Meditations

How to Wreck a Blessing

by Ben Zornes · Apr 25, 2022

If you haven’t noticed, there’s less elbow room in our services than there used to be. The extraordinary growth our community has experienced in the last 2-3 years is truly a great blessing. In this we see the kindness of the Lord in gathering together faithful saints for the hard work of reformation. But as with any blessing, if it is met with ingratitude or is received without evangelical faith, it will swiftly turn into a curse.

The quickest route to turning this blessing into a curse is to give way to the murmuring of envy. Envy can use the silliest & smallest things for kindling, and left alone can turn into an inferno. For example, getting outbid by a fellow brother in a bidding war over one of the ten houses for sale in Moscow; hearing that their kids got accepted to Logos, and yours didn’t; a fellow saint’s business succeeds, while your business struggles to stay out of the red; or your friends have all gotten married, while you remain single.

More humans, striving to live in community with each other, creates more potential for the bitter waters of envy to grow fetid. Living waters become bitter waters when we dam the stream with our grievances, envies, rivalries, bitternesses, and even our gripes about not finding parking.

The river of revival flows wherever the Lord pleases to guide its course. The ungodly response to this is to try to manage the revival, and object to how God is freely dispersing His grace to the saints. Your response to the outpouring of God’s kindness is to simply hold fast to the Gospel. Without deserving any of it, God, through Christ, has forgiven all your sins and shown you eternal kindness. Which puts the fact that someone sat in your row in the right perspective.

God has filled our hands with weighty blessings. Our community enjoys a peace not of our own making. Fruitful marriages, hundreds of knee-high saints, and daily bread in abundance. The Lord has bestowed gifts and graces upon each member of this body, and continues to bring more folks to fortify the work here in Moscow. And yet all of it can be inverted from a blessing to a curse if we covet our neighbor, let envy gnaw away at us, complain about the weather, the neighborhood, the successes of our brother, the circumstances we face, even the real estate market. May we not murmur like Israel did, complaining about their circumstances not days after being delivered by the mighty hand and outstretched arm of the Lord. If God is pleased to grant us contentment, we will continue to enjoy the undeserved blessings which He delights to pour out upon His children. True growth in godliness, whether individually or corporately, is to hear the sweet words of God’s forgiveness, and letting those words be enough.

A Meal with the Prophet, Priest, and King

by Ben Zornes · Apr 20, 2022

Scripture teaches us that Christ, in His redemptive work, was the fulfillment of three OT offices. His resurrection is the full vindication that He was the true prophet, the eternal priest, and the triumphant king. This meal brings all three of those offices clearly into view.

As prophet, Christ teaches us. This meal instructs us in true wisdom. We’re shown words of covenant grace. We’re told that the Father, through Christ, communes with us. The prophetic word of Christ proclaimed by these symbols is that He’s our head & we’re His body. His prophetic office makes the way plain for our reconciliation with the Father: it’s only by His body & blood that we gain acceptance to the Father’s presence.

As Priest, He intercedes for us. Christ’s body broken & blood poured out satisfied the justice & mercy of Almighty God. The wrath & love of God are embodied in this meal. Your damnation & deliverance are both made visible here. Though your sins deserved death, Christ took your place, paid the price, and pleads His precious blood. His blood speaks a better word than the blood of bulls & lambs. It speaks this eternal Word: “the Church is mine, for I bought her with my blood.”

As King, He rules over us. This meal enacts the treaty which only God could make with sinful man. Our treason against Him is no longer counted against us, because Christ has turned us traitors, into His beloved friends. He now welcomes us to join His feast, the spoils of His conquest. He sits in triumph over all His, and our, enemies. He’s won an eternal kingdom, He’s received all things from His Father, and He gives it all to us by His Spirit.

The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled all that was necessary for our redemption as a prophet, priest, and king. He now invites all who are His to partake of all He is.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

The Wiring Behind the Sheetrock

by Ben Zornes · Apr 19, 2022

From the beginning, this world has been a world in which resurrection was a possibility. Before God created the heavens & earth, there was nothing. Nothing, of course, but the Eternal, Triune God, dwelling in the uncreated light, life, and joy of His own being. But then by His Word, all created things came to be. First there was not life, and then there was life.

