communion

The Dragons Are Real

by Ben Zornes · Jul 13, 2022

Modernists mock Christianity as an artifact of superstitious myths. Postmodernists are flocking to a new paganism, seeking wisdom from the vibes emanated from crystals, the zodiac, ink on their skin, and weed in their lungs. One mocks us for holding to ancient fairy tales. The other seeks to live in a fairy tale.

The dragons which modernists declare can’t be real, are the demons which postmodernists are inviting in. We live, however, in what CS Lewis calls the true myth. Make no mistake, the dragons are real. But the deeper magic is real as well. And the valiant Hero is real. The God-King who dies & rises again is real.

This meal tells that story. It tells of a Dragon whose forked tongue seduced Sadducees––which didn’t believe in such demon-dragons––and pagan rulers––who worshiped demon-dragons––to do his bidding. “Kill the man from Nazareth who claims to be the son of God. Break His body. Spill His blood. Bury Him in a grave.” That dark lord, who offered our first mother the forbidden apple, thought that in crucifying Jesus he’d thwarted the King’s Return. The hero was mortally wounded. Satan imagined he’d secured the world as his dark domain.

But this bread we eat is a token that the Hero rose again. This draught of wine we drink is a cordial which warms us with assurance that the lawful King of this world made the deeper magic. The trees clap their hands, the mountains bow low, and the oceans roar with joy at His triumphant coronation. And we’re gathered to the banqueting table of Christ the dragon-slayer. This is His victory feast. Victory over modernistic materialism and postmodern paganism. Victory over all His enemies. Victory in bread & wine, body & blood. The legends are true. So raise a glass in praise of our King Jesus.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

Let the Dough Rise

by Ben Zornes · Jul 6, 2022

The question might have occurred to you as to why we use leavened bread for the Lord’s Supper, when the bread which Jesus used at the Last Supper to institute this sacrament was unleavened. It’s a good question. Since we want the reason for why worship the way we do to be “because Scripture teaches this” instead of “it’s just what’s always been done” an answer is in order.

The Lord’s Supper corresponds with the OT Passover. However, there are points of continuity & discontinuity; the seed has continuity with the flower and the fruit, while a shrewd observer will notice some discontinuity. A seed isn’t the fruit, after all.

In Scripture, leaven sometimes represents sin (Lk. 12:1, Gal. 5:9, 1 Cor. 5:6-8), but not always. Even at the Passover, the prohibition on yeast didn’t represent sin, but rather it marked the need for readiness to swiftly leave Egypt. Jesus likens leaven to the growth of His Kingdom (Lk. 13:21). Several OT sacrifices, particularly peace offering (Lev. 7:13-14), included loaves of leavened bread. In these ceremonial sacrifices the worshippers partook of this bread as part of the covenant feast with God.

The NT writers, when writing about the bread of the Lord’s Supper, opt for the word artos, the generic word for bread, instead of azumos, the specific word for unleavened bread. Meaning the type of bread was of less importance than the sign behind the bread.

But, we have to make a choice one way or another. So again, why leavened bread?

The choice for using leavened bread comes down to the aforementioned discontinuity between the seed of the Passover and the fruit of the Lord’s Supper. While the Passover was eaten in haste, the Kingdom Christ inaugurated is the Kingdom of the Lord of the Sabbath. He’s our rest. The earth is the Lord’s. Every corner of the globe is our inheritance. As true sons & daughters of true Israel, we’ve entered upon true Sabbath rest. Even while the work remains of compelling all nations to come into Christ’s Kingdom, we’re at leisure to let the dough rise.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

The Word is Joy

by Ben Zornes · Jun 21, 2022

Is your joy full? A simple question. And yet, we make it far more complex than needed. Notice that that question doesn’t inquire whether your emotional state is one of happiness. It isn’t a question about your circumstances. It doesn’t investigate your current physical, emotional, or financial state. So, to repeat, is your joy full?

As Jesus’ earthly ministry came to a close, He discloses to them that the things which He’d spoken to them, and to us by extension, held a two-fold purpose. The first being that He’d spoken these things in order that His joy might remain in us; and secondly, what follows logically, that our joy might be full (Jn. 15:11).

Jesus gives His joy to you by speaking His Word to you. What does He Word say? That no foe or fiend can snatch you from the Father’s hand. No guilt or shame can remain when you come to be washed by His Word of forgiveness. No trial or storm can sweep you away from the Triune Joy. His Word tells us that the joy He gives isn’t the joy the world gives. He gives the joy which springs from God’s delight in His own eternally blessed state. His joy is free from taint of sin’s shame. His joy isn’t bound by death’s terror. He fears no foe, for He ripped Hell’s gates off their hinges.

Here is that Word. This Word is joy. This Word is firm ground when all around gives way. This Word is a song for darkest midnights. This Word isn’t a fleeting feeling of serotonin. This Word is the Eternal Word. Jesus speaks His Word to you, and so puts His joy in you. Your joy is full, then, because Your joy was put there by Jesus Himself, and it was His joy He put there.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

The Inseparability of Doctrine & Practice

by Ben Zornes · Jun 14, 2022

It’s often been said that your theology comes out your fingertips. Which is as much to say that what you believe shapes how you act. All very true. Everyday examples of this abound. You believe that water slakes thirst. So you take a big gulp of ice cold water. You don’t try to quench thirst by swallowing a handful of sand. Put simply, believing leads to doing.

