Humble Yourselves Before the Day

After good order had been established, war still came to Hezekiah. So it is with the servants of God: obedience does not purchase an easy road. Yet when the Assyrian boasted, Judah was taught not to trust in speeches, numbers, or walls, but to seek the Lord with repentance and steadfastness. The proud city that exalts itself will be brought low, whether Assyria, Philistia, Moab, or Jerusalem herself. Therefore the prophet cries to gather before the decree comes, to seek the Lord in meekness, and to hide in Him by turning from sin.

Jude presses the same matter upon the church. Not even angels escape when they abandon their proper place. As Clement says, "and the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He has reserved to the judgment of the great day, in everlasting chains under darkness of the savage angels." If heavenly beings were not spared for rebellion, Christians must not make peace with grumbling, lust, flattery, or contempt for authority. Mercy is promised, but not to the insolent; peace is given, but not to those who turn grace into license.

So let a man cast out his idols before he asks deliverance from his enemies. Let him bridle his tongue before he rebukes the blasphemer. Let him seek lowliness before the day of wrath. Cyprian speaks truly: "for, lo, the day of the Lord comes, cruel with wrath and anger, to lay the earth desolate, and to destroy the sinners out of it." Therefore keep yourselves in the love of God by prayer, mercy, and holy fear, waiting not for earthly safety, but for the Lord’s appearing.