There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Who is in charge? Political scientists use the term “anarchy” to describe the way our world operates because no one is in charge to enforce laws or resolve conflicts. Countries act in their own best interest. Given this state of affairs, we might wonder if the buck stops with anyone at all. The prophet Jeremiah reminds us that God is in control of all things, even the movements of countries on the world stage.In chapter 25, Jeremiah delivers sobering news to the nations (v. 15). God’s wrath is symbolized as a cup of wine which will make them staggering drunk. God lets them know that they will experience war (v. 16). While Jerusalem was due for hard discipline, the nations had worn out God’s patience and He intended to punish them as well (v. 17). This would involve startling geopolitical shifts, causing some empires to rise and others to fall.The list of nations would have shocked Jeremiah’s audience (vv. 19–25). Israel’s neighbors Egypt, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, and more were put on notice! Many of these nations played a negative role in Israel’s politics for centuries. Now God was informing them, through Jeremiah, that they would all be torn down.For little Israel, an island in a sea of enemies, this might have come as good news. But it was also a reminder that God doesn’t play favorites when it comes to disobedience. They would endure their own judgment (v. 18). It’s easy to look out at the world and declare that God will one day judge the nations, but at times we forget that our own people will fall under judgment if we do not repent. “You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword on all who lives on the earth” (v. 29).
Go Deeper Are you quick to rejoice when God judges disobedience in other nations? Have you considered that God commands “all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30)? Extended Reading: Jeremiah 25
Pray with Us Father, may we heed the sobering message of Your “weeping prophet” Jeremiah: You don’t play favorites, and You punish disobedience. Thank You that in Christ, You extend Your love and forgiveness to us.
Revelation 21 In these lessons we focus on heaven as the place where God and His redeemed people will dwell forever.
Theme
The Throne of God and of the Lamb
When John begins to describe this in chapter 21, the thing that impresses him most about Jerusalem is that God dwells there. He writes, “I saw the Holy City,” he says, “the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God’” (vv. 2-3).
There’s a very interesting text in the Old Testament, which I am convinced relates to this and perhaps was something that John had in mind as he wrote these words. Jerusalem, means “the place of God’s peace” because “Salem” means “peace.” And the tragedy of Jerusalem is that it has been anything but a place of peace. That city, which was to be a symbol of the peace of God and a place of earthly peace established through righteousness, becomes a city of warfare.
And with that background, I take you to the very end of the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel has known the fall of Jerusalem, and he is looking forward to the establishing of the new Jerusalem. But after he’s described this new city, he says, “The name of that city from that time on will be ‘the Lord is there’ [Hebrew, yerushamah].” You notice that the name has changed. “Jerusalem,” that is, “the Lord our peace,” in which in the earthly experience was not a city of peace, becomes now “Jerushamah,” “the Lord is there.” And when we come to Revelation, that’s precisely that in which we find John the evangelist rejoicing. What marks the new Jerusalem is the presence of God. God is there. And not only is God there, God is there forever because the destiny of the people of God is to spend eternity with Him.
I want to come back to that, but before I do let’s go on and look at the description. I think it’s always hard when we study Revelation to know how much of the descriptions we find are to be taken literally and how much are to be understood as symbolism. Here we have a city that’s described as being four square, as having a great, high wall, having gates in the wall, massive foundations, streets of gold, and jewels set into the masonry. All these images are supposed to suggest to us the kind of existence we’ll have with God in heaven, the kind of community that He’s establishing.
Have you ever seen pictures of Mont-Saint-Michel, a little island off the French coast, where the tide comes in and surrounds the city at high tide, coming in 14 miles from the ocean, and coming in faster than horses can gallop? Well, Mont-Saint-Michel sits there. It’s this massive thing that was built up in the Middle Ages, a monastic kind of community. It has a little village all around the bottom, and the streets wind their way up. And it goes up in a majestic way to this marvelous cathedral of St. Michel that’s up on the top. The highest thing sticking way up there is this statue of St. Michel. I think maybe that’s the kind of thing, only on a much grander style, that John is describing. You see this massive city prepared for the people of God leaning upward, not to St. Michel, but to God and the Lamb, who take the place of the temple within the holy city.
Study Questions
What change in meaning does Ezekiel foresee concerning the new Jerusalem? What is the significance of this new name?
What is the central element of the new Jerusalem?
Application
Key Point: What marks the new Jerusalem is the presence of God. God is there. And not only is God there, God is there forever because the destiny of the people of God is to spend eternity with Him.
For Further Study: To consider some other themes that characterize heaven, download for free and listen to a message by James Boice on John 14:3, entitled, “Heaven.” (Discount will be applied at checkout.)
That he has a perfect knowledge of all persons and things, and sees them all, even that which is most secret, at one clear, certain, and unerring view.
All things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account, even the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12-13(ESV)
Your eyes are in every place keeping watch on the evil and the good: Proverbs 15:3(ESV) They run to and fro throughout the whole earth, that you may give strong support to those whose hearts are blameless toward you. 2 Chronicles 16:9(ESV)
You search the heart and test the mind, that you may give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. Jeremiah 17:10(ESV)
O God, you have searched us and known us! You know when we sit down and when we rise up; you discern our thoughts from afar. You search out our path and our lying down and are acquainted with all our ways. Even before a word is on our tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. Psalm 139:1-4(ESV) Such knowledge is too wonderful for us; it is high; we cannot attain it. Psalm 139:6(ESV)
That his wisdom is unsearchable, and the counsels and designs of it cannot be fathomed.
Your understanding, O Lord, is infinite, for you determine the number of the stars, and give to all of them their names. Psalm 147:4-5(ESV)
You are wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom; Isaiah 28:29(ESV) wise in heart and mighty in strength. Job 9:4(ESV)
O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; Psalm 104:24(ESV) all according to the counsel of your own will. Ephesians 1:11(ESV)
Oh, the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! Romans 11:33(ESV)
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
Mark 11:24-25
What Jesus is saying is, The great hindrance to having faith in God is pride, the pride that refuses to forgive. That is like a mountain that fills up your whole life. All you can see is that big mountain looming before you, and it is blocking the life of God in your life. You have the power to have that removed if, when you stand and pray, you will forgive those who have offended you. Because the only thing that stops us from forgiving one another is pride. We feel justified in wanting others to forgive us but also in feeling that we have to exact a price for the hurt they have caused us. So, in many ways—subtle, or direct and open—we insist that we will not forgive, that our offenders have to pay for what they have done to us. Somehow, we are going to make them crawl, make them beg or plead for forgiveness. And that, Jesus says, is a great mountain that needs to be removed, for it is blocking the flow of the life of God to your faith. So when you stand and pray, life will flow from God when you are able to recognize that you, too, need forgiveness. God has forgiven you. God has offered it freely to you; give it just as freely to the one who has offended you.
After many years of ministry, I can recite evidence by the yard that this is true. The one thing above all else that seems to block the flow of the life of God to an individual, to a church, or to a nation, is this unwillingness to forgive, this holding of grudges, this desire to put somebody down in order to feel good yourself, this unwillingness to set these things aside and let God heal all the hurts of life.
That is why Jesus puts His finger on this one thing. Is this not amazing? The nation Israel lost its life because it would not forgive the Gentiles, the Romans, who had offended and grieved it. Instead, it gathered its robes of self-righteousness about it and looked with pride up to God and said, I thank God I am not like these other people. God says that is what ends the life of a nation. That is what ends the life of a church. And that is what ends the spiritual life of an individual, as it cuts him or her off.
Father, how many times I have refused the forgiving word, the restoring act, only to be tormented by fears and anxieties and worries. Thank You for the forgiveness that is mine in Jesus Christ. Teach me to extend it to those around me.
Life Application
What is the greatest obstacle to the forgiveness we all need to give and receive for healing relationships? How can we be a conduit of God’s amazing grace and mercy?
1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’ “
4They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 10“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest!”
11Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
12The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
15On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ” ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.'”
18The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
19When evening came, they went out of the city.
20In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
22“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
5 Powerful Signs God Loves You (Even When You Don’t Feel It) Britt Mooney God is love, so therefore everything He does is loving. But in our most desperate circumstances, it can be tempting to think He’s abandoned or rejected us. Allow these five truths to wash over your, reminding you of the Father’s great love. Even when things are hard, God is still present and active. Continue Reading →
Are We Really Able to Obey Christ’s Commands? Lisa Loraine Baker How do we balance commands to obey God’s laws with verses about our brokenness and need for a savior? The Old Testament Israelites were not able to follow the 10 Commandments perfectly, are we better able to obey Jesus’ New Testament teachings today? Let’s dive in together. Continue Reading →
If Our Sins Are Forgiven, Why Does Revelation Say God Will Pour Out His Wrath? Bethany Verrett If God’s wrath is appeased by the death of Jesus, why does there need to be a time when His wrath is poured out in a way that will be greater than it was in Egypt with the ten plagues? It is not because God did not offer grace and is just biding His time because He is a bitter, vengeful deity. Rather it is because He must judge the wicked in order to be righteous and holy. Continue Reading →
Are Dragons Really Mentioned in the Bible? Vivian Bricker Dragons are mentioned in the Bible many times, with some references referring to Satan and some referring to the Leviathan. In the Bible, each reference means and symbolizes something different in the Books of Genesis, Job, Psalms, Isaiah, and Revelation. Continue Reading →
What Is Spiritual Bypassing and Why Is It Harming Our Faith? Meredith N Mills Too often, we use encouraging verses and others in damaging ways, instead of receiving the healing they offer. We forget about the process. We believe God wants white-knuckled obedience more than anything else. We take what he meant for good and use it to spiritually bypass the deep work he wants to do in our hearts. Continue Reading →
Is Being Afraid Sinful? Bethany Verrett It is not a sin to experience fear, but what someone does with the fear they experience can help draw them closer to God, or make their relationship with Him weaker. Continue Reading →
What Is the Doxology and Why Do We Sing It? Jessica Brodie In essence, a doxology is a praise song, usually a very specific one that is meant to express full, unadulterated, complete, and perfect worship and adoration for the Lord God Almighty. Continue Reading →
Should Pastors Use AI to Write Sermons? Britt Mooney As artificial intelligence continues to sweep nearly every industry, the church must ask how it will approach AI, too. Should pastors use AI to help them write their sermons, or to write the whole sermon for them? Let’s take a look at four pros and cons of AI in pastoral ministry. Continue Reading →
7 Biblical Truths about God’s Unchanging Love to Encourages Us in a Weary World Britt Mooney We may be called to be in the world but not of it, but even that can be exhausting sometimes. We need these reminders of God’s incredible, vast, unchanging love to remind us to have hope in a weary world. Not only to boost our own spirits, but to encourage others and point them to Christ as well. Continue Reading →
What Is the Mystery of Christ? Lisa Loraine Baker God chooses not to reveal everything to His people. But there is one big mystery that the Bible does explain. The Apostle Paul mentions the “mystery of Christ” at least twice. Let’s take a look at what exactly this mystery is, and what it means for mankind’s salvation. Continue Reading →
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” This unspeakably delightful verse has been sung on many a dying bed, and has helped to make the dark valley bright times out of mind. Every word in it has a wealth of meaning. “Yea, though I walk,” as if the believer did not quicken his pace when he came to die, but still calmly walked with God. To walk indicates the steady advance of a soul which knows its road, knows its end, resolves to follow the path, feels quite safe, and is therefore perfectly calm and composed. The dying saint is not in a flurry, he does not run as though he were alarmed, nor stand still as though he would go no further, he is not confounded nor ashamed, and therefore keeps to his old pace. Observe that it is not walking in the valley, but through the valley. We go through the dark tunnel of death and emerge into the light of immortality. We do not die, we do but sleep to wake in glory. Death is not the house but the porch, not the goal but the passage to it. The dying article is called a valley. The storm breaks on the mountain, but the valley is the place of quietude, and thus full often the last days of the Christian are the most peaceful in his whole career; the mountain is bleak and bare, but the valley is rich with golden sheaves, and many a saint has reaped more joy and knowledge when he came to die than he ever knew while he lived. And, then, it is not “the valley of death,” but “the valley of the shadow of death,” for death in its substance has been removed, and only the shadow of it remains. Some one has said that when there is a shadow there must be light somewhere, and so there is. Death stands by the side of the highway in which we have to travel, and the light of heaven shining upon him throws a shadow across our path; let us then rejoice that there is a light beyond. Nobody is afraid of a shadow, for a shadow cannot stop a man’s pathway even for a moment. The shadow of a dog cannot bite; the shadow of a sword cannot kill; the shadow of death cannot destroy us. Let us not, therefore, be afraid. “I will fear no evil.” He does not say there shall not be any evil; he had got beyond even that high assurance, and knew that Jesus had put all evil away; but “I will fear no evil;” as if even his fears, those shadows of evil, were gone for ever. The worst evils of life are those which do not exist except in our imagination. If we had no troubles but real troubles, we should not have a tenth part of our present sorrows. We feel a thousand deaths in fearing one, but the Psalmist was cured of the disease of fearing. “I will fear no evil,” not even the Evil One himself; I will not dread the last enemy, I will look upon him as a conquered foe, an enemy to be destroyed, “For thou art with me.” This is the joy of the Christian! “Thou art with me.” The little child out at sea in the storm is not frightened like all the other passengers on board the vessel, it is asleep in its mother’s bosom; it is enough for it that its mother is with it; and it should be enough for the believer to know that Christ is with him. “Thou art with me; I have in having thee, all that I can crave: I have perfect comfort and absolute security, for thou art with me.” “Thy rod and thy staff,” by which thou governest and rulest thy flock, the ensigns of thy sovereignty and of thy gracious care—“they comfort me.” I will believe that thou reignest still. The rod of Jesse shall still be over me as the sovereign succour of my soul. Many persons profess to receive much comfort from the hope that they shall not die. Certainly there will be some who will be “alive and remain” at the coming of the Lord, but is there so very much of advantage in such an escape from death as to make it the object of Christian desire? A wise man might prefer of the two to die, for those who shall not die, but who “shall be caught up together with the Lord in the air,” will be losers rather than gainers. They will lose that actual fellowship with Christ in the tomb which dying saints will have, and we are expressly told they shall have no preference beyond those who are asleep. Let us be of Paul’s mind when he said that “To die is gain,” and think of “departing to be with Christ, which is far better.” This twenty-third Psalm is not worn out, and it is as sweet in a believer’s ear now as it was in David’s time, let novelty-hunters say what they will.
Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 1-26 (Vol. 1, pp. 355–356). Marshall Brothers.
