Friends, I want to encourage you, as the heat turns up, and people begin to suffocate more and more, to not be fazed by what’s happening externally around you, and to not lose focus on the important things. It is self-evident to all who can think critically that the vaccine mandate itself is a crock and a “necessity that trumps all human freedoms” (it is the argument of any tyrant who has no fear of God, and no respect for His law.). But whether you get the jab or not is not important, but trivial. I would like to make these three points:
1. The people who will have the most eternal rewards are those who have most gambled with their lives to do the Lord’s work. Self-preservation and playing safe is not a virtue found in the Bible. 2. Your decision whether to get the jab is not based on a biblical conviction, but based on your personal conscience. 3. It is the duty of every Christian to use every avenue to clearly uphold righteousness and publicly convict society of its evil practices (the worshipping of the government, the government’s arrogant usurpation of the Head of the church, and its murder of infants), so that they fear the coming wrath and repent. But trying to convince (through arguments based on man-made constitutional laws, reasoning, scientific evidence) those in authority who are gospel-rejecting unbelievers who are under the power of Satan, to accept or even respect the practical righteous values for the sake of people’s present comforts and freedoms is a losing battle, and it should not make us sweat blood over it; it is pleasant to have freedom, but it shouldn’t frustrate us when we don’t. When we join the crusade with unbelievers, in all their clamour, for the protection of our national rights and freedoms, we should remember we have nothing in common with unbelievers, otherwise our message to the world is lost, the gospel is discredited, and the Lord is dishonoured. The anti-vaxxers are just as much part of Satan’s kingdom as the vaxxers, and the god of this world blinds them both, giving them both enough sense of meaning in each of their diametrically opposing causes, both still heading to God’s eternal wrath. We are not filled with temporal fears about the vaccine/virus nor do we chase after a sense of fulfillment in fighting for a temporal cause like the unbelievers, who have no other source of fulfillment in this secular world. We should remain faithful in the actual, mundane work the Lord has given: we are here to continue “the work of the Lord” (1Co 15:58). That is evangelism (Lk 19:10) and discipleship (Ac 1:3). The Lord warns us to not be preoccupied with food, drink, and daily needs and wants that unbelievers worry constantly about, but He commands us to focus on the work of the kingdom, and He promises all things will be provided. We live for as long as the Lord chooses, and we should meet our end, whenever it is, (all our stewardship —all our relationships, our possessions, our body, our gifts — has an appointed end), being faithful to the work to which the Lord has called us, and our work is not: fight for our rights here in this fallen, falling world; it is: make disciples. Whatever our decision regarding the vaccination is (taking into account our physical well-being and the right to bodily autonomy), it should be a trivial issue for us who know what our purpose here is. A vaccine does not at all touch the core of who we really are. No matter the circumstance, we remain immovable in the truths of God’s Word. We know who is the true Sovereign who is moving His plan, and we have confidence that Christ will be exalted in our bodies, by life or by death. We know we will be given new resurrection bodies, and we know Christ will soon come back to destroy all His enemies. We look forward to a future millennial kingdom where Christ will reign, while unbelievers only possess this world system which is controlled by Satan. We live for the cause of Christ, not for a cause that makes us feel meaningful only temporally which has no eternal significance. Our bodies have been decaying ever since we were born, and has no eternal value. There is a new resurrection body waiting for us, while unbelievers have no such hope. Ultimately, getting the jab or not is an individual choice, and you are not sinning by getting a jab. At the same time, you should not violate your conscience either if you are fully confident in your decision. Does getting the jab open doors for you by which you can do the Lord’s work? While you spend your time and effort exhausting every avenue to fight for your right to not get the jab, are you willing to be distracted away from critical time-sensitive opportunities for ministry? Does refusing the vaccine and suffering the consequences from the government make you rejoice to be considered worthy to suffer for Christ, in the same way Peter and the other apostles did in Acts 5 (also ref. 1Pe 4:16)? Or do you not believe the consequences of losing your job/schooling/etc. are truly sharing in the sufferings of Christ, and why or why not? According to God’s predetermined plan, the darkness of Satan’s world system is only going to get darker to reach its summit with the reign of the Antichrist, which will only be broken by the light of Christ’s return with His saints (Christ’s kingdom will be inaugurated by Christ’s coming itself, not by our effort in playing social justice warrior). We should expect greater extensive persecution (imprisonment and execution) from a government as God abandons them to pursue its idolatry and a mind that cannot function. No institution in this world, including the Canadian government, is safe from corruption and tyranny. And in the course of our living out our normal, mundane Christian duties (e.g. going to a local church), we will face greater opposition. And we should always remember examples of faithfulness like Daniel, who simply kept praying, treating with contempt the lions’ den, or Daniel’s three friends who simply were unfazed by the demands of a tyrant. Soon, by God’s grace, we will have plenty of opportunity to suffer for Christ. But I think this vaccine mandate at the present moment is a nuisance that can become a distraction from your ministry opportunity and distraction from preaching against the root of the government’s issue: their lack of fear of God and being under His wrath of abandonment. P.S. For those who have the resources to hold the fort and champion the cause of people’s freedoms, so that the government’s tyranny may be checked from becoming worse: consider that you always want to negotiate from a position of strength. 1. Do people see you as a part of a fanatical, insurrectionist group who wants to assassinate Trudeau, or cause disruption at hospitals or malls? And If you suffer consequences or are reviled for being part of the group, is that suffering as a Christian (ref. 1Pe 4:15; Ro 12:17)? Then you have no credible platform, and people will not want to hear. 2. When you negotiate with your higher-uppers in your workplace/school/etc. regarding the vaccine mandate, have you already built rapport with them, and developed a reputation of beneficial, hard-working, indispensable individual? Even if the negotiation spirals down to an ultimatum, will they be anticipating a pain due to a lack of your presence? (ref. 1Pe 3:13)
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CategoriesAll Discourse Doctrines Gospel Humour NT Commentaries OT Commentaries Tactical Life Date
August 2023
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