Publish

“The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.” (Ps 68:11 AV)

 The context that surrounds this verse is most interesting.  The context is God’s final judgment on the wicked.  The world hates God.  It says it loves God, but in reality, it hates Him.  The world will not conform to the righteousness of the Bible.  It rejects Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior.  The world refuses to judge wickedness and even goes so far as to celebrate it.  The question is, what justification does God have and what is He waiting for?  The answer is above.  Because the LORD sent His prophets into the world and they preached the word near and far, God is justified in judging the world for rejecting.  This brings us to the second part of the question.  What is He waiting for?  Could it be He is waiting until the saints find a way to publish the word worldwide?  Could it be He is waiting for His word to be everywhere and in every nation before He can judge the world for rejecting it?  If the church wants to be raptured out of this wicked world, there is only one way that will happen.  We must publish the word!

It is hard to sympathize with those who have been adequately warned of the coming consequences and choose to ignore them.  That doesn’t change the ethical responsibility of those ‘in the know’ to inform those who are not.  In fact, it is a moral imperative.  We have these yard signs all over the place.  They instruct drivers to slow down.  Especially around schools and residential areas.  It seems we are always in a hurry.  There is one stretch of the road where these signs are extremely prevalent.  The reason is, the street is a boulevard.  That means it is double-laned and split.  When we drive on this type of road, we are used to increased speed limits.  Twenty-five miles an hour just doesn’t seem right.  However, this road is heavily residential.  There are several apartment buildings along this stretch and there seem to be many young families with children as well.  At the end of this stretch the speed limit changes.  It is at that change that police with radar are often set to catch those who ignore the speed limit.  There are plenty of signs, both municipal and private that warn drivers there are consequences for speeding.  The appearance of such notifications gives the authorities the moral and ethical right to issue summonses.

Never in the history of man has the word of God been as prevalent as it is today.  Perhaps the day of Noah was the last time the word of God was everywhere.  With radio, internet, and cell service, the word of God can and does go to almost every corner of the world.  It might be broadcast, but it is not always heard.  We still have work to do.  I knock on doors several times a week.  I meet people all the time who have never heard of the sufficiency of Jesus Christ alone for the saving of their souls.  They may celebrate Christmas and Easter, but they have no idea their religion will not save them.  They have never heard that salvation is by repentance through faith in Jesus Christ alone. We speak to people all the time.  The point is, if we want to graduate to heaven, we still have much work to do.  If the company is great and they are publishing the word, then God will return in the person of Jesus Christ.  He must.  Or His word means nothing.