Ver. 4. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.—Valleys of the shadow:— The royal poet is putting a spiritual meaning into the various experiences of his shepherd’s life; and as he once led his flock to the green pastures and by the still waters, so he ascribes whatever of peaceful happiness his own life had known, to the kindly guidance of God. To-day let us give David’s metaphor a practical application to our own character and fate. No man knows what is the real meaning and worth of life till he has consciously passed through the valley of the shadow of death. All healthy life is at the beginning unconscious. The analogy of the body helps us to understand this. A happy child lives without at all thinking of life—what it is, when it begins, how it must end. One can conceive of such a life as this prolonged through manhood and old age; but there would be something less than human in its unconsciousness. And there are lives, far more frequent, which are unconscious in another way, because to-day they eat and drink, and to-morrow die, and never know that there is anything more in existence than this; which are below the consciousness of sin, and never rise to a knowledge of their own wretchedness. So much is common to these two kinds of unconsciousness, that they can only be startled out of themselves by a touch of pain. The consciousness of sin can alone reveal the infiniteness of duty, the pangs of sorrow make plain the depth and compass of life. But no one of us ever goes down into the valley of the shadow of death of his own accord. We are willing to live the unconscious life if we can. We know the depths that lie below, but none the less rejoice to skim lightly over the surface. By and by God comes, and with His own Fatherly hand He leads us into the gloom, and leaves us there awhile alone. There is not one of us who would not rejoice in life-long exemption from bitter bereavement, who would not, if he could, choose this form of blessing almost before any other. And yet it is far better that God’s visitation should come this way than not at all. If the soul has in it a certain capacity of education into the likeness of God, and can acquire a strength and a sweetness that were not in it at the first; if, moreover, this growth into a finer force, and symmetry is to be manifested upon a larger than any earthly scale,—then these blows of fate are not mere subtractions from the sum of happiness, and therefore to be wholly deprecated, but stages of discipline, states of training to be accepted, when they come, as part of the tuition of life. There are troubles and distresses the characteristic of which is to recall us to God from the mere external shows and shadows of life, and so out of seeming darkness to bring us into real light. But sometimes a darkness falls upon us which will not lift, and whose peculiar horror it is to rob us of the belief that there is any light at all. It may be the result of misfortune; it may come from reasoning overmuch; it may be the dizziness of the imagination. Every day men go down into this darkness, not knowing it, and able, almost content, to live in it. Can anything be so truly pitiable as to be altogether without life’s divinest thirst, as never to know the desire which transcends all others, as to be wholly unconscious of the satisfaction which, once felt, is recognised as including all strength and all happiness? It would not be good for us never to go down into the valley of the shadow of death until we were called upon to make the inevitable transit from this life to another. Until we are shaken out of our moral unconsciousness by some great shock and conflict of the spirit we cannot tell what nobleness of strength, what debasement of weakness, lie concealed within us. Our faith is never firmly rooted in our hearts till we have looked out upon life and faced what it would be without faith. We never know what God is, and may be, to our spirits till we have gone down with Him into the valley of the shadow, and there in the thick darkness felt the stay of His presence and the comfort of His love. (C. Beard, B.A.) Fearless in dangers:— I. THAT GREAT CALAMITIES, AND TERRIBLE DANGERS, EVEN THE SHADOWS OF DEATH MAY BEFALL THE PEOPLE OF GOD. For the understanding of this assertion premise these particulars, namely, that there are several shadows of death, or terrible dangers; some are—
Natural: as grievous diseases and sicknesses, which do even close up the day of life.
Malicious: which arise from Satan and from evil men, his instruments.
Spiritual: these dangers of all others are the most sore. These shadows of death, or great and near dangers, do cause them to shake off their great security. When a storm ariseth it is time for the mariner to awake and look to his tackling, and when the city is beleaguered it will make every man to stand to his arms. Standing waters gather mud, and disused weapons rust. They do demonstrate the solidity and validity of true grace. They increase the spirit of prayer more. They do dissolve and loosen the affections more from the world. Shadows of death make us better to discern the shadows of life, the poor empty vanities of the world, and set the heart more on heavenly purchases. II. THAT RIGHTEOUS PERSONS ARE FEARLESS EVEN UNDER THE SHADOWS OF DEATH. And the reasons or causes of this fearlessness of man, or dangers by man, are these— (1) God hath wrought in them a true fear of Himself; He hath put His fear into their hearts (Jer. 32:40). Now, the true fear of God purgeth or casteth out all vain fear of men. (2) They know that the originals of fear are not in the creatures. Men are afraid of men because they take them to be more than men. (3) They are in covenant with God, and God with them, therefore they fear no evil. (4) They have much clearness in conscience; and integrity in conscience breeds audacity in conscience. (5) They have faith in them, and can live by faith. The just shall live by his faith (Heb. 2:3). (6) Lastly, they may be fearless notwithstanding all dangers, forasmuch as those dangers shall never do them hurt, but good. And who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good? (1 Pet. 3:13.) III. THAT GOD IS PRESENT WITH HIS PEOPLE IN ALL THEIR DANGERS AND TROUBLES, AND THAT PRESENCE OF HIS IS THE GROUND OF THEIR CONFIDENCE. (1) That God is present with His in all their dangers. (2) Divine presence is the ground of Christian confidence. Some distinguish thus; there is a fourfold presence of God— (1) One is natural. And thus is He present with all creatures. Whither shall I flee from Thy presence (Psa. 139:7). (2) A second is majestical. And thus is He said to be present in heaven; and we pray to Him as our Father which is in heaven. (3) A third is His judicial presence. And thus is He present with ungodly men. (4) A fourth is His gracious or favourable presence. Consider the qualities of His presence with you, and it may yield you singular comfort and support. (1) It is the presence of a loving God. (2) It is the presence of an Almighty God. (3) It is the presence of an active God. At such times you will certainly need the presence of God. Our affections are apt to be most impatient. Our fears are apt to be most violent. Our unbeliefs are apt to be most turbulent. Our consciences are apt to be most unquiet. And Satan is most ready to fish in troubled waters. (O. Sedgwick, B.D.) Light in a darkened way:— I. A PICTURE OF THE WAY OF LIFE DARKENED. When this will be we know not. Bunyan puts it mid-way, but sometimes it is nearer the beginning than the end. Childhood knows it not; gladsomeness and enjoyment are his of right. But later on life darkens. But come how and when it may, it will come at the right time and in the right way. If it ever work evil, the fault will be ours. Sometimes the shadows are those of sorrow. At others, of doubt. At yet other times it is the result of some sin. The sorrow of wasted power, of lost confidence, of violated vows, is a pang which wrings the human heart with an agony it knows not how to bear. Such experiences are stern and solemn realities. II. NO MAN NEED GO DOWN THE VALLEY ALONE. There is light in the darkened way. “Thou art with me.” And He is with us to help and protect. Augustine would leave Carthage to go to Rome. His pious mother, fearing the snares of Rome for her wayward boy, begged him not to go. He promised to remain, but in the night stole away. But there, where his mother feared he would be lost, he was saved. Years after he wrote thus, “Thou, O God, knowing my mother’s desire, refusedst what she then asked, that Thou mightest give her what she was for ever asking.” (George Bainton.) The valley of the shadow of death:— I. THE PASS AND ITS TERRORS. “The valley of the shadow of death.” Get the idea of a narrow ravine, something like the Gorge of Gondo or some other stern pass upon the higher Alps, where the rocks seem piled to heaven, and the sunlight is seen above as through a narrow rift. And so troubles are sometimes heaped one upon another, pile on pile, and the road is a dreary defile. It is exceedingly gloomy. Some of you don’t know such troubles. Do not seek to know. Keep bright while you can. Sing while you may. Be larks and mount aloft and sing as you mount. But some of God’s people are not much in the lark line; they are a great deal more like owls. But desponding people, if to be blamed, are yet much more to be pitied. Still, the covenant is never known to Abraham so well as when a horror of great darkness comes over him, and then he sees the shining lamp moving between the pieces of the sacrifice. And there are parts of our life which are dangerous as well as gloomy. The Khyber Pass is still terrible in men’s memories, and there are Khybers in most men’s lives. No doubt the Lord’s ways are ways of pleasantness, but for all that there are enemies on the road to heaven. And then its solitude. This is a great trial to some spirits, and mingling in crowds is no relief, for there is no solitude of the spirit so intense as that which is often felt in crowds. Still, this valley is often traversed. Many more go by this road than most people dream. But it is not an unhallowed pathway, for our Lord Jesus Christ has gone along it. II. THE PILGRIM AND HIS PROGRESS.
He is calm in the prospect of his dreary passage.
And is steady in his progress. He walks through, does not run in haste.
And he is secure in his expectancy. There is a bright side to that word “through.” He expects to come out into a brighter country.
And he is free from fear. I have read of a little lad on board a vessel in great peril. Everybody was alarmed. But he kept playing about, amused rather at the tossing of the ship. When asked what made him so fearless he replied, “My father is the captain. He knows how to manage.” Let us so believe in God. Yet—
He is not at all fanatical. He gives a good reason for his fearlessness. “Thou art with me!” III. THE SOUL AND ITS SHEPHERD. “Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.” The rod and the staff, the tokens of shepherdry, are the comforts of the saints.
The rod is for the numbering of the sheep.
For rule.
Guidance.
Urging onward. I have had to lay on the rod at times on certain fat sheep not so nimble as they ought to be. But their wool is so thick that I can scarcely make them feel. But the Great Shepherd can, and will.
For chastisement.
For protection. How David defended his sheep. May God give us all the faith expressed in our text. (C. H. Spurgeon.) The path of life:— I. THE PATH OF LIFE AS SHADOWED BY DEATH. “The valley of the shadow of death.” David does not speak of the article of death here as some suppose. He does not say, though I may walk, or though I should walk, or though I must walk, but though I walk. He is speaking of his walking it now. There is a bright sun, it is true, in the sky of life, otherwise there could be no “shadow”; but the figure of death is so colossal that its shadow covers the whole sphere of our existence. II. THE PATH OF LIFE AS TROD WITH A FEARLESS SOUL. “I will fear no evil.”
Some tread the valley of life with a stolid indifference. They seem utterly regardless of the dark shadows on the path, and whither the path conducts them. “Like brutes they live.”
Some tread the path of life with a giddy frivolity. The everlasting jest and ceaseless round of hilarious excitement indicate that they have never been penetrated with a true idea of life.
Some tread the path of life with a slavish dread. They are afraid of their end.
Some tread the path of life with moral bravery. Thus did David. III. THE PATH OF LIFE AS WALKED IN COMPANIONSHIP WITH GOD.
Thou art with me as the infallible Guide in the ever-thickening gloom.
Thou art with me as a safe Protector from every conceivable evil. (Homilist.) The valley of the shadow of death:— Preparation for death is twofold—of state and of susceptibility. We may be prepared in state, as David was when he cried, “Oh, spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more seen,” but he was not prepared in feeling. But here in our text he is prepared in both ways. “I will fear no evil”; his experience was ripe for death, and he could anticipate the event with confidence. The Psalmist looked upon the Shepherd in this place as the Master of death, and so “feared no evil.” I. TO SOME THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH IS A PLACE OF DANGER AND ALARM. That one could say he feared no evil is no proof that there is no evil for others. For the ungodly there is. For—
He must feel “the sting of death,” which “is sin.” That removed, death is no more dangerous than a serpent whose sting is withdrawn.
Then, too, conscience will be roused, and there will be no means to pacify it. Conscience cannot sleep then, though they have dozed and slumbered undisturbed by the thunders of Sinai, and the noise of death cutting down some old barren fig-tree in their neighbourhood.
Then, too, Mercy will depart for ever. She outstays all others, but now even Mercy says, “Good-bye for ever!” “Thou didst never see a morning when I did not meet thee with my arms full of kindnesses toward thee. Thou art now going where I have not been, and whither I shall never come—Good-bye!” And the hope of man is lost!
There also must he meet the wrath of God without a hiding-place. It had been declared many times that it was approaching; but there was no way of escape. But now it is too late to turn back. God’s wrath must now be faced. The terrors of God array themselves against the ungodly men. II. THE GODLY MAN’S CONFIDENCE IN THE FACE OF DEATH. “I will fear,” &c. Yet how terrible the description of death.
A valley—a deep and dismal place. Some live their lives in the hilltops of prosperity, others in the vales of adversity and sorrow, but this valley lies lower than these. Yet the godly man fears not.
A dark valley—a valley of shadow, “the shadow of death where the light is as darkness.”
A dreadful valley—for it belongs to death. This is its home, here its court and throne. Some have fainted at the sight of some of its subjects; what of the King Himself? But here is one going down into its domains. It is probable that he will run silently through, and as swiftly as he possibly can, until he is nearly breathless. No. He intends walking slowly through, as if resolved to view it well, the only time he shall go that way. Probably he intends crossing it in the narrowest place. No. He speaks of walking the whole length of the valley. Is he afraid he may fail and faint half-way? No. He confidently trusts that he will reach the farther end. III. THE GROUNDS OF HIS CONFIDENCE. God’s presence. “Thou art with me.” No one is so timid as a godly man without God. He will go nowhere without Him. But with Him he will go anywhere. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. (David Roberts, D.D.) The valley of the shadow of death:— I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH THE BELIEVER IS PLACED. “The valley of the shadow of death” has been supposed to describe a gloomy defile in which the traveller sees, as it were, the image of death depicted wherever he turns his eyes. Others, again, and perhaps with greater simplicity of interpretation, have found the idea of dark shadow, impenetrable gloom cast by some overhanging object which shuts out all light. The natural effect of peril is to create alarm; and it is nothing less than a signal triumph over the strongest instincts of the human constitution for a man, when he walks “through the valley of the shadow of death,” to fear no evil. It is, however, a triumph over nature, to which the religion of the Bible frequently calls, and for which she abundantly prepares her followers. II. THE FEELINGS WHICH IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES HE IS ABLE TO ENTERTAIN. The Psalmist does not say, “I will not fear,” though even had he said so we should have known how to interpret his words with due restrictions; but he says, “I will fear no evil,” that is, I will apprehend no real or ultimate injury. The Psalmist had made too enlarged an observation, he had passed through too varied an experience of life, to suppose that the clouds which lowered upon the scene before him would always pass away innocuous. Exactly so the Christian now has no reason to expect that he will be spared the suffering—and that to the extremity of mortal endurance—of what is painful, and desolating, and agonising; but every Christian may be assured that all these things shall fail to do him real evil. And while this is the feeling which every child of God may be expected to entertain, in every condition in which he can be placed of deadly gloom and peril, so it is peculiarly the sentiment which he is called upon to cherish when treading in particular that dreary path which, to most minds, is suggested by the appellation, “the valley of the shadow of death.” A sharp thrill of undefined yet overwhelming terror is apt to shoot across his soul that, in the words of the Psalmist, he exclaims, “My heart is sore vexed within me, and the fear of death is fallen upon me.” But it will be but for a moment that the Christian, trusting in his Redeemer, will suffer such gloomy thoughts as these to involve his spirit; presently, as he proceeds deeper and deeper down the perilous descent, you will hear a voice of solemn yet not desponding melody ascending from the shades, “I will trust and not be afraid”; “Yea, though I walk through,” &c. III. THE REASONS ON WHICH THE PSALMIST GROUNDS AND JUSTIFIES HIS PERSUASION. That, with whatever circumstances of direct and most deadly peril he might be environed, no real evil should befall him.
