Poet’s Note
I wrote The Unbowed Counsel in the shadow of the prophets and apostles, conscious that the Church stands at a perilous hour much like Laodicea—lukewarm, rich in self-deception, yet wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelation 3:14–22). The poem is no mere literary exercise; it is a lamentation and a trumpet blast drawn from the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27).
At its core burns the tension that modern sensibilities most dislike: the coincidentia oppositorum of divine attributes—the terrifying holiness of the Judge and the astonishing tenderness of the Saviour in one Triune God. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29; Deuteronomy 4:24) is not metaphor but reality; yet the same fire kindled the bush that was not consumed (Exodus 3) and was poured out upon the Son so that mercy might triumph over judgment (James 2:13). To excise either pole is to preach another gospel (Galatians 1:6–9).
The “anodynes of ease” are the opiates of therapeutic religion—smooth words that soothe the conscience without slaying the old man (Romans 6:6). They echo the false prophets who cried “Peace, peace” when there was no peace (Jeremiah 6:14; Ezekiel 13), offering a crossless grace that costs nothing and therefore redeems nothing. True grace, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer once warned, is costly because it cost God the blood of His Son. It demands repentance (metanoia—a total turning), mortification of sin, and conformity to the crucified and risen Christ.
The structure moves deliberately from diagnosis (the counterfeit gospel) through confrontation (the unbowed Word) to doxology (the mystery of wrath and mercy meeting at the cross). Every image is soaked in Scripture: the two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), the winepress (Isaiah 63:3; Revelation 19:15), the midnight cry (Matthew 25:6), the fan in the Judge’s hand (Matthew 3:12), the garments dipped in blood (Revelation 19:13), and the final trumpet that shall raise the dead and bow every knee (1 Corinthians 15:52; Philippians 2:10–11).I have chosen elevated, archaic-tinged diction not for ornament but for gravity—to echo the King James cadence that shaped the English-speaking Church for centuries. The poem refuses the therapeutic and the sentimental because the Bible refuses them. It insists that the same Lion who will roar in judgment is the Lamb who was slain. Only those who tremble at His Word (Isaiah 66:2) will find refuge beneath His wings.
If the lines wound, let them wound unto healing.
If they offend, let the offense be the offense of the cross (Galatians 5:11).
For in the end, there is no other Name, no other Gospel, and no other way to stand in that Day than clothed in the righteousness of Another.
Soli Deo gloria.
— The Poet
The Two-Edged Word & Power of Scripture
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Revelation 1:16
And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Ephesians 6:17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Lukewarm / Laodicean Church & Counterfeit Gospel
Revelation 3:15-17
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Jeremiah 6:14
They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
Holiness, Judgment & the Fear of God
Hebrews 12:29
For our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 10:31
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Malachi 3:2
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap.
Call to Repentance & Awakening
Acts 17:30-31
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Revelation 3:19
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Ephesians 5:14
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Full Counsel of God
Acts 20:27
For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.Wrath & Mercy at the CrossRomans 3:25-26
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Romans 11:22
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Psalm 85:10
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
O Age of silken sermons, honeyed lies,
Where pulpits peddle anodynes of ease—
A Christ recast in pastel sympathies,
Who never thunders, never wounds to heal.
Thy gospel is a mirror, bright and bland,
Reflecting back the self in flattering light;
No Sinai-smoke, no blood upon the lintel,
No narrow gate, no terror of the Night.
Yet stands the Word, undimmed, a two-edged blade,
That pierces joints and marrow, soul and spirit.
The Holy One whose eyes are flames of fire
Beholds the heart’s deep treachery unbidden.
“Be holy, for I AM,” the thunder cries
From burning bush through prophets’ scalding lips,
From Calvary’s cry to Patmos’ rolling skies—
The Judge who weighs the nations in His fist.
Where is the preaching that makes sinners quake?
The hammer on the rock of stony pride?
The arrow sharp that finds the conscience’ wake
And drives the soul, undone, to Christ’s pierced side?
Instead they chant of “journeys,” “best life now,”
Of love that never grieves, of wrath long dead.
A cross without its scandal, without its vow:
“Take up and follow”—or be spewed instead.
Awake, thou slumbering watchman on the wall!
The Bridegroom comes at midnight unawares.
His fan is in His hand; the chaff shall fall;
His winepress trod alone, His garments fair
With blood of grapes and blood of rebel kings.
No plea of culture, context, or of “grace”
Shall stay the sentence when the trumpet rings
And every hidden thing finds its true place.
Yet in that blaze of unrelenting light
Shines mercy’s mystery, deeper than the sea:
The Lamb once slain stands risen, robed in white,
Whose wounds cry louder than Golgotha’s plea.
He bore the cup thou couldst not taste and live;
He drank the dregs of wrath reserved for thee.
Repent—O ragged, ruined, ransomed slave—
And rise, clothed in His righteousness, set free.
This is the Gospel whole, unmaimed, untamed:
Both Judge most terrible and Saviour mild.
It slays the old man, burns away the stained,
Then quickens dust to glory undefiled.
Let modern prophets tremble, scribes grow pale;
Let soft assemblies hear the ancient roar.
The Lion of Judah breaks the seven seals—
Prepare thy soul. The Judge stands at the door.
He comes. He comes.
And every knee shall bow.
Closing Prayer
O Holy and Terrible God, consuming Fire and Wounded Lamb, we come trembling yet bold through the blood of the Lamb. Forgive us for peddling anodynes of ease while Thy two-edged Word lies sheathed. We have grown lukewarm and called it grace. Awaken us, pierce our hearts, and grant us godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Raise up faithful voices who will declare the whole counsel of God without shame. Clothe us in the righteousness of Christ alone. Let the Lion of Judah roar again through Thy Church, that when Thou appearest we may lift up our heads in joy and not be ashamed. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, and first come search us, refine us, and possess us wholly. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost we pray. Amen.
Passionately Pursuing Christ 