Christ's Promised Reward

Well, today, as we've already mentioned, is Harvest Day, the third Sunday in November, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. And it is a day when we begin to receive the Faith Promise cards and also have the privilege of expounding our Faith Promise text, which has been selected some weeks in advance by the pastors in preparation for Missions Month, and becomes our theme throughout this time of missions emphasis and becomes the text that we examine on this particular Sunday of each year. And I always look forward to this because it's a wonderful challenge for me to take an assigned text and start from scratch and to expound that text.

It's a little bit different from the way I normally go about my work in the pulpit, but I always find it very rewarding. And this text is particularly rich and insightful and we'll not be able to deal with it as thoroughly as the text deserves, but we'll do the best we can, squeezing it into one morning of worship. So here's our plan for examining Psalm 2, verse 8, which says, Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. We are going to, first of all, consider the text itself. Secondly, consider the context in which this text is found. Third, we are going to revisit the text in the light of what we've learned about it from the context. And finally, we are going to apply the text. So first of all, consider the text beginning with the wording.

We just looked at it. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. If you didn't know anything at all about this text and had never looked at the context in which it is found, you could see immediately that there is in this verse an invitation to make a request. Ask of me. Ask something of me. An invitation to make a request. But it is followed by a promise to grant the request that is made. Ask of me and I will give you.

The promise is already there. If you ask, you will receive. If you ask, I will give you what you are asking for. And then there is thirdly a description of the promised gift. So now we know what it is that the one who is making the offer is inviting the person to whom the offer is being made to ask for. Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. And so the description of the promised gift in this verse is the nations granted as an inheritance, the ends of the earth given as a possession, an inheritance consisting of the nations of the world, a possession extending to the very ends of the earth. That much we learn by looking simply at the wording of this text.

But only looking at this text, we have some questions that are raised in our minds as we consider what we have already seen. Question number one, who makes this offer? Who is it that says ask of me? Number two, to whom is it made? Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. Who is this your? Who is this one to whom the offer is being made?

Question number three, what exactly is this offer? We see it as the nations of the earth, the ends of the earth, the nations of the world and the ends of the earth. But what exactly is involved in this? Are we talking about kingdoms? Are we talking about countries? Are we talking about people? Are we talking about places? Are we thinking primarily of people or we're thinking primarily of geography, the various places of the world? Or are we talking about a comprehensive package of both peoples and territories?

What is this offer? And then finally, how will this promise be fulfilled that has been extended to the one who is to ask for it? And to answer these questions, we're going to have to have additional insight than we find in this verse alone.

And where will that be found? And that will be found in the context of the text as we look a little bit wider for answers to these questions. Now, in considering the context, I really was perplexed as to where to begin and what direction to go because we need to examine both the psalm itself, which is the primary context, but we also need to examine those places in the Bible where this text or this psalm is quoted. So those are the two areas we need to examine.

And then the question is, which one first? And that is challenging because in some sense, we need to look at the psalm first in order to understand the quotations that we find in the New Testament from this psalm. And yet, on the other hand, if we don't know the information found in the quotations in the New Testament, we're not going to really know how to interpret the psalm.

So it's a bit of a conundrum. I hope you'll bear with me. I've decided to go to the New Testament first, the broader context, the context of the entire Word of God, and particularly those places where this psalm is referred to, and then come back to the immediate context, which is the second psalm. So the broader context, and I can tell you that there are seven citations from Psalm 2 in the New Testament, and that will help us to interpret what is being said. The first one is found in Acts Chapter 4, verses 25, 26, 27. It is a time when the apostles had been thrown into prison and then they were released and they came back to the church, the brethren who were praying for them, and announced what had been going on, and the congregation bowed before the Lord and lifted a prayer heavenward, and here's what they said. I'll begin reading Acts 4, 23.

