PS 45:12 The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people.
AELW 12 291-292
“Wherever there is a nation and wealthy people, there will be some who adore Christ because of this Word. Though it seems incredible, I will nevertheless give you people from every nation who will come and hear you preach with the greatest joy and will honor the Word.” We see today that even at the courts of godless princes there are many good men who honor the Word in true piety, attend to its ministry in humility, and aid the brethren in every service of which they are capable. That is what it means to confess Christ with external gifts and services. From the outset of this preaching in the church it occurred, and it still occurs today. It is a great comfort that in the midst of tribulations and persecutions the church will also have an external comfort and that the Word will be extended and maintained by the rich, too. So we see that today there are few princes without someone at their courts who fosters the Word and honors it.
“Wherever there is a nation and wealthy people, there will be some who adore Christ because of this Word. Though it seems incredible, I will nevertheless give you people from every nation who will come and hear you preach with the greatest joy and will honor the Word.” We see today that even at the courts of godless princes there are many good men who honor the Word in true piety, attend to its ministry in humility, and aid the brethren in every service of which they are capable. That is what it means to confess Christ with external gifts and services. From the outset of this preaching in the church it occurred, and it still occurs today. It is a great comfort that in the midst of tribulations and persecutions the church will also have an external comfort and that the Word will be extended and maintained by the rich, too. So we see that today there are few princes without someone at their courts who fosters the Word and honors it.
If God were to give no place where the Word could be taught, if He provided no one who loved the Gospel, the church would not last long. Therefore, while the rest raged and the greater part of the world persecuted the Gospel, God raised up David, Josiah, Hezekiah, and even on occasion a king of Babylon (Dan. 3:28), that there might be rest and peace for the ministry and extension of the Word. Necessarily, then, He comforts the church here, that there will not be lacking holy men and daughters of the church, also among the powerful and rich of the world, to maintain and defend the church, so that the statement of the psalm may be fulfilled (Ps. 110:2): “Rule in the midst of Thine enemies.”
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