Great Sermon!
A roundly illuminating discourse. Thank you.
It is a blessed assurance to know that God is above all sorts and all forms of cruelty. Rev Kranendonk asks: Would it not be the most fearful message if cruelty is greater than God, then cruelty will have the final word? Yes, it would be the most fearful and terrifying thing than even if a comet hit the earth! It would mean that the martyrs beginning from Abel, from every of the first disciples of Christ and down through the ages, as well as those now in North Korea and Africa would have died for nothing. It would mean that my hope is built on nothing, and that the blood of Jesus counts for nothing. Thankfully that is not so, and my hope is built on Jesus’ blood and righteousness and on God who is unquestionably sovereign no matter what. The name of every one who died for Christ is kept in heaven’s vault.
In the context of on-going persecutions and massacres, God is not blind. He watched as Stephen was stoned to death and he stood on his feet to welcome him. Will he do less for his new martyrs?
This message brings me nearer to the Cross and the Risen Saviour who wept for me before He saved me, and to the unfathomable workings and designs of the Great God and into His Everlasting Arms. Such is my privilege.