And being let go, the apostles that is, they went to their own companions and reported to all that the chief priests and elders had said to them, including, don't preach anymore in the name of Jesus. So verse 24, when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. I simply point out that the word Lord in verse 24 is not the most common one, the most common trios that we find throughout the New Testament most frequently, but is rather the Greek word despotos, despot, which has to do with absolute ruler, the one who rules with an iron hand. And they prayed to that one, Lord, despotos, you are God who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them, who by the mouth of your servant David have said, and now we see some familiar language, why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ for truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do, and you might expect the next words to say, to do their evil, to do their sinful design, and indeed it was that, but to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. The sovereignty of God right alongside the responsibility of man, they are doing what they wanted to do, their evil design to put Christ to death, but they were doing only what God had designed them to do and allowed them to do.

He was indeed the absolute ruler, the despotos of the universe. But what do we learn in this citation about the psalm? We learn, number one, that the author of the psalm is David. That's not found in the heading of the psalm in my Bible when I look at Psalm 2. A lot of the psalms have an author that is identified, and we don't know exactly if that goes all the way back to the beginning or whether that was added somewhere along the way, but in this case there is no author given for Psalm 2. But now we know by the infallible word of the Holy Spirit of God that the human author is in fact David, who by the mouth, verse 25 of Acts 4, who by the mouth of your servant David, and then quotes from the psalm, the author is David, guided as we are told here by the Holy Spirit.

What else do we learn? Well, we learn something about this earthly rebellion that we have in Psalm 2, and it's described in more detail in Acts 4. We learn that this rebellion is against Christ, verse 26, against the Lord, against God, Yahweh, and against his Christ, and then verse 27, for truly your holy servant Jesus.

So it's identified very clearly. Now, this is important because if we just start with Psalm 2 and figure out that the author is David, the human author is David, then we might want to apply the words of the psalm to David, and some commentaries do that almost as the primary focus of the psalm. And it's clear that there are a lot of things in the psalm that can be applied to what we know about the life of David, but there's so much in the psalm that rises way, way, way above everything that transpired in the life of David that we really have to look for something above that and beyond that, and Acts 4 tells us exactly what this is. This is not rebellion against King David, God's anointed king. This is rebellion against King Jesus, God's anointed king, his ultimate anointed king, the greater son of David. That's who is being referred to in the psalm, and the rebellion is spelled out. These kings of the earth who have set themselves, that Psalm 2 refers to, we're told exactly who they are in verses 26 and 27, identified as Herod, Pontius Pilate, Gentiles, and the children of Israel.

It pretty much takes in the whole thing, doesn't it? Kings and peoples. That's what Psalm 2 said. Why do the nations rage, the peoples of the earth? And the people plot a vain thing. And then verse 2, the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let us break their bonds in pieces and cast their cords asunder. So here we have a description of who these people are. The peoples of the earth include both Gentiles and Jews, the kings of the earth, starting with Pontius Pilate, who ordered the crucifixion of Christ, Herod, who wanted and agreed to the crucifixion of Christ.

We begin to get an idea that this rebellion is a consortium of kings and peoples, who, though they may not be friends in other areas of life, they seem to all be united in one thing. They are hostile to God. They are hostile to Jesus Christ.

They are determined not to bend to his rule. That's who is being described in Psalm 2. The second citation is Acts chapter 13, where Paul is preaching in the synagogue at Antioch Pisidia by invitation. And he says in verse 33, Acts 13, 33, God has fulfilled this for us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus as it is written in the second Psalm.

You are my son. Today I have begotten you. And that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption. He has spoken thus, I will give you the sure mercies of David, quoting from Isaiah 55.

Acts 13 is also quoting from Psalm 2, but now not verses 1 and 2, as Acts 4 did, but now verse 7, which says, I will declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. And this emphasis upon the begotten one.

I have begotten you. And I can tell you, and I'm not going to take the time to quote all these, because time is at a premium here, but this Psalm is also quoted in Hebrews 1, 5, and Hebrews 5, 5, also quoting verse 7 of Psalm 2, and this phrase about the begotten son. And it shows us that this idea of Christ being the begotten son is not quite as simple as we might have imagined.

