Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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Ishmael Shall Soon Come Home

Ishmael Shall Soon Come Home

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The rebellious son of Abraham will one day return to serve Abraham’s God by faith in Jesus Christ. All nations of the earth are to be blessed in Abraham. There was not an exclusion on the nations to be born to his illegitimate son Ishmael. Certainly Ishmael and his descendants have hampered and harassed the people of Israel throughout Biblical times; Islam has arisen from Ishmael and has proven to have much zeal for a sort of purity of worship for the one true God. But until Ishmael comes home in repentance, all his zeal will only damn him more fully as a rebellious son.

Muslim’s receive the sign of the covenant given to Abraham, which he gave to his whole household, including Ishmael (Gen. 17:23). Ishmael has wandered far and fought hard against the grace which God has shown him, but one day the prodigal son shall return and worship Jacob’s God, through the only mediator: the prophet, priest and king, Jesus Christ. Muhammed’s zeal enticed Ishmael’s descendants to earn their way back into God’s family through their relentless passion for a pseudo-holiness. The descendent’s of their younger brother Isaac, learned that the Law was a schoolmaster to bring them to repentance. Ishmael, you will never earn enough merit, be good enough, holy enough, righteous enough for God Almighty.

Muhammed is a slave-driver, who has turned Ishmael into a mercenary of the Law. Your righteousness will not appease the Father. Your fasting, your prayers, your alms, are all stubble which will be burned like chaff in the presence of God’s holiness, and all your works will be shown to be false. What will you hide behind then? What will you plead? Until you come, through Christ, the Father will not hear your prayers, see your good deeds, or look with favor upon you.

[epq-quote align=”align-right”]All nations are to be blessed in Abraham’s seed, including Ishmael’s nations.[/epq-quote]It is time for you to come home to Abraham’s God; with all your shame, with all your desire to honor the God of Abraham, with all your misdirected zeal, with all your fervor, with all your animosity. You have wandered far from God and from grace; but the ultimate elder brother, our Lord Jesus, invites you to return to God’s family. When you come, Muhammed’s fanciful dreams and myths must make way for He who was the Word incarnate. The time is coming when the glory of God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, will consume like fire the lies which Muhammed wove in with God’s promise to Abraham. All nations are to be blessed in Abraham’s seed, including Ishmael’s nations.

Though Ishmael, it may seem you were passed over, the Descendant of your younger brother Isaac has made a way for you to receive all the blessings and promises of Sonship. You will never earn Father God’s pleasure through your own merit; Isaac tried, it didn’t work. Jesus offers to you the honor of being called a son of the Most High God. Turn from your bitter railing against the Jews and Christians; humble yourself; and come home. The Father waits to welcome you, along with every nation, to His great feast of bread and wine broken and poured out for all mankind.

Gospel in the Darkness

Gospel in the Darkness

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When We Might Feel Discouraged

Christian, do not grow discouraged. It may seem as if the Church is beset on all sides by earthly foes and hellish fiends. Schisms and heresies abound. The seeds of mushy thinking and sloppy feelings have brought us a harvest of evangelical apathy, theological anemia, and liturgical cravenness. Many have lost their confidence in the efficacy of the Gospel, largely because we have been deceived into thinking that the Gospel’s only purpose is behavior modification or a topic for theological hair splitting.

[epq-quote align=”align-right”]The seeds of mushy thinking and sloppy feelings have brought us a harvest of evangelical apathy, theological anemia, and liturgical cravenness.[/epq-quote]My fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus brings better news than simply “correcting our bad behavior.” This Gospel we preach is white hot with the blazing glory of resurrecting power. It is the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16). It is not merely a slap on the wrist to get us to stop chewing our nails. The Gospel is accompanied by the regenerating power of the Spirit, which makes dead souls live.

