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8/12/2019 1990 Issue 7 - Book Review: Messiah the Prince - Counsel of Chalcedon
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New Age
Movement's Messiah, Maitreya,
supposedly
the
fifth incarnation of Buddha, the
Mahdi
of
Islam, and the Krishna of Hinduism, is
called. Christ
in orderto attract Christians The
LORD God
Almighty
will
not hold Liberationists
and
exponents
of
the
New
Age
guiltless.
Conclusion
It
is
not
possible for the Christian to come away
from a study of this commandment in its far
reaching implications without the conviction of
failure
in
the keeping
of t Only by
the mercy and
ook
the grace of
God
is there forgiveness through the
perfect and finished atonement of Christ for our
sins. Only
by
the enabling grace
of
God can we
really attain to a greater steadfastness in our striving
to keep t is law and to glorify His name in
everything
in
life.
That same
mercy
and
that same
grace bids the sinner, even the most hardened
offender, to repent and to exalt that worthy name,
that name which above every name, the name of
Jesus Christ, and confess tnat
He
is Lord,
to
the
glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11). 0
LORD
our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the
earth "
0
Review
A
.A
A AAAA .A
AAA
essiah the Prince
Messiah. the P r i n ~ e by William
Symington
. Still
Waters Revival Books 12810-126 St. Edmonton, .
AB Canada T5L-OYL, 1990 $24.95 (USA) $29.95
(Canada). Reviewed by Byron Snapp.
"I
personally am opposed to abortion.
But
I
am not
going to use my office to superimpose my personal
position
on
.
other
people's decisions. I
am o i n ~ to
listen carefully to both sides each tinie I am requrred
to
vote." ("Warner Kicks Off Campaign," Roanoke
Times World News, Feb. 6, 1990)
The
Wisconsin woman
charged
with adultery is
being singled out for punishment that could be
applied to thousands. Laws against adultery,
fomication
and
sodomy are still on the books in 27
states . including Virginia, but are enforced only
rarely. They serve
no
good
purpose and ought to
be
repealed ..Society is
far more
tolerant than when
Wisconsin's adultery law was passed in the 19th
century.
For
the most part, government has gotten
out of the business of trying
to
legislate morality.
Wisconsin, Virginia
and
the other 5 states with
these antiquated laws
ought
to get
rid of them
.
Otherwise, they'll continue
to be
pulled
out
to satisfy
grudges." ("Selectively judging morality"
The
Roanoke
Times
and
World News May
3, 1990,
p.l4)
Page
8
August-September, 1990 The Counsel
of
Chalcedon
These quotes are only two of many that could be
given to
show
the importance of the recent reprinting
of William Symington's Messiah the Prince. This
book
is solely devoted to unfolding the Biblical
doctrine
of
Christ's kingship
over
all
things
both
now and throughout eternity.
"Without Christ's kingly work, the gracious
purposes
of
God
could not be
executed; the
mediatorial character itself would not
be
complete;
the
work
ofsalvat ion must continue unrewarded; the
enemies
of
trti.th and holiness should
finally
triumph,
and
the
necessities of the children
ofGod
remain for
ever unsupplied. Such things cannot--shall not be."
(p.l6) Having pointed
out
the necessity of Christ's
kingship the author then points
out
the reality of His
lordship as well as His qualifications for this office.
Mr. Symington readily acknowledges and explains
that
Christ's kingdom is spiritual. Yet such an
explanation in no way means that Christ has no rule
in His world
now
. Defining Christ's kingdom as
spiritual means "that its nature and design are wholly
celestial, that
it
is of a character.different from the
kirtgdoms
of
this world, and destined to higher and
more gloriouspurposes" (p.
64).
In other words all
things are
under
Christ. Christ's kingdom being
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8/12/2019 1990 Issue 7 - Book Review: Messiah the Prince - Counsel of Chalcedon
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spiritual is not like the kingdom of this world. The
inspired Paul reminded his readers E ~ h . 6: 10-18, 2
Cor. 10:3-5) that warfare for Christ s kingdom is
waged
in
a different manner than the warfare of
worldly kingdoms.