Generally, we think, well, that has to do with the virgin conception. God Almighty was the one who begot Mary's child. But interestingly, Acts 13 links the beginning of Christ with his resurrection from the dead. Hebrews 1, 5 links the beginning of Christ to his birth, but Hebrews 5, 5 links the beginning of Christ to his being anointed the high priest.

So what do we make of all of this? In which one of these do we find that phrase, today I have begotten thee? Is that the day of the virgin conception? Is that the day of the resurrection? Is that the day when Christ was appointed the high priest?

And the only conclusion I can come to is, this day is not one 24-hour day as so often in the Bible. This is a period, and it refers to the incarnation of Christ in all of its aspects. When God the Father sent his son into the world to be conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, everything that followed after that was all part of this begotten son. And therefore the begotten son has something to do with the favored son, the most highly favored son.

In one of these references, and I've lost track of which one now, it goes on to talk about his birth. Yes, that's Hebrews 1, 5. You are my son, today I have begotten you. But then verse 6, but when he brings the firstborn into the world, now we have another phrase, the firstborn. And so begotten son and firstborn son seem to be closely linked together, and we realize this is more of a title, more of an honor, more of a position that Jesus Christ holds above anyone and everything else in all the universe. He is the most highly favored one of God. That's the best way I know to explain it. And all of the aspects of his life upon the earth are involved in his being the begotten son.

Well, what else? Well, there are three references in Revelation. I'll read the first one, Revelation 2, 27. This is the message to the church of Thyatira, and it says, He shall rule them with a rod of iron. They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessel. Well, that's quoting from verse 9 of Psalm 2. You shall break them with a rod of iron.

You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. That's referred to in Revelation 2, 27 and Revelation 12, 5 and Revelation 19, 15, all which make reference to this rod of iron picking up that phrase from Psalm 2. And so that speaks of this one's victorious conquest, the total defeat of his enemies, his uncontested reign. He's going to rule with a rod of iron.

It cannot be successfully opposed. That's what we learn in the broader context. Now let's come back to the immediate context in Psalm 2. I'll run through it as quickly as I can because now we have more information to properly interpret the words of Psalm 2, the broader context of our text in verse 8. Psalm 2 is a psalm of four stanzas, and they're easily identified and divided. Each one of them is three verses. And in each one of them, a different person speaks, which is why when you're reading through it, it's a little puzzling at times because your mind is jumping back and forth because of the change of the person who is speaking in each stanza.

And it can be confusing unless you realize this and point it out. So in verses 1, 2, and 3, the author speaks. That is, David speaks. He says, why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let us break their bonds in pieces and cast their cords from us. David speaks.

He has a question. Why does it seem that the whole world is in rebellion? The nations are raging.

The people are plotting. The kings of the earth set themselves. The rulers take counsel together. Everyone from the lowest to the highest all across this world seems to be in rebellion against God, against the Lord, we read in verse 2, and his anointed, but why is the world in rebellion? Why are they in such united opposition against God? And he comes to some understanding to answer his own question in verse 3 when he says, this is the words of the kings and the peoples of the earth in their rebellion, let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us. Interestingly, they're rebelling against God, but they refer to him in the plural. God the Father, God the Son, Almighty God, the Father in heaven, and his anointed Christ who came to earth. And they're in rebellion against God in actually the trinity of his being, all three persons of his being. And what is it that rubs them wrong about God? Well, it is that he rules.

He reigns. He commands them. He requires their submission to his rule, to his ways, to his commandments, to his direction, and they don't like that. Let's break their bonds, these bonds that constrain us and try to mold us into his desire.

Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast their cords away from us. We don't like being ruled by this one. We don't want to be in submission to God. That's the problem, and David the psalmist understands that. They reject God's rightful rule. They attempt to cast off God's restraint, and that's the essence of their rebellion.

