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Christ Church Exhortation – Give Thanks When They Hurl Accusations

Jared Longshore on November 19, 2023

Thanksgiving is just on the horizon, so we are counting our many blessings and marking a variety of things to be thankful for. As you number those blessings, I want to remind you of one particular kindness from the Lord for which you should be grateful. That is God’s kindness of having people say all sorts of evil things about you falsely. Ah, you have been slandered. And the bigger the slander, the bigger your Thanksgiving turkey should be.

Jesus tells us that we should be exceedingly glad when this kind of thing happens for our reward is great in heaven, and we are following in the footsteps of the faithful prophets who went before us (Matthew 5:12).

This is a lesson that peace-loving, kind, and faithful Christians like yourselves must take to heart. In the first place, it is one thing to remember this truth when the sun is shining and no one is calling you a misogynistic rape apologist. And it is another thing to remember it when those slander-bullets are actually flying. So store up this truth in your heart so it will be there in the day of battle.

In the second place, you must store up this truth in your heart because you are a kind lot of Christians who, of course, don’t want to be brawlers. That is good. You want to pray for those who have done you the wrong, and that is good, too. But, in case you may be tempted to say, “I just can’t rejoice and be glad given these horrible things that have been said about me or my people,” let me remind you that God is so pleased about people saying nasty false things about you that He has seen fit to increase your heavenly bank account. If God is happy, you should be, too.

Do ensure that this kind of thing doesn’t turn into rejoicing when your enemy falls. You want to give thanks in such a way that God’s favor will continue to rest upon you. But give thanks you must. And that thanksgiving should be exceedingly glad.

Jared Longshore – November 19, 2023

Grace & Peace: Proverbs 24:3-4

Douglas Wilson on November 15, 2023

At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

“Through wisdom is an house builded; And by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches”
Proverbs 24:3-4

This is a proverb that provides an echo of David’s earlier testimony: “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; Yea, I have a goodly heritage” (Psalm 16:6).

God is good to us, all the time, which all Christians confess. But it is also true that God is frequently good to us in the physical realm. His goodness is not limited to the invisible spiritual realm.

Now we all recognize this, at least implicitly, when we say grace over our meals, and when we celebrate God’s goodness to us at Thanksgiving. But there is an odd kind of schizophrenia going on, in that many Christians do not want to acknowledge in theological discussions what they every day acknowledge around the dinner table. And that is, that God gives us cool stuff.

Sometimes this is because we don’t want to be mistaken for some crass health and wealth preacher, and that desire is good, so far as it goes. The “name it and claim it” approach really is simplistic, and the “blab it and grab it” approach is even more so. But let us be frank, you and I. The health and wealth guys do in fact have a lot of verses.

Our proverb is one of them. Wisdom builds the house. Understanding establishes the house. And knowledge fills up all the storerooms, and the basement, and the attic, with all kinds of pleasant things. All kinds of precious things. All kinds of riches.

This is not true in some sort of automatic vending machine way, of course not. But such passage mean something, do they not? If one man thanks God for his sandwich at lunch, then why cannot another man thank God for the house that wisdom built, the house that understanding established, and the chambers that were filled up with all his pleasant things? All of them are made out of molecules, and all of them were given by a good and generous God.

Living Sacrifices – CC Exhortation

Jared Longshore on November 7, 2023

One of the mistakes we make when it comes to our worship is thinking that it is merely an exercise in which we are refilled. We have spent ourselves for Christ and here we are on the day of rest to be repowered by the Spirit in worship. There is truth in the sentiment for “from him, through him, and to him are all things.” So there is a “from him” in worship.

But, Paul says that we “present our bodies as living sacrifices unto God.” And he adds that this is our reasonable service and worship. Worship, then, is a very active endeavor. You are presenting yourself to God, and you are doing so as a sacrifice.

The sacrifices of the Old Testament were quite passive. Their job was to be taken to the altar and killed. But, those sacrifices could never take away sin. Christ was the only sacrifice that could cancel sin entirely. And He was not taken to the slaughter by another but laid down His own life willing.

In the new covenant, we don’t need any more blood sacrifices, for Christ was the once for all time sacrifice who paid for our sin completely.

But, where does that leave us? Aren’t our bodies sacrifices as we worship God? Yes, indeed. But we are not sacrifices for sin. We are living sacrifices. And as we offer up our very selves to God it should be a lively endeavor.

So sing robustly. Pray fervently. Hear the Word attentively. Confess sin diligently. Receive assurance of your forgiveness gladly. Eat and drink at the table with a lively faith.

