The Citizen, 2016-11-17, Page 12Evangelical Missionary Church
PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2016.
From the Minister's Study
Who trumps Trump? God is in control
By Pastor Ernest Dow, Living
Water Christian Fellowship
(EMC), Blyth
Last week's U.S. presidential
election victory by Donald Trump
apparently has upset quite a few
people. There have been protests in
the streets and disparaging posts on
social media. There has even been
some interest by Americans in
emigrating north, crashing our
immigration website! Trump was
criticized and ridiculed for some of
his platform promises and past
comments. Some find the thought of
such a person being responsible for
the nuclear codes unsettling. Should
we be worried?
Yet before we get too nervous
about Mr. Trump coming to the helm
of our powerful southern neighbour
in January, we can find reassurance
from scripture that God is still in
control ultimately, sovereign over
earthly rulers. The general principle
is expressed in Proverbs 21:1 -
"The king's heart is in the hand of
the LORD; he directs it like a
watercourse wherever he pleases."
God is well capable of hardening
or softening a political leader's heart
as He chooses. There are several
examples of this throughout Biblical
history.
One of the great rulers in the
ancient world was Pharaoh, head of
Egypt. Stephen notes that God "gave
Joseph wisdom and enabled him to
gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of
Egypt; so he made him ruler over
Egypt and all his palace." (Acts
7:10) Centuries later, God hardened
Pharaoh's heart, causing him to
stubbornly resist letting the Hebrew
slaves leave under Moses. (Exodus
7:3).
When Sennacherib the King of
Assyria conquered Israel and swept
into Judah up to the gates of
Jerusalem, boasting of how the gods
of no other nation had been able to
stop him, Isaiah reassured Hezekiah
that God was in control and would
not let the arrogant Sennacherib
succeed. Referring to Sennacherib:
"Because you rage against me and
your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose and
my bit in your mouth, and I will
make you return by the way you
came." (2Kings 19:28) Not long
after, deliverance occurred in
amazing fashion.
Much later, after the Jews had
been exiled to Babylon, Ezekiel
prophesied that the self-satisfied
king of Egypt would soon be routed
from his complacency. "This is what
the Sovereign LORD says: `I am
against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
you great monster lying among your
streams. You say, "The Nile is
mine; I made it for myself." But I
will put hooks in your jaws... I will
pull you out from among
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
1V -
_ea Living, cfiridian, rellmfdp
Nov. 20 - Luke 23:33-43
>•-`-\ Christ the King Sunday
4,r 1. "The Forgotten
�" King Who
'��., Remembers Me"
Small Group • Tuesdays 7:30 pm at G&M Lisle's, Wingham
Women's Ministry • 1st Wed. each month, 7:00 pm
Youth Group • Huron Chapel EMC, Aubum
Wednesdays 6:30.6:30 pm
COFFEE BREAK (women's Bible study) • Wed. 10 am at Blyth CRC
IF:HURON (for women) . Dec. 5, 7:45 pm at Blyth Creek Maple Farm
10:30 a.m. — Worship & Sunday School
at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God)
Pastor: Ernest Dow - 519-523-4848
getlivingwater.org
your streams..." (Ezekiel 29:3-4)
When Babylon's Nebuchadnezzar
has a dream he is troubled by and
insists his seers interpret, Daniel
reminds him any power he possesses
is conferred upon him from a higher
source. "You, 0 king, are the king of
kings. The God of heaven has given
you dominion and power and might
and glory..." (Daniel 2:37) Later,
Nebuchadnezzar boasts to himself
while walking on the palace roof, "Is
not this the great Babylon I have
built as the royal residence, by my
mighty power and for the glory of
my majesty?" (Daniel 4:30) But his
sanity becomes impaired for seven
years and he finds himself eating
grass like a cattlebeast. Eventually
his sanity is restored and
Nebuchadnezzar honours the "Most
High" whose "dominion is an
eternal dominion" and "does as He
pleases with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth."
(Daniel 4:34f)
Following the exile, the Jews are
allowed to return to their homeland.
The temple is rebuilt. The Persian
emperor Artaxerxes even sends
valuable resources to help re-
establish Jewish government and
civilization. The religious leader
Ezra recognizes God's initiative in
making this happen: "Praise be to
the LORD, the God of our fathers,
who has put it into the king's heart to
bring honour to the house of the
LORD in Jerusalem in this way and
who has extended His good favour to
me before the king and his advisers
and all the king's powerful officials."
(Ezra 7:27)
There are some allusions to God's
sovereignty over earthly monarchs
in the New Testament, too. The
Nativity Story traditionally begins
with Luke's observation that, "In
those days Caesar Augustus issued a
decree that a census should be taken
of the entire Roman world." The
effect of this decree is to uproot
You're c9nvited Jo join ?s 1n Worship
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
Evening Service 7:30 pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
ANGLICAN PARISH OF NEW BEGINNINGS
BLYTH
Trinity
(S. 9:15 am
Church Office
519-357-4883
BRUSSELS
St. John's
11:15 am
Church Office
519-887-6862
Everyone Welcome!
COME WORSHIP WITH US!
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20
We invite you to join our church family in:
Worship & Sunday School - 11 am
Coffee & Snacks following the service
Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm - Soup & More 2
- a free community meal held in Melville's basement, and
made possible by the Brussels churches working together.
Nursery care available
519-887-6687
Blyth United Church
Est. 1875
Worship Service & Sunday School at 11:00 a.m.
Sunday, November 20
"You're Not As Lost
As You Feel"
r
Guest Speaker:
Mary Ross
MINISTER: Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div.
OFFICE: 519-523-4224
Joseph and Mary from Galilee and
relocate them in Bethlehem, where it
was prophesied the Messiah would
be born. So, implicitly here, the
mighty Caesar becomes an
unwitting instrument in God's hand
to fulfill prophecy about the location
of the Saviour's birth.
After Jesus' death and
resurrection, the early church
acknowledges God's sovereignty
over religious and political leaders,
guiding even the portentous events
(including unjust trials) that
culminated in Easter. "Indeed Herod
and Pontius Pilate met together with
the Gentiles and the people of Israel
in this city to conspire against your
holy servant Jesus, whom you
anointed. They did what your power
and will had decided beforehand
should happen" (Acts 4:27-28)
Thus, the worst possible event in
the history of humankind - the
crucifixion of a perfectly innocent,
holy God -man - had been carried
out under the orders of sinful rulers;
yet, though the human agents
retained responsibility, even the
unthinkable could be turned to good,
guided by the overarching wisdom
and power of the Almighty.
God not only can redirect the
Continued on page 16
BRUSSELS
United Church
WORSHIP SERVICE
AND SUNDAY SCHOOL 10:00 am
Everyone Welcome
Minister: Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M.Div.
Bulletin notices: 519-523-4224
b l yth u n ited @tcc. o n. ca
Church bookings: 519-887-6377
Other concerns: 226-963-1175
efteedde€4 egfamItAatv edee, &rod
You're 'nvitec
to come worsht p
with us
Sunday, November 20
Brussels Business & Cultural Centre
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Sunday School for children
4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers
during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service.
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
"COFFEE TASTES BETTER IN A
HURON CHAPEL MUG...
whether by the ocean on vacation or back home" Pastor Mark
First time visitors can pick up their own mug at church this Sunday.
Huron Chapel
Every Sunday @ 10:30am in
THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS.
OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Brussels:
St. Ambrose
Saturday
6:00 p.m.
17 Flora Street
Wingham:
Sacred Heart
Sunday
9:00 a.m.
220 Carling Terrace
Listowel:
St. Joseph's
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.