But the opposite is quite true as well. Your practices form your beliefs. This is demonstrated when people committed to a reprobate life cherry-pick Scriptures to justify their sinful lifestyle. Their actions begin torturing their beliefs into a twisted Frankenstein Confession of Faith. “I want to follow every kink that comes into my mind; and the Bible says, ‘God is love’ & ‘Judge not’, so, yeah, God is a-ok with what I’m doing.”

But for the Apostles, doctrine & practice are inseparable. What you believe is how you’ll live, and how you live in turn provides the compost for the seeds of what you believe to grow in. Your head and heart aren’t disconnected from each other. All of this is why this covenant meal isn’t indispensable, and why we must work to understand the theology of what we do here.

This covenant renewal meal is a habit which forces us to grapple with God’s promises. Partaking weekly makes this unavoidable. It’s a weekly divine fork in the road. The Scripture spurs us to obey in faith, and thus partake this meal. As we partake this meal, it makes us long to seek out, and comprehend with all the saints the infinite mystery of the treasure set before us. We know & believe Christ is offered here; so we eat & drink. In our eating & drinking, our faith is braced. We believe and so obey, and as we obey, we believe yet more.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

Look Up & Look Around

by Ben Zornes · Jun 8, 2022

Paul’s instructions regarding how the saints are to take this meal include the familiar phrase teaching us to “discern the Lord’s body.” This instruction has unfortunately been too often taken as a permission slip to invite a black hole of introspection into our hearts. But introspection is no savior. When we collectively give way to an unhealthy self-examination, we’re blinded to seeing what Paul explicitly commanded us to see.

If we’re doing this right, Paul’s instruction actually means that we should be looking through these signs and beholding Christ here in these plain elements. Christ’s body broken, and His blood spilled proves that God’s wrath for your sin has been satisfied. All that remains to you is God’s favor. Get over yourself. Stop staring inward. And look up.

As you look heavenward, to the Father’s right hand, you see grace descending from Christ our head to fill the entirety of His body, the church. And thus, we’re brought to look around. Here is Christ’s body, in the midst of these gathered saints. The border of that body isn’t confined to this building alone, or this or that group alone. Christ’s body is comprised of all the faithful saints, here & there, past & future, young & old.

Discerning Christ’s body isn’t an invite to stare at ourselves in Narcissus’ pool. Looking away from self & to Christ enables you to rightly discern those who are born of God. Indeed, John also makes this point “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him (1Jo 2:29).” As we feast on the Word, we’re drawn together with those begotten by the Word. All because we’ve heard & believed the Living Word. Therefore look to Christ here on this table. Look up to Christ enthroned. Look to Christ in His body which surrounds you.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

When Blessings Are Contraband

by Ben Zornes · May 4, 2022

We live in a covenantal world. The blessings are only blessings in covenant. Outside of covenant grace, the blessings you hold in your hand are contraband.

Children are a blessing, but not an automatic blessing. A foolish son, we’re told, is like bone cancer. Sexual pleasure is a blessing, but only within the marriage bed. After all, the whorehouse is a doorway to hell. For those outside of the covenant of grace the simple blessings which we all meet with at every turn & with every breath turn into monstrous blasphemies.

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God sends rain on the righteous & the unrighteous. To the righteous each drop is received with grateful faith, because they’ve been given eyes to see that each drop is an undeserved gift. Conversely, the unrighteous will one day find that each drop of rain that fell upon them is another indictment against them for refusing to render God His due. They won’t acknowledge Him as Lord & Creator of all things, so the raindrops & sunbeams will one day take the stand against them. Each breath taken was given by Him. He was the engineer which designed their heart to pump a million molecules of blood through their veins every moment of every day of their life. Every ray of light which lights their days, and every morsel of food they eat comes from Him. But because they refuse to enter the covenant by rendering praise for these blessings, it’s all stolen goods.

How much more, when we come to this table, should we be mindful that we come to eat at the covenant board of Christ? You eat blessing here only if you eat by faith in the covenant mercies of Christ our Savior. This is the cup of blessing, only because it’s the cup of God’s covenant love to us through Christ.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

Bread & Wine, Sword & Scalpal

by Ben Zornes · Apr 26, 2022

Too often, the Sword of the Word is used as if it were a topical ointment. Many cannot endure sound doctrine, and so they insist that the Sword of the Word be blunted through compromise with worldliness, dulled by fear of man, and dinted through hypocritical living. Anything but a sharp blade. Soothing words of false peace are preferred to the sharp words of true conviction. Whether it be in the operating room or on the battle field the blade must be sharp. Removing a tumor can’t be done by dull scalpels. Defeating a foe on the field can’t be done with a plastic sword.

It must not be forgotten that the Lord’s Supper is a Word which we eat. This Word is sharp. Christ doesn’t wield this Word haphazardly. The Corinthians, mind you, were warned that eating this meal unworthily carried damnation with it. After all, to eat this meal is to be cut by the sword of truth, it is to pass under the knife of conviction.

Are you an enemy of Christ? This meal will be to you as the flaming sword of Eden, barring you from the tree of life. Are you riddled with sin? This meal will be to you the surgeon’s scalpel removing the terminal cancer. When you partake this Supper by faith, you don’t meet the sword of the destroyer, but the sword of deliverance. Meet here not the knife of the robber, but the Great Physician’s healing blade. Meet here not the sword of ruination, but the pruning shears of the Master Gardener.

Nevertheless, one thing this Word cannot be is dull. This Word made the world. This Word severed Goliath’s head. This Word cuts between soul & spirit, bone & marrow. This Word thundered on Sinai, and died on Calvary. This Word is bread & wine, and it is sword & scalpel.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

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