No menu selected

A Church Covenant

Published: 27 August 2025
Written by Dean Davis
No comments
Categories: Ecclesiology

In the unfolding of Church history, it fell to the Baptist movement to develop the idea of a gathered church. A gathered church is a family of born-again believers who voluntarily join together around Christ and the ordinances of the Gospel. But as in the natural, so in the spiritual: A family cannot live in peace, or function properly, unless its members understand, agree with, and abide by the purpose, goals, and rules of the family. Hence the church covenant, which has shown itself to be an effective tool for preserving the purity, peace, and unity of the church by making all these things clear.

A church covenant may be used in two ways.

First, the elders may ask all prospective members to read it, and then to affirm their willingness to live by it, with God and the church family helping them. In some churches, the elders will ask new members to sign the covenant.

Secondly, a church covenant may be used at all-church gatherings. For example, one of the elders might read the church covenant at a quarterly or annual business meeting. In churches that observe the Lord’s Supper less frequently, one of the elders might read the covenant prior to partaking of the elements. This will encourage members to fulfill their covenant commitments beneath the light of a far greater Covenant: the one initiated in love, sealed by sacrifice, and kept for eternity by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The version of the covenant found below is designed for use as covenant reminder and renewal at gatherings of the whole church. It may be appropriately modified for use in the instruction and induction of new members, whether individuals, couples, or families.

Church Covenant

Trusting that our Heavenly Father, by his Spirit, has brought us to repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and having been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we do now solemnly and joyfully renew our covenant before them and with each other:

With God as our helper, we will seek to promote the edification of our church by faithfully engaging in personal and family devotions; by raising our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; by fulfilling all family obligations and commitments; by regularly assembling ourselves together for worship, teaching, prayer, and the observance of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper; by welcoming, and critically testing, instruction from the Word of God, thereby seeking to grow towards the unity of the faith; by praying for the members of our church family, and especially for its leaders; by discovering and using our spiritual gifts, both within and without the church; and by cheerfully and faithfully giving of our time, talent, and treasure to the work of the church as the Lord may lead.

With God as our helper, we will seek to preserve the unity of the Spirit in our church by walking together in Christian love; by bearing one another’s burdens, praying for one another, and tangibly helping one another; by avoiding factions, gossip, backbiting, and anger; by being slow to take offense, and, in the event of offense, quick to seek reconciliation through repentance, confession, and forgiveness, both extended and received; by willingly offering and receiving encouragement and admonition as circumstances may require; by participating in, and submitting to, the disciplinary procedures of this church in regard to sound doctrine and ethical conduct; by obeying our church leaders as men who are called by Christ to oversee our spiritual growth, safety, and welfare, and who must give an account of their labors to the Lord; and by gladly living together in accordance with the provisions of our Statement of Faith, Church Covenant, and Constitution.

With God as our helper, we will seek the advance of Christ’s kingdom by living in such a way as to be a city upon a hill, shining in the darkness of a  lost, dying, but beloved world; by denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and living sensibly, righteously, and godly in this present evil age; by offering Spirit-led testimony of our faith in Christ to family, friends, and neighbors, and by striving to do so with love, gentleness, and respect; by being a true friend of world missions, whether by staying or going; by being thoughtful and engaged Christian citizens, open to service at all levels of government, and eager to contribute to the enjoyment of God’s blessings upon our community, state, and nation; by seeking to defend and aid the poor, the vulnerable, and the oppressed; and by living with humility, compassion, holiness, and peace before all men.

As we pursue these worthy goals, we pray the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit will be with us all. Amen.

How We Do Love Thee! Let Us Count the Whys . . .

Published: 6 July 2025
Written by Dean Davis
8 Comments
Categories: Devotional

Preface

Most reflection on eschatology is focused on events leading up to, or involved with, the Consummation of all things at the return of Christ. Little, however, is focused on the eschaton itself: life as it will exist in the new heavens and the new earth.

And this is fitting. We must indeed be sparing in our attempts at describing the eschaton, since scriptural revelations of the world to come are heavily veiled with imagery drawn from (the glories of) the world we now inhabit. This is why the apostle John both admonishes and encourages us: “As for what we will be, it has not yet been revealed; but we do know that when he appears, we will be like him, for we will see him just as he is” (1 John 3:2).