Resurrection isn’t an anomaly in this world. Rather, resurrection is the wiring behind the sheetrock. It was hidden for ages & generations. However, the entire arc of OT history was anticipating the moment when God would throw the switch to illumine the whole world with the light of His life.

When Christ rose, by the Father’s power, the lights began to come on. The darkness receded as the power of the Gospel brought this light into every corner of the world. God Himself had come, taken death by the throat, drug it into the grave, and emerged three days later with eternal light & life to bestow on all those who come to Him by faith.

The resurrection is both the focus & vindication of our entire faith. Because of this, your faith in Christ isn’t a matter of “privately held religious beliefs.” Your Christian witness isn’t like going into a pitch-black cave full of deaf people, and attempting a sign language Gospel presentation. Rather, it’s like taking a 10,000-watt spotlight into the darkness, and those with eyes to see will see and come to the light of Christ.

Genuine faith in Christ isn’t capable of being tucked away in a corner. Your faith, given to You by God’s grace, is a light which cannot be extinguished; because its source is the Faithful One who Himself died to death to live forevermore. Resurrection is the story God’s been telling from the very beginning.

The world order was overthrown the moment the Father raised the Son from the grave. This Gospel undoes all the sham-righteousness which mankind had concocted. Mankind cannot proceed with our business as usual. We cannot continue dealing in envy, lust, unjust weights & measures, false witness, theft, blasphemy, and idol worship. All our sin, shame, and guilt was left in the tomb. Though it never made sense before the resurrection, now in light of it our sin is exposed as a double folly. In light of this truth, we must cease living as if the resurrection hasn’t happened, and that we still need to either appease God with our filthy rags of faux-righteousness, or avoid Him through the indulgence of our twisted desires. May God grant that we might ever live in the light of the resurrection, the light which scatters all our darkness away.

And so, here is the Gospel, the simple, glorious Gospel: Christ took your sins into the grave, and when He emerged they did not. And so, you are clean, you are free, you are alive. Have you confessed your sins in true faith? Then, do not fear, do not be afraid, the Word of God to you is this, your sins are forgiven through Christ.

If We Had Revival

by Ben Zornes · Apr 13, 2022

One revival preacher from the last century rightly remarked that all too often the church is full of “form without force, and ritual without righteousness.” There’s an ever present danger of having a form of godliness but denying the power. It’s no good to have a tidy table, straight ties, ironed dresses, while lifting up your heart to idols.

The form & ritual of our worship are good only insofar as our hearts come with true faith. When we deceive ourselves into thinking we can go through the motions of form & ritual as a means to buy off God, we’ll find that this sacrament & service become reprehensible in God’s eyes. It’s why He says through the prophets, “I hate your solemn assemblies (Am. 5:21), your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me (Jer. 6:20), the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination (Pro. 21:27), I cannot endure iniquity & solemn assembly (Is. 1:13 ESV).”

When we pray for revival, as we ought, we must remember that we’re asking God to mess things up. If we had revival, we wouldn’t tolerate our secret sins. If we had revival, we’d rend our hearts & not our garments. If we had revival, we wouldn’t be shy about evangelizing our neighbors. If we had revival we’d get our work done on time & under budget. If we had revival, husbands would quit yelling at their wives, and wives would stop manipulating their husbands. If we had revival, we’d delight in God’s Word more than in the latest Netflix drivel. If we had revival, we would be changed.

Which is why we must come to this table, not to preserve the form & ritual, but because God calls us here to commune with Him by faith. For here, in Christ alone, by the power of the Spirit alone, to the glory of the Father alone, can true revival begin.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

Sovereignty & Salvation

by Ben Zornes · Apr 12, 2022

Behind our baptism is the glorious truth of God’s sovereignty in man’s salvation. Without grace, we remain dead. Without the quickening of the Spirit, we remain a corpse. Without the breath of God, we remain dust. Unless God turns us, we won’t be turned. The reverberating truth of this covenant sign is that God turns you from your sin and to Christ.

