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Kirkers Read: Worshipping God Aright

Ben Zornes on October 8, 2018

As we get to what is often esteemed as the more tedious books of the Bible (i.e. Leviticus) it is imperative for us to remember who this God who is making these demands regarding how His people worship Him. Remember that Leviticus is a worship manual for God’s people. We confess that, “There is but one only, living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory (WCF Ch.II Sec.1).” This is the God whom we worship.

Now, since God is the Creator of the world, and since He has called us, His people, to worship Him, we should remember to worship Him according to His prescriptions and not according to our whims. Worship is not a flailing emotional catharsis for the worshipper. Rather, as Paul tells us, it is our reasonable service unto the God who has mercifully saved us (Rom. 12:1-2). Again, as the Westminster Confession puts it, “To him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience, He is pleased to require of them (WCF Ch.II Sec.2).”

So as you read Leviticus, along with Hebrews, remember that what is presented in shadowy form in the Levitical sacrifices and ceremonies are presented in Hebrews as the glorious midday sun. One Puritan described Leviticus as looking at someone you know and love dearly but with a veil over their face. Because you know Christ, you can discern His form and features through the veil of the Mosaic Law and Ordinances. Remember that the worship God demanded in Leviticus has not changed, but the sacrifice has changed. We still come to God through the mediatorial blood of another, but under the New Covenant, we come through the blood of the Lamb of God. We come through the blood of a sacrifice who rose back to life and ever pleads our cause before the Father. We worship God through Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Ghost.

Grace & Peace: Revelation 115

Douglas Wilson on October 2, 2018

“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie” (Revelation 22:11–15).

The massive judgments outlined in this book are imminent. A final appeal for repentance is given in the form of saying that there is no real time for repentance. The one who is unjust might as well stay that way. The one who is filthy . . . let him be filthy still (v. 11). The same thing goes for the righteous and holy. That all this is tied to the nearness of the disasters is seen in the next phrase—“behold, I come quickly” (v. 12). Telling the filthy and the unjust that there is no time might stir them up to act while there is still (almost) time.

The Lord is coming quickly, and He has every man’s paycheck in hand. Every man will have the response of God apportioned in accordance with his work. This theme comes up in Scripture again and again (Matt. 16:27; 25:31ff; Rom. 2:6; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 20:13). This is in no way conflicts with our salvation being all of grace, and entirely apart from works, as we can see in the arguments that Paul makes. The book of Romans is all about salvation by grace through faith, and yet one of the texts cited above is from early on in Romans. And we see how grace and works harmonize in his words elsewhere.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8–10).

We have been saved by grace through faith, and not of works. No man has any cause for boasting. We are not saved by good works, but we are in fact saved to good works. We are created in Christ Jesus to good works, works that were ordained beforehand for us to walk in. As foreordained works, this means that they necessarily follow salvation by grace. And, as such, there is no inconsistency when God uses them as an infallible indicator that salvation by grace has in fact occurred.

Another passage that highlights the consistency of grace and works is this one:

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12–13).

We are to work out our salvation, but this is only possible as we are working out what God is working in. And so it is that we are saved by works—the work of Christ on the cross, and the works of the Spirit within us, which works are, from our perspective, entirely and utterly gracious.

All the glory goes to Christ, who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end, and the first and last (v. 13). All the reprobate are judged by their works, and their wages are nothing but justice. All the saints are judged by the white linen of their righteous deeds, and are received into glory, and together they join their voices to praise the one who gave them that white linen. All their robes were cut from one bolt of cloth, and that cloth is the entire possession of Jesus Christ, and those with whom He shares it.

The seventh and last benediction in this book is then given. Blessed are those who do His commandments (v. 14). Keeping the commandments of God is itself a gift and grace, and those who walk in God’s ways are permitted to walk up to the tree of life and partake of it. Those who walk in His ways are permitted to come through the gates of the glorious city. They have free access to the City of God, being full citizens of it.

Excluded from the City (in this last and glorified state) are the evil-doers. The first category mentioned is that of dogs. There are various possibilities here. One is that Jews used to use this term to describe the Gentiles, but this would be odd since we have just seen John describing the glory and honor of the nations (ethnoi, Gentiles) streaming into the City (Rev. 21:26). Another usage is where Paul turns the epithet around, and applies it to the Judaizers (Phil. 3:2). This is possible, but given the nature of the other sins listed, it seems out of place. The last possibility, and the most likely one, is that it is referring to homosexuals

“Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the Lordthy God” (Deut. 23:18).

This is referring to a male homosexual prostitute, and it is telling that the prohibition is banning the profits of such activity from being brought into the “house of God.” This is the same kind of context that John is talking about. So who is excluded? Who may not come in to defile the translucent city? Outside are the dogs, the witches, the pimps and johns, the abortionists and other murderers, those who bow down before senseless images, and whoever loves a lie, and loves to make them up.

Kirkers Read: The Famine Returns

Ben Zornes on October 1, 2018

As you make the transition from Genesis to Exodus, there’s an interesting link which ties the two stories together that is sometimes missed in the more “prime time” moments of the Exodus story. We of course can see God raising up Moses to be the deliverer of His people, and how that foreshadows Christ. We know that the 70 who went down to Egypt at the end of Genesis have now become a great multitude.