The fact of Jehovah’s friendly presence.
The fact of Jehovah’s pastoral care: “Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” The Scriptural expression, “to be with one,” denotes the special presence of Jehovah with those whom He loves, to guide, to help, to protect, to favour, and to bless them; as when Abimelech, for example, congratulated Abraham on the manifest tokens which his history presented that he was the object of Almighty favour, by saying, “The Lord is with thee in all that thou dost,”—when our Lord, in order to encourage His apostle amidst the arduous toils and trials that awaited him at Corinth, spake to him in vision,—“Fear not, for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee.” (T. B. Patterson, M.A.) A funeral sermon:— Death is what human nature is prone to dread. Most men shrink, as long as they are able, from the entrance into “the valley of the shadow” of it. Let us consider what are the evils to be encountered in passing through “the valley of the shadow of death.”
In the first place, THE PAINS OF DEATH MUST BE ENCOUNTERED BY US; and these fill many minds with dismay. God has been pleased, notwithstanding the redemption of our race from utter destruction, to leave in the world demonstrations of their fall, and amongst these are the anguish and manifold distresses which accompany our mortality. II. The valley of death is rendered terrible to man, because IT INTERRUPTS AND TERMINATES ALL HIS EARTHLY PURSUITS AND EXPECTATIONS. III. THE SEPARATION FROM THE OBJECTS WHO WERE ENDEARED TO US, and the scenes and pleasures which delighted us in the present world. But how happy those who in this solemn hour can entrust not only themselves, but all whom they love, to the tender and faithful protection of God. IV. Another thing which renders death terrible to many is THE DARKNESS WITH WHICH IT IS ENCOMPASSED. Shadows, clouds, and gloom rest upon it. To the infidel it is dismally obscure. Bones and ashes are all he can discover. Conscience fills it with ghosts and spectres and images of terror. They shudder as they enter. They cry aloud for light. V. But the greatest of all the causes of anxiety and fear which the children of men encounter at the approach of death is THE APPREHENSION OF THE JUDGMENT WHICH WILL ENSUE. (Bishop Dehon.) Through the dark valley:— Observe that dark valley attentively. Consider what it is; whither it leads; what its shadow means; what are its evils; what its security in the midst of those evils. You are daily approaching it. I. A GLOOMY SHADOW. II. A FEARLESS TRAVELLER. III. A PRESENT GOD. (R. Halley, M.A.) The valley of the shadow:— We are debtors, every one of us, to that old poet, whoever he was, who, in ransacking a teeming brain—teeming with images of idyllic peace and happiness, and also with images of nameless dread and gloom—lighted upon the “valley of the shadow of death,” as Bunyan afterwards lighted upon a “place where was a den,” and gave to all that in human experience which before death is worse than death itself, a local habitation and a name. Different forms of the religious sentiment have their different values in regard to the dismal experience thus happily named. None of them has actually the value assigned to it. Religion, natural temperament, courage, cheeriness, all mingle in the confidence of him who here says “I will fear no evil.” For aught we know, there may have been as much of the one as of the other. Natural temper and disposition count for much, usually for more than anything else, in the most trying moments of human life. Then, the natural man is apt to part company with his costume of habits and customs, and to show himself as he was born, the bravest of the brave or the weakest of the weak. It is not the most pious man in the regiment, I suppose, who is always the coolest in the forlorn hope. Some men, like John Wesley, are brave on land who are great cowards at sea; others, like some of Elizabeth’s buccaneers, are timid in regard to the least adversity occurring in a hospital, but undaunted in regard to it if it threatens in a gale. Not according to differences of religious belief, but according to idiosyncrasies of disposition or accidental habits of mind, the valley of the shadow of death varies its character. As regards the last fact of all, which makes all human life a tragedy, we who look forward to it with a shudder cannot help envying the coolies of St. Helena and elsewhere, who lie down to die as peaceably as if it were to sleep; or the Turkish soldiers at Plevna, who preserved such coolness in presence of the horrors there. You can scarcely call their fatalism religious sentiment, yet it did that for them. Some surgeons say that there are people without nerves. What is a terrible ordeal to some in the way of pain, to others is a mere trifle. Now, though religious people will hardly allow it, it is a fact that natural temperament has far more to do with heroism in its most striking forms than religion has. But religion has to do with it, and different forms of the religious sentiment have, therefore, different values in this respect. That it is glorious to die for one’s country was an idea with which the whole Greek and Roman life was saturated in a way unknown to the Hebrew race. That sentiment produced its natural effect in Plutarch’s Lives, the reading of which is like reading the Charge of the Light Brigade. But it is when you come down to Christian times that you have the religious sentiment, the rise of which takes you back to this Psalm and earlier, and we find it so pervading the lives of multitudes of common men and women that they are found to be instinct with a courage and patience which can hardly be matched in Plutarch. It is a heroism, not of the general and his staff, but of plain people. And we have it here in this Psalm. The trust in the Divine Shepherd is an antidote to all alarm. What that sentiment has done to lighten, for countless multitudes of human beings, all adversity, and the last adversity of all, to make the unendurable tolerable or even welcome, may be partly imagined but cannot certainly be told. It is still what it has been—to multitudes it is still what nothing else is or could be in the way of solving the enigmas of life and making the heavy and the weary weight of it intelligible and supportable. (J. Service, D.D.) Deep shades:— The image of David’s geat distress, “the valley,” or ravine, “of the shadow of death,” or, as it may be translated, “of deep shades,” can, without any fancifulness, be connected with the scenery through which he passed in his flight. He must, after crossing Olivet, have descended to the fords of the Jordan by one of the rocky passes which lead from the table-land of Jerusalem. These deep ravines are full of ghastly shadows, and David passed down one of them as the evening had begun to fall, and waited by the ford of Jordan till midnight. It is not improbable that we have here the source of the image in this verse. Such a march must have impressed itself strongly on his imagination. The weird and fierce character of the desolate ravine, the long and deathly shadows which chilled him as the sun sank, the fierce curses of Shimei, the fear behind him, the agony in his own heart repeating the impression of the landscape, fastened the image of it in his memory for ever. He has thrown it into poetry in this verse. For now, when he mused upon his trial, he transferred to the present feelings of his heart at Mahanaim the agony of that terrible day, but added to it the declaration of the faith in God which his deliverance had made strong within him. And his words have become since then the expression of the feelings of all men in the intensity of trial. Not merely in the last great death-trial, for God knows that there are valleys of the shadow of death in life itself which are worse than death a thousand times. Thousands welcome death as the reliever, the friend,—they who have seen every costly argosy of hope sink like lead in the waters of the past, and whose future stretches before them a barren plain of dreary sea on which a fiery sun is burning; and they who look back on a past of unutterable folly and darker sin, and who know that never, never more “the freshness of youth’s early inspiration can return.” The innocent morning is gone, and they hide their heads now from the fiery simoom of remorse in the desert of their guilty life. It is the conscience’s valley of the shadow of death. There are times, too, even in youth, when, by a single blow, all the odour and colour have been taken out of living, when the treachery of lover or friend has made us say, as we were tortured and wrung with the bitterest of bitterness, that all is evil and not good. It is the heart’s valley of the shadow of death. And there are times in the truest Christian life when all faith is blotted out, and God becomes to us a phantom, a fate, impersonal, careless, and we cry out that we have no Father in Heaven; and of our prayer, too, it may be said, though we have prayed, oh how fervently, “He answered never a word.” It is the spirit’s valley of the shadow of death. Now, what was David’s refuge in one of these awful hours? It was faith in God, the Ever-Near. David had entered the valley of the shadow of death of the heart; he had been betrayed, insulted, exiled by the one whom he had loved best. It was enough to make him disbelieve in Divine goodness and human tenderness, enough to harden his heart into steel against God, into cruelty against man. In noble faith he escaped from that ruin of the soul, and threw himself upon God—“I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” The next verse, supposing the Psalm to have been written at Mahanaim, is at once comprehensible. For far away in the Eastern city there came consolation to David, through the visit and help of Barzillai, who brought him food. “Thou preparest a table for me,” &c. One of the sad comforts of trial is this, that it is the touchstone of friendship. We realise then who are true gold. We often lose in trial what is calculable; we oftener gain what is incalculable. Precisely the same principle holds good in the spiritual world. The blessing of all trial is that it disperses the vain shows of life on which we rested, and makes Christ, the eternal Certainty, more deeply known. But how? How do we know another? Only by entering into his spirit, by sharing in his life. There is a broad distinction between an acquaintance and a friend. We may see an acquaintance every day, but we never see his heart. We hover with him over the surfaces of things, touching, it may be, now and then the real inward life as a swallow touches a stream in its flight, but we never dwell with him within the temple of inward thought or enter with him into the inner shrine of feeling. A friend—how different! one to whom your heart has opened itself freely, to receive from whom is pleasure, for whom to sacrifice yourself is joy. So we become at home in his nature, and so is it with Christ and the Christian man. If you would be the friend of Christ you must partake of His life—the life of self-sacrifice. (A. S. Brooke. M.A.) The shadow of death:— This valley, in Bunyan’s dream, lies about midway in the journey of life. This is one of those revelations of the soul’s experience which makes Bunyan’s book a mirror. If this valley lay right across our path at the outset it would wither our life at the spring. While if it came too near the end it would be too late to bless our souls. No, not near the beginning is that valley. I have often seen a little child sit beside the coffin that held its mother, with as fair a light on its face as I hope to see in heaven. And I have said, there is no valley and shadow of death for these little ones. Nor, either, for those who are still young. Sorrow comes, but they recover. They soon resume the natural habit of their life if you let them alone. They break out into the warm bright world again, like a Norway spring, and it is by the tender mercy of God that they do so. And in old age that valley and shadow lie behind us. When a great English painter in water colours was past work, and was waiting for his summons to depart,—for he was ninety-one,—he told his servant to bring in his masterpiece, that he might see it once more before he died. It was a picture of a shipwreck. He looked at it a good while and then said, “Bring me my pencils and lift me up; I must brighten that black cloud. It used to seem just right, but I see now it is too dark, and I must brighten it before I go.” And when it was done he died. Now, I doubt not that when he painted that picture the cloud was not one shade blacker than he felt it ought to be; because true painters always dip their pencils first in the water of their own lives, and press the pigments out of their hearts and brains. But the way from middle age to ninety-one had lain upward into the light, the sweet, calm sunset of his life. And so it is with every healthful old age. Travelling into these high latitudes we touch at last a polar summer, where the morning twilight of the new day comes out of heaven to blend with the evening twilight of the old. The fear of what death may do, and the awful sense of what death can do, falls on us most heavily, through the prime of our life, when all our powers are sturdiest. It is in mid-ocean that the storms come. And this experience is universal. I notice it in all the saints whose lives are revealed to us in the Bible. And Christ Himself passed through it. Bunyan makes all his pilgrims who come to any good go down into it. But with a wonderfully sweet pathos, he makes it easier for the lame man who is getting on in years, and for the maiden, and for the mother with her children, than he will ever allow it to be for stout stalwart souls like his own. If a man should come to me and say, “I have never been down there, I know nothing about it,” then his future is a sorry one. It is because we have a soul and a future that we have to go through all this. But for this man would be mere vanity and hollowness. And there is a great growth of goodness down in that valley. Do not go alone, then. Have God with you as David did. Muster all the promises you can hold in your heart. I would try to trace the beatitudes even in the flames of hell. And look on to the dawn of the new day. (R. Collyer.) The valley of the shadow of death:— This hymn is the pilgrim’s song of the soul on its way to eternity. The Psalm is beautiful and impressive, if we take the central death as its keynote. Then all that goes before is the preparation for that dark crisis which is the turning-point of endless joy. The valley rules the whole; what precedes is its anticipation, and itself is the anticipation of heaven.
Mark with what exquisite simplicity the anticipation of the valley is introduced. The idea of death is inwrought into the habitual thought of the godly man. There is a sense in which life is a continual alternation of light and shade, of open pastures and shaded valleys. The whole of our probation may be said to be spent under the shadow of the great death that sin hath begotten, of the terrible cloud that has come between us and God. True religion is a constant and distinct realisation of the fact that we live to die, and must so live as not to be taken by surprise. This will give to life a certain solemnity and pathos which nothing else will give. It is, nevertheless, certain that the expectation of the valley cannot really distress the religious soul. It is very different from that horror which the ungodly and the unsanctified feel. There are, indeed, some who are all their lifetime in bondage, though true Christians, through want of trust in the resources of the Gospel. Many reasons conspire to this palsy of their faith. They love the world too much, they do not drink deeply enough of the river of life, they do not meditate as they ought on eternal things, and thus they cannot join the chorus of our hymn. But the anticipation that makes this Psalm so glad is better taught. The Christian singer is one who lives under the powers of the world to come; and those powers are to him the working forces of the present state. He lives in a supernatural world, and regards everything in its relation to that world. The thought of the valley becomes the familiar and cheerful habit of the soul. It does not diminish the energy of life nor blunt the appetite for such pleasures as God does not interdict.
The singer sings his way into the valley that he had predicted for himself. The language of his poetry blends the future and the present, “I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” The pilgrim is guided into the valley by the Good Shepherd Himself. Here is the secret link between death and preparation for death. The blessedness of all our religion, whether in life or death, is union with Jesus. Our preparation to die well is the habitual communion of our soul with God. Jesus went that way of sorrows before us. We may be sure that the Saviour is most intimately with and in His dying servant. His rod is the symbol of His authority in the domain of death: it is His alone. The staff is the symbol of the strength He gives the dying saints. The pastor’s crook, the shepherd’s rod, is no other than the Redeemer’s mediatorial sceptre swayed over one special region of His vast empire, that which is under the shadow of death. We may interpret the staff as that special support which the Redeemer affords to every dying saint when his heart and flesh would otherwise fail. (W. B. Pope.) I will fear no evil.—On the fear of death:— Fear, though a natural passion, becomes the occasion of innumerable disquietudes and infelicities. It has the same effect upon the real evils and calamities of life which a misty air has upon the objects of sight: it makes them appear confused and indistinct, and at the same time much larger than they are in reality. The object most universally dreaded is death. It requires all the aids of philosophy and of religion to enable the wisest and best of us to look forward to this event with composure. Give some general directions which may enable us, in measure, to overcome the fear of death.