Two Errors in Understanding the Gospel’s Effect

Slapping the wrist of a corpse will only cause the corpse to more quickly crumble into the decaying dust of its existence. But this Gospel brings new birth. It makes that dead man live, truly live. This does indeed change his behavior because he was once dead, but now is alive. So, we must not make the mistake of thinking the Gospel is only about following Jesus’ example, this is the mistake of liberal theologians. But we must not make the mistake in the opposite direction that the Gospel’s effect is found only in some technical relationship to God.

The Gospel of Christ’s electing grace in saving sinners is not akin to a Google algorithm which makes sure I get on God’s good list, and so glad that’s all sorted! Rather, His redeeming work in saving His chosen ones means that we are united to His life and righteousness. This means a wellspring of the most variegated glories of Christ’s perfections and virtues are born anew in the sinner-made-a-saint.

 

To the Furthest Shore

But one other sinful assumption many evangelicals of our generation are making–and these are the young, reformed, and restless types–is an assumption that is based on the individualistic sensibilities of the Enlightenment era. Yes, God saves individual sinners. But this Gospel which we preach is more powerful than the saving of individuals. It is a leaven which is working its way through individuals into families into cities into nations. The Gospel, though at times it seems shrouded by the surrounding darkness, is a torch which will bring confusion to God’s enemies at the shout of our true Gideon–Jesus Christ.

When it breaks forth in all its resplendent glory of Spirit-born revival its effects will not be the mere redemption of individuals. As the fire of God’s grace lights upon the kindling of dead hearts, families, and cultures, it cannot but bring new life. It is a fire that destroys that it might make new. Kings and their kingdoms will stream to the city of our God (Ps. 68:29), all the nations will worship Him (Is. 2:2 & Ps. 86:9), and those walking in darkness will see a great light and as Isaiah foresaw: “And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising (Is. 60:2).” This flood of fire with which God has poured out upon the earth, will wash through the whole earth and the Gentile nations shall come into Jerusalem to be nourished by the river of peace (Is. 66:12).

Make no mistake, the Gospel burns brightest when it seems the Church is at her darkest. It is her hope and her sword. The Church is not a victim of her circumstance, she is fair and terrible as an army sent out to conquest. She laughs at danger. She fears no darkness. This is so because the Gospel is not only effective in saving us for eternity, but the Gospel will conquer in history as well. The nations will rejoice in God, in history. We are not inviting the peoples of the nations to join our secret club of 42 people. We are proclaiming a Gospel that Christ has bought this world with His most precious blood and call upon all people, everywhere to repent of their rebellion, and be welcomed into the City of the True Jerusalem.

[epq-quote align=”align-right”]Repentance is not just for individuals, it is for city councils, family gatherings, federal governments, and continents.[/epq-quote]Repentance is not just for individuals, it is for city councils, family gatherings, federal governments, and continents. Africa, Asia, North & South America, Oceania, Europe, and Antarctica are Christ’s. Chicago, Weld County Colorado, Tokyo, Jamaica, Lesotho, Mosul, Saskatchewan, Amsterdam’s Red Light District, are all lay within the wide-extent of the domains of Christ’s Kingdom. We are to call them to baptize them into His covenant and to “obey all He has commanded” (Mt. 28:18-20). “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea (Is. 11:9).”

Broadening Our Scope

[epq-quote align=”align-right”]Lift the smallness of our vision.[/epq-quote]Perhaps the reason for the ineptitude and impotence of our modern evangelism is that our scope of the Gospel’s extent and influence is so darn small. We want it to be a moral slap on the wrist or an entry in God’s rosters. When in fact, the Gospel is the good news that Christ is King of this planet, and we are to expect the nations to be redeemed as we faithfully preach His living Word as the Spirit pours out effusions of saving grace upon individuals, families and nations. His Kingdom shall know no end. So perhaps our confidence in the Gospel’s power should not be so constrained. It is far more potent than we could ever imagine. As one hymnodist once said, “Lift the smallness of our vision.”

