When There Is No Gospel

August 24, 1662 is often referred to as the Great Ejection or Black Bartholomew’s Day. Following the restoration of the United Kingdom by Charless II in 1660, Parliament passed the Act of Uniformity in 1662. This was enacted to force out many of the puritan pastors ministering in the UK at that time. When this was passed over 2,000 ministers were exiled from their churches. It did not stop there though. This continued on to horrific persecution for those that would not conform to the English Church. I have been reading the sermons of some of those pastors that they gave to their congregations on their last Sunday in their churches. The most recent one I read was from Thomas Brooks. His sermon was titled A Pastor’s Legacies. A very edifying sermon if you ever want to read it. I wish to share with you a small section of that sermon. I thought it was very insightful and applicable to our day.  In the middle of his sermon Brooks asks the question of what would happen to a country if the gospel were nonexistent? If the gospel of Christ were to leave a people, what would happen to them? How would society be if the gospel was absent? He gives us six short answers that I think would do our hearts good to reflect on…
[Question] When the gospel goes from a people, what goes? I shall give but a touch here.
1. When the gospel goes, peace, plenty, and trading go. Consider 2 Chronicles 15:3-6, ‘For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law…’ Why ? They had priests ; but they were Jeroboam's priests, as you may see,'Have you not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are not gods.’ (2 Chronicles 13:9) A little business will buy a priesthood ; and so they are said to be without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law. Mark what follows in verse 5 and 6: 'And in those times, there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in ; but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the country, and nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city, for God did vex them with all adversity.'
Thomas Brooks
2. Safety and security goes when the gospel goes ; so in the text but now cited. The ark was taken away, and when that was taken away,their strength and safety was gone. When the Jews rejected the gospel, the Romans came and took away both their place and nation : ‘If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.’ (John 11:48) About forty years after, Titus and Vespasian took away their city ; they cried. And this was the ready way to bring the Romans upon them.
3. When the gospel goes, civil liberty goes. When the Jews slighted the gospel, and turned their backs upon it, they quickly became bondslaves to the Romans.
4. When the gospel goes, the honor and glory, splendor and beauty of a nation goes. It is the gospel that is the honor and glory of a nation, and when that goes, all the glory goes. As old Eli said, when the ark was taken away, 'The glory has departed from Israel…' (1 Samuel 4:21) ‘Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.’ (Jeremiah 2:11)that is, the worship of God into the traditions of men. What is it that lifts up one nation above another but the gospel ? Above all nations of the earth, England has been lifted up to heaven.
5. When the gospel goes, all soul-happiness and blessedness goes. The gospel, you know, is the means appointed by God to bring souls to an acquaintance with Christ, to an acceptance of Christ, to an interest in Christ, to an assurance that he is theirs, and they are his. Now, when this goes, all soul-happiness and blessedness goes.
6. Lastly, When the gospel goes, the special presence of God goes, for that still goes with the gospel. There is a general presence of God, as the psalmist speaks, ‘Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?’ (Psalm 139:7) This presence of God reaches from heaven to hell ; in that sense, God is included in no place, not excluded out of any place. But, alas ! What is this general presence ? When the gospel goes, the special presence of God goes.
These insights from Brooks should reinforce for us three important Christian principles. The first is that we need to continue to evangelize. Because, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14–15) And the world needs the gospel if there is to be any hope of lasting change in our country.
Next we need to be salt and light in the world around us. To prevent the deterioration of our civilization, Christians need to live out their faith in their sphere of influence. We must not be hiding our faith. A light is meant to be seen, not hidden. Also do not fool yourself thinking you can compartmentalize your life. If you are saved, then this affects all areas of your life, including your public one. So stay salty and let your light shine!
Lastly, we need to pray. Pray for more workers to spread the Kingdom of God because there is more than enough work to be done (Matthew 9:35-38). Pray too for our government and the people that lead us. For there to be change God’s Spirit needs to be poured out onto them. We all want peace with our government so that we can live out our faith without fear (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
While politics is important, the gospel is more important. While we need to be active voting, serving, debating and other political action, it is more important to evangelize. While we try to avoid conflict and be passive, true peace is only found when people are saved. Let’s not fool ourselves, the gospel is vital for our nation. Let us pray and evangelize to that end to bring about true lasting peace to our fellow citizens.

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