That we maintain a virtuous habit of mind and course of life, and exercise ourselves to have a conscience void of offence, both towards God and towards man.
Make the idea of death familiar to our minds, by frequently considering our latter end. Many of the usual terrors of death appear upon examination to be imaginary, or of very little moment.
Reflect that this is a natural and unavoidable event which is common to all the human race.
We should preserve in our minds a lively conviction and devout sense of the wise and righteous government of Almighty God, and cheerfully resign ourselves and all our concerns to His direction.
Look forward, with joyful expectation, to a state of perfect and endless felicity in the life to come. (W. Enfield.) Courageous faith:— That true faith is a courageous grace; it inspires the soul with a holy and undaunted boldness amidst the greatest of dangers.
Some of those evils that are ready to intimidate and discourage the hearts of the Lord’s people in a time of danger. Their own weakness and insufficiency. The might and multitude of their enemies. A sense of guilt and fear of wrath. The prevalence of indwelling sin. The black clouds of desertion. The wrath of man, and fury of the persecutor. The dangerous situation of the Church and cause of God, and the approach of death.
Some account of that faith which fortifies the soul against the fear of these evils. Sometimes it is called a trusting in the Lord, or a looking to the Lord, or a staying ourselves on the Lord, or a casting of our burden on the Lord. Some of its ingredients are—a knowledge and uptaking of a God in Christ, revealing Himself as reconciled, and making over Himself to us in a well-ordered covenant. A firm and fixed persuasion of the truth and certainty of the whole revelation of God’s mind and will in the Word. An application of the promises to the soul itself in particular. A persuasion of the power, love, and faithfulness of the Promiser. A renouncing of all other refuges. Some concomitants of this faith. A blessed quietness and tranquillity of soul. A waiting upon the Lord in the way of duty. Earnest prayer at a throne of grace. A holy obedience or regard unto all God’s commandments. Often with a soul-ravishing joy in the Lord. The courage of faith appears from the serenity with which it possesses the soul; the hard work and service it will adventure; the bold and daring challenges it gives to all enemies and accusers; the weapons which it wields; the battles it has fought and the victories it has gained; the heavy burdens it will venture to bear; the hard and difficult passes that faith will open; the great exploits which it has performed, and the trophies of victory and triumph which it wears.
That Christian fortitude and boldness which makes a believer fear no evil. The seat and subject of this Christian fortitude is the heart of a believer, renewed by sovereign grace. This fortitude consists in a clear and distinct knowledge and uptaking of the truth as it is in Jesus. It makes God’s Word the boundary of faith and practice. A tenacious adherence to truth and duty. A holy contempt of all a man can suffer in this present world. Cheerfulness and alacrity of spirit.
The influence faith has upon this boldness. It inspires the soul by presenting God to the soul; by enabling the soul to make right estimate of truth, and by curing it of the fear of man. It views the inside of troubles for Christ, as well as the outside of them. And it keeps the eye of the soul fixed on Jesus. (E. Erskine.) On death:— This Psalm exhibits the pleasing picture of a pious man rejoicing in the goodness of heaven. He looks round him on his state, and his heart overflows with gratitude. Amidst the images of tranquillity and happiness one object presents itself which is sufficient to overcast the mind and to damp the joy of the greatest part of men; that is, the approach of death. With perfect composure and serenity the Psalmist looks forward to the time when he is to pass through the “valley of the shadow of death.” The prospect, instead of dejecting him, appears to heighten his triumph, by that security which the presence of his Almighty Guardian afforded him. Such is the happy distinction which good men enjoy in a situation the most formidable to human nature. That threatening aspect which appals others, carries no terror to them. Let us consider what death is in itself, and by what means good men are enabled to meet it with fortitude. It may be considered in three views. As the separation of the soul from the body. As the conclusion of the present life. As the entrance into a new state of existence. The terrors of death are, in fact, the great guardians of life. They excite in every individual that desire of self-preservation which is nature’s first law. They reconcile him to bear the distresses of life with patience. They prompt him to undergo its useful and necessary labours with alacrity; and they restrain him from many of those evil courses by which his safety would be endangered. If death were not dreaded and abhorred as it is by many, no public order could be preserved in the world.… To preserve it within such bounds that it shall not interrupt us in performing the proper offices and duties of life is the distinction of the brave man above the coward, and to surmount it in such a degree that it shall not, even in near prospect, deject our spirit or trouble our peace, is the great preference which virtue enjoys above guilt. It has been the study of the wise and reflecting, in every age, to attain this steadiness of mind. Philosophy pursued it as its chief object; and professed that the chief end of its discipline was to enable its votaries to conquer the fear of death. In what lights does death appear most formidable to mankind.
As the termination of our present existence; the final period of all its joys and hopes. The dejection into which we are apt to sink at such a juncture will bear proportion to the degree of our attachment to the objects which we leave, and to the importance of those resources which remain with us when they are gone.
As the gate which opens into eternity. Under this view it has often been the subject of terror to the serious and reflecting. We must not judge of the sentiments of men at the approach of death by their ordinary train of thought in the days of health and ease. Their views of moral conduct are then too often superficial. Here appears the great importance of those discoveries which Christianity has made concerning the government of the universe. It displays the ensigns of grace and clemency. What completes the triumph of good men over death is the prospect of eternal felicity. To those who have lived a virtuous life, and who die in the faith of Christ, the whole aspect of death is changed. Death is no longer the tyrant who approaches with an iron rod, but the messenger that brings the tidings of life and liberty. (Hugh Blair, D.D.) Facing death:— When Sir Henry Havelock lay dying he said to his friend and fellow-soldier Sir James Outram, “For more than forty years I have so ruled my life that when death came I might face it without fear.” Looking into the great abyss:— How we die is certainly of much less importance than how we live; but still it strengthens faith to see the hope and courage that are sometimes, but by no means always, felt by God’s own people at the last. During the sixteen weeks in which Sir Bartle Frere was dying, though he was nearly always in great pain, not one murmur escaped him. Just at the end he said, “I have looked down into the great abyss, but God has never left me through it all.” “Name that Name when I am in pain,” he once said to his wife; “it calls me back.” (Quiver.) The power of the presence of Christ:— “Thou art with me.” I have eagerly seized on this; for out of all the terrors which gather themselves into the name of death, one has stood forth as a champion fear to terrify and daunt me. It is the loneliness of death. “I die alone.” Now, loneliness is a thing which we must learn to face in our work, in the separations of life, and in times of quiet. Certainly, whether we like it or not, we must be alone in death, as far as this world is concerned. And men preach to us detachment. “Sit loosely to the world,” they say, that the wrench may be less when it comes. But the Good Shepherd says rather, learn attachment. It is His promise, “Fear not; I will be with thee.” It is our confidence, “I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me.” Nay, more; it is our joy, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” And is not this the true answer to our fears: How can I go to meet that shadow? How will my faith stand its cold embrace? How shall I ever believe in the bright promise of a land beyond, when here all is dark? Let us ask rather: How am I going to meet the duty just before me? Is He with me now? Have I learned to find Him in the quiet hours of the day? Have I found His presence in desolating sorrow? Have I felt His hand in darkness and doubt? If so, I need not look forward. He is leading me on, step by step and day by day. He is habituating me, little by little, to the withdrawal of the light, and to utter trust in Him. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” “Thou art with me.” Now is the time to make firm that companionship. To be still, and know that He is God. To find the guiding Hand in all its strength and security amid the death and life of each day’s hopes and fears. And then, when we enter the shadow, still it will be “with God onwards.” (W. C. E. Newbolt, M.A.) Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.—Comfort through the rod and staff:— What is the shepherd’s rod? It is the symbol of his defending power. It is the weapon by which our Shepherd strikes down our adversaries. He is ever on the alert to ward off from us threatening ills. What is the staff? We would rather call it the shepherd’s crook, which is often bent or hooked at one end. Beneath it the sheep pass one by one to be numbered or told. By it the shepherd restrains them from wandering, or hooks them out of holes into which they may fall; by it also he corrects them when they are disobedient. In each of these thoughts there is comfort for the tried child of God. We are numbered amongst God’s sheep as we pass one by one beneath the touch of the Shepherd’s crook. By the Shepherd’s staff we are also extricated from circumstances of peril and disaster into which we may have fallen through our own folly and sin. By the staff the shepherd also corrects his sheep. (F. B. Meyer, B.A.) The wonderful staff:— I. IT IS WONDERFUL FOR ITS POWER TO PROTECT. David had found this as a shepherd when, by means of his staff, he vanquished the lion and the bear. So the Bible is our defence against our soul’s enemies. See how Jesus used it (Matt. 4:1, &c.). It is wonderful for its power to protect. II. IT IS WONDERFUL FOR ITS POWER TO COMFORT. Well, God’s Word is like a staff for this reason. It gives strength to His people when they feel weak and ready to faint under their labours or their trials. III. IT IS A WONDERFUL STAFF, BECAUSE OF ITS POWER TO SAVE. (James 1:21.) The Word of God is able to save the soul. (R. Newton.) The shepherd’s rod and staff:— In 1849 Dr. Duff was travelling near Simla under the shadow of the great Himalaya mountains. One day his way led to a narrow bridle-path cut out on the face of a steep ridge; along this narrow path that ran so near the great precipice he saw a shepherd leading on his flock following him, but now and then the shepherd stopped and looked back. If he saw a sheep creeping up too far on the one hand, or going too near the edge of the dangerous precipice on the other, he would at once turn back and go to it, gently pulling it back. He had a long rod as tall as himself, round the lower half of which was twisted a band of iron. There was a crook at one end of the rod, and it was with this the shepherd took hold of one of the hind legs of the sheep to pull it back. The thick band of iron at the other end of the rod was really a staff, and was ready for use whenever he saw a hyena or wolf or some other troublesome animal coming near the sheep, for especially at night these creatures prowled about the flock. With the iron part of the rod he would give a good blow when an attack was threatened. In Psa. 23:4 we have mention made of “Thy rod and Thy staff.” There is meaning in both, and distinct meaning. God’s rod draws us back, kindly and lovingly, if we go aside from His path. God’s staff protects us against the onset, open or secret, whether it be men or devils which are the enemies watching an opportunity for attack. (Life of Dr. Duff.)
Exell, J. S. (1909). The Biblical Illustrator: The Psalms (Vol. 1, pp. 453–462). Fleming H. Revell Company; Francis Griffiths.
But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. (Exodus 11:7)
What! Has God power over the tongues of dogs! Can he keep ours from barking? Yes, it is even so. He can prevent an Egyptian dog from worrying one of the lambs of Israel’s flock. Doth God silence dogs, and doggish ones among men, and the great dog at hell’s gate? Then let us move on our way without fear.
If He lets dogs move their tongues, yet He can stop their teeth. They may make a dreadful noise and still do us no real harm. Yet, how sweet is quiet! How delightful to move about among enemies and perceive that God maketh them to be at peace with us! Like Daniel in the den of lions we are unhurt amid destroyers.
Oh, that today this word of the Lord to Israel might be true to me! Does the dog worry me? I will tell my Lord about him. Lord, he does not care for my pleadings; do Thou speak the word of power, and he must lie down. Give me peace, O my God, and let me see Thy hand so distinctly in it that I may most clearly perceive the difference which Thy grace has made between me and the ungodly!
If people go much further in trying to understand love than Jesus, they will miss it.
John says: “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:16-19).
If you have never been loved deeply, without condition, and without requirement, I do not have the words to explain it to you. On the other hand, if you have experienced it, I really do not have to say much more.
A number of years ago, I wrote the book Three Free Sins. Its main thrust was that the reason people are so bad is that they are trying so very hard to be good. The trying is often so prideful, ego-centered, and narcissistic that holiness is hardly ever the product. Because of justification (we’re forgiven), imputation (we’re clothed in the righteousness of Christ), and adoption (we now have a cool father), believers can lighten up and allow God to show them his love when they get better and when they do not. And then, Christians will be surprised with the goodness that often follows. That happens because goodness and failure to be good are no longer the issue. Jesus has taken care of that, and now believers can go out and play.
It is the same way with love, being loved, and loving others. Christians have been trying way too hard to love, and the harder they try, the less they love. The more people chase love, the more it recedes. Try to define, manufacture, control, earn, or use love, and love will not be found. But if people give up trying to look for love in all the wrong places, love finds them. And that love will become the key to their efforts to speak and live the truth we’ve been given. The reason God did not send a book to express his love, but instead sent his Son, was because of the nature of love. Love is not a concept, an action, or a doctrine. Love is an experience, both when it is received and when it is given.
A number of years ago when our oldest granddaughter Christy was little, she was playing with her Madeline doll. She was trying to put clothes on her doll, but it was not working. She became quite frustrated. Her father Jim and I were watching a football game on television, and Jim said to Christy, “Try a little patience, honey, and you’ll get it.” Do you know what Christy did? She threw Madeline at her father, and when he admonished her, she threw the beanbag chair she was sitting on at him.
“That’s it,” Jim said, picking her up. “You’re going to be in time out and you’re going to stay there.” As he walked away with Christy on his shoulder, she was saying things like “I hate you!” and “I’m never speaking to you again!” Jim said he was fine with that, put Christy in a chair, and told her not to dare move before he told her to. Then Jim and I went back to watching the football game. Actually, Jim did; I never left because wise grandfathers learn to stay out of those kinds of altercations.
A while later, Christy came slowly back into the family room. She was crying. Christy climbed up onto her father’s lap and said, “Daddy, I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I do stuff like that. I love you so much.” Jim hugged her and said, “And Christy, I love you so much . . . more than you will ever know.”
Love happened. Nobody planned it or used it. It just happened.
So if Christian love is the key to reaching a world that does not want to be reached, what do believers do?
Nothing! And above all, do not do anything religious.
Jesus showed love by being love. Jesus hung out with the wrong people, said the wrong things, and hugged those nobody else would hug. And he was quite harsh in what he said to those religious people who violated the essence of their faith by making obedience to a very demanding God the center of their belief system. He called them “whitewashed tombs” and a “brood of vipers,” who often took a searcher for God and made him a “child of hell” (Matthew 23:27, 33, 15).
Sadly our agendas almost always precede and define everything we say and do, and certainly that is true about love. Love often turns into theological demands and religious definitions, or even worse, syrupy and cloying drivel.
What do believers do? Again, nothing.
Well, there is something: just let Jesus love you. I am not even sure what that means but it feels like forgiveness, acceptance, and delight. Read 1 Corinthians 13. Instead of reading it as a condemnation of the love you do not have or a definition of what you want, change the words “love is” to “Jesus’s love for me is.” It does not matter that you are not worthy (and I’m talking to Christians in general here, and to myself in particular), that you have sinned, or that you have a lot of doubts. It does not matter where you have been, what you have done, what you have been smoking or drinking, the shameful secrets you cannot share with anyone, the people you have hurt, the anger you feel, the unfairness you have experienced, the piled-up failures you have, or what people who do not know you think about you. In fact, the most important part of the Christian faith is not church or doing religious things or witnessing or being good. It is simply hanging out with Jesus and experiencing his unconditional and relentless love for you.
