Anno Domini 2016

(Article for publication week of 12-31- AD 2015)

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11).

This week we will turn the calendar to mark the beginning of a new year. As we start the year of 2016 it will be good to remember why we number the year as we do. This will be the two thousand and sixteenth year of the reign of King Jesus. The civilised world, also known as "Christendom" reckons the history of the world from the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. "Christendom" recognises that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true King of the universe. The time before His birth is called "B.C.", i.e, "Before Christ." "A.D." is the abbreviation for "Anno Domini," Latin for "year of our Lord." To be more accurate this is most likely the two thousandth and twenty first year of the Reign of our Lord according to Bishop Ussher's reckoning. Our calendar is probably off by five years. Bishop Ussher's "Annals of the World," first published in 1658 and recently reprinted has been proven to be amazingly accurate. In 1978 astrogeophysicist, Dr. John Eddy, although a proponent of unbiblical  and anti- God evolution made this amazing statement, "However, given some new and unexpected results to the contrary [to the myth of an old universe; columnist's note], and some time for frantic recalculation and theoretical readjustment, I suspect that we could all live with Bishop Ussher's value for the age of the earth and sun [6,020 years, columnist's note]. I don't think we have much in the way of observational evidence in astronomy to conflict with that."! So don't throw away your old copies of the Bible with Bishop Ussher's dates and don't be so quick to accept the lies of unbelieving "scientists" and revisionist "historians" and liberal "theologians."

Not surprisingly, the government controlled education system and its propaganda wing a.k.a the "news media" are doing their best to try to get us to quit using "A.D." and "B.C." to record the history of the world and reckon time. They want us to start using "C.E." (common era) and "B.C.E" (before common era). They hate Christ and everything that reminds them that He is on the Throne and that they will have to face Him in Judgment when they die. Ironically they cannot get away from the historical fact of the advent of Christ into the world because when you say "common era" you still have to acknowledge that the "common era" is dated from the birth of Christ!

So as we enter into this new year let us remember Who our true King is. The Eternal Son of God undertook a great humiliation and became a Man. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the virgin Mary's womb. He lived a life of perfect obedience to the law of God. His obedience is accounted to the record of His people. He died on a cross to put away His people's sins. He went further in His humiliation and was laid in the cold dark grave. But the third day He came forth eternally triumphant over all His foes, and His people's foes. After forty days He ascended back to His rightful throne and the Eternal Father put His crown back on His lovely head. God the Father hath highly exalted Him. People, behold your King! You are now commanded to confess Him and bow to Him as your Lord. Our text says that every tongue "should" confess" and every knee "should" bow. But Romans 14:11 says the Day is coming when every tongue "shall" confess the Lordship of Christ and every knee "shall" bow to Him. You will either bow now in salvation, or you will bow later in damnation! You had better get right with your King.

Christ on a Throne, Not in a Manger

(Article for publication week of 12-24- AD 2015)

"The LORD said unto my Lord, 'sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool' " (Psalm 110:1).

We are in that season when "Christendom"  observes the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no Biblical or historical evidence that our Lord was born on the 25th of December, nor is there any Biblical warrant (much less a command) to have a "holy day" to observe the birth of Christ. The Romish organisation headed by the anti-Christ established the 25th of December as a special "mass" to observe the birth of Christ. They picked the 25th of December because the heathens (including our benighted European ancestors) observed this day as the birth of the sun god. Because of its pagan roots, and the fact that it is called a "mass" (the pope teaches that Christ is "offered" in the mass and that the incantations of the "priests" change the bread and wine into the literal body and blood of Christ), many Christians (including your poor columnist) do not believe we should celebrate this as a "holy day" in the church. Our sincere prayer is that people would celebrate the only true holy day that God has commanded, that is the weekly Sabbath which has been the first day of the week since our Lord's resurrection John 20:19; Acts 20:7). It is most telling of the spiritual condition of our county that people will make more of the "Christ-mass" than the Day that Christ arose from the dead, commanded in the Law (Exodus 20:8-11), and established by God in the creation ordinance (Genesis 2:2-3).

Having said all that, we hasten to add that in the over-ruling Providence of God, many minds will be upon Christ this week. Some will attend Divine Service who have not attended in awhile. Many pastors will preach on the Incarnation this week, and that is always a good thing. Many will attend programs where hymns of praise to Christ will be sung. Handel's Messiah will be performed in many places, and many will attend who never hear the gospel any other time of the year. Many stores (at least in the Bible Belt) still have "Christmas carols" for background music during this season. Many will send and receive "Christmas cards" that will have scriptures on them and other references to the Incarnation and Birth of Christ. The Holy Spirit in His Divine Sovereignty may use such as this to open some elect sinner's heart to believe in Christ to the saving of his or her soul. Others will be left further without excuse and treasure unto themselves greater damnation.

So, my dear kindred, neighbours and friends, I challenge you with my text. I declare unto you that Christ is no longer a babe in a manger, He is a King on His throne! Our Lord quoted our text to the Jews in Matthew 22:44 answering His Own question to one of them, "what think ye of Christ?" That is the question for each of you who have considered the birth of Christ this week- "what think ye of Christ?" Our Lord quoted Psalm 110:1 to declare that He is the Eternal Son of God! "The LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool"! This verse is the covenantal language of the Eternal Father with the Eternal Son. The first "LORD" in the text is in all capitals because it is "Jehovah" , or "Yahweh." The second "Lord" is only with the "L" capitalised, because it is the Hebrew "Adonai." Both Jehovah and Adonai properly mean God. So our text is God the Father speaking to God the Son. And listen what the Father says. He says "sit thou at my right hand until all your enemies are crushed under your holy feet." Christ is not in a manger, He is on a throne at the right hand of the Father. He has finished the work of redemption. He undertook a great humiliation and became a Man (the God-Man) to suffer and die as a substitute for His people. Now He is ruling and reigning from His rightful throne. He is your rightful Monarch to Whom you must submit. It is an awful thing to be an enemy of the One Who was a Babe in Bethlehem but Who is now on the throne of the universe.

None can deny (rationally) that there was a Man named Jesus of Nazereth who lived in Palestine about 2,000 years ago. All the historical data prove the Biblical record (although Bible believers don't need it) that Christ was born and lived and died and that God the Father raised Him from the dead the third day. The civilised world dates its calendar from His Birth. The question for you my friend is whether you will bow to Him now and worship Him, or will you be crushed under the feet of His terrible judgment? I urge you to lay down your arms of rebellion and bow to your rightful Monarch, the Lord Jesus Christ, or you will be his eternal footstool.