They don't want, as was said in the New Testament about Jesus Christ, we will not have this main man to reign over us. We are not going to submit to him. We're not going to bow to him.

We're not going to be subject to his rule. That's the universal rebellion of all sinners against their Creator, against Almighty God. In the next stanza, God Almighty, Yahweh speaks, verses 4 through 6, and he responds to this rebellion, verse 4, He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall hold them in derision. There's all this rebellion of the now 8 billion people in the world, and all the kings and all the rulers and all the influential people in the world, all of them united in rebellion against God Almighty. Does that make him a little bit nervous?

Not one bit. He who sits in the heavens sits comfortably and calmly. In fact, he looks at this with amusement. Isn't that amusing that these little creatures think that they can rebel against the Almighty God, the omnipotent Creator, the one who has power to speak the word, and all of the worlds, all of the galaxies, all of the stars, all of this universe spring immediately into place and has all power, and isn't it amusing that these little ant-like creatures think that they can rise up successfully against Almighty God? That's funny, God says.

That's his response. But it will be followed by his judgment if it goes on at the proper time. Then, verse 5, he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure. And the final thing that God says in verse 6 is to declare that his anointed king will reign in spite of who likes it and who opposes it.

Makes no difference. Yet, I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion, and nobody's going to change that. Stanza 3, verses 7 through 9, Christ himself, Christ the Son speaks.

And he first of all describes his position. I will declare the decree. There's something that has gone on in the counsels of God between the Father and the Son, and he's now going to reveal what that is. There's an awful lot about God's decrees that we don't know.

We get little glimpses of some of them in Scripture, but the Son says, I'm going to reveal one of the decrees that took place in the counsels of heaven that you wouldn't know about otherwise. I will declare the decree. The Lord, Yahweh, my Heavenly Father, said to me, You are my son. Today I have begotten you.

I have given you the highest position. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance in the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron.

You shall dash them to pieces like a potter. Christ speaks and reveals his position as the highest one of the Father. Christ speaks and reveals his inheritance. God the Father said to me, The Son, you ask of me, and I will give you the nations of the earth for your inheritance, the ends of the earth for your possession.

That's our missions month text. And furthermore, God the Father has given to me all the power necessary to bring this about. You shall break them, the rebellious nations, with a rod of iron. You shall dash them, the consulting kings, the contriving kings, to pieces like a potter's vessel.

It'll be no more difficult for you than to take a piece of rebar, you construction people know what that is, and whack it against a clay pot and it'll break into pieces. That's exactly how much effort is required for God the Son to bring the whole world and all of its eight billion people and all of its rulers into complete subjection to himself. And God the Son reveals that to us. And then finally, David speaks again in the last stanza, and now here's an exhortation based upon what has been given. He says in verse 10, Now therefore be wise, O kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. In the light of this, listen up. In light of this, take heed. In light of this, understand.

What? This is what you must do. Verse 11, Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice. There's a certain holy reverential fear and ought to be, but there is also a glad rejoicing for those who submit to him.

And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son. That's the kiss of homage. He was customary to kiss the rings of kings or to kiss the hem of the king's garment in that day as an act of homage, submission.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are those who put their trust in him. David exhorts the peoples of the earth, take heed. And if you're wise, you will stop rebelling and you will submit. And those who submit will have hearts filled with joy. Those who submit are blessed.

Blessed are those who put their trust in him. But those who refuse to submit are going to be utterly destroyed. They're going to be dashed like a piece of pottery is broken into pieces. They are going to suffer eternal condemnation. Now, having examined the text in its context, let's revisit the text. Verse 8, to answer the questions we raised before. Our text says, and now we know who's saying it and who's receiving these words, ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. Who makes the offer? Who says, who invites somebody to ask of me? Well, that's God the Father. To whom is this offer made? Well, it's Christ the Son. Ask of me and I will give you the nations of the earth.

What does the offer? It's the whole earth. Everything is going to be given to the Son as his inheritance, as his possession. And how is this to be fulfilled? It's going to be fulfilled by conquest, by worldwide dominion over time.