And yet, even now we know something of great importance about the eschaton: that in that world, as never before, we shall behold and forever celebrate “the wondrous works of God”—all that God decreed in eternity and worked out in salvation history in order to bring us to himself.

Here again is the same apostle, telling us this very thing:

“I also saw what looked like a sea of glass, mingled with fire; and I saw those who had triumphed over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing beside the sea of glass, holding harps that came from God. And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and wondrous are your works, O Lord God, the mighty ruler over all! Righteous and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name, since you alone are holy? For all the nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous judgments have been revealed.” — Revelation 15

In the meditation below, I have sought—from Scripture—to remind God’s people of some of the greatest of his wondrous works, in order to fuel their worship in this present world, and also to supply them with a sweet foretaste of their worship in the next.

I hope it’s a blessing to you all.

How We Do Love Thee, Let Us Count the Whys!

We love You because, by a decree both eternal and ineffable, You have ordained that the godhead should forever exist as a fellowship of three divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; a fellowship in which each Person knows, loves, and delights in the glory of the others . . .

Because each of these Persons, intent upon magnifying the glory of the others by sharing the knowledge and blessedness of the divine life with grateful and adoring creatures fashioned in the image and likeness of God, concurred in decreeing the existence and unfolding of the one cosmic Story—the Creation, Probation, Fall, Judgment, and Redemption of man and nature—thereby securing the largest possible display of the triune glory, the knowledge of which, in love, You determined to proclaim to all men and nations in the Gospel, and to grant to us, a people chosen in the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, before the founding of the world . . .

Because for some 4,000 years—in type, shadow, and predictive prophecy—You promised to send the Redeemer into the world, gave hope to our Old Covenant brothers and sisters, and purposed to strengthen our own New Covenant faith through a wondrous written testimony of all You ordained, said, and did in their days in order to point the world to Christ . . .

Because in the fullness of time You Yourself came to us in the Person of Your uniquely-begotten Son, who was born of a woman, born under the Law, and born to be the Last Adam, in order to redeem us, who were born in the First Adam, and so, because of his fall, and ours in him, alienated from God and enslaved to sin: to self-centeredness, arrogance, rebellion, ingratitude, spiritual dishonesty, blindness, foolishness, idolatry, greed, hatred, violence, cruelty, unforgiveness, unfaithfulness, sexual perversion, and other forms of lust and depravity, all the while living under the Law, under condemnation, under wrath, in guilt, in fear, in danger of Gehenna, and in desperate need of rescue and restoration . . .

Because, through Your incarnate Son—the God-appointed Teacher of the human race—You graciously completed and gave to the world, in the Bible, a definitive revelation of Your spiritual truth: the one true worldview, by which, above all, You would make us wise for salvation, and to which You bore witness by unprecedented and unparalleled signs, wonders, and fulfillments so numerous that we suppose all the books in the world could not contain them . . .

Because, through His sinless being and perfect compliance with Your every command, He passed the test of faith and obedience that the first Adam failed, all the tests that national Israel failed under the Mosaic Law, and all the other tests that You uniquely set before Him, thereby securing a perfect righteousness for all who would put their trust in Him and the things He did for them . . .

Because, through His substitutionary death on the Cross, He paid our debt to Your Law, satisfied Your justice, and absorbed and propitiated Your wrath, which, in mercy, You redirected away from us and towards Him, thereby securing both forgiveness of sins and the gift of Your covenant-love and kindness for all who would put their trust in Him and the things He suffered for them . . .

Because, through His resurrection, You testified that He is who He said He was, and accomplished what You sent Him to do, thereby setting before the world its sole and proper object of saving faith—Jesus Christ our Lord—the Redeemer of all who put their trust in Him and the things he did and suffered for them . . .

Because, by His ascension into heaven, You assured us that there really is such a place, that He is waiting for us there (should we die), or that He will come to us from there (should we not) . . .