The Debt We Owe

The Debt We Owe

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[epq-quote align=”align-right”]Every time we sin we are breaking a part of His creation[/epq-quote]He declared His creation “good”, and thus, every time we sin we are breaking a part of His creation. It’s like the fellow who recently went into an Apple store with a rock and smashed up thousands of dollars of merchandise. But imagine him doing this daily, and as a result, the debt he would be racking up in lost merchandise. His income would certainly never allow for him to pay off his obligation to make restitution with Apple!

The only hope for such a debt is for it to be forgiven, but as any good economist would tell you, “Ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Our forgiveness was costly, as someone had to “eat the cost” of our sins. God must judge sin, and the wages of sin is death. This is why Christ’s death is spoken of as a ransom, a payment made on our behalf which satisfies the justice and mercy of God. When we think of Christ’s merit, we must take from our minds the Catholic notion that Mary and the saints have some too which, all told, can get us across the finish line to heaven. Rather, all our human “merit” is itself tainted by evil. Christ alone is able to pay the debt we owe, and by faith in Him He freely applies His righteousness to our account.

Good News in an Age of Fake News

Good News in an Age of Fake News

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If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Psalm 11:3

It is astounding that those who have insisted for years that truth is relative, are remarkably nimble in suddenly demanding that the truth matters. Fake news is now the buzzword in media and politics, and the debate is over who gets to decide what is true. For decades, the big media corporations have carefully presented “news” stories in such a way as to advance their–for the most part–liberal agenda. Trump has now arisen to challenge their narrative and it has both sides of the political aisle scrambling to figure out a way to find the solid ground of objective truth.

The Psalmist wisely asks in his song the rhetorical question what can righteous men do when the foundations of truth and justice are destroyed by wicked governments and societies. Likely he has in view the corruptions of Saul’s kingdom. In order for any family, city, or nation to thrive, truth must lie outside of our determination and must be something every individual can be held accountable to and can point to in times of injustice, wrongdoing, and wickedness.

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus stands forth in the midst of a subjective culture as good news in an age of fake news. It proclaims peace through the violence done to Christ. It proclaims justice through the innocent suffering of the Lord. [epq-quote align=”align-right”]It is only in the cross where we find the starting to point for making sense of all the mess.[/epq-quote]It proclaims freedom through His death. It proclaims the satiation of wrath through the substitution of His life for ours. In all this, we find that we need a central point of truth in order to sort through all the tangles of human wickedness. It is only in the cross where we find the starting to point for making sense of all the mess; for in Christ crucifixion we see God reconciling man with Himself and thereby giving us the only firm foundation upon which lives, families and cultures may be built successfully. There is forgiveness. There is reconciliation. There is truth. There is good news, with no fake news in sight.

When Christians Terrify

When Christians Terrify

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We have largely been duped into thinking that the cardinal characteristic which should distinguish us as Christians is “niceness”. Christ said it was our love which ought to denote the fact we are His disciples (Jn. 13:35); we have taken this love to mean a simple, placid docility. But agape love is not easy, quaint or tidy. It is hard work, and takes courage. Loving our enemies implies having enemies.

In the first two chapters of Joshua an interesting contrast is presented. After Moses’ death, God is imperative that Joshua “be strong & courageous” and Joshua, in turn, exhorts the tribes to “be strong & courageous” (Jos. 1:6, 7, 9, & 18). They face a vicious fight in front of them, and must be braced for the battles ahead. Their enemies were indeed fierce and mighty, with towering cities.

Yet, it is remarkable that when the two spies are hidden with Rahab the Harlot in Jericho, she intimates that it is the enemies of God’s people who are terrified of them and (as the KJV puts it) their “hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you” (Jos. 2:11). God’s people, when obedient to God’s commands are to be a terror to their enemies.[epq-quote align=”align-right”]God’s people, when obedient to God’s commands are to be a terror to their enemies.[/epq-quote]

The Church is to be militant in our advancement of the Gospel of Peace. Our sword is the Word of God, and it is unloving to not proclaim the kingship of Christ over all the nations. The mealy-mouthedness of many Christians has had the net of effect of inhibiting the Gospel’s advancement. Note how fearful many secularists are of the distinctively Christian policies which the Trump administration seems poised to enforce and advance.