And we can add a few details that are not found in the Psalm itself, but found in other places in Scripture. It will take place over time by gradual conquest, but it will be finalized at the end of time, in the final day of fulfillment when Christ returns. When the Son comes to claim his inheritance, when he comes to subdue his foes, when he comes to receive and reward his people, when he comes to banish every rebel, when he comes to make all things new, there will not be a world under the curse. There will not be a world in which there's found any sin. There will not be a world in which anyone, anyone is not in complete submission to the Lord of glory.

There will not be a world in which there is any injustice, in which there is anything that is wrong. He comes to make all things new. He comes to make his inheritance suitable for himself. He is the Holy One, the Perfect One, the Righteous One, the Eternal One. And he's been given this inheritance, but it's a mess because of sin.

But he has the power to fix it, and he will. Now I can't leave this explanation of the text without, in my mind, also thinking of the promise that was made to Christ in Isaiah 53, that great passage, who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed. But these last three verses, verse 10, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Who smote Christ on the cross? You say, well, the Roman soldiers did.

Right. Who smote Christ on the cross? Well, the centurion who ordered them to do it did. Yes. Who was responsible for the great blow that Christ took upon the cross? Well, Pontius Pilate is responsible. He ordered it to be done.

Yes. Who's responsible for this terrible crucifixion of Christ on the cross? Well, the Jewish leaders and those who followed them, who called for his death, for his crucifixion, they're responsible for it.

Yes, that's true. But who's responsible for smiting Christ upon the cross? I just read it in Isaiah 53 10. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. God the Father is responsible for the death of his son upon the cross. Now, all of these things are true, and they all work together. And they weren't all in cooperation trying to carry out the will of God.

But they all did. And ultimately it was God's will that Christ be smitten in this way in order to redeem a hell-deserving people unto himself. A hymn just came to my mind, but the words have already escaped me as quickly as I thought about it. It was the stroke that justice gave.

What was that hymn? You know what I'm talking about. Strichen smitten and afflicted see him dying on the tree.

Absolutely. Did you hear that? The stroke that pierced him was the stroke that justice, capital J, Jehovah gave. That's what Isaiah is telling us. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin, and then this.

What's the result of this death upon the cross, this offering for sin? He shall see his seed. Well, Jesus didn't have any children.

He wasn't married. He shall see his seed. Oh, we're talking about spiritual seed, like the spiritual seed of Abraham, those who have true faith. Oh, he has children, millions of them, millions of children, born again, sons and daughters all over the earth and all down through the centuries, the millennium.

Millions of children. He shall see his seed and shall prolong his days. That is, after being crucified, his life is going to be extended and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul, all the things he went through to die on the cross to be an offering for sin. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied.

He's going to be completely satisfied with what he receives as a result of this death on the cross and all that led up to it. By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I, the Heavenly Father, will divide him a portion with the great. You get this inheritance language, the nations of the earth, the ends of the earth. I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong.

He's going to divide his inheritance with us, believe it or not, because he poured out his soul unto death. And he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Well, we come finally in number four to apply the text. First of all, we looked at the words of the text. Secondly, we looked at the context to help us understand it.

Thirdly, we revisited the text to now be able to answer the questions that were raised in our first examination. And now we come to apply the text for our purposes this morning. And I see in all of this three things. Number one, an encouraging reality. Number two, a prescribed plan.

And number three, a committed effort. An encouraging reality. Things look bad in this world today. Help! Help! Help!

It's not only bad, it's getting worse. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Have as much faith in God as he demonstrated calmly sitting upon his throne, when he who sits in the heaven shall laugh. The Lord shall hold them in derision. You can look at all these things that are going on in the world today, and you can be amused that all of this sinful rebellion thinks it's going to succeed against God. It won't, it can't. Just wait, be patient, the time is coming when all of this is going to be remedied. The Father's promise will be fulfilled.