Because, when He returned to heaven in victory over evil, suffering, death, and all the satanic powers presently inhabiting the air and controlling the fallen world-system, You seated Him at Your own right hand, with all authority in heaven and on earth, there to serve as high Prophet, Priest, and King: to teach, encourage, and exhort the nations; to intercede for the forgiveness of sins on the grounds of His once-for-all sacrifice, appropriated by Your people’s faith in Him; to superintend the remainder of cosmic history up to and including the Consummation of all things at His coming again in glory; and to apply to Your people all the fruits of the redemption He purchased for them during His days upon the earth; for which reasons, You also gave Him lordship over the Holy Spirit, whom He richly poured out upon His own Body and His beloved Bride—the nascent Church—on the Day of Pentecost, granting her new birth, life, purpose and power for the steady advance of the Kingdom of God . . .

Because, at Your word, He sent her out—empowered by the Holy Spirit—into the whole world, there to proclaim, in Your love for all men and nations, the good news of the Gospel, through which You test all men and nations as to their love of God, truth, and righteousness, and by which You effectively call to Yourself a people for Your own possession: all who come to You through simple faith in the divine Person and all-sufficient redemptive Work of Your Son . . .

Because, by Your Spirit, You have granted us the inexpressibly precious gifts of spiritual rebirth, spiritual illumination, repentance from sin, and faith towards Christ . . .

Because, through this God-given faith in the perfectly Righteous One, You have declared us to be perfectly righteous before Your Law and in Your sight . . .

Because, by declaring us perfectly righteous in Your sight, You have reconciled us to Yourself, so that now we no longer stand back to back with You in hostility, but face to face with You in love, though for the moment our poor love for You is but the palest reflection of Your fervent, immutable, and eternal love for us . . .

Because, having reconciled us to Yourself, You also adopted us as Your dear children, having transferred us from the Domain of Darkness into heavenly Kingdom of Your beloved Son, with whom You are eternally well-pleased, and so with us as well . . .

Because, having been adopted, we have received from You, for time and eternity, the Spirit of Your Son, by whom cry out “Abba, Father,” and in whom we now live and move and have our being as the Spirit-led children of God . . .

Because—through Your Son and by Your indwelling Holy Spirit—You have given us a still more by way of inheritance: spiritual gifts, meaningful work to do, a will and a power to do it, a spiritual family with whom to do it, prayer, worship, progress in holiness, perseverance, assurance, and ever-increasing faith, hope, peace, joy, and love, the greatest of which is love . . .

Because, though still living in a world heavily burdened by a partial curse, and therefore subject to decay, frustration, suffering, and death, You nevertheless wisely use such things, in love, to call sinners back to Yourself, and—by the outward operation of Your providence and the inward operation of Your Spirit—to teach, train, purify, strengthen, and otherwise conform Your people to the image of Your Son, doing so through their God-given faith in Your all-encompassing promises, which, among other things, assure us that You will faithfully stand with us in all our tests, provide for us a way of escape so that we may be able to bear them, and work through them for Your glory and our eternal good, thus transforming the earthly dross of our former lives into the heavenly gold of our new . . .

Because, through Your infallible New Covenant promises, we also have inherited a good, eternal, and blessed hope, according to which we eagerly wait, first of all, for the entrance of our perfected spirits into heaven at the moment of our death, and then, at the return of Your Son in glory, for the resurrection and glorification of our bodies, the judgment of the world in righteousness, and new heavens and a new earth: the eternal home of the saints, the holy angels, the panoply of all other living things, and the perpetual dawning of the manifested glory of the triune God in all, through all, to all, and for all . . .

Because in that place we shall ever be to the praise of Your glory, and to the praise of the glory of Your grace . . .

And because in that place we shall ever be saying and singing, “How we do love Thee! Let us count the whys!”

 

God’s Gift of Prayer: The Power of the Powerless

Published: 10 June 2025
Written by Dean Davis
No comments
Categories: Devotional

Note: This post first appeared in the June, 2025 newsletter of our local pro-life group, Sonoma County Pro-Life.

As pro-life activists well know, our life on earth is a spiritual war. Ever since the fall of man, the world has been a vast battle-ground on which the sovereign God bids His people to fight—in love and joy—for the good, the true, and the beautiful. In short, to fight for life.