Then what? Do not leave. Stay there until you have experienced the love that happens in his presence. It might take a few days or a few years—that is OK. Then go mingle and see what happens.
J. Warner Wallace is interviewed by Pastor David Fleming of Champion Forest Baptist Church and talks about the importance of becoming a good Christian Case Maker and a specific strategy for selecting those with whom we share what we believe. This excerpt is from a longer interview with apologist Mark Lanier.
In addition, here is the audio podcast (the Cold-Case Christianity Weekly Podcast is located on iTunes or our RSS Feed):
The doctrine of God’s sovereignty affirms all things are under His rule and that nothing in the universe happens unless He either causes or permits it. I love these quotes from J. I. Packer about God’s sovereignty:
“Men treat God’s sovereignty as a theme for controversy, but in Scripture it is a matter for worship.”(Affirming the Apostles’ Creed)
“To know that nothing happens in God’s world apart from God’s will may frighten the godless, but it stabilizes the saints.” (Hot Tub Religion)
Here are several verses that speaks of God’s sovereignty:
“Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” (Isaiah 46:10)
“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” (Proverbs 21:1)
“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21)
“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” (Ephesians 1:11)
“Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.” (Psalm 135:6)
“The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” (Psalm 103:19)
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2)
One of the greatest books I’ve ever read is J. I. Packer’s Knowing God. Knowing God came out in 1973, when Nanci and I were in our first year at Bible college. We read it right away. It was an instant classic. (Nanci reread it when she had cancer and got even more out of it then.)
I had the privilege of knowing Dr. Packer, who truly lived out his faith. Packer wrote in Knowing God about five basic truths of the knowledge of God:
1. God has spoken to man, and the Bible is His Word, given to us to make us wise unto salvation.
2. God is Lord and King over His world; He rules all things for His own glory, displaying His perfections in all that He does, in order that men and angels may worship and adore Him.
3. God is Savior, active in sovereign love through the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue believers from the guilt and power of sin, to adopt them as His sons, and to bless them accordingly.
4. God is Triune; there are within the Godhead three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost; and the work of salvation is one in which all three act together, the Father purposing redemption, the Son securing it, and the Spirit applying it.
5. Godliness means responding to God’s revelation in trust and obedience, faith and worship, prayer and praise, submission and service. Life must be seen and lived in the light of God’s Word. This and nothing else is true religion.
In the early 2000s, I was asked to be on a panel about Heaven at a bookseller’s convention in Dallas. I asked who else would be on the panel. They said among several others, it would include J. I. Packer. I said I would do it as long as I got to sit next to Packer. (I had met him years earlier, and we had talked a couple of times at conferences.)
Nanci and I deliberately arrived half an hour early. Packer showed up second, and of course I introduced him to Nanci, who was beaming, and I sat him down next to me where we would sit on the panel. He took out a cookie and said, “If only I had coffee.” Nanci said enthusiastically, “I will get you coffee!” She ran out to a Starbucks at the conference center and brought him back his “black coffee only” within 10 minutes. He was delighted and showered her with praise (to the extent that an older British male can do that!), and only then started eating his cookie. He said the coffee was wonderful. The look on his face and hers was unforgettable. When the session was over, and we finished talking with him, Nanci was smiling broadly, squeezed my arm, and said, “I bought coffee for J. I. PACKER!” ♥️♥️♥️
20 This “woe” has a link with the previous one (v.18) for “deceit” is there expounded as skepticism about the ways of God. Unhappily it is an easy journey from such skepticism to the total reversal of values this verse demonstrates, for God is the source of all values; and if we are wrong about him, we can soon be wrong about everything. The Pharisees’ rejection of Christ showed itself in the same way, for they attributed the works of the Holy Spirit to Beelzebub (Mark 3:22–29).
Grogan, G. W. (1986). Isaiah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel (Vol. 6, p. 52). Zondervan Publishing House.
Ver. 20. Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.—Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil:— There is a customary mode of talking, in which familiar formulas of praise and censure, as to moral objects, are employed as if by rote, involving the admission of important principles, and recognising in its full extent the grand distinction between moral good and evil. Such men will speak familiarly of other men and of their acts as right or wrong, as virtuous or vicious, in a manner which implies not only preference of judgment, but of inclination; so that if we draw conclusions from their language merely, we should certainly infer that they not only understood the principles of sound morality, but loved them and obeyed them. The latter conclusion would, in too many instances, be found to be erroneous, not because the person, in his talk, was guilty of deliberate hypocrisy, or even intended to deceive at all, but because his words conveyed more than he meant, especially when phrases used of course, and by a sort of habit, came to be subjected to the rules of a strict interpretation. In all such cases it will soon be found, upon a little observation, that the dialect in question, however near it may approach to that of evangelical morality, is still distinguished from it by indubitable marks.
Any one who thus indulges in the use of such conventional expressions as imply a recognition of those principles of morals which are laid down in the Bible, but whose conduct repudiates and nullifies them, avoids, as if instinctively, those terms of censure and of approbation which belong distinctively to Scripture, and confines himself to those which are common to the Bible and the heathen moralists, to Christian ethics and the code of honour. He will speak of an act, or a course of acts, as wrong, perhaps as vicious,—it may even be as wicked, but not as sinful. The difference between the terms, as viewed by such a person, seems to be that vice and crime are referable merely to an abstract standard, and perhaps a variable one; while sin brings into view the legislative and judicial character of God. Sin, too, is associated in most minds with the humiliating doctrine of a natural depravity, while vice and crime suggest the idea of a voluntary aberration on the part of one by nature free from taint, and abundantly able to stand fast in his own strength. By tracing such diversities, however slight and trivial they seem to be when in themselves considered, we may soon learn to distinguish the characteristic dialect of worldly moralists from that of evangelical religion.
It will also be found that in the use of terms employed by both, there is a difference of sense, it may be unintentional, denoting no small difference in point of principle. Especially is this the case in reference to those important principles of morals which bear most directly upon the ordinary business of life, and come most frequently into collision with the selfish interests and inclinations of ungodly men. Two men, for instance, shall converse together upon truth and falsehood, upon honesty and fraud, employing the same words and phrases, and, perhaps, aware of no diversity of meaning in their application. And yet, when you come to ascertain the sense in which they severally use the terms employed by both, you shall find that while the one adopts the rigorous and simple rule of truth and falsehood which is laid down in the Bible and by common sense, the other holds it with so many qualifications and exceptions, as almost to render it a rule more honoured in the breach than the observance. There can be no doubt that this diversity in the use of language exerts a constant and extensive influence on human intercourse, and leads to many of those misconceptions which are tending daily to increase the mutual distrust of men in one another’s candour and sincerity.
Who pretends to think that men are often, I might almost say ever, better in the bent of their affections and their moral dispositions than in the general drift of their discourse? Who does not know that they are often worse, and that where any marked diversity exists, the difference is commonly in favour of his words at the expense of his thoughts and feelings? Nothing, however, could be more unjust or utterly subversive of impartial judgment in this matter, than to choose as tests or symptoms mere occasional expressions.
It must not be forgotten that a rational nature is incapable of loving evil, simply viewed as evil, or of hating good, when simply viewed as good. Whatever thing you love, you thereby recognise as good; and what you abhor, you thereby recognise as evil. When, therefore, men profess to look upon that as excellent which in their hearts and lives they treat as hateful, and to regard as evil that which they are seeking after, and which they delight in, they are not expressing their own feelings, but assenting to the judgment of others. They are measuring the object by a borrowed standard, while their own is wholly different. And if they are really so far enlightened as to think sincerely that the objects of their passionate attachment are evil, this is only admitting that their own affections are disordered and at variance with reason. So the sinner may believe on God’s authority or man’s that sin is evil and that holiness is good, but as a matter of affection and of inclination, his corrupted taste will still reject the sweet as bitter, and receive the bitter as sweet; his diseased eye will still confound light with darkness, and his lips, whenever they express the feelings of his heart, will continue to call good evil and evil good.
The text does not teach us merely that punishment awaits those who choose evil in preference to good, but that an outward mark of those who hate God, and whom God designs to punish, is their confounding moral distinctions in their conversation.
When one who admits in words the great first principles of morals, takes away so much on one hand and grants so much on the other, as to obliterate the practical distinction between right and wrong; when with one breath he asserts the inviolable sanctity of truth, but with the next makes provision for benevolent, professional, jocose, or thoughtless falsehood; when he admits the paramount importance of religious duties in general, but in detail dissects away the vital parts as superstition, sanctimony, or fanaticism, and leaves a mere abstraction or an outward form behind; when he approves the requisitions of the law and the provisions of the Gospel in so far as they apply to other people, but repudiates them as applying to himself;—I ask, whatever his professions or his creed may be, whether he does not virtually, actually, call evil good and good evil?
Again, I ask, whether he who in the general admits the turpitude of fraud, impurity, intemperance, malignity, and other vicious dispositions with their practical effects, and thus appears to be an advocate for purity of morals, but when insulated cases or specific acts of vice are made the subjects of discussion, treats them all as peccadilloes, inadvertencies, absurdities, indiscretions, or, perhaps, as virtues modestly disguised, can be protected by the mere assertion of a few general principles from the fatal charge of calling evil good? And, as the counterpart of this, I ask whether he who praises and admires all goodness, not embodied in the life of living men or women, but detests it when thus realised in concrete excellence, does not really and practically call good evil?
And I ask, lastly, whether he who, in relation to the self-same acts, performed by men of opposite descriptions, has a judgment suited to the case of each, but who is all compassion to the wilful transgressions of the wicked, and all inexorable sternness to the innocent infirmities of godly men; he who strains at a gnat in the behaviour of the meek and conscientious Christian, but can swallow a camel in the conduct of the self-indulgent votary of pleasure; he who lauds religion as exhibited in those who give him no uneasiness by their example, but maligns and disparages it when, from its peculiar strength and brightness, it reflects a glare of painful and intolerable light upon his own corruptions,—let his maxims of moral philosophy be what they will,—does not, to all intents and purposes, incur the woe pronounced on those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter? (J. A. Alexander, D.D.) The guilt of establishing unscriptural principles of conduct:— I. Among the most prominent illustrations of the present subject we may produce THOSE PERSONS, WHO REPRESENT ENTHUSIASM AS RELIGION. By enthusiasm, as applied with a reference to religion, I understand the subjection of the judgment, in points of religious faith or practice, to the influence of the imagination. II. Let us now turn our eyes to the opposite quarter; to MEN WHO DENOMINATE RELIGION ENTHUSIASM. Enthusiasm is on principle busy and loquacious. Lukewarmness, though capable of being roused to a turbulent defence of forms and of its own conduct, is by nature silent and supine. Hence enthusiasm, in proportion to the relative number of its adherents, raises a much louder stir, and attracts far more extensive notice, than lukewarmness. But let the torpid conviction of the lukewarm be contrasted with the illusion of the enthusiast, and the former will prove itself not less dangerous, and generally more deliberately criminal, than the latter. III. Another illustration of the text is furnished by PERSONS WHO REPRESENT A PARTIAL CONFORMITY TO THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AS MERITING THE APPELLATION OF RELIGION: and thus also by implication STIGMATISE THE TRUE CHRISTIAN AS “RIGHTEOUS OVER-MUCH.” IV. We may in the next place produce as illustrative of the general proposition before us THOSE WHO REPRESENT THE PALLIATION OF SIN AS CHARITY; AND BRAND WITH THE CHARACTER OF CENSORIOUSNESS ALL OPINIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF GUILT CONFORMABLE TO THE SCRIPTURES. From the mouth of these apologisers no sin receives its appropriate denomination. Some lighter phrase is ever on the lips to cloke its enormity, perhaps to transform it into a virtue. Is profaneness noticed? It is an idle habit by which nothing is intended. Is extravagance named? It is a generous disregard of money. Is luxury mentioned? It is a hospitable desire to see our friends happy. What is worldly-mindedness? It is prudence. What is pride? It is proper spirit, a due attention to our own dignity. What is ambition? A laudable desire of distinction and pre-eminence; a just sense of our own excellence and desert. What is servility? It is skill in making our way to advancement. What are intemperance and sins of impurity? They are indecorums, irregularities, human frailties, customary indiscretions, the natural and venial consequences of cheerfulness, company, and temptation; the unguarded ebullitions of youth, which in a little time will satiate and cure themselves. Now all this is candour: all this is charity. If a reference be made to religion, these men immediately enlarge on the mercy of God. V. There yet remains to be specified an exemplification of the guilt menaced with vengeance by the prophet: A PERVERSION OF PRINCIPLE which, while the lower ranks are happily too little refined to be infected with it, taints with a greater or a less degree of its deceitful influence the bulk of the middle and higher classes of the community. By what criterion are applause and censure apportioned? By the rule of honour. “Honour” reigns, because multitudes “love the praise of men more than the praise of God.” It reigns, because “they receive honour one of another; and seek not that honour which cometh from God only.” What is this idol, which men worship in the place of the living God? The votary of honour may delude himself with the idea that, whatever be the ordinary expressions of his lips, his heart is dedicated to religion. But his heart is fixed on his idol, human applause. In the place of the love and the fear of God he substitutes the love of praise and the fear of shame. In the place of conscience he substitutes pride. For the dread of guilt he substitutes the apprehension of disgrace. (T. Gisborne, M.A.) The unchangeable difference of good and evil:— Moral good and evil are as truly and as widely different in their own nature as the perceptions of the outward senses; and God has endued us with faculties of the soul as well fitted to distinguish them, as the bodily senses are to discern corporeal objects. If any man, notwithstanding this, will obstinately call evil good and good evil, and will deny all distinctions between virtue and vice, he must as much have laid aside the use of his natural reason and understanding as he that would confound light and darkness must contradict his senses and deny the evidence of his clearest sight. And when such a person falls finally into the just punishment of sin, he will no more deserve pity than one who falls down a precipice because he would not open his eyes to discern that light which should have guided him in his way. I. THERE IS ORIGINALLY IN THE VERY NATURE OF THINGS A NECESSARY AND ETERNAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL, BETWEEN VIRTUE AND VICE, WHICH THE REASON OF THINGS DOES ITSELF OBLIGE MEN TO HAVE CONSTANT REGARD TO. This is supposed in the text by the prophet’s comparing the difference between good and evil to that most obvious and sensible difference of light and darkness. II. GOD HAS, MOREOVER, BY HIS SUPREME AND ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY, AND BY EXPRESS DECLARATION OF HIS WILL IN HOLY SCRIPTURE, ESTABLISHED AND CONFIRMED THIS ORIGINAL DIFFERENCE OF THINGS, AND WILL SUPPORT AND MAINTAIN IT BY HIS IMMEDIATE POWER AND GOVERNMENT IN THE WORLD. “Woe unto them,” &c. III. OBSERVATIONS WHICH MAY BE OF USE TO US IN PRACTICE.
