Today's encouragement comes from Psalm 79:1, where we read these words:
"O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; Your holy temple they have defiled; they have laid Jerusalem in heaps."All believing Christian churchmen *want* the nations to come into Christ's "in-heritance," (the New Covenant church). But we want this to be on *God's* terms, not theirs. This text (above) reflects the negative dynamics of the na-tions "defiling" the "temple." When the church allows the world to set the tone and tempo of worship, it corrupts the true religion, and dishonors God.
Let us bring the nations into the church: but let them be brought under the tutelage of Christ, wherein they learn a new language, culture, and lifestyle. When we do this, we bless them, and honor God.
[Puritan quote of the day: "Keep your ear open to God and shut out sin; deaf-en your ears to the lies of the slanderer and the heretic. Do not let him have your ear who comes to rob you of your heart.” —Thomas Watson, in his ser-mon, "The Spiritual Watch"]