Happily, we know that both within history and at its end, life will triumph over death. But we also know that for God’s people to win their fights, they must pray. As it is written, God will not give His glory to another (Is. 42:8). Therefore, in order to preserve it, He wisely places the treasure of His divine life in jars of clay, so that the surpassing power to do and achieve may belong to Him, and not to us (2 Cor. 4:7). In other words, God is pleased to make us weak, that we may be made strong in Him (2 Cor. 12:10). And so—acutely feeling our powerlessness in the face of all the egregious evils currently threatening human life—we pray.

As I near my 78th birthday, these truths comfort me greatly. I find I am running out of steam. Health issues, old age, and the urgency of my few remaining tasks press me into the mighty God. If I, the powerless one, am to accomplish anything further, I must lean on Him and pray.

Along these lines, let me share a personal testimony. Years ago—decades, actually—the Lord graciously opened to me a door of prayer, inviting me to call on Him daily for the advance of the cause of the sanctity of human life at home and abroad.

Here is the text He used to issue the invitation:

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me—the One whom they have pierced—and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” – Zechariah 12:10

While at its heart this text is a prophecy of the conversion of God’s people in the days of His Messiah, I sensed at the time that God wanted me to pray it with special reference to the success of the pro-life movement. And so, on most any given morning you will find me praying something like this:

“Lord, this day and every day, please pour out your Spirit of grace and supplication upon many ones: the unborn, their moms, their dads, and their significant others, that they might look on those whom they have pierced—or think to pierce—turn from their wicked way, and trust in Your Son for forgiveness, peace, and newness of life in love.”

If you are abreast of the every-increasing momentum of the post-Dobbs pro-life movement, you know how abundantly He has been answering that prayer, and multitudes like them.

Is the pro-life movement about actions? Of course. But in my autumn years, when I am increasingly beset by weakness, I now see clearly that before it was ever about actions, it was always about prayer. God-given, Spirit-led prayer—by which He works out His eternal purposes in history—is the invisible fountain-head of all spiritual advance in any movement dear to the heart of heaven: of all calling, wisdom, power, deeds, perseverance, and every victory that ever was or will be won.

Therefore, please pray for me, as I for you, that none of us who are called to the defense of the sanctity of human life will ever take our hands from the plow; that even in great weakness—yes, even upon our death beds—we who are powerless may be found leaning on the Lord, joining with Him in praying that He might cause His Spirit of grace and supplication to fall upon many ones, so that they, in every possible sense, might choose life.

Dean Davis
June, 2025

January, 2025: Pro-life Hedgehog Month

Published: 5 February 2025
Written by Dean Davis
No comments
Categories: Pro-Life

January, 2025: What a month for pro-lifers!

The President signs 9 executive orders, with the result that pro-life advocates are pardoned, pro-abortion NGO’s are defunded, and the personhood of the unborn—from the moment of conception—is affirmed. Massive rallies (panned by the MSM) are held around the country; and in Washington D.C. the President, Vice President, Speaker Johnson, Senate leader Thune, and Governor Dauntless (Ron DeSantis) all declare their commitment to the sanctity and protection of human life. Key candidates for the new cabinet affirm the same, a new poll shows that Americans want major restrictions on abortion, and a new report from Texas shows that pro-life laws in the red states are working as intended. Echoing their President, pro-lifers exclaim, “So much winning!” And they rejoice.

But they are not surprised. That’s because their faith leads them to expect just such things. Please permit a retired pastor and long-time pro-life activist to shed some light on that faith, which many pro-lifers believe is the driving force behind all true spiritual progress in our nation, the West, and the world.

The Fox and the Hedgehog

Famously—if rather cryptically—the Greek poet Archilocus wrote, “The fox knows many little things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” He meant, I think, that the proud and clever fox knows many little ways to take the hedgehog’s life, whereas the humble hedgehog knows only one big way to save it: He must hide himself in his home.

And so it is with pro-lifers. Yes, cunning anti-life forces know many little ways to impose their regime of for-profit death and destruction upon the ignorant, fearful, selfish, and unsuspecting (as, for example, when they recently enticed voters in seven bluish states to approve extreme abortion ballot initiatives).  But pro-lifers, most of whom are Christians, eschew all such tactics, knowing that there is only one big way to prevail: They must hide themselves in their spiritual home: the living God.