Christ's universal rule naturally makes all
institutions including the church and nations
subservient to Him. Within this book the reader will
find Biblically structured arguments for proper
church government
s
well as the assured increase
of
the Church throughout the world. Central to
Christ's kingship over the church is the purchasing
of
the elect by His shed blood. Thus the church
owes its sole allegiance to Christ, her redeemer and
King. The highest and warmest partronage
of
the
state is procured
at
too dear a price if, in order to
secure it, the church has to barter away the least
portion of her liberties. Every attempt, then, to
interfere with its independence,
on
the part
of
the
civil power, must be regarded as
an
unhallowed
invasion
of
the rights
of
the people, and a monstrous
usurpation of the inalienable rights
and
perogatives
of the church's glorious Head (p.128).
As mediator, Christ also is King of the nations.
Numerous Scriptures are quoted to underscore this
fact. Passages quoted include Psalm 2, Acts 4:24-
27, Psalm 47, Is.49:22-23, Prov. 8:15,16
and
Rom.
13:3,4. Since Christ is king
it
is
not
hard to
understand that His moral law must govern nations
i f
righteousness and justice is .to prevail
in
these
nations. .The eternal king also establishes the
qualifications
not
only for rules within the church
but for national rulers as well. Speaking
of
civil
authorities the author writes, They are required to
be
men
of
good abilities,
of
unimpeachable
character, and of sound piety ..
ut
no
one
who
candidly reflects that civil magistrates are
denominated 'ministers of God' that they are
required to adminsiter oaths; that they exert a mighty
influence by their example; and that decided personal
piety adds greatly to the lustre and power even
of
natural and moral qualities; can beat a loss to
:perceive the importance of religion to
one
who
mvested with civil power (pp.244,245).
The importance of this republication should not
go
unnoticed by Christians today.
Christ's present universal rule as mediator is a
Scriptural fact. Because it is Scriptural the Christian
should desire to learn all
he
can about it. After all
can
we
be uninterested
in
any facet of
our
Lord's
character
or
office? This book quotes a wealth
of
&ripture on this subject in a well-developed format.
Secondly, this doctrine is under great attack today
within and outside the church.
It
is the constant
desire
of
man to cast aside Christ's
law
and kingship
(Ps. 2).
In
so doing foolish
man
believes
he
can
become God. This
book
provides a wealth of
ammunition to show the absurdity of denying
Christ's rightful place.
s
King.
Thirdly, this book is a breath
of
fresh air to a society
suffocating
on
humanism and humanistic law.
We
can expect man's law to be unfair and law in general
to
be
unfairly applied. God's law and standards are
universally fair and
just not
only
in
their
requirements
but
also
in
their application.
To
desire
just
applications
one
must also desire God's
law
to
be applied.
t
alone is perfect and without
need
of
amendment.
Modem
man is wimpy. Sadly this includes many
officers within the church today.
Such men
probably believe God is also wimpy---desiring
compromise, being soft toward sin and failing to
apply church discipline, refusing to speak
out
against sin for fear of upsetting members of the
congregation. Such men fail to understand Christ's
kingship
or
their
own
dangerous position. This
book clearly shows that our God is
in no
way a
wimp. f the Father were a wimp toward
sin
would
He
have sent His
own
Son
to
die for sinners?
Would the Son have voluntarily carried the Father's
wrath for the sins of the elect? Not hardly.
We
serve a King who is mighty to save
and
before
whom the nations must one day bow.
Reading this book one realizes that the church must
preach and live by Christ's kingship before we can
ever expect society
in
general to do so. The author
rightly begins with a discussion
of
Christ's kingship
in the church before
he
explains Christ's kingship
over the nations.
This book provides great comfort for the believer.
The reader is reminded that neither Satan
nor
man
currently rules the world.
The
office of King
belongs to Christ. With Christ as king we
can be
assured that all things
do
work together for
the
good
of God's people (Romans 8:28).
