Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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A Revival of the 5th

A Revival of the 5th

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As we celebrate the spark that lit the Protestant Reformation, we should consider the character of such revivals. One of the prominent features of the Reformers was the refrain ad fontes or “to the sources”. This was nothing other than the promised spirit of Elijah, which always accompanies such a renewal of God’s church. 

Where the Spirit goes, father’s hearts turn tenderly toward their children, and children’s faces are upturned in a hearty respect for their fathers. But a movement that reviles its fathers of the faith does not bear the tang of the Spirit’s presence. A movement that treads upon children isn’t born from above, but from below.

As we labor for cultural revival it must begin in this relationship between fathers and their children. If you are a father, regardless of how old your children are, you are summoned by the Spirit of God to turn your heart with tenderness to your children. You are not to despair over your children’s failures, nor should you presume that their bad character or habits are permanently fossilized. Rather, you must, by God’s grace, find another gear to pursue your children with scandalously generous love. Your joy and favor should rest upon them like the sun on a cloudless day. While this holds true especially for fathers, of course it’s applicable to mothers as well.

And children, as your father’s turn their hearts toward you, return that love with loving obedience. Let the instruction of your father and the wisdom of your mother be as a crown, a sword, a scepter unto you. They bestow you with the royalty of being children of the covenant, and so receive that lofty calling and fulfill it in honor of both God your Father and your parents. The true spirit of the Reformation is a glorious retrieval of the fifth commandment to Honor thy father and thy mother.

Prayer of Confession

Father God,

In a nation plagued by resentment and animosity between generations, where fathers have abdicated and walked out, where mothers are killing their unborn, where children defy their cultural heritage, we ask that within your church you would send forth Your Spirit. Stir up within fathers a strong paternal and selfless love for their sons and daughters; give fathers the courage to diligently sow seeds of righteousness within their children, plowing the fields in hope. And grant that our covenant children would not slacken their pace in walking according to Your Word, but stir them up to honor their parents by honoring You in all areas of their life. Where we have neglected this calling of hearts turned to our children, and so taught them to turn their hearts from us to sinful enticements, forgive us. Grant such a revival of godly love between fathers and mothers and sons and daughters in our day and in our midst.

You have called Your church to truth in the inward parts, so we now confess our individual sins to You. Selah.

We do this in Jesus’ mighty name, and Amen.

Self-Control for Future Fathers & Mothers

Self-Control for Future Fathers & Mothers

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Self-control is the basis of all good earthly governments. Of course, we must note that self-control isn’t something which you do. It’s a grace which the Spirit of God works in you. Dead men have zero self-control, nature moves them wherever it pleases, grinding them back into the dust from whence they came.

But in a twice-born man, the Spirit gives the grace to control your desires, appetites, affections, and impulses. This need for self-control doesn’t dissipate with age, evaporate when you get married, or get shelved when you retire. The temptations you face may morph and change as you grow and mature, but the need for restraint on your sinful desires will not and cannot be outgrown.

Without grace, our impulses and desires won’t be restrained, and anarchy is the eventuality. But by the command of the Word and empowerment of the Spirit you are enabled to be self-controlled.

Fathers especially need to bear this in mind as they raise their sons and daughters. Your sons need to learn not to whine and pester their mother for snacks, to not aimlessly peruse the Vanity Fair of social media, and need to learn to control their strength so as to dig trenches, build dams, erect sky-scrapers, and create economies. 

Your daughters need to learn to not burst into tears when something upsets them, or bat their eyelashes for the adrenaline rush of attention; instead they must be taught to control their glory and direct it into paint colors, gloriously spread tables, thoughtfully crafted outfits, and happy and healthy offspring.

All of this takes self-control. To resist sin, and to pursue righteousness. Thus, if a man or women, family or empire is to stand, they must do so by laying down their life in Christ, and being resurrected in the power of the Spirit.

We have become a people controlled by every wind of whim and every breeze of doctrine. We are, in many ways, not anchored to God’s Word and so we drift to our own indulgences. If we would have our families stand firm, our cities remain peaceful, and our nation endure in justice we need self-control in each of our individual lives. We need the Lord to grant us grace to restrain our sinful desires, and strengthen our muscles to do the good works He has prepared in advance for us to do. 

Ben Zornes