Be done with dead and dreary words, attitudes, and works. You are very much alive. So alive, you will never truly die. So alive, you can go sacrifice yourself on an altar and go right on living.

Jared Longshore – November 5, 2023

Thinking Cleary at the Ballot Box – CCD Exhortation

Ben Zornes on November 7, 2023

The culture which rejects Almighty God must resort to listening to the voice of man. But the voice of man vacillates and wavers, whereas God’s Word is certain, true, and unchanging. Election Day is mankind’s pretense of letting the god known as “the will of the populace” speak. In a godless democracy, casting your vote becomes a sacred act.

As Christians, we reject any such notion. Instead, we should treat it like an important chore, like taking out the garbage. Christians should neither elevate voting to a revered act of religious piety, nor should we consider it pointless.

This Tuesday is Election Day, with a number of local/state matters on the ballot. As Christian citizens, it’s our task to defend our liberties not just in this civic activity, but by being a people whose consciences are free.

Only those whose minds have been renewed by the grace of the Spirit will be able to think clearly at the ballot box. The mind corrupted by lust, greed, envy, racial enmity, or vanity won’t vote with clarity. Sin clouds the mind. Sin is self-delusion. Sin in the heart leads to sin in our legislation.

True civic duty isn’t confined to Election Day. Our culture is woefully in need of a people zealous for righteousness. Righteousness in public & private. Righteousness before all men & when no one’s watching. Righteousness in the town square & in the living room. Despising government overreach while regularly losing your temper with your family is a sure fire way to get more government overreach.

Your freedom isn’t secured by a constitution. It is founded on your standing before God. Are you washed clean by Christ? Have you come to Him with all your sin? Are you free because the Son has set you free? If so, go and vote with a clear conscience. If not, repent.

Contrary to the message we hear from the media, it is only a people whose God is the Lord which can be a truly free people. For in Christ alone is the remission of sins, the power for good works, and the clear standard for justice, peace, and truth. We must go to God for forgiveness for our individual and national sins. We have encoded sodomy, usury, abortion, and many instances of unjust weights and measures. We know that all these national sins have arisen from sin which the church tolerated first. May God grant us eyes to see where we have deluded ourselves with our own sin. Then we must trust Him to wash us clean as we confess our sins to Him and those we’ve wronged. We would strive to have our families, cities, and nation truly honor and glorify God, so may we implore our Father to grant us a true heart of contrition & repentance.

The Scriptures tell the story of God delivering His people from their sins, so that they might be at liberty to serve Him rightly. This deliverance always is preceded by God humbling His people. So humble yourselves before Him, and then hear His words of deliverance: Your sins are forgiven through Christ.

Ben Zornes – November 5, 2023

The Word of the King – Exhortation King’s Cross

Shawn Paterson on November 7, 2023

Last week in my exhortation I extolled the efficacy of the Word of God and its centrality in the work of the Reformation. This was a reminder to all of us of our need to keep the Word at the center of our lives. Today I want to apply this high view of God’s Word to our Lord’s Day worship service, specifically the Word preached in the sermon.

When you gather on the Lord’s Day, you are not coming here as mere spectators, looking for free entertainment. The sermon isn’t a classroom lecture or some kind of talk you can find on YouTube.

Rather, you are coming to hear from the living God. For in His wisdom, God has called feeble and weak men, to be His very own mouthpieces, speaking His words to His people. We see this in Scripture when the Apostle Paul wrote that he and his co-laborers were “ambassadors for Christ” with God making His appeal to men through them (2 Cor. 5:20).

And so consider the sermon like this: When an ambassador relays accurately the word of a king, it is no less the word of the king even though it comes through the mouth of a messenger. And though the word of the king is mediated through a much inferior man, it still carries the authority of the king.

The message proclaimed each week to you by a minister of God is one of life for the dead. It is a message that reconciles the world to Christ. For it is an authoritative message from the very Word of God.

And so the Westminster Larger Catechism lists a number of duties for the listeners of the preached Word, which include receiving it as “the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the Word of God.”

Now I recognize that you won’t hear all the sermon, let alone understand or remember it. You are human. God made you that way and He knows your frame. And He has given many of you tiny distractions with mouths and legs.

But know that each week, the Lord is adding to the soil of your heart exactly what you need from His Word. And trust that out of that fertile soil, the Spirit of God will cause the fruit of righteousness to grow.

Shawn Paterson – November 5, 2023