The reader is also encouraged to take Biblical stands
on public issues. The Bible assures us that
one
day
nations themselves will acknowledge Christ's laws.
It is the Christians' duty to teach nations (mt. 28:18-
20) . As the Christian holds to and explains God's
law prayerfully at every opportunity
we
as a nation
can hope by God's grace to have an answer to the
prison debate, rising crime, abortion, debt, the
environment, education and the many other
problems that are engulfing our society.
The Counsel of Chalcedon August-September, 1990 Page 29
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8/12/2019 1990 Issue 7 - Book Review: Messiah the Prince - Counsel of Chalcedon
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It
is heartening to see the republication
of
this
. important work. At the very least this shows.
an
interest in Christ's kingship. This bodes well for the
future. However only 1100 copies were printed.
Few copies remain ,unsold. . Do not pass up the
opportunity to obtain a copy for
your
library. Let us
hope the demand is sufficient to require a second
printing
in
a larger quantity.
The greatest antidote
to
humanism is the fact o
Christ's kingship. No wonder the world is
at
wa
with this doctrine. This is all the more reason th
Christian should understand Christ's kingship an
its implication in every area of life-personally
ecclesiastically and natiomilly as well
a
internationally.
.
. n Jt ..
1Stauttful
Jleatttt S
Todd
W
llen
One of the signs of a healthy .person is an appetite. I
remember so very wellmy last ;hospitalization for
open heart surgery and how
l
lost rriy appetite. We
might say that that is normal, but to; lose one's
appetite is only normal ifthere is some way one can
account for it. Certaitily
it
is not normal to remain
indefinitely without an appetite. I .was glad when
my appetite returned and I began to
enjoy
food
again. Have you ever thought of how much of our
enjoyment in life is related to food and fellowship.
God
set
feast
days in the Old Testament calendar
so
that people could enjoy going to Jerusalem td
celebrate and worship. . . ' . . .
Thanksgiving
is
tlie most' travtlled holiday.or the
year. Why is that? Is t not' because we associate
Thanksgiving with gOod food and renewed
fellowship
as
we
of
fer up
thanksgiving to
God for
all His care and provision? But suppose you
completely lost your sense of taste and sense of
smell and
lost your
appetite too? All of that Iucknis
food would riot tum you on at all. And something
would be ntissing in youdife
You
can't enjoy roast
turkey and gravy and homemade dressing. and
cranberry
sauce
and a
half dozen s ~ c i l
recipes of
all sorts of delicious salads, vegetables, puddings,
cakes and the like if you can't s t ~ n the. sight of
. ..
food. And who wants pumpkin pie with whipped
cream
or
apple pie alam.Ode or fresh strawberry
shortcake when
it
makes you sick to look at it?
The Emphasis
is
on the Blessed
1. When I was in the hospital and had no appetite fo
food it
waS
a temporary condition brought about
by
the shock to my system from having open hear
surgery. There was no way that l could make
myself
have
an
appetite.
t
t6
come
back as my
body slowly began to heal and recover from the
surgery. They have pills out
that suppress the
appetite to help you lose weight. But who would
Want to take a pill that would destroy the appetite
permanently? You might thirtk that would be a good
thing ifyou needed to lose a lot of weight, but wait a
minute. Would you really.want to lose permanently
the experience of tasting and enjoying every sort o
food and beverage? I wouldn't. And I don't believe
you would either.
Please notice in our text that our Lord considered
it
a
great blessing to have an appetite for righteousness
BLESSED ARE TIIOSE
WHO
HUNGER AND
THIRST
FOR
RIGHTEOUSNESS,
FOR TilEY
SHALL BE SATISFIED. The Greek word fo
satisfied is Chrn;tazo (khor-tad' zo . This is a very
strong word.
It
means more than just satisfy or fill
It
was a word applied to feeding and fattening
animals in a stall. It carries the idea of total and
c o m p l e t ~ fillipg. The creature, be
it
animal or man
is born ith a physical appetite. Without tha
physical appetite
he
would perish from malnutrition
.
or starvation. t inimical to any living creature to
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