However, we must bear in mind too, that God will destroy His enemies and often this means turning them into His friends. We must be known by our agape, which will truly terrify the enemies of God and His people. For many Christians, we think having enemies is a bad thing and we go about making peace treaties with our enemies primarily by conceding the truth and purity of the Word of God. It is peace through compromise, which is no peace and is no love. But in this Gospel Age, God aims to destroy His enemies by converting them through the potency of the truth of His Word. This isn’t about merely “winning arguments”; it is about Gospel-confidence and love which invariably will accomplish the very thing which God intended it to perform. As a pastor once memorably lamented, “Wherever the Apostle Paul went there were riots, wherever I go, they serve tea.”

Victim Maiming

Victim Maiming

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The Alphabet Soup Of Victim Groups

A hot-button topic around here has been the issue of victims, victimizers, and the churches that are left to deal with the wreckage. Culturally, there is a popular viewpoint that has gained a lot of steam over the last decade which wants us all to view people in terms of “victim-groups”. We see this vividly depicted in the fact that a decade ago we were usually only talking about Gays and/or Lesbians, whereas nowadays the discussion must include an alphabet soup of different groups who now form the LGBTQIAPK coalition.

The obvious reality is that people sin (and will continue to do so) in despicably horrendous ways against each other. Having spent time counseling folks, I have heard first-hand stories of the craters that sinful actions leave on those who have been ravaged by the selfishness of others. The question for Christians who are put in the position of helping to navigate folks biblically through such snarls, is: what is God’s purpose in this tragedy, and what is Satan’s aim in this tragedy?

God’s End In Suffering

We know, if we’re good confessional Christians, that the chief end of man, in all circumstances, is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. That’s how Westminster wonderfully frames it, drawing upon statements like this from John 17:3, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” True life (i.e. the chief end of man), is to know God & his Son; and to know God (in the sense spoken of here), results in glorifying God (Jer. 9:24).

We must not lose sight of this in the midst of dealing with those sinned against, and those who did the sinning.[epq-quote align=”align-right”]The goal for both the victim and the perpetrator is that they would glorify God and enjoy Him forever.[/epq-quote] The goal for both the victim and the perpetrator is that they would glorify God and enjoy Him forever. “Easier said than done,” the cynic in us might reply; but this does not change the aim of true Christian discipleship, which is largely what navigating the terrain of human suffering is.

Our goal is making disciples, which means the goalpost must not move in order to accommodate the frailty of someone who is hurting, nor to disbar from redemption the one who hurt. God saves sinners, and whether you are a victim or a perpetrator you fall into that bigger category of sinner in need of the Gospel.

Satan’s End in Suffering

Now, for the victim, we must not think that they are suddenly immune to temptation. In fact, as a result of the dark and hellish acts done to them, we should not be surprised that Satan’s end game is not only to bring harm to the victim physically and but also to damage them spiritually. His aim is to blind (2 Cor. 4:4), deceive (Rev. 20:10), accuse (Rev. 12:10), and to steal, kill, and destroy (Jn. 10:10) both the victim and the perpetrator. For the victim, the bait laid before them in their attempt to process and sort out what the heck happened to them, is to believe that now they are exempted from resisting temptation, confessing their sins, obeying the commands of Scripture to forgive, repent, and above all, continue to believe the Gospel.

It is telling that a common victim response to the violence done them is to be uncertain about what actually happened to them. Indeed, one of the dreadful consequences of  abuse against them is that they blame themselves, change their story, blame others, in an attempt to sort out and explain what happened. This doesn’t mean they weren’t sinned against, but it means that pastors and fellow Christians need to be ready to help weather the storm of confusion that accompanies abuse, not by coddling untruths, but by directing the victim to the only stable source of truth there is: the Gospel of Christ.