Religion and virtue are truly most agreeable to nature, and vice and wickedness are of all things the most contrary to it.
Knowledge of the most important and fundamental doctrines of religion must be very easy to be attained, and gross ignorance of our duty can by no means be innocent or excusable, our minds being as naturally fitted to understand the most necessary parts of it as our eyes are to judge of colours or our palate of tastes.
The judgments of God upon impenitent sinners, who obstinately disobey the most reasonable and necessary laws in the world, are true and just and righteous judgments.
Whatever doctrine is contrary to the nature and attributes of God, whatever is plainly unwise or wicked, whatever tends to confound the essential and eternal differences of good and evil, must necessarily be false.
Every person or doctrine which would separate religion from a holy life, and make it to consist merely in such speculative opinions as may be defended by an ill liver, or in such outward solemnities of worship as may be performed by a vicious and corrupt man, does greatly corrupt religion. (S. Clarke, D.D.) Good and evil:— The difference of good and evil is a subject of the highest concern, since upon it is founded the truth of religion, the obligation to virtue, and the peace and satisfaction of our minds. Upon it is founded the knowledge which we can attain of God’s moral perfections; for we cannot prove that God is good, unless we have antecedent notions of goodness considered in itself, and separated from all law, will, or appointment, Divine or human. I shall, therefore, now proceed to prove the different natures of our actions as to moral good and evil— I. FROM THE HISTORY OF THE MOST ANCIENT TIMES AS RECORDED IN THE SACRED BOOKS. From the whole dispensation of providence, as set forth in the Old Testament, it may be collected that the distinctions of right and wrong, good and evil, just and unjust, might always have been evident to those who would make a proper use of their senses and faculties. But that we may not carry this point too far, it is to be observed, that men being frail and fallible, surrounded with temptations, and having passions as well as reason, God did not totally leave them to discover their duty by their own natural abilities. Certain religious traditions were, without question, delivered down by Adam and his sons, and some prophets and pious teachers were raised up in the earliest ages from time to time by the Divine Providence to instruct and correct the world, and to enforce the laws of nature and the moral duties, by declaring that God required the observance of them, and that He would be the rewarder of the good and the punisher of the wicked. Such an one was Enoch, and such was Noah, prophets and righteous men, and preachers of righteousness in their generations. II. FROM OUR RELATION TO GOD. That there is a Maker and Governor of the world, who is endued with all perfections, is evident from His works. Without any instructor, besides our own understanding, we know that we are, and that we did not make ourselves, and that we owe our being to a superior cause; and then we proceed to the discovery of a First Cause of us and of all other things; and thence we also discern our duty towards Him. It is absurd to suppose that God should have supreme power, and we not be bound to revere Him; that He should have perfect goodness, and we not be bound to love Him. He who gives life and the comforts of life to His creatures, hath a right to their gratitude and to their best services: and if it be absurd not to think ourselves obliged to obey Him, it is right and fit to obey Him, and to conform our will to His. So that, with respect to God, there must be moral good or moral evil in our behaviour. As the foundations of religion are thus fixed and unchangeable, so the continual practice of religion is necessary through the whole course of our lives. They who seem to have little or no value for religion yet will often tell you that they have a great regard for virtue, for honour, for justice, and for gratitude to friends and benefactors. If they would reason consistently, they would find the same obligations in a higher manner to serve God, who is both their Master and their Father. III. Another way to find out the differences of good and evil is FROM THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PECULIAR FRAME OF HUMAN NATURE. The beasts, though so much our inferiors, fulfil the designs of providence by pursuing the ends for which they were made. But they are no patterns for us whom God hath endued with faculties above sense, and who are able to control and subdue the inclinations which we have in common with brutes. Nature hath limited and determined their appetites within certain bounds, which they have no desire to transgress. Nature hath not so dealt with mankind; for our desires are impetuous and boundless: but then God hath implanted in us understanding and reason to direct them, and to judge what is right and wrong. And thus, as man by the help of reason and reflection, and by moral motives, becomes vastly superior to the brutes; so by vice, and particularly by intemperance and sensuality, he sinks as much beneath them, and runs into excesses which are not to be found in them. Hence the real and moral differences of good and evil may be proved; for the superior faculties in man must have a superior good agreeable to them. And as the inferior faculties, namely, the bodily senses, have always external objects suitable to them, or unsuitable; so it is with those nobler powers of the mind, thinking, reflecting, inquiring, judging, refusing, and choosing. The proper objects of these powers are moral or religious good and evil. No faculty creates its own object, but only discerns it. In like manner, truth and falsehood, right and wrong, are the objects of the understanding; and no man surely is so absurd or stupid as to think that we can make a thing true by believing it, or false by disbelieving it. So virtue or goodness is the proper object of our unprejudiced and reasonable desires. Every one would infallibly choose it, if he acted according to his nature, to pure and undefiled reason, and were not seduced by sensual motives and temporary views. IV. We may also judge of good and evil BY THE COMMON INTEREST AND SENSE OF MANKIND. And here we are not to be determined so much by the opinion of this or that person, though eminent perhaps in some respects, as by the general consent of men in approving things praiseworthy and conducing to the common advantage. Some things are so universally esteemed, that even they who do not practise them must approve them; and this shows their intrinsic and invariable excellence. For men are very partial to their own conduct, and therefore when they approve virtue in others, though themselves be vicious, there must be an overbearing evidence in favour of it. The common and public interest cannot be supported by any measures contrary to virtue and goodness. V. FROM THE WILL OF GOD AS DISCOVERABLE BY REASON, AND AS DISCOVERED TO US BY REVELATION. (J. Jortin, D.D.) Confusion in men’s notions of good and evil:— Whence comes it to pass that men should lose the notions of good and evil so far as to stand in need of a Divine law to reinforce them, whilst yet they never lose the notion of things pleasing or hurtful to their senses? We may answer—
That sense hath usually nothing to corrupt its judgment; but it is not so with the determinations which the mind passeth upon well-doing and evil-doing; for there is often an inclination one way more than another, and this inclination is towards the wrong way, arising from various causes internal and external; so that serious consideration and caution are necessary to go before the judgment.
The reasons of good and evil are not usually understood in their whole extent by the bulk of mankind. It is generally agreed that there are some right and some wrong actions; but accurate notions of right and wrong have seldom been found where revelation hath not been received; which should teach us to set a just value upon the Gospel.
Great examples have greatly tended to corrupt men’s notions of good and evil. Many there are who judge not for themselves, but take up with the judgment of others; and seeing men of knowledge, rank, and figure, practising iniquity without fear or remorse, they think they may do the same, and follow their leaders.
The prevalence of any vice in any country or society takes away men’s apprehensions of the evil of it. When a vice is uncommon, men stare at it as at a monster; but when it is generally practised, they are insensibly reconciled to it. (Ibid.) Good and evil:—
Give some general account of the nature of good and evil, and of the reasons upon which they are founded.
Show that the way by which good and evil commonly operate upon the mind of man, is by those respective names and appellations, by which they are notified and conveyed to the mind.
Show the mischief which directly, naturally, and unavoidably follows, from the misapplication and confusion of these names.
Show the grand and principal instances in which the abuse or misapplication of those names has such a fatal and pernicious effect. (R. South, D.D.) The misapplication of words and names I. IN RELIGION. Religion is certainly in itself the best thing in the world; and it is as certain that, as it has been managed by some, it has had the worst effects: such being the nature, or rather the fate of the best things, to be transcendently the worst upon corruption. II. IN CIVIL GOVERNMENT, or politics. III. TO THE PRIVATE INTERESTS OF INDIVIDUALS.
An outrageous, ungoverned insolence and revenge, frequently passes by the name of sense of honour.
Bodily abstinence, joined with a demure, affected countenance, is often called piety and mortification.
Some have found a way to smooth over an implacable, unalterable spleen and malice, by dignifying it with the name of constancy.
A staunch, resolved temper of mind, not suffering a man to sneak, fawn, cringe, and accommodate himself to all humours, though never so absurd and unreasonable, is commonly branded with and exposed under the character of pride, morosity and ill-nature.
Some would needs have a pragmatical prying into and meddling with other men’s matters, a fitness for business, forsooth, and accordingly call and account none but such persons men of business. (Ibid.) An essential difference between virtue and vice in the nature of things:— I. I shall first EXPLAIN THE MEANING, AND THEN CONFIRM THE TRUTH OF THIS OBSERVATION. Every thing has a nature which is peculiar to itself, and which is essential to its very existence. Light has a nature by which it is distinguished from darkness. Sweet has a nature by which it is distinguished from bitter. Animals have a nature by which they are distinguished from men. Men have a nature by which they are distinguished from angels. Angels have a nature by which they are distinguished from God. And God has a nature by which He is distinguished from all other beings. Now such different natures lay a foundation for different obligations; and different obligations lay a foundation for virtue and vice in all their different degrees. As virtue and vice, therefore, take their origin from the nature of things, so the difference between moral good and moral evil is as immutable as the nature of things from which it results. The truth of this assertion will appear if we consider—
That the essential difference between virtue and vice may be known by those who are wholly ignorant of God. The barbarians, who saw the viper on Paul’s hand, knew the nature and ill-desert of murder. The pagans, who were in the ship with Jonah, knew the difference between natural and moral evil, and considered the former as a proper and just punishment of the latter. And even little children know the nature of virtue and vice. But how would children and heathens discover the essential difference between moral good and evil, if this difference were not founded in the nature of things?
Men are capable of judging what is right or wrong in respect to the Divine character and conduct. This God implicitly allows, by appealing to their own judgment, whether He has not treated them according to perfect rectitude. In the context, He solemnly calls upon His people to judge of the propriety and benignity of His conduct towards them (vers. 3, 4; also Jer. 2:5; Ezek. 18:25, 29; Mic. 6:1–5). In these solemn appeals to the consciences of men, God does not require them to believe that His character is good because it is His character; nor that His laws are good because they are His laws; nor that His conduct is good because it is His conduct. But He allows them to judge of His character, His laws and His conduct, according to the immutable difference between right and wrong, in the nature of things; which is the infallible rule by which to judge of the moral conduct of all moral beings.
God cannot destroy this difference without destroying the nature of things.
The Deity cannot alter the nature of things so as to destroy the essential distinction between virtue and vice. We can conceive that God should make great alterations in us, and in the objects about us; but we cannot conceive that He should make any alterations in us, and in the objects about us, which should transform virtue into vice, or vice into virtue, or which should destroy their essential difference. II. TAKE NOTICE OF ONE OR TWO OBJECTIONS which may be made against what has been said.
To suppose that the difference between virtue and vice results from the nature of things, is derogatory and injurious to the character of God. For, on this supposition, there is a standard of right and wrong superior to the will of the Deity, to which He is absolutely bound to submit. To say that the difference between right and wrong does not depend upon the will of God, but upon the nature of things, is no more injurious to His character than to say that it does not depend upon His will whether two and two shall be equal to four; whether a circle and square shall be different figures; whether the whole shall be greater than a part; or whether a thing shall exist and not exist at the same time. These things do not depend upon the will of God, because they cannot depend upon His will. So the difference between virtue and vice does not depend upon the will of God, because His will cannot make or destroy this immutable difference. And it is more to the honour of God to suppose that He cannot, than that He can, perform impossibilities. But if the eternal rule of right must necessarily result from the nature of things, then it is no reproach to the Deity to suppose that He is morally obliged to conform to it. To set God above the law of rectitude, is not to exalt, but to debase His character. It is the glory of any moral agent to conform to moral obligation. The supreme excellency of the Deity consists, not in always doing what He pleases, but in always pleasing to do what is fit and proper in the nature of things.
There is no other difference between virtue and vice than what arises from custom, education, or caprice. Different nations judge differently upon moral subjects. This objection is more specious than solid. For— (1) It is certain that all nations do feel and acknowledge the essential distinction between virtue and vice. They all have words to express this distinction. Besides, all nations have some penal laws, which are made to punish those who are guilty of criminal actions. (2) No nation ever did deny the distinction between virtue and vice. Though the Spartans allowed their children to take things from others without their knowledge and consent, yet they did not mean to allow them to steal, in order to increase their wealth, and gratify a sordid, avaricious spirit. They meant to distinguish between taking and stealing. The former they considered as a mere act, which was suited to teach their children skill and dexterity in their lawful pursuits, but the latter they detested and punished as an infamous crime. So when the Chinese expose their useless children, or their useless parents, they mean to do it as an act of kindness both to their friends and to the public. These, and all other mistakes of the same nature, are to be ascribed to the corruption of the human heart, which blinds and stupefies the conscience, and prevents it from doing its proper office. III. It now remains to MAKE A NUMBER OF DEDUCTIONS FROM THE IMPORTANT TRUTH WHICH WE HAVE EXPLAINED AND ESTABLISHED.
If there be an immutable difference between virtue and vice, right and wrong, then there is a propriety in every man’s judging for himself in matters of morality and religion.
If there be a standard of right and wrong in the nature of things, then it is not impossible to arrive at absolute certainty in our moral and religious sentiments.
If right and wrong are founded in the nature of things, then it is impossible for any man to become a thorough sceptic in morality and religion.
If right and wrong, truth and falsehood, be founded in the nature of things, then it is not a matter of indifference what moral and religious sentiments mankind imbibe and maintain.
If right and wrong, truth and falsehood, be founded in the nature of things, then there appears to be a great propriety in God’s appointing a day of judgment.
All who go to heaven will go there by the unanimous voice of the whole universe.
All who are excluded from heaven will be excluded from it by the unanimous voice of all moral beings. It will appear clearly to the view of the universe, that all who are condemned ought to be condemned and punished forever. (N. Emmons, D.D.) Perverting the right ways of the Lord:— I. NATURE OF THE PRACTICE.
Not a mere error or defect of judgment, but a habit, practice or system of perverting right and wrong.
Examples of “calling evil good, and good evil” (Psa. 10:3; Mal. 2:17; 3:15; Luke 16:15; 2 Pet. 2:19). Putting bondage to sin for liberty, and counting Christian freedom to be servitude.
Examples of “putting darkness for light, and light for darkness.” The traditions of men for doctrines of God. Oppositions of science, falsely so called, for truths of Holy Writ.
Examples of “putting bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.” “Pleasures of sin” counted sweet; the joy of the Lord despised. (Prov. 9:17) “Stolen waters (i.e., sins) are sweet.” (Prov. 5:4) “Her end is bitter as wormwood.” (Prov. 20:17.) II. ORIGIN OF THE PRACTICE.
