As we thank God for Her Majesty’s long, faithful and exemplary service, we must also realise that, tragically, Britain’s spiritual condition is dire. We cannot rely upon historic institutions and traditions, as much as we might admire them, to save the day.

The message of the national church, which of course is the new king's spiritual counsellor, is little more than saving the planet from climate change and upholding the fashionable tenets of cultural Marxism. The nation, however, urgently needs to hear the truths of God's word.

So what a task we have, as those who uphold the sole authority of Scripture. It is only preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners which can rescue this nation.

As the servants of Christ we have a duty to confront our leaders and call them to account for ignoring the commandments of God and pursuing the fashions of God-rejecting, man-made philosophies. We must tell our leaders, be they politicians or members of the royal family, as David once declared, “He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God”.

Without the fear of God in the hearts of men, a fear engendered by the vigorous preaching of Biblical truth, our nation will not survive. So let us go forth and preach the gospel with all of our hearts.

“Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit”. Solomon looked at all his endeavours in acquiring knowledge of both the arts and the sciences, his great exploits in architecture and landscape gardening, his feeding his eyes and ears on aesthetic beauty and musical delight, and yet he could only say at the end of it all, “I hated life”. The expression “under the sun” means life lived on this earth without reference to God. “Vexation of spirit” can also be rendered “striving after wind”, the pursuit of that which is fleeting, unsubstantial and ungraspable. All human endeavour carried out apart from God in a temporary fallen world is ultimately futile. There is accordingly no lasting satisfaction, but only vexation of spirit, a deep, unsettling realisation that nothing lasting or of worth has been gained.

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER is all about how men must hear and receive God’s word. They must do so in such a way that they will heartily embrace it and then bear much fruit to the glory of God, but how stubborn is the heart of fallen man. What danger there is when God’s word is proclaimed, but people reject it, which so often happens. Those who keep on rejecting it actually risk losing the ability ever to understand and receive the truth. Therefore, all have an urgent responsibility to listen, when God speaks. Are our hearts good soil for the reception of the seed which is the word of God?

"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity”. The Hebrew word rendered 'vanity' occurs 37 times in Ecclesiastes. It is literally 'breath'; in other words, that which is fleeting, empty, quickly gone, and of no lasting significance. 'Vanity of vanities' means vanity in its most extreme form, the most absolute vanity. All that this world has to offer is absolute vanity apart from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is theme of Ecclesiastes.

How we must keep firmly in our minds Zechariah’s vision of the flying roll of parchment and the flying jar containing the trapped woman. God’s word is as a great banner emblazoned across the sky telling all men that without repentance and faith in Christ they are under God’s curse. Unless they flee from the wrath to come and into the arms of the Saviour, they will be trapped and confined, having filled up the measure of their sins. They are outside of the kingdom of God and in the house of judgement, from which there is no possible escape.

The message of this passage is that God’s anger upon sin is very real. The only remedy to hold back God’s anger is to go to go to His appointed altar, namely to Calvary and to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who repent of sin and trust in Christ are covered from God’s wrath by the blood which is shed in the sinner’s place.

The glad tidings of the Gospel are that there is a way for God’s righteous anger to be averted. By faith in Christ there is reconciliation with God, even for the worst of sinners. But make no mistake, as we read in Psalm 7, “God is angry with the wicked every day”.

Let us also note the national perspective of this passage. The chapter opened with the words, “the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel”, and severe national judgement ensued. Let our own land today realise that it cannot keep on defying God with impunity, but must return to the one true faith of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

Each individual is personally accountable to God; sin always has consequences : “The soul that sinneth, it shall die”. “The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son”. God commands all men to repent, and those who do repent must then persevere in holiness.

There is wonderful assurance in these verses for the worst of sinners namely that whatever they have done, if there is repentance from the heart God will be merciful. if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed … All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him. God has no pleasure in the condemnation of any wicked man, but desires that “he should turn from his ways and live”.

Salvation is all of grace, and not of works, but those who are saved by grace must walk in the Spirit and must never return to sin.

“Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

It was the leaders and wise men of society who put the Lord Jesus Christ on trial and who led him to His death. To be a Christian one must shun the world and its fashions, and have an utterly different outlook from today’s opinion-formers. to follow Christ means being being regarded as strange by most of the nice, respectable people around us, some of whom may also be churchgoers. How sceptical we must be of much of what is fed to us in the media. There is throughout our society an intrinsic hostility to Biblical truth. The Gospel is a call to have the courage to be different from the world, and to lay aside its so-called wisdom.

Sin, and especially pride, always brings trouble and shame in its wake. That is what these verses are teaching us. Those who ignore God's commandments must realise that they are risking serious punitive consequences in their own personal situations, as well as ultimate and eternal punishment. We have seen that pride is the most elementary of sins. It is pride which makes men think that they can live their lives without reference to God, and how easily pride sets in when things are going well in a man's life. If men realised their true sinful status before God, they would quickly realise that they have nothing to be proud about. When God comes in His justice against a proud person or nation, the things of which men have been so proud will not be able to save them. It is also part of our Christian duty to avoid pride in all our personal relationships with others, and our supreme Pattern in this respect is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Sin is a fool's game, inevitably leading to judgement and destruction.

An empty and worthless Christian profession is a tragic but very real phenomenon. The essential marks of being a real Christian are :

1) Separation from this world’s philosophies

2) The circumcision of the heart

3) Holiness off life

4) Serving Christ without any guile