 6,000 years of experience and modern inventions has improved his tools and will soon produce an antichrist who will look so much like Christ that, were it not for the grace of God, many would be deceived and led astray. Then we shall see how strangers are risen up against us. They now seek our soul, but will also seek to take away our lives.
Read: Psalm 86
Psalter versification: #147:2
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter #125
Why not sing along??
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
II Kings 1
II Kings 2
Acts 13
Acts 14:1-7
Psalm 139:1-24
Proverbs 17:19-21
Quote for Reflection:
¼ that world, in the midst of which we have our life and walk, tempts us to leave the way of righteousness and to follow after the lusts of the flesh. Sometimes it attacks us by its vain philosophy, attempting to toss us to and fro by every wind of doctrine. Then again, it tries to entice us by its treasures and pleasures, offering them to us if we will only forsake the way of truth and righteousness and become unfaithful to our Lord and Father in heaven. Again, it threatens us with the fury of its wrath, deprives us of name and position in the world, mocks and blashemes, or even erects scaffold and stake, to terrorize us into the denial of the name of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. – The Triple Knowledge by Herman Hoeksema (pg. 617)
Additional Info
- Date: 21-June