Satan the first on record who thus acted. (Gen. 3:1–5.) It is an old device.
As he did, so do his children and dupes (John 8:44; 2 Cor. 11:13–15).
Men perverted become perverters, “deceiving and being deceived.”
The practice is easy, and seems to be a source of malicious pleasure to those who so do. III. EFFECTS OF THE PRACTICE.
The practice is, to a mournful extent, successful, because of our weak and perverted fallen nature.
It discredits God’s words and ways.
It distresses the righteous (Ezek. 13:22).
It deceives the young and unstable.
It destroys both the perverters and the perverted. IV. JUDGMENT ON THESE PERVERTERS. “Woe unto them” (Prov. 17:15).
By these perversions the perverters become such as described in Eph. 4:18, 19; 1 Tim. 4:2.
It is too true that men may come at length to say, “Evil, be thou my good.”
They who have done the works of the devil in perverting and confusing right and wrong, will share the devil’s judgment. V. PRESERVATION FROM PERVERSION.
How to be kept from sharing with such perverters, and from being seduced or deceived by them; most important to know this.
See the example of Jesus in His temptation. Prayer, and keeping close to Holy Scripture.
Copy His example.
Gospel “light,” “good,” “sweet,” here set forth, showing the way of salvation by faith in Christ.
Pray that the Spirit may “guide you into all the truth,” and “give you a right judgment in all things.”
Hereafter good and evil, light and darkness, sweet and bitter, will be known, seen, and tasted, without the confusion and perversion which now prevail. (Flavel Cook, B.A.) Sinful nomenclature:— Reproof and denunciation, distasteful as they ever must be, have their office. The Word of God is something more than a pleasant song. It is sometimes a fire to scathe, a hammer to dash in pieces, a sword to divide the soul and spirit, the joints and marrow; and therefore it is a great sin to try to blunt the edge of the sword of the Spirit by calling evil good and good evil. I. IT IS A GREAT SIN to disregard or even to underrate in the least degree the eternal distinctions of right and wrong, to view things in their wrong aspects and to call things by their wrong names. “He that saith to the wicked, ‘Thou art righteous,’ ” says Solomon, “him shall the people curse.” And Paul tells us there are some things that ought not to be so much as named among those who live holy lives. The evil word is a long step beyond the evil thought. Speak of sin in its true terms and you strip it of its seductiveness. Call a vice by its real name and you rob it of half its danger by exposing its grossness. The very guiltiest of sinners is he who paints the gates of hell with the colours of Paradise, and gives names of clear disparagement and dislike to scrupulous honour and stainless purity. II. THE CAUSE OF THIS SIN is due to a fading appreciation of moral evil, to a tampering with it, and to a destruction of that healthy instinct which revolts at it. This is illustrated in the third chapter of Genesis. Light words and careless thoughts are not indifferent things. Character is not cut in marble; it may become diseased as our bodies do. Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. III. THE PUNISHMENT OF THIS SIN is the failure of all life, the waste, the loss, the shipwreck of the human soul. The rose is a glorious flower, but it withers sometimes and produces nothing but mouldering and loathly buds, because there is some poison in the sap or some canker at the root. Careers that might have been prosperous and happy are sometimes cut short, blighted with disgrace, the conscience seared, the distinction between right and wrong lost. They are mortified to painlessness, and this is death. This is the worst woe that can befall those who miscall things which God has stamped with His own signet. (Dean Farrar, D.D.) The sin of confounding good and evil:— I. Consider the particular species of crime against which we have the warning of the text AS IT RELATES TO THE INDIVIDUAL WHO IS GUILTY OF IT.
There is scarcely one of us who does not think himself sufficiently religious; and yet, to what does the religion of many a man amount?
If we can be successful enough to persuade men to believe that the slight notion which they have of religion is insufficient, we then find them flying to another subterfuge to screen them from its duties, by affixing the name of evil to what we pronounce to be good, and calling our representation of religion morose and gloomy.
Religion being once rendered so slight in the mind, once esteemed so gloomy and unworthy a pursuit, its restraints are neglected, its principles evaded, and the wavering deceitfulness of men’s hearts made the standard of men’s actions.
To these notions of indifference concerning religion, we may add those arising from misguided zeal in it. Divisions, persecutions, &c. II. Consider those who are not imposing on themselves by believing things to be good, which are really evil, but WHO WILFULLY AND MALICIOUSLY ENDEAVOUR TO DESTROY A TRUE BELIEF IN OTHERS, BY FALSE REPRESENTATIONS OF SIN AND DUTY.
How artfully and speciously vice is often portrayed in those numerous works which find the easiest admission to the closets of the young! Into the character of the frail and guilty is thrown a variety of qualities of seeming liberality, honour, and the like; the reader, with an ingenuous tenderness, without deliberation, pities and forgives; and begins to think the crime no indiscretion, or at least no crime at all!
You have witnessed the effect of similar principles conveyed, not in books, but conversation.
We find many a villain pouring forth his artful tale of constancy and honour, calling all “good evil, and all evil good,” ridiculing marriage as a useless human ceremony, decrying religion as an idle state-invention, painting human nature, its passions and the indulgence of them, in every glowing colour, till he has broken a parent’s heart, and brought his child to ruin in time and in eternity! (G. Mathews, M.A.) The perversion of right and wrong:— Nothing tends more to remove the just distinctions of virtue and vice, or to blend the nature of good and evil, than the giving plausible and specious names to what are really great and substantial crimes.
The boldest attacks of infidelity are often couched under the plausible name of “a spirit of free inquiry.”
An indifference to all religious worship is often concealed under the specious term of “a truly religious spirit of universal toleration.”
The duel is converted into an “honourable deed.”
Shameless and lawless adultery is denominated gallantry.
Is not a certain profusion and expense, which causes a breach of common justice in squandering what men are not able to pay, often described as an enlarged and generous mode of living?
If the libertine who indulges in every sensual appetite without control, happen to possess a certain share of vivacity and good humour, or be a man of boundless profusion and indiscriminate liberality, his vices are swallowed up in the supposed good qualities of his heart; and the worst title perhaps that is bestowed on his worst actions, is that of a thoughtless ease and good-nature, which is too apt to be led astray by the example and vices of others. (C. Moore, M.A.) Calling evil good, and good evil:— The real horror of this passage consists in the fact that we have here one of the greatest sins that can be conceived, and, at the same time, one of the most common. To call evil good is practical atheism. To call good evil is practical blasphemy. The words of the passage supply a certain vision of the order of the process.
To “call evil good” is the sin especially of the young and careless—the giddy and wanton in their way.
The calling good evil is the sin especially of the earnest and professedly religious—whether or not their religion be of the kind called Christian. This was the great crime of the Pharisees against Christ. This has been the crime of all the persecutors of the Church of Christ from the Roman emperors to the Romish priests. Also, of many theologians of all sides in controversy; and of politicians.
Before our eyes the evil and the good are mingled, in characters and acts and institutions, till it is often beyond our power to extricate. And what are we to do? Let us call on the name of the Lord, confessing we are helpless often in the matter, remembering also this, that although it be in ignorance, our error may be great, like the crucifying of Christ. Let the Church be improved from within, seeking rather the resources of the heavenly grace to replenish her heart with charity—its native and original virtue. Let her turn from all the tumult without to Him who is “the glory in the midst of her.” Let her learn her liberality at the feet of Jesus. For evil rolls into the light of Christ and is detected and abhorred. The good that is in evil is caught by that light and gladly hailed. The love of Christ is the best of teaching here. (J. Cunningham, M.A.) The danger of depraving the moral sense:—
The current conventional standard of society around them is even in this Christian land the main principle by which the great mass of the better sort of people regulate their conduct. For one who refers truly to the law of God, hundreds may be found who act upon the common maxims of society. This, therefore, it becomes us especially to bear in mind: never can we live for ourselves alone.
It is one especial part of their punishment who are thus engaged in lowering the moral standard of society around them, that they must be, in a still greater measure, injuring themselves. How “shall a man touch pitch and not be defiled”? We have no other way of transmitting moral evil than by contagion; we must, in the first place, be ourselves the victims of that which we convey to others. (1) There is within each of us a power or faculty by which we judge of good or evil, and which we call conscience or the moral sense. Although we cannot by a direct act of the reason alter, or at our immediate volition, silence, the decision and the voice of moral consciousness, we may, by a course of actions, altogether debase, and even for the time extinguish it. (2) It is of great moment to observe how from this it follows that there is a necessary tendency in any one allowed form of evil to prepare the soil for receiving others. (3) After vicious practice, there is nothing of which they who would preserve their moral sense unclouded should more cautiously beware, than a needless acquaintance with sin. The first and evident form in which this danger meets us is from the company of evil men. There are some remarkable provisions by which the Christian’s power of discrimination can be formed, without encouraging an evil curiosity or courting any familiarity with vice. For, first, it will grow gradually with the growth of our self-knowledge. Alas! we bear evil always with us; and if we search ourselves we must become acquainted with it. Yet even here we need a word of caution, for our very self-inspection may become the means of self-defilement. At God’s call we may walk unharmed even in the fire of present sin. And here, again, we may trace the provision God has made for this security in the nature He has given us. For the feelings of grief and shame which are naturally roused by the first sight of sin, and which of themselves will die away with each repetition, if, from curiosity or the love of excitement, we call them into fruitless exercise, these, when they lead us to strive against the evil which we see, grow into a living habit of resisting sin; and this habit keeps the conscience quick and tender, and, through the blessing of God’s grace, purifies and strengthens the power of moral judgment beyond all other means of wholesome exercise. Thus it is that God’s especial witnesses have borne, amidst an evil generation, the burden of His holiness and truth. (Bishop S. Wilberforce, D.D.) A shameful doctrine:— Bellarmine, in his 4th Book and fifth chapter, De Pontifice Romano, has this monstrous passage: That if the Pope should through error or mistake command vices and prohibit virtues, the Church would be bound in conscience to believe vice to be good and virtue evil. (R. South, D.D.) Straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel:— A Neapolitan shepherd came in anguish to his priest, saying, “Father, have mercy on a miserable sinner. It is the holy season of Lent; and while I was busy at work, some whey spirting from the cheese-press flew into my mouth, and,—wretched man!—I swallowed it. Free my distressed conscience from its agonies by absolving me from my guilt!” “Have you no other sins to confess?” said his spiritual guide. “No; I do not know that I have committed any other.” “There are,” said the priest, “many robberies and murders from time to time committed on your mountains, and I have reason to believe that you are one of the persons concerned in them.” “Yes,” he replied, “I am, but these are never accounted as a crime; it is a thing practised by us all, and there needs no confession on that account.” (K. Arvine.) Defective moral sense:— It is no exaggeration to assert that Napoleon I—strangely called the Great—had no moral sense. Carlyle tells the story of a German emperor who, when corrected for a mistake he made in Latin, replied, “I am King of the Romans, and above grammar!” Napoleon’s arrogance was infinitely greater. He thought himself above morality and really seems to have believed that he had a perfect right to commit any crime, political or personal, that would advance his interests by an iota: and, in truth, he did commit so many it is almost impossible to recount them. (H. O. Mackey.) Little evils making way for greater:— The carpenter’s gimblet makes but a small hole, but it enables him to drive a great nail. May we not here see a representation of those minor departures from the truth which prepare the minds of men for grievous errors, and of those thoughts of sin which open a way for the worst of crimes? Beware, then, of Satan’s gimblet. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Exell, J. S. (n.d.). Isaiah (Vol. 1, pp. 126–135). Fleming H. Revell Company.
Trump at Davos: The World Economic Forum kicked off Monday in Davos, Switzerland, where prominent world leaders convene to discuss economic, political, and social issues. President Donald Trump has ruffled many European leaders’ feathers in recent days over his remarks about acquiring Greenland and tariff threats if they don’t play ball. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted that a trade deal was reached in July and that Trump should honor it. Trump is also planning a signing ceremony at Davos for the Gaza Board of Peace, which Fox News described as “a new oversight body tied to the next phase of the Gaza peace plan.” Many countries have been invited to join the board, but some have concerns about accepting due to the substantial financial commitment required. French President Emmanuel Macron has refused to join; Trump threatened tariffs, but said, “He doesn’t have to join.”
SCOTUS hears Fed firing case: The Supreme Court is hearing arguments today on the issue of President Trump’s attempted firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Trump argues that he fired Cook for cause last summer after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte referred the governor for possible mortgage fraud. The Federal Reserve Act simply states that governors may be removed “for cause” without defining the term or establishing a pathway for governors to challenge a removal. Cook argues that the intent of the Federal Reserve Act was to establish an independent central bank, and allowing the president to fire members without review would destroy that independence. The issue the Supreme Court will need to decide on is whether to overturn an earlier ruling that paused Cook’s firing or leave it in place as arguments continue.
House to vote to hold Clintons in contempt: Following Bill and Hillary Clinton’s rejection of the House Oversight and Government Reform panel’s subpoenas to appear for a closed-door deposition regarding the former president’s relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Committee Chairman James Comer announced a vote on a contempt resolution. The Clintons had offered to meet off the record with just Comer and the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Robert Garcia, in New York, an offer Comer called “ridiculous.” “The Clintons’ latest demands make clear they believe their last name entitles them to special treatment,” he noted. “The absence of an official transcript is an indefensible demand that is insulting to the American people who demand answers about Epstein’s crimes.” The panel will hold the contempt vote today, which, if passed, will then head to the House floor for a vote.
Minnesota AG defends lawlessness: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison appeared on Don Lemon’s podcast following Lemon’s involvement with anti-ICE agitators’ intrusion and disruption of worship at Cities Church. With the real possibility of charges related to violations of both the FACE Act and Ku Klux Klan Act being raised against Lemon and the agitators, Ellison, the state’s top prosecutor, dismissed such concerns. “I think that if you want to protest the behavior of a particular religious leader, then people are allowed to do that,” he asserted. “How they are stretching either of these laws to apply to people who protested in a church over the behavior or the perceived behavior of a religious leader is beyond me, but they don’t mind stretching these days.” Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the DOJ subpoenaed Ellison, as well as Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
Maryland’s Democrat gerrymander: The Maryland governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission advanced a new congressional districting map to the General Assembly and the governor on Tuesday. Opponents include Maryland state Senate President Bill Ferguson, who argues that this proposal does not reflect the will of Marylanders and is objectively unconstitutional, despite the fact that it would favor his party, the Democrats, even more heavily. Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks argues the map was passed in a transparent process based on the feedback of ordinary citizens. Naturally, Republicans in a state where one in three voters broke for President Trump are unhappy with a map that will likely reduce the ratio of Democrat to Republican House representatives from 7:1 to 8:0.
