Joy comes from confidence in Christ as Lord and Mediator. He rules all things for His glory and the church’s good, for His good pleasure (Ephesians 1:11-12). This really comes down to understanding God as simply God, I use simply as in His eternal, infinite, and unchangeable nature, not that God is dumb, but Divine Simplicity as a Biblical doctrine. You can learn more about Divine Simplicity here . God is only God, not compounded with anything else, and this makes Him impassible as well (1 Timothy 1:17). You can learn more about God's impassability here. Knowing that God is the Lord in all His perfect attributes is extremely comforting to the Christian. It is comforting to the Christian because with God as eternal and unchangeable, His electing love to His bride does not change, but is constantly infinite, just as He is infinitely loving (Hebrews 6:16-17). It is initiated in God’s Covenant of Redemption, made with Himself to each person of the Trinity (Psalm 2:5-8). It is revealed in the Covenant of Grace (Genesis 3:15), and fulfilled in Christ’s incarnation, especially His propitiatory death and ascension (Daniel 7:13-14). By Christ’s propitiation, He appeased the wrath of God, taking the due penalty for His church’s depraved idolatry (Amos 5:1). The purchased freedom from the merit of legal justification is so comforting to the weary sinner, because he knows that his works account as nothing pleasing to God. Therein, Christ is his Surety, Author, and Perfecter of his salvation (Hebrews 12:2). It is Christ who the sinner’s eyes have rest their gaze. It is the Father who has to be sought, and the Holy Spirit who has to be listened to (Deuteronomy 10:12-22). In my times when I am not joyful, I am focused on myself and other worldly things that only give partial pleasure, but are idols unto the Lord. This is the same with you, when you are not joyful, it is because you are focused on yourself and other worldly idols.
How can a nation be joyful and blessed? The USA is in no way a righteous nation; the church is full of false teachers and false doctrines, and the civil government is a Communist God hating regime. The author (Greg Forester) only dealt with Natural Law, as he referenced Romans 2:12-16, in his book, Joy for the World: How Christianity Lost its Cultural Influence & can Begin Rebuilding It. Natural Law is the Law of God, but man because of his depraved nature man cannot govern be governed by Natural Law. For, man’s intellect (comprehension, judgement, and conscience), is blind (Revelation 3:17), darkened (Ephesians 4:18), ignorant (Romans 10:2), foolish (1 Corinthians 2:14), and corrupt (1 Timothy 6:5). Therefore, man perverts God’s Law of Nature to do his own pleasure, in rebellion to God. This makes misery to others, chiefly because of idolatry in its many aspects. Idolatry is: not worshipping the true God and worshipping God wrongly—(Deuteronomy 12). Secondly, misery comes from man who is already not worshipping God, effectually from this man tyrannizes others by making his own laws that are contrary to God’s Law (Deuteronomy 5:16-21). Logically, it is obvious from what has been before said, that civil governments should be Christian-Theocracies, for God’s revealed Moral Laws are to govern nations (Deuteronomy 4:4-10, chapter 28; Matthew 28:18-20). God says Himself that the nations will look to the nations that have His Law and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” (Deuteronomy 4:6). Non-Christian nations will marvel at how righteous and close to God Christian-Theocratic nations are, but it is God who brings this righteous joy to the nations in their faithfulness to Him (Deuteronomy 28:1-15; Isiah 2:1-4; Luke 2:10-11). When God is pleased with a nation, is when that nation is joyfully obeying Him. There are many blessings that come from this obedience, such as was seen in the Three Kingdoms, known also as the United Kingdom, during the Second Reformation (1637-1649). The Presbyterian church was established, and all false religions, sects, and schismatics were done away with, and the national church was under the pure Biblical doctrine summarized in the 1647 Westminster Standards. The United Kingdom had God’s Moral Law as its law, as the three nations covenanted together the Solemn League and Covenant. These nations were free in Christ to obey God fully, without persecution by the state. The church had her own presbyteries and General Assemblies, governed by the ministers of the gospel. During this time there was almost no drunkenness, divorce/adultery, and many other domestic crimes.
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