When they do, they come to know three other big things, all contained in the one, and all tending to their wisdom, resilience, effectiveness, and joy.

First, pro-lifers know that God is the Author of universal history, which is therefore best understood as a cosmic play, drama, or epic story: His Story.

The set for His Story is the universe: the heavens, the earth, the seas, and all that is in them. The characters are the triune God, the holy angels, the evil angels, and beloved mankind, the sole creature fashioned in His own image and likeness. The four-fold plot of His Story is the creation, probation, fall, and progressive redemption of man and nature, the latter being accomplished through the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The drama in His Story is found in this: Due to the fall of man, the world is now the scene of a great spiritual war between the Kingdom of God and the Domain of Darkness; between good and evil, truth and lies, beauty and ugliness, and life and death (John 10:10). As in Eden, so throughout His Story: God is testing each human character. In love, He invites—indeed, commands—all to believe His Word, obey His voice, and fight on the side of goodness, truth, beauty, and life. As they mull the test, He is looking on, to see how each one will decide. Happily, millions of pro-lifers have decided to fight for life on the side of God.

Secondly, pro-lifers know that His Story unfolds according to this spiritual principle: Where sin abounds, grace will abound much more (Romans 5:20).

They observe this pattern everywhere.

They see it first in the Bible. For decades, apostate Israel is enslaved by tyrannical Egypt; suddenly, God intervenes, a penitent family is delivered, and a new nation is born. Later, in the days of the kings, idolatry, sexual immorality, and child sacrifice abound; suddenly, God intervenes, a righteous ruler appears, idols are smashed, children are spared, and a humbled nation rejoices. Later still, a foolish, selfish, and easily manipulated populace cries out for the death of their Messiah. Never in world history does sin so egregiously abound. Yet never in world history does grace so marvelously super-abound, as when his heavenly Father suddenly intervenes to raise Him from the dead.

They also see this principle operating in secular history. For example, they see it in the triumphs of the British and American Abolitionist Movements, the American Civil Rights Movement, the Polish Solidarity Movement, and, most recently, the MAGA Movement. Accordingly, they know to brace themselves for the long haul. They understand that with respect to the battles, they will win some and lose some, at times even unto loud lamentation (Matthew 2:1-18). But they also understand that along the way, many will be succored, rescued, convicted, converted, and won to the cause of life. Very importantly, they also know that with respect to the war itself, they (or rather, He) will surely win.

Finally, pro-lifers know that they cannot win this war unless they use the weapons approved and supplied by the divine Author himself. 

Here again they take their cues from Bible history. Moses and Aaron stand alone before the tyrant Pharaoh, his priestly sycophants, and his mighty army; yet armed with just a single staff, they defeat them all. The giant Goliath, wielding a spear the size of a weaver’s beam, falls face down, stricken to death by a single smooth stone from young David’s sling. And fulfilling the mystical meaning of all such happenings, the Lord Jesus Christ—suspended all solitary upon a Roman cross—propitiates God’s wrath, satisfies His justice, and eternally defeats the world, the flesh, and the devil in behalf of all who look in faith to Him.

The Weapons of Their Warfare

Therefore, in our own day of testing and battle, pro-lifers take up these three God-ordained weapons of spiritual warfare.

First, they pray. They well recall the words of Christ, who said of the salvation of the wise, the powerful, and the rich, “With man it is impossible. But not with God. With God, all things are possible” (Mark 10:27). Therefore, above all else, they petition Him for what is humanly impossible: that blind eyes may see, and hardened hearts may be softened. Happily, it appears that He is hearing their prayers, and that He has been all along.

Secondly, they speak the truth in love. Knowing that the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to bring change, they repeatedly proclaim—in public—the same fundamental truths: There is a God, and we are not Him. He fashions all human beings in His own image and likeness, for which reason they are inexpressibly valuable. They come into being at the moment of conception, as did the child Jesus, when, by the Spirit, the eternal Son was united with a human spirit and body. From conception on, they have a God-given right to life, a right which civil government has a mandate to protect. We must not commit murder. Those who do stand in danger of God’s judgment, though at the same time under His loving command to repent of sin, trust in Christ, receive forgiveness, and rejoice in the free gift of eternal life.

