Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. (Psalm 2: 1-7)
(Joseph Milner, 1780)
Resignation to the divine will is one of the last and highest attainments of the Christian life. It is what is ultimately to be aimed at, as essential to comfort here--and happiness hereafter.
The Scriptures, daily meditated on, will supply us with instruction.
When we have genuine love to God, we shall be led to such an acquiescence in His wisdom and goodness--that we shall choose His will to take place, rather than ours. And the thought of how soon all things shall be set right in eternity, and that He will make all things work together for our good in this life--will reconcile the mind to anything that God pleases.
You will not mistake me, I hope, as if I suppose all true Christians have learned all this lesson completely. Far from it! These things are learned but in measure, and not without much conflict and opposition from sinful nature all along, and much imperfection.
And though it is not easy to confine the Spirit's operations by rules--yet this seems the general order of Christian virtues:
1. repentance,
2. faith,
3. love,
4. sweet resignation to God's will.
In Christ Himself, this resignation was perfect, "Not My will, but may Your will be done!" (Luke 22:42), and as far as we can trust in Him for grace--so far we may receive grace out of His fullness.
Oh, let us beg for grace to lie as clay in the hands of Infinite Wisdom, who knows how . . .
to humble our pride,
to bend our proud wills, and
to conform us to the likeness of His beloved Son.
Addition Dr. Morris:
I still remember as if yesterday, worship service, First Baptist Church, corner of University and Franklin Streets, Chapel Hill. Of course I had come from the poverty of Eastern NC, dirt roads, no power or phone lines, blacks and whites eeking out of existence, treating one another with humility.
I was sitting behind Dr. J. T. Dobbins, one of my chemistry professors, four distinguished black citizens entered the church and took a seat. The white church went into an uproar, on this liberal campus, remember, this was in 1949. The pastor called a meeting of the deacons, these Black-Americans were probably visitors to the campus, wanted to worship God in a church. Dr. Dobbins turned around to me and said, "I wonder what would happen if Jesus walked in."
From then until now, it has been interesting to watch the hypocrisy of modern so-called religion... 20,000 denominations, each giving similarity of message. There is nothing as pitiful as a wasted life, nothing as sad as a life of pretense, especially, playing games with God. The caretaker of the planets, who has the very hairs on your head numbered (Luke 12:7), most certainly knows if you are serious about him. Someone told me recently that many church members, at a worship service (worth-ship) sit right there on the pews texting on their smartphones, reading messages on their cell phones.
The oldest form of make believe is acting... going into the character of someone else. In remote areas of the world, masks were used. This world traveler brought back masks from all over the world, even Dogon masks from Mali, masks from the islands of New Guinea. The walls of my den were at one time covered with masks (I have sold them on eBay). So, regardless of civilization, man has always been interested in pretending. As a young man, I enjoyed plays at the great Playmaker Theater in Chapel Hill, on Broadway and even locally at the oldest civic theater in this country, located here, Thalian Hall in Downtown Wilmington, NC. My grandparents said that there was nothing they enjoyed more than seeing children in the community, on the school house stage, dressed in crepe paper doing characters of make believe. There is a time when make believe should end. We yearn for the genuine, whether in the White House, in the State House, the local school house or local courthouse. We want real people with real values not low-life politicians in high-places, sunshine patriots and packaged preachers.
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