Bitterness, lies, insecurities, unreasonable fears, anxiety, unforgiveness, and hatred are the fruit which Satan hopes to grow in the scorched earth of the tragedy. After a forest fire, it is remarkable how quickly greenery appears; but we must remember that the thorny weeds and grassy meadows are both eager to spring up. A time of tragedy is ripe for sanctifying grace and a backsliding unbelief alike. To class victims as a particular group that is somehow less needful of Gospel faith, grace, repentance and obedience is worse that victim blaming or shaming, it is victim maiming. Victims, and those counseling victims, must not veer from “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else [Isa 45:22 KJV].”

Remember too, that perpetrators stand in need of the Gospel. Being a miscreant of a sinner does not mean they are beyond redemption; and in a similar way, the smoking crater of their sin is a perfect opportunity for Gospel-ministers to rebuke, confront, and bring the Word of God to bear upon their rebellious neck. To break in order to bind up. Satan would love nothing more than to deceive victims into a life of unforgiveness and bitterness, and for victimizers to be proud of their sinful power, fail to see their sin as sin, or to believe they are beyond grace and hopeless for salvation. Satan would love for victims to think of themselves in terms of being eternal victims, and perpetrators in terms of being eternal perpetrators. Both need to come to see themselves as sinners, who need Christ, to become a new thing entirely: eternal saints of our Lord.

A Gospel Big Enough for Both

All of this must be done with both tenderness, compassion and courage. Victims who turn to Christ are not left forever frail, but are emboldened by grace to forgive and grow in godliness. Perpetrators who turn to Christ, are enabled to make restitution for their offenses and crimes, and by grace gratefully accept the consequences of their sin. The “gospel of victimhood” is quickly deceiving countless multitudes, and Christians must make it clear that the Gospel which victims need is big enough to save us all.

This doesn’t let perpetrators off the hook, and shift the responsibility to victims. Rather, the Gospel pins us all down as perpetrators, and that the responsibility for our sins fell on Christ, and through whom we might now be reckoned as not only forgiven sinners, but far more gloriously: righteous in Christ.

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The Gospel as a Verb

The Gospel as a Verb

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But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 1 Peter 1:25

Here at the end 1 Peter 1, in which the Apostle has surveyed many important truths, not the least of which being our new birth by the incorruptible seed of the word of God–logos theos (1 Pt. 1:23). His concluding statement of this section is that man & his glory are temporary, and will whither like the grass, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. This is referencing Isaiah’s words from Isa. 40:7-8.

Our redemption is not procured by earthly treasure; for, all things found in this world are like vapor that will soon vanish. [epq-quote align=”align-right”]Our redemption is not procured by earthly treasure; for, all things found in this world are like vapor that will soon vanish.[/epq-quote] This is a recapitulation of truth found in Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish builder (Mt. 7:24-27): build on sand, your building will be swept away, build on the Rock of Ages, you will stand firm. Peter reminds us that the Lord’s word endures forever, and it is Gospel preaching that brings the word unto us, that we might be redeemed.

I’ve always loved the Greek word Peter uses here: εὐαγγελίζω euaggelizō. It is the verbal form of the noun (εὐαγγέλιον euaggelion), which we usually translate as “gospel” or “good tidings”. Peter says that in order to be redeemed, the everlasting word of the Lord must “gospel” you. In essence, while the Gospel is certainly an objective noun, it is a noun that demands verbal action. A baseball bat is a noun, but it is a noun that is intended for swinging.

We need to be “gospel-ed” by the word of God, and we need to “gospel-ize” this world. It will not do to simply be able to define the Gospel, it is something that must be put into action in our own lives and families, and which we are to bring to bear upon the world around us. To reiterate, Webster’s 1828 dictionary can provide us with the correct definition for a broad-sword:

BROAD-SWORD, noun [broad and sword.] A sword with a broad blade, and a cutting edge.

But if you’re going into combat, you need more than a mere definition, you need to noun itself, and then wield it. This is what Peter is getting at. The truth of God’s enduring Word is that which “gospel-ed” us, thus redeeming us, and by implication it is that which we are to go forth with, and “gospel-ize” the nations.

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Ben Zornes