In 1837, newly crowned Queen Victoria, at the tender age of 18, in honor of her coronation and to display the principle of ‘mercy before justice’ of her new reign, offered The Amnesty Act for Canadians charged with treason and exiled from Canada, for their participation in the recent civil wars. For the next 12 years, many exiles returned home to family, friends, and inheritances, from foreign lands.
Where did she get such a dignified principle? The Bible. For this is the good news of Christ… “Righteousness and justice are the habitation of Your throne: mercy and truth shall go before Your face. Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound (the trumpet blasts announcing the reign/pardon of the King): they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.” – (Psalm 89:14,15).
In the New Testament, the word for “joyful sound” is used of the Gospel message… “How beautiful are the feet of those that preach (joyful sound) the Gospel of Peace and bring glad tidings (joyful sound) of good things!” (Romans 10:15).
After His resurrection, as Jesus took His Heavenly throne, the trumpet blast of “mercy and truth” began its long trek around the world. Pardon for sin, peace with God through Christ’s payment on the Cross in our behalf, restoration to the family of God and eternal inheritance, trumpeted out in streets, fields, prisons, and pulpits … “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins: return to Me, for I have redeemed you!” (Isaiah 44:22)
But Pardons are not open-ended. They have time limits. Another trumpet blast will announce the end of the period of Grace, and the personal presence (Parousia) of the King. His righteousness and justice will be unleashed on the unrepentant as He establishes His reign on earth. For 2000 years “mercy and truth” have indeed gone before His face, but the clock is almost out, and signs of His return are everywhere.
Blessed are they who know the “joyful sound.”
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