Trump orders a crackdown on institutional investors buying single-family homes: President Trump’s new executive order gives Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent 60 days to develop rules to prevent large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. The executive order correctly points out that young families “cannot effectively compete” with Wall Street. Trump may be exceeding the executive’s powers with this order unless Congress passes the ban as well, but Democrats have long favored such a policy. Investors such as Blackstone are thought to own as much as 2-3% of the overall housing market, with much higher proportions in the South, where their efforts have been more targeted. Some fiscal conservatives argue that the failure to build new housing in meaningful ways in the 21st century is the real issue that needs addressing, and that investors are actually a mitigating factor for the poor housing market.
7,000 foreign gangsters caught: On the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s second term, DHS noted the president’s successes in dealing with the illegal immigration crisis. Among the thousands of illegal aliens who have been detained and deported are 7,000 illegal gang members. These are “the worst of the worst,” noted DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Many of these were let in by Joe Biden and should have never been in this country. These vicious criminals murdered, assaulted, robbed, and terrorized innocent Americans for sport. But under President Trump’s and Secretary [Kristi] Noem’s leadership, ICE is turbocharged to arrest even more gang members and make America safe again.” Many of these illegals are members of infamous violent gangs like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua. Getting criminals like these off the streets and out of our country should be celebrated; the nation’s immigration enforcement is to be commended.
Trump: Here are some mugshots of illegals: In a press conference yesterday, President Trump attempted to set the record straight about the ongoing ICE deportation enforcement actions in places like Minnesota. Holding a stack of mugshots, Trump showed the press corps the images of one vicious criminal after another who had been apprehended just in Minnesota. The list included convicted murderers, strong-arm rapists, and perverts who pimped out girls under the age of 13. Trump asked, “Do you really want to live with these people?” Perhaps a Minnesota-deployed ICE agent put it best earlier this week: “We’re here to arrest a child sex offender. … That’s who you guys are protecting. Insane.”
Vances announce fourth child: Children are a blessing. On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, announced some exciting news: “We’re very excited to share the news that Usha is pregnant with our fourth child, a boy. Usha and the baby are doing well, and we are all looking forward to welcoming him in late July.” The Vance family will grow to four children. In an era when nations are facing a falling birthrate crisis, what better message to send than our leaders having big families?
Headlines
President says he “won’t use force” to acquire Greenland (NY Post)
As many as 25 nations have signed onto Trump’s “Board of Peace” (CBS News)
Four ways Trump has dismantled the deep state since inauguration (Daily Signal)
China “super embassy” greenlighted in London despite national security concerns (CBS News)
Humor: JD Vance shares ultrasound of 4th child (Babylon Bee)
The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.
To mark his first year back in office, President Donald Trump posted a list of “365 WINS IN 365 DAYS” on the White House website. That’s a clever way to measure what has been a year chock-full of presidential moves engineered to pull the country out of four terrible years during Joe Biden’s autopen administration.
“One year ago today,” the post begins, “President Donald J. Trump returned to office with a resounding mandate to restore prosperity, secure the border, rebuild American strength, and put the American people first. In just 365 days, President Trump has delivered truly transformative results with the most accomplished first year of any presidential term in modern history.”
Trump groups his “wins” in several categories: Securing America’s borders and putting Americans first (52 wins), making our communities safe again (15 wins), rebuilding an economy for working Americans (37 wins), championing American workers and American industry (23 wins), igniting American innovation and technology (13 wins), reasserting American leadership on the world stage (46 wins), forging a stronger, modernized military force (32 wins), making government work for the people (79 wins), making America healthy again (25 wins), and unleashing American energy dominance — and common sense (43 wins).
It’s an impressive list. Why wouldn’t it be? Trump had four long years to think about what he would have done differently in his first term, and how he’d approach a second term if he won.
The results of that big-picture thought are profound. Trump actually governed pretty conservatively in his first term, relying on well-established conservatives and organizations to populate his administration and shape policies, nominees, and related decisions. His first year — 2017 — began a great American comeback, and his first term was tremendously successful.
However, an ugly pandemic and marred 2020 election, followed by years of Democrat lawfare against him, evidently persuaded Trump that he was too nice the first time. If the goal of his first term was to drop a bomb on the Washington establishment, the objective this time around has been to upend virtually everything at home and abroad.
As if to further distinguish himself from Joe Biden’s cognitive impairment, Trump has set a dizzying pace, working what seems like 24/7/365. According to Fox News, “Trump has signed more than 225 executive orders — surpassing the total 220 such orders he signed across the first four years of his presidency in his first administration.”
Almost nothing has been outside Trump’s purview or unworthy of his attention in his first year back in office, including weighing in on who should coach the New York Giants.
Today, he’s addressing global issues while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he’s making the case for a very different kind of American leadership, including his intense desire to acquire Greenland from Denmark.
Going back to the one-year marker, he appeared at yesterday’s White House press briefing to tout his list of accomplishments. “We have a book that I’m not going to read to you, but these are the accomplishments of what we’ve produced,” Trump said while holding up a clipped ream of paper. “I could stand here and read it for a week, and we wouldn’t be finished.”
The Associated Press notes, “He spent roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes in the White House briefing room opining on everything from his relationship with foreign leaders to God’s pride in him.”
Well, it’s hard to blame him. That list of 365 wins may be exaggerated (Trump exaggerates? Who knew?), but it’s not fabricated. Even the Trump-skeptical editors of National Review give him credit:
Much good has come from the unbridled ambition. Trump has made tremendous strides in scaling back the transgender insanity and DEI initiatives within the federal government. His aggressive enforcement of immigration laws has led to a historic decrease in border crossings and a significant outflow of illegal immigrants who have either been deported by force or who have decided to leave on their own. He’s rolled back the preposterous campaign to usher gas-powered cars into desuetude. In his only significant legislative achievement, he got Congress to pass an extension of his first-term tax cuts.
I share their admiration for those achievements and also agree with their discomfort with some of his approach, which they proceed to explain. Before Trump won the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, my biggest fear was that his Wreck-It Ralph authoritarian streak, utter lack of an ideological north star, and cult of personality would remake the Republican Party in a way largely foreign to conservative principles and constitutional limits.
In many ways, his first term assuaged those fears. His response to defeat in 2020 and the beginning of his second term, however, brought them roaring back.
Take Greenland. His desire and justification are exactly right. His methods may not work out favorably.
Tariffs are another example. He’s painfully correct about how American industries, and especially workers, have been battered by trade policies over the last 40 years. Other nations have taken us to the cleaners, and Trump is using tariffs to level the playing field. Yet he’s doing so in a way that is brash and willy-nilly, all while denying that there’s any downside — namely that American consumers inevitably pay more for things. The goal is worthy; the method, not so much.
Even immigration is a mixed bag. Shutting down the border after Biden flung it open wide is a Rushmore-worthy achievement. Deporting illegal alien criminals is a necessity. Yet ICE undeniably has an optics problem right now, and it could lead to significant political losses and other problems down the road.
Are there any limits to Trump’s power? “Yeah, there is one thing,” he told The New York Times recently. “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
Imagine hearing Barack Obama or Joe Biden say that out loud. They absolutely thought it, but they rarely even hinted at it.
Misgivings aside, Trump is upending a lot of things that desperately needed to be upended. It will be up to future presidents, Congresses, and courts to determine the bounds of American politics in a post-Trump world. No one will say he wasn’t consequential.
In the first year of his second term, the indefatigable Trump reportedly ended a social media post with “Thank you for your attention to this matter” a whopping 242 times. In so many ways, that sums up his entire second-term approach.
Thomas Gallatin: Hawaii Wants to Say ‘Aloha’ to Second Amendment Rights — Several Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical that Hawaii’s restrictions, which pit private property rights against gun rights, meet constitutional muster.
Michael Swartz: Is Greenland ‘Trump’s Folly’? — The last time the United States made a bold purchase of territory, it was “Seward’s Folly” of Alaska. That worked out pretty well.
Emmy Griffin: Reasserting Masculinity While Feminism Rages — Men need to reclaim the narrative from leftists who think that women are better and that men are nuisances and unnecessary.
Sophie Starkova: How Do Cellphones Affect Our Health? — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long believed that cellphone radiation can cause tumors or certain types of cancer, and he wants more research.
‘This Is a Violation’ — Pastor Paul Chappell of Lancaster Baptist Church in California condemned the mob that stormed a church in Minnesota over a pastor’s alleged ties to ICE.
SHORT CUTS
Dumb & Dumber
“This is First Amendment activity.” —Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison regarding the storming of a church (Now do mosques…)
“None of us are immune to the voice of the public. … It’s just something you’ve got to live with in a society like this.” —Keith Ellison
Fact-Check: True
“PRO TIP: if you’re screaming about ICE inside a church you’re not a protester you’re an a**hole.” —Jimmy Failla
Demagogue
“I am in support of abolishing ICE. … What we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist. We’re seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it’s doing is terrorizing people no matter their immigration status.” —New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani
Village Idiot
“We’re seeing our neighbors being kidnapped, peaceful protesters being assaulted and murdered, our civil rights being stripped, resources to fight the climate crisis being cut for fossil fuels and animal agriculture destroying our planet, and people’s access to food and healthcare becoming a privilege for the wealthy instead of a new basic human right for all Americans.” —singer-songwriter Billie Eilish
For the Record
“When people are convinced they are facing an existential threat, they behave accordingly. Fear and resistance feed fight-or-flight responses, and, like a nuclear reaction, the process becomes self-sustaining, with each increasingly powerful action met with an increasingly powerful reaction. This dynamic simply did not exist a decade ago. Under Barack Obama, the federal government removed millions of illegal immigrants — earning him the moniker ‘deporter-in-chief’ from activists. Yet America did not see widespread attacks on federal agents or mass street interference with removals. The difference was not the absence of enforcement; it was the presence of cooperation.” —Michael Smith
“Don’t buy into Mamdani’s false dichotomy between individualism and collectivism. The voluntary associations formed by free individuals are far preferable to the coercion of communists.” —Victor Joecks
1 Timothy 6:10
“It wasn’t that long ago when sports betting was illegal. Then suddenly it was as though profit, rather than controlling this vice, became paramount.” —Cal Thomas
Upright
“Freedom is never guaranteed. The future depends upon our generation having the will and determination to defend and preserve it.” —House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA)
Belly Laugh of the Day
“Democrats are proposing a new billionaires tax. I thought they opposed discrimination against Somalis.” —Larry Elder
Tensions simmering throughout the Middle East, as President Trump talks with the President of Syria amid growing concerns over renewed fighting in the country; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited to join Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza but objects to the involvement of other nations, including sponsors of Hamas; Trump considers options for military action in Iran; Chris Mitchell talks about Trump’s possible moves against Iran, Israel’s plans for defense, its desire to be a superpower in space, the latest on the Kurds, the controversy over Qatar being invited to join the Board of Peace, and concerns Hamas could be using Trump’s Gaza plan to rebuild; here at home, the Justice Department is launching an investigation into the anti-ICE protest which disrupted a church service in Minnesota, and the church’s response; Dr. Tony Evans, founder and former Senior Pastor of Oakwood Bible Fellowship talks with CBN’s Studio 5 about his new podcast, “The Unbound Podcast;” and how a young Trent Cason’s wish for his fifth birthday nearly ten years ago to help the less fortunate has turned into a full-fledged charity called Trent Cares.
Tim and Mary Danielsen take a look at the current news cycle, of course a continuation of the previous one – and yet the incremental increase in chaos and wickedness bears mentioning. “Waiting for the other shoe to drop” is one way to describe the edge-of-the-seat posture that today’s headlines tend to invoke. But in the case of the unknown shoe, it very much applies to that global war that seems to be always in the next news cycle. Are nations just being very cautious? Or is there more maneuvering going on? Some say that Trump and the right are warmongerers, but a case could be made that the Dems have been responsible for all the major wars of the last 150 years. Either way, whether it’s global war, civil war in the states, the economy or the Mideast, shoes could all drop at once one of these days, redefining chaos as we have known it. A full hour of headlines and commentary.
Trump shared how ICE has brought Minnesota’s illegal alien population “way down” despite heavy opposition from Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
He explained to reporters, “They [politicians] want to keep those people who are lying on the floor. They want to keep those people in Minnesota whereas the “real people of Minnesota [want them].”
President Trump exposes the real reason why the Minnesota politicians are so hostile towards ICE.
“They want to keep those people who are lying on the floor. They want to keep those people in Minnesota.”
Trump asserted that the elections in Minnesota are “totally corrupt,” detailing how the Somali population votes one group, even if they’re NOT CITIZENS.”
“I feel I won it all three times. Nobody’s won that state since Richard Nixon. It’s a rigged state,” Trump lamented.
“And the Somalians vote as one group, even though they’re not citizens… and you get 600,000 votes against you.”
Trump appears to have given a nod to Nick Shirley’s interview with David Hoch, which alleges there is a massive Somali ballot harvesting scheme keeping Democrats in power.
In that interview, Hoch said he’s “seen” this ballot harvesting fraud with his own eyes.
He alleged that a single person will go into a Somali apartment complex and collect all the ballots to vote for “one specific candidate.” They all vote together.
Some apartment units can claim to have nine people living in them or more. However, there is “no verification” or due process to check “if these people are even citizens that are voting,” Hoch claimed.
He alleged that local judges bow down to the Somali mafia under the threat that these apartment complexes will all vote in blocs for their opponent if they don’t serve their interests.
Altogether, Hoch said, “You’re talking probably 100,000 or more people” who all vote for one specific candidate.
Trump appears to have given a nod to Nick Shirley’s interview with David Hoch, which alleges there is a massive Somali ballot harvesting scheme keeping Democrats in power.
In that interview, Hoch said he’s “seen” this ballot harvesting fraud with his own eyes.
If true, this is voting fraud on an entirely different scale. A 200,000-vote swing like that would be more than enough to change the outcome of Minnesota’s 2024 presidential election results.
Then consider local elections in cities where the Somali population is concentrated. In theory, that alone could turn a close race into a blowout.
Jonathan Spyer from the Middle East Forum fought in the 2006 Second Lebanon War in a tank in Israel’s 188th Armored Brigade, and has worked afterward for decades as a prolific journalist and Middle East analyst. Through the years, he’s seen multiple protest movements calling for freedom from Iran’s Islamist regime.
Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity and Greg Gutfeld bring Fox News viewers their fresh takes on the top news of the day. #fox #media #breakingnews #us #usa #new #news #breaking #foxnews #politics #political #politicalnews #government #opinion #analysis #commentary #television #mediaanalysis #lauraingraham #ingraham #jessewatters #watters #seanhannity #hannity #greggutfeld #gutfeld
The walkout, dubbed the “Free America Walkout” is spearheaded by the Women’s March, the same group that mobilized millions of protesters against Trump’s first administration in 2017.
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