However, we should remember that at the end of Genesis, Joseph saved Egypt from a seven year famine which would have been quite the undoing of that ancient empire. As we read the plagues which God brings upon Egypt we should see that what Egypt and been spared from under Joseph has now come with more severe judgement. Pharaoh did not remember Joseph, and as a result also thought that all the riches of his kingdom were the result of his ancestors. Kings need to know better. God is the one who raises kings up and brings them down. God is the one who blesses a kingdom and spares it from famine. God is also the one who will bring severe judgement on ingratitude for those blessings.

The people of Egypt ought to have joined the Hebrews in the worship of their God. Instead they insisted on keeping their religion, their ways, presuming that they were untouchable. Instead, Egypt was brought to ruin, routed, and plundered by God’s people. Exodus shows us the mighty power which God will display in order to redeem His chosen people. However, we also learn from it His great wrath upon unbelief, ingratitude, and refusal to bow before the Living God.

Grace & Peace: Revelation 114

Douglas Wilson on September 25, 2018

And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand (Rev. 22:6-10).

The book of Revelation has an epilogue, which begins here and continues through to the end of the vision. One of the angels who poured out one of the bowls of wrath is continuing to speak to John. He speaks words that are “faithful and true,” and here the angel is repeating an assurance which God Himself had spoken from His throne in the previous chapter (Rev. 21:5). God is identified by this angel as being the “Lord God of the holy prophets,” which seals for us something that has been obvious throughout the entire book of Revelation. The vision that John gives us is a vision that has been saturated in Old Testament prophecies. The Lord revealed here really is the Lord God of the holy prophets.

One of the great neglected themes of the book is that the Lord is coming quickly. This is not the same thing as saying that when He comes, whenever that is, it will be sudden. John has been telling us from the first verse on that these are things that must “shortly come to pass” (Rev. 1:1). Here he says that the Lord’s angel was sent in order to reveal to His servants what must “shortly be done” (Rev. 22:7). The word is the same in both instances (taxos)—the events predicted were barreling down on the denizens of the first century, and were overwhelmingly fulfilled at that time.

Another argument in favor of this conclusion can be derived from the fact that John is told something very different from what Daniel was told.

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4).

Daniel was told to seal up the words of his prophecy because it was going to be a while yet. This means that Daniel was told to seal up his prophecy for events that we not going to come to pass for another four centuries. So what sense would it make for John to be told not to seal up the words of his prophecy for events that would be 20 centuries or more in coming to pass? So not only does John not seal his words, but he also (in effect) unseals the words of Daniel, which were all coming to fruition at this same time—along with many glorious prophecies throughout the rest of the Old Testament Scriptures. The Lord God of the holy prophetshad sent this vision.

This passage contains the sixth blessing that is given in the course of the book— “blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” For all intents and purposes, this is the same blessing that the book began with. Not only so, but let us emphasize once again the reason why there is a blessing for the one who reads, and who hears, and who keeps the things that are written.

“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand” (Rev. 1:3).

The angel who communicates all of this to John must have been an angel of great glory and magnificence because John makes the same mistake again (vv. 8-9), the mistake of attempting to worship a fellow creature, and a fellow servant of all who keep the sayings of this prophecy the way they should.

“And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10).

Kirkers Read: Staying out of the Weeds of Heresy

Ben Zornes on September 24, 2018

“Really wish I hadn’t got into the habit of eating food almost everyday,” said no one ever. Daily Bible reading is a habit which no one ever regrets forming. Sure there’ll be days that are crazy, or you’re traveling, or some circumstance prevents you from eating, but sooner or later, all of us circle back around to getting a meal in…in some way shape or form. Spiritually speaking, this needs to be the way you approach Scripture. If circumstances cause you to miss a day…just make sure to get back to it the next day.

Often we think that we must have some pietistic euphoria glowing about us before we pick up the Good Book to read. It is dangerous to think you have to get in some angelic mood before reading Scripture, rather than coming to it like you come to the dinner table. You come to a meal with the underlying knowledge that you will be fed, nourished, and strengthened. During digestion you don’t go: ”Aha…I just felt those baby carrots improve my eyesight.” The nourishment from the food does its thing, often without our notice. In some sense, Scripture does the same thing through faithful reading and obedience to it. You should read intelligently and attentively. However, trust that the Holy Spirit is working in you to nourish you, convict you, and strengthen you, through the Word, often without your notice. This is all simply to say, don’t look at yourself during Bible reading, look to the Word. It is living and active and will perform what God sent it forth to do.

On a different note, in this Bible Reading Challenge, we are bouncing between the Old and New Testament each day. This is a vital practice. All too many modern evangelicals spend all their time in the NT, to the neglect of the OT. The problem with this is that, as the Westminster Confession teaches us, “The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself.” This means that in order to properly interpret and understand the NT you must have the context of the OT. The NT is replete with OT symbols, quotes, allusions, references, etc. A further lesson here is that when you come to tricky texts it is important to try to understand them in light of what Scripture says elsewhere. This is the best way to stay out of the weeds of heresy!