Where in these United States can I now go to purchase a slave? Nowhere, and it would be to my social ruin if I even tried. Why? Because the abolitionists kept speaking the truth in love until slavery became unthinkable. Pro-lifers will do the same until it becomes unthinkable to destroy a child in the womb, poison or mutilate an adolescent body, or euthanize the aged, the infirm, or the depressed.

Finally, they also do the truth in love. Observing that Christ not only spoke of love, but also showed it in all He did and endured, pro-lifers are determined to imitate Him. Therefore, with little or no government funding, they now man over 3,000 pregnancy resource centers, serve over 2 million clients annually, offer hundreds of millions of dollars of free goods and services to women facing crisis pregnancies, and provide God’s truth, love, forgiveness, healing, and hope to all who will receive them. Like his grace, such examples abound.

Prayer, truth, sacrificial service. These spiritual weapons, despised by the world, are mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds. One day soon—whether within His Story or at its end—they will win the war for the sanctity of human life (2 Corinthians 10:1-6).

This is why you will always find joy in the burrows of pro-life hedgehogs. View the highlights of the 2025 March for Life and see for yourself. To borrow a (empty) boast from their opponents, pro-lifers know that they are on the right side of His Story. Accordingly, they eagerly wait for V-Day, trusting that they will indeed hear these blessed words from the living God himself: “Well done, good and faithful hedgehogs. You were faithful in the One Big Thing, therefore you have prevailed in many. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”

 

Election 2024: Grace Super-abounding

Published: 19 November 2024
Written by Dean Davis
11 Comments
Categories: current events

Note: This article first appeared on the American Thinker website, November 14, 2024. (See here)

 

Following the electoral miracle of 2024, many conservatives have swiftly moved on to a contemplation of the persons, procedures, and policies that will best advance an American renaissance. Kindly allow a retired pastor and bush league theologian to explain why they should not—not, at least, until they have paused to reflect seriously on the purposes of the One who granted it.

Consider, then, this short narrative recorded in the New Testament by Dr. Luke (Luke 17:11-17). The Lord Jesus has just healed ten lepers and ordered them to report the miracle to the priests. Demonstrating that a spiritual test lay hidden in his command, one of the former lepers, a Samaritan, came back to Jesus, fell to the ground, and poured out his heart in thanksgiving to Christ and God. The Lord’s response is well worth pondering: “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to the man, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

We do well to listen hard to this text. For decades the spiritual leprosy of atheistic Neo-Marxism has been spreading through our body politic, bringing massive sickness, corruption, and death in its train. But suddenly, in a patently miraculous turn of events, it was arrested and (one fervently hopes) permanently put to flight—not by President Trump, not by the MAGA movement, and not even by the voters, though all three were indeed heaven’s instrumentalities. Rather, it was put to flight by the sovereign God, in whose hands lie the hearts, minds, and votes of all men (Proverbs 21:1). He is the One, said the prophet, who changes times and seasons; who removes kings and raises them up (Daniel 2:21; 4:1-37). But if that is so, should we not be imitating the grateful Samaritan; should we not be falling on our faces before Christ and God, pouring out our hearts in thanksgiving to them? And should we not be asking God what he means by this stupendous miracle of providence, and what he would have us do? If we truly desire lasting wellness, surely we must.

I have just suggested two reasons for the miracle of 2024: God wants us to see that he himself is the One who performed it, and that, for our own spiritual health, he desires us turn back and thank him for it.

But what else does he want us to learn and do as we press on into a better future? I offer five brief replies.

First, he would have us understand how he works in history. The apostle Paul sums it up this way: “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” This principle—so dramatically manifested in Christ’s death and resurrection—governs the flow of all world events. For a season, by God’s wise decree, sin will abound. During such times, he is testing our discernment, integrity, courage, perseverance, and aptitude for self-sacrifice. Then, when it appears that evil is about triumph, he suddenly intervenes, grace super-abounds, goodness wins out, and the nations behold his sovereignty, wisdom, holiness, justice, mercy, and grace. We observe this principle in Scripture (Daniel 2, Revelation 13). We see it in the succession of world empires. We have seen it in recent history; in the rise and fall of Communist and socialist regimes. We see it in myth and great literature (think of Frodo and the triumph on Mount Doom). And (one fervently hopes) we are seeing it today in a fresh revival of the American Experiment. It began on November 5, 2024, a day when God’s grace did indeed super-abound.