An inheritance will be given to the Son, and he shall clean it up and make it perfect. You can be sure of that. There's no reason to fear.

There's no reason to doubt. Just believe the word of Almighty God. Believe the words of our text. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. And that's coming as sure as the sun came up this morning, and here we are.

You can be sure that Jesus Christ is going to receive his inheritance, and he is coming again to make it perfect. That day's coming. Never fear an encouraging reality. Number two, a prescribed plan. How is this going to be brought about?

Well, by two things. Part of that's going on now, and the rest of it awaits his second coming. What's going on now? The worldwide proclamation of the gospel. He's gathering a people out of every tongue, every tribe, every nation. Yes, the nations of the world at large may be in rebellion against him.

The peoples of the earth may be chafing at his rule, but in all of those nations, among all of those people, there are those who are submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ gladly, who are trusting him, who are being saved, who are being added to his kingdom, taken out of the kingdom of darkness and placed into the kingdom of light. It's going on pretty quietly, pretty silently. The people of the earth, the big shots of the earth, they don't see anything of any significance going on.

They can't see it. Kind of like Christ's first coming in the Incarnation. How quietly, how quietly the wondrous gift is given. How quietly, how quietly the kingdom of Christ is being built. And it's being built as the gospel goes out to the ends of the earth. The gospel, what's that?

What kind of foolishness is that? We're more interested in important things. Nothing more important than this, nothing more powerful than this. But it takes God's people to understand that. How quietly, how quietly the gospel goes out to the ends of the earth. And it keeps taking captives away from Satan's kingdom. Got that one, got that one. The Holy Spirit's at work.

I'll take that one. I'll take this one by handfuls and by sometimes in great, great numbers all at once. But Christ's kingdom is advancing. Christ's kingdom is being built right under, as it were, Satan's nose. He's busy creating all this mischief. Have you ever seen more deceit than we see in the world today? We hardly know what to believe.

What does that look like? The father of lies. He's good at it. He knows how to spend so many lies.

You don't know which way to turn. But while he's doing all that, the gospel's going out. The truth, the gospel truth is going out and making conquests for Christ's kingdom. It's an amazing thing.

It's going on. And so there is the worldwide proclamation of the gospel. That's the first part of this prescribed plan to accomplish this promise of the father to the son. But its conclusion will take place at the second coming, when Jesus Christ comes back and establishes his reign in a visible, irresistible way. And at that time, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the father, those who do so unwillingly to be judged for their unwillingness, those who have done so gladly to be received into his kingdom and rewarded for their efforts upon the earth.

Oh, I trust that you are going to be in that number. Why would you not submit? Why would you not believe? Why would you not bow gladly to King Jesus, a prescribed plan? And finally, a committed effort. God has entrusted to us a part in this plan, this worldwide conquest.

I still marvel at that. Fallible, weak, undependable, sinners saved by grace. We have a part. We can be a faithful witness wherever we are, and we can be an active partnership to those who go. It's a worldwide mission, and some are going to have to go to the ends of the earth. And not everybody can go because then who would stay behind by the stuff? Who would give so that others may go? Who would uphold in prayer those who go? We all have a part. Let's find our God-assigned part and be in partnership by prayer, by giving, by going, by investing in this eternal kingdom.

Why would we want to give ourselves to anything less? Tell me, what earthly investments have a guaranteed return? What earthly investments have a guaranteed return? None. What earthly investments have an eternal reward? None.

But heavenly investments do. What an opportunity, what a privilege, and what wisdom to give ourselves to Christ in believing faith, and to give our lives to Christ in serving the interest of His inevitable, glorious, coming kingdom. Shall we pray? O Father, make us glad and willing subjects of Christ's kingdom. Make us glad and willing servants in carrying out the gospel proclamation. Help us to give our lives to something that is eternal, something that is monumental, something that is inevitable, to demonstrate our faith in your word by what we do with our lips and our hands and our feet and our pocketbooks. Help us, O Lord, we pray. Amen.