Opening Text

“Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing… All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.” — Isaiah 40:15, 17

Why Did God Permit European Expansion?

The final sermon in this series addresses three questions that bring the whole study to its conclusion. The first is: why did the Lord permit, and in fact bring about, the expansion of the European nations into almost every part of the world over the last several centuries?

The answer cannot be found in the superiority of the Europeans — morally, they were not superior, and the evils of colonialism are real and must not be minimised. But alongside those evils, European colonialism actually brought more good than evil to the places colonised, and that good is almost never acknowledged by those who point endlessly to the bad.

The true answer is found by understanding what God did with the Roman empire eighteen centuries earlier. Before Christ came, Rome expanded until it was the ruling empire of the known world. It was built on conquest, cruelty, and military power. But the Lord used it as the providential instrument by which the gospel spread across the earth. The Roman road network allowed the apostles and evangelists to travel rapidly from city to city. The Pax Romana provided a measure of political stability across the empire. The common Greek language of the empire allowed the New Testament to be written in a tongue that could be read across the entire Mediterranean world.

“For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.” — Romans 9:17

What God did with Rome, he did again with the European expansion of the fourteenth to nineteenth centuries. The European powers — not because they were Christians, the vast majority were not — opened up the sea routes and the land routes to every corner of the earth. Wherever the European colonisers went, the missionaries followed. The gospel was preached in Africa, in Asia, in the Americas, and in the islands of the Pacific. Willcock is not defending colonialism. He is pointing to the sovereign God who uses wicked men and wicked systems as instruments of his own holy purposes, without those men knowing or intending it.

“And hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him.” — Acts 17:26–27

Democracy Is Not the Greatest Form of Government

The second point addresses a widespread assumption in the Western world: that democracy is the greatest form of government ever devised, and that the mission of the free world is to spread it to every nation. Christians should not speak of democracy in these terms, because it is not true.

Democracy is a form of government in which the majority rules. But the majority of men in any country at any time are unregenerate sinners. A government of the majority is therefore, in its nature, a government of sinners. It has advantages over tyranny and dictatorship, certainly. It provides a measure of protection for individual liberties. But it is not the ideal form of government, and it is not the goal of history.

“He changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.” — Daniel 2:21

The ideal form of government — the one toward which history is moving — is the theocracy, the direct rule of God. That will be established when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to reign. Until then, no form of human government is perfect, democracy included. Christians should not be idolaters of any political system.

All Nations Before God Are as Nothing

The third and concluding point brings the whole series back to the great text of Isaiah 40. Before the God who created the heavens and the earth, all nations — however great, however powerful, however long-lasting — are as a drop of a bucket. As the small dust of the balance. As a very little thing. As nothing.

Empires rise. They serve their purpose in the plan of God. They fall. The Roman empire, the Ottoman empire, the British empire — all rose, all served the Lord’s mysterious purposes for their time, and all declined. Today’s great powers will do the same. This is not pessimism. It is the biblical doctrine of God’s absolute sovereignty over nations and history.

“All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.” — Isaiah 40:17

The Christian Church in a World of Nations

The Christian church is not a national institution. It is not tied to the fortunes of any empire, any civilisation, or any race. When one empire falls and another rises, the church of Christ continues, because it is built on a foundation that no earthly power can shake. Christ said, I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).

The church is made up of people from every nation, every tribe, every tongue. That was always God’s intention from the moment he scattered the nations at Babel. The diversity of the nations is not a problem to be solved. It is the backdrop against which the glory of a salvation that transcends all national boundaries shines most brightly.

“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” — Revelation 5:9

That is the great song that will be sung in heaven — not the anthem of any nation, not the hymn of any civilisation, but the song of the redeemed from every kindred and tongue and people and nation, all washed in the one blood of the one Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is where history is going. And that is the sure hope of the people of God in a world of racial conflict, national pride, and endless human warfare.