Secondly, he would have us repent of all known sin. For surely the blessing of 2024 was not granted because of our righteousness (though there is some), but in spite of our manifold sins. Therefore, it was altogether of God’s goodness, mercy, and grace. And, as the apostle wrote, the goodness of God is meant to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4). So too are his providential chastisements, so painfully abundant over the last few decades (Hebrews 12:6).

Why, then, do we boast about making America great again? Would it not be far better—and far safer—to humble ourselves (presidents and parties included), repent of our sin, and purpose in our hearts to make America good again? In Scripture, the Great City (of proud, deluded, and fallen mankind) is slated for destruction (Revelation 18), whereas the Holy City (of penitent and redeemed mankind) is slated for eternal life and glory (Revelation 21). Do we want America to enjoy true greatness? Then let us swiftly agree to repent of all atheism, idolatry, lawlessness, abortion-murder, sexual immorality, military adventurism, greed, (class) hatred (a species of murder according to Christ), lying, slander, and tyranny of every kind. The message of 2024 is clear: Sin no more, lest something worse than the previous decade befall you (John 5:14).

Thirdly, God would have us come (back) to him through his one and only channel of redemption and blessing: the Lord Jesus Christ. In the noxious spiritual atmosphere now enveloping the West, a vague, generic spirituality will no longer suffice. To survive the new warfare, we must unite with the true victor. Lavishly, palpably, God has shown us that the victor is Jesus Christ. His righteous life, profound wisdom, mighty miracles, atoning death, public resurrection, and exaltation to the right hand of God—all in fulfillment of hundreds of ancient prophecies—plainly mark him out as a man set apart; nay, as the God-Man, as God in human flesh.

It is this Man—now seated at the right hand of God the Father, with all authority in heaven and earth—who just spared our country, having largely done so through concerned pastors, lay thought leaders, biblically motivated voters, and the residuum of Christian values still operating in the broader culture. But if all this is so, then surely God’s message in our recent election includes this most loving command: “Now therefore, be wise, O kings; and be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all who put their trust in Him!” (Psalm 2). Do we desire the blessing of 2024 to continue? Let us kiss the Son and put our trust in him.

Fourthly, God is calling us to recommit ourselves to the American Experiment. I opine that he is quite friendly to it. True, the founding fathers declined to make America a Christian theocracy. But they did make it a theistic republic, a republic in which the enjoyment of personal liberty is ever sustained by obedience to natural law and the Judeo-Christian traditions. Accordingly, our experiment involves a frank recognition of the depravity of man, of his perennial lust for power, and therefore of our need for institutional safeguards (i.e., democracy, separation of powers, limited government), all of which are enshrined in our majestic Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. This rich inheritance places great responsibility upon the citizenry: to honor God, educate oneself, cultivate strong families (the spiritual womb of the next generation), and remain ever vigilant against the manifold encroachments of tyranny. To receive God’s message in 2024 is to appreciate afresh the dangers of life in a fallen world, but also to celebrate the blessings of life in the last best hope of the earth. It is to rededicate oneself to understanding and living out the American Experiment.

Finally, through the election of 2024 God would prepare us for the dramatic closing scenes of universal history. Mercifully and graciously, he has revealed them to us in the Bible. There we learn that under the influence of invisible satanic forces a Babylonian Principle is ever at work in human history, according to which powerful (and powerfully deceptive) men are ever seeking to establish a global empire for the glory of man, rather than a global kingdom for the glory of God. Hitherto, the one true God has frustrated all such efforts. However, as we near the end of the present evil age, he will permit that effort one last time, and for a brief moment it will succeed. In that day, evil will abound as never before. But at the return of Christ, which will swiftly ensue, mercy and grace will again super-abound. And this time—in an eternal City set upon a hill—they will super-abound forever.