Baptism says to you that though you once were covenantally in darkness, you were once dead in your sins, you were once under God’s wrath, by God & grace you’re now in the Light, you’re now alive in Christ, you’re now reckoned as righteous. Where once you were a slave to sin, now you aren’t your own, you’re bought with a price. You’re now a free son of grace. And so, live in accordance with what your Father in heaven says about you here in these waters.

So welcome our brother to Jesus Christ…

Confused About Humility

by Ben Zornes · Apr 11, 2022

Christ’s humble entrance to Jerusalem isn’t the entrance of a mealy-mouthed push-over. Too often humility is conflated with having a boiled noodle for a spine. Humility isn’t timidity, shyness, or insecurity. Humility is thinking of yourself in accordance with what God says about you.

Christ came, in all humility, to win the lawful Lordship over all the earth. He suffered the indignity, in order to enjoy the dignity of receiving from His Father the Name above all names and being crowned Lord over all. His humility was not aimless insecurity. His humility was displayed in His obedience to the Father’s will. As the Apostle tells us in Hebrews, Christ endured the cross, despising the shame for the joy that was set before Him. The joy was the kingdom He would claim and the bride He would win. His humility was demonstrated in giving Himself entirely to His Father, in order to be given all things by His Father.

As the bride of Christ, we join with Jesus as He takes dominion in this world. We take dominion by imitating our Bridegroom. Joyfully we humble ourselves, not to what the world think we should be or do, but to be & do as our Head has commanded.

As you reflect on Christ’s humiliation this week, keep in mind what Aslan said at the end of the Narnia stories, “You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be.” Christ humbled Himself, in order to gain the joy. You’ve been brought into that joy. The joy of claiming what Christ rightfully died for is ours. The joy of suffering for the Gospel is ours. The joy of sharing in His shame is ours. Joy is the key signature. Joy is the bass line. Joy is the melody. And joy is the song.

The Lord Jesus has given us a great commission, to preach this Gospel in all the earth. Too often we draw back in timidity, instead of stretching forward in courageous faith. When we shrink back in false humility it is because we trust more in the strength of our enemies than in the power of our God. The gates of heaven are flung wide, inviting all the nations of the earth to stream in to worship at Christ’s throne; the gates of hell have been ripped off their hinges and carried away by Christ, the true Samson.

Yet we dawdle away our time on trifles, we nurture secret sins, we compromise with worldliness. All of this is a failure to acknowledge the Lord Jesus as the true King of all the earth. The simple Gospel gives us courage. Through Christ, you are no longer in your sin. God has chosen to set His favor on you. This is the good news that humbles us and fortifies us for the mission He’s given to us.

Comfort in the Upper Room

by Ben Zornes · Apr 5, 2022

When Christ instituted this meal, He did so as a means of spiritual comfort. John’s account of the Upper Room is laden with ocean depths of assurance, comfort, and peace for troubled hearts. We must be often reminded that this meal wasn’t instituted in a lecture hall for remedial students; rather, it was in the warmth of a family meal. The tone of Christ’s Upper Room discourse isn’t the shrill voice of the schoolmarm. Rather, the overarching tone is the firm voice of redemption’s peace, comfort, and blessing.

Here’s as lengthy of a sampling as we have space for: “Let not your heart be troubled (Jn. 14:1). I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter […] even the Spirit of Truth (Jn. 14:16, 17a). By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (Jn.13:35). Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken to you (Jn 15:3). Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you (Jn. 15: 14). Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full (Jn. 16:23-24). I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (Jn. 14:6).”

Here, as the catechism teaches, is your only comfort in life, and in death. Are you weary? This meal is your strength. Are you worried? This meal is your peace. Are you troubled? Then here is hope. Are you grieved with guilt? Here is the Father’s mercy. Are you fearful? Here is confidence. Are you lost? Here is Christ, the only Way to the Father. God invites all who are baptized into Christ to come and receive in this bread & wine true & eternal Comfort.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

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