Whether you live in Canada, the USA, or any western nation, your national newspapers continually promote the reality of a radical rise of secularism. This is man’s experiment to live without God. We must, therefore, address the serious concerns which the Lord’s church is called to endure in an increasingly secular society. While this is not new, it is unprecedented in its world-wide scope among general populations. The radicals have allies in many quarters.
When David was a fugitive in exile from the Lord’s house, driven from hide-out to hide-out, and a hunted man, he asked, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3) The answer to that in our time when our societies are being radically secularized will send us either to prayer or into despair. Here are a few things that the righteous in our generation should do.
First, we can rejoice that the righteous continue to remain on the earth. While we watch men sink into the deepest depravity, we must say, “There go I, but for the grace of God.” Out of the multitudes who are bent on the cursed ways of sin, what a marvel that we are the righteous, the blessed of God.
This conclusion is not based on our self- righteousness, but on the gospel of God’s free grace, whereby we are given the righteousness of Christ to our account and given spiritual power to walk uprightly in this evil world.
fThe righteous must also seek to show forth the true grace of God out of a Christ-centred life. Due to the ascendency of secularism the godly man or woman is going to feel increasing pressure and hostility from the ungodly. God may allow the pressures of living in a godless society to squeeze us into a fuller confession of our faith in Christ. We will be as rose petals ground to powder in the mortar and pestle. The aroma of our faith in Christ will be brought forth in our lives.
It will testify of the sweetness of our new life in Christ. While the advancement of sin around us will grieve us, the inner grief we feel will serve to prove that we are the righteous.
The righteous must remember that our faith is based on immovable foundations that cannot be destroyed. We must rejoice and always remember that our God is immovable. He that sitteth in the heavens in His power and glory shall laugh at the puny antics of rebellious men. Remember, too, that the Word of God is immovable. We have a Bible that is inspired and divinely preserved: the true foundation for all our beliefs. It is the everlasting vault of truth. Cyber techs speak of storing information in the cloud, where it is ever accessible and secure. That really means that it is stored in some remote location on a server that hums day and night. Let us remember that God has magnified His Word in the heavens above His own name (Psalm 138:2). It is stored in the untouchable bank of heaven where it cannot fail. Yet, it is freely available to every reader of the Bible, and will always continue to be the true foundation of our faith.
The righteous should ever remember that the timeless gospel doctrine of justification by faith alone is unshakeable. We are saved by faith alone in Christ alone, by His sacrifice alone. Nothing can rob sinners of that liberating doctrine that sets them free from all condemnation. The apostle Paul asked, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth” (Romans 8:33). The death of Christ took place but once, but its saving power will endure for all eternity. Through His sacrifice, Christ laid a rock-solid foundation for the gospel. When God declares a sinner to be just in His sight, it is a one-time