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destroy a church God intended to car- ry the Gospel ultimately to India and beyond, so King Jesus intervened. From His throne in heaven, King Je- sus thundered, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting!” (Acts 9:4-5). Now Saul could see! Jesus was the promised Divine Messiah, who is one with His chosen, beloved Bride. Saul had mistreated her so grievously. The goats have always abused His


own, as well as each other. But His own matter the most—they bear not just the ancient imago Dei but also His abiding Holy Spirit, who is the bond of their union with Christ! Christ felt every blow against them. The goats abused not just pastors, teachers, evan- gelists, and missionaries: they attacked Christ the Lord of Glory Himself! Jesus’ rod is straight, not bent to


get His way. The words “one of the least of these” cost Him so much—the humiliation of a crown of thorns, all three nails that pierced his flesh, and every drop of His blood on Calvary! Their salvation did not come cheap. The least of these cost the most—His whole human life! So, the outcome is sure. On that Day of the Lord, the goats “will go away into eternal pun- ishment, but the righteous into eter- nal life” (Matthew 25:46). How shall we then live? What


should we do, now that this great day is coming and there is no escape? First, we must look to Jesus! He


alone can provide the saving faith and evangelical repentance that we so des- perately need to safely be among the sheep. He alone is our justification and sanctification. So, you need to turn to Him with your whole heart, confess your sins, and trust in Him with your whole heart. No Jesus, no hope. Next, you need to strive by His


grace for Christlikeness. You don’t want to be unfit for that big occasion. You want to be Christaformia—con- formed to the image of Christ, not your broken father Adam. You need to strive to conform your thinking, feeling, and living to reflect Jesus. In


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what you believe and in what you do, you must listen to His inspired Scrip- ture and reach hard in every aspect of life. In faith and practice, you should be like Him! Finally, you must be ready. Yes, be


ready for His return! But how do you do that now? You don’t need a PhD to see that


we are diving deeper into darkness. The age in which we live is Post- Christian. Your own town, state, and nation are digging deeper into sin in so many ways. Religious freedom, especially in the public realm, is less tolerated and facing legal persecution in America. How can all this chaos be happening in our own country? It boggles the mind! But this is nothing new. Old Tes-


tament Israel repeatedly decayed from blessing and obedience into re- bellion and chaos. The New Testa- ment church faced so many different anti-Christs from without and within. Nero, the Gnostics, and then the Pla- tonists—they all opposed Jesus and His simple Gospel truth of salvation. The Medieval church fell into so much confusion and fog, aping Roman civil structures and power. Have we not at times done the same? Moderatism plagued the Scottish


church in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Weakness, slumber, and death charac- terized the Church of Scotland, as they preferred Victorian values and scien- tific advance to Holy Spirit revival and Reformation evangelicalism! Modernism hit us like a ton of


bricks. It invaded and took over the mainline church—and even took a bite out of our own dear Zion for a time. It was another religion, like Machen warned in his Christianity and Liberalism. This liberalism had different beliefs and morals for indi- viduals, families, countries, and the world. It is still on the march today. What militancy we have faced— combative, threatening, violent, and activist in the extreme! Militant Is- lam struck at 9/11 and is still gunning for us after our longest war. Militant


nationalism among rivals abroad and militant secularism at home shakes our confidence to a new depth in sev- eral generations. We ourselves may soon join those


who are more visibly hungry, thirsty, homeless, naked, sick, in prison, de- spised and rejected on our own soil. Silent stares and hardened jaws may soon be replaced by lawsuits and godless judgments against us, which push us and our covenant children to the wall. But, beyond the Christ-like trials of


our Christian lives awaits the Glorious King, who will surely come to make all things right! We will hear Him pro- nounce covenant blessings upon us who believe, which only He deserves. We will eat in joy at His banqueting table, and His banner over us will be seen by all to be only love! The future of the Reformation is in


Christ and for Christ and with Christ forever! The only question for you is, “Where will you stand on that great day?” Will you stand with the sheep in Christ? Or, will you remain stubbornly alone with the goats?” That will make all the difference. Flee the wrath to come—into the arms of Jesus!?


Dr. W. Duncan Rankin used the


old NASB version, while listening to Scottish fiddle player Duncan Ch- isholm’s Redpoint and The Door of the Saints instrumental albums. Dr Duncan Rankin is an ARP minister in Virginia Presbytery & a Distinguished Professor at Erskine Seminary. He & his wife Shirley care at home for his 82 year old blind mother, in addition to his being supply pastor at Harvest- wood Covenant Presbyterian Church in Floyd VA and teaching regularly for BRITE (Blue Ridge Institute for Theo- logical Education). They have three grown children and one fine Little Dog.


CHURCH PEW CUSHIONS Padded seats or reversible cushions


DON GREEN UPHOLSTERY Call collect (864) 277-3795


Write: 1401 Piedmont Hwy., Piedmont, SC 29673 The